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was at once to be both the seventh and the eighth head of the beast, That these two heads, or forms of government, are in fact but one, may be plainly collected from the words of St. John. When the seventh king "cometh, he must continue a short ઃઃ space and the beast that was, and is not, even "he is the eighth, and is of the seven." In other words, although the beast may in some sort be said to have eight heads, or eight forms of government, yet strictly speaking he has but seven for his eighth head is in reality the same as one of his seven heads. The question then is, with which of the seven heads must the eighth head be identified? This eighth head certainly cannot be the same as any one of the five first heads; for they were all fallen in the time of St. John. Neither can it be the same as the sixth head; for that was already existing in the days of the prophet, and was now and for many ages after existing at Constantinople. It only remains therefore, as I have already stated, for it to be the same as the seventh head; which, when it came, was to continue but a short space of time. To suppose otherwise indeed is introducing a sort of Hysteronproteron into the symbolical character of the Roman beast: for, if the eighth head be the same as any one of the six first, the beast, instead of being finally slain under his last head, will go into perdition under a head which is prior in point of origin to the seventh that continues only a short space. Hence it appears, that, since that, the seventh head and the eighth head are in reality

one

one and the same, we cannot attach any meaning to the short continuance of the seventh head; except this: that some power should be a head of the empire, for a short time only, in one capacity; and that afterwards it should still remain a head of the empire, even till the final destruction of its bestial principles, in another capacity: thus constituting at once both the seventh and eighth heads of the beast, or, if I may use the expression, his septimo-octave head.

At the time when the beast revived, his sixth head was seated in the East: consequently we must look for the rise of his last head in the West. Now we learn from the preceding historical statement, that, during the non-existence of the beast, and subsequent to his revival in the year 606, the following powers only have had any sway in Rome and Italy: the line of the Western emperors, after the division of the empire, commencing with Honorius and terminating with Augustulus; the three kingdoms of the Heruli, the Ostrogoths, and the Lombards; the Exarchate of Ravenna subject to the Eastern emperors; the Popedom; and the Carlovingian empire. No change has taken place in Italy subsequent to the rise of the last of these powers, either of a sufficient magnitude, or of a sufficiently peculiar nature*, to warrant our seeking

for

* Since this was written, Buonapartè has made himself master of all Italy: but we cannot reasonably suppose, that the last head of the beast has arisen in him; both because, however great

Q 2

for the last head of the beast posterior to the year 800, when Charlemagne was crowned Emperor of the Romans: nor do I think, that we have any just grounds to look for it prior to the revival of the beast under his sixth head; nevertheless, since many have fixed the rise of the short-lived seventh head previous to the year 606 when the deadly wound of the beast was healed, I felt myself bound to notice the powers which existed in Italy before that year. Among the powers then here enumerated we must look for the seventh and eighth heads of the beast.

i. Mr. Mede conceives the seventh head to be the line of Western emperors, and the eighth head to be the Papacy. By this plan he makes the beast, agreeably to the prophecy, to have apparently eight heads, and really only seven; the line f the Western emperors, which continued about 80 years, being in fact a branch of the sixth or imperial head. It appears therefore, that in order to reduce the eight heads to seven, he supposes the sixth and the seventh to constitute jointly one imperial head*.

However plausible such a scheme may be, it will by no means bear the test of examination,

even

great his conquests have been, they have not been greater than those of Charlemagne; and because, if we suppose the last head to have arisen in him, we shall make the beast headless during the whole period that has elapsed between the fall of the sixth head by the subversion of the Constantinopolitan empire, and the present era. May 1, 1806.

* Mede's Works, B. v. C. 12. p. 922.

even independent of the objections that I have already made to the Papacy being considered the last head of the secular beast. It is not enough merely to reduce the eight heads to seven according to an arbitrary system of our own invention: we must attend to the express words of the prophecy, otherwise we in fact do nothing. Now the prophecy declares, that the eighth head should be one of the preceding seven: but Mr. Mede, on the contrary, makes the supposed seventh head to be one of the preceding six; and the supposed eighth head, which the prophet had declared should be one of the preceding seven, he makes to be quite distinct from every one of those seven. According to the prophecy, we are first to pitch upon seven distinct heads, and then discover an eighth head which shall be the same as one of those seven: according to Mr. Mede, we are to amalgamate the sixth and the seventh heads, and then discover an eighth which shall not be the same as any of those seven. On these grounds, I think the plan of that eminent expositor untenable.

2. Mr. Sharpe supposes the seventh head to be the three Gothic kingdoms that succeeded the imperial sixth head in the supreme government of Rome, and the eighth head to be the Papacy*.

This scheme is objectionable in every point of view. Three successive kingdoms cannot reasonably be esteemed one head. And, even if this were no

* Appendix to three tracts, p. 28. -Inquiry into the Description of Babylon, p. 8, 9.

objection, others would immediately arise. The kingly head was the first of the heads of the beast: consequently Mr. Sharpe's scheme, admitting for a moment these three kingdoms to be a head, amalgamates the seventh head with the first, as that of Mr. Mede amalgamated the seventh head with the sixth. Such being the case, every objection, that has been made to Mr. Mede's scheme, applies with equal force to that of Mr. Sharpe. The eighth head, according to both these plans, instead of being one of the seven, is perfectly distinct from them all. So again: the three kingdoms, which Mr. Sharpe supposes to constitute the seventh head of the beast, are three of his ten original horns. If then they be three horns of the beast, it is surely impossible that they should likewise, and that in the self-same capacity, be one of his heads*.

*It is almost superfluous to observe, that, if the three horns jointly cannot be the seventh head of the beast, no one of them can separately. Forbes supposes, that the kingdom of the Ostrogoths is the seventh head (See Pol. Synop. in loc.); in which opinion Fleming agrees with him (Apoc. Key, p. 16.). But why should this kingdom be pitched upon in preference to that of the Heruli and that of the Lombards? The objection will equally apply to any scheme that should fix upon either of the other two kingdoms in preference to the two that must necessarily be excluded: and every other objection, that has been made to Mr. Sharpe's scheme, will moreover apply with equal force to all schemes similar to that of Forbes. I have already complained, that I have not been able to discover, what three Gothic kingdoms Mr. Sharpe alludes to, from the circumstance of his limiting their joint duration to no more than 70 years.

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