And there were seven Kings five are fallen and one is and the other is not yet come and when he cometh he must continue a short space And the Beast that was and is not even he is the eighth and is of the seven When he here saith after he had spoken of seven Kings that the Beast is the eighth it must of necessity be meant the eighth King Now that this King is to be an universal one appeareth from the 7. Verse of this Chapter where it is said of him disguized under the name of the Beast that Power Greek Authority was given him over all kindreds and tongues and nations Yea the universal Monarchy of the Beast is sufficiently hinted to us by his rising out of the Sea For if by Waters according to the Interpretation given by the Angel Chap. 17.15 are meant Peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues then suitably by the Sea which is the general confluence of the Waters ought to be understood the universality of Mankinde concurring to the advancement of that universal Monarch decyphered by the Beast This Interpretation of mine is further confirmed by the seventh Chapter of Daniel where the Angel explaining to him the Vision of the four great Beasts that came up out of the Sea saith Vers 17. These great Beasts which are four are four Kings which shall arise out of the Earth But those four Kings as every one that is acquainted with History can tell are the Founders of the four universal Kingdoms namely Nebuchadnezzar of the Caldean Cyrus of the Persian Alexander of the Greek Julius Caesar of the Roman When it is further said that the Beast had seven Heads and ten Horns by the seven Heads according to the Interpretation of the Angel Chap. 17 9,10 are meant seven Hills whereon Rome the Birth-place of the Beast as I shall hereafter prove is seated and by the ten Horns as the same Interpreter goeth on to explain it Verse the 12. of the fore-said Chapter are meant ten Kings which shall receive authority as Kings for a while with the Beast And indeed the Crowns that are upon the Horns do of themselves without any Interpretation sufficiently signifie that by the Horns Kings are understood But of these things more largely when we come to the explication of the Chapter aforesaid Finally as for the name of Blasphemy that was upon the seven Heads of the Beast had it been the will of God that we should know it he would have caused John to set it down But seeing it is neither here nor elsewhere expressed or so much as hinted we should be content to be ignorant thereof and not betray the impatient disposition of our mindes by ghessing at it Vers 2. And the Beast which I saw was like unto a Leopard and his Feet were as the Feet of a Bear and his Mouth as the Mouth of a Lion and the Dragon gave him his Power and his Seat and great Authority So great is the fierceness of the Beast whereby as I before proved an universal Monarch is understood that it is composed of sundry Beasts his Body being like to that of a Leopard whose swiftness in seising on the Prey is noted in the Scripture Hab. 1.8 Their Horses are swifter than the Leopards as also his lying in wait Hos 13.7 As a Leopard by the way will I observe them His Feet or Paws are like to those of a Bear whose chief strength consisteth in his Paws 1 Sam. 17.37 The Lord that delivered me from the Paw of the Bear His Mouth is like to that of a Lion whose ravening with his Mouth is also marked in the Scripture 2 Tim. 4.17 I was delivered out of the Mouth of a Lion Neither is this all but the Dragon whereby the Devil is to be understood as John himself expoundeth it Chap. 12.9 giveth to the Beast his Power which being a Power above Nature the Beast is thereby strengthened to atchieve such things as no natural and humane Power can reach unto The Devil also imparteth to the Beast his Throne and consequently his Dominion over the other evil Spirits of whom he is called the Prince Matth. 12.24 But of this also we will speak more in our Exposition of the 16. Chapter Finally the Devil bestoweth on the Beast great Authority which being different from those things that went before is to be understood of Authority and Dominion over all the World according to that of the 7. Verse where it is said that Power Greek Authority the same Word that is used here in the 2. Verse was given him over all kindreds and tongues and nations Where by the the way it is to be observed that the Authority of the Beast is no lawful Authority nor Ordinance or God as being given to him by the Devil and therefore Men are no more obliged to submit out of conscience unto him than unto the Devil that set him up and accordingly when the Saints levy Arms against the Beast and wage war with him though with ill success as being vanquished by him in fight they do not sin against God nor break that holy Commandment of his delivered to them by the Apostle Paul Rom. 13.1 2 c. Vers 3. And I saw one of his Heads as it were wounded to death and his deadly Wound was healed and all the World wondred after the Beast It appeareth by this passage that the Beast shall receive a deadly Wound whether in Battel or by some other accident is uncertain and that the healing of this Wound shall cause all the World to admire him For who would not wonder at such a King as being wounded unto death is notwithstanding afterwards cured seeing this cannot be effected but by supernatural means Thus when King Hezekiah being sick unto death was restored to his health the Cure was not wrought without a Miracle Neither is there any sufficient Reason can be rendered why we should depart from the Letter in the Interpretation of this place But if it be here objected that the Wound which the Beast receiveth in one of his Heads seemeth not to concern him and therefore neither is the Cure thereof likely to draw all the World into the admiration of him in as much as the Heads are seven other Kings I answer that though the Heads do principally denote seven other Kings yet this hindereth not but that one of them may in a less principal manner signifie him also Yea that it doth so we are assured by the Angels Interpretation Chap. 17.11 who saith that the Beast is the eighth King and is of the seven The expounding of which divine Riddle I reserve for the Comment upon that place where I will make it appear that it is the sixth Head that representeth the Beast and consequently we must here understand that Head to be wounded with the Sword Nor is this any whit more strange than that the great Horn between the Eys of the He-Goat Dan. 8.5 should signifie one and the