he is threatened with destruction by a persecution, which the evil spirit, after having already cast down a great part of the faithful in preceding persecutions, fomented through his servants the Pagan Emperors, who attempted in vain for ten years to extirpate Christianity, A.D. 302— 312. Christianity escapes destruction from its enemy, but flies the earth through the corruption of the church, which remains in a desolate state for 1260 years. A.D. 553-1813.

XII. 1.—And there appeared a great sign in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of 2 twelve stars and she being with child, travailing 3 in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another sign in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten 4 horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And

his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it 5 was born. And she brought forth a man child,

who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to 6 his throne. And the woman fled into the wilder

ness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

SECTION II.

The Ten Years' War of Christ and his Saints; the Fall of Paganism; and Irruption of the Gothic Nations.

The faithful with Christ in their hearts undergo ten years' war of sufferings against the Pagan Emperors, who at length are overthrown together with Paganism, its priests, and its adherents, by the blood of these martyrs' patience. The Christian church is established by Constantine, 312; but from that time real Christianity begins to take its flight, till in about A.D. 553, the church is left completely desolate for 1260 years till 1813. The evil spirit, not content with the corruption of the visible church, aims at its destruction by the revival of Paganism through the medium of the ten Gothic nations with whom he inundates the Empire; but these, instead of establishing their own religion, are converted to Christianity, and the visible church is supported by the civil sword in the Eastern and Western Empires, or in the two præfectures of the Gauls and Italy by them, in conjunction with the Emperors and Popes during her 1260 years' desolation, without being superseded by a positively Pagan hierarchy. The evil spirit therefore, unable to overthrow the establishment, is content to take up with the persecution of the saints; with whom he carries on a successful war by the Beast, his Image, and their Decemvirates for 1260 years.

7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the 8 dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not;

neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old ser

pent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

10 And I heard a loud voice, saying, in heaven,

Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day 11 and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. 12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth 13' that he hath but a short time. And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the 14 man child. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, 15 from the face of the serpent. And the serpent

cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried 16 away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast 17 out of his mouth. And the dragon was wroth

with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

SECTION III.

The Autocratical Decarchy or Heptarchy* of the CÆSARS OF THE ROMANS, in the ancient territories of the Roman Empire, over the Church of Christ.

The same power, which has ever intermeddled with the affairs of religion, in the Babylonic-Assyrian, MedoPersian, Greek, Egyptian, Syrian, Roman, Latin, and, in fact, in all Empires, now rises again under a Greek head on Justinian, the Greek Emperor's conquest of Italy by his famous generals, Belisarius and Narses, when the Latin Empire, destroyed by the Herulic and Ostrogothic kings, recovers again under his combined sway, who, together with the heads of the ten Gothic nations which invade the Empire, sets himself up in the church of Christ, dictator of the faith, as all the Pagan governments had done before him in their establishments. The consequence of this diabolical arrogance in the civil power is, that it casts down the truth to the ground, and it practises, and prospers. How much innocent blood for innocent opinions has not been shed by this cruel and rapacious monster in all ages of the church! and how many who have only consulted their own sordid interests, their lusts, their avarice, their ambition, have not succumbed to his omnipotent influence! The authority, the power, the titles, the attributes of the Deity have been usurped by this Anti-god; and to Protestant as well as Catholic establishments Cæsar has been all in all. At the expiration of nine hundred years we have seen the Cæsars of the Romans fall by the Turkish sword; at the expiration of the 1260 we have seen the last of the autocrats sent captive to Elba and St. Helena. France gave

*As three of the ten horns or kingdoms were eradicated before the Papal power, the confederacy of the remaining seven will produce the heptarchy, to which the seven Electorates of the Image will answer.

to the saints the charter of Louis the Desired, 1814; England rescinded two of her intolerant acts, 1813; the Netherlands granted equal power and protection to all religions, 1815; Spain abolished the Inquisition, 1820; the march of intellect has checked the efforts of despotism in other portions of the decarchy since the organization of the Holy Alliance; and the Spirit of Christ, the God of Liberty, still broods over the political abyss. A.D. 553-1813.

XIII. 1. And I stood upon the sand of the sea,

and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads names of blas2 phemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his 3 seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered 4 after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast; and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? 5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to prosper forty and two months. 6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, 7 and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them; and power was given him over