fies, that they had been restrained from making invasions west of that river. Now they were to be loosed from that restraint. 15. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, &c.-This was accordingly done; and the time for making their conquests and arriving at the height of their power, is definitely stated. It was a year, which, in prophetic reckoning, is 360 days, and a month, which is 30 days, which with the 1 day, make 391 days, by which years are meant. The one hour is by the same computation fifteen days more. History shows that the fulfillment has been exact as to the years, and doubtless it has been the same in regard to the fifteen days. About the year 1067 or '62 in prophetic time, Tangrolipix put an end to the Saracen dominion by conquering the Caliph of Persia, and established the Turkish empire on its ruins. In 1453, the Turks took Constantinople, and thus attained the height of their power in the Roman empire. The period between the two dates is 391 years. As John intimates, they were prepared in this period for a long exercise of civil rule; and thus it continues to the present day. 16. And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: &c.—It is probable, that a definite number is used in this verse for an indefinite, signifying that their armies consisted of a vast number, which was a fact. 17. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, &c.-This description of the horses and the riders, shows plainly who are meant. Breastplates, of course, could not be made of fire, but were of fiery appearance, and of a deep purple and yellow color com bined expressed by hyacinth and brimstone-that is, their breastplates were of polished brass. The heads of the horses resembled those of lions, indicating fierceness and disregard of danger. The fire, smoke and brimstone proceeding out of their mouths constitute a remarkable part of this description. In this century gunpowder was invented, and was used by the Turks in their wars. Their armies were composed chiefly of horsemen, and discharging their firearms over their horses' heads as they rode, gave the appearance of fire and smoke proceeding out of their mouths. 18. By these three was the third part of men killed, &c.By these three means a third part of men were reduced to political and religious subjection. The third part refers to the eastern portion of the empire, that being one of the three general divisions. When the Turks became masters of Constantinople they had possession of all the Asiatic portion of the empire. 19. For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails : &c.—This verse is an explanation of the preceding, as the particle for implies; and here it may be perceived, that the killing of men is not a literal putting of them to death. The power in their mouth signifies their means of successful warfare just described;—that in their tails refers to the principles of Islamism which they enforced. Their conquests were obtained by their firearms and by the doctrines they propagated. Multitudes of Christians consented to receive the religion of their Mahometan conquerors, rather than suffer what they must have done, if they had continued steadfast. The Saracen locusts are compared to Scorpions, inflicting torment with their stings; and the same figure is adopted in this description of the Turks, the religion of both being the same. A similar figure is employed in chap. 12: 4. The body of a scorpion resembles that of a lobster, made up of connected parts or rings. The tail is long, and composed also of successive rings, the last of which is larger than the others, and is divided into seven little heads. The central, and prominent one, has a sting, which injects a deadly poison into the wound it makes. An appropriate emblem, truly! The result was, that Christianity was almost wholly extinguished in Asia. 20 and 21. And the rest of the men, which were not killed by these plagues, &c. Neither repented they of their murders, &c.—The rest of the men, who were not brought under this subjection, were those who lived in the western or European part of the empire. Though they knew of the calamities which had fallen upon the eastern portion of the church, they repented not of their idolatry, and of their gross corruptions of Christian worship and doctrines. They persisted in paying homage to demons, i.e., deified men, saints, images, and crucifixes. When Mahomet began his conquests, he avowed his design to be, to destroy idolatry, both among the heathen, and among Christians, and his followers were true to this design. To this day they are opposed to all worship which is not paid to the Supreme Being. Yet those who were not subdued by them continued on in their superstitious and idolatrous practices. Neither did they cease from their persecutions, their de ceptions and feigned miracles, their lewdness, and their fraudulent methods of obtaining money from the people. What immense sums have been received by the sale of indulgences, and for the absolution of sins, for relics, charms, and amulets, and numerous other worthless things! The various methods of obtaining money from all classes of people under false pretenses, is fitly termed theft. Of these things they did not repent, and the practice of them is continued to this day. CHAPTER X. The Crusades. THE events predicted in this chapter are included under the sixth trumpet, which relates to the rise and progress of the Ottoman or Turkish empire, and are embraced in the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth centuries. No interpretation which I have seen of this chapter, is at all satisfactory to my mind. Indeed, if my views are correct, commentators have not even touched the real subject of it. Much has been written about the contents of the little book, and the events to which they are supposed to refer. But John says not one word about its contents, except, that when he ate it, his mouth was made sweet and his stomach bitter. The questions, which it is the business of an interpreter to answer, are these:-Who, or what is the mighty angel arrayed in a cloud, having a sun-like countenance, and feet of brass so polished, that they appeared like fire? What is the little open book? What means the significant act of planting one foot on the land, and the other on the sea? A mighty stride indeed! And what is the great thing signified by the roaring of those seven thunders? This sublime imagery is not designed as mere costume, but doubtless had its verification in very important events. If the symbols are not first explained, we are left entirely to fanciful conjecture. 1. And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud, &c.—Heaven is the usual emblem of civil or ecclesiastical government, or both united. An angel is any agent or instrumentality by which the events spoken of are brought to pass. The mighty angel which came down from heaven, and which John is careful to say is another, that is, different from any of the preceding, cannot of course be Christ, as some have thought. I consider him a personification of the combined power of popes, emperors, kings, and princes, to carry forward those amazing expeditions for driving out the Mahometans from the holy land, and to rescue Jerusalem from their possession, and to deliver the imploring Christians there from their oppressors. The description of that mighty angel is to my mind sufficient proof of the correctness of this opinion. He was clothed with a cloud, and clouds are emblems of great bodies of people. A rainbow was upon his head, signifying faithfulness to covenant engagements; and these vast and expensive expeditions, which exhausted the treasures of Europe, were gotten up with a professed regard to fidelity to Christ and his cause; and with a sense of obligation to relieve Christians from the intolerable oppression of their inverate enemies, the Turks. His face was as it were the sun. Now, it is well known that the sun is an emblem of supreme authority, exercised by one or by many. There is then, in this case, a prediction of the concentration of the wisdom, power, and energies of sovereigns. His feet like pillars of fire, indicate a glowing zeal, and steadfast purpose to tread down and subdue enemies, and to surmount all difficulties. What now do the records of history show in regard to remarkable events at this period? They present to us those stupendous enterprises, the crusades, or holy wars, in which most of the nations of Europe engaged with great |