a great eagle, with great wings, long-winged, "full of feathers, which had divers colours;" the wide extended and splendid Wings in this description, representing the extent and splendour of the Babylonian empire. The King of Egypt is also spoken of in the same chapter, as "another great eagle, with great wings and

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many feathers:" but as the dominion of the King of Egypt was inferior to that of the King of Babylon, so the wings of the second eagle are represented as inferior to those of the first.

Again, in Isaiah, the maritime nation is addressed as "the land shadowing with wings;" or as the land, which through its maritime superiority, caused its power and influence to be felt to the remotest parts of the earth. Other passages might be adduced, but these two, and especially the first, may be considered as sufficient to establish the meaning of the symbol.

I would observe, that Daniel gives a summary account of the rise of the four Beasts out of the Sea, that we might be put in possession of all necessary information respecting them; though in so doing he is obliged to refer to a period that was some time past; for the kingdom of Babylon was already then in existence, or the Lion had risen out of the Sea. After this general description, however, there is a reference to the period in which he wrote; for

he speaks of the Lion as having Eagle's wings, because the kingdom of Babylon was already in possession of the Empire of the world, Daniel did not see the wings given to the Lion, though he witnessed afterwards, in the course of the vision, when the Empire of the world was given to the three kingdoms which followed; for he heard when the commission was given to the Bear to "arise and devour much flesh;" and he saw also when "dominion

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was given" to the Leopard; and when the Ten-horned Monster "stamped the residue "with his feet:" and these expressions by which we are informed of the four Beasts successively acquiring the empire of the world, are worthy of notice, because they afford a strong proof of a distinction being made in the prophetic writings, between a Beast, or kingdom itself, and the empire it obtained; which distinction I have already endeavoured to establish.

When Daniel wrote, the time was fast approaching that Babylon should cease to be the ruling kingdom of the world; for its capital of that name was taken by Cyrus, only sixteen years afterwards; this was an event most interesting to the Jewish Church; for by it were accomplished many predictions of their prophets; and it was, after a period of seventy years captivity, the prelude to their restoration,

and re-establishment in their own land. It was to be expected therefore, that the vision would include this event; and it is symbolically related by Daniel, when he says, that he beheld till the Eagle's wings, which the Lion possessed, " were plucked," or till the dominion typified by them was taken away from the Babylonians, being "given to the Medes and Persians." He saw also, that the Lion " was "lifted up from the earth, and was made stand upon the feet as a man ;" that is, its charac ter was changed, and it was deprived of its power to commit violence as a wild beast, "and a man's heart" was said to be " given "to it; thus the Babylonians were humbled by adversity, and made "to know themselves "to be but men."

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"And

The vision thus continues, ver. 5: "behold, another beast, a second, like to a "Bear, and it raised up itself on one side, " and it had three ribs in the mouth of it, be"tween the teeth of it; and they said thus un"to it, Arise, devour much flesh."-This symbol has already been so fully explained, in considering the preceding vision, that no further observations appear to be now required, especially as the Medo-Persian empire will be again spoken of, in explaining the vision of the Ram and the He-goat.

Verse 6.

"After this I beheld, and lo, ano"ther, like a Leopard, which had upon the "back of it four wings of a fowl: the beast "had also four heads, and dominion was given "to it." This part also has been already explained; and we have only further to remark upon the symbol of the wings, that these are not the wings of an Eagle, like those seen upon the Lion, or kingdom of Babylon, but the wings of a Fowl of the air, and meant therefore only as emblems of swiftness, referring to the exceeding rapidity with which the conquests of Alexander the Great were made; on which account, also there are four of them. The kingdom of Alexander did not retain its power for a sufficient length of time, nor was it ever in a sufficiently settled state to entitle it to be emblematically represented as having Eagle's wings; which imply settled dominion affording protection.

The next emblem, representing the Western Roman empire, is ushered in with a greater degree of solemnity than those that preceded it; for this Empire is of more importance in itself, and includes in its description that of the Papal Power; the chief object of this prophecy.

It is described as it existed prior to the rise of the Papacy in chap. vii. ver. 7. " I saw in the

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night visions, and behold, a fourth Beast, "dreadful and terrible, and strong exceed

ingly; and it had great iron teeth: it de"voured and brake in pieces, and stamped the "residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse "from all the beasts that were before it, and "it had ten horns," which passage is afterwards thus explained by the angel, who interprets the vision, verse 23: "The fourth Beast "shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, "which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, "and shall devour the whole earth, and shall "tread it down, and break it in pieces. 24. "And the ten horns out of this kingdom, are "ten kings that shall arise."

The ten horns must be considered as mentioned in anticipation, in verse 7; that the Beast might, from the first, appear perfect and complete; or rather, because the horns, representing territorial subdivisions of the Western Roman empire, must always be considered as constituting part of the body of the Beast. So the Image had ten toes when it was first seen; and this Beast appeared likewise to Saint John, as well as to Daniel, to have ten horns when it first rose out of the Sea.

We find in these verses the great ferocity of the fourth Beast is described; and the iron composing its teeth, used as a symbol of