self master of Italy. The pope, in this exigency, applied for help to Pepin king of France, who marched into Italy, besieged the Lombards in Pavia, and forced them to surrender the exarchate and other territories, which were not restored to the Greek emperor as in justice they ought to have been, but, at the solicitation of the pope, were given to St. Peter and his successors for a perpetual succession. Pope Zachary had acknowledged Pepin usurper of the crown of France, as lawful sovereign; and now Pepin in his turn bestowed a principality, which was another's property, upon Pope Stephen II. the successor of Zachary. "And so, as Platina says, the name of the exarchate, "which had continued from the time of Narses to the "taking of Ravenna by Aistulphus, an hundred and "seventy years, was extinguished." This (according to Sigonius) was effected in the year 755; and henceforward the popes, having become temporal princes, did no longer date their epistles and bulls by the years of the emperor's reign, but by the years of their own advancement to the papal chair.

Secondly, the kingdom of the Lombards was often troublesome to the pope. King Disiderius invaded the territories of pope Adrian I. upon which the latter was obliged to have recourse to the king of France, and earnestly invited Charles the Great, the son and successor of Pepin, to come into Italy to his assistance. He accordingly went with a great army (being ambitious also himself of enlarging his dominions in Italy) and conquered the Lombards, put an end to their kingdom, and gave great part of their dominions to the pope. He not only confirmed the former donations of his father Pepin, but also made an addition of other countries to them, as Corsica, Sardinia, the Sabin territories, the whole tract between Lucca and Parma, and that part of Tuscany which belonged to the Lombards; and the tables of these donations he not only signed himself, but caused them to be signed by the bishops, abbots, and other great men then present, and laid them so signed upon the altar of St. Peter. And this was the end of the kingdom of the Lombards, in the 206th year after their possessing Italy, and in the year of Christ 774.

Thirdly, the state of Rome, though subject to the popes in things spiritual, was yet, in things temporal, governed by the senate and people, who, after their defection from the eastern emperors, still retained many of their old privileges, and elected both the western emperor and the popes. After Charles the Great had overthrown the kingdom of the Lombards, he went again to Rome, and was there by the pope, bishops, abbots, and people of Rome, chosen Roman patrician, which is the degree of honor and power next to emperor. He then settled the affairs of Italy, and permitted the pope to hold under him the duchy of Rome with other territories; but after a few years, the Romans, desirous to recover their liberty, conspired against pope Leo III. accused him of many great crimes, and imprisoned him. His accusers were heard on a day appointed before Charles and a council of French and Italian bishops; but the pope, without pleading his own cause or making any defence, was acquitted, his accusers were slain or banished, and he himself was declared superior to all human judicature. And thus the foundation was laid for the absolute authority of the pope over the Romans, which was completed by degrees; and Charles in return was chosen emperor of the west. However, after the death of Charles the Great, the Romans again conspired against the pope; but Lewis the Pious, the son and successor of Charles, acquitted him again. Some time after this pope Leo was taken dangerously ill, which as soon as the Romans, his enemies knew, they rose again, plundered and burnt his villas, and thence marched to Rome to recover what things they complained had been taken from them by force; but they were repressed by some of the emperor's troops. The same emperor Lewis the Pious, at the request of pope Paschal, confirmed the donations which his father and grandfather had made to the see of Rome. Sigonius has recited the confirmation; and therein are mentioned Rome and its duchy containing part of Tuscany and Campania, Ravenna with the exarchate and Pentapolis, and the other part of Tuscany and the countries taken from the Lombards; and all these are granted to the pope and his suc

cessors, that they should hold them in their own right, principality and dominions to the end of the world.

These were the three horns, three of the first horns, which fell before the little horn; and the pope hath, in a manner, pointed himself out for the person by wearing the triple crown. In other respects too the pope fully answers the character of the little horn; so that if exquisite fitness of application may assure us of the true sense of the prophecy, we can no longer doubt concerning the person. He is a little horn; and the power of the popes was originally very small, and their temporal dominions were little and inconsiderable in comparison with others of the ten horns.

He shall be diverse from the first: that is, his kingdom shall be of a different nature and constitution; and the power of the pope differs greatly from that of all other princes, he having not only an ecclesiastical, but likewise a civil and temporal authority.

And behold in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man. This denotes his cunning and foresight, his looking out and watching all opportunities to promote his own interests; and the policy of the Roman hierarchy hath almost passed into a proverb.

He had a mouth speaking very great things. And who hath been more noisy and blustering than the pope, especially in former ages, boasting of his supremacy, thundering out his bulls and anathemas, excommunicating princes, and absolving subjects from their allegiance?

His look was more stout than his fellows. And the pope assumes a superiority not only over his fellow bishops, but even over crowned heads, and requires greater honors to be paid to him than are expected even by kings and emperors themselves.

And he shall speak great words against the Most High ; or, he shall speak great words as the Most High. And has he not set himself up above all laws divine and human, arrogating to himself godlike attributes and titles of holiness and infallibility, exacting obedience to his ordinances and decrees in preference to, and in open violation of, both reason and scripture?

And he shall wear out the saints of the Most High. This he has done by wars, massacres and inquisitions, persecuting and destroying the faithful servants of Christ, and the true worshippers of God, who have protested against his innovations, and refused to comply with the idolatry practised in the church of Rome.

And he shall think to change times and laws. This he has done by appointing fasts and feasts, canonizing saints, granting pardons and indulgencies for sins, instituting new modes of worship, imposing new articles of faith, enjoining new rules of practice, and, in short, reversing at pleasure the laws both of God and men.

Such is the power of the pope even at the present period, and such is the little horn that was to arise out of the ten horns, or kingdoms, into which the Roman empire was divided.

But the four kingdoms represented in Daniel's vision were to be followed by a fifth, namely, the kingdom of the Messiah, I beheld, saith Daniel, till the thrones were cast down, and the ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool; his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him; thousand thousands ministered unto him; and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the judgment was set, and the books were opened, Dan, vii. 9. 10. These metaphors and figures are taken from the solemnities of earthly judicatories, and particularly of the great Sanhedrim of the Jews, where the father of the consistory sat, with his assessors seated on each side of him in the form of a semicircle, and the people standing before him; and from this was taken the description of the day of judgment as given in the New Testament.

I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spoke; I beheld, even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame, ver. 11. The beast will be destroyed because of the great words which the horn spoke, and the destruction of the beast will also be the destruction of the horn; and consequently the horn is a part of the fourth beast, or

of the Roman empire. As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. When the dominion was taken away from the other beasts, their bodies were not destroyed, they were suffered to continue still in being; but when the dominion shall be taken away from the fourth beast, his body shall be totally destroyed; the other kingdoms succeeded each other, but none other earthly kingdom shall succeed to this.

I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. Here was evidently displayed the coming of the Messiah. From hence the son of man came to be a known term for the Messiah among the Jews. From hence it was taken and used so frequently in the gospel; and our Saviour intimates himself to be this very son of man: Hereafter (says he) shall ye see the son of man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven, Matth. xxvi. 64, 65. And for saying this he was charged by the high-priest with having spoken blasphemy.

And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, Dan. vii. 14. All these kingdoms shall, in time, be destroyed, but the kingdom of the Messiah shall stand for ever; and it was in allusion to this part of the prophecy that the angel said of Christ, before he was born, He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end, Luke i. 33.

In what manner these great changes will be effected, we cannot pretend to say, as God hath not been pleased to reveal it unto us. We see, however, the remains of the ten horns which arose out of the Roman empire. We see the little horn still subsisting, but, it is to be hoped, on the decline, and tending towards a dissolution. And having seen so many of these particulars accomplished,