d attending upon the
priests, their holy water at the entrance of the temples, with their
_aspergilla_, or sprinkling-brushes, their thuribula, or vessels of
incense, their ever-burning lamps before the statues of their deities,
are irresistibly brought before his mind, whenever he visits a Roman
Catholic place of worship, and witnesses precisely the same things."
History of Romanism, pp. 109, 110.

Having failed in his direct attacks against the Christian church, with
the accession of Constantine, who established Christianity as the State
religion, the dragon soon clothed his pernicious principles in a
Christian garb and made war against the remnant of the woman's seed that
kept the commandments of God, through the rising hierarchy, under the
name of Christianity; but his heads and horns being visible, and he
being unable to control his tongue, his real sentiments crop out, and he
is easily identified. It is not to be supposed, however, that the beast
would appear suddenly in full possession of the immense power ascribed
to him in this chapter. On the contrary, Daniel represents it as a
_little_ horn at first, whose look finally became "more stout than his
fellows." Dan. 7:8, 20. Such ecclesiastical power was attained only by
the process of gradual development. According to the vision his
universal power was limited to "forty and two months," or twelve hundred
and sixty years. Since this has reference to the beast as an
ecclesiastal power, which according to Daniel grew up by degrees, the
time should be calculated the same as in chapter 11:2, 3--dated from the
time when the external, visible church was wholly in the hands of the
profane multitude of Gentiles and the true church crowded into the
wilderness. The nationalized hierarchy, however, continued to advance to
greater degrees of power over the nations, until it reached its zenith
under the pontificate of Gregory VII., A.D. 1073-1080.

The great things and blasphemies spoken by this beast are doubtless
fulfilled by the prerogatives and rights belonging to God alone which
this apostate church, especially through her regularly constituted head,
claims. In fact, the Pope is the real mouth of this beast, the one who
dictates her laws with great authority. He claims to be the vicar of
Christ on earth and supreme head of the church, even, as in the case of
Pope Innocent, denominating himself the one before whom every knee must
bow, of things in heaven, and things on ea