These are not the only points of resemblance. The Roman emperor was invested with the chief spiritual power. He bore the title of "Pontifex Maximus." The pope bears the same title from his pagan predecessor, "Pontifex Maximus, the chief priest." The pagan chief was a temporal, as well as a spiritual despot. The papal chief, as we have seen, has claimed unlimited power over all magistrates, and people. He allows their oath of allegiance and fidelity, to be just so far binding, as the civil powers bind themselves to obey him in his ghostly despotism. The pagan emperors claimed divine homage. How many Christians perished because they would not render this homage to the " divus imperator." The papal primate claims, and also receives divine homage. At his election he is raised in his throne and placed on the altar, and his purplerobed slaves and priests do him solemn homage, as a god. "They adore him." The pagan emperor exacted divine homage, by causing his subjects to fall prostrate before him, and kiss his foot. This was first introduced from the Persian court by the Emperor Dioclesian.* The papal primate exacts the same impious and despotic custom. The Roman Catholic, in doing his obeisance, throws himself humbly on his knees, kisses the Pope's foot, while he says,-" Noster Domi

• See Gibbon's Rome, vol. vii., p. 21, chap. 53.

nus Deus, papa! The Lord our God, the Pope!" The Roman emperor, among other plans of raising revenue, resorted to the indecent custom of selling absolutions, or pardons. Suetonius states this of the Emperor Vespasian. His words are, "Nec reis, tam innoxiis, quam nocentibus absolutiones cunctatus est.-He did not hesitate to confer absolutions to the accused, as well the innocent, as the guilty." There is not a more prominent or manifest practice in the Papal Church than that of the traffic in indulgences, and pardons.* In every Catholic country, each city and town has a public office announcing the sale of indulgences. It was the sale of these, by Tetzel, that was the means of awakening the world; which issued in the blessed Reformation, and shook the papal throne, and rent his kingdom!

Farther, the pagan emperor had his first fruits, annates, and oblations: the latter, the Pope, has his first fruits, annates, and oblations. The pagan chief pontiff had his synod of priests in purple : the papal chief has his bishops in purple. The pagan pontiff claimed universal power, and submission from all in his empire, and persecuted the Christians even unto death. The papal chief claims Catholicity, and power over the nations, and persecutes the true Church even unto death,

• See Mendham's Venal Indulgences and Pardons of Rome, p. 83; and Blunt's Vestiges of Ancient Manners in Italy and Sicily, pp. 190, 191.

under the name of schismatics and heretics. The pagan religion owned one supreme God, Jupiter, together with a vast multitude of lesser gods, usually reckoned at 30,000: the papal religion recognizes one supreme God, but has added saints and saintesses, as numerous as the gods of the nations. The pagan votary worshipped Juno as "the Queen of Heaven;" the papal votary, the Virgin Mary as "the Queen of Heaven."* The temples of the heathen are imitated by papists. The Pantheon at Rome, which was the house of all the gods, is now the house of the mother of all the saints. In the Pantheon the heathen traveller, from every nation and province, found his own native gods, and their altar and incense. In the house of all the saints every papal traveller, from all Roman Catholic nations and provinces, can find the saint of his own nation :-the Spaniard finds St. James; the Frenchman finds his St. Denis; the Englishman his St. George; the Irishman his St. Patrick; the Scotchman his St. Andrew; the Hollander his St. Nicholas !

The pagan worshipper was subjected to an endless succession of festivals and holy days: the papal worshipper is bound to keep holy each saint's day, besides feasts and fasts without number. These excessive burdens impoverished the pagans; no less do these impoverish the papists,

* Compare Jeremiah, chap. xliv., 17, with the same title in Roman Catholic prayer books.

destroying the spirit of industry, and thence in ducing the necessary consequence, individual and national poverty, especially among the lower classes. The pagans had their vestal virgins; the papists their nuns. The pagan priesthood of certain temples were prohibited marriage, and, to keep them true to their vows, they were made physically incapable of violating their vows: the papal priests are prohibited marriage, but without being subjected to the physical precaution of the more devoted pagans. In their processions, vows, sprinklings, offerings, postures, and complicated gestures at the altar, in their robes, penances, flagellations, lying wonders, miracles, omens, prayers for the dead, dirges, they are most exactly and minutely assimilated. And, finally, their spirit and zeal were the same. They equally sympathized in their hating, persecuting, and killing the true Christians, who dissented and protested against their idolatrous worship, morals, and religion. And, in the different modes of their persecutions, and tortures, and death, we perceive that each of them adopted the barbarous practice enjoined by law, of neither buying from Christians nor selling to them, nor dealing in any form of social communion with any of them.*

*For a fuller and more complete view of this resurrection of the pagan "first beast," in the body and spirit of the papal" second beast," I beg leave to refer to a book, entitled, "The Parallel Scheme of the Pagan, Papal, and Christian

We now submit it to every man's sober judgment, to determine, according to this evidence of history, whether papal Rome be not the terrific power that is shadowed forth by the apocalyptic "beast," entitled the "second beast ;" and whether it has not "given life to the wounded First beast," the symbol of paganism; and whether it is not, in fact, the civil despotism, and also the religious system of pagan Rome, revised, modified, and perpetuated under a new name.

Finally This predicted novel power defines and claims its position as the only Christian Church among the nations of the Earth. It was a star. But it has fallen in smoking ruins to the earth. It has unchurched itself. Its purity has gone to the grave of the Capulets. It is the Antichrist. It has been so baptized by the highest authority. It is now merely a selfish, potent, exclusive POLITICAL POWER. We have seen the proofs of this. It is the "SMALL HORN" among the TEN HORNS of Europe. Hence, it is as much a civil power, and a despot, as is any one of the ten kings of Europe. It has received its designation," THE BEAST," by the command of Almighty God, and it is recorded by the Holy Ghost. No title can indicate more clearly and precisely the character of this violent,

rites and ceremonies," by Thomas de Laune; London, 1779: and also to Dr. Middleton's "Letter from Rome," showing the exact conformity of Popery to Paganism.