and oppreffion, have afcribed all the marks of "the Man of Sin," the "Son of Perdition," to the Pope, while the Papal expofitors with defign to throw off the odious imputation from their church, have followed the ancient fathers. I confefs, after the moft mature confideration of all the defcriptive marks of this monftrous Power, I cannot with-hold my confent to the last opinion; and I truft, before I conclude this differtation, I fhall fully juftify, not only the opinion of the ancient fathers, and the Roman Catholic commentators, but my own, however different it may be from thofe of the Protcftant commentators. Indeed, were it not too great a digreffion from the fubject before me, I could prove that no one mark, or figurative expreffion, made ufe of in defcribing the prototype of "the "Man of Sin," can, with any degree of propriety, and prophetic accuracy, be applied to the Pope.

I fhall, however, in a few words, fhow this miftake in its true light, which will render all further remark upon it unneceffary. Bishop Newton and others contend, that the apoftafy is the church of Rome, and the Man of Sin the Pope; i. e. that, the 'church of Rome, and the Man of Sin, are one and the fame power; but the apofile pofitively afferts, that the apoftafy and the "Man "of Sin" are two diftinct powers; the former to come first, and to "let, with-hold, or prevent the coming of the latter, until he fhall be taken out of "the way, that the latter may be revealed in his "time," and of course that the two Powers were not either to be the fame, or to be co-existent. How then can the Pope, the chief head and father of the church of Rome, and in truth the apoftafy itfelf, be "the Man of Sin ?" Aware of this ob jection, he endeavours to parry it, by drawing this abfurd conclufion from his argument.. "The " apoftafy,"

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"apoftafy," fays he, "produces him (the Pope), "and he (the Pope) promotes the apoftafy." But this conclufion only renders the error more evident; for if the apoftafy produced the Pope, who produced the apoftafy? Did the apoftafy beget the Pope, and the Pope the apoftafy? The plain, untortured truth, fupported by all the prophetic marks relating to the apoftafy in the Weft, and by the hiftorical events fulfilling them, is, that the bishop of Rome, upon receiving a commiffion as Pope, or univerfal bishop, from the eastern emperor in the beginning of the feventh century, immediately established a fyftem of idolatry; and thus became the author and father of the Western apoftaly.

As I have before mentioned, that "the "Man of Sin" is a different Power which was to fucceed the apoftafy or the Pope, I have thought it neceffary to make thefe general firictures upon the errors of former commentators, to remove them out of the way of the following differtation upon "the Man of Sin, the Son of Perdition." In defcribing this monftrous Power, the reader will find the language of the apoftle comprehenfive, and fublime. He begins, carries on, and finishes his grand and awful fubject in a few verfes. His figures are bold, confiftent, and perfect: his general trope includes, in one view, his whole subject; and when he defcends to a particular defcription, every type and figurative expreffion unfold fome extraordinary quality or action, diftinguishing the power foretold from all others. heretofore exifting upon the earth; harmonioufly uniting at the fame time to prove, that it fhall be effentially wicked and finful, and confummately deftructive of the order, peace, and happiness of mankind.

He

He begins the prophetic hiftory of this political hydra with two emphatic and defcriptive appellations, "That Man of Sin, the Son of Perdition." The word that is a pronoun demonftrative; a word of emphafis made ufe of, when we intend to defcribe a thing eminently diftinguifhable above all others of the fame kind. In this fente Chrift himself ufes it, when defcribing the fupreme excellence of the divine truths revealed through him to mankind; "I am," fays he, "that bread of "life," meaning that most excellent food for the fouls of men, which fills them with peace and happiness here and hereafter. So here the apoftle makes ufe of the fame emphatic pronoun," that "Man of Sin," to denote a Power which is defperately mischievous, and confummately wicked above all other Powers, and fhall deftroy the peace and happiness of man in this world, and expofe his foul to eternal mifery in a life to come.

The word Man is also a proper figure for the moft finful and deftructive of all powers, because, when fet upon it, he is of all creatures the most de❤ ceitful, and defperately wicked. And the word

fin," in its primitive fenfe, means rebellion, and the greatest impiety, peculiarly against God; fuch as the crime of our firft parents was after God had "created them in his own image, and after his "likeness;" given them dominion over the earth, and placed them in a flate of happinefs in afpiring to be equal with God, and, with ineffable ingratitude, to live in the world independent of his divine protection. This being a fair and unexaggerated explanation of the text, what muft we think of the frightful wickednefs of that Power which fhall completely fulfil the prophecy?

St. John, vi. 48.

But

But where fhall we find him? The wisdom of all the fages and lawgivers of antiquity, as well as of modern times, have feen the reasonableness and neceffity of forming their codes of civil polity upon religion and morality; and these have been derived from a belief in one fupreme God, the creator of all things, and in a future ftate of rewards and punishments. None of them were ever under fuch delufion and blindness, as to reject the demonftrations of nature, and the irresistible evidence arifing from the univerfal harmony, and fitnefs of things. In vain fhall we fearch, in the past ages of the world, for this monftrous and finful Power. But we cannot look for it among the prefent Powers of Europe, without feeing The republic of France, in all her conduct, not only acting up to it in its fullest extent, but excelling, and without fhame or remorse, glorying in this very character, and fhowing herself the only and exact prototype of the "Man of Sin." Whether we take the evidence of this truth from her own hiftorians, or her own manifeft deeds, we find her most confummately wicked: indeed to fo dreadful a degree, that, in the very nature of fin, fhe cannot be more fo. From thefe fignatures it will appear, that she has come into the world fraught with the blackeft rebellion against the GOD OF HEAVEN, the creator and governor of the univerfe. Refolved not only to dethrone, but, if poffible, to annihilate HIM, fhe had no fooner come, than the declared, by her public authority, that there was no God, and that Jefus Chrift, his bleffed Son, was an impoftor. She next deified the fallible reafon, and the natural liberty of man, unreftrained by any law, or rule of action, but his own uncontrouled and licentious will. She next efiablished and propagated a fyftem of irreligion, and the groffeft atheifm. Nor has there been any art too fubtle and delufive; any fraud too wicked; any fcheme, device, or mifchief too cruel, bloody,

and

and mercilefs, which fhe has hefitated to make use of to imprefs and enforce upon the minds of mankind, thofe horrible and infernal tenets: tenets fo wild and prepofterous, that they tend directly to fap the foundations of focial order, and to render the very existence of fociety impoffible: tenets which exclude and subvert all religion of every kind and denomination, not only the revealed but the natural law of God, and with it the light of reafon, the obligations of confcience, and every tie of nature and humanity. Yet, more horrible to relate, fhe has avowed thefe principles in her public acts, and, even exulting in them, has publicly declared, a defign to "frater"nize" and compel the world to embrace them.

Such is only a general view of the finfulness of the revolutionary republic. Confidering it in this light only, has the world heretofore witneffed any thing like it? What was the "fin" of Paganifm, Mohamedanism, or Popery, fo much reprobated by the prophets and apoftles, compared with the perfect impiety of this political hydra? Does it not leave the mind of man, in fhort, without one motive to the practice of virtue, or an object of fear to deter him. from vice, and even without a spark of light to direct his fteps in the dark abyfs of wild anarchy, uproar, and atheism? Is not this the real prototype of the "Man of Sin," accurately anfwering to the prophetic defcription? If not, where, and in what age, did he exift, and where is he to be found?

But as this fign of the "Man of Sin" related to his unexempled depravity only, the apoftle adds another, to fhow, that of all civil powers he should be the most mifchievous and deftructive, for he is alfo flyled, "The fon of perdition." Here again the mind of the apoftle, labouring to make his type as completely defcriptive of its prototype, as language would permit, ufes the article "the" as emphatically

as