seemed as if he at least,-the most eminent of Roman Catholic monarchs,—was turning to the God who had smitten him. But the illusion past away. Both himself in Austria, and the Bourbons in France, and Ferdinand in Spain, and, a little later, Miguel in Portugal, and the Kings too of Bavaria, Sardinia, Naples, did repent indeed. But of what, and how? M. Ranke answers the question. "The restored governments of Southern Europe repented of their former insubordination to Rome. They thought they had thus unchained the tempest by which themselves had been overthrown ; and beheld in the Pope their natural ally." In France (until exiled again from it by a second revolution) the Bourbons dedicated their kingdom most especially to the Virgin Mary as its patroness: introduced the Jesuits, and (so far as circumstances permitted) oppressed the French Protestants; enough to show that the will to persecute, as once before, was not wanting. In Spain similarly Ferdinand re-established both the Jesuits and the Inquisition; and the blood of heretics flowed at the stake afresh. In Sardinia the king, to whom the Waldenses had been made over by the treaty of Vienna, for no reason but that they were Protestants, revoked their privileges, and multiplied vexations and oppressions on them. In Austria the Jesuits were as active as ever in propagating Popery, with all its falsehoods. Again in Naples, Tuscany, everywhere throughout Roman Catholic Christendom, the miracles,-the lying mira 2 1 Ranke iii. 239. 2 See Rule's Mission, p. 90, and Llorente's Inquisition, last chapter. 4 A regular form of recantation for converts from Protestantism, drawn up under 20 heads by the Jesuit missionaries in Hungary, made them say that the Pope cannot err; that he has full power to forgive or retain sins, and to cast men into hell; that all that he has established, whether out of the Bible or not, is true; that he ought to be honoured with similar reverence to that paid to Christ himself; that those who oppose his authority ought to be burned at the stake, and to perish body and soul in hell; that the reading of the Sacred Scriptures is the origin of all factions and blasphemy; that each priest is greater than the Virgin Mary, because she was the parent of Christ but once, but the priest creates him anew again and again ;* &c. Christian Observer for 1828, p. 467. * Compare my observations on this point, p. 153 suprà. cles, which had ceased during French ascendancy,' began again. And then what of the Sabbath? What of Bible devotion? What of morality?—Not a sign appeared of conversion of heart. "They repented not of their deeds." And what then remained ?-What but that the sentence, the awful sentence, should go forth against them : "Because I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more? In effect the prophecy that we have under consideration intimated as much to St. John. Yet a little further respite it foreshowed would be granted to them, while the next Vial was discharged on another and different corrupter and desolator of the Roman earth,-the Moslem Turk from the Euphrates. Then would the time arrive for the outpouring on the apostate princes and countries of Papal Rome,-the mystic Babylon and Sodom, as well as Egypt, of the Apocalypse,-of the last and the most terrible of all God's Vials of wrath. CHAPTER VII. THE SIXTH VIAL; OR, JUDGMENT BEGUN ON THE "And the sixth Angel poured out his Vial on the great river Euphrates. And the water thereof was dried up; that the way of the kings from the East 2 might be prepared."-Apoc. xvi. 12. It is manifest that the same Turkish power is here intended that was described under the sixth Trumpet as 1 "I understand that not one miracle happened during the whole reign of the French. It was not until the streets were purified with lustrations of holy water on the return of the Pontiff, that they began to operate again. But with the "Rome in Pontiff darkness returned; and the age of Popish miracles revived." 2 Απ' ανατολών. the xixth century," quoted by Keith ii. 235. loosed from the Euphrates. Like the Assyrian power of old, when Providentially employed to desolate Judah, it had overflowed from its Euphratean river banks' over Grecian Christendom. And now the Apocalyptic vision represented that its symbolic river flood was to be dried up-dried up, as the next great event after the outpouring of the fifth Vial on the seat of the Beast, that is, on Rome. The precise time at which this its drying up was to commence had been, as I believe, marked out long before by the memorable prophetic vision of the Ram and Goat, in the viiith Chapter of Daniel. And having already in an earlier part of my Work explained other prophecies of Daniel which have reference to the Popedom,-one great common subject of that prophet and of St. John,3 -I must beg to detain the reader while explaining and connecting with the Apocalytic prediction before us, in an introductory Section, this his striking prophecy concerning another great common subject, viz. Mahommedism and the Turks. § I. DANIEL'S PROPHECY OF THE LITTLE HORN OF THE HE-GOAT. The vision, as Daniel has recorded it, is subjoined below.⭑-The historical fulfilment of the first part of it is 1 See Part ii. Chap. vi, in my Vol. i. 469. 2 "Behold the Lord bringeth up upon thee the waters of the river, strong and many, even the King of Assyria: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks; and he shall pass through Judah: he shall overflow, and go over." Isa. viii. 7. 3 See p. 73 suprà. 41. "In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar, a vision appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, after that which appeared to me at the first.-2. And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I was in Shushan in the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai.-3. Then I lifted up mine eyes and saw and behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other: and the higher came up last.-4. I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great.-5. And as I was considering, behold, an he-goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and clear; the Angel's own explanation being given to point out the powers and the places intended; and history, : touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.— 6. And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power.-7. And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.-8. Therefore the hegoat waxed very great :* and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones, toward the four winds of heaven.-9. And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, towards the south, and towards the east, and towards the pleasant land.†-10. And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down (some) of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.-11. Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host: and by him the daily (sacrifice) was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary§ was cast down.-12. And an host was (literally shall be) given (it) || against the daily (sacrifice) by reason of transgression and it cast down (the) truth to the ground; and it practised and prospered. : 13. Then I heard one saint speaking: and another saint said unto that certain saint that spake; How long¶ shall be the vision (concerning) the daily sacrifice and the transgression of desolation, (lit. the desolating transgression,)** to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?-14. And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days: then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.†† 15. And it came to pass when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man. -16. And I heard a man's voice between (the banks of) Ulai, which called and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.-17. So he came near where I stood; and when he came, I was afraid, and fell on my face: but he said * Or, was very great. Literally towards the glory. The same word occurs Dan. xi. 16, 41; but there in the genitive, after the word land expressed. The apparently parallel phrase Psalm cvi. 24, in our English translation, "that pleasant land," is different in the Hebrew, being literally the land of desire; and the same again in Zech. vii. 14. Compare Isa. xi. 11, "His resting-place shall be glorious ;" and Bishop Horsley's observations on it. 18, captain of the host: the same phrase that is applied to the divine Captain of Israel in Jos. v. 15; and which is also used of men, as Abner, Joab, &c. -being spe מָכוֹן ": the drelling-place of his sanctuary " מְכוֹן מִקְדָשׁוֹ 6 cially used of the dwelling-place of Jehovah, says Gesenius. So Exod. xv. 17, &c. || Or, "An host (or army) shall be placed against, or set over." The word ♫ is rendered place in Dan. xi. 31, xii. 11, “place the abomination;" and in Gen. xli. 41, &c., to set over, as a ruler; "I have set thee over the land of Egypt." Till when? Ews TоTE; Sept. ** Concerning being a word interpolated, the passage may be thus rendered; "Till when shall be the vision? (till when) the daily sacrifice (taken away?) (till when) the desolating transgression?-Prof. Lee on Eusebius's Theophania, Pref. p. cxiv. says: "From its form, the Hebrew word should have an active signification, in the sense of the transgression giving or supplying a desolator." †† Lit. justified; D PIX! with its record of facts, answering thereto conspicuously. On the banks of the Ulai, the river that flowed by what was soon afterwards the Persian capital, Susa, a ram appeared to the Prophet pushing westward, northward, and southward, so as that no beast might stand before it. By the ram was meetly figured the Persian power: 2 unto me, Understand, O son of man; for at (or to) the time of the end shall be the vision.-18. Now as he was speaking to me, I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground: but he touched me and set me upright.-19. And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be.-20. The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.-21. And the rough goat is the king of Grecia; and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.-22. Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up, out of the nation, but not in his power.-23.—And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding§ dark sentences, shall stand up.-24. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty || and the holy people.-25. And through his policy also he shall cause craft ** to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace + shall destroy many he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.-26. And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for (or to) many days." The vision was seen by Daniel in the third year of the Babylonian king Belshazzar; and therefore when Shushan, or Susa, was only a provincial capital. 2 See the appended engravings of the Persian emblem of a ram, from a Persian coin; together with the observations in Vol. i. p. 400, Note 1. : rather, the latter end. It is used for example in Gen. xlix. 1, “I may tell you what shall befall you in the latter days;" where Jacob's prophecy had reference to the lot of each of the tribes on Israel's entrance into Canaan : and again in Job xlii. 12, "The Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning:"where" the latter end" comprehends all the time after his affliction, even (verse 16) 140 years. .19 as verse אַחֲרִית * , their kingdom, in the singular. § Or causing to understand, teaching; the word being in the Hiphil form, and rendered cause to understand verse 16 suprà. So again in Nehemiah viii. 9, it is translated "taught the people." .strong ones ,עֲצוּמִים | .people of the holy omnes ,עַם קָדָשִׁים 1 So the margin more literally renders it. And Mr. J. E. Clarke (Dragon and Beast, p. 368) observes on this expression as discriminative. Those, he says, against whom the horn succeeds, having filled up the measure of their iniquities, could not be called y, the holy people, (so as it is in Isa. Ixii. 12, “They shall call them the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord,") but only the people of (qu. as containing?) the holy ones.—I conceive however that this is a critical refinement which the analogy of Scripture will not bear out. For in Dan. vii. 27 this phrase is used in as strict a sense as that in Isaiah; "The greatness of the kingdom shall be given to the people of the holy ones of the Most High.”—Compare 1 Kings x. 15, 77, the men of the merchants, for the merchantmen: &c. * Or in peace. מִרְמח |