of life,―to come out, and have no fellowship either with Church or State, lest when God comes out against them in his righteous judgments, we be found on the side of the enemy, and therefore be made partakers of the plagues God will send on the ungodly. For all these Satanic kingdoms and Anti-Christian churches will be carried away, and no place will be found for them.

5. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

Surely the present moment is one in which the sins of the people are reaching to heaven. And God, remembering his oath, will not much longer delay his coming; and Babylon the Great will fall the second time, to rise no more forever.

6. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works; in the cup which she hath filled, fill to her double.

This, with the following verses to the 19th verse, shows the situation and punishment the false Church will receive, between the first and second fall, when she will be utterly destroyed. She is now receiving her reward from the hands of the kings and nations of the earth. As she had made war against kings, and as they had depended on

is a dependant on kings for her existence, both political and ecclesiastical-being supported by Austrian bayonets.

7. How much she hath glorified herself and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her; for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

She

She has glorified her earthly power, she has lived deliciously among the kings,once commanding a revenue equal to any other kingdom in Europe, and is now a poor bankrupt, as to her national resources. pretended to be the queen of heaven, the only Catholic Church, against which the gates of hell should never prevail; but behold her now, a desolate beggar at the feet of kings,a fawning hypocrite among the political daughters.

8. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.

Then her next fall will come upon her suddenly, "in one day," and death perhaps, in every shape; mourning, famine, and fire will be her eternal destruction, for it will

be done by the strong arm of the Almighty God she will be finally judged.

9. And the kings of the earth who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning.

Before she is burned, while the smoke is ascending, between the first and second fall, the kings of the earth political rulers, who have committed fornication with her, have been the means of favoring her claims, and have received help to power and office by her influence, will, when they see the smoke, or evidences of the loss of her influence, bewail and lament for her: for this is her torment and sorrow, to lose her influence over the minds and consciences of the common people.

10. Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas! that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.

The rulers will not dare to come out openly and boldly to favor the Church of Rome; but will stand afar off, for fear of the common people, and the loss of influence, which is her present torment; but will cry, Alas, alas! that great city of the union of Church and State-that mighty combination

religion will no longer be used as a stepping stone to earthly power, and to enslave the minds of the freemen in Christ.

11. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more.

The merchants are the great men of the earth, see 23d verse. These shall weep and mourn over this mighty engine to deceive men in morals as well as in politics, because of the loss of its power over their minds; for men will not be deceived by her sorceries any more, "For by thy sorceries were all nations deceived." See last clause

22d verse.

12. The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyne wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble.

13. And cinnamon, and odors, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.

14. And the fruits that thy soul lusted after, are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.

These are a description of the merchan

dise in which this false church will be engaged, thus showing clearly that her treasures are on earth rather than in heaven. When we read over this catalogue of merchandise, and review the apparent condition of the Protestant churches at the present day, we cannot tell where to find the true church,— if these are the marks of a false church. It is no wonder our great men feel so anxious to get this book, (the Revelation) condemned as spurious, or to make it an enigma. That these texts are to be understood literally, as they read, I can have no doubt; for they are nowhere explained in the Bible as figures. They show that where a church is lusting after these earthly things, she has become false to her Lord, and may properly be called a harlot ; and they go to show, that in the end all her earthly treasures will be taken from her, and the church will stand naked and ashamed before God in Judg

ment.

15. The merchants of these things which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off, for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing.

These merchants are the great men of the earth, who have made themselves, by fraud and deceit, rich in this world's goods, who -will stand off from this worldly and specu