maketh desolate." The conquerors of Rome when they were converted to Christianity, took away the pagan rites and sacrifices which had for centuries been observed in Rome, and in their place set up Christian images as objects of worship, which have continued in use to the present time. So that the removal of pagan abominations only made way for another great system of corruption and wickedness. This change was effected about A. D. 508, by the conversion of the Ostrogoths to the Christian faith, since which Christianity has been the religion of Rome.

"Such as do wickedly shall he corrupt." Those who are only nominal Christians, not Christians in heart, shall he corrupt by flatteries to submit to all the pretensions of Papal Rome. "But the people (true Christians) who do know their God, shall be strong and do exploits." They shall protest against the corruptions of Christianity which they witness around them. "And they that understand among the people shall instruct many.” The true servants of God shall keep religion alive through the long dark night of Papal rule. Yet they shall be persecuted and put to death by a variety of means, many days. "When they shall fall they shall be holpen with a little help." They shall have now and then a respite from their persecutions; but whenever they do, they shall find many to cleave to them with flatteries, and that they are in danger of being corrupted from their simplicity. But, to keep them humble and dependent, some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge them, and make them white, even to the time of the end; because it is

for a time appointed," Until the time of the end, therefore, the Papal power was to continue and be exerted in persecuting and putting to death all who were in his power, who dared to dissent from the successor of St. Peter. But at the period where the 35th verse leaves us, the time of the end is yet future.

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, AND THE REIGN OF

BUONAPARTE.

We are next presented with the prophetic history of one of the most singular governments furnished by the history of the world;-a government pefectly atheistical in its character and reckless in its conduct.

Verses 36-39. "And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished; for that that is determined shall be done. Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall magnify himself above all. But in his estate shall he honor the God of forces: a God whom his fathers knew not shall he honor, with gold and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things. Thus shall he do in the most strong holds, with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory; and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain."

* The definite article should have been rendered by the indefinite" a king shall do according to his will."

Such a character as is above described, was revolutionary France. That dreadful revolution commenced 1789, and was styled the first year of liberty. But not satisfied with the achievements of that year, and the liberty they had asserted and exercised, the revolutionists rested not, until they had established the reign of demoniac equality and frantic atheism. At an early period of the revolution, the illuminated free-masons took the name of jacobins, from the name of a convent where they held their meetings. They then counted 300,000 adepts, and were supported by 2,000,000 of men, scattered through France, armed with pikes and torches, and all the implements of the revolution. On the 12th of August, 1792, the wilful king, or atheistical power, exalted him. self above all law; the king of France was seized and carried a prisoner to the temple, and his right to the crown declared forfeited; and it was decreed that to the date of rational liberty, the date of equality should in future be added, in all public acts. The names and titles of the nobility of France were swept away at a stroke, and all distinctions in civil society annihilated.

Not satisfied with this, on the 26th of August, 1792, this power exalted himself above all religion, and a decree was passed, establishing atheism by law; and the clergy were ordered to leave the kingdom within a fortnight of its date.

Thus this king, 1. Did according to his will, asserted and claimed licentious liberty as the right of all. 2. He exalted himself above every god or power, imprisoning the sovereign of France, and setting himself up as the supreme power. 3. He spoke marvellous things against

the God of gods; by decreeing that there was no God, and by banishing the ministers of God from his dominion. In November a discourse was pronounced by Dupont, upon atheism, which was applauded by the convention. And in Nov. 1793, it was stated by one of the atheists, that all religious worship had disappeared in his section, even to the very idea of religion. He added, that he and his fellows detested God. On the 17th of October, 1795, all external signs of religion were abolished, and it was decreed that an inscription should be set up in the public buryingground, that DEATH IS ONLY AN ETERNAL SLEEP.

"Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women." Not only was atheism established by law, but the most gross and unbounded licentiousness was sanctioned, by a law of June 6, 1794. He honored a strange god. An idol was introduced, and set up in one of the churches, whither the abandoned citizens flocked, not to worship their Maker, but to hear his name blasphemed. Also, after the people had become sick of atheism, and demanded the restoration of some form of religious worship, a heathen ritual was prepared, and presented to the people, as the form of worship they were to observe. Nor was this repealed until Buonaparte was appointed first consul. And they divided the land for gain. The property, both of the clergy and nobility, was seized and confiscated, and applied to the support of the republica

Verse 40. And at the time of the end shall the king of the South push at him, and the king of the North shall come against him, like a whirlwind, with chariots and with horsemen, and with

many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.”

"The time of the end" is a period to which frequent allusion has been made, and now we are brought down to the period where it is introduced. It has before been stated, that "the time of the end" is from the fall of Popery, 1798, to the end itself. The king of the South, we have also seen in the preceding remarks, is Egypt, and the king of the North, is Syria. Him," in the 40th verse, is the atheistical government of France. This government was to prosper, verse 36, " until the indignation be accomplished;" or until Papal Europe should be scourged for the persecutions inflicted on the people of God. For this purpose, atheistical France was permitted to triumph. The French revolution, and the wars which fol lowed it, and desolated Europe for so many years. were God's sore judgment on the Papal powers. Buonaparte was an instrument of vengeance in the hand of the Almighty. "And at the time of the end "he is presented as growing up out of the revolution, rising above, and giving direction to, that dreadful storm. The Papal dominion was taken away in Feb. 1798; and in May following, at the instigation of Napoleon, the French fitted out an expedition for Egypt, the command of which was given to Buonaparte. He landed in Egypt on the 1st of July, and landed his army at Marubaut, about a mile and a half from Alexandria. The Turks, although unprepared for this invasion, mustered what force they could, and, shutting the gates of the city, held out until the French forced their way through the old, crumbling walls. Thus, in 1798, the king of the