Antichrist meets with at his arrival in the infernal regions. All hell is in an uproar, the princes, the giants or famous warriors whom he had slain, rise up and advance to meet him, addressing him with derision: Oh! Thou art also wounded then as well as we, thou art at last dealt with as thou deat with us: Thy pride is brought down to hell, &c.

V. 12. "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, who didst rise in the morning? how art thou fallen to the earth, that didst wound the nations?

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V. 13. And thou saidst in thy heart: I will ascend to heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will sit in the mountain of the covenant, in the sides of the north. V. 14. I will ascend above the height of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.

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V. 15. "But yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, into the depth of the pit." The princes in hell continue to insult Antichrist, saying: How art thou fallen, thou that shone in majesty and brightness like Lucifer, the morning star? They remind him of his former pride, arrogance, superlative insolence, his proclaiming himself God, &c., all which they paint in lively colours: After which with a contemptuous triumph they tell him: But yet thou shalt be brought down to hell into the depth of the pit.

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V. 16. They that shall see thee, shall turn towards thee, and behold thee: is this the man that troubled the earth, that shook kingdoms.

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V. 17. That made the world a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof, that opened not the prison to the prisoners? V. 18. "All the kings of the nations have all of them slept in glory, every one in his own house.

V. 19. "But thou wert cast out of thy grave as an unprofitable branch defiled, and wrapped up among them that are slain by the sword, and are gone down to the bottom of the pit as a rotten carcass."

CHAPTER XII.

THE CONTINUATION OF THE HISTORY OF THE SIXTH AGE.

NOTWITHSTANDING the vengeance of God has thus manifested itself in the total extermination of Antichrist and his

armies, his wrath is not yet satisfied, but requires more victims to atone for the injury done to his holy worship by the establishment of idolatry and for the cruelties exercised upon his servants. The Almighty had formerly poured out his indignation upon the Roman emperors, many of whom were struck, and perished under the visible marks of his judgments. But this was not sufficient, he devoted haughty imperial Rome, their capital, to destruction, and laid it in ashes. It had participated with its masters in the crime of supporting idolatry, and waging war against the saints, and therefore like them was to be cut off. In the same manner Constantinople, the centre and metropolis of the Antichristian empire, must also fall under the weight of the hand of God. This we learn from St. John: for thus speaks he,

Chap. xiv. 8. And another angel followed, saying, That great Babylon is fallen, is fallen :* which made all nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." This Babylon has been supposed by many interpreters to mean pagan Rome, but whoever studies the Apocalypse with attention, will see the error of that opinion. For St. John gives the destruction of heathen Rome in the beginning of the 18th chapter, as we have before seen, and in the same terms nearly, not entirely, as are used here: and as St. John never repeats the same event, this second Babylon must be another city, the great city, which has made all nations to drink of the wine of her fornication or idolatry. This Babylon therefore can be no other than Constantinople, the imperial city of Antichrist, which has so readily joined him in admitting idolatry, and so hotly concurred to propagate it over the whole earth. Besides, the same conclusion follows from observing, that the transactions related in this 14th chapter belong to the last period of the world. Other proofs will also presently occur.

But our Christian prophet has not only announced to us in general the fall of this last Babylon, but even gives us a special description of its destruction. This is found in the latter part of the 18th chapter. St. John, after carrying on his nar rative of the fate of old Rome, in the first part of the same chapter, proceeds in verse 20th, to invite heaven and the saints to rejoice and exult on the occasion. "Rejoice over her," says he, "thou heaven and ye holy apostles and prophets: for Ciod has judged your judgment on her." This indicates that Irere concludes his description of the fall of Babylon or pa

* In the Greek, "Babylon the great city is fallen, is fallen."

gan Rome. What follows, belongs therefore to the second Babylon or Constantinople, and is related thus: Chap. xviii. 21. "And a mighty angel took up stone, as it were a great mill-stone, and cast it into the sea, saying: with such violence as this shall Babylon that great city be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all." Here then Constantinople falls, and the manner of her fall is expressed in clear and energetic terms. As a mill-stone thrown with violence into the sea sinks to the bottom in a moment, so will Constantinople be swallowed up by the sea in an instant, never more to be seen.

This description cannot, it is evident, belong to Rome, which does not stand upon the sea. Besides, ancient Rome after its destruction was in some degree rebuilt and still subsists, whereas this last Babylon after its fate shall be found no more at all.

The prophet goes on,

V. 22. "And the voice of harpers, and of musicians, and of them that play on the pipe and on the trumpet, shall no more be heard at all in thee, and no craftsmen of any art whatsoever shall be found any more at all in thee, and the sound of the mill shall be heard no more at all in thee.

V. 23. "And the light of the lamp shall shine no more at all in thee, and the voice of the bridegroom and bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth, for all nations have been deceived by thy enchantments." Neither music, nor dancing, of which the eastern nations are fond, nor other diversions, shall ever more be heard or seen in that city, &c. All is profound silence, and utter desolation. No more vestiges even of that great city remaining than of Sodom and Gomorrha, the very place buried in the deep. Her crimes had grown to their full measure. Her luxury had been excessive, to serve which the great men and the princes of the earth had been compelled to strip themselves and to furnish her with every thing that was valuable. Her voluptuousness was such that she seduced all nations by her riches and her pleasures, which, like an enchantment, fascinate the minds of men. By these allurements she had, like ancient Rome, ensnared mankind into her vices and idolatry.

Such is the general view of the state of that imperial city, as it will be at the time of her fall. But what completed to make her infinitely odious in the sight of God, and to force down the divine vengeance upon her, was,

selves in the dens and in the rocks of mountains: and they say to the mountains and the rocks, fall upon us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb." Apoc. 15, 16.-See the explication of the sixth seal.

Antichrist therefore having seated himself upon Mount Olivet, with his armies round him extended over the valley of Josaphat and adjacent plains, he haughtily thinks himself equal to cope with all the powers of heaven. This man of sin, this son of perdition, this enemy of God and men, though upon the brink of destruction, persists in his resolution to de fend his impious and insolent pretensions. He claims to himself the power and honours that belong to the supreme Deity, and will permit no other but himself to be thought master of the world. He has, for the space of three years and a half, exercised the most despotic and cruel tyranny over mankind, and now he braves the Almighty himself But, behold!

Chap. xix. 11. "And I saw heaven opened," says St. John, "and behold a white horse: and he that sat upon him, was called faithful and true, and with justice doth he judge and fight.

V. 12. 66 And his eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many diadems, and he had a name written, which no man knows but himself.

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V. 13. And he was clothed with a garment sprinkled with blood and his name is called, THE WORD OF GOD." The heavens open, and St. John sees Jesus Christ, the Son of God, descending; seated on a white horse, in the same manner as we saw him first set out on his conquests; which shows him to have been all along continuing them: "He went forth conquering that he might conquer." Apoc. vi. 2. He is known by the peculiar appellations here attributed to him: faithful and true, v. 11, faithful in protecting his servants and revenging their injuries upon their enemies, and he is ever true to his promises. As the father has given all judgment to the Son, John v. 22, so the Son with justice doth judge and fight, which he is coming to do at present. But what eminently distinguishes him, is his name, THE WORD OF GOD, v. 13, which is well understood to belong solely to him: but it is so comprehensive in its meaning, that human reason cannot fathom it, and no man knows it but himself, v. 12. His eyes were as a flame of fire, indicating his anger; and on his head were many diadems, the mark of his power over

all those nations he is now coming to punish: and as this will be done by a great slaughter of all Antichrist's armies, he therefore, appears clothed with a garment sprinkled with blood. St. John proceeds,

V. 14. "And the armies that are in heaven followed him on white horses, clothed in fine linen white and clean." The celestial armies of saints follow the son of God, as their captain and commander; they are all like him, mounted on white horses, and clothed in fine linen white and clean, a symbol of their merit and glory.

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V. 15. And out of his mouth proceeded a sharp twoedged sword: that with it he may strike the nations.

And he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the wine-press of the fierceness of the wrath of God the Almighty.

V. 16. " And he hath on his garment and on his thigh written, King of kings and Lord of lords." A sharp twoedged sword is the weapon Christ will use to strike the nations, which are assembled with Antichrist against him." The sword is said to proceed from his mouth, because it executes his command. The son of God is the sovereign master and judge of all mankind, and therefore he rules his rebellious subjects with a rod of iron, by scourging them in this life, and subjecting them to everlasting punishments in the next. And he treadeth the wine-press of the fierceness of the wrath of God the Almighty, that is, he is the ministor of the Almighty's wrath, and executes his terrible judg ments upon the wicked. In fine, the son of God is entitled to all his power, because he is King of kings and Lord of lords; which name is written on his garment, that it may be visible to every eye; and on his thigh, to show that he is sessed of strength to vindicate his sovereign title, the thigh being commonly put for the emblem of strength in man. Some of the attributes here mentioned are also ascribed to Christ by the prophet Isaiah: "Why then is thy apparel red," says he, "and thy garments like theirs that tread in the wine-press? I have trodden the wine press alone, and of the Gentiles there is not a man with me: I have trampled on them in my indignation, and have trodden them down in my wrath, and their blood is sprinkled upon my garments, and I have stained all my apparel," lxiii. 2, 3.—St. John proceeds,

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V. 17. "And I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that did fly