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SECTION XXXIII.

The Roman empire divided, or the origin of the two beasts of St. John, the antichristian idolatrous and persecuting Roman empire, and the church hierarchy and papacy engrafted upon it.-A further division into ten kingdoms in catholic obedience to the pope.-The union between them compared to iron mixed with miry clay.-The ill union of the popish errors with the gospel truth.The papal militia.

To return now to the great image in the second chapter of Daniel, which at the time of this digression I had brought down to the LEGS of IRON representing the ROMAN EMPIRE in its original strength; and descending still lower into the latter times, I had come down to the contemplation of its FEET

composed no longer of iron alone, but of a base compound of iron mingled with miry clay, and a partition into TEN TOES of the same materials. This is evidently designed to represent the same Roman empire in a continuation and in its latest period, but with considerable alterations, and such as were by no means to its advantage; and it is probable that from the great variety of important additional circumstances, gained from consulting the three other visions of the same prophet, with the assistance of St. John's explanation of them, (by which the great vacuity left here is filled up,) some idea may be formed of what is meant by the miry clay blended with the remains of the original iron. "And whereas thou sawest the FEET AND TOES, part of potter's clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the TOES of the FERT were part of iron, and part of clay; so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken," (or brittle).

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The division of the empire at this period (which the prophet here mentions,). " the kingdom shall be divided," may allude to the power of the ecclesiastical hierarchy which set up an authority (in spirituals at least) su preme above the highest powers on earth, and even in temporal matters became a very troublesome competitor for power with the emperors. This was imperium in imperio, and answers to the TWO BEASTS of St. John, of which the first was the persecuting antichristian imperial power in its changed form," rising out of the sea," or constituted by election of the people. The second which arose out of the earth" (the common figure for the city and patrimony of St. Peter, and the whole concatenation of popery,) is the ecclesiastical hierarchy which creates the pope, "the image of the beast.' This may be the first signification of the division. And both the parts had in them some remainder of the iron or Roman strength, as appears by their long duration in the same forms they took at the time of this division. A second signification of it may be the further division of the Roman em

pire into ten kingdoms at the same time, which is here concisely hinted by the mention of the ten toes of the feet, compounded of the same debased materials. Of these (from the other sources of prophecy) we have taken in an enlarged account; whereby we obtained a full prospective view of the LITTLE HORN, which arose soon after these ten kingdoms, and engrossed three of them to himself.

This motley power, diverse from all other potentates, either of his own or former times, soon struck so deep the roots of his authority amongst the other members of the whole paz pal empire and confederacy, that he was master of the joint power and influence of the rest for the most part, and was in possession of such powerful means of subduing the spiritual disobedience of his refractory crowned subjects, that, as the prophet Daniel says,"the king could do according to bis will.". "For God (says St John) had put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and give their power unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled."-This kind of agreement, however,

was cemented by imposture and superstition, which, like clay united with iron in the composition of a statue, made up a weak and contemptible continuation of what had been begun in solid iron; and was not (like that noble material) calculated for eternity, but contained in it (however disguised by the beauty of outward paint and varnish,) a principle of future disunion and fracture.

In describing the consequent effects of this mixture of materials so unequal, in the composition of the lower extremities of the image, there is observable, in this place, a sudden change from the singular number to the plural, which no doubt has a very particular meaning, as there is nothing of the kind in any of the other visions of Daniel.-" And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, THEY shall mingle themselves with the seed of men; but THEY shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.” -As a mass of such heterogeneous ingredients cannot form a compound body of firm

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