and many others, together with them, may be assembled to the battle of the great day of GOD Almighty. The number three is a definite for an indefinite number; and is probably used because these unclean spirits were derived from three sources; the three great powers of the Romish empire.

The amount, then, of this part of the prophecy, summarily expressed, is the following: that while providence shall be employed in reducing the wealth, strength, and safety, of the Romish empire, a collection of men, of demon-like character, polluted and debased, clamorous and intrusive, impudent and obstinate, and possessing a fiend-like hostility to the Christian religion, will spring up in the heart of its dominions; and particularly among the princes and nobles; the secular and regular ecclesiastics; who will combine together in the great business of deceiving the potentates of the earth, or Roman Empire; and others, also, in various parts of the world; that these potentates may be assembled in a vast war, in which the vengeance of GOD will be wonderfully executed upon the eminently wicked inhabitants of the countries, included within its limits; called, because it is a day of such retribution, "the battle of that great day of GOD Almighty." To this account is subjoined, " And he gathered them into a place, called in the Hebrew tongue, Armageddon; or the mountain of "Megiddo; or the mountain of the Gospel. The mountain of Megiddo, very naturally denotes the mountain of sorrow or mourning: because Megiddo was the place, where Josiah was slain; of whom it is said, "And like unto him there was no king before him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of

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*See Calmot, Cruden, &c.

Moses; neither after him arose there any like him." After his death it is said, "All Judah and Jerusalem wept for Josiah; and Jeremiah lamented for Josiah; and all the singing men and singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations, to this day; and made them an ordinance in Israel: and behold they are written of in the Lamentations." This mourning, so extensive, so deep, so long, and so regularly continued, furnishes a most expressive image of the intense and unlimited sorrows, which will flow from the war in question. As denoting the mountain of the Gospel, Armageddon may be considered as pointing out the place where this war will be carried on; viz. the countries, in which the Gospel has been preached; or, in other words, what is commonly called Christendom. Probably it was intended to have this double reference, and to express both the place and the circumstances of this extraordinary conflict. Our Saviour adds in a parenthesis, "Behold, I come as a thief; blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame." The declaration at the beginning of this verse is a solemn annunciation of the Redeemer to his followers, that, when these preparations are made for the final destruction of the spiritual Babylon, he will come suddenly, and unexpectedly; as a thief comes in the night; to destroy this grand human enemy of his Church. As the times will be times of terrible convulsion; he affectionately warns his sincere disciples to take the most cautious heed, to watch over themselves, that they may not be exposed to the censures of malignant men here, nor furnish ground for regret, either in this world or that to come.

When all this shall have been done, the seventh vial will be poured out; of which we have the following account.

"And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the "air; and there came a great voice out of the temple “of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And "there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; "and there was a great earthquake, such as was not "since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earth“quake, and so great. And the great city was di"vided into three parts; and the cities of the nations "fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance be"fore GOD, to give unto her the cup of the wine of "the fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.

And

there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven; every "stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed GOD because of the plague of the hail ; for "the plague thereof was exceeding great."

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Of this prophecy there are four parts. The great voice out of the temple of heaven, saying, “It is done;" i. e. the kingdom of Babylon, or the spiritual Romish empire, is terminated; or, perhaps more appropriately, the work of destroying this empire is finished. The second is, the general convulsion of the world, attendant upon this mighty event represented by the voices, the thunders, the lightnings, the earthquake, the falling of the cities of the nations, the fleeing away of the islands, the vanishing of the mountains, and the plague of hail. The third is, the effect of these convulsions upon Babylon itself. The great city was divided into three parts: and great Babylon came in remembrance before GOD to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. The fourth is, the effect of these judgments upon sinful men: And they blasphemed GOD because of the plague of the hail: for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

The declaration, " It is done," intends, I apprehend, either that this is the last of the judgments of GOD upon the Romish empire; or that the work of destruction is, (to use the language of Doddridge,) just non completing. In scriptural language, that is often said to have taken place, which is yet in progréss ; and even that which is still future.

The great convulsion, here described, is exhibited as affecting the earth, and the atmosphere. This description, like other parts of the Apocalypse, is symbolical; and denotes a convulsion among the empires of this world, resembling in its violence the terrible agitation of the elements, which is here announced. "The nations" are those, who experience the shaking of the earthquake. The convulsion is of kingdoms, princes, nobles, and the people, over whom they preside ; such an one as will agitate and distress the world of men in the same manner, as if all the elements were in the confusion mentioned in the prophecy.

It is not necessary to explain the third of these parts of The CITY Rome. Whether Rome may be thus affected, or not; or whether it be peculiarly and immediately affected at all, or not; the prophecy may be fulfilled with equal exactness. In the following chapter, where this subject is resumed in a different form, the angel interpreter informs us, that the woman, who sat upon the scarlet coloured beast, and who had upon her forehead her name written, "MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, the mother of harlots, and abominations of the earth;" was the great city, which at that time reigned over the kings of the earth. Unquestionably, this city was Rome: but it was not, as Rome, I apprehend; not as a city, having in itself,

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(in the political system, power, agency, and influence, of its inhabitants;) this abominable control over mankind; that this name is given to it. It was because Rome was the seat of the Hierarchy; the centre of its power; the fountain of its corruptions; the spot, whence proceeded the delusions, impieties, and iniquities, which depraved the whole Christian world. If then, the city, in this sense, is divided and distracted, the prediction is answered. The parts into which it is exhibited, as thus divided, are here said to be three: a definite number for an indefinite: the real meaning being expressed by the English word several. The fourth part needs no comment.

Having finished the remarks which I thought it necessary to make upon these passages of Scripture by way of explanation, I will now proceed to give the reasons, why I suppose the present period falls under the two last of these vials: and these are all included under the general one, that the facts, which have taken place during the last 120 years, particularly during the last 80, and still more especially during the last 60, have been an exact, and wonderful, accomplishment of the predictions, which they contain. Many of these I have stated, particularly, on another occasion. At these I shall only glance; and then proceed to others, which were not then specified.

The first public appearance of Deism was about the middle of the 16th century: when several persons in Italy, and France, assumed the title of Deists, as an express distinction of themselves from Christians. They are mentioned by the celebrated Viret, an eminent Reformer, as treating the Scriptures as a collection of fables, and laughing at all religion. Several men of this class appeared in England, also, about

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