REMARKS ON Dr. Henry More's EXPOSITIONS OF THE Apocalypse and Daniel, AND Upon his Apology: DEFENDED Against his ANSWER To them.  
LONDON, Printed by T. M. for the Author, 1690.   

AN Advertisement.  
THE ensuing Discourse Published so long after the Dr's Death, was finished before it, saving what Corrections and Additions the reviewing it hath produced. The Reasons( or some of them at least) of my so delaying the Publishing it, are not difficult to Conjecture, If my so doing needed an Excuse. But it comes forth soon enough for the Welcome it's like to meet with. The Subject of it is no small Prejudice against it, and the more Truth it speaks thereon, the less Welcome it's like to meet with from the World. The Prophecies of the Old and New Testament, concerning Christ's Kingdom on Earth, do so fully set forth the wicked and miserable State of the World, under the Powers of Darkness, and the suitable Fate that does attend those Powers, by the coming of his Kingdom, as must needs be very ungrateful to Men of the World, whose Love of it hath linked them to the Interest of those Powers. Yet to them whose Love of GOD does make them worthy, To escape the Evils that come upon the World, and to stand before the Son of Man; those Prophecies are of so great Concern, that the Revelations( the Chief of them) doth begin and end with a Blessing to them that keep the Sayings of that Book, Rev. 1.3.22.7. And the great Concern thereof, is further signified, Rev. 5. by John's weeping much, that no Man in Heaven or Earth was found worthy to open that Book, till he was comforted, with being  told, That the lion of the Tribe of Judah had prevailed to open it. On his doing whereof, the Four Beasts, and Twenty-Four Elders( representing the Church) fall down before him with a Song of Praise and Thanksgiving, &c. But how much of greater Concern that Book is, so much the less do Men seem concerned at; balking it, either as too difficult to be understood, or containing Matters of too high Import for them, to concern themselves in, or rather such as they cannot like of. So that, the greater Light it gives to the Affairs of Christ's Kingdom, it's the less regarded by those who love Darkness rather than Light, because their Deeds are evil.  
We Lament the great Troubles raised by Controversies in Religion, yet are not minded to use the help which that Book does yield for the deciding the same. They mainly spring from Innovations of human Inventions to Corrupt the Truth, which have been introduced by Anti-Christian Powers, that have born the Name of the Church, whilst the Church of Christ hath been in the Wilderness: And therefore such Innovations, with the Contests springing from them, must soon fall, when they are found to have no Support, but from that usurped Authority which gave Rise to them. So that the Account which that Book gives of the State of the True Church of Christ, and of the Ruling Powers of Christendom, for upwards of twelve hundred Years, is sufficient to silence almost all Controversies in Religion which have so much Disturbed the Christian World. For first, whilst the Woman is in the Wilderness, fled from the Face of the Dragon that was wrath with her, and made War with her Seed, Rev. 12. there's no ground for asserting any Visible Church, the true Church of Christ being in that secret hide Condition; and consequently, the Question, which is the true Church, among those Bodies-Politick of the World, which bear the Name of Churches, will need no answering. Also the Contests about Church-Government, and the Ordination of the Governors thereof, during the same time, will come to nothing. As will also all their Innovations in Doctrine and Worship, together with whatsoever of the same leaven did before corrupt the Church, by the more early working of the Mystery of Iniquity. And nothing, according to that Book, can bear the Face of the Church of Christ, till she that was driven into the Wilderness be come out of her Mournful Solitude, till she put off her Sackcloth, and become clothed with her Beautiful Garments, till she arise and shine by reason of her Light being come, and the Glory of God risen upon her; that is, till she descend from Heaven prepared as a Bride adorned for her Husband, that Holy City built only upon the Apostelical Foundation of Truth, and thereby having the Glory of God and the Lamb to be Light thereof, Rev. 19. Thus must Christianity, or the Church of Christ, prevail in the World by the prevailing of his Kingdom therein, and the main Contests in Religion proceed from the Opposition of Worldly Powers to the coming of his Kingdom. And there is no so effectual means for the abating those Contests, and facilitating the advancing of his Kingdom in the World, as the right understanding of the said Book; which gives so full account of the so long Apostate-State of Christendom, and of the great Sufferings of the Church during the same, and of her Deliverance by Christ's vanquishing the Worldly Powers by which she suffered, putting all Enemies under his Feet. For the giving us so true a prospect of things past and to come, does help us to understand also the present Transactions of the World relating to so great a Change, both as to the Works of Providence carrying on the same, and the subtle workings of the Deceiver to obstruct the same; and so prepare us for complying with the one, and avoiding being ensnared by the other; and also being entangled in the perverse Disputings of Men of corrupt Minds, and destitute of the Truth, that should Enlighten them in the Knowledge of the Mysteries revealed in that Book.  
And as it's being Mysterious, and concerning Matters of High Import, hath made it so balked by many; so it hath made others so very cautious in their inquiring into, and Expounding such Important Mysteries, as to bias them with too Prudential Considerations. And this is some occasion of the present Controversy I am Engaged in. The Dr. was more tender of offending, and more officiously addicted to an Interest, than would stand with the freedom of a true Expositor, whereby he fell into great errors, and stiffly adhered to the same. But I had not by reason thereof been Engaged in this Controversy with him, had I not by himself been drawn into it. For he understanding that I did much dissent from his Exposition of the Revelations and Daniel, did urge me to put in Writing what I could say against them; and my Compliance with his Desire, did produce those Remarks which he hath Published with his Answer to them; and thereby Engaged me in this Defence. They were Written only for his Private Satisfaction, without any Expectation of their being made public, and without Suspicion of his doing it without my Consent. But though he did so, as mentioned in the Preface, yet I hope it was not without a Providence designing some Service to the Truth by the Publishing them.  
His manner of Answering them is as strange as that of his Publishing them: Which hath caused my Defence to be such as may seem harsh, and be offensive to many; though it will not so, I hope, to any Impartial Judge. But the Dr's. eminent Esteem for Piety and Learning will give him much Advantage of prejudicate judgement in his behalf; which is not easily to be removed in Controversies of Things so Mysterious, that not many will concern themselves to inquire into them, and of those who do, few are found meet Judges of them. Besides, The Dr. hath Engaged the the Favour of a great Party in his behalf, whose Interest he hath Espoused in the Controversies between us, whereas I having been concerned only in the behalf of the Truth, cannot expect much Favour from the World, which hath so little Friendship for it. But the prevalent Power of Truth can overcome all Difficulties, and on its Support and Defence I only rely. The ensuing Discourse hath been Communicated to some Special Friends of the Dr. to try what Exceptions they could make against it, that thereon I might further consider on it. But all the Censures of it from them, was only an expressing a dislike of my Usage of the Dr. whereon, though not Conscious of being faulty therein; yet, to give content as far as I could, I have endeavoured, by many Corrections of it, to make it smooth and inoffensive, though I am sensible that satisfaction is hardly to be given herein, without so maiming it, as to be very injurious to the Cause I am Engaged in, and also defective in my own Defence, who have met with such strange Usage from the Dr. notwithstanding my being drawn into this Controversy by him. As the Subject of the Discourse will render it little grateful so its being not to be well understood without the Remarks and Answer, will give some further check to the Reader. Also the Dr's so earnest contending to make good his unsound Notions, does make him oft run into such weak Arguing, as that the tracing him therein may seem tedious; though I could not avoid it, without making a deficient Defence. But Industrious Searchers into the Matters of Controversy between us, suitably to the great Import of them, will not, I hope, find it time mis-spent, so thoroughly to red this Defence with the Remarks and Answer, as to understand the same.   

THE PREFACE.  
It's requisite, That the Reader should know, that my Remarks were Published by the Dr. without my Consent, and so without those Corrections of them, and Additions to them, which a Review of them did produce. Which Doings of him cannot seem strange to any, who duly Consider what Usage I meet with from him, in his Answer to my Remarks. He begins his Preface with representing me to be highly Confident, and Magisterial in my way, as some infallible Judge or decisive Oracle; whenas the Generality of my Remarks, are but a conjectural Proposing my Sense; and seldom do I positively affirm any thing, unless I sometimes am moved to it in gainsaying him, who does with such strange Confidence assert groundless Conceits for certain Truths. For no less than Demonstration, invincible Proof, most clear, most certain, &c. are his usual Characters of his Arguments in Defence of his Expositions; and those who are not Convinced by them, he imputes it to their being wilfully blind, or winking hard, or to some strange invincible Prejudice, or deep melancholy, or Stupidity, or Callosity, and Benumedness of Sense, &c. And the Opinions he opposeth, he is pleased to brand with the Characters of fond Fancies, Whimsies, Dreams, Childish and Idiotical Conceits, &c. and this oft, when his Expositions and Answers in Defence of them, are as infirm as he represents my Remarks to be, and they prove as sound as he would make his Expositions to be. Therefore, whereas he surmiseth me to be a high Prizer of my Remarks, I may, I hope, well prise them for the Truths they discover, though not much for their Discovery of them, the same seeming to me( for the most part at least) so plainly signified in the Text, as to make me wonder at that Dilusive Spirit in the Dr. which could make him still so highly prise his contrary Conceits, after I had so discovered the Unsoundess of them. And whereas he fancieth my Remarks such, as rightly Answered, may give some Diversion, at least, if not Satisfaction; If they yielded Matter of Diversion, he seems qualified enough for Answering them, though not so for giving Satisfaction.  
The Dr. next tells the Reader, That he cannot ( but not out of Ignorance) satisfy him who I am, but adventures to call me Mennonite, from the old wild Conceit, that all Magistracy, and Monarchy consequently, must down in the Millennial Reign; whenas I assert a Spiritual Magistracy then, viz. Ministration of Justice by the Saints, who shall then Rule with a Spiritual Power, and what Monarchy is consisting therewith, I do not gainsay. Then upon his pretended Ignorance of me, he surmiseth me to be a foreigner, and says also of my Remark in his Title-Page, Published in English by the Answerer, as if they were translated, &c. and fits a Name, viz. Streblosinous Eurenetes, to those initial Letters of my Name, S. E. which he had first given me for the Name sake. Which Name, he says, comprehends the Good and Bad of my Genius and Performance. And the Bad he makes to be, a studied Perversion and Distortion of the Sense of Prophecies, to make them comply with the unaccountable Dreams, as he deems them, of my fanciful melancholy; which is indeed a studied Misrepresenting and Reproaching me, for opposing his unaccountable Conceits,( some of which undoubtedly proceeds from worse than melancholy Fancy) and substituting such Expositions in their Room, as( for the main of them at least) I hope, will be approved of by those who are meet Judges of them. He proceeds to give Reasons for his Publishing my Remarks and his Answers to them.  
First, For that I having used all Diligence I could, and being eagerly set to find Flaws in his Expositions,( which is so far from True, that I was sorry to find so many and obvious Ones as I did) he hath plainly discovered, that I have in Effect found none, which, he says, is a Demonstration of the Firmness and Certainty of Intelligibleness of the Divine Visions; and that they are not complyable with every Fancy of a rash designing Interpreter, &c. That the Divine Visions are certainly intelligible, and not complyable with the Fancy of a rash designing Interpreter, is so unquestionable a Truth, as surely needs no Proof( for otherwise, To what Purpose were they written? And, How could they be Divine Visions?) else the Dr. might be a Proof thereof, who being both a rash and designing Interpreter, and one of so stretching an Invention, and versatile Reason, yet hath not been able to invalid the Firmness, and Certainty of Intelligibleness of those Prophecies, which he hath taken upon him so untowardly to Expound.  
Secondly, Because that in Answering them, there are so many Occasions of taking Notice of the true and genuine Rules of Interpreting Prophecies, and of my Transgressing them. But what true and genuine Rules can those be, by the guidance of which the Dr. hath so greatly Erred in his Expositions? And therefore we shall find him faulty in the one as well as in the other.  
Thirdly, For that his Answers to my Remarks do not only Illustrate and Confirm his Expositions, but give Light to other Prophecies, &c. Both which he oft performs at such a Rate, that the Reader will find himself little enlightened thereby, unless he can put Darkness for Light. And whereas he adds, How Noble is the Study of Prophecies, and becoming a Philosopher and a Christian; he shows with what philosophic Wisdom he hath Studied them, as also his Expositions do the same; and thereby he does verify the Truth of that saying of our Saviour, That the Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven are hide from the Wise and Prudent, and revealed unto Babes. At the Wisdom of God, in so doing he doth rejoice.  
Fourthly, Because he could not be assured but that my Remarks might come out without any Answer to them, to the prejudice of the Truth, being they seem to be Written with great Confidence( which reflection is before Answered) and pretending much to Scripture-Authority, and no Body to show their Errors and Defects, might strike great Reverence in the heedless Populacy, and make me pass for a notable Interpreter of Prophets, whenas there's not one true stroke in all my pretended Interpretations that clash with his. Now this is an amazing Boast, whenas his Expositions do so abound with Errors( as I hope I have made it appear in my Remarks, and shall more fully Evidence it in my Defence of them) and some of them so gross, as doubtless they must be imputed to worse than mere Error in him; and whenas( as I hope it will appear by this Defence) he hath not been able to invalid any one Remark( only hath taken me in two or three Mistakes in History, &c. but such as do not prejudice the Remarks they concern) not that I assert them all to be true, but that though most of them are proposed only as conjectures, yet they hold good against what he hath been able to oppose to them, and are rather confirmed by his saying so little, notwithstanding his Labouring with all his Might and Arts against them. But then, How strange a Conceit is it, that the vulgar are like to be affencted with so great Reverence of my Remarks, and to be drawn into wretched Mistakes by them, whenas he says after in his Preface, That they utter such sublime Matters touching the Glorious State and economy of the New Jerusalem, and things in tendency thereunto, as transcend the conceit and allowance of any sober considerate Man! Are the Vulgar capable of conceiving things too sublime for the Conception of any sober considerate Man? This will hardly hold Sense further than it concurs with that saying of our Saviour before cited, and with those sayings, God hath chosen the Poor of this World rich in Faith, &c. and the Foolish to confounded the Wise, and the Weak and Despised, and things that are not, to bring to nought things that are: And happy were it for the Dr. if he could be wise with such Vulgar. And though the sublimity of what I have said of the Glorious State of the New Jerusalem, &c. should make it seem incredible, yet surely it should rather seem desirable to be true, than fit to be ridiculed, as it is by the Dr. And no better Sense is what he says next of the profane Wits, than what he hath said of the Vulgar, viz. That those Wits thinking it not worth the while to trouble themselves with discovering my Errors, would be more confirmed in their own, and have new Cause to insult over all pretences of understanding Prophecies. Now if those Wits would not trouble themselves to discover my supposed Errors, nor the Dr. nor any other should undertake the discovery of them, How could they be confirmed in their Errors from my Remarks, before they knew whether they were Erroneous or no? They might disbelieve them as they do the Prophecies themselves, but not be confirmed by them in the disbelief of the Prophecies; but rather would be so confirmed from the discovery of such Errors in them. For new Attempts to unfold Prophecies proving also fruitless, might make them the more insult over all Pretences to understand them.  
Fifthly, Because some extravagant Notions he says, are applied by me to prophetic Visions, whether Romanistical or Anabaptistical he knows not( nor do I know why he should fancy them either) such as he thinks do not comport with a Christian Spirit or the Peace of Christendom. But he does not mention any of these Notions, and therefore this Reason requires no further Answering.  
Sixthly, His last Reason for Publishing my Remarks with his Answer to them is, That he had a more special Eye to those two great and useful Truths, as he calls them( but indeed great and mischievous Errors, as he hath managed them) viz. that the Reformation was the Rising of the Witnesses, and that the Primitive-times till about Four Hundred Years after Christ, were Symmetral. The Evidence of which two Truths, he says, That I endeavour tooth and nail to smother and suppress, by most wretched distorting and slubbering over the Sense of Rev. cap. 10. and the two succeeding sychronal Visions, the one in cap. 11. and the other in cap. 12. cap. 13. cap. 14. and also by groundless denying that the Vision of the Seven Churches reach any further than the beginning of the Millennium. Whereas I hope, that I have made it out in this Defence, that all my Assertions in those particulars are sound, and that the foul reflection which he does here make on them, is truly to be applied to what he hath said against them. But whereas he maketh all that he chargeth me with here, to be done in favour of my Beloved Mennonism, as he calls it, which bears an ill Aspect as he represents it, I think it not amiss to say something here also( notwithstanding my having said enough I hope in the ensuing Discourse to the same purpose) for the manifesting the truth of it, and removing that prejudice against it, which he endeavours to possess the Reader with.  
Whereas the Dr. does represent me to hold, That all Magistracy must down in the Millennium; my Remarks do plainly assert the continuance of it more than his Expositions: For I make the Kingdom of Christ mainly to consist in the Ministration of Justice, and oft show the falseness of that Rule that he is so much guided by, viz. that the Prophecies of the Affairs of that Kingdom do chiefly respect Religion and Matters of Worship. To do Justice and judgement is more acceptable to GOD than Sacrifice. Hence Christ's Kingdom Typified by Solomons, is Gloriously Described, Psal. 72. wholly in respect of the Righteous judgement or Ministration of Justice that shall then be. He shall Judge the People with Righteousness, and the Poor with judgement, ver. 2. He shall Judge the Poor of the People, and save the Children of the needy, and break in Pieces the Oppressor, ver. 4. He shall deliver the needy when he crieth, the Poor also and him that hath no helper, ver. 12. He shall redeem their Souls from Deceit and Violence, and precious shall their Blood be in his sight, ver. 14. For which, All Kings shall fall down before him, all Nations shall serve him, ver. 11. And his Name shall endure for ever, and Men shall be Blessed in him; all Nations shall call him Blessed, ver. 17. In like manner is his Kingdom described, Esay 9.6, 7. And the Government shall be upon his Shoulders, &c. Of the Increase of his Government and Peace there shall be no end, upon the Throne of David and upon his Kingdom, to Order and Establish it with judgement and Justice, &c. And cap. 11.4. With Righteousness shall he Judge the Poor, and Reprove with Equity for the Meek of the Earth. And Jeremiah calls him a King who shall Reign and Prosper, and Execute judgement and Justice in the Earth, cap. 23.5. And hence the Worldly Rulers being Reproved, Psal. 82. for their contrary doings, they are Instructed in the great Duty they failed in, ver. 3, 4. Defend the Poor and Fatherless, do Justice to the afflicted and needy, deliver the poor and needy, rid them out of the hands of the Wicked. And Isaiah cap. 1. setting forth how offensive the multitude of Sacrifices, and all the Worship of the Jews was to God, by reason of their evil-doings, which made their Solemn Meetings Iniquity; he after Exhorts them to cease to do evil, and learn to do well, and then tells them wherein that well-doing consists, viz. Seek judgement, Relieve the Oppressed, Judge the Fatherless, pled for the widow; And again tells them, cap. 5.7. God looked for judgement, but behold Oppression; for Righteousness, but behold a Cry, &c. So that the main Scope and great Glory of Christ's Kingdom in the World appears to be, the thus Righteous judging the Meek, and Poor, and Needy, and delivering them from their Oppressors, &c. and the great Transgression of Worldly Rulers, is their failing herein. But then the Question is, By whom will Christ( when he becomes so Seated on the Throne of David, and hath the Government on his Shoulders) Minister this Righteous judgement? Which the Scripture seems so clear in as to silence all Question about it, though the Dr. by a strange Violation, hath perverted the Sense thereof.  
In the first Vision of Daniel, cap. 2. concerning the Four great Kingdoms that were successively to arise, and the Kingdom of Heaven that was to Succeed them on Earth, that Kingdom is Described by a ston cut out without hands, which smote the Image, whereby all the foregoing Kingdoms became broken in pieces and consumed, and that ston became a great Mountain filling the Earth. Both the ston cut out without hands, and the preceding Kingdoms being utterly broken and consumed, do signify, that the succeeding Kingdom must be wholly a new State of Government, of God's immediate Erecting and Establishing by his Spirit, and thereunto absolutely abolishing the former State. To which Answers, Rev. 21.1. And I saw a New Heaven and a New Earth, for the first Heaven and Earth were passed away, &c. and also ver. 5. Behold, I make all Things new. In Daniels next Vision of these Four Kingdoms, and that to Succeed them, cap. 7. it's Described, ver. 13, 14. by the Son of Man being brought with the Clouds of Heaven to the Ancient of Days, and having Dominion, Glory, and a Kingdom given unto him, that all Nations, People and Language should Serve him, &c. Which in the Interpretation of the Vision is explained by judgement being given to the Saints of the Most High, and their Possessing the Kingdom, to whom the greatness of the Kingdom under the whole Heaven shall be given, ver. 22, 27. So that, it's by them that the Son of Man will Exercise his Righteous Dominion on Earth. Hence John, Rev. cap. 1. ver. 5, 6. Salutes the Seven Churches with Blessing from the Prince of the Kings of the Earth, who loved us and washed us from our Sins in his own Blood, and made us Kings and Priests unto God and his Father. And hence the Four Beasts, and Twenty-Four Elders, cap. 5.( representing the Church in the Millennial State) fall down before the Lamb, joining in that Song, ver. 9, 10. Thou art worthy to take the Book and open the Seals thereof, for thou wast Slain, and hast Redeemed us unto God by thy Blood, out of every Kindred and Tongue, and People, and Nation, and hast made us Kings and Priests unto GOD, and we shall Reign on the Earth. And it's said of the New Jerusalem( the Lambs Wife) They shall bring the Glory and Honour of the Nations into it, cap. 21.26. and they who are in it shall Reign for ever and ever, cap. 22.5.  
Now I cannot imagine how any, who looks on these Prophecies with any Understanding and Belief, can imagine, how the Dr's, appropriating the Dominion of those Times to the Reigning of Kings or Monarchical Rulers of Nations, is agreeing with the Dominion that then( as appears so clearly) will be given to the Saints of the Most High, the Citizens of the New Jerusalem; and therefore am amazed at his so stiffly adhering to his Assertion, and thereunto so grossly perverting the signification of the Four Beasts and Twenty Four-Elders, cap. 5. whenas we shall find there, that he produceth nothing of any moment to countenance his so doing. There's nothing more clear, than that such Kings can Exercise no Dominion in Christ's Kingdom, but by the Authority and Power they receive from him; and which to be sure they will not receive, to act any thing but according to the Truth, the Will of God, which will be then done on Earth as it is in Heaven. To act according to which, judgement and Power will then be given to the Saints, the Citizens of the New Jerusalem in which the Throne of God and the Lamb will then be; with the Glory of which they will be so enlightened, as not to need the Light of the Sun, or Moon, &c. viz. Those Worldly Powers which formerly ruled under Apollo, the Prince of this World. If therefore such Monarchs as the Dr. fancyeth, shall then rule, be Members of that City, How can they rule otherwise, than in their Station with their Fellow-Citizens? And what higher Station, or greater Power, can they pretend to than others, further than by being qualified with higher Spiritual Endowments, they gain greater Sway among them? But if those Kings be not Members of that City, How can they be Rulers at all in Christs Kingdom?  
But the Dr. thinks that the Account I give of the Millennial State, is apt to beget a Prejudice against Monarchy, and Civil Magistracy; and being joined with a denying the Reformation to be the Rising of the Witnesses, tends to cause Endeavours of Innovations and Tumults, &c. upon a false Expectation of a sudden Rising of them; whereby tho' he does before declare against Sinister Designs of serving a P●rty, &c. yet he shows that he is biased in his Expositions, to serve an Interest. His grand Error of making the Reformation to be the Rising of the Witnesses, does proceed from the same; and no less officious are his Conceits of the Millennial State. And tho' the endeavouring to defend Rulers, and preserve the public Peace against all dangerous Doctrines to either, is a highly commendable Undertaking, when performed with Truth and judgement, yet the Dr's Performance herein deserves little Thanks, being rather likely to be disserviceable to those for whose Service it's intended. For what Advantage can it be to Worldly Rulers, and the Adherers to them, to be possess't with such wrongful Apprehensions of the Present State of Christ's Kingdom in the World, and the approaching Millennial State of it, as may encourage them in such doings as to incur the Wrath of him, of whom it's said, Be wise now therefore, O ye Kings, be instructed ye Judges of the Earth, serve the Lord with Fear, and rejoice with Trembling, kiss the Son lest he be angry with you, and ye perish from the Way, &c. Nor is the public Peace in Danger of any such Disturbance, as the Dr. fancieth, by supposing the Witnesses not risen,( tho' I do not suppose it) for they are raised by the Spirit of Life from GOD, which enters into them, and sets them on their Feet, &c. and therefore their doings will surely be suitable to that Spirit by which they are acted. But if any ignorant turbulent People shall abuse this Truth, to the Disquiet of the public Peace, they doubtless will fall into Condemnation for their so doing. For no Hypocritical Professors, or Espousers of the Cause of Christ will be owned by him. He hath promised to be with them always, to the End of the World, who observe all things which he hath Commanded us, but he searcheth the Heart and Reins, and giveth to every one according to his Works. Since therefore the Dr. is so zealously concerned in the Behalf of Worldly Rulers, and the public Peace, it were likely to be a much more serviceable Performance in Behalf of both, than what he hath done, if he could have freely laid open the Present State of the Christian Affairs in the World, and what further is to be expected to succeed( according to the prophetic Revelations) in reference to the bringing Christ's Kingdom on Earth; whereby, both Rulers, and all who concern themselves in such useful inquiries, might be the better prepared and disposed, to comply with, and submit to those Providences which befall us, in order to the Advancement of the same in the World.  
It's doubtless greatly desirable, That all Reformations and Changes to be made in order thereunto, should be in a Legal Course by those who are in Authority, that Peace and Truth may be United in the promoting that Kingdom, as they will be in the Establishing it. But so long as the Enemies of both bear such Sway in the World, What thereof can be expected? And whilst Mens Hearts are fast engaged in Worldly Enjoyments, How are they like to be concerned for the promoting those Things which must needs disquiet them in their so unprofitable, yea, destructive Delights? But on the contrary, are like to be bent against them; For, The Friendship of the World is Enmity with God, and if any Man love the World, the Love of God is not in him. So that the Kingdom of Heaven is like to make no further Progress in its coming on Earth, than it's carried on by that Heavenly Power, which exerts its self in extraordinary Works of Providence, to the bearing down all Opposition of Worldly Rulers, Who set themselves and take Council together, against the Lord, and against his Anointed, saying, Let us break their Bands, and cast away their Cords from us, Psal. 2. Of what evil Consequence therefore are such Performances as the Dr's. which, by begetting an erroneous Understanding of Prophecies of Christ's Kingdom, tend to confirm Rulers in such doings, as obstruct the Advancement of it in the World, and so render him their Enemy. He that flattereth his Neighbour, says Solomon, spreads a Snare for his Feet; How much more does this hold true of Princes and Rulers, when they are soothed up in such dangerous Errors, which they have so great Temptations to dispose them to harken to! For being what God designs to bring to pass cannot be withstood, if they should be so deceived as to be emboldened to make Opposition thereunto, it must be at their great Peril. For thereby they run the Danger of experiencing what is threatened, Psal. 2.9. Thou shalt break them with a Rod of Iron, thou shalt dash them in pieces like a Potters Vessel; and also in Psal. 76.12. He shall cut off the Spirit of Princes, he is terrible to the Kings of the Earth.  
How serviceable a Work therefore must they perform, not only to the Interest of Christianity, but of Worldly Rulers also, who shall possess them with such a true Understanding of the State of Christ's Kingdom coming on Earth, and of their Duty and Prudence to further the advancing the same,( at least, to beware obstructing it) as to make them prevent the said threatened Dangers, by harkening to the aforesaid Admonition, Psal. 2. And how mischievous and hateful then are their Doings, whose Duty it is to perform this so serviceable Work, yet not only fail thereof, but out of Worldly Respects, endeavour craftily to smother those Truths which are of so great Moment to be rightly understood! Whereby they not only endanger the Exposing such Rulers to the Wrath of God, but also occasion the falling out of many Evils between them and the People, which by a faithful performing their Duty, they might have probably prevented. For whenas Kings shall have such a Zeal against the Whore, as to hate her, and make her desolate, &c. Rev. 17.16. and shall so joy in Sion, or the New Jerusalem, and be so bountiful, and do such Homage to the same, as is described, Esay 60. and Rev. 21.24, 26. and elsewhere, it appears that what contrary Doings they be guilty of, proceeds much from the Treacherous Dealing of such misleading Guides, as that not only fail of faithful endeavouring to possess them with a true Understanding and Sense of their Duty, but also influence them to act contrary thereunto. So that, when they become freed from those evil Influences wherewith they have been so seduced, and become faithfully informed what is their Duty and true Interest, they are likely then in some good Measure, to act as CHRIST'S Vicegerents, as well as to own and profess themselves to be so. All the Kings of the Earth shall praise thee O Lord, when they hear the Words of thy Mouth; yea, they shall sing in the Ways of the Lord, for great shall be the Glory of the Lord, Psal. 138.4, 5. And what large Descriptions are there in Esay, of what Honor they will do to Zion, and what Benefactors they will be to Her! which though they mainly respect the Millennial-times, and so agree with what is said, Rev. 21. of the Kings and Nations bringing their Glory and Honor to the New Jerusalem, yet they are like to have some antecedent fulfilling, as those Times of Zions accomplishing her warfare approach, and so she begins to put on her beautiful Garments, and to arise and shine by reason of her Light coming, and the Glory of God rising upon her, Esay 60.1.  
For when the Kingdom of Heaven hath made so great Advancement on the Earth, as to be near the Settling of its absolute Dominion in the World, all Acts of Hostility then against it by the Princes of the World, they must needs find as difficult as the Rowing against a strong Stream, and also very burdensome to their Consciences in such enlightened Times; whenas all Actions in favour and furtherance of it, must needs yield much Peace and Satisfaction of CONSCIENCE to them, besides what outward Advantages may attend the same. How Signally did God manifest his Judgments against those two Persecuting Emperors Dioclesian and Maximian( who thought to have Extirpated CHRISTIANITY, and Erected Pillars with Triumphing Inscriptions that they had done it, whenas it was so near its Advance, by their Successors assuming the Christian Profession) so breaking their Spirits as to make them abdicate themselves from their Government in Grief and Despair, because that all their wicked Endeavours( enforced with so great Cruelty) became at length frustrated, besides the Judgments that did after befall them. And how did God blast the Designs and Undertakings of the late Great Emperor Charles the Fifth, against the Reformation, so as at length to make him recede also from his Empire in like discontent, and to affect him so, that it's supposed to have made a Convert of him before his Death. And may we not then well suppose, that when the time draws near wherein the Mystery of God shall be finished, viz. the Kingdoms of the World shall become the Kingdoms of the Lord and his Christ, &c. He will then be no less Remarkable in his dealing with such Princes, as shall set themselves in Opposition to the accomplishing thereof? And how dreadful he will make himself to them, does not want being signified in Prophecies, whereof there hath been already some mention.  
But it Seems almost Incredible that they should continue so obdurate in such enlightened Times, and wherein God shall repay their enmity against him with so great terror and Trouble( as he did to the egyptians pursuing the Israelites, when he looked on them through a Pillar of Fire, and took off their Chariot Wheels that they drove them heavily) were they not Powerfully wrought upon by such unclean Pseudo-Prophetick Spirits as are called Spirits of Devils working Miracles, Rev. 16.13, 14. That is, Working after the manner of Satan, with all Power, and Signs, and lying Wonders, and all deceivableness of Unrighteousness, &c. 2 Thes. 2.9, 10. What better service therefore can be endeavoured in behalf of Worldly Princes and Rulers, than to deliver them from such subtle and Perilous Deciets, by a faithful informing them of what is signified in the Prophecies of those Times, that by the knowledge thereof, they may be the better able to judge what is their Duty and Interest in their Station. What cause therefore hath the Dr. to reproach my Remarks as tending to the disturbance of the public Peace, and to the begetting a prejudice against Monarchy and Civil Magistracy, whenas they really tend to the great Service of them I have mentioned. And how dangerous may such Expositions as the Dr's prove to them( if they can gain Credit to be believed) by giving so untrue an Account of the Millennial Times, and those preceding them, as may embolden them to exercise their Authority so wrongfully, as may prove Perilous and Ruinous to them, and so give them too late to understand, what deceitful Guides, and Daubers with untempered mortar they have been lead by.  
But indeed, though the Dr's Expositions are not free from that Psudo-Prophetick Leaven, and Pia Fraus, which out of Policy and Interest hath been so long prevalent in deceiving the World, yet is there not that profound subtlety in them, as to make them very insinuating to deceive; and they seem mostly to proceed from that vain philosophic Spirit, which out of an immoderate thirst after Knowledge, and as great desire to appear knowing, does drive Men upon intruding into those Things which they know not, and which are too high for them to attain unto, and so make them liable to be deceived, and thereby to become deceivers of others. And this philosophic Spirit puffing Men up with notional empty Knowledge, and so making them pride themselves in such Wisdom as is Foolishness with God, must needs therefore dispose them to a scornful Rejecting and Vilifying such Truths as clash with their Sentiments. Whence the Primitive Christians had no greater Enemies,( at least as to Tongue-Persecution) than the great Philosophers of those Times. No Wonder therefore, that my Remarks have met with the like Usage from the Dr. in his Answer to them, and in his Preface which I am Answering. Where be represents me to be a fanatical Enthusiast, and says, That I have uttered such sublime Matters, touching the Glorious State and economy of the New Jerusalem, and things in tendency thereunto, as transcends the Conceit and Allowance of any sober considerate Man,( that is, of such who through Wisdom know not God) and that the Elevation of Spirit in me is but the heaving of the Hypocondria, and the vain Delusions of the towering Fumes of an overheated Melancholy. And this forsooth, because what I have said, does not agree with his more Rational Genius, serene Mind, and sober judgement.  
And surely it must be his being Conscious of such foul Usage of me( which yet he would have pass for Quickness and Freeness in him) that makes him apprehensive of a Railing Reply from me, whenas he hath no Cause from my Remarks to suspect the same, I having been in them very sparing of making any reflections on him, tho' I met with so frequent Motives thereunto, from the Unaptness I found in his philosophic Genius to expound Prophecies, and from some strange extravagant Assertions which he does adhere to, and others very groundless, which he hath the Confidence to affirm for certain Truths. So that, the Saying of Calvin, on Acts 17.16. concerning the Athenians, who were so eminent for Wisdom and Learning, and yet so addicted to Idolatry,( viz. That God suffered them to lapse into the greatest Dotages, that they might be an Example of the Ineptness of a perspicacious Understanding, tho' improved by Learning, when exercised about Heavenly Things, &c.) seems Applicable to the Dr. For we shall find him sometimes so skilfully Contesting in Behalf of empty Conceits, as to make it a Wonder, that One able to say so much in Defence of them, should think them worth defending, and thereby to Evidence, How little such Endowments do qualify Men for receiving the Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven; yea, How they may prove Obstacles to the same, whilst they furnish them with various subtle Shifts to evade the Evidence of Truth, and so dazzle their Eyes with the Splendour of false Wisdom and Knowledge, as to disable them to behold the True.  
To this we may impute the Dr's. so many, and sometimes strange forced Criticisms upon the Text, varying from our Translation, which gives so Genuine a Sense of Scripture, in the Matters of controversy between us, that I have always kept to it, and doubt not but that it will hold true, against all that his wracking Invention hath been able to device against it. And to the same we are to impute also, the rare Use he makes of prophetic Figures, especially his Henopeia: And also his Recourse so much to the Indian On●ocriticks for understanding prophetic Symbols; whenas, tho' the Prophets did use their Symbols, yet might they use others also that were significant and proper, and might vary from them in the use of theirs( so it were to an easy significant Sense) according to the Liberty that Paul takes in the Use of Words, 1 Cor. 2.13. Such Arts hath the Dr's learned Abilities furnished him with, for withstanding the Truth. But when these Helps fail him, he does not stick sometimes to do manifest Violence to the Text,( in Behalf of some espoused errors which he cannot desert) by strange extravagant Assertions. Such are his affirming, that the Trumpets are the Pla ues which the Witnesses smote the Earth with( though they are of far different Nature, and the one are in the sealed Book which the other are not): And that there's a Commutation of Iconisms, Rev. 16. ver. 16. whereby three such opposite Parties, as the Christian, Anti-Christian, and Infidel-Party( which Infidel-Party is his own fancying) become represented by one great City; And also, that what happens in the Time of any Trumpet, or Vial-Angel, is to be imputed to him, whether he contribute any thing to it or no; with divers other the like Assertions, the Vanity whereof will appear in the ensuing Discourse. But scarce in any of them hath he done greater Violence to the Text, than in his gross perverting it before mentioned, in Opposition to what, he calls my Beloved Mennonism  
Yet he agrees with me, that Christ's Reign in the Millennium shall be wholly a Spiritual Dommion, wherein Rulers shall rule by a Spiritual Power, and thereby yield full Obedience to Gods Laws, that his Will may be done on Earth, as it is in Heaven. Which, if he could make it out, that it did consist with such Monarchs as he im●gines then shall Rule, and would be fulfilled under them, I should not contend with him about them, being not concerned, under what Form of Government that Righteous Spiritual Dominion will be then exercised, so long as the Truth of that State be agreed, and not prejudiced by any sinister Account of it. But whilst the Dr. does fancy, that there will be so great a Pother in settling such Dominion by ecumenical Councils, as that so large a space of time as one of his Thunders will be spent about it, and also that it will be under such Monarchs as he imagines, he appears not to have a right Conception of the Government which he acknowledgeth must then be, and also to be ignorant( or something worse) of the Nature of Monarchical Government which he is so concerned for.  
For Monarchy consisting in the exercising of an uncontrollable Power, accountable to God only, and such Power being from him from whom is all Power, How is it imaginable, that he should then Invest any Prince with such Power, so contrary to his own and his Son Christ's Kingdom, which will then be Established in the World? For when Dominion shall be given to the Saints of the Most High, by the Throne of God and the Lamb being in the New Jerusalem, whereby they shall Reign for ever and ever, Rev. 22.3, 5. there can be no Authority or Power then exercised, but what must be accountable to God and the Lamb then so Ruling. If therefore the Dr's Monarchs, exercise no Power than such, wherein will they be Monarchs more than their Fellow-Citizens of the New Jerusalem, who in their several Stations will exercise the same Power? And therefore are called Kings and Priests, Rev. 1.6. and cap. 5.10. But if they shall pretend to an uncontrollable Power, unaccountable to any on Earth, What a Monstrous Conception is it to imagine, that God should then set up any such Power in the World, so contrary to his own and his Sons Kingdom already settled therein! The desiring of which was, in the Israelites, a rejecting him to Rule over them.  
For all uncontrollable Power claimed by Monarchs, is but Worldly Dominion, which lapsed Mankind became subject to, by Disobedience and apostasy from GOD. And from the Thraldom of such Dominion Christ does deliver us, by turning us from Darkness to Light, and from the Power of Satan unto GOD, delivering us from the Power of Darkness, and Translating us into the Kingdom of our LORD. And besides this Redemption of Believers, his Kingdom is Designed for a Jubilee of the whole Creation, in the Millennial Reign, when the earnest expectation of the Creature waiting for the Manifestation of the Sons of God shall then be Answered, by its being delivered from the Bondage of Corruption into the Glorious Liberty of the Sons of GOD, and so freed from that Vanity it was formerly subject to; for which Deliverance the whole Creation Groaneth and traveleth in Pain, &c. Rom. 8.19, 20, 21. And which becomes accomplished, by destroying him that hath the Power of Death, the Devil, and so delivering them who through fear of Death were all their Life-time subject to Vanity, Heb. 2.14, 15. Though therefore, such Worldly Dominion be the Ordinance of GOD, yet it's of like Nature with the Judaical-State, which the Apostle, 2 Cor. 3. calls the Ministration of Death and Condemnation, that's to be done away or abolished( and Gal. 4. he calls it Jerusalem in Bondage, under the Elements of the World, &c.) to make way for the Glorious Ministration of the Spirit, which remaineth, the Jerusalem from above, &c. So that, all such Dominion does and must decline, as the Kingdom of Christ advanceth in the World, till at length it expire and become as the dead Hedge, which after the Quick is grown up becomes useless and cumbersome, though before needful both for fencing it and the enclosure. And indeed, Christianity will then so leaven the World, with a contrary Spirit, so that the Spirit of the World, wherewith the State and Grandeur of Monarchy is upheld, that it will be then as unable to subsist as a bide is to fly whose Wings are plucked.  
And these are Truths which seem now so seasonable to be spoken of, that the doing thereof can hardly appear prejudicial to Monarchy, or any Worldly Government, in the Eyes of those who are not more than duly concerned for them, but rather to be for their real Service. For we are fallen into those enlightened Times( which we may call the Day-spring of the Millennium) spoken of by Daniel 12.4. wherein many shall run to and fro, and Knowledge shall be increased; whereby the Minds and Spirits of People are so enlarged, that they are not to be kept in that Thraldom as formerly, in the barbarous times of Darkness, but are suitably to their Natures, to be managed with Reason and Humanity, to be drawn with the Cords of a Man and the Bands of Love. And this change of Times, is the result of the Advancement of Christ's Kingdom in the World, and the like Changes are further to be expected, till they end in the Establishing of his Kingdom on Earth. What therefore can be more seasonable for these Times, than such a right understanding of the Mysteries of Prophecies concerning the Times approaching, as that both Rulers and People having some true prospect of them, may be guided thereby so to steer their Courses, as will most conduce to beget and preserve a good understanding between them, and so to prevent those Troubles and Mischiefs which so oft fall out for want thereof.  
For when they are able to contemplate those Providences and Revolutions which fall out in the World( which otherwise might be very surprising to them) as tending to the promoting and bringing to pass that great Revolution which must at length be accomplished, they are like then( however the Prerogatives of the one, and the Rights and privileges of the other may seem concerned therein) either to rejoice at, or at least with submission to acquiesce in them, unless they be given up to that hardness of Heart, which made pharaoh a Vessel of wrath fitted for Destruction. So that the great Jealousies between them, and Troubles oft raised thereby( which were formerly occasioned by reason of those politic concerns being so dear unto them) are then like to vanish, when they understand, that what they forego of those concerns is in submission to his will, to whom they owe themselves and all they enjoy; and is in order to the making way for that so much more happy State of his Kingdom coming on Earth. And indeed, What could render any Monarch more Glorious, than his Vindicating with utmost Resolution his Royal Rights and Prerogatives against all wrongful Invasion of them, yet being ready to yield to any Diminution of them, in Order to the Advancement of his Kingdom whose Vicegerent he owns himself to be; yea, though it were to the Laying down his CROWN at his Feet, and surrendering his sceptre into his Hands. This, however it should lessen him in Worldly Greatness, must needs make him more truly Glorious and happy here, and much more so hereafter. And what Cause can Subjects have to be much concerned at the invading of their politic Rights and privileges, when they understand, that the decaying and dissolving of that politic State wherewith they have been upheld, and which they serve to uphold, does further the coming of that Kingdom, which will bless them with a much more Righteous Ministration of Justice, and with much more happy Rights and privileges, than can be enjoyed from any human Constitutions. So that, a due Consideration of the State of that Kingdom, and the Providences of God advancing the same in the World, is enough to make all those politic Concerns both of Rulers and People, which were formerly so precious in their Eyes, appear of so little Regard to them, as to remove all Danger of embroiling themselves about them.  
As these Truths are so seasonable to be spoken of, so I have done it in such manner, both in my Remarks and this Defence of them, as is, I hope, inoffensive. For I have only set forth that General Account, which the Prophecies, according to their easy natural Sense, do give of the Millennial-Times, and the antecedent Occurrences thereunto; not presuming upon any inquisitive Search or Conjectures, about things not revealed. And that Account which I have so given, is such as does discountenance all Turbulent Attempts by blind Zealots for furthering the Advancement of those Times; giving them to understand, that the Kingdom of Christ being Spiritual, is not to be advanced by outward human Means, but by a Spiritual Power, the Kingdom of Heaven within us,( which is signified by the ston cut out without Hands, and becoming a great Mountain, &c. Dan. 2.) and therefore, further than they are so enabled thereunto, they are neither called nor qualified to become active Instruments in furthering its coming, but run the Peril of suffering as Evil-doers, by engaging themselves in such Undertakings.  
But how seasonable, useful, and inoffensive soever my Performance be, yet concerning things which the World is slow to conceive and believe, its likely to meet with not only difficult Acceptance, but also evil Construction, from those who are prove to speak evil of things they understand not. Many have thought the Prophecies of the Millennial-Times, too Glorious to concern a State on Earth; and others who could not be so blind against the manifest Truth of the Text, yet having not emerged to that State as to be able rightly to conceive of, and believe the Things prophesied of those Times, have modalized them according to their own narrow Earthly Apprehensions, to the changing, in effect, the so Glorious Spiritual State of Christ's Kingdom on Earth, into a refined politic or Worldly Dominion. Of this sort, the Dr. is a notable Instance. But I, Thanks be to GOD, can so conceive and believe the Things described in those Prophecies, as to allow them to be understood according to the most proper genuine Sense of the Text, and of prophetic Style, &c. and hope, that the Sense of them given by me, will appear such to the Judicious Reader. Having therefore dealt so truly and inoffensively, on a Subject so seasonable and useful to be spoken of, and being engaged to this Undertaking, in Defence of my Remarks so culpably both Published, and Answered, I think such as shall be dissatisfied with my Performance, can hardly find Cause to Censure me as blamable for the same. And as for what good Acceptance it meets with, I am not solicitous about it, being not desirous that it should find better than its Truth and Usefulness does render it Worthy of, and not doubting of its finding, That in due Time, Veritas est Magna,& praevalebit.   

ERRATA.  
page. 15. Line 17. for orpinary red ordinary. p. 33. l. 3. f. altogether r. all together. p. 59. expunge ver. 3. in the Marg. p. 64. l. 2. f. cause r. course. p. 69. l. 16. f. they r. their. p. 144. l. 3. put ver. 19. in the Marg. p. 170. l. 8. put ver. 21 in the Marg. p. 183. l. 32. f. by the Feet, &c. r. and by the Feet, &c. p. 224. l. 3. put ver. 2. in the Marg. p. 256. f. ver. 15. in the Marg. r. 25. p. 300. l. 28. f. Remarks r. Remark. p. 302. l. 29. f. Contentions r. Contentious. p. 307. l. 21. f. motions r. notions.   


REMARKS ON Apocalypsis Apocalypseos DEFENDED.  
THE Dr's Title of his Book, imports a general Exposition of the Apocalypse, without any limitation to the prophetic Sense: Nor do I find him elsewhere limiting himself to it, or making that his only scope; which if he did, yet he could not so interpret this and the 11th. verse. For the Salutation here, and the Direction of the Epistles there, must at least primarily or immediately respect the present Churches in being, and so, be taken in the literal Sense. For how can Churches not in being, be proper objects of Salutation, or of having Epistles directed to them? Nor can the Dr. be a true Expositor in giving only the prophetic Sense: For the literal Sense, being the Cortex of the prophetic Sense contained in it, or signified by it; it must be taken notice of, and explained, so far as it needs it, before the other Sense prefigured by it, can be unfolded; which accordingly is done by the Dr. in his expounding the paranomastical Iconisms of the Epistles, and the real Symbols or Iconisms elsewhere, and his many Criticisms on the Text, &c.  
There can be nothing more clear than that[ Kings and Priests] are here to be taken in their proper or literal Sense; both from their being so used, cap. 5. ver. 10.( as the Dr. agrees, though he untowardly applies them so there) and also from the scope of the Apocalypse, viz. The Kingdom of Christ or Millennial State, which both this ver. and cap. 5. ver. 10. have a respect to( and also all the Prophecies of this Book do terminate therein, see cap. 3. ver. 20, 21.) and therefore it's said in the following verse here, Behold he cometh with Clouds, &c. and in the preceding verse he is called, The Prince of the Kings of the Earth. So that, as the Saints in the Millennial State, being represented in the Vision, cap. 5. are there called, Kings and Priests who shall Reign on the Earth; so here are they characterised in like manner, upon contemplation of the same State; which being the scope of this Book, is therefore thus taken notice of in the beginning of it. And as both these places have thus the same signification, so each of them is preceded with alike mentioning of Christ's Redeeming us with his Blood, &c. And what show of Reason hath the Dr. offered against so manifest Truth, but only that [ Reigning on the Earth] is not here mentioned as in cap. 5. whenas the brevity of this Transitory mentioning here, what was after more fully to be spoken of, did hardly admit thereof, and the same is sufficiently implied, in calling them Kings; and the coherence with the preceding and following verse, and with the said cap. 5. and with the whole scope of this Book, does clearly import the same. What strange distortion therefore is it of the words, Kings and Priests, to the Dr's Metaphorical Sense, when the proper Literal Sense is so plainly intended, and is more useful and of higher import than the other, which is also implied in it! And what fit caution can there be, as he fancieth, against such as he calls hot and heady Saints, &c. by taking those words in his sense here, whenas they must, as he agrees, be taken in their proper sense elsewhere, which imports as much as their being taken so here?  
Whether a girdle be worn about the Paps or Loins, seems little material to the signification thereof, our Saviour's Loins being said to be girded therewith in the like Vision in Dan. 10. But the golden Girdle here, can but badly refer to the Priests Girdle, which was of blue, purple, and scarlet, and twined linen, as well as of gold, but does aptly agree with my sense, Gold being so proper a Symbol of solid or sound Truth and judgement. And whereas he makes Truth as well as Holiness to respect the Priest's Office, from the signification of Urim and Thummim,( which he says the Septuagint renders {αβγδ}) I take the Breast-Plate of judgement upon Aarons heart( in which was put the Urim& Thummim) to typify the Spirit of judgement which should possess the Hearts of the Royal Priest-hood, the believers in Christ Jesus, viz. That Grace, or Life and Truth that came by him, and by which he became the way to the Father. The mentioned Sense of Urim and Thummim given by the Septuagint, and also that given by Calvin and others( viz. Splendores& Perfectiones) are agreeable with this typical sense I give, though the words may I suppose, admit of a more agreeable Translation with it. And they being taken so to prefigure( according to the typical signification of all things under the Law) the Christian Dispensation of Truth and Life, it invalids the Drs. Inference from his cited Signification, That Truth as well as Holiness, respects the Priests Office. Also the use of Urim and Thummim was but to be the means of conveying an Oracle from God; so that, the Sentence of judgement, which the Priest delivered from them, cannot be ascribed to him, his Office being not Judicial, but Ministerial therein.  
The Dr. takes no notice of my making the description of the Voice of Christ here, to have the like signification with the Voice of God, Psal. 29. as doubtless it hath the whole representation of him here, being a Personal Description, viz. His Hair as white as Wool, and his Eyes as a flamme of Fire, and out of his Mouth issueth a two-edged Sword, and his Countenance as the Sun shineth in his strength, &c. no ways applicable to the Church; and therefore, What can be more congruous than to take[ his Voice, &c.] in the same Sense with all the rest of the Description? And whereas the Dr. thinks his sense so proper, because Christ by his Spirit speaks through the Mouths of his Church, this is indeed a Proof of his Union therewith, but cannot infer, that his Voice being said to be like many Waters, should signify that Union; especially when it will so incongruously, do it, as I have noted in my Remark, and there's otherwise so apt an account of the Words, given by me.  
The Dr's saying here, That John's falling down as dead, proceeds not only from the Glory, but the terror of the Vision, is some receding from his Exposition, which ascribes it only to the terror of the Vision. But he intimates John to be so affencted with the terror of the Vision, because the Legs of our Saviour are standing in Fire, &c.( whenas the Splendour of them is only likened to that of fine Brass burning in the Fire, signifying the Beauty and Firmness of his walking in the Paths of Righteousness) and also because a Sword issues out of his Mouth; by which, what evil of Persecution could John fear to be threatened to his People, whenas it's a standing Character of our Saviour, and such as the signification thereof is far from portending such evil, but is likely to prevent it. Nor do his comfortable words to John, telling him, I am he that was dead and is alive, &c. make for the Dr's Sense, they being alike seasonable to him cast into such a dead condition, whether from the Glory, or terror of the Vision. Daniel's falling into the like condition on our Saviours appearing to him, cap. 10.7, 8. we shall find otherwise expounded by the Dr. and as wide of Truth.  
How impertinently the Dr. does here charge me with impertinency, appears by what I have said on his Answer to my first Remark? And as I say there of his expounding that and the 11th. verse, so say I here of his expounding this verse, that it plainly respecting the preceding Vision of the seven Churches, and signifying its representing both the present and future State of the Church( the first whereof is described in the literal Sense of the Epistles, and the later in the prophetical Sense typified by the literal) the Dr. cannot truly expound this verse, by applying only a prophetic Sense to it. And as to his urging that the Words[ hast seen] denotes time past, I say that so they do in my Sense, which refers them to the Vision which John had seen before the expounding of it to him; whereas the Dr's making them to respect the past Interval of the Ephesm Church, is an abrupt Sense not cohering with the preceding Vision. And the like incongruity is there in his applying[ the things that are] to the current Smyrnean Interval, and[ the things that shall be hereafter] to the succeeding Intervals; whenas those sayings relate also to the preceding Vision, the first of them signifying the literal, and the other the prophetic Sense thereof. But the Dr's Sense does not only spoil this coherence with the preceding Vision, but also with the following verse. For {αβγδ}— and {αβγδ}— are( according to the natural coherence of them) to be referred to all or every part of this verse, viz. both to, The things that thou hast seen, the things that are, and the things that shall be hereafter, and accordingly my sense does so refer them; but according to the Dr's sense, part of them, as respecting the Ephesm Interval, must be referred to[ the things which thou hast seen] and part of them, as respecting the Smyrnean Interval, to[ the things that are] and all the rest, to[ the things that shall be hereafter] whereby he does not only spoil the coherence of this with the following verse, but does also lose a stronger proof of the prophetic Sense of the Epistles, than any he hath brought for it in his exposition of them.  
Doubtless, 
Remark 1. on the Notes, &c.  our Saviour would vouchsafe the Name of Church, only to such as he judged worthy of it, without regarding those as such, to whom others should unworthily give that Title, and therefore would not use Asia ●n the Dr's. Sense, to distinguish the True Church from such: But my sense of Asia is very apt, both because of its being the Name of the Country wherein the Seven Churches were seated,( which being to be symbolically taken, makes the Seven Churches in Asia, signify all the Churches on Earth) and also because it so fitly takes in that other sense of it[ Action]: And whereas the Dr. thinks it so illogical, to deduce Conflict from Action, How frequent is it in Discourse of Wars,( as here the Militant time of the Church is spoken of) to say, There will be Action, &c. signifying thereby Fighting; so that the Seven Churches in Asia does aptly signify[ in their Conflict or Militant State on Earth] and thereby does evidence the Truth of my Hypothesis, That the prophetic sense of the Epistles reacheth but to the Commencement of the Millennium.  
The Dr. does here enlarge, 
Remark 2d. on the Notes, &c.  in showing how the Church may receive a new Denomination from a new emerging Condition, which is plainly agreed by me; but to what I infer against him( viz. That there's no need of a preceding Interval its expiring at the Commencement of a succeeding Interval, because the Pergamenian State continues throughout the succeeding Epistles) he Answers nothing, and so spends much Pains to no purpose. Then whereas I Argue, That the Ephesm Interval was not expired before the beginning of the Nicholaitan Sect, because else it could be no Commendation of that Church, not to be tainted with Nicholaitism, nor could she be said to hate it: He calls this a mere Cavil or Quibble, because it's the Commendation of the Ephesm Interval, that there was no such Uncleanness found in it as followed; and the Nicholaitans being Christians, they could no sooner appear, but the Church would ipso Facto be tainted with them; but will the Dr. allow the Name of Christians to all those abominable Sects, which about that time assumed that Name; yet can be reckoned no better than the early Workings of the Mystery of Iniquity? Of whom John says, Now are there many Anti-Christs, and they went out from us, because they were not of us, &c. 1 Epist. c. 2. ver. 18, 19. And whom our Saviour calls Blasphemers, who said they were Jews, yet were not, but were of the Synagogue of Satan, Rev. 2.9. And was it not much more Commendations to the Ephesm Church, not to fall into such Uncleanness, when there was such a Sect in being, than when the contrary? Judge then who is the Caviller, &c.  

CHAP. II.  
NO Elleptical Intimation can be here admitted; for an Ellipsis is a defective Expression, leaving the rest to be implied; but here's nothing so much as defectively, importing a partaking of the First Resurrection, so that such Intimation of it, as the Dr. fancieth, would be so defective, as to be unintelligible. In the next place, because I ask what Reward it would be to the Sufferers unto Death, to have their Successors obtain the Imperial Crown? He imputes this to selfishness, &c. But that unself-interested Love he speaks of, which makes us prefer the public good of Christ's Kingdom before our own; Is it not out of a respect to the recompense of Reward? Was it not a respect to that, which made Moses choose rather to suffer affliction with the People of God, than to enjoy the Pleasures of Sin for a season? And did not our Saviour for the Joy that was set before him, endure the across, despising shane, &c. And how can we be so concerned for the Welfare of Christ's Kingdom, but from those Heavenly Affections which will make us alike concerned to partake of the Rewards thereof? Nor ought any Regard to, or Desire after those Rewards which complete our Happiness and Persection, to be branded with the Character of selishness, that being proper only to denote earthly Affections: Though therefore those Primitive Sufferers might joy in their Successors being to obtain the Imperial Crown( if they then knew thereof) yet it could not be reckoned a Reward to them for their suffering unto death: But a joyful Prospect of their own Rewards might make th●m the more so affencted with what should befall their Successors.  
The Dr. strangely proceeds, If the Crown of Life, and not being hurt of the Second Death, Explained each other, &c. it would be a needless Tautology; so that, to explain one thing by another, is Tautological with him: But the taking this Verse in this Sense, does make it much better cohere with the preceding Verse, and the whole Epistle, particularly with our Saviours Saying in the Preamble of it, That he was dead, and is alive; which, as in the other Epistles, respects what follows, &c. Also, being that[ be you saithful unto Death] is plainly to be taken in a Natural Sense, the Promise of the Crown of Life, must by Antithesis, be taken in the same Sense: Whereas therefore the Dr. fancieth a double Promise here, they both fa●l, in his Sense of them, and the one Promise, which is the plain Natural Sense of the Text, is so sufficient, as to need no other. And as to the Distinction, which he adds, between a Promise or threatening, before the Epiphonema and the same after it, he hath left out of my Remark, that which would have sufficed for Answer thereunto, viz. The Distinction between Promises preceding and following the Epiphonema, is to be understood of the Conclusive Promise to every Epistle, and so signifies nothing here; the Promise before the Epiphonema, being not the Conclusive Promise of this Epistle. This part of my Remark the Dr. hath omitted, though it be so full a Reply to the last part of his Answer: And though he applies the Distinction to threatenings as well as Promises, yet it concerns only Consolatory Promises made to the Overcomers; for such are all the conclusive Promises, &c. Nor can it be applied to any other part of the Epistle; for no other part does sometimes precede, and sometimes follow the Epiphonema, but the Conclusive Promise, which in the Three first Epistles, follows the Epiphonema, and so being Disjoined by it from the Body of the Epistles, signifies that the Promises concern things of the separate State or other Life: But in the Four last Epistles, it precedes the Epiphonema, and so being joined to the Epistles, signifies its concerning things of this Life.  
The Dr. does here a little recede from his Exposition, in making the Sufferings of Antipas, chiefly to respect those who were Martyred by the Church of Rome, under the Popes, which before he applied only to them. As to his making this Interval certainly to end with the War against the Waldenses, and referring us for Assurance thereof, to his Exposition of the Seven Epistles, &c. there's no satisfaction there, worth having Recourse to herein; but see more of the Period of this Interval, Ver. 18.  
The Dr. thinks my Confidence here strange, but shows his own to be wonderful. In the Words, I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them, &c. he makes[ thee] and[ them] sufficient Notes of Diversification, that they are spoken of opposite Parties, the one of Christ's Church, the other of Her Adversaries; whenas[ them] does plainly signify those in the Church, who hold the Doctrine of Balaam and the Nicholaitans, to fight against whom with the Sword of his Mouth Christ threatens to come; and[ I will come unto thee quickly] would not be sense, unless so made out by the following Words; for else there's nothing expressed for which Christ would come unto the Church. To what the Dr. adds of the political Prediction, preceding the Epiphonema, he hath his Answer before Verse 11.  
The Dr. taxeth me here with Humour and Wantonness, for contradicting him, without giving any Reason for it, whereas he says little for his Assertion, but that it's undoubtedly so, &c. though there's little Doubt of its being otherwise: I say therefore, That Satans Seat does primarily respect his Heavenly Station, or the State of his Authority and Power; and but Secondarily, Rome, as being the Imperial City where the same is exercised; and the Pergamenian Church dwelling where Satans Seat is, signifies its exalted State, by the Emperours embracing the Christian Profession, whereby Christ's Authority was then allowed of as well as the Devils; and so it respects the Interval, from the Emperour's first professing Christianity, till the Devil was cast out unto the Earth; by the War in Heaven, which succeeded the Man-Childs being caught up unto God, and his Throne, &c. and also till the Pagan Government, under the Sixth Head, became dissolved by the deadly Wound by a Sword, &c. so that this Interval seems to end at the expiring of the Western Emperours by the Third Trumpet, or may take in the Fourth Trumpet also, till which, the Pagan Government of Rome was not fully dissolved: And when the Devil was so cast out from his Heavenly Station of Power, which he did before possess, or was seated in, though the Pergamenian Church continued the same State or Station, yet she continued not to dwell where Satan's Se●t is, he being cast down from thence; which Fall of him, and abolishing thereon the Pagan Government,( to which, that of our Saviour alludes, I beholded Satan as Lightning falling from Heaven) gave that Advance to Christ's Kingdom in the World, by establishing his Authority to Rule, and so him to be Head of all Principalities and Powers, &c. as made way for the Thyatirian Interval: Thus Pergamus and Thyatira will( as in all the rest of the Epistles) signify the State of the Churches written to, and not the See of Rome, by reason of their being within her Jurisdiction: Also, the Pergamenian Interval began long before that See gained such Jurisdiction, even when other Bishops( viz. of Alexandria, Antioch, &c.) pretended to as much Authority, as the Bishop of Rome. I suppose therefore, that Antipas( which signifies against every one) does denote all such faithful Adherers unto Christ, as did strive unto death, for upholding his Authority, and Laws of Truth, against all professed Opposers, or otherwise Subverters of the same, at that time when there was not only such War in Heaven contesting His and the Devils Authority, but also such combustion among Christian Professors, through their fierce contentions, &c. as did almost ruin their Religion; though the sense of it given in Remark ver. 13. seems chiefly intended, which takes in all Prelacy, as well as the Pope, Then as to Thyatira, its signifying a Daughter, being, that is, a damsel of any age; How can prophetic Style limit it, as the Dr. says, to a damsel in her flourishing Age? For that Style cannot change the signification of Words( which would make them unintelligible) but only use them in a figurative sense, as Orators and Poets do.  
He proceeds next to a perverting what I say, supposing me to say, That Christ's true Church gained the Ascendent over the worldly Powers, upon the expulsion of the Goths, &c. Whenas I only say, That his Authority did begin then to do so, whereby the Usurper of it, as his Vicar, did gain such Rule in the World, and prevail so against the true Church. For whereas on the Emperors professing Christianity, though the Authority of Christ's Laws was thereby acknowledged; yet the obedience thereunto was obstructed, both by continuing of the Pagan Government, and the Potency of Pagans; those obstructions were now so removed as to leave little impediment to the obeying his Laws, save the Anti-Christian or blind corrupt worldly Spirit in the generality of the Professors of his Religion; which was so great as to make it easy for the Devil to play his Aftergame of restoring a Pagan State of Government and Worship, under a Christian Profession, by setting up a Pseudo-prophetick Usurper of Christ's Authority, who, wearing the Horns of the Lamb, but speaking with the voice of the Dragon, should by his impostures, long convert the Authority of Christ to the destroying of his Kingdom. The Dr. therefore, in charging me with making a rude Rush against manifest Truth, does make a rude Push against that Truth which he cannot repel. And as what he answers to this Remark, proves to so little purpose, so to a good part thereof, he is silent: Yet he does a little plunge me, in requiring History for my saying, That the Popes caused the exarches to remove their Seat to Ravenna, which I cannot produce, tho' I believe, I have red that Account of their settling there; and its likely enough, that the Popes were one cause at least of their doing so, to avoid Contest with those haughty Prelates, who were then beginning to exercise their usurped Authority, as Christ's Vicars, and also might eclipse them with their splendour, &c. But I using that saying, only as an instance of the Popes growing Power, which otherwise, is so manifest( particularly from that other more firm Instance in my Remark, viz. their expelling the exarches out of Italy) it matters not what becomes of it. But the rest of the Remark, though he fancieth it to be lax and lank, does hold firm against what he hath said against it.  
I speak nothing here of miraculous Diseases, 
Ver. 23.  nor apprehended any such meaning in Zach. 14. But as Solomon says, That a sound Heart is the Life of the Flesh, and Wisdom giveth Life to them that have it; so the Regenerate State of Believers, being a higher Communication of this Wisdom and Soundness of Heart, does thereby acquire a higher Participation of such Life and Power of Spirit( which is described by John in his Gospel, cap. 1. ver. 14. and in Epistle, cap. 1. ver. 1, 2. to have been so Illustrious in our Saviour, as even to enravish the beholders thereof) whereas apostasy, and Degenerating into wickedness, is attended with contrary effects; such as are not difficult to be discerned, and will be conspicuous to all in those times that Zachary speaks of; which effects, when judicially heightened, as is threatened in Zach. and here, must thereby become more notorious. And this befalling the Children of Jezebel, must needs prove a loss to her, rendering them more unfit for her service, but not make them more snug in her Bosom( as the Dr. says) they being that so much before, which made them ripe for such judgement. But such changes are not wrought in a sudden miraculous manner( as the Dr. fancieth to be meant in Zachary) but gradually, and insensibly, according to the orpinary workings of God, both in Natural and Spiritual Operations. The[ killing her Children with death] thus understood, does doubtless much better cohere with what follows, than the Dr's sense,( viz. killing them with natural death) though he will not see it. And his other exposition of killing them( viz. mortifying them by Conversion, &c.) I cannot make sense of it; for she and they, who commit Adultery with her, are threatened with great judgement, except they repent; but Conversion is no such judgement, but a Blessing; and to make it a judgement here, is to make them punished with Repentance for not repenting.  
The promise is to such over-comers who keep the works of Christ unto the end( viz. 
Ver. 26.  who overcome the World by holding fast unto the end, &c. for so overcoming does signify in all the Epistles, they being an account of the Militant State of the Church) which those to whom the Dr. applies it to, were far from doing, the generality of them continuing in a worldly State, after they had prevailed against the Pagano-Christians: So that it cannot be concluded, that they ceased from being Anti-Christian, by casting off those Anti-Christian Powers, but might continue to be such still, though in a refined worldly State. And the Ruling with a Rod of Iron, and breaking in Pieces, &c. are Expressions too high for what fell out at the Reformation, but does doubtless respect such Spiritual Victors, as Christ does own with such Power, as will answer those expressions, though the same may not be discernible to the World; and its a Promise of further extent, than this Epistle, in like manner, as I noted the Pergamenian State to reach through the succeeding Epistles. Also the generality of the People, as well as Rulers, being overcomers( according to the Dr's Sense) in the Reformed Nations, they must share also in Ruling over the Nations, &c. which how can it be, when they gained no Rule over Foreign Nations, and their own became almost all overcomers? So that, though the Dr. concludes, what can be more easy and clear? viz. than the sense he gives; yet there are in●uperable difficulties, and no clearness in it.  
This Morning Star here, 
Ver. 28.  does plainly not signify Christ himself, but some Spiritual Dispensation promised by him to the overcomers, &c. Such as seems signified, 2 Pet. 1.19. as noted in my Remark, but taken no notice of by the Dr. And whereas in the foregoing verses, there's such Power over the Nations promised to the overcomer; this seems to be an additional Promise, for the better qualifying him to exercise that Power. But what the Dr. means by making Christ to be understood here in a political sense, I apprehended not; he being not otherwise to be so understood, than as he does exert his Power in the overcomers, and qualify them for the exercise of it, according to the said Promises made them; and if the Dr. so understands him in a political sense, he vainly opposeth it to my sense, with which it consists and concurs. And as little sense appears to me in what he says of Christ's being called the Bright and Morning-Star, Apoc. 22.16. which he will have not spoken simply of his Person abstracting from his Kingdom on Earth, because he says before, I am the offspring of David, as Challenging his Right to the Kingdoms on Earth, &c. and this following the Millennial Reign, and relating thereto, the Dr. will have him therefore call himself, the Bright and Morning-Star, by reason of the great Lustre of that Reign. But he maims the Text to fit it for his purpose; for Christ calls himself the Root, as well as the offspring of David, and says before in the same Verse, I Jesus have sent my Angel to testify these Things in the Churches: By which, and ver. 7, 10, 18, 19. it appears, that his calling himself the Root and offspring of David, and Bright and Morning-Star, relates not to the description of the Millennial Reign, but to the whole Book of Prophecies, and is as if he had said, I am he that is God and Man; and thereby the Day-spring from on high, or Light of the World; and so am meet or worthy to open this Book of Prophecies, or receive the Revelation thereof; to communicate the same to the Churches. But the Dr. is so conceited of his dark confused account of the Text; as to say of it, Why should any one wink against so clear Light, and inviolable Coherence and Congruity of Things?   

CHAP. III.  
WHereas the Dr. says, 
Ver. 4.  That he was giving the Prophetical, not the Literal, Moral or Spiritual Sense of the Epistles; though he pretends to decline a Moral or Spiritual Sense of them; yet ver. 20, 21. he applies such a sense to the last Epistle, when he ought to have given a political sense. And when any Moral or Spiritual Promises are Prophesied of, Is not the expounding them accordingly the prophetical sense of such Promises, as much as if they were political? As to his solid Rule, &c. I say that the conclusive Promise( which only such Rule can concern, see cap. 2.11.) preceding the Epiphonema, and so being joined with the Epistle, signifies only, that it is to be fulfilled in this Life, be it Political or Moral, &c. and the Dr. in saying that it must signify politically, contradicts his Exposition of the Seventh Epistle. Besides, The Moral or Spiritual Sense here, may include in it also, a Political Sense; such walkers in white, becoming thereby Lights of the World, and so Instrumental to turn many to Righteousness, they must thereby obtain a considerable sway or powerful Interest, and so advance the enlargement of Christs Kingdom, &c. And what a strange forced Expounding of[ I will not blot his Name out of the Book of Life, &c.] does this Political Sense of the Dr. run him upon! viz. to make that saying signify a durable Seed of such to succeed in the Church, whenas its plainly a promise of Eternal Life( accordingly as the Book of Life does elsewhere signify) made to such who by walking in white become worthy of it, that being the reward of all who obtain Salvation in Christ Jesus. And doubtless the Succession of such a Seed, cannot( as said in the Remark) be the reward of such walkers in white, for their so doing, though it be matter of joy to them. For which saying, the Dr. makes the like perverse reflection on me as he did cap. 2.11. to which I have said enough there, to make the adding more here needless.  
Yet whereas he enforceth his reflection with saying, That what any part of the Church suffereth at present, if it make for the greater good of the Church for the future, they think themselves amply rewarded, &c. I say, That this is untrue, taken abstractly( according to the import of the Words) from the hopes they have of the proper rewards they shall receive for such sufferings. And though the benefit which will accrue to the Church by our sufferings, be a part of the happiness we hope for from them; yet how come we to have such a Sympathy with the Church, but by reason of our joynt-Interest with her, by being Members of the same body? Whereby greater peculiar rewards do attend us, by how much the more serviceable we are to her. So that, our concern for her welfare, does terminate in the happiness and rewards that accrue to us thereby. For as its the nature of Man, and all intelligent Beings, to desire and seek after their own good, so its consequently natural to them, to be affencted with all things as they find their happiness concerned in them. Which though it becomes selfishness and folly, when they mistake their true good, and become intent on the pursuit of false enjoyments; yet it s their perfection to be so affencted with all things as their true good or happiness is concerned in them. To the Dr's urging, that the benefit which the Church receives from our sufferings, must be a Reward to us, because its acknowledged to be matter of Joy to us; I say, That it can be no such peculiar Reward to us, as is promised to the overcomer in this, and all the Epistles; but is a common happiness resulting from the Sympathy between Members of the same Body. But though his exposition here proves so unsound, yet he concludes, That such Allegations as these against it, are mere affencted Cavils.  
The Dr. says here, 
Ver. 8.  That I forget that we are upon a Prophetical Sense, and writhe my fancy into a Moral or Spiritual Sense: As if such a Sense Prophesied of, were not a prophetic Sense. But my Moral or Spiritual Sense, is so far from disagreeing with a Political Sense which he contends for, that it includes the same as shewed before. For Christ's Kingdom being Spiritual, its to be advanced in the World by a Spiritual Power, according to my Sense given here; so that, its further from doing violence to the scope of the Holy Ghost, than the Dr's. Sense, which, though he calls it Political, is indeed, no other than Moral. For by[ little strength] he understands a little Army, and by that, the followers of the Rider on the White-Horse cap. 19. whom he makes to be Boanergeses, or thundering Preachers, &c. and so all the great Warlike description there of the Christian, and Anti-Christian-Party, preparing to the Battle of ther great Day, &c. is made to end in a conflict of those Preachers, with their Adversaries, and becoming Victorious over them by converting them ( so can he Fancy Quidli bet ex Quolibet); And what is this but a perverting the political sense of the prophesy( importing a real great War and Victory, &c.) into a moral sense of vanquishing Unbelievers by Preaching? But my sense of[ Little Strength] is confirmed by the next Words[ and hast kept my Word, and hast not denied my Name] which denotes the spiritual Conflict of the Church, and her Strength of Faith and Patience, in persevering therein, &c.  
The Dr. proceeding on his groundless Hypothesis of branching the seventh Trumpet into seven Thunders, will have the Philadelphian Interval to commence in the seventh Vial, and to reach to the fourth Thunder; which Consideration, he says, silemceth all my Reasoning against that Interval, its comprehending the Millennial Reign, and so lightly shifts off those weighty Reasons, which prove the whole Interval to be Militant, by making a small part of it( the seventh Vial) to be so; so that the same Epistle, which Represents but one State of the Church, must, according to him, signify States so different, as the Militant and Millennial State: But under the second Thunder, she obtains, he says, the Title of the City of God, viz. the New Jerusalem, &c. and then concludes, What can be more plain and express? And that Philadelphia must be New Jerusalem, as sure as Christ will keep Faith in his Promises; and so does presumptuously engage the Fidelity of Christ for a Fiction. But then having said, that the Philadelphian Interval reacheth to the fourth Thunder, and after, that it reacheth to the second Thunder inclusively; he next extends it throughout the Millennium to the end of the World: So that, though he would not allow of my second Remark on the Notes on C. 1. which shows, that the State of a preceding Interval, may reach through succeeding Intervals that are consistent therewith; yet he does much worse here, making not only the Philadelphian to reach through the Laodicean Interval, but also confounding them, by making them but one Interval of the Church: And the Reason for his so extending the Philadelphian Interval, is two Promises, which give no Countenance to his so doing, viz. 1. I will writ upon him my new Name, which, according to Grotius, he takes to be King of Kings and Lord of Lords; and hence thinks, that it must undoubtedly respect the Millennial Empire. 2. Him that overcometh I will make a Pillar in the Temple of my God, and he shall go no more out, &c. which he fancieth plainly to imply the Perpetuity of the Philadelphian Interval, to the end of the World. But whereas he applys these two Promises to the whole Philadelphian Church, they are plainly made only to such in her who Overcome, and so cannot concern the Continuance of that Church, but only the State of the Overcomers in her; whereby the Drs. Use of these Two Promises cometh to nothing, and therewith the Substance of what he says for placing this Interval within the Millennium.  
But though this Interval may not be placed within the Millennium, yet it may be reckoned as Porticus Millennii, in which many will attain to that eminent Christian State, and thereby to that Sway in the World, as to be those Overcomers, to whom the Philadelphian promises are made: For that City, which in the Millennium will be established in its Government of the World, will be long before coming down from Heaven, by its scattered members emerging in the World, and prevailing against the Powers thereof, till the Lambs Wife hath made her self ready for the Marriage Supper, C. 19.7. And then absolute Dominion is to be given unto her: But whereas the Dr. makes this Interval to reach to the end of the World, and only to vary in Modification and Denomination in the Laodicean Interval: What is this various Modification, but a New State of the Church, which begets a New Interval, and so forbids confounding them as the same? Or if it be still the Philadelphian Interval, Why should it receive a New Denomination? Yet the Dr. is so fully possessed with his empty Conceit, that he says, He must wilfully wink, or perversely shut his eyes, that sees not the Truth of it already; and that I seem to do so, in so violently resting the Signification of a Pillar in the Temple of God, which so naturally signifies Stability and Permanency, to signify great Rule and Authority, upon a dark private Notion of my own, C. 11.1. as if, says he, I was wiser than Christ, or knew his Meaning better than himself, who expounds this Pillar of Stability and Firmness, in saying, He shall go no more out; which yet yields no Colour for such a sense, but does plainly import,( as noted in Remark, &c.) a cessation from a Militant, by attaining to a Millennial state: But as to the signification of Pillar, I say, that it primarily or naturally signifies upholding or supporting,( which well agrees with the sense I apply to it); and but secondly, Stability or Permanency, because that Pillars are made so strong as to be durable. And as to those Passages which he says I shuffle off with a general Account, &c. and which he thinks that the plain natural signification of the Words of them, gives so much assurance of his sense of them; I say, that they better svit with my account of the Philadelphian Interval, than with his. For, how does the making of a Pillar in the Temple of God, agree with that state, of which it's said, I saw no Temple there? And what need will there be of writing the Name of GOD, and the Name of the City of GOD, and CHRIST's New Name on those( that is, of setting any Character upon them, to make them known, &c.) who by being Citizens of the New Jerusalem, in her Millennial Reign, will be beautified with such Glory, and invested with such Power, as to make them conspicuously known to all what they be? So that those passages do much better agree with such a Militant state of the Church, as I apply them to, than with that of the Millennium: Besides, whereas the Dr. does very forc'tly apply those Promises to all the Philadelphian Church, which I, according to the plain sense of the Text, make onely to respect such Persons in her who overcome: Herein my sense does far exceed his.  
To illustrate and enforce what I have said, I shall add, That the Temple of God in the Christian state, seems peculiar to the Militant state of the Church, and that from the time of the Commencement of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, by the Man-Childs being caught up unto God's Throne, and the Devil cast out, &c. Before which, as Christ had gained no Authority in the World;( of which see C. 21. Ver. 23.) so without that, to Authorize his Worship, there could be no Temple-Service, or settled Christian-Worship in the World, but both commenced together, at the Emperor's assuming the Christian Profession; for then the Temple of God was seen in Heaven, and in it the Ark of his Testament, &c. in which Temple the Witnesses worshipped, during the treading down of the Outer-Court, &c. But when the Powers that tread it down are destroyed, and it becomes the Tabernacle of GOD,( of which see C. 15. V. 5.) it's then united to the Inner-Court, and with it makes the New Jerusalem, &c. And the Kingdom of Heaven becoming then the Little Leaven that hath leavened the whole Lump, is no longer to be Represented by a Temple, as signifying its separate State in the World, from the prevailing Worldly Powers therein, but by a Glorious Holy City, to which all the Dominions of those Powers are become subject, and which is become the Tabernacle of GOD with Men, by His and the Lambs Throne being therein, whereby, instead of a Temple therein, the whole City becomes as a Temple, &c. By reason of which Holy State, and the Victory thereby gained over the World, to the abolishing the Powers thereof, the Church so ceasing to be signified by a Temple( as formerly in distinction from the World which she did Conflict with); this seems to be the Reason, why in Vision C. 4. C. 5. which Represents the Millennial State, there's no Mention of a Temple for the Abode of the Divine Presence, &c.  
The Dr. next endeavours to enforce his Exposition of this Epistle, by showing a Coherence between the preceding and following Epistles, in Respect of the Promises or threatenings of the one relating to the other: The Ephesm Interval does yield a little( and but a little) Colour to his Conceit: For in it the Church is threatened with removing her Candlestick out of its place, by which he would have the Smyrnean Persecution signified: But removing her Candlestick, importing only a dispersing or breaking her Church-State, cannot be well extended to bitter Persecutions, by Imprisonment and Death, &c. How groundless is his making the Promise in the Smyrnean Interval to relate to the next, I have shewed C. 2. V. 11. But finding not any such relating of the Pergamenian to the Thyatirian Interval, he tacks them both together, as Representing the Church in a suffering State, from which she is to be freed in the Sardian Interval; and by reason thereof, makes them both to relate to it, though he finds no Promises or threatenings in the First, whereon to ground the same; and what he finds in the Later, I have shewed, C. 2.26. how groundless it is. But then he will have the few Names, or few Excellent Persons in the Sardian Interval, to be a Seed( for want of a Promise relating to the succeeding Interval) of the better State of the Church to come, &c. And that State in the Philadelphian Interval, he makes so good as to be without Spot or Wrinkle, entirely Holy, &c. which cannot hold true, unless of those who overcome in the Philadelphian Church. Of the State of which Church I shall speak more after, and onely here note, That though in other Epistles, the Dr. does rightly apply the Conclusive Promise to those onely in the Church who overcome; yet in this Epistle, and that to the Church in Thyatira, he( to serve his present Turn) applys the said Promise to the whole Church. When he hath so Represented the Philadelphian State, as best agrees with making it the Millennial State, he demands of any man of any spark of judgement or Sagacity, what time this can be, but such as includes the New Jerusalem State? To which I have before Answered, satisfactorily I hope, to those of sufficient judgement and Sagacity, if not, to those that have but a spark thereof. And the Dr. seems to have little more than a spark of it, in that he can impute it to affencted Stupour, or strange invincible Prejudice in any that doubt of the Millennium Empire, its being included in the Philadelphian Interval.  
The Dr. who hath been so much for a Political Sense in the other Epistles, 
Ver. 20, 21.  does expound this in a Moral Sense, though it does more evidently bear a Political Sense than any of the rest; whereby he contradicts his own solid Rule,( as he calls it) viz. That the Success of the Church declared before the Epiphonema signifies politically, as well as he perverts Scripture; and so does evidence in himself the Truth of that Saying, which he Applys to me, viz. So sinuous and serpentine a thing is beloved falsehood. And many are his beloved Falshoods which depend upon his so perverting the Sense of this Epistle: For otherwise, the prophetic Sense of the Epistles must end at the Commencement of the Millennium, and so his Branching the seventh Trumpet into seven Thunders, must fail; and consequently must also his placing the Vials after the Beginning of the seventh Trumpet, and then the rising of the Witnesses cannot precede them: And then the Dr's. grand Assertion, for which his Credit lies so much at stake,( viz. That the Reformation is the rising of the Witnesses) comes to nothing. Therefore he being furnished by his Poetical Genius, with a notable Faculty in applying Moral and Mystical Senses, where never intended: No Wonder, That he strains his utmost Ability herein, on so needful an Occasion; But his Performance being so forced and artificial to serve a Turn, is too remote from the Scope of the Text to deserve Consideration.  
Yet one Passage of it seems pleasant, if not otherwise remarkable enough to be taken Notice of, viz. He says, That his Moral Sense is farther manifest from the saying, If any man hear my Voice, and open the door, I will come in and sup with him, and he with me, viz. says he, At his home, they will sup together there, which therefore is no Invitation of the Party abroad to supper. But does not this supping with him, in the Political Sense thereof, signify as great and greater Communion with Christ, than that of the Lord's Supper, to which the Dr. applys it? For that is but what the Christian Church had partaked of from the Beginning, but the Political Sense here, signifies what she shall obtain at her Perfection, when she shall be prepared as a Bride adorned for her Husband, to become that Holy City( the Lambs Wife) whereby to drink of the Waters of Life freely, and to be so enlightened with the Glory of God, and the Lamb, as to have no Night there, &c. So that, though the Sense here be Political, as it signifies Christ's Kingdom on Earth, yet withal, it's Spiritual in the highest degree, that being the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth, wherein Christ will Reign by a Spiritual Power: The Spiritual Communion therefore, which, according to the Dr. is signified by[ supping with him, viz. at his home] more agreeing with my Sense than with his; I understand not( nor I doubt does he) what he means by[ There's no Invitation of the Party abroad to Sup] as he speaks it in Opposition to the supping at home: But after a large Allegorizing the Text in his Moral Sense, to so little purpose, he hath a such Conceit of his Performance, as to conclude it a fond thing to apply here my Political Sense of the Marriage-Supper, &c.  
But he proceeds to my Interpreting[ to sit down on his Throne, &c.] in a political sense, which he would as confidently explode( it as nearly concerning him to do it) as he hath done the same sense in the preceding Verse. And the reason he offers for it is, That there's no mention of Conflicts and Persecutions, &c. in this Laodicean State, to which an Earthly Deliverance, Victory, and Dominion was promised in the Smyrnean( which how groundlessly said I, have shewed in that Epistle) Pergamenian and Thyatirian Intervals, nor any mention of the word Patience, &c. But though the Church, in this Interval, will not be exercised with such outward barbarous Persecutions as formerly( by reason of the low State of the Anti-Christian Powers will be then brought to, and the enlightened refined State the World will be improved to, through the increase of Knowledge, and prevailing of the risen Witness, &c.) yet she will be exercised with other Conflicts, more fatal to her spiritual Improvement( as they always proved to be) than cruel Persecutions, viz. The temptations and allurements of worldly prosperity, with which the deceiver will with all subtle Arts, endeavour then to corrupt her, and so to obstruct the advancement of Christ's Kingdom; and will be so successful therein, as to make her degenerate from the preceding Philadelphian, into the wretched Laodicean State.  
The Dr's Moral allegorizing this Verse, deserves in like manner to be passed over as the preceding Verse, it being alike forced for the same end, and remote from the scope of the Text. Yet whereas he says, That being the conflict the Laodiceans are exhorted to, is the subduing of their carnal Affections, and becoming renewed unto the Heavenly Image of Christ, which is the only method of attaining to the Heavenly Throne or Crown of Glory, its very unnatural to understand it of any other Throne. I say, That the same is as much the method of attaining to a Millennial Throne, the Rulers then being not capable of Exercising the Spiritual Dominion of those times, further than the advance of the work of Regeneration in them does qualify them thereunto. And whereas he also says, That as Christ, after he overcame sate down on his Fathers Throne; so he that overcomes shall sit down on a Throne or Seat in Heaven, &c. I say, That when the Kingdom of Heaven is come on Earth, by the Throne of God and the Lamb being in the New Jerusalem, then those Overcomers will sit down with him on Heavenly Thrones, tho' on Earth; and he sitting down so on his Fathers Throne, expecting till his enemies be made his Footstool ( being to Reign till he hath put down all Authority, all Enemies under his Feet) I understand not how that Promise to Overcomers, to sit down with him on his Throne, &c. will be fulfilled, unless they sit with him thereon to the same purpose, viz. to Reign with him on Earth, accordingly as he says, Luke 22.19. I appoint unto you a Kingdom, as my Father hath appointed to me, &c. And whereas the Dr. says farther, That according to me, Christ had not obtained a Millennial Throne in the Laodicean Interval, and therefore the Promise to the Overcomers, of like Thrones as he was sat down on, cannot be of Millennial Thrones: I say, That Christ then, and long before, was set down on the Throne of his Kingdom, which is at length to be Established on Earth, viz. when the Man-child was caught up unto Gods Throne, and the Devil cast out, &c. and that in the Millennium, the Overcomers will be seated with him here( by his Throne being in them) on like Thrones to what he was seated on long before, though not in that plenitude of Power he shall Reign with, when he hath put all Enemies under his Feet.  
The Dr's. saying, That he hath plainly demonstrated before, that the Millennium is comprised in the Philadelphian Interval, &c. proves by what I have said, to be a vain boast. But whereas he asks, That when the State of the Church is divided into so many Successions, &c. Why should the Millennium be omitted? And thinks it would be a great defect in the Spirit of prophesy, if it were so; I say, That it would be a great incongruity, if it were otherwise. For its agreed, that all the Seven Epistles, according to their Literal Sense, respect the Militant State of the Church, and that five of them do so according to their Prophetical Sense; and therefore it would be very strange, that the two last should not also do the same, but that they( in this so homogeneal a prophesy of the Seven Churches) should represent a State of the Church, so different from the prophetic Sense of the other five, and from the Literal Sense of all the Seven, as the Millennial is from the Militant State of the Church: Nay, that the same Philadelphian Interval, should( as the Dr. makes it to do) respect partly the Militant, and partly the Millennial State. Also the conclusive Promise in the two last Epistles being, as in the rest, to him that overcometh, shows that they also respect a Militant State of the Church, in like conflict with the World, &c. As also does that saying [ I know thy works] which begins these two, as well as the other Epistles. Nor can there be any defect in this Vision, its not including the Millennium, because that time is so fully described in its proper place, as not to need, nor be capable of receiving any addition or illustration from this Vision: Nor do the two last Epistles( as I have shewed) so agree with the Millennium, that they can relate to it. But this Vision of the Seven Churches, and that of the Sealed-Book, and also that of the Opened-Book prophesy, so far as it syncronizeth with the Militant State of the Church, do all terminate in the Millennium as the scope of them. Hence is that suspension of the sounding of the Seventh Trumpet, to connect the Affairs of the Sealed and Opened-Book-Prophecy, cap 11.14. &c. And hence at the end of the Vials the prophesy breaks off from entering into the Millennial-times, till it hath first completed what concerns its Predictions which syncronize with the Militant State of the Church, and therefore spends cap. 17. and 18. in a more exact description of the Anti-Christian Powers, viz. of the Ten-Horned-Beast rid by the great Whore, and in pronouncing judgement against her, &c. And a considerable further confirmation of this Vision, its terminating in the beginning of the Millennium, is the Representing the Seven Churches by Candlesticks, and their Governours by Stars, which signify their being in a be-nighted Condition by the Powers of darkness then Ruling. Also Christ's walking in the midst of the Golden Candlesticks, and holding the Stars in his Right Hand, imports only such a watchful Providence as is suitable to the Militant State of the Church, whereas the Description of her Millennial State is of a much higher Nature, Her Rulers being signified by Twenty-Four Elders sitting on Thrones in Kingly and Priestly Habits, &c. and the whole Body of the Church, by Four Beasts upon the Throne, and altogether, by New Jerusalem having the Throne of God and the Lamb therein.  
The Dr. ventures to give some Answer to my Reasons in this Epistle, for its prophetic Sense not reaching within the Millennial Times, though he did not so in the preceding Epistle, but( as before is noted) lightly shifts them off, &c. My first Reason( viz. Because Christ invites the Laodiceans to the Marriage-Supper, &c. and promiseth the Overcomer, that he shall sit down with him on his Throne, &c. which are indeed Two weighty Reasons, which he makes but One) he saith he hath Answered, but how weakly, I have shewed: And what Scriptures he produceth here in his Behalf, he misinterprets, by limiting them to the second Resurrection; whenas they are meant of the whole Day of judgement, comprehending both Resurrections: For our Saviour's promising his Disciples a Kingdom, to sit with him on Thrones, Judging the Twelve Tribes of Israel, must doubtless, mainly respect the Millennial Reign, the Dominions whereof are by an Israelism, called the Twelve Tribes: Nor is the sentemcing of the Damned any such happy privilege, or delightful Employment, as to bear the appropriating to it such Promises. To what he makes my Second Reason, viz. That there's no Account given, that the Millennial State should ever degenerate into the Laodicean, &c. He says he hath demonstrated, That the Philadelphian Interval includes the Millennial Reign, and so the Laodicean must succeed: But I have shewed the Nullity of his Demonstration; and whereas he would make the Change of Affairs on the losing of Satan to be an Account of the degenerating of the Church, &c. It's a mere forced Conceit that hath no Countenance from the Text: but more of this in his Answer to my Third Reason: As to his saying further, That his Hypothesis is more agreeable to the Justice of God, than that he should Loose the Devil to raise Storms against the Church, no Man knows why: I say, That those Storms are not raised to bring any Evil upon the Church which prevail against her,( and therefore proceed not from any Displeasure at her) but to give a more proper Occasion for GOD to execute judgement against her Enemies, and that in such manner, as to svit with the then approaching final judgement.  
To my Third Reason, viz. That it's unconceivable, that the Millennial State should so degenerate, when all Occasions of Evil are removed, and the Devil onely to be let loose upon the Nations, &c. He says, That nothing in the State of Mortality can be firm and durable, and that the Angels fell from their Station, though they had no Tempter from without, &c. To which I say, That those who are kept by the Power of GOD through Faith unto Salvation, are capable of a firm and durable State here: Hence our Saviour teacheth us to become perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect, and assures us of all things becoming possible unto us according to our Faith: And John says, He that is born of GOD, sinneth not, for his Seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of GOD; And again, He that is begotten of GOD, keepeth himself, and the Wicked One toucheth him not. Much easier therefore may he so keep himself in the Millennial State, when he shall be free from the Assaults of the Wicked One, who will then be bound, &c. So that though mens natural States be inferior to Angels, yet through Faith in Christ Jesus, which enables to overcome the World, and hath so great Promises made unto it, we are capable of a more firm State than those Angels that fell; but all of them are not to be supposed in such danger of falling: Wherefore since so great is the Power and Riches of the Grace of God, given us in Christ Jesus, and since the same will be so largely and fully communicated to the Saints in the Millennium State,( when also the Occasions and Temptations to Evil shall be so removed) How is it imaginable, that they should then so degenerate? Especially, it being a Time which GOD hath set apart for exalting and glorifying himself in the World, by taking to himself his great Power and Reigning, and enlightening the Earth with the Glorious Lustre of the New Jerusalem, That he may judge the World in Righteousness, and minister judgement to the People in Equity, and make it a Time of Jubilee to the whole Creation, which hath long groaned and traveled in Pain, under the Bondage of Corruption, with earnest expectation, waiting for the Manifestation of the Sons of GOD, which will then be. How therefore can he so slain his own Glory, by suffering such a degenerating in such a Time? As if the Power and Riches of his Grace so abundantly communicated, were not able to withhold men from falling in such a Time, when they shall be so free from Temptations to conflict with. And farther, how strange is it, that such a Change should befall the New Jerusalem at the end of the Millennium, when it's so near translating thither from whence it descended, and therefore, in order thereunto, should rather grow more refined than degenerate, &c.  
Whereas the Dr. calls it a Precarious Surmise to think that the Devil, when loosed, can act only on the Nations not in Communion with the Church, &c. I say, That if the Church be in such a State of Grace,( as doubtless she will then be) that he can by no Deceits prevail against her( and consequently, not against the Nations subject to her); he must act onely then upon Foreign Nations: And that they are onely such which he acts upon, is manifest from their being called Gog and Magog, and gathered from the Four Quarters of the Earth, C. 20.8.9. And whereas the Dr. calls it a rash Presumption, to suppose that the Nations which walk in the Light of the New Jerusalem, are not Converts to the Christian Faith, forasmuch as they are said to be saved: I say, That by[ saved] is not meant Salvation, or escaping Damnation at the Day of judgement( for that will not hold true of the Nations subject to the New Jerusalem) but that they are saved or preserved from the Destruction which befalls the Anti-Christian Powers, and the Adherers to them, at the Battle of the Great Day, &c. of which see C. 21. V. 24. and C. 22. V. 2. And the Acclamations of the Kingdoms of the World, becoming the Kingdoms of our Lord, &c. respects such Kingdoms as become Subjects of the New Jerusalem,( of which see C. 20. V. 8.) though in a larger Sense it may have Regard also to other Nations, who will then do Homage to it. The Dr. does at length with strange Confidence conclude, That there's not the least Shadow of Reason, but that the prophesy of the seven Churches does reach to the End of the World: Whenas, on due Consideration, there will hardly be found a Shadow of Reason for it; and as groundless is his extending the Sealed-Book prophesy, so far also.  
I having not yet spoken any thing of the times of the Intervals Typified by the three last Epistles, shall here propose some Conjecture of them. The Sardian Interval seems likeliest to begin when God began to Execute judgement on his Enemies( for their great Persecution and War against the Saints in the Thyatirian Interval) by pouring forth the Vials, &c. which seems to be that casting into a Bed, and great Tribulation threatened against Jezebel, &c. But whereas, if the Vials be taken to begin with the Bohemian War, on the Martyring of J. Hus, &c.( as I agree with Mr. meed that they do) then to begin the Sardian Interval from thence, seems not to agree with that Church being free from such as allowed or suffered those Idolatrous Corruptions, signified in the two preceding Epistles by things offered to Idols, &c. I say, That though there was no Nations or Principalities, till the Reformation, that cast off those Corruptions( that is, no worldly Powers that sided with the Church in her Zeal against them) yet in the Bohemian War there was a great Zeal expressed against them, by severe Prosecuting the Priests& Religious Orders, and harassing the Idolatrous Temples, and Religious Houses, &c. and the like Zeal continued after, among the scattered People of God, separated from Rome before the Reformation, though it could not till then be so manifested, &c. But in the times of the two former Intervals, there was in the Church of God, it seems a defect of such Zeal, and also worse, viz. Some therein were tainted with those Corruptions, through the terror of Cruelties awing them, and bewitching deceits imposing on them: And as in the two former Intervals, the Church of Christ was so linked to, and enthralled with the Anti-Christian party( like the Tares and the Wheat growing together) as not only to fail of a due Zeal against the Idolatrys and Corruptions of that Party, but some of them to become tainted therewith; so in this Interval, she becomes linked with a Party of more refined Profession; yet of little less Anti-Christian Spirit. Whereby, though she becomes freed from those Corruptions which she could not keep her self clear from in the two former Intervals, yet being by the Policy and Power of worldly Rulers entangled still in Communion with those who are of the World, exercising indeed a more specious Form of Godliness, but without the Power of it, she by this Thraldom becomes depressed into that low lifeless State, the Sardian Church is described to be in.  
But the Philadelphian Interval, is an emerging of her into an higher State, to the freeing her from the Thraldom she was before held under; Christian Love growing then so prevalent, as to make all true Christians, of whatever Party or persuasion, to enter into the Friendly Communion of Christian Brethren, and not to continue divided by Contentions about Opinions, or to be linked to different Parties by the influence of worldly Interest, or thraldom of worldly Powers. Which Christian Union of them, becomes accompanied with that Power of the Spirit of Life in them, as to raise them into a State of true Christian Liberty, above the Power of all Politick-bands to enthrall them, or the influence of worldly Interest to divide them; and so to produce that State which is the Rising of the Witnesses: And such times we seem fallen into. And this Interval being a State of such Christian Union into Brotherlykindness, is an Evidence that it does not concern the Millennial Times, when to this Brotherly-kindness shall be added Charity, which is the Summity of Peters Gradation, and which Paul calls the Bond of Perfectness. And then will the little Leaven have leavened the whole Lump, when that which is the Perfection of a Christian, becomes the prevailing and absolute Ruling Spirit in the World, and thereby ministering such Blessings to it, as to fulfil the great Joy to all People foretold at our Saviours Birth. But this Exaltation of the Church which the Philadelphian State does introduce, will so advance it in outward happiness, as to have an evil influence on it( accordingly as worldly Prosperity was always noted to be more mischievous to true Religion, than Persecution) to the making its Christian Zeal and Love to degenerate into the wretched luke-warm Laodicean State. But Christ having then made such Progress in his Victory over the Anti-Christian Powers, as almost to have accomplished the same in the Establishing of his Kingdom on Earth, he will not suffer it to be interrupted by such back-slidings of his Church, and therefore will put a short Period to this Interval of it; wherefore he says in the preceding Interval, Behold I come quickly, hold fast that thou hast, let no man take thy Crown.   

CHAP. IV.  
It's strange that the Dr. should deny here God to be Represented on his Throne of Judicature; whenas this and the next Chapter are a Preface or Introduction to the ensuing Prophecies, showing the scope of them, viz. That they are to give an Account of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth in the Millennium, and in Order thereunto, of the Affairs of the Church in her Militant State, advancing to her Triumphant State on Earth, in which the succeeding Prophecies, and the preceding prophesy of the Epistles, as aforesaid, do terminate as the scope of them. Hence therefore God is Represented here on his Throne of Judicature, surrounded with the Elders in Kingly and Priestly Habit, &c. signifying his Reign then by his Saints to Judge the World in Righteousness, &c.( and the Dr. agrees that those Elders typify the Millennial Rulers, though with an untoward an Account who they be.) And hence the Lamb receives with such Solemnity, a Book of prophesy of those Times; and thereon the Four Beasts, and Twenty Four Elders fall down before him, cap. 5. singing a Song of Joy and Praise for his being worthy to open the Book by his Death, whereby he redeemed them, and made them Kings and Priests to Reign on the Earth; so that this Vision does peculiarly represent the Millennial Kingdom, and will not admit of such a general Signification as the Dr. applies to it. And the Doxology, ver. 11. does plainly respect the Millennial Reign, and so not makes for, but against him. As to his Fiery read Sardius-Stone, so long as it will serve to symbolise Justice( which is the use of the ston here) as well as the dead read, he may take his choice.  
The Dr. does here strangely pervert my meaning, and then cries, What wonderful weak arguing is this? I do not argue, that because Kings are Redeemed by the Blood of Christ, &c. therefore they are no more Kings than the People that are so redeemed, but because they who join together in Thanksgiving, for being Redeemed, do it also for being made Kings and Priests, &c. therefore the later must be of as large Extent as the former, viz. Concern all the Citizens of the New Jerusalem, though the Dr. would appropriate the same to his Monarchs. He next makes me to take away all Subordination of Ranks and Degrees, &c. whenas I say nothing to that purpose. The Elders( as I elsewhere say) are Spiritual Rulers over them, signified by the Beasts, but both Elders and Beasts being Citizens of the New Jerusalem, are Rulers over the World within the Extent of Christ's Kingdom,( according to that Saying, Psal. 45. Instead of thy Fathers shall be thy Children, whom thou mayest make Princes in all the Earth) and therefore join together in Thanksgiving for being made Kings and Priests to Reign on the Earth, C. 5.10. But then says the Dr. Why are they not all crwoned? Which is as if he should say, Because Magistrates are Rulers with the Prince over the People, Why are not They crwoned as well as He? Then next, How strangely does the Dr. stumble at what I mean by worldly Princes! He knows well enough, by what I say elsewhere, That I mean none of his Surmises,( and could not mean the Second, for his Reason against it) but understand by worldly Princes, those who Rule by worldly Power, viz. That Power by which all such Princes do, and ever did Rule under the Prince of this World: And surely the Dr. cannot admit of such Princes in the Millennial State, What other therefore can he imagine, but such Princes and Rulers as Christ hath made Kings and Priests, to Rule with him by his Spiritual Power, viz. The Throne of God, and the Lamb in them. And all the Citizens of the New Jerusalem being such, What a strange Imagination is it, to appropriate the Ruling then, to single Rulers of Nations, & c!  
Though the Dr. thinks that Exod. 19.6. is questionless, here alluded to, yet it's but a Groundless Conceit; for Moses telling the Israelites, That they should be a Kingdom of Priests, is but what he more plainly expresseth in the next Words, viz. A Holy Nation; or if more be signified by it, it seems to be, That by keeping God's Covenant, they should all have the privilege of approaching his Altar, and officiating for themselves as Priests, &c. but nothing of Reigning is signified there, as is here. The Dr. runs on upon his False Supposition, That I take away the Subordination of Ranks and Degrees, till at length he comes to an Opinion of some rabbis, viz. That the Reign of the Messiah alters not the Course of Nature, but sanctifies it. Those rabbis were, as well as the Dr. full of fanciful Conjectures, about things they understood not; but from them, in this Matter, no better could be expected, though it might be from the Dr. I saw, says John, C. 21.1. A New Heaven and a New Earth, for the First Heaven and Earth was passed away; and V. 4. The former things are passed away; and Behold, I make all things new. Which Expressions, surely are of greater Import, than to signify only a Sanctifying of Nature, without altering the Course of it. There's a great Difference between a Sanctification of the Fleshly Nature,( which a legal Judaical State is capable of) and Regeneration of a New Nature, or Divine Life( whereby we cease to be of the World, and enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, becoming Members thereof); and so there is between a Righteous Reforming Government, according to a Legal worldly State, and making an absolute Revolution, therein, by forming a New State of Government, wherein Rulers shall act from a Spiritual Life, guiding and enabling them to act according to the Righteous Judgments of Truth, whereby the Throne of God becomes set up in them, the Habitation of which, is Justice and judgement; whereas therefore, the Dr. thinks my Exposition of Prophecies to be unnatural, and to cast a Mist before Mens Eyes, he shows what a Mist is before his own Eyes, and a veil upon his Heart, whereby he is unable to look through the present worldly State of things, that is to be abolished, to behold the Heavenly State that is to succeed, He cannot see the King in his Beauty, and behold the Land that is far off( but not far off now) and look upon Zion the City of our Solemnities, &c. Esay, 33. V. 17, 20.  
The Dr. brings an axiom here to obscure a plain Truth, which needs none to illustrate it: He says, Why may not the Laver of Regeneration signify those who are Regenerated? for, qualis Causa, talis Effectus. He might as well have said, Why may not God signify any Creature, they being related as Cause and Effect? But the Laver here being, as he agrees, the Laver of Regeneration, it must consequently, signify that which does regenerate, else it would not be such a Symbolical Laver: And what does he mean by saying, That I turn the Font into a Looking-Glass? The Account which I give of what is signified here by the Laver of Regeneration, is far different from the outward Washing of Baptism. To take that for Regeneration, is a piece of Orthodoxality, suitable to such who uphold a Form of Godliness without the Power of it: And as to his mentioning, That Sea signifies a Multitude, surely he does not mean that the Sea, or Laver, before the Altar,( which is here alluded to) does signify so: He reiterates much to the same Sense as before, and would make me contradict myself; because the Laver Representing Christ who regenerates, does also represent them regenerated into his Image: But it does not simply represent him, but under that Relation to Believers, whereby he is their Spiritual Father, and then surely cannot represent his Spiritual Off-spring too, unless the Power of Regenerating may be ascribed to the Regenerate.   

CHAP. V.  
THe Dr. here takes Notice of some Childish Conceits, as he truly calls them, wherein I am not concerned, viz. That the Book seen by John, was written with all the Words contained in the Apocalypse, and that the Matter being not able to be contained in the In-side of the Rolled-Book, the rest was written without, &c. But my Sense, That the Writing within and without, signifies Two Series of Prophecies, viz. Of the Sealed and Opened-Book, seems very plain to me; because, that as soon as our Saviour finished the Sealed-Book-Prophecy, by opening the Seals, he then( though in another Representation of him) begins the Opened-Book-Prophecy with an Opened-Book in his Hand: And the Dr. does concur with this Sense, in his Preface to his Exposition, P. 7. saying, What was contained in the Opened-Book, lay open by virtue of the breaking of the Seals: But as to his different Sense here, which he fancies to be useful and weighty, to discover the Vanity and Madness of those Interpreters who confounded the Symbolical with the Real or Prophetical Sense; he by calling the confounding of those Two Senses Vanity and Madness, does agree, that no sensible Man can do it,( as indeed he cannot; for many of the Symbols would be Monstrous, abstracted from the prophetic Sense typified by them) and then, What an useful weighty Discovery is this of a Truth, which none in his Wits can deny! Then the Dr. would make my Sense little better than those which he so rightly censures, and asks, To what Purpose is this Intimation of it? He might as well have asked, To what Purpose was the first Series of Prophecies signified by the Sealed, and the last by the Opened-Book? For that being so, and the Sealed-Book written within and without, What can be more congruous, than to suppose the Opened-Book in the same hand, to be the same Book; and the Writing without to signify the first; and that within, the other Series? Yet there's a further Account to be given thereof, viz. That the Sealed-Book-Prophecy, or Writing without, concerns the Progress of Christ's Victory against the external Powers of the World,( in order to the Advancement of his Kingdom) which is gained by the Ministers of his Wrath and Vengeance sent against them; And the Opened-Book-Prophecy, or Writing within, signifies the Affairs of the Church, first in her Militant State with the Anti-Christian Powers, and then in her Millennial Triumphant State, which being Matters of Spiritual or Internal Concern, are aptly signified by the Writing within, &c. The Dr. concludes with saying, That it's an Hysteron-Proteron, to writ that which is last in the inside, contrary to the Mode of Opisthographal Writings: But what ever is the Mode of those Writings, the Sealed-Book-Prophecy ought to be written without, both by reason of the signification thereof now given, and also because it would thereby be first come at, as it was first to be prophesied of, &c. and that Mode is of no Regard here, where the out-side Writing is no Continuance of that written within.  
Twenty Beasts standing round about the Throne in a continued circled, would be a very different Case from Four Beasts standing about it, viz. One on every side; for it's but a harsh Expression to say, That Four Beasts so placed, stand round about the Throne; and much more is it to say, That the Lamb standing between the Throne and one of them, stands between it and them all: So that this is no slight Exception, though the Dr. makes so light of it, as to call it so. 
See Ans. to the Dr's 8th. Consid. on my Rem on Vis. 2d. of Dan. Ver. 9.  Then he says, If the Beasts be upon the Throne, as I would have them, they are unmannerly Beasts,( so prove is he, ludere cum Sanctis); but surely it's more ill Manners to place the Lamb besides the Throne, than them upon it. I shall not question but that the Seraphims, Esai. 6. are upon the Throne, according to our Translation, notwithstanding what Criticisms the Dr. brings to the contrary. And the Beast that gives the seven Vials, gives what he must first receive; and if he were besides the Throne, he would have been in a bad Posture to receive them from him that sat upon it; and so would also the Lamb, to receive the Book from him, &c.   

CHAP. VI.  
THE scope of the Sealed-book-Prophecy, is not to set forth the spiritual warfare of the Church( that being done in the prophesy of the Epistles and Opened-Book) but Christ's progress in Victory over the Powers of the World, by taking Vengeance on them for their enmity against him, and withstanding the coming of his Kingdom. And the Jews being the first to whom the Gospel of his Kingdom was Preached, and so the first that rejected him, and refused to have him Reign over them, the first Vengeance is taken on them; which is here signified by conquering( nor is there any reason to make the Vision to begin higher, that being the first notable transaction which falls within the Vision of the Sealed book) and when the Roman Empire had filled up the measure of their Iniquity in doing the same, the like vengeance was taken on them( and is to continue till the ruin of the Revived-head, &c.) which is signified by[ to conquer.] Nor will the representation of our Saviour here admit of any other than such a political Signification; for I agree him to be Rider here, and Vespasian and Titus not to be concerned further than as his Agents, &c. And however the aim of the War was, as the Dr. says, to turn the Empire Christian, yet that was to be by destroying the obdurate Enemies of the Gospel, so that the immediate end of it is Political. And whereas the Dr. says, That Christ was so far from being in a conquering Condition under the Trumpets, that his great Enemies Mahomet, and Anti-Christ had in a manner over-run his Kingdom; I say, That as the Barbarous Nations were the Ministers of his Vengeance against the Roman Empire, so was Mahomet against the Anti-Christian Powers; and as to his end designed, he was greatly Victorious by them both. My Sense of this Verse, is confirmed by Zach. 14.2, 3. where the Riders Conquering here is signified by his gathering all Nations to Battle against Jerusalem, &c. and his[ to Conquer] by his going forth to fight against those Nations, &c.  
If[ Fourth Part] be used here instead of[ Third Part] used elsewhere, Why may not the one be taken Symbolically as well as the other? And the variation is perhaps to signify, That neither is to be taken Literally but Symbolically; and an occasion of this variation is taken from this being the Fourth Seal, notified by the Fourth Beast, and fore-telling Four Judgments, viz. The Sword, Hunger, Death, and Beasts of the Earth.  
I may as well deliver my Sense without Proof as the Dr. does his; yet I shall add reason for it, viz. To apply Sun immediately to the Draconick Majesty, is besides the scope of this series of Prophecies, the subject whereof is the visible Powers of the World; and also besides the sense in which it s elsewhere Symbolically used, viz. in the Fourth Trumpet and Fourth Vial, &c. whereas my sense does agree therewith. The inference therefore of two Moons from my Remark is groundless; for whatever Authority the Secular Magistrate and Priesthood derives from the Draconick Majesty, the prophesy speaks of them according to what they appear to the World to exercise, which is little acquainted with the derivation of it; and the Secular Power being evidently, in the eye of the World, the greatest Authority; its rightly signified by the Sun, and the Sacerdotal Power being derivative from it, and supported by it, as rightly by the Moon.  
Certainly, when the Heavens signify the Government and Powers that Rule, the dissolution of the Heavens must comprehend the dissolution of the Magistracy, which is the Chief of those Powers. And was not the Pagan Magistracy accordingly dissolved, when the Man-child was caught up unto God and his Throne to Rule, and the Devil cast out by the War in Heaven, &c. And when the remaining politic State of the Pagan Magistracy was destroyed by the deadly wound, by a Sword, viz. the Incursion of the Barbarous Nations, which extinguished the Western Empire. And this surely was a more likely cause of so great Consternation of the Kings and Captains, &c. than what the Dr. assigns,( viz. the ruin of the Pagan Religion) and does better agree with those general Words of the Text, comprehending them all; whereas the Dr's sense extends but a few of them, comparatively. And the Consternation being at the Great Day of the Wrath of the Lamb, being come or commenced, bears a prospect of all his future success against the worldly Powers, till they be put under his Feet.   

CHAP. VII.  
THE Dr. Notes in his Exposition here, 
Introduction.  the First Six Trumpets as a peculiar space of Time wherein Vengeance was to be taken on the Roman Empire by the Incursion of the Barbarous Nations, for the persecuting of the Primitive-Christians; and if he mean not all the Six Trumpets to be such a Vengeance( as he intimates here) Why did he so express them to be a peculiar space of time for that purpose? And the Vengeance of the Four First Trumpets destroying the Beast that had so offended, there's no reason to impute what befell the New revived Beast, to the offences of the former Beast; especially, he having offences of his own as much deserving Vengeance as the former. The Dr. chargeth me with two further mistakes. First, he says, That its contrary to his Hypothesis, that the Church was Symmetral about the commencement of the Trumpets, though it deserves to be reckoned Symmetral than as much as in the times of the preceding Christian Emperors; but indeed does not deserve to be reckoned so in any time of them; of which, see cap. 11. ver. 1. and cap. 13. ver. 14. The Second mistake he Notes, is my thinking it unreasonable, that God should punish the Empire in so regular Condition, for its former irregularities; the doing whereof he would( out of Mr. meed) prove reasonable, from Gods punishing the Jews for Manasses sins, notwithstanding Josiahs Reformation. But God had such a regard to Josias good deeds, that he would not bring the evil in his time, and if what he so well begun had been continued by other Princes, God would doubtless have had the same regard to them, he not bringing the evils threatened, till Josias Sons fell into Manasses Transgressions. As to the Dr's saying, That the Marked or Sealed Company were safe, he will not surely, in a State of the Church hardly inferior to part of his Symmetral State of it, exclude the Chief Rulers or Magistrates therein, from being of the Number of the Sealed; and yet on them Vengeance is taken by the Four First Trumpets. But as to my making the Ostrogoths the Seventh Head, the Dr. will Note hereafter how vain is that conceit, and then we shall see how vain is his judgement of it.  
That {αβγδ} which properly signifies the East, is a Title Metaphorically given to Christ, I agree; but say, that the proper sense( which our Translation gives it) is here intended. For if we admit of the Dr's sense, Where will he suppose Christ to be Seated, that the Angel may ascend from him? Besides, such an abrupt speaking of him, would not be congruous, without some preceding mention of a representation of him, &c. So that doubtless the ascending of the Angel here, is from the East, according to the significant sense I have given of it in my Remark.  
The Dr. calls my making the Palm-bearing Multitude, to be the Souls of the Primitive-Martyrs, A mere conceit quiter out of the Road of Prophetical Interpretation of the Apocalypse, which, he says, insists not upon the Description of the Souls in Heaven, but of the State of the Church on Earth, and yet he applies one part of the First Resurrection to the Martyrs in Heaven. But I understand not the prophesy of the First Resurrection, nor this to be meant of Souls in Heaven, though departed this Life. And that there are Prophecies in this Book which concern separate Souls, appears from what I make this to relate to, viz. the slain under the Altar in the Fifth Seal. And whereas the Dr. says, What more could be expected to be said of them?( viz. than is there said); I say, That an Account might be expected of the fulfilling of what they are there comforted with intimations of its being within a little time to be done unto them; and accordingly my sense here does give an Account thereof. He further says, That the Description of the Palm-bearing Company, does not suit with the separate Souls in Heaven( nor do I say that it does) but with the Inhabitants of the New Jerusalem, as appears from ver. 15, 16, 17. but of the suitableness he gives no Instance( nor does his Exposition of those Verses yield any thing of weight to that purpose) whereas I have in my Remark given several instances of the unsutableness of the one with the other. Then says he, The conceit is extravagant, because, according to me, instead of Two there will be Three Resurrections. But why so? He will not surely deny a happy State for the separate Souls of the Righteous, before the Resurrection of their Bodies, and Ascention into Heaven, such as the Holy patriarches and Prophets entred into, and such as is promised to the Thief on the across, viz. to be with Christ in Paradise. Of like nature may we suppose this State here, yet in a higher degree, as being the Reward of such Martyrs. But to call this therefore the First Resurrection, as well as that which is so called, would be great presumption, we having not Authority for the one, as for the other. There's some apparent reason besides against the one being so called, as well as the other, viz. the Political Resurrection, &c.  
The Dr. next gives Reasons, why it's not unseasonable nor needless, for the Victors over the Beast to be here intended, viz. That it's the Artifice of the Apocalypse to represent things less perfectly in the One Vision, and to supply the same in another. But that is, when the same thing needs be spoken of in several Places; but that what is said here, should concern the Victors over the Beast, there appears no need nor use thereof, they being so amply spoken of elsewhere; with which, what is said here does so little agree, as to make the same unlikely to be intended of those Victors. It's strange that the Dr. should say, That the Serving of GOD day and night in his Temple, is no other than that in the New Jerusalem; when it's said of it, I saw no Temple there; and the saying, That the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb, is the Temple thereof, is spoken in Opposition to the Worshipping in a Temple; of which it's respecting only the Militant State of the Church, see C. 3. V. 8. And next, though the Cry of Salvation may well be as loud among the Victors over the Beast, as on the Defeat of Paganism; yet when the Slain under the Altar, in the Fifth Seal, cry for Deliverance and Vengeance, and are comforted with Assurance, that within a little while their Cry shall be Answered, &c. which accordingly is fulfilled in the Sixth Seal; and whenas thereon there's that joyful Acclamation, C. 12.10. Now is come Salvation and Strength, &c. wherewith the Cry here of the Palm-bearers, viz. Salvation to our God does so agree, as also their White-Robes, with theirs under the Altar; it seems some want of prophetic Nasuteness,( to use the Dr's. Phrase) not to apprehended these Palm-bearers, and those under the Altar, the same Multitude: Especially, since thereby this Vision of Palm-bearers will be very significant and weighty, whenas, if understood of the Victors over the Beast, it seems insignificant and unaccountable. And whereas the Dr. says, That the Coherence of all Prophecies is primarily and radically in the things predicted: I say, That in all Prophecies that are linked together by any Contexture, to succeed one another, the Cortex must be as durable, or of like Extent, as the things predicted; as every Trumpet and Vial is of like continuance with the judgement thereby executed( accordingly as he tells us after C. 10.3. That the sounding of each Trumpet, and the Visum thereof do synchronize, or are of equal Extent) and therefore the Sealing here, being finished before the Trumpets sounding, though the signification thereof reach to the end of them, yet there can be no Coherence between the Vision of the Sealed Company, and the Palm bears,( in the Dr's. Sense of them) as of Visions that are connexed to succeed one another: Besides, they are both abruptly brought in( as containing Matters preceding the soundings of the Trumpets) without any appearance of Connexion between themselves. And further, it's of no small Moment to enforce this Remark, that whereas, C. 5. the Elders and Beasts join with the Angels in giving Thanks on the Lambs taking the Book, &c. for that the Scope of it was to prophesy of those Times, when they were to Reign on the Earth; and also at the Acclamations and Doxologies at the seventh Trumpet, and C. 19. fall down, joining in Thanksgiving, &c. yet here onely the Angels join in Thanksgiving with the Acclamations, V. 10. and the Elders and Beasts appear unconcerned at it; which, doubtless, they could not be, if those Palm bearers were the same with those who so triumph at the seventh Trumpet.   

CHAP. VIII.  
THE ill Pointing here, ( together with his ill expressing himself) made me mistake the Dr's Meaning.  
The Mind of the Oniro-Criticks, which the Dr. tells us of, does not differ from mine: For their saying, That the Sun signifies the King, meaning by it absolute Monarchs, who had the whole Legislative Power in them,( such as Heathen Kings and Emperours were) it's the same with its signifying the Legislative Power: But he untruly says, That I make the Sun to signify the Legislative Power in Abstracto. It cannot be exercised but in Concreto, and therefore cannot be signified by the Sun, but so: And it's so signified by the Sun, in respect of its having the like Influence on politic Affairs, as the Sun hath on Natural Operations. And that the Sun does signify the Legislative Power, without a King appears by the fourth Trumpet, where, by the Sun being Smitten, is signified the Absolute ruin of the Roman Government, or Dissolution of the Magistracy or Civil State of Rome, than without a King: And that the Moon signifies the next in Authority to the Sun, does not clash with my Sense; for as the Mother in Joseph's Dream is called the Moon, as being next in Authority to her Husband, the Sun; so in Government, the Priest-hood will be entitled to the same Character, as being next in Authority to the Civil Magistrate.   

CHAP. IX.  
HOW untruly the Dr. chargeth me with making the Sun to signify the Legislative Power in abstracto, I have before Noted; and as to his saying that it signifies the highest Person in Authority, I agree that it signifies such highest Person or Persons in whom the Legislative Power does reside; that is, it signifies that Power in concreto. And as to his saying, that it cannot signify the several Heads over several Kingdoms, I say, That it may do so as well as the Sea signify several Kingdoms, which it does in respect of their being but as one Body, by reason of their being acted by one Spirit of the World which GOD hath set in their Hearts; and the Sun likewise may signify the several Heads of those Kingdoms, by reason of their being acted or animated by one PRINCE of the World, called Apollo. And they would not properly be signified by Stars, but where they have dependence on some visible Head or Empire which they are subject unto, as those Princes signified by the Stars which the read Dragon drew after him with his Tail, were subject to the Roman Empire. Wherefore it s not rashness in me, to deny that the Sunshine of the Gospel is here meant to be darkened; but it's great rashness in the Dr. to affirm for most certain, that Religion is here related to, and that it's the main concern of the Apocalypse, whenas it's main concern is the advancement of Christs Kingdom on Earth, which primarily( as I have elsewhere Noted) Respects Government, and the ministering of Justice( for to do Justice and judgement, is more acceptable to God than Sacrifice) and Right Worship as subservient thereunto, and to the serving God in a Righteous and Holy Conversation. Such Worship is a Worshipping God in Spirit and in Truth. Also the Sun understood here in my sense, does make this Trumpet agree with the rest of the Trumpets, all which Execute judgement upon the Powers of the World, in order to the furthering the coming of Christ's Kingdom on Earth, whereas the Dr's sense makes it Heterogenial to all the rest.   

CHAP. X.  
AS to that foul conceit, as the Dr. calls it, which he says this Remark lears to, I shall refer to my more fully speaking of it in the Preface, and elsewhere, and shall say here only, That it's most Evident from all the Prophecies of this Book, and all all other Prophecies which speak of the same subject, and also from the nature of the Thing, that Christ's Spiritual Kingdom shall be Governed by Spiritual Rulers, that is, That the Dominion thereof shall be given to the Saints of the most High, &c. So that, all such, according to their Spiritual Qualifications for it, will be concerned in the administration of the Affairs of that Kingdom. Wherefore the Dr. appropriating the Dominion then of Kingdoms and Principalities, to particular Monarchs or Princes, shows his dark conceit of those Times of so Glorious Light. But when, to make the same good, he presumes to affirm his gross Prevarications with the Truth noted in Rem. on cap. 4. ver. 4. to be most certainly true, this savours of something worse than blindness and error, viz. of the Spirit in those of old, who Prophesied out of their own Heart, and followed their own Spirit when they had seen nothing, Ezek. 13.  
As to the Dr's conceit of the prophesy of the Seven Churches and the Sealed-Book, their reaching to the end of the World, I have shewed how groundless it is, cap. 3. ver. 20, 21. and also of the later in the next Remark, &c. And his pretended reasoning here for the Sealed-Book its doing so, is but a begging the Question, saying, That some things of that Book reach to the end of the World( without any Proof thereof) and therefore the Seventh Seal must do so. But he after endeavours to make it out how the Seventh Seal does reach so, wherein scarce any thing is remarkable but a sorry fallacy, viz. He says, That the sound of each Trumpet, and visum of it does Synchronize; and from thence would infer, That the Roaring of the Angel immediately succeeding the sounding of the Sixth Trumpet, is put in place of the Seventh. To which I say, If he supposeth the sounding of the Sixth Trumpet to reach to the Seventh, then I deny that the Roaring of the Angel does immediately succeed the sounding of it, but does precede the ending of it, and consequently the beginning of the Seventh Trumpet( accordingly as the order of relating it does plainly import) and is a preparative transaction to the sounding of it. But further, I say, That the ending of the Sixth Trumpet( or Second Wo-Trumpet) is distingisht from the beginning of the succeeding Trumpet, cap. 11.14. by the expiring of the one some time before the beginning of the other; so that, though the Roaring of the Angel did immediately succeed the expiring of the Sixth, yet it must not therefore be substituted in the place of the Seventh, or Synchronize therewith.  
The rest of this Answer is such confounded stuff, as makes the Dr. appear almost voided of sense, by over-straining to appear voided of error. First, He makes the roaring of the Angel to be substituted in the place of the Seventh Trumpet( how groundlessly we have seen) and what place, and also what occasion is there then for that Trumpet, when the roaring of the Angel is instead of it? Next, he makes the roaring of the Angel to be divided into Seven Thunders, and thence infers the space of the Seventh Trumpet to be divided into Seven Thunders, and to Synchronize with the Seven Thunders that the Angels roaring is branched into. So that, he must either make Two Seven Thunders, or the Seven Thunders which he makes the Seventh Trumpet to be branched into must indeed be no Thunders, but Seven empty Spaces synchronizing with the Seven Thunders of the roaring Angel, but to what purpose, Who knows? And what a strange conceit is it to make Christ a roaring lion throughout the Millennium, executing a Wo-Trumpet, whenas the main of that Time will, according to the Dr. be of a contrary Nature! And how incongruous is it( admitting the Seventh Trumpet to be branched into Seven Thunders) that the First Thunder should be branched into Seven Vials, when all the rest of them( as likewise the Trumpets) are single Plagues! Yet much more strange is it, whenas in the Visions of the Seals and Trumpets, and Vials, the effect or event of every one of them is orderly related in each Vision, that the Thunders should be a Vision of like Nature; yet no such account of them, either in the proper place, viz. where they are uttered, or elsewhere, whatever the Dr's imagination can fancy. And whereas he says, That the Regress to the Opened-Book-Prophecy does not at all clash with the Seventh Trumpet, its reaching to the end of the World, but most naturally agrees with it. This is as much as to say, That the mentioning of the Seven Thunders without giving any account of them, is a sufficient finishing of the prophesy of the Seventh Trumpet, in order to a Regress, &c. And indeed so it is, for any Thunders, that Trumpet is branched into. But how confounded or weak soever are his Premises, the Dr. ends with a confident Conclusion, which he seldom fails of; How easy, says he, natural, and indeed inevitable is this, to one that is not blinded with prejudice! So that, every one must pass for blind with him, who is not as blind as himself. After a kind of repetition of his beloved Fancies, he Concludes again, That its manifest that my Conceit about the Frogs, Hero's, and Boanerges's, are only idle Evanid Dreams. And I am willing that they should pass for such, when his Conceits prove true.  
I shall pass by the Dr's. Surmises here of corrupted MSS. not doubting but our Translation is right, though he hath the Confidence not to doubt of the contrary, it being so congruous and free from Difficulties, whenas his distorted Sense contains such as are insuperable: For though he says, That[ writ them hereafter] agrees very well with the Command to seal them up; yet surely the Reasons in my Remark do show the contrary. And where can we find in the Opened-Book, any Intimations of their being written there, without being furnished with the Dr's enormous Imagination, to fancy the same? And whereas the Dr. says, That the Opened Book contains the Fate of the Church, and the Sealed-Book, of the Empire; I say therefore, That the Affairs of the Empire ending at the seventh Trumpet( when the Kingdoms of the World become the Kingdoms of our Lord, &c.) that Series of Prophecies must end therewith. And accordingly it's said, When the seventh Angel shall begin to sound, the Mystery of God shall be finished, viz. The Mystery of abolishing the worldly Powers, which he designing to accomplish by the Trumpets,( the Plagues whereof are therefore signified by Trumpets sounding Alarms of War, &c.) their fulfilling thereof must be an ending of them: And to prolong the seventh Trumpet, by branching it into seven Thunders, which are so Heterogeneal to the Trumpets, is therefore an extravagant Conceit, as well as for the other Reasons I have given; And the majestic Transition is a great Delusion like all the rest: For how can there be a Transition here from the finished prophesy of the Sealed Book, to make a Regression to begin the Opened-Book; whenas, according to the Dr. the prophesy of the Sealed-Book is not finished till the end of the Thunders, which he makes to reach to the end of the World, and not to be spoken of till the end of the next Book. But the Regress is indeed before the sounding of the seventh Trumpet, as will after appear. And whereas the Dr. says, That it's not the least Inconvenience, that the distinct Visions of the Thunders should, by reason of their being written down in the Opened-Book belong to it, and yet as to the Intervals of the Thunders spoken of in the Sealed Book, be referred synchronishcally to it; this is as much as to say, That the sounding of each Trumpet, and the pouring out of each Vial, might have been placed in one Book, and the Contents or Plagues thereof in the other, though they both together make but one Vision, and the one is but an insignificant Cortex without the other.  
When Time shall have an end, is elsewhere much better understood, viz. at the end of the Opened-Book-Prophecy; but to take Notice of it here so abruptly, before the sounding of the seventh Trumpet, would be very incongruous and insignificant, though it were much nearer the ending of it than it is. But as to the Dr's. saying, That my making Time to signify politic Order and Government, is a private precarious Notion, without any Example in Scripture or Oniro critics: I say, That if it be a significant Sense, agreeable to the Symbolical Style of Prophecies, it's sufficient without Example from the Oniro-Criticks: For as the Spirit of God is not limited to the Words which Man's Wisdom teacheth, 1 Cor. 1.17. no more is it to the Symbols of its teaching, though it useth both. Further, to enforce the Truth of my Sense, I shall add, That by[ There shall be no more Time] is meant, There shall be no more of the Time signified, by Time and Times, and half a Time. But then, Why that Time is so signified, the Reason thereof, as to the Congruity of the Symbol, is what is given in my Remark; but as to the Use of it, it's to show the same Time in Daniel, and this Book to be signified thereby. And thus the Words[ There shall be no longer Time] will have a very significant Coherence( as doubtless they must have) with the Angel( Christ) his setting his one Foot on the Sea, and the other on the Earth, when he uttered them; whereas the Dr's. Sense is not only abrupt, without any Coherence with the said Posture of the Angel, or with the following Verse; but also very insignificant, as is before noted, though so solemnly uttered with an Oath, &c.  
The Dr. does next start some sorry Questions; He asks, first, What Matter of Order there is in dividing Time so( viz. as noted in my Remark) more than in dividing other Quantities? But whatever Order there is in dividing other Quantities, there could be none of them of Use for this Occasion; but this successive Quantity, which runs along with the Government signified by it, and hath the like general Relation with it to all worldly Affairs: For as Government does influence all those Affairs, as to due ordering them, &c. so Time is the Measure of all its Transactions about them, and thereby regulates the same; and therefore may well symbolise that which it does so influence,& hath so great a Coherence with. He next Asks,( much to the same Purpose) How does this dividing of Time, typify Political Laws and Orders more than Husbandry, mechanics, &c. To which I say, That as the Congruity of Time to typify Political Government, before those other things, hath been already shewed; so there's not the like Need or Occasion for them to be prophesied of, as for the grand Affairs of Government, which comprehends all those other things as concerned therein, and which is subject to such Changes and Revolutions, and is to undergo so great a Revolution at the seventh Trumpet, whenas other things continue in their Ordinary Natural Cause. Which may serve for an Answer also to what follows,( viz. That Time signifies all things under the Sun, done in Order and Method, as well as Political Laws and Government) and to his Rambling Descant thereon. Wherefore, if the Dr. could, sapere ad Sobrietatem, he would not be disgusted with what he calls High-flown Conceits, nor so affencted with those Cabbalistick Dreams of Aziluthick and Briatick States, which he introduceth here. And as to his saying, That in the best of Times there will be human Laws and Policies, I have spoken thereto before, and shall do more so hereafter; and shall only say here, That he speaks of those Times as one among them who are without, to whom it's not given to know the Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven.  
Whereas I say in my Remark, that Time shall be no more, and the Mystery of God shall be finished, does here answer to that great Voice at the Seventh Vial, It's done, and to the same Voice, cap. 21. which both spoils the Dr's sense of Time here, and also his great Notion of branching the Seventh Trumpet into Seven Thunders( for that Trumpet synchronizing with the Seventh Vial, the Vials cannot be first Thunder) yet he slily passeth by this part of my Remark which so nearly concerns him, only takes occasion from mentioning, It's done, to proceed in his preceding Invective against my account of the Millennium. Yet it appears, not only from those Texts so aptly answering one another, but also from their Contexts, that they respect the same Time and Thing. For as the Mystery of God becomes finished at the seventh Trumpet, by all Authority and Power being put under the Feet of Christ, and thereby an End being put to Time, or worldly Government, so, It's done, C. 16.17. does signify the finishing of the same Mystery of God, by the Overthrow of the Anti-Christian Powers in Armageddon at the seventh Vial: And the same Voice, C. 21.6. does also signify the finishing the same Mystery of God, by the first Heaven and Earth passing away, Ver. 1. and so making way for all things becoming New, Ver. 5. by the Discent of the New Jerusalem, &c. So that all Three Places do concur in signifying the accomplishing the Mystery of God, by abolishing the worldly Powers, and thereby introducing the Establishment of Christ's Kingdom in the World, which is a signification of so great Import, suitable to the Solemnity in each Place, viz. To the Oath, C. 10.6. the Voice from the Throne, C. 16.17. and from him that sate on the Throne, C. 21.6.  
The Dr. does here, as oft elsewhere, show how he will catch at a Bulrush to sustain his sinking Cause. The {αβγδ} which he thinks so intolerable to be left out in our Translation, if it be rendered[ also] as it may well be, it may be admitted without harming the Sense of our Translation; for then it will run thus, When he shall begin to sound, the Mystery of God shall be also finished. As to what he adds concerning {αβγδ}, being rendered[ When he shall begin to sound] I can allow his varying from our Translation, by rendering it[ When he shall have finished his sounding] but then the same must be finished, by abolishing the worldly Powers, as aforesaid, &c. and not be so strangely extended as the Doctor makes it to be by his Thunders, &c.  
As to the Dr's. forced making {αβγδ} to signify[ saving] which he says that it does sometimes, he does not make it out in his Notes on his Exposition, &c. For in his Instances there, the Sense is as good with[ But] as with[ Saving or Except]: So that, all the Inference he can make thence, is, That {αβγδ} may be rendered[ Saving or Except] when it will be to the same Sense with[ But]; but not when it does alter the Sense, as it does here.  
His concluding Fancy here is, That the Oath of the Mighty Angel, that there should be no longer Time, &c. plainly imports that the sounding of the seventh Trumpet reacheth to the end of the World; But he shows not how it so imports, nor surely can do it: For the Oath makes no Alteration of the Sense of the Words uttered by him; and the Solemnity of an Oath will as properly svit with the ending of the worldly State of Government, and the beginning of the Millennial State, as with the end of the World, and more properly; for so it gives assurance of those Blessed Times, so much desirable, and yet far less believed than the end of the World: But in the other Sense, it gives assurance of that which none doubt of but Atheistical Men, and which will not be desired by abundance who will rejoice in the Millennial Times. And can the strong Asseveration of an Oath make any Impression, as the Dr. fancieth, on Atheistical Men, who believe not the Scripture which relates it? Christ calling himself the Amen in the Epistle to the Laodiceans, will be also as properly applied to the ending of the Worldly, and beginning of the Millennial State, as to the ending of the World, and more properly; because the former will be more peculiarly his Act; the later, more peculiarly the Act of his Father, to whom he is then to surrender his Kingdom, 1 Cor. 15.24, 25. I can hardly make Sense of what follows, but so far as I can do so, I have Answered it already.   

CHAP. XI.  
ALL that the Dr. says here, to prove that things Co-existent, may signify things in Succession, I shall pass by as not concerning me, who deny not but that a thing expressly designed to do it, may do it as Nebuchadnezzar's Image, which he does instance in; but when there's no Intimation to that Purpose( as here) it's so unnatural a Sense as hardly to be intelligible, and therefore not to be allowed where there's so natural congruous a Sense to be given, viz. This Vision being an Israelism, borrowed from the Jewish Temple, where the Inner and Outer-Court did contain, and so signify Two Degrees of Worshippers; it's taken here in the same Sense, signifying Two such Degrees of Contemporary Christians belonging to the said Two Courts,( though not Worshippers together in them, because the Outer Court is trodden down, &c.) whereas the Dr's Sense is quiter contrary, in a double Respect, he making to be signified here, the same whole Church in successive Times, without any Distinction of different States, and Degrees therein, but confounding them together, as if both Courts belonged to the Inner-Court in the first, and to the Outer in the second Interval; whereas therefore he says, That to make the Inner and Outer-Court signify things that synchronize, do spoil those Elegant Analogies of Time and Place, which he hath noted; I say, That it does confirm those far more Elegant Analogies which I have mentioned, such as must be admitted or the Israelism is spoiled; whenas those Analogies of Time and Place, if they were so Elegant as the Dr. does fancy them to be, could only prove such an aptness in his sense, as to make it allowable when there's reason for its being intended, but cannot prejudice a much apt sense which appears to be intended. His next saying, viz. To make the Two Courts to signify things that synchronize, is as gross and as harsh, as to fancy the Stones of the Two Courts lay confusedly intermixed, is too gross to need animadverting on it.  
But these two Courts synchronizing does make the prophesy of the Opened-Book to commence no higher than the Seventh Seal( he should have said, the sixth Seal) which the Dr. thinks very absurd, though it be far from being so. What needed to be foretold of the Primitive-Church, is sufficiently Prophesied of in the two first of the seven Epistles, and in the Seals; and the Dr's sense does add nothing to it but an untruth, viz. That the Church was then in a Symmetral or Regular State, whenas the mystery of Iniquity did begin to work in the Apostles time, and did during the Primitive-times make such advance, as to introduce many human Inventions, which are now disallowed of, and laid aside: see Protest. Reconcil. part 1. cap. 8. But then indeed the great Game of apostasy began to be played, when the Christian Profession became settled by Authority, whereby men out of Fear or Interest did assume it, how wicked, or great Infidels soever. For then that politic Body which still bore the Name of the Church, consisted mainly of such who were ready to receive any Imposition, which their politic Rulers were disposed out of worldly Respects, to burden and enthrall them with. As therefore the Primitive-Church( which degenerated into such Carnality, as to be much exercised about lifeless Formalities, and eager Contentions about Opinions of little value, to the destroying of Christian Unity, &c.) can but badly be reckoned a Symmetral State( that is commensurate with the Word of God) so much less can the Empire be reckoned so under that Head, during which it ceased to be a Beast, according to the Dr. by reason of its being then Symmetral; whenas a great part of the Empire did then continue Pagan, that Religion continuing tolerated, and Christianity gaining little more than a Toleration: Besides, the Emperors they continuing then some of the Idolatrous Corruptions of Paganism, and also lapsing with Christians into new Corruptions of the same kind. Of which, see cap. 13. ver. 14. So that the distinction of Symmetral and Asymmetral Times being duly examined, does vanish into nothing. As to the Dr's Inference, That if this Vision began so low as the Seventh Seal, then must the next Vision of the Woman clothed with the Sun do the same; I agree that it begins almost as low, viz. at the sixth Seal, but not for the reason of his Inference. For this Vision begins not the prophesy of the Opened-Book, but is an intermediate prophesy between the Sealed and Opened-Book, as will after appear. But this synchronizing of the Inner and Outer Court, is again branded by the Dr. with the Character of monstrous Mistake( so enormous is his Imagination) and he says it must needs beget many frigid dilute Notions.  
The First whereof, is, My making the measuring the Inner-Court to signify, the preserving from the Toils which they of the Outer-Court are oppressed with, &c. Whereas, he says, The natural and only sense of Measuring, is to try the just Dimensions, &c. which if it be so, yet the end of such measuring may be to signify Preservation; and that because the measured are of such just Dimensions: So that my sense does imply the other. And it's manifest, that the measuring here is for preservation, from the Antithesis between it and the not measuring the Outer-Court, but leaving it out to be trodden down, &c. But then the Dr. supposing my sense of Measuring to be true, says, That it does not infer the two Courts to synchronize. To which I say, That the measuring of the one, and casting out of the other, being so opposed the one to the other, does at least make their synchronizing a much more congruous sense than the contrary; but further, admit the contrary sense, and then, whereas there are Two Courts belonging to the Church, the first Interval will give an account of the Inner-Court, without the Outer; and the other, will do so of the Outer without the Inner; which is a conceit agreeable I suppose to few apprehensions, besides the Dr's. Besides, it being so manifest that the Worshippers in the Inner-Court are measured for preservation, Where can they be found, if the Witnesses be not them? That they are so preserved, does appear from their being in so Powerful a Condition, to torment by Prophesying, and to inflict Plagues, &c. and from their being the same with the Sealed Company of the Lamb on Mount Zion, and with them that get the Victory over the Beast, &c. But no such preserved State being to be found among the Primitive-Christians, it must inevitably be meant of the Witnesses.  
Another groundless conceit which my monstrous Mistake is supposed to beget, is, My making the Worshippers in the Temple and Thysiasterion to be the Two Witnesses; as if, says the Dr. they were not sufficiently described besides, &c. But if they are sufficiently described besides, Yet those Worshippers are not so without being explained by them, being otherwise very difficult to be understood. So that, though the Witnesses receive not Light from them, yet they give Light to them. But they also receive Light from them, as to a further discovery of their State and Condition during their Prophesying, though they need none as to the describing their Function. And therefore the Dr. by thinking this so uncouth evanid a Conceit, does make his conception thereof liable to the same Censure. But what does he mean by saying, That the Worshippers in the Temple are there in the quality of Subjects? Is it inconsistent with the Office of Magistracy to be subject to God? Besides, says the Dr. He that sits on the Throne, sits not there as a Judge, but to utter Oracles, which is rather the Office of a Priest or Prophet, &c. But it's to utter Oracles of judgement concerning the Law in the Ark, over which he sits in the Mercy-seat. And such Oracles did Moses use to receive there from him. And this is that which the Psalmist did so desire and seek after, That he might dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of his Life, and inquire in his Temple, Psal. 27. And though the Law concerned Sacerdotal Matters as well as Civil, yet the occasion of consulting God, was chiefly about the later; and when he was to be consulted about the former, it concerned the Magistrate to see to the doing of it, as being superintendant over the Laws concerning the Priest-hood, as well as the Magistracy, to see the same duly Executed. But whereas the Dr. says, That the Temple related altogether to Sacerdotal Matters, it's plain, as I have shewed, that the Sanctum Sanctorum related also to other Matters; and when the Worshippers in the Temple are so distinguished from the Worshippers at the Altar, which signifieth the Sacerdotal Office, its plain that those Worshippers in the Temple must respect those other Matters there distinct from that Office.  
The Dr. does enlarge about the Priests service in the Temple, which does not clash with my Assertion, and so does not concern me. And as to his saying, That the People had frequent recourse to the Thysiasterion, That was only to offer their Oblations and Sacrifices, but the Outer-Court was their place of Worship; and though there was no Outer-Court belonging to the Tabernacle, yet the People having nothing to do in the Service of the Altar, though they had free Entrance into the Thysiasterion, it signifies nothing in this Case; for doubtless, by the Worshippers there are meant the Priests who did the Service of the Altar: Therefore, seeing the Worshippers in the Temple and Altar, do signify plainly two sorts of Worshippers in two Places of Worship, and there's so good Account to be given of the Meaning thereof, How strangely does the Dr. conclude, That it's plain they signify but one sort of Men, or one Symmetral Succession of the Church,( which they may be, and yet be such different Sort or Degrees of Men as I have shewed) and that these Contemporary Worshippers in both those Places of Worship, do signify a successive Lessening of the Holiness of his Symmetral Succession, accordingly as the Sanctum is less Holy than the Sanctum Sanctorum!  
Whereas the Dr. would have the Inner-Court to represent the Primitive-Times, by reason of the Holy State of those Times, and the Outer-Court the Apostate-Times, &c. I say, that the True Church in the Apostate-Times, may well be supposed to be in an Holier State, than the Primitive-Times, by reason of the Advantages they have from the Man-Child being caught up unto God's Throne, and the Devil cast out, &c. Also in all Times there are those different States and Degrees, which are signified by the Inner and Outer-Court; for they are the same that are signified by the seven Stars, and the seven Candlesticks in the Epistles,& by the twenty four Elders, and four Beasts, C. 4. and therefore, How can either Court signify both States or Degrees? Besides, the treading down of the Outer-Court, cannot signify the whole Church; because, that during that Time, there's the Sealed-Company of the Lamb on Mount Zion, singing the Triumphant Song of Victory over the Beasts, &c. and so cannot appertain to the Court trodden down: And indeed, it's no better than a Contradiction, to agree, That the Holy City or Outer Court do signify the Worshippers in that Court,( as they must needs do) and yet to make them signify the whole Church, comprehending both Courts. And whereas the Dr. says, That the New Jerusalem is a Restoration of the Apostate Church, to the Primitive-Purity, &c. What does he mean by the Apostate Church? The Outer-Court to be Restored, appertains to the True Church, and so cannot be said to be Apostated, though in such a broken vanquished Condition, &c. But the Apostates are the Anti-Christian Powers that tread it down, and they surely are never to be restored. And what dark Apprehensions hath he of the Millennial State, that he cannot discern the Glorious. Description of it to amount to any more than the Primitive-Times,( viz. Than to a Restoration to the Purity of them) which being but the Infancy of Christianity, did abound with Puerilities suitable to an Infant-State. And how does this agree with his Answer to Remark on cap. 21. ver. 15. where he makes the measuring with a Golden Reed, and by an Angel, to denote the Excellency of the Millennial State, above the Four Hundred Years Symmetral State of the Church, where the measuring of the Inner-Court that signifies that State is with an ordinary combustible Reed, and by a Man.  
The Dr. allows the ordinary Translation to be true, so far as respects the Sense of the Letter or Cortex, but affirms his to be true as to the Sense of the prophesy. But the Translation is onely of the Cortex or Literal Sense, and therefore, what is true according to that, must exclude any other Sense inconsistent therewith, as it is, that the Text should signify both[ And when the Witnesses shall have finished their Testimony] and so to be understood of Three Prophetical Days and a half, and also[ When they shall be finishing their Testimony] and so to be understood of 1260 such Days. His clear Proof in the Second Part of his Appendage, is like his Performance here and elsewhere. Then says he, It's a marvelous Mistake, that the Witnesses should be silenced after the 1260 Days Prophesying; for it's not imaginable how they should be silenced, otherwise than by the Penalty of their Prophesying. But say I, If their silenceing from their Prophesying must not respect the Three Dayes and half, at the end of the 1260 Dayes, but those 1260 Dayes, they could not be silenced, by Penalties during all that time; for those Penalties began not to be inflicted till about the Middle of the 1260 Dayes; and besides, when they began, they did not silence the Witnesses from Prophesying, for then they would not have Prophesied out their 1260 Dayes; which to do, they must persist in their Duty, notwithstanding those Penalties, and the Dr. in making them so silenced, contradicts the Text.  
He says next, That the Witnesses may prophesy, as well when they are said to lie dead, as when they are politically slain; and so indeed they may, if their lying dead be a political Death, as he makes it to be; but doubtless the Expressions do import more, which I apprehended to be, That by slaying them, here is meant a Spiritual Death, or deprivation of that Spirit of Life which enters into them, and sets them on their Feet at their Rising, and so must needs be a distinct time from that of their Prophesying; for then the Spirit of Life was in them, enabling them thereunto: So that, this seems to be a time wherein God, by withholding the wonted, Powerful Dispensation of his Spirit, does give way to the Powers of Darkness their prevailing over the Witnesses, so as to silence them, and( as to appearance) to extinguish the Spirit of Life, which formerly exerted itself in them; the Devil also hereunto transforming himself into an Angel of Light, and his Ministers into Ministers of Righteousness, to eclipse those true Children of Light: And this befalling them, on their finishing their Prophesying, and immediately before their ascending to gain the Ascendant over the worldly Powers, is therein parallel with our Saviours suffering Death after he had finished his Work on Earth, in order to his ascending to be made Head of all Principalities and Powers. And as his Resurrection was the Crowning of all his Works wrought on Earth, so the Resurrection of the Witnesses( after the Worlds triumphing over them, in such a vanquished lifeless State) will be the Crowning of all their Works in the time of their Prophesying. Note, That in all this Answer the Dr. says nothing to what is the Strength of my Remark, viz. That the Dwellers on Earth rejoice at the Witnesses being silenced from tormenting them by Prophesying; but they Prophesied 1260 Dayes, and therefore the silencing them must be after; onely he endeavours to make good his contrary Assertion( but very confusedly) without Answering my so weighty Argument; yet he ends, according to his usual Course, with a confident Conclusion, viz. This therefore is a gross error: And no wonder that it seems so to one acted with such a Spirit of error.  
Heaven, in prophetic Style, is the Region of the Powers that Rule, whether they be political worldly Powers, or Heavenly Powers, and more properly of the later than the former. So that, not I, but the Dr. is out of the Road of Prophecies, and does trifle. The Spirit of Life entering into them, &c.( spoken of, Ezek. 37.9.) does signify politically, as it advanceth them to Power, and also spiritually, as it's not a worldly but a spiritual Power which does so act them: But it's the ascending of the Witnesses in a Cloud, which denotes their advancing in Power, and the preceding entrance of the Spirit of Life unto them, and setting them on their Feet, &c. does signify only its recovering them from their vanquished lifeless Condition they lay in by their Enemies prevailing against them; but in order to its advancing them so in Power, &c.  
Why are the Tithes here called the Holy Revenue of such an unholy City? They were so far from being lost by the Reformation, and the enjoyers of them from being politically slain thereby, that they were continued by us in the same use as before, and those who formerly enjoyed them generally continued to do so, by complying with the Reformation. Also there was such a general compliance of Men of Dignity with the Reformation, that there could be no such complete slaughter of them as is signified by Seven Thousand Names, &c. Nor did any such evil befall them who did not comply as that expression does import. That the Reformation was a partial Fall of Babylon is easily agreed, for so is every Vial, and the separation of the Waldenses before the Vials, but its much nearer being a fall of half the City, than of a tenth part of it. And why does the Dr. call my sense of one of the Ten Kingdoms a dwindling business, when as it's of as large extent as his Exposition, if the Reformation be but of the Tenth Part of the City? And though my sense concern but one of the Ten Kingdoms, &c.( nor can by the Text concern more) yet it imports such a Revolution therein, as is of higher Import, than what fell out at the Reformation( though that was of much larger extent) and the Earthquake at it may reach through all the Anti-Christian Dominions.  
Of the absurdity of branching the seventh Trumpet into seven Thunders, and the placing them in the Opened-Book, I have said enough in the foregoing Chapter. And little better is the placing the seventh Trumpet here in the Opened Book( according to the Dr.) whenas it belongs to the Sealed-Book. And it's a mere fancy to imagine, that the founding of the seventh Trumpet here does imply, that what was not written concerning the Affairs of it in the Sealed-book, shall be declared in the Open-book, &c. there being nothing to intimate or give colour to such meaning. But both the foregoing Chapter, and this also to the sounding of the seventh Trumpet, are an intermediate prophesy( respecting the Affairs of both Books) revealed unto John immediately by Christ himself( as were also the Epistles); the purpose whereof is to acquaint him with the New Book of Prophecies, and as it were to institute him to prophesy of the same, by giving him the Openedbook to eat( accordingly as is done Ezek. 3.); and also to give a brief account of the Affairs thereof till the Millennial-Times, that the seventh Trumpet( the sounding whereof was suspended to that purpose) might close together the Affairs of the Sealed& Opened-book till that time. So that, the seventh Trumpet being an absolute settling of Christ in his Kingdom, he does by this intermediate Vision introduce the sounding thereof, both to signify the result of it, and some great things preceding it, and relating to it( viz. The slaying and rising of the Witnesses, the falling of the Tenth Part of the City, and the seven Thunders, &c.) and also to give a Summary Account of the State of the Church during the Anti-Christian Reign( by measuring the Inner-Court, viz. the Witnesses, and leaving the Outer-Court to be trodden down, &c. and further, to signify the Scope of the Sealed and Opened-Book-Prophecy, viz. the Millennial-Times they terminate in at the seventh Trumpet. After the sounding whereof, begins the Opened-Book-Prophecy. And the saying, Thou must prophesy again, &c. does show that he means it of such Symbolical Visions as were represented by the Angel to John in the preceding Book, and not of what he did then immediately relate to him. And as to the agreeing of the Vials with the description of the seventh Trumpet, Isay, That there is described at the sounding of it, such an absolute Victory over the Powers of the World, by the Kingdoms of the World becoming the Kingdoms of our Lord, and his taking to him his great Power and Reigning, &c. as is not to be accomplished, but by the preceding pouring forth of the Vials, as well as sounding of the Trumpets. Also the time being then come of judging the dead, and rewarding the Prophets and Saints, &c. does show that the Worldly Powers become then abolished, and Christ's Kingdom Established, &c.  
It's the Dr's gross and false conception of the State of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth, that make him apprehended me to have laid down any gross and false Principle here; which indeed is senseless as he represents it, viz.[ That Christ's Kingdom cannot be there where things are ordered by External Political Laws or Rules, but merely by the Guidance and Motion of Gods Spirit] the later Part whereof is what I make to be the State of that Kingdom, though the Words exclude that as well as the former Part from being so. But the Dr. does here like those who swear by the Lord, and swear by Malcham, would reconcile Light and Darkness; cannot gain-say the Spiritual State of that Kingdom, but yet will have it consist in the Spirit of GOD his assisting to make Laws, and his actuating Rulers and People to observe them. But when they shall be so under the Guidance of Gods Spirit, with the full communication whereof, they shall be so Gloriously enlightened and quickened to walk in the Paths of Truth, What occasion will there be for any other Laws to be made for their Guidance, and for any other Authority to be exercised over them, than what Rules within them? The Dr. surely will not presume to say, that the Scripture is deficient in Informing us of the Will of God, or Instructing us in our Christian Duty, and then also there will be no want of the Grace of God, to enlighten and enable us to fulfil the same. How therefore shall the Spirit of God assist in making, and actuate Rulers and People in observing Laws which then there will be so little need of? As Laws are not made for the Righteous, but for Sinners; so, doubtless, there will be Laws so sufficient, as little to need New Ones, for the Punishment of those Evil-doers without the City, C. 22.15. but they, who by obeying God's Law, gain Right to the three of Life, and Entrance through the Gates into the City, C. 22. V. 14. cannot surely need any Laws of Men to Govern them. Wherefore, whereas the Dr. does impute my Account of the Millennial State, to a deep melancholy, or Religious Delirancy. I may much more truly impute his Account thereof, to a slumbering Spirit of Infidelity, or Irreligious Delirancy, that makes him so bent on impugning so manifest Truth.  
To the Dr's saying, That it's most enormous Ingratitude against the Holy Benign Providence of God, to speak so vilifyingly of the Reformation: I say, That I am so far from vilifying it, that I hope I give all due honour to it; but his so highly magnifying it, proceeds from his low impotent State to contemplate higher things. And as to his saying, What a Glorious Church we should have had, if the Reformed People had taken half so much pains in spying out their own as they have in spying on their Governours faults: I say, if they had done so( as doubtless many of them have done it, and more than so) there had been but little thanks due for it to such Rulers, who are so intent upon a strict holding them to unprofitable Formalities, and yet so lax and remiss in promoting the Power of Godliness. And where such a Spirit does Rule, all Christian Zeal for advancing Truth and Holiness, and for upholding Christian Liberty in order thereunto, will be reckoned a finding fault with Government. The Dr. Therefore, in saying that Spiritual Pride hath laid waste the understanding of such Reformers, does show, that that, or something else hath blinded his understanding, and made him a bold Reproacher of things he understands not; else he would not call those things wherein only the Kingdom of Christ consists, Enthusiastick whimsies, without which, it may subsist. As to that saying, Apoc. 12.10. Now is come Salvation and Strength, and the Kingdom of our God, &c. which the Dr. would have us consider, and says, that it's the Triumph of Christianity over Paganism, and yet the Primitive-Christians lived under external Laws, &c. I say, that such Christians to whom the Kingdom of God did then come in the Power of it( viz. those dwellers in Heaven, who ver. 12. are bid to rejoice, &c.) that is, such who by that Salvation and Strength were redeemed from the Earth, and became of the Lambs company on Mount Zion, following him wheresoever he goes, being without fault before the Throne of God, &c. cap. 14. I say, Such Christians needed not, nor do need any external Laws or Rules, &c. and in such State will be the Citizens of the New Jerusalem. But as to other Christian Professors, so far as they fell short of the coming of the Power of Christ or Kingdom of God thus within them, they so far continued in Thraldom under the Dominion of Worldly Powers, subject to their Laws, &c.  
This marvelous Remark, as the Dr. calls it, is not so strange as true. That the Opened-Book-Prophecy does not begin till the seventh Trumpet hath sounded I have already shewed, whereby what he so confidently urgeth to the contrary, appears to be of no value. And what an out-cry does he make against me as committing Violence and Outrage, in tearing the last Verse of this Chapter from the rest of the Vision, to begin the next Chapter, whenas I have given reason enough, I hope, for my so doing. And why should it seem strange, that such who little understood these Prophecies, should commit an error in dividing the Chapters? But whereas the Dr. is confident that this Verse relates to the seventh Vial, by reason of the Voices, Thunderings, lightnings, Earthquake, and Hail mentioned in both Places, and no where else; I say, That the four first of them introduce the sounding of the Trumpets, cap. 8.5. and the fifth of them may well be excused, because it's mentioned in the first Trumpet, and also because all five of them being used here in my sense; and the sounding of the Trumpets so soon succeeding, ushered in with a reiteration of the four first of them, it may well suffice without mentioning the fifth also, which might render it too naked for a prophesy. But then further, the Earthquake, and Hail in the seventh Vial, are described to be of such an extraordinary nature as will not agree, with those mentioned here, wherein nothing extraordinary is noted, and of other things in that Vial, here is no mention. Also if this Verse be a part of the Vision of the seventh Trumpet, it ought as the rest of the Vision, to signify what begins to fall out immediately upon the sounding of that Trumpet, whereas the seventh Vial( which the Dr. makes this Verse relate to) must not, according to him, begin till a great time after the sounding of it, the other six Vials intervening. And then lastly, The making this Verse to refer to the seventh Vial, is inconsisting with his referring it to cap. 15.5. which precedes the pouring forth of the Vials. And whereas he would further infer the impossibility of my sense, from its being certain, as he says, That the Vision beginning the next Chapter containeth the Persecutions of the Primitive-Church, &c. I say, That we shall find it there to be otherwise, and that, that Chapter contains what this Verse, taken in my sense, is an apt Introduction to. So that, how extravagant soever the Dr. fancieth my Account of this Verse, yet it holds good against what he hath said to the contrary, and I doubt not but that it will do so against what shall be so said.  
But then he Notes, that my pretty Interpretation here, as he calls it, depends on a Political Sense of Heaven, which, he says, I before rejected, whenas I rejected only his Political Sense of it. But he will have here only a Topical Sense signified by it, viz. The Region of the Air where the Thunders and lightnings were seen, as well as the Temple of God appeared. But when it's said, cap. 4. Behold a Throne was set in Heaven, and one sate on the Throne; Surely the Dr. will agree, that Heaven is there to be understood the place where all the Vision in that and the succeeding Chapter is represented, else he will contradict his own Exposition as well as the Truth. What does he mean therefore by the Temple of God being seen in the Air? Must not his Temple be where his Throne is? And wherever that is, must not that place represent Heaven? It cannot therefore admit of any Topical Sense, but what does import a Political Sense also. But there needs no real sight of the Vision any where, but only such impression on John's Imagination when he was in the Spirit, as made such things appear to be represented to him. Nor is there more need of the Thunderings and Lightnings being seen in the Air, than of the said Visions, cap. 4. cap. 5. or of the succeeding Visions of the Seals and Trumpets being seen there. For it appears by the Door opened in Heaven, cap. 4. ver. 1. which begins the Vision of that and the succeeding Chapter, and from the Visions of the Seals and Trumpets being continued to that Vision, and also from several passages in them, that they were all represented in Heaven, as well as the said Vision, cap. 4. cap. 5. and so may also the Thunderings and lightning be represented there; and they are so, cap. 8.5.   

CHAP. XII.  
THE Dr's affirming other Interpreters to concur with his Sense here, without their Reasons for so doing, signifies little; and if he had found any of weight among them to back his Sense with, he would not surely have failed to produce them. I have given reasons in the preceding Chapter, ver. 1. why the Opened-Book-Prophecy does not rise so high as the Primitive-Times, such as will I hope, make what he thinks incredible, to be easily assented to. And as groundless is his making my Sense here to be tautological. For the last Verse of the preceding Chapter, gives a general Account of the Christian Profession being owned and authorised by the Emperors, and so is an Introduction to all the succeeding Visions of the State of Christs Kingdom, &c. And this is the first Vision of that kind, giving an Account of the State of the Church upon so great a change. But the Dr. offers reasons to prove the falsehood of my Exposition. 1. He says, That it makes the Opened-Book-Prophecy defectuous, in not taking in the Primitive-Times, which I have before Answered. 2. He says, That it supposeth Heaven to signify Symbolically when it signifies Topically: The reason whereof he gives, is such a trifling criticism as I think not worth answering. And hardly better is his reason for making the read Dragon his being in Heaven to signify Topically, viz. Because his Political Condition is sufficiently signified by the seven Crowns, &c. as if several Symbols may not signify the same State or Condition in the same Vision. Is there not, cap. 19. besides the many Crowns upon our Saviours Head, Written upon his Vesture, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, &c. Yet the Dragons being in Heaven,( taken in a political Sense) does not signify the same with the Crowns, &c. the later signifying his external Power in the World, and the former his invisible Power in his Heavenly Station, whereby he does acquire, and exercise that external Power.  
He says, Thirdly, That my Sense of this and the last Verse of the preceding Chapter contradicts the Text; but it's his Misrepresentation of it, that makes it do so. For he makes me suppose the Christian Laws, to be Laws of the Empire; and so the Woman clothed with the Sun, in my Sense, must be past her Throes, though she be then said to cry, travelling in Birth, &c. whenas I only make the Christian Profession to be embraced, and authorised by the Emperors( which amounts but to a Toleration) and the Authority of Christ's Laws to be owned, which may be, and yet the Devil keep in such possession of his Power, as to hinder their taking Effect, as Laws of the Empire: So that, the Womans Throes, after she was advanced to that Heavenly Station, was to bring forth the Man-Child to Rule, by his being not only caught up unto God, and his Throne, but also by the Devils being cast down from thence, whereby the Christian Profession, and Laws, might not onely be tolerated and owned; but also take Place and prevail, to the gaining Authority and Rule, and so excluding whatsoever is contrary thereunto. But this happy Result of the Man-Child's being caught up unto God and his Throne, and the Devils being cast out, hath been long frustrated by the Anti-Christian after-game the Devil had to play. The Dr. comes next to his wonted confident Conclusion; It's plain, says he, That V. 19. of the preceding Chapter, does not begin this, but end the former Vision, &c. And that the Vision in cap. 11. and that begun in this Chapter, Commence from the beginning of the Church, &c. But from how weak Premises he infers all this we have seen. Then he makes this, and the 13.& 14. Chapters to contain one entire Vision, synchronal with that in the 11th. Chapter; whenas, cap. 13. and cap. 14. contain Two distinct Visions,( viz. cap. 13. contains an Account of the Affairs of the Anti-Christian Party, and cap. 14. does the same of the Christian Party) both synchronizing with cap. 11th. and the Vision of this Chapter is an Account of both those Partys, conflicting together( being engaged in the War in Heaven, &c.) in the time preceding to the time of those Visions. As to what he says of the Voices of the Monitory Angels, cap. 14. I shall have occasion there to speak to it.  
Though by the Victories of Constantine, the Man-Child had been caught up unto God, and his Throne, and the Devil cast out, &c. and so the Woman past her Throes, yet would it not follow, that her traveling in pain must be understood of the Primitive-Persecutions; for it might mean that great War which Constantine had in behalf of Christianity with Licinus that great Champion for Paganism, together with his preceding Conflict with Maxentius, another great Enemy of Christianity. But indeed, her Throes lasted much longer; for all that Constantine did accomplish by his Victories over Licinus, did hardly amount to more than to confirm a public Toleration of the Christian Religion, by suppressing the Endeavours of him and his Adherents, to subvert it. But so Powerful did Paganism continue after, that several Tyrants made strong Head against the Christian Emperors, in behalf of it, and Julian did apostate to it. And how then could the Devil be cast down from Heaven, while a Pagan Emperor reigned? For though the Man-Child was then caught up unto GOD's Throne,( which made Julian so unprosperous in his Designs and Endeavours against Christianity, and that he could not directly attempt the Extirpation of it, but onely by obliqne Means, endeavour to undermine and subvert it) yet the Devil must then also keep his Heavenly Station of Power( and not be cast out, &c.) else he could not invest any with that Power, as to hold the Imperial Crown, and yet to continue a professed Pagan. And under the Christian Emperors succeeding Julian, Paganism enjoyed a public Toleration as well as Christianity( besides, that the Civil Government continued the same State, as under Heathen Emperors) and that till after the time of Theodosius Magnus, who made a further Progress in establishing the Christian Religion, by shutting up the Heathen Temples, and depriving the Priests of their Revenues, &c. So that, the War in Heaven was not fully finished by Christ being settled in his Throne, and the Devil cast out, till the end of Theodosius his time at least, and then the Four first Trumpets gave to the Beast the deadly Wound by a Sword; the Three first, extinguishing the Western Empire, and the Fourth doing the same to the remaining politic State of Rome, which became extinct with her ruin, and so the Pagan Government became dissolved, as well as that Religion abolished: The Womans Spiritual Warfare with the Heathen Empire, may be therefore reckoned, the time of her breeding or going with Young, and this time of the War in Heaven, the time of her travail to bring forth the Man-Child, &c. And this Interpretation is, I hope, with more Regard to History than the Dr's, though he says that I have had no Regard to it. As to his saying, That I harp upon the same Mistake as before, in making Heaven to signify symbolically, instead of topically: I shall add to what I have Answered before thereunto, That I think I may set it down for a true Rule, that Heaven signifies topically onely when it's spoken in general of any Vision; as when it's said, I saw another Sign in Heaven, &c. but when it's spoken of any particular Parts of a Vision( as here, and oft elsewhere) it must signify symbolically; for else, Why is it not spoken of other parts of the Vision? Or why is it spoken of any part, being all the Visions are represented to be seen topically in Heaven?  
Here's nothing said, but what is Answered in Defence of the preceding Remark; onely observe the Dr's Confidence in saying, That Heaven most certainly signifies topically here, whenas undoubtedly, it does not so, both for the Reason there given, and also because a much more Weighty and Congruous Sense does Answer the symbolical than the topical Sense of it. For to have the Primitive Christians, their Conflict with Persecutions here signified, would be insignificant for Reasons given, cap. 11. ver. 1. and also would badly svit with the Description of the War between Michael and his Angels, and the Devil and his Angels, it importing a real War or Conflict by fighting, &c. which will very badly signify the persecuting of those who made no Resistance; For War must on both sides be taken in the same Literal Sense, else it would be so ambiguous, as to be unintelligible. And how strange is the Dr's saying, That the Man-Child was not taken up to the Throne of God, till the Christian Emperors had overcome the Pagan! Whenas their assuming the Christian Profession, and thereby owning Christ's Authority, was as much a taking him up to GOD's Throne, as those who continued still Pagan Emperors, were thereby Upholders of the Devil in his Throne: And therefore that was the Pergamenian State, when the Church is said to dwell where Satan's Seat is.  
It must be such Head-strong Prejudice in the Dr. as he fancieth here in me, or something else as ill, that can so blind his judgement from apprehending my so easy and apt Exposition, and make him so confident of his own, as to think it certain Demonstration. Though it's said that the Primitive Christians overcame the Devil, by the Blood of the Lamb, &c. yet how can it signify more than that they obtained Sentence against him, to be cast out, & c? For being possessed of such Power, he would surely, not voluntarily, resign it, though he was sentenced to be cast out, and therefore must be outed by a War( as he was so) or by some Miraculous Means. And by War also the Anti-Christian Powers are to be destroyed, who when such Plagues of God are sent upon them, as to make them gnaw their Tongues for Pain; yet such is their obdurate Impenitence, that it's said, That they repented not to give him Glory, cap. 16.19. So that they will hold out to the last, till utter Destruction comes upon them: Since therefore the Devil could not be outed of his Dominion, but by War or Miraculous Means; and since he was indeed so outed by War, executing the Sentence obtained against him; and that War is so aptly signified here, by the War between Michael and his Angels, and the Devil and his Angels, and will otherwise be taken no notice of in this Book of Prophecies, though it be a Transaction of so great Concern to the Church, how can any man of judgement avoid understanding the War here in the Sense I have given?  
My Sense, which the Dr. calls Mystical, is also political; that is, it imports an Exaltation to a Heavenly Station in the World, by a Spiritual Power, and it seems a rambling Sense to the Dr. by reason of his awkard Apprehensions of the Mysteries of Prophesies. I have agreed, that all Christians were in a general Sense concerned here in the Victory of the Church; but the Dwellers in Heaven, who are so excited to rejoice, must surely be such who are especially concerned therein, by reason of the peculiar Advantage that will accrue to them thereby, viz. The happy Condition that those in that State should thenceforth be in, by their Victory over the World, through the Salvation and Strength then come; whereas the Dwellers on Earth should still be in Thraldom to the Power of the Devil, after his being cast out, &c. So that here seems to be signified a State not before attainable unto, till the Kingdom of God had made that Advance, &c.( of which see cap. 13.6.) and therefore can have no Relation but to present and future Times; so far is the running here into the middle Synchronals from being a rambling, &c. But a gross Conceit it is, to make the Dwellers on Earth, on whom the Devil shall have such Power, to signify Men of low Degree, as if such were not as likely to be of them who worship not the Beast, but are written in the Lambs Book of Life, and become Dwellers in Heaven, &c. as those of high Degree in the World: My Sense here is further confirmed from the Antithesis between the Dwellers in Heaven and on Earth.  
The Dr's saying, that the Contention between the Arrians and catholics, is here most certainly included, is a very groundless Confidence: For there were other great Contentions in the Church, not taken Notice of in this Book, viz. That early Combustion between the Eastern and Western Church, about keeping Easter; and then that of the Donatists which caused so great and lasting Commotion. And indeed it was so natural for the Church in her Infant-State( wherein she was in so much Ignorance, accompanied with so much Weakness and Carnality) to fall into hot Contentions about Religion; that it was not a Matter of so much Moment, as to require its being prophesied of; especially, since such Controversies were like mostly to be upheld by such who were of least true Regard in the Church, if they deserved at all to be reputed Members thereof: Nor were such Contentions of very Mischievous Consequence, and withal of some use, according to that saying, It's expedient that there should be Heresies, that those who are arppoved, may be made manifest. I can therefore now hardly allow the Dr. so much as I admit in my Remark, viz. That the Arrian controversy may in some Respects be also included here: For this casting out Water, like a Flood, &c. being after he was cast down to the Earth, &c.( which, as I said before, was not accomplished till the end of Theodosius his time at soonest) the Heat of the Arrian controversy was then well over. So that I apprehended, that by the Waters like a Flood, &c. is chiefly here intended, what the Devil acted to the damage and hazard of Religion by those Barbarous Nations( many whereof were Infidels) which over-ran the Empire. They are Prophesied of in the three first Trumpets as to their Success against the Empire; and here may be signified the insolent acting of the base sort of them against Religion; and then by Earth may be signified, such Eminent Professors of Christianity( whether Clergy-men or others) who by their Gravity and Holy Conversation could gain Reverence from those Barbarous People, and so sway them as to assuage their Insolences and Violences, &c. and also all others may be signified who were in any measure serviceable thereunto. These Nations, when they was formed into the Ten-Horned-Beast, subject to the Seventh Roman-Head or or Eighth Head of Rome, became then those Anti-Christian Powers with which the old Serpent made War, with the remnant of the Womans Seed, ver. 17. but they being settled in the Empire a considerable time before, he did then excite them by insolent Barbarities to over-flow her as with a Flood; which I suppose to be here signified by casting forth of water, &c. which being cast out of his Mouth, may more particularly signify the endeavouring to overwhelm Religion with profane and Blasphemous Scoffings and Reproaches( according to my Sense given of cap. 13.6.) which doubtless, it was heavily loaded with in times of such Barbarity and Wickedness. But this does not exclude what I say in my Remark of the tumultuating of the Pagans of the Empire against the Christians, &c.  
Here needs nothing to be said further than is said on the preceding Remark; only I shall observe what a pretty absurdity the Dr. would fasten on me. He first supposeth his Conceit about the Arrian Controversy to be undoubtedly true, and then says, could the sober sort of the common People compose this difference? As if I had spoken any thing about their composing that difference. I shall further Note, that the Floods of Contentions never swelled higher than in those ecumenical Councils, which the Dr. makes to be the Earth swallowing them up, &c. and that what was determined in them was carried by such Violence and Interest of Parties, and yielded so little Satisfaction, that they proved of little effect to compose differences, but rather one Council made work for another.   

CHAP. XIII.  
I Shall not concern myself to examine, whether Expositors do make Blasphemy to mean Idolatry, so much as the Dr. relates them to do it, whenas I have the Authority of Scripture to take it in another as well as in that Sense. And since that Idolatry and other Sins are spoken of literally, cap. 9. ver. 20, 21. without any Iconism, and so is Blasphemy in the Second Epistle to the Seven Churches, &c. I know not why it may not here be so spoken of also. Yet that it signifies Idolatry, as that is one kind of Blasphemy, I agree; and according to the time it respects, may sometimes signify that more than other Blasphemy, and sometimes other Blasphemy more than that. But what does the Dr. mean by saying, That this Vision sets out the State of the visible Church, whenas I know no visible Church whilst the Church of Christ is in the Wilderness, there being no Christian Church but his Body, United to him by his Spirit? All other Societies which are United in a Christian Profession, by human Laws upheld by Worldly Power, are but Body-politicks of the World, and not Christian Churches( according to the signification of Ecclesia) called or taken out of the World. There needs no Iconistical Vision to signify the apostasy into Idolatry, whenas( besides its being literally spoken of cap. 9.20.) it's not only implied( according to the Dr.) in the Beasts being called {αβγδ}, but also in the Two-Horned-Beast being called the False Prophet, which surely must respect, especially the False Worship he promotes, he being the great Manager of Religion. Also the speaking great Things as well as Blasphemies, ver. 5. does import something more than Idolatry to be here intended; which may be the vain boasting of the Beast, and Priding himself like nabuchadnezzar, and speaking great Words against the most High, thinking to change Times and Laws, Dan. 7. and exalting himself against all that is called God, sitting as God in the Temple of God, &c. 2 Thes. 2. which seems chiefly to respect the Infallibility he pretends to, and the Supremacy he thereby usurps. And the Blasphemy on those Heads, during whose time there were no Saints to Blaspheme, may yet have other sense besides Idolatry, viz. such magnifying themselves against God as I have spoken of, and is spoken of, Psal. 37.9. They set their Mouths against the Heavens, and their Tongues walk through the Earth. And also may signify their wicked Conversation whereby they lived as without God in the World, and so denied him in their works, which comes little short of the Blasphemy of denying him with their Mouths, and less( or rather not at all) short of Idolatrous Worshipping him. The Dr's splenetic Excursion against such Dissenters as he makes hypocritical Saints, is impertinent, my sense here respecting only true Saints.  
He proceeds, There wanted no Prophetical Monitions or Prefigurations, that wicked men will speak evil of good men from the Antipathy, that is between them. So there wanted no Prophetical Prefigurations, that worldly Powers acted by the Prince of this World, will( whatever Profession they bear) degenerate into Idolatrous practices, it being the will of that Spirit which worketh in them, that they should Worship him( as he tempted our Saviour to do it) whosoever else they pretend to Worship. And if it was becoming the Prescience of God, to be able to predict, that the pretended Church of Christ would become Idolatrous; it was likewise so, to predict, that that pretended Church should express such enmity against the true Church, by Blasphemous Scoffs and Reproaches, as well as other Persecutions. And if there was so much Goodness in the one Prediction by reason of its usefulness to the Reformation, there is the like also in the other, it making such usage from the Professors of the same Religion, the less surprising to the Sufferers, and so confirming them the easier to bear it, it being but what was foretold; as our Saviour did also foretell his Disciples what should befall them, and then adds, These things have I  told you, that when the time shall come, you may remember that I  told you of them.  
As to the Dr's affirming that Assertion to be false which I intimate here, viz. that the reproaching the Fruits of the Spirit in Men of Private Quality is termed Blasphemy, in Scripture; I say first, that all those I suppose here to be Blasphemed, are not to be reckoned altogether private Persons, whatever their outward circumstances are in the World. For such as are signified by the Two Witnesses, and the Sealed Company of the Lamb, &c. are as to their Spiritual Station in a higher State in the World than the Grandees in public Authority; for they are in that Heavenly Station( being the Dwellers in Heaven, cap. 12.12.) which the worldly Powers are cast down from. But further, What is that reproaching of the Fruits of the Spirit in men, but to reproach that Spirit which worketh them in them? And if the reproaching of the Spirit when he exerted himself in such miraculous Works in our Saviour, was unpardonable Blasphemy, then surely, the doing the same to his works in others, must be proportionably Blasphemous. And if the affirming any to be Jews,( viz. Spiritual Jews, or Christians) when they are not so, be Blasphemy, Rev. cap. 2. ver. 9. Is it not rather so, to deny them to be Christians that are so? Which yet is done by reproaching the Fruits of the Spirit in them, in a worse manner than mere denying them to be Christians. And whenas James says, Do they not Blaspheme that worthy Name by which ye are called? And Paul says, The Name of God is Blasphemed in you, viz. in those who walked not answerably to their Profession, &c. If the reproaching of the Christian Profession be Blasphemy, though there be occasion given for it by unrighteous walking, &c. much more will it be so, when done without such occasion. And Ezek. cap. 35 12. Prophesying against Mount Seir or the Edomites, for their Enmity against the Israelites( and under that Type, against all the Enemies of the People of God) says, I have heard all the Blasphemies which thou hast spoken against the Mountains of Israel, &c. where the so reproaching any of the People of God( as being Israelites) as well as the Rulers, is made Blasphemy. Judge then who is the false Asserter here.  
What strange prevaricating is here with manifest Truth, without any colour, but a sorry criticism for so doing! It's by the Beast that the Devil makes War with the remnant of the Womens Seed, and thereinto he here gives him his Power and Seat, &c. By virtue of which Power the Beast Wars with the Saints, and hath Power over the dwellers on Earth, ver. 7, 8. which answers to the Wo to the dwellers on Earth on the Devils being cast out, &c. cap. 12. So that {αβγδ} here does plainly signify the same Power in abstracto which {αβγδ} does in concreto, ver. 7, 8. And as to the Dr's understanding in his Exposition, that by the Devils Power here are signified evil Angels, &c. they are but invisible Ministers of his Power, as the Beast is a visible Minister of it; but his Power must be that whereby he does act them, or influence and enable them to act under him. What is the purpose of the Dr's saying, that the Devil did not surrender his Crown willingly, I understand not, nor can make Sense of what follows, viz. though the Dragon be expressly said to give the Beast his Power and Seat, &c. Yet the Dr. will have this by a Zoopeia, to signify only, That the Beast succeeded the Dragon, and that is imputed to be done by him, which was done only upon the occasion of the Condition he was in. So that, he did not do what he is expressly said to do, but his Condition did only occasion the Beast his succeeding him, &c. But how did he occasion his succeeding him otherwise than by giving him his Power, & c? And whenas the reviving of the Beast is but a restoring of the Devils Power, Why must not he be allowed here to give him his Power and Seat( accordingly as he is expressly said to do it) as well as he did the same to the Pagan Beast? And what Truth so plain as that it may not thus be perverted, by the help of a prophetic Figure?  
We have seen, cap. 12. that what the Dr. says here, was proved against me there, is but a vain Boast. That Victory of the Primitive-Christians by the Spiritual Sword, was not effectual to give the deadly wound to the Pagan-head of the Beast, till it was seconded by the other Sword, &c. As to the Dr's. Rule for interpreting the Opened-Book-Prophecy, I say, That the Account which the prophesy gives of the State of the Church, is in Orde●●o the giving an Account of the advancement of Christ's Kingdom, &c. that being the Scope of the Apocalypse, and so those Expositions are most to be approved of that best suit therewith; and therefore my Sense here is much to be preferred before the Dr's. because it gives an Account of the completing or perfecting the Victory of Christianity over the Pagan Powers, which could not be accomplished by the Spiritual Power till it was succeeded with the other, as I have shewed. Besides, If the wounding by a Sword, which hath so plain a literal signification, should be intended to signify Mystically in the Dr's sense, without any intimation in the Text to that purpose, it would be unintelligible. As to his saying, That if the wounding and healing of the Beast be taken in my Political Sense, it was not healed till Carolus Magnus his time, I say, That it was healed when the Ten-horned-beast became headed by the seventh Roman-Head, or eighth Head of Rome, under which it became alike body-politic or Beast as under the former Heads, whatever Spiritual Power that Head pretended to exercise over it; whereas Carolus Magnus his being made Emperor, did not make him really any Head of the Ten-horned-beast, though it was such a resemblance, of the sixth Head as did more complete the reviving of the Image of the Beast under that Head, and served as some shelter to the Pope, that he might not so plainly appear who he is. My Political Sense of the deadly wound by a Sword is further enforced, from the Antithesis between the wounding and healing of the Beast; so that, the later being Political, the former must be so also. I cannot agree with the Dr's saying, That the Ten H●●s were crwoned, and the wounded Head healed at the same time; for the Horns were crwoned before the Pope attained to the Power to Head those Kingdoms, which he could not do till the seventh Head of Rome, which was to continue but a little while, viz. the Ostrogothian Kingdom was expired; till when they could not become the Ten-horned-beast under a New Roman-Head, whereby his deadly wound under the former Head should be healed. And therefore the little Horn( signifying the same with that New Head) is said to rise after the Ten Horns, &c. Dan. 7.24. Yet whereas that Horn is represented in the Apocalypse by a Two-horned-beast, signifying the two-fold Authority ( viz. Ecclesiastical and Civil) which he does or pretends to exercise, we may allow him to exercise the first as soon as the Ten Horns were crwoned, though he could not the later, till the expiring of the Ostrogothian Kingdom. These two Horns are said, ver. 11. to be like the Horns of a Lamb, by reason of his usurping the Lambs Authority, both as King and Priest, &c.  
That besides the Legal State, there are two such Spiritual or Christian States, as I have here described, is evident, both from the two Courts, cap. 11. and also from the seven Stars and seven Candlesticks in the Vision of the Epistles, and from the twenty-four Elders, and four Beasts in the Vision, cap. 4. By which Visions it appears, That the Church will always, both in her Militant and Triumphant Millennial State, consist of Men of such different States, that some will be fit to Rule, and others to be in Subjection to them, to receive the Help of their Guidance, &c. The first whereof Answers to the Dwellers in Heaven, and the Second to the Tabernacle of God, &c. And though there be the same different States or Degrees in the Legal or Judaical Dispensation, yet both of them can be regarded but as one under a Christian Profession; because therein they can onely be in Subjection, their State being not capable of Spiritual Ruling. To the Dr's affirming, That none of Private Rank or Station are capable of being blasphemed, I have fully Answered, ver. 1. Then he says, That I cannot show any Scripture where Gods Name, and his Tabernacle, and the Dwellers in Heaven, do signify the Sense I have given. But what if I cannot, so long as it's plain, that there are three such States, and I have given Reasons enough for their being so signified here( and they seem also to be Typically signified, Psal. 76. ver. 1, 2.) With my Reasons for the First, he does triflingly prevaricate, and then says, What Trifling is here! He says, God's Name was not the People of Israel themselves; Who could have such a Senseless Thought that it was them? Yet being the professing his Name does appear by the Scriptures, I have mentioned in my Remark( and also by his Name being put on them, Numb. 6.27.) to be so peculiar a Character of the State of that People, such a State may be aptly signified by his Name. Again the Dr. says, When we pray, Hallowed be God's Name, Do we understand the People of God by his Name? No surely, yet we pray then that God's Name may be hallowed in his People who profess it; so that they are inclusively signified. And as to God's Tabernacle, and the Dwellers in Heaven, I have shewed that both of them signify so elsewhere in this Book, and know no Occasion for their being used so elsewhere; especially, for the later, which signifies a State that seems to be the Result of the Man-Child's being caught up into God's Throne, and the Devil cast out, &c. and so was not before attainable unto, unless by Christ who overcame the Powers of Darkness, and tells us that he was in Heaven while on Earth. Not but that Believers might before attain to even as high Degree of Regeneration, and Victory over fleshly Lusts as then, but not thereby to that Victory over worldly Powers; those Principalities and Powers, and Rulers of the Darkness, &c. which Paul makes the main Enemies they had to wrestle with, Ephes. 6.12. of which see cap. 21. ver. 23. but could not be such powerful Enemies after the Devil was cast out, &c. unless to the Dwellers on Earth, against whom the Wo is pronounced, cap. 12.12.  
Then he next Objects, That if the Name of God signifies them that bear it, it must signify the highest Christian State, it being the Character of the Philadelphian Church, and so must the Tabernacle of God, because it's the New-Jerusalem State, which is a permanent Condition. To the First, I say, That the Name of God, does in a general Sense signify all Three States, they all bearing the Profession of his Name, but it does more peculiarly signify the First, or Lowest State; because it's the height or Perfection of that State to love and profess his Name. That Character therefore is agreeable also with the Philadelphian State; yet the writing the Name of God upon them in that State, does not so much denote their State, as the Manifestation of it to the World, viz. That God would so beautify them with the Glory of his Grace, as to make it evident to all, whose they are, or to whom they belong; and therefore is added, The Name of the City of my God, and my New Name, &c. Then to his saying also, That the Tabernacle of God is the New-Jerusalem-State, &c. I say, That it's onely those signified by the four Beasts in that State, who belong to the Outer-Court that was trodden down, and is then restored; who tho' they have so much outward Communion with the World, or Concern in the Affairs of this Life, as to incapacitate them to live in constant Communion with God, as those who belong to the Inner Court, or are signified by the twenty-four Elders,( so that their Vicissitudinarious Communion with him, do make them his Tabernacle, by reason of his sojourning, and not having a fixed Abode in them as in a Temple, which he hath in those in the Inner-Court) yet that State will be as permanent as the other; that is, they will be both alike durable throughout the Millennium. So that there's no repugnancy here; but what the Dr's wrong apprehension does make him imagine. As to his saying that, rejoice ye Heavens and ye that dwell in them, belongs to Constantines time, I agree, that that saying, does respect his time, as then beginning that change which gave Rise to the State of the Dwellers in Heaven, &c. and therefore all that should thenceforth attain thereunto are excited to rejoice, by reason of the happiness that did accrue to them by that Revolution. The Dr. concludes, with a boast of his performance, cap. 11. against my Account of the Worshippers in the Temple and Thysiasterion, and also of this Verse. But though he would represent what I have said, to be an incoherent Dream, &c. yet I hope it appeareth both consistent and true, for ought he hath said against it.  
Then he says, That my impugning his Exposition is as weak as mine is wild; and if it be no weaker, it's like to prove strong enough. And to show this weakness, he says, That supposing the Idolatrous Worship to be well meant( as doubtless it is by the generality of the blind deluded Worshippers, though the crafty Leaders promote it out of politic ends) yet it's a reproach of them who are so Worshipped, and consequently a blaspheming them. And that it's a reproach to them, he refers for proof thereof to his Exposition, which tells us that it is so, because that it supposeth that they( viz. the Saints and Angels, &c.) will accept such Worship, and so prove Rebels against God. But this reason does not reach the Idolatrous Worship of God, nor surely suffice to make the Worshipping of Saints and Angels a blaspheming them: For though it implies the said false Supposition, and so is a Reproach to them, yet it being not so intended, but proceeding onely from Ingorance, and that accompanied with an Intention of doing all due Honour to them, How can it amount to a Blaspheming them? Our Saviour says, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin, John, 9.41. How then can that which is done with so much Ignorance, or Blindness, and with so good Meaning, be made so heinous a Sin? But further says the Dr. It's fitting that this Reproach should be called Blasphemy, that by this sharp Reproof, they may be more effectually staved off from committing Idolatry. But say I, It's not fitting that out of such an end, any Sins should be otherwise characterised, than is suitable to the Nature of them: And whereas he adds, That it's usual in Scripture to charge that directly, which the Sinner commits interpretative, as Jeremiah makes the Jews to say to the Stock, Thou art my Father, &c. If the same was here intended to be done, it's so far from being plainly expressed, as it's there by Jeremiah, that it's not likely to be ever understood by them whom the Dr. supposeth to be so sharply reproved by it. Besides, being that in all Worship, the disposition of the Heart, how that is affencted, is chiefly to be regarded; and the Hearts of the Idolatrous Jews were so set upon their Idols, as to go a Whoring after them against so express Commands and threatenings, &c. there was but little straining in those Expressions of Jeremiah; so that they may be reputed rather a direct than an Interpretative Charge. But where Idolatry proceeds rather from Blindness or Ignorance, than such a stubborn Spirit and whorish Heart, &c. it receives a more gentle Censure, accordingly as Paul says of the Idolatry of the Gentiles, The Time of this Ignorance God winked at, &c. And therefore Idolatry committed to Saints and Angels, which hath the same Excuse, and is designed to give due Honour to them, can ●●rdly admit of so severe a Character, as to be called Blasphemy. Besides, the Text makes all the Blasphemy to be against God: For it's said, That the Beast opened his Mouth in Blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his Name, and Tabernacle, and them which dwell in Heaven, which is not Applicable to the said Reproaching of Saints and Angels, but does well agree with the Sense given by me.  
The judgement threatened here, does also imply in it a comfortable Promise to them that suffer at present, but the plain Purpose of the Words, is a threatening of judgement, for the War described in the preceding Verses, viz. That the same Evil shall return upon the Beast, &c. So that the Dr's Sense cannot be allowed of, and though he thinks it more considerable than mine, yet the contrary is very plain; for my Sense is accomplished at the seventh Trumpet( besides what fell out by the Vials, and other Trumpets to the same Purpose) in the utter Destruction of the Beast, which far exceeds what befell him by the Reformation. Besides, my Sense plainly Answering Antithetically to the Beast, his killing with the Sword, and there being no Intimation for any other than this natural literal Sense; if other Sense was intended, it's altogether unintelligible, as is said in my Remark, to which the Dr. is silent. Also, Here is the Patience and Faith of the Saints, agreeing with the like Words in the Monition of the third Angel in the next Chapter, which respects the Vials, seems to signify, That what is here threatened, hath a particular Respect to the judgement executed by the Vials.  
As to what is the Scope of this Opened-Book-Peophecy( and also of the whole Apocalypse) I have spoken to it formerly. By the Two-Horned-Beast, his speaking like a Dragon, is not onely signified his decreeing Idolatry,( as the Dr. without any Countenance from the Text, does make it to be) but all the Draconick Power he does exercise, viz. All the Power( as it's said here) of the first Beast, that he exerciseth the same Power which he does; that is, In the Dominion of the three Horns, which he plucks up by the Roots, he exerciseth all the same Power, which the other Beast doth in the other Dominions. Nor is it of any Moment, That he began to renew the Image of the Dragon,( or former Beast) before he plucked up the three Horns, &c. for there's no need that he should exercise all the Power of the first Beast all his time; it's sufficient that he does it the greatest part of his time. Besides, so Remarkable a Part of the Description of him, as to be noted in the brief prophesy of Daniel, cap. 7.8. will yet in this Large apocalyptic prophesy, be taken no Notice of, if not here signified.  
How the Dr's inviolable Rule does violate the intention of this Opened-Book-Prophecy, I have oft Noted already. And as to his saying, What cares the Spirit of prophesy for taking Notice of the Changes in secular States and Kingdoms, but so far as God's True Church and the Purity of his Worship is concerned, &c. I say, That it cares for taking Notice of such changes, so far as the Advancement of Christ's Kingdom is concerned therein, wherein is included the concerns of his Church, both as to Purity of Worship, and as to that which he is as much or more concerned for( as I have formerly Noted) viz. the establishing of judgement and Righteousness in the Earth. And though the Emperors were Pontifices Maximi, and the Pagan Religion part of the Laws of the Empire; yet the whole State of Religion depending on the Civil Power, which did Authorize and Support it, it was therefore in respect of it but as the Moon borrowing or deriving it's Light from the Civil Power as the Sun. So that, though the Pagan Religion was abolished, yet that could not be such a deadly wound to the Head of the Pagan Beast, when the politic State of his Civil Power continued whole. But as( I formerly Noted) the Pagan Religion was not abolished by Constantines assuming the Christian Profession, but continued after to enjoy a public Toleration as well as Christianity, till Theodosius his time. Nor was his shutting up the Temples, and taking away the Priests Revenue able absolutely to abolish it. Nor did the Emperors by turning Christians, wholly relinquish the Idolatrous Corruptions of Paganism, they continuing still the Office of Pontifex Maximus, and to assume the Title of Nostrum Numen, and to suffer their Images to be Worshipped; which the Dr. agrees to be Idolatry in Paralip. Prophet. pag. 245. Besides, Their lapsing with other Christians into new Idolatry of in-templing relics of Saints and Martyrs, which the Dr. agrees, does answer to the entempling of Pagan Hero's; and that the doing thereof is to be guilty of the Worship of the Mahuzzim, and that such doings prevailed among the Christians about the end of the Fourth Century; but the same doings in Constantine he would make but an innocent Zeal towards the Martyrs, and a Civil Honour to them, because that such doings coming within his Symmetral Times, would not otherwise agree therewith, Paralip. Prophet. pag. 246, 247. As to what is said here about the War between Michael and the Dragon, &c. and that in my Sense the Curing of the deadly Wound, would not be till Carolus Magnus his time, &c. it hath been answered, ver. 3. I hope therefore that it does appear, that the Dr's excellent Key wherewith he does unlock the Apocalypse, serves only to give him an Entrance into a Labyrinth of errors.   

CHAP. XIV.  
THough the Dr. cannot make the Plague of the Saracens and Turks belong to the Opened-Book-Prophecy, yet he attempts to do that which is not much better, viz. he makes an Excursion out of that into the Sealed-Book, for expounding this Verse, applying it more to the taking of Constantinople than to the Zeal of those Greek Emperors, &c. though what was done by them is sufficient to Answer the Monition of this Angel, and his flying in the midst of the Heaven, seems to appropriate it to them. Also his Monition is a warning of approaching judgement, that they may prevent it: For he says, Fear God, and give Glory to him, for the hour of his judgement is come, and Worship him, &c. and therefore cannot be intended of the Executing such a destructive judgement as that which the Dr. applies it to, though it may include also the inflicting of a chastening judgement, to make the Monition more effectual, and that was fulfilled by those Emperors, &c. Besides, The Monition of the Two succeeding Angels does limit the. time of this, so that it cannot be allowed so large an extent as the Dr. does give it. As for the Waldenses, whom he would include in this Monition, they belong to the next. This Monitory Angel does answer to the Monitory Angel of the Wo-Trumpets, cap. 8.13. for as the one gives Monition of Judgments that immediately respect the Civil State of the Anti-Christian Powers, viz. the Ten-Horned-Beast and his Image; so the other does the same of Judgments so respecting the Ecclesiastick-State, viz. The Two-Horned-Beast, but more particularly respects the Commencement of them, by those Greek Emperors, &c.  
As the Waldenses and Albigenses were aggrieved at the standing of Babylon, so they did by their Separation from her, commence her Fall; and so do not belong to the first Angel, as the Dr. would have them do; the Purpose of that Angel being, as I have said, a Warning to prevent a Fall. But he says, That Babylon continued tight 400 Years after the appearing of the Waldenses; I suppose he means, because no Kingdoms fell from her; whereas the Separation of such Multitudes in divers Kingdoms, might be as mischievous as the Separation of some Kingdoms, and as truly called a Partial Fall of Babylon; and he makes the Fall here signified, to be no more than so. Nor are those Kingdoms which separated from her by the Reformation, to be reputed absolutely to fall off from her, being they did so much still concur with her, as to continue the same worldly Powers, onely refined, but not ceasing thereby to be Members of the Ten-Horned-Beast: So that, notwithstanding what the Dr. hath said to the contrary, Babylon is fallen, &c. may be as truly applied to the Waldenses, as to the Reformation, and much more aptly as to the time of the Monition: Also the applying it so, does take in therewith, the Separation of the Greek Church comprehending many Nations, which yet the Dr. understands not what Place it hath here, though in respect of its time, it is more likely to have Place here, than the Reformation; nor gives he any Reason to the contrary. The said Application does also include in it the great Schism of the Two Popes for divers Successions; the one at Rome, the other at Avignon, which much weakened the Papal Authority, and so furthered the Fall of Babylon. But then the Dr. comes to a prime Reason for applying this Monition to the Reformation, viz. It's said at the Rising of the Witnesses, that the Tenth Part of the City fell, and at the Reformation, he says, at least a Tenth Part of the City fell; whenas if any Part of it then fell, it was near half of it, and this almost half of it must pass for a Tenth Part of it. And this he reckons for a most evident Argument, that the Reformation, is the Rising of the Witnesses, and this very fall of Babylon which is with Joy and Triumph declared by this Second Angel( whenas here's no Expression of Joy, but only a Pronouncing or Declaring Babylon to be fallen) and concludes, What can be more clear? And makes his fancied joyful annunciation here of Babylons Fall, to correspond with the Doxology of the Elders at the seventh Trumpet, though he makes it to do the same with the Fall of the Tenth Part of the City, cap. 11. which is before the sounding of that Trumpet. Now the Sense of his thus arguing, does surpass my understanding, though the Dr. is so confidently persuaded of the strength of it.  
The Monition of the Third Angel does doubtless, as the Two former, signify what will be done at the time it relates to, viz. the Tormenting then the Worshippers of the Beast, &c. But the declaring then what shall befall them at the last Day, is no Tormenting them then, and must be very insignificant to such obdurate Infidels, &c. And though the Saints and Angels will be Assistant to the Lamb on his Tribunal at the last Day, when he shall pronounce the dreadful Sentence, &c. Yet this will be no Tormenting those Worshippers with Fire and Brimstone in the presence of the Saints and Angels. Also, their having no rest Day nor Night, does plainly relate to the Tormenting them in this Life; but not so as to be applied to any unquietness of Conscience, which they are likely to be little affencted with, being so obdurately impenitent as appears in the Fourth and Fifth Vial. Therefore, if all Expositors understand that Hell-torments are here signified, they are out in this as well as they are in many other Expositions of Prophecies. And being those Torments are but Metaphorically described by Fire and Brimstone,( for they are signified also by the Worm not dying, as well as by unquenchable Fire) Why may not the same Metaphorical Description be used to set forth the Greatness of the Plagues of the Vials? And the Dr. cannot but agree, That this Monition does partly respect the Plagues of the Vials, but his roving Imagination would also extend it to a further Meaning: But that the Vials onely are intended in this Monition, is confirmed also by what I noted, cap. 13.10.  
Not every one, says the Dr. here, that went into the Temple, but onely the High Priest had Entrance into the Sanctum Sanctorum. But say I, That was peculiar onely to the Judaical-State; for by Christ the veil was rent, to give all Believers immediate and continual Access to the Throne of God, and surely Angels have the like Access. But that all Angels attend the Throne, if I cannot prove it, as the Dr. says, it's not my Concern to do it. It's enough that those so attend, who are employed in representing these Visions. And it's as little my Concern to Dispute the Signification of Temple here; for that here spoken of does not mean any Temple on Earth, and so cannot represent the Church of God that use to assemble there, but does plainly signify the Temple in Heaven, which is the Abode of the Divine Presence, out of which the Angels come Commissioned from God, &c. So that all the ado which the Dr. makes here, and his Citations out of Mr. meed and Pegamus, are quiter besides the Purpose, &c. And what Sense is there, in making the Angel to come out of the Temple, representing the Church, and thereby signifying whereto their Prayers tended? Whenas they could not by their Prayers, give that Order to him, which he was to carry to the Angel sitting on the Cloud, &c. and therefore he must come from whence he received that Order.  
What a senseless Distortion is here of my plain Meaning! I agree, that he who sits on the Cloud here, is Christ; but say then, That his Reaping is the causing the Spirit of Life to enter into the Witnesses, to set them on their Feet, and to cause them to ascend on a Cloud, &c. according to the Sense given in my Remark. As to the Dr's Conceit of making the Rising of the Witnesses to be before the first Vial( which he is so certain of) we have already seen the Vanity of it, and shall see more of it, &c. And little better is it to imagine the Harvest here, to be the Conversion of the Jews; of which, more in Apol. in Defence of Remark on Pages 280, 281.  
The Citation here out of Pegamus, does Concur with my Sense, but does not Countenance the Dr's; and he with all his striving here, cannot make Sense of the Reason he gives for the mentioning of Fire, but rather makes himself further liable to the Censure, which he thinks so severe: For though the Vengeance here taken, be for the Martyrdom of the Saints,( as also for other Wickednesses and Abominations) yet the Mention of Fire does plainly( according to my Account given thereof) respect the fierce judgement of God to be executed by the Angel, with the sharp Sickle, in the same Sense as it's used in the first Trumpet, and the preceding Censure of Fire cast upon the Earth; nor is there any Colour for any other Application of it. And he does to as little Purpose, strive to prove, that the Fire of the Altar does not simply signify Wrath or Vengeance; for what if it do not so, so long as it aptly bears that Signification, and does undoubtedly signify so here? As to the affencted Mistake he chargeth me with, in making him to allot Vengeance, and Conversion to the same Party, I do not so; but whereas here appears nothing but Vengeance to be executed; I say, to make the same especially to respect Conversion, is a strange Vengeance, and a strange perverting of the True Sense, &c.  
We are referred to the Answer of the next Remark, for an Answer to this. Here we have nothing but an angry Recrimination for a gentle, and very seasonable Animadversion.  
A Field of Battle, may doubtless, be aptly signified by a winepress, and the Horses in the battle, with their Victorious Riders, may as aptly signify the Wine-Pressers. And though the Dr. says, that he never heard of their being Wine-Pressers before, yet he does mention a Place in Joel, where their being so, must be implyed. But as to Ribera's Sense here, which he thinks so certain, I understand not why the Blood coming out of the winepress, should signify the overflowing it to the Neighbouring Parts, but onely that it spewed so high out of it, as to reach to the Horse-Bridles. For since the Wine Press is of so large Extent as 1600 Furlongs, it's not to be imagined, that it should overflow also into the adjacent Parts. And that, not the overflowing of the Blood, but the winepress, is to be reckoned of that Extent, appears from the Blood coming out to the Horse-Bridles by that Space: So that the Wine-Pressers do reach throughout that Space, and consequently, the winepress must be of the same Extent. But though all this is to be understood of a real or carnal Warfare, as the Dr. calls it, yet not in so gross a literal Sense, as to have such absurd Inferences made from it, as he does deduce; but it's onely to be reputed an Hyperbolical Representation of the great Victory and Slaughter that will be at the Great Day of God Almighty, of which see Dan. cap. 11. ver. 45. And since the Place or Seat of War is here, as in Joel, represented by a winepress, the Victors will be consequently Wine-Pressers, and so their great Slaughter will be aptly signified by the gushing out of Blood to the Horse-Bridles. And that such Slaughter should be executed by Saints upon such obdurate impeniten Sinners, as it appears in the fourth and fifth Vial they will then be, and such as will not be otherwise outed of the Power they are possessed of, to make way for the settling of Christ's Kingdom on Earth, what Incongruity is there in it? So far is it from a savage Scene of things Reproachful to Saints, as the Dr. does imagine.  
And unless such a real War was intended, Why should the Spirit of God use such symbolical Representations as do plainly import the same, according to their easy natural Sense? This would be indeed as the Dr. expresseth it, To animate pretended Saints to Tumults and Rebellions, and to season Peoples Minds with false Notions, &c. And how could the winepress here, be called, cap. 19.15. The winepress of the fierceness of the Wrath of God, if some such great Slaughter, or utter Destruction was not signified by it? Also, How else could it be said, cap. 18. ver. 6. Reward as she hath Rewarded you, Double unto her Double, according to her Works, in the Cup she hath filled, fill to her Double? And, Why should those Times be called such Times of Trouble, as never was, &c. Dan. 12.1. If it were not for that great Commotion, which the Preparation against that Great Day, will make, by stirring up the utmost of their Forces on both sides, to that decisive Battle, &c. So that all the Dr's fine Conceits here, of the three Visions he mentioneth, aiming at the same thing, and of our being assured thereby, That the Victory over one Part indicated in these Visions is Spiritual, by converting them, and that the Victory over the other Part is Political, indicating their Confusion, but not by murdering them( as if the killing them who are ripe for Destruction, and doing it under his Authority, who in Righteousness doth judge and make War, could be Murder) but only by depriving them of their Revenues and abolishing their Authority, &c. I say, All these fine Conceits can hardly proceed from other cause than what I mentioned in the preceding Remark; and they much agree with those of old who cried, Peace, Peace, where there is no Peace. And as they uttered their deceits in the Name of the Lord, whereby to make them pass for certain Truths, so the Dr.( as if he spake from the same infallible Spirit which they pretended to) says of his devices, These things will certainly be. As to his saying, That the slaughtering passages of the Great Day, &c. belong not to God's obdurate Enemies, but to the strangers to the Faith, &c. I say, That they belong to the whole Anti-Christian Party, assembled by the Instigation of the three unclean Spirits going out of the Mouths of the Dragon, Beast, and False Prophet, and who surely will stir up all belonging to those Parties, &c. And how groundlessly the Dr. makes the Dragons Party strangers to the Faith see, cap. 16. ver. 16.  
The Dr. in behalf of his Symbolical Sense of Sixteen Hundred Furlongs, does re-iterate with much enlargement the incredibility, yea, impossibility of the Literal Sense of the slaughter here, and so of the numerical Sense of Sixteen Hundred Furlongs. And indeed his representation of it is so incredible and impossible, that surely he could not imagine any to harbour such absurd thoughts, though he was pleased to Surmise the same, that he might find the more to say in behalf of those fanciful Imaginations which he is so concerned to defend. I have said enough to clear myself from being concerned in any such monstrous Apprehensions. And as to his saying, That there's no need of intimation here for extracting the squareroot as there is in the Number, Six Hundred Sixty Six, because that Number is not a perfect square; I say, That if this Sense were intended, it should not have been Sixteen Hundred, but Sixteen Furlongs; and by Sixteen Hundred, to understand Sixteen; and thereon to extract its square-root Four, a Symbol of universality, to signify thereby a perfect Victory, &c. does more need intimation( if intended) than the extracting the square-root of Six Hundred Sixty Six, though it be not a perfect square. And as to the Symbolical meaning of One Hundred Forty Four Thousand, &c. it's more than intimated, cap. 7. But whenas the Number here is expressly applied to Furlongs, and the rest of the Vision does also concur with the numerical Sense, viz. its signifying the measure of a place, and there's nothing to intimate such a Sense as the Dr. applies to it: What a strange conception is it, to imagine any such Symbolical Sense to be here intended!   

CHAP. XV.  
THE Dr. 
Introduction.  does here as oft strangely affirm groundless Assertions, for certain Truths. How absurd it is to make the Reformation( which he takes for the Rising of the Witnesses) to be the Falling of the Tenth Part of the City, I have formerly Noted; and also how groundless it is, to make the Monition of the Second Angel, cap. 14. a Triumphant Song. Besides, The Fall of Babylon signified by that Monition, can by no means be the same with that, cap. 11. because the first respects the whole City, signifying the commencement of its Fall, whenas the later is expressly limited to the Tenth Part of it, signifying an absolute ruin of it. But his Third error which I have Noted, hath more difficulty in it, but not more of Truth, though the Dr. asserts the Truth of them all as most certain. He would make the Song sung here by the Victors over the Beast, to be a Song of Triumph for the Victory obtained by the Reformation, whenas if any such Victory was then obtained, they had no such cause to Triumph for it in their own behalf, who had overcome the Beast, &c. all along before. But indeed the Reformation was no such gaining of Victory, but a rescuing themselves in some good measure from the Thraldom which those Reformers before lay under. So that, the Song here can be in no other Sense a Song of Joy and Triumph, than in that given in my Remark, viz. their rejoicing at the judgement of God to be executed by the Vials which they saw in the Angels Hands, whereby the Victory which they had already obtained, would be also accomplished in behalf of the rest of the Servants of God( viz. those belonging to the Outer-Court trodden down) and then would be fulfilled that saying here, All Nations shall Worship before thee, for thy Judgments are made manifest; which can have no apt Application to the Reformation, for thereby was no such manifestation of God's Judgments as to make all Nations come and Worship before him. And yet the Dr. upon his so incongruous applying that saying, says, How clearly and naturally do these things hang together! And adds a wretched Question, Who but Fools and Mad-men would Triumph before Victory? As if the fore-knowledge of what would be most certainly Executed by those Vials, &c. were not sufficient ground of Joy and Triumph.  
But he urgeth that the Triumph could not be for the future pouring forth of the Vials then in view, because its not said that the Victors saw them( but if John saw them, the Victors standing upon the Sea of Glass before the Temple, must likewise see them) and says also, That John did not see them till the Song of the Victors was ended; and that his saying in the first Verse, that he saw them, is but the Title of the Chapter, and the particular order of seeing them is not till ver. 5. whenas plainly the first Verse does signify his seeing them then; and the next Verses, that the Victors at the same sight do sing the Triumphant Song, &c. And why must this Chapter have such a Title more than the others? And how can that be the Title of it which respects but one passage of it? What is this therefore but a saying any thing, & c? And as to the opening of the Temple of the Tabernacle, &c. ver. 5. I take thereby to be meant, the opening of that part of the Temple which is signified by the Tabernacle, viz. the Outer-Court, or Holy City that is trodden down; which hath the Title of Tabernacle given it by reason of the State of those who Worship therein: Of which, see cap. 13.6. So that, whereas that Court or Holy City which is trodden down Forty Two Months, will be restored by the coming down of the New Jerusalem( when the Tabernacle of God shall be with Men) in order to that Restoration is this opening of the Temple of the Tabernacle, &c. that the Angels coming forth into it, might pour the Vials upon them who tread it down, &c. to make way thereby for them who belong to that Court, to enter into the Temple, &c. And this may be the reason of the Vials being given to the Angels by one of the Four Beasts, who belong to that Court, &c. This opening therefore being of the Gate into the Outer-Court, both the Victors and John might see the Angels with their Vials before the opening of it. And whereas it's urged, that one of the Beasts did not give the Vials till ver. 7. I say, That though the mentioning of this giving be not till then, yet he must be supposed to have done it before, else, how could he in the Temple give them to them, come out of it?  
The Dr. says, That the Beast here is most certainly the Two-Horned-Beast, and gives a reason for it which proves the contrary, viz. Because the Victors are said to get the Victory over the Beast and his Image, and it's plain that the Two-Horned-Beast is the maker of this Image. But say I, It's plain that it's the Image of the Ten-Horned-Beast, who ever was the maker of it( for it's the Image of the Beast whose deadly wound was healed) and therefore, by the Beast and his Image, must be meant the Ten-Horned-Beast. Besides, The Two-Horned-Beast, did not make the Image, but by the deceit of his Miracles did excite the Dwellers on Earth to make it, and then gave Life unto, &c. cap. 13. ver. 14, 15. And as to the Number of his Name( which the Dr. says, plainly belongs to the Two-Horned-Beast) I say, That both Name and Number of Name belongs to the whole Anti-Christian-Body, viz. the Ten-Horned-Beast headed by the Two-Horned-Beast. As to what he says concerning the Vials being called the last Plagues, I say, That where there are distinct Series of Plagues, the one beginning after the beginning of the other; but before its ending, may doubtless therefore be called the last Series of Plagues, in respect of the former Series, and consequently the Plagues thereof the last Plagues, in respect of the Plagues of the former Series; which is so plain as not to need, nor hardly be capable of clearer illustration; whereas by the Dr's reasoning, the Vials cannot be called the last Plagues, though placed as he would have them. For, if they cannot be so called, unless all former Plagues expire before they begin, then the last Wo-Trumpet( which according to him reacheth to the end of the World) must expire before they begin, &c. whereas therefore he calls what I say here, pitiful tearing and forcing of things to serve a fond Hypothesis, &c. What he says to the contrary, is doubtless lamentable struggling against manifest Truth.  
As to his affirming the Second Wo-Trumpet to be placed in the Opened-Book-Prophecy, I have formerly shewed the gross error thereof; and consequently what he infers thereon must fail; which otherwise hath little in it to Support it. And no better is his making the Plagues inflicted by the Witnessss, to be the six first Trumpets, whenas they belong to the Sealed-Book( which the Witnesses do not) and being Executed by the barbarous Nations, How could the Witnesses be concerned in them? But further, the Plagues inflicted by them, are of a Spiritual Nature, suitable to the Inflicters, viz. Tormenting by Prophesying, and shutting up Heaven that it rain not, and killing their Enemies that hurt them, with Fire out of their Mouths, &c. And though their turning Waters into Blood, and smiting the Earth with all Plagues, &c. does signify their Power to cause Wars and other Calamities, yet the influence they have thereon is of a Spiritual Nature; so that they cannot be concerned in the Trumpets further than all Saints are, by their Prayers offered, cap. 8.3. and so they may be in all the Judgments which befell the Anti-Christian Powers in their time. But they being especially concerned in the Plagues, I have mentioned, what an amazing absurdity is it to make only the Trumpets the Plagues that they inflicted! And that forsooth, because no actual inflicted Plagues are prefigured but they. Are not those prefigured which I have mentioned? But it's in such a general manner, because both the Nature of the Plagues, and their being to be inflicted as oft as the Witnesses pleased, would not admit of any more particular prefiguring them, viz. as to the frequency and times of them, &c. And the Tormenting by Prophesying and Shutting up Heaven, &c. are continual Plagues, and therefore required not a more Particular Prediction. But if any of the Plagues of the Witnesses, were more particularly predicted, the Vials must surely be them, as more agreeing with the Plagues of egypt( which the Dr. says they allude to) and as being of that Nature as is more suitable to the Witnesses to inflict them than the Trumpets; and then they must be during their Prophesying, and so before the Seventh Trumpet. And as to the Two first Monitory Angels, If they were only Advertisers of Plagues to be inflicted before the Vials, it signifies as much in this case, as if they were Inflicters of them.  
With what ground can the Dr. affirm the Sea of Glass, and the whole Scene of things, some whereof according to the Mosaical Position are without the {αβγδ}, to be within the {αβγδ}, cap. 4. whenas there's no mention of any {αβγδ} there? The representation there signifying the New Jerusalem State, of which it's said, I saw no Temple there. But if any {αβγδ} be there to be supposed, the Sea of Glass must surely be placed there, as the Dr. agrees it to be here; and as the Sea was in the Temple, which was formed after the Pattern of things in Heaven: Nor is his reasoning for the contrary of any value. For {αβγδ} may signify[ before] though not in view, as it's usual for words to vary by use from their original signification. Besides, By the opened Door of the {αβγδ}, or by its being transparent( as surely that in Heaven must be supposed to be) the Sea of Glass may be said to be in view of the Throne, though without, &c. The Drs. fancied Mystery here is grounded upon a false Hypothesis, which. I have shewed to be so, cap. 11. Also the Sea of Glass, cap. 4. does, as he agrees, signify the Laver of Regeneration; and so must respect the State of the Church in all times, and not only in her Primitive-Purity. But if it's not the {αβγδ}, but the Gate into the outward Court that is opened( as I have before expounded it) then all this dispute upon the Dr's criticism falls to the ground. I do not deny what he says all Interpreters agree, That Moses his Song is here alluded to; But must it therefore follow, though it may be also admitted, that the Sea of Glass here alludes to the congealed Sea, &c. whenas it hath a much more apt and weighty signification, viz. That as the Sea of Glass does represent the Laver of Regeneration, according to the Sense given thereof, cap. 4. So the standing here of the Victors upon it, does signify how they are upheld in that Victorious State, viz. That as they were Transformed or Regenerated into it, by beholding as in a Glass, the Glory of God in Christ Jesus; so by continual contemplating by Faith the manifestation of God in him, they are upheld or preserved in the same State. However therefore {αβγδ} may signify, it signifies here according to our Translation. As to the State of the Church under the Tyranny of Papacy, its being compared to the Israelites Servitude in Egypt; If thence the overthrow of the Egyptians must have its parallel, it must be then when Papacy hath its overthrow, which was far from befalling it at the Reformation. And whereas the Dr. makes the Doctrine of Justification so main an Instrument of Reformation; I say, That there could be no true reforming or becoming real Christians, but it must include in it that Doctrine which is the Substance of Christianity, viz. that we are Justified by Faith in Christ Jesus. But that which gave the Blow to Popery, and Deliverance to the Reformers, was the rejecting the usurped Authority of the Pope, though all the Truths they then embraced, and especially the Doctrine of Justification, did conduce thereunto.  
The Dr. hath left out the much greater Part of this Remark, which I shall therefore add here, beginning at the last Sentence which he hath Printed, it being imperfect— But as this Verse apparently relates to another time; so the Tabernacle here mentioned, and the following Words, No Man was able to enter into the Temple till the smoke, &c. import a different signification, which seems to be, That whereas the Opened-Temple of God in Heaven, cap. 11.19. is, when the Tabernacle of God shall be with Men at the descent of the New Jerusalem, to become the Temple of that Tabernacle, it's now( viz. at the time when the Vials are begun to be poured out) opened on Earth to that purpose: So that, there wants only the pouring out of the Vials for accomplishing the same; and when the great Commotion and Confusion that shall be caused thereby( signified by the smoke, &c.) is over, then the Outer-Court( viz. the New Jerusalem or Tabernacle of God) shall be restored to the Temple, or added to the Inner-Court, whereby it will become the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony in Heaven, the Throne of God and the Lamb being then in the Worshippers in the Outer-Court, as well as in the Inner-Court; that is, they will be in alike Communion with him, and Subjection unto him with the other; which makes the Church then, by reason of that Enlargement, and the Dominion it gains therewith, to be signified by a City, instead of a Temple, &c. as shewed, cap. 3. ver. 8. And in this Sense is Ezek. 37.26, 27. to be understood, where God promiseth to set his Sanctuary in the midst of his People, and that also his Tabernacle shall be with them, &c. The first was fulfilled by measuring the Temple and Altar, &c. cap. 11. The later will be so by the descent of the New Jerusalem, or restoring the Outer to the Inner-Court— The Dr. having left out all this in my Remark, which is very difficult for him to answer, and is sufficient for answer to what he hath to object, he proceeds to make a large insignificant answer to the small Part of my Remark which he hath Printed.  
That the Harpers Victory over the Beast does signify the Protestants Victory, he says, hath been proved over and over again; whenas we have so oft seen the weakness of his Proofs. And what Sense is there in his saying, That the Song of these Harpers in the preceding Chapter set out their Internal State, and their Song here their External Deliverance? Whenas the Reformation, which he makes the Deliverance here, comprehends whole Nations; whereof but few comparatively were in the State of those Harpers, whose Victory, throughout the Anti-Christian Reign, over the Beast, &c. was such as to make them little need to Triumph in their own behalf for such Deliverance. Yet he seems so taken with this conceit, as to say of it, Wisdom is easy to him that understandeth, but to him that will not understand, all things are hard: And therefore is the Dr. so hard to be convinced of his Errors, which he hath so confidently asserted, that he knows not how to recede from them. Then he says, That the Temple opened here, and cap. 11.19. are most assuredly the same, and adds some Criticisms and Citations to make the same good; but they prove no more than what I agree to in the said Part of my Remark which he left out, viz. That they are the same Temple, yet so as to respect very distant Times, and to represent very different States of the Church, &c. For as there was but one Judaical Temple, so there is but one Symbolical Temple, to represent by an Israelism the Christian State of the Church, during that time it's so represented, &c.  
He then says, That the Ark of the Testament being said to be seen, cap. 11.19. points at the Sixth Vial, and so at the calling of the Jews( the vanity of which conceit, see after in the Apology, &c.) but further( to obviate an Objection, if he could, which attends this supposition) he makes the opening of the Temple to be just before the first Vial; but the time of seeing the Ark, not till the sixth Vial, and so to be at the calling of the Jews; as if the opening the Temple was not for immediate showing the Ark( the sight of which is the first thing related upon the opening, &c.) and as if when it was opened, John looking thither would not immediately see it, if it were to be seen at all. This insipid Conceit the Dr. backs with another as ill, viz. That the mention of the Temple being opened( though opened long before) is deferred till the appearing of the Ark, that it may set off its appearing with a greater Grace. But what setting off is there of the one by the other? Only they are suitably related together as they naturally cohere, by reason of the one immediately succeeding the other. And if the appearing of the Ark were at such a distance from the opening of the Temple, the mentioning of its appearing accordingly had been with as great Grace, and much more Truth, &c. What is said in the Part of the Remark which the Dr. left out, viz. That the opening of the Temple here, is not the same with cap. 11.19. because of the mentioning of the Tabernacle, and of no man being able to enter into the Temple till the Seven Vials, &c. is further enforced from their being no mention here of the Temple being in Heaven, or the Ark been seen it, as is there. All which together does strongly infer, that here is signified an opening of the Temple of the Tabernacle( or Outer-Court) in order to the pouring forth the Vials on the Treaders of it down, that men may enter thereinto as aforesaid, &c.  
That the Worshippers in the Temple and at the Altar are the Witnesses, I have confirmed, and shewed that they are not unlikely to be Ministers of Gods wrath, by causing great slaughter at the treading of the winepress, according to the Account I have given thereof, though not according to the absurd representation the Dr. hath made thereof.   

CHAP. XVI.  
THough the first Vial was poured out in that general Sense, says the Dr. yet it would necessary hit some Thing or Person( yea, so it may hit those it should not, and miss those it should hit, when its so poured out at random) and particularly, it hits the marked slaves of the Beast, and inflicts a sore Plague on them, &c. But that he ascribes to the Reformation, and also he does hereby apply a particular Sense to the first Vial, making it a real Plague, after he had said, that its to be taken in a general Sense, to correspond with the Cortex of the rest of the Vision, which implys it to be no real Plague. His fancied laudable Sense of the Earth in the first Verse, is not so much as allowable; for the Vials concern the Ten-Horned as well as the Two-Horned-Beast. But he endeavours to confirm his conceits here, by affirming them to be Opinions of worthy Interpreters, without naming any( as is frequent with him) and makes mine to be a groundless Conceit, only from his false Hypothesis( which he does with strange confidence adhere to) that the Rising of the Witnesses do precede the Vials. And how groundless also is his referring the War of the Hussites to that of the Beast with the Saints, cap. 13.7! whenas in that War the Beast overcomes the Saints, but the contrary fell out in the other War. Then he says, That I have no Evasion of this Evidence of truth( viz. of his said Hypothesis) but by an unworthy vilifying of the Reformation; whenas I have given such Reasons in my Remarks against its being the Rising of the Witnesses, as he hath not at all Evaded, nor is like to do it, and say nothing of the Reformation, but what is consisting, I hope, with giving all due Honor to it. But the Dr. is so short-sighted in the Mysteries of those Prophecies which he undertakes to expound, that he cannot see any thing in them amounting to much more than such a State as the Reformation, which makes him so magnify it, and have as gross apprehensions of the Glorious Description of Christ's Kingdom, as Nicodemus had of the New Birth. Whereby, all due estimating of the Reformation is reputed by him a vilifying it; and my so estimating it, is reproached by him here with much wrath and claimour; in doing whereof, he acts the Part of those Dreamers in judas mentioned by him, viz. speaks evil of things he understands not, &c. What he says here of Political Government, hath already, and will again be spoken to. As to his saying, That he hath Noted before, that the Spirit of Life entering into the Witnesses, hath not a Spiritual, but a Political Sense, I have shewed before, that it hath no Political Sense but what is also Spiritual.  
The Dr. comes next to defend his imputing the Rancorous sore of the first Vial to the Reformation, and not to the Vial; and in behalf thereof, says, That it's sufficient that the sore rage in the time of the Vial-Angel, and that what happened in the time of any Angel, is attributed to him, whether he contributed any thing to it or no; than which, what can be more rashly said. There's to each Trumpet and Vial a certain judgement or Plague allotted to be executed, and if any Plagues besides them fall out in any of their Intervals, How can that be imputed to them which they are not concerned in, as Gods Instruments, to bring to pass? But in defence of so strange an Assertion, the Dr. says( as sporting, rather than arguing) Nor does any imagine that the Locusts or Euphratean Horse men were blown out of the fifth or sixth Trumpet: Nor surely could any have imagined, that the Dr. would talk so vainly. And the like is to be said of the Rider of the Red-horse, and also of all the Horses in the four first Seals, as of the Trumpets and Vials; as appears both by the Representation of them suiting to the things described to follow in their Intervals, and also by the same being ascribed to them, &c. So that, the Dr's Sense of the second Seal, is but an endeavouring to defend one absurdity with another. And whereas he says, That it's something idiotical to think otherwise of these things: It's so but according to his delirant Conception of them. But then he says, If there must be some real Activity in the first Vial-Angel, he will suppose that Angel to Commissionate some Spirits to actuate with Rage and Madness those so affencted with Rage, &c. Admit which strained supposition, yet the Reformation continues still the cause of the Rage, &c. and those Spirits are but heighteners of it. Besides, What Sense is it to make that Angel a heightner of their Enmity and Rage against the Reformation, who is to Plague them for the same?  
That which the Dr. calls Calumny here, is indeed the noting manifest Incongruities in his Exposition. He makes the Reformation to be the Rising of the Witnesses; so that, till it be completed, the Witnesses are not risen; and consequently the seventh Trumpet hath not begun to sound, and so, according to him, no Vials are till then poured out. But if the first Vial be an exulcerate Rage at the Reformation or Rising of the Witnesses, then surely it must begin with it( and the Dr. says, it began presently after, when the Reformation was young and tender, &c.) and increase as it does, and become to its height when the other is so, and so does synchronize therewith. And if the second Vial was the deadness and hopelesness of Affairs, &c. by reason of the Reformation, then, though it commenceth not altogether so early as the first Vial, yet by that the Reformation becomes prevalent, it must commence also, and the completion of the one will be so also of the other; and indeed was more so then, than it hath been since, by reason of the Reformation its proving Retrograde, instead of making a Progress. So that, the Reformation and the first and second Vials( which according to the Dr. are to fall out successively) will synchronize at the accomplishment of them at least,( according to his Account of them) if not at the Commencement of them: Besides, the exulcerate Rage in the first Vial, and Deadness and Hopelesness of Affairs in the second, being the Plagues inflicted, they cannot be the Vials, &c. but they being inflicted, or caused by the Reformation, that must be the Vial to both these Plagues; and what grosser Incongruities can there be than these? Yet further, the Papists were not reduced to such Deadness and Hopelessness of Affairs by the Reformation, but have continued since brisk and lively, confidently hoping for a Recovery of what they then lost, and hereunto ever busy in plotting, &c.  
The Dr's Answer here amounts to nothing more than a showing that the first and second Vial do not, according to him, commence together; which signifies nothing in his Behalf, so long as they synchronize( as I have shewed) in the completing or accomplishing of them; and he cannot avoid the first Vials commencing with the Reformation, &c. I may add here, that as each of the other Trumpets hath some signal Transaction for the Commencement of it, and does execute some great judgement upon the secular Powers for the Ruining them, so doubtless the seventh Trumpet must agree with them herein, and so it does in an eminent Degree, according to the Description of it, cap. 11. but in the Dr's Account of it, there's nothing so Answering to them; for he cannot assign any Time, or Eminent Transaction for the Commencement of its sounding, especially, not of that Nature with the other Trumpets. The Reformation, he agrees, does precede it; and though that be a Plague suitable to the Vials,( and indeed is one of them) yet would it not be so to serve for one of the Trumpets. And the exulcerate Rage at it, which he makes the first Transaction of the seventh Trumpet( besides what is before said against it) is both in Respect of the Nature, and small Importance of it, far from being a Transaction, suitable for the Commencement of that Trumpet, which does produce so great a Revolution by the Kingdoms of the World becoming the Kingdoms of our Lord, &c.  
The Command to pour out all the Vials upon the Earth, must be taken in such a general Sense, as to agree with the particular pouring out of each Vial upon the Earth, Sea, Rivers, &c. and so will not admit of such a Sense, as the Dr. applys to it; and as I said before, they are poured on the Ten-Horned, as well as the Two-Horned-Beast, the one being to be destroyed as well as the other; and this Vial is poured on the Ten-Horned-Beast, the Sun signifying the secular Power, and what the Vial is directly or immediately poured on, must surely be the Subject of the Plague. Therefore, to make the Word of God a Subject of a Vial, &c. with the rest of the Dr's Conceits thereon, are very forced and extravagant.  
That which the Dr. calls a necessary Hypothesis here( viz. That the Object of the Vials is the Two-Horned-Beast) I have already shewed to be a false one; and whereas he would defend it from the Two-Horned-Beast his possessing Rome, &c. doubtless the Seat of the Beast hath here some other Signification than Rome, as well as in the Epistle to the Church in Pergamus, where the Church, upon the Christian Profession being authorised by Authority, is said to dwell where Satans Seat is,( by which could not be meant Rome, for she had dwelled there before as well as then, and in all Parts of the Empire as well as there) signifying the State she was exalted to, even to that Heavenly Station, which was the Abode of Satan, till the Man-Child was caught up to Rule, and he cast down, &c. And so here, by the Seat of the Beast, seems to be signified that State of him, which is the Foundation or Root of his Authority,( in such Sense as our Saviour is called the Root of David) the eradicating of which is the Purpose of this Vial, whereby his Kingdom will be filled with Darkness, which could not be by a judgement onely upon the City.  
In the rest of my Remark, the Dr. spies Marvels. First, That I suppose bitter Invectives against the Sun, or secular Anti-Christian Powers, like the barking of Dogs against the Moon, to be the pouring forth of this Vial. Thus wretchedly does he wrest and revile my Expressions, concerning the Zealous Reproving the Corruptions of the Anti-Christian Powers. And though there be, as he says, malcontents inveighing against the Administration of Affairs in all Governments; yet of what Consideration are they compared with what is signified by the scorching Men with Fire in the fourth Vial; which imports the Zealous Reprovers to act with so great Power of Spirit, and Soundness of judgement, as to be able grievously to plague those they reprove, like the Witnesses who consume their Enemies with Fire out of their Mouths; and as our Saviour is said to smite the Earth with the Rod of his Mouth, and with the Breath of his Lips to slay the Wicked, Esay, 11.4. Then next, the Dr. to make me plainly contradict the Text, does put an absurd Exposition on it. The Words of it are, The fourth Angel poured his Vial on the Sun, and Power was given him to scorch Men with Fire: Here he makes[ him] to relate to the Sun, and not to the Angel; whereas the Sun is no Person to whom[ him] can relate,( though it may be figuratively described as a Person, as it is Psal. 19. but is not so here) and besides, it's senseless to refer the scorching here, to any other than the Angel who inflicts the Plague: And having from this absurd Exposition inferred my Contradicting the Text, he concludes, This is fond enough; which spoken of his own doings here, is true enough.  
After he hath represented my Sense of this Verse so ill, he proceeds to that which he imagines still worse, more fond and foul. What Achmetes, or, &c. taught me, says he, that the Seat of a secular Potentate is the Root of his Authority? But say I, that State of Authority, whereby it subsists, or on which it stands, or is seated, may well be called the Root or Foundation of it, there being nothing but ordinary Metaphor in it, which needs no Achmetes, &c. for Anthorizing it; what Cause therefore is there for the Dr's so ridiculing this Exposition? And as to the principal, which he calls Calvinistical, or rather Jesuitical and wicked Falsehood, viz. Dominum fundatur in Gratia; I say, that it is accordingly as it's made use of. Some ignorant Factious People, who, under Pretence of Saint-ship and Zeal, have endeavoured violently to intrude into Dominion, have made it a wicked Principal in them, by their abusing it. But when God shall have taken to him his great Power to Reign by his Saints in the World, and the Lambs Wife hath hereunto made her self ready, he that shall not then assent to it as a true Principle, will show that he hath little Grace in him. And there's nothing in my Remark that does imply this Principle but in this true Sense of it.  
The Dr. does next impertinently introduce divers Scriptures against railing against Authority, as if I had said any thing to countenance it. But all faithful Witnessing to the Truth against the evil-doings of worldly Powers, is like to be reputed Railing, by the Adversaries of it. Whereas he says, That if the asserting the Right of Christ to Rule, and his Laws to be obeied, be the result of the Rising of the Witnesses, God be thanked they are risen already, &c. If he means thereby, that in respect of their asserting Christs Right to Rule, and his Laws to be obeied, they are risen though they yield little obedience accordingly, this is but a sorry Account of the Risen Witnesses; making them little better than Hypocrites. And he will not, I suppose, presume to say, that Christs Laws are obeied, or that to promote obedience to them, is the predominant Spirit among his Risen Witnesses; till which be, they can be risen but to small purpose. The Dr's saying, That the Root of all Authority is God himself, will be easily agreed to, but he makes a strange use of it: Therefore, says he, they are Witnesses with a Witness, that on pretence of Christs Right to Rule, will strike at the Root of all Authority, God himself, and so be guilty of {αβγδ}, as the ancient Giants, &c. Shall those called, Chosen, Faithful, by whom Christ overcomes the Kings of the Earth who War against him, cap. 17.4. be guilty of {αβγδ}? Yet God being the Root of all Authority, must be so of the Authority of those Kings. But surely it can be no fighting against him, to adhere to such Authority as he is pleased to establish, against such as he is pleased to abolish. So that the Dr. may be charged with the same guilt in a high Degree, which he would fix on others, whilst he does thus impugn the Authority of God in his Son Christ Jesus. Wherefore, whereas he says, That my Interpretation of these Two Vials does imply a Doctrine extremely Un-Christian and Un-sound; it's his want of sound judgement that makes it seem so to him.  
The Entireness of the Turkish Empire is like to be a Defence of the Mystical Babylon against the Kings of the East, if by them be meant the Jews and Eastern Nations. But I conceive them to have further meaning( yet not excluding that) and that the drying up of Euphrates signifies otherwise than such mutation in the Turkish Empire, though it may have that meaning also, and so concur with that saying, cap. 11.14. The Second Wo is past, and the Third Wo cometh quickly. For whilst that Empire continues the the Second Wo is not past( and therefore the Third Wo-Trumpet cannot have long since sounded, as the Dr. does vainly imagine) but the breaking of that Empire will be the finishing of the Sixth( or Second Wo) Trumpet. And then the Third Wo it's coming quickly, whereby the Kingdoms of the World become the Kingdoms of our Lord, &c. does well answer to the preceding drying up of Euphrates, to make way for the Kings of the East, &c.  
It's impossible, says the Dr. but that there should be a commutation of Iconisms in this Vision, whenas there's no colour for it. But first, I cannot concur with his making the Dragon-Party to be Pagans and Infidels, but take them to be such as bear the Name of Christians as well as the Beast and False Prophets, though they do not become Members of either Politick-Body, but only are voluntary Adherers to them, and Abetters of their Interest, being the Servants of Sin and Satan, as well as they. Of such there are multitudes, who being not linked with the Beast or False Prophet, in those Politick-Bands wherewith they are held, who are Members of either of those Bodies, require a more immediate instigation of the Devil to draw them to join with them at the great Day, &c. And this seems signified by the unclean Spirit going out of the Mouth of the Dragon, &c. But it's not likely, that the Pagan Powers will be concerned to engage in the contest between the Christian and Anti-Christian Party, which would be perilous to them, and also against their Interest, who by the prevailing of the Christian Party, are to walk in the light of the New Jerusalem, and bring their Glory and Honour to it. Also, it's not likely that the Anti-Christian Party( who, though such hypocritical Professors of Christianity, have been always zealous in its behalf against Paganism) should become guilty of so great Scandal, as to engage Pagan Princes then in their behalf.  
But then, as to the fancied commutation of Iconisms, the Dr. says, That here is a representation of all the Anti-Christian Forces drawn out to fight against the Evangelical Party, in the Fields of Armageddon, but no fight thereon, &c. And what an absurd supposition is it, that they should be so drawn up to no purpose! But after they are so drawn up, immediately the Seventh Vial is poured out there( though the Dr. says the contrary) which signifies both the Fight and the Success thereof. And the Battle being so over, there's no occasion for continuing the Vision( according to the Dr's strange fancy) by commutation of Iconisms. So that, all his pretty Conceits thereon( of which more after) come to nothing. Yet how freakish soever they be, he is so taken with them, and strongly persuaded of them, as to say, of them, One must wink hard who can keep his Eyes from introducing so clear Truth. The Great City( which he makes to answer to the tri-partite Forces, &c. by commutation, &c.) is plainly the Great Babylon( as it's here called, and also the Great City, as being so well known, &c.) and to make the Christian Party a Part of it is Monstrous; and so it is to imagine, that three such distinct, yea opposite Parties, as the Christian, Anti-Christian, and Infidel-Party, should be signified by a City, which signifies a Politick-Body united by Laws, &c. And it's no less so, that they are represented to be Assembled in Armageddon, for no other end, but the Thundering of the Boanergeses over them, &c. or rather to no purpose at all; for that Thundering Preaching, is not supposed to be till after the commutation of Iconisms, whereby the Scene in Armageddon is ended. And it will then concern but a Third Part of the City; the evangelic Party not needing it, and the Babylonian Party remaining, he says, obdurate against it. So that this vast Concourse in Armageddon comes to nothing, if there be no other occasion of their meeting there, than for the Boanergeses to Thunder over them, &c. And how comes the three unclean Spirits to stickle, to gather together those Parties they are sent forth to, if there be no other purpose of their meeting than such as they will be far from promoting? As to the Beast and False Prophet, they must undoubtedly be Two Parties of the Great City, notwithstanding, what the Dr. says to the contrary; and as to the Third Party, though there be no mention here of slaying by the Sword, &c. yet there's mention of it, cap. 19. ver. 20, 21. which my Remark refers to, and where there's the same Division of the City into three Parts, as here. And as to the Dr's. saying that the Beast and the False Prophet were as much Two before the Fight, as after; I say, that before the Fight they are Two Parties United, and after it, they are Two Parties divided and broken. Besides, after the Fight, many of those Two Parties do doubtless become penitent, and so become of the Third Part slain with the Sword, &c. and they that do not so are only then to be reckoned of those Two Parties. Therefore the Dr. does vainly make the slain with the Sword to be his Draconick Party, whenas they are the converted of all the Three Anti-Christian Parties. So that, there proceeds from the Fight, a Tri-partition of the Anti-Christian Party, different from the Parties it was composed of, and the Dr's Tri-partition before the Fight is Monstrous, as before Noted; and his Logick-Rule, that there's Reciprocatio Distributionis Partium cum toto, impertinently introduced.  
It's done, does so plainly here answer to the same Words, cap. 21.6. and to the Mystery of God shall be finished, cap. 10.7. as to make it hardly to be questioned, but that they signify the same Time and Thing. Which if they do, it subverts the Dr's great Notion of placing the Vials within the Seventh Trumpet, and of branching it into Seven Thunders, and also of making the Reformation the Rising of the Witnesses, &c. Yet he does, cap. 10. slily pass it by( as I have there noted) without giving any Answer to it, and here sleights it, with calling it a fond Fancy which he had refuted before, when he had said nothing to it. Then, as to his calling it a precarious Dream, That all political Governments shall cease; and to his saying, That the Mystery of God is finished, if the Anti-Christian Governments cease, and a true Christian Policy that effectually supports the Kingdom of Christ, and Purity of Gods Worship, be established; I say, How will such Christian-Policy be established? Will it be by any other Means than God's Reigning by his Saints in the New Jerusalem? Wherein the Throne of God and the Lamb shall be, and so enlighten the same, as to make it not need the Light of the Sun, viz. those politic Governments which formerly enlightened the World. If he will call this a Christian-Policy, we are agreed; but he, in all his Discourses on this Subject, shows himself to have far different Apprehensions from the Account which Scripture gives of it, imagining that the Government will then be upheld by Politick-Laws, and be appropriated to Kings and Princes of Nations, &c. And my Representation of the State of those Times, according to the plain Account of them in Scripture, he here calls an extravagant Fancy, tending only to Enthusiastick Anarchy; whenas it tends only to the Establishing of that judgement and Righteousness on the Earth, which is not otherwise attainable unto. He says again, That the New Jerusalem, and New Heaven and Earth, is a New Policy, wherein reigneth Righteousness; But then say I, That it's a Policy of that Nature, as I have out of Scripture described, by which only the Reign of true Righteousness can prevail in the World. Then he says, That it's a gross Mistake in me, that I think he supposeth the Anti-Christian Party to be converted by the Boanergeses, when it's the Infidel-Party: But I have shewed before, how groundless is his Supposition of such Infidel-Party, and doubtless, some considerable Part of the Anti-Christian Party will be converted by the Victory of the Great Day of God, and Revolution thereon, though they could not be so wrought upon by Preaching: So that, If I have mistaken him, it's not so much as he hath mistaken the Truth. The pouring forth of the Vial into the Air, does doubtless signify according to my Sense thereof, whereas the Dr's Sense is( as is frequent with him) a turning a Plague into a Blessing. Here is signified the absolute Overthrow of Satan's Power, the binding him is a Restraint of him from attempting by New practices to recover the same.  
The Voices, Thunderings and lightnings, do doubtless signify here, as in cap. 8.5. and cap. 11.19. And as to the Promulgation so of the Law on Mount Sinai, &c. that was to affect the People with terror, suitable to their Servile State under the pedagogy of the Law, but is altogether unsuitable for the Promulgation of the Gospel. Nor is there any Ground for his supposing that the Hail falls on any other than those, on whom the rest of the Plagues of this Vial fall; nor for supposing the Cities of the Nations here, to signify any other than such as belong to the Anti-Christian Party; and the distinct Execution, which he imagines to be done upon Babylon,( viz. the abolishing of her Power) is not, as I have noted before, cap. 14.20. imaginable to be otherwise effected, than by such a Victory in Armageddon, as I have there given an Account of.  
There's no Great City here meant but the Great Babylon, and the Great City which the Dr. fancieth, is no better than building Castles in the Air; and it's of the City Babylon that I make the Dragons Party a Part( so that the Dr. does as much mistake me here, as I did him before); and whom I understand by that Party is before delivered, and also my Tripartition Defended, and the Nullity of his Discovered.   

CHAP. XVII.  
THE Dr. does here, and elsewhere wrest and misrepresent what I say, to make it fit for his vilifying and reproaching. What I have said concerning the Blapheming of Saints, is spoken of them who really are so, and are reproached for their being so; and, What is this to such as he calls immorigerous Saints, who fancy themselves Saints, but deserve not the Title? He seems to be Conscious of the Truth, of what I have said, which makes him so servent it, to give Countenance to his gain-saying it. But I have said enough in Defence of it, cap. 13. Whereas the Dr. thinks it a frekish Conceit to extend the meaning of Blasphemy to the idolising of the Beast, as well as to the Worshipping of Idols, 〈…〉 not said, That all shall Worship him whose Names are not written in the Book of Life, &c. cap. 13. ver. 8. So that, there's such an idolising of him, as none written in the Book of Life will be guilty of. But, Why must this make Saints and Angels full of Names of Blasphmy, by reason of the idolising them? For whatever Worship is done to them, if they do not accept or allow of it, it cannot affect them with guilt; but the Worship of the Beast is such as he does both accept and extort. So that, the Name of Blasphemy written on him, may as well have reference thereunto, as to the other Idolatries he enjoins.  
The Dr. says, That this is a large Remark, and therefore hath room for many errors; yet hath not been able to discover any in it. The first error he makes to be, my affirming a Kingdom to be called {αβγδ} a Wild-Beast, from Oppression and Violence, and Fraudulent management of Affairs in Government, as if, says he, it were such a Wild-Beast as to tear and devour its own Flesh. But worldly Governments may be destructive enough to be called {αβγδ}, though they be not so wild as the Dr. does extravagantly suggest. As if they be so addicted to satisfy Ambition and other Fleshly Lusts, as in order thereunto not to spare heavily Burdening their Subjects, and also freely Sacrificing their Lives in War, &c. and have no further care of them or concern for them, than Policy and Interest does move them to it, as men are careful for their Cattle which labour for them, and which they fat for the Slaughter. But the Dr. would have a Kingdom called a Beast, in respect of its Ravening upon other Beasts or Kingdoms; which I agree to, but that does not exclude, but include my Sense; for, How can they so Raven upon other Kingdoms without oppressing their own in order thereunto, and exposing their Lives to Slaughter in Bloody Wars, & c? And though as he says, a whole Kingdom is but an entire Beast, yet it's the Politick-Governing Part to which that Title properly belongs. But he says further, that the constant Sense of Beast in prophetic Style does respect its Ravening on other Kingdoms, without giving any Reason for it, or any Answer to my Reasons against it. Yet I agree that Sense to be aimed at also, but mine is chiefly intended, as being the constant domestic State of Kingdoms, whereas the other falls out only as occasion and opportunity serve, &c. Then he says, That Beast is repeatedly used in Daniel and the Apocalypse in that Sense, but with a more precise regard to the Kingdom of the Son of Man: Whereas the Four Beasts in Daniel signifying the Four great Kingdoms which should successively arise, have no regard to his Kingdom, save that the little Horn at the end of the Third Kingdom, and the latter Part of the Fourth Kingdom signify things which concern his Kingdom; but the Apocalypse speaks of no Beast but the Anti-Christian Powers, and so must needs concern the Kingdom of the Son of Man. The Dr. at length concludes, that {αβγδ} includes Idolatry as well as Cruelty, which I shall not gain-say; so long as he allows my Sense to be mainly intended, as doubtless it must be, both from the proper signification of {αβγδ}, and also from its Prophetically signifying a body-politic, which it becoming by its being united and upheld by Secular Power, that Power must doubtless be chiefly respected in the Title of {αβγδ}. And therefore the Four Beasts in Daniel are called Kings( or Kingdoms) without any mention of Idolatry, which shows the Title of {αβγδ} to be given in respect of the Politick-State, &c.  
How groundlessly does the Dr. add, that the Saracens nor Turks are Typified by {αβγδ}, because not guilty of external gross Idolatry! whenas, as such several Beasts are used in Daniel to typify several Kingdoms, as were most apt to represent them, so such Animals are used to typify the Saracens and Turks as were most apt to represent them, and the effects of their invading the Roman Empire, especially, in what is common to the Types of each Nation, viz. their having Serpentine-Tails wherewith they did hurt men, &c. signifying thereby their Serpentine subtlety and Venom, in stinging and tormenting Men with their hot fierce Zeal they expressed against Idolatry, whenas they appeared to have as much of the Devil or Destroyer in them, as those against whom they shewed so much Zeal for God. I admit of his saying, That Kingdoms are called {αβγδ}, especially for their being Man-keen, but in a much more general Sense than he understands it. Nor is it Idolary but Cruelty that makes them so Man-keen, though Idolatry is like to have some heightening influence thereon. And though Daniel and the Apocalypse do take notice of no Kingdoms by the Name of Beasts but such as were Idolatrous, it's because all Pagan Kingdoms were such, and the Apocalyptick-Beast is but a reviving of Paganism under another Profession. Yet in Daniel 7.12. is mention of Kingdoms name Beasts, which will not be Idolatrous: Of which more after.  
My Second error the Dr. makes to be that which he says, is wonderful bold and daring, viz. my affirming, that by the Beast only, the Secular State is understood. The[ only] is of his own addition, for I do not deny but that a respect to Idolatry, may be had in the Title of {αβγδ}, though there's little need to suppose it, when Idolatry is signified by the Blasphemous Heads. But that {αβγδ}, mainly respects the Secular State, is so evident a Truth, that it's wonderful bold in the Dr. to censure it so, having so little to say against it. And how strange is his Assertion, That it's not so much the Civil State as the Religion of the Empire which John's Description of the Beast aims at, whenas all the Description of it respects the Civil State! As it's being a Scarlet-coloured Beast, and its Warring against the Saints and overcoming them, and its having Ten Horns signifying Ten Kings, also its Heads are called Kings, and nothing of it is said which concerns Religion, but its Blasphemous Heads. And with what Sense does he say, That the Religion Established by Law is as much the Law of the Empire, and as Essential to such a Beast, as the Civil Institutes, and therefore it must give a new Denomination to the Empire when the Religion is changed? Whenas no kind of Law is Essential to the Legislative Power, but receives its Essence from it, and therefore no change of the Law does make any change in the Power. And no better Sense is his saying, That the Laws are not at all involved in the Description of the Beast, but only the several Forms of sovereignty; whenas all those Forms are Civil( except the last, which is also so in substance, being likewise politic Worldly Power, though under another Name and Appearance, and therefore hath the Title of King as well as the rest) and Head a Secular Beast, and so must needs involve the Laws which make them such.  
As to what he makes my Third error, viz. that Prophecies are chiefly concerned in prefiguring the changes in the Civil State of Kingdoms, &c. I have oft shewed, that the scope of the Apocalypse is to give an Account of the State of Christ's Kingdom that is at length to be settled on Earth, and consequently of all the changes which concern the Advancement of it: So that, the Dr's applying the Opened-Book-Prophecy to such Affairs of the Church as he calls Purity of Worship, is a False Principle, which makes him toto Coelo errare in many of his Expositions; but if he will apply that Books prophesy to the Affairs of the Church in general, I agree with him, for that will concur with my Sense. Then for a Fourth error( which he deduceth from the Third) he says, That it's impossible that the Sixth-Headed-Beast should continue the same after it was turned Christian, cujus contrarium verum est. It's more tolerable, says he, to conceive, that if all the Civil Laws had been abrogated, and the same Pagan Religion retained, with the same Ranks of Magistrates, that the Beast would have continued the same. And why so? Such an abrogation of Laws would have made a great alteration in the Civil State, leaving those Magistrates to Act Arbitrarily without any Rule of Laws, &c. whenas there's no such alteration by the change in Religion. And how could those Ranks of Magistrates be retained but by Law? Then as to my Fifth error( which he deduceth from the Fourth) I have shewed before how much he is out in his Exposition of the combat between Michael and the Dragon, and how that doubtless the deadly Wound by a Sword must be taken in its proper Literal Sense, and so must be fulfilled by the Barbarous Nations, &c.  
The Sixth error the Dr. makes to be, my affirming the Ostrogothian Kings to be the Seventh Head, and he triflingly distinguisheth between Head and sovereignty of Rome, whenas doubtless those Kings are rightly called the Seventh Head of Rome, though not the Seventh Roman-Head, they being a Foreign-Head. And is not the next Head said to be the Eighth( though of the Seven, viz. the Seven Roman-Heads) and must not then the preceding Head be the Seventh. But then, to what he says against those Kings being the Seventh sovereignty( as he calls it) of the Empire, That they were Masters but of a small Pittance of it, which, he says, is a palpable demonstration against that Assertion: I say, that they were Masters of as much as was subject to Rome then, or under most of Her former Heads, viz. Kings, Consuls, Decemvirs, Tribunes, and therefore must doubtless be reckoned a Head of Her, as well as any of them. And if they be not so, it will falsify the Character or Description of Her by Her Heads, for if she be made to have Seven Heads before them, and one after, they will make Nine.  
The Seventh error, is a charging me again with what he hath done before, viz. with great Ignorance, for calling the Eighth King the Eighth Head, but I have already shewed his ignorance herein. But, whereas he would make one Head not Idolatrous, because there's but Seven Blasph●mous Heads: I say, That then it may be as well, or rather better the Ostrogothian Kings than the Christian Emperors; those Emperors being not wholly free from Heathenish Superstitions, and the like springing up among Christians, of which see cap. 13. ver. 14. But there's no cause to infer, that because but Seven Heads are said to be Blasphemous, the other was free from Idolatry; for that other being the Foreign-Head, there was no Description of it intended, only the mention of it and its short continuance was necessary for the clearing the Description of Rome by Her Heads. And whereas the Dr. makes that Head which he supposeth not Idolatrous, to be Head of the Empire, but not of the Beast: I say, That the Empire was then a body-politic, and consequently a Beast; for a Beast, in prophetic Style, is nothing else but a body-politic, which if savage is called {αβγδ}, if otherwise, {αβγδ}, as cap. 4. and Ezek. 1. But after such blind Arguing, the Dr. Concludes, Who can resist so clear Light?  
The Eighth error he does instance in, is in effect a re-inforcing the Sixth. He says, That there's not one half-Penny worth of harm, if the Ostrogothian Kings be not taken Notice of, this prophesy respecting Religion, and not Civil Changes, &c. He might as well have said that it had been as little harm, if it had taken no Notice of any of the preceding Heads, for they were all Civil Changes as well as this; and if this be not taken Notice of as well as they, the Description of Rome by so many Heads, is lost. But to multiply the Number of my errors, the Dr. does, in the ninth Place, reiterate what he saith, he hath abundantly proved, viz. That {αβγδ} does, Stylo Prophetico, signify an Idolatrous Policy; which Proof, that is so abundant in his Imagination, we have seen to be nothing in Reality. Nor does, says he, my accumulation of so many Scriptures, enervate what he hath said, but only intimate the maladministration of Affairs, &c. But the committing of Oppression and Violence by such maladministration, is much more aptly than Idolatry signified by {αβγδ}. And if, to do Justice and judgement is more acceptable to God than Sacrifice, than the contrary doings by such maladministration, are more likely than Idolatry to give Name to the Beast. And whereas he would have {αβγδ} to signify an Idolatrous Empire Persecuting the Church, the same Title belongs to the Beast under the first Heads, when there was no Church to Persecute.  
The Last error he accuseth me of, is the casting an uncivil Reproach on him, in saying, That what he calls the plain natural Sense of that Description of the Beast[ The Beast that was, is not, and yet is] is forced and even frivolous. But that it was a reproaching or slandering him with matter of Truth, appears from what I have said formerly, and shall say further, &c. And his boastful undertaking to prove my Sense such, nay, coarsely false and impertinent, will prove but, Parturiunt Montes—  
First, he says, That my affirming[ The Beast that was] is the Roman Empire, whether Pagan or Christian, is grossly false( besides the defect, says he, in omitting all the preceding Heads, which yet is no defect, because the naming them also was needless, there being no dispute about them, & e.) but all that he says for Proof of this, is but a reiterating what he said before, and what I have already answered, and shall add here, That it appears plainly from that saying in Dan. cap. 7.12. The rest of the Beasts had their Dominion taken away, but their Lives were spared, &c. That the Title of Beast is given in respect of the politic State, or Civil Power; for when, through the prevailing of the Dominion of the Saints, the Dominion of those Beasts is taken away, doubtless, so scandalous a Part of it as Idolatry will therewith be taken away, and then there will be the Title of Beast given, where no Idolatry to be intended by it. And whereas the Dr. says, That if Idolatry be not of the Essence of the Beast, it will have Eight Heads, which, he says, is grossly repugnant to the Vision; I say, That the Vision plainly shows that there are eight Heads, though only seven Roman-Heads( viz. seven Heads of the Beast) and the Dr. by this inference, contradicts himself( if I understand him) making the Pagan and Christian Emperors distinct Heads though Idolatry be not of the Essence of the Beast, whereas before he made them so, because it is of the Essence of the Beast.  
Next the Dr. does strangely Assert, That the Incursion of the Barbarous Nations did but vex, and not destroy the Empire; whenas they erected Ten Kingdoms therein independent on the Roman-Authority, till the Pope, by his usurped Authority, became the eighth Head of Rome, or seventh Roman-Head. And if they continued Roman Laws, in use, it was only as they were pleased to make them their Laws, by approving them, and giving new Life to them, &c. So that no Roman-Laws continued in Force by any Roman-Authority; and therefore what ever use was made of them, it signified no more subjection to the Roman Empire, than the Romans fetching the Laws of the twelve Tables from Greece, signified their subjection to that Empire. And though as the Dr. says, several Emperors were not of the Roman-Blood, yet they were advanced to Rule by Roman-Authority or Power, without which they could not be Roman Emperors; whereas the Ostrogothian Kings were Heads of Rome by their own Power, as Foreign Invaders of the Empire, and so were not concerned for any Roman-Authority to entitle them to Rule. And as to his saying, That Theoderick was sent as Vice-Roy to Zeno, I say, That he residing at Constantinople in Friendship and Favour with Zeno, might well be unwilling to engage in such an undertaking, without his Assent or Concurrence, lest he should turn so valuable a Friend to become his Enemy; but having overcome Odoacer, he Reigned absolutely as he did, without any dependence on the Eastern Emperors. Also, How could such Eastern Emperors made so by Election( without any pretensions of Blood, as deriving from such as had been possessed of the whole Empire) have any good claim to the Western Empire? But then Thirdly, The Dr. says again, That I am grossly out in affirming the Ostrogothian Kings to be the seventh Head of the Empire( whenas I only affirm them to be the seventh Head of Rome) it being plainly ridiculous and impossible, &c. though he hath said nothing against my Assertion, but what I have so fully answered already, as to make the same appear little better than ridiculous.  
He Fourthly affirms it impossible that the Barbarous Nations in subjection to the Roman Laws should be the Image of the Beast, and that for a strange Reason, because the Image of the Beast, is the Image of the read Dragon; whereas the Beast is the visible State or body-politic which the Empire was formed into, and the Dragon the invisible Power which did Form and Act the same: So that, the Image of the Beast must be the Image of that body-politic. Whereas therefore the Dr. says, That I stand much in my own Light, in restraining myself to Politick-Laws, not Laws of Religion, I say, that my Sense is restrained to the body-politic formed by Civil-Laws, what ever they concern; and as to his having proved before, that the Civil-Law did obtain, &c. I have answered, that so far as they did obtain, it was not by any Roman-Authority, whereby to make a revived Roman-Beast. And as to his saying, That Justinian was not so good a Painter as to draw a true Image of the Beast, &c. I say, It's no matter whether he was so or no; for the Image of the Beast signifies only such a Politick-State as the former Beast, formed mostly after the same Laws, whereby to uphold a worldly Form of Government to impugn the advancement of Christ's Kingdom. Besides, what variations there was from the former Laws, it being by the Imperial Authority, which exercised the same Power over the former Beast, it agrees well with the one being the Image of the other; and those corruptions which were used in those variations, may serve as an ominous signification of what would be the consequence of the revived Ten-Horned-Beast and his Image, &c.  
The Dr. does Fifthly, infer an absurd consequence from my saying, That the Image was completed by making the German Emperours( viz. That then the Beast will be revived some Hundred Years before its Head) but I have before shewed the absurdity to be in his Inference, and that the Beast is revived by its subjection to the usurped Authority of the Pope, whereby he became its Head; but the forming the Image to the former Beast must be after, else it could not be by the Popes Instigation, nor could he give Life to it, &c. And as to the Dr's saying Lastly, That the Pope had not so little to do as to inspire Life into the Image, if it were a civil Image: I say, That notwithstanding its being so, it was his great concern to do so; for after the Ten-Horned-Beast became subject to the Pope, the making and giving Life to the said Image, did render the Beast much more serviceable to the Pope, for the Supportting him, and impugning the advancement of Christ's Kingdom, by Warring against the Saints, &c. Whereas therefore the Dr. concludes my Sense of that Description[ The Beast that was, is not, and yet is] to be grossly and infinitely false, the Civil Roman Constitution never ceasing to be, &c. I say, That it must needs cease to be when the Roman Authority ceased, so that, whatever Roman-Laws continued in use it was by virtue of a Foreign Power, &c. Therefore he is infinitely out in that his Assertion, and all that he hath said thereon against my Remark; and he is no less so, in affirming my Assertion to be impertinent, in that it gives no Instruction concerning the State of the Church as to Religion, &c. which is an impertinent Objection, there being no occasion for that Instruction here, the present subject being a describing the State of the Enemies of the Church, the Anti-Christian Powers, &c.  
Here's no trifling but what is made by the Dr's. misrepresentation; for the plain easy Sense is, That about the same time that those Ten Kingdoms become one Beast again, by subjection to the Roman-Authority, under the New Head of Rome( the Pope) the Great Captains and Princes of the Barbarous Nations settled in those Kingdoms, will assume the Title of Kings. But Idolatry must doubtless be the consequence of those Kingdoms becoming subject to the Pope, and that is sufficiently signified( as I have formerly Noted) by the Blasphemous Heads, &c. Though I do not deny but that {αβγδ} may have some Respect thereunto; So that there's nothing of true Instruction in the Dr's Sense, but what is included in mine, with further Instruction also. As to his saying, What Justianians Code hath here to do he knows not? I say, that his Laws did more respect the making the Image of the former Beast, than the reviving of the Ten-Horned-Beast, for that being revived by Subjection to the Pope, it was the obeying of his Laws that made it the revived Beast under the New Head. I know not what the Dr. means, by saying, That theodoric was appointed King of Italy by Zeno, before Justinians Time; his Laws were in time, enough for forming the Image of the Beast thereby, and also for helping the reving of the Ten-Horned-Beast, so far as the Pope was pleased to make use of them, and they were so far made use of by him, that the Canon-Law was much framed by the Civil-Law. Also, if other Roman Laws, before Justinians( which were but a Collection of them) did conduce to the same Purpose with his, it's the same thing.   

CHAP. XVIII.  
THough by Michael be understood Illustrious Persons instigated and acted by him, yet those Kings and Princes that appeared for the Reformation, are far from being them; those Times being far from such as the Times of Michael are described to be,( viz. A Time of such Trouble, as never was, since there was a Nation) and from being immediately succeeded with such a Deliverance as Michael's Time does issue in. But whereas the Dr. does extend the Times of Michael to the Affairs of the Sixth Vial, that is very incongruous to make his Time of so long extent, as to reach from the Reformation( which according to him, precedes the first Vial) to the sixth Vial; whenas that Time agrees with none of the Vials but the sixth, which I agree it may concern, but not according to the Dr's Apprehension of it; which, if true, is unlikely to cause such Commotion as is in Michael's Time to fall out. I take therefore his troublesone Times to signify the great Stirs and Commotions that will be, by reason of the Preparation against the Battle of the Great Day of God, through the Instigation of the seven Thunders on the lions roaring of the one part, and the three Unclean Spirits, cap. 16.13. of the other part; and the Transactions of the seven Thunders, and other Management of Affairs in order to the Battle, I take to be signified by Michael's standing up, &c.  
What a strange Assertion is it, to say, That Babylon is undoubtedly said to be the Habitation of Devils, after she is utterly overthrown and brought to ruin!( As if she could then be Babylon still) And that because the haunting of Devils and Unclean Birds, is the Character of such Places, and alluded to here; whereas, whatever Allusion there is to those Creatures haunting such Places, yet here being understood filthy obdurate Members of Anti-Christ, which Babylon is said to be the Hold and Cage of, she must continue in a Condition capable of being so; and the Allusion may be as well to the so haunting the ruins of a City that is but partly ruined; or one but partly ruined, may so allude to one wholly ruined. But the Dr. does second this strange Assertion with another that is stranger, viz. That the Voice from Heaven, Ver. 4. to warn the People of God to come out of Babylon, does Answer to the Voice of the first Monitory-Angel, cap. 14. Whenas the said Voice, ver. 4. does plainly respect the same Time with the Voice of the Great Angel in this Verse, in Reference to which, it's called another Voice; and the whole Coherence of the Discourse does show, That it respects the same Time, and such a Meaning as the Dr. gives, would be abrupt and senseless. For after the Angels proclaiming the Fall of Babylon here, by reason of her Corruptions, &c. the Voice, ver. 4. does admonish the People of God to come out of her, lest they partake of the following Judgments suddenly to be executed upon her, for the same, and also are bid to reward her as she had rewarded them, &c. and therefore must respect such Times, when the Evils they suffered from her are over, and when she is to receive the Reward of those, and her other Sins which reach up to Heaven, ver. 5. Therefore the Description of so complete an Overthrow of Babylon, does not show, That the bidding to go out of her is before her Fall, but that it's before the Destruction suddenly coming upon her for her Fall by her so great Corruptions, &c. But further, that Admonition of the first Angel, cap. 14. was but a cautioning against those Corruptions they were fallen into, and an Exhorting( with some Chastisements also to deter them from continuing in them) to prevent such Judgments, which attend such doings. But the Voice, ver. 4. does import not only a falling into such Corruptions, but a being fallen by them, and speedily to receive the Reward of them, such as shall be their utter ruin. And all the Pretence the Dr. hath for so great Incongruities, is his fancying here a Hysterology, which there's no Colour for. For that is, when in order to the finishing one Vision, before the beginning of another, things of a latter Time, which the first Vision reached to, are related before things of a former Time in the succeeding Vision. But here's no Appearance of any such thing: Therefore, though the Dr. says, That such Hysterologies are frequent, yet he would not instance in any of them, lest it should appear how groundlessly he applys them.  
The long Threnodia of the Merchants here, is not related in Reference to them, but thereby to set forth the Pomp, splendour, and Delicacy of Babylon,( whereby she did so enrich the Merchants by her traffic with them, as to make them lament her Fall) that is, how she lived to the Height of all Carnal Enjoyments, and therewith corrupted the Nations she Ruled over, though she pretended to be the Spiritual Spouse of Christ; which is Material to be taken notice of, as well as those other Affairs of her and the Anti-Christian Powers, which are so much the Subject of this Opened-Book-Prophecy. And therefore the plain Literal Sense, in which I take this Verse, and the long Threnodia following, is so far from being sapless, in Comparison with the Dr's Parabolical Sense, that it's of much greater Import than his, it giving an Account of the Whorish Arts of Babylon, in richly adorning her self, and living deliciously, whereby to corrupt the Kings of the Earth, to commit Fornication with here, &c. and so discovers one great Means, whereby she introduced those Abominations, which the Doctor would have here parabolically signified; which, as there's no Ground for it from the Text, so there's no need of it, the same being elsewhere sufficiently signified in this Book. As to his Asking, What Jurisdiction hath Rome, as a Secular Trading City, over other Trading Cities of the Empire? I say, That she hath otherwise such Jurisdiction over them, as to make them easily lead by her Example, especially in things which they are naturally so prove to, and which she useth such bewitching Arts to 'allure them to. I Agree with him, That Babylon signifies a State or Policy, as well as the New Jerusalem; but what Advantage that is to him, I understand not, it being such a Corrupt State, and thereby, the Material City, such a Sink of Wickedness, as will bring utter Destruction on both. He Asks again triflingly, Are Secular Merchants such profound Magicians, or so concerned to suck the Blood of Saints and Prophets? What hath been said intimating any such thing? But they supply Babylon with such merchandise as she converts to such Whorish Trinckets, wherewith to 'allure and deceive the Nations, &c. So that my Sense, which the Dr. calls overmuch Home-spun and Secular Conceit, is both the easy and natural Sense of the Text, and of weighty Import; whereas his Sense, which he calls Parabolical, is rather chimerical, having little besides Fancy for its Support.  
The Dr. says, That for his Parabolical Sense in this prolix Threnodia, he hath declared sufficient Reason, he hopes, ver. 3. The Insufficiency whereof hath been there laid open.   

CHAP. XIX.  
THe Four First Verses do not only contain a Doxology for the judgement on Babylon, but also and chiefly, for the Salvation obtained( as appears, ver. 1. by the Voice of much People in Heaven, saying, Alleluja, Salvation, Glory and Honour, &c.); for wherefore should they be so much concerned to rejoice at the judgement, but in Respect of the Great Deliverance and Blessings, which befell them thereby? Therefore in Pursuance of the same Doxology, there comes a Voice from the Throne, ver. 5. saying, Praise our God all ye his Servants, &c. And in Answer thereunto, there is, ver. 6, 7. An Alleluja for the Lord God Omnipotent his Reigning, and the Marriage of the Lamb being come, &c. So that the same Matter of Joy appears to be intended in the seven first Verses, viz. The Kingdom of God its being come; which is doubly considered, viz. In Respect of the Evils it Delivers them from, and the Blessings it brings upon them: But whereas the twenty-four Elders, and four Beasts, did, ver. 4. fall down, &c. upon the Doxology in the preceding Verses, it seems to signify the Doxology to be from those whom they Represent. And whereas the Exhortation to Praise God, ver. 5. is to all the Servants of God, and all that fear Him, &c. This seems to be of a larger Extent, according to the Sense given in my Remark, and therefore is Answered, ver. 6. with the Voice of a great Multitude, as of many Waters, &c. And this is further Confirmed from the Voice, ver. 1. being said to be of much People in Heaven, viz. In the Heavenly State of the New Jerusalem,( the Time of which being then upon commencing, the Lambs Wife having made her self ready) whereas the Multitude, ver. 6. are not said to be there. And as there's no Regress in the seven first Verses, so there's no Appearance of any in the three following Verses. And the Dr. is widely out, in making the Marriage of the Lamb, to be the Conversion of the Jews, the first not being till after the seventh Vial, whenas the latter does, according to him, synchronize with the sixth Vial.  
Though the Accession of many Kings to the Kingdom of Christ, does bring many Crowns with them, whether the Kings yield voluntarily to him, or by Force; yet, What is this to the Dr's Expounding this Verse of the Kings of the East, viz. The Jews( according to him) a scattered Nation, that hath no Kingdoms to bring to him, nor are concerned in any Crowns, further than they receive them from him, according to the Sense of the crwoned Elders, &c.  
Though White linen cannot signify a Carnal War, as the Dr. calls it, that is a Real War, in the Literal Sense, yet it may signify the Holiness and Righteousness of the Warryers in such a War. How strangely therefore doth the Dr. say, That if such War was meant, it would have been said that they were clothed in White armor,& c! Which, as there's no Authority for applying the same Signification to it, as to White-Linnen, so it will not with any Congruity bear it. Also, our Saviour's Vesture dipped in Blood, ver. 13. and his judging and making War in Righteousness, ver. 11. does show it to be a Real War of executing judgement, &c.  
The sharp Sword issuing out of the Mouth, &c. may surely signify the Sentence of judgement without any Reference to the Place where it's given; nor needs any such Solemnity of Place be used, by him who needs not to make use of any Council of War, &c. As to the Dr's making the {αβγδ} to signify the Infidel Party, I have already shewed the groundlessness of it. As to the Second Psalm, there's plainly no other Sense intended in it, but what I have applied to it, which if it be in some Sense applicable to David the Type, yet it's mainly understood of Christ typified. But as for any such Spiritual Mystical Sense as the Dr. fancieth to be intended, it's mere Imagination. For though his Kingdom of Ruling among his Saints, is Spiritual, yet he does Rule over his Enemies with another Power, and it's that Power which is spoken of, Psal. 2. Nor does the Text here run upon any such Mystical Sense, as the Dr. fancieth; the sharp Sword out of Christ's Mouth, and also White-Linnen clothing of his Followers, signifying only what is expressed, ver. 11. viz. That he does in Righteousness judge, and make War, but the whole Visson does import, that it's a Real War in the Literal Sense. And what a pretty Criticism does the Dr. produce, viz. Instead of, Reges eos, Psal. 2.9. he would render it, Conteres eos, and fancieth this to countenance his Conceit of Contrition. But this will neither agree with the following Words[ With a Rod of Iron]; nor with the next Words, Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a Potters Vessel; nor with the rest of the Psalm, which exhorteth Princes to submit to Christ, for fear of his Wrath, &c. What he says further here, either concerns what hath been sufficiently spoken to, or is such strange Confidence as he hath oft amazed us with.  
That the Thigh is a Symbol of Generation, is agreed, but that it should be therefore so of Pedigree and Genealogy, is an Inference that I think will down with few besides the Dr. There's much difference between generating and being generated, or being a Father and being a Son. Besides, taking it to symbolise Generation, it will so correspond with the same Writing upon the Vesture, and with the Crowns upon the Head of this Rider on the White-horse. Which Writing and Crowns, I take to be adorning Symbols of his Victory over the worldly Princes whom he subdues to the wholly putting down their Authority, or to the making them do Homage to him, but that his Writing on his Thigh denotes his Spiritual offspring, whom he makes Kings and Priest's, &c.  
How groundless is the Dr's. Assertion, That the Sun does not signify the Legislative Power, unless it be Monarchical! Is not that Power in all Governments, as well as in Monarchies, the Life of the body-politic, enlightening and invigorating all the Affairs thereof? So that, the Sun is a Symbol of that Power wherever residing; though I might admit the Dr's Sense of it without any prejudice to my Remark, Christ being a Monarch, but such whose Kingdom is not of this World, though in it. But next, To what purpose does the Dr. say, That to a Carnal Eye the Victory could not appear so sure on the Evangelical Parties side, and that it could not be foretold by a politician? It's no matter what a Carnal Eye, or politician could see or foretell: They may be covered with the gross darkness spoken of, Esay 60.1, 2. when the Glory of the Lord is risen upon his People. But such will then be Ascendent State of Christ's Kingdom as to become visible to all, and the future Success thereof will be unquestionable to all who have an Eye of Faith to fore-see the same, and doubtless will be apprehended by many more, though their obdurate Impenitence make them little affencted therewith. As to the Dr's little Army called {αβγδ}, and the marvelous Effects he fancieth of their zealous Preaching, there hath been enough spoken of it formerly. Then says he, To make the Angel that stands in the Sun to stand in the Person of Christ, seems rude and incongruous; but[ in the Person of Christ] is the Dr's Expression, not mine. I say only, that the Angel, in the Power of Christ, standeth, &c. What a strange fancy is his making the invitation here to answer to, It's done, cap. 16, 17! whenas, this is an invitation to the Battle, &c. but that saying is after it, signifying the effect of it. Besides, What agreement is there between this Invitation and It's done? Also, the one is delivered by an Angel, and the other comes from the Throne. What the Dr. says here of the Infidel-Party, hath been more than once spoken to already. Next, he Asserts that for wonderful good Reason, which I have Noted in my Remark to be wonderful for the contrary, and Defends it by saying, That the Fowls could not feed on the Beast and False Prophet, before their being cast into the Lake of Fire, because they are taken and cast alive into the Lake, and Fowls do not seize on Men before they be dead. But the feeding of the Fowls is at the Victory over all the Military Forces of the Beast and False Prophet, which when destroyed, then their whole politic State becomes after dissolved, they having lost all their Forces which upheld it. And this dissolution, will be so absolute and entire an abolishing of the same, and that with such zeal against their Abominations and Corruptions, &c. as is aptly signified by casting them alive into the Lake, &c. And this Sense of their being cast into the Lake, &c. does well agree with the Fowls feeding on them then also. And their feeding may also extend to the remnant slain with the Sword, &c. not in preying upon them, as on the rest, but in respect of their being concerned in the joy at their Conversion, and benefited by the free beneficence which is like to be the Fruit thereof.  
The Fowls of the Air feeding upon the Flesh of the slain does chiefly at least, import a preying upon them. How unapt a Symbol therefore must this be to signify only( according to the Dr.) the Angels rejoicing at their Conversion! Besides, How can the Flesh of Horses be so fed on? But the Dr. would evade so plain an expression, by saying, That the Flesh of Horse-men is only here signified by an {αβγδ}( see his Exposition) which cannot be but the Horses must be included as well as the Men; for one thing cannot be so signified by two, unless it comprehend or extend to them both, &c. Then again, the Kings and Captains and Mighty Men, are not so likely to be of the converted; not many Mighty, not many Noble are called: So that, if the Anti-Christian Party shall prove so obdurately impenitent, it's likely to be most verified of those of that high Rank among them. Besides, The Flesh of all Men both free and bond, small and great, are Expressions too large to be understood of the converted, they comprehending the obdurate Party as well as others. Also this prophesy answering to that against Gog, Ezek. 39. there every Ravenous bide and Beast of the Field does answer to the Fowls here, and therefore they cannot signify Angels, &c. and they are said there to feed on Horses and Chariots as well as on the slain, &c. which cannot signify the converted, &c. nor can Gog typify them, being Prophesied of as an Enemy to be destroyed, &c. So that various incongruities do attend the Dr's. Exposition, which he fancieth to be so clear, and without Exception. But then my Sense seems improbable to him; First, because there's no Example of Fowls signifying precisely so as, &c. But my Remark does instance in wicked Men being, in this Book called unclean Birds Caged up in Babylon, and then surely Fowls flying in the midst of Heaven, may as aptly signify Noble virtuous Persons of sublime Spirit, &c. And what Example can the Dr. produce for his making the Fowls feeding on the Flesh of the slain, signify the Angels rejoicing at the converted?  
A Second improbability which the Dr. apprehends in my Sense is, That such Noble virtuously disposed Persons should not then be in a State of Faith, and therefore indeed Infidels such as mere Deists are, who are not so properly of the Anti-Christian as the Dragons Party. But this is an Inference far from what I understand by those who are not in a State of Faith, and such as shows how little he understands that State, in that he can find no medium between it and a mere Deist or Infidel; as if all Professors of Christianity were in that State, though they continue in a like Worldly State as before. By a State of Faith I understand, that State of Life which Believers are called to enter into by Faith in Christ Jesus, whereby they cease to be of the World, and become Members of the Kingdom of Heaven, &c. Such will be all the Citizens of the New Jerusalem, of whom it's said, That they have right to the three of Life, and so enter through the Gates into the City. And such are all those written in the Book of Life, who Worship not the Beast, cap. 13.8. but gain the Victory over him and his Image, cap. 15. ver. 2. and so are redeemed from the Earth following the Lamb wherever he goeth, &c. cap. 14. ver. 4. Now, none being able to enter into this State, but as they are called and regenerated into it by the Grace of God, I understand here by Fowls, those who, though they have not attained to this State, yet may not only profess Christianity, but really believe and approve the things it teacheth; but as to being able to yield obedience thereunto, are in such a Legal State as I understand to be signified by the Name of God, cap. 13.6. being not regenerated into that Life of Faith, whereby we receive Power to become the Children of God born of him, and so have his Righteousness revealed in us from Faith to Faith.  
I have formerly, cap. 7. ver. 9. instanced in Prophecies in this Book, which respect the Affairs of the other Life, and cap. 20, 21. The Devil is said to be cast into the Lake of Fire where the Beast and False Prophet are; which being to be understood of him in the other Life, must be also of them, they being cast into the same Lake. And so it's also understood of all, who at the General Resurrection are cast thereinto. But I do agree with the Dr. in my Remark, that the casting the Beast, and False Prophet into the Lake of Fire, does also signify the absolute Dissolution and Abolishing of their Power; onely whereas I add, that it signifies also the Zeal wherewith the same will be done, which doubtless, will be true in Fact, and makes the so destroying of those Powers, more aptly signified by their being cast into a Lake of Fire; yet the Dr. cannot allow of it, as knowing no Example for it in the Interpreters of prophetic Symbols, and yet he does produce a very good Example for it in cap. 17, 16. where the Kings( or Ten Horns of the Beast) their destroying the Whore, is signified by their Eating her Flesh, and Burning her with Fire. And this casting into a Lake of Fire, is of the same Import with the burning with Fire, both signifying the Zeal of those Ministers of God's Wrath, &c. And Esay, cap. 66.24. does countenance the same; and it's the same which is signified by the Body of the Beast being destroyed, and given to the burning flamme, Dan. 7.  
The Dr's. Conceit of three Parties here is very extravagant, as is before shewed. That the Great City, viz. Babylon, will at the Seventh Vial be divided into three Parts, is very plain, cap. 16.19. and to suppose another City to be there intended, as the Dr. fancieth, is a mere Dream. And those three Parts are in this Vision( which he agrees, does synchronize with, and signify the same with the seventh Vial) distinctly mentioned, viz. The Beast, False Prophet, and Remnant, &c. And the Dr. may as well make all the Anti-Christian Powers( viz. The Beast, False Prophet, and Dragons-Party) but one Party, as to make the Beast and False Prophet but one Party, they being every where so distinctly reckoned, as being different Beasts or Body-Politicks. And whenas they are so plainly two Parties, What Sense is there in his saying, That their undergoing the same fate does make them looked upon but as one Party? The Anti-Christian Powers therefore are both composed of and divided into three Parties, and the Beast and False Prophet are two Parties in each; and such of the Draconick Party as continue impenitent with the Beast and False Prophet, must undergo the same Fate with them, of being cast into the Lake of Fire, &c. and such of the Beast's and False Prophet's Party as become penitent, will be of the Remnant Party who are slain with the Sword issuing out of the Mouth, &c. Whereas, it's a strange supposition of the Dr. that the Beast and False Prophet should prove so impenitent, and the Draconick Party so Penitent; that the casting into the Lake of Fire should only concern the former, and the slaying with the Sword of the Mouth, only the latter. And as strange is his making the Dragons Party to be Deists and Infidels, whenas they( as formerly shewed) may be as much Christians in Profession, as the Parties of the Beast and False Prophet; and those Parties, though Christians in Profession, may abound with Atheists, Deists, and Infidels, as much as the Draconick Party.   

CHAP. XX.  
THat there should be such a neglect of the executing of the Laws of God in those times, when they shall be so freed from Temptations to divert them from it, and when their present, as well as future happiness, will depend upon it, and when the Rulers shall be acted by that Spirit which will wholly dispose them to it, is a very extravagant conceit; and so is that( as I have shewed) upon which it's grounded, viz. that the Philadelphian and Laodicean Church signify the Millennial Times. And little less, is, the Dr's. thinking it a mere presumption to affirm, that then there will need no Laws but the Bible( that is, as to the Affairs of Religion and Administration of Justice) as if God, who in order to the Establishing the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth( that his Will might be done on Earth as it is in Heaven) sent his Son to make known his Will to the World; had been a deficient Law-giver to that purpose; or as if Christ( the Faithful and True Witness, who made known and declared all that was commanded him of his Father) had been failing in discharging the Duty whereon he was sent. And how does the Dr's. being so much for other Laws besides the Bible, agree with his objecting against the largeness of it, and his being for a clear abridgement of it? Which abridgement, with the Sense of it, he would have agreed, by a truly Holy, Infallible, ecumenical Council, &c. But all Scripture being given for Instruction and Edification, surely that Spirit, by which it was Written, could and did deliver it as advantageously to that end, as is likely to be done by any such Council: But then, How will the Dr. have it understood that such Council is infallible, that Obedience may unquestionably be yielded to it? And so long as Men of such Spirit bear Rule in the New Jerusalem-State, What Need will there be of any such Council-Determinations, being they will Act as Righteously without them, in their executing the Laws of God, as they can do with them; but if there should be such a degenerating then of Rulers, as the Dr. fancieth, they may pervert the Determinations of Councils, as well as Scripture itself.  
He proceeds, But to leave things in a scattered Way to the Spirit of Rulers, is instead of erecting an Holy City or Polity, to leave all things to the Disorder and Confusion of Enthusiastick Anarchy. But is the leaving Things to that Spirit of God, which will then Rule the Rulers, a leaving Things to such Disorder and Confusion? As to his saying, That it's very consentaneous that the Martyrs should be sentenced to Heaven at the first Resurrection, in glorified Bodies, as well as the Devil about the same Time to be sentenced to Hell: I say, How is he then sentenced to Hell? He is then indeed bound in the Bottomless-Pit from doing Mischief, &c. but his casting into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone( which is the Hell-Torments to be opposed to the Enjoyments of Heaven, &c.) is not till after his losing at the end of the Thousand Years, and his Infernal Confinement, during those Years, will be surely more consentaneous with the Saints Being, during the same Time in the opposite State of Rule, which he is then fallen from, than with their being in Heaven, &c.  
I suppose not an Equality of the Dr's fancied Intervals, &c. but my Objection in this Remark is deficiently urged; for it's but two or three of his Thunders that take up the Thousand Years; and then surely, one of them being spent in making Laws, though much shorter than the rest, will be a large Time to be so employed; especially, when there will be so little Occasion for them: As to that Jerusalem-Polity, which he asserts, I shall not Contest about Words, so long as the thing be granted which I Contend for; But I take Politick-Government in the same Sense, in which it's taken in all Worldly-Governments, and so stands in Opposition to the Millennial Government, in like Manner, as the Legal Judaical State does to the Spiritual Christian Dispensation. And as the latter hath it's Laws as well as the former, but to be fulfilled by the Guidance and Power of the Spirit of Life( without which there can be no Righteous fulfilling of them); so those Righteous Laws executed by the Guidance and Power of that Spirit, will be the onely Rule of Government in the Millennial Reign. But what Spiritual Laws the Dr. fancieth, shall be made by his inspired Council, I cannot imagine, and doubtless, it's no better than a Dream, as is his whole Conceit of the seven Thunders: For he agrees here, that the Law is not made for the Just, but the Unjust; Those who are a Law to themselves, and have that Anointing in them, as not to need Mans Teaching, they cannot want any Law for the Restraining and Guiding of them. And this will be much more true in those Spiritual Times, so enlightened with the Light of Life, by drinking of the Waters of Life freely, as not to need the Light of the Sun or Moon, &c. the former Politick-Lights of the World. So that, the onely Occasion he can find for so large a time being spent by an infallible ecumenical Council, in making Spiritual Laws, is to bind the Devil, and all that truckle under him, whenas the Common Politick-Laws are usually effectual enough to that Purpose, when duly executed. But the great Defect in all Worldly Governments, is a Want of a Spirit in the Rulers to be able duly to execute Righteous Laws; which, where it is, there will be little Want of such Laws, whereas they without it prove of little Effect: For as the Sun may give Light at such a Distance, as to afford little or no Heat; but when it's so near as to yield Heat, it cannot fail of giving Light therewith: So, though there be a Light or Knowledge of Justice and Equity, where there wants a Spirit or Life, to act accordingly, yet there cannot be that Spirit or Life, but it will be accompanied proportionably with Knowledge and judgement, so as to have little need of Laws for direction. And therefore, What need can the Millennial Rulers have of making Laws for them to Govern by, when they shall have that Spirit of judgement and Righteousness dwelling in them, described Esay 11.2, 3, 4, 5. So that, all the Dr. speaks here about Law making, is but vain Imagination, and does as little agree with himself as with the Truth. For he agrees the Millennial to be a Spiritual State, and says, That there will be no Laws then, but what do really serve for the Security of the Government, Purity of Gods Worship, and real Good of the People; but cannot show what need there will be of any Laws to those Ends, besides the known Laws of God duly executed, as they will then be. Whereas I say, in my Remark, That all other Laws( viz. besides the Law of God) will be but the light of the Sun and the Moon, which they shall have no need of, having the Glory of God and the Lamb to be their Light; the Dr. says, That this is magnificent enough, but empty, and that he hath answered it already upon the foregoing Remark; but indeed hath not returned any valuable answer to it( nor was it there to be answered); but thus does he make light of so Illustrious a Character which the Scripture gives of those Times. And whereas he says, That I do only declare, not prove, that there will be no declension in the Millennial State; I do here give a much more satisfactory Account otherways of Satans losing, and have shewed sufficiently before, that the Philadelphian and Laodicean Epistles do not belong to the Millennial times, and also answered his Objections of the unreasonableness, to imagine, that God should loose Satan to disturb the Affairs of the Church, if they had not merited such judgement, &c. He does untruly intimate that I suppose, that there will be none but mere Saints where Saints live, and that they will be free from all Temptations when the Devil is bound. But as the Saints or Citizens of the New Jerusalem, are likely to be wholly kept( as I have formerly shewed) from any such change or degenerate Condition as the Dr. does imagine; so when so great temptations from the thraldom and deceit of the Devil shall be removed, and the most advantageous means used to make men good, the evil courses of wicked men must needs be much abated, especially, when it will so much concern their Reputation and worldly Interest, the more innocently they live.  
What a trifling Question does the Dr. ask here concerning the old Serpent! Why did he not ask also whether the Beast and False Prophet cast into the Lake of Fire, &c. whereinto the Devil is also to be cast, shall not join also in the Doxology, & c? There's surely a wide difference between the wicked in a probationary State, and those in a State of final condemnation, &c. and the words[ every Creature, &c.] can only extend to those capable of being concerned in the blessings of those Times. But if the wicked should then meet with such rigorous usage as the Dr. imagines, they would be as little disposed as the old Serpent to join in the Doxology. But they will doubtless find such usage as will dispose them to it; which disposition is like to be much heightened, from the Peace and Plenty of outward Blessings which will attend those Times. For as Sin brought a curse upon the Creation, so the flourishing State of Righteousness then, is likely to be accompanied with that Renovation of the same, as in a good measure at least to recover it from its curse. The Dr. next supposeth, that I will not adventure to Assert, That all who dwell in the same Countries with them who belong to the New Jerusalem, will be delivered from the bondage of Corruption. To which I say, That if he means thereby( as he must to speak Sense) all those who are subject to the Government of the New Jerusalem, they will undoubtedly be delivered from that Bondage of Corruption which People formerly groaned under( during the Reign of worldly Powers) though they be not Saints to become Members of that City. For instead of the thraldom they formerly underwent, and such rigid Laws as the Dr. fancieth for bridling them, there will be all gentle, yet most advantageous means used, to restrain and prevent their being lead by temptations into evil ways, and to dispose them to the most sober and comfortable ways of living they are capable of. Not but that severity will be also used, so far as it is needful for preventing their doing evil, or suffering wrong; even to the inflicting of death, for such Crimes as ought by the Law of God to be so punished. But there's likely then to be little occasion for such Punishments, the State of those Times will so conduce to the preventing such Crimes as shall deserve them. How grossly does the Dr. in the next place violate, Rom. 8. &c. in saying, That it refers not to the Millennium, but to the Resurrection; whereby he makes the Creature( which is plainly meant of the whole Creation, subjected by the corruption of Sin, to the bondage of Satan) to signify the Servants of God, who are raised at the Resurrection to everlasting Life; whereas it's said, The Creature waiteth for the manifestation of the Sons of God( and so must needs signify a distinct Party from that it so waits for) and also, That it shall be delivered from the bondage of Corruption into the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God, and so must needs be distinct from those, by whose means, and into whose Liberty it becomes delivered. Also, what Paul calls Creature, he after calls the whole Creation, and that in opposition to them who have received the first Fruits of the Spirit, and who thereby wait for the Redemption of their Bodies at the Resurrection, as the other wait for their Redemption from bondage, &c.  
The Words, If we suffer we shall Reign with him, do appear by the preceding Words, If we be dead with him, we shall live with him, to signify only, that they shall be raised to a triumphant State over their afflictions, and so are of the same import with the next cited Words by the Dr. viz. If we suffer with him, we shall be also glorified with him; which signify nothing of Reigning, &c. And as to Christ's saying, Come ye Blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom, &c. that imports no Reigning of them there, but only their blessed State in becoming Members of that Kingdom, so called from God, being the only King or Ruler there, or All in all, 1 Cor. 15.28. For though there be several degrees of Saints there, yet in that consummate State( where they become perfected in the knowledge of God and full communion with him) what occasion can there be for their Ruling over one another, and not living only in an immediate subjection unto him. Therefore says the Apostle, 1 Cor. 15. When Christ hath put down all Authority and Power, all Enemies under his Feet, and also hath destroyed the last Enemy, Death( and so hath completed the Redemption of his Servants from all former subjection) then he shall deliver up the Kingdom to his Father, and become subject to him who put all things under his Feet, that God may be all in all. I see no ground therefore for affirming a Polity in Heaven, which the Dr. says certainly there is, and imagines that Martyrs may have several Provinces to Rule over in the Briathick State, intruding into those things which he hath not known, &c. And as little account is there to be given of the Martyrs being Priests in Heaven, yet they who have part in the first Resurrection, are said to be Priests of God, &c. ver. 6.  
If the Ancient Fathers did hold, that the Heavenly State was attainable before the general Resurrection, they seem to be out in that as they were in other things. Our Saviours saying, John cap. 5.28, 29. and cap. 6.39, 40. does intimate no Resurrection to eternal Life till then; and so does the Parable of the Sheep and Goats, Mat. 25. and also his Promise, Luke 14.13, 14. to those who Feast the Poor, &c. That they shall be recompensed at the Resurrection of the Just. So also does Paul, 1 Cor. 15.23. Every Man is to be raised in his order, Christ the first Fruits, and after they that are Christs at his coming; and in 1 Thes. cap. 4. ver. 14, 15, 16, 17. he clearly sets forth the same; and Peters saying of the Elect being kept by the Power of God through Faith unto Salvation ready to be revealed at the last Time, is of the same import, as also is that of John, Little Children abide in him, that when he shall appear we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming. Also the first Resurrection of the Martyrs, and the saying, That the rest of the dead lived not till the Thousand Years was ended, does show that the Martyrs attained not to the Heavenly State before the first, and none else till the second Resurrection, and therefore that the first Resurrection must be according to the Sense of my Remark; for if it be to the Heavenly State, Why was it not before as well as then? For they hold a present passing out of this Life unto it, who hold it attainable before the general Resurrection. And though the last Day( or Day of judgement) reacheth from the beginning of the Millennium to the end of the World, yet the general Resurrection is not till the end of the Millennium. And of those who are partakers of the first Resurrection, it's said here, I saw the Souls of them, and they lived and Reigned, &c. which plainly intimates a distinction from the general Resurrection, when the Bodies shall be raised. The adding to the mention of the first Resurrection; that the second Death shall have no Power over them, does not at all import that this Resurrection is not Political but Physical, but does well intimate the sense given in my Remark. Nor does it give any assurance of the sense of that saying to the Church in Smyrna; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second Death: That saying( as I have shewed in that Epistle) being of the same signification with the preceding Promise, Be thou faithful unto Death, and I will give thee a Crown of Life, and an explaining thereof. So that the inference which the Dr. says the Ancients rightly made, from comparing that saying with this here, is very groundless; and those many Examples in this Book which he says he might give of what he calls Tallies, are but False ones, if they be no truer than this. Next, he says, That the Martyrs Reigning in Heaven the Thousand, &c. does not clash with their Reigning there for ever. But to what purpose should they be said to Reign there a Thousand Years, when they are to Reign there for ever? Besides, I have shewed how groundless it is to assert any Reign there in a politic Sense.  
Then how does the Dr. trifle, in endeavouring to defend the Smybolical Sense of a Thousand Years, from the Particle Ta, being in the fourth and fifth Verse, and left out in the sixth, whenas it's also not in the second( which yet must signify numerically, being the time of SATAN's being bound, &c.) and is in the third, fourth, and fifth Verses, as referring to the second Verse, but left out in the sixth for better Harmony, by changing the Expression so oft used; and it's again in the seventh Verse, where it plainly signifies numerically, and refers to the sixth, which therefore must signify so also. And no better is his distinguishing between the Martyrs Reigning in Heaven, and the Confessors, who worshipped not the Beast, &c. Reigning with their Successors a Thousand Years; Whenas the Text affirms the same of both, without any Distinction, viz. That they lived and Reigned, &c. So that, both are meant only of the Dead, and of their being alike raised, &c. Nor can any Confessors be otherwise capable of Reigning in the Millennium, they being dead before. And as much does he trifle in objecting against the Martyrs Reigning as the Powers of the Air did, &c. For then, says he, They will be but Ministring-Angels, which is not to Reign but to Minister, &c. But why may not they be said to Reign then, as well as the Devil and his Angels did so before, and the Saints on Earth shall then do? All Rulers are but Ministers to God. And to what Purpose does the Dr. say, That he hopes they will not receive Religious Worship? As if they could not Reign as well as the Saints on Earth, without doing that. This Political Sense does well admit also of a Physical Resurrection( though not that which the Dr. contends for) which he must needs agree to, who allows no Power to Souls to act, but as united to some Body, or Vehicle. Yet it cannot therefore be called the Resurrection of the Body, because the Souls then do not emerge out of the Regions of Mortality, as they do at the general Resurrection. So that, the one is not a Redemption of the Body, as the other is, though they be assured that it will prove so in the end, by that saying, The second Death hath no Power over them. The Martyrs being then as really to Rule, as the Aerial Powers did so before, and that for a peculiar Reward of their Sufferings, It's an impertinent Supposition and Question thereon, to say, If they Minister onely for the Good of Saints, Why may not Souls, not Martyrs, have the same Office?  
What the Dr. says here, that he hath proved, he hath not indeed made any Proof of, but I have given strong Proof of the contrary. For all the Reasons for the seven Epistles, reaching but to the beginning of the Millennium, are a Proof of thereof, besides other Reasons given for the same. Nor would such degenerating of the New Jerusalem, and thereon Revolting of her Subjects, agree with her Reigning for ever and ever, Rev. 22.25. which shows an uninterrupted Dominion to the End of the World. And the Vision does plainly intimate, that they are Foreign Nations that environ the Holy City. For they are gathered from the Four Quarters of the Earth, and are called Gog and Magog, by a like Israelism, as is used Ezek. 38. from Nations Enemies, to the Israelites who were so called; but it's not imaginable, that such Titles should be given to Nations subject to the New Jerusalem, though they should so degenerate, as the Dr. fancieth, it being so incongruous, and would spoil the Israelism. Also[ Nations] cannot be limited to the Wicked of those Nations subject to the New Jerusalem, but comprehend all in general, viz. the whole Body and Power of the Nations intended. Nor is it imaginable, That People living in Peace and Prosperity, under so happy a Government, can be moved by any Deceits of the Devil, to rise up in open Enmity against their Rulers, upon no other Occasion than Relaxation of Discipline, which is likely to be pleasing to them. Nor can any such Attempts be made in those Times, but the circumspectly Rulers will be early ware thereof, to prevent the same. And the vast Number of those Enemies, being as the Sand of the Sea, are too great surely, to signify such Rebellious Enemies at home, who can be so stirred up. Also, their so largely extending themselves, by going upon the Breadth of the Earth to compass the Camp of the Saints, does show them to be Foreign Nations that come against it. But for further enforcing this Conceit, the Dr. magnifieth the Kingdom of Christ so largely, as to leave no Foreign Nations to come against it. To make good which, he adds[ All] to what is said cap. 11.15. of the Kingdoms of the World, becoming the Kingdoms of our Lord, &c. and makes[ All Nations shall come and Worship before thee, cap. 15.4.] to signify their becoming the Kingdom of Christ, whenas it spoken of Foreign Nations, which shall then do Homage to the New Jerusalem. But that which will be properly Christ's Kingdom, or the Dominion of the New Jerusalem, is the Kingdom represented by the Ten-Horned-Beast here, and in Daniel, by the Feet and Toes of Daniel's Image, the Dominion whereof is to be taken away, and to be succeeded by that Kingdom which God shall set up, by giving Dominion to the Saints of the most High: Hence the People of that Kingdom, are called the People of the Prince that shall come, viz. the Messiah, Dan. 9.26. and are the same that are signified by the Tents of Japhet, wherein God will persuade Shem to dwell. This is confirmed by Daniel, 7.12. where it's said, that the rest of the Beasts had their Dominion taken away, &c. whereby it appears, that the other Kingdoms, besides those of the Ten-Horned-Beast, did not become Christ's Dominion, but continued Beasts still, &c. And therefore their being continued for a Season and a Time, I take to be during the Millennium; at the end of which, Satan shall be loosed to deceive them, &c.  
But then the Dr. seems to fly from what he contends for, and imagines, That the Corrupt Party which were Subjects of Christ's Kingdom, shall make part of the Army of Gog and Magog; which allows them to be Foreign Nations, which that Corrupt Party shall join with. Next, he cannot conceive any Nations to walk in the Light of the New Jerusalem, and to become healed, but such as become real Christians, whenas( as is elsewhere shewed) the Healing of the Nations, is by feeding on the Leaves of the three of Life; but the becoming true Christians,( that is, Citizens of the New Jerusalem) is to eat of the Fruit of that three. The Nations that are saved, signified such as are saved from the Destruction which befell the Anti-Christian Party, and their walking in the Light of the New Jerusalem, does plainly import, that they are distinct from those who appertain unto it as Members of it, or Subjects unto it; and they that are onely Borrowers of Light from it, whenas the others live in full Communion with, or absolute Subjection to it. Then the Dr. is so possessed with his fanciful Imaginations, as to think it Childish or Idiotical, to take Gog and Magog in a Literal or Geographical Sense,( as he calls it) whenas it's manifest, that there's no Room for any other than a Geographical Sense, there being here signified a real Attempt upon the New Jerusalem, by Nations its Enemies; but this is not to be called a Literal Sense, because they are called Gog and Magog by an Israelism, which agrees with the Genius of prophetic Style, which he is so much concerned for. And what does he mean by saying[ Whether they be Neighbouring or Foreign Nations]? for, What are Neighbouring, but Foreign Nations? And what trifling is it to say, That Dissimilitude of Spirit, &c. may Answer to Distance of Place, whenas the whole Vision does plainly import Foreign Nations to be signified! And which he cannot gainsay, but that they may be signified, though he hath bestirred himself so much to oppose it. But the Truth of it is further evident, from the Kingdom of Christ it's consisting of many Nations independent of each other, and so distinctly Governed by the Citizens of the New Jerusalem in each Country. For then, if Gog and Magog be her Subjects, there must be distinct Insurrections of them in every Country against the Rulers thereof; which as it's not imaginable to fall out, in a Time when there will be so little Occasion given for it, and such diligent Means used to prevent it, so the same cannot be signified in the Text by Gog and Magog, which are represented by one great Body of People combined together, as Enemies against one Body of People, signified by the Camp of the Saints, and the Beloved City, &c.  
What a strange Inference does the Dr. make here! viz. That because the City, cap. 11. is called Holy, when trodden down, &c. therefore the Church in a degenerate Laodicean State, may be called the Camp of the Saints, and the Beloved City; whenas the treading it down, does not signify any Pollution of it by degenerating into Corruption( no more than the scattering of the Power of the Holy People, does signify so in Dan. 12.7.) but onely the spoiling the politic State of it, by the prevalent Power of its Enemies, or rather their obstructing its Growth into that Spiritual Polity it will be formed into, at the Millennium. But the Dr. struggles on, with utmost wracking his Invention, in behalf of that which will not hold together. His supposing the greater Part of the City to be Saints, though of such several degrees, will spoil the Character of the Laodicean Church, being applicable to it,( for the Church in all Times does consist of Saints small and great); and if they be the lesser part, it will do the same as to the Character of the Saints, and the Beloved City, &c. And what does he mean by saying, That the external Worship in all, was still pure and incorrupt? How could it be so in the Wicked, being their Sacrifice is an Abomination to the Lord? So that, their Worship is throughout corrupt, though it be free from Superstitious Ceremonies to corrupt it with. Also, What does he mean by saying, That they used such Worship out of judgement and Conscience, being sincerely pleased in that they thought God was pleased with it? He must understand this, so as to be consistent with their being degenerate Hypocrites, and then it will do him no Service; but by understanding it otherwise, he contradicts himself. He dwindles at length into such a sorry shift, as to make the City to be called Holy and Beloved, in comparison with the Rabble of its Enemies; but God gives such Titles only to such as are truly worthy of them, upon whatever crazy ground the Dr. can fancy them to be given.  
The Conclusion of all his shifting Evasions, is a monstrous Conceit. He supposeth the degenerate Part to List themselves in the Army of Gog and Magog, and so the City drained of them, may without scruple be called Holy and Beloved, &c. But this City is the Ruling Part of Christ's Kingdom, that is, those who attain to the State signified by the Feeding on the three of Life, and Drinking of the Waters of Life, &c.( and so is no Inhabited Place like the Old Jerusalem, where the Citizens dwelled together, &c. as the Dr's. supposition seems to make it to be), Now though we admit that such may be wrought upon by the Prosperity and Pleasure of the World, and the Deceits of the Devil( if by his losing he gains any Power over them) as to degenerate into an Hypocritical Laodicean State, yet it's monstrous to conceive, that they can so wholly Apostate from their Religion( to so blessed a State wherein they had been advanced) as to join with the Enemies thereof who seek its Ruin. To bid such defiance to God Almighty, and to declare such open Enmity against him, after so great Knowledge of him, and enjoying so great Blessings from him, is a wickedness surely that transcends the capacity of human Nature. Besides, That the doing thereof would be an acting contrary to their Worldly Interest. For whereas they live in such Peace and Prosperity under the Dominion of the New Jerusalem, they desert it, to fall away to such who seek the ruin of it, and consequently of all Worldly Happiness which attends its Prosperity.  
It's all one whether Death and Hell be made, by the Dr. one the Species of the other, or the Part of the other; otherwise, the first, I think, is clear enough, but both of them are alike untrue. Though {αβγδ} is of so general signification as he does mention, yet surely it must signify here more specially; both because Death is twice reckoned so distinctly from it( and they are reckoned so cap. 1. ver. 18. and cap. 6. ver. 8.) and also because it would not be true, that Hell( taken in that general signification) is cast into the Lake of Fire, being all the Dead written in the Book of Life will escape being cast thereinto. And whereas the Dr. says, That here is an enumeration of the several Receptacles of the Deceased, and Death signifies those places which take in those who die of Diseases: I say, That there's no peculiar Receptacle for such, but the same Places take in those who die by other means. So that, if Death here signifies a Receptacle of the deceased, it must comprehend all butted at Land; and then the two Receptacle of the Deceased being enumerated, viz. Sea and Land( which comprehend all the Dead) there's no place for naming {αβγδ} abruptly for brevity sake, whenas all the Receptacles of the Dead are enumerated before. So that, what the Dr. thinks a plain meaning of the Text, is far from being so. Nor are my Two Parts out of doors, by Sea coming in for a Third, for though it cast into the Lake of Fire may, as he says, make strange work, yet the Dead in it cast into the Lake, will not do so, any more than. Death and Hell so cast, &c. And there being no mention of Sea, ver. 14. does show, that the mention of it ver. 13. is only to signify, that all the Dead in it are to be raised and joined with those who are Dead otherwise, that they may receive their doom together; and then by Death and Hell being cast into the Lake of Fire, is included the dead also given up by the Sea; and there appears no account of their being so distinctly reckoned, unless that which I have given in my Remark be admitted. Whereas the Dr. does expressly in his Exposition make Death signify all dead of Diseases, he says here, that he does not mean thereby all that die of Diseases, or none but those who die of Diseases, but Death itself; That is, he contradicts his own Exposition, and substitutes for it that which is no Exposition, viz. that Death signifies Death.   

CHAP. XXI.  
THough Sea does well set forth the disposition of the Mobile Vulgus, yet it plainly signifies the swelling Domination and over-flowing Power of Worldly Rulers, as appears both from the Second Trumpet and Second Vial, and also from the Ten-Horned-Beast, and Four Beasts in Daniel coming out of the Sea. And it appears to signify so here, by its coherence with the First. Heaven and First Earth being past away, viz. the politic State of Worldly Governments being dissolved, whereby such Domination was upheld. And the fluctuating condition that People are in under such Governments, does make them such a Mobile Vulgus, and to be signified by Waters in the Prophetick-Style. It's strange therefore that the Dr. should say, That my Sense of the Sea is quiter out of the Road of prophetic Style, whenas it's the primary, and his but the secondary Sense of it in that Style; and that he should take no notice of the two Instances in my Remark, viz. the Second Trumpet and the Second Vial.  
I have agreed before, that the New Jerusalem is a Spiritual Polity, but not a Worldly Polity United and Governed by human Laws, &c. but the Ligaments of its Union will be purely Spiritual, it being the Church or Body of Christ, United to him its Head, and also every Member each to the other by one Spirit, by which they will be thoroughly enlightened in the knowledge of the Truth, and enabled duly to execute its Laws, without need of any such help as Councils can yield them. But where do I intimate any such Childish Conceit, as that in the vast Millennial Dominion there shall be none but pure Saints, having the Truth and Life dwelling in them? There's none but such shall be Citizens of the New Jerusalem, viz. such as have Right to the three of Life, and so enter through the Gates into the City, cap. 22.14. So that it's that State which entitles them to be Citizens thereof; but there will be multitude of all degrees subject to them, who Arrive not to that State.  
It's very plain, that these Promises do primarily respect the Millennial State. For this Chapter begins with an Account of the New Jerusalem coming down from Heaven, and contains in it a general Account of those Times till ver. 9. and then proceeds to a particular Description of the City; so that the Dr's Exposition is a rambling from the subject of the prophesy. And the Alpha and Omega here relates to the preceding Words, It's done( which relate to the same Words at the end of the Seventh Vial, and both to the Mystery of God being finished at the Seventh Trumpet, cap. 10.7. as I have there Noted) and so signifies, that as he was the Beginning of the Creation of God, so now( as to the former Worldly State thereof) he puts an end thereunto, and that as he was the Beginning of the New Creation, so now he accomplisheth the State thereof in its perfection. And the saying[ shall inherit all things] will be fulfilled in the Millennium, according to the capacity of that State, as well as in Heaven; and in some respects more amply, as filling them with Earthly as well as Heavenly Blessings. And what shadows does the Dr. catch at, in imagining that, He that overcometh, alludes to the conclusion of the Laodicean Epistle! whenas it's also the conclusion of all the Seven Epistles, and not only the condition of all Promises of Salvation, but also of all the Millennial Promises, which are made to them who overcome the Beast and his Image, &c. and that's the meaning of overcoming here. And[ I will be his God and he shall be my Son] is to be sure applicable to the Millennial as well as the Heavenly State.  
There cannot be a continued Israelism, but each Part must signify according to what it answers to in the Judaical State. And therefore, Why does the Dr. suppose me to make distinct parts of the Israelism here to signify nothing? And what does he mean by living up to the External Laws of God? For the Law given to the Jews( which the Apostle, Rom. 7. calls Holy, Just and Good, and Spiritual, ordained unto Life, &c.) was Internal as well as the Christian Law( though they wanted the internal Dispensation whereby to be enabled to fulfil it) which holds true of the Ceremonial, as well as the Moral Law, as there is an Exercise of Faith and Obedience, in the due observing the one as well as the other. But the Ceremonial Law( which could most properly be called external) being abolished, it's hard to imagine what the Dr. means by external Laws. And as to the insincerity which he supposeth in the Scribes and Pharisees, it appears not but that they were sincerely minded, though they wanted( as all Unregenerate do) that Spirit, whereby to be able to act uprightly. For that Righteousness of the Pharisee, described by our Saviour in his Parable, Luke 18. ver. 11, 12. is hardly to be matched by many who pass for very good Christians, But notwithstanding their being sincerely minded, it was natural for them in that State( wherein though the Spirit be willing, the Flesh is weak) to be exercised mostly in such Duties as were easiest, to the Neglect of those of more Weight and Difficulty, and to affect Honour of Men for their Works. Also, they too highly valuing themselves upon their Performances, made the humble Penitent Publican( though performing much less) to be preferred before them. But though the Dr's useful Edifying Sense, proves so unintelligible, yet he might have found a very intelligiblle and useful Edifying Mystery, in the Inscription of the Names of the Twelve Tribes on the Gates, viz. That none but True Israelites( that is, Spiritual Israelites or Christians) should enter there, accordingly as it's said, cap. 22.14. Blessed are they that do his Commandements, that they may have Right to the three of Life, and enter through the Gates into the City. And the intended meaning of the Dr. so badly expressed, is I suppose, that whatever the Law is in itself, it's but an External Law, or Rule to those who are but in a mere Legal-State, whereby they yield but a servile Obedience to it, which they are mostly influenced unto by External Motives, &c.( so Christian Laws may be called External to such) and then his useful Edifying Sense amounts but to this, That they who, in a Legal State, do not endeavour, to their Power, to keep God's Laws, they cannot expect to be called unto that Spiritual Dispensation whereby to be enabled to do it; which is too plain a Truth to be here intended, nor can the Inscription on the Gates signify it.  
All the Dr. says here in Defence of his solid Interpretation( as he fancieth it) depends upon his Conceit of making the Inner and Outer-Court, cap. 11. to signify successive Symmetral and Asymmetral Times; the falseness of which, I have there I hope, abundantly shewed, and made good my Exposition, in making the Worshippers in the inner-Court to be the Two Witnesses, and so to synchronize with the Outer-Court, whereby the Remark here is also confirmed. So that, I need not make any further Defence of it against the Dr's large Answer; Only, that when I say, that the Golden Reed here is used to Answer all the rest of the splendid Description of the New Jerusalem, it must be supposed to concur therewith, in signifying the Glorious State of those Times; but there being no occasion for John to use any other than a Natural Reed, cap. 11. only for the use of measuring, there's no Mystical meaning to be expected in it, whereby the Dr's Conceit here of combustible Reed does vanish like smoke,  
Solid Gold does very properly signify sound judgement and Righteousness, but it's strange to make it signify Divine Love or Charity; especially in this Place, where the State or Spiritual Polity of a City is described which is to Govern the Millennial Times. And though sound judgement and Righteousness( and also all other perfect Works performed to God or Man) proceed from Divine Love or Charity, yet the immediate signifying of any such Works, is very different from signifying the common Fountain from which they spring. So that, I am not shy of admitting the Dr's Sense if it were current, but he does forc'tly introduce it, to countenance his more unsound Conceit, of making the Millennium the same with the Philadelphian Interval; which doubtless is false, though he says here, that it's most certainly true.  
What presumption is it in the Dr. to call it trifling in the Spirit of prophesy, to signify by the Twelve Stones, only the soundness and beautifulness of the Apostolical Righteousness, whereon the Safety and Defence of the New Jerusalem shall be founded! What higher signification can they contain than this? In the particular signification of every ston which he endeavours to give an Account of, he does not, nor can say any thing of greater import than these two general Significations; but he says divers things so mean and fanciful, as that it's not to be imagined they were ever intended. And what does he mean by saying, That I am so niggardly as to admit but of two Properties in the Stones to be alluded to, when he does aclowledge after, that I admit an allusion to as many more as will bear an apt Application? Though these two are so weighty and comprehensive as not to need more. And how triflingly does he except against one of the Properties I admit of( viz. Beautifulness) because it's less proper for a Wall, which is a structure of Defence! May not the Beautifulness of such structure and its strength of Defence well agree? And is not the Description of the Wall here as beautiful as any Part of the City? viz. the building of it all of Jasper, and its Foundation of precious Stones. Then the Dr. says, That the Diamond which sheeps all other Stones for Solidity and splendour, might have served better than all the Twelve Stones for those two significations, &c. But how would it also have signified the Apostolical Foundation upon which all the Walls is built, and which is signified by the Twelve Stones? Besides, by the variety observable in the Twelve Stones, of those two most Eminent and Valuable Qualities, Solidity and splendour, may be signified, how variously those Properties of Apostolical Righteousness signified thereby, will exert themselves, and what a beautiful variety of Spiritual Operations will arise therefrom. Whereas the Dr. would countenance his Conceits here, from their apt agreeing, as he imagines with the Hypothesis of the Philadelphian and New Jerusalem State being the same; that being false, as I have fully shewed, his fancied support to them from thence does utterly fail.  
The Dr. apprehends this Remark so odd, That he will more strictly consider each Part, but to how much Purpose he does it we shall see. I shall first note, How he confounds the Kingdom of Heaven in Believers, with the Kingdom of Christ, as he is Judge and Ruler of the World, the Head of all Principalities and Powers, Prince of the Kings of the Earth, who is to Reign till he hath put down all Authority and Power under his Feet. The first did Commence, by Christs making Disciples and Converts by his Preaching; and therefore his Gospel is called the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven, and he in his Preaching, says, Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, and orders his Disciples to use the same Words, &c. But the Commencement of the last, was not till the Roman Emperors assumed the Christian Profession, whereby the Woman in Heaven brought forth the Man-Child, who was caught up unto God and his Throne, &c. For then it's said, Now is come Salvation and Strength, and the Kingdom of our God, and the Power of his Christ, cap. 12. He did indeed at his Ascension sit down at the Right Hand of Power, expecting till his Enemies be made his Foot-stool, and was then ordained Head of all Power in Heaven and Earth, but could not be invested in his Kingdom on Earth, till he had by his Servants, subdued the Worldly Powers; which he did when the Man-Child was caught up unto God and his Throne, and the Devil cast out, &c. by means of those who overcame him by the Blood of the Lamb, and the Word of their Testimony, and loved not their Lives unto the Death, &c. But that Victory did not suffice fully to settle him in his Kingdom, because the Devil had another Game to play, whereby to restore his Power, viz. By the Anti-Christian Powers, who under a Christian Profession should War against Christ, and his Vanquishing those Powers also, will be an absolute Establishing him in his Kingdom; which he will do by those who are with him, called Chosen and Faithful, by whom he overcomes the Kings of the Earth who War against him, cap. 17.14. Now whereas the Dr. says, That the Kingdom of Christ was a Spiritual Kingdom from the Apostles Time, &c. I say, That he had no Kingdom in the World, till the said Time of the Womans bringing forth the Man-Child, and the Devils being cast out, &c. He had indeed before many Servants, Members of the Kingdom of Heaven, and zealous to disperse the Doctrine of it on Earth, but he had no Footing of Authority or Rule in the World. For the Devil continued so wholly possessed of that, as to make the bearing or professing the Name of Christ, a Capital Crime. So that, the Primitive Christians were like many Subjects sojourning in a Foreign Country, where their own Prince hath no Authority or Power, by their abiding there.  
And whereas the Dr. says, That the Affairs of the Church in those Times, were Regulated by Laws, and Established by Councils: I say, That she did then act according to the Exigency of her Affairs, in that her Infant-State. She had first much Conflict with the Jews, and found it difficult, to determine, how far the Christian Religion did oblige her to relinquish the Judaical Service, and was after held in a low depressed Condition, by the continual Heathen Persecutions, wherewith she did Conflict; whereby her Children had little to attend, but to carry their Lives in their Hands, and be ever ready to become Martyrs to their Profession, loving not their Lives unto the Death. But notwithstanding their being so mortified to the World, yet there appears not any great Progress they made in the Work of Regeneration; but on the contrary, to have been much addicted to such things, as the Apostle calls beggarly Elements of the World, whereby their Devotion did much spend itself in many Puerilities of human Invention,( and sometimes great Contests did arise about the same) such, as though they might deserve some Approbation in them, considering the Zeal and Simplicity which did accompany the same; yet divers of them have since, with good Reason, being disallowed of and laid aside. No Wonder therefore, that in those Times of the Infancy of the Church, and in which she was exercised with so great Difficulties, she should manage her Affairs by the help of Laws and Councils, such as were most accommodated to the Exigency of her present State. But, How can it be inferred from hence, That in the Millennial State, when she shall be advanced to be the absolute Ruling Power in the World, and so freed from all the Difficulties she did formerly Conflict with; and also shal have attained to the highest State of Spiritual Communion with GOD, to the becoming thoroughly enlightened in the Judgments of Truth, and vigorously acted to fulfil the same; I say, How can it be inferred, That she will in such a State, need the Help of Laws and Councils for the managing of her Affairs, because she did so inher Infant-State?  
The Dr. proceeds to show, That in three Regards, the Kingdom of Christ may be said to be Spiritual; which I shall easily agree to, but they little concern the present Subject. For they respect the Kingdom of Christ, as King of Saints, ruling in them by his Spirit, in whatever outward State they be; but we are speaking here of his Kingdom, as he by them governs the World in the Millennial State. But though those three Particulars do so little concern ●s, yet I shall note, how in the second of them he does wrest the Meaning of Ephesians 6.12. He first makes We wrestle not with Flesh and Blood( which doubtless, respects the Fleshly Lusts we conflict with) to respect a Carnal or Worldly Design of wresting the Dominion of the World into our Hands, &c. And the following Words, But against Principalities and Powers, and the Rulers of the Darkness of this World, and Spiritual Wickednesses in High-Places. All this he applys to our wrestling with the Evil Spirits which tempt us to Sin; whenas doubtless, the Visible Powers of Darkness, are here as much signified as the Invisible; yea, primarily intended. For was it not with them that the Primitive Christians did wrestle, when they overcame the Devil, to the causing him to be cast out, &c. and thereby so great Revolution on the Heathen Empire? And do not those, called Chosen and Faithful, who are with the Lamb, cap. 17.14. do the same with the Kings of the Earth, who War against him. So that, the Sense of the Text is, That the Conflicts we have at home, with the Lusts of the Flesh, are not comparable to those which we meet from without, by reason of the Worldly Powers setting themselves against the Advancement of Christ's Kingdom in the World, and so Warring against all Faithful Adherers to him. This is a perpetual hard Conflict, which the Faithful Servants of Christ have, during their Militant State on Earth; whereas that they have with Fleshly Lusts, though it be difficult for a time, does soon grow easy, as the Work of Regeneration does advance to the gaining the Victory over our Lusts.  
The Dr. says next, That the Kings in Christ's Kingdom may Rule by a Spiritual Polity; but what he calls so is in effect( as is elsewhere noted) but a Worldly Polity, making Laws and Councils needful to Govern by, and appropriating the Government to particular Rulers of Kingdoms, &c. and so not understanding the Spiritual Dominion which he allows must then be, he confounds it with that which is of a different Nature. And whereas he says, That the Ruling of the Saints by a Spiritual Power does not presently make them Priests: I say, That the same Power which will then qualify them for Rulers, will also qualify them for Priests; and therefore they are described to be both Kings and Priests. Next, whereas I make those Twenty Four Elders, cap. 5. to signify Spiritual Rulers over the Four Beasts, and they and the Beasts to signify such Rulers over those they Reign over in the Millennial Times( as they plainly appear there to do) he conceives this to be a dark Error, and would have those Elders to signify such Monarchs or Kings as he imagines then shall Reign, because of their Throns and Crowns; whenas those Spiritual Kings, who according to Scripture, are then to Rule, will be as truly Kings as others, though of a different Nature, and therefore may be as aptly signified by those Symbols, as will presently further appear. But to countenance his Conceit, he does strangely imagine their White-Raiment to be White-Silk, viz. such soft Raiment as is in Kings-Houses: Whenas, doubtless, it's the Fine linen which is the Righteousness of the Saints, and serves also here as a Priest's Habit. And he will have it also to have some allusion to the Priesthood, in order to the signifying the Holiness of those Kings, and their being the supreme Head of the Church, and then adds, If those Kings were Priests properly so called, or were not Kings properly so called, they would instead of Crowns, have Golden Girdles; whenas the Golden Girdles would more properly respect the Kingly than the Priestly Office,( of which see Remark on cap. 1.13.) and the White-Raiment is sufficient to signify the Priestly Office, though it hath the further Signification, I have mentioned; and the Power of those Spiritual Kings, is aptly enough signified by Crowns; of which more after.  
But then, How can the Dr. say, That the Twenty-four Elders are Kings onely over the Beasts, and that the Beasts are onely Subjects and not Rulers, when they join together, cap. 5. in falling down before the Lamb, and singing a Song of Thanksgiving for his Redeeming them by his Blood, and making them Kings and Priests to Reign on the Earth? And my Assertion, according to the plain Truth of the Text, he calls rash and groundless, and contrary to the plain Meaning of my Remark, he makes me to suppose them to be Rulers over the People and Nations out of the Kingdom of Christ, whenas I compare their Authority over them they Rule over, to that which the Nobility, Gentry, and Clergy, have over the Common People. And whereas the Dr. does make the four Beasts to comprehend the whole Israel of God, that is, says he, the whole Kingdom of Christ in the Millennium; he does hereby contradict himself, by supposing what he does before, ver. 2. condemn as fond in me,( untruly supposing me to affirm the same) viz. That there shall be none but Saints where Christ's Kingdom is; for if there be others than such,( as doubtless there will be Multitudes) they will be in the State of Subjects to the Elders and Beasts,( the Citizens of the New Jerusalem) and so a part of Christ's Kingdom, &c. Next, How extravagantly does he say, That it's flying in the Face of the Text, and pulling down the Crowns from the Heads of the Twenty-four Elders, to suppose them, not to signify Monarchs according to his Sense. As if Kingly Power may not be aptly signified by a Crown, though it be not exercised by such Monarchs. Are not the seven Roman-Heads called Kings, and also crwoned, Rev. 12.3. though most of them was no such Monarchs? And is not Joshua the High-Priest, Zach. 6. crwoned with Crowns, to typify such Spiritual Kings and Priests as I am defending? But further, the Dr. who is so officiously concerned for his Monarchs in the Millennial State, will surely have them Hereditary Monarchs, or else he is like to have but little Thanks for his Pains. And does he think that God will entail Saint-ship on Royal-Lines, to make them such Spiritual Rulers as he agrees they must then be? Besides, How aptly will such Kings be signified by Elders, when they are likely oft to be Infants! Which Title of Elders shows them such, as whose Spiritual Endowments improved by Maturity of Age, advanced them to that Station.  
But if he imagine that there will be then Elective Monarchs, he must suppose them to be chosen by the Saints, who will then be the prevailing Party; otherwise, how are they like to be such Spiritual Rulers, as he agrees they must be? And can he imagine that they, who are evidently, according to Scripture, then to Rule, will transfer their Power upon any single Person? Yea, how can they do it, since God gives it to them to Rule therewith? Besides, if his Monarchs be such Spiritual Rulers, &c. to what purpose is it to suppose them crwoned Heads? For what is the signification of an Imperial Crown,( and other Crown, I suppose, he does not think worth contending about) but that the Monarch who wears it, claims an absolute Freedom from being accountable to any but God, for his doings? But if they be such Righteous Rulers, they will have no need of claiming such Freedom, their doings being such as will abide the Light, &c. and if they be otherwise, they cannot avoid being accountable to Christ Jesus by his Saints, with whom will then be that Spirit of judgement and Power, as to be able to withstand and invalid all Actions contrary to the Truth, which then must solely govern? But of this I have spoken more fully in the Preface. Kings therefore wearing Crowns in those Times, would hardly signify more than wearing Feathers in their Caps. Yet there may be then, as great Power exercised by single Persons, as any good( viz. truly Christian) King could desire, or would know how to make use of. Though the Dr's Conceits here, are so inconsistent with the Truth and themselves, yet he is so consisting with himself, as to end with a confident Conclusion.  
In the next place, the Dr. does strangely pervert the saying of our Saviour, Mat. 20.25.& Luk. 22.25. to concern onely the Apostles and Primitive Bishops, and so to signify the mean Condition they were like to live in, &c. whenas their Signification is plainly general, extending to all his Disciples and Servants, showing what a different Spirit is to be in them, from what is in Worldly Rulers. For the first saying is upon the Mother of Zebedees Two Sons, desiring, that her Two Sons might sit at the Right and Left Hand of Christ in his Kingdom. The other, on the Disciples striving among themselves, who should be accounted greatest; whereon our Saviour gives them such rebuk and Instruction, as concerns all Christians in all Times, but especially in the Millennial Times, when they shall be in that Ruling State, which the Apostles seem so ambitious of. Then the Dr. adds, That those Texts do concern such Monarchs as really Rule for the Good of Christs Kingdom, is a wonderful groundless Conceit. By whom, if he mean true Christian Rulers, those Texts must concern them. But are such Rulers to be found among his Monarchs? And if any of them should prove of that Spirit, as to Rule so, How insignificant would then be their Monarchical( viz. absolute unaccountable) Power, is before shewed. And whereas the Dr. is so averse here and elsewhere, to understand what I mean by Worldly Government, and Worldly Powers, he could easily inform himself if he pleased, by consulting with my Remark on Dan. Vis. 2. Ver. 2. I agree with his saying, That Millennial Monarchs, who should so Rule, for the promoting the Interest of CHRIST's Kingdom, as he describes, would be far from being Anti Christian Rulers, though they he unregenerate; but to suppose such Rulers so to Rule, is to imagine, that one may gather Grapes of Thorns, and Figs of Thistles, or that a corrupt three may bring forth good Fruit. That Enmity described in Scripture, between Flesh and Spirit, and the Inability of the one to become subject to the other, is likely to prove more especially true of unregenerate Rulers, whose worldly or Fleshly Enjoyments, in their politic Capacity, are likely, more deeply to engage their Hearts, than those which they and others enjoy in their natural capacity, and so to beget in them a greater enmity to those things of God which are contrary thereunto. So that, though that saying, malus Homo, yet bonus Cives, may be true in respect of the good Qualities that may be in evil Men, to make them serviceable to the public, in a Worldly State; yet, to conceive how an unregenerate Man should be such a good Christian Monarch as the Dr. does imagine, is as hard as to reconcile light and darkness.  
Whereas he says, That my likening the Authority which those Spiritual Kings and Priests will have in the Millennial State, to the sway which the Nobility, Gentry, and Clergy have over the Commonalty, &c. does show that their Rule will be merely precarious, and so my Account of that State does end in Anarchy: He might as well have said, That the Authority of the Apostles and their Successors, by that Spiritual Power which they exercised, of binding and losing, and delivering to Satan, &c. was merely precarious, whenas doubtless it was as aweful to Christians, as any Political Government by Worldly Powers is to them subject to it; and that not only by reason of the Corporal Punishments, which were sometimes inflicted by Satan on those delivered to him, but chiefly in respect of the inward Punishment, which the excommunicated did experience to attend the Sentence duly passed upon them, viz. their being cast from that Communion with God, and Peace, and Joy attending the same( which through Faith in Christ Jesus they enjoyed) into a woeful State of sorrow, dread, and horror( both in respect of the happiness they were fallen from, and the misery which attend the State they were fallen into) till by Repentance they recovered themselves out of the same. Now though that Spiritual Discipline, does chiefly answer to what Authority or Discipline will be exercised, to dismember them from being Citizens of the New Jerusalem who shall walk as unworthy of that State, yet the same will be in some measure exercised on all subjects thereof, who, though without the City, must be supposed Christians in Profession, or in a Legal State; in whom, though the Truth does not so sway, as to make them, out of Faith and the Love of God, to walk with him, yet they will out of fear of him, and regard to outward Blessings which shall attend their so doing, be oblige to walk in an outward Conversation answerable to their Profession; and on failing thereof, will give such scandal, and incur such displeasure, as will cast them from outward Christian Communion, and from the Blessings and Enjoyments of this Life attending the same, which doubtless will influence them with so great a dread thereof, as to hold them in a stricter, and yet much more comfortable subjection, than the Subjects of Worldly Powers are held in.  
As to the Dr's endeavour to clear me from being a Republican or Anti-monarchial Man, being so charitable as to hope, that I allow Monarchy to be the best Government till the Millennial Anarchy( as he wretchedly calls it) comes; I say thereunto, That I am one who am not concerned in the Controversies about Worldly Governments or Changes therein( save such as concern the advancement of Christ's Kingdom) being taught by the Truth, That all Power is of God, and that Promotion comes not from the East, or West, or South, but God is the Judge; he pulls down one, and sets up another, he changeth Times and Seasons, and pulls down Kings, and sets up Kings, &c. So that, my concern as to such Governments, is to live peaceably according to the Duty of a Christian, under what it pleaseth God to sand. The Dr. does at length conclude my account of the Millennial State, to be an extravagant Dream, arising out of a dry overthoughtful Melancholy, &c. But surely it must proceed from such, and a worse Principle in him, that he should be such a discoverer of great Mysteries in the Scripture, that were never intended( particularly of his cabbalistical Dream of the Four Worlds to be signified in Ezek. 1. whereof the Ariluthick he does parallel to mine, and the Briathick to his own account of the Millennial State) and yet be so slow to apprehended the Mysteries of Christ's Kingdom so clearly signified in Scripture. And as to his tight and well-knit Polity in the Millennial Kingdom, that State described by me( which he calls a lax and lazy Anarchy) will be tightly knit, by a much more firm Ligament( and such as will be also a powerful enlivening Principal to that Body which is compacted by it) than any of those Politick-bands can be, which he fancieth. But it's an invisible Ligament, only to be seen by an Eye of Faith, for want of which it proves so undiscernible to the Dr.  
The Sense given by me here, of the Kings of the Earth bringing their Glory to the New Jerusalem, and which I have before given of[ The Nations that are saved shall walk in the Light of it] is very easy and obvious, agreeing with the description of those Times, both in this Book and other Prophecies: But the Dr's Conceit here is monstrous, to imagine whole Nations to be signified to become converts, and to be saved in the Sense of Acts 2.47. And what is the exquisite answering of[ saved] here, to it in that Text, whenas it's there spoken of particular Persons, but here of Nations, & c? As Christ's Flock is but a little Flock, so it's not likely to be very numerous in those Millennial Times, compared with the multitude of those it will then Rule over; and therefore Psal. 22.30. it's signified by, A Seed shall serve him, it shall be accounted to the Lord for a Generation; whereas the Foreign Nations that shall then do Homage to the New Jerusalem, and the domestic Nations which shall then be subject to it, are signified in the preceding Verses by, All the ends of the World shall remember and turn unto the Lord, and all the Kingdoms of the Nations shall Worship before him, for the Kingdom is the Lords, and he is the Governor among the Nations, &c. And Esay 60. cited by the Dr. does plainly make against him. For are not all those Nations and Kings which come to her Light( viz. of Zion or New Jerusalem) and brightness of her Rising, described by their bringing Gold and Incense, and ministering to her, and bringing her Sons from far with their Silver and Gold, & c? And further it's said there, That the Sons of Strangers shall build her Walls, and Kings shall minister unto her, and the Nations and Kingdoms which will not serve her shall perish, and the Sons of them that afflicted her shall come bending to her, and bow themselves down at her Feet, &c. Also which Expressions signify a doing Homage and Ministerial Service to her, but nothing of such Conversion as the Dr. does fancy.   

CHAP. XXII.  
It's plain, that the Throne of God and the Lamb being said to be in the City, is spoken generally, without any appropriating it to them who are in the highest Authority. So that, the Dr's. Sense, which he thinks so easy and natural, is very forced; and I take the Words in the plain natural Sense of them; which that it's also the true Sense, appears further from the Twenty Four Elders and Four Beasts( which represent all who appertain to the New Jerusalem) their being called Kings and Priests who shall Reign on the Earth, cap. 5. So that, the Throne of God in the New Jerusalem must respect the whole City; but not( according to the Dr's. inference) so as to be equally erected in every Citizen, but in every one according to his Spiritual Growth. How vainly therefore does he call so plain a Truth, an Aziluthick dream! But when he says further, What can be more gross than this? And that it's like the Arrogance of Core, Dathan, &c. What a roving, or rather raving Conceit, is this! And how impertinently does he ask, If every Citizen be a Sovereign Magistrate( which is not supposed by me, for they be Rulers there in whom the Throne of God dwells, though but subordinate Magistrates) where are the People to obey? As if every Nation, within the extent of the New Jerusalem, would not afford plenty of Subjects. But when he repeats, This is a mere Aziluthick Dream, and a substituting of Anarchy, &c. and perfectly repugnant to the Text( with which it does perfectly agree) he talks like one who allows himself in contradicting plain Truth. And that invitation, ver. 17. to drink of the Waters of Life freely, does equally respect the whole City, in like manner as every one who entereth through the Gates into the City, are said to have Right to the three of Life, which excludes the Dr's. Political Interpretation of it.  
The Dr. calls it here a Tautological Bungle, that the three of Life should signify the same with the River of the Waters of Life; as if the Dispensation of the Divine Life were not valuable enough, to have two such Symbols spent in the Typifying of it. Besides, though they signify the same thing, yet there's that special Reason for the three of Life being used in that Sense here, as makes it far from being tautological. For hereby is explained the meaning of the three of Life in Paradise; whereas there's no colour for its signifying( as the Dr. would have it) the sincere Union of our wills with the will of God, further than that is an effect of that Dispensation of Divine Life, which is the true meaning of it. There being also many Trees growing on each side of the River, and yet all signified by the three of Life, does confirm my Sense, and excludes the Dr's. who would therefore change three into Trees, to countenance his Sense. And what a gross Conceit is it, That if the Commonalty or all the Citizens were here intended, they had been better represented by the Grass and Flags by the Riverside than by Trees! There will be no Members of that City, but such as will be Plants of Righteousness of the Lords Planting, that He may be Glorified: And how aptly will Grass and Flags signify them!  
The Dr's. saying, That he hath sufficiently proved, that not neighbouring but converted Nations are understood by Nations, &c. hath been shewed to be a mere Boast. And as to his thinking it such a strange Paradox, that those Nations that are capable of healing should not be also of being converted, &c. I say, That they may be capable of Healing by the Leaves of the three of Life, and yet not of being converted to eat the Fruit thereof. The one is but a Reforming them continuing in the same State( like the Healing of the Sick); the other is a changing them into a new State. This is Confirmed by Ezek. 47. where it's said, The Fruit of the Trees there, &c. is for Meat, and the Leaves for Medicine; and that the River by which they grow runs into the Sea, whereby the Waters are healed, and thereby the Fish thereof made to live. Now those who drink of the healed Sea-Waters, must surely be different from those who drink of the River itself. Besides, the Fish of the Sea do aptly signify the Multitude of the healed Nations, in Comparison with those Citizens of the New Jerusalem, who drink of the River, the Waters of Life. And though Christianity be intended a general Religion of Mankind, yet it's only so far as they are capable of receiving it; and as to becoming such Converts, as to be Heirs of Salvation, there's none in any Time can be such, but those who are of the Truth, who, as our Saviour says, Hear his Voice and follow him, &c. and so are of the Elect of God. But as for the Nations becoming such Converts, as to become Subjects of Christ's Kingdom, That will be according as the Wisdom of God hath allotted the Extent of his Kingdom; and the Neighbouring Nations that shall not be within it's Extent, will not onely be so enlightened with the New Jerusalem, as I have said, but many of them may become real Converts, to become Citizens of it. So that, my resembling those Times to the Heathens borrowing Light of the Jews, and Primitive Christians does hold good, notwithstanding what the Dr. opposeth to it.  
The Aziluthick Dream comes in here again, and the Dr. brings it in so oft, as shows him very fond of his own Fancies. It's not improbable, but that those old Curses for Sin entailed on the Creation, will be considerably abated, when the Cause of them shall be so much removed; and therefore it's said, cap. 21.4. There shall be no more Death, nor Sorrow, nor Crying, nor Pain, &c. as if those in that State should live in sound Health, and placidly depart this Life in their Strength( like Moses his dying in the Mount) without feeling any Sting of Death. And with this agrees Esay 33.24. And the Inhabitants thereof( viz. of Sion) shall not say, I am sick, the People that dwell therein shall be forgiven their Iniquity; that is, They being forgiven their Sins, shall be also freed from Diseases inflicted for them; according to Psal. 103.3. Who forgiveth all thy Iniquities, who healeth all thy Diseases. But Curse here extends to all those Providential Judgments, which so frequently befell the Evil World; And to understand by Death, and Curse here, That there should be no more bloody Massacres as formerly, nor such Excommunicatory Curses, as so disturbed and embroiled the World, in the Anti-Christian Times,( when all those Powers shall be destroyed, and such a New State of things introduced, as to make such Doings impossible) is hardly better than a making the Spirit of prophesy to trifle. As to the Dr's true Key of Interpreting the New Jerusalem-State , in Opposition to the State of Babylon, It's more made use of by me, than by himself; and if he had been able rightly to use that Key, it would have lead him to an Understanding the New Jerusalem-State, according to my Sense, which he calls an Aziluthick Dream, and so have prevented his being so far misled by his Conceits about Councils and politic Laws, to deform that State with incongruous Representations of it.    

REMARKS On the Expositions of Daniels Visions DEFENDED.  

VISION I.  
I Lay no stress upon the Image being said to be terrible here, 
Ver. 33.  in the same Sense as the Four Beasts are called {αβγδ} in the next Vision; but there seems some aptness in it, and it's the Dr's. Exposition on ver. 31. of this Vision, though he seems here to scruple the allowing it. But whereas he does imagine so hideous a defect, if there should be nothing in this Vision answering to the little Horn in the next Vision, it may much rather be thought so, if there should not, in either of these Visions, be any notice taken of so great a Change in the Secular Power, upon the dividing the Empire into Ten Kingdoms, as that was from absolute to mixed Monarchy, by the States sharing in the Legislative Power. Whereas therefore Two such remarkable Things fell out then in the Fourth Empire, as this Change of Government in the Secular Power, and the emerging of that other kind of Power signified by the little Horn, and it's plain that both of them are not taken notice of in either of the Visions, it's most reasonable to conceive, that the one was intended to be Typified in the one Vision, and the other in the other. And accordingly, the latter is signified in the next Vision, and therefore the former should be so here, as doubtless it is so. For whereas the ecclesiastic Authority( so called) being distinct from the Secular, is described as such, and signified by a distinct Horn in the other Vision; here's nothing in this Vision that can signify any such distinct Authority, but only a Change in the Secular Power, according to the Sense I have given. For the Feet and Toes signify the same Secular Kingdom as is signified by the Ten-Horned-Beast( the Ten Toes answering to the Ten Horns) and those Ten Kingdoms taking up the Ten Toes, there's nothing here left to signify any such distinct Power as there is signified by the little Horn; and therefore the Toes being partly of day, can only mean some Change in the Ten Kingdoms signified by them, and not any distinct Power or Kingdom from them, answering to the little Horn, &c. And accordingly, in this Vision of the Feet and Toes being partly day, &c. there's nothing which corresponds with the Description of the little Horn in the other Vision, viz. with its plucking up Three Horns by the Roots, and its having Eyes and a Mouth speaking great Things, and a Look more stout than its Fellows, and its Warring against the Saints, &c. but only what does very aptly agree with the Sense I have given of this Vision.  
What a sorry saying is it of the Dr. That if mere Secular Power was understood here, they all being Sword-Men, Steel and Iron had been more fit to represent their difference than Iron and day! The Fourth Kingdom is signified by Legs of Iron, and what remaineth of the strength of it, after the said Change in the Government, continues still to be signified by Iron, and therefore that inferior Part of the Government, upon which Part of the Legislative Power is transferred must be signified by something inferior to the other; and by what then more aptly than by day, they represented by it continuing still in the State of Subjects, and also moulded into a body-politic, &c. And therefore it's said, The Kingdom shall be divided, but there shall remain in it the strength of the Iron, and that it shall be partly strong, and partly broken; which plainly signifies such a Change in the Secular Power, that as to Part of it, it shall retain its former strength, and as to part of it, it shall be weakened, or reduced to another State or Condition. And why must they be all Swordmen because they are Part of the Secular Power? Are there not several other Secular Orders of Men? And if they were all Sword-men, Why must they therefore be signified by Iron? It's not the using of the Sword, but the having the Power thereof( viz. the command of the Military-Force) which deserves to be signified by the strength of the Iron, and that is signified so here. And my acknowledging the ecclesiastic Power to be Part of the States, is of no use to the Dr. whatever he fancieth it to be; for as it's so, it signifies no more than the rest of the States. So that, he discovers that wonderful dim and undecerning Fancy in himself, which he fancieth to be in others, who do not concur with him in his deluded Apprehensions.  
The Dr. agrees here, that the Iron must signify a stronger Power than the day, yet will have the day to signify a Superior Power to that meant by the Iron, because of the insinuating, inveigling Arts, with which the ecclesiastic used to weaken the Secular Power, and thereby at length to get to be Head of the Empire. Yet I have shewed before, that the day does not signify any distinct Power from the Secular, but only a Change in it; and it appears in the Vision, that it signifies no such insinuating or inveigling, &c. for it is said there to signify, the Kingdom its being divided and broken, and their not cleaving the one to the other, as Iron is not mingled with day; that is, though the Power, signified by the Iron, does mingle with the Seed of Men, signified by the day, in respect of the associating them into the Government, yet they shall not so mix as to cleave one to another, or incorporate, &c. so far is it from any such insinuating or clinging, as the Dr. fancieth, being here intended. But though the day bears no such signification here; yet, by reason of its being mouldable to be fashioned into Vessels, it may aptly signify the forming of the Seed of Men, signified by it, into the body-politic of the States, &c. Also, that general Expression, The Seed of Men, must surely intend the Body of the People( as Children of Men signifies, ver. 38.) and so is very incongruously appropriated to ecclesiastics. All the stir therefore the Dr. makes here, about the Ten sightless Horns, and the little seeing Horn, is but straining his fanciful Invention, to make that seem signified here, that hath no countenance from the Vision, and to obscure that Truth which is the easy natural sense of it. And how strange is his saying, That the mixture of Monarchy in a mere Secular Sense, is an object not worth taking notice of by Divine Prophecies, &c. Surely they will take notice of such remarkable things as concern the Subject they are upon, and the whole Subject of this Vision of the great Image, &c. is Secular Power, it signifying the Four great Monarchies that were successively to Rule in the World, though indeed in order to introducing an account of Christ's Kingdom, that's to succeed them. And what more remarkable thing can there be in any Secular Government, than so great a Change therein as that before noted. Besides, that Change was of more than Secular concern, it being the result of that Victory over the Worldly Powers, which set Christ in his Throne, and caused the Devil to be cast out, &c. as is shewed in the next Remark, and so was the first advance towards the Establishing of Christ's Kingdom in the World.  
The act of mingling here, is plainly in our Translation, ascribed to the Iron, which is of much more Authority with me, than the Dr's. Criticism, so strained, that he confesseth it not warranted by the Dictionaries, yet would countenance it from Mr. Medes Translation of Mahuzzim, though we shall find that hardly sounder than it. But taking the Words according to our Translation, there's an apt coherence of them with the following Words, in the Sense given in my Remark. But what coherence is there of the Dr's. fancy, in Sementi Hominum, with the following Words( admitting his Translation tolerable)? For according to his Exposition they run thus, They shall mingle themselves by placing Men in Seminaries, &c. who shall be notable Instruments to insinuate into the Secular Powers and People, to engage their Affections to the Pope; but they shall be so far from cleaving one to another, that there shall be Bickerings and Clashings between them, &c. So that, all the insinuating of those notable Instruments prove to little purpose, whenas, notwithstanding it, there shall be such Bickerings and Clashings, &c. And yet it's by such insinuating, or clayey-clinging, and clarting of them, that the Dr. supposeth the ecclesiastic Power to have attained it's Superiority, &c. Whenas, besides that Incongruity, they were far too late in being for that Service, the Rise of the Seminaries being since the Reformation, and for recovering the Power lost by it. Besides, the Popes took a Course that little needed such mean Arts( if they could have been effectual, &c.) but was able to establish their Supremacy with an high-hand, without such insinuating Applications, &c. viz. Their usurping the Authority of Christ's Vicar. For, God having given him a Name above every Name, that at the Name of Jesus every Knee should bow, &c. so long as they were able to make good their usurped Authority( as they did do it, to the deceiving both Rulers and People, in those Times of Darkness) they must needs make all Secular Powers buckle to them. But next, What Congruity is there in the Dr's making, They shall not cleave one to another, to signify, They shall have Bickerings and Clashings, &c. The Disunion of Friends does not import any such Clashing, &c. as he would make it to do, though the one is oft the Consequence of the other; and a Negative may sometimes, as he says, signify a Positive, by some usual Mode of Speech about things sparing, and tenderly to be spoken of, whereby that is hinted or implyed, that was not convenient to be expressed; and so is his Instance here to be taken: But there's no such Reason for making[ Not cleaving one to another] to signify Bickerings and Clashings, there being no such usual Mode of Speech( nor any Occasion for it) to warrant the same. So that, such a Meaning here would not be intelligible. Besides, the not cleaving one to another, does not signify any Difference or Disunion, but the Mode or Degree of Union, &c. And what Prevaricating is it in the Dr. to say, That the Iron keeping the day at a distance, does import that they never mingled, &c. whenas I say, only, that the Kings( signified by the Iron) should keep the States so at a distance, as to retain the Majesty of Kings, though they admit them to share in the Legislative Power, and therein mingle with them. But though he be so wide of the true Sense, yet he so abounds in his own Sense, as to conclude, That I had better have let things alone, when they were so well adjusted before, than to have tampered so unskilfully with them, &c.  
What follows in this Remark, the Dr. says, is big with a double Mistake, whenas we shall find it free from any Mistake; and his Answer to it, to be big with a triple Mistake. My first Mistake he makes to be, my supposing the Defeat of the read Dragon by Michael, to be an Abatement of the Secular Power; and the second to be, my false Surmise, That Constantine did give away any of his Legislative Power; which is not mine, but his false Surmise of me. Yet certainly that Defeat of the read Dragon, whereby he was cast out into the Earth, must needs be an Abatement of the Secular Power, which ruled by the Power of the Great Dragon who had seven Heads, and ten Horns, and drew with his Tail the third Part of the Stars of Heaven, and cast them to the Earth. For though the same Form of Government continued, and the Laws ascribed as much Authority to the Christian, as the Heathen Emperors, yet they could not continue invested with the same Power to execute those Laws, after the Devil was cast out, as before. But their Regard to the Laws of that Religion which they professed, did restrain them from making trial of their Power, as the Heathen Emperors did, by acting contrary to that Religion, and opposing the same, &c. And Julian( whose Enmity against Christianity, did put him upon making what trial he could of his Power against it) could not directly assault it, with such bloody Persecutions as former Heathen Emperors had done, but was put upon crafty undermining ways to subvert it. So that, the Dr's affirming, that the Secular Power of the Christian Emperors, continued the same with that of the Heathen Emperors, is the first Mistake that his Answer is big with. As to his saying, That he hath shewed what pitiful Work I have made on Apoc. 12. I have shewed there, how pitifully he understands those Prophecies, which makes him judge so of my Account of them.  
His next Mistake, is his supposing the Defeat of the read Dragon by Michael to be in Constantines time, whenas, then was but the beginning of the War between Michael and the read Dragon, of which see Rev. 12.2. His third Mistake( and a gross one too) is his making the Case of the ten Kings, the same with the Emperors, viz. his supposing them to have the same absolute Power with the other, only that they were trepanned out of their Right, &c. whereas indeed, they being Christian Princes, who had newly received Crowns; and their Dominions being not formed into any such politic State as the Emperors were, at their receiving the Christian Profession, they could not erect any politic State, contrary to the Laws of Christ,( to which by their Profession they did owe Obedience) but as they were authorised thereunto by that false Prophet, who gained the Repute of Christ's Vicar, and did thereby take upon him to be a New Head of the Empire, giving such Laws unto it, as did form it into the Ten-Horned-Beast, subject unto him, And saying to them who dwell on the Earth, that they should make an Image to the Beast that had a Wound by the Sword and did live, and giving Life to that Image, &c. So that, it was by his Aid, that the ten Horns of the Beast was able to form their Kingdoms into that politic State, bearing the Image of the former Beast. The Dr. concludes with a wondering, That when I produce such a Notable Example in the Case of Carolus Calvus, of the ecclesiastic Encroachment on the Secular Power, I should at all doubt, that the day is the ecclesiastic Power, as well as the Iron the Secular; whereas I wonder at his fancying any Ground from thence, to apprehended the day here to signify the ecclesiastic Power, the said Encroachment being not by such insinuating Arts, as he hath fancied to be meant here, but by the usurp't Authority I have mentioned; and if it had been by those Arts, yet could it not be here signified, for the Reasons I have given, &c. But it being by that usurp't Authority, does show the Reality of that Authority so usurped; and thereby the Impotency of the ten Kings to form any politic State of Government unagreeable therewith, without the Usurpers abetting and authorizing them therein.   

VISION II.  
THE Dr. agreeing that Sea does not signify Multitudes simply, Why should he imagine the great Sea to signify simply great Multitudes? And as to his saying, That great Multitudes of opposite Governments or Empires, are, by reason of the Commotion and War one against another, well represented by the great Sea, with Winds ruffling, &c. This comes to my sense, viz. That Sea signifies not Multitudes simply, but as united into a Politick-State, &c. for their Warring so one against another, is by reason of their being formed into Politick-States, and thereby in subjection to opposite Governments, &c. But though they be so formed into distinct States, &c. yet they may be signified by one great Sea, as under one Government, by reason of their being all in the same State of Thraldom, under the bondage of Corruption, by reason of the Spirit of the World Ruling in them, and their becoming thereby subject to the Prince of this World. Next, the Dr. proceeds to a strange mistaking me: I say, That the Power which overflows, and so subjects them to its Dominion who are united into a Politick-State under it, is rather the Sea( as appears by the second Trumpet and second Vial) and they as the Fish of the Sea moving in it. Now he does, without any colour, make me to say, That a Multitude under one Government is not called a Sea, unless it be over-flowing some other Government, and denies that to appear out of the second Trumpet, and second Vial, whenas I do not affirm that it does, but what I have affirmed to appear there, does so. And whereas he makes the Sea, by reason of its being subject to Fluctuations, to be a Symbol of Worldly Governments that are obnoxious to Commotions; and hence would make[ And there was no more Sea, Rev. 21.1.] to signify, And there was no more Tumultuating Multitudes, but a firm Peace and tranquillity, &c. I say, that though this Sense may be also admitted, yet that primarily there intended, is( as I have there shewed) the Domination of Worldly Powers, which, like a Flood, overwhelm them in a Thraldom who are subject unto it, in such Sense as the Psalmist complains, I am come into deep Waters, and the Floods overflow me, when over-powered by his Enemies.  
The Dr. excepts against what follows in this Remark, as something Prolix and Mysterious, whenas, it's no more Prolix than what was needful, for a full expressing my Meaning, and is, it seems, not sufficient to make it well apprehended by him. But he seems as slow in apprehending the Influence that the invisible Powers of the Air have over Worldly Governments, as he is in conceiving that Spiritual Power which will govern the Affairs of Christ's Kingdom in the Millennium. And no better is his Apprehension, in making so light of the Distinction I make, between the Aerial Genii being concerned, in the Revolutions of those Kingdoms, as Ministers of Divine Providence,( whom he would have signified by Winds, &c. which onely denote, as said in my Remark, the Commotions in those Kingdoms, &c.) and their being concerned as Part of the Powers of those Kingdoms. In this last Sense onely I admit them here to be signified, which, he says, looks like a desire of saying something, when there's nothing to be said; whenas, the Difference between these two Senses, is very plain; so that, his being now onely for having it granted, That the Aerial Genii are concerned in the Mutations and Revolutions in those Kingdoms is a receding from his Exposition. And as ill, or worse, is his Apprehension, in making me to insinuate, that in that saying, He hath set the World in their hearts, Eccl. 3.11. by[ He] is understood the Spirit of the World, whenas I understand He there, in the same Sense with the Dr. viz. to mean God. So that, the Sense of the Text is, That by the Spirit of the World which God hath placed in Mans heart, to be the Principal of the Natural Life in him, he is as it were in a fixed Station, and cannot go beyond the Bounds of that Spirit, or further than it can enlighten or instruct him in searching after the Works of God. And this is that Spirit of a Man, by which we know the things of a Man, but, the things of God knoweth no Man, but by the Spirit of God; and therefore the Apostle adds, We have received not the Spirit of the World, but the Spirit of God, that we may know the things freely given us of God. And what does the Dr. mean by saying, That the Heart is the Seat of Understanding in the Scripture Phrase. It's so in the Scripture Phrase, because it's so in Reality. And therefore his making[ God hath set the World in Mens Hearts] to signify, That he hath set in their Understanding, is an insignificant Exposition, or worse.  
The Dr. does next make me to intimate a false Sense of Luke 4.6. wherein he appears as little to understand the Text, as he understood me in the foregoing, &c. He would have the Devil called the Prince of this World, in a Moral, and not a Political Sense. But in the said Text, he claims all the Dominions of the World in a Political Sense; which, if it had been false, surely our Saviour would have gainsaid, and rebuked so insolent a Falsehood; wherein, both his Father and himself were so much concerned. Also, he calls the Devil, the Prince of this World in a Political Sense; first, in John 14.30. where he says, The Prince of the World cometh, and hath nothing in me, but that the World may know that I love the Father, and as the Father hath given me Commandement so I do; that is, He hath nothing in me, but onely Power to execute what I freely resign myself up to suffer, in obedience to the Commandement of my Father. So that, he calls him there the Prince of this World, in respect of his being Prince of those Powers, under which he should suffer, which Answers to his elsewhere, saying, This is their Hour, and the Power of Darkness. And in the same Sense, he calls him so again, John 16.11. saying, The Prince of this World is judged, viz. accordingly as he says elsewhere, I beholded Satan as lightning falling from Heaven, which Answers to his being cast out into the Earth, Rev. 12. which to be sure is meant in a Political Sense; as is also the Description of him there, by the read Dragon having seven Heads, and ten Horns, &c. Also our Saviour's saying, If Satan cast out Satan, how can his Kingdom stand? And his saying to his Disciples, I give you Power over Serpents and Scorpions, and all the Power of the Adversary, does suppose him a Prince in a Political Sense. So that, the Dr's saying, that the Devil is called the Prince of this World, onely in a Moral Sense, is alike gross perverting of Scripture, with his making the Twenty-four Elders, Rev. 4. to represent particular Kings and Princes of Kingdoms and Nations, &c. and serves much the same end, &c.  
He next gives an Account of the Spirit of the World, which, he says, I make so many Words about, and which he affirms to be the Image of the Devil, in as many as it is, as the Divine Life is the Image of God and Christ in us; and thinks this clear from 1 John 2.16. but is much mistaken. For the Spirit of the World, is that Spirit which is the Principal of the natural Life in Man, as the Divine Spirit is of the Spiritual Life in him; and which the Apostle calls, both the Spirit of the World, and the Spirit of a Man, and is the same that was in the Earthly Adam in his Innocency, when he bore the complete Image of God, according to a natural or fleshly State. So that, it's good, as the nature of Man was before corrupted; but when it gets the Dominion so over us, as to cause fleshly Lusts to Reign in us, whereby our Affections become set on things of the World, to the extinguishing the Love of. God in us, then it becomes both the Image and Power of the Devil in us, whereby we are made his Captives under the bondage of Corruption. And it's not the Spirit of the World being in us, but thus Reigning in us, that John speaks of in the cited Text by the Dr? But whereas he says, That he that is quit of those Lusts spoken of in the said Text, and become transformed into the Divine Life, &c. is translated out of the darkness of this World into the Kingdom of Christ: I say, That he is so, because he is translated out of the Power of Darkness, or Power of Satan, &c. which Scripture-Expressions in my Remark the Dr. balks, because they agree not with his denying the Devil to be called the Prince of this World in a Political Sense. And whereas he adds[ he in the mean time( viz. who is quit of those Lusts, &c.) adhering to the Profession of the ancient Apostolical Faith, and holding Communion with the truly catholic Church] What does he mean thereby? Does he imagine, that one can be quit of Worldly Lusts, and transformed into the Divine Life, and yet failing of holding the apostolic Faith, and Communion with the true Church of Christ?( if he means that by, The true catholic Church); If he imagine so, he excludes all need of holding that Faith or Communion, &c. the end of holding both being to bring us to that Divine State. But our being in that State, is an Evidence of our holding both: For it's by belief of that apostolic Faith, that we are so regenerated as to become quit of our Worldly Lusts, and transformed into the Divine Life; and being such, we are Members of Christ's Body, which is his only true Church, and so must needs be in Communion with it. So that, that addition of the Dr. is either impertinent, or hath some meaning in it more than true.  
He next proceeds to a concurring with me, and contradicting himself. For he says of those in whom the Spirit of the World Reigns, That they are morally Reigned over by the Devil, who obtains a wicked Tyranny over them, driving them to tyramnize, or to be Tyrannized over, even in a Political Sense. But say I, This Moral Reigning over them, does suppose, and is the result of that Political Power, wherewith he Rules as a Prince over them. For it's by that Spirit of the World so Ruling in them, that he acts upon them to drive them to evil( as God by his Spirit does act upon believers to enable them to do good works) and Power being given him thereby to Rule over lapsed mankind apostatised from God, it properly denominates him a Prince in a Political Sense, as God is called King of Saints, by reason of his Spiritual Rule in them. For what makes such a Prince but such a Power of Dominion? And it's strange that the Dr. should aclowledge, that the Devil hath Power to drive Rulers to tyramnize, and yet will not aclowledge him Prince in a Political Sense, by whose Power they so Act. And as to his saying, That the Devils Power over Mens Bodies, looks more like an Executioner than a Prince; Are not all Worldly Powers Ministers of Gods wrath, for the punishment of evil-doors? Though he thinks it so hard to conceive, what I would have by the Spirit of the World, &c. I hope I have now made it intelligible enough, and did so in my Remark, if there had not been some indisposition in him to understand it.  
I agree, that what concerns not the whole time of the Beast, but respects only a large part of its time, may be spoken of it generally, according to the instance the Dr. gives, of the Woman being said to be drunk with the Blood of the Saints, Apoc. 17. for that is a common use in discourse, to affirm things generally which are mostly true, according to the Rule, Denominatio sumitur a majori. But what signifies this, to countenance the applying what is spoken of the Beast in general, to some particular Action only of one King, or to some particular Providence that befalls him? Therefore the Dr. does abuse his prophetic Henopeia( as he does that and other Figures elsewhere) by so forc'tly applying it contrary to common sense. And as to his saying, That what the Beast, in any part of its Succession, does or suffers in any part, it's said simply to be done or suffered by it, if he means by[ simply] that it's said generally of the Beast( as he must do to speak pertinently) I say, That it's a false Rule; nor is it imaginable, that the Spirit of prophesy should make such incongruous descriptions, contrary to common sense, as by a general Character of the Beast, to signify something only of so small and particular concern.  
He thinks it great unskilfulness in me, that I will have the plucking of the Wings of the Beast to be only at the destroying of him, &c. And yet when can it be so proper as then? When should that Power, wherewith he soared so high in his Dominion, be taken away, but at the expiring of his Dominion, or his ceasing to be any longer a Beast? Yet I shall not exclude those particular Providences, unto which the Dr. would apply the plucking of the Wings, if he does not make use of them to exclude that, which is the main, if not only sense intended. Therefore his c●●●ing it great unskilfulness in me, to take the plucking of the Wings in my sense, does show how little skill he hath, in offering, or receiving sense offered to him. The making the Beast to stand upon his Feet, and the having a mans heart given him, being mentioned after the plucking of his Wings, the Dr. would have them therefore signify, the reducing him to a more human temper, and so not to signify a continued Character of the Babylonian Kingdom, &c. But those passages coming after the plucking of the Wings, do not thereby at all prejudice my sense. For it's said, I beholded till the Wings were plucked; which implys, that the plucking of the Wings was not till the end of the Beast, and that after that he beholded the Beast no more. So that, the Passages mentioned after, do not signify thereby their succeeding the plucking of the Wings, but that they are an additional Character of the Beast, after the speaking of what concerned the Wings, was ended. And as to his referring to Tho. Lydiat's Emendatio Temporum, for satisfaction, that Darius is to be reckoned the last Monarch of the Babylonian Monarchy; if he had Confidence in his Reasons for it, he should have given us some brief Account of them, knowing how difficultly that Book is to be had. He sleights the rest of the Remark without Answering it, and might even as well have done so to that which he hath Answered, as to Answer it so slightly.  
As all Nations were generally ill-affected to the Jews, so it's not imaginable that the Persians should be otherwise, further than God, in whose Hands are the Hearts of Kings, did otherwise dispose some particular PRINCES, in behalf of his People. And therefore of Cyrus, who first shewed Favour to them( and who, as appears by Esay ●●. was raised by GOD to the Kingdom for that Purpose) it's said, Ezra cap. 1.1. That God stirred up his Spirit, &c. And Darius his Decree, cap. 6. for proceeding in the Work of the Temple, is but in pursuance of the Decree made by Cyrus. So that, what was done by Persian Kings, in behalf of the Jews, is little to be imputed to their favourable disposition; but what they did against them, may well be imputed to the same ill Will which was generally born to them: Or at least, it signifies their having little or no Favour to them, that they would put a stop to such a Work, upon an envious complaint against them, without first hearing what they could say for themselves. But what feat Conceits hath the Dr. here, about the the Bears raising himself on one side! Whenas I understand nothing by it, but his raising himself on one side from a cumbent Posture( for his being bid to arise, &c. does show his posture to be so) which is made to signify here according to the Sense given in my Remark, whereas the Dr's. borrowed Sense, gives no account of Cortex of the Vision( viz. what, or how was the raising on one side) but only of what was Typified thereby, and of that untruly.  
The Four Wings do doubtless, as well as the Four Heads, respect the Four Kingdoms which Alexanders Kingdom was branched into; and therefore are no more applicable to him than the Heads are. For though they signify Swiftness, yet such Sense is here to be applied to them, as agrees with their being Four, and so relating to the Four Kingdoms; and such is the Sense given in my Remark; which they as aptly signify as Swiftness. Therefore the Dr's. Henopoetick Types are even as ill made use of here, as before, ver. 4. and his apprehending ignorance or heedlessness, and wonderful indistinct conception in me, proceeds from the same defects in himself. And as groundless is his fancying me to contradict myself; for whereas he says, my Sense is applied to the Wings, not as Four, but as Wings; I say, That it's applied to them, neither as Four, nor as Wings simply, but as Four Wings respecting the Four Kingdoms. But this is matter of so much nicety, and so little moment, as hardly to be worth contesting.  
As to the confidence which the Dr. notes in me, I have not shewed so much of it in adhering to Truth, as he hath in asserting gross Errors. But the confidence he here apprehends, is in my saying, That I think it may be safely concluded, that the living Creatures, and wheels are not Angelical, which, he says, is contrary to the whole School of the Jewish rabbins; which if it be so, yet we having so great Light from the Vision of the Twenty Four Elders, and Four Beasts, Rev. 4. to understand this Vision by, which they wanted, there's no confidence shewed in gain-saying their Sense of it: Yet what I affirm does not clash with their Sense. For the meaning of my Assertion is, That the Living Creatures and wheels are not Angelical in their signification, or what they represent. They were doubtless Cherubs or Angels, that did, as a Chariot, bear the Throne and him that sate thereon; but they appeared in the shape of Living Creatures, and have that Title given them, as well as that of Cherubims, by reason of their signification, according to the Sense give in my Remark. Which Sense is further confirmed, by the sound of their Wings being like the noise of great Waters, and the wheels being of the colour of Beril( viz. Sea colour) both being Symbolical of multitude of People. And how congruous was it( whenas all things in the Jewish State were formed after the pattern of things in Heaven) that the God of Israel should appear thus in a Vision, representing how he ought to have been born up and carried in his Throne of Glory, by his People of Israel, as he was by those Angelical Orders! which he would have been, if they had walked with him in steadfast, Obedience, doing his Commandements, and harkening to the voice of his Word, as it's said of the Angels; but because they failed thereof, and fell into great Transgressions and apostasies from him( whereby instead of being so Glorified in them, his Nam● was polluted by them) the Prophet is therefore sent to destroy their City( as appears by the ensuing Prophecies) and before the doing thereof, hath this Vision shewed him, to represent the cause thereof, viz. their great Duty they had so much failed in, and thereby drawn upon themselves the ensuing Judgments. Whereas therefore the Dr. would have this Cherubick-Chariot to have been seen by Moses on Mount Sinai, and to be the same which is elsewhere spoken of in Scripture, I suppose it's very different from them, being adapted to the occasion, or what it's designed to signify or represent, and therefore hath the name of Living-Creature given it; whenas such Cherubick-Chariots as are designed only to signify Angelical Orders, must be supposed such as serve best for that purpose.  
The Dr. proceeds to answer my Reasons, why the Living-Creatures signify not Angels. My First is, he says, Because they agree in Number and Name with the Four Beasts, Rev. 4. I infer they are of like signification with them; but he leaves out part of it, viz. That the Four Faces of Each Living-Creature are the Faces of the Four Beasts. And to this Reason he opposeth his Cabbalistick Dream of Four Angelical Worlds, called Aziluthick, Briathick, Jetzirathick and Asiathick, making this Vision to be a Symbolical Idea of the Glorious Majesty and Empire of God, over the Angelical World divided into those Parts, he Ruling them by his Divine Spirit, whereby he hath a perfect absolute command over them. Which Symbolical Idea of the Angelical Kingdom, he makes the Judaical State to be an External Imitation of, but the Blessed State of the Millennium represented by the Four Beasts, R●●. cap 4. he makes to answer the said Symbolical Idea in the Truth of Life, through the plenteous dispensation of the Spirit, whereby the Will of God will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven, or in the said Angelical World, &c. And yet Two Orders thereof, viz. the Jetzirathick and Asiathick, he makes to be lapsed States through Lawless satisfying their unruly Lusts, &c. And how then hath the Divine Spirit a perfect Rule over them? And how can the perfect Righteous State of the Millennium answer to, or exemplify such a lapsed State of Transgression? I suppose the Reader hath enough of this Romantick Fancy of the Dr. in imagining Four such Angelical Worlds to be signified by Ezekiels Vision, else other like Flaws might be Noted in it.  
To my Second Reason from the Living-Creatures having the likeness of a Man, and a Mans-hand under their overflowings, &c. the Dr. gives such a lubricous ambiguous Answer, that one can hardly take any hold of it. For he would have hereby signified, that the Angels are of human Form, yet so as all imperfections to be removed, and nothing taken but what consists with Heavenly Beauty and Glory; that is, he would have them of human, and yet not of human Form; or of human, so far as it agrees with their being of Angelical Form: Which surely must be very different from human, as their natures are from terrestrial Beings. As to his thinking it plain, that the Vision signifies Angels, from the Living-Creatures being called Cherubims; That is only a Proof, that they are Angels, or an Angelical-Chariot, by whom the Throne is carried here, but not, that they represent any such Angelical Orders as the Dr. Fancies. And no better is his last shift to avoid this Reason( viz. that the Faces and Hands of a Man signify Symbollically, as well as the Faces of a lion, Ox and Eagle); for the last Faces signify so necessary, as being capable of no other signification here: But the Faces of a Man, and the Mans-Hand, &c. have plainly another signification, as concurring with the human shape of the Living Creatures, and so to be taken in the same Sense with them. Yet I agree, that they signify Symbolically according to the Sense given in my Remark; but this does not prejudice their signifying also Literally, as so concurring with the human shapes, &c. To my Third Reason from the Calves-Feet( which signify the Labour and travail given to Men under the Sun) he says, That they signify nothing but what is compatible to the Angelical Nature; which if so, yet their signification is much more properly applicable to the lapsed human State, the Labour whereof is Toil and Sorrow, &c. whereas that of the Angels is Bliss and Joy to them: And the aptest Sense is to be preferred, especially when it's much more agreeable to the rest of the Vision.  
My last Reason( viz. That the Spirit is said to be in the living Creatures, whereas Angels are called Spirits, but not described by any Spirit in them) he thinks to be slightest of all, though it be too strong for him to evade. For it's a Matter of no slight Consideration, but of great Moment, That the Angels should be elsewhere so much spoken of in Scripture, without any Mention of being acted by the Spirit in them, but be called Spirits themselves, and should here be so described, by being acted by the Spirit in them, and have the Title of living-Creatures given them, peculiar to terrestrial beings. And indeed the Angels being Spiritual beings, the Purity and Activity of their Natures, seems to make them in a continual Propensity and Readiness to obey the Commandements of God,( whilst they retain the Perfection of that State) and not to need being acted by the Spirit of God, as the Dr. supposeth them to be( unless to empower them to some extraordinary Services, as they are Ministring-Spirits, &c.) no more than Men want Assistance to those natural Operations, which they are so prove unto, and habile for. The Dr. ends his Answer to my Reasons, in his wonted boasting manner, and then passeth to the rest of my Remark, which he says, Is a digression into an Ethical, or Ethico-Political Explication of Ezekiels Visions, and so not concerns him( yet it does concern him, as it tends to confirm my Assertion, that the living-Creatuers are not such a symbolical Idea, &c. as he imagines): But that my Pains might not seem over-much slighted, he says, he will consider some Passages thereof, which he might have spared doing upon any such Consideration; for I find not his Answer to my Remarks, of so much Value, as to make me value his slighting them.  
The first Passage he considers, is, That I make the four Faces, four Wings, and four Beasts, to signithe same Thing, which, he says, is a marvelous slubbering and huddling of Things; whenas, I onely make the four Faces, and four Wings of the living-Creatures, to have the like Signification with the four Beasts, Rev. 4. viz. Both to signify human Societies, but very different Societies; so that, there's no Colour for such a foul reflection. And though the four human Properties, which I make to be signified by the Faces and Wings, are so obvious a Theory, yet so is not the end of their being so signified, viz. To set forth the difference of that Natural State of the Jews, under a Legal Dispensation, from that spiritual State signified by the four Beasts, Rev. 4. And surely the four Faces and four Wings, signifying the same Thing, cannot be trifling; the one explaining the other, and both of them too little, to make the Dr. have a true Understanding of them. He further Objects against my Sense of the four Faces and Wings, for that they maimedly and unfitly signify the said human Properties. And first, he fancies, that an Elephant, had been more fit to represent Religion, than the Eagle; whenas, neither is fit to do it for any Religion in them; but an Eagle is an apt Symbol of it, by reason of its soaring so high, mounting up to Heaven, &c. Next, he says, That Brutes having Reason, and Man onely properly Religion, he had been a better Symbol of Religion than the Eagle. But what Reason is there in Brutes more than Religion? There's indeed, in them, an Instinct or Sagacity, to act suitably to their Natures, and to be sensible of their own Good or Evil; but if this be Reason, all Animals are Rational Creatuers. Both the Man therefore and Eagle, have their proper signification assigned them, notwithstanding the Dr's captious Thwarting the same, and then Concluding, Thus crude and broken is the Remarkers Conceit in this Matter: Whereas, what he hath opposed thereunto, is crude and trifling.  
The next Passage he Considers, is, That good Scriptural-Phrases are produced about the third Pair of Wings of the Beasts, answering to the two flying Wings of the Seraphims, Esay 6. but the Application is much off the Hooks, he says, because he gives another Signification of those Wings, without giving any Reason for it; and then, Why must my Sense be more off the Hooks than his? But I shall admit his Sense, viz. That the flying Wings of the Seraphims signify the Expediteness of their Ministry, &c. and then say, that they being an higher Order of Angels, are used to typify the Church of God in that Christian State, signified by the four Beasts, Rev. 4. as the lower Order of Angels, the Cherubims are, in form of living Creatures, used in Ezekiels Vision, to symbolise the Church of God in a Judaical State. And that the Seraphims do so signify, seems concludible, from their being upon the Throne of the Lord, which was high and lifted up( signifying the Time whereof it's said, The Lord alone shall be exalted in that Day) and from their crying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole Earth is full of his Glory,( which, what Time can it relate to, but to that wherein he shall be so sanctified, and glorified in the World? Besides that, the Cry of the four Beasts, Rev. 4.8. does much agree therewith) and also from that blind stupid State the Israelites are descriscribed to be in ver. 9, 10. as to their hearing and understanding the Things signified by the Vision; which Character of them is cited by our Saviour, and in like Manner applied by him to the Jews, for their Stupid Infidelity, in not receiving the Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, Preached by him. And supposing the Seraphims thus to signify, their two flying Wings, taken in the Dr's Sense, will aptly Answer to the third Pair of Wings of the Beast taken in my Sense, viz. To that Exaltation, which by them we attain unto, from an Earthly to an Heavenly State in Christ Jesus, to live unto God in him, becoming thereby expedite to fulfil his Will, as those Seraphims are by those flying Wings to fulfil their Ministry.  
His Third Consideration, is, On my making the three of Life in Paradise, to signify the Dispensation of Life, which Men in due time were to be admitted to, but not then, the Natural Earthly State of Man, though in Innocency( which Words,[ though in Innocency] the Dr. left out of my Remark, I suppose, as not agreeing with his fictitious Lapse in the Jetzirathick World, &c.) not admitting thereof: Which he makes to be a setting the three of Life there to mock Adam, and play at Chop-Cherry with him( so disposed is he, ludere cum Sanctis); whereas I do not say, that he was forbid eating it then; but that his Stat● not being capable thereof, it was set there to signify, that higher dispensation, which man in due Time was to be admitted unto, or the difference between his bearing the Image of the Earthly and Heavenly Adam. And is so weighty a Signification as this to be ridiculed? But that the eating of the three of Life, was not competent to Adam's State, appears from it's being promised in the first of the seven Epistles, &c. to him that overcometh; and from their being said to have Right to the three of Life, who enter into the New Jerusalem; so that, it does signify that dispensation of Life( and that in the full Fruition of it, by overcoming the World, as the said Promise, and it's being the New Jerusalem-State, do show) which we receive by him, who brought Life and Immortality to Light, by the Gospel. And also the same further appears, by Adam's being driven out of Paradise, lest he should take of the three of Life, after he had eaten of the three of Knowledge, &c. Whereby( as I have elsewhere noted) is signified, that Entrance into Life is not attainable unto, by following our own Inventions in searching after the Knowledge of Good and Evil,( which yet is the onely Means that human Nature is propense to use) but by Faith in him, who is the Prince of Life. But the Dr. being not content with rejecting and deriding so great a Truth, does in further Opposition to it, falsify the Text, to prove that Adam was commanded to eat of the three of Life. For whereas, the Words are, The Lord Commanded the Man, saying, Of every three of the Garden thou mayest freely eat, he makes them to be, Thou shalt eat, and so leaves out[ freely,] and turns[ mayest] into[ shall] to make that pass for a Command, which else could not do so. Besides, if this ●ere a Command, it would abridge them of their Liberty of of eating such Fruits as they liked of, among those that were allowed, and enjoin them to eat of all, whether they liked them or no. And then the Dr. spoils this Falsification of the Text, by rendering the Original, Thou hast Plenary Commission to eat, &c. which imports not a Command, &c.  
My Account of the three of Life, being, according to the Dr. a Fundamental Mistake; he next considers the like in my Conceit of the Jews, and the two Visions of Ezekiel. But that Account proving a real Truth, then the Use I make of it, as to the Jews and those two Visions, is like to hold good also. Whereas the Dr. says, That God gave no impossible Commands to the Jews, Does he mean thereby that they were able to fulfil the Law? Paul says, That Righteousness came not by the Law, but the Knowledge of Sin; and God says of them, Deut. 6. O that there were such a Heart in them that they would fear me, and keep my Commandements, &c. which implys, that they wanted a Heart in them to do it. And Joshua tells them, That they could not serve the Lord. So that, the keeping the Commandements of God, was impossible to the Jews in that State, without such Divine Assistance, as he was not not pleased then to supply them with. Yet it seems agreeable with his Wisdom, to make a Representation of that State in its Perfection, to set forth thereby, not only how much the Jews failed of coming up thereto, but also, how much it fell short of that State designed to bring in everlasting Righteousness; whereby the Laws of God should be fulfilled to the doing his Will on Earth, as it is in Heaven. And this seems to be the Purpose of Ezekiel's two Visions, according to my Account given of them. And without supposing some such Meaning of them, there's like to be no satisfactory Account given of the Cherubims, being called Living-Creatures, and described in the Form of such; Nor of so large a Description of the Temple and Service thereof, much whereof is not applicable to the Millennial State, so much as to typify the same. And if the Dr. in so large a Description of the Temple and Service, &c. can apprehended no more than a mere Operose Hylasme, or Israelism, as he calls it, it's Wonder that he can forbear calling it Egregious Trifling in the Spirit of God, who hath groundlessly reflected on some Passages in my Remarks, as making the Spirit of God to do the same. And to what purpose does he say, That the Jews were not upon the Condition of Legal Performances, to arrive to that Evangelical State that the Christian Church will arrive to at last, whenas I affirm nothing to that Purpose? But as to what he reiterates of the Signification of the four Living-Creatures, I have already said enough to the same.  
The Fifth Consideration, is On the Name of the City, The Lord is there, which the Dr. says, is the very Indication of the State of the New Jerusalem, and so a Demonstration, that it was never intended for the Jews in their legal Dispensation. But the Words import an Indication of any State that is so Blessed, with the Divine Presence dwelling with them, and so may indicate such a Righteous State according to a Legal Dispensation, as I have applied them to, as well as that which the Dr. would have them intend. The Sixth Consideration, is a plain Mistake of me, applying what I say of the Vision of the Cherubims, which was before the Destruction of the City, to the Vision of the Temple that was after it. The Seventh is alike Mistake, supposing me to affirm, That the making of the Golden Calf, and craving a King, did make the Jews forfeit what was otherwise intended( viz. That State which I suppose to be signified by Ezekiel's Visions) whenas I agree, that they could not attain to that State, and that it's only signified for the Reasons before mentioned on the Fourth Consideration. But whereas it must be their Transgressions which could make them fail thereof, and those two Great Ones, of making a Calf, and craving a King, as they were signal Rejectings of God, so they were signalized answerably with his deserting of them; they are therefore two notable Instances for the Purpose for which I make use of them. The Eighth Consideration is a Query, viz. If the four Beasts signify the Governed, How come they to be upon the Throne, when the twenty-four Elders, though Governors, are not so? To which I say, That their being upon the Throne, does signify their being in such a Righteous State, as to be able to stand in the Presence of God, accordingly as it's said, Rev. 22. They shall see his Face, &c. and this does signally difference them from those signified by the Cherubims in Ezekiel's Vision; they being under the Throne, accordingly as it's said to Moses, of those in that State, None shall see my Face and live; and therefore Manoah concluded, that he and his Wife should die, because they had seen God. Yet the Elders sitting round the Throne in such great State, and in the Presence of God also, may well signify a higher Order, viz. The Governors of them signified by the Beast. Also the Beasts being upon the Throne, may signify a State wherein they are upheld by the Throne of God being in them,( viz. The New Jerusalem-State) and the Heavenly Thrones the Elders sit upon, signify the same as to them.  
The ninth Consideration is on the Wheels and Living-Creatures being not moved but as acted by the Spirit, &c. which the Dr. would make not to signify an Earthly State in them, but the most Divine, viz an unself-willedness in them, &c. But their being so impotent and dead to Divine Duties as to have no Power thereunto, but by the adventitious acting of the Spirit of God upon them,( as the Spirit of prophesy came upon the Prophets) having not that spiritual Life dwelling in them, that should excite and enable them thereunto, is plainly an earthly State; and such is my Account of the State of the Living Creatures and wheels, which the Dr. hath so grossly or wilfully mistaken.  
The Tenth Consideration is but a referring to his Exposition, Rev. 4. for Proof, that the Beasts are not upon the Throne, and so I must refer to the Defence of my Remark, that they are there; onely he strangely adds, that he hath even now shewed in the Eighth Note, how I herein contradict myself, whenas, he onely starts a Question there, which I hope, I have satisfactorily Answered. The Eleventh Consideration is, That the Burning-Coals, &c. do not signify the Spirit of Elias in Men, but the seraphic Spirit in Angels. But say I, Angels are described to be burning Lamps,( as in Rev. cap. 4.5. Psal. 104.4.) but so are not here the Living-Creatures, but are said to be like Burning-Coals( aptly signifying the Glowing Zeal of the Spirit of Elias) and the Lamps went onely between them, which may signify the ministering of the Angels to those signified by the Living-Creatures. And our Saviour calling John a burning and a shining Light, does show the Aptness of my Sense, whereas the Dr's Sense which he thwarts it with, is onely asserted without Reason to enforce it, though for divers Reasons before given, it cannot be intended. The Lamps, Rev. 4.5. signifying, as aforesaid, his urging them is against himself. The Twelfth Consideration is also a thwarting me with a bare Assertion without any Reason,( though it need much Reason to make it current) viz. That the whole Vision of the Temple concerns the Christian Church,( viz. wholly concerns it, as he must mean by impugning my Account of the Vision) whenas for Reasons before given, and to be given, the primary signification of it must be otherwise. But whereas before he applied the signification of it, to the New Jerusalem-State, now he applys it to the Christian Church at large, and makes cap. 43.10, 11. to respect the Thyatirian and Sardian Intervals, though without any Reason for it.  
The Thirteenth Consideration is on the Numbers 25000, 5000, 500, &c. which the Dr. will have to signify nothing but that the New Jerusalem will gratify the external Man also, and outward Senses. But with what will it gratify them? That spiritual State will surely be gratified onely with spiritual Enjoyments, all earthly Carnal Affections being then subdued; so that, the things of this Life will then be no further grateful, than by reason of their usefulness they are subservient to the Divine Life, and so will be used in the Light and Guidance of it, to the enjoying onely what true Good is in them, without engaging Mens Hearts in such Delight in them, as thereby to encumber and defile themselves, that is, they will be spiritually used, to the living wholly to God, and not to themselves in the use of them. And how can those Numbers that are Symbols of the Natural or Animal Life, signify a State so contrary thereunto, wherein that Life will be so Mortified? Besides, those Numbers being the Measure of the Sanctuary, City, and Holy Portion, &c. comprehend, and so must signify the whole State of the People represented by them. So that, the outward State of the Church, which the Dr. would have them signify, must be the whole State of the Church which is there intended. And why is the Portion of the City, called a profane or Common Place, Ezek. 48.15? Also, Why is the Sanctuary in a Holy Portion, distinct from the Portion of the City, if the New Jerusalem be signified thereby, which comprehends the whole State of the Church in those Times. As to the Dr's denying, that the Number 666 signifies a complete Carnal Politick-State, &c. I say, that though as to the Root of it, it's used in the Sense he does mention( changing onely the Two-Horned-Beast into the Ten-Horned-Beast, headed by the other); yet that 666 is singled out from those many other Numbers that twenty-five is the Root of, one Reason must doubtless be( the Number six being symbolical of the human, as five is of the brutish Nature) to signify the Politick-State, or human Wisdom of that body-politic that is deciphered by that Number, the Truth of the Thing so notably Answering thereunto; and is what is signified in Daniel 7. by the little Horn having the Eyes of a Man, &c.  
The Fourteenth Consideration is on the Compass of Ezekiel's City, its agreeing with the Perimeter of the Cubicle Measure, of the New Jerusalem. Which the Dr. will have to assure us, That the one is a prophesy of the other, whenas it rather Concurs with all the rest of Ezekiel's Temple-Vision, in assuring us, that an external State of the Church, according to the Sense given by me, is primarily designed to be Described, and then the other to be Typified thereby, so far as there's an Aptness between them to admit thereof. Otherwise, To what Purpose are the aforesaid Measures of the Temple, City, &c. all of them symbolical of the Natural or Animal Life? To what Purpose is there a Portion allotted to the Prince, and Laws given to him, &c. as if the New Jerusalem was to be Governed by one Earthly Prince? To what Purpose do the Holy Waters issue out of the Temple; whenas in the New Jerusalem there's no Temple, and the Waters of Life issue immediately from the Throne of God which is in the City? But the Temple from which the Holy Waters issue, is without the City, in a Portion distinct from the Portion of the City. Also, to what purpose is it said, that no uncircumcised in Heart and Flesh shall enter into Ezekiels Temple when there's no Temple in the New Jerusalem to enter into? Yea, To what purpose is the whole Desciption of Ezekiels Temple and Service, so agreeable to the Judaical State, and contrary to the Christian State, if something more than Typifying the New Jerusalem State were not signified thereby? Nay, How could that State be so Typified, if another State were not first signified to become a Type thereof? Wherefore, whereas there's a Righteous fulfilling of the Law of God, in an External Legal State as well as in an Internal Spiritual State, though the Wisdom of God, designed not to bring the first to pass as he will the second, yet it pleased him to make such a Representation of it, not only to typify the other thereby, but also the more clearly to distinguish both States, and so to set off the one more advantageously by the other: Which use of Ezekiels Two Visions will the more appear, as they and the New Jerusalem State becomes better understood. So that my Account of this Temple-Vision does include all the usefulness of the Dr's. Account of it, and further weighty usefulness of it too; and that such as is much more agreeable with the whole Contents of it; whereas, to shift it off with so general an Account, and so difficult to make good sense of, is( to use his own Phrases) a great slubbering and huddling of it. But whereas, if my sense was intended, the Superficies and not the Perimeter, he says, should have been set down: I say, That the giving the Perimeter does, with the squareness of the Figure, amount to the measuring of the Superficies, and may serve for the Superficies as well, as one Cubicle measure of the Wall of the New Jerusalem serves for the measure of the whole Wall. The Fifteenth and Last Consideration, is on the difference between the Mosaical Laws and those of Ezekiels Temple, which is not, says the Dr. That the Jews might obtain the Blessedness of the New Jerusalem State by a Legal Performance of them( who says it is?) which, he says, He hath shewed before to be a Mockery. But I have shewed, That the Representation I suppose to be signified by Ezekiels Vision is no Mockery, though it was of a State not attainable unto by the Jews, but that thereby is a further usefulness of the prophesy than is by the Dr's. sense only, and also that thereby it's more intelligible. Yet he concludes, that I am most certainly in a mistake in my Conjectures in this Remark, whenas he hath said so little against them, as to confirm me in my persuasion of the truth of them.  
The fore-part of this Remark is not to be so much slighted, as the Dr. apprehends; For whenas[ All People and Nations] is so aptly to be underderstood, as I have shewed, in the full extent of the Words, it's making too bold with the Words, to abridge the signification of them to[ some of all People and Nations]. But he speaks that which is much to be slighted, in saying, That my affirming that the State of the Church between Constantine and the apostasy, in no manner agrees with the State of Christ's Kingdom, &c. does contradict Rev. 12.10. For what is said there, does respect the commencement of his Kingdom by owning his Authority, on the Manchild's being caught up unto Gods Throne, and the Devil cast out, &c. But how does this agree with the settling him in his Kingdom in the Millennial Reign, completing his Dominion by the putting down all the Worldly Powers, & c? See Defence of Remark on Rev. 21. ver. 23. His saying that he hath shewed how vain, &c. my affencted Paradoxes are, does appear by my Defence, to be vainly said. And as to his Four Sentences, what a strange Fancy is it to imagine the first( viz. his insignificant assigning, &c.) so very pertinent and significant, as agreeing with the Epocha of the Apocalypse, whenas all that's here transacted, is towards the end of the Anti-Christian Reign, when the judgement was set to take away the Dominion of the Beast. And as to his second and third Sentence which he says I aclowledge, It's but with correction that I aclowledge the second. But for the fourth, there's no colour; for what is said here, does plainly respect the Son of Man his Reign in his Millennial Kingdom, and hath nothing referring to his judging the World after it, at the Day of judgement.   

VISION III.  
WHat does the Dr. mean here, by saying, That never any made the Babylonian Kingdom one of the Horns which succeeded Alexander? It's evident, that I mean by the Babylonian Kingdom the same which he means by the Satrapy of Babylon; which is as rightly called the Babylonian Kingdom( viz. that then was) as the Four Horns are called Four Kingdoms. And thus understanding the Babylonian Kingdom here, I never heard of any before the Dr. who did not make it one of the Four Horns. And though he doth it not, yet he hath not, nor surely can give any Reason, why Seleucus with his Predecessors in the Kingdom or Satrapy of Babylon, should not be reckoned one of the Horns, as well as the many Changes of the Line in the Macedonian Kingdom, make together one of the Horns. And he doth at length( though shyly) seem to allow it, saying, That Seleucus may be fancied to be of the Line of one of the Horns, &c. though it be more than needs. In answer to the other difficulty in my Remark, the Dr. brings in his prophetic Figures, which proves very serviceable Crutches to support his lame notions with. He would by an Idiconaea have Ant. Epiphanes to be here signified, yet by a Geniconoea, Seleucus to be taken in; but it will not do; for what is said of the little Horn is only applicable to Epiphanes, and not to Seleucus, both as to the time of its appearing, and the whole description of it. And therefore the Examples which the Dr. produceth in his Notes, will do him no service.  
The Vision of the Evenings and Mornings is true, does import only, that there's a truth in the Literal Sense of the 2300 Days, as well as in the prophetic Sense of them; and so the saying is not opposed to Symbols and Parables, &c. for that would not agree with the prophetic Sense of the Days. And the Dr. seems to agree with me, in taking them in that, as well as the Literal Sense; and I am inclined to agree with him, that the Epocha of them in their prophetic Sense, must be from the profanation of the Temple by Ant. Epiphanes, though their running then so far into the Millennium does make me scruple thereat; but I cannot agree with him, that the cleansing of the Sanctuary does signify the beginning of the Millennial Reign. What he brings here concerning the Thunders, I shall pass by as fanciful groundless Conceits, having shewed them to be so. But whereas he thinks my supposing the cleansing of the Sanctuary to reach so far into the Millennial Times, to be a mere Conceit; and says, That if all Things were left to my fanciful Anarchical way, Worldly Interest might more easily slaken the dispatch, but an Holy ecumenical Council will expedite the business: He hereby shows how addicted he is to his own Conceits, how groundless soever they be. By cleansing of the Sanctuary, is doubtless signified, the perfecting of that State of Righteousness and of Holiness in the Millennial Reign, which can be no otherwise accomplished than the same is wrought by the Spirit of God, whereby we are Created unto those good Works wherein he hath ordained us to walk; But what furtherance can Laws give thereunto? Certainly none can be so serviceable to that end, as the Laws of God which we have so long received; and therefore, though the Dr. be a Man of so good Invention, yet he may rack it till it cracks, before he is like to propose one Law that will be needful to be made by such a Council. But I have spoken so much on this subject formerly, as will not admit of further insisting on it now.  
As to the cleansing of the Sanctuary, it's so long succeeding the beginning of the Millennial Reign; I say, That then that Reign begins when all Worldly Powers are put down, or that Politick-State becomes dissolved, wherewith they were united by the deceit and power of the Devil, in opposition to the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. Hereby, as the Authority of Gods Laws were before acknowledged, so now they become the only Laws in Force, by reason of his Saints( the Servants of the Truth) becoming the only Rulers. But then, whereas the former Powers had caused such a dissolution, to the putting all Things out of course, the Restitution whereof to a truly Righteous State( by exalting the valleys, and making low the Hills, and crooked Paths strait, and rough Ways plain, &c.) can only be the Work of Gods Spirit, renewing and changing Men till they be transformed into a true Spiritual subjection to him: I say, That so great and general a Change and Renovation of the World, to be made only by the prevalent Power of Gods Spirit working in Men, must( according to the proceeding of all such weighty Affairs of great Changes and Revolutions, when carried on by natural and proper means) be supposed to proceed easily, and not to make any hasty Progress; especially, considering the great Obstacles there's like to be thereunto, from the irregular perplexed former State of Affairs; wherewith Mens Interests will be so inter-woven, that they will not easily be won off from the same. In short, The Millennial Reign begins with the passing away of the former Heaven and Earth; but then the forming a New Heaven and Earth, wherein dwells Righteousness, may be long before it be completed, in so large a Dominion consisting of so many Nations, as all great Kingdoms are usually long from their first Rise, before they come to their Height and Perfection. And with this does well agree, Zach. 14.6, 7. describing the former Part of the Millennium, to be not clear nor dark, not Day nor Night, &c. And the cleansing of the Sanctuary I take to have like sense with: There shall be no Caananite( viz. no Merchant) in the House of the Lord, Zach. 14.21. For Profit and Worldly Interest, being the main, if not only Rise of all Corruptions in the Worship and Service of God, the cleansing of the Sanctuary from all its Corruptions and Defilements, may well be signified by removing the cause of them. But then I understand the Sanctuary here, to comprehend the Administration of Justice as well as the Worship of God, according to the signification of the Worshippers in the Temple and Altar, Rev. 11. And so the cleansing of the Sanctuary will signify a Time, wherein all the Service of God, both in administering Justice, and Worshipping of him, will be performed for Truth and Righteousness sake, and nothing done therein out of an Hireling-spirit, for Gain and Worldly Advantage. This will be a doing his Will on Earth, as it is in Heaven. The Political Resurrection which the Dr. does imagine to be insinuated in Apoc. 20.5. is very groundless; the Words, But the rest of the dead lived not again, &c. being only applicable to those who are naturally dead, as the Martyrs in the first Resurrection were, to whom they antithetically relate, and so cannot concern any Political Resurrection of the living, &c.   

VISION IV.  
THE Dr. does here make show of some Ingenuity in acknowledging his Errors, though he hath been hitherto so failing therein. But it falls out so unluckily, as to be the Remark that I am most diffident of, and against which he finds more to say than against any other. And therefore well may he not absolutely admit that I have gotten him upon the Hip; but in case it prove a Fall, he hath secured his Credit, by having so great a Man as Grotius to share with him therein. But he hath given himself a worse Fall, by so stiffly opposing so clear Truths as many of my Remarks are, than their confuting his Expositions could give him. It's but a homely Conceit that Grotius hath of the Hebrews, to make the breaking of their Numbers so, to be a mere Idiom without any reason for their doing it, and it's a strange Fancy of the Dr. here to make the breaking of the Numbers a mere Propheticism used for concealment, whenas the prophesy of the Seventy Weeks is not at all obscured by it; nor would it have been convenient for a prophesy of so great Moment and Universal Concern, to be more obscure, than to be delivered in the ordinary prophetic Style of putting Days for Years. As to what he objects against my Sense of breaking the Number, Gen. 5. I see no Improbability that some of those long-lived patriarches should be near Two Hundred Years of Age before they had Children. For as suitable to their Longevity, they were long before they propagated, so for some time they might have unfruitful Copulations; also some might defer entering into Conjugal State, long after they were ripe for it. Yet it will not prejudice me to admit that they had Children before,( Male as well as Female) and then to suppose the breaking of the Number, to respect the Time of their beginning to have such Children as are called the Sons of God, cap. 6.2.( it being from them that Noah was to spring, in whom Mankind was to be preserved); whereas, they might before have others, reputed wicked Seed, or such as dyed without Issue, and so not taken Notice of. As to Gen. 8.3. there's plainly no breaking of the Number in our Bible-Translation. And as to the breaking of the Number in this prophesy, I was very prove to apply that Sense to it, which I have given in my Remark, because it seems so apt and easy an Account of that, which appeared otherwise unaccountable; but being it's so difficult to make History agree with it, I must suspend my judgement of it, and shall rather harken to Tho. Lydiat's Account of it, mentioned by the Dr. than to his or Grotius his Conceit, and shall add to it, That perhaps the breaking of the Number does respect a Time, wherein the Jews should enjoy Peace and Prosperity, after the Decree for Building the City, &c. that is, They should for seven Weeks, or one Jubilee of Years, enjoy Quiet and Happiness, but after, begin to be molested with troublesone Times, &c.   

VISION V.  
THE Dr's Conceit here hath no Countenance from Vision 3. Ver. 26. for the saying, That the Evenings and Mornings are true, is to intimate, that both a Literal and prophetic Sense is there signified, as I have there observed. Nor can[ The thing is true] signify that it's a plain Truth, no Aenigme or Parable, because his former Visions, which were so enigmatical or Symbolical, was with Interpretation annexed to them, as plain as this. So that, Daniel's saying that he had Understanding in the Vision, cannot be imputed to its being not Symbolical as the rest. But by the Time being said to be long, and by the Description of the Resurrection, cap. 12.2.( which is a Continuance of the same Vision) he might understand the Extent or Length of the Vision, and by comparing it with the former Visions speaking of the same Times, he might gain some general In-sight into it, besides what special Illumination he might receive for the Understanding of it. But a full Understanding of it, it appears he had not, by cap. 12.8, 9. where it's said, He heard, but understood not, and is  told, That the Words are closed and sealed till the Time of the End. And as the Dr's Account is so defective, so mine is not so frigid as he makes it to be. For though the Prescience of God reaching in Infinitum, can as easily predict Things, at a long as a short Distance, yet my Sense must be taken in Reference to the Weakness of human Capacity, to comprehend and believe, that Things at so great a Distance can be truly foretold. Whereas the Dr. would have[ the Time was long] to be as a Mark for the right Application of the prophesy, &c. I do not disallow thereof, though there seems little need of it, because what is said of the Resurrection, cap. 12.2. is a better Mark for the same Purpose.  
The Dr. affecting to be a Man of great In-sight into Divine Mysteries, and fancying that he hath discovered a great one here, he is much exasperated at my gain-saying him therein. He calls my so evidently true Account of the Text here, A fond, and even profane Cavil against his Mystical or Moral Exposition, and thinks it pedantickly done, to instruct him, touching the natural Horror or Astonishment of Mortals at the Sight of Angelical Powers, as if he were ignorant thereof. But though he was not ignorant thereof, yet he proves ignorant of the Occasion there is to apply it to this Vision. And whereas he says, That he does plainly aclowledge the Literal Sense, ver. 18. besides the Moral Allegory; I see no such thing, and though they be consistent, yet there's no Ground to understand any other here, than the Literal Sense I have given. For though such Exinanition as the Dr. speaks of, may be needful for Divine Communications, accordingly as Mortification must precede Regeneration, yet there was no more need of it here for Daniels receiving the Vision, than there was of it formerly, for him or other Prophets on the like Occasion. And it's remarkable, that whereas John was so affencted also on our Saviours appearing to him on the like Occasion, Rev. 2. yet the Dr. does not give the same Account there of his being so affencted, though no truer than this. But whereas he thinks me wilfully blind, in not taking Notice that Daniel was revived by a supernatural Power; I say, that though he was revived by such a Power, yet it was not to any supernatural or changed State, but to that he was in before, that he might be able to receive the Vision, which he was disenabled to, by the Condition he was cast into. And therefore being so revived, he says, ver. 19. Let my Lord speak, for thou hast strengthened me. Yet so vainly is the Dr. affencted with his fancied Mystery, as wretchedly to conclude, It seems he had the Luck to cast Pearls before Swine.  
The Scripture of Truth, being here so different an Expression from the Book of God, so oft mentioned in the Scripture, may well have a different Signification, and then surely mine is so apt, that it cannot be refused; and so long as it does well agree with the Text, I know not why it should be exploded for the singularity of it,( if it be so singular as the Dr. makes it to be) especially, since Interpreters oft so much follow one another, that the Sense of many is in effect but the Sense of one leading Man. And whenas, Esay cap. 34.16. says, seek ye out of the Book of the Lord and red, &c. Surely the Dr. will not have that taken in his Sense, but allow it to refer to other Prophecies, and so to concur with my Sense, &c. And whereas he says, That according to my Sense, it should not have been Scripture, but Scriptures of Truth; I say, that in case the Translation might not have been either way, yet each way may bear the same Sense. And if it be hard, as he says, to find all the Things in this prophesy, in the foregoing Prophets, yet the main of them are signified in the former Visions of Daniel, and also in other Prophecies. But whether my Sense holds good or not, yet the Dr's cannot be allowed, both for the REASON before, ver. 1. and also because that his Sense is so forced, that it will not agree with the Text. For, the Scripture of Truth being, according to him, the Book wherein that which is to be shewed, is written, there's nothing left to signify[ I will plainly and not enigmatically or Symbolically show thee, &c.] unless[ I will show thee] can do it. Nor does cap. 11.2. countenance the Dr's. Sense, but[ I will show thee the Truth] seems there to be used, partly as a proper Style for him to use, who is the Word of Truth( in like Sense as the Expressions, Rev. cap. 19.9. cap. 21.5.& cap. 22.6. are used, though of things enigmatically or Symbolically expressed) and partly because, that by a more particular Account of what hath been more generally spoken of in the former Prophecies, he shall give a fuller and truer Account thereof. The Dr. does also misrepresent what I say, that he may ridicule it; supposing me to say, That[ I will show what is noted in the Scripture of Truth] does mean onely[ I will show that which is already shewed in the Writings of the Prophets] whenas my Sense is, I will more fully unfold to thee what hath been more briefly notified in the former Prophecies. And having perverted so significant a Sense into an impertinent one, he Concludes, So extravagant is the Remarker, &c.   

VISION VI.  
THe Dr. notes the indistinctness of my Fancy, but shows the Confusedness of his own judgement. How can mere Right make one King of that Kingdom, which another is really King of, that is, actually possess't of as King? And also make him King of that King who does actually Reign, and of all his Forces, though they own none but him who is actually King? It's onely the Power wherewith they are invested, by which they Rule, can make them actual Kings, though their Right may entitle them to be Kings. Besides, being all Power is of God, who pulls down and sets up whom he pleaseth, How does it appear that Demetrius had a Right to be King, after he was outed of his Kingdom? Where it pleaseth God to restore a Prince so outed, he may there be said to have a continuance of his Right, &c. and the outing of him is but a suspending his being King for a Time; but where he is not pleased to restore him, there the outing him so, proves an Extinguishing his Right. And what does the Dr. mean by saying, That Antiochus was not yet declared, or acknowledged King? He was declared so by all Adherers to him, by whom he proved so powerful, as to put himself in possession of the Kingdom, by causing a general Submission to him. And I suppose the Dr. will not expect, that Grotius his Authority should signify much in the Case, whom he hath so much exposed.  
Though these Two Kings might meditate Mischief one against another when they meet in a Friendly way, yet when their meditating Mischief will so aptly bear another signification, it's more congruous to understand it so, than in a Sense so contrary to the purpose of their meeting. Besides, If their Meditations had been against one another, it would have been said[ they shall not Prosper] but[ it shall not Prosper] does signify a Joynt-Consultation, &c. which surely could not be in Designs one against another: Nor were such Designs likely to be unprosperous on both sides as they must be by the Text. And why does the Dr. say, That the Scope of the prophesy is sufficiently fulfilled, because the Feats of Antiochus against the Jews were so fully related? As if other Transactions concerning them were not designed to be signified as well as his. And to what purpose does he say, That the Mischief which the King of the North did meditate against the King of the South did not Prosper,& c? Whenas the Words are spoken of the Mischief which they both did meditate, and that jointly, as I have shewed. And how ineptly does the Dr. say, That there being no mention of an Essay of the King of the South against the People of God, does show the ineptness of my Remark! For he might join with the King of the North in meditating Mischief against them( both out of his own disposition and in complacency to their great Enemy Ant. Epiphanes, &c.) though his Condition did not admit of attempting any thing a part against them, by reason that Antiochus was so prosperous against him, till the Romans interposed in his behalf. And what a strange Fancy is it to make the interposing of the Romans mentioned, ver. 29, 30. to be signified by[ it shall not Prosper] whenas that unprosperous Expedition of Antiochus, being a good distance of time from the meeting of those Two Kings here( viz. after his returning into his own Land, and then making an Expedition again to do Exploits against the Holy Covenant, and then returning into his own Land again, as appears, ver. 28.) it's not likely to be designed or thought of at this meeting of them, if it had been a time to meditate of it. As to the Dr's. referring to ver. 35. for what he hath said of the Words[ Because it's yet for a time appointed] to compare the same with what he hath said here of the same Words, It's but alike forced Sense with what he hath said here, deviating from the Scope of the Vision.  
Mr. Medes Account of this and the preceding Verse is ingenious, but the Dr's. Encomium of it is much too large; and he runs as much in the other extreme, in disparaging my Account, which yet is like to prove the true Sense, however Conceited and Supercilious he thinks me for it! And in order to the making me appear so, he begins with his usual misrepresenting what I say. For whereas I say, That Mr. Medes conceit seems very remote from the intended Sense of the Text, he makes me to say absolutely that it is very remote, &c. And in order to the making good Mr. Medes Opinion, which he is so much concerned for, he lays down a false Assertion, viz. That the prophesy intends to describe the State of the Church as to Religion, during the time that the little Horn shall Rule. The falsehood whereof does appear by what I have oft formerly said to it, and also by what I shall further add now. As the prophesy begins ver. 36. with a Description of the whole Roman Power, before there was any little Horn, so it continues to describe that Empire entirely, as to the whole State of it,( else it would not be a true Account thereof) and therefore, that Description during the Time of the little Horn, must be understood of the Ten-Horned-Beast, headed by the Two-Horned-Beast, Which is further evident, from the King of the South pushing at, and the King of the North coming against that King,( or Kingdom or Empire) described from ver. 36. for the Wo of the Saracens and Turks fell much more upon the Civil, than the ecclesiastic State; especially that of the Turks, who won the Eastern Empire, and that after it had cast off the Popes Authority. As to the perstringing of IDOLATRY, &c. that is sufficiently done, ver. 38.( for so brief a prophesy) by setting forth the Honouring the strange God, with Silver and Gold, &c. The Sense of ver. 37. is doubtless what the Dr. hath given it, viz. That he shall not regard any of the Pagan Gods, &c. but his adding a particular Sense thereto, viz. He shall not regard Mars, the proper God of his Ancestors, this seems to be to serve a Turn, for which he useth it after. As to 1 Tim. 4. That speaking of the Spirit, {αβγδ} must surely refer to some clear and immediate Revelation at that Time by the Spirit. For it's not said, that he hath foretold, &c.( though the Dr. doth recite it so) but that he speaketh expressly, and so seems to refer to a present Revelation, and to be of like Signification with the Word of God coming expressly to Ezekiel, cap. 1.3. And such an obscure prophesy as this,( especially if taken in the Dr's. Sense) is far from speaking expressly. And it's hardly conceivable, that Paul should understand this prophesy so, he appearing not to know any thing of those Times, saving in general that there should be an apostasy, &c. the particular Revelation of them being not till after his time. Also commanding to abstain from Meats, is one of the Things whereof the Spirit speaketh expressly, which there's no Mention of here, besides other Things that are there reckoned to be spoken of, which yet can hardly be intended by any Thing here. So that, doubtless that Scripture does not refer to this.  
I see nothing else considerable which the Dr. says in behalf of the Sense, which he is so concerned for; though he makes such a fluttering Stir about it; and it's but a sorry Answer( to say no worse of it) he returns to my Remark, in saying, That the Prediction is not of what the Strong-Holds should be in reality, but of what they should be reputed to be; As if the Spirit of Truth would prophesy of them as Real Things answering to the Character given, yea, give them the superlative Character of[ most strong Holds] whenas they are no such Things in Reality, but mere Impostures. Also, if the God of Forces, ver. 38. does signify Daemons, the same is very incongruously placed before the strange God, &c. But the God of Forces is of the same Import with the Lord of Hosts, who may be here called the God of Forces, by reason of his being Worshipped, upon the same Account as they Worshipped Mars before. And then the Sense of the Text will be plain, viz. That they shall honour the Lord of Hosts, or God of Forces, and his Son Jesus Christ,( the strange God) with their splendid superstitious Devotions, &c. But then, whereas Christ is called the strange God, whom their Fathers knew not, it's implyed, they knew the Lord of Host, though they Glorified him not as God, Rom. 1.10.  
The Dr. proceeds to descant upon my Sense, which I substitute instead of Mr. Medes; and which he makes to be very frigid and jejune; and so he can make any Sense to be, let him but have the Metamorphosing of it. And first, whereas I suppose here to be signified, that under a Christian Profession, which teacheth the contrary, there shall be the same Violence and War continued as formerly, he says, That this is a making them to be Worshippers of Mars contrary to the Text; as if they could not continue those Doings without Worshipping him. But, as is aforesaid, they Worshipped the Lord of Hosts, upon the same Account their Fathers Worshipped Mars. Next, the Dr. understanding the Description here, to be meant of Rex Sacrorum, who is no Sword-man, he says, That it cannot agree with my Sense. But this is an Objection upon a false Supposition, I having shewed already, That the whole Power and State of the Empire( viz. The Ten-Horned-Beast headed by the Two-Horned-Beast) is intended in this prophesy. As to the two Antithesises which the Dr. notes, I might admit the first of them together with mine, if there were the like Appearance of its being intended; but the latter, as there's no Appearance of its being intended, so it hath nothing in it but a Mist of Words, there being no such Difference between Pagan and Anti-Christian Idolatry, as to bear an Antithesis, there being as little of Spirituality in the one as the other; onely the Anti-Christian Idolatry is accompanied with the Means of knowing much better Things, and with a Profession of them, which does much aggravate the Wickedness of it, in those who are not ignorantly deluded into it, but corruptly promote it, &c.  
I shall for a Conclusion add here, That though I make the whole State of the Empire, Civil as well as ecclesiastic, to be here signified, yet all the Description does not reach to the whole, but part of it does especially respect the one, and part of it the other State; and shall further note, That the Expressions[ In his State he shall honour, &c. and he shall increase in Glory, &c.] seem much to Countenance my Sense, as signifying, that his State or Dignity, and his increasing in Glory, should depend on his honouring the God of Forces, &c. which holds true according to my Sense,( it being by the Power and Strength of Forces, that his State and Dignity hath been upheld and advanced) but little Agrees with the Dr's Sense, the Worshipping of Daemons, little conducing to the upholding and advancing the State and Dignity, &c. though they were vainly believed to be Guardians and Protectors, &c. Also [ And he shall cause them to Rule over many, and divide the Land for Gain] is very forc'tly applied by the Dr. to them, but seems well to Answer to the Two-Horned-Beast; his causing the Dwellers on Earth to Worship the first Beast, Wounded by a Sword, and to make an Image to him, and to his giving Life to that Image, &c. Rev. 13.  
Though the Tartars may be said to be Northern of the Turks, yet being the Nations I have mentioned are more directly so, and such as they have had much ill Tidings from, and are likely to have more, by reason of the frequent Wars with them( whenas there's no likelihood of their having such doings with the Tartars) it's very strange that the Dr. can fancy the Tartars to be here intended. And how strange is his surmise, that such a barbarous savage Nation should not only soon become Christians, but also zealous Converts! But it serves to countenance the other groundless Conceit concerning them, which I have remarked upon in the next Verse, and which he must Defend, how extravagant soever it be. And still more strange is his faying, That it's a mistake in me to suppose that it's the Turk that comes to his end, ver. 35. whenas it's the King of Pride, viz. the Pope. To which Assertion, whatever Countenance Luthers Authority may give, the Dr's. reason yields none to it. For he says, That the Vision drives at the King of Pride, to the end of the Chapter; whenas I have shewed before, that it's not the Pope, but the whole Power of the Empire, that is Prophesied of all along from ver. 36. but whosoever is meant, it's manifest, that the Description of the King of the North beginning at ver. 40. is continued to the end of the Chapter. Yet it's in reference to that King( whom the Dr. calls the King of Pride) against whom he comes. And I agree with the Dr. that the Vision continues( viz. in the next Chapter) to the utter overthrow of the King of Pride, and further; and also does there, ver. 1. inclusively speak of his overthrow, in the Account of the Deliverance of the People of God, at the time of so great Trouble, &c. But as to his saying, that he hath shewed ver. 45. how absurd it is to understand that saying[ He shall come to his end, &c.] of any other than the Pope, I am coming now to show the Vanity of that Boast.  
The Dr's. making {αβγδ} to signify, Between the two middle Parts of the Seas, is but a forced varying from our Translation, viz. between the Seas; that is, The middle between the Seas, as {αβγδ} imports; which makes against him, Rome being much nearer the Tuscan than the adriatic Sea. In short, as to what he says further to this particular; I say, That Constantinople being Seated on the Point of a Promontory between Two Seas, the Description here does so peculiarly fit it, as it doth no other Towns between those Seas; whereas it fits Rome no more than it doth many other Cities in Italy( and indeed fits none of them, they being all at so great a distance from one or both Seas); nor is there any other Notes to restrain it to Rome, but on the contrary it's manifestly restrained to Constantinople by the Turks being Seated there. And as to the Title[ Glorious Holy Mountain] which he fancieth to be so main a restraining Note, &c. we shall see how it is so by his weak Reasons for it.  
First, He says, That the Hills of Rome are much more celebrated in History than the Hills of Constantinople( as well they may be, Rome being a Place of so much more Note than the other); but what is this to the purpose, Mountain being in prophetic Style the Character of a great City, wherever Seated? And next, What does the residing of Two Apostles and some Bishops there, and their dying Martyrs there, signify to denominate Rome a Holy-City, whenas they were as private Persons, and the Heathen Power wholly Ruling? Besides, its being polluted with the Blood of such Men, did render it the more Unholy. Also, upon the same Reasons divers other great Cities might pretend to that Title as well as Rome. And how groundlessly does the Dr. say, That such was the eminent Holiness of the Primitive Bishops of Rome, that their Successors have ever since born the Title of it! Whenas it was given to other great Bishops as well as the Roman, but continued to the latter, by reason of their continuing and increasing in the greatness which the others fell from, and that mainly by reason of the Popes Usurpations. And though the Dr. says, That the Holiness of Constantinople is extinct by the Turks, yet there hath been ever allowed by them a Toleration of the Christian Religion, and a Patriarch continued, who may well pretend to as much Holiness as the Pope. But how strangely does he infer the Glorious Title here to be given to Rome, because prophesy being Anticipatory History, useth the Phrase that History would do! Which how can it be, whenas it fore-telleth Things in prophetic Style of Symbols, &c. which are not in common use? But admit it did fore tell Things in Phrase of History, what a gross, not to say stupid Conceit is it, then to imagine, that the Spirit of God would give the Title of Glorious Holy Mountain to Rome, by reason of the Popes so corruptly, out of Pride and hypocrisy, assuming or retaining the Title of Holiness! And yet the Dr. fancieth this a consideration worth the Noting. And upon what grounds, and to what purpose does he say, That though there were so many zealous Emperors against Idolatry, and Councils held at Constantinople against the same, yet there were more that complied with the Roman Corruptions than that resisted them? For those Emperors and Councils were the prevailing Party, and so the most considerable, if not the most numerous. And whatever turn of Affairs there was after, yet the great Transactions there of so many Emperors and Councils in behalf of Religion, will surely make so Glorious a Title much more applicable to that City than to Rome, where there were no such Transactions, and so much of a contrary nature.  
And yet( though the Dr. sleights it) I think it a highly probable conjecture, that one great Reason is of the Title being given to Constantinople, because of the flourishing State that Christianity will there be in, after the Destruction of the Turkish Empire. For it being a so much noted City for its Situation, both in respect of pleasantness, and convenience of Communication with all Parts, and it bearing the Name of the first Christian Emperor, and having continued ever since so Famous both upon the Account of Religion, and other respects, and being also of so large Reception, What City is there wherein Religion is like to be in so flourishing a State as in that City, when the Obstacle of it is removed? Whenas by the Sentence passed on Rome, Rev. 18. no better Fate is like to attend it than that of Old Babylon, whatever the Dr's. officious Invention hath surmised to the contrary. And as to his saying, That Mystical Babylon signifies not a Material City, but a Polity; I say, That it signifies both together( viz. the Polity with its Capital Seat, &c.) as appears by her being described by her seven Hills, &c. And so the Prophecies against her, as well as against Old Babylon and other Cities, do extend to both. And she hath made a considerabl advance already towards the fulfilling of the prophesy, being, according to Mr. Medes Account, but a tenth Part of what she was formerly. And that which the Dr. would make so fond an Argument for my Sense( viz. that the Turk hath already placed the Tabernacle of his Palace, &c.) is too strong to be invalidated by him For these Words import not( as he would have them) some New Acquists of the Turks, as we shall see presently; but first, I must take Notice of what he says of the Signification of Tabernacle, which, he says, does not always signify a flitting Condition,( nor do I say that it doth) but as he cannot deny that to be a proper Signification of it, so it's here properly applied; and it may always signify so for what he opposeth to it. Of which see Defence of Rem. on Rev. cap. 13. ver. 6. And as to what he says of the Particle yet, I shall give more regard to our Translation than to his Criticism thereon; especially the former making so much better Sense.  
And now to the Words, He shall place the Tabernacle of his Palace, &c. Whereas the Dr. would have them signify some New Acquists, after the News out of the East and the North, &c. and says, That otherwise it's impossible to have the assured Sense of any thing Written, &c. I say, That the taking the words as an additional Character in the Sense I have given, is an easy natural Exposition, and no more than such an Histerology as the Dr. hath elsewhere Noted to be usual, viz. to run on into future Times for the finishing of one Vision, and then to make Regress to begin another; So here, after the Relation of the Turks Wars and Conquests is finished, then a Regress comes to the additional Character of his Seating himself, &c. And whereas the Dr. would make this but a lame and slim Put-off, because the Turk is sufficiently characterised by his achievements; I say, That this additional Character is useful for a clearer description of him, because that those Countries were over-run also by the Tartars, &c. Besides, so principal a Character of him could not have been spared, though it had not been so needful for describing him, &c. Nor could it also, in respect of its coherence with what follows concerning his coming to an end, with which it makes an Antithesis, viz. notwithstanding his so advantageous Seating himself, yet he shall come to his end, &c. And as to the general overflowing mentioned ver. 40. it little matters how it's taken, being all the description of his Wars and Conquests( general or particular) is to be finished before the proceeding to his additional Character; nor can it be taken so generally as to exclude a particular so needful to be mentioned, upon other Accounts besides its being a part of his Conquests, and so upon more Accounts than those several Countries Conquered by him, which are so particularly mentioned, &c. The Dr's. Sense therefore is not the less strange, nor mine the less current for what he hath said, though he hath so much confidence in his Performance, as to conclude my Sense to be intolerable Non-sense.  
And still more strange is his saying, That his conjecture here about the Turks, does not at all disagree with his Exposition, Rev. 19. whenas the disagreement between them, noted in my Remarks, is most manifest. For admitting his groundless Surmises of the Tartars and Persians being Converted, and of their then so disturbing the Turks, as to drive them to make such Incursions into Christendom, and to Attack Italy and Rome, whereby the overthrow of the Beast and False Prophet, is ascribed both to the Army of the Rider of the White-Horse, and the Turks also; I say, admitting all these pretty Conceits, How do the same agree with the Dr's. Exposition of Rev. 19.( and also of the Vision of the winepress and the Seventh Vial) which ascribes the overthrow of the Beast and False Prophet, and Draconick Party, to the Evangelical Army, the Boanergeses Thundering over his fancied great City, by commutation of Iconisms? So that the whole overthrow there, is but a spiritual Slaughter by those Thundering Preachers; whereas here they are only made accessary( by their converting others) to the causing the Turks to Attack Italy and Rome, and so to overthrow the Beast and False Prophet another way, viz. by slaughtering Sword, which he is there so averse to admit of. How do these things agree? Or rather, How can things more disagree? For there the Dr. is so tender of the Beast and False Prophet, lest there should be any slaughtering of them, that he makes the casting of the unconverted Part into a Lake of Fire, to signify only the abolishing of their Power; but by his Surmise here, great Slaughter is like to befall the Anti-Christian Forces, both the obstinate and others. For surely he cannot imagine that Invasion of Italy, and taking Rome by the Turks, to be without a Vigorous Opposition; and so great Slaughter must be before it be compassed. Also, To what purpose are such successive Transactions, and so distant in their Scenes( as the Dr. fancieth here) represented by a great Concourse in Armageddon, and by his fancied great City, & c? But as these Conceits are little worth confuting, so they need none other than the present and approaching Fate of the Turks.  
And as to his saying, That it's a Childish idiotical Conceit, to fancy the Army of the Rider on the White-Horse, to be a Company of Men at one time gathered into one place, or that the Kings of the Earth will be so gathered, &c. What does he mean by one Time and Place? I only suppose that the Christian and Anti-Christian Forces will be gathered together in some Country signified by the Sixteen Hundred Furlongs( which it's likely may be the Popes Dominion, the extent thereof, according to Mr. meed, agreeing with this measure, &c.) and that in some short time, the Anti-Christian Forces will be so overthrown and destroyed, as never after to be able to make further Opposition, whereby the whole Power and Dominion throughout Christendom will fall into the Hands of the Christian Party, and so the Rider on the White-Horse will be put in actual Possession of his Kingdom on Earth; which will be the beginning of the Millennial Reign, and the fulfilling of the Acclamation of the Seventh Trumpet, The Kingdoms of the World are become the Kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ, &c. As to the Dr's. constringing Nature of a prophetic Henopeia, he makes it sometimes so constringing as to wring all Sense out of the prophesy it's applied to; and so makes as strange Work therewith, as he says they will do in interpreting of Prophecies, who are not ware of the Genius of prophetic Style. Though things frequently done, may, by Henopeia, be represented as one continued Action( as I have agreed Vis. 2. ver. 4.) yet there cannot be any fixed Time and Place applied thereto, as to a thing done at once, for that would be inconsistent therewith.  
The Dr. proceeds next to my denying Esay's and Ezekiels prophesy of Tyre, to be Typical of Anti-Christ; my reason for which, he says, is small and evanid; and that it may appear so, according to his usual course, he mis-represents it, making it to be, Because that the Princes of other Countries Prophesied of by those Two Prophets, are not made Types, whenas it is, Because there appears no reason why the prophesy of the Prince of Tyre should be reckoned such a Type, more than the Prophecies of other Princes; all the Reasons that he hath offered for it being of no moment. His first Reason for it,( viz. the Apocalypse borrowing so many Phrases out of the Visions of Tyre, in the Lamentation over Babylon) is insignificant, because the Prophecies being on the same Subject in both Visions,( viz. the setting forth the Merchants Lamentation for the Loss of traffic, by the ruin of two such great Cities, &c.) and being uttered from the same Spirit, they can hardly miss of using many of the same Phrases; but if we suppose the one Vision to borrow many Phrases from the other, as being useful on the same Occasion, How does it infer the one to be Typical of the other? But then the Dr. thinks it ridiculous, That such sublime Grandisonant Expressions,( as are in the Vision of Tyre) should be levelled at a mere rich cunning Merchant; but it's not so, to be levelled at a Crowning City, whose Merchants are Princes and Traffickers, all the Honourable of the Earth, Esay 23.8. The Fathers thinking the Vision of a Tyre, a prophesy of the Devil, does the Dr. little Service. And how is it plain from the Apocalypse, as he fancieth, That by the King of Babylon, is understood Anti-Christ? I know not any Colour for it, but Romes being called Babylon; but she may be called so, by reason of her resembling Babylon in her Deeds, though she be not typified by it, as she is there also called Sodom and Aepypt, and as the Israelites are called the People of Gomorrah, and their Governours Rulers of Sodom, Esay 1.10.  
The Dr. comes next to Answer my Confutation of his Reasons given in Synopsis Prophetica, &c. To the first he asks, What Lexicographer tells us that Trafficking signifies Whoring? Who says that it does signify so? For there may be honest Trafficking; but who will deny that the subtle alluring Arts of Traders to get Custom, does so resemble the inveigling Enticements of Whores, that the one may be well signified by the other? And so it's understood by Calvin, though the Dr. calls it a saying any thing. To the second he says, That tires being forgotten 70 Years, cannot be understood of the Time of the Babylonian Kingdom, because it was taken 30 Yeers after the Beginning of that Kingdom. But the Words may be well understood, That she shall be forgotten till the end of those 70 Years, which are the Days of one King, &c. Or that she shall be forgotten 70 Years, according to the Days of one King or Kingdom,( viz. The Babylonian, by which she is laid waste) though they be not wholly the same 70 Years. To the third he says, That he hath shewed before how vain a Conceit it its, to make the Christian Caesars a Part of the sixth Head; but I have shewed there, how vain it is to Conceive them otherwise. And whereas next, he would make the returning of Tyre to her Hire,( viz. to her former State, &c.) to signify Romes apostasy to Idolatry, How will this agree with the flourishing State of Rome, during the Time that the Dr. would have her to be under the seventh King? For how can she be said to be forgotten, during that Time, in which she was in as flourishing a Condition, as in any Time after? Besides, though the Deceits and Allurements of Anti-Christian Rome, to seduce and reduce the Empire to Idolatry, may be signified by tires committing Fornication again with all the Princes of the Earth; yet whereas her returning thus to her Hire, does suppose Pagan Rome to have done the same, How will this hold true? For though she was likewise guilty of Idolatry, yet it was by a standing Law of the Empire, and universal practise of Heathen Nations; so that, there was no such Arts or Allurements used by her, or any Occasion for the same, to seduce the Princes of the Earth to Idolatry, as the returning to her Hire,( or gainful Whoring) and committing Fornication with the Princes of the Earth, does import.  
And fifthly, for further Countenance to this Conceit of Tyre, because her King is threatened with the Death of the Uncircumcised, the Dr. would make pharaoh also, who is threatened with the same Death, Ezek. 32. to signify the Roman pharaoh; and does confirm it from being taught( as he thinks) out of the Apocalypse, that by egypt is understood the Pontifician Hierarchy, for the same Reason, for which before, he makes Babylon to typify Rome, and may make Sodom also; but it's a mere Fancy. For the said cap. 32. and the two precedent Chapters( of which pharaoh also is the Subject) do so wholly concern the Civil or Political Affairs of the Eastern-Countries, and Neighbouring Nations of egypt, and also of that Country, as that there appears not any Colour for such a Sense being intended, as the Dr. Applys to cap. 32. And how insignificant is what he urgeth for it! Viz. Whom dost thou pass in Beauty? Go down, and be laid with the Uncircumcised, ver. 19. which he makes to concern the Papal Hierarchy, which pretends to be the Holy Church which shall abide for ever, &c.( and thinks them of slow Sense, who do not discern this Sense of the Verse) whenas, the plain Sense of it is, If thou dost, or though thou dost surpass those Nations in Beauty,( or Glory) yet thou shalt also go down to the Pit, &c. And how insipedly does he add? That if there were not some such weighty Sense under it, it's incredible, that Pharoahs lying down in Death with the Uncircumcised, should be so oft repeated, &c. whenas it's but thrice repeated, and no more than appears Congruous, without any such Meaning being intended. Notwithstanding therefore such stretching Fancies of the Dr. to make out the contrary, yet there appears no other Reason for the Prince of Tyre being threatened with the Death of Uncircumcised, than that, though her Princes were so great and splendid, causing their terror in the Land of the Living, yet being no better than those Uncircumcised Princes, cap. 32. who had descended into the Pit before them, the same Fate does also attend them.  
And no better is the Dr's sixth Answer,( though he thinks it so evident) That the Prince of Tyre is described with the High-Priests Vestments, because of the Precious-Stones that are said to be his Covering; whenas they are used as an Ornamental Description, to set forth the Lustre of that State he was arrived to( signified by his being in the Garden of God); in like manner as they are used in the Description of the New Jerusalem, and therefore are they said to be his Covering. But the Stones in the High-Priests Breast-Plate, were for Use, viz. For the inscribing on them the Names of the Twelve Tribes, and for its being a Breast-Plate of judgement, &c. So that, whereas there being but Nine Stones here, the Dr. says, That it would have been too bare for a prophesy, if there had been all Twelve; the Text would not bear his Sense, though there had been all Twelve, much less will it there being but Nine. And as sorry is his seventh Answer, That the Prince of Tyre being in Eden, does ill svit with the City of Tyre built upon a sterile Rock; As if the Place of his situation, and not the State he was arrived to, was signified thereby. And like the rest, is his saying, That I do not mend myself in making the Prince of Tyre a Tall Cedar in the Garden of God, and referring it to Ezek. 31. because the Parable there of the King of Assyria is understood of pharaoh, and consequently of the Papal Hierarchy, whenas it's only a Rehearsal of the State and Fate of the King of Assyria, and applying the same to pharaoh as being to undergo the like Fate. And doubtless, it's because Princes are signified by the Trees of Eden( as appears in that Ezek. 31.) that the King of Assyria is so described there; and in such Sense as other Princes are called Trees of Eden, is the Prince of Tyre so called.  
His Eight Answer imputes it to a strange thick Calosity in any, that can discern no more in those Expressions, The Anointed Cherub, The Holy Mountain of God, The Walking up and down in the midst of the Stones of Fire, &c. than the Signification of an Angelical State, &c. But I think it a Sense that does fully Answer the import of those Expressions. Yet if the Dr. could make it out, that the Temple is alluded to in them( as he will have it to be) it would not prejudice my Sense but his own, and countenance mine. For the perfection of that State which Tyre had Arrived to, was much more worthy to be set forth by such Allusions, than the corrupt State of the Papal Hierarchy, which he would make her to typify. And as to the Anointed Cherub, which he would have to refer to the Cherubims of the Sanctuary, because Angels in Heaven are not Anointed Cherubs; I say, That they have an Holy Anointing which is signified by the Anointed Cherubs; and what a wooden Conceit is it, to make the Prince of tires being called Anointed Cherub, to allude to those carved Images. And as to ●is so grossly setting forth the Trasncking or Merchants and Traders, &c. whereby to slur the Sense given by me, I shall first mind him of the aforementioned Character of Tyre in Esay, viz. her being called the Crowning City, whose Merchants are Princes, &c. and then add, that she is not so gloriously described, by reason of her having advanced her self by crafty Trading, &c. but because of her having gained so great Riches by wisdom and Integrity; for it's said, Ezek. 28.12, 15. Thou Sealest up the Sum full of Wisdom, and perfect in Beauty; And thou wast perfect in thy ways till Iniquity was found in thee. So that, she attained to so high and beautiful a State by Wisdom and Righteousness, as did answer to so Glorious a Description of her. And therefore, as the Text runs as a real Character of her, so it was really applicable to her, whereas there's no appearance of its being intended of the Anti-Christian Hierarchy, with which it so much disagrees.  
His Ninth Answer it concerns me not to gainsay, it being, as I have said, no prejudice to my Sense, to admit the Sanctuary to be alluded to, though I see no reason for it. But such being the perfection of the State of Tyre, there's as little incongruity in comparing the Wisdom of the Prince of Tyre, with Daniels Wisdom, as I have shewed to be in the rest of its Glorious Description, though the Dr. would make the doing so absurd and ridiculous. And whereas he says next, That if all which is meant by the Vision, be, That mere human Policies, how well soever ordered, will in time corrupt, it's but an obvious trivial Notion, and no Object of prophesy: Who says that it is all that is meant by the Vision? As Esay and Ezekiel Describe the State and Fate of other Cities and Countries, so do they also of Tyre; and according to the Beauty and Perfection it attained to, give a Glorious Description of it, but withal do set forth the same Fate to attend it as the rest. What therefore the Dr. mis-represents to be said by me as the meaning of the Vision, is only an useful Observation on it; like unto what Esay makes on calling Tyre the Crowning City, whose Merchants are Princes, &c. viz. The Lord of Hosts hath purposed to slain the Pride of all Glory, and to bring into contempt all the Honourable of the Earth.  
The Dr. does next give a strange Account of ver. 15. For he would make[ Thou wast perfect in thy ways, from the days thou wast Created till Iniquity was found in thee] to be a Prediction of the State of the Primitive Bishops of Rome. But how then can those Bishops, being as private Sojourners there, when the whole Government was Heathen, represent the City of Rome? As they must do, according to the Dr's. Typical Sense of those Words. Also it's Remarkable how inconsistent the Dr. is with himself in this extravagant Fancy: For whereas before he makes Tyre returning to her Hire, to commit Fornication, &c. to signify Romes relapsing to the Idolatry of the Pagan Empire( so that tires former State must answer to the Pagan Idolatry of Rome) he here makes the former State of Rome to signify Primitive Bishops, and so makes the same State of Tyre to typify both Pagan-Rome and Primitive-Bishops there. And yet he makes that splendid Description of the first State of Tyre, to signify what the Popes do so falsely pretend to, and so to typify both so opposite States, as those of Pagan-Rome and Primitive-Bishops there, and also the same that he supposeth to be Typified by the latter State of Tyre, viz. the Papal Hierarchy; and so there will be no Occasion for the latter State to typify it also, though it onely could properly do it, if Rome was typified there.  
To my thus particularly Answering in Defence of this Remark, showing so many gross Incongruities, in what the Dr. hath replied thereunto, I shall add a general Answer to his so strange Account of this Vision, sufficient of itself to destroy the same, viz. He applys all that Vision of Tyre onely to Rome, as typified, and not at all to Tyre the Type, whenas it must be first true of her, or else she cannot be thereby a Type of Rome. And if the Vision be in the first place applicable to Tyre, then all the Dr's Reasons for applying it to Rome do vanish, they being grounded upon the Incompetency of the Vision with the State of Tyre. But we have found it well to svit with her State, which takes away all Colour for the Dr's, Typical Sense of it. But though his Account of this Vision proves so insignificant, as to vanish into vain Imagination, yet such is his Confidence in it, as to Conclude, That nothing but a wilful Blindness, and skew Conceit of Episcopacy, can hinder one from seeing so clear Truth.  
Whereas the Dr. makes his Moral Cabbala on the three first Chapters of Genesis, to be a Natural coherent Application of the most sapid weighty Parts of Divine Morality, and would make my calling it a Romance, proceed from an Insensibility of those Things, &c. I am so sensible of them, as to discern his Account of them in his said Cabbala, to be little better than insipid notional philosophic Dream or Fiction, or Quakers Cant of the Light within them, in philosophic Phrase. For as they understand by the Law of Nature, spoken of Rom. 2.14. not the Common, but Spiritual Nature of Man, so the Dr. by Divine Life, understands no more than Heathen Morality, and human Reason, making the Intellectual Nature, to be the celestial Part or Divine Nature in Man, as is evident on viewing his said Cabbala. And elsewhere also he makes the Divine Life, to be no more than what is competent to Heathens, and to consist in being Partakers of a Divine Body,( a Conceit which he dotes much on) and that the same with the platonic Vehicles, &c.  
Whereas the Dr. says next, That it's extremely precariously affirmed, That a Civil State may not typify an ecclesiastic State, as to the Perfections and Imperfections of each; I say, That it's so incongruous, that States so different should typify one another, that it's unlikely to be intended, and so not easily to be admitted, and therefore surely not here, where there's so little or no Reason for it, and so great Reasons, as I have shewed, against it. And what does those Metaphorical Expressions in Scripture, which he does instance in, signify to prove a Spiritual Merchandizing? All such Merchandizing, is but what is described by Esay, Come and buy Wine and Milk without Money and without Price,( according to which our Saviour says, Freely ye have received, freely give) and so far different from those Corrupt Spiritual Merchandizings, which the Dr. would have here signified. And tho' the ecclesiastic State, and Spiritual Merchandizing of Rome, are not such as they bear the Name and Repute of, yet it will still be as incongruous, that so imposturous a State, Answering nothing in Reality to what it pretends to, should be typified by a Civil State that does so well Answer it's Character. Whereas therefore the Dr. Concludes, That it's sufficiently clear out of what hath been said, That Ezekiel's prophesy is a Type of Anti-Christ; I find nothing clear from the same, but his strange Dilusion, with his fanciful Imaginations. And therefore, If he had any such sovereign Caphalick or Medicated Cap as he speaks of, I hope he would be so wise as to keep it for himself, he appearing so much to need it. And indeed, his Need appears to be great of that, or some other Help to rectify his Intellectuals, by his Concluding here, That my understanding of[ yet he shall come to his End, &c. ver. 35.] is very absonous and ridiculous, whenas it's plainly the easy natural Sense, free( as I have shewed) from any such Difficulties as he imagines it clogged with. And as to his thinking it better Sense, if I had made the Turks pitching of the Tabernacles of his Palace, to be on Mount Sion, or Mount Moriah, &c. where then had been the Two Seas between which it's pitched?   

CHAP. XII.  
THE Time of so great Trouble here, and the great Earthquake at the seventh Vial, are assuredly not the same, though the Dr. so confidently asserts the contrary. For the Time of Trouble is of a larger Extent than the other, concerning also the People of God( who are to be delivered out of the same, by the Victory of the seventh Vial, &c.) Whereas the Earthquake concerns only the Anti Christian Party, it signifying their Astonishment at the Victory, and the great Revolution thereon, to the absolute extinguishing their Power, And doubtless, it signifies any Destruction ensuing the Victory, or proceeding from other Cause, as well as what was caused by Victory in Battle; however, the Dr. is pleased to wrest the Sense of it. And whereas he says, That after Victory comes Settlement contrary to an Earthquake, &c. How comes that Settlement but by abolishing the Anti-Christian Powers? viz. Causing the former Heaven and Earth to pass away, that the New Ones may Succeed them. His Fancy of the Commutation of Iconisms Rev. 16. which he mentioneth here, I have shewed there the vanity of it. And what a strange Conceit is it, that he would have Earthquake there put in lieu of the Battle! whenas the Battle is spoken of in the preceding Verses, and the Victory obtained by it, is signified by the pouring forth of the Seventh Vial, and the Voice thereon, It's done, &c. and then the Earthquake and other Effects and Consequences of it, are described in the following Verses.  
The Dr. is not averse to my Sense here, only prefers his own, and that upon varying from our Translation, according to which he acknowledgeth my Sense to seem rational, and its Authority I prefer before his variation from it.  
It's wonder that the Dr. can imagine that by[ Holy People] here, the Jews should be certainly understood, when they are in such a cast-off State by reason of their obstinate Infidelity, &c. For though they be in some Sense reputed Holy, in respect of the Stock they spring from, and in that Sense are called so by Paul, Rom. 11.16. yet he tells us, cap. 2.28, 29. that he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is Circumcision that of the Flesh, &c. And our Saviour, John 8. denies the Jews to be Abrahams Children( though they were his Seed) because they did not his Works, and also, that God was their Father, because they did not believe on him whom he hath sent; and says, That they were of their Father the Devil, &c. Whatever therefore relics of Holiness there is in them, by reason of their Original Extract, they cannot surely, in such an Unholy cast off State, be meant here, by[ Holy People] by the Spirit of God which judgeth so contrarily of them. So that, it's the adopted Jews( or Christians) who are here signified, and who ver. 1. are called Daniels People( in like manner as they are called the House of Jacob, Luke 1.33. and Jews in the Second and Sixth Epistle to the Seven Churches, and are signified by the Twelve Tribes, Rev. 7. and the Jews are no further concerned than by Conversion they become United with the other, whereby they make one Fold under one shepherd, John cap. 10. ver. 16. Which is further manifest from the Answer to the Question, ver. 6. How long shall it be to the end of these Wonders? The Answer to which, That it shall be for a Time and Times, &c. does plainly fix the meaning of the Question, to concern the scattering of the Power of the Holy People by the Anti-Christian Powers; as the rest of the said Answer does also Evidence the same, viz. And when he shall have accomplished to scatter the Power of the Holy People, these things shall be finished; that is, The aforesaid Wonders of his Reigning, whom the Dr. calls the King of Pride, shall last for a Time and Times, &c. and then God will abolish his Power, and so put an end to the scattering, the Power of the Holy People, &c. whereas the Dr's. applying the Words to the Jews is abrupt without any coherence with what precedes; so is it to make, All these Things shall be finished( which plainly are the same with the Wonders in the foregoing Verse, which are to be ended at the end of Time and Times, &c.) to signify, All these marvelous Things to the First and Second Resurrection; which is only a forced Conceit, to countenance his as ill expounding Rev. 10.6, 7. the one Text plainly relating to the other. And strangely does the Dr. say, That my so clear Sense of the Text is repugnant to it, because it implies that the accomplishing to scatter the Power of the Holy People precedes those Wonders, whenas it plainly sets forth the contrary, viz. the accomplishing of the one, and finishing of the other together. Also[ The Power of the Holy People] cannot intend the Jews, because in their cast-off State, they are a People of as little Power as Holiness; whereas the faithful Servants of Christ are a Powerful as well as a Holy People, carrying on the Interest of his Kingdom, though their Power hath been so long scattered, &c.  
How specious soever the Dr's. Arguing is here, it's of no Force. For the 2300 Days, must, in their Literal Sense, necessary begin with Antiochus Epiphanes his polluting the Sanctuary; and it seems most agreeable with the Text, that their Typical Sense should have the same Epocha; or else it must be from the time of the Vision, and cannot, as the Dr. agrees, begin with the 1260 Days of Anti-Christs Reign. But these Numbers, though the time of their Epocha be set, as he urgeth, to be from the taking away the daily Sacrifice, &c. Yet that being both Literal and Typical, their Epocha may be from either, or both. And to make it from the Typified taking away of the daily Sacrifice, though not excluding the other, is most agreeing with the preceding Subject of the Chapter, and particularly, with the Time and Times, &c. which it seems to refer to. Also this Sense does better agree with the reckoning by Indictions than the Dr's. because it's wholly within the time of reckoning so, whereas his Sense is near half without that Time. But the use which he assigns here of Indictions, viz. to give a Latitude to compute by Quindenaries, I cannot allow of, supposing the Prediction of these Numbers to be more particular than to admit thereof; and so they are, both according to his and Mr. Medes Expounding them. How strangely does the Dr. assert, that the Question, ver. 6. How long shall it be to the end of those Wonders? Does intimate also the New Jerusalem, and the First and Second Resurrection! whenas the Answer to it, That it shall be for a Time and Times, &c. does plainly, as I said before, fix the meaning of it, to the time signified by Time and Times, &c. wherein the scattering of the Power of the Holy People should be. And whereas the Dr. makes the Question, ver. 8. What shall be the end of these Things?( That is, What shall fall out at the end of these Things?) To mean. What shall be the latter Part of those times which are called the time of the end? This is to put an improper and insignificant Sense on the Prophet. For to what purpose is it to know, What, or when shall be the latter end of those Times?( Especially whenas, when shall be the end of them, is made known in Answer to the first Question) though to know what shall fall out then is desirable. Nor is the Dr's. Sense of the Question of weighty use, as he imagines, for the discovery of the times of Anti-Christ: For the same is much more effectually done by the Answer to the first Question, ver. 6. For the Time and Times, &c. do, with the help of the Apocalypse, give a much clearer Account of the Times of Anti-Christ, than these Numbers, and without the help thereof they signify little to that purpose.  
Whereas the Dr. says, That my way gives such hopes of the acceleration of the Millennium as is incredible, he would have done well to have mentioned, how near it must be, according to that acceleration which he thinks incredible. And whereas he, Vis. 3. Ver. 26. makes it to be 450 Years to its commencement, he appears to have little desire of its commencement, doing with it as some do with the evil Day, viz. put it far from them. And what strange Work hath he made with the commencement of it! making it 450 Years to it, and the beginning of the Seventh Trumpet to sound, to be above a 100 Years past, and yet the Millennium does commence with the sounding of that Trumpet. And what a perverse reflection does he make upon my supposed acceleration of the Millennium, viz. That Flesh and Blood had rather be Blessed, by reaching into the prosperous Times of the Church on Earth, than to be peculiarly happy in the other State, by suffering Martyrdom here. If it were agreeable to Flesh and Blood to be desirous of those Times, the advancement of them would not be so withstood by the Powers of the World. And it's suitable to the Dr's. low Earthly apprehensions of those Times, in that he thinks Flesh and Blood will be so gratified with the Prosperity of them; whenas the Enjoyment of them will be of a much higher Nature, though they will be also happy in those Times, who are not capable of those higher Enjoyments. And surely it's agreeable with the most perfect Christian Spirit, to desire the accomplishing of ones Warfare, or the finishing of his Conflicts with the World in Victory, that he may both rest from his Labours, and partake of the Rewards that attend them, whether in this or the other Life, so it be with a full Resignation to the Will of God, according to that saying of our Saviour, Father, If it be possible let this Cup pass from me, yet thy Will be done.  
He next denies the 1260 Days to signify a time wherein the scattering of the Power of the Holy People should be ended( though in contradiction to ver. 7. as I have before shewed) upon his false supposition( as I have elsewhere shewed it to be) that the Vials follow those Days. And then affirms it impossible that the Two Numbers in this Chapter, should reach from the Epocha of the Reign of Anti-Christ, into the advanced times of the Millennium, without saying any thing to confirm his Assertion. Yet I do not suppose them to reach into the advanced times of the Millennium,( nor the first of them to the beginning of it) but onely to denote some notable Changes or Events to fall out at the end of them, in order to the Advancement of that Kingdom, after that the Delivery of God's People had commenced by the Rising of the Witnesses on the slaying of them at the end of the 1260 days; so that, my Remark does inconsiderately say, That they become wholly delivered at the end of those days. He says, next, That it's a mere Surmise in me, to suppose the Beginning of the Millennium so dim and imperfect; but this proceeds from his mere Surmise, in making the Millennium not to begin till the New Jerusalem descended; whenas I have formerly shewed, that it begins at the utter Overthrow of the Anti-Christian Powers at the seventh Trumpet and seventh Vial; but that then there must be a great Change and Revolution, by causing the former Heaven and Earth to pass away, before the establishing of the New Heaven and Earth, wherein dwelleth Righteousness, which is the New Jerusalem-State. Till when, the Divine Light of that Heavenly Kingdom will not break forth clearly, nor is like to shine forth in it's full Lustre, as soon as that Holy City shall be descended: For as the Works of God in Nature,( whose Work is perfect, and all whose ways are judgement, &c.) are carried on in a gradual Progress, so as best suits with the end of them, so are we rather to suppose the same in those higher Works of this Heavenly Kingdom on Earth, the end whereof being the fulfilling the Tidings of great Joy to all People, foretold at the Birth of our Saviour, and the same Celebrated with an Heavenly choir, Singing, Glory to God on High, on Earth Peace, and good Will towards Men. This end will be the more advanced, by Gods so Communicating himself in those Times, as always to satisfy them with his Goodness, and yet with such variety as to the manner and measure of doing it, as still to heighten their Enjoyments.  
As to Zachary, 14.6, 7. those Verses evidently concern the Millennium, both from the foregoing Words, ver. 5. And the Lord thy God shall come, and all the Saints with thee; and from ver. 8, 9. And it shall be in that Day that living Waters shall go out from Jerusalem, &c. And the Lord shall be King over all the Earth, in that Day there shall be one Lord, and his Name one; For there cannot otherwise be any tolerable Account given of these sayings. And the Time of the Millennium( not the days of the Gospel, as the Dr. does surmise) being there described as one day, the beginning being said to be[ not day nor night] does well enough agree with that saying of the New Jerusalem, There shall be no night there, though it be not so clear, as to be perfect day; or else all Scruple thence is cleared, by making that dim part of the day, to respect onely the time of the Millennium that precedes the settlement of the New Jerusalem Reign. But by the Evening shall be Light, we are not onely to understand the latter part of the Day, but all that succeeds the former part which is so dim or duskish. The Dr. next makes ver. 6. to respect the time immediately preceding the Millennium, properly so called,( thus he makes a groundless distinction between the Millennium, and Millennium properly so called) and the latter end of ver. 7. viz. In the Evening there shall be Light, he makes to respect the Millenium subsequent to that properly so called, viz. The Laodicean State,( and so brancheth one Millennium into three) and that forsooth, because he fancieth[ At the Evening there shall be Light] to be a lively Portraiture of the Laodicean State, whose Light will not fail, though there Zeal and Heat fail; whenas thereby is plainly signified, a clearing up unto the perfect Day, from the preceding duskishness, &c. and so respects the whole Day succeeding it. And, the Light shall not be clear nor dark, ver. 6. and it shall not be Day nor Night, ver. 7. do plainly respect the preceding duskish Time. Though therefore he fancieth what I have said, to be cloudy and misty Conceits, which vanish, &c. yet I hope the clear Truth thereof, does break through the dark Clouds of his blind Conceits, wherewith he hath endeavoured to obscure the same.    

A DEFENCE OF THE REMARKS ON THE APOLOGY, &c.  
THough the branching the seventh Seal into seven Trumpets, may be called a joint, 
Remark on p. 269. 270.  as joining or uniting the Visions of the Seals and Trumpets, and so it would be if the seventh Trumpet were branched into seven Thunders, as the Dr. fancieth it to be; yet the Transitions from one Monarchy to another, in Daniel's Visions, are no more to be called Joints, than the Transitions from one Seal to another, or from one Trumpet to another. So that, the Foundation of the Dr's Arguing here, proving so infirm, the Superstructure thereon must fail; which otherwise is very weak as shewed in my Remark, &c.  
Yet he begins his Answer with Amazement at my shuffling and flundering in my Entrance, to evade the Force of his plain orderly Reasoning, or rather fanciful dreaming. To make good this Charge, he in stanceth in nothing, wherein I do so shuffle and flunder, onely taketh me in a Mistake in saying, That if the succeeding Vision of Daniel, prophesied of the three first of the four Monarchies, which the two first Visions prophesied of, &c. whereas it speaks onely of the second and third of them, yet my Remark holds good the same. For if the succeeding Vision prophesy but of the second and third of those Kingdoms, &c. it must of Necessity begin at the first Transition from one Monarchy to another,( which the Dr. calls Joint) and does it not out of any relation to, or contexture with the preceding Prophecies, &c. And whereas he says, that the succeeding Vision does not end at the third Joint; I say, that there's as much Reason that it should end, as that it should begin at such a supposed Joint; and it does end where the Transition is, Dan. 11.( viz. at ver. 36.) from the grecian to the Roman Empire; so that, those Kings succeeding Antiochus Epiphanes, were either reputed as appertaining to the Roman Empire, by reason of their being under their Protection, or tributary Subjection to them, &c. or were reputed of so small Consideration, as not to be worth regarding in the prophesy, &c. And the Dr. after so contentious Thwarting me herein, does even as good as aclowledge the Truth of what I say, saying, That he will not gainsay, but that in some considerable Sense, the Times of Antiochus Epiphanes may be said to be in the Close of the third Kingdom. As to his saying, That the succeeding Vision relates to the foregoing Visions, being subservient thereunto for illustrating some Affairs of the third Monarchy, &c. I say,( as I have said in my Remark, though the Dr. takes no Notice of it) that so also the Prophecies of different Prophets may relate one to another. But because there's such a relation in the Matter or Sense of the Prophecies, How can it be thence inferred, That there must be the like in the Form or Schemes of them? Viz. That because in the former Visions, the Prophecies of each Monarchy did begin or end in such supposed Joints, that therefore the succeeding Vision must do the same, out of a Relation to, or Contexture with the former Visions,( whenas it plainly does it out of a necessity of the thing, &c.) and so to be an Example, whereon to infer the like in the Opened-Book-Prophecy. Certainly, this is as mere a Dream, as ever vain Imagination was deluded with.  
And whereas the Dr. says, That my urging that the three Visions were delivered at divers Times, and in divers Manners, one of them being but an Interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's Dream, &c. is weak and impertinent, I say, that there can be no stronger Proof desired, that there's no such Relation as he fancieth to be; and his Answer thereunto tends, onely to prove what I agree to, viz. That there's some Relation between them, as to the Matter or Contents of the Visions. And whereas he would make such Relation between the Visions of Daniel, and the Apocalypse, as the latter to imitate the former, and they to be mutual Keys one to another; I say, that what Relation is between them, is onely as to the Matter of each,( and so also Esay and Ezekiel, and other Prophets have a considerable Relation to the Apocalypse) and not as to the Form or Schemes of the Prophecies. For the Apocalypse is in Effect but one entire Vision, delivered at once, as containing but one Matter or Subject, viz. the Commencement, Progress and Establishment( that is, the whole State) of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth; and though it consist of Three Series of Prophecies( viz. the Seven Epistles, the Sealed and Opened-Book-Prophecy) yet this is the Subject of them all, immediately or mediately( viz. as they Treat of the Affairs of the World relating thereunto) and they all terminate in the Millennium as the scope of them, &c. Whereas Daniels Visions( according to the variety of their Subjects, they respecting both Pagan, Jewish, and Christian-Affairs) are delivered at divers times and in divers manners( as aforesaid) as Visions that have no relation of Contexture or Coheherence in the Form or Schemes of them. As to the Dr's. saying, That he hath fully confuted my fond Conceit, that the Inner and Outer-Court do Synchronize, Rev. 11.( which makes his first joint in the Opened-Book-Prophecy a mere Imagination) I have, I hope, there shewed, that his contrary Conceit is what he makes my Assertion to be, and that it's an Evident Truth.  
As to the Second joint, which he says is most certainly such, and not to be denied by any Man in his Wits, &c. He hath no occasion for Answering so to what he hath Printed of my Remarks, I there agreeing with him; but there is a further meaning of his Answer, which I forbear to unfold. What I inconsiderately agree in my Remark I now disallow of, because that Transition from the Anti-Christian Reign to the Millennial State, is without any such Connexion as between the Seals and Trumpets, &c. For both the Vision of the Ten and Two-Horned-Beast, and also of the Trumpets, &c. do all terminate at the commencement of the Millennium( as I have formerly shewed) so that there's no Connexion to continue them to the Millennial-Affairs, and so to make a joint between them. The Three admonishing Angels, cap. 14. he makes not a Partial Vision, in such Sense as the Third Vision in Daniel is( yet shows no difference between them) but only to be a part of a Vision, and to respect both Medial and Post-Medial-times( viz. according to his false Hypothesis) whenas they are all within the Medial-times, and are not merely a part of a Vision, but also a Partial-Vision as well as the Trumpets, &c. My Expression of the Vials beginning at the end of the Trumpets, though it be not exact, yet it's sufficient for the present occasion, and the defect of it is immaterial, and so the Dr's. Cavil at it insignificant. As to his calling it a Wonderful groundless Assertion of me to say, That the Sealed and Opened-Book-Prophecies have no Relation, &c. I say only, That they have no Relation of Contexture( viz. as to the Cortex of each) they being different Series of Prophecies under different Schemes, &c. but I agree their relating in the Subject Matter of them, as said before of Daniels Visions, &c. How much the Dr. is out, in making the Rising of the Witnesses a Part of the Opened-Book-Prophecy is shewed, Rev. 11. &c.  
As to the Dr's. saying, 
Rem. on pag. 280, 281.  That the placing of the Vials within the Seventh Trumpet, serves to illustrate cap. 11.18. I have shewed in my Remark that there's nothing there to be Illustrated by them; If this Conceit of so placing the Vials was true, it might the Prophecies. For the Apocalypse is in Effect but one entire Vision, delivered at once, as containing but one Matter or Subject, viz. the Commencement, Progress and Establishment( that is, the whole State) of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth; and though it consist of Three Series of Prophecies( viz. the Seven Epistles, the Sealed and Opened-Book-Prophecy) yet this is the Subject of them all, immediately or mediately( viz. as they Treat of the Affairs of the World relating thereunto) and they all terminate in the Millennium as the scope of them, &c. Whereas Daniels Visions( according to the variety of their Subjects, they respecting both Pagan, Jewish, and Christian-Affairs) are delivered at divers times and in divers manners( as aforesaid) as Visions that have no relation of Contexture or Coheherence in the Form or Schemes of them. As to the Dr's. saying, That he hath fully confuted my fond Conceit, that the Inner and Outer-Court do Synchronize, Rev. 11.( which makes his first joint in the Opened-Book-Prophecy a mere Imagination) I have, I hope, there shewed, that his contrary Conceit is what he makes my Assertion to be, and that it's an Evident Truth.  
As to the Second joint, which he says is most certainly such, and not to be denied by any Man in his Wits, &c. He hath no occasion for Answering so to what he hath Printed of my Remarks, I there agreeing with him; but there is a further meaning of his Answer, which I forbear to unfold. What I inconsiderately agree in my Remark I now disallow of, because that Transition from the Anti-Christian Reign to the Millennial State, is without any such Connexion as between the Seals and Trumpets, &c. For both the Vision of the Ten and Two-Horned-Beast, and also of the Trumpets, &c. do all terminate at the commencement of the Millennium( as I have formerly shewed) so that there's no Connexion to continue them to the Millennial-Affairs, and so to make a joint between them. The Three admonishing Angels, cap. 14. he makes not a Partial Vision, in such Sense as the Third Vision in Daniel is( yet shows no difference between them) but only to be a part of a Vision, and to respect both Medial and Post-Medial-times( viz. according to his false Hypothesis) whenas they are all within the Medial-times, and are not merely a part of a Vision, but also a Partial-Vision as well as the Trumpets, &c. My Expression of the Vials beginning at the end of the Trumpets, though it be not exact, yet it's sufficient for the present occasion, and the defect of it is immaterial, and so the Dr's. Cavil at it insignificant. As to his calling it a Wonderful groundless Assertion of me to say, That the Sealed and Opened-Book-Prophecies have no Relation, &c. I say only, That they have no Relation of Contexture( viz. as to the Cortex of each) they being different Series of Prophecies under different Schemes, &c. but I agree their relating in the Subject Matter of them, as said before of Daniels Visions, &c. How much the Dr. is out, in making the Rising of the Witnesses a Part of the Opened-Book-Prophecy is shewed, Rev. 11. &c.  
As to the Dr's. saying, 
Rem. on pag. 280, 281.  That the placing of the Vials within the Seventh Trumpet, serves to illustrate cap. 11.18. I have shewed in my Remark that there's nothing there to be Illustrated by them; If this Conceit of so placing the Vials was true, it might have been much more easily and evidently signified, than by his fancied slight Intimations and Glances, which can yield no satisfaction to any sound judgement, whatever they may to a strong Imagination, that is Predominant over the judgement, and Subservient to the Will. And how strangely does he Argue, for his so placing them! He says, That at the sounding of that Trumpet, there's nothing but Acclamations in Heaven and Doxologies of the Elders, and then the Vision goes on, which, What can it be to, but to some Description of the Third Wo-Trumpet? But are not the Acclamations and Doxologies for the Kingdoms of the World becoming the Kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ? And for his taking to him his great Power and Reigning? Which supposeth an absolute Victory over the Anti-Christian Powers, whereby the same was effected. So that, the Third Wo-Trumpet, which the Dr. would have the Vision go on to describe after the Acclamations and Doxologies, was past before, and is the Subject of them.  
The Dr. is very large in further Answering this Remark, in behalf of his said slight Intimations and Glances( they being designed to Support his placing the Vials within the Seventh Trumpet, and other great Errors depending thereon) though they be so slight as not to be worth his Defending, or my Defending my Remark against what he says for them; wherein he out does himself in Contentions striving in behalf of empty Conceits. I shall therefore pass them by only with some brief Observations on what is most Remarkable; and that the rather because herein he runs much on things formerly spoken to.  
To make Gods wrath come upon the Nations for their Envy and Anger at the Rising of the Witnesses is a very insipid Conceit, it being so natural for People to be Angry at their Enemies Prosperity and their own ruin thereby, that that cannot make them Objects of Wrath for new Vengeance, who surely would not have had any inflicted on them, unless for greater Guilt. And whereas he says, That I bring in by Head and Shoulders the Wrath of the Dragon in another Vision above a Thousand Years before, &c. I say, That the Wrath of the Dragon( by reason of which, a Wo is pronounced to the Inhabitants of the Earth, &c.) respects the whole Anti-Christian Reign, and especially the latter Part of it, because not till then he made open War with the Saints. And being his great Wrath at his being cast down from Heaven, was because he had but a short time, Rev. 12.12. as that time draws near expiring, his Wrath must needs be increased, though his Power be diminished.  
Whereas he makes the Temple of God, Rev. 11.19. to relate to the Sixth Vial, and the Ark of the Covenant to be a Type of the Jews Conversion, it can be no such Type: But when it respects them, it's a Representation of their State, but it's here Symbolically used to represent Christian Affairs, according to the Israelism that runs through the Apocalypse, and so can concern the Jews no further than as they become Christians. Nor is their Conversion like to be so soon as at the Sixth Vial. For as they have been so long Staved off from it, by the great Scandals of Christendom, and also Hardships to themselves, so those Obstacles being like to continue till the Destruction of the Anti-Christian Powers at the Seventh Trumpet and Seventh Vial, are like till then to Retard their Conversion. Nor would their Conversion sooner agree well with Rom. 11.15. That Blindness is in part happened to Israel till the fullness of the Gentiles be come in; which will not be till the said Destruction of the Anti-Christian Powers. Also[ The Kings of the East] in the Sixth Vial, seems to respect the Ruling Part of Christ's Kingdom( viz. those who attain to a New Jerusalem State) and therefore cannot well be applied to the Conversion of a whole Nation, the generality of which can be but in the State of Subjects. Nor can any of them be supposed to Arrive to that Ruling State by Conversion, it being to be acquired only by their Growth in Grace, and Progress in the Work of Regeneration.  
In the Remark which the Dr. hath Printed, he left out one of my Reasons, why the Acclamations and Doxology at the Seventh Trumpet do not refer, as he would have them, to the Rising of the Witnesses( viz. that they being after the sound of the Seventh Trumpet, are for the Effect of it, and not for the Rising of the Witnesses which precede it) and does generously add it as a Reason of his own to enforce my Assertion. But what he says in Answer to that Reason, is such a wretched shift, that he who can digest it, will surely never want one. He says, That the Acclamations and Doxology are not after the sound of the Seventh Trumpet, but commence with it, and the sounding of it is mentioned first for Embellishing the Cortex, and Ushering in the Acclamations, &c. But what Embellishing the Cortex is there by such a falsehood, as to mention the Trumpet to sound before the Acclamations and Doxology when it does not so? And whenas what is related on the opening of every Seal and sounding of every other Trumpet is reckoned the Contents thereof, Why must it not be so also of the Seventh Trumpet? And whereas he thinks it grossly absurd that there should be no Doxology for so signal a Providence as the Rising of the Witnesses, the Reformation( which is his Rising of them) is indeed the Second Vial; and for all the Vials, Moses his Song preceding them, is a Doxology; But why should there be a particular Doxology for the Second more than any of the rest, or than for any of the Trumpets but the Last? And the most proper time of Thanksgiving, is when what is designed by the Vials is effected, and that comes to pass at the Seventh Trumpet, and accordingly then are Acclamations and Doxology for it.  
As to the Dr's. fancied Glances of Rev. cap. 14. at the Four last Vials, for the Two first of them there appears no Colour, and though the Third( viz. at the Sixth Vial) seems more colourable, yet it appears by what I have said, to have no more Truth in it. But as to the Last Glance, viz. of the winepress at the Seventh Vial, I agree that they Correspond, as also they do with the Rider on the White-Horse,( as Noted by the Dr.) and likewise with the Seventh Trumpet. So that, what Truth there's in this Glance, does not proceed from any such Correspondence between cap. 14. and the Four last Vials as the Dr. imagines. And whenas his Intimations and Glances are owned by him to be slight, and he calls them a more obscure Compendium of the Vials, and says of them in Apocalypse Apocalypseos, cap. 16. Introduct. That they are hinted very maimedly, obscuredly, and interruptedly, How can they give any Colour and Evidence, as he fancies for placing the Vials within the Seventh Trumpet? Against which there hath been so many weighty Reasons elsewhere given by me.  
As to charging me with not Answering his Second and Third Argument, 
Remark on pag. 282.  they are Answered in Rem. on pag. 383. though the latter is only his Surmise, without any Reason for it. But my Answer to his Fourth Argument, he makes to be Boldness and Stoutness, in denying his Sense of Moses his Song preceding the Vials, without any Reason for it; whenas I give another Sense thereof, which appears, I hope, by what I have said for it, to be much more current. But as if he thought with Boldness and Stoutness to bear out his insulsid Conceits, he proceeds to a Recital of them with a great Huddle of Words, and then comes at length to this Conclusion, I hope this is invincible Evidence, nor can any thing be more demonstrable, and may deserve better Language than the rude Remarker gives; whenas indeed, he hath only Confirmed the Truth of my Remark, and his being so exasperated at it, proceeds from that stiffness of Spirit( so much observable throughout his Book) as will not suffer him to yield to any acknowledgement of his Errors, but makes him seem more concerned for his own Notions proving true, than he is for the Truth itself. And whereas he says next, That in his Answer to my Remark on cap. 11.13. and cap. 14.8. he hath shewed that I have said nothing there to the invalidating his Position of the Rising of the Witnesses synchronizing with the fall of Babylon, so that my referring thither is a groundless Boast, &c. I must also refer to the Defence of what I have said there, to see who is the groundless Boaster. He next strangely denies his making cap. 14.8. to signify the same with cap. 11.13. whenas in his foregoing huddling Recital( and oft elsewhere, particularly in pag. 316, 317, 318, &c. of his Apol.) he makes them the same Fall of Babylon; yet here( being pinched with an Objection which he cannot otherwise Evade) he says, That cap. 14.8. is but a joyful News of the Fall cap. 11.13. and this joyful annunciation is after the Fall,( viz. so as to be after the Seventh Trumpet, whenas the Fall is before it) though he before made them to synchronize as being the same Fall, and though the one be plainly as much a Prophesying a Fall of Babylon as the other,( though not the same Fall) and therefore must as immediately respect the time of the Fall, &c. whereby appears, that he can say and unsay as serves his present Turn.  
After his Toil in behalf of his shattered Motions that will not hold together, he falls to some recreating Diversion, but such as can hardly delight any but himself, and therefore I shall pass it by. As to his solid Reason, on which he prefers his Sense of Sardis before mine,( out of Peganius) it runs all upon his false suppositions, which I have so oft spoken to. And as to his critical Contesting my Sense( viz. Sardis, its signifying a Remnant) I doubt not but that it will hold good, because it relates to the Contents of the Epistle( as the Names of the Churches do in the other Epistles) viz. to[ The things that remain that are ready to die] and to[ The few Names in Sardis]; but I see nothing in the Epistle which answers to the Dr's Sense of the Word. And whereas he makes Sardis its signifying a Remnant in reference to the emerging of the Church upon the Rising of the Witnesses and Fall of Babylon( viz. according to his Sense of them) to be gross Non-sense, those Kingdoms then gained by Christ out of the Hands of Anti-Christ being the Primitiae of his Acquists, &c. I say( supposing any Kingdoms then to be gained) though they be Primitiae in respect of the great Accessions to come, yet being that the Church in this Sardian Interval is but a Remnant that emerged out of the Babylonian Thraldom, after so great Destruction of her by the preceding Persecutions, in this respect Peganius his Sense of the Word is very agreeable with her emerged State, &c. And the Dr. if he please, may add his Sense to it, and so make her a joyful Remnant for so happy a Change.  
The Dr. says, 
Remark on pag. 283.  That this Remark abounds with Mistakes, The First whereof is, my making Mr. meed to place the Vials within the Sixth Trumpet, whereas he placeth the Seventh within the Seventh Trumpet. But he knows that I meant only, that Mr. meed placeth the beginning of the Vials after the commencement of the Sixth Trumpet: So that, it's his wilful mistaking me. The Second is really one, by trusting to my Memory, whereby I made the Bellum Hussiticum to be after the taking of Constantinople, which was the destroying of the Eastern Empire, whenas it was before it; but it signifies nothing to the Matter in dispute. For though I inconsiderately supposed the Sixth Trumpet to commence at the taking of Constantinople, which was the destroying of the Eastern Empire, yet indeed its beginning to sound, is at the losing of the Four Angels from Euphrates( viz. the Four Sultanies Seated on both sides that River) to fall on the Empire,( for then the Turks did begin to inflict the Plague of that Trumpet) and then the Bellum Hussiticum being the First Vial, will be above a Hundred Years after its beginning to sound. The Third Mistake( which he makes a contradicting myself) is in effect, the same wilful mistaking me with the First. And the Fourth is another wilful mistaking me, of like nature with the former: For he knows, that by my saying, That he placeth the Vials after the Seventh Trumpet, I mean only, after the commencement of it. And as to his strange Assertion, That the Trumpets are the very Plagues that the Witnesses are said to smite the Earth with, I have shewed formerly how absurd it is; and also shall refer to what I have formerly said, for a Reply to what the Dr. says further, in Answer to this Remark.  
This Objection being in Remark on Rev. cap. 11.7. 
Remark on pag. 285.  the Dr. could not there find any Answer to it, but now hath invented one, though such as is worse than none. What Truth so plain as that it may not easily be perverted, if such Construction may be allowed, that things that are plainly expressed to be done at one time, must be understood not to be done then, but at many other times at a large distance? But Things frequently done, may be represented by Henopeia to be one continued Act( as I have agreed Vis. 2. ver. 4.) but then they cannot be fixed to one Time or Place, &c. for that would be inconsistent with the Truth of the Thing. So that, this prophetic Henopeia or any other Figure so abusively applied, is to be exploded as mere Delusion. And all that the Dr. says for so abusing this Figure, is a very forced varying from our Translation of {αβγδ}, viz. when they shall have finished, to make the same signify[ When they shall be finishing or performing] which, though it were allowable, yet could not be here admitted; because the Death here meant, is supposed to put an absolute end to their Tormenting by Prophesying, &c. and therefore to cause such great rejoicing and sending Gifts, &c. and it's absurd to imagine, that there should be such Great and Solemn rejoicings for every interrupting the Witnesses Tormenting them, and therefore it must be either at the end of their Tormenting them so, or not at all. See the Defence of the said Remark on Rev. cap. 11.7.  
The Dr's Reply to my Answer to his six Reasons, 
Remark on pag. 289.  for making the three Days and half the same with three Times and half, &c. being tedious, and running much on Things formerly spoken to, I shall pass it by,( as I did his Defence of his slight Intimations and Glances) only with taking Notice of what is most Remarkable therein.  
Concerning the first, there's nothing to be noted but mutual References to what is said on the foregoing Objection out of Rem. on Rev. 11.7. And whereas in my Answer to his second Reason, I gave a Symbolical Sense of the three Years and half, &c. he would make that rather confirm his Sense, Because that Antiochus his profaning the Temple, does typify the Treading down the Outer-Court 1260 days, and that Elijah's Shutting up Heaven from Raining, does typify the same done by the Witnesses, &c. And therefore the three days and half, so Answering the Times of Elijah and Antiochus, does confirm their being the same with the 1260 days. But he does not Consider, First, that the treading down of the Outer-Court does not concern the Witnesses, who are measured in the Inner-Court and Temple, for Preservation; whereas what falls out in the three days and half, does particularly concern them, and is a treading down them who were before preserved from it; And next, That though the judgement which Elijah inflicted on the Apostate-Israelites, does well typify what the Witnesses inflicted on the Apostate-Christians, yet it cannot at all signify what they are described to suffer in the three days and half, from the Beast. And whereas in the same Answer I compare the three days and half of the Witnesses, with Julian the Apostate, and Queen Maryes Times, as being a like short Turn of Affairs, he triflingly Replys, That Julian's was a shorter, and Queen Marys a longer Time, as if I had made them of the same Extent with the three days and half, &c.  
To my Answer to the Dr's third Reason, he says, That I make the State of the Witnesses too joyous and comfortable; because I say they are like to be very Heart-whole, and to possess their Souls in Patience in comfortable Hopes, &c. But notwithstanding they may at present be under great trial, and much Depression of Spirit thereby, through the over-bearing Power of their Adversaries, they being watchful in restraining them from their former tormenting them, &c. and hereunto exercising them with great Severities, though it be a Time of such Light, as not to admit of those Barbarous Cruelties in the dark Anti-Christian Times; and therefore, as said in my Remark, it's a Persecution designed not so much to destroy, as to silence and subdue. And whereas the Dr. thinks it incredible, That the Witnesses should recover themselves in so short a time, and not probable, that the Pope and his Hierarchy, having gotten into their Hands again, the Reins of Western Christendom, should not be able to retain their Power longer; I say, that it's not incredible, that the Commencement of their Recovery, should be so sudden; and that their slaying does mainly respect the tenth Part of the City,( viz. One of the Ten Kingdoms of the Empire, &c.) which falls on their Rising, and then such a sudden Turn of Affairs, is more probable to fall out, than in Queen Marys days. Also their slaying may be by other worldly Powers, in a Nation that hath cast off the Popes Authority.  
Whereas in his Defence of his Fourth Reason, he makes the Rising of the Witnesses to relate to their Political Death, it relates to their Spiritual Death, or ceasing from their Function of Prophesying, &c.( of which see Defence of Rem. on Rev. 11.7.) and so is an Additional Suffering to that Political Death, which had before befallen them. My showing in my Remark the Political Death of the Witnesses, to be elsewhere signified, the Dr. makes to be impertinent to his Reason, That there's nothing in the Vision that sets forth their Political Death, &c. Yet it's very pertinent to show, that there's no need of its being here intended.  
He makes my Answer to his Fifth Reason, to be slim and lank, and to let slip the main Question? viz. Why so gentle a Persecution in Comparison, and so short, should be noted, and yet one 300 Times longer, and more cruel, omitted? To which I say, that there's no need of that Persecution( which elsewhere is shewed to be but half so long as he makes it to be) to be here signified, because it's sufficiently done elsewhere, and also concerns others besides the Witnesses, viz. those belonging to the Outer-Court that was trodden down, and indeed, as to bloody Persecutions did much more concern them than the Witnesses, who were meted for Preservation, &c. And as to the Political Death, did doubtless as much concern them; but this Vision onely concerns the Witnesses.  
In his Defence of his sixth Reason, he says, That the Vision does import that there was no War against the Witnesses, till the end of the 1260 days, if we adhere, as I do to the Cortical Sense, &c. But say I, It implys onely, that there was no such War as this before, it being of so different Nature from the former, and also peculiar to the Witnesses, whereas the former was of larger Extent, as before shewed. Which makes what he says of {αβγδ} insignificant, though he strangely Concludes, He that can shut his Eyes against so plain Truth, I pray God he may not become blind for ever.  
The Dr. does charge me for triumphing before Victory, whenas he does so egregiously himself, saying, 
pag. 291.  That he hath manifestly shewed, that all my Objections against his placing the Vials after the rising of the Witnesses, to be as weak as Water, and as tender as a Cob-web, and that his Assertion is a solid Truth, even to Mathematical Evidence; whenas indeed, it's as manifestly false, as he would make it to be true; as appears from what I have said for the prophetic Sense of the Epistles to the seven Churches its ending( as I hope I have made evident) at the beginning of the Millennium. And from what I have said on Rev. cap. 10. ver. 3, 4, 6. against the branching the seventh Trumpet into seven Thunders; And from what I have said, Rev. cap. 11.7. and in Remark on pag. 285. in this Apol. for the not slaying the Witnesses till the end of the 1260 days; And from the great Incongruities I show, Rev. 16.2, 3. in his Account of the three first Vials. In all which Particulars, the Truths which I have asserted, and I hope, made good, are inconsistent with his placing the Vials after the rising of the Witnesses. And his doing so, is also inconsistent with his making the Epocha of the 1260 days, to be An. Dom. 392. and so to End in the Year 1652. For then the rising of the Witnesses, and the sounding of the seventh Trumpet must be after, and so the Vials cannot be within that Trumpet, some of them, according to him, being passed before that Time. To Solve this insuperable Difficulty( see his Arithmet. Apocalypt.) He divides Time and Times, and half a Time, into seven Semi-Times, and makes the Time of the Medial-Visions( which is computed by 1260 days, 42 Months, and Time and Times, &c.) to be computed by those seven Semi-Times; and whatever of those Visions ends within the last Semi-Time,( viz. 180 Years) he makes a true fulfilling the prophesy; which is an allowing such a Latitude to the fulfilling it, as to make it useless, and is inconsistent with the computing by Months and Days, &c. and so is it with the other Computation also; For what is to last for Time and Times, and half a Time, cannot expire till the end of that half Time. So that, it's Matter of Astonishment, to Consider, That the Dr. should persist in so confidently asserting the Truth of that, which is so abundantly manifest to be false.  
He proceeds to a magnifying the Reformation, and to a large clamorous Invective against such as he calls Conceited presumptuous Saints, who Cavil at it, and Calumniate it, which he imputes to their Pride, hypocrisy, and hypochondriac Spirit, &c. And after a long vehement bustling thus against them, he Concludes with applying( and that in a vile reproaching manner) all his invective to me. Let this, says he, serve for a Return to the Remarkers rude and irreverent Scorn and Contempt he casts upon the Reformation; whenas I have not given the least Occasion for such outrageous usage, as I hope will appear to any indifferent Judge on view of my Remark. And whereas the Dr. adds to his Conclusion, That Divine Providence itself suffers, and his Spirit of prophesy( by my supposed Contempt of the Reformation) who hath plainly declared it to be the Rising of the Witnesses as hath been Demonstrated, &c. I with full assurance pronounce it false, and that his pretended Demonstrations are no better than the Delusions of vain Imagination, if not worse. And I doubt not but that many of the Church of England( for which he would appear so great a Champion) have much truer thoughts of the Reformation, than to approve of his so highly Magnifying it; and will judge, that my Account of it in this Remark( which he is so causelessly scandalised at) and elsewhere, is much sounder than what he hath given thereof. And though he does Parallel the Victory over Anti-Christ at the Reformation, to that over the read Dragon at the Sixth Seal, and thence infers the like Acclamations and Doxologies to be expected for the one as the other, yet there's no comparison between them; and the Reformation being indeed but one of the Vials, requires no such Acclamations or Doxologies more than the rest, as hath been formerly said. And what is there in it, that is not sufficiently signified by the Second Vial, wherein the Authority which the Pope lost is so fully Typified? And the Dr. himself appears Conscious thereof, in acknowledging, That the Second Vial may be a Type of the Settled State of the Reformation, after some short Reciprocation of Affairs after the Rising of the Witnesses; yet, forsooth, cannot be a Type of it at its first appearance,( which, he says, is most properly the Rising of the Witnesses) that is to say, the Second Vial is considerable enough to typify the Reformation at its Perfection; yet not so, to typify it at its Commencement: Which, what Congruity or Sense there's in it, let any Man judge.  
Whereas therefore the Dr. so highly Magnifies the Reformation, as to call it a Stupendious Passage of Providence, and a vast achievement of Providence, it must be much Ignorance at least from which so great Admiration proceeds. And whilst he expresseth so great Zeal against that Horrid Enemy of the Church Anti-Christ, &c. What shall we think of his so much Symbolizing with that Pseudo-prophetick Deceiver, by so endeavouring to impose upon the Reader? Asserting as he frequently does, his vain Conceits for certain Truths, and clear Demonstrations, &c. And as particularly he does here again, in affirming his Arguments for the Reformation being the Rising of the Witnesses, to be unexceptionable and invincible; And in saying again, That he hath firmly Demonstrated all the Vials to follow the Rising of the Witnesses. He proceeds to a further Recital of his beloved Fancies, first Briefly, and then Largely in Seven Corollaries, as if he thought by his oft reiterating them, and confident and vehement Asserting them, to make them gain some Credit from the Reader, though they cannot do it for any Truth that is in them. But I am too much wearied and nauseated with them, to give myself any more trouble about them.   
FINIS.