quantities and are called Lineall measure Square measure and Solid measure and without these measures the quantities above named can neither be truly expressed nor rightly understood And now being there are but these three waies by which a man may measure such a solid figure as this City is here described to be it must needs be granted that this measure of 12000 furlongs is either the Lineall or the Superficial or the Solid measure of this Citie and if that measure of these three which is most commonly used among men and in the Scriptures must be rejected in this place for the reason above said then in all probability Lineal measure the first of these three above named which is far more commonly used in the Scriptures and among men then either of the other must not be understood in this place and so by consequence these 12000 furlongs can neither be the measure of one of the sides of this Citie nor of the compasse of it But supposing that the holy Ghost speaketh properly in setting downe the measures of this Citie and after the manner of men as the words of the text last above recited doe intimate and evince it is no hard matter even by the words themselves to determine not onely which of these three measures is not but which of them is here to be understood For first it is diligently to be considered what kind of quantitie that is which is here said to be measured by the Angell And secondly it is accuratly to be observed that the measure of 12000 furlongs is not here said to be the measure of the Length nor of the Breadth nor of the compasse nor of the ground-plat or Area nor of the sides of the Citie but only of the Citie it selfe which is here set downe plainly to be a solid Cubicall figure containing three dimensions This measure therefore of 12000 furlongs is the measure of a solid Cubicall figure and therefore in proprietie of speech and according to the manner of men it must of necessity be understood to be a solid measure If the measure of the length or of the breadth or of the compasse of this Citie had been said to have been 12000 furlongs then who would or who could have understood it of any other measure but lineall measure onely so likewise being the Citie it selfe is said to be measured 12000 furlongs or as the Rhemists translation hath it for twelve thousand furlongs who will or who can especially according to the manner of men understand the measure of a solid figure to be any other then a solid measure And although it may seeme unprobable that an Angell should expresse the magnitude of this Citie by a phrase and a measure borrowed rather from the schooles of geometry which hath taught men to measure plaine and solid figures with square and solid measures then from the book of the Scriptures wherein this kind of measuring is seldome or obscurely used yet for this very cause is this interpretation the rather to be embraced For the holy Ghost would never have vouchsafed to have answered this objection so appositely by these words following mensura hominis quae est Angeli except humane reason might with probability have urged it From the words of the text therefore and from that manner of measuring which properly belongs to men and is commonly used by them it followeth that the measure of 12000 furlongs here named must needs be understood of solid furlongs there being no other manner of measuring solid figures either possible or usuall among men but only by solid measures For it is not possible for a man to finde out and to know the true quantity of a solid body either intuitivè as Angels doe or applicativè as in lineall measures but onely discursivè and per ratiocinium by the discursive faculty and by counting and calculating numbers which as it is the proper Act of mans reason onely so is it here for this reason onely or for this reason chiefly said to be the measure of a man CAP. 5. A farther confirmation of the precedent interpretation of the Measures of the new Hierusalem AND this interpretation of these 12000 furlongs may farther and evidently be confirmed because according to this interpretation the compasse of this new Hierusalem doth in all probabilitie and for all that can be shewed to the contrary exactly agree with the compasse of the ancient and literall Hierusalem and also with the compasse of that Citie which is by the Prophet Ezekiel in his last Chapter measured and described Of which Citie as also of the heavenly Hierusalem the words of Villalpandus lib. 2. cap. 21. pag. 118. upon the 48. chap. of Ezekiel are very probable and remarkable where speaking of that Citie described by Ezekiel he saith as followeth quo loco nulli dubium esse debet nove Hierosolymae mentionem fieri ex latere Christi olim fundandae nunc verò fundatae super fundamentum Apostolorum Prophetarum ipso summo angulari lapide Jesu Christo at in omnibus antiquae urbis respexisse dispositionem partes earumque nomina Mensuras nulli vel mediocriter ea perpendenti dubium esse ullâ ratione poterit Jn which words Villalpand confidently affirmes two things First that that Citie described by the Prophet Ezekiel is the same with this new Hierusalem of which Saint John speaketh And this is also affirmed by a Ad Prophetiam Ezechiclis quod attinet de novo templo novo Jerusalem omnes contextûs circūstantiae loquuntur Prophetam non de materiali aedificio sed de mystico templo agere Deinde Apocalypsis Johannis ubi hane Ezechielis Prophetiam imitatur ex professo explicat apertissimè dicit hanc novam Hierusalem à Deo ex coelis descendere paratam ut sponsam ornatam viro suo Nomen Civitatis ab Ezechicle dicitur Iehovah ibi non quòd talis urbs aliquando futura sit quae vulgò sic appelletur sed quòd propheticè indicetur Deum Opt. Max. in aeternâ illá Hierusalem Ecclesiae suae semper praestò futurum sive ut Johannes noster in Apocal. hoc rectè exponat explicet ' Deum Agnum in eâ hronum habiturum Quod etiam Thargum Ionathan in praedicto Ezechielis loco agnoscit Gracerus in 9. cap Danielis Gracerus by b In Commentariis fusè ostendimus templum Civitatem Ezechielis non ad materialem illam Hyerosolymorum sed ad Ecclesiam in Christo in terris fundatam pertinere atque adeò non mysticè sed secundùm literam omnia quae de ejusmodi aedificiis à Propheta describuntur de Ecclesia esse intelligenda quod sufficiat ut certum posuisse Blasius Viegas in 12. Cap Apocal. Viegas c Urbem hanc sanctam Catholicam Ecclesiam figurasse docuit B. Iohannes Apoc. 21. ea quae hic Propheta praedixerat testificando quod argumento irrefragabili est quae de templo possessionibus urbe imo
and taking as it were the lineal numbers of the old Hierusalem he reduced them into superficiall in the new If then according to the opinion of Villalpand and for the reasons above alleaged the number of 144 cubits be a Superficiall measure and therefore such a measure as is not lineally applicable to the wall of the new Hierusalem then it follows that mans reason by the discursive faculty must first count extract the root of this number before he can knowe and understand what the lineal measure of the thicknesse and height of the wall is And this is the reason that the next words are added 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is mensura hominis quae est Angeli it is the measure of a man which the Angel useth For so these words ought to be translated and so doth Villalpand rightly interpret them out of Ribera upon the Revelation for they are as it must needs be granted an exposition of those measures of the City and wall set down by the Angel in the words before Neither doe they import any thing concerning the shape of the Angell or any other meaning but only this that although the measurer were an Angel yet he measured the City the wall after the same manner that men use to measure such quantities and by such measures as have been invented by men and are commonly used among them Now if there be no other way invented by men by which men usually doe or truly can measure quanties containing three dimentions but only by solid measure nor no other way by which men either usually doe or possibly can measure quantities containing only two dimentions but onely by superficiall or square measure then it must needs follow that the measure of the City must be understood to be a solid measure because it is the measure of a solid figure containing three dimentions as it is above proved and the measure of the wall must be understood to be a superficiall or square measure because it is the measure of two dimentions onely it being above shewed that it is altogether unprobable that it ought to be understood of one dimention only and absolutely unpossible to understand it of three CHAP. 7. A farther confirmation of the solid and square measures above mentioned shewing that the like measures are used in other places of Scripture THere remaineth one thing yet for the farther clearing of these measures and that is to shew that in other places of the holy Scriptures the like phrases and measures are used by the holy Ghost And first for the solid measure J see not how it can be answered or avoided but that the same measure and phrase is used in the 7 chapter of the first book of Kings where the stones with which the wall of the Court was built are said to be stones of 8 cubits and stones of 10 cubits It is certaine that these stones were squared stones cut as it is said in the text according to the measures of hewed stones And it is certain also that the cubit was about two foot and an halfe long If therefore 10 cubits be the measure of the length or of the breadth or of the thicknes of one of these stones it must be granted that one of these stones if he were every way square was 25 foot long and 25 foot broad and 25 foot high therefore did containe 15625 solid foot of stone which is above 240 waine loads But it is incredible and against reason and the truth of the story that these stones were so exceeding great And it must also follow that the wall which was built with 3 rowes of such stones was 20 foot thick and more and 60 foot high and upward all which is so farre from the truth of the story and so disagreeing to reason that there is no man as I am perswaded so vainely credulous as to beleeve it It remaineth therefore that this measure is to be understood of solid measure by which measure stone and timber are commonly and usually measured According to which measure a squared stone of 8 cubits is but two cubits long and two cubits broad and two cubits in height and 3 ranks of such stones with one ranke of Cedar beames will make a wall of such a probable and convenient height and thicknesse as was requisite for the walls which are mentioned in the first book of Kings cap. 6. and the 36 verse and in the 10 11 and 12 verse of the chapter next following I say therefore that as in this place of Scripture the measure of 8 or 10 cubits must in all probability be understood of solid measure so likewise the measure of 12000 furlongs mentioned in the 21 chap. of the Revelation may be understood after the same manner especially being the phrase is not unlike and that as in the one place 8 or 10 cubits are said to be the measure of the stone it selfe and not of the length or breadth or thicknesse or compasse of it so also in the other place 12000 furlongs are said to be the measure of the City it selfe and not of the length or breadth or thicknes or compasse of it As concerning square and superficiall measure invented and used by men it is evident that the holy Ghost in the Scriptures vouchsafeth to allude unto this also and as it were directly and plainly to point at it And this may in some sort appeare out of the 43 chap. and 16 V. of Ezekiel but most evidently out of the 20 V. of the last chap. of Ezekiel where it said all the oblation shall be 25 thousand by 25 thousand c. Concerning which place of Scripture I will here set down the words of Haffenrefferus in his Commentaries upon Ezekiel pag. 102 and 103. where he saith as followeth Notanda est phrasis geometrica quam demonstrator Prophetae ex mediis Mathematicorum scholis huic suae descriptioni adhibuit Spiritus Sanctus phrasi Geometricâ ex media schola Mathematicorum desumptâ expressè loquitur Area 25000 Cubitorum Per 25000 Cubitorum quadrata quae res Mathematicas disciplinas commendat quod Theologiae studiosus earundem non prorsus ignarus esse debeat non obscurè demonstrat that is the Geometricall phrase is to be noted which is taken out of the midst of the Schooles of the Mathematitians andin this description used by him that shewed this vision to the Prophet and the holy Ghost speaketh expresly by such a Geometricall phrase as is taken out of the midst of the Mathematick Schooles an Area of 25000 Cubits squared by 25 thousand Cubits which as it doth much commend the Mathematicall sciences so doth it not obscurely intimate that a student in divinitie ought not to be altogether ignorant of them If in this place of Ezekiel the holy Ghost useth a circumlocution that he might by a geometricall phrase and by a number multiplied by it selfe expresse and intimate the square and plain measure of a
omnia quae in hoc Propheta continentur ad Ecclesiae aedisicationem amplitudinem Sp sancto suggerente spectâsle ita de sua Ecclesia Dominus loquens ad hanc urbem allasit dicens Non potest civitas abscondi supra montem posita Quod etiam quae de ipsá â—ic tradit manifestant Nam quorsum tam accurata mensura laterum quorsum annumeratio Pertarum ingredientium quorsum nova civitatis nomenclatura proculdubio haec novam civitatem Ecclesiam nempe Catholicam ut novam Hierusalem illustratione coelestium virtutum descendentem de coelo adumbrarunt Pet. Serranus in ult cap Ezechiclis p. 288. Serranus d Hic est murus ille de quo ait D. Iohannes in cap. 21. Apoâ— Ubi Ecclesiae militantis civitatem describit etiamsi nonnulla interdum misceat ad Ecclesium triumphantem pertinentia habebat civitas haec murum magnum altum Sed dices fortasse Qui sieri potest ut hi duo loci Iohannis Ezechielis cohaereant cùm Iohannes unum tantùm murum describat Ezechiel tres Hector Pintus in 40. Cap. Ezechiclis Hector Pintus e Unde Alchasar in Apoc. cap. 3. v. 12. notatione secund pag. 318. censet Iudaeam hic esse Ecclesiam Uâ—â—em quam in illa vidit Ezechiel esse Romam non Hierusalem Unde ejus nomen est Dominus ibidem scilicet in suo Vicario Romano Pontisice Templum esse monasteria virosa religiosos Cor. à Lapide in 40 cap. Ezech. But Alchasar else where in cap. 21 Apoc. interpreteth the new Hierusalem to be Rome and therefore these two Cities in his opinion are all one Cornelius à Lapide Gaspar à Melo and divers others as a certaine and undoubted truth Secondly which doth also follow out of this former assertion he observes that the Angel in the description of this heavenly Hierusalem hath not only respect unto the figure names and parts of the ancient literall Hierusalem but also to the measures of it For if the reason why S. Iohn the Prophet Ezekiel doe describe this heavenly Hierusalem to have been of a square figure and to have had twelve gates and twelve Tribes and twelve names of twelve Apostles be because these things had sometimes a reall and actuall existence in the literall Hierusalem then why should there not be the like reason and foundation of truth why this measure of 12000 furlongs should be fetcht derived from such measures as had sometime actuall existence in the ancient and literall Hierusalem I say therefore if that Citie described by Ezekiel by the same with this new Hierusalem then this new Hierusalem must agree with that description not onely in figure and in the number of the gates and tribes but also in the measure and compasse of it And â—orasmuch as the compasse of that City in the last of Ezekiel is in the text expresly said to be 8000 cubits it is evident that the measure of 12000 furlongs cannot be understood to be the lineall measure either of one side or of the whole compasse of the new Hierusalem For supposing that this measure of Ezekiel which is but a Cubit and an hand breadth as shall be shewed were five foote long yet 18000 of these measures would make but 144 furlongs which is not the 84 part of 12000 furlongs Wherefore there is no possibility that 12000 furlongs ought to be understood to be the measure either of one side or of the whole compasse of the new Hierusalem In like manner if any one were willing as some interpreters have endeavoured to understand this measure of 12000 furlongs to be the square measure of the Area or plat-forme of the new Hierusalem he must then grant that the perimeter or compasse of such an Area must be 436 furlongs lat the least as may be plainly proved by extracting the square roote of 12000 but the compasse of the same City as Ezekiel describes it cannot exceed 144 furlongs as it is above shewed Therefore neither can these 12000 furlongs be the square or superficiall measure either of all or of any one of the sides of this new Hierusalem It remaineth then that if this City doe agree in measures as of necessity it must with that City measured by Ezekiel that this measure of 12000 furlongs must needs be understood of solid furlongs For according to this measure only it is possible to reconcile these two divers measures of the same City It must needs be therefore that that Cube whose content or solid measure is 12000 furlongs must be in compasse 18000 Cubits according as it is set downe by Ezekiel And that this may appeare something must be said of the true length of Ezekiels Cubits and S. Johns furlongs Concerning the Cubit used by Ezekiel in the description of his last Vision it is evident out of the 40 chap. and 5. vers and out of the 41. chap. 8. vers and out of the 43. chap. and 13. vers that his Cubit is longer then other Cubits ordinarily used in the Scriptures by one spanne or hand breadth which is the 4 part of the usuall Cubit as Villalpandus Tomo 3. apparatus urbis Pag 68 69. other interpreters upon this place of Ezekiel not without good reason doe affirme But the common and usuall Cubit mentioned in the Scriptures was about two foote and an halfe And therefore in some of our English translations the marginall note equalleth 2000 Cubits to a mile And so doth Villalpand also in his map of Hierusalem intituled vera Hierosolymae veteris imago Romae superiorum permissu cum privilegio Summi Pontificis Imperatoris Regis Catholici ac senatûs veneti c edita And a mile containes 1000 Paces every Pace being five foote If therefore this Cubit of Ezekiel be bigger by one fourth part then other Cubits it followeth then that 22500 true or ordinary cubits are equall unto 18000 of these great Cubits for as 4 are to 5 so are 18000 22500. If then 22500 cubits euery cubit being two foote and an halfe be the true compasse of the new Hierusalem as by Ezekiel it is measured it must be granted that if 625 foote make one furlong then the compasse of this City reduced to such furlongs must be 90 furlongs Which measure how neere it comes to agree with the solid measure set downe by S. John may easily be demonstrated by extracting the solid roote of 12000 which if I have rightly performed the compasse of this Cubicall City by necessary consequence must needs be betweene 91 and 92 furlongs And although it 91. stad 71. pass 2. ped 11. un doth not exactly and precisely agree with the former yet one or two furlongs are not to be regarded in so large a compasse yet not therefore not to be regarded because a difference if it could be proved were not to be regarded but because it is beyond all comparison farre more probable that these two measures doe exactly agree because the
perimeter of a solid figure having only the solid content proportion of the whole figure given but none of the lineall measures therefore such as would have the truth of these things made plaine and evident even to their senses may consider that it is a true rule vt pondus ponderi ita Solidum solido that is As weight to weight so is solid measure to solid measure If therefore one ounce of soft wax or clay or any other Homogeniall substance be taken and be moulded and fashioned according to the figure of a Cube whose length breadth and height are equall and be supposed to represent 1000 solid furlongs then the length of one of the sides of this little Cube being divided into 10 parts every one of those parts do represent the true length of one furlong for 1000 is a perfect and exact Cubicall number whose Cubicall root is 10. Let there be therefore a scale made or a line divided containing 100 or 200 of those parts or divisions And a line being thus divided let there be another peece of the same wax taken being in weight precisely twelve times as much as the former if the former litle Cube were one ounce in weight then let this be just 12 ounces and let it be made and fashioned according to the figure of a Cube Then let the compasse or perimeter of this greater Cube be measured by those divisions of the litle Cube or by the scale above mentioned and the perimeter of it will appeare to our senses and will be found to be 91 of those divisions some fractions remaining as it is above shewed that the measure of the compasse of the new Hierusalem is 91 furlongs and some odde paces Then let there be another peece of the same wax taken being 25 ounces in weight and let it be made into a Cubicall figure also And let the compasse of this be measured by the same divisions above mentioned and it will be found to be 116 of those divisions and some fractions remaining Then let the same Cube or another peece of the same wax equall in weight unto it be moulded into an oblong solid rectangular figure having 4 equall sides the length exceeding the breadth or thicknesse by a double proportion and somewhat more as 37 is to 18 so that it may be like in its proportions to the first of the two figures above mentioned in which the height is equall to the breadth of the Area and then let the perimeter of the Basis or Area of this figure be measured by those divisions of the litle Cube first mentioned and it will be found to be above 140 furlongs as is above said Lastly let the same peece of wax or another equal in weight unto it be transformed into the figure and proportions of the second figure above mentioned in which the height is equall to the length of the Area of the same figure and then let the perimeter of the Basis or Area be measured by the same divisions of the scale and litle Cube first made the perimeter will be found to be about 110 furlongs as is above said And by this means J suppose those that have litle or no insight in Arithmetick may understand and see how the perimeter of the new Hierusalem is mystically expressed by the measures of a solid Cubicall figure in the 21 Chap. of the Revelation and may also conceive how the divers measures of the mysticall Babylon or new Rome may be mutatis mutandis analogically deduced from them If it be objected against that which J have above said concerning the solid measure of the new Hierusalem and consequently against all that I have above said of the measures of Rome that according to some Copies and Editions the words in the text are not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is not twelve thousand but as some interpret it twelve times twelve thousand J answer first that that reading which I have followed is most generally and commonly received Secondly that these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doe more properly and more probably signify twelve thousand and twelve which causeth no considerable alteration in the measures then twelve times twelve thousand For if that number had been intended then it should have been said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or rather 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lastly supposing both these divers readings of this text were equally probable yet being the measure of 12000 furlongs doth agree with the measures of the same City set down by Ezechiel and the measure of twelve times twelve thousand cannot agree with them therefore that is the true reading and not this For by what meanes can we better interpret a doubtfull and ambiguous place of Scripture then by comparing it with another place of Scripture which is cleare and out of question If it be objected that 12000 furlongs cannot be the exact measure of the new Hierusalem because the new Hierusalem is an exact Cubicall figure but 12000 is not an exact Cubicall number I answer that howsoever some Authors which doe write of these measures doe seem to imply some such objection concerning the solid measure and Lira concerning the square measure of the Area of this City where he endeavours to apply this number 12000 unto it yet there is no reality in this objection For that 12000 or any other number which is not a perfect Cubicall number or a perfect square number may yet be the exact solid measure of a Cube and may exactly expresse the superficiall measure of an exactly square figure is a certain and undoubted truth which cannot be denied although perhaps some men doe not suddenly and easily conceive it J have now as J hope sufficiently answered all such objections as J doe yet know can be materially objected against the substance of that which I have above written And I am willing to publish these things notwithstanding I cannot but discover much ignorance and weaknes with them that J may know what more can be objected against them Wherefore J do humbly and earnestly desire those religious wise learned men which doe not yet believe that the Pope is Antichrist nor that this is the true interpretation of his number that they would not conceive their own apprehensions which seem to make against these positions so paraeneticall as if nothing but vaine jangling could be replied unto them Let them publish them to the world that Truth may be discovered errors confuted the Church inlightned Antichrist revealed and God glorified They may perhaps receive satisfaction beyond their expectation if not from me yet from those who are better able to defend so much truth as I have written then I my selfe can be As for Romish Catholiques especially such as are seducers of others such as are truly Italionated J doe well know that no evidence of truth is sufficient to convince them and that although a man should bray them in a morter with a pestle yet would they not cease to gain-say those truths which they are not able to confute But for those of their laitie who out of ignorance and simplicity are seduced by them of which there are many in this Kingdome I doe rather pray for their conversion then desire their confusion and that God would vouchsafe to open their eyes that they may wonder at themselves for having been so long deceived by those hypocrites at Rome who are that very Synagogue of Sathan and that corporation of false Prophets in whom dwelleth bodily the fulnesse of that spirit of Antichrist and the fulnesse of that spirit of error which was to come into the world For the farther manifestation of which truth if it hath pleased God to discover any thing by me it is because he is sometimes pleased to shew his strength in weaknesse and to chuse things that are weake and things that are despised to bring to nought things that are mighty To him therefore who is the onely wise God and who will in due time discover all necessary truths to his Church be all Glory and Praise for ever AMEN FINIS
26. * But speaking properly and strictly the root of 666 can be said to be no other Cardinall number but 25. because Quod inest in dicitur de quod non inest in non dicitur de that is because it is to have it's denomination from the greatest square nuÌ„ber contained in the number 666 and not from that number which is not contained in it as it is above declared CHAP. 28. A farther and a full answer to all objections about the Root of 666 drawne from the consideration of the figure of that number by which the figure of the City of Rome is exactly expressed A Reason may be yet farther demanded why of all those numbers which are between 650 and 676 there was no other number expressed to be the number of the Beast but onely the number 666 to which I answer that as it was most convenient for the reasons above alleaged that the number of the Beast should be between those two numbers so there may be many reasons here alleaged why the number 666 was chosen rather then any other First it may be said that no other number whose root was 25 could be expressed by the numerall letters of the Beasts name as concerning the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and divers other names of this Beast in divers languages hath been and may be observed Secondly it may be said that the number 666 was chosen rather then any other number whose root was 25 that by the two last figures of this number or by the number signified by the two last figures of this number there might be an allusion to that image mentioned Dan. cap 3. whose height was 60 Cubits and the breadth 6 Cubits Which Image as Mr Forbs doth not without probability intimate may very fitly shadow forth the Papacie For as divers Nations Tongues and Languages were allured with all kindes of Musick and inforced by the fierie furnace to fall down and worship that Image so divers nations and languages have been both allured by the musick of all kinds of flatteries and false doctrines and also inforced by fierie Furnaces and other torments to fall downe and worship that Idoll Shepheard at Rome But as Nebuchadnezzar to his great astonishment saw foure men walking in the midst of the fire insteed of those three which fell downe bound at the first so the Pope to his terror may behold that the number of Protestants increaseth daily notwithstanding his fierie persecutions and those that heretofore lay dead for a time in the street of the great City which spiritually is called Sodome and Egypt doe now stand upon their feet againe in greater numbers and cause feare to fall upon their enimies But if neither of these reasons nor any thing yet said give satisfaction to iudicious readers nor shew sufficient cause why the number 666 should be chosen rather then 625 or any other number whose root is 25 yet I am confident that that reason being added to it which I shall now set downe in the last place concerning the figure of the number 666 cannot but give full satisfaction to all such as understand it For as the root of 144 is opposed to the root of 666 so also is the figure of that number opposed to the figure of this and as the root of 666 exceeds the root of 144 by a double proportion and somewhat more so the figure of 666 exceeds the figure of the number 144 by a double proportion and somewhat more And as divers mysteries have been already found out by the application of the root of the number 666 to such things as pertaine to the Papacie so there remaine some mysteries to be found out by application of the figure of the same number to the City of Rome For as the actuall application of that number which is the root of 144 to such things as are mentioned in the description of the new Hierusalem doth guide and direct and as it were confine the application of that number which is the root of 666 to such things as are answerable and opposite unto them so the actuall application of that figure which is the figure of the number 144 to that new a And the city lieth fourâ— square â—ed the length is as large as the breadth c. Rev. 21. 16. Hierusalem described in the Revelation is both an example and a warrant shewing how that figure which is the figure of the number 666 ought to be applied to that City which is answerable and opposite to Hierusalem If therefore a reason be yet demanded why the number 666 ought to be chosen to be the Beasts number rather then any other whose root was 25. I answer that for what reason soever the number 144 was chosen rather then any other number whose root was 12 for the same reason was the number 666 chosen rather then any other number whose root was 25. But no better reason can be given or imagined why the number 144 should be chosen rather then 145 or 146 or 154 or any other number whose root is 12 but onely because the figure of this number is a perfect figure perfectly representing the figure of the City Hierusalem therefore it may be concluded that no better reason ought to be expected why â—66 should be chosen rather then any other number whose root was 25 but only because the figure of this number doth perfectly represent the figure of the city of Rome Now therefore that the truth of this may appeare I must briefly expresse what figurated numbers are The summe of that which Euclide others have written de numeris planis figuratis that is of flat superficiall figurated numbers is that those numbers onely are figurated numbers which can be produced and made either by the multiplication of one number by it selfe or by the multiplication of some one number by another number as for example the number 12 is a figurated number because it may be produced made by the multiplication of the number 3 by the number 4 and also by the multiplication of the number 2 by the number 6 as by the following figures wherein 12 unities are placed according right angles and equall distances may plainly appeare But the number 13 or 11 can by no meanes be reduced to any * That is to any quadrangular figure straight lines and rectangles either of equal or unequall sides figure wherefore they are not figurated numbers neither can so many unities be placed any manner of way but still there will be something wanting to make the square figure compleat or something redundant which doth exceed it as these examples shew The number 30 is a figurated number because three times ten or five times six make this number as these examples shew And by these examples it may be observed that the same number may have divers figures And when it so falleth out that the same number may be varied into divers figures then that figure which commeth