I have done with the Preface when I have faid, that the Reader must not expect here to find any thing like a general Charge against the Romish Church, (Juch a Work would fill Volumes, and has actually so done: The Defign of the Effay being only to open two Articles of her Indictment; and vet Ex Pede Herculem, from a Foot, by the Rule of Proportion, we may make an Eftimate of the Man of Sin. ΑΝ A N ESSAY To Explain that PASSAGE in the REVELATIONS, Ch. xviii. ver. 13. -And Slaves and Souls of Men. T being a Matter of fuch mighty Confequence to the People of GOD in the feveral Ages of the Church, plainly to dif cover Antichrift, that fo "they might not fo" "touch the unclean thing", but be feparate; 'Tis not to be wondred at, that the HOLY GHOST, in giving the Character of Mystical Babylon, the Mother of Harlots, &c. fhould defcend to fuch Particulars as we meet with in this, and the preceeding Chapter. For here we find the Apoftate Church defcribed from her Pofture, Sitting, v. 3. I faw a Woman Sit, &c. thus old Babylon Sat as a Queen: Her Garb and Attire, v. 4. fhe was arrayed with Purple, and decked with Gold and precious Stones, &c. Notice is alfo taken of her Complexion, and Condition; She was Scarlet Coloured, and drunk with Blood; the Blood of Saints and Martyrs, as it follows in v. 6. And the better to find this ftrange Woman, Woman, her Residence, or Place of Abode, is pointed out; the great City which reigned over the Kings of the Earth, viz. ROME; which was famous for its feven Mountains, and therefore called Civitas Septicollis. Virgil fpeaking of Rome fays, Septem quæ una fibi muro circumdedit Arces: And the Antient Romans had a Feaft called Feftum Septimontium. And because great Cities are very much known and distinguished by the Staple, or principal Wares they deal in; we have an Account of the Trade drove to, and from this Myftical Babylon, by her Merchants and Chapmen; and the very Commodities, as well thofe Imported as Exported, are here enumerated. The Invoice, which indeed is very particular, begins at the 12th Verfe, with Gold and Silver, and ends in the 13th Verfe, with the Slaves and Souls of Men, as our English Bible reads it. The Margin indeed has it Bodies; The Words in the Original, are Καὶ σωματῶν, καὶ ψύκας ανθροπων ; the true Meaning of which I fhall now inquire into: And there being the leaft Difficulty with the Word Souls, I fhall begin with that, tho' the other stands first in the Text. IT must be acknowledged, that in Scripture, as well as in other Writings, the word Soul, is often taken figuratively for the whole Perfon: yet on the other hand, the facred Hiftorians, and other Writers, use the Word Joxas, and fcarce any other, when they fpeak of departed Spirits, or the Soul after its Separation from the Body; as might be proved from innumerable Inftances, were there occafion. Homer, the Fountain of the Greek Language, for the most part, if not always, uses the Word xas, for the Ghosts or departed Spirits of the Grecian Heroes *. But I need not labour this; our Protestant * Muriv, # Πολλές ιφθίμος Ψύχας αδί προκαψει Ηρρόων Englished by Mr. Pope. That Wrath which hurl'd to Pluto's gloomy Reign, testant Expofitors being generally agreed, That by the Word oxas in this Place, we are to understand Souls departed. I proceed therefore to explain the Word saμatav. Our famous Mr. Brightman reads it Bodies: The French Bible renders the Word Efclaves: Junius and Tremellius tranflate it Mancipia; and fo does the Vulgar Latin Bible, with many of the Criticks. It is probable, that which occafioned our Tranflators, together with Junius, and Tremellius, and the Latin and French Bibles, to render the Word owμatav, Slaves, or Mancipia, is a Paffage in the Defcription which the Prophet Ezekiel, Chap. xxvii. gives of the rich Trade and Supply of Tyre, ver. 13. Javan, Tubal, and Mefbec, they were thy Merchants; they traded the Perfons of Men, as our Bible reads it, and fo does the French. The Latin has it Mancipia; Junius and Tremellius, Hominibus: But the general Opinion of Expofitors is, that the Prophet Ezekiel intends Servants, or Slaves, that were fold at Tyre: And withont doubt the Allegorical Defcription of Myftical Babylon in this Chapter, is taken from that Prophecy in Ezekiel. But then as Mr. Brightman upon the Place obferves, thefe Words in the Revelations have a far other Meaning than thofe in Ezekiel and upon the last Words in the Verfe, viz. and Souls of Men, fays, The HOLY GHOST feems to have changed "the Conftruction of the Words of fet purpose, that "he might note out the Difference between this Com❝modity, and all the other, especially thofe of the "Bodies; for these Words are not put in the Geni"tive Case, as it is clear in the Greek Text, but as r we have tranflated it in the Latin; whereby it is fignified, that there is a diverfe, and diftin&t Con"fideration made in the Place, of Souls and Bodies". Thus that Learned Man. THIS remarkable Distinction makes it the more ftrange, that fuch of our Proteftant Expofitors, as underftand by the word xas, Spirits or feparate Souls, fhould B fhould render the preceding word owuara Slaves: For Slavery is Conditio Perfona, and takes in the whole Man, to wit, Soul and Body, Conjunctim; whereas in the Text they are plainly enumerated as two diftinct Species of Merchandise. BESIDES, I doubt upon Examination,even the Proteftants will be found as much concerned in the Merchandife of Slaves, as thofe of the Romish Religion, and fo it cannot be a Characteristic of the Apoftate Church, which (as has been noted) is the great Design of the Context. I have already obférved, That Mr. Brightman reads the Word patv, in this Place, Bodies: but then he applies it to the Switzers, who are a Corpulent People, and furnish the Pope with his ftanding Guards. SOME Learned Men have thought, that the wretched Subjection and Vaffalage of the Princes and People in Europe, to the Church of Rome, efpecially in the Ages preceeding the Reformation, when the Popes treated them like Slaves, is here intended. OTHERS again are of Opinion, That by the Word @parar, we may very well underftand, the Merchandife made by the Romish Church of the Bodies of Men while alive, in thofe rigorous and unnatural Chaftifings of the Body, by Shirts of Mail, Haircloth, Whippings, and other Bodily Penances: which, tho enjoyned and practifed under pretence of fpiritual Mortification, and for the Good of the Soul; yet upon occafion may be difpenfed with, and are commuted into Money, or fome other Emolument to the Church, and fo turned into Merchandife. But veritas rei, et veritas loci, are two different Things. The Question is not what the Word oua, in general fignifies, or how may be rendred in other Places? but what the Meaning of it is in this Invoice of the Merchandise of Mystical Babylon ? it AND with Reverence to our English Tranflators, and the other venerable Authors before-mentioned, I am of Opinion, That by the Word cauatar, in the Text, |