spirituals all the churches were subject to him, we can clearly see that at that particular era the saints were subjected to an imperious master, that they were given into the hand of the little horn now become a great empire. If then the saints were given into his hand at that particular time, (and I know not any other era excepting this that can be pitched upon for such an event,) the little horn must at that time have been already in existence; but, if we suppose that this symbol denotes the temporal kingdom of the Papacy, that was not as yet in existence, for the Pope had not then either thrown off his allegiance to the Greek Emperor, or acquired the Exarchate of Ravenna. The little horn however, according to the prophecy, was not merely to begin to exist when the saints were given into his hand, but was already to have been in existence an indefinite period of time. Such being the case, it certainly cannot symbolize the temporal kingdom of the Papacy: and, if it do not symbolize its temporal kingdom, I know not what it can symbolize except its spiritual kingdom.

We have seen, that the little horn was to arise previous to the commencement of the Apostasy of 1260 years when the Roman beast revived, and therefore that it was to arise during the time that the beast lay dead. Daniel accordingly teaches us, that it was to come up among the ten first horns into which the Empire should be divided by the incursions of the northern nations. Now the first of these kingdoms, that of the Huns,

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arose about

the

the year 356; and the last of them, that of the Lombards, about the year 483 in the north of Germany, and about the year 526 in Hungary. We must look therefore for the gradual rise of the little horn, by which I think we are obliged to understand the spiritual kingdom of the Pope, between the years 356 and 526. As for the temporal kingdom of the Pope, it did not come up among the first ten horns, as Bp. Newton himself allows, who is thence obliged to construct a catalogue of ten kingdoms, not suited to the primitive division of the Empire, but to the eighth century: the temporal kingdom of the Pope therefore cannot be intended by the little horn. But the spiritual kingdom of the Pope arose precisely at this period. In the primitive Church, the authority of the Bishops of Rome extended not beyond their own diocese: precedence only was allowed to them in general councils by reason of the imperial city being their see. This precedence of honour was gradually enlarged into a precedence of authority. Still however no direct right could be claimed, for the Church was not as yet supported by the secular arm. But, after the conversion of the Empire to Christianity, great privileges were conferred upon the more dignified sees, especially upon that of Rome. Sir Isaac Newton has given a very minute detail of the gradual rise of this spiritual power; and the first special edict, that he mentions as being made in its favour, bears date either the end of the year 378, or the beginning of the year

379. This édict gives the Church of Rome the right of deciding appeals in all doubtful cases that concerned the western bishoprics. Sir Isaac accordingly dates very properly the commencement of the Pope's spiritual jurisdiction from it. This power however constituted but a very small kingdom compared to that which was afterwards erected upon its foundations. The irruption of the northern tribes which at first seemed likely to involve every thing in ruin and confusion, and the previous transfer of the seat of government from Rome to Constantinople, jointly contributed to increase the authority of the Roman bishop. "While this ecelesiastical dominion was rising

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up," says Sir Isaac, "the northern barbarous "nations invaded the Western empire, and founded ❝several kingdoms therein of different religions "from the Church of Rome. But these kingdoms

by degrees embraced the Roman faith, and at "the same time submitted to the Pope's autho"rity. The Franks in Gaul submitted in the end "of the fifth century; the Goths in Spain, at the " end of the sixth; and the Lombards in Italy were conquered by Charles the great in the year "774. Between the years 775 and 794, the same "Charles extended the Pope's authority over all "Germany and Hungary as far as the river Theysse " and the Baltic sea. He then set him above all ❝ human judicature; and at the same time assisted "him in subduing the city and dutchy of Rome *,”

* Observ. on Dan. Chap. viii,

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The

The manner, in which the little horn almost insensibly arose, after the transfer of the seat of government, and during the dark period of Gothic invasion, is similarly described by Machiavel. Having shewn how the Roman empire was divided by the incursions of the northern nations, he observes, "About this time the Bishops of Rome "began to take upon them, and to exercise greater "authority than they had formerly done. At "first, the successors of St. Peter were venerable "and eminent for their miracles, and the holiness "of their lives; and their examples added daily "such numbers to the Christian church, that, to "obviate or remove the confusions which were "then in the world, many princes turned Christi

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ans and the Emperor of Rome being con"verted among the rest, and quitting Rome to hold "his residence at Constantinople, the Roman "empire began to decline, but the church of Rome "augmented as fast *." After this he shews how the Roman empire declined, and how the power of the Church of Rome increased, first under the Ostrogoths, then under the Lombards, and lastly under the Franks. I have borrowed the preceding very apposite citation from Ep. Newton, who somewhat singularly, according to his scheme, adduces it to shew the springing up of the little horn among the ten other horns; and y, after having adduced it, declares no less singularly, so far as the propriety

Hist. of Florence, B. 1. P. 6. cited by Bp. Newton.

of

of the citation is concerned, that the Bishop of Rome did not become a horn till he became a tem

poral prince. Now, if the Bishop of Rome did not become a horn till he became a temporal prince, the citation, which speaks of the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh, centuries, certainly cannot shew the rise of a horn, which, according to his Lordship's scheme, did not begin to exist till the middle of the eighth century: but, if we con sider the little horn as typifying the spiritual kingdom of the Papacy, nothing can be more to the point than the citation from Machiavel; for it decidedly shews, that such a kingdom arose from very small beginnings among the ten horns precisely at the time when Daniel had predicted that it should arise. I shall conclude this account of the rise of the papal horn with Mr. Gibbon's description of of its state at the close of the sixth and at the beginning of the seventh century, immediately before the ecclesiastical kingdom became an ecclesiastical catholic empire. "The pontificate of Gregory the great lasted thirteen years, six months, and ten days-In his rival, the patriarch of Constantinople, he condemned the Antichristian title of "Universal Bishop, which the successor of St. "Peter was too haughty to concede, and too feeble "to assume; and the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Gregory was confined to the triple character of Bishop of Rome, Primate of Italy, and Apostle of the West.-The bishops of Italy and the adjacent islands acknowledged the Roman pontiff

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