East, who did not bear the official title of Emperor of the Romans. If the long duration of this head, as compared with the five preceding, should be objected to, as an improbable hypothesis, it may be replied, that nothing is said respecting the duration of any of the heads, except that of the seventh, which was to continue for a short space; and, therefore, that historic facts alone must determine this point. It may be also remarked, that of the five first heads that had fallen, there was a great disparity as to the period of their duration. Some of them continued only for a few years, and others for several centuries. Now, here are two plain facts that determine what the sixth head was, and how long it continued. An emperor of the Romans existed when St. John wrote, and an emperor of the Romans continued to exist till the year mentioned above. These facts, therefore, determine the continuance of the sixth head or form of government; and if any other hypothesis be proposed so as to introduce the seventh and the eighth heads, or the seventh only, such an hypothesis must be immediately overturned, either by the nature or the terms of the prophecy, or otherwise by historic facts. The design of this work will not allow me to enter into discussions to demolish the various hypotheses that have been advanced respecting these last heads of the beast, nor to answer any objections that might be made to what has been, or may be, here stated on the subject. Those of my readers, who are anxious to see the predictions on the last heads of the beast more amply and argumentatively discussed, should consult Mr. Faber's third volume on the twelve hundred and sixty years. To that learned and most respectable commentator I am indebted for my present views repecting the sixth and seventh heads of the beast; and though it will be seen that I have not coincided with his sentiments on several other subjects, I fully agree with him here, and cordially acknowledge my obligations to him

for what, in my opinion, will be found the true exposition of the sixth, and of the rise and fall of the seventh head of the secular Roman empire.-In reference to the continuance of the sixth or imperial head, it has been stated, that it continued in existence more than eighteen centuries. The emperorship commenced in the person of Augustus Cæsar, and terminated in the year 1806, when the Emperor of Austria officially abdicated and resigned the title of Emperor of the Romans, and absolved all the subjects of the empire from their allegiance. This sixth or imperial head of the beast was in some respects more complex than any of the rest, as the seat of the government was repeatedly changed; first from the West to the East, and then again from the East to the West. This head, therefore, consisted of the Augustan emperorship, or the reign of the Augustuses in the West; of the Constantinian emperorship, or the reign of the Constantines in the East; and of the Carlovingian emperorship, or reign of the Charleses again in the West. Before the imperial head was annihilated in Italy, it existed under Constantine in Greece; and before it was annihilated in Greece, it existed again in the person of Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, in Germany, with whose successors it remained till the period before mentioned. The following historical fact will determine that the sixth head is now fallen, which certainly could not be said respecting it at any previous period. "In July 1806," says Mr. Butler," most of the "princes in the western and southern divisions of Germany separated themselves from the Germanic

body, and formed themselves into a league under "the protection of the Emperor of the French, with "the title of the confederated states of the Rhine. "On the seventh of the following August, the Emperor of Germany resigned his official title of Emperor of the Romans; abdicated, by a solemn "edict, the imperial government of the Roman em

pire; and absolved the electors, princes, and states, and all that belonged to the empire, from "the duties by which they were united to him as its "legal chief. Such has been the extinction of the "Germanic empire, after having subsisted during a "period of a thousand years."

On a review of this part of the subject, it will appear that the Constantinian emperorship was a head of the Roman empire, and that the same may be asserted of the Carlovingian; but if this be admitted, it may easily be demonstrated that neither of these was the seventh or eighth head of the beast; and, consequently, that both must be a continuance of the sixth. That the Constantinian emperorship was a head of the secular Roman empire, is most evident; for this was only a removal of the seat of the empire by Constantine the Great, who built Constantinople, and made it his residence and the metropolis of the empire. By a concurrence of circumstances after his death the vast fabric of this mighty empire was divided into two parts, and governed by two distinct successions of emperors. About a century and a half after the building of Constantinople, A. D. 476, the emperorship in the West was destroyed under Momyllus, or Augustulus. Still, however, the imperial government continued in the East; and if this be not considered as a head of the beast, then he must have become prematurely headless during the reign of Constantine, after the extirpation of the western empire. It is, therefore, evident that the Constantinian emperorship was a head of the beast. The same may be demonstrated with regard to the restoration of the imperial government in the West. While the Constantines were reigning in the East, the greater part of the western empire became subject to Charlemagne in the ninth century, who took the title of Emperor of Rome, and was acknowledged by all the provinces of the empire as sole and supreme Emperor of the West. Therefore, unless the restored

emperorship in the West be a head of the beast, the hieroglyphic animal, contrary to the analogy of the terms of the prophecy, must have lain headless from the extinction of the Constantinian emperorship in 1453 to the present time. It is plain, therefore, that the imperial forms of government transferred to the East, and afterwards restored in the West, were heads of the Roman beast. But if this be admitted, as it necessarily must be, since the heads of the secular beast can be found no where else, then it follows, that both these forms were a continuance of the sixth head, or imperial mode of government, which existed when the Revelation was written. Neither of these forms could be the seventh head. The Carlovingian could not be so, for it continued a thousand years. Nor could this be the eighth form, for that is to go into perdition with the false prophet, at a period not yet arrived. But if the Carlovingian emperorship be not either the seventh or the eighth heads, much less can the Constantinian, which preceded it, be so. Hence it is evident, that both these forms must be a continuance of the imperial head which existed when St. John saw the vision of the beast. Consequently it follows, that the imperial government was the sixth head of the beast, and that it continued for the space of eighteen hundred and thirty-four years; namely, from B. C. 28, to A. D. 1806. Thus it appears, that the present generation of men have witnessed one of the grand eras by which the life of the Roman wild beast is marked. The sixth head has certainly fallen in the commencement of this century. From the reign of Augustus Cæsar to A. D. 1806, the world has never been without an emperor of the Romans; but in that year, for the first time, this ancient title disappeared from the face of the earth. But as the present generation has witnessed the fall of the sixth head, so it will appear that it has likewise seen both the rise and the fall of the seventh.

In contemplating the hieroglyphical wild beast, it

seems necessary to attend to the economy of nature. Admitting this principle, the animal may be considered to live as long as any one of its heads continues in existence. If one head, therefore, be cut off, and another have previously sprung up, or should arise immediately at the same time with the excision of its predecessor, the beast may still live. But if every head be cut off, and no new one spring up in its place, the animal must be considered as sinking into a state of death. Hence, if we compare history with prophecy, it will be found, that the first head of the Roman beast was immediately succeeded by the second; for, when the regal head fell, the consular instantly arose. Thus, also, the third supplied the place of the second; and the rest arose in order, till we come to the imperial or sixth head. At the time, therefore, when this fell, the seventh must necessarily have previously sprung up, or otherwise, immediately arose as soon as the preceding one had disappeared.

Let us then examine what must be the essential character of the seventh head of the Roman beast. By this means a judgment may be formed, whether or not the power represented by this head has appeared.

In the first place, the seventh head of the beast must be a power, which, like the preceding six heads, has possessed the actual sovereignty of the Roman empire.

Secondly, it must bear a different official title from any of the preceding heads, by which it may be as clearly distinguished from any one of them, as they may severally be distinguished from one another.

Thirdly, the seventh head must immediately follow the sixth in chronological order, as each of the rest did its immediate predecessor. On the extinction of every head, except the seventh, another must previously have arisen, or must arise at the