then Romans did, being only a nominal chriftian, but in reality of the Jynagogue of fatan, or addicted to heathen idolatry, fuperftition and ty ranny. 18. "Let him that hath understanding count the number "of the beaft: for it is the number of a man, and his number is fix "hundred, threefcore and fix.” "His number is 666."--The number of a man, that is, the number 666 is made up of numeral letters that exprefs the very name that men call his empire by. Now the Greek letters in the word Lateinos, and the Hebrew letters in the word Romiib, make up 666 exactly. This fhews that it is the Latin or Roman church. Rev. xvii. 6. "And I faw the woman (i. e. the great whore, or idolatrous church) drunk with the blood of the faints." What numbers has the put to death for confcience-fake! 66 9. "The feven heads are feven mountains, on which the woman fitteth." 10. "And there are feven kings." And they are feven kings, (as it ought to be tranflated.) 12. "And the ten horns which thou faweft are ten kings." The Roman empire is here plainly pointed out, and the ten kingdoms before-mentioned. 13. "These have one mind, and shall give their "and ftrength unto the beaft." power These ten kings, or kingdoms, are of the whore's religion, and fhall use their power to fet up the pope's kingdom. 15. "The waters which thou faweft, where the whore "fitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues." The church of Rome is of great extent, as the papifts themselves boaft to their own fhame; but truth does not depend on the vote of a multitude, especially a multitude of flaves. 18. And the woman which thou faweft, is that great "city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth." This city must be Rome, for no other rul'd over the kings of the earth in St John's time; not, to mention its feven mountains, or hills, feven kings, &. It is certainly a melancholy reflection to confider that a set of men, whofe bufinefs ought to be to promote true religion and virtue by their lives and doctrine, fhould use the word of God deceitfully, and make merchandize of men's fouls; that they fiould be fo barbarous as to deftroy innocent men only for obeying their confciences, and this even when they profefs to believe that they are fending them to hell. But it is a very great comfort to the true worshippers of the one fupreme God, that the fame prophecies which defcribe the whore of Babylon and antichrift, give likewife an account of their fall; that truth and virtue, tho' long opprefs'd, shall at last triumph and flourish for ever. In the mean time proteftants would do well to confider, that, "If any man worship the beaft, and his "image, --the fame fhall drink of the wine of the wrath of God." The Apoftles themselves disclaim'd all lordship over men's faith, and therefore it must needs be blafphemy in those who are much inferior to the apoftles, to ufurp fuch a power. It is abfurd in them to endea vour vour to prove a falfe doctrine by falfe miracles, or to claim infallibility, when the holy fcriptures are fufficient to make every fincere christian perfect in every good work. And it is a moft wicked thing to expofe Heaven to fale, to difpenfe with duties of eternal and immutable obligation, and to corrupt that religion which is reasonable to be believed, and easy to be practis'd, which improves and exalts human nature, and to teach instead thereof, a religion, (falfely so call'd) that is contrary to the joint teftimony of fenfe and reason, contrary to the nature and fitness of things, and to the perfection and happiness of a moral and reasonable agent. I fhall now produce a few paffages out of Daniel's prophecy, and make fome remarks thereon. 66 Dan. vii. 8. “I confidered the horns, and behold, there came 66 up among them another little horn, before whom there were three "of the first horns pluckt up by the roots: and behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things." The pope's kingdom was at first but a little one, it came up among the ten European kingdoms, into which the Roman empire was divided, it conquer'd or pluckt up by the roots three of them, it has eyes like the eyes of a man, that is, it is a feer or bishop; and it claims the univerfal bifhoprick. 20. "Whofe look was more flout than his fellows." 21. "The fame horn [i. e. the pope's kingdim] made war with the faints, and prevailed against them. "earth." 23. "The fourth beaft fhall be the fourth kingdom upon The Roman empire is here plainly defcrib'd. 24. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings "that fhall arife and another fhall rife after them, and he shall be "divers from the first, and he fhall fubdue three kings." The pope's kingdom is unlike the foregoing ones, being a religious tyranny, and a power over all temporal powers; it rofe after and out of the ten kingdoms into which the Roman empire was divided when taken by the Goths. Peter's patrimony was acquired by fubduing three of them, viz. Ravenna, Lombardy and Rome. 46 25." And he fhall fpeak great words against the most high, and fhall wear out the faints of the most high, and think to change times and laws: and they fhall be given into his hand, "until a time and times, and the dividing of time." The church of Rome claims infallibility, and a power of forgiving fins, perfecutes all that refufe to embrace her corruptions, and gives out that her dictates are binding to the whole world. And this power, wickedly and blafphemously ufurp'd, muft continue until a time, or one year, times, or two years, and the dividing of time, which is the fame as half a time, or half a year. Now each of these years contains 360 days, whereof each day is taken for a year in the prophetic computation; and fo the whole number of years will amount to 1262, which is equal to 42 months of 30 days each, as the fame thing is exprefs'd in the Revelation; 42 X 301260 as before. I fhall not prefume to form any conjectures where to begin this term of years, years, for my defign is only to make very short remarks on a few easy paffages, for the use of common readers. 26. "But the judgment fhall fit, and they fhall take away "his dominion, to confume, and deftroy it unto the end." This must be a very great comfort to all fincere christians, especially if they confider what follows. "And the kingdom and dominion, and greatnefs of "the kingdom under the whole heaven fhall be given unto the faints "of the Moft High, whofe kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and "all dominions shall serve and obey him." Dan. xi. 36. " And the king fhall do according to his will, and "he fhall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every God, and "shall speak marvellous things against the God of Gods." The church of Rome acts in the most arbitrary and tyrannical manner, fets up her own will for the only law, and her power abové all magistracy. 37. "Neither fhall he regard the God of his fathers, nor "the defire of women, nor regard any God: for he shall magnify "himself above all." The church of Rome enjoins her clergy, and several others of her communion to abstain from marriage, and therefore regards not the lawful defire of women in matrimony. 38. "But in his eftate fhall he honour the God of forces.” The church of Rome honours Mabuzzims, which is the original word in this verfe, and fignifies ftrong guardians, dæmons, or fouls of the dead. N. B. It is certain that the word damon was us'd for the fouls of the dead, and it seems probable that the word Mabuzzim answers it exactly. But both words may poffibly be taken with greater latitude, and fignify created fpirits in general, and fo include angels as well as human fouls. I Do not defire you to publish the following lines as being from one of your conftant readers, and fometimes of your unknown correfpondents; I prefume more publick views will induce you to make known to the world what they contain, viz. a plot, not against the royal family, but, what is worse, a jefuitical contrivance of deftroying Proteftancy root and branch. This must be the deepeft laid scheme ever hatch'd by a jefuit, the non plus ultra of their politics. If there is no parliamentary reward affign'd, a literary one is most due to the fubtle discoverer: as you are the most public literatus I know, it is to be hoped you will do him juftice; which if you are not pleased to do, I fear plot and discoverer will be bury'd in utter oblivion. Had not I been obliged t'other day to wait for a friend, and not knowing how to kill the tedium of waiting better than by turning over pam phlets lets of a sta ioner's ftall, I muft have liv'd and dy'd in ignorance both of one and the other; but I luckily took up a charge, printed at the request of a fynodical juncto of all that is learned and reverend in the church. The title of the charge is, Popery the bane of true letters. I had read or heard of late all that one would think could be faid or invented against that old mother church. The newness of the fubject engag'd my curiofity, and this the more, as I knew none that had contributed more to true and polite learning than perfons of the Romish perfuafion, fuch as are the French and Italians; and at home few or none have equal'd their Drydens, nor, if the punn may be allow'd me, their very Popes. Since the charge contains fuch new and weighty matters, a fummary account thereof will not, perhaps, be unacceptable to your readers. It was given at a visitation the 12th of May, 1746, by the reverend Mr Chapman, archdeacon of Sudbury, and published at the request of the clergy. He begins his charge thus: "At this juncture, when Rome has been kindling a rebellion in thefe kingdoms, and is ftill vifibly exerting all her power and influence against our church and ftate, I take occafion to represent to you another plot, which is working fecretly incredible mifchief against our whole religion." Here the archdeacon proceeds to discover some enterprifing Romanifts, who judg'd all the former devices of their party, how annoying foever, not big enough with peft. These devices, according to the reverend doctor, were the fpreading, under various difguifes, faction, infidelity, herefy, fpurious legends, and fraudulent miracles. The jefuits therefore, a fubtle but lefs fcrupulous fett, feeing every former method ineffectual, refolved to try a bold expedient, and frike at the very bafis of all proteftant churches, by turning their "favourite arms of learning and criticifms against them, and ftabbing their caufe to the heart with the admired fpirit of free thinking." Accordingly, inftead of appearing devotees to fpurious trash, like their brethren of old, " they turn moft fqueamish cenfors of antiquity." They fee forgeries in almoft every antient writer, or monument. This ftroke, however daring, was but the introduction to the treatment of the fathers, too eloquent for a jefuit's palate," and therefore they are to be profcrib'd. If the general and provincial councils have been hitherto fpar'd by fuch criticks,, it is only per interim to conceal and carry on the better their fcheme, as the reverend discoverer perceives. Nay, he fees it clearly in the freedom they took in the year 1741 with both teftaments, by giving the vulgat a pre-eminence above all other editions, whether Greek, Hebrew, or Chaldaick. If the antients, whom the jefuits defign exterminating in favour of their plan, fhould ever come to be difregarded by the proteftants, the archdeacon then ventures to prophefy, that a new edition of Vulgat Latin would be fent abroad more favourable to popish tenets; fo that the only point of controverfy between proteftant and papist would be, who had the true fcripture; of which the ignorant not being judges, they would not think for fuch a dispute to withstand fire and fword; and confequently proteftantifm would be fhaken in its very foundations. 06 This, by all the learned Dr can trace, is the real drift, and would prove the iffue of the new plot, were it brought to maturity. It was begun, and is carry'd on by much art and fuccefs." The renown'd Harduin led the way in this projection," according to our reverend difcoverer, who owns that he had every great talent for the purpose, and a character established fully among the learned for parts and erudition. This crafty jefuit obferving the giddy fpirit of fcepticitm arifing among the Proteftants, he took this to favour his attack, and antique coins for the engines of his work. By thefe he try'd to blaft chronology, to the utter confufion of all hiftory: as a proof of this the archdeacon fingles out an inftance, viz. a ftrong intimation of Harduin's, that Conflantine was not a chriftian, when he fate at the head of the council of Nice, as our learned Dr will have it. Another inftance he gives, viz. Harduin's extending the reign of Alexander the great from the old number twelve to twenty four years, for no other tolerable reafon than to fupport the apocryphal firit book of the Maccabees. This havock in history did the jefuit attempt chiefly to do fervice to the papacy and catholick religion, as our discoverer pretends to fhew by a couple of quotations. However, the reverend archdeacon owns, that thefe opinions of the jefuit were oppos'd, as far as they durft venture, by the learned of feveral orders even in Italy and France, "not excepting the more ingenuous of the jefuits themselves." But the influence of court jefuits in popish countries, even at Paris, is so overbearing, and their learning fo much an over-match for that of other orders, that no fufficient oppofition will be given there to fuch attempts, especially fince fome injudicious attacks have only prov'd triumphs to the adverfaries: fo that it must be the protestant literati who must fuccour antiquity; which will be the more neceffary as fcepticks encrease upon us, and join with what can forward their incredulity; and as folid learning may decrease in time thro' a fpirit of herefy and pleasure, fomented induftriously among us by enemies in difguife. Such we know, continues the archdeacon, has already been the fate of fome countries, where letters are now funk to a moft languishing condition, tho' once within a century they were fhining in their full luftre; and here he infinuates this to be the cafe of Spain, and other popish countries, from the arts of the jefuits, and even of fome proteftant cantons; and fhould this come to be our cafe, while the jefuits are advancing their frauds thro' our moral philofophers, then antidotes to this poifon would be abfolutely neceffary. Here he concludes by trufting they never will be wanting in our excellent church, that has all helps, means, and zeal to promote true learning. Here's the fum total of the new jefuitical plot, and of the proofs our reverend discoverer alledges for the fame in his charge, and that mostly in his own words. Now, Mr Urban, as the publick has learn'd, especially of late, not to take every thing for truth that comes from the lips or pens of our reverend doctors, I hope you will indulge me fome fmall difficulties that obviously occur against the belief of the abovementioned plot ; which, if the discoverer will be pleas'd to fatisfy, I dare venture to fay that the gunpowder plot does not more honour to the difcoverer, than this |