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and in the utmost sincerity of that sentiment their concurrence was complete.

13. "And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child."

No sooner was paganism overthrown than the imperial converts to christianity thought they could not evince the sincerity of their faith without persecuting its enemies, the unhappy Jews, who remained the only class of their subjects whom the emperors could not allure, even to an hypocritical profession of the established religion.

14. "And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent."

The unceasing barbarity with which the Jews have been persecuted has caused their dispersion over the world, without a country or home ;-an eagle has great strength of wing, and the range of his flight is proportionably extensive :-the wings of a great eagle, that were given to the woman that she might fly into the wilderness, obviously represent the wide range of the earth over which the Jews have been dispersed in flight, alas! a vain onefrom the persecution which has every where pursued them and in that calamitous condition must they remain until the epoch whereat, as predicted to Daniel, the holy people will cease to be scattered.

15. "And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.”

The unhappy Jews have found no asylum in the wilderness whither they have fled from the cruelty that has pursued them-they have been overtaken in all countries by the fiend of religious persecution.

16. “And the earth helped the woman: and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth."

As a torrent, however violent, becomes ultimately innocuous by being absorbed by the earth over which it sweeps, so, the utmost possible vehemence of savage hostility has wasted itself in vain efforts to extirpate the consecrated people, whom the bitter spirit of persecution has scarcely ever ceased to torment, except in the vile hope of somehow deriving some sordid benefit from their services-seldom from any more generous or christian motive: monarchs, incapable of being swayed by any impulse, more humane or pious than the basest dictates of avarice, have sold protection to them—the earth alone has helped the woman in her tribulation.

17. "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed which kept the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ."

But, although the Jews have thus experienced occasional and partial mitigations of their cruel sufferings, their general history is that of continued persecution, unabated, even at the hands of professional christians, by the admitted truths that, in adhering to the ordinances of their law, they kept the commandments of God, delivered to them by his servant Moses,

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and that they have faithfully discharged the great duty of keeping the title-deeds of man's salvationthey have the testimony of Jesus Christ-those sacred records to the testimony of which Christ himself appealed They are they which testify of me.'John v. 39.

In the breast, which such considerations do not awaken to sentiments of reverential tenderness for the persecuted children of Jacob, resides, assuredly, the spirit, not of the Lamb, but of the dragon.

CHAP. XIII.

and saw a

1. "And I stood upon the sand of the sea, beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

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.

3. "And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

4. "And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

5. "And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

6. "And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

7. "And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

8. "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

g.

"If any man have an ear, let him hear.

10. "He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

11. " And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

12. "And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

13. "And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of

men,

14. "And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

15. “And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

16. "And he caused all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

17. "And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

18. "Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred threescore and six."

I have already observed that the eleventh may be considered as the chronological chapter of the apocalypse, because the purpose of the visions therein exhibited is to prefigure the signal events which should notify 'the time of the end' of the momentous period of 1260 years. In the twelfth, which may be named the topographical chapter, the vision of the sevenheaded and ten-horned dragon localised the apocalyptic history of that period within the limits of the roman dominions, imperial and papal, or more properly speaking, secular and ecclesiastical ;- -the latter, being narrowed by the signification of the ten horns, to the latin division of the empire, wherein the ten barbarian kingdoms arose.

The eleventh chapter represented the two witnesschurches as contemporaneously prophesying in sackcloth for a period of 1260 years, and, towards the termination of that period, concurrently participating in a brief series of very remarkable events common to both. The prophecy then proceeds to give a short summary of the most striking incidents, in the history of each church separately, as far as the histories of two churches so intimately related can be separated. The twelfth chapter accordingly commences with the history of the wonderful woman, or parent church, from the period when, at the fulness of her time, she was about to give birth to her christian offspring.

The joint history of both churches, and the sepa

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