Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse of St. John

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Of the Church.
The Introduction.

When Manasses^[1] set up a carved image in the house of the Lord & built altars in the two courts of the house to all the Host of heaven & used inchantments & witchcraft & familiar spirits & for his great wickedness was invaded by the army of Assarhadon king of Assyria & carried captive to Babylon, the book of the law was lost till the eighteenth year of his grandson Iosiah. Then Hilkiah^[2] the high Priest upon repairing the Temple found it there, & the King lamented that their fathers had not done after the words of the book & commanded that it should be read to the people & caused the people to renew the holy covenant with God. This is the book of the law now extant.

When Sesak^[3] came out of Egypt & spoiled the temple & brought Iudea into subjection to the monarchy of Egypt (which was in fift year of Rehoboam,) the Iews continued under great troubles for about twenty years; being without the true God & without a teaching Priest & without the law; & in those times there was no peace to him that went out nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries, & nation was destroyed of nation, & city of city, for God did vex them with all adversity. But when Sesak^[4] was dead & Egypt fell into troubles, Iudea had quiet ten years & in that time Asa built fenced cities in Iudea & got up an army of 580000 men with which in the 15^th year of his reign he met & overcame Zerah the Ethiopian who had conquered Egypt & Libya & Troglodytica & came out with an army of 1000000 Libyans & Ethiopians to recover the countries conquered by Sesak. And after this victory Asa dethroned his mother for idolatry, & he renewed the altar & brought new vessels of gold & silver into the Temple^[5], & he & the people entered into a new covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers upon pain of death to those who worshipped other Gods; & his son Iehosaphat took away the high places & in the third year of his reign sent some of his princes & of the priests & levites to teach in the cities of Iudah, & they had the book of the law with them, & went about throughout all the cities of Iudah, & taught the people. This is that book of the law which was afterwards lost in the reign of Manasses & found again in the reign of Iosiah, & therefore it was written before the third year of Iehosaphat.

The same book of the law was preserved & handed down to posterity by the Samaritans & therefore was received by the ten tribes before their captivity. For when the ten tribes were captivated^[6], a Priest of the captivity was sent back to Bethel by order of the king of Assyria to instruct the new inhabitants of Samaria in the manner of the God of the land, & the Samaritans had the Pentateuch from this Priest as conteining the law or manner of the God of the land which he was to teach them. For they persevered in the religion which he taught them^[7] joyning with it the worship of their own Gods, & by persevering in what they had been taught they preserved this book of their law in the original character of the Hebrews, while the two tribes after their return from Babylon changed the character to that of the Chaldees which they had learned at Babylon.

And while the Pentateuch was received as the book of the law both by the <2r> two tribes & by the ten tribes, it follows that they received it before they became divided into two kingdoms. For after the division they received not laws from one another, but continued at variance. Iudah could not reclaim Israel from the sin of Ieroboam & Israel could not bring Iudah to it. The Pentateuch therefore was the book of the Law in the days of David & Solomon. The affairs of the Tabernacle & Temple were ordered by David & Solomon according to the law of this book, & David in the 78^th Psalm admonishing the people to give ear to the law of God means the law of this book. For in describing how their forefathers kept it not he quotes many historical things out of the books of Exodus & Numbers.

The race of the kings of Edom before there reigned any king over Israel is set down in the book of Genesis^[8], & therefore that book was not written entirely in the form now extant before the reign of Saul. The writer set down the race of those kings till his own time & therefore wrote before David conquered Edom. The Pentateuch is composed of the Law & the history of Gods people together, & the history hath been collected from several books, such as were the history of the creation composed by Moses ( Exod. 20.11.) the book of the generations of Adam (Gen.5) & the book of the wars of the Lord, Num. 21.14. This book of wars conteined what was done at the red sea & in the journeying of Israel through the wilderness, & therefore was begun by Moses. And Ioshua might carry it on to the conquest of Canaan. For Ioshua wrote some things in the book of the law of God (Ios. 24.26.) & therefore might write his own wars in the book of wars, those being the principal wars of God. These were publick books & therefore not written without the authority of Moses & Ioshua. And Samuel had leasure in the reign of Saul to put them into the form of the books of Moses & Ioshua now extant inserting into the Book of Genesis, the race of the kings of Edom, until their reigned a king in Israel.

The book of the Iudges is a continued history of the Iudges down to the death of Sampson & therefore was compiled after his death out of the Acts of the Iudges. Several things in this book are said to be done when there was no king in Israel (Iudg. 17.6 & 18.1 & 19.1 & 21.5) & therefore this book was written after the beginning of the reign of Saul. When it was written, the Iebusite dwelt in Ierusalem (Iud. 1.21) & therefore it was written before the eighth year of David 2 Sam. 5.8. & 1 Chron. 11.6. The books of Moses, Ioshua, & Iudges contein one continued history down from the creation to the death of Sampson. Where the Pentateuch ends the book of Ioshua begins & where the book of Ioshua ends the book of Iudges beginns. And therefore all these books have been composed out of the writings of Moses Ioshua & other records by one & the same hand after the beginning of the reign of Saul & before the eighth year of David. And Samuel was a sacred writer (1 Sam. 10.25) & acquainted with the history of Moses & the Iudges (1 Sam. 12.8, 9, 10, 11, 12) & had leasure in the reign of Saul & sufficient authority to compose these books. He was a prophet, & Iudged Israel all the days of his life & was in the greatest esteem with the people; <3r> & the law by which he was to judge the people was not to be published by less authority then his own the law-maker being not inferior to the judge. And the book of Iasher which is quoted in the book of Ioshua (Ios. 10.13) was in being at the death of Saul, 2 Sam. 1.18.

At the dedication of the Temple of Solomon when the Ark was brought into the most Holy, there was nothing in it but the two tables (1 King. 8.9) & therefore when the Philistines took the Ark, they took out of it the Book of the Law & the golden pot of manna & Aarons rod. And this & other losses in the desolation of Israel by the conquering Philistims, might give occasion to Samuel, after some respite from those enemies, to recollect the scattered writings of Moses & Ioshua & the Records of the Patriarchs & Iudges & compose them in the form now extant.

The book of Ruth is a history of things done in the days of the Iudges & may be looked upon as an addition to the book of the Iudges written by the same author & at the same time. For it was written after the birth of David (Ruth IV.17, 22) & not long after because the history of Booz & Ruth the great grandfather & great grandmother of David & that of their contemporaries could not well be remembred above two or three generations. And since this book derives the genealogy of David from Booz & Ruth & omits Davids elder brothers & his sons; it was written in honour of David after he was annointed King by Samuel & before he had children in Hebron & by consequence in the reign of Saul. It proceeds not to the history of David & therefore seems to have been written presently after he was annointed. They judge well therefore who ascribe to Samuel the books of Ioshua Iudges & Ruth.

Samuel is also reputed the author of the first book of Samuel till the time of his death. The two books of Samuel cite no authors & therefore seem to be originals. They begin with his genealogy birth & education & might be written partly in his life time by himself or his disciples the Prophets at Naioth in Ramah (1 Sam. 19. 18, 19, 20) & partly after his death by the same disciples.

The books of the kings cite other authors, as the book of the Acts of Solomon, the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel & the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Iudah. The books of the Chronicles cite the book of Samuel the Seer, the book of Nathan the prophet, & the book of Gad the Seer for the acts of David; the book of Nathan the prophet, the prophesy of Ahijah the Shilonite & the visions of Iddo the Seer for the Acts of Solomon; the book of Shemajah the prophet, & the book of Iddo the Seer concerning genealogies, for the Acts of Rehoboam & Abijah; the book of the kings of Iudah & Israel for the acts of Asa, Ioash, Amaziah, Iotham, Azaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, & Iosiah; the book of Hanani the Seer for the Acts of Iehosaphat; & the visions of Isaiah for the Acts of Vzziah & Hezekiah. ^[9][These books were therefore collected out of the historical writings of the ancient Seers & Prophets. And because the books of the Kings & Chronicles quote one another they were written at one & the same time. And this time was after the return from the Babylonian captivity because they bring down the history of Iudah & the genealogies of the Kings of Iudah & of the high Priests to that captivity. And the book of Ezra was originally a part of the book of the Chronicles & has been divided <4r> from it. For it begins with the two last verses of the books of Chronicles, & the first book of Esdras begins with the two last chapters thereof. Ezra was therefore the compiler of the books of Kings & Chronicles & brought down the history to his own time. He was a ready Scribe in the Law of God, & for assisting him in this work Neemias founded a library & gathered together the Acts of the kings & the Prophets & of David & the Epistles of the Kings concerning the holy gifts, 2 Maccab. 2.13. By the Acts of David I understand here the two books of Samuel or at least the second book. Out of the Acts of the Kings written from time to time by the Prophets he composed the books of the Kings of Iudah & Israel, the Chronicles of the Kings of Iudah & the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. And in doing this he joyned those Acts together in due order of time, copying the very words of the authors, as is manifest from hence that the books of the kings & Chronicles frequently agree with one another in words for many sentences together. Where they agree in sense there they agree in words.

So also the prophesies of Isaiah written at several times he has collected into one body. And the like for those of Ieremy & the rest of the prophets down to the days of the second Temple The book of Ionah is the history of Ionah written by another hand. The book of Daniel is a collection of papers written at several times. The six last chapters contein prophesies written at several times by Daniel himself: the six first are a collection of historical papers written by others. The fourth chapter is a decree of Nebuchadnezzar. The first chapter was written after Daniels death: for the author saith that Daniel continued to the first year of Cyrus; that is to his first year over the Persians & Medes & third year over Babylon. And for the same reason the fift & sixt chapters were also written after his death. For they end with these words: So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius & in the reign of Cyrus the Persian. Yet these words might be added by the collector of the papers whom I take to be Ezra.

The Psalms composed by Moses David & others seem to have been also collected by Ezra into one volume. I reccon him the collector because in this collection I meet with Psalms as late as the Babylonian captivity, but with none later.

After these things Antiochus Epiphanes spoiled the Temple commanded the Iews to forsake the law upon pain of death & caused the sacred books to be burnt wherever they could be found, & in these troubles the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel was entirely lost. But upon recovering from this oppression, Iudas Maccabeus gathered together all those writings that were to be met with (2 Maccab. 2.14) & in reducing them into order, part of the prophesies of Isaiah or some other Prophet have been added to the end of the prophesies of Zechary & the book of Ezra has been separated from the book of Chronicles & set together in two different orders; in one order in the book of Ezra received into the Canon & in another order in the first book of Ezdras.

And after the Roman captivity the Iews for preserving their traditions put them in writing in their Talmud, & for preserving their scriptures <5r> agreed upon an edition & pointed it & counted the letters of every sort in every book. And by preserving only this Edition the ancienter various lections, except what can be discovered by means of the Septuagint Version, are now lost, & such marginal notes or other corruptions as by the errors of the transcribers before this Edition was made, have crept into the text, are now scarce to be corrected.

The Iews before the Roman captivity, distinguished the sacred books into the Law, the Prophets, & the Hagiographa or Holy writings, & read only the Law & the Prophets in their Synagogues. And Christ & his Apostles laid the stress of religion upon the Law & the Prophets, Matt. 7.12 & 22.4. Luke 16.16, 29, 31, & 24.44. Acts 24.14 & 26.22. Rom. 3.21. By the Hagiographa they meant the historical books called Ioshua, Iudges, Ruth, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, & Esther, the book of Iob, the Psalms, the books of Solomon, & the Lamentations. The Samaritans read only the Pentateuch. And when Iehosaphat sent men to teach in the cities they had with them only the book of the Law: for the Prophesies now extant were not then written. And upon the return from the Babylonian captivity Ezra read only the book of the Law to the people from morning to noon on the first day of the seventh month & from day to day in the feast of Tabernacles: for he had not yet collected the writings of the Prophets into the volume now extant but instituted the reading of them after the collection was made. By reading the Law & the Prophets in the Synagogues those books have been kept freer from corruption than the Hagiographa.

In the infancy of the nation of Israel when God had given them a law & made a covenant with them to be their God if they would keep his commandments, he sent Prophets to reclaim them as often as they revolted to the worship of other Gods: & upon their returning to him they sometimes renewed the covenant which they had broken. These prophets he continued to send till the days of Ezra: but after their prophesies were read in the synagogues, those prophesies were thought sufficient. For if the people would not hear Moses & the old Prophets, they would hear no new ones, no not tho they should rise from the dead. At length when a new truth was to be preached to <6r> the Gentiles, namely that Iesus was the Christ, God sent new Prophets & teachers: but after their writings were also received & read in the synagogues of the Christians, prophesy ceased a second time. We have Moses the Prophets & Apostles & the words of Christ himself, & if we will not hear them we shall be more inexcusable then the Iews. For the Prophets & Apostles have foretold that as Israel often revolted & brake the covenant & upon repentance renewed it , so there should be a falling away among the Christians soon after the days of the Apostles, & that in the latter days God would destroy the impenitent revolters & make a new covenant with his people. And the giving ear to the prophets is a fundamental character of the true Church. For God has so ordered the prophesies that in the latter days the wise may understand but the wicked shall do wickedly & none of the wicked shall understand, Dan. 12.9, 10. The authority of Emperors Kings & Princes is humane. The authority of Councils, Synods, Bishops & Presbyters is humane. The authority of the Prophets is divine & comprehends the summ of religion, recconing Moses & the Apostles among the prophets. And if an Angel from heaven preach any other gospel then what they have delivered let him be accursed. Their writings contein the covenant between God & his people, with instructions for keeping this covenant, instances of Gods judgments upon them that break it, & predictions of things to come. While the people of God keep the covenant they continue to be his people: when they break it they cease to be his people or Church & became the synagogue of Satan who say they are Iews & are not. And no power on earth is authorised to alter this covenant.

The predictions of things to come relate to the state of the Church in all ages. And amongst the old Prophets Daniel is most distinct in order of time & easiest to be understood: & therefore in those things which relate to the last times he must be made the key to the rest.

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Chap 2
Of the prophetic language.

For understanding these prophesies we are in the first place to acquaint our selves with the figurative language of the Prophets. And this language is taken from the analogy between the world natural & an empire or kingdom considered as a world politique

Accordingly the whole world natural consisting of heaven & earth signifies the whole world politique consisting of thrones & people, or so much of it as is considered in the prophesy: & the things in that world signify the analogous things in this. For the heavens & the things therein signify thrones & dignities & those that enjoy them; & the earth with the things therein the inferior people, & the lowest parts of the earth called Hades or Hell, the lowest or most miserable part of the people. Whence ascending towards heaven & descending to the earth are put for rising & falling in power & honour: Rising out of the earth or waters & falling into them, for the rising up to any dignity or dominion out of the in[ferior^[10] state of the people or falling down from the same into that inferior state. Descending into the lower parts of the earth for descending to a very low & unhappy estate. Speaking with a faint voice out of the dust for being in a weak & low condition. Moving from one place to another for translation from one office dignity or dominion to another. Great earthquakes & the shaking of heaven & earth for the shaking of kingdoms so as to distract or overthrow them. The creating a new heaven & earth & the passing away of an old one, or the beginning & end of the world, for the rise & ruin of the body politique signified thereby.

In the heavens the Sun & Moon are by interpreters of dreams put for the persons of Kings & Queens, but in sacred prophesy which regards not single persons, the sun is put for the whole species & race of kings in the kingdom or kingdoms of the world polytic shining with regal power & glory: the Moon for the body of the common people considered as the kings wife: the starrs subordinate Princes & great men, or for Bishops & Rulers of the people of God when the sun is Christ. Light for the glory truth & knowledge wherewith great & good men shine & illuminate others. Darkness for obscurity of condition, & for error blindness & ignorance. Darkning, smiting, or setting of the Sun Moon & Starrs for the ceasing of a kingdom, or for the desolation thereof proportional to the darkness. Darkning the Sun, turning the Moon into blood, & falling of the starrs, for the same. New Moons for the return of a dispersed people into a body politique or ecclesiastique.

Fire & Meteors refer to both heaven & earth, & signify as follows. Burning any thing with fire is put for the consuming thereof by war. A conflagration of the earth or turning a country into a lake of fire, for the consumption of a kingdom by war. The being in a furnace for the being in slavery under another nation. The ascending up of the smoak of any burning thing for ever & ever for the continuation of a conquered people under the misery of perpetual subjection & slavery. The scorching heat of the sun for vexations warrs persecutions & troubles inflicted by the king. Riding on the clouds for reigning over much people. Covering the Sun with a cloud or with smoke, for oppression of the king by the armies of an enemy. Tempestuous winds (that is, the motion of clouds) for warrs. Thunder (that is the voyce of a cloud) for the voyce of a multitude. A storm of thunder <8r> lightning hail & overflowing for a tempest of warr descending from the heavens & clouds politique on the heads of their enemies. Rain if not immoderate, & dew, & living water, for the graces & doctrines of the spirit. And the defect of rain for spiritual barrenness.

In the earth, the dry land & congregated waters (as a Sea, a River, a Flood) are put for the people of several regions nations & dominions. Embittering of waters for great affliction of the people by war & persecution. Turning things into blood for the mystical death of bodies politique, that is for their dissolution. The overflowing of a sea or river for the invasion of the earth politique by the people of the waters. Drying up of waters for the conquest of their regions by the earth. Fountains of waters for cities the permanent heads of rivers politique. Mountains & Islands for the cities of the earth & sea politique with the territories & dominions belonging to those cities. Dens & Rocks of mountains for the Temples of cities. The hiding of men in those Dens & Rocks for the shutting up of Idols in their Temples. Houses & Ships for families assemblies & towns in the earth & sea politique. And a navy of war-ships for an army of the kingdom signified by the sea.

Also animals & vegetables are put for the people of several regions & conditions; & particularly, Trees, hearbs, & land animals for the people of the earth politique. Flaggs, reeds & fishes for those of the waters politique. And Birds & Insects for those of the politique heaven & earth. A forest for a kingdom. And a wilderness for a desolate & thin people.

If the world politique considered in prophesy consists of many kingdoms, they are represented by as many parts of the world natural. As the noblest by the celestial frame, & then the Moon & Clouds are put for the common people. The less noble by the earth sea & rivers, & by the animals or vegetables or buildings therein; & then the greater & more powerfull animals & taller trees are put for kings princes & nobles. And because the whole kingdom is the body politique of the king, therefore the Sun, or a Tree, or a Beast, or Bird or a man whereby the king is represented, is put in a large signification for the whole kingdom; & several animals, as a Lion, a Beare, a Leopard, a Goat, according to their qualities, are put for several kingdoms & bodies politique; & sacrificing of Beasts for slaughtering & conquering of kingdoms; & friendship between Beasts for peace between kingdoms. Yet sometimes vegetables & animals are by certain epithites or circumstances extended to other significations; as a Tree when called the tree of life or of knowledge, & a Beast when called the old serpent, or worshipped.

When a Beast or Man is put for a kingdom, his parts & qualities are put for the analogous parts & qualities of the kingdom. As the head of a Beast for the great men who precede & govern. The tail for the inferior people who follow & are governed. The heads, if more then one, for the number of capital parts or dynasties or dominions in the kingdom whether collateral or successive with respect to the civil government. The horns on any head for the number of kingdoms in that head with respect to military power. Seeing for understanding, & the eyes for men of understanding & policy, & in matters of religion for Ἐπίσκοποι Bishops. Speaking for making laws. The mouth for a lawgiver, whether civil or sacred. The loudness of the voice for might & power. The faintness thereof for weakness. Eating & drinking for acquiring what is signified by the things eaten & drunken. The hairs of a beast or man, & the feathers of a bird for people. The wings for the number of kingdoms represented by the beast. The arm of a man for his power or for any people wherein his strength & power consists. His feet for the lowest of the people or for the latter end of the kingdom. The feet nails & teeth of beasts of prey for armies & squadrons of armies. The bones for strength & for fortified places. The flesh for riches & possessions. And the days of their acting for years. And when a tree is put for a kingdom, its branches leaves & fruit signify as do the wings feathers & food of a bird or beast.

When a man is taken in a mystical sense, his qualities are often signified by his actions, & by the circumstances of things about him. So a <9r> Ruler is signified by his riding on a beast: a Warrior & Conqueror by his having a sword & bow: a potent man by his gigantic stature: a Iudge by weights & measures: a sentence of absolution or condemnation by a white or black stone: a new dignity by a new name: moral or civil qualifications by garments: honour & glory by splendid apparel: royal dignity by purple or scarlet, or by a crown: righteousnes by white & clean robes: wickedness by spotted & filthy garments: affliction mourning & humiliation by cloathing in sackcloth: dishonour shame & want of good works by nakedness: error & misery by drinking a cup of his or her wine that causeth it: propagating any religion for gain by exercising trafick & merchandise with that people whose religion it is: worshipping or serving the false Gods of any nation by committing adultery with their princes, or by worshipping them: a Council of a kingdom by its image: idolatry by blasphemy: overthrow in war by a wound of man or beast: a durable plague of war by a sore & pain: the affliction or persecution which a people suffers in labouring to bring forth a new kingdom by the pain of a woman in labour to bring forth a manchild: the dissolution of a body politick or ecclesiastick by the death of a man or beast: & the revival of a dissolved dominion by the resurrection of the dead.

Chap. II. 3.
Of the vision of the Image
composed of four metals.

The prophesies of Daniel are all of them related to one another as if they were but several parts of one general prophesy given at several times. The first is the easiest to be understood, & every following prophesy adds something new to the former. The first was given in a dream to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; in the second year of his reign; but the king forgetting his dream, it was given again to Daniel in a dream & by him revealed to the king. And thereby Daniel presently became famous for wisdome & revealing of secrets: insomuch that Ezekiel his contemporary in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar spake thus of him to the king of Tyre. Behold, saith he, thou art wiser then Daniel, there is no secret that they can hide from thee. Ezek XXVIII.3. And {t}he same Ezekiel in another place joyns Daniel with Noah & Iob as most high in the favour of God. Ezek. XIV.14, 16, 18, 20. And in the last year of Belshazzar, the Queen mother said of him to the king. Behold there [^[11]is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy Gods, And in the days of thy father, light & understanding & wisdom like the wisdome of the Gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father made master of the magicians, astrologers, Caldeans & soothsayers: forasmuch as an excellent spirit & knowledge, & understanding, interpreting of dreams, & shewing of hard sentences, & dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Dan. V.11, 12. Daniel was in the greatest credit amongst the Iews till the reign of the Roman Emperor Hadrian: & to reject his prophesies is to reject the Christian religion. For this religion is founded upon his prophesy concerning the Messiah.

Now in this vision of the Image composed of four metals the foundation of all Daniels prophesies is laid. It represents a body of four great nations which should reign over the earth successively: viz^t the people of Babylonia, the Persians, the Greeks, & the Romans. And by a stone cut out without hands, which fell upon the feet of the image, & brake all the four metalls <10r> to pieces & became a great mountain & filled the earth, it further represents that a new kingdom should arise after the four & conquer all those nations & grow very great & last to the end of ages.

The head of the image was of gold, & signifies the nations of Babylonia who reigned first, as Daniel himself interprets. Thou art this head of gold, saith he to Nebuchadnezzar. These nations reigned till Cyrus conquered Babylon, & within a few months after that conquest revolted to the^[12] Persians & set them up above the Medes. The breast & arms of the image were of silver & represent the Persians who reigned next. The belly & thighs of the image were of brass & represent the Greeks who under the dominion of Alexander the great conquered the Persians & reigned next after them. The leggs were of iron & represent the Romans who reigned next after the Greeks, & began to conquer them in the eighth year of Antiochus Epiphanes. For in that year they conquered Perseus king of Macedon the fundamental kingdom of the Greeks, & from thence forward grew into a mighty empire & reigned with great power till the days of Theodosius the great. Then by the incursion of many northern nations they brake into many smaller kingdoms which are represented by the feet & toes of the image composed part of iron & part of clay. For then, saith Daniel, the kingdom shall be divided, & there shall be in it of the strength of iron, but they shall not cleave one to another.

And in the days of these kings, saith Daniel, shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed nor left to other people, but it shall break in pieces & consume all these kingdoms, & it shall stand for ever: Foras much as thou sawest the stone was cut out of the mountains without hands, & that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the silver & the gold.

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Chap. 4
Of the vision of the four Beasts.

In the next vision, which is of the four Beasts, the prophesy of the four empires is repeated, with several new additions; such as are the two wings of the Lion, the three ribs in the mouth of the Bear, the four wings & four heads of the Leopard, the eleven horns of the fourth Beast, & the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven to the ancient of days sitting in judgment.

The first Beast was like a Lion, & had eagles wings, to denote the kingdoms of Babylonia & Media, which overthrew the Assyrian Empire & divided it between them, & thereby became considerable, & grew into great empires. In the former Prophesy the Empire of Babylonia was represented by the head of gold; in this both empires are represented together by the two wings of the Lion. And I beheld, saith Daniel^[13], till the wings thereof were pluckt, wherewith it was lifted up from the earth, & made to stand upon the feet as a man, & a man's heart was given to it; that is, till it was humbled & subdued, & made to know its humane state.

The second Beast was like a Bear, & represents the empire which reigned next after the Babylonians, that is, the empire of the Persians. Thy kingdom is divided or broken, saith Daniel to the last king of Babylon, & given to the Medes & Persians, Dan. V.28. This Beast raised it self up on one side; the Persians being under the Medes at the fall of Babylon, but presently rising up above them. And it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it,^[14] to signify the kingdoms of Sardes, Babylon & Egypt, which were conquered by it, but did not belong to its proper body. And it devoured much flesh, the riches of those three kingdoms.

The third Beast was the kingdom which succeeded the Persian; & this was the empire of the Greeks, Dan. VIII.6, 7, 20, 21. It was like a Leopard to signify its fierceness, & had four heads & four wings to signify that it should become divided into four kingdoms Dan. VIII.22. For it continued in a monarchical form during the reign of Alexander the great & his brother Aridæus, & young sons Alexander & Hercules; & then brake into four kingdoms, by the governours of provinces putting crowns on their own heads, & by mutual consent reigning over their provinces. Cassander reigned over Macedon, Greece & Epire; Lysimachus over Thrace & Bithynia; Ptolomy over Egypt, Lybia, Arabia, Cœlosyria, & Palæstine;, & Seleucus over Syria.

The fourth Beast was the Empire which succeeded that of the Greeks, & this was the Roman. This Beast was exceeding dreadfull & terrible, & had great iron teeth, & devoured & brake in pieces, & stamped the residue with its feet. And such was the Roman Empire. It was larger, stronger, & more formidable & lasting than any of the former. It conquered the kingdom of Macedon, the fundamental kingdom of the Greeks, (together with Illyricum & Epire) in the eighth year of Antiochus Epiphanes, Anno Nabonass. 500;^[15] & inherited that of Pergamus Anno Nabonass. 615; & conquered that of Syria Anno Nabonass. 679, & that of Egypt, Anno Nabonass. 718. And by these & other conquests it became greater & more terrible then any of the three former Beasts. This Empire continued in its greatness till the reign of Theodosius the great; & then brake into ten kingdoms, represented by the ten horns of this Beast; & continued in a broken form, till the Ancient of days sat in a throne like fiery flame, & the judgment was set, & the books were opened, & the Beast was slain & his body given to the burning flames; & one like the son of man came with the clouds of heaven & was brought before the Ancient of days^[16], & received dominion over all nations, <12r> & judgment was given to the saints of the most high, & the time came that they possessed the kingdom.

I beheld, saith Daniel^[17], till the Beast was slain, & his body destroyed, & given to the burning flames. As concerning the rest of the Beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season & a time. And therefore all the four Beasts are still alive, tho the dominion of the three first be taken away. The nations of Chaldea & Assyria are still the first Beast. Those of Media & Persia are still the second Beast. Those of Macedon, Greece & Thrace, Asia minor, Syria & Egypt,×^[18] are still the third. And those of Europe on this side Greece are still the fourth. Seeing therefore that the body of the third beast is confined to the nations on this side the river Euphrates, & that the body of the fourth Beast is confined to the nations on this side Greece; we are to look for all the four heads of the third Beast, among the nations on this side of the river Euphrates; & for all the eleven horns of the fourth Beast, among the nations on this side of Greece. And therefore, at the breaking of the Greek empire into four kingdoms of the Greeks, we include no part of the Chaldeans, Medes & Persians in those kingdoms, because they belonged to the bodies of the two first Beasts. Nor do we reckon the Greek empire seated at Constantinople among the horns of the fourth Beast, because it belonged to the body of the third.

<13r>

^[19][Chap.V.
Of the kingdoms represented by the feet
of the image
composed of iron & clay.

Dacia was a large country bounded on the south by the Danube, on the east by the Euxine sea, on the north by the river Neister & the mountain Crapac, & on the west by the river Tibesis, or Teys, which runs southward into the Danube a little above Belgrade. It comprehended the countries now called Transylvania, Moldavia, & Wallachia, & the eastern part of the upper Hungary. Its ancient inhabitants were called Getæ by the Greeks, Daci by the Latines, & Goths by themselves. Alexander the great attaqued them, & Trajan conquered them, & reduced their country into a Province of the Roman Empire: & thereby the propagation of the Gospel among them was much promoted. They were composed of several Gothic nations, called Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Vandals, Gepides, Lombards, Burgundians, Alans, &c: who all agreed in their manners, & spake the same language, as Procopius represents. While they lived under the Romans the Goths or Ostrogoths were seated in the eastern parts of Dacia, the Vandals in the western part upon the river Teys, where the rivers Maresh & Keresh run into it. The Visigoths were between them. The Gepides, according to Iornandes, were upon the Vistula. The Burgundians (a Vandalic nation) were between the Vistula & the southern fountain of the Boristhenes, at some distance from the mountain Crapac northwards, where Ptolomy places them, by the names of Phrugundiones & Burgiones. The Alans (another^a[20] Gothic nation) were between the northern fountain of the Boristhenes & the mouth of the river Tanais, where Ptolomy placeth the mountain Alanus, & western side of the Palus Mæotis.

These nations continued under the dominion of the Romans till the second year of the emperor Philip, & then for want of their military pay began to revolt; & the Ostrogoths set up a kingdom, which, under their kings Ostrogotha, Cniva, Araric, Geberic, & Hermaneric, increased till the year of Christ 376; & then by an incursion of the Huns from beyond the Tanais, & the death of Hermaneric, brake into several smaller kingdoms. Hunnimund, the son of Hermaneric, became king over the Ostrogoths; Fridigern over the Visigoths; Winithar, or Vinithar, over a part of the Goths called Gruthungi by Ammian, Gothunni by Claudian, & Sarmatæ & Scythians by others; Athaneric over another part of the Goths in Dacia, called Thervingi; & Box over the Antes in Sarmatia. And the Gepides had also their king. The Vandals fled over the Danube from Geberic in the latter end of the reign of Constantine the great, & had seats granted to them in Pannonia by that Emperor, & there lived quietly forty years, viz^t till the year 377, when several Gothic nations flying from the Hunns came over the Danube, & had seats granted them in Mæsia & Thrace by the Greek Emperor Valens.. But the next year they revolted, & called in some Goths, Alans & Hunns, from beyond the Danube, & routed the Roman army, slew the emperor Valens, & spread themselves into Greece & Pannonia as far as to the Alps. But in the years 379 & 380 they were checkt by the arms of the Emperors Gratian & Theodosius, & made a submissive peace; & the Visigoths & Thervingi returned to their seats in Mæsia & Thrace, & the Hunns retired over the Danube, & the Alans & Gruthungi obtained seats in Pannonia.

About the year 373, or 374, the Burgundians rose from their seats upon the Vistula with an army of eighty thousand men to invade Gallia; & being opposed, seated themselves upon the northern side of the Rhine over against Mentz. In the year 358, a body of the Salian Franks, with their king, coming from the river Sala, were received into the empire by the emperor Iulian, & seated in Gallia between Brabant & the Rhine. <14r> And their king Mellobaudes was made Comes domesticorum by the emperor Gratian. Richomer, another noble Salian Frank, was made Comes domesticorum, & Magister utriusque Militiæ, by Theodosius; & A.C. 384 was Consul with Clearchus. He was a great favourite of Theodosius, & accompanied him in his warrs against Eugenius, but died in the expedition, & left a son called Theudemir, who afterwards became king of the Salian Franks in Brabant. In the time of this war some Franks from beyond the Rhine invaded Gallia under the conduct of Genobald, Marcomir & Suno, but were repulsed by Stilico; & Marcomir being slain, was succeeded in Germany by his son Pharamund.

While these nations remained quiet within the Empire subject to the Romans, many others continued beyond the Danube till the death of the emperor Theodosius, & then rose up in arms. For Paulus Diaconus in his Historia Miscell. Lib. XIV, speaking of the times next after the death of this Emperor, tell us: Eodem tempore erant Gothi et aliæ gentes maximæ trans Danubium habitantes: ex quibus rationabiliores quatuor sunt, Gothi scilicet, Huisogothi, Gepides & Vandali; et nomen tantum & nihil aliud mutantes. Isti sub Arcadio et Honorio Danubium transeuntes, locati sunt in terra Romanorum: et Gepides quidem (ex quibus postea divisi sunt Langobardi et Avares) villas, quæ sunt circa Singidonum & Sirmium, habitavere. And Procopius in the beginning of his Historia Vandalica writes to the same purpose. Hitherto the western Empire continu'd entire, but now brake into many kingdoms.

Theodosius died A.C. 395; & then the Visigoths, under the conduct of Alaric the successor of Fridigern, rose from their seats in Thrace, & wasted Macedon, Thessaly, Achaia, Peloponnesus, & Epire with fire & sword five years together; & then turning westward, invaded Dalmatia, Illyricum & Pannonia; & from thence went into Italy A.C. 402, & the next year were so beaten at Pollentia & Verona by Stilico the commander of the forces of the western Empire, that Claudian calls the remainder of the forces of Alaric, tanta ex gente reliquias breves, & Prudentius Gentem deletam. Thereupon Alaric made peace with the Emperor, being so far humbled that Orosius saith, he did pro pace optima & quibuscunque sedibus suppliciter & simpliciter orare. This peace was ratified by mutual hostages; Ætius was sent hostage to Alaric; & Alaric continued a free Prince in the seats now granted to him.

When Alaric took up arms, the nations beyond the Danube began to be in motion; & the next winter ( between A.C. 395 & 396) a great body of Hunns, Alans, Ostrogoths, Gepides, & other northern nations, came over the frozen Danube, being invited by Ruffin: & their brethren also, who had obtained seats within the Empire, took up arms. Ierome calls all this great multitude, Hunns, Alans, Vandals, Goths, Sarmatans, Quades, & Marcomans; & saith, that they invaded all places between Constantinople & the Iulian Alps, wasting Scythia, Thrace, Macedon, Dardania, Dacia, Thessaly, Achaia, Epire, Dalmatia, & all Pannonia. And the Suevians also invaded Rhætia. For when Alaric ravaged Pannonia, the Romans were defending Rhætia; which gave Alaric an opportunity of invading Italy, as Claudian thus mentions.

And when Alaric went from those parts into Italy, some other barbarous nations invaded Noricum & Vindelicia, as the same Poet Claudian thus mentions.

This was in the years 402 & 403. And among these nations I reccon the Suevians, Quades, & Marcomans; For they were all in arms at this time, The Quades & Marcomans were Suevian nations; & they and the Suevians came originally from Bohemia, & the river Suevus or Sprake in Lusatia, & were now united under one common king called Ermeric, who soon after led them into Gallia. The Vandals & Alans <15r> might also about this time extend themselves into Noricum. Also Vldin with a great body of Hunns passed the Danube about the time of Chrysostom's banishment, that is, A.C. 404, & wasted Thrace & Mœsia. And Radagaisus king of the Gruthunni & successor of Winithar, inviting over more barbarians from beyond the Danube, invaded Italy with an army of above two hundred thousand Goths; & within a year or two (A.C. 405 or 406) was overcome by Stilico, & perished with his Army. In this war Stilico was assisted with a great body of Huns & Ostrogoths under the conduct of Vldin & Sarus: They were hired by Emperor Honorius. And in all this confusion it was necessary for the Lombards in Pannonia to arm themselves in their own defence, & assert their liberty, the Romans being no longer able to protect them.

And now Stilico purposing to make himself Emperor, procured a military prefecture for Alaric, & sent him into the east in the service of Honorius the western Emperor, committing some Roman troops to his conduct to strengthen his army of Goths, & promising to follow soon after with his own army. His pretence was to recover some regions of Illyricum, which the eastern Emperor was accused to detain injuriously from the western; but his secret design was to make himself Emperor, by the assistance of the Vandals & their allies: For he himself was a Vandal. And for faciliating this designe, he invited a great body of the barbarous nations to invade the western Empire, while he & Alaric invaded the eastern. And these nations under their several kings, the Vandals under Godegisilus, the Alans in two bodies, the one under Goar, the other under Resplendial, & the Suevians Quades & Marcomans under Ermeric, marched through Rhetia to the side of the Rhine, ^[21][leaving their seats in Pannonia to the Hunns & Ostrogoths, & joyned the Burgundians under Gundicar, & ruffled the Franks in their further march. On the last day of December A.C. 406, they passed the Rhine at Ments, & diffused^[22] themselves into Germania prima & the adjacent regions; & amongst other actions the Vandals took Trevirs^[23]. Then they advanced into Belgium, & began to ruffle^[24] that country. Whereupon the Salian Franks in Brabant took up arms, & under the conduct of Theudemir, the son of Ricimer, or Richomer, above mentioned, made so stout a resistance, that they slew almost twenty thousand of the Vandals, with their king Godegesilus, in battel; the rest escaping only by a party of Resplendial's Alans which came timely to their assistance.

Then the British soldiers, alarm'd by the rumour of these things, revolted, & set up Tyrants there; first Marcus, whom they slew presently; then Gratian, whom they slew within four months; & lastly Constantine, under whom they invaded Gallia A.C. 408, being favoured by Goar & Gundicar. And Constantine having possessed a good part of Gallia, created his son Constans Cæsar, & sent him into Spain to order his affairs there, A.C. 409.

In the mean time Resplendial, seing the aforesaid disaster of the Vandals, & that Goar was gone over to the Romans, led his army from the Rhine; & together with the Suevians, & residue of the Vandals, went towards Spain; the Franks in the mean time prosecuting their victory so far as to retake Trevirs^[25], which after they had plundered it, they left to the Romans. The Barbarians were at first stopt by the Pyrenean mountains, which made them diffuse^[26] themselves into Aquitain: but the next year they had the passage betrayed to them by some soldiers of Constans; & entring Spain 4 Kal. Octob. A.C. 409, every one conquered what he could; & at length (A.C. 411) they divided their conquests by lot, & the Vandals obtained Bœtica, & part of Gallæcia, the Suevians the rest of Gallæcia, & the Alans Lusitania & the Carthaginensian Province: the Emperor for the sake of peace confirming them in those seats by grant A.C. 413.

Also the Roman Franks above mentioned, having made Theudemir their king, began streight after their conquest of the Vandals to invade their neighbours. The first they set upon were the ^✝[27] Gauls of Brabant: but meeting with notable resistance, they desired their alliance. And so those Gauls fell off from the Romans, & made an intimate league with the Franks to be as one people, marrying with one another, & conforming to one another's manners, till they became without distinction. Thus by the access of these Gauls, & of the foreign Franks also, who afterwards came over the Rhine, the Salian kingdom soon grew very great & powerfull.

Stilico's expedition against the Greek Emperor was stopt by the order of Honorius; & then Alaric came out of Epire into Noricum, & requested a summ <16r> of money for his service. The Senate were inclined to deny him, but by by Stilico's mediation granted it. But after a while Stilico being accused of a traiterous conspiracy with Alaric, & slain 10 Kal. Sept. A.C. 408, & Alaric thereby disappointed of his money, & reputed an enemy to the empire; he brake streight into Italy with his army which he brought out of Epire, & sent to his brother Adolphus to follow him with what forces he had in Pannonia, which were not great but yet not to be despised. Thereupon Honorius fearing to be shut up in Rome, retired to Ravenna in October A.C. 408. And from that time Ravenna continued to be the seat of the western Emperors. In those days the Hunns also invaded Pannonia; & seizing the deserted seats of the Vandals, Alans & Goths, founded a new kingdom there. Alaric advancing to Rome besieged it, & 9 Kal. Sept. A.C. 410 took it: & afterwards attempting to pass into Afric, was shipwrackt. After which Honorius made peace with him, & got up an army to send against the Tyrant Constantine.^[28]

At the same time Gerontius, one of Constantine's captains, revolted from him, & set up Maximus Emperor in Spain. Whereupon Constantine sent Edobec, another of his captains, to draw to his assistance, beside the barbarians under Goar & Gundicar in Gallia, supplies of Franks & Alemans from beyond the Rhine; & committed the custody of Vienna in Narbonne to his son Constans. Gerontius advancing, first slew Constans at Vienna, & then began to besiege Constantine at Arles. But Honorius at the same time sending Constantius with an army on the same errand, Gerontius fled, & Constantius continued the siege, being strengthned by the access of the greatest part of the soldiers of Gerontius. After four months siege, Edobec having procured succours, the barbarian kings at Ments, Goar & Gundicar, constitute Iovinus Emperor, & together with him set forward to relieve Arles. At their approach Constantius retired. They pursued, & he beat them by surprise; but not prosecuting his victory, the barbarians soon recovered themselves; yet not so as to hinder the fall of the tyrants Constantine, Iovinus & Maximus. But Britain could not be recovered to the empire, but remained ever after a distinct kingdom.

The next year (A.C. 412) the Visigoths being beaten in Italy, had Aquitain granted them to retire into: & they invaded it with much violence, causing the Alans & Burgundians to retreat, who were then depopulating it. At the same time the Burgundians were brought to peace; & the Emperor granted them for inheritance a region upon the Rhene which they had invaded. And the same I presume he did with the Alans. But the Franks not long after retaking & burning Trevirs^[29], Castinus, A.C. 415, was sent against them with an army, & routed them & slew Theudomir their king. This was the second taking of Trevirs^[30] by the Franks. It was therefore taken four times, once by the Vandals & thrice by the Franks. Theudemir was succeeded by Pharamond, the Prince or King of the Salian Franks in Germany. From thence he brought new forces, reigned over the whole, & had seats granted to his people within the empire neare the Rhine.

And now the Barbarians were all quieted, & settled in several kingdoms within the Empire, not only by conquest, but also by the grants of the emperor Honorius. For Rutilius in his Itinerary, written in Autumn, Anno Vrbis 1169, that is (according to Varro's computation then in use) A.C. 416, thus laments the wasted fields:

And Orosius in the end of his history, which was finished A.C. 417, represents now a general pacification of the barbarous nations by the words comprimere, coangustare, addicere gentes immanissimas; terming them imperio addictas, because they had obteined seats in the empire by league & compact; & coangustatas, because they did no longer invade all regions at pleasure, but by the same compact remained quiet in the seats then granted them. And these are the kingdoms, of which the feet of the Image were henceforward composed, & which are represented by iron & clay intermixed, which did not stick one to another, & were of different strength.

<17r>

Chap. V. 6
Of the ten kingdoms represented by
the ten horns of the
fourth Beast.

Now by the warrs above described the western empire of the Romans, about the time that Rome was besieged & taken by the Goths, became broken into the following ten kingdoms.

• 1 The kingdome of the Vandals & Alans in Spain & Afric

• 2 The kingdom of the Suevians in Spain

• 3 The kingdom of the Visigoths.

• 4 The kingdom of the Alans in Gallia.

• 5 The kingdom of the Burgundians.

  6 The kingdom of the Franks.

  7 The kingdom of the Britains.

• 8 The kingdom of the Hunns.

  9 The kingdom of the Lombards

  10 The kingdom of Ravenna.

Seven of these kingdoms are thus mentioned by Sigonius. ^[31]1 Honorio regnante, in Pannoniam ² Hunni, in Hispaniam ³ Vandali, ⁴ Alani, ⁵ Suevi & ⁶ Gothi, in Galliam ⁴ Alani ⁷ Burgundiones et ⁶ Gothi, certis sedibus permissis, accepti. Add the Franks, Britains, & Lombards, & you have the ten. For these arose about the same time with the seven. But let us view them severally.

1. The kings of the Vandals were, A.C. 407^[32], Godegisilus, 407 Gunderic, 426 Geiseric, 477 Hunneric, 484 Gundemund, 496 Thrasamund, 523 Geiseric, 530 Gelimer. Godegesilus led them into Gallia A.C. 406, Gunderic into Spain A.C. 409. Geiseric into Africa A.C. 427, & Gelimer was conquered by Belisarius A.C. 533. Their kingdom lasted in Gallia, Spain & Africa together 126 years; & in Africa they were very potent. The Alans had only two kings of their own in Spain, Resplendial, & Ataces, Vtacus or Othacar. Vnder Resplendial they went into France A.C. 407, & into Spain A.C. 409. Ataces was slain with almost all his army by Vallia king of the Visigoths A.C. 419. And then the remainder of these Alans subjected themselves to Gunderic king of the Vandals in Bœtica, & went afterwards with them into Africa, as I learn out of Procopius. Whence the kings of the Vandals styled themselves kings of the Vandals & Alans; as may be seen in the Edict of Hunneric recited by Victor in his Vandalic persecution. In conjunction with the ^[33][Chatti, these Alans gave the name of Cathalaunia, or Catth-Alania, to the Province which is still so called. These Alans had also Gepides among them; & therefore the Gepides came into Pannonia before the Alans left it. There they became subject to the Hunns till the death of Attila A.C. 454, & at length were conquered by the Ostrogoths.

2. The kings of the Suevians were A.C. 407 Ermeric, 483 Rechila, 448 Rechiarius, 458 Maldra, 460 Frumarius, 463 Regismund. And after some other kings who are unknown, reigned A.C. 558 Theodemir, 568 Miro, 582 Euboricus, & 583 Andeca. This kingdom, after it had been once seated in Spain, remained always in Gallæcia & Lusitania. Ermeric after the fall of the Alan kingdom, enlarged it into all Gallicia, forcing the Vandals to retire into Bœtica & the Carthaginensian Province. This kingdom lasted 177 years according to Isidorus, & then was subdued by Leovigildus king of the Visigoths, & made a Province of his kingdom A.C. 585.

3. The kings of the Visigoths were A.C. 400 Alaric, 410 Athaulphus, 415 Sergeric & Vallia, 419 Theoderic, 451 Thorismund, 452 Theoderic, <18r> 465 Euric, 482 Alaric, 505 Gensalaric, 526 Amalaric, 531 Theudius, 548 Theudisclus, &c. I date this kingdom from the time that Alaric left Thrace & Greece to invade the western Empire. In the end of the reign of Athaulphus the Goths were humbled by the Romans, & attempted to pass out of France into Spain. Sergeric reigned but a few days. In the beginning of Vallia's reign they assaulted the Romans afresh, but were again repulsed, & then made peace on this condition, that they should on the behalf of the empire invade the barbarian kingdoms in Spain. And this they did, together with the Romans, in the years 417 & 418, overthrowing the Alans & part of the Vandals. Then they received Aquitain of the Emperor by a full donation, leaving their conquests in Spain to the Emperor: and thereby the seats of the conquered Alans came into the hands of the Romans. In the year 455, Theoderic (assisted by the Burgundians) invaded Spain, which was then almost all subject to the Suevians, & took a part of it from them. A.C. 506, the Goths were driven out of Gallia by the Franks. A.C. 585, they conquered the Suevian kingdom, & became Lords of all Spain. A.C. 713, the Saracens invaded them, but in time they recovered their dominions, & have reigned in Spain ever since

4. The kings of the Alans in Gallia were Goar, Sambida, Eocharic, Sangibanus, Beurgus, &c. Vnder Goar they invaded Gallia A.C. 407, & had seats given them near the Rhine, A.C. 412. Vnder Sambida (whom Bucher makes the successor, if not the son of Goar) they had the territories of Valence given them by Ætius the Emperor's Generall, A.C. 440. Vnder Eocharic they conquered a region of the rebelling Galli Arborici, given them by Ætius. This region was from them named Alencomium, quasi Alanorum conventus. Vnder Sangibanus they were invaded, & their regal city Orleans besieged by Attila king of the Hunns, with a vast army of 500000 men. And Ætius & the barbarian kings of Gallia came to raise the siege, & beat the Hunns in a very memorable battel, A.C. 451, in {×}^[34] campis Catalaunicis, so called from these Alans mixt with the Chatti. The region is now contractly called Campane. In that battel were slain on both sides 162000 men. A year or two after, Attila returned with an immense army to conquer this kingdom, but was again beaten by them & the Visigoths together in a battle of three days continuance, with a slaughter almost as great as the former. Vnder Beurgus, or Biorgor, they infested Gallia round about, till the reign of Maximus the Emperor; & then they passed the Alps in winter, & came into Liguria, but were there beaten, & Beurgus slain, by Ricimer commander of the Emperor's forces, A.C. 464. Afterwards they were again beaten, by the joint force of Odoacer king of Italy & Childeric king of the Franks, about the year 480, & again by Theudebert king of the Austrian Franks about the year 511.

5. The kings of the Burgundians were A.C. 407 Gundicar, 436 Gundioc, 467 Bilimer, 473 Gundobaldus with his brothers, 510 Sigismund, 517 Godomarus. Vnder Gundicar they invaded Gallia A.C. 407, & had seats given them by the Emperor near the Rhine in Gallia Belgica, A.C. 412. They had Saxons among them, & were now so potent, that Orosius A.C. 417 wrote of them: Burgundionum esse prævalidam manum, Galliæ hodieque testes sunt, in quibus præsumpta possessione consistunt. About the year 435 they received great overthrows by Ætius, & soon after by the Hunns: but five years after had Savoy granted them to be shared with the inhabitants; & from that time became again a potent kingdom, being bounded by the river Rhodanus, but afterwards extending much further into the heart of Gallia. Gundobald conquered the regions about the rivers Araris & Rhodanus, with the territories of Marseilles; & invaded Italy in the time of the Emperor Glycerius, & conquered all his brethren. Godomarus made Orleans his royal seat: whence the kingdome was called Regnum Aurelianorum. He was conquered by Clotharius & Childebert, kings of the Franks, A.C. 526. From thence forward this kingdom was sometimes united to the kingdom of the Franks, & sometimes divided from it, till the reign of Charles the great, who made his son Carolottus king of Burgundy. And from that time, for about 300 years together, it enjoyed its proper kings; & was then broken into the Dukedome of Burgundy, & County of Burgundy & County of Savoy; & afterwards those were broken into other lesser Counties.

6. The kings of the Franks were A.C. 407 Theudemir, 417 Pharamund, 428 Clodio, 448 Merovæus, 456 Childeric, 482 Clodo <19r> væus &c. Windeline & Bucher, two of the most diligent searchers into the originals of this kingdom, make it begin the same year with the Barbarian invasions of Gallia, that is, A.C. 407. Of the first kings there is in Labbee's Bibliotheca M.S. this record.

Historica quædam excerpta ex veteri stemmate genealogico Regum Franciæ.

Genobaldus, Marcomerus, Suno, Theodemeris. Isti duces vel Reguli extiterunt a principio gentis Francorum diversis temporibus. Sed incertum relinquunt historici quali sibi procreationis lineâ successerunt.

Pharamundus: Sub hoc rege suo primo Franci legibus se subdunt, quas Primores eorum tulerunt Wisogastus, Atrogastus, Salegastus.

Chlochilo. Iste transito Rheno, Romanos in Carbonaria sylva devicit, Camaracum cœpit & obtinuit, annis 20 regnavit. Sub hoc rege Franci usque Summam progressi sunt.

Merovechus. Sub hoc rege Franci Trevirim destruunt, Metim succendunt, usque Aurelianum perveniunt.

Now for Genobaldus, Marcomer & Suno, they were captains of the Transrhenane Franks in the reign of Theodosius, & concern us not. We are to begin with Theudemer the first king of the rebelling Salij, called Didio by Ivo Carnotensis, & Thiedo & Theudemerus by Rhenanus. His face is extant in a coin of gold found with this inscription, THEVDEMER REX, published by Petavius; & still or lately extant, as Windeline testifies: which shews that he was a king, & that in Gallia, seeing that rude Germany understood not then the coining of money, nor used either Latin words or letters. He was the son of Richemer, or Richomer, the favourite of the Emperor Theodosius; & so being a Roman Frank, & of the Salian royal blood, they therefore upon the rebellion made him king. The whole time of his reign you have stated in Excerptis Gregorij Turonensis e Fredigario, cap. 5, 6, 7, 8, where the making him king, the tyranny of Iovinus, the slaughter of the associates of Iovinus, the second taking of Trevirs^[35] by the Franks, & their war with Castinus in which this king was slain, are as a series of successive things thus set down in order. Extinctis Ducibus in Francis, denuo Reges creantur ex eadem stirpe qua prius fuerant. Eodem tempore Iovinus ornatus regios assumpsit. Constantinus^[36] fugam versus Italiam dirigit; missis a Iovino Principe percussoribus super Mentio flumine capite truncatur. Multi nobilium jussu Iovini apud Avernis^[37] capti, et a ducibus Honorij crudeliter interempti sunt. Trevirorum civitas, factione unius ex senatoribus nomine Lucij, a Francis capta & incensa est. — — Castinus Domesticorum Comes expeditionem accipit contra Francos, &c. Then returning to speak of Theudemir, he adds: Franci electum a se regem, sicut prius fuerat, crinitum, inquirentes diligenter ex genere Priami, Frigi et Francionis, super se crearunt nomine Theudemerum filium Richemeris, qui in hoc prælio quod supra memini, a Romanis interfectus est; that is, in the battel with Castinus his army. Of his death Gregory Turonensis makes this further mention: In consularibus legimus Theodemerem regem Francorum filium Ricimeris quondam, et Ascilam matrem ejus, gladio interfectos.

Vpon this victory of the Romans, the Franks & rebelling Gauls, who in the time of Theudemir were at war with one another, united to strengthen themselves, as Ordericus Vitalis^a[38] thus mentions. Cum Galli prius contra Romanos rebellâssent, Franci ijs sociati sunt, et pariter juncti Ferramundum Sunonis Ducis Filium, sibi regem præfecerunt. Prosper sets down the time; Anno 25 Honorij, Pharamundus regnat in Francia. This Bucher well observes^[39], refers to the end of the year 416, or the beginning of the next year, dating the years of Honorius from the death of Valentinian; & argues well, that at this time Pharamund was not only king by the constitution of the Franks, but crowned also by the consent of Honorius, & had a part of Gallia assigned him by covenant. And this might be the cause that Roman writers reckoned him the first king: Which some not understanding have reputed him the founder of this kingdom by an army of the transrhenane Franks. And he might come with such an army, but he succeeded Theudemir by right of blood & consent of the people. For the <20r> above cited passage of Fredegarius, Extinctis Ducibus in Francis denuo Reges creantur ex eadem stirpe, quâ prius, implies that the kingdom continued to this new elected family, during the reign of more kings than one. If you date the years of Honorius from the death of his father, the reign of Pharamund might begin two years later than is assigned by Bucher. The Salique laws made in his ^[40][reign, which are yet extant, shew by their name that it was the kingdom of the Salij over which he reigned; & by the pecuniary mulcts in them, that the place where he reigned, abounded much with money, & consequently was within the Empire, rude Germany knowing not the use of money, till they mixed with the Romans. Also in the Preface to the Salique laws (written & prefixed to them soon after the conversion of the Franks to the Christian religion, that is, in the end of the reign of Merovæus, or soon after,) the original of this kingdom is thus described: Hæc enim gens, quæ fortis dum esset, et robore valida, Romanorum jugum durissimum de suis cervicibus excussit pugnando, &c. This kingdom therefore was erected, not by invasion but by rebellion, as was described above. Prosper in regestring their kings in order, tells us: Pharamundus regnat in Francia; Clodio regnat in Francia; Merovæus regnat in Francia: & who can imagin but that in all these places he meant one & the same Francia? And yet it's certain that the Francia of Merovæus was in Gallia.

Yet the father of Pharamund, being king of a body of Franks in Germany in the reign of the Emperor Theodosius, as above, Pharamund might reign over the same Franks in Germany before he succeeded Theudemer in the kingdom of the Salians within the empire, & even before Theudemer began his reign; suppose in the first year of Honorius, or when those Franks being repulsed by Stilico, lost their kings Marcomir & Suno, one of whom was the father of Pharamund. And the Roman Franks, after the death of Theudemer, might invite Pharamund with his people from beyond the Rhine. But we are not to regard the reign of Pharamund in Germany: We are to date this kingdom from its rise within the empire, & to look upon it as strengthened by the access of other Franks coming from beyond the Rhine, whether in the reign of this king or in that of his successor Clodio. For in the last year of Pharamund's reign, Ætius took from him a part of his possession in Gallia: but his successor Clodio (whom Fredigarius represents the son of Theudemer, & some call Clogio, Cloio, & Claudius) inviting from beyond the Rhine a great body of Franks, recovered all, & carried on their conquests as far as the river Some. Then those Franks dividing conquests with him, erected certain new kingdoms at Colen & Cambray, & some other cities: all which were afterwards conquered by Clodovæus, who also drave the Goths out of Gallia, & fix'd his seat at Paris, where it has continued ever since. And this was the original of the present kingdom of France.

7. The kings of Britain were A.C. 407 or 408, Marcus, Gratian, & Constantine successively; A.C. 425 Vortigern, 466 Aurelius Ambrosius, 498 Vther Pendraco, 508 Arthur, 542 Constantinus, 545 Aurelius Cunanus, 578 Vortiporeus, 581 Malgo, 586 Careticus, 613 Cadwan, 635 Cadwalin, 676 Cadwallader: The first three were Roman Tyrants, who revolted from the empire. Orosius, Prosper & Zosimus connect their revolt with the irruptions of the barbarians into Gallia, as consequent thereunto. Prosper (with whom Zosimus agrees) puts it in the year which began the day after that irruption. The just time I thus collect: Marcus reigned not many days, Gratian four months, & Constantine three years. He was slain the year after the taking of Rome, that is A.C. 411, 14 Kal Octob. Whence the revolt was in Spring A.C. 408. Sozomen joyns Constantine's expedition into Gallia with Arcadius's death, or the times a little after, & Arcadius died A.C. 408 May 1^st. Now tho the reign of these Tyrants was but short, yet they gave a beginning to the kingdom of Britain, & so may be reckoned the three first kings, especially since the posterity of Constantine (viz^t his sons sons Aurelius Ambrosius, & Vther Pendraco, & his grandson Arthur) reigned afterwards. For from the time of the revolt of these tyrants Britain continued a distinct kingdom absolved from subjection to the Empire, the Emperor not being able to spare soldiers <21r> to be sent thither to receive & keep the Island, & therefore neglecting it; as we learn by unquestionable records. For Prosper tells us: A.C. 410, Variane Cos. Hac tempestate præ valetudine Romanorum vires funditus attenuatæ Britanniæ. And Sigebert, conjoining this with the siege of Rome, saith: Britannorum vires attenuatæ, et substrahunt se a Romanorum dominatione. And Zosimus lib. 6: The Transrhenane Barbarians invading all places, reduced the inhabitants of the island of Britain, & also certain Celtic nations to that pass, that they fell off from the Roman Empire; & being no longer obedient to the Roman laws κατ᾽ ἑαυτὸν βιατεύειν, they lived in separate bodies after their own pleasure. Therefore the Britains taking up arms, & hazarding themselves for their own safety, they freed their cities from the imminent Barbarians. In like manner all Brabant & some other Provinces of the Gauls imitating the Britains, freed themselves after the same manner, ejecting the Roman Presidents, & forming a certain common wealth according to their own pleasure. This rebellion of Britain & the Celtic nations happened when Constantine usurped the kingdom. So also Procopius, lib. 1. Vandal., speaking of the same Constantine, saith: Constantine being overcome in battel, was slain with his children: Βρετταννίαν μέν τοι Ρωμᾶιοι ἀνασώσασθαι οὐκέτι ἔχον αλλ᾽ οὖσα ὑπὸ τυραννος^[41] ἀπ᾽ ἀυτοῦ ἔμενε: Yet the Romans could not recover Britain any more, but from that time it remained under Tyrants. And Beda, (l. 1, c. 11.) Fracta est Roma a Gothis anno 1164 suæ conditionis; ex quo tempore Romani in Britannia regnare cessaverunt. And Ethelwaldus: A tempore Romæ a Gothis expugnatæ cessavit imperium Romanorum a Britannia insula, et ab alijs, quas sub jugo servitutis tenebant, multis terris. And Theodoret (Serm. 9. de curand. Græc. affect.) about the year 424, reckons the Britains among the nations which were not then in subjection to the Roman Empire. So Sigonius, ad annum 411, Imperium Romanorum post excessum Constantini in Britannia nullum fuit.

Between the death of Constantine & the reign of Vortigern was an interregnum of about 14 years, in which the Britains had wars with the Picts & Scots, & twice obtained the assistance of a Roman Legion, who drove out the enemy, but told them positively at their departure that they would come no more. Of Vortigern's beginning to reign there is this record in an old Chronicle in Nennius, quoted by Camden & others: Guortigernus tenuit imperium in Britannia, Theodosio & Valentiniano Coss [viz^t A.C. 425.] & in quarto anno regni sui Saxones ad Britanniam venerunt, Fœlice & Tauro Coss. [viz^t A.C. 428.] This coming of the Saxons Sigebert referrs to the 4^th year of Valentinian, which falls in with the year 428 assigned by this Chronicle: And two years after, the Saxons together with the Picts were beaten by the Britains. Afterwards in the reign of Martian the Emperor, that is, between the years 450 & 456, the Saxons under Hengist were called in by the Britains, but six years after revolted from them, & made war upon them with various success, & by degrees succeeded them. Yet the Britains continued a flourishing kingdom till the reign of Careticus; & the war between the two nations^a[42] continued till the reign of Pope Sergius A.C. 688.

8. The kings of the Hunns were A.C. 406 Octar & Rugila, 433 Bleda & Attila. Octar & Rugila were the brothers of Munzuc king of the Hunns in Gothia beyond the Danube, & Bleda & Attila were his sons, & Munzuc was the son of Balamir. The two first, as Iornandes tells us, were kings of the Hunns, but not of them all, & had the two last for their successors. I date the reign of the Hunns in Pannonia from the time that the Vandals & Alans relinquished Pannonia to them, A.C. 407: Sigonius from the time that the Visigoths relinquished Pannonia A.C. 408. Constat, saith he, quod Gothis ex Illyrico profectis, Hunni successerunt, atque imprimis Pannoniam tenuerunt. Neque enim Honorius viribus ad resistendum in tantis difficultatibus destitutus, prorsus eos prohibere potuit, sed meliore consilio, animo ad pacem converso, fœdus cum eis, datis acceptisque obsidibus fecit; ex quibus qui dati sunt, Ætius, qui etiam Alarico tributus fuerat, præcipue memoratur. How Ætius was hostage to the Goths & Hunns is related by Frigeridus, who when he had mentioned that Theodosius emperor of the east had sent grievous commands to Iohn, who after the death of Honorius had usurped the crown of the western empire, he subjoins: Iis permotus Iohannes, Ætium id tempus curam palatij gerentem cum ingenti auri pondere ad Chunnos transmisit, notos sibi obsidiatûs sui tempore & familiari amicitia devinctos — And a little after: Ætius tribus annis Alarici obses, dehinc Chunnorum, postea Carpilionis gener ex Comite domesticorum et Ioannis Cura palatij. Now Bucher shews that Ætius was hostage to Alaric till the year 410, when <22r> Alaric died, & to the Hunns between the years 411 & 415, & son in law to Carpilio about the year 417 or 418, & Curopalates to Iohn about the end of the year 423. Whence it's probable that he became hostage to the Hunns about the year 412 or 413, when Honorius made leagues with almost all the barbarous nations, & granted them seats. But I had rather say with Sigonius, that Ætius became hostage to Alaric A.C. 403. It's further manifest out of Prosper, that the Hunns were in quiet possession of Pannonia in the year 432. For in the first book of Eusebius's Chronicle Prosper writes: Anno decimo post obitum Honorij, cum ad Chunnorum gentem cui tunc Rugila præerat; post prælium cum Bonifacio se Ætius contulisset, impetrato auxilio ad Romanorum solum regreditur. And in the second book: Ætio et Valerio Coss: Ætius deposita potestate profugus ad Hunnos in Pannonia pervenit, quorum amicitia auxilioque usus pacem principum interpellatæ potestatis obtinuit. Hereby it appears that at this time Rugila (or as Maximus calls him, Rechilla) reigned over the Hunns in Pannonia; & that Pannonia was not now so much as accounted within the soil of the Empire, being formerly granted away to the Hunns; & that these were the very same body of Hunns with which Ætius had, in the time of his being a hostage, contracted friendship: by virtue of which, as he sollicited them before to the aid of Iohn the tyrant A.C. 424, so now he procured their intercession for himself with the Emperor. Octar died A.C. 430; for Socrates tells us, that ^[43][about that time the Burgundians having been newly vext by the Hunns, upon intelligence of Octar's death seeing them without a leader, set upon them suddenly with so much success^[44], that 3000 Burgundians slew 10000 Hunns. Of Rugila's being now king in Pannonia you have heard already. He died A.C. 433, & was succeeded by Bleda, as Prosper & Maximus inform us. This Bleda with his brother Attila were before this time kings of the Hunns beyond the Danube, their father Munzuc's kingdom being divided between them; & now they united the kingdom of Pannonia to their own. Whence Paulus Diaconus saith, they did regnum intra Pannoniam Daciamque gerere. In the year 441, they began to invade the Empire a fresh, adding to the Pannonian forces new & great armies from Scythia. But this war was presently composed. And then Attila seing Bleda inclined to peace, slew him A.C. 444, inherited his dominions, & invaded the Empire a fresh. At length after various great warrs with the Romans, Attila perished A.C. 454; & his sons quarrelling about his dominions, gave occasion to the Gepides, Ostrogoths & other nations who were their subjects, to rebel & make war upon them. The same year the Ostrogoths had seats granted them in Pannonia, by the Emperors Marcian & Valentinian; & with the Romans ejected the Hunns out of Pannonia, soon after the death of Attila, as all historians agree. This ejection was in the reign of Avitus, as is mentioned in the Chronicum Boiorum, & in Sidonius, Carm. 7 in Avitum, which speaks thus of that Emperor

The Poet means, that by the coming of Avitus the Hunns yielded more easily to the Goths. This was written by Sidonius in the beginning of the reign of Avitus: And his reign began in the end of the year 455, & lasted not one full year.

Iornandes tells us: Duodecimo anno regni Walliæ post pene quinquaginta annos invasa Pannonia, Hunni a Romanis & Gothis pulsi sunt. And Marcelline: Hierio et Ardaburio Coss. Pannoniæ quæ per quinquaginta annos ab Hunnis retinebantur, a Romanis receptæ sunt. Whence it should seem that the Hunns invaded & held Pannonia from the year 378 or 379 to the year 427, & then were driven out of it. But this is a plane mistake: For it is certain that the Emperor Theodosius left the Empire entire. And we have shewed out of Prosper, that the Hunns were in quiet possession of Pannonia in the year 432. The Visigoths in those days had nothing to do with Pannonia, & the Ostrogoths continued subject to the Hunns till the death of Attila, A.C. 454; & Wallia king of the Visigoths <23r> did not reign twelve years. He began his reign in the end of the year 415, reigned three years, & was slain A.C. 419, as Idacius, Isidorus, & the Spanish manuscript Chronicles seen by Grotius testify. And Olympiodorus, who produceth his history only to the year 425, sets down therein the death of Valia king of the Visigoths, & conjoins it with that of Constantius which happened A.C. 420. Wherefore the Valia of Iornandes, who reigned at the least twelve years, is some other king. And I suspect that this name hath been put by mistake for Valamir king of the Ostrogoths: For the action recorded was of the Romans & Ostrogoths driving the Huns out of Pannonia after the death of Attila; And it is not likely that the historian would referr the history of the Ostrogoths to the years of the Visigothic kings. This action happened in the end of the year 455, which I take to be the twelfth-year of Valamir in Pannonia, & which was almost fifty years after the year 406, in which the Hunns succeeded the Vandals & Alans in Pannonia. Vpon the ceasing of the line of Hunnimund the son of Hermaneric, the Ostrogoths lived without kings of their own nation about forty years together, being subject to the Hunns. And when Alaric began to make war upon the Romans, which was in the year 444, he made Valamir, with his brothers Theodemir & Videmir the grandsons of Vinethar, captains or kings of these Ostrogoths under him. And in the twelfth year of Valamir's reign dated from thence, the Hunns were driven out of Pannonia.

Yet the Hunns were not so ejected, but that they had further contests with the Romans, till the head of Denfix the son of Attila, A.C. 469, (in the Consulship of Zeno & Marcian as Marcelline relates) was carried to Constantinople. Nor were they yet totally ejected the empire: For besides their reliques in Pannonia, Sigonius tells us, that when the emperors Marcian & Valentinian granted Pannonia to the Goths, (which was in the year 454) they granted part of Illyricum to some of the Hunns & Sarmatans. And in the year 526, when the Lombards removing into Pannonia made war there with the Gepides, the Avares (a part of the Hunns, who had taken the name of Avares from one of their kings) assisted the Lombards in that war; & the Lombards afterwards, when they went into Italy, left their seats in Pannonia to the Avares in recompence of their friendship. From that time the Hunns grew again very powerfull, their kings (whom they called Chagan) troubling the empire very much in the reigns of the Emperors Mauritius, Phocas, & Heraclius. And this is the original of the present kingdom of Hungary, which from these Avares & other Hunns mixed together took the name of Hun-Avaria, & by contraction Hungary.

9. The Lombards, before they came over the Danube, were commanded by two Captains, Ibor & Ayon: after whose death they had kings, Agilmundus, Lamisso, Lechu, Hildehoc, Gudehoc, Claffo, Tato, Wacho, Walter, Audoin, Alboin, Cleophis, &c. Agilmundus was the son of Ayon; & became their king (according to Prosper) in the Consulship of Honorius & Theodosius A.C. 389, & reigned 33 years, according to Paulus Warnefridus, & was slain in battel by the Bulgarians. Prosper places his death in the Consulship of Marinianus & Asclepiadorus, A.C. 423. Lamisso routed the Bulgarians, & reigned three years, & Lechu almost forty. Gudehoc was contemporary to Odoacer king of the Heruli in Italy, & led his people from Pannonia into Rugia, a country on the north side of Noricum next beyond the Danube; from whence Odoacer then carried his people into Italy. Tato overthrew the kingdom of the Heruli beyond the Danube. Wacho conquered the Suevians, a kingdom then bounded on the east by Bavaria, on the west by France, & on the south by the Burgundians. Audoin returned into Pannonia A.C. 526, & there overcame the Gepides. Alboin A.C. 551 overthrew the kingdom of the Gepides, & slew their king Chunnimundus: A.C. 563 he assisted the Greek emperor against Totila king of the Ostrogoths in Italy; & A.C. 568 led his people out of Pannonia into Lombardy, where they reigned till the year 774.

<24r>

According to Paulus Diaconus, the Lombards with many other Gothic nations came into the Empire from beyond the Danube in the reign of Arcadius & Honorius, that is, between the years 395 & 408. But they might come in a little earlier. For we are told that the Lombards, under their captains Ibor & Ayon, beat the Vandals in battel; & Prosper placeth this victory in the Consulship of Ausonius & Olybrius, that is, A.C. 379. Before this war the Vandals had remained quiet forty years in the seats granted them in Pannonia by Constantine the great. And therefore if these were the same Vandals, this war must have been in Pannonia; & might be occasioned by the coming of the Lombards over the Danube into Pannonia a year or two before the battel; & must have put an end to that quiet which had lasted forty years. And after Gratian & Theodosius had quieted the barbarians, they might either retire over the Danube, or continue quiet under the Romans till the death of Theodosius; & then either invade the Empire anew, or throw off all subjection to it. By their warrs, first with the Vandals & then with the Bulgarians, a Scythian nation so called from the river Volga whence they came; it appears that even in those days they were a kingdom not contemptible.

10. These nine kingdoms being rent away, we are next to consider the residue of the western empire. While this empire continued entire, it was the Beast himself: but the residue thereof is only a part of him. And if this part be considered as a horn, the reign of this horn may be dated from the translation of the Imperial seat from Rome to Ravenna, which was in October A.C. 408. For then the Emperor Honorius, fearing that Alaric would beseige him in Rome if he staid there retired to Millain, & thence to Ravenna: & the ensuing siege & sacking of Rome confirmed his residence there, so that he & his successors ever after made it their home. Accordingly Macchiavel in his Florentine history writes, that Valentinian having left Rome, translated the seat of the empire to Ravenna.

Rhætia belonged to the western Emperors so long as that Empire stood; & then it descended, with Italy & the Roman Senate, to Odoacer king of the Herulij in Italy, & after him to Theoderic king of the Ostrogoths & his successors, by the grant of the Greek Emperors. Vpon the death of Valentinian the second, the Alemans & Suevians invaded Rhætia A.C. 455. But I do not find they erected any standing^[45] kingdom there: For in the year 457, while they were yet depopulating Rhætia, they were attacked & beaten by Burto Master of the horse to the Emperor Majoranus; & I hear nothing more of their invading Rhætia. Clodovæus king of France, in or about the yeare 496, conquered a kingdome of the Alemans, & slew their last king Ermeric. But this kingdome was seated in Germany, & only bordered upon Rhætia: For its people fled from Clodovæus into the neighbouring kingdom of the Ostrogoths under Theoderic, who received them as friends, & wrote a friendly letter to Clodovæus in their behalf. And by this means they became inhabitants of Rhætia, as subjects under the dominion of the Ostrogoths.

When the Greek Emperor conquered the Ostrogoths, he succeeded them in the kingdom of Ravenna, not only by right of conquest but also by right of inheritance, the Roman Senate ^[46][still going along with this kingdom. And therefore we may reccon that this kingdome continued in the Exarchate of Ravenna & Senate of Rome. For the remainder of the western Empire went along with the Senate of Rome, by reason of the right which this Senate still retained, & at length exerted, of chusing a new western Emperor.

I have now enumerated the tenn kingdoms, into which the western Empire became divided at its first breaking, that is, at the time of Rome's being besieged & taken by the Goths. Some of these kingdoms at length fell, & new ones arose: but whatever was their number afterwards, they are still called the ten kings from their first number.

<25r>

Chap. 7
Of the eleventh horn of Daniel's
fourth Beast.

Now Daniel^[47] considered the horns, & behold there came up among them another horn, before whom three of the first horns were pluckt up by the roots; & behold in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, & a mouth speaking great things, & its look was more stout then its fellows, & it made war with the saints & prevailed against them:^[48] And one who stood by, & made Daniel know the interpretation of these things, told him, that ^[49]the ten horns were ten kings that should arise, & another [king] should arise after them, & be divers from the first [ten kings] & subdue three kings, & speak great words against the most High, & wear out the saints, & think to change times & laws, & that they should be given into his hands for a time times & half a time.^[50] Kings are put for kingdomes, as above; & therefore the little horn is a little kingdom. It was a horn of the fourth Beast, & rooted up three of his first horns; & therefore we are to look for it among the nations of the Latin Empire, after the rise of the ten horns. But it was a kingdom of a different kind from the other ten kingdoms, having a life or soul peculiar to it self with eyes & a mouth. By its eyes it was a seer; & by its mouth speaking great things & changing times & laws, it was a Prophet as well as a King. And such a Seer, a Prophet & a King, was the Church of Rome.

A Seer, Ἐπίσκοπος, is a Bishop in the literal sense of the word; and this Church claims the universal Bishoprick.

With his mouth he gives laws to kings & nations as an Oracle; & pretends to infallibility, & that his dictates are binding to the whole world: which is to be a Prophet in the highest degree.

In the eighth century, by rooting up & subduing the Exarchate of Ravenna, the kingdom of the Lombards^[51], & the Senate & Dukedom of Rome, he acquired Peter's Patrimony out of their dominions; & thereby rose up as a temporal Prince or King, or horn of the fourth Beast.

^[52]In a small book printed at Paris A.C. 1689, entituled, An historical dissertation upon some coins of Charles the great, Ludovicus Pius, Lotharius, & their successors stamped at Rome, it is recorded, that in the days of Pope Leo X, there was remaining in the Vatican, & till those days exposed to public view, an Inscription in honour of Pipin the father of Charles the great, in these words: Pipinum pium primum fuisse qui amplificandæ Ecclesiæ Romanæ viam aperuerit, Exarchatu Ravennate, & plurimis alijs oblatis; that Pipin the pious was the first who opened a way to the grandure of the Church of Rome, conferring upon her the Exarchate of Ravenna & many other oblations. In & before the reign of the Emperors Gratian & Theodosius, the Bishop of Rome lived splendidly; but this was by the oblations of the Roman Ladies, as Ammianus describes. After those reigns Italy was invaded by foreign nations, & did not get rid of her troubles before the fall of the kingdom of Lombardy. It was certainly by the victory of the see of Rome over the Greek emperor, the king of Lombardy, & the Senate of Rome, that she acquired Peter's patrimony, & rose up to her greatness. The Donation of Constantine the great is a fiction, & so it the donation of the Alpes Cottiæ to the Pope by Aripert king of the Lombards. For the Alpes Cottiæ were a part of the Exarchate, & in the days of Aripert belonged to the Greek Emperor

The invocation of the dead, & veneration of their images, being <26r> gradually introduced in the 4^th, 5^th, 6^th & 7^th centuries, the Greek Emperor Philippicus declared against the latter, A.C. 711 or 712. And the Emperor Leo Isaurus, to put a stop to it, called a meeting of Counsellors & Bishops^[53] in his Palace A.C. 726, & by their advice put out an Edict against that worship, & wrote to Pope Gregory II. that a general Council might be called. But the Pope thereupon called a Council at Rome, confirmed the worship of Images, excommunicated the Greek Emperor, absolved the people from their allegiance, & forbad them to pay tribute, or otherwise to be obedient to him. And the people of Rome, Campania, Ravenna & Pentapolis, with the cities under them, revolted & laid violent hands upon their magistrates, killing the Exarch Paul at Ravenna, & laying aside Peter Duke of Rome who was become blind. And when Exhileratus Duke of Campania incited the people against the Pope, the Romans invaded Campania, & slew him with his son Hadrian. Then a new Exarch, Eutychius, coming to Naples, sent some secretly to take away the lives of the Pope & the Nobles of Rome: but the plot being discovered, the Romans revolted absolutely from the Greek Emperor, & took an oath to preserve the life of the Pope, & to defend their state, & be obedient to their authority in all things. Thus Rome with its Duchy, including part of Tuscia^[54] & part of Campania, revolted in the year 726, & became a free state under the government of the senate of this city. And the authority of the Senate in civil affairs was henceforward absolute, the authority of the Pope extending hitherto no farther than to the affairs of the Church.

At that time the Lombards^[55] also being zealous for the worship of images, & pretending to favour the cause of the Pope, invaded the cities of the Exarchate: & at length (viz^t A.C. 752) they took Ravenna & put an end to the Exarchate. And this was the first of the three kingdoms which fell before the little horn.

In the year 751 Pope Zechary deposed Childeric^[56], a slothfull & useless king of France, & the last of the race of Merovæus; & absolving his subjects from their oath of allegiance, gave the kingdom to Pipin, the Major of the Palace; & thereby made a new & potent friend. And his successor Pope Stephen III^[57] knowing better how to deal with the Greek Emperor than with the Lombards, went the next year to the king of the Lombards, to persuade him to return the Exarchate to the Emperor. But this not Succeeding, he went into France, & persuaded Pipin to take the Exarchate & Pentapolis from the Lombards, & give it to S^t. Peter. Accordingly Pipin A.C. 754 came with an army into Italy, & made Aistulphus king of the Lombards promise the surrender. But the next year Aistulphus, on the contrary, to revenge himself on the Pope, besieged the city of Rome. Whereupon the Pope sent letters to Pipin, wherein he told him that if he came not speedily against the Lombards, pro data sibi potentia alienandum fore a regno Dei & vita æterna, he should be excommunicated. Pipin therefore, fearing a revolt of his subjects, & being indebted to the Church of Rome, came speedily with an army into Italy, raised the siege, besieged the Lombards in Papia^[58], & forced them to surrender the Exarchate & region of Pentapolis to the Pope for a perpetual possession. Thus the Pope became Lord of Ravenna, & the Exarchate, some few cities excepted; & the keys were sent to Rome, & laid upon the confession of S^t Peter, that is upon his tomb at the High Altar, in signum veri perpetuique dominij, sed pietate Regis gratuita, as the inscription of a coin of Pipin hath it. This was in the year of Christ 755. And henceforward the Popes being temporal Princes, left off in their epistles & Bulls to note the years of the Greek Emperors, as they had hitherto done.

After this the Lombards invading the Pope's countries, Pope Adrian^[59] sent to Charles the great, the son & successor of Pipin, to come to his assistance. Accordingly Charles entered Italy with an army, invaded the Lombards, <27r> overthrew their kingdom, became master of their countries, & restored to the Pope, not only what they had taken from him, but also the rest of the Exarchate which they had promised Pipin to surrender to him, but had hitherto detained; & also gave him some cities of the Lombards, & ^[60]was mutually made Patricius by the Romans, & had the authority of confirming the elections of the Popes conferred upon him. These things were done in the years 773 & 774. And this kingdom of the Lombards was the second kingdom which fell before the little horn. But Rome, which was to be the seat of his kingdom, was not yet his own.

In the year 796, Leo III^[61] being made Pope, notified his election to Charles the great by his Legates, sending to him for a present, the golden keys of the Confession of Peter, & the Banner of the city of Rome: the first as an acknowledgment of the Pope's holding the cities of the Exarchate & Lombardy by the grant of Charles; the other as a signification that Charles should come & subdue the Senate & people of Rome, as he had done the Exarchate & the ^[62][kingdom of the Lombards. For the Pope at the same time desired Charles to send some of his Princes to Rome, who might subject to the Roman people to him, & bind them by oath in fide & subjectione, in fealty & subjection, as his words are recited by Sigonius. An anonymous Poet, published by Boeclerus at Strasburg, expresseth it thus:

Hence arose a misunderstanding between the Pope & the city. And the Romans about two or three years after, by assistance of some of the Clergy, raised so great tumults against him, as gave occassion to a new state of things in all the West. For two of the Clergy accused him of certain crimes, & with an armed force of the Romans, seized him, stript him of his sacerdotal habit, & imprisoned him in a monastery. But by assistance of his friends he made his escape, & fled into Germany to Charles the great, to whom he complained of the Romans for acting against him out of a design to throw off all authority of the Church, & to recover their ancient freedom. In his absence his accusers with their forces ravaged the possessions of the Church, & sent the accusations to Charles. And before the end of the year Charles sent the Pope back to Rome with a large retinue. The Nobles & Bishops of France who accompanied him, examined the chief of his accusers at Rome, & sent them into France in custody. This was in the year 799. The next year Charles himself went to Rome, & upon a day appointed presided in a Council of Italian & French Bishops to hear both parties. But when the Pope's adversaries expected to be heard, the Council declared that he who was the supreme judge^[63] of all men, was above being judged by any other than himselfe. Whereupon the Pope made a solemn declaration of his innocence before all the people, & by doing so was looked upon as acquitted.

Soon after, upon Christmas day, the people of Rome, who had hitherto elected their Bishop, & reckoned that they & their Senate inherited the rights of the ancient Senate & people of Rome, voted Charles their Emperor, & subjected themselves to him in such manner as the old Roman Empire & their Senate were subjected to the old Roman Emperors. The Pope crowned him, & anointed him with holy oil, & worshipped him on his knees after the manner of adoring the old Roman Emperors; as the aforesaid Poet thus mentions:

<28r>

And the Emperor on the other hand,^[64] took the following oath to the Pope: In nomine Christi spondeo atque polliceor Ego Carolus Imperator coram Deo et beato Petro Apostolo me protectorem ac defensorem fore hujus sanctæ Romanæ Ecclesiæ in omnibus utilitatibus quatenus divino fultus fuero adjutorio prout sciero poteroque. The Emperor was made Consul of Rome, & his son Pipin was crowned king of Italy. And henceforward the Emperor styled himself: Carolus serenissimus, Augustus, a Deo coronatus, magnus, pacificus, Romæ gubernans imperium, or Imperator Romanorum; & was prayed for in the Churches of Rome. His image was henceforward put upon the coins of Rome. And the enemies of the Pope, to the number of three hundred Romans & two or three of the Clergy, were sentenced to death; & the three hundred Romans were beheaded in one day in the Lateran fields; but the Clergy-men at the intercession of the Pope were pardoned & banished into France. And thus the right of the Roman Emperors, which had hitherto been in the Greek Emperors, was by this Act transferred in the west to the kings of France.

After these things Charles gave the City & Duchy of Rome^[65] to the Pope, subordinately to himself as Emperor of the Romans; spent the winter in ordering the affairs of Rome, & those of the Apostolic sea & of all Italy, both civil & ecclesiastical, & in making new laws for them; & returned the next summer into France: leaving the city under its senate, & both under the Pope & himself. And hearing that his new laws were not observed by the judges in dictating the law, nor by the people in hearing it; & that the great men took servants from free men, & from the Churches & Monasteries, to labour in their vineyards, fields, pastures & houses, & continued to exact cattel & wine of them, & to oppress those that served the Churches: he wrote to his son Pipin to remedy these abuses, to take care of the Church, & see that his laws be executed.

Now the Senate & people & principality of Rome I take to be the third king whom the little horn overcame & even the chief of the three. For this people elected the Pope & the Emperor & now, by electing the Emperor & making him Consul, was acknowledged to retain the authority of the old Roman Senate & people. This city was the Metropolis of the old Roman Empire, represented in Daniel by the fourth Beast; & by subduing the Senate & people & Duchy, it became the Metropolis of the little horn of that Beast, & completed Peter's Patrimony, which was the kingdom of that horn. And this victory was attended with greater consequences then those over the other two kings. For it set up the western Empire, which continues to this day. It set up the Pope above the judicature of the Roman Senate, & above that of a Council of Italian & French Bishops, & even above all humane judicature; & gave him the supremacy over the western Churches & their Councills in a high degree. It gave him a look more stout then his fellows; so that when his new religion began to be established in the minds of men, he grappled not only with kings, but even with the western emperor himself. It is observable also, that the custom of kissing the Pope's feet, an honour superior to that of kings & Emperors, began about this time. There are some instances of it in the ninth century. Platina tells us, that the feet of Pope Leo IV were kissed according to ancient custome by all who came to him: & some say that Leo III began this custome, pretending that his hand was infected by the kiss of a woman. The Popes began also about this time to canonize saints, & to grant Indulgences & pardons. And some represent that Leo III was the first author of all these things. It is further observable, that Charles the great, between the years 775 & 796, conquered all Germany from the Rhine & Danube northward to the Baltic sea, & eastward to the river Teis; & extended his conquests also into Spain as far as to the river Eber: & by these conquests he laid <29r> the foundation of the new empire; & at the same time he propagated the Roman Catholic religion into all his conquests, obliging the Saxons & Hunns who were heathens, to receive the Roman faith, & distributing his northern conquests into Bishopricks, granting tithes to the Clergy & Peter-pence to the Pope: by all which the Church of Rome was highly enlarged, enriched, exalted, & established.

In a small book printed at Paris 1689, entituled, An historical dissertation upon some coins of Charles the great, Ludovicus Pius, Lotharius, & their successors, stamped at Rome,^[66] there is a draught of a piece of Mosaic work which Pope Leo III caused to be made in his Palace neare the Church of Iohn Lateran, in memory of his sending the standard or banner of the city of Rome curiously wrought, to Charles the great, & which still remained there at the publishing of the said book. In the Mosaic work there appeared Peter with three keys in his lap, reaching the pallium to the Pope with his right hand, & the banner of the city to Charles the great with his left. By the Pope is this inscription, SCISSIMVS D.N. LEO PP; by the king this, D.N. CAROLO REGI; & under the feet of Peter this, BEATE PETRE, DONA VITAM LEONI PP, ET VICTORIAM CAROLO REGI DONA. This Monument gives the title of King to Charles, & therefore was erected before he was Emperor. It was erected when Peter was reaching the Pallium to the Pope, & the Pope was sending the banner of the city to Charles, that is, A.C. 796. The words above, viz^t Sanctissimus Dominus noster Leo Papa Domino nostro Carolo Regi, relate to the message; & the words below, viz^t Beate Petre, dona vitam Leoni Papæ & victoriam Carolo regi dona, are a prayer that in this undertaking God would preserve the life of the Pope, & give victory to the king over the Romans. The three keys in the lap of Peter signify the keys of the three parts of his patrimony, viz^t that of Rome with its Duchy, which the Pope claimed & was conquering, & those of Ravenna with the Exarchate, & of the territories taken from the Lombards; both which he had newly conquered. These were the three dominions, whose keys were in the lap of S. Peter, & whose Crowns are now worn by the Pope, & by the conquest of which he became the little horn of the fourth Beast. By Peter's giving the Pallium to the Pope with his right hand, & the banner of the city to the king with his left, & by naming the Pope before the king in the inscription, may be understood that the Pope was then reckoned superior in dignity to the kings of the Earth.

After the death of Charles the great, his son & successor Ludovicus Pius, at the request of the Pope^a[67], confirmed the donations of his Grandfather & father to the see of Rome. And in the confirmation he names first Rome with its Duchy extending into Tuscia^[68] & Campania; then the Exarchate of Ravenna, with Pentapolis; & in the third place, the territories taken form the Lombards. These are his three conquests, & he was to hold them of the Emperor for the use of the Church sub integritate, entirely, without the Emperor's medling therewith, or with the jurisdiction or power of the Pope therein, unless called thereto in certain cases. This ratification the Emperor Ludovicus made under an oath. And as the king of the Ostrogoths, for acknowledging that ^[69][he held his kingdom of Italy of the Greek Emperor, stamped the effigies of the Emperour on one side of his coins & his own on the Reverse; so the Pope made the like acknowledgement to the western Emperor. For the Pope began now to coin money, & the coins of Rome are hence forward found with the head of the Emperors (Charles, Ludovicus Pius, Lotharius, & their successors) on the one side, & the Pope's inscription on the reverse, for many years.

<31r>

Chap. 8 –
Of the power of the eleventh horn of Daniel's
fourth Beast to change times & laws.

In the reign of the Greek Emperor Iustinian, & again in the reign of the Greek Emperor Phocas, the Bishop of Rome obteined some dominion over the Greek Churches, but of no long continuance. His standing dominion was only over the nations of the western Empire, represented by Daniel's fourth Beast. And this jurisdiction was set up by the following Edict of the Emperors Gratian & Valentian. — ^[70]Volumus ut quicunque judicio Damasi, quod ille cum Concilio quinque vel septem habuerit Episcoporum, vel eorum qui Catholici sunt judicio vel Concilio condemnatus fuerit, si juste voluerit Ecclesiam retentare, ut qui ad sacerdotale judicium per contumeliam non ivisset: ut ab illustribus Viris Præfectis Prætorio Galliæ atque Italiæ authoritate adhibitâ ad Episcopale judicium remittatur, sive a Consularibus vel Vicarijs; ut ad Vrbem Romam sub prosecutione perveniat. Aut si in longinquioribus partibus alicujus ferocitas talis emerserit, omnis ejus causæ edictio ad Metropolitæ in eadem Provincia Episcopi deduceretur examen. Vel si ipse Metropolitanus est, Romam necessariò, vel ad eos quos Romanus Episcopus judices dederit; sine delatione contendat. — Quod si vel Metropolitani Episcopi vel cujuscunque sacerdotis iniquitas est suspecta, aut gratia; ad Romanum Episcopum, vel ad Concilium quindecim finitimorum episcoporum accersitum liceat provocare; modo ne post examen habitum, quod definitum fuerit, integretur. This Edict wanting the name of both Valens & Theodosius in the Title, was made in the time between their reigns, that is, in the end of the year 378, or beginning of 379. It was directed to the Præfecti Prætorio Italiæ & Galliæ, & therefore was general. For the Præfectus Prætorio Italiæ governed Italy, Illyricum occidentale & Africa; & the Præfectus Prætorio Galliæ governed Gallia, Spain, & Britain.

The granting of this Iurisdiction to the Pope gave occasion to several Bishops to write to him for his resolutions upon doubtful cases, & to his answering them by Decretal Epistles. And henceforward he gave laws to the western Churches by such Epistles. Himerius Bishop of Tarraco, the head city of a Province in Spain, writing to Pope Damasus for his direction about certain Ecclesiastical matters, & the Letter not arriving at Rome till after the death of Damasus, A.C. 384: his successor Siricius answered the Letter with a legislative authority, telling him of one thing: Cum hoc fieri — missa ad Provincias a venerandæ memoriæ prædecessore meo Liberio generalia Decreta prohibeant. Of another: Noverint se ab omni ecclesiastico honore, quo indignè usi sunt, Apostolicæ sedis auctoritate dejectos. Of another: Scituri posthac omnium Provinciarum summi Antistites quod si ultrò ad sacros ordines quenquam de talibus esse assumendum, et de suo, et de aliorum statu quos contra Canones et interdicta nostra provexerint, congruam ab Apostolica sede promendam esse sententiam. And the Epistle he concludes thus: Explicuimus, ut arbitror, frater charissime, universa quæ digesta sunt in querelam: <32r> et ad singulas causas, de quibus ad Romanam Ecclesiam, utpote ad caput tui corporis, retulisti, sufficientia, quantum opinor, responsa reddidimus. Nunc fraternitatis tuæ animum ad servandos canones, et tenenda decretalia constituta magis ac magis incitamus ad hæc quæ ad tua consulta rescripsimus in omnium coepiscoporum perferri facias notionem; et non solum eorum qui in tua sunt diæcesi constituti, sed etiam ad universos Carthaginenses ac Bœticos, Lusitanos atque ^✝[71] Gallicos, vel eos qui vicinis tibi collimitant hinc inde Provincijs, hæc quæ a nobis sunt salubri ordinatione disposita, sub literarum tuarum prosecutione mittantur. Et quanquam statuta sedis Apostolicæ vel Canonum venerabilia definita, nulli Sacerdotum Domini ignorare sit liberum: utilius tamen, atque pro antiquitate sacerdotij tui dilectioni tuæ esse admodùm poterit gloriosum, si ea quæ ad te speciali nomine generaliter scripta sunt, per unanimitatis tuæ sollicitudinem in universorum fratrum nostrorum notitiam perferantur, quatenus et quæ a nobis non inconsultè sed providè sub nimia cautela et deliberatione sunt salubriter constituta, intemerata permaneant, et omnibus in posterum excusationibus aditus, qui jam nulli apud nos patere poterit, obstruatur. Dat. 3 Id. Febr. Arcadio et Bautone viris clarissimis Consulibus, A.C. 385. Pope Liberius in the reign of Iovian or Valentinian I, sent general Decrees to the Provinces, ordering that the Arians should not be rebaptized. And this he did in the favour of the Council of Alexandria, that nothing more should be required of them than to renounce their opinions. Pope Damasus is said to have decreed in a Roman Council, that tithes & tenths should be paid upon pain of an Anathema; & that Glory be to the father; &c should be said or sung at the end of the Psalms. But the first Decretal Epistle now extant is this of Siricius to Himerius. And by this Epistle the Pope made Himerius his Vicar over all Spain for promulging his Decrees, & seing them observed. The Bishop of Sevill was also the Pope's Vicar sometimes; For Pope Simplicius wrote thus to Zeno Bishop of Sevil: Talibus idcirco gloriantes indicijs, congruum duximus vicariâ Sedis nostræ te auctoritate fulciri: cujus vigore munitus, Apostolicæ institutionis Decreta, vel sanctorum terminos Patrum, nullatenus transcendi permittas. And Pope Hormisda^[72] made the Bishop of Sevill his Vicar over Bœtica & Lusitania, & the Bishop of Tarraco his Vicar over all the rest of Spain, as appears by his Epistles to them.

Pope Innocent the first, in his Decretal Epistle to Victricius Bishop of Rouen in France, A.C. 404, in pursuance of the Edict of Gratian, made this Decree. Siquæ autem causæ vel contentiones inter Clericos tam superioris ordinis quam etiam inferioris fuerint exortæ, ut secundum Synodum Nicenam congregatis ejusdem Provinciæ Episcopis jurgium terminetur, nec alicui liceat (^✝[73] Romanæ Ecclesiæ, cujus in omnibus causis debet reverentia custodiri,) relictis his sacerdotibus qui in eadem Provintia Dei Ecclesiam nutu Divino gubernant, ad alias convolare Provincias. Quod siquis fortè præsumpserit; et ab officio Clericatûs summotus, & injuriarum reus judicetur. Si autem majores causæ in medium fuerint devolutæ, ad sedem Apostolicam sicut Synodus statuit, et beata consuetudo exigit, post judicium Episcopale referatur. By these Letters it seems to me that Gallia was at this time subject to the Pope, <33r> and had been so for some time, & that the Bishop of Rouen was his Vicar or one of them: For the Pope directs him to refer the greater causes to the see of Rome, according to custome. But the Bishop of Arles soon after became the Pope's Vicar over all Gallia: For Pope Zosimus A.C. 417, ordeining that none should have access to him without the credentials of his Vicars, conferred upon Patroclus the Bishop of Arles this authority over all Gallia, by the following Decree

Zosimus universis Episcopis per Gallias et
septem Provincias constitutis.

Placuit Apostolicæ sedi ut siquis ex qualibet Galliarum parte sub quolibet Ecclesiastico gradu ad nos Romæ venire contendit, vel alio terrarum ire disponit, non aliter proficiscatur nisi Metropolitani Episcopi Formatas acceperit, quibus sacerdotium suum vel locum Ecclesiasticum quem habet, scriptorum ejus adstipulatione perdoceat: quod ex gratia statuimus quia plures episcopi sive presbyteri sive ecclesiastici simulantes (quia nullum documentum Formatarum extat, per quod valeant confutari,) in nomen venerationis irrepunt, et indebitam reverentiam promerentur. Quisquis igitur, fratres charissimi, prætermissa supradicti Formata, sive Episcopus, sive Presbyter, sive Diaconus, aut deinceps inferiori gradu sit, ad nos venerit: sciat se omnino suscipi non posse. Quam auctoritatem ubique nos misisse manifestum est, ut cunctis regionibus innotescat id quod statuimus omnimodis esse servandum. Siquis autem hæc salubriter constituta temerare tentaverit sponte suâ, se a nostra noverit communione discretum. Hoc autem privilegium Formatarum sancto Patroclo fratri et coepiscopo nostro, meritorum ejus speciali contemplatione, concessimus. And that the Bishop of Arles was sometimes the Pope's Vicar over all France, is affirmed also by all the Bishops of the Diocess of Arles in their Letter to Pope Leo I. Cui id etiam honoris dignitatisque collatum est, say they, ut non tantum has Provincias potestate propriâ gubernaret, verum etiam omnes Gallias sibi Apostolicæ sedis vice mandata sub omni ecclesiastica regula contineret. And Pope Pelagius I, A.C. 556, in his Epistle to Sapaudus Bishop of Arles: Majorum nostrorum operante Dei misericordiâ, cupientes inhærere vestigijs et eorum actus divino examine in omnibus imitari: Charitati tuæ per universam ^[74][Galliam sanctæ sedis Apostolicæ, cui divinâ gratiâ præsidemus, vices injungimus.

By the influence of the same Imperial Edict, not only Spain & Gallia, but also Illyricum became subject to the Pope. Damasus made Ascholius, or Acholius, bishop of Thessalonica the Metropolis of Oriental Illyricum, his Vicar for hearing of causes; & in the year 382 Acholius being summoned by Pope Damasus, came to a Council at Rome. Pope Siricius the successor of Damasus, decreed that no Bishop should be ordeined in Illyricum without the consent of Anysius the successor of Acholius. And the following Popes gave Rufus the successor of Anysius, a power of calling Provincial Councils: For in the Collections of Holstenius there is an account of a Council of Rome convened under Pope Boniface II, in which were produced Letters of Damasus, Syricius, Innocent I, Boniface I, & Cælestine Bishops of Rome, to Ascholius, Anysius & Rufus, Bishops of Thessalonica: in which Letters they commend to them the hearing of causes in Illyricum granted by the Lord & the holy Canons to the Apostolick sea thro'out that Province. And Pope Siricius saith in his Epistle to Arysius: Etiam dudum, frater charissime, per Candidianum Episcopum, qui nos præcessit ad Dominum, hujusmodi Literas dederamus ut nulla licentia esset, sine consensu tuo in Illyrico Episcopos <34r> ordinare præsumere, quæ utrum ad te pervenerint scire non potui. Multa enim gesta sunt per contentionem ab Episcopis in Ordinationibus faciendis, quod tua melius caritas novit. And a little after: Ad omnem enim hujusmodi audaciam comprimendam vigilare debet instantia tua, spiritu in te sancto fervente: ut vel ipse, si potes, vel quos judicaveris episcopos idoneos, cum literis dirigas, dato consensu qui possit in ejus locum qui defunctus vel depositus fuerit, Catholicum Episcopum vitâ et moribus probatum, secundum Nicænæ Synodi statuta, vel Ecclesiæ Romanæ, Clericum de Clero meritum ordinare. And Pope Innocent I saith in his Epistle to Anysius: Cui [Anysio] etiam anteriores tanti ac tales viri prædecessores mei Episcopi, id est, sanctæ memoriæ Damasus, Siricius, atque supra memoratus vir ita detulerunt, ut omnia quæ in omnibus illis partibus gererentur, Sanctitati tuæ quæ plena justiciæ est, traderent cognoscenda. And in his Epistle to Rufus the successor of Anysius: Ita longis intervallis disterminatis a me ecclesijs discat consulendum, ut prudentiæ gravitatique tuæ committendam curam causasque, siquæ exoriantur, per Achaiæ, Thessaliæ, Epiri veteris, Epiri novæ, et Cretæ, Daciæ mediterraneæ, Daciæ ripensis, Mæsiæ, Dardaniæ et Prævali ecclesias, Christo Domino annuente, censeam. Verè enim ejus sacratissimis monitis lectissimæ sinceritatis tuæ providentiæ et virtuti hanc injungimus sollicitudinem: non primitùs hæc statuentes sed Præcessores nostros Apostolicos imitati, qui beatissimis Acholio et Anyssio injungi pro meritis ista voluerunt. And Boniface I. in his Decretal Epistle to Rufus & the rest of the Bishops in Illyricum: Nullus, ut frequenter dixi, alicujus ordinationem citra ejus [Episcopi Thessalonicensis] conscientiam celebrare præsumat: cui, ut supra dictum est, vice nostrâ cuncta committimus. And Pope Cælestine in his Decretal Epistle to the Bishops thro'out Illyricum, saith: Vicem nostram per vestram Provinciam noveritis [Rufo] esse commissam, ita ut ad eum, fratres carissimi, quicquid de causis agitur, referatur. Sine ejus consilio nullus ordinetur. Nullus usurpet, eodem inconscio commissam illi Provinciam. colligere nisi cum ejus voluntate Episcopus non præsumat. And in the cause of Perigenes, in the title of his Epistle, he thus enumerates the Provinces under this Bishop: Rufo et cæteris Episcopis per Macedoniam, Achaiam, Thessaliam, Epirum veterem, Epirum novam, Prævalin, et Daciam constitutis. And Pope Xistus in a Decretal Epistle to the same Bishops: Illyricanæ omnes Ecclesiæ, ut a decessoribus nostris recepimus, et nos quoque fecimus, ad curam nunc pertinent Thessalonicensis Antistitis, ut suâ sollicitudine, siquæ inter fratres nascantur, ut assolent, actiones distinguat atque definiat, et ad eum quicquid a singulis sacerdotibus agitur, referatur. Sit Concilium, quotiens causæ fuerint, quotiens ille pro necessitatum emergentium ratione decreverit. And Pope Leo I in his Decretal Epistle to Anastasius Bishop of Thessalonica: Singulis autem Metropolitanis sicut potestas ista committitur, ut in suis Provincijs jus habeant ordinandi, ita eos Metropolitanos a te volumus ordinari; maturo tamen et decocto judicio.

Occidental Illyricum comprehended Pannonia prima & secunda, Savia, Dalmatia, Noricum mediterraneum, & Noricum ripense; & its Metropolis was Sirmium till Attila destroyed this city. Afterwards Laureacum became the Metropolis of Noricum & both Pannonias, & Salona the Metropolis of Dalmatia. Now the Bishops of Laureacum & Salona ^a[75] received the Pallium from the Pope. And Pope Zosimus, in his Decretal Epistle to Hesychius bishop of Salona, directed him to denounce the Apostolic decrees <35r> as well to the bishops of his own Province as to those of the neighbouring. The subjection of these Provinces to the see of Rome seems to have begun in Anemius, who was ordeined bishop of Sirmium by Ambrose bishop of Millain, & who in the Council of Aquileia under Pope Damasus, A.C. 381, declared his sentence in these words: Caput Illyrici non nisi civitas Sirmiensis: Ego igitur illius civitatis Episcopus sum. Eum qui non confitetur filium Dei æternum & coeternum patri, qui est sempiternus, anathema dico. The next year Anemius & Ambrose, with Valerian bishop of Aquilea, Acholius bishop of Thessalonica & many others, went to the Council of Rome, which met for overruling the Greek Church by the majority of votes, & exalting the authority of the Apostolick sees as was attempted before in the Council of Serdica.

Aquileia was the second city of the western Empire, & by some called the second Rome. It was the Metropolis of Istria, Forum Iulium, & Venetia; & its subjection to the see of Rome is manifest by the Decretal Epistle of Pope Leo I, directed to Nicetas bishop of this city; For the Pope begins his Epistle thus: Regressus ad nos filius meus Adeodatus Diaconus Sedis nostræ, dilectionem tuam poposcisse memorant ut de his a nobis authoritatem Apostolicæ sedis acciperes quæ quidem magnam difficultatem dijudicationis videntur afferre. Then he sets down an answer to the questions proposed by Nicetas, & concludes thus: Hanc autem Epistolam nostram quam ad consultationem tuæ fraternitatis emissimus, ad omnes fratres & comprovinciales tuos Episcopos facies pervenire, ut in omnium observantia, data prosit authoritas. Data 12 Kal. Apr. Majorano Aug. Cos. A.C. 458. Gregory the great^[76] A.C. 591, cited Severus Bishop of Aquileia to appear before him in judgment in a Council at Rome.

The Bishops of Aquileia & Millain created one another; & therefore were of equal authority, & alike subject to the see of Rome. Pope Pelagius^[77] about the year 557, testified this in the following words: Mos antiquus fuit, saith he, ut quia pro longinquitate vel difficultate itineris, ab Apostolico illis onerosum fuerit ordinari, ipsi seinvicem Mediolanensis et Aquileiensis ordinare episcopos debuissent. These words imply that the ordination of these two Bishops belonged to the see of Rome. When Laurentius bishop of Millain had excommunicated Magnus one of his Presbyters, & was dead, Gregory the great^a[78] absolved Magnus, & sent the Pallium to the new elected Bishop Constantius; whom the next year he ^b[79] reprehended of partiality in judging Fortunatus, & commanded him to send Fortunatus to Rome to be judged there: Four years after he ^c[80] appointed the Bishops of Millain & Ravenna to hear the cause of one Maximus; & two years after, viz^t A.C. 601, when Constantius was dead, & the people of Millain had elected Deusdedit his successor, & the Lombards had elected another, ^d[81]Gregory wrote to the Notary Clergy & people of Millain, that the authority of his Letters Deusdedit should be ordained, & that he whom the Lombards had ordained was an unworthy successor of Ambrose. Whence I gather, that the Church of Millain had continued in this state of subordination to the see of Rome ever since the day of Ambrose; For Ambrose himself acknowledged the authority of the see of Rome: ^[82] Ecclesia Romana, saith he, hanc consuetudinem non habet, cujus typum in omnibus sequimur, & forman. And a little after: In omnibus cupio sequi ecclesiam Romanam. And in his Commentary upon 1 Tim. 3. Cum totus mundus Dei sit, tamen domus ejus Ecclesia dicitue cujus hodie rector <36r> est Damasus. In his Oration on the death of his brother Satyrus, he relates how his brother coming to a certain city of Sardinia, advocavit Episcopum loci, perconitatusque est ex eo utrum cum episcopis catholicis hoc est cum Romana Ecclesia conveniret? And in conjunction with the synod of Aquileia A.C. 381, in a synodical Epistle to the Emperor Gratian, he saith: Totius orbis Romani caput Romanam Ecclesiam, atque illam sacrosanctam Apostolorum fidem, ne turbari sineret, obsecranda fuit clementia vestra; inde enim in omnes venerandæ communionis jura dimanant. The Churches therefore of Aquileia & Millain were subject to the See of Rome from the days of the Emperor Gratian. Auxentius the predecessor of Ambrose was not subject to the See of Rome, & consequently the subjection of the Church of Millain began in Ambrose. This Diocess of Millain contained Liguria with Insubria, the Alpes Cottiæ & Rhætia; & was divided from the Diocess of Aquileia by the river Addua. In the year 844, the Bishop of Millain broke off from the See of Rome, & continued in this separation about 200 years, as is thus mentioned by ^✝[83] Signonius: Eodem anno Angilbertus Mediolanensis Archiepiscopus ab Ecclesia Romana parum comperta de causa descivit, tantumque exemplo in posterum valuit, ut non nisi post ducentos annos Ecclesia Mediolanensis ad Romanæ obedientiam auctoritatemque redierit.

The Bishop of Ravenna, the Metropolis of Flaminia & Æmilia was also subject to the Pope: For Pope Zosimus A.C. 417, excommunicated some of the Presbyters of that church, & wrote a commonitory Epistle about them to the Clergy of that Church as a branch of the Roman Church: In sua, saith he, hoc est, in Ecclesia nostra Romana. When those of Ravenna, having elected a new Bishop, gave notice thereof to Pope Sixtus, ^b[84] the Pope set him aside, & ordained Peter Chrysologus in his room. Chrysologus in his Epistle to Eutyches, extant in the Acts of the Council of Chalcedon, wrote ^[85][thus: Nos pro studio pacis & fidei, extra consensum Romanæ civitatis Episcopi, causas fidei audire non possumus. Pope Leo I. being consulted by Leo Bishop of Ravenna about some questions, answered him by a Decretal Epistle A.C. 451. And Pope ^c[86]Gregory the great reprehending Iohn Bishop of Ravenna about the use of the Pallium, tells him of a Precept of one of his Predecessors, Pope Iohn, commanding that all the Privileges granted by his Predecessors to the Bishop & Church of Ravenna should be kept. ^[87] This Bishop Iohn returned a submissive answer. after his death Pope Gregory ordered a visitation of the Church of Ravenna, sent the pallium to his successor Marinian, as of ancient custome, & confirmed the privileges heretofore granted to this Church. Yet this Church revolted sometimes from the Church of Rome, but returned again to its obedience.

The rest of Italy, with the Islands adjacent, conteining the suburbicarian regions, or ten Provinces under the temporal Vicar of Rome, (viz^{t 1}Campania ²Tuscia & Vmbria, ³Picenum suburbicarium ⁴Sicily, ⁵Apulia & Calabria, ⁶Brutij & Lucania, ⁷Samnium, ⁸Sardinia, ⁹Corsica, & ¹⁰Valeria) constituted the proper Province of the Bishop of Rome. For the Council of Nice in their fifth Canon ordained that Councils should be held every spring & autumn in every Province; & according to this Canon, the Bishops of this Province met every half year at Rome. In this sense Pope Leo I. applied this <37r> Canon to Rome in a Decretal Epistle to the Bishops of Sicily, written Alippio et Ardabure Coss. A.C. 447. Quia saluberrime, saith he, a sanctis patribus constitutum est binos in annis singulis episcoporum debere esse conventus, terni semper ex vobis ad diem tertium Kalendarum Octobrium Romam æterno consilio sociandi occurrant. Et indissimulanter a vobis hæc consuetudo servetur, quoniam adjuvante Dei gratia facilius poterit provideri ut in Ecclesijs Christi nulla scandala nulli nascantur errores cum coram Apostolo Petro semper in communione tractatum fuerit ut omnia Canonumque Decreta apud omnes Domini sacerdotes inviolata permaneant. The Province of Rome therefore comprehended Sicily, with so much of Italy & the neighbouring Islands as sent Bishops to the annual Councils of Rome; but extended not into the Provinces of Ravenna, Aquileia, Millain, Arles, &c those Provinces having Councils of their own. The Bishops in every Province of the Roman Empire were convened in Council by the Metropolitan or Bishop of the head city of the Province, & this Bishop presided in the Council: the Bishop of Rome did not only preside in his own Council of the Bishops of the suburbicarian regions, but also gave Orders to the Metropolitans of all the Provinces in the western Empire as their universal governour, as you may further perceive by the following instances

Pope Zosimus A.C. 417 cited Proculus Bishop of Marseilles to appear before a Council at Rome for illegitimate Ordinations; & condemned him, as he mentions in several of his Epistles. Pope Boniface I. A.C. 419, upon a complaint of the Clergy of Valentia against Maximus a Bishop, summoned the Bishops of all Gallia & the seven Provinces to convene in a Council against him; & saith in his Epistle to them, that his Predecessors had done the like. Pope Leo I. called a general Council of all the Provinces of Spain to meet in Gallæcia against the Manichees & Priscillianists, as he mentions in his Decretal Epistle to Turribius a Spanish Bishop. And in one of his Decretal Epistles to Nicetas Bishop of Aquileia, he commands him to call a Council of the Bishops of that Province against the Pelagians, which might ratify all the Synodal Decrees which had been ratifyed by the See of Rome against this heresy. And in his Decretal Epistle to Anastasius bishop of Thessalonica, he ordeined that that Bishop should hold two Provincial Councils every year, & refer the harder causes to the See of Rome: and if upon any extraordinary occasion it should be necessary to call a Council, he should not be troublesom to the Bishops under him, but be content with two Bishops out of every Province, & not detein them above fifteen days. In the same Epistle he describes the form of Church Government then set up, to consist in a subordination of all the Churches to the See of Rome: De qua forma, saith he, Episcoporum quoque est orta distinctio, & magna dispositione provisum est ne omnes sibi omnia vindicarent, sed essent in singulis Provincijs singuli quorum inter fratres haberetur prima sententia, et rursus quidam in majoribus urbibus constituti sollicitudinem sumerent ampliorem, per quos ad unam Petri sedem universalis Ecclesiæ cura conflueret et nihil usque a suo capite dissideret. Qui ergo scit se quibusdam esse præpositum, non moleste ferat aliquem sibi esse præpositum. Sed obedientiam quam exigit etiam ipse dependat. Et sicut non vult gravis oneris sarcinam ferre, ita non audeat alijs importabile pondus imponere. These words <38r> sufficiently shew the monarchical form of government then set up in the Churches of the western Empire under the Bishop of Rome, by meanes of the Imperial Decree of Gratian, & the appeals & decretal Epistles grounded thereupon.

The same Pope Leo having in a Council at Rome passed sentence against Hilary bishop of Arles, for what he had done by a Provincial Council in Gallia, took occasion from thence to procure the following Edict from the western Emperor Valentinian III. for establishing more absolutely the authority of his See over all the Churches of the western Empire.

Impp Theodosius & Valentinianus AA. Aetio Viro illustri,
Comiti et Magistro utriusque militiæ et Patricio.

Certum est et nobis et imperio nostro unicum esse præsidium in supernæ Divinitatis favore, ad quem promerendum præcipue Christiana fides et veneranda nobis religio suffragatur. Cum igitur sedis Apostolicæ Primatum sancti Petri meritum, qui princeps est Episcopalis coronæ & Romanæ dignitas civitatis, sacræ etiam Synodi firmavit auctoritas, Ne quid præter auctoritatem sedis istius illicitum præsumptio attemperare nitatur. Tunc enim demum Ecclesiarum pax ubique servabitur, si Rectorem suum agnoscat Vniversitas. Hæc cum hactenus inviolabiliter fuerint custodita, Hilarius Arelatensis (sicut venerabilis Viri Leonis Romani Papæ fideli relatione comperimus) contumaci ausu illicita quædam præsumenda tentavit, et ideo transalpinas Ecclesias abominabilis tumultus invasit, quod recens maxime testatur exemplum. Hilarius enim qui Episcopus Arelatensis vocatur, Ecclesiæ Romanæ urbis inconsulto Pontifice indebitas sibi ordinationes episcoporum sola temeritate usurpans invasit. Nam alios incompetenter removit, indecenter alios invitis et repugnantibus civibus ordinavit. Qui quidem, quoniam non facile ab his qui non elegerant, recipiebantur, manum sibi contrahebat armatam, & claustra murorum in hostilem morem vel obsidione cingebat, vel aggressione reserabat, et ad sedem quietis pacem prædicaturus per ordinem religiosi viri Vrbis Papæ cognitione discussis, certa in eum ex his quos male ordinaverat lata sententia est. Erat quidem ipsa sententia per Gallias etiam sine Imperiali Sanctione valitura. Quid enim Pontificis auctoritate non liceret? Sed nostram quoque præceptionem hæc ratio provocavit. Nec ulterius vel Hilario (quem adhuc episcopum noncupare sola mansueta Præsulis permittit humanitas) nec cuiquam alteri ecclesiasticis rebus arma miscere, aut præceptis Romani Antistitis liceat obviare. Ausibus enim talibus fides et reverentia nostri violatur Imperij. Nec hoc solum quod est maximi criminis submovemus: verum ne levis saltem inter ecclesias turba nascatur, vel in aliquo minui religionis disciplina videatur, hoc perenni sanctione discernimus, nequid tam Episcopis Gallicanis quam aliarum Provinciarum contra consuetudinem veterem liceat sine viri venerabilis Papæ Vrbis æternæ auctoritate tentare. Sed illis omnibusque pro lege sit, quicquid sanxit vel sanxerit Apostolicæ sedis auctoritas, ita ut quisquis Episcoporum ad judicium Romani Antistitis evocatus venire neglexerit, per Moderatorem ejusdem Provinciæ adesse cogatur, per omnia servatis quæ Divi parentes nostri Romanæ Ecclesiæ detulerunt, Aetij pater carissime Augusti. Vnde illustris et præclara magnificentia tua præsentis Edictalis Legis auctoritate faciet quæ sunt superius statuta servari, decem librarum auri multa protinus exigenda ab unoquoque Iudice qui passus fuerit Præcepta nostra violari. Divinitas te servet per multos annos parens carissime. Dat. VIII Id. Iun. Romæ, Valentiniano A. VI Consule. A.C. 445. By this Edict the Emperor Valentinian enjoyned an absolute obedience to the will of the Bishop of Rome thro'out all the Churches of his Empire; & declares, that for the Bishops to attempt any thing without the Pope's authority is contrary to ancient custome, and that the bishops summoned to appear before his judicature must be carried thither by the Governour of the Province; & ascribes these privileges of the See of Rome to the concessions of his dead Ancestors, <39r> that is, to the Edict of Gratian & Valentinian II. as above: by which recconing this dominion of the Church of Rome was now of 66 years standing. And if in all this time it had not been sufficiently established; this new Edict was enough to establish it in all the western Empire beyond all question.

Hence all the Bishops of the Province of Arles in their Letter to Pope Leo A.C. 450, in petitioning the Pope for a restitution of the privileges of their Metropolitan, say: Per beatum Petrum Apostolorum principem, sacrosancta Ecclesia Romana tenebat supra omnes totius mundi ecclesias principatum. And Ceretius, Salonius & Veranus, three bishops of Gallia, in their epistle to the same Pope Leo, say: Magna præterea & ineffabili quadam nos peculiares tui gratulatione succrescimus, quod illa specialis doctrinæ vestræ pagina ita per omnium ecclesiarum conventicula celebratur, ut vere consona omnium sententia declaretur merito illic principatum sedis Apostolicæ constitutum, unde adhuc Apostolici spiritus oracula reserentur. And Pope Leo himself, in his Epistle^[88] to the metropolitan bishops thro'out Illyricum: Quia per omnes Ecclesias cura nostra distenditur, exigente hoc a nobis Domino, qui Apostolicæ dignitatis beatissimo Apostolo Petro primatum, fidei sui remuneratione commisit, universalem ecclesiam in fundamenti ipsius soliditate constituens.

^[89][While this Ecclesiastical Dominion was rising up, the northern barbarous nations invaded the western Empire, & founded several kingdoms therein of different religions from the Church of Rome. But these kingdoms by degrees embraced the Roman faith, & at the same time submitted to the Pope's authority. The Franks in Gaul submitted in the end of the fifth Century, the Goths in Spain in the end of the sixth, & the Lombards in Italy were conquered by Charles the great A.C. 774: & between the years 775 & 794, the same Charles extended the Pope's authority over all Germany & Hungary as far as to the river Teis^[90] & the Baltic sea; & then set him above all humane judicature, & at the same time assisted him in subduing the City & Duchy of Rome. By the conversion of the ten kingdoms to the Roman religion, the Pope only enlarged his spiritual dominion, & did not yet rise up as a horn of the Beast.^[91] It was his temporal dominion which made him one of the horns: And this kingdom he acquired in the latter half of the eighth century, by subduing three of the former horns, as above. And now being arrived at a temporal dominion & a power above all humane judicature, he reigned ^[92] with a look more stout than his fellows, & times & laws were henceforward given into his hands, for a time times & half a time, or three times & an half; that is, for 1260 solar years, recconing a time for a Calendar year of 360 days, & a day for a solar year. After which the judgment is to sit, & they shall take away his dominion^[93] (not at once, but by degrees) to consume, & to destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom & dominion, & greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall (by degrees) be given unto the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, & all dominions shall serve & obey him.^[94]

<40r>

Chap. 9
Of the kingdoms represented in Daniel
by the Ram & the He-Goat.

The second & third Empires, represented by the Bear & Leopard, are again represented by the Ram & He-Goat; but with this difference, that the Ram represents the kingdoms of the Medes & Persians from the beginning of the four Empires, & the Goat represents the kingdom of the Greeks to the end of them. By this means, under the type of the Ram & He-Goat, the times of all four Empires are again described: I lifted up mine eyes, saith Daniel,^[95] & saw, & behold there stood before the river [Vlai] a Ram which had two horns, & the two horns were high, but one was higher than the other, & the higher came up last. — And the Ram having two horns, are the kings of Media & Persia: not two persons but two kingdoms, the kingdoms of Media & Persia; & the kingdom of Persia was the higher horn & came up last. The kingdom of Persia rose up, when Cyrus having newly conquered Babylon, revolted from Darius king of the Medes, & beat him at Pasargadæ, & set up the Persians above the Medes. This was the horn which came up last. And the horn which came up first was the kingdom of the Medes, from the time that Cyaxeres & Nebuchadnezzar overthrew Niniveh, & shared the Empire of the Assyrians between them. The Empires of Media & Babylon were contemporary, & rose up together by the fall of the Assyrian Empire; & the Prophesy of the four Beasts begins with one of them, & that of the Ram & He-Goat with the other. And as the Ram represents the kingdom of Media & Persia from the beginning of the four Empires; so the He-Goat represents the Empire of the Greeks to the end of those Monarchies. In the reign of his great horn, & of the four horns which succeeded it, he represents this Empire during the reign of the Leopard: & in the reign of his little horn, which stood up in the latter time of the kingdom of the four, & after their fall became mighty but not by his own power, he represents it during the reign of the fourth Beast.

The rough Goat, saith Daniel, is the king of Greece, that is, the kingdom; & the great horn between his eyes is the first king: not the first Monarch, but the first kingdom, that which lasted during the reign of Alexander the great, & his brother Aridæus & two young sons, Alexander & Hercules. Now that [horn] being broken off, whereas four [horns] stood up for it; four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation [of the Greeks], but not in his [the first horn's] power. The four horns are therefore four kingdoms; & by consequence, the first great horn which they succeeded is the first great kingdom of the Greeks, that which was founded by Alexander the great, An. Nabonass. 414, & lasted till the death of his Son Hercules An. Nabonass. 441. And the four are those of Cassander, Lysimachus, Antigonus, & Ptolomy, as above.

And in the latter time of their kingdome, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king [or new kingdom] of <41r> fierce countenance, & understanding dark sentences, shall stand up: And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power. This king was the last horn of the Goat, the little horn which came up out of the four horns, & waxed exceeding great. The latter time of their kingdom was when the Romans began to conquer them, that is, when they conquered Perseus king of Macedonia, the fundamental kingdom of the Greeks. And at that time the transgressors came to the full: For then the High-priesthood was exposed to sale, the Vessels of the Temple were sold to pay for the purchase; & the High-priest, with some of the Iews, procured a licence from Antiochus Epiphanes to do after the ordinances of the heathen, & set up a school at Ierusalem for teaching those ordinances. Then Antiochus took Ierusalem with an armed force, slew 4000 Iews, took as many prisoners & sold them, spoiled the Temple, interdicted the worship, commanded the Law of Moses to be burnt, & set up the worship of the heathen Gods in all Iudea. In the very same year (An. Nabonass. 580) the Romans conquered Macedonia, the chief of the four horns. Hitherto the Goat was mighty by its own power, but hence forward began to be under the Romans. Daniel distinguishes the times, by describing very particularly the actions of the kings of the north & south, (those two of the four horns which bordered upon Iudea) untill the Romans conquered Macedonia, & thenceforward only touching upon the main revolutions which happened within the compass of the nations represented by the Goat. In this latter period of time the little horn was to stand up & grow mighty, but not by his own power.

The three first of Daniel's Beasts had their dominions taken away, each of them at the rise of the next Beast; but their lives were prolonged, & they are all of them still alive. The third Beast, or Leopard, reigned in his four heads, till the rise of the fourth Beast or Empire of the Latins; & his life was prolonged under their power. This Leopard reigning in his four heads, signifies the same thing with the He-goat reigning in his four horns: & therefore the He-goat reigned in his four horns till the rise of Daniel's fourth Beast, or Empire of the Latins: then its dominion was taken away by the Latins, but its life was prolonged under their power. The Latines are not comprehended among the nations represented by the He-Goat in this Prophecy: Their power over the Greeks is only named in it to distinguish the times in which the He-Goat was mighty by his power, from the times in which he was mighty but not by his own power. He was mighty by his own power till his dominion was taken away by the Latines; & after that, his life was prolonged under their dominion, & this prolonging of his life was in the days of his last horn: For in the days of this horn the Goat became mighty but not by his own power.

Now because this horn was a horn of the Goat, we are to look for it amongst the nations which composed the <42r> body of the Goat. Among those nations he was to rise up & grow mighty: He grew mighty ^[96]towards the south & towards the east & towards the pleasant land; & therefore he was to rise up in the north-west parts of those nations, & extend his dominion towards Egypt, Syria & Iudea. In the latter time of the kingdom of the four horns, it was to rise up out of one of them & subdue the rest, but not by its own power. It was to be assisted by a foreign power, a power superior to it self, the power which took away the dominion of the third Beast, the power of the fourth Beast. And such a little horn was the kingdom of Macedon from the time that it became subject to the Romans. This kingdom by the victory of the Romans over Perseus king of Macedon, Anno Nabonass 580, ceased to be one of the four horns of the Goat, & became a dominion of a new sort; not a horn of the fourth Beast, for Macedon belonged to the body of the third: but a horn of the third Beast of a new sort, a horn of the Goat which grew mighty but not by his own power, a horn which rose up & grew potent under a forreign power, the power of the Romans.

The Romans, by the legacy of Attalus the last king of Pergamus, An. Nabonass. 615, inherited that kingdom, including all Asia minor on this side mount Taurus: An. Nabonass. , 684 & 685 they conquered Armenia, Syria & Iudæa; An. Nabonass. 718, they subdued Egypt. And by these conquests the little ^[97][horn waxed exceeding great towards the south, & towards the east, & towards the pleasant land. And it waxed great even to the host of heaven; & cast down of the Host & of the starrs to the grownd, & stamped upon them,^[98] that is, upon the people & great men of the Iews. ^[99]Yea, he magnified himself even to the Prince of the Host, the Messiah, the Prince of the Iews, whom he put to death An. Nabonass. 780. And by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, & the place of his Sanctuary was cast down; viz^t in the warrs which the armies of the eastern nations under the conduct of the Romans made against Iudea, when Nero & Vespasian were Emperors, An. Nabonass. 816, 817, & 818. And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, & it cast down the truth to the grownd, & it practised & prospered.^[100] This transgression is in the next words called the transgression of desolation; & in Dan. XI.31 the abomination which maketh desolate; & in Matth. XXIV.15 the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the Prophet, standing in the holy place. It may relate chiefly to the worship of Iupiter Olympius in his Temple built by the Emperor Hadrian, in the place of the Temple of the Iews, & to the revolt of the Iews under Barchochab occasioned thereby, & to the desolation of Iudæa which followed thereupon, all the Iews being thenceforward banished Iudæa upon pain of death. Then I heard, saith Daniel^[101], one saint speaking, & another saint said to him that spoke, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, & the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary & the Host to be trodden under feet? And he said unto me, Vnto two thousand & three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. Daniel's days are years; & these years may perhaps be recconed either from the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in the reign <43r> of Vespasian, or from the pollution of the Sanctuary by the worship of Iupiter Olympius, or from the desolation of Iudea made in the end of the Iewish war by the banishment of all the Iews out of their own country, or from some other period which time will discover. Henceforward the last horn of the Goat continued mighty under the Romans, till the reign of Constantine the great & his sons: And then by the division of the Roman Empire between the Greek & Latin Empires, it separated from the Latins, & became the Greek Empire alone, but yet under the dominion of a Roman family; & at present it is mighty under the dominion of the Turks.

This last horn is by some taken for Antiochus Epiphques, but not very judiciously. A horn of a Beast is never taken for a single person: It always signifies a new kingdom, & the kingdom of Antiochus was an old one. Antiochus reigned over one of the four horns, & the little horn was a fifth under its proper kings. This horn was at first a little one, & waxed exceeding great, & so did not Antiochus. It is described great above all the former horns, & so was not Antiochus. His kingdom on the contrary was weak, & tributary to the Romans, & he did not enlarge it. The horn was a king of fierce countenance, & destroyed wonderfully, & prospered & practised; that is, he prospered in his practises against the holy people: but Antiochus was frighted out of Egypt by a mere message of the Romans, & afterwards routed & baffled by the Iews. The horn was mighty by another's power, Antiochus acted by his own. The Horn stood up against the Prince of the Host of heaven, the Prince of Princes; & this is the character not of Antiochus but of Antichrist. The Horn cast down the Sanctuary to the grownd, & so did not Antiochus; He left it standing. The Sanctuary & Host were trampled under foot 2300 days; & in Daniel's prophesies days are put for years: but the profanation of the Temple in the reign of Antiochus did not last so many natural days. These were to last till the time of the end, till the last end of the Indignation against the Iews; & this Indignation is not yet at an end. They were to last till the Sanctuary which had been cast down should be cleansed, & the Sanctuary is not yet cleansed.

This Prophesy of the Ram & He-Goat is repeated in the last Prophesy of Daniel. There the Angel tells Daniel^[102], that he stood up to strengthen Darius the Mede, & that there should stand up yet three kings in Persia, [Cyrus, Cambyses, & Darius Hystaspis] & the fourth [Xerxes] should be far richer then they all; & by his wealth thro' his riches he should stir up all against the realm of Greece. This relates to the Ram, whose two horns were the kingdoms of Media & Persia. Then he goes on to describe^[103] the horns of the Goat by the standing up of a mighty king, which should rule with great dominion, & do so according to his will; & by the breaking <44r> of his kingdom into four smaller kingdoms, & not to his posterity. Then he describes the actions of two of those kingdoms which bordered upon Iudea, viz^t Egypt & Syria, calling them the kings of the south & north, that is, in respect of Iudea; & he carries on the description till the latter end of the kingdom of the four, & till the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes, when transgressors were come to the full. In the eighth yeare of Antiochus, the year in which he prophaned the Temple & set up the heathen Gods in all Iudæa, & the Romans conquered the kingdom of Macedon, the prophetic Angel leaves off describing the affairs of the kings of the South & north, & begins to describe those of the Greeks under the dominion of the Romans, in these words. And after him^[104] Arms [The Romans] shall stand up, & they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength As ממלך signifies after the king, Dan XI.8; so here ממנו may signify after him: & so תן־האחת may signify after one of them, Dan. VIII.9. Arms are every where in these prophesies of Daniel put for the military power of a kingdom, & they stand up when they conquer & grow powerfull. The Romans conquered Illyricum, Epire & Macedon, in the year of Nabonassar 580; & 35 years after, by the last will & testament Attalus the last king of Pergamus, they inherited that rich & flourishing kingdom, that is, all Asia on this side mount Taurus: & 69 years after, they conquered the kingdom of Syria, & reduced it into a Province: & 34 years after they did the like to Egypt. By all these steps the Roman arms stood up over the Greeks. And after 95 years more, by making war upon the Iews, they polluted the sanctuary of strength, & took away the dayly sacrifice, & [in its room soon after they] placed the abomination which made [the Land] desolate. For this abomination was placed after the days of Christ, Matth. XXIV.15. In the 16^th year of the Emperor Hadrian, A.C. 132, they placed this abomination by building a Temple to Iupiter Capitolinus, where the Temple of God in Ierusalem had stood. Thereupon the Iews under the conduct of Barchochab rose up in arms against the Romans, & in the war had 50 cities demolished, & 985 of their best towns destroyed, & 580000 men slain by the sword: & in the end of the war, A.C. 136, they were banished Iudea upon pain of death; & thenceforward the land hath remained desolate of its old inhabitants.

Now that the prophetic Angel passes in this manner from the four kingdoms of the Greeks to the Romans reigning over the Greeks, is confirmed from hence, that in the next place he describes the affairs of the Christians unto the time of the end, in these words:^[105] And they that understand among the people shall instruct many, yet they shall fall by the sword & by flame, by captivity & by spoile many days. Now when they shall fall they shall be holpen with a little help, [viz^t in the reign of Constantine the great,] but many shall cleave to them with dissimulation. And of those of understanding there shall fall to try them, and to purge [them from the dissemblers] & to make white unto the time of the end. And a little after, the time of the end is said to be a time, times, & half a time: which is the duration of the reign last <45r> horn of Daniels fourth Beast, & of the Woman & her Beast in the Apocalyps.

<47r>

< insertion from higher up f 46r > Chapt. X
Of the Prophesy of the seventy Weeks

The Vision of the Image composed of four metals was given first to Nebuchadnezzar, and then to Daniel in a dream: and Daniel began then to be celebrated for revealing of secrets, Ezek. XXVIII.3. The Vision of the four beasts, and of the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, was also given to Daniel in a dream. That of the ram and the hee-goat appeared to him in the day time, when he was by the bank of the river Ulay; and was explained to him by the prophetic Angel Gabriel. It concerns the Prince of the host, and the Prince of Princes: and now in the first year of Darius the Mede over Babylon, the same prophetic Angel appears to Daniel again, and explains to him what is meant by the Son of man, by the Prince of the host, and the Prince of Princes. The Prophecy of the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven relates to the second coming of Christ; that of the Prince of the host relates to his first coming: and this prophecy of the Messiah in explaining them relates to both comings, and assigns the times thereof.

^[106][This Prophesy, like all the rest of Daniel's, consists of two parts, an introductory prophesy and an explanation thereof; the whole I thus translate and interpret.

Seventy Weeks &c # ^[107] < text from f 47r resumes >

{#} Seventy weeks are ^a[108]cut out upon thy people, & upon thy holy City, to finish transgression, & ^b[109]to make an end of {s}ins, & to expiate iniquity, & to bring in everlasting righte{ou}sness & to consummate the Vision & ^c[110]the Prophet, & to {a}noint the most Holy.

Know also & understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to cause to return & to build Ierusalem unto ^d[111]the Anointed the Prince, shall be the seven weeks.

Yet threscore & two weeks shall ^e[112]it return, & the street be built & the wall; but in troublesome times & after the threscore & two weeks, the Anointed shall be cut off, & ^e[113]it shall not be his, but the people of the Prince to come shall destroy the city & the sanctuary: & the end thereof shall be with a flood, & unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

Yet shall he confirm the covenant with many for one week. And in half a week he shall cause the sacrifice & oblation to cease: & upon a wing of abominations he shall make it desolate, even untill the consummation and that which is determined be poured up{o}n the desolate.

Seventy weeks are cut out upon thy people, & upon <47v> thy holy City, to finish transgression, &c. Here by put{ting} a week for seven years as in Gen. XXIX.27. 28, are recconed 490 years fr{om} the time that the dispersed Iews should be reincorpo{rated} into ^a[114]a people & a holy city, untio the death & resur{rec}tion of Christ; whereby transgression should be finish{ed} & sins ended, & iniquity expiated, & everlasting righteo{usness} brought in, & this Vision accomplished, & the Prophet consummate, that Prophet whom the Iews expected; & the most Holy anointed, he who is therefore in the next words called the Anointed, that is, the Messiah, or the Christ. For by joyning the accomplishment of the vi{sion} with the expiation of sins, the 490 years are ende{d} with the death of Christ. Now the dispersed Iews became a people & City when they first returned into a polity or body politick; & this was in th{e} seventh year of Artaxerxes Longimagnus, when Ezra returned with a body of Iews from captivity, & revived the Ie{ws} worship, & by the King's commission created Magistrates in all the land, to judge & govern the people accordi{ng} to the laws of God & the King, Ezra 7.25. There were but two re{turns} from captivity, Zerubbabel's & Ezra's; & in Zerubbabe{l's} they had only commission to build the Temple, in Ez{ra's} they first became a polity or city by a government of t{heir} own. Now the years of this Artaxerxes began ab{out} two or three months after the summer solstice, & his seventh year fell in with the third year of the 80^th Olympiad; & the latter part thereof, wherein Ezra went up to Ierusalem, was in the 4257^th year of the Iulian Period. Coun{t} the time from thence to the death of Christ, you will find it just 490 years. If you count in Iudaic years commencing in autumn, & date {the} recconing from the first autumn after Ezra's com{ing} to Ierusalem, when he put the King's decree in {ex}cution; the death of Christ will fall on the year of the Iulian Period 4747, anno Domini 34; & the weeks will be Iudaic weeks, ending with sabbatic{al} years: & this I take to be the truth. But if you had rather place the death of Christ in the year before as is commonly done, you may include the year {of} Ezra's journey in the recconing.

<48r>

Know also & understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to cause to return & to build Ierusalem unto the Anointed the Prince, shall be seven weeks. The former part of the Prophesy related to the first coming of Christ being dated to his coming as a Prophet; this being dated to his coming to be Prince or King, seems to relate to his second coming. There the Prophet was consummate, & the most holy anointed: here he that was anointed comes to be Prince & to reign. For all Daniel's prophesies reach to the end of the world; {&} there is scarce a prophesy in the old Testament {c}oncerning Christ, which doth not in something or other relate to his second coming. If divers of the ancients as ^a[115]Irenæus, ^b[116]Iulius Africanus, Hippolytus the martyr, {&} Apollinaris Bishop of Laodicea, applied the half week to the times of Antichrist, why may not we by the same liberty of interpretation apply the seven weeks to the time when Antichrist shall be destroyed by the brightness of Christ's coming?

^[117] < insertion from lower down f 46r >

<46v>

Ⓧ The Israelites in the days of the ancient Prophets, when the ten Tribes were led in{to} captivity, expected a double return; and that at the first the Iews should build a new Temple inferior to Solomon's, untill the time of that age should be fulfilled and afterwards they should return from all the places of their captivity & build Ierusa{lem} and the Temple gloriously, Tobit xiv.4. 56: and to express the Glory and excellence of this City, it is figuratively said to be built of precious stones, Tobit xiii.16. 17. 18 Isa. liv. 11.12. Rev. xi; and calld the New Ierusalem, the Heavenly Ierusalem, the Holy City, the Lamb's Wife, the City of the Great King, the Ci{ty} into which the Kings of the earth do bring their glory & honour. Now while such a return from captivity was the expectation of Israel, even before th{e} times of Daniel, I know not why Daniel should omit it in this Prophesy. This part of the Prophesy being therefore not yet fulfilled, I shall not attempt a particular interpretation of it, but content my self with observing, th{at} as the seventy weeks and the sixty two weeks were Iewish weeks, ending with sabattical years; so the seven weeks are the compass of a Iubilee and begin and end with actions proper for a Iubilee, and of the highest nature for which a Iubilee can be kept: and that since the commandment to return and to build Ierusalem, precedes the Messiah the Prince 49 years it may perhaps come forth not from the Iews themselves, but from some other kingdom friendly to them, & precede their return from captivity, and giue occasion to it; and lastly, that this rebuilding of Ierusalem and the was{te} places of Iudah is predicted in Micah vii.11. Amos ix.11. 14, Ezek. xxxvi.33. 35. 36. 38{.} Isa. liv.3. 11. 12 lv.12. lxi.4. lxv.18, 21. 22. & Tobit xiv.5; and the return from the capti{vity} and coming of the Messiah and his kingdom are described in Daniel vii. Rev. xix. Acts I. Mat xxiv. Ioel iii. Ezek. xxxvi. xxxvii. Isa. lx. lxii. lxiii. lxv. & lxvi and many other places of scripture. The manner I know not. Let time be the {in}terpreter.

Yet threescore & two &c^[118] < text from f 48r resumes > Yet threescore & two weeks shall it return, & the street be built & the wall, but in troublesome times: & after the threscore & two weeks, the Messiah shall be cut off, & it shall not be his, but the people of a Prince to come shall destroy the city & the sanctuary, &c. Having foretold both comings of Christ, & dated the last from the returning & building Ierusalem; to prevent the applying that to the building Ierusalem by Nehemiah, he distinguishes this from that, by saying that from this period to the Anointed shall be, not seven weeks, but threscore & two weeks, & this not in prosperous but in troublesome times; & at the end of these weeks the Messiah shall not be the Prince ^[119] of the Iews, but be cut off, & Ierusalem not be his, but the city & sanctuary be destroyed. Now Nehemiah came to Ierusalem in the 20^th year of this same Artaxerxes, while Ezra still continued there (Nehem. 12.36.) & found the city lying waste, & the houses & wall unbuilt (Nehem. 2.17.& 7.4) & finished the wall, <48v> the 25^t day of the month Elut (Nehem. 6.15) in ^d[120]the 28^th year of the King, that is in September in the year of the Iulian period 4278. Count now from this year threescore & two weeks of years, that is 434 years, & the recconing will end in September in the year of the Iulian period 4712 the last year of which recconing is the year in which Christ was born according to Clemens Alexandrinus, Irenæus, Eusebius, Epiphanius, Ierome Orosius Cassiodorus & other antients. For this was the general opinion of the antients, till Dionysius Exiguus invented the vulgar account in which Christs birth is placed two years later. If with some you reccon that Christ was born 3 or 4 years before the vulgar account, yet his birth will fall in the latter part of the last week, which is enough. How after these weeks Christ was cut off, & the City & Sanctuary destroyed by the Romans, is well known.

Yet shall he confirm the covenant with many for one week. For he kept it (notwithstanding his death) till the rejection of the Iews, & calling of Cornelius & the Gentiles in the seventh year after his passion. ^[121]And in half a week he shall cause the sacrifice & oblation to cease, that is, by the war of the Romans upon the Iews; which war after some commotions began in the 13^th year of Nero, A.D. 67 in spring, when Vespasian with an army invaded them, & ended in the second year of Vespasian, A.D. 70, in autumn, Sept. 7, when Titus took the City, having burnt the Temple 27 days before; so that is lasted three years & an half. ^[122] And upon a wing of abominations he shall cause desolation, even untill the consummation & that which is determined be poured upon the desolate. The Prophets, in representing Kingdoms by Beasts & Birds, put their wings stretcht out over any country for their armies sent out to invade & rule over the country. And hence a wing of abominations is an army of fals Gods. For an abomination is often put in scripture for a fals God; as where Chemosh is called the abomination of Moab & Molech the abomination of Ammon. The meaning therefore is, that the people of a Prince to come shall destroy the sanctuary, & abolish the daily ^[123][worship of the true God, & overspread the land with an army of fals Gods; & by setting up their dominion & worship, cause desolation to the Iews, untill the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. For Christ tells you, that the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel was to be set up in the times of the Roman Empire, <49r> Matt. 24.15.

Thus have you in this short prophesy, {|} a prediction of all the main periods relating to the coming of the Messiah, : the time of his birth, that of his death, that of the rejection of the Iews, the duration of the Iewish war whereby he caused the City & sanctuary to be destroyed, & the time of his second coming: & so the interpretation here given is more full & complete & adequate to the designe, then if we should restrain it to his first coming only, as Interpreters usually do, we avoyd also the doing violence to the language of Daniel, by taking the seven weeks & sixty two weeks for one number. Had that been Daniel's meaning, he would have said sixty & nine weeks, & not seven weeks & sixty two weeks, a way of numbring used by no nation. In our way the years are Iewish Luni-solar years;^a[124], as they ought to be; & the seventy weeks of years are Iewish weeks ending with sabbatical years, which is very remarkable. For they end either with the year of the birth of Christ two years before the vulgar account, or with the year of his death, or with the seventh year after it: all which are sabbatical years. Other's either count by Lunar years, or by weeks not Iudaic: &, which is worst, they ground their interpretations on erroneous Chronology, excepting the opinion of Funccius about the seventy weeks, which is the same with ours. For they place Ezra & Nehemiah in the reign of Artaxerxes Mnemon, & the building of the Temple in the reign of (Darius Nothus, & the weeks of Daniel from those two reigns.

The grounds of the Chronology here followed, I will now set down as briefly as I can. The Peloponnesian war &c.^[125]

<50r> <50v> <51r>

The Peloponnesian war began in spring an 1 Olymp 87 as Diodorus, Eusebius & all authors agree. It began two months before Pythodorus ceased to be Archon (Thucyd. l. 2.) that is, in April, two months before the end of the Olympic year. And the years of this war are most certainly determined by the 50 years distance of its first year from the transit of Xerxes inclusively, (Thucyd. l. 2.) or 48 years exclusively. (Eratosth. apud Clem. Alex.) by the 69 years distance of its end, or 27^th year, from the beginning of Alexander in Greece; by the acting of the Olympic games in its 4^th & 12^th years; (Thucyd. l. 5) & by three eclipses of the Sun, & one of the moon, mentioned by Thucydides & Xenophon. Now Thucydides, an unquestionable witness, tells us, that the news of the death of Artaxerxes Longimanus was brought to Ephesus, & from thence by some Athenians to Athens, in the 7^th year of this Peloponnesian war, when the winter half year was running; & therefore he died an. 4 Olymp. 88, in the endof I.P. 4289 {sup}pose a month or two before mid-winter; For so long the news would be in coming. Now Artaxerxes Longimanus reigned 40 years, by the consent of <52r> <52r> < insertion from between the lines of f 51r > Diodorus, Eusebius, Ierome, Sulpitius; or 41 according to Ptol. in {illeg} Clemens Alexandr. l. 1. Strom. Chron: Alexandr. Abul-Pharagius, Nicephorus in <52r> cluding therein the reign of his successors Xerxes & Sogdian, as Abulpharajius informs us. < text from f 52r resumes > After Artaxerxes reigned his son Xerxes two months, & Sogdian 7 months; but their reign is not recconed apart in summing up the years of the Kings, but is included in the 40 or 41 years reign of Artaxerxes. Omit these 9 months, & the precise reign of Artaxerxes will be 39 years & {10} months. And therefore since his reign ended in the beginning of winter I.P. 4289, it began between midsummer & autumn, I.P. 4250.

The same thing I gather also thus. Cambyses began his reign spring I.P. 4185, & reigned 8 years, including the five months of Smerdes; & then Darius Hystaspis began in spring I.P. 4193, & reigned 36 years, by the unanimous consent of all Chronologers. The reigns of these two kings are determined by three eclipses of the moon observed at Babylon, & recorded by Ptolomy; so that it cannot be disputed. One was in the 7^th year of Cambyses, an. I.P. 4191, Iul. 16, at 11 at night; another in the 20^th year of Darius, I.P. 4212, Nov. 19, at 11^h. 45′ at night; a third in the 31 ^st year of Darius, I.P. 4223, Apr. 25, at 11^h. 30′ at night. By these eclipses, & the Prophesies of Haggai & Zechary compared together, it's manifest that his years began after the 24^th day of the 11^th Iewish month, & before the 25^t day of April, & by consequence about March. Xerxes therefore began in spring I.P. 4229: for Darius died in the fifth year after the battel at Marathon (as Herodotus lib. 7, & Plutarch mention) & that battel was in October I.P. 4224, ten years before the battel at Salamis. Xerxes therefore began within less than a year after October I.P. 4228, suppose in the spring following: For he spent his first five years, & something more, in preparations for his expedition against the Greeks; & this expedition was in the time of the Olympic games, an. 1 Olymp. 75, Calliade Athenis Archonte, 28 years after the Regifuge, & Consulship of the first Consul Iunius Brutus, anno Vrbis conditæ 273, Fabio & Furio Coss. The passage of Xerxes's army over the hellespont began in the end of the fourth year of the 74^th Olympiad, (that is, in Iune I.P. 4234) & took up one month; & in autumn, after three months more, die Munychionis 16 Plenilunio was the battel at Salamis, & a little after that an Eclips of the sun, which by the calculation fell on Octob. 2. His <54r> sixth year therefore began a little before Iune (suppose in spring) an. I.P. 4234 & his first year in spring I.P. 4229, as above. Now he reigned almost 21 years, by the consent of all writers. Add the seven months of Artabanus, & the summ will be 21 years & about 4 or 5 months, which end between midsummer & autumn I.P. 4250. At this time therefore begins the reign of his successor Artaxerxes, as was to be proved.

The same thing is also confirmed by Iulius Africanus, who informs us out of former writers, that the 20^th year of this Artaxerxes^[127] was the 115^th year from the beginning of Cyrus in Persia, & fell in with an. 4 Olymp. 83. It began therefore with the Olympic year, soon after the summer solstice, I.P. 4269. Subduct 19 years, & his first year will begin at the same time of the year I.P. 4250, as above.

His 7^th year therefore began after midsummer I.P. 4256; & the Iourney of Ezra to Ierusalem in the spring following fell on the beginning of I.P. 4257, as above.^[128]

< insertion from f 53r >

^[129]Chap. XI
Of the Times of the Birth and Passion of Christ

The times of the birth & passion of Christ, with such like niceties, being not material to religion, were little regarded by the Christians of the first age. They who began first to celebrate then, placed them in the cardinal periods of the year, as the annunciation of the Virgin Mary, & the death of Christ on the 25^t of March, which when Iulius Cæsar corrected the Calendar was the vernal equinox; the feast of Iohn Baptist on the 24^th of Iune, which was the summer solstice; the Feast of S. Michael on Sept. 29, which was the autumnal equinox; & the birth of Christ on December the winter Solstice, Decemb 25, with the Feasts of S^t Stephen, S^t Iohn & S^t Innocents, as near it as they could place them And because the solstice in time removed from the 25^th of December to the 24^th, the 23 ^d, the 22 ^d & so on backwards, hence some in the following centuries placed the birth of Christ on Decemb 23, & at length on Decemb. 20: ^[130][& for the same reason they seem to have set the feast of S^t Thomas on Decemb. 21, & that of S^t Matthew on Sept. 21. So also at the entrance of the sun into all the signes in the Iulian Calendar, they placed the days of other Saints, as the conversion of Paul on Ian 25, when the sun entred ♒, S^t Matthias on Feb 25, when ☉ entred ♓; S^t Mark on Apr. 25, when ☉ entred ♉; Corpus Christi on May 26, when ☉ entred ♊; S^t Iames on Iuly 25, when ☉ entred ♋; S^t Bartholomew on Aug. 24, when ☉ entred ♍; Simond & Iude on Octob. 28, when ☉ entred ♏. And if there were any other remarkable days in the Iulian Calendar they placed the saints on them, as {S}^t Barnabas on Iune 11, where Ovid seems to place the feast of Vesta & Fortuna, & the goddess metuta; {S^t} S^t Philip & Iames on the first of May, a day dedicated both to the Bona . {D}{ea}, or magna Dea mater, & to the Goddess Flora, & still celebrat{ed} with her rites. All which shews that these days were fixed {in the} 1^st Christian Calendars by Mathematicians at pleasure, without any ground in tradition; & that the {Ch}ristians took up which what they found in the calendars. Neither was there any certain tradition about the years of Christ. For the Christians who first began to enquire into these things, {as} Clemens Alexandrinus, Origen, Tertullian, Iulius Africanus, < text from f 54r resumes >

Sect 2
Of The year of Christ's birth

< insertion from f 126r > Ierome, S^t Austin, Sulpitius, Severus, Prosper & as many as place the death of Christ in the 15^th or 16 year of Tiberius) make Christ to have preached but one year, or at most but two. At length Eusebius discovered four successive Passovers in the Gospel of Iohn, & thereupon set on foot an opinion that he preacht 3 years & an half, & so died in the 19^th year of Tiberius. Others afterwards, finding the opinion that he died in the equinox Mart. 25, more consonant to the times of the Iewish Passover in the 17y & 20^th years, have placed his death in one of those two years. Neither is there any greate certainty in the opinions about the time of his birth. The first Christians placed his baptism neare the beginning of the 15^th year of Tiberius; & thence recconning 30 years backwards, placed his birth in the 43 ^d Iulian year, the 42^th of Augustus & 28^th of the Actiac victory. And this was the opinion which obteined in the first ages, till Dionysius Exiguus, placing the baptism of Christ in the 16^th year of Tiberius, & misinterpreting the text of Luke, ch.3. 23, as if Iesus was only beginning to be 30 years old when he was baptized, invented the vulgar account, in which his birth is placed two years later than before. So then as to these things there is nothing in tradition worth considering; & therefore laying aside these prejudices, let us see whether any thing can be gathered from records of good account.

The fifteenth year of Tiberius began Aug. 18^{th [131]} < text from f 54r resumes > The fifteenth year of Tiberius began Aug. 28, I.P. 4727. So soon as the winter was over, & the weather became warm enough, we may reccon that Iohn began to baptize; & that before next winter his fame went abroad, & all the people came to his baptism, & Iesus among the rest. Whence the first Passover after his baptism mentioned Iohn 2.13. was in the 16^th year of Tiberius. After this feast Iesus came into the land of Iudea, & staid there baptizing, whilst Iohn was baptizing in Enon, (Iohn 3.22) But when he heard that Iohn was cast into prison, he departed in Galilee, (Mat 3.12) being afraid, because he Pharisees had heard that he baptized more disciples than Iohn, (Iohn 4.1.) & in his journey he passed thro' Samaria four months before the harvest (Iohn 4.35) that is, about the time of the winter Solstice. For their harvest was between Easter and whitsonday, & began about a month after the vernal equinox. Say ye not, saith he, that there are yet four months, & then cometh the harvest? Behold I say unto you, lift up your eys, & look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest; meaning, that the people in <55r> ^[132] <58r> the fields were ready for the Gospel as his next words shew.a^[133] Iohn therefore was imprisoned about November, in the 17^th year of Tiberius; & Christ thereupon went from Iudea to Cana of Galilee in December, & was received there of the Galileans, who had seen all he did at Ierusalem at the Passover: & when a nobleman of Capernaum heard he was returned into Galilee, & went to him & desired him to come & cure his son, he went not thither yet, but only said, Go thy way, thy son liveth; & the Nobleman returned & found it so, & believed he & his house, Iohn 4. This is the beginning of his miracles in Galile; & thus far Iohn is full & distinct in relating the actions of his first year, omitted by the other evangelists. The rest of his history is from this time related more fully by the other evangelists then by Iohn; For what they relate he omitts.

From this time therefore Iesus tought in the Synagogues of Galilee on the Sabbath-days, being glorified of all: & coming to his own city Nazareth, & preaching in their synagogue, they were offended, & thrust him out of the city, & led him to the brow of the hill on which the city was built to cast him headlong; but he passing thro' the midst of them, went his way, & came & dwelt at Capernaum, Luke 4. And by this time we may reckon that the second Passover was either past or at hand.

All this time Matthew passeth over in few words, & here begins to relate the preaching & miracles of Christ. When Iesus, saith he, had heard that Iohn was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee: & leaving Nazareth, he came & dwelt at Capernaum, & from that time began to preach & say, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Mat 4.12 Afterw{ards} he called his disciples Peter, Andrew, Iames & Iohn; & then went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, & healing all manner of sickness: & his fame went thro'out all Syria; & they brought to him all sick people, & great multitudes followed him from Galilee & Decapolis, & Ierusalem & Iudea, & from beyond Iordan, Matt. 4.38, 25. All this was done before the sermon in the mount: & therefore we may certainly reccon that the second Passover was past before the preaching of that Sermon ☉^[136] [Let us see therefore how the rest of the feasts follow in order in Matthew's Gospel: For he was an eye-witness of what he relates, & so tells all things in due order of time, which Mark & Luke do not.

Some time after the sermon in the mount, when the time came that he should be received,^[137] that is, when the time of a Feast came, that he should be received by the Iews he set his face to go to Ierusalem: & as he went with his disciples in the way, when the Samaritans in his passage thro' Samaria had denyed him lodgings, & a certain scribe said unto him <59r> Master I will follow thee whethersoever thou goest, Iesus said unto him, The Foxes have holes, & the birds of the air have neasts, but the Son of man hath no where to lay his head, Mat. 8.19. Luke 9.51, 57. The scribe told Christ he would beare him company in his journey, & Christ replied that he wanted a lodging. now. This feast I take to be the feast of Tabernacles, ^[138][[because soon after I find Christ & his apostles on the sea of Tiberias in a storm so great, that the ship was covered with water & in danger to sink, till Christ rebuked the winds & the sea, Matt 8.23. For this storm shews that winter was now come on.

After this Christ did many miracles, & went about all the cities & villages of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues & healing diseases, Mat. 9. & sent forth the twelve to do the like, Mat 10. & then departed again to do the same in their cities: & at length when he had received a message from Iohn & answered it, he said to the multitudes, From the days of Iohn the Baptist untill now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence; & upbraided the cities (Chorazin, Bethsaida, & Capernaum) wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not, Mat. 11. Both which passages shew, that from the imprisonment of Iohn till now there was a considerable length ^[139]of time past. For now the winter was past, & the next Passover was at hand. For immediately after this, Matthew (in Chap 12) subjoyns, that Iesus went on the Sabbath thro' the corn, & his disciples were an hungred, & began to pluck the ears of corn & to eat, rubbing it, saith Luke, with their hands. So then the corn now was not only in the ear, but ripe: & therefore the Passover, in which the first-fruits were always offered before the harvest, was now come or past. Luke calls this sabbath δευτερόπρωτον, the second prime sabbath, that is, the second of the two great feasts of the passover. As we call Easter day high Easter, & it octave low Easter or lowsunday: so Luke calls the feast on the seventh day of unlevened bread the second of the two prime sabbaths.

In one of the sabbaths following he went into a synagogue, & healed a man with a withered hand, Mat 12.9. Luke 6.6. And <60r> when the Pharisees took counsel to destroy him, he w{ithdrew} himself from thence, & great multitudes followed him; & he healed them all, but charged them that they should not make him known, Mat. 12.14. Afterwards being in a ship, & the multitude standing on the shore, he spake to them three parables together, taken from the seedsmen sowing the fields, (Matt. 13:) by which you may know that it was now seed-time, & by consequence that the feast of tabernacles was past. After this he went into his own country, & taught them in the synagogue, but did not many mighty works there because of their unbeleif. Then the twelve having been abroad a year, returned, & told Iesus all that they had done: & at the same time Herod beheaded Iohn in prison, & his disciples came & told Iesus; & when Iesus heard it, he took the twelve & departed thence privately by ship into a desert place belonging to Bethsaida: & the people when they knew it, followed him on foot out of the cities, the winter being now past; & he healed their sick, & in the desert fed them to the number of five thousand men besides weomen & children with only five loaves & two fishes, (Mat. 14 Luke 9.) at the doing of which miracle the Passover of the Iews was nigh, (Iohn 6.4) But Iesus went not up to this feast; but after these things walked in Galilee, because the Iews in the Passover before had taken counsel to destroy him, & still sought to kill him, (Iohn 7.1.) Henceforward therefore he is found first in the coast of Tyre & Sidon, then by the sea of Galilee, afterwards in the coast of Cæsarea Philippi; & lastly at Capernaum, (Mat. 15.21, 29 & ch. 16.13. & 17.34.

Afterwards when the feast of Tabernacles was at hand, his brethren upbraided him for walking secretly, & urged him to go to the feast. But he went not till they were gone, & then went up privately, Iohn 7.2. & when the Iews sought to stone him, escaped, Iohn 8.59. After this he was at the feast of the dedication in winter, (Iohn 10.22) & when they sought again to take him he fled beyond Iordan (Iohn 10.39, 40. Matt. 19.1): where he stayed till the death of Lazarus, & then came to Bethany near Ierusalem, & raised him, Iohn 11. 7, 18. whereupon the Iews took counsel from that time to kill him: & therefore he walked no more openly among the Iews, but went thence unto a country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim; & there continued with his disciples till the last Passover, in which the Iews put him to death, Iohn 11.53, 54.

Thus have we, in the Gospels of Matthew & Iohn compared together, the history of Christ's actions in continuall order during five passovers. Iohn is more distinct in the beginning & end; Matthew in the middle. What either omits, <61r> the other supplies. The first passover was between the baptism of Christ & the imprisonment of Iohn, Iohn 2.13 the second within four months after the imprisonment of Iohn, & Christ's beginning to preach in Galilee Iohn 4.35. & therefore it was either that feast to which Iesus went up when the Scribe desired to follow him, Matt 8.19 Luke 9.51, 57 or the feast before it. The third was the next feast after it, when the corn was eared & ripe, Mat. 12.1. Luke 6.1. The fourth was that which was nigh ^[140]at hand where Christ wrought the miracle of the five loaves, Matt. 14.15. Iohn 6.4, 5. & the fifth is that in which Christ suffered, Mat. 20.17. Iohn 12.1.

Between the first & second Passover Iohn & Christ baptized together, till the imprisonment of Iohn, which was four months before the second. Then Christ began to preach, & call his disciples; & after he had instructed them a year, sent them to preach in the cities of the Iews: at the same time Iohn hearing of the fame of Christ, sent to him to know who he was. At the third, the chief Priests began to consult about the death of Christ. A little before the fourth, the twelve after they had preached a year in all the cities, returned to Christ; & at the same time Herod beheaded Iohn in prison, after he had been in prison two years & a quarter & thereupon Christ fled into the desert for fear of Herod. The fourth Christ went not up to for fear of the Iews, who at the Passover before had consulted his death, & because his time was not yet come. Thenceforward therefore till the feast of Tabernacles he walked in Galilee, & that secretly for fear of Herod: & after the feast of Tabernacles he returned no more into Galilee, but sometimes was at Ierusalem, & sometimes retired beyond Iordan, or to the city Ephraim by the wilderness, till the passover in which he was betrayed, apprehended, & crucified.

Iohn therefore baptized two summers, & Christ preached three. The first summer Iohn preached to make himself known, in order to give testimony to Christ. Then, after Christ came to his baptism & was made known to him, he baptized another summer, to make Christ known by his testimony; & Christ also baptized the same summer, to make himself the more known: & by reason of Iohn's testimony there came more to Christ's baptism than to Iohn's. The winter following Iohn was imprisoned; & now his course being at an end, Christ entred upon his proper office of preaching in the cities. In the beginning of his preaching he completed the number of the twelve Apostles, & instructed them all the first year in order to send <62r> them abroad. Before the end of this year, his fame by his preaching & miracles was so far spread abroad, that the Iews at the passover following consulted how to kill him. In the second year of his preaching, it being no longer safe for him to converse openly in Iudea, he sent the twelve to preach in all their cities: & in the end of the year they returned to him, & told him all they had done. All the last year the twelve continued with him to be instructed more perfectly, in order to their preaching to all nations after his death. And upon the news of Iohn's death, being afraid of Herod as well as of the Iews, he walked this year more secretly than before, frequenting deserts, & spending the last half of the year in Iudea without the dominions of Herod.

Thus have you in the Gospels of Matthew & Iohn all things told in due order, from the beginning of Iohn's preaching to the death of Christ, & the years distinguished from on another by such essential characters that they cannot be mistaken. The second Passover is distinguished from the first, by the interposition of Iohn's imprisonment. The third is distinguished from the second, by a double character: first, by the interposition of the feast to which Christ went up, Mat. 8.19 Luke 9.57 & secondly, by the distance of time from the beginning of Christ's preaching: For the second was in the beginning of his preaching; the third so long after, that before it came Christ said, Ffrom the days of Iohn the Baptist untill now, &c. & upbraided the Cities of Galilee for their not repenting at his preaching, & mighty works done in all that time. The fourth is distinguished from the 3^d, by the mission of the twelve from Christ to preach in the cities of Iudea in all the intervall. The fifth is distinguished from all the former by the twelve's being returned from preaching, & continuing with Christ in all the intervall between the fourth & fifth, & by the passion & other infallible characters.

Now since the first summer of Iohn's baptizing fell in the fifteenth year of the Emperor Tiberius, & by consequence the first of these five passovers in his sixteenth year; the last of them; in which Iesus suffered will fall on the twentieth year of the same Emperor, & by consequence in the consulship of Fabius & Vitellius, in the 79^th Iulian year, & year of Christ 34, which was the sabbatical year of the Iews. And that it did so, I further confirm by these arguments.

<63r>

I take it for granted that the passion was on friday preparation of the Passover the 14 day of the month Nisan. the great feast of the Passover on saturday the 15^th day of Nisan, & the resurrection on the day following. Now the 14^th day of Nisan always fell on the full moon next after the vernal Equinox; & the month began at the new moon before, not at the true conjunction, but at the first appearance of the new moon. For the Iews referred all the time of the silent moon (as they phrased it, that is, of the Moon's disappearing) to the old moon. And because the first appearance might usually be about 18 hours after the true conjunction, therefore they began their month from the sixth hour ^[141][at evening, that is, at sunset, next after the eighteenth hour from the conjunction. And this rule they called יה Iah, designing by the letters י & ה the number 18.

— I know that Epiphanius tells us (if some interpret his words rightly) that the Iews used a vitious cycle, & thereby anticipated the legal new moons by two days. But this he spake certainly not as a witness, (for he neither understood Astronomy nor Rabbinical learning) but by arguing from his erroneous hypothesis about the time of the passion. For the Iews did not anticipate, but postpone their months. They thought it lawful to begin their months a day later than the first appearance of the new moon, because the new moon continued for more days than one; but than our; but not a day sooner, lest they should celebrate the new moon before there was any. And the Iews still keep a tradition in their books, that the Sanhedrim used diligently to define the new moons by sight: sending witnesses into mountanous places, & examining them about the moon's appearing, & translating the new moon from the day they had agreed on to the day before, as often as witnesses came from distant regions, who had seen it a day sooner than it was seen at Ierusalem. Accordingly Iosephus, one of the <64r> Iewish Priests who had ministred in the temple,^a[142] tells us that the Passover was kept on the 14^th day of Nisan κατὰ σελήνην according to the moon, when the Sun was in Aries. This is confirmed also by two instances, recorded by him which totally overthrow the hypothesis of the Iews using a vitious cycle. For that year in which Ierusalem was taken & destroyed, he saith, the Passover was on the 14 day of the month Xanticus, which to Iosephus is our April; & that five years before, it fell on the 8^th day of the same month. Which two instances agree with the course of the moon.

Computing therefore the new moons of the first according to the course of the Moon & the rule Iah, & thence counting 14 days, I find that the 14^th day of this month in the year of Christ 31, fell on Tuesday March 27: In the year 32, on sunday Apr. 13. In the year 33, on Friday Apr. 3. In the year 34, on wednesday March 24, or rather (for avoiding the equinox which fell on the same day, & for having a fitter time for harvest) on Thursday Apr. 22. Also in the year 35, on Tuesday Apr. 12. And in the year 36, on Saturday March 31.

But because the 15^th & 21^st days of Nisan, & a day or two of Pentecost, & the 10^th 15^th & 22^d of Tisri, were always sabbatical days or days of rest, & it was inconvenient on two sabbaths together to be prohibited burying their dead & making ready fresh meate, & in that hot region their meat would be apt in two days to corrupt: to avoyd these & such like inconveniences, the Iews postponed their months a day, as often as the first day of the month Tisri, or (which is all one) the third of the month Nisan, was Sunday, Wednesday or Friday: & this rule they called אדו Adu, by the letters א, ד, ו, signifying the numbers 1, 4, 6 that is, the 1^st 4^th & 6^t days of the week: which days we call Sunday, Wednesday & Friday. Postponing therefore by this Rule the months found above; the 14^th day of the month Nisan will fall in the year of Christ 31, on Wednesday March 28; In the year 32, on Munday Apr. 14; In the year 33, on Friday Apr. 3; In the year 34, on Friday Apr 23; In the year 35, on Wednesday Apr. 13; And in the year 36, on Satturday March 31.

<65r>

By this computation therefore the year 32 is absolutely excluded, because the passion cannot fall on friday without making it five days after the full moon, or two days before it; whereas it ought to be upon the day of the full moon, or the next day. For the same reason the years 31 & 35 are excluded, because in them the passion cannot fall on friday, without making it three days after the full moon, or four days before it: Errors so enormous, that they would be very conspicuous in the heavens to every vulgar eye. The year 36 is contended for by few or none, & both this & the year 35 may be thus excluded.

Tiberius in the beginning of his reign made Valerius Gratus President of Iudea; & after 11 years, substituted Pontius Pilate, who governed 10 years Vitellius, newly made President of Syria, deprived him of his honour, substituting Marcellus, & at length sent him to Rome: but (by reason of delays) Tiberius died before Pilate got thither. In the mean time Vitellius, after he had deposed Pilate, came to Ierusalem in the time of the Passover, to visit that Province as well as others in the beginning of his office; & in the place of Caiaphas, then High Priest, created Ionathas the son of Ananus, or Annas as he is called in scripture. Afterwards, when Vitellius was returned to Antioch, <66r> he received letters from Tiberius to make peace with Artabanus king of the Parthians. At the same time the Alans, by the sollicitation of Tiberius, invaded the kingdom of Artabanus; & his Subjects also, by the procurement of Vitellius, soon after rebelled. For Tiberius thought that Artabanus, thus pressed with difficulties, would more readily accept the conditions of peace. Artabanus therefore streightway gathering a greater army, opprest the rebells; & then meeting Vitellius at Euphrates, made a league with the Romans. After this Tiberius commanded Vitellius to make war upon Aretas King of Arabia. He therefore leading his army against Aretas, went together with Herod to Ierusalem, to sacrifice at the publick Feast which was then to be celebrated: Where being received honourably, he stayed three days, & in the mean while translated the high Priesthood from Ionathas to his Brother Theophilus: And the fourth day, receiving letters of the death of Tiberius, made the people swear allegiance to Caius the new Emperor; & recalling back his army, sent them back into their quarters. All this is related by Iosephus lib. 18 Antiq. c. 6, 7. Now Tiberius reigned 22 years & 7 months, & died March 16 in the beginning of the year of Christ 37; & the feast of the Passover fell on April 20 following, that is, 35 days after the death of Tiberius: so that there were about 36 or 38 days for the news of his death to come from Rome to Vitellius at Ierusalem; which being a convenient time for that message, confirms that the Feast which Vitellius & Herod now went up to was the Passover. For had it been the Pentecost, (as is usually supposed) Vitellius would have continued three months ignorant of the Emperor's death: which is not to be supposed. However, the things done between this Feast & the passover which Vitellius was at before, (namely, the stirring up a sedition in Parthia, the quieting that sedition, the making a league after that with the Parthians, the sending news of that league to Rome, the receiving new order from thence to go against the Arabians, & putting those orders in execution) required much more time than the fifty days between the Passover & Pentecost of the same year; & therefore the Passover which Vitellius first went up to, was in the year before. So then Pilate was deposed before the Passover A.C. 36, & by consequence the passion of Christ was before the passover: For he suffered not under Vitellius, nor under Vitellius & Pilate together, but under Pilate alone.

<67r>

Now its observable that the high Priesthood was at this time become an annual office, & the Passover was the time of making a new High Priest. For Gratus the predecessor of Pilate, saith Iosephus, made Ismael High Priest after Ananus; & a while after (suppose a year) deposed him, & substituted Eleazar, & a year after Simon, & after another year Caiaphas; & then gave way to Pilate. So Vitellius at one Passover made Ionathas successor to Caiaphas, & at the next Theophilus to Ionathas. Hence Luke tells you, that in the 15^th year of Tiberius, Annas & Caiaphas were High Priests, that is, Annas till the Passover, & Caiaphas afterwards. Accordingly Iohn speaks of the High Priesthood as an annual office: For he tells you again & again, in that last year of Christ's preaching, that Caiaphas was High Priest for that year, Iohn 11.49, 51. & 18.13. And the next year Luke tells you, that Annas was High Priest, Act. 4.6. So then Theophilus was made High Priest in the first year of Caius, Ionathas in the 22^th year of Tiberius, & Caiaphas in the 21^st year of the same emperor: & therefore, allotting a year to each, the passion when Annas succeeded Caiaphas, could not be later then the 20^th year of Tiberius, A.C. 34.

So then there remain only the years 33 & 34 to be considered; & the year 33 I exclude by this argument. In the passover two years before the passion, when Christ went thro' the corn, & his disciples pluckt the ears, & rubbed them with their hands to eat; this ripeness of the corn shews that the passover then fell late. And so did the Passover A.C. 32, Apr. 14. But the Passover A.C. 31, March 28^th fell very early. It was not therefore two years after the year 31, but two years after 32 that Christ suffered.

So then all the characters of the Passion agree to the year 34; & this is the only year to which they all agree:

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^[143][Chap. 11–12
Of the Prophesy of the
Scripture of truth.

The kingdoms represented by the second & third Beasts, or the Bear & Leopard, are again described by Daniel in his last Prophesy written in the third year of Cyrus over Babylon, the year in which he conquered Persia. For this Prophesy is a commentary upon the Vision of the Ram & He-goat.

Behold, saith he,^[144] there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia, [Cyrus Cambyses, & Darius Hystaspes] & the fourth [Xerxes] shall be far richer then they all: & by his strength & thro' his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Greece. And a mighty king [Alexander the great] shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, & do according to his will. And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, & shall be divided towards the four winds of heaven; & not to his posterity [but after their death,] nor according to the dominion which he ruled: for his kingdom shall be pluckt up, even for others besides those. Alexander the great having conquered all the Persian Empire & some part of India, died at Babylon a month before the summer solstice in the year of Nabonassar 425: & his captains gave the monarchy to his bastard brother Philip Aridæus, a man disturbed in his understanding; & made Perdiccas Administrator of the kingdom. Perdiccas with their consent made Meleager commander of the army, Seleucus master of the horse, Craterus treasurer of the kingdom, Antipater governour of Macedon & Greece, Ptolemy governour of Egypt; Antigonus governour of Pamphylia, Lycia, Lycaonia, & Phrygia major; Lysimachus governour of Thrace, & other captains governours of other Provinces, as many as had been so before in the days of Alexander the great. The Babylonians began now to count by a new Æra, which they called the Æra of Philip, using the years of Nabonassar, & recconing the 425^th year of Nabonassar to be the first year of Philip. Rhoxana the wife of Alexander being left big with child, & about three or four months after brought to bed of a son, they called him Alexander, & saluted him king, joining him with Philip in the throne of the kingdom. Philip reigned three years under the administratorship of Perdiccas, two years more under the administratorship of Antipater, & above a year more under the administratorship of Polyperchon;^[145] in all six years & four months; & then was slain with his Queen Eurydice in September by the command of the Olympias the mother of Alexander the great. The Greeks being disgusted at the cruelties of Olympias, revolted to Cassander the son & successor of Antipater. Cassander affecting the dominion of Greece, slew Olympias; & soon after shut up the young king Alexander with his mother Roxana, in the castel of Amphipolis, under the charge of Glaucias, An. Nabonass. 432. <69r> The next year Ptolemy, Cassander & Lysimachus, by means of Seleucus, form'd a league against Antigonus; & after certain warrs they made peace with him, An. Nabonass. 438, upon these conditions, that Cassander should command the forces of Europe till Alexander the son of Rhoxana came to age; & that Lysimachus should govern Thrace, Ptolemy Egypt & Lybia, & Antigonus all Asia. Seleucus had possest him self of Mesopotamia, Babylonia, Susiana & Media, the year before. About three years after Alexander's death he was made governour of Babylon by Antipater; then was expelled by Antigonus; & now he recovered & enlarged his government over a great part of the east: which gave occasion to a new Æra, called Æra Seleucidarum. Not long after the peace made with Antigonus, (Diodorus saith the same Olympic year) Cassander seing that Alexander the son of Rhoxana grew up, & that it was discoursed thro'out Macedonia that it was fit he should be set at liberty, & take upon him the government of his father's kingdom; commanded Glaucias the governour of the Castel to kill Rhoxana & the young king Alexander her son, & conceal their deaths. Then Polypercon^[146] set up Hercules, the son of Alexander the great by Barsine, to be king; & soon after, at the sollicitation of Cassander, caused him to be slain. Soon after that, upon a great victory at sea got by Demetrius the son of Antigonus over Ptolemy, Antigonus took upon himself the title of king, & gave the same title to his son. This was An. Nabonass. 441. And after his example, Seleucus, Cassander, Lysimachus & Ptolemy, took upon themselves the title & dignity of kings, having abstained from this honour while there remained any of Alexander's race to inherit the crown. Thus the Monarchy of the Greeks for want of an heir was broken into several kingdoms; four of which, seated to the four winds of heaven, were very eminent. For Ptolemy reigned over Egypt, Lybia & Ethiopia; Antigonus over Syria & the lesser Asia; Lysimachus in Thrace; & Cassander over Macedon, Greece & Epire, as above.

Seleucus at this time reigned over the nations which were beyond Euphrates, & belonged to the bodies of the two first Beasts: but after six years he conquered Antigonus, & thereby became one of the four kingdoms: For Cassander being afraid of the power of Antigonus, combined with Lysimachus, Ptolemy & Seleucus, against him. And while Lysimachus invaded the parts of Asia next the Hellespont, Ptolemy subdued Phœnicia & Cœlosyria, with the sea-coasts of Asia.

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Seleucus came down with a powerfull army into Cappadocia, & joyning the confederate forces, fought Antigonus in Phrygia & slew him & seized his kingdom, Ann. Nabonass. 447. After which Seleucus built Antioch, Seleucia, Laodicea, Apamea, Berrhæa, Edessa, & other cities in Syria & Asia; & in them granted the Iews equal privileges with the Greeks.

Yet Demetrius the son of Antigonus retained but a small part of his father's dominions, & at length lost Cyprus to Ptolemy; but killing Alexander, the son & successor of Cassander king of Macedon, seized his kingdom Ann. Nabonass. 454: & sometime after, preparing a very great army to recover his father's dominions in Asia, Seleucus, Ptolemy, Lysimachus & Pyrrhus king of Epire, combined against him; & Pyrrhus invading Macedonia, corrupted the army of Demetrius, put him to flight, seized his kingdom, & shared it with Lysimachus. After seven months, Lysimachus beating Pyrrhus, took Macedonia from him, & held it five years & a half, uniting the kingdoms of Macedon & Thrace. Lysimachus in his warrs with Antigonus and Demetrius, had taken from them Caria, Lydia, & Phrygia; & had a treasury in Pergamus, a castle on the top of a comical hill in Phrygia, by the river Caicus, the custody of which he had coommitted to one Philetærus, who was at first faithfull to Lysimachus, but in the last year of his reign revolted; For Lysimachus, at the instigation of his wife Arsinoe, slew first his own son Agathocles, & then those that lamented him. Vpon which the wife Agathocles fled with her children & brothers, & some others of their friends, & sollicited Seleucus to make war upon Lysimachus. Philetærus also, grieving at the death of Agathocles, & being accused thereof by Arsinoe, revolted, & sided with Seleucus. On this occasion Seleucus & Lysimachus met & fought in Phrygia; & Lysimachus being slain in the battel, lost his kingdom to Seleucus, Ann. Nabonass 465. Thus the Empire of the Greeks, which at first broke into four great kingdoms, became now reduced into two notable ones henceforward, called by Daniel the kings of the south & north. For Ptolemy now reigned over Egypt, Lybia, Ethiopia, Arabia, Phœnicia, Cœlosyria, & Cyprus; & Seleucus, having united three of the four kingdoms, had a dominion scarce inferior to that of the Persian Empire, conquered by Alexander the great. All which is thus represented by Daniel: ^[147]And the king of the south [Ptolemy] shall become strong, & one of his Princes [Seleucus, one of Alexander's Princes] shall become strong above him, & have dominion: his dominion shall be a great dominion.

After Seleucus had reigned seven months over Macedon, Greece, Thrace, Asia, Syria, Babylonia, Media, & all the East as far as India; Ptolemæus Ceraunus, the younger brother of Ptolemæus Philadelphus king of Egypt, slew him treacherously, & seized his dominions in Europe: & Antiochus Soter, the son of Seleucus, succeeded his father in Asia, Syria, & most of the east; & after 19 or 20 years was succeeded by his son Antiochus Theos; who having a lasting war with Ptolemæus Philadelphus, composed the same by marrying Berenice the daughter of Philadelphus: but after a reign of fifteen years, his first wife Laodice poisoned him, & set her son Seleucus Callinicus upon the throne. Callinicus in the beginning of his reign, by the impulse of his mother Laodice, besieged Berenice in Daphne near Antioch, & slew her with her young son & many of her women. Whereupon Ptolemæus Euergetes, the son & successor of Philadelphus, <71r> made war upon Callanicus, took upon him Phœnicia, Syria, Cilicia, Mesopotamia, Babylonia, Susiana, & some other regions; & carried back into Egypt 40000 talents of silver, & 2500 Images of the Gods, amongst which were the Gods of Egypt carried away by Cambyses. Antiochus Hierax at first assisted his brother Callinicus, but afterwards contended with him for Asia. In the mean time Eumenes governour of Pergamus beat Antiochus, & took from them both all Asia on this side the mountain Taurus. This was in the fifth year of Callinicus, who after an inglorious reign of 20 years was succeeded by his son Seleucus Ceraunus; & Euergetes after four years more (Ann. Nabonass. 527) was succeeded by his son Ptolemæus Philopator. All which is thus signified by Daniel:^[148] And after certain years they [the kings of the south & north] shall make friendship: for the king's daughter of the south [Berenice] shall come to the king of the north to establish an agreement, but she shall not retain the power of the arm; & she shall ^[149][not stand nor her seed, but she shall be delivered up, & he [Callinicus] that brought her, & he whom she brought forth, & they that strengthned her in [those] times, [or defended her in the siege of Daphne.] But out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up in his seat [her brother Euergetes] who shall come with an army, & shall enter into the fortress [or fenced cities] of the king of the north, & shall act against them & prevail: And shall carry captives into Egypt, their Gods with their Princes and pretious vessels of silver & gold; & he shall continue some years after the king of the north.

Seleucus Ceraunus, inheriting the remains of his father's kingdom, & thinking to recover the rest, raised a great army against the Governour of Pergamus, now king thereof, but died in the third year of his reign; & his brother & successor, Antiochus magnus, carrying on the war, took from the king of Pergamus almost all the lesser Asia, recovering also the Provinces of Media, Persia & Babylonia, from the Governours who had revolted: & in the fifth year of his reign invading Cœlosyria, with little opposition he possest himself of a good part thereof; & the next year returning to invade the rest of Cœlosyria & Phœnicia, he beat the army of Philopator near Berytus; then he invaded Palæstine & the neighbouring parts of Arabia, & the third year returned with an army of 78000: but Ptolemy coming out of Egypt with an army of 75000, fought & routed him at Raphia near Gaza, between Palæstine & Egypt; & recovered all Phœnicia & Cœlosyria, Ann. Nabonass. 532. Being puffed up with this victory, & living in all manner of luxury, the Egyptians revolted, & had warrs with him, but were overcome; & in the broiles sixty thousand Egyptian Iews were slain. All which is thus described by Daniel. ^[150]But his sons [Seleucus Ceraunus, & Antiochus magnus, the sons of Callinicus] shall be stirred up, & shall gather a great army; & he [Antiochus magnus] shall come effectually and overflow, & pass thro' & return, & [again the next year] be stirred up [marching even] to his fortress, [the frontier towns of Egypt,] & the king of the south shall be moved with choler & come forth, [the third year] & fight with him, even with the king of the north; & he [the king of the north] shall lead forth a great multitude, but the multitude shall be given into his hand. And the multitude being taken away, his heart shall be lifted up, & he shall cast down many ten thousands; but he shall not be strengthned by it: For the king of the north shall return, &c

<72r>

About twelve years after the battel between Philopator & Antiochus, Philopator died, & left his kingdom to his young son Ptolemæus Epiphanes, a child five years old. Thereupon Antiochus magnus confederated with Philip king of Macedon, that they should invade the dominions of Epiphanes which lay next to each of them. Hence arose a various war between Antiochus & Epiphanes, they seizing Phœnicia & Cœlosyria by turns; whereby those countries were much afflicted by both parties. First Antiochus seized those countries; then one Scopas being sent with the army of Egypt, recovered them from Antiochus: the next year, Nabonass. 550, Antiochus fought & routed Scopas near the fountains of Iordan, besieged him in Sidon, took the city, & recovered Syria & Phænicia from Egypt, the Iews coming over to him voluntarily. But about three years after, upon preparing for a war against the Romans, he came to Raphia in the borders of Egypt, made peace with Epiphanes, & gave him his daughter Cleopatra: the next autumn he passed the Hellespont to invade the cities of Greece under the Roman protection, & took some of them, but was beaten by the Romans the summer following, & forced to return back with his army into Asia. Before the end of the year the fleet of Antiochus was beaten by the fleet of the Romans near Phocæa. At the same time Epiphanes & Cleopatra sent an embassy to Rome to congratulate the Romans on their success against their father Antiochus, & to exhort them to prosecute the war against him into Asia. The Romans beat Antiochus again at sea near Ephesus, past their army over the Hellespont, & obtain'd a great victory over him by land, took from him all Asia on this side the mountain Taurus, & gave it to the king of Pergamus who assisted them in the war, & thus imposed a large tribute upon Antiochus. Thus the king of Pergamus, by the power of the Romans, recovered what Antiochus had taken from him; & Antiochus retiring into the remainder of his kingdom, was slain two years after by the Persians as he was robbing the Temple of Iupiter Belus in Elymais, to raise money for the Romans. All which is thus described by Daniel.^[151] For the king of the north [Antiochus] shall return, & shall set forth a multitude greater than the former; & shall certainly come (after certain years) with a great army & much riches. And in those times there shall many stand up against the king of the south, [particularly the Macedonians] also the robbers of thy people [the Samaritans, &c] shall exalt themselves to establish the vision, but they shall fall. So the king of the north shall come, & cast up a mount, & take the most fenced cities; & the arms of the south shall not withstand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there be any strength to withstand. But he that cometh against him shall do according to his own will, & none shall stand before him. And he shall stand in the glorious land, which shall fail in his hand. He shall also set his face to go with the strength [or army] of all his kingdom, & make an agreement with him [at Raphia;] & he shall give him the daughter of women corrupting her; but she shall not stand on his side, neither be for him. And he shall turn his face unto the Isles, & shall take many: but a Prince for his own behalf [the Romans] shall cause the reproach offered by him to cease; without his own reproach shall he cause it to turn upon him. Then he shall turn his face towards the fort of his own land, but he shall stumble & fall, & not to be found.

Seleucus Philopator succeeded his father his father Antiochus anno Nabonass. 561, & reigned twelve years, but did nothing memorable, being sluggish & intent upon raising money for the Romans to whom he was tributary. He was slain by Heliodorus, whom he had sent to rob the Temple of Ierusalem. Daniel thus describes his reign.^[152] Then shall stand up in his seat a raiser of taxes in the glory of the kingdom, but within few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger nor in battel.

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A little before the death of Philopator, his son Demetrius was sent hostage to Rome in the place of Antiochus Epiphanes, the brother of Philopator; & Antiochus was at Athens in his way home from Rome, when Philopator died: Whereupon Heliodorus the Treasurer of the kingdom, stept into the throne. But Antiochus so managed his affairs, That the Romans kept Demetrius at Rome; & their ally the king of Pergamus expelled Heliodorus, & placed Antiochus in the throne. While Demetrius the right heir remained an hostage at Rome, Antiochus by the friendship of the king Pergamus reigned powerfully over Syria & the neighbouring nations. Now Antiochus being made king, carried himself much below his dignity, stealing privately out of his palace, & rambling up & down the city in disguise with one or two of his companions; conversing & drinking with people of the lowest rank, & with foreigners & strangers; frequenting the meetings of rakes to feast & revel; clothing himself like the Roman candidates & officers, & acting their parts like a mimick; & in publick festivals jesting & dancing, & herding himself with servants & mimicks & light people, & behaving himself with all manner of ridiculous gestures: which made some take him for a madman, & call him Antiochus Ἐπιμένης. In the first year of his reign he deposed Onias the High Priest, & sold the High-Priesthood to Iason the younger brother of Onias: For Iason had promised the king to give him 440 talents of silver for the High-Priesthood, & 150 more for a license to erect a place of exercise for the training up of youth in the fashions of the heathen: which license was granted by the king, & put in execution by Iason. Then the king sending one Apollonius into Egypt to the coronation of Ptolemy Philometor, the young son of Philometor & Cleopatra, & knowing Philometor not to be well affected to his affairs in Phœnicia, provided for his safety in those parts, & for that end came to Ioppa & Ierusalem, where he was honourably received; from thence he went in like manner with his little army to the cities of Phœnicia, to establish himself against Egypt, by courting the people, & distributing extraordinary favours amongst them. All which is thus represented by Daniel.^[153] And in his [Philometer's] seat, shall stand up a vile person, to whom they [the Syrians who set up Heliodorus] shall not give the honour of the kingdom. Yet he shall come in peaceably, & obtain the kingdom by flatteries [made principally ^[154]to the king of Pergamus;] & the arms [which in favour of Heliodorus oppose him] shall be overflowed with a flood from before him, & be broken; yea also [Onias the High Priest] the Prince of the covenant. And after friendship made with him, [the king of Egypt by sending Apollonius to his coronation] he shall work deceitfully [against the king of Egypt,] for he shall come up & become strong [in Phœnicia] with a small people. And he shall enter into the quiet & plentiful cities of the Province [of Phœnicia] & [to ingratiate himself with the Iews of Phœnicia & Egypt, & with their friends] he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers fathers: he shall scatter among them the prey & the spoile, & the riches [exacted from other places;] & shall forecast his devices against the strong holds [of Egypt] even for a time.

XI These things were done in the first year of his reign, anno Nabonass. 573. And thence forward he forecast his devices against the strong holds of Egypt, untill the sixth year. For three years after, that is in the fourth year of his reign, Menelaus bought the High-Priesthood from Iason, but not paying the price was sent for by the king; & the king, before he could hear the cause, went into Cilicia to appease a sedition there, & left Andronicus his deputy Antioch; ^[155][& then the brother of Menelaus, to make up the money, conveyed several vessels out of the Temple, selling some of them at Tyre, & sending others to Andronicus. And when Menelaus was reproved for this by Onias, he caused Onias to be slain by Andronicus: for which <74r> fact the king at his return from Cilicia caused Andronicus to be put to death. Then he prepared his second expedition against Egypt, which he performed in the sixt year of his reign, Nabonass. 578. For upon the death of Cleopatra, the governours of her son the young king of Egypt claimed Phœnicia & Cœlosyria from Antiochus^[156] as her dowry; & to recover those countries raised a great army. Antiochus considering that his father had not quitted the possession of those countries, denyed that they were her dowry; & with another great army met & fought the Egyptians in the border of Egypt, between Pelusium & the mountain Casius; And when he had beaten, & might have destroyed the army of the Egyptians, rode up & down, commanding his soldiers not to kill them, but to take them alive. By which humanity he gained Pelusium, & soon after all Egypt, entring it with a vast multitude of foot & chariots, & Elephants & horsmen, & a great navy. And seizing the cities of Egypt as a friend, he marched to Memphis, laid the whole blame of war upon Eulæus the king's governour, entred into outward friendship with the young king, & took upon him to order the affairs of the kingdom. In the mean time a report being spread in Phœnicia that Antiochus was dead, Iason to recover the High-Priesthood assaulted Ierusalem with above a thousand men, & took the city: Whereupon Antiochus thinking that Iudea had revolted, came out of Egypt in a furious manner, took the city, slew forty thousand of the people, took as many prisoners, & sold them to raise money, went into the Temple, spoiled it of its treasures, ornaments, utensils, & vessels of gold & silver, amounting to 1800 talents, & carried all away to Antioch. This was done in the year of Nabonassar 578, & is thus described by Daniel.^[157] And he shall stirr up his power & his courage against the king of the south with a great army; & the king of the south shall be stirred up to battel with a very great & mighty army; but he shall not stand: for they [Antiochus & his friends] shall forecast devices against him [as is represented above;] Yea, they that feed of the portion of his own meat, shall [betray &] destroy him, & his army shall be overthrown, & many shall fall down slain. And [upon the news of the commotion at Ierusalem] both these kings hearts shall be to do mischief; & they [being now made friends] shall speak lyes at one Table [against the Iews & against the holy covenant;] but it shall not prosper: for yet the end [in which the setting up of the abomination of desolation is to prosper] shall be at the time appointed. Then shall he return into his land with great riches, & his heart shall be against the holy covenant; & he shall act [against it by spoiling the Temple] & return into his own land.

The Egyptians of Alexandria seeing Philometor educated in luxury by the Eunuch Eulæus, & now in the hands of Antiochus, gave the kingdom to Euergetes, the younger brother of Philometor. Whereupon Antiochus pretending to restore Philometor made war upon Euergetes, beat him at sea, & beseiged him & his sister Cleopatra in Alexandria: & the beseiged Princes sent to Rome to implore the assistance of the Senate. Antiochus finding himself unable to take the city that year, returned into Syria, leaving Philometor at Memphis to govern Egypt in his absence. But Philometor made friendship with his brother that winter; & Antiochus, as he was returning the next spring Nabonass. 580, to besiege both the brothers in Alexandria was met in the way by the Roman Ambassadors, Popilius Lænas, C. Decimius, & C. Hostilius; & offered them his hand to kiss. But Popilius delivering to him the Tables wherein the message of the Senate was written, bad him read those first. When he had read them, he replied the he would consider with his friends what was fit to be done. But <75r> Popilius drawing a circle about the king, bad him answer before he went out of the circle. At which blunt & unusual imperiousness the king being astonished, made answer that he would do what the Romans demanded. Then Popilius gave the king his hand to kiss, & the king returned out of Egypt; & the same year ( Nabonass. 580) his captains by his order spoiled & slaughtered the Iews, profaned the Temple, set up the worship of the heathen Gods in all Iudea, & began to persecute & make war upon those who would not worship them. Which actions are thus described by Daniel.^[158] At the time appointed he shall come [again] towards the south, but the latter shall not be as the former. For the ships of Chittim shall come [with an Embassy from Rome] against him. Therefore he shall be grieved, & return, & have indignation against the holy covenant. So shall he do; he shall even return, & have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant.

In the same year that Antiochus by the command of the Romans retired of Egypt, & set up the worship of the Greeks in Iudæa, the Romans conquered the kingdom of Macedon, the fundamental kingdom of the empire of the Greeks, & reduced it into a Roman Province, & thereby began to put an end to the reign of Daniel's third Beast. This is thus exprest by Daniel. And after him Arms [the Romans] shall stand up. As ממלך signifies after the king, Dan xi.8; so ממנו may signify after him. Arms are every where in this prophesy of Daniel put for the military power of a kingdom: and they stand up when they conquer & grow powerfull. Hitherto Daniel described the actions of the kings of the north & south; but upon the conquest of Macedon by the Romans, left off describing the actions of the Greeks, & began to describe those of the Romans in Greece. They conquered Macedon, Illyricum & Epire, in the year of Nabonassar 580. And 35 years after, by the last will & testament of Attalus the last king of Pergamus, they inherited that rich & flourishing kingdom, that is, all Asia on this side the mountain Taurus; & 69 years after they conquered the kingdom of Syria, & reduced it into a province, & 34 years after they did the like to Egypt. By all these steps the Roman Arms stood up over the Greeks: And after 95 years more, by making war upon the Iews, they polluted the sanctuary of strength, & took away the daily sacrifice, & then placed the abomination of desolation. For this abomination was placed after the days of Christ, Matth. XXIV.15. In the 16^th year of the Emperor Adrian, A.C. 132, they ✝ < insertion from f 74v > ✝ placed this abomination by building a temple to Iupiter Capitolinus where the Temple of God in Ierusalem had stood. For thereupon the Iews under the conduct of Barchochab rose up in arms against the Romans, & in the war had 50 cities demolished and 985 of their best towns destroyed & 580000 men slain by the sword; & in the end of the war, A.C. 136, were banished Iudea upon pain of death, & thenceforward the land remained desolate of its old inhabitants. < text from f 75r resumes >

In the beginning of the Iewish war in Nero's reign the Apostles fled out of Iudea with their flocks; some beyond Iordan to Pella & other places, some into Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, Asia minor, & other places. Peter & Iohn came into Asia, & Peter went thence by Corinth to Rome; but Iohn staying in Asia, was banished by the Romans into Patmos, as the head of a party of Iews whose nation was in war with the Romans. By this dispersion of the Christian Iews, the Christian religion, which was already propagated westward as far as Rome, spred fast into all the Roman Empire, & suffered many persecutions under it till the days of Constantine the great & his sons. And this is thus described by Daniel.^[159] And such as do wickedly against the covenant, shall he [who places the abomination] cause to dissemble [& worship the heathen Gods;] but the people among them who do know their God, shall be strong & act. And they that understand among the people, shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, & by flame, & by captivity, & by spoil many days. Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help [viz^t in the reign of Constantine the great,] & [at that time by reason of their prosperity] many shall [come over to <76r> them from among the heathen, and] cleave to them with dissimulation. But of those of understanding there shall [still] fall to try [God's people] by them, & to purge [then from the dissemblers] and to make them white to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed.

Hitherto the Roman Empire continued entire, and under this dominion, the little horn of the He-Goat continued mighty but not by his own power. But now, by the building of Constantinople, & endowing it with a Senate & other like privileges with Rome, & by the division of the Roman Empire into the two Empires of the Greeks & Latins, headed by those two cities, a new scene of things commences, in which^[160] a King [the Empire of the Greeks] doth according to his will, and [by setting his own laws above the laws of God] exalts & magnifies himself above every God, & speaks marvellous things against the God of Gods, & shall prosper till the Indignation be accomplished. Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the [lawful] desire of women [in matrimony,] nor any God, but shall magnify himself above all. And in his seat he shall honour Mahuzzims [strong guardians, the souls of the dead;] even with a God whom his fathers knew not shall he honour them [in their Temples] with gold & silver, & with pretious stones & valuable things. All which relates to the overspreading of the Greek Empire with Monks & Nuns, who placed holiness in abstinence from marriage; & to the invocation of saints & veneration of their reliques, & such like superstitions, which these men introduced in the fourth & fift centuries.^[161] And at the time of the end the king of the south [or empire of the Saracens] shall push at him; & the king of the north [or Empire of the Turks] shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots & with horsmen, & with many shipps; & he shall enter into the countries [of the Greeks], & shall overflow & pass over. He shall enter also into the glorious land, ^[162][& many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom & Moab, & the chief of the children of Ammon [viz. to whom his Caravans pay tribute.] He shall stretch forth his hand also upon also upon the countries, & the land of Egypt shall not escape; but he shall have power over the treasures of gold & silver, & over all the pretious things of Egypt; & the Lybians & Ethiopians shall be at his steps. All these nations compose the Empire of the Turks, and therefore this Empire is the king of the north. They compose also the body of the He-Goat; & therefore the Goat still reigns in his last horn, but not by his own power.

<77r>

Chap. 13.
Of the King who did according to his will,
& magnified himself above every God,
and honoured Mahuzzims, and regarded not the desire of women.

In the first ages of the Christian religion the Christians of every city were governed by a Council of Presbyters, & the President of the Council was the Bishop of the city. The Bishop & Presbyters of one city medled not with the affairs of another city, except by admonitory Letters or Messages. Nor did the Bishops of several cities meet together in Council before the reign of the Emperor Commodus: For they could not meet together without the leave of the Roman governours of the Provinces. But in the reign of that Emperor they began to meet in Provincial Councils, by the leave of the Governours; first in Asia in opposition to the Cataphrygian heresy, & soon after in other places & upon other occasions. The Bishop of the head-city, or Metropolis of the Roman Province, was usually made President of the Council. Hence came the authority of Metropolitan Bishops above that of other Bishops within the Province. Hence also it was that the Bishop of Rome in Cyprian's days called himself the Bishop of Bishops. And as soon as the Empire became Christian, the Roman Emperors began to call general Councills out of all the Provinces of the Empire; & by prescribing to them what points they should consider, & influencing them by their interest & power, they set up what party they pleased. Hereby the Greek Empire , upon the division of the Roman Empire into the Greek & Latin Empires, became the king who [in matters of religion] did according to his will, & [in legislature] exalted & magnified himself above every God; & at length, by the seventh General Council, established the worship of the Images & Souls of dead men, here called Mahuzzims.

The same king placed holiness in abstinence from marriage. Eusebius in his ^✝[163]Ecclesiastical history, tells us that Musanus wrote a Tract against those who fell away to the heresy of the Encratites, which was then newly risen, & introduced a pernicious error; & that Tatian, the disciple of Iustin, was the author thereof; & that Irenæus in his first book against heresies teaches this, writing of Tatian & his heresy in these words: A Saturnino et Marcione profecti qui vocantur Continentes, docuerunt non contrahendum esse matrimonium; reprobantes scilicet primitivum illud opificium Dei, et tacite accusantes Deum qui masculum et fœminam condidit ad procreationem generis humani. Induxerunt etiam abstinentiam ab esu eorum qua animalia appellant, ingratos se exhibentes erga eum qui universa creavit Deum. Negant etiam primi hominis salutem. Atque hoc nuper apud illos excogitatum est, Tatiano quodam omnium primo hujus impietatis auctore: Qui Iustini auditor, quamdiu cum illo versatus est, nihil ejusmodi protulit. Post martyrium autem illius, ab Ecclesia se abrumpens, doctoris arrogantia elatus ac tumidus, tanquam præstantior cæteris, novam quandam formam doctrinæ conflavit: Æonas invisibiles commentus perinde ac Valentinus: asserens quoque cum Saturnino et Marcione, matrimonium nihil aliud esse quam corruptionem ac stuprum: nova præterea argumenta ad subvertendam Adami salutem excogitans. <78r> Hæc Irenæus de Hæresi quæ tunc viguit Encratitarum. Thus far Eusebius. But tho the followers of Tatian were at first condemned as heretics by the name of Encratites, or Continents; yet their principles could not be quite exploded. Montanus refined upon them, & made only second marriages unlawfull; he introduced frequent fastings, & annual fasting days, & Lent, & feeding upon dryed meats. The Apostolici, about the middle of the third Century, condemned marriage, & were a branch of the disciples of Tatian. The Hierocitæ in Egypt, in the latter end of the third Century, also condemned marriage. Paul the Eremite fled into the wilderness from the persecution of Decius, & lived there a solitary life till the reign of Constantine the great, but made no disciples. Antony did the like in the persecution of Diolesian, or a little before, & made disciples; & many others soon followed his example.

Hitherto the Principles of the Encratites had been rejected by the Churches; but now being refined by the Monks, & imposed not upon all men, but only upon those who would voluntarily undertake a monastick life, began to be admired, & to overflow first the Greek Church, & then the Latin Church, like a torrent. Eusebius tells us^[164] that Constantine the great had those men in the highest veneration, who dedicated themselves wholly to the divine philosophy; & that he almost venerated the most holy company of Virgins perpetually devoted to God, being certain that the God to whom he had consecrated himself did dwell in their minds. In his reign & that of his sons, this profession of a single life was propagated in Egypt by Antony, & in Syria by Hilarion; & spread so fast, that soon after the reign of Iulian the apostate a third part of the Egyptians were got into the desarts of Egypt. They lived first singly in cells, then associated into cœnobia or convents; & at length came into towns, & filled the Churches with Bishops, Presbyters & Deacons. Athanasius in his younger days poured water upon the hands of his master Antony; & finding the Monks faithfull to him, made many of them Bishops & Presbyters in Egypt: & these Bishops erected new monasteries in their cities, out of which they chose Presbyters of their own cities, & sent Bishops to other cities. The like was done in Syria, the superstition being quickly propagated thither out of Egypt by Hilarion a disciple of Antony. Spiridion & Epiphanius of Cyprus, Iames of Nisibis, Cyril of Ierusalem, Eustathius of Sebastia in Armenia, Eusebius of Emisa, Titus of Bostra, Basilius of Ancyra, Acacius of Cæsarea in Palestine, Elpidius of Laodicea, Melitius & Flavian of Antioch, Theodorus of Tyre, Protogenes of Carrhæ, Acacius of Berrhæa, Theodotus of Hierapolis, Eusebius of Chalcedon, Amphilochius of Iconium, Gregory Nazianzen, Gregory Nyssen, & Iohn Chrysostom of Constantinople, were both Bishops & Monks, in the fourth Century. Eustathius, Gregory Nazienzen, Gregory Nyssen, Basil, &c had Monasteries of Clergimen in in their cities, out of which Bishops were sent to other cities, who in like manner erected Monasteries in their cities, till the Churches were supplied with Bishops out of the Monasteries. Whenc Ierom, in a Letter written about the year 385,^[165] saith of the Clergy, Quasi et ipsi aliud sint quam Monachi, & non quicquid in Monachos dicitur redundet in Clericos qui patres sunt Monachorum. Detrimentum pecoris pastoris ignominia est. And in his book against Vigilantius: Quid facient Orientis Ecclesiæ? Quæ aut Virgines Clericos accipiunt, aut Continentes, aut si uxores habuerint mariti esse desistunt. And even the Emperors commanded the Churches to chuse Clergy-men out of the Monasteries by this Law.

<79r>

Impp. Arcad. et Honor. AA. Cæsario PF.P.

^[166]Siquos forte Episcopi deesse sibi Clericos arbitrantur, ex monachorum numero rectius ordinabunt: non obnoxios publicis privatisque rationibus cum invidia teneant, sed habeant jam probatos. Dat. VII Kal. Aug. Honorio A. iv & Eutychianio Coss. A.C. 398. The Greek Empire being now in the hands of these Encratites, & having them in great admiration, Daniel makes it a characteristic of the King who doth according to his will, that he should not regard the desire of women.

Thus the Sect of the Encratites, set on foot by the Gnosticks & propagated by Tatian & Montanus near the End of the second century, which was condemned by the Churches of that & the third Century, & refined by their followers, overspread the eastern Churches in the fourth Century, & before the end of it began to overspread the western. Henceforward the Christian Churches having a form of Godliness, but denying the power thereof, came into the hands of the Encratites; the heathens, who in the fourth century came over in great numbers to the Christians, embracing more readily this sort of Christianity, as having a greater affinity with their old superstitions than that of the sincere Christians, who by the lamps of the seven Churches of Asia, & not by the lamps of the Monasteries, had illuminated the Church Catholick during the three first centuries.

V The Cataphrygians brought in also several other superstitions, such as were the doctrine of Ghosts, of their punishment in Purgatory, with prayers & oblations for mitigating that punishment, as Tertullian teaches in his books De Anima & De Monogamia. They used also the sign of the cross as a charm. So Tertullian in his book de Corona militis: Ad omnem progres[sum^[167] atque promotum, ad omnem aditum et exitum, ad vestitum, ad calceatum, ad lavacra, ad mensas, ad lumina, ad cubilia, ad sedilia, quacunque nos conversatio exercet, frontem crucis signaculo terimus. All these superstitions the Apostle refers to, where he saith: Now the spirit speaks expresly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, & doctrines of Ghosts, [the Devils worshiped by the heathens] speaking lyes in hypocrisy [about their apparitions, the miracles done by them, their reliques, & the sign of the cross] having consciences seared with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, & teaching to abstein from meats. 1 Tim. IV.1, 2, 3. From the Cataphrygians these Principles & Practices were propagated down to posterity. For the mystery of iniquity began to work in the Apostles days in the Gnosticks, & continued to work very strongly in their offspring the Tatianists & Cataphrygians, & was to work till the man of sin should be revealed, whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power & signes, & lying wonders, & all deceivableness of unrighteousness; coloured over with a form of Christian godliness, but without the power thereof.

For tho some stop was put to the Cataphrygian Christianity, by Provincial Councils, till the fourth Century; yet the Roman Emperors then turning Christian, & great multitudes of heathens coming over to the Christian religion in outward profession, & finding the Cataphrygian Christianity more suitable to their old Principles, of placing religion in outward forms & ceremonies, holy-days, & doctrines of Ghosts, than that of the sincere <80r> Christians: they readily sided with the Cataphrygian Christians, & set up that Christianity before the end of the fourth century. By this means those of understanding, after they had been persecuted by the heathen Emperors in the three first Centuries, & were holpen with a little help by the conversion of Constantine the great & his sons to the Christian religion, fell again into new persecutions, to purge them from the dissemblers, & to make them white to the time of the end.

<81r>

Chap. 13–14
Of the Mahuzzims, honoured by
the King who doth according to
his will.

In scripture we are told of some trusting in God & others trusting in idols, & that God is our refuge, our strength, our defense. In this sense God is the rock of the people, & false Gods are called the rock of those that trust in them, Deut. 32.4, 15, 18, 30, 31, 37. In the same sense the Gods of the King who doth according to his will are called Mahuzzims, munitions, fortresses, protectors, defenders. In his estate, saith Daniel,^[168] shall he honour Mahuzzims [Guardians;] even with a God whom his fathers knew not, shall he honour them with gold & silver, & with pretious stones, & things of value. Thus shall he do in the most strong holds [or Temples] — & he shall make them to rule over many, & divide the land [among them] for a possession. Now this came to pass by steps in the following manner.

Gregory Nyssen tells us,^[169] that after the persecution of the Emperor Decius, Gregory bishop of Neocæsarea in Pontus instituted among all people, as an addition or corollary of devotion towards God, that festival days & assemblies should be celebrated to them who had contended for the faith, that is, to the Martyrs. And he adds this reason for the institution: When he observed; saith Nyssen, that the simple & unskilful multitude, by reason of corporal delights, remained in the error of idols; that the principal thing might be corrected among them, namely, that instead of their vain worship they might turn their eyes upon God; he permitted that at the memories of the holy martyrs they might make merry & delight themselves, & be resolved^[170] into joy. The heathens were delighted with the festivals of their Gods, & unwilling to part with those delights; & therefore Gregory, to facilitate their conversion instituted annual festivals to the saints & martyrs. Hence it came to pass, that for exploding the festivals of the heathens, the principal festivals of the Christians succeeded in the room of the principal festivals of the heathens; as the keeping of Christmas with ivy & feasting, & playing & sports, in the room of the Bacchanalia & Saturnalia; the celebrating of May-day with flowers in the room of the Floralia;^[171] & the keeping of festivals to the Virgin Mary, Iohn the Baptist, & divers of the Apostles, in the room of the solemnities at the entrance of the Sun into the signs of the Zodiac in the old Iulian Calendar. In the same persecution of Decius, Cyprian ordered the passions of the Martyrs in Afric to be registred, in order to celebrate their memories annually with oblations & sacrifices. And Felix Bishop of Rome, a little after, as Platina relates, Martyrum gloriæ consulens, constituit ut quotannis sacrificia eorum nomine celebrarentur; consulting the glory of the Martyrs, ordeined that sacrifices should be celebrated annually in their name. By the pleasure of these festivals the Christians increased much in number, & decreased as much in vertue, untill they were purged & made white by the persecution of Dioclesian. And this was the first step made in the Christian religion towards the veneration of the Martyrs. And tho it did not yet amount to an unlawful worship; yet it disposed the Christians towards such a further veneration of the dead, as in a short time ended in the invocation of <82r> Saints

The next step was the affecting to pray at the sepulchres of the Martyrs: which practice began in Dioclesian's persecution. The Council of Eleberis in Spain, celebrated in the third or fourth year of Dioclesian's persecution, A.C. 305, hath these Canons. Can. 34; Cereos per diem placuit in Cœmiterio non incendi. Inquietandi enim spiritus sanctorum non sunt. Qui hæc non observarint, arceantur ab Ecclesiæ communione. Can. 35; Placuit prohiberi ne fœminæ in Cœmeterio pervigilent, eò quod sæpe sub obtentu orationis latenter scelera committant. Presently after that persecution, suppose about the year 314, the Council of Laodicea in Phrygia, which then met for restoring the lapsed discipline of the Church, has the following Canons. Can. 9: Those of the Church are not allowed to go into the Cœmeteries or Martyries (as they are called) of hereticks, for the sake of the prayer or recovery of health: but such as go, if they be of the faithful, shall be excommunicated for a time. Can. 34: A Christian must not leave the Martyrs of Christ, & go to false Martyrs, that is, to the Martyrs of the Hereticks; For these are an alien from God. And therefore let those be anathema who go to them. Can. 51: The birth-days of the Martyrs shall not be celebrated in Lent, but their commemoration shall be made on the sabbath-days & Lords days. The Council of Paphlagonia, celebrated in the year 324, made this Canon: If any man being arrogant, abominates the congregations of the Martyrs, or the Liturgies performed therein, or the memories of the Martyrs, let him be anathema. By all which its manifest that the Christians in the time of Dioclesian's persecution used to pray in the Cœmeteries or burying-places of the dead, for avoiding the danger of the persecution, & for want of Churches, which were all thrown down: and after the persecution was over, continued that practice in honour to the Martyrs, till new churches could be built; & by use affected it as advantageous to devotion, & for recovering the health of those that were sick: & that in these burying-places they commemorated the martyrs yearly upon days dedicated to them, & accounted all these practices pious & religious, & anathematized those men as arrogant who opposed them or prayed in the Martyries of the Hereticks. They also lighted torches to the Martyrs in the day-time, as the heathens did to their Gods; which custom before the end of the fourth century, prevailed much in the west. And they sprinkled the worshipers of the Martyrs with holy-water, as the heathens did the worshipers of their Gods: & went in procession to see Ierusalem & other holy places, as if the places conferred sanctity to the visiters. From the custome of praying in the Cœmeteries & Martyries, came the custome of translating the bodies of the saints & martyrs into such Churches as were new built: the Emperor Constantius beginning this practice about the year 359, by causing the bodies of Andrew the Apostle & Luke & Timothy to be translated into a new Church at Constantinople. And before the Act of Constantius, the Egyptians kept the bodies of their Martyrs & Saints unburied upon beds in their private houses, & told stories of their souls appearing after death & ascending up to heaven, as Athanasius relates in the life of Antony. All which gave occasion to the Emperor Iulian (as Cyrill^[172] relates) to accuse the Christians in this manner: Your adding to that ancient dead man [viz^t Iesus] many new dead men, who can sufficiently abominate? You have filled all places with Sepulchres & monuments, altho <83r> you are no where bidden to prostrate your selves to sepulchres, & to respect them officiously. And a little after: Since Iesus said that sepulchres are full of filthiness, how do you invoke God upon them? And in another place he saith, that if Christians had adhered to the precepts of the Hebrews, they would have worshiped one God instead of many, & not a man, or rather not many unhappy men: And that they adored the wood of the cross, making its images on their foreheads, & before their houses.

After the sepulchres of Saints & Martyrs were thus converted into places of worship like the heathen Temples & the Churches into sepulchres, & a certain sort of sanctity was placed in the dead bodies of the Saints & ^[173][Martyrs buried in them, & annual festivals were kept to them, with sacrifices offered to God in their name; the next step towards the invocation of Saints, was the attributing to the dead bodies & bones & other reliques of the saints, a power of working miracles, by means of the separate souls, who were supposed to know what we do or say, & to be able to do us good or hurt, & to work those miracles. This is the very notion that the heathens had of the separate souls of their ancient kings & heros, whom they worshiped under the names of Saturn, Rhea, Iupiter, Iuno, Mars, Venus, Bacchus, Ceres, Osiris, Isis, Apollo, Diana, & the rest of their Gods: For these Gods being male & female, husband & wife, son & daughter, brother & sister, are thereby discovered to be ancient men & weomen. And as the first step towards the invocation of saints was set on foot by the persecution of Decius, & the second by the persecution of Dioclesian; so this third step seems to have been set on foot by the proceedings of Constantius & Iulian the Apostate. When Iulian began to restore the worship of the heathen Gods, & vilify the saints & martyrs; the Christians of Syria & Egypt seem to have made a great noise of the miracles done by the reliques of the Christian Saints & Martyrs, in opposition to the powers attributed by Iulian & the heathens to their Idols. For Sozomen & Ruffinus tell us, that when he opened the heathen Temples, & consulted the Oracle of Apollo Daphnæus in the suburbs of Antioch, & pressed by many sacrifices for an answer, the Oracle at length told him that the bones of the martyr Babylas which were buried there hindred him from speaking. By which answer you may understand, that some Christian was got into the place where the heathen Priests used to speak thro' a pipe in delivering their Oracles. And before this, Hilary in his book against Constantius, written in the last year of that Emperor, makes this mention of what was then doing in the east where he was. Sine martyrio persequeris. Plus crudelitati vestræ Nero, Deci, Maximiane, debemus. Diabolum enim per vos vicimus. Sanctus ubique beatorum martyrum sanguis exceptus est, dum in his Dæmones mugiunt, dum ægritudines depelluntur, dum miraculorum opera cernuntur, elevari sine laqueis corpora, & dispensis pede fœminis vestes non defluere in faciem, uri sine ignibus spiritus, confiteri sine interrogantis incremento fidei. And Gregory Nazianzen, in his first Oration against the Emperor Iulian then reigning, writes thus: Martyres non extimuisti quibus præclari honores & festa constituta, a quibus Dæmones propelluntur et morbi curantur; quorum sunt apparitiones & prædictiones; quorum vel sola corpora idem possunt quod animæ sanctæ, sive manibus contrectentur, sive honorentur: quorum vel solæ sanguinis guttæ atque exigua passionis signa [i.e. Signa Crucis] idem possunt quod corpora. Hæc non colis sed contemnis et aspernaris. These things made the Heathens in the reign of the same Emperor demolish the sepulchre of Iohn the Baptist in Phœnicia, & burn his bones. And some Christians mixing themselves with the heathens, gathered up some of his bones; which being sent to Athanasius, he hid them in the wall of a Church, foreseeing by a prophetick spirit, as Ruffinius tells us, that they might be profitable to a future generation.

<84r>

The cry of these miracles being once set on foot, continued for many years, & encreased & grew more general. Chrysostom, in his second Oration on S^t Babylas, twenty years after the silencing of the Oracle of Apollo Daphnæus as above, [viz^t. A.C. 382] saith of the miracles done by the Saints & their reliques:^[174] Nulla est nostri hujus Orbis seu regio, seu gens, seu Vrbs, ubi nova et inopinata miracula hæc non decantentur: quæ quidem si figmenta fuissent prorsus in tantam hominum admirationem non venissent. And a little after: Abunde Orationi nostræ fidem faciunt quæ quotidiana a martyribus miracula eduntur, magna affatim ad illa hominum multitudine affluente. And in his 66^th Homily, describing how the Devils were tormented & cast out by the bones of the Martyrs, he adds: Ob eam causam multi plerumque Reges peregre profecti sunt ut hoc spectaculo fruerentur. Siquidem sanctorum martyrum templa futuri judicij vestigia et signa exhibent, dum nimirum Dæmones flagris cæduntur, hominesque torquentur et liberantur. Vide quæ sanctorum vita functorum vis sit? And Ierom in his Epitaph on Paula, thus mentions the same things.^[175] Paula vidit Samariam: ibi siti sunt Elisæus et Abdias prophetæ, & Ioannes Baptista, ubi multis intremuit consternata miraculis. Nam cernebat varijs dæmones rugire cruciatibus, et ante sepulchra sanctorum ululare homines more luporum, vocibus latrare canum, fremere Leonum, sibilare serpentum, mugire taurorum, alios rotare caput & post tergum terram vertice tangere, suspensisque pede fœminis vestes non defluere in faciem. This was about the year 384. And Chrysostom in his Oration on the Egyptian Martyrs, seems to make Egypt the ringleader in these matters, saying:^[176] Benedictus Deus quandoquidem ex Ægypto prodeunt martyres ex Ægypto illa cum Deo pugnante ac insanissima, et unde impia ora, unde linguæ blasphemæ; ex Ægypto martyres habentur; non in Ægypto tantum, nec in finitima vicinaque regione, sed VBIQUE TERRARVM. Et quemadmodum in annonæ summa ubertate, cum viderunt urbium incolæ majorem quam usus habitatorum postulat esse proventum, ad peregrinas etiam urbes transmittunt: cum et suam comitatem & liberalitatem ostendant, tum ut præter horum abundantiam cum facilitate res quibus indigent rursus ab illis sibi comparent: sic et Ægyptij, quod attinet ad religionis athletas, fecerunt. Cum apud se multam eorum Dei benignitate copiam cernerent, nequaquam ingens Dei munus sua civitate concluserunt, sed in OMNES TERRÆ PARTES bonorum thesauros effuderunt: cum ut suum in fratres amorem ostenderent, tum ut communem omnium dominum honore afficerent, ac civitati suæ gloriam apud omnes compararent, totiusque terrarum ORBIS esse METROPOLIN declararent. — Sanctorum enim illorum corpora quovis adamantino et inexpugnabili muro tutius nobis urbem communiunt, et tanquam excelsi quidam scopuli undique prominentes, non horum qui sub sensus cadunt et oculis cernuntur hostium impetus propulsant tantum, sed etiam invisibilium dæmonum insidias, omnesque diaboli fraudes subvertunt ac dissipant. — Neque vero tantum adversus hominum insidias aut adversus fallacias dæmonum utilis nobis est hæc possessio, sed si nobis communis dominus ob peccatorum multitudinem irascatur, his objectis corporibus continuo poterimus eum propitium reddere civitati. This Oration was written at Antioch while Alexandria was yet the Metropolis of the east, that is, before the year 381, in which Constantinople became the Metropolis. And it was a work of some years for the Egyptians to have distributed the miracle-working reliques of their Martyrs over all the world, as they had done before that year. Ægypt abounded most with the reliques of saints & Martyrs, the Egyptians keeping them embalmed upon beds even in their private houses; & Alexandria was eminent above all other cities for dispersing them, so as on that account to acquire glory with all men, & manifest her self to be the Metropolis of the world. Antioch followed the example of Egypt, in dispersing the reliques of the forty martyrs: & the <85r> examples of Egypt & Syria were soon followed by the rest of the world.

The reliques of the forty martyrs at Antioch were distributed among the Churches before the year 373; For Athanasius who died in that year, wrote an Oration upon them. This Oration is not yet published, but Gerard Vossius saw it in MS in the Library of Cardinal Ascanius in Italy, as he mentions in his commentary upon the Oration of Ephræm Sirus on the same 40 martyrs. And since Alexandria sent the reliques of the Martyrs of Egypt into all parts of the Earth, & thereby acquired glory to their city, & declared her in these matters the Metropolis of the whole world, as you have heard out of Chrysostom; it may be concluded, that before she received the 40 martyrs from Antioch, she began to send out the reliques of her own martyrs into all parts, setting the first example to other cities. this practice therefore began in Egypt some years before the death of Athanasius. It began when the miracle-working bones of Iohn the Baptist were carried into Egypt, & hid in the wall of a Church, that they might be profitable to a future generation. It was restrained during the reign of Iulian the Apostate: And then it spred from Egypt into all the Empire, Alexandria being the Metropolis of the whole world (according to Chrysostom) for propagating this sort of devotion, & Antioch & other cities soon following her example.

In propagating these superstitions, the ringleaders were the Monks, & Antony was at the head of them: For in the end of the life of Antony, Athanasius relates that these were his dying words to his disciples who then attended him. Do you take care, saith Antony, to adhere to Christ in the first place, & then to the saints, that after death they may receive you as friends & acquaintance into the everlasting Tabernacles. Think upon these things, perceive these things; & if you have any regard to me, remember me as a father. This being delivered in charge to the Monks by Antony at his death, A.C. 356, could not but inflame the whole body of the Moncks in devotion towards the Saints, as the ready way to be received by them into the eternal tabernacles after death. Hence came that noise about the miracles done by the reliques of the saints in the reign of Constantius: Hence came the dispersion of the miracle-working reliques into all the Empire, Alexandria setting the example, & being renouned for it above all other cities. Hence it came to pass in the reign of Iulian (A.C. 362) that Athanasius by a prophetic spirit (as Ruffinus tell us) hid the bones of Iohn the Baptist from the heathens, not in the ground to be forgotten, but in the hollow wall of a church before proper witnesses, that they might be profitable to a future generation. Hence also came the invocation of the saints for doing such miracles & for assisting men in their devotions, & mediating with God. For Athanasius, even from his youth, looked upon the dead saints and Martyrs as mediators of our prayers: in his Epistle to Marcellinus, written in the days of Constantine the great, he saith that the words of the Psalms are not to be transposed or any wise changed, but to be recited & sung without any artifice, as they are writ[ten,^[177] that the holy men who delivered them, knowing them to be their own words, may pray with us, or rather that the Holy Ghost who spake in the Holy men, seing his own words with which he inspired them, may join [with them] in assisting us.

And whilst Egypt abounded with Monks above any other country, the veneration of the saints began sooner & spred faster there then in other places. Palladius going into Egypt in the year 388 to visit the Monasteries, & visiting the sepulchre of Apollonius & other Martyrs of Thebais who had suffered under Maximinus, saith of them: Iis omnibus Christiani fecerunt ædem unam, ubi nunc multæ virtutes peraguntur. Tanta autem fuit viri gratia, ut de ijs quæ esset præcatus statim exaudiretur, eum sic honorante Servatore. Quem etiam nos in martyrio precati vidimus, cum <86r> ijs qui cum ipso fuerunt Martyrio affecti; et Deum adorantes, eorum corpora salutavimus. And Eunapius, a heathen, but yet a competent witnes of what was done in his own times, relating how the soldiers delivered the heathen temples of Egypt into the hands of the Monks, (which was done in the year 389) rails thus in an impious manner at the martyrs, as succeeding in the room of the old Gods of Egypt. Illi ipsi [milites] Monachos Canobi quoque collocarunt, ut pro Dijs qui animo cernuntur, servos et quidem flagitiosos divinis honoribus percolerent, hominum mentibus ad cultum ceremoniasque obligatis. Ii namque condita et salita eorum capita, qui ob scelerum multitudinem a judicibus extremo judicio fuerant affecti pro Divis ostentabant, ijs genua submittebant, eos in Deorum numerum receptabant, ad illorum sepulchra pulvere sordibusque conspurcati. Martyres igitur vocabantur, et Ministri quidem et Legati Arbitrique precum apud Deos, cum fuerint servitia infida et flagris pessime subacta, quæ cicatrices scelerum ac nequitiæ vestigia corporibus circumferunt; Ejusmodi tamen Deos fert tellus. By these instances you may understand that the invocation of Saints was now of some standing in Egypt, & that it was already generally received & practised there by the common people.

Thus Basil a Monk, who was made bishop of Cæsarea in the year 369, & died in the year 378, in his Oration on the martyr Mamas, saith: Be ye mindful of the Martyr, as many of you as have enjoyed him in your dreams, as many as in this place have been assisted by him in prayer, as many of you as upon invoking him by name have had him present in your works, as many as he has restored to health, as many as have had their dead children restored by him to life, as many as have had their lives prolonged by him. And a little after, he thus expresses the universality of this superstition in the regions of Cappadocia & Bythinia: At the memory of the martyr, saith he, the whole region is moved; at his festival the whole city is transported with joy. Nor do the kindred of the rich turn aside to the sepulchres of their ancestors, but all go to the place of piety. And in the end of the Homily he prays, that God would preserve the Church, thus fortified with the great towers of the martyrs. And in his Oration on the forty martyrs: These are they, saith he, who ^[178] our country, like certain towers afford us safety against our enemies. Neither are they shut up in once place only, but being distributed are sent into many regions, & adorn many countries. — You have often endeavoured, you have often laboured to find one who might pray for you; these are forty emitting one voice of prayer. — He that is in affliction flies to these, he that rejoices has recourse to these: the first, that he may be freed from the evil, the last that he may continue in the happiness. Here a woman praying for her children is heard; she obteins a safe return for her husband from abroad, & health for him in his sickness. — O common keepers of mankind, the best companions of our cares, suffragans & coadjutors of prayer, most powerfull embassadors to God, &c. Now by all this it is manifest, that before the year 378, the Oration & Sermons upon the Saints went much beyond the bounds of mere Oratorical flourishes, & that the common people in the East were already generally corrupted by the Monks with saint-worship.

Gregory Nazianzen a Monk, in his sixth Oration written A.C. 373, when he was newly made Bishop of Sasima, saith: Let us purify our selves to the Martyrs, or rather to the God of the Martyrs. And a little after he calls the Martyrs mediators of obtaining an ascension or divinity. The same year in the <87r> end of his Oration upon Athanasius then newly dead, he thus invokes him: Do thou look down upon us propitiously, & govern this people, a perfect adorer of the perfect Trinity, which in the Father Son & Holy Ghost is contemplated & adored: And if there shall be peace, preserve me, & feed my flock with me; but if war, reduce me, & place me with your self & with such as you are, altho it be great which I desire. And in the end of the funeral Oration upon Basil, written A.C. 378, he thus invokes Basil: But thou, O divine & sacred Head, look down upon us from heaven; & by thy prayers either take away that thorn of the flesh which is given us by God for exercise, or persuade that we may bear it with courage, & direct all our life to that which is most conducible. And when we depart this life, receive us there in your Tabernacles, that living together & beholding the holy & blessed Trinity more purely & perfectly, whereof we have now but an imperfect view, we may there come to the end of our desires, & receive this reward of the wars which we have waged or suffered. And in his Oration upon Cyprian, (not the Bishop of Carthage, but a Greek) he invokes him after the same manner; & tells us also how a pious virgin called Iustina, was protected by invoking the Virgin Mary, & how miracles were done by the ashes of Cyprian.

Gregory Nyssen, another eminent Monk & Bishop, in the life of Ephræm Syrus, tells how a certain man returning from a far country, was in great danger, by reason that all the ways were intercepted by the armies of barbarous nations; but upon invoking Ephræm by name, & saying, Holy Ephræm assist me, he escaped the danger, neglected the fear of death, & beyond his hope got safe home. In the end of this Oration Gregory invokes Ephræm after the following manner: But thou [o Ephræm] assisting now at the divine altar, & sacrificing to the Prince of life, & to the most holy Trinity, together with the Angels, remember us all, & obtain for us pardon of our sins, that we may enjoy the eternal happiness of the kingdom of heaven. The same Gregory, in his Oration on the martyr Theodorus written A.C. 381, thus describes the power of the Martyr, & the practice of the people. This Martyr, saith he, the last year quieted the barbarous tempest, & put a stop to the horrid war of the fierce & cruel Scythians. — If any one is permitted to carry away the dust with which the tomb is covered, wherein the body of the martyr rests; the dust is accepted as a gift, & gathered to be laid up as a thing of great price. For to touch the reliques themselves, if any such prosperous fortune shall at any time happen; how great a favour that is, & not to be obtained without the most earnest prayers, they know well who have obteined it. For as a living & florid body, they who behold it embrace it, applying to it the eyes, mouth, ears, & all the organs of sense; & then with affection pouring tears upon the Martyr, as if he was whole & appeared to them: they offer prayers with supplication, that it would intercede for them as an advocate, praying to him as an Officer attending upon God, & invoking him as receiving gifts whenever he will. at length Gregory concludes the Oration with this prayer: O Theodorus, we want many blessings; Intercede & deprecate for your country before the common King & Lord: For the country of the martyr is the place of his passio n, & they are his citizens, brethren & kindred, who have him, & defend, adorn & honour him. We fear afflictions. We expect dangers: The wicked Scythians are not far off, ready to make war against us. As a soldier fight for us, as a Martyr use liberty of speech for your fellow-servants. Pray for peace, that these publick meetings may not cease, that the furious and <88r> wicked barbarian may not rage against the Temples & altars, that the profane & impious may not trample upon the holy things. For we acknowledg it a benefit received from you, that we are preserved safe & entire, and we pray for freedom from danger in time to come. And if there shall be need of greater intercession & deprecation, call together a Quire of your brethren the Martyrs, & in conjunction with them all intercede for us. Let the prayers of many just ones atone for the sins of the multitudes & peoples. Exhort Peter, excite Paul, & also Iohn, the divine & beloved disciple, that they may be sollicitous for the Churches which they have erected, for which they have been in chains, for which they have undergone dangers & deaths, that the worship of idols may not lift up its head against us, that heresies may not spring up like thorns in the vineyard, that tares grown up may not choak the wheat, that no rock void of the fatness of true dew may be against us, & render the fruitfull power of the word void of a root; but by the power of the deprecation of your self & your companions, ô admirable man & eminent among the Martyrs, the common-wealth of Christians may become a field of corn. The same Gregory Nyssen, in his sermon upon the death of Meletius bishop of Antioch, preached at Constantinople the same year, (A.C. 381) before the bishops of all the east assembled in the second General Council, spake thus of Meletius. The Bridegroom, saith he, is not taken from us: He stands in the middle of us, tho we do not see him: He is a Priest in the most inward places, & face to face intercedes before God for us & the sins of the people. This was no oratorical flourish, but Gregory's real opinion, as you may understand by what we have cited out of him concerning Ephræm & Theodorus. And as Gregory preached this before the Council of Constantinople, you may thence know, (saith^a[179] Baronius) that he professed what the whole Council, & therewith the whole Church of those parts believed, namely, that the saints in heaven offer prayers for us before God.

^[180][Ephræm Syrus, another eminent Monk, who was contemporary with Basil, & died the same year with him, in the end of his Encomium or Oration upon Basil newly dead, invokes him after this manner: Deprecate for me, a very miserable man; & recall me by thy intercessions, o father [Basil;] thou courageous for^[181] me a weak one; thou diligent, for me a negligent one; thou chearfull for^[182] me a slothful one; thou wise for me a foolish one. Thou who hast treasured up a treasure of all vertues, reduce me who am empty of every good work. In the beginning of his Encomium upon the 40 Martyrs, written at the same time, he thus invokes them. Help me therefore, o ye saints, with your intercession; & o ye beloved, with your holy prayers; that Christ by his grace may guide my tongue to speak, &c. Afterwards mentioning the mother of one of these 40 Martyrs, he concludes the Oration with this invocation. I entreat thee, o holy faithfull & blessed woman, pray for me to the Saints, saying: Intercede ye triumphers of Christ, for the least & the miserable Ephræm, that I may find mercy, & by the grace of Christ may be saved. Again, in his second Sermon or Oration on the praises of the holy Martyrs of Christ, he thus invokes them. We entreat you most holy Martyrs, to deprecate the Lord for us miserable sinners, beset with the squallor of negligence, that he would infuse his divine grace into us. afterwards near the end he invokes them again in the same manner. Now ye most holy men & glorious Martyrs of God, help me a miserable sinner with your prayers, that in that dreadfull hour I may obtein mercy, when the secrets of hearts shall be made manifest. I am to day become to you, o ye most holy martyrs of Christ, as it were, an unprofitable & unskilful cup-bearer: for I have delivered to the sons & brothers of your faith, a cup of the excellent wine of <89r> your warfare; & with the excellent table of your victory, replenished with all sorts of dainties. I have endeavoured, with the whole affection & desire of my mind, to recreate your fathers & brothers, kindred & relations, who daily frequent the table. For behold they sing, & with exultation & jubile glorify God, who has adorned the most sacred heads of your vertue with incorruptible & celestial crowns; & with excessive joy they stand about the sacred reliques of your martydom, wishing for a blessing, & desiring to carry away the holy medicines of body & mind. As good disciples & faithfull ministers of our benign Lord & Saviour, bestow therefore a blessing on them all. And I also, tho weak & feeble, having received strength by your merits & intercessions, with the whole devotion of my mind, have sung a hymn of your praise & glory before your holy reliques. Wherefore I beseech you stand before the throne of the divine majesty for me Ephræm, a vile & miserable sinner, that by your prayers I may deserve to obtein salvation, & with you enjoy eternal felicity by the grace & benignity & mercy of our Lord & Saviour Iesus Christ, to whom with the Father & Holy Ghost be praise, honour, virtue & glory for ever & ever. Amen.

XIII By what has been cited out of Basil, the two Gregories & Ephræm, you may understand that saint-worship was established among the Monks & their admirers in Egypt, Phœnicia, Syria & Cappadocia before the year 378, this being the year in which Basil & Ephræm died. Chrysostom was not much later; He preached at Antioch almost all the reign of Theodosius the great, & in his sermons are many exhortations to this sort of superstition, as you may see in the end of his Orations on S. Iulia, on S^t Pelagia, on the martyr Ignatius, on the Egyptian martyrs, on Fate & Providence, on the martyrs in general, on SS. Berenice & Prosdoce: on Iuventinus & Maximus, on the name of Cœmetery, &c. So in his Sermon on SS. Bernice and Prosdoce: Perhaps, saith he, you are inflamed with no small love towards these Martyrs; Therefore with this ardour let us fall down before their reliques, Let us imbrace their coffins. For the coffins of the Martyrs have great virtue, even as the bones of the martyrs have great power. Neither let us only on the day of this festival, but also on other days apply to them, invoke them, beseich them to be our patrons: For they have great power & efficacy, not only whilst alive, but also after death, & much more after death. For now they bear the marks or brands of Christ; and when they shew these marks, they can obtain all things of the king. Seing therefore they abound with so much efficacy, & have so much friendship with him; when we by continual attendance & perpetual visitation of them, have insinuated ourselves into their familiarity, by their assistence we may obtein the mercy of God.

Constantinople was free from these superstitions till Gregory Nazianzen came thither A.C. 379; but in a few years was inflamed with it. Ruffinus^a[183] tells us, that when the Emperor Theodosius was setting out against the tyrant Eugenius, (which was in the year 394) he went about with the Priests & people to all the places of prayers, lay prostrate in haircloth before the shrines of the martyrs & Apostles, pray'd for assistance by the intercession of the Saints. Sozomen^b[184] adds, that when the Emperor was marched seven miles from Constantinople against Eugenius; he went into a church which he had built to Iohn the Baptist, & invoked the Baptist for his assistance. Chrysostom says^c[185]: He that is clothed in purple, approaches to embrace these sepulchres; & laying aside his dignity, stands supplicating the saints to intercede for him with God. And he who goes crowned with a diadem, offers his prayers to the tentmaker & the fisher as his Protectors. And in ^d[186]another place: The cities run together to <90r> the sepulchres of the martyrs, & the people are inflamed with the love of them.

The practice of sending reliques from place to place for working miracles, & thereby inflaming the devotion of the nations towards the dead saints & their reliques, & setting up the religion of invoking their souls, lasted only till the middle of the reign of the Emperor Theodosius the great; For he then prohibited it by the following Edict. Humatum corpus, nemo ad alterum locum transferat, nemo martyrem distrahat, nemo mercetur. Habeat vero in potestate, si quolibet in loco sanctorum est aliquis conditus, pro ejus veneratione, quod Martyrium vocandum sit, addant quod voluerint fabricarum. Dat. IV Kal. Mart. Constantinopoli, Honorio nob. puero & Euodio Coss. A.C. 386. After this they filled the fields & high-ways with altars erected to Martyrs, which they pretended to discover by dreams & revelations. And this occasioned the making of the fourteenth Canon of the fifth Council of Carthage, A.C. 398. Placuit ut altaria quæ passim per agros aut vias, tanquam memoriæ martyrum constituuntur, in quibus nullum corpus aut reliquiæ martyrum conditæ probantur, ab Episcopis qui illis locis præsunt, si fieri potest evertantur. Si autem hoc propter tumultus populares non sinitur, plebes tamen admoneantur ne illa loca frequentent, ut qui recte sapiunt nulla ibi superstitione devincti teneantur. Et omnino nulla memoria martyrum probabiliter acceptetur, nisi ibi aut corpus aut aliquæ certæ reliquiæ sint, aut ibi origo alicujus habitationis vel possessionis vel passionis fidelissima origine traditur. Nam quæ per somnia, et per inanes revelationes quorumlibet hominum ubique constituuntur altaria, omnimode reprobentur. These Altars were for invoking the Saints or Martyrs buried or pretended to be buried under them. First they filled the Churches in all places with the reliques or pretended reliques of the Martyrs for invoking them in the Churches; & then they filled the fields & high-ways with altars for invoking them every where. And this new religion was set up by the Monks in all the Greek Empire before the expedition of the Emperor Theodosius against Eugenius, & I think before the above mentioned Edict of the Emperor A.C. 386.

The same religion of worshiping Mahuzzims quickly spred into the Western Empire also: but Daniel in this Prophecy describes chiefly the things done among the nations comprehended in the body of his third Beast.

<91r>

^[187][Part. II.^[188]
OBSERVATIONS
VPON
THE APOCALYPSE
of S^t Iohn.

<93r> < insertion from f 91r >

^[189]Observations
upon the Apocalypse of S^t Iohn^[190]

Chap. I.
Introduction, concerning the time when the Apocalypse
was writ

Irenæus introduced an opinion that the Apocalypse was writ in the time of Domitian; but he also postponed the writing of some others of the sacred books, and was to place the Apocalypse after them: he might perhaps have heard from his master Polycarp that he had received this book from Iohn about the time of Domitians death; or indeed Iohn might himself at that time have made a new publication of it, from whence Irenæus might <91v> imagin it was then but newly written. Eusebius in his Chronicle and Ecclesiastical History follows Irenæus; but afterwards^a[191] in his Evangelical Demonstrations, he conjoyns the banishment of Iohn into Patmos, with the deaths of Peter and Paul: and so does^b[192] Tertullian and Pseudo-Prochorus, and the first author, whoever he was, of that very ancient fable that Iohn was put by Nero into a vessel of hot oyle, and coming out unhurt, was banished by him into Patmos. Tho this story be no more than a fiction, yet was it founded on a tradition of the first Churches, that Iohn was banishd into Patmos in the daies of Nero. Epiphanius represents the Gospel of Iohn as written in the time of Domitian and the Apocalypse even before Nero's. ^c[193]Arethas in the beginning of his Commentary quotes the opinion of Irenæus from Eusebius, but follows it not: for he afterwards affirms the Apocalypse was writ before the destruction of Ierusalem, and that former commentators had expounded the sixth seal of that destruction.^[194]

< text from f 93r resumes >

Chap. I
Introduction concerning the time
when the Apocalypse was writ.

Irenæus has set on foot an opinion that the Apocalyps was writ in the reign^[195] of Domitian: but he postpones the writing of other sacred books & was to place the Apocalyps after them. Perhaps his master Polycarp might say he had it from Iohn in the end of Domatian's reign or Iohn might at that time put out a new edition of it & Irenæus might thence frame a notion of its being written at that time. Eusebius in his Chronicle & Ecclesiastical History follows Irenæus. But afterwards^a[196] in his Evangelical Demonstrations he conjoyns the banishment of Iohn into Patmos with the death of Peter & Paul: & so does^b[197] Tertullian & Pseudo-prochorus & the first author whoever he was of that very ancient fable that Iohn was put by Nero into a vessel of hot oyle & coming out without hurt was banished by him into Patmos. Tho this be but a fiction yet it was founded in a tradition of the first Churches that Iohn was banished into Patmos in Nero's reign Epiphanius represents the Gospel of Iohn written in Domatian's reign & the Apocalyps before Nero's. Arethas in the beginning of his Commentary mentions out of Eusebius the opinion of Irenæus but follows it not: For^c[198] afterwards he affirms that the Apocalyps was writ before the destruction of Ierusalem & that former Commentators expounded the sixt seal of that destruction. ^[199] With the opinion of the first Commentators agrees the tradition of the Churches of Syria, preserved to this day in the little of the Syriac Version of the Apocalypse, which title is this: The Revelation which was made to Iohn the Evangelist by God in the Island Patmos, into which he was banished by Nero the Cæsar. The same is confirmed by a story told by Eusebius^[200] out of Clemens Alexandrinus, & others antient authors, concerning a youth, whom Iohn sometime after his return from Patmos committed to the care of a Bishop of a certain city. The Bishop educated, instructed, & at length baptized him, but then remitted of his care. The young man thereupon got into ill company, & began by degrees first to revell & grow vitious, & then to abuse & spoil those he met in the night; & at length grew so desperate, that his companions turning a band of High-way men, made him their Capitain &, saith Chrysostom, ^[201] he continued their capitain a long time. At length Iohn returning to that city, & hearing what was done, rode to the Thief; &, then the Thief out of reverence to his old Master fled, rode after him, recalled him, & restored him to the Church. This is a story <94r> of many years, & requires that Iohn should have returned from Patmos rather at the death of Nero than at that of Domitian; because between the death of Domitian & that of Iohn there were but two years & an half; & Iohn in his old age was^f[202] so infirm as to be carried to Church, dying above 90 years old, & therefore could not × < insertion from f 93v > × be suppos'd then to < text from f 94r resumes > ride after thief.

This opinion is further confirmed ✝ < insertion from the top of f 93v > ✝ by the allusions in the Apocalypse to the Temple & Altar, & Holy City, as then standing; & to the Gentiles who were soon after to tread under foot the Holy City & outward Court. Tis confirmed also — < text from f 94r resumes > by the style of the Apocalyps, which is fuller of Hebraisms then his Gospel. For thence it may be gathered that it was writ when Iohn was newly come out of Iudea, where he had been used to the Syriac tongue; & that he did not write his Gospel till by long converse with the Asiatick Greeks he had left off most of the Hebraisms. It is confirmed also by the many false Apocalypses (those of Peter, Paul, Thomas, Stephen, Elias, Cerinthus) writ in imitation of the true one. For as the many fals Gospels, fals Acts, & fals Epistles were occasioned by true ones; & the writing many fals Apocalyses, & ascribing them to Apostles & Prophets, argues that there was a true Apostolick one in great request with the first Christians: so this true one may well be suppos'd to have been written early, that there might be room in the Apostlic age for the writing of so many fals ones afterwards, & fathering them upon Peter, Paul, Thomas & others who were dead before Iohn. Caius (who was contemporary with Tertullian)^g[203] tells us that Cerinthus wrote his Revelations as a great Apostle, & pretended the visions were shewn him by Angels, asserting a millennium of carnal pleasures at Ierusalem after the resurrection; so that his Apocalyps was plainly writ in imitation of Iohn's: & yet he lived so early, that^h[204] he resisted the Apostles at Ierusalem in or before the first year of Claudius,(that is, 26 years before the death of Nero) & ^i[205]died before Iohn.

These reasons may suffice for determining the time; & yet there is one more, which to considering men may seem a good reason, to others not. I'lll propound it, & leave it to every man's judgment. the Apocalypse seems to be alluded to in the Epistles of Peter & that to the Hebrews, & therefore to have been written before them. Such allusions I take to be in the Epistle to the Hebrews, the discourses concerning the High Priest in the heavenly tabernacle who is both Priest & King, as was Melchisedeck; & those concerning the Word of God, with the sharp two-edged sword; the σαββατισμὸς or millennial rest, the earth whose end is to be burned (suppose by the Lake of fire), the judgment & fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries the heavenly City. which hath foundations whose builder & maker is God, the cloud of witnesses, Mount Sion, heavenly Ierusalem, general assembly, spirits of just men made perfect, (viz^t by the resurrection) & the shaking of heaven & earth, & removing them, that the new heaven, new earth, & new kingdom which cannot be shaken, may remain. In the first of Peter occur these:^a[206] The Revelation of Iesus Christ, twice or thrice repeated;^b[207] the blood of Christ as of a Lamb foreordained before the foundation of the world,^c[208] the spiritual building in heaven ✝ < insertion from the bottom of f 93v > (1 Pet. 2.5) an inheritance incorruptible & undefiled & that fadeth not away reserved heaven for us who are kept unto the salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (1 P{et.} 1. 4, 5.) < text from f 94r resumes > ,^d[209] the royal Priesthood, ^e[210]the holy Priesthood, ^f[211]the judgement beginning at the house of God, & ^g[212] the <95r> Church at Babylon. These are obscurer allusions; but the second Epistle, from the 19^th verse of the first Chapter to the end, seems to be a continued Commentary upon the Apocalypse. For in writing to the Churches of Asia to whom Iohn was commanded to send this Prophesy, he tells them they have a sure word of Prophesy to be heeded as a light shining in a dark place untill they begin to understand it. For no prophesy, saith he, is of the Prophets own interpretation: the Prophets of old spake not by their own will but as they were moved by the holy spirit (Daniel himself professes that he understood not his own Prophesies. Dan 8.15, 16, 27 & 12.8, 9), & therefore the Churches were not to expect the interpretation from their Prophet Iohn but to study the prophesy themselves. This is the scope of what he^[213] saith in the first chapter, & then in the second he goes on to describe out of this sure word of prophesy how there should come to fals Prophets or fals teachers in the Church (collectively the fals Prophet) who should deny the Lord that bought them (the character of Antichrist) & ^a[214] many shall follow their ×^[215] lusts [for they that dwell on the earth are deceived by the fals Prophet & made drunk with the wine of the whores fornication] by reason of whom the way of truth shall be ^b[216]blasphemed [for the Beast is full of blasphemy] & through covetousness shall they with feigned words ^c[217]make merchandise of Christians [for these are merchants of the Earth who trade with the great Whore & their merchandice is all {{th}}ings of price, with the bodies & souls of men] ^[218]whose judgement & damnation lingereth not but shall come upon them at the last day suddenly as the flood upon the old world & fire & brimstone upon Sodom & Gomorrha, & ^e[219]the just shall be delivered like Lot for the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly & reserve the unjust to the day of judgment to be punished [in the lake of fire] but chiefly them that ^f[220]walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness [being made drunk with the wine of the Whores fornication] & despise dominion & ^g[221]blaspheme glories [for the Beast opened his mouth against God to blaspheme his name & his Tabernacle & them that dwell in heaven.] These as natural bruit Beasts [the tenhorned Beast & two horned Beast or fals Prophet] made to be taken & destroyed [in the lake of fire] blaspheme the things they understand not. They take pleasure to riot in the day time sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they ^h[222]feast with Christians, having eyes full of an ✝^[223] Adulteress [for the kingdomes of the Beast live deliciously with the great whore & the nations are made drunk with the wine of her fornication] & following the way of ^i[224]Balaam. [the fals Prophet who taught Balac to cast a stubling block before Israel] These are [not <96r> fountains of living water but] wells without water, [not such clouds of saints as the two witnesses ascend in, but] clouds carried with a tempest &c * Thus does the author of this Epistle spend all the second chapter in describing the qualities of the Apocalyptic Beasts & False Prophet: & then in the third he goes on to describe their destruction more fully, & the future kingdom. He saith, that because the coming of Christ should be long deferred, they should scoff, saying, where is the promise of his coming? Then he describes the sudden coming of the day of the Lord upon them, as a thief in the night, for that's the Apocalyptick phrase; & the millennium, or thousand years, which are with God but as a day; & the passing away of the old heaven & earth, by a conflagration in the lake of fire; & our looking for a new heaven & new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

Seing therefore Peter & Iohn were Apostles of the circumcision, it seems to me that they staid with their churches in Iudea & Syria till the Romans made war upon their nation, that is, till the twelfth year of Nero; that they then followed the main body of their flying churches into Asia, & Peter went thence by Corinth to Rome; that the Roman Empire looked upon those churches as enemies, because Iews by birth; & therefore to prevent insurrections, secured their leaders, & banished Iohn into Patmos; & that soon after the writing of the Apocalypse, the epistle to the Hebrews & those of Peter were written to these Churches, with reference to this Prophesy as a thing they were particularly concerned in. For it appears by the epistles, that they were written in times of general affliction & tribulation under the heathens & by consequence when the Empire made war upon the Iews. For till then the Heathens were at peace with the Christian Iews, as well as with the rest. The epistle to the Hebrews, since it mentions Timothy as related to those Hebrews, must be written to them after their flight into Asia, where Timothy was Bishop, & by consequence after the war began, the Hebrews in Iudea being strangers to Timothy. And Peter seems to call Rome Babylon, as well with respect to the war made upon Iudea & the approaching captivity like that under old Babylon, as with respect to that name in the Apocalypse: & in writing to the strangers scattered thro'out Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia & Bithynia, he seems to intimate that they were the strangers newly scattered by the Roman wars; for those were the only strangers there belonging to his care.

^✝ < insertion from the bottom of f 95v > ^✝ And this account of things agrees best with history duly rectified. For ^a[225]Iustin & ^b[226]Irenæus say, that Simon Magus came to Rome in the reign of Claudius, & exercised juggling tricks there. Pseudo-clemens adds, that he endeavoured there to fly, but broke his neck thro' the prayers of Peter. Whence ^c[227]Eusebius, or rather his interpolator Ierom, has recorded, that Peter came to Rome in the second year of Claudius. But ^d[228]Cyril Bishop of Ierusalem, Philastrius, Sulpitius, Prosper, Maximus Taurinensis, & Hegesippus junior, place this victory of Peter in the reign of Nero. Indeed The ancienter tradition was, that Peter came to Rome in the reign of this Emperor, as you may see in ^e[229]Lactantius. ^f[230] Chrysostom tells us, that the Apostles continued long in Iudæa, & then being driven out by the Iews went to the Gentiles. This dispersion was in the first year of the Iewish war, when the Iews, as ^t[231]Iosephus tells us, began to be tumultuous & violent in all places. For all agree that the Apostles were disposed into several regions at once; & Origen has set down the time,^g[232] telling us that in the beginning of the Iudaic war, the < text from f 96r resumes > the Apostles & disciples of our Lord were scattered into all nations, Thomas into Parthia, Andrew onto Scythia, Iohn into <97r> Asia, & Peter first into Asia where he preacht to the dispersion, & thence into Italy; & ^l[235]Dionysius Corinthius saith, that Peter went from Asia by Corinth to Rome: & all antiquity agree that Peter & Paul were martyred at Rome in the end of Nero's reign. Mark went with Timothy to Rome, (2 Tim. 4.11 & Colos. 4.10) Sylvanus was Paul's assistant; & by the companions of Peter mentioned in his 1^st Epistle, you may know that he wrote from Rome; & antiquity generally agrees, that in this Epistle he understood Rome by Babylon. His second epistle was writ to the same dispersed strangers with the first (2 Pet. 3.1) & therein he saith, that Paul had writ of the same things to them, & also in his other Epistles, (v. 15, 16) Now as there is no epistle of Paul to these strangers besides that to the Hebrews, so in this epistle (chap. 10, 11, 12) you will find at large all those things which Peter had been speaking of & refers to, particularly the passing away of the old heaven & earth, & establishing an inheritance immoveable, with an exhortation to grace, because God (to the wicked) is a consuming fire. Heb. 12.25, 26, 28, 29.

Having determined the time of writing the Apocalypse, I need not say much about the truth of it, since it was in such request with the first ages, that many endeavoured to imitate it, by feigning Apocalypses under the Apostles names; & the Apostles themselves as I have just now^[236] shewed) studied it, & used its phrases, by which means the style of the Epistle to the Hebrews became more mystical than that of Paul's other epistles, & the style of Iohn's Gospel more figurative & majestical than that of the other Gospels. I do not find that Christ was called the word of God in any book of the new Testament written before the Apocalypse; & therefore am of opinion, the language was taken from this Prophesy, as were also many other phrases in this Gospel, such as those of Christ's being the light which enlightens the world, the lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world, the Bridegroom, he that testifieth, he that came down from heaven, the Son of God, &c. Iustin Martyr, who within 30 years after Iohn's death became a Christian, writes expresly that a certain man among the Christians whose name was Iohn, of the 12 Apostles of Christ, in the Revelation which was shewed him, prophesied that those who beleived in Christ should live a thousand years at Ierusalem. And a few lines before he saith: But I, & as many as are Christians in all things right in their opinions, beleive both that there shall be a resurrection of the flesh, & a thousand years at Ierusalem built & adorned & enlarged. Which is as much at to say, that all true Christians in that early age received this . Prophesy: For in all ages, as many as beleived the thousand years, received the Apocalypse as the foundation of their opinion. I do not know an instance to the contrary. Papias Bishop of <98r> Hierapolis, a man of the Apostolic age, & one of Iohn's own disciples, did not only teach the doctrine of the thousand years, but also a^[237]asserted the Apocalypse as written by divine inspiration. Melito, who flourished next after Iustin, ^b[238]wrote a commentary upon this prophesy; & he, being bishop of Sardis one of the seven churches, could neither be ignorant of their tradition about it, not impose upon them. Irenæus, who was contemporary with Melito, wrote much upon it, & said, that the number 666 was in all the antient & approved copies; & that he had it also confirmed to him by those who had seen Iohn face to face, meaning no doubt his master Polycarp for one. At the same time ^c[239]Theophilus bishop of Antioch asserted it, & so did Tertullian, Clemens Alexandrinus, & Origen soon after; & their contemporary Hippolytus the martyr, metropolitan of the Arabians, ^d[240]wrote a commentary upon it & so did Victorinus Pictabionensis. All these were antient men, flourishing within a hundred & twenty years after Iohn's death, & of greatest note in the Churches of those times. Soon after did Victo[rinus^[241] Pictaviensis write another commentary upon it; He lived in the reign of Dioclesian. And this may suffice to shew how much this book was received & studied in the first ages: nay, I do not find any other book of the new Testament so strongly attested; nor commented upon so early as this. The Prophesy said: Blessed is he that readeth, & they that hear the words of this Prophesy, & keep the things which are written therein. This animated the first Christians to study it so much , till the difficulty made them remit, & comment more upon the other books of the new testament. And this was the state of the Apocalypse, till the thousand years being misunderstood, brought a prejudice against this book: & Dionysius of Alexandria, by noting how it abounded with barbarisms, that is with hebraisms, promoted the prejudice so, as to cause many Greeks in the fourth Century to doubt of it. But whilst the Latins, & a great part of the Greeks, always retained the book, & the rest doubted only out of prejudice, it makes nothing against its authority.

This Prophecy is called the Revelation, with respect to the Scripture of truth, which Daniel^[242] was commanded to shut up & seal, till the time of the end. Daniel sealed it untill the time of the end; & untill that time comes, the Lamb is opening the seals: & afterwards the two witnesses prophesy out of it a long time in sackcloth , before they ascend up to heaven in a cloud. All <99r> which is as much as to say, that these prophecies of Daniel & Iohn should not be understood till the time of the end: but then some should prophesy out of them in an afflicted & mournfull state for a long time, & that but darkly, so as to convert but few. But in the very end, the prophesy should be so far interpreted as to convince many. Then, saith Daniel, many shall run to & fro, & knowledge shall be increased. For the Gospel must be preached in all nations before the great tribulation, & end of the world. The palm-bearing multitude, which come out of this great tribulation, cannot be innumerable out of all nations, unless they be made so by the preaching of the Gospel before it comes. There must be a stone cut out of a mountain without hands, before it can fall upon the toes of the Image, & become a great mountain & fill the earth. An Angel must fly thro' the midst of heaven with the everlasting Gospel to preach to all nations, before Babylon falls, & the son of man reaps his harvest. The two Prophets must ascend up to heaven in a cloud, before the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of Christ. 'Tis therefore a part of the Prophesy, that it is not to be understood before the last age of the world; & therefore it makes for the credit of the Prophesy, that it is not yet understood. But if the last age, the age of opening these things, be now approaching, (as by the great successes of late Interpreters it seems to be,) we have more encouragement than ever to look into these things. If the general preaching of the Gospel be approaching, it is to us & our posterity that those words mainly belong: ^{[243] [244]}In the time of the end the wise shall understand, but none of the wicked shall understand. Blessed is he that readeth, & they that hear the words of this Prophesy, & keep those things which are written therein.

The folly of Interpreters has been, to foretell times & things by this Prophecy, as if God designed to make them Prophets. By this rashness they have not only exposed themselves, but brought the Prophesy it self into contempt. The designe of God was much otherwise. He gave this & the Prophesies of the old Testament, not to gratify men's curiosities by enabling them to foreknow things, but that after they were fulfilled they might be interpreted by the event, & his own Providence (not the Interpreters) then manifested thereby to the world. For the event of things predicted many ages before, will then be a convincing argument that the world is governed by providence. For as the few & obscure prophesies concerning Christ's first coming were for setting up the Christian religion, which all nations have since <100r> corrupted; so the many & clear prophesies concerning the things to be done at Christ's second coming, are not only for predicting but also for effecting a recovery & reestablishment of the long-lost truth, & setting up a kingdome wherein dwells righteousness. The event will prove the Apocalypse; & this prophesy, thus proved & understood, will open all the old Prophets, & all together will make known the true religion, & establish it. For he that will understand the old Prophets, must begin with this. But the time is not come for understanding them perfectly, because the main revolution predicted in them is not yet come to pass. In the voice of the seventh Angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God shall be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the Prophets: & then the Kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord & his Christ, & he shall reign for ever Apoc 10 & 11. There is already so much of the Prophesy fulfilled, that as many as will take pains in this study, may see sufficient instances of God's providence: but then the signal revolutions predicted by all the holy Prophets, will at once both turn mens eyes upon considering the predictions, & plainly interpret them. Till then we must content our selves with interpreting what hath been already fulfilled.

Amongst the Interpreters of the last age there is scarce one of note who hath not made some discovery worth knowing; & thence it seems one may^[245] gather that God is about opening these mysteries. The success of others put me upon considering it; & if I have done any thing which may be usefull to following writers, I have any design.

<101r>

^[246] Chap. II –
Of the relation which the Prophesy of Iohn
hath to the Book of the Law of Moses, and
to the worship of God in the Temple.

On the first day of that month the High Priest dressed the Lamps in the morning. And this is alluded unto in the first Vision where the Son of man in the habit of the High Priest appears (or over against) the midst of the seven candlesticks with seven starrs in his right hand, which are the seven lamps appearing like a rod of seven starrs as it were in his right hand while he dresses them. And this dressing is performed by sending seven Epistles to the Angels of the seven Churches represented by the Seven Candlesticks. ✝ < insertion from f 101v > ✝ or Angels of the seven Churches < text from f 101r resumes > . These Epistles contein admonitions against the approaching Apostacy, & therefore relate to the times when the Apostacy began to work strongly & before it prevailed. It began to work in the Apostle days, & was to continue working till the man of sin should be revealed. It began to work in the disciples of Simon, Menander, Carpocrates, Cerinthus & such sorts of men as had imbided the Metaphysical philosophy of the Gentiles & Cabalistical Iews & were thence called Gnosticks. Iohn calls them Antichrists saying that in his days there were many Antichrists. But these men being condemned by the Apostles & their immediate disciples, put the Churches in no danger during the opening of the first four Seals. The visions at the opening of these Seales relate only to the civil affairs of the heathen Roman Empire. So long the Apostolic traditions prevailed & preserved the Church in its purity. And therefore the affairs of the Church do not begin to be considered in this Prophesy before the opening of the fift Seal. She began then to decline & to want admonitions, & therefore is admonished by these Epistles till the Apostacy prevailed & took place which was at the opening of the seventh seal. So then the admonitions in these seven Epistles relate to the state of the Church in the times of the fift and sixt seals. At the opening of the fift Seal ^[247][the Church is purged from hypocrites by a great persecution. At the opening of the sixt, that which letted is taken out of the way, namely the heathen Roman Empire. At the opening of the seventh, the Man of Sin is revealed. And to these times the seven Epistles relate.

The seven Angels, to whom these Epistles were written, answer to the seven Amarcelim, who were Priests & chief Officers of the Temple, & had jointly the keys of the gates of the Temple, & also those of the Treasuries, & the direction, appointment & oversight of all things in the Temple.

After the Lamps were dressed, Iohn saw the door of the Temple opened; & by the voice as it were of a Trumpet, was called up to the eastern gate of the great Court, to see the visions: & behold a throne was set, viz^t the Mercy-seat upon the Ark of the Testament, which the Iews respected as the throne of God between the Cherubims, Exod. 25.2. Psal 99.1. And he that sat on it was to look upon like Iasper & Sardine stone, that is, of an olive colour, the people of Iudea being of that colour. And (the Sun being then in the east) a rainbow was about the throne, the <102r> embleme of glory. And round about the throne were four & twenty seats; the chambers of the four & twenty Princes of the Priests, twelve on the south side, & twelve on the north side of the Priest's Court. And upon the seats were four & twenty Elders sitting, clothed in white rayment, with crowns on their heads: the Princes of the four & twenty courses of the Priests clothed in linen. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings & thunderings, < insertion from the right margin of f 101v > and voices, viz the flashes {of} < text from f 102r resumes > the fire of^[248] the Altar at the morning-sacrifice, & the song of the Levites at the eastern gate of the Priest's Court, appearing to Iohn like lightnings & thunderings proceeding from the throne. And there were seven lamps of fire burning [in the Temple] before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God, represented in the beginning of this Prophesy by seven stars. And before the throne was a sea of glass clear as crystall: the brazen sea between the Porch of the Temple & the Altar, filled with water clear as crystall. And in the the midst of the Throne, & round about the Throne, were four Beasts, full of eyes before & behind: that is, one Beast before the throne & one behind it, appearing to Iohn as in the midst of the throne, one in either side in the circle about it, to represent by the multitude of their eyes the people standing in the four sides of the peoples court. And the first Beast was like a Lion, & the second was like a calf, & the third had the face of a man, & the fourth was like a flying eagle. The people of Israel in the Wilderness encamped round about the Tabernacle, & on the east side were three tribes under the standard of Iudah, on the west were three tribes under the standard of Ephraim, on the south were three Tribes under the standard of Reuben, & on the north were three tribes under the standard of Dan. Num. 2. And the standard of Iudah was a Lion, that of Ephraim an Ox, that of Reuben a man, & that of Dan an Eagle, as the Iews affirm. Whence were framed the hieroglyphicks of Cherubims & Seraphims, to represent the people of Israel. A Cherubim had one body wiith four faces, the faces of a Lion, Ox, Man & Eagle, looking to the four winds of heaven, without turning about, as in Ezekiels Vision, ch. 1. And four Seraphims had the same four faces with four bodies, one face to every body. The four Beasts are therefore four Seraphims standing in the four sides of the peoples court, the first in the eastern side with the head of a Lion, the second in the western side with the head of an Ox, the third in the southern side with the head of a Man, the fourth in the northern side with the head of an Eagle: & all four signify all the twelve tribes of Israel, out of whom the hundred forty & four thousand were sealed, Apoc VII.4. And the four Beasts had each of them six wings, two to a Tribe, in all twenty & four wings, answering to the twenty & four stations of the people. And they were full of eyes within, or under their wings. And they rest not day & night (or at the morning & evening sacrifices) saying, Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty, which was, & is, & is to come. These animals are therefore the Seraphims, which appeared to Isaiah in a Vision like this of the Apocalyps, chap. VI. For there also the Lord sat upon a throne in the Temple; & the Seraphims each with six wings cried, Holy, holy, holy Lord God of hosts. And when those Animals give glory & honour & thanks to him that sitteth upon the throne, who liveth for ever & ever, the four & twenty Elders [go into the Temple, & there] fall down before him that sitteth on the throne, & worship him that liveth for ever & ever, & cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, o Lord, <103r> to receive glory & honour & power: for thou hast created all things, & for thy pleasure they are & were created. At the morning & evening-sacrifices, so soon as the sacrifice was laid upon the Altar, & the drink-offering began to be poured out, the trumpets sounded, & the Levites sang by course three times; and every time when the trumpets sounded, the people fell down & worshipped. Three times therefore did the people worship; to express which number, the Beasts cry Holy, holy, holy. And the song being ended, the people prayed standing, till the solemnity was ended. In the mean time the Priests went into the Temple, & there fell down before him that sat upon the throne & worshiped.

And Iohn saw, in the right hand of him that sat upon the throne, a book written within & on the backside: ✝ < insertion from f 102v > ✝ sealed with seven seals, in the book which Daniel was commanded to seal up, and which is here represented by the prophetic book of the Law laid up on the right side of the Ark, as it were in the right hand of him that sat on the Throne: For the Festivals and ceremonys of the Law prescribed to the people in this book, adumbrated those things which were predicted in the book of Daniel; and the writing within and on the backside of this book, relate to the synchronal prophecies. And none was found worthy to open the book but &c. (1)^[249] < text from f 103r resumes > the Lamb of God. And lo, in the midst of the throne & of the four Beasts, & in the midst of the Elders, that is, at the foot of the Altar, stood a Lamb as it had been slain [the morning-sacrifice] having seven horns [which are the seven Churches] & seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And the Lamb came, & took the book out of the hand of him that sat upon the throne: And when he had taken the book, the four Beasts & four & twenty Elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them Harps, & Vials full of odours, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the Book, & open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, & hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, & tongue, & people, & nation; & hast made us unto our God kings & priests, & we shall reign on the earth. The Beasts & Elders therefore represent the primitive Christians of all nations, & the worship of these Christians in their churches is here represented under the form of worshiping God & the Lamb in the Temple: God for his benefaction of creating all things, & the Lamb for his benefaction of redeeming us with his blood: God as sitting upon the throne & living for ever, & the Lamb as exalted above all by the merits of his death. And I heard, saith Iohn, the voice of many Angels round about the throne, & the Beasts & the Elders: & the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, & wisdom, & riches, & strength, & honour, & glory, & blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, & on the earth, & under the earth, & such as are in the sea, & all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, & glory, & power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, & unto the Lamb for ever & ever. And the four Beasts said, Amen. And the four & twenty Elders fell down & worshiped him that liveth for ever & ever. This was the worship of the primitive Christians.

It was the custom for the High Priest, seven days before the Fast of the seventh month, to continue constantly in the Temple & study the book of the Law, that he might be perfect in it against the day of Expiation, wherein the service, which was various, & intricate, was wholly to be performed by himself; part of which service was reading the Law to the people. And to <104r> promote his studying it, there were certain Priests appointed by the Sanhedrim to be with him those seven days in on of his chambers in the Temple, & there to discourse with him about the Law, & read it to him, & put him in mind of reading & studying it himself. And this his opening & reading the Law those seven days, is alluded unto in the Lamb's opening the seals.^[251] Conceive that those seven days begin in the evening before each day (for the Iews began their day in the evening,) & that the solemnity of the Fast begins in the morning of the seventh day.

The seventh Seal was therefore opened on the day of Expiation, & then there was silence in heaven for half an hour. And an Angel [the High Priest] stood at the Altar, having a golden Censer; & there was given him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints, upon the golden Altar which was before the throne. The custom was on other days, for one of the Priests to take fire from the great Altar in a silver Censer; but on this day, for the High Priest to take fire from the great Altar in a golden Censer. And when he was come down from the great Altar, he took incense from one of the Priests who brought it to him, & went with it to the golden Altar: & while he offered the incense, the people prayed without in silence, which is the silence in heaven for half an hour. And when the High Priest had laid the incense on the Altar, he carried a Censer of it burning in his hand, into the most holy place before the Ark. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the Angels hand . On other days there was a certain measure of incense for the golden Altar: on this day there ^[252][was a greater quantity for both the Altar & the most Holy, & therefore it is called much incense. After this the Angel took the Censer, & filled it with fire from the (great) Altar, & cast it to the earth; that is, by the hands of the Priests who belong to his mystical body, he cast it to the earth without the Temple, for burning the Goat which was the Lord's lot. And at this & other concomitant sacrifices, untill the evening sacrifice was ended, there were voices, & thunderings, & lightnings, & an earthquake; that is, the voice of the High-Priest reading the Law to the people, & other voices and thundrings of the Trumpets & temple-musick at the sacrifices, & lightnings of the fire of the Altar.

X The solemnity of the day of Expiation being finished, the seven Angels sound their Trumpets at the great sacrifices of the seven days of the feast of Tabernacles; & at the same sacrifices, the seven thunders utter their voices, which are Musick of the Temple, & singing of the Levites, intermixed with the soudings of the Trumpets: & the seven Angels pour out their Viols of wrath, which are the drink-offerings of those sacrifices.

When six of the Seals were opened, Iohn said: ^[253]And after these things [that is, after the visions of the sixth Seal] I saw four Angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another Angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four Angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth & the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, nor the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. This sealing alludes to a tradition of the Iews, that upon the day of Expiation all the people of Israel are sealed up in the books of life & death. For the Iews in their Talmud tell us, ^[254]that in the beginning of every new year, or first day of the month Tisri, (the seventh <105r> month of the sacred year) three books were opened in judgment; the book of life, in which the names of those are written who are perfectly just; the book of death, in which the names of those are written who are Atheists or very wicked; & a third book, of those whose judgment is suspended till the day of Expiation, & whose names are not written in the book of life or death before that day. The first ten days of this month they call the penitential days; & all these days they fast & pray very much, & are very devout, that on the tenth day their sins may be remitted, & their names may be written in the Book of life, which day is therefore called the day of Expiation. And upon this tenth day, in returning home from the Synagogues, they say to one another, God the creator seal you to a good year. For they conceive that the books are now sealed up, & that the sentence of God remains unchanged hence forward to the end of the year. And the same thing is signified by the two Goats, upon whose foreheads the High Priest yearly, on the day of expiation, lays the two lots inscribed, For God & For Azazel; God's lot signifying the people who are sealed with the name of God in their foreheads; & the lot Azazel, which was sent into the wilderness, representing those who receive the mark & name of the Beast, & go into the wilderness with the great Whore.

The servants of God being therefore sealed in the day of expiation, conceive that this sealing is synchronal to the visions which appear upon opening the seventh seal; & that when the lamb had opened six of the seals & seen the visions relating to the inside of the sixth, he looked on the backside of the seventh leaf, & then saw the four angels holding the four winds of heaven, & another Angel ascending from the east with the seal of God. Conceive also, that the Angels which held the four winds were the first four of the seven Angels, who upon opening the seventh seal were seen standing before God; & that upon their holding the blustering noisy winds, there was silence in heaven for half an hour; & that while the servants of God were sealing, the Angel with the golden Censer offered their prayers with incense upon the golden Altar, & read the Law: & that so soon as they were sealed, the winds hurt the Earth at the sounding of the first Trumpet, & the sea at the sounding of the second; these winds signifying the warrs, to which the first four Trumpets sounded. For as the first four Seals are distinguished from the three last by the appearance of four horsmen towards the four winds of heaven; so the wars of the first four Trumpets are distinguished from those of the three last, by representing these by four winds, & the others by three great Woes.

In one of Ezekiel's Visions, when the Babylonian captivity was at hand, six men appeared with slaughter weapons; & a seventh, who appeared among them clothed in white linen & a writer's inkhorn by his side, is commanded to go thro' the midst of Ierusalem, & set a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh & cry for all the abominations done in the midst thereof: & then the six men (like the Angels of the first six Trumpets) are commanded to slay those men who are not marked. Conceive therefore that the hundred forty & four thousand are sealed, to preserve them from the plagues of the first six Trumpets, & that at length by the preaching of the everlasting gospel to all <106r> nations they grow into a great multitude, & at the sounding of the seventh Trumpet come out of the great tribulation with Palms in their hands: the kingdoms of this world, by the war to which that Trumpet sounds, becoming the kingdoms of God & Christ. For the solemnity of the great Hosannah was kept by the Iews upon the seventh or last day of the Feast of Tabernacles; the Iews upon that day carrying Palms in their hands, & crying Hosannah.

After six of the Angels (answering to the six men with slaughter-weapons) had sounded their Trumpets, the Lamb in the form of a mighty Angel came down from heaven clothed with a cloud, & a rainbow upon his head, & his face was as it were the sun, & his feet as pillars of fire [the shape in which Christ appeared in the beginning of this Prophesy,] & he had in his hand a little book open; [the book which he had newly opened; For he received but one book from him that sitteth upon the throne, & he alone was worthy to open & look on this Book.] And he set his right foot on the sea & his left foot on the earth, & cried with a loud voice, as when a lyon roareth. It was the custome for the High Priest on the day of expiation, to stand in an elevated place in the peoples court, at the eastern gate of the Priests court, & read the Law to the people, while the Heifer & the Goat which was the Lord's lot, were burning without the Temple. We may suppose him standing in such a manner, that his right foot might appear to Iohn as it were standing on the Sea of glass, & his left foot on the ground of the House; & that he cried with a loud voice, in reading the Law on the day of Expiation. And when he cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. Thunders are the voice of a cloud, & a cloud signifies a multitude; & this multitude may be the Levites who sang with thundering voices, & played with musical instruments at the great sacrifices, on the seven days of the feast of Tabernacles: at which times the Trumpets also sounded. For the Trumpets sounded, & the Levites sang alternately, three times at every sacrifice. And therefore the Prophecy of the seven Thunders is nothing else then a repetition of the Prophecy of the seven Trumpets in another form. And the Angel which I saw stand upon the sea & upon the earth, lifted up his hand to heaven, & sware by him that liveth for ever & ever, that [after the seven thunders] there should be time no longer; but in the days of the voice of the seventh Angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the Prophets. The voices of the Thunders therefore last to the end of this world, & so do those of the Trumpets.

And the voice which I heard from heaven, saith Iohn, spake to me again & said, Go & take the little Book, &c. And I took the little Book out of the Angel's hand, & ate it up; & it was in my mouth sweet as honey, & as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, & nations, & tongues, & kings. This is an Introduction to a new prophecy, to a repetition of the Prophecy of the whole book, & alludes to Ezekiel's eating a roll or book spred open before him, & written within & without, full of lamentations & mourning & wo, but sweet in his mouth. Eating & drinking signify acquiring & possessing; & eating the book is becoming inspired with the prophecy contained in it. It implies being inspired in a vigorous & extraordinary manner with the prophecy of the whole book, & therefore signifies a lively repetition of the whole prophesy by way of interpretation, & begins not till the first Prophesy, that of the Seals & Trumpets, is ended. It was sweet in Iohn's mouth, & therefore begins not with the bitter prophesy of the Babylonian captivity, & the Gentiles being in the outward court of the Temple, & treading the holy city under foot, & the prophesying <107r> of the two Witnesses in sackcloth, & their smiting the earth with all plagues, & being killed by the Beast: but so soon as the prophesy of the Trumpets is ended, it begins with the sweet prophesy of the glorious woman in heaven, & the victory of Michael over the Dragon; & after that, it is bitter in Iohn's belly, by a large description of the times of the great Apostasy.

And the Angel stood [upon the Earth & Sea] saying, Rise and measure the Temple of God & the Altar, & them that worship therein, that is, their Courts with the buildings thereon, viz the square court of the Temple called the Separate place, & the square court of the Altar called the Priests Court, & the Court of them that worship in the Temple called the new Court: but the [great] Court which is without the Temple, leave out & measure it not, for it is given to the Gentiles, & the Holy City shall they tread under foot forty & two months. This measuring hath reference to Ezekiel's measuring the Temple of Solomon: There the whole Temple (including the outward Court) ^[255][was measured, to signify that it should be rebuilt in the latter days. Here the Courts of the Temple & Altar, & them who worship therein, are only measured, to signify the building of a second Temple, for those that are sealed out of all the twelve tribes of Israel, & worship in the inward Court of sincerity & truth: & Iohn is commanded to leave out the outward Court, or outward form of religion & Church-Government, because it is given to the Babylonian Gentiles. For the glorious Woman in heaven, the remnant of whose seed kept the commandments of God, & had the testimony of Iesus, continued the same woman in outward form after her flight into the wilderness, whereby she quitted her former sincerity & piety, & became the great Whore. She lost her chastity, but kept her outward form & shape. And while the Gentiles tread the holy city under foot, & worship in the outward Court, the two Witnesses (represented perhaps by the two feet of the Angel standing on the sea & earth) prophesied against them, and had power, like Elijah & Moses, to consume their enemies with fire proceeding out of their mouth, & to stop heaven that is rain not in the days of their prophesy, & to turn the waters into blood, & to smite the earth with all plagues as often as they will, that is, with the plagues of the Trumpets & Vials of wrath; & at length they are slain, rise again from the dead, & ascend up to heaven in a cloud, & then the seventh Trumpet sounds to the day of judgment.

The Prophesy being finished, Iohn is inspired anew by the eaten book, & begins the Interpretation thereof with the words, And the Temple of God was opened in heaven, & there was seen in his Temple the Ark of the testament. By the Ark, you may know that this was the first Temple; for the second Temple had no Ark. And there were lightnings, & voices, & thundrings, & an earthquake, & great hail. These answer to the wars in the Roman Empire, during the reign of the four horsemen who appeared upon opening the first four Seals. And there appeared a great wonder in heaven, A Woman clothed with the Sun. In the Prophecy, the affairs of the Church begin to be considered at the opening of the fifth Seal; & in the Interpretation, they begin at the same time with the Vision of the Church in the form of a Woman in heaven. There she is persecuted, & here she is pained in travail. The Interpretation proceeds down first to the sealing of the servants of God, & marking the rest with the mark of the Beast; & then to the day of judgment, represented by a harvest & vintage. Then it returns back to the times of opening the seventh seal, & interprets the prophesy of the seven Trumpets by <108r> the pouring out of seven Vials of wrath. The Angels who pour them out, come out of the Temple of the Tabernacle; that is, out of the second Temple, for the Tabernacle had no outward Court. Then it returns back again to the times of measuring the Temple & altar, & of the gentiles worshiping in the outward Court, & of the Beast killing the Witnesses in the street of the great city; & interprets these things by the Vision of a Woman sitting on the Beast, drunken with the blood of Saints; & proceeds in the Interpretation downwards to the fall of the great city & the day of judgment.

The whole prophesy of the Book, ×× represented by the book of the Law, is therefore repeated, & interpreted in the Visions which follow those of sounding the seventh Trumpet, & begin with that of the Temple of God opened in heaven. Only the things which the seven Thunders uttered, were not written down, & therefore not interpreted.

<109r>

Ch. 3.
Of the relation which the Prophesy of Iohn
hath to those of Daniel; & the Subject
of the Prophesy.

The whole scene of sacred Prophesy is composed of three principal parts: the regions beyond Euphrates, represented by the two first Beasts of Daniel; the Empire of the Greeks on this side of Euphrates, represented by the Leopard & by the He-Goat; & the Empire of the Latines on this side of Greece, represented by the Beast with ten horns. And to these three parts, the phrases of the third part of the earth, sea, rivers, trees, ships, stars, sun, & moon, relate. I place the body of the fourth Beast on this side of Greece, because the three first of the four Beasts had their lives prolonged after their dominion was taken away, & therefore belong not to the body of the fourth. He only stamped them with his feet.

By the Earth, the Iews understood the great continent of all Asia & Africa, to which they had access by land: & by the Isles of the sea, they understood the places to which theyey sailed by sea, particularly all Europe. And hence in this Prophesy, the earth & sea are put for the nations of the Greek & Latin Empires.

The third & fourth Beasts of Daniel are the same with the Dragon & ten-horned Beast of Iohn, but with this difference: Iohn puts the Dragon for the whole Roman Empire while it continued entire, because it was entire when that Prophesy was given; & the Beast he considers not till the Empire became divided: & then he puts the Dragon for the Empire of the Greeks, & the Beast for the Empire of the Latines. Hence it is that the Dragon & Beast have common heads & common horns: But the Dragon hath crowns only upon his heads, & the Beast only upon his horns; because the Beast & his horns reigned not before they were divided from the Dragon: & when the Dragon gave the Beast his throne, the ten horns received power as kings, the same hour with the Beast. The heads are seven successive kings.^[256] Four of them were the four horsmen which appeared at the opening of the first four seals. In the latter end of the sixt head, or seal, considered as present in the visions, it is said, Five of the seven kings are fallen, & one is, & another is not yet come; & the Beast that was & is not, (being wounded to death with a sword) he is the eighth, & of the seven. He was therefore a collateral part of the seventh. The horns are the same with those of Daniel's fourth Beast, described above.

The four horsmen which appear at the opening of the first four Seals, have been well explained by M^r Mead; excepting that I had rather continue the third to the end of the reign of the three Gordians & Philip the Arabian,^[257] <110r> those being kings from the south, & begin the fourth with the reign of Decius, & continue it till the reign of Dioclesian. For the fourth horsman sat upon a pale horse, & his name was Death; & Hell followed with him; & power was given them to kill unto the fourth part of the earth, with the sword, & with famine, & with the plague, & with the Beasts of the earth, or armies of invaders & rebels: & such were the times during all this interval. Hitherto the Roman Empire continued in an undivided monarchical form, except rebellions; & such it is represented by the four horsmen. But Dioclesian divided it between himself & Maximianus, A.C. 285; & it continued in that divided state, till the victory of Constantine the great over Licinius, A.C. 323, which put an end to the heathen persecutions set on foot by Dioclesian & Maximianus, & described at the opening of the fift seal. But this division of the Empire was imperfect, the whole being still under one & the same Senate. The same victory of Constantine over Licinius a heathen persecutor, began the fall of the heathen empire, described at the opening of the sixt seal. And the visions of this seal continue till after the reign of Iulian the Apostate, he being a heathen emperor, & reigning over the whole Roman Empire.

V The affairs of the Church begin to be considered at the opening of the fift Seal, as was said above. Then she is represented by a Woman in the Temple of heaven, clothed with the Sun of righteousness, & the Moon of Iewish ceremonies under her feet, & upon her head a crown of twelve stars relating to the twelve Apostels & tp the twelve tribes of Israel. When she fled from the Temple into the wilderness, she left in the Temple a remnant of her seed, who kept the commandments of God, & had the testimony of Iesus; & therefore before her flight she represented the true primitive Church of God, tho afterwards she degenerated like Aholah & Aholibah. In Dioclesian's persecution she cried, travelling in birth, & pained to be delivered. And in the end of that persecution, by the victory of Constantine over Maxentius A.C. 312, she brought forth a Man-child, such a child as was to rule all nations with a rod of iron, a Christian Empire. And her child, by the victory of Constantine over Licinius, A.C. 323, was caught up to God & to his throne. And the Woman, by the division of the Roman Empire into the Greek & Latin empires, fled from the first temple into the wilderness, or spiritually barren empire of the Latines, where she is found afterwards sitting upon the Beast & upon the seven mountains; & is called the great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth, that is, over the ten kings which give their kingdome to her Beast.

But before her flight there was war in heaven between Michael & the Dragon, (the Christian & heathen religions,); & the Dragon, that old Serpent, called the devil & Satan, who deceiveth the whole world, was cast out to the earth, & his Angels were cast out with him. And Iohn heard a voice in heaven saying, Now is come salvation & strength, & the kingdome of our God, & the power of his Christ: For the accuser of our brethren is cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, & by the word of their testimony. And they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoyce ye heavens, & ye that dwell in them. Wo be to the inhabiters of the earth & sea (or people of the Greek & Latine Empires,) <111r> for the Devil is come down amongst you, ^[258][having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

And when the Dragon saw that he was cast down from the Roman throne, & the Man-child caught up thither, he persecuted the Woman which brought forth the Man-child, & to her (by the division of the Roman Empire between the cities of Rome & Constantinople A.C. 330,) were given two wings of a great Eagle (the symbol of the Roman Empire) that she might fly [from the first Temple] into the wilderness of Arabia, to her place at Babylon mystically so called. And the Serpent (by the division of the same Empire between the sons of Constantine the great, A.C. 337,) cast out of his mouth waters as a flood (the western Empire) after the Woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the [^[259]flood. And the earth (or Greek Empire) helped the Woman, & opened her mouth, & swallowed up the] flood (by the victory of Constantius over Magnentius, A.C. 353) & thus the Beast was wounded to death with a sword. And the Dragon was wroth with the Woman, (in the reign of Iulian the Apostate A.C. 361) and (by a new division of the Empire between Valentinian & Valens, A.C. 364) went from her [into the eastern Empire] to make war with the remnant of her seed, which she left behind her when she fled. And thus the Beast revived. And by the next division of the Empire, which was between Gratian and Theodosius A.C. 379, the Beast with ten horns rose out of the sea, & the Beast with two horns out of the earth; & by the last division thereof, which was between the sons of Theodosius, A.C. 395, the Dragon gave the Beast his power and throne, & great authority. And the ten horns received power as kings, the same hour with the Beast.

At length the Woman arrived at her place of temporal as well as spiritual dominion upon the back of the Beast, where she is nourished a time times & half a time, from the face of the serpent; not in his kingdom, but at a distance from him. She is nourished by the Merchants of the earth, three times or years & an half, or 42 months, or 1260 days: & in these prophecies days are put for years. During all this time the Beast acted, & she sat upon him, that is, reigned over him, & over the ten kings who gave their kingdom to him; & she was drunken with the blood of the saints. And by all these circumstances she is the eleventh horn of Daniel's fourth Beast, who reigned with a look more stout then the other ten, & was of a different kind from the rest, & had eyes & a mouth like the Woman; & made war with the saints, & prevailed against them, & wore them out, & changed times & laws, & had them given into his hands untill a time times & half a time. The characters of the Woman, and little horn of the Beast, agree perfectly. In respect of her temporal dominion, she was a horn of the Beast; in respect of her spiritual dominion, she rode upon him in the form of a Woman, & was his Church, & committed fornication with the ten kings.

And the second Beast, which rose up out of the earth, was the Church of the Greek Empire: For it had two horns like those of the Lamb, & therefore was a church; & it spake as the <112r> Dragon, & therefore was of his religion; & it rose up out of the earth, & by consequence in his kingdom. It is called also the fals Prophet that wrought miracles before the first Beast, by which he deceived them that received his mark, & worshiped his image. When the Dragon went from the Woman to make war with the remnant of her seed, this Beast arising out of the earth assisted in that war, & caused the earth & them that dwell therein to worship the authority of the first Beast, whose mortal wound was healed, & to make an Image to him, that is, to assemble a body of man like him in point of religion. And he had power to give life & authority to the Image, so that it could both speak, & by dictating cause that all religious bodies of men, who would not worship the authority of the Image, should be mystically killed. And he causeth all men to receive a mark in their right hand or in their forehead, & that no man might buy or sell save he that had the mark or the name of the Beast, or the number of his name; all the rest being excommunicated by the Beast with two horns. And his mark is ✝ ✝ ✝, & his name ΛΑΤΕΙΝΟΣ, & the number of his name 6 6 6.

Thus the Beast, after he was wounded to death with a sword & revived, was deified, as the heathens used to deify their kings after death, & had an Image erected to him; & his worshippers were initiated in this new religion, by receiving the mark or name of this new God, or the number of his name. And by killing all that will not worship him & his Image, the first Temple, illuminated by the lamps of the seven churches, is demolished, & a new Temple built for them who will not worship him; & the outward Court of this new Temple (or outward form of a Church,) is given to the Gentiles, who worship the Beast & his Image. And they who will not worship him, are sealed with the name of God in their foreheads, & retire into the inward Court of this new Temple. These are the 144000 sealed out of all the twelve Tribes of Israel, & called the two Witnesses, as being derived from the two wings of the Woman while she was flying into the Wilderness & represented by two of the seven candlesticks. These appear to Iohn, in the inward Court of the second Temple, standing on mount Sion with the Lamb, & as it were on the sea of glass. These are the saints of the most High, & the Host of heaven, & the holy people spoken of by Daniel, as worn out & trampled under foot, & destroyed in the latter times by the little horns of his fourth Beast & He-Goat.

And while the Gentiles tread the Holy city under foot; God gives power to his two Witnesses, & they prophesy in sackcloth all the 1260 days. They are called the two Olive-trees, with relation to the two Olive trees, which in Zechary's Vision (ch. 4) stand on either side of the golden candlestick to supply the lamps with oyle: & Olive-trees, according to the Apostle Paul, represent Churches, Rom. XI. They supply the lamps with oil, by maintaining teachers. They are also called two Candlesticks; & Candlesticks in this Prophesy signify churches, the seven Churches of Asia being represented by seven Candlesticks. Five of these Churches were found faulty, & threatned if they did not repent; the other two were without fault, & so their Candlesticks were fit to be placed in the second Temple. These were the Churches in Smyrna & Philadelphia. They were in a state of tribulation & persecution, & <113r> the only two of the seven in such a state: & so their candlesticks were fit to represent the Churches in affliction in the times of the second Temple, & the only two of the seven that were fit. The two Witnesses are not new churches. They are the posterity of the primitive Church, the posterity of the two wings of the Woman, & so are fitly represented by two of the primitive Candlesticks. We may Conceive therefore, that when the first Temple was destroyed, & a new one built for them who worship in the inward Court, two of the seven Candlesticks were placed in this new Temple.

#^[260] < insertion from f 113v > # The affairs of the Church are not considered during the opening of the first four seals. They begin to be considered at the opening of the fift Seal, as was said above; & are further considered at the opening of the sixt seal; & the seventh seal contains the times of the great apostacy. And therefore I refer the Epistles to the seven churches unto the times of the fifth & sixth Seals: For they relate to the Church when she began to decline, & contein admonitions against the great Apostacy then approaching. < text from f 113r resumes > When Eusebius had brought down his Ecclesiastical History to the reign of Dioclesian, he thus describes the state of the Church. Qualem quantamque gloriam simul ac libertatem doctrina veræ erga supremum Deum pietatis a Christo primùm hominibus annunciata, apud omnes Græcos pariter et barbaros ante persecutionem nostrâ memoriâ excitatam, consecuta sit, nos certè pro merito explicare non possumus. Argumento esse possit Imperatorum benignitas erga nostros: quibus regendas etiam provincias committebant, omni sacrificandi metu eos liberantes ob singularem, quâ in religionem nostram affecti erant, benevolentiam. And a little after: Iam vero quis innumerabilem hominum quotidiè ad fidem Christi confugientium turbam, quis numerum ecclesiarum in singulis urbibus, quis illustres populorum concursus in ædibus sacris, cumulatè possit describere? Quo factum est, ut priscis ædificijs jam non contenti, in singulis urbibus spatiosas ab ipsis fundamentis exstruerent ecclesias. Atque hæc progressu temporis increscentia, et quotidiè in majus et melius proficiscentia, nec livor ullus atterere, nec malignitas dæmonis fascinare, nec hominum insidiæ prohibere unquam potuerunt, quamdiu omnipotentis Dei dextera populum suum, utpote tali dignum præsidio, texit atque custodijt. Sed cum ex nimia libertate in negligentiam ac desidiam prolapsi essemus; cum alter alteri invidere atque obtrectare cœpisset; cum inter nos quasi bella intestina gereremus, verbis, tanquam armis quibusdam hastisque, nos mutuò vulnerantes; cum Antistetes adversus Antistetes, populi in populos collisi, jurgia ac tumultus agitarent; denique cum fraus et simulatio ad summum malitiæ culmen adolevisset: tum divina ultio, levi brachio ut solet, integro adhuc ecclesiæ statu, & fidelium turbis liberè convenientibus, sensim ac moderatè in nos cœpit animadvertere; orsa primùm persecutione ab ijs qui militabant. Cum verò sensu omni destituti de placando Dei numine ne cogitaremus quidem; quin potius instar impiorum quorundam res humanas nulla providentiâ gubernari rati, alia quotidiè crimina alijs adjiceremus: cum Pastores nostri, spretâ religionis regulâ, mutuis inter se contentionibus decertarent, nihil aliud quam jurgia, minas, æmulationem, odia, ac mutuas inimicitias amplificare studentes; principatum quasi tyrannidem quandam contentissimè sibi vindicantes: tunc demùm juxta dictum Hieremiæ, obscuravit Dominus in ira sua filiam Sion, et dejecit de cælo gloriam Israel, — per Ecclesiarum scilicet subversionem, &c. This was the state of the Church just before the subversion of the Churches in the beginning of Dioclesian's <114r> persecution. And to this state of the Church agrees the first of the seven Epistles to the Angel of the seven Churches, that to the Church in Ephesus. ^[261]I have something against thee, saith Christ to the Angel of that Church, because thou hast left thy [first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, & repent, & do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, & will remove thy Candlestick out of its place ^[262][except thou repent. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. The Nicolaitans ☉ < insertion from f 113v > ☉ are the Continentes above described, who placed religion in abstinence from marriage, & abandoned their wives if they had any. These are here called Nicolaitans, from Nicolas one of the seven deacons of the primitive Church of Ierusalem; who having a beautiful wife, & being taxed with uxoriousness, abandoned her, & permitted her to marry whom she pleased, saying that we must disuse the flesh, & thenceforward lived a single life in continency, & so did his children. But the Continentes afterwards embraced the doctrine of Æons & Ghosts male & female, & were avoided by the Churches till the fourth Century; & the Church of Ephesus is commended for hating their deeds. < text from f 114r resumes >

The persecution of Dioclesian began in the year of Christ 302, & lasted ten years in the eastern Empire & two years in the western. To this state of the Church the second Epistle, that to the Church of Smyrna, agrees. ^[263]I know, saith Christ, thy works, & tribulation, & poverty, (but thou art rich;) & I know the blasphemy of them (the Nicolaitans) who say they are Iews & are not, but are the Synagogue of Satan. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: Behold, the Devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; & ye shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithfull unto death, & I will give thee a crown of life. The Tribulation of ten days can agree to no other persecution than that of Dioclesian, it being the only persecution which lasted ten years. By the blasphemy of them that say they are Iews & are not, but are the synagogue of Satan, I understand the Idolatry of the Nicolaitans, who falsly said they were Christians.

The Nicolaitans are complained of also in the third Epistle, as men that ^[264]held the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac [the king] to cast a stumbling-block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to Idols, & to commit spiritual fornication.^[265] For Balaam taught the Moabites & Midianites to tempt & invite Israel by their women to commit fornication, & to feast with them at the sacrifices of their Gods. The Dragon therefore began now to come down among the inhabitants of the earth & sea.

The Nicolaitans are also complained of in the fourth Epistles, under the name of the Woman Iezabel, who calleth herself a Prophetess, & teacheth & seduceth the servants of Christ to commit fornication, & to eat things sacrificed to Idols. The Woman therefore began now to fly into the wilderness.

The reign of Constantine the great from the time of his conquering Licinius, was monarchical over the whole Roman Empire. Then the Empire became divided between the sons of Constantine. And then it was united under Constantius, by his victory over Magnentius. And to the affairs of the Church in these three successive periods <115r> of time, the third fourth & fift Epistles, that is, those to the Angels of the Churches in Pergamus, Thyatira, & Sardis, seem to relate. The next Emperor was Iulian the Apostate.

In the sixth Epistle, that to the Angel of the Church in Philadelphia, Christ saith: ^[266]Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I will also keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. — Him that overcometh, will I make a pillar in the Temple of my God, & he shall go no more out; & I will write upon him the name of my God, &c. that is, Because in the reign of the heathen Emperor Iulian, thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation which by the Woman's flying into the Wilderness, & the Dragon's making war with the remnant of her seed, & the killing of all who will not worship the Image of the Beast, shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell on the earth, and to distinguish them by sealing the one with the name of God in their foreheads, & marking the other with the mark of the Beast. Him that overcometh, I will make a pillar in the Temple of my God; & he shall go no more out of it. And I will write upon him the name of my God in his forehead. So then the Christians of the Church of Philadelphia, as many of them as overcome, are sealed with the seal of God, & placed in the second Temple, & go no more out. The same is to be understood of the Church in Smyrna, which also kept the word of God's patience, & was without fault. These two Churches, with their posterity, are therefore the two Pillars, & the two Candlesticks, & the two Witnesses in the second Temple.

XIX After the reign of the Emperor Iulian, & his successor Iovian who reigned but five months, the Empire became divided again between Valentinian & Valens. Then the Church Catholick, in the Epistle to the Angel of the Church of Laodicea, is reprehended as ^[267]lukewarm, & threatened to be spewed out of Christ's mouth. She said, that she was rich & increased in goods, & had need of nothing, (being in outward prosperity,) & knew not that she was (inwardly) wretched, & miserable, & poor, & blind, & naked. She is therefore spewed out of Christ's mouth at the opening of the seventh Seal. And this puts an end to the times of the first Temple.

About one half of the Roman Empire turned Christians in the reign of Constantine the great & his sons. After Iulian had opened the Temples, & restored the worship of the heathens, the Emperors Valentinian & Valens tolerated it all their reign; & therefore the prophecy of the sixt Seal was not fully accomplished before the reign of their successor Gratian. It was the custom of the heathen Priests, in the beginning of the reign of every sovereign Emperor, to offer him the dignity & habit of Pontifex maximus. This dignity all Emperors had hitherto accepted of: but Gratian rejected it, threw down the Idols, interdicted the sacrifices, & took away the revenues of the sacrifices, & salaries & authority of the Priests. Theodosius the great followed his example. And heathenism afterwards recovered itself no more, but decreased so fast, that Prudentius, about ten years after the death of Theodosius, called the heathens, vix pauca <116r> ingenia & pars hominum rarissima. Whence the affair of the sixth seal ended with the reign of Valens, or rather with the beginning of the reign of Theodosius^[268], when he rejected the dignity of Pontifex maximus. For the Romans were very much infested by the invasions of foreign nations in the reign of Valentinian & Valens, Hoc tempore, saith Ammianus, velut per universum orbem Romanum bellicum canentibus buccinis, excitæ gentes sævissimæ limites sibi proximos pessultabant:^[269] Gallias Rhætiasque simul Alemanni populabantur: Sarmatæ Pannonias et Quadi: Picti Saxones & Scoti & Attacotti Britannos ærumnis vexavere continuis: Austoriani, Mauricæque aliæ gentes Africam solito acriùs incursabant: Thracias diripiebant prædatorij globi Gotthorum: Persarum Rex manus Armenijs injectabat. And whilst the Emperors were busy in repulsing these enemies, the Hunns & Alans & Goths came over the Danube in two bodies, overcame & slew Valens, & made so great a slaughter of the Roman Army, that Ammianus saith: nec ulla Annalibus præter Cannensem ita ad internecionem res legitur gesta. But these wars were fully stopt on all sides in the beginning of the reign of Theodosius, A.C. 379 & 380. Thenceforward the Empire remained quiet from foreign Armies, till the death of Theodosius A.C. 395. So long the four winds were held: & so long there was silence in heaven. And the seventh Seal was opened when this silence began.

M^r Mead hath explained the Prophesy of the first six Trumpets not much amiss: If he had observed, that the Prophesy of pouring out the Vials of wrath is synchronal to that of sounding the Trumpets, his explanation would have been more complete.

The name of Woes are given to the wars to which the three last Trumpets sound, to distinguish them from the warrs of the four first. The sacrifices on the first four days of the feast of Tabernacles, at which the first four Trumpets sound, & the first four Vials of wrath are poured out, are slaughters in four great warrs; & these warrs are represented by four winds to the four corners of the earth. The first was an east wind, the second a west wind, the third a south wind, & the fourth a north wind, with respect to the city of Rome, the Metropolis of the old Roman Empire. These four plagues fell upon the third part of the Earth, Sea, Rivers, Sun, Moon & Stars; that is, upon the Earth, Sea, Rivers, Sun, Moon & Stars of the third part of the whole scene of these Prophesies of Daniel & Iohn.

The plague of the eastern wind at the sounding of the first Trumpet, was to fall upon the earth, that is, upon the nations of the Greek Empire. Accordingly, after the death of Theodosius the great, the Goths, Sarmatans, Hunns, Isaurians, & Austorian^[270] Moors invaded & miserably wasted Greece, Thrace, Asia minor, Armenia, Syria, Egypt, Lybia, & Illyricum, for ten or twelve years together.

That of the western wind at the sounding of the second Trumpet, was to fall upon the Sea, or western Empire, by means of a burning mountain cast into it, & turning it to blood. Accordingly in the year 407, that Empire began to be <117r> invaded by the Visigoths, Vandals, Alans, Sueves, Burgundians, Ostrogoths, Heruli, Quadi, Gepides; & by these wars was broken into ten kingdoms, & miserably wasted: & Rome (the burning mountain) was besieged & taken by the Ostrogoths, in the beginning of these miseries.

That of the southern wind at the sounding of the third Trumpet, was to cause ^[271]a great star, burning as it were a lamp, to fall from heaven upon the rivers & fountains of waters, [the western Empire now divided into many kingdoms] & to turn them to Wormwood & blood, & make them bitter. Accordingly Geiseric, the king of the Vandals & Alans in ^[272][Spain, A.C. 427, invaded Africa with an army of eighty thousand men; & seating himself in Afric invaded the Moors, & made war upon the Romans there, & on the sea-coasts of Europe, fifty years together, almost without intermission, taking Hippo A.C. 431, & Carthage the capital of Africa A.C. 439. And A.C. 455, with a numerous fleet containing three hundred thousand Vandals & Moors, he invaded Italy, took & plundered Rome, Naples, Capua, & many other cities; & carried thence the wealth of the cities, & flower of the people, into Africa. The next year (A.C. 456) he rent all Africa from the Empire, expelling the Romans. Then they invaded & took the Islands of the Mediterranean, Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, Ebusus, Majorca, Minorca, &c Then Ricimer besieged the Emperor Anthemius in Rome, took the city, & gave his soldiers the plunder, A.C. 472. The Visigoths about the same time ejected the Romans out of Spain. And now the western Emperor (the great star which fell from heaven, burning as it were a lamp) having by all these wars gradually lost almost all his dominions, was invaded, & conquered in one year by Odoacer king of the Heruli, A.C. 476. After this the Moors revolted A.C. 477, & weakened the Vandals by several warrs & took Mauritania from them. These warrs continued till the Vandals were invaded & conquered by Belisarius A.C. 534.. And by all these wars Africa was almost depopulated, as Procopius represents who reckons that above five millions of men perished in them. When the Vandals first invaded Africa, that country was very populous, consisting of about 700 bishopricks, which were more than in all France, Spain & Italy together: but by the warrs between the Vandals, Romans & Moors, it was depopulated to that degree, that after the warr with Belisarius (as Procopius tells us) it was next to a miracle for a traveller to see a man.

In pouring out the third Vial it is said: ^[273]Thou art righteous o Lord because thou hast judged thus: For they have shed the blood of thy Saints & Prophets, & thou hast given them blood to drink, for they are worthy. How they shed the blood of Saints, may be understood by the following Edict of the Emperor Honorius, procured by four Bishops sent to him by a Council of African Bishops, who met at Carthage 14 Iune, A.C. 410.

Impp. Honor & Theod. AA. Heracliano Com. Afric.

Oraculo penitus remoto, quo ad ritus suos hæreticæ superstitionis obrepserant, sciant omnes sanctæ legis inimici plectendos se pœnâ & proscriptionis & sanguinis, si ultra convenire per publicum, execrandâ sceleris sui temeritate temptaverint. Dat. VIII Kal. Sept. Varano V.C. Cons. (A.C. 410.)

And this Edict was five years after fortified by the following.

Impp. Honor & Theod. AA. Heracliano Com. Afric.

Sciant cuncti qui ad ritus suos hæresis superstitionibus obrepserant sacrosanctæ legis inimici, plectendos se pœnâ et proscriptionis et sanguinis, si ultra convenire per publicum exercendi sceleris sui temeritate temptaverint: nequâ vera divinaque reverentia contagione temeretur. Dat. VIII Kal. Sept. Honorio X. & Theod. VI. A.A. <118r> Coss. A.C. 415.

These Edicts being directed to the governour of Africa, extended only to the Africans. Before these there were many severe ones against the Donatists, but they did not extend to blood. These two Edicts were the first which made their meetings, & the meetings of all dissenters, capital: For by hereticks in these Edicts, are meant all dissenters, as is manifest by this Edict against Euresius a Luciferan Bishop.

Impp. Arcad. et Honor AA. Aureliano Proc. Africæ.

Hæreticorum vocabulo continentur, & latis adversus eos sanctionibus debent succumbere, Qui vel levi argumento a judicio Catholicæ religionis & tramite detecti fuerint deviare: ideoque experientia tua Euresium hæreticum esse cognoscat. Dat. III Non. Sept. Constantinop. Olybrio & Probino Coss. A.C. 395.

The Greek Emperor Zeno adopted Theoderic King of the Ostrogoths to be his son, & made him Master of the horse & Patricius, & Consul of Constantinople; & recommending to him the Roman people & Senate, gave him the Western Empire, & sent him into Italy against Odoacer King of the Heruli. Theoderic thereupon led his nation into Italy, conquered Odoacer, & reigned over Italy, Sicily, Rhætia, Noricum, Dalmatia, Liburnia, Istria, & part of Suavia,^[274] Pannonia & Gallia. Whence Ennodius, in a Panegyric to Theoderic, said: Ad limitem suum Romana regna remeasse. Theoderic reigned with great prudence, moderation & felicity; treated the Romans with singular benevolence, goverened them by their own laws, & restored their Empire under their Senate & Consuls, he himself supplying the place of Emperor, but absteining from the title. Ita sibi parentibus præfuit, saith Procopius, ut vere Imperatori conveniens decus nullum ipsi abesset: Iustitiæ magnus ei cultus, legumque diligens custodia: Terras a vicinis barbaris servavit intactas, &c. Whence I do not reccon the reign of this king, amongst the plagues of the four winds.

The plague of the nothern wind, at the sounding of the fourth Trumpet, was to cause the sun moon & stars (that is, the king, kingdom & Princes of the western Empire) to be darkned, & to continue sometime in darkness. Accordingly Belisarius, having conquered the Vandals, invaded Italy A.C. 535, & made war upon the Ostrogoths in Dalmatia, Liburnia, Venetia, Lumbardy Tuscia, & other regions northward from Rome, twenty years together. In this war many cities were taken & retaken. In retaking Millain from the Romans, the Ostrogoths slew all the males young & old, amounting (as Procopius reccons) to three hundred thousand, & sent the women captives to their allies the Burgandians. Rome her self was taken & retaken severall times, & thereby her people were thinned; her old government by a Senate ceased, her nobles were ruined, & all her glory was extinct: & A.C. 552, after a war of seventeen years, the kingdom of the Ostrogoths fell, whose kings had been her husband & her Sun^[275]. Yet the remainder of the Ostrogoths & an army of Germans called in to their assistance, continued the war three or four years longer. Then ensued a war of the Heruli, who, as Anastasius tells us, perimebant cunctam <119r> Italiam, slew all Italy. And this was followed by a war of the Lombards, the fiercest of all the Barbarians. This war began A.C. 568, & lasted 38 years together; facta tali clade, saith Anastasius, qualem a sæculo nullus meminit. It ended in the Papacy of Sabinian A.C. 605, by a lasting peace then made with the Lombards. Three years before it ended, Gregory the great, then Bishop of Rome thus mentions it: Qualiter enim et quotidianis gladijs & quantis Longobardorum incursionibus, ecce jam per triginta quinque annorum longitudinem premimur, nullis explere vocibus suggestionis valemus. And in one of his sermons to the people, he thus expresses the great consumption of the Romans by these warrs: Ex illa plebe innumerabili quanti remanseritis aspicitis, et tamen adhuc quotidiè flagellæ urgent, repentini casus opprimunt, novæ res & improvisæ clades affligunt. In another Sermon he thus describes the desolations: Destructæ urbes, eversa sunt castra, depopulati agri, in solitudinem terra redacta est. Nullus in agris incola, penè nullus in urbibus habitator remansit. Et tamen ipsæ parvæ generis humani reliquiæ adhuc quotidiè et sine cessatione feriuntur, et finem non habent flagella cœlestis justitiæ. Ipsa autem quæ aliquando mundi Domina esse videbatur, qualis remansit Roma conspicimus innumeris doloribus multipliciter attrita, desolatione civium, impressione hostium, frequentiâ ruinarum. — Ecce jam de illa omnes hujus sæculi potentes ablati sunt. — Ecce populi defecerunt. — Vbi enim Senatus? Vbi jam populus? Contabuerunt ossa, consumptæ sunt carnes. Omnis enim sæcularium dignitatum ordo extinctus est, et tamen ipsos nos paucos qui remansimus, adhuc quotidiè gladij, adhuc quotidiè inn umeræ tribulationes premunt. — Vacua jam ardet Roma. Quid autem ista de hominibus dicimus? Cum ruinis crebrescentibus ipsa quoque destrui ædificia videmus. Postquam defecerunt homines etiam parietes cadunt. Iam ecce desolata, ecce contrita, ecce gemitibus oppressa est. &c. All this was spoken by Gregory to the people of Rome, who were witnesses of the truth of it. And thus by the plagues of the four winds, the Empire of the Greeks was shaken, & the Empire of the Latines fell; and Rome remained nothing more than the capital of a poor dukedome, subordinate to Ravenna, the seat of the Exarchs.

XXXI The fifth Trumpet sounded to the warrs, which the king of the south (as he is called by Daniel) made in the time of the end, in pushing at the king who did according to his will. This plague began with the opening of the bottomless pit, which denotes the letting out of a false religion; the smoke which came out of the pit, signifying the multitude which embraced that religion; & the Locusts which came out of the smoke, the armies which came out of that multitude. This pit was opened, to let out smoke & locusts into the regions of the four monarchies, or some of them. The king of these locusts was the Angel of the bottomless pit, or chief governour as well in religious as civil affairs, such as was the Calif of the Saracens. Swarms of Locusts arise in Arabia fælix, & from thence infest the neighbouring nations: & so are a very fit type of the numerous <120r> armies of Arabians invading the Romans. They began to invade the Romans A.C. 634; & to reign at Damascus A.C. 637. they built Bagdat A.C. 766, & reigned over Persia, Syria, Arabia, Egypt, Africa & Spain. They lost Africa to Mahades, A.C. 910; Media, Hircania, Chorasan, & all Persia to the Dailamites, between the years 927 & 935; Mesopotamia & Miafarekin to Nasiruddaulas, A.C. 930; Syria & Egypt to Achsijd, A.C. 935. And now being in great distress, the Calif of Bagdat, A.C. 936, surrendred all the rest of ^[276][his temporal power to Mahomet the son of Rajici, King of Wasit in Chaldea, & made him Emperor of Emperors. But Mahomet within two years lost Bagdat to the Turks; & thenceforward Bagdat was sometimes in the hands of the Turks, & sometimes in the hands of the Saracens, till Togrulbec (called also Togra, Dogrissa, Tangrolipix, & Sadoc) conquered Chorasan & Persia; & A.C. 1055, added Bagdat to his empire, making it the seat thereof. His successors, Olub-Arslan & Melechschah, conquered the regions upon Euphrates; & these conquests, after the death of Melecsah, brake into the kingdoms of Armenia, Mesopotamia, Syria, & Cappadocia. The whole time that the Califs of the Saracens reigned with a temporal dominion at Damascus & Bagdat together, was 300 years viz^t from the year 637 to the year 936 inclusively. Now Locusts live but five months; & therefore, for the decorum of the type, these Locusts are said to hurt men five months & five months, as if they had lived about five months at Damascus, & again about five months at Bagdat, in all ten months, or 300 prophetic days, which are years

The sixth Trumpet sounded to the wars, which Daniel's king of the north made against the king above-mentioned, who did according to his will. In these warrs the king of the north, according to Daniel, conquered the Empire of the Greeks, & also Iudea, Egypt, Lybia, & Ethiopia: & by these conquests the Empire of the Turks was set up, as you may know by the extent thereof. These wars commenced A.C. 1258, when the four kingdoms of the Turks seated upon Euphrates, that of Armenia major seated at Miyapharekin, Megarkin or Martyropolis, that of Mesopotamia seated at Mosul, that of all Syria seated at Aleppo, & that of Cappadocia seated at Iconium, were invaded by the Tartars under Hulacu, & driven into the western parts of Asia minor, where they made war upon the Greeks, & began to erect the present Empire of the Turks. Vpon the sounding of the sixth Trumpet, Iohn ^[277]heard a voice from the four horns of the golden Altar which is before God, saying to the Angel which had the Trumpet, Loose the four Angels which are bound at the great river Euphrates. And the four Angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour & a day, & a month & a year, for to slay the third part of men. By the four horns of the golden Altar, is signified the situation of the head cities of the said four kingdoms, Miafarekin, Mosul, Aleppo, & Iconium, which were in a quadrangle. They slew the third part of men, when they conquered the Greek Empire, & took Constantinople, A.C. 1453. And they began to be prepared for this purpose, when Olub-Arslan began to conquer the nations upon Euphrates, A.C. 1063. The interval is called an hour & a day, & a month & a year, or 391 prophetic days, which are years. In the first thirty years Olub Arslan & Melecsah conquered the nations upon Euphrates, & reigned over the whole. Melecsah died A.C. 1092, & was succeeded by a little child; & then this kingdom brake into the four kingdoms above mentioned.

<121r>

‖^[278] And none was found worthy to open the book till the Lamb of God appeared, the great high-priest represented by a lamb slain at the foot of the altar in the morning-sacrifice. And he came, & took the book out of the hand of him that sat upon the throne. For the High-Priest, in the feast of the seventh month in the seventh year, went into the most holy place, & took the book of the law out of the right side of the Ark to read it to the people. And in order to read it well, he studied it seven days, that is, upon the 4^th, 5^t, 6^t, 7^th, 8^th, 9^th & 10^th days, being attended by some of the priests to hear him perform. And these seven days are alluded to, by the Lamb's opening the seven seales successively.

Vpon the tenth day of the month, a young bullock was offered for a sin-offering for the High Priest, & a Goat for a sin-offering for the people: & lots were cast upon two Goats to determin which of them should be God's lot for the sin-offering; & the other Goat was called Azazel, the scape-goat. The High Priest in his linen garments, took a censer full of burning coales of fire from the altar, & his hands full of sweet incense beaten small; & went into the most holy place within the veil, & put the incense upon the fire, & sprinkled the blood of the bullock with his finger upon the mercy-seat & before the mercy-seat seven times: & then killed the Goat which fell to God's lot, for a sin-offering for the people, & brought his blood within the v{e}il, & sprinkled it also seven times upon the mercy-seat & before the mercy seat. Then he went out to the altar, & sprinkled it also seven times with the blood of the bullock, & as often with the blood of the goat. After this he laid both his hands upon the head of the live goat, & confessed over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, & all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the Goat; & by the hands of a fit man into the wilderness: & the Goat bore upon him all their iniquities into a land not inhabited. Levit ch. IV & ch. XVI. While the High-Priest was doing these things in the most holy place & at the Altar, the people continued at their devotion quietly & in silence. Then the High Priest went into the holy place, put off his linen garments, & put on other garments; then came out, & sent the bullock & the goat of the sin-offering to be burnt without the camp, with fire taken in a censer from the Altar. And as the people returned home from the Temple, they said to one another, God seale you to a good new year.

In allusion to all this, when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And an Angel stood at the Altar having a golden Censer, & there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints, upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints ascended up before God out of the Angel's hand. And the Angel took the Censer, & filled it with fire of the Altar, & cast it to the earth, suppose without the camp, for sacrificing the Goat which fell to God's lot. For the High-Priest being Christ himself, the bullock is omitted. At this sacrifice there were voices & thunderings, suppose of the musick of the Temple, & lightnings of the sacred fire, & an earthquake. And synchronal to these things was the sealing of the 144000 out of all the twelve tribes of the children of Israel with the seal of God in their foreheads, while the rest of the twelve tribes received the mark of the Beast, & the Woman fled from the temple into the wilderness to her place upon this Beast. For this sealing & marking is represented by casting lots upon the two goats, sacrificing God's lot on mount Sion, & sending the scape-goat into the wilderness loaden with the sins of the people.

Vpon the fifteenth day of the month, & the six following days, there were very great sacrifices. And in allusion to the sounding of trumpets, & singing with thundring voices, & pouring out drink-offerings at those sacrifices, seven <122r> Trumpets are sounded, & seven thunders utter their voices, & seven Vialls of wrath are poured out. And therefore the sounding of the seven trumpets, the voices of the seven thunders, & the pouring out of the seven vialls of wrath, are synchronal, & relate to one & the same division of the time of the seventh seale following the silence, into seven successive parts. The seven days of this feast ^[279][were called the feast of Tabernacles. And during these seven days the children of Israel dwelt in booths, & rejoyced with palm-branches in their hands. To this alludes the multitude with palms in their hands, which appeared after the sealing of the 144000, & came out of the great tribulation with triumph at the battel of the great day, to which the seventh trumpet sounds. The visions therefore of the 144000, & of the palm-bearing multitude, extend to the sounding of the seventh trumpet, & therefore are synchronal to the times of the seventh seale.

When the 14400 are sealed out of all the twelve tribes of Israel, & the rest receive the mark of the Beast, & thereby the first temple is destroyed; Iohn is bidden to measure the temple & altar, that is, their courts, & them that worship therein, that is, the 144000 standing on mount Sion & on the sea of glass: but the court that is without the temple, that is, the peoples court, to leave out & measure it not, because it is given to the gentiles, those who receive the mark of the Beast; & the holy city they shall tread under foot forty & two months, that is, all the time that the Beast acts under the woman Babylon, And the two witnesses prophesy 1260 days, that is, all the same time, clothed in sackcloth. These have power, like Elijah, to shut heaven that it rain not, at the sounding of the first trumpet; &, like Moses, to turn the waters into blood at the sounding of the second; & to smite the earth with all plagues, those of the Trumpets, as often as they will. These prophesied at the building of the second temple, like Haggai & Zechary. These are the two Olive-trees, or churches, which supplied the lamps, with oil, Zech. IV. These are the two candlesticks, or churches, standing before the God of the earth. Five of the seven churches of Asia, those in prosperity, are found fault with, & exhorted to repent, & threatned to be removed out of their places, or spewed out of Christ's mouth, or punished with the sword of Christ's mouth, except they repent: the other two the Churches of Smyrna & Philadelphia, which were under persecution, remain in a state of persecution, to illuminate the second temple. When the primitive Church catholick, represented by the woman in heaven, apostatized, & became divided into two corrupt churches, represented by the whore of Babylon & the two-horned Beast, the 144000 who were sealed out of all the twelve tribes, became the two witnesses, in opposition to those two false churches. And the name of two witnesses once imposed, remains to the true Church of God in all times & places to the end of the prophecy.

In the interpretation of this prophecy, the woman in heaven clothed with the sun, before she flies into the wilderness, represents the primitive church catholick, illuminated with the seven lamps in the seven golden candlesticks, which are the seven churches of Asia. And the Dragon signifies the same empire with Daniel's He-goat in the reign of his last horn, that is, the whole Roman empire, until it became divided into the Greek & Latin Empires; & all the time of that division it signifies the Greek empire alone: And the Beast is Daniel's fourth Beast, that is, the empire of the Latins. Before the division of the Roman Empire into the Greek & Latin Empires, the Beast is included in the body of the Dragon; & from the time of that division, the Beast is the Latin Empire alone. Hence the Dragon & Beast have the same heads & horns; but the heads are crowned upon the Dragon, & the horns upon the beast. The horns are ten kingdoms, into which the Beast becomes divided presently after his separation from the Dragon, as hath been described above. The heads are seven successive Dynasties, or parts, into which the Roman <123r> Empire becomes divided by the opening of the seven seales. Before the woman fled into the wilderness, she being with child of a christian Empire, cried travelling, (viz^t in the ten years persecution of Dioclesian) & pained to be delivered. And the Dragon, the heathen Roman Empire, brought forth a man child, who at length was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her child was caught up to God, & to his throne in the temple, by the victory of Constantine the great over Maxentius; & the woman fled from the temple into the wilderness of Arabia to Babylon, where she hath a place of riches & honour & dominion, upon the back of the Beast, prepared of God, that they should feed her there 1260 days. And there was war in heaven, (between the heathens under Maximinus & the new Christian empire); & the Dragon was cast out, that old serpent, which deceiveth the whole world, the spirit of the heathen idolatry; he was cast out of the throne to the earth. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, & by the word of their testimony. And they loved not their lives unto the death.

And when the Dragon saw that he was cast down, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man-child, stirring up a new persecution against her in the reign of Licinius. And to the woman, by the building of Constantinople & equalling it to Rome, were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place upon the back of her beast, where she is nourished a time times & half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent, (upon the death of Constantine the great,) cast out waters as a flood, (viz^t the western empires under Constantine junior & Constans) after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth (the nations of Asia now under Constantinople) helped the woman; & by conquering the western empire, now under Magnentius, swallowed up the flood which the Dragon cast out of his mouth. And the Dragon was wroth with the woman, & went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which kept the commandments of God, & had the testimony of Iesus, & which in that war were sealed out of all the twelve tribes of Israel, & remained upon mount Sion with the Lamb, being in number 144000, & having their fathers name written in their foreheads.

And when the earth had swallowed up the flood, & the Dragon was gone to make war with the remnant of the woman's seed, Iohn stood upon the sand of the sea, & saw the Beast with seven heads & ten horns rise out of the sea. And the Beast was like unto a Leopard, & his feet as the feet of a Bear, & his mouth as the mouth of a Lyon. Iohn here names Daniel's four Beast in order, putting his Beast in the room of Daniel's fourth Beast, to shew that they are the same. And the Dragon gave this Beast his throne, & power & great authority, by relinquishing the western empire to him. And one of his heads (the sixth) was as it were wounded to death, viz. By the sword of the earth, which swallowed up the waters cast out of the mouth of the Dragon; & his deadly wound was healed. It was healed by a new division of the empire between Valentinian & Valens, An. 364. Iohn saw the Beast rise out of the sea, at the division thereof between Gratian & Theodosius A. 379. And the Dragon gave the Beast his power, & his throne & great authority, at the death of Theodosius, when Theodosius gave the western empire to his son Honorius. After which the two empires were no more united: But the western Empire became presently divided into ten kingdomes, as above; & these kingdoms at length unitd in religion under the woman, & reign with her forty & two months.

And I beheld, saith Iohn, another beast coming out of the earth. When the woman fled from the Dragon into the kingdom of the Beast, & became his church, this other Beast rose up out of the earth, to represent the Church <124r> of the Dragon. For he had two horns like the Lamb, (such as were the Bishopricks of Alexandra & Antioch;) & he spake as the Dragon in matters of religion. And he causeth the earth, or nations of the Dragon's kingdom, to worship the first Beast, whose deadly wound was healed, that is, to be of his religion. And he doth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men; that is, he excommunicateth those who differ from him in point of religion. For in pronouncing their excommunications they used to swing down a lighted torch from above. And he said to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the Beast, which had the wound by a sword & did live, that is, that they should call a Council of men of the religion of this Beast. And he had power to give life to the image, that the image should both speak, & cause that as many as would not worship the Image of the Beast should be killed, viz^t mystically, by dissolving their churches. And he causeth all both small & great, rich & poor, bond & free, to receive a mark in their right hands or in their foreheads, that no man might buy or sell save he that had the mark or the name of Beast, or the number of his name, that is, the mark ✝, or the name ΛΑΤΕΙΝΟΣ, or the number thereof Χξ{5}, 666. All others were excommunicated.

When the seven Angels had poured out the seven Vials of wrath, & Iohn had discovered them all in the present time, he is called up from the time of the seventh Vial to the time of the sixt seal, to take a view of the woman & her Beast, who were to reign in the times of the seventh seale. And in respect of the latter part of time of the sixth seal, then considered as present, the Angel tells Iohn: The Beast that thou sawest, was & is not, & shall ascend out of the Abyss, & go into perdition; That is, He was in the reign of Constans & Magnentius, untill Constantius conquered Magnentius, & reunited the western empire to the eastern. He is not during the re-union, & he shall ascend out of the abyss or sea at a following division of the empire. The Angel tells him further: Here is the mind which hath wisdome: The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth; Rome being built upon seven hills, & thence called the seven-hilled city. Also they are seven ^[280][kings: five are fallen, & one is, & another is not come; & when he cometh, he must continue a short space: & the Beast that was & is not, even he is the eighth, & is of the seven, & goeth into perdition. Five are fallen, the times of the first five seales being past; & one is, the time of the sixth seal being considered as present; & another is not yet come, & when he cometh, which will be at the opening of the seventh seal, he must continue a short space: and the beast that was & is not, even his is the eighth, viz^t. by means of the division of the Roman Empire into two collateral Empires; & is of the seven, being one half of the seventh, & shall go into perdition. The words, Five are fallen & one is & another is not yet come, are usually referred by interpreters to the time of Iohn the Apostel, when the prophecy was given. But it is to be considered, that in this prophesy many things are spoken of as present, which were not present when the prophecy was given, but which were present with respect to some future time, considered as present in the visions, So where it's said upon pouring out the seventh Vial of wrath, that great Babylon received the cup of the wine of the fierceness of God's wrath; this relates not to the time of Iohn the Apostel, but to the time of pouring out the seventh vial of wrath. And so where it's said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; & thrust in thy sickle & reap, for the time is come for thee to reap; and the time of the dead is come, that they should be judged; and I saw the dead small & great stand before God: these sayings relate not to the days of Iohn the Apostel, but to the latter times considered as present in the visions. And so the words, five are fallen, & one is & another is not yet come, & the Beast that was & is not he is the eighth, are not to be referred to the age of Iohn the Apostle, but relate to the time when the Beast was wounded to death with a sword, & shew that this wound was given him in his sixth head. And without the reference we are not told in what head the Beast was wounded. And the ten horns which thou sawest, are ten kings which have received no kingdome as yet, but receive power as kings the same hour with the Beast. These have one <125r> mind, being of the whore's religion, & shall give their power & strength unto the Beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, at the sounding of the seventh trumpet; & the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords & King of Kings; & they that are with him are called & chosen & faithfull. And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest where the whore sitteth, are peoples & multitudes & nations & tongues, composing her Beast. And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the Beast, these shall hate the whore, & shall make her desolate & naked, & shall eat her flesh, & burn her with fire, at the end of the 1260 days. For God shall put in their hearts to fulfill his will, & to agree & give their kingdom to the Beast, untill the words of God shall be fulfilled. And the woman which thou sawest, is that great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth, or the great city of the Latines, which reigneth over the ten kings till the end of those days.