tures. My conclusion, like that of many other writers, is utterly at variance from the opinion expressed in the extract furnished. There is no denying that there may be forms of evil more terrible than the catalogue of crimes which the Papacy can present. Bad as they are which the list furnishes, they are probably exceeded by the atrocities committed by the wild, ungovernable, passions of infuriated madmen broken loose from the restraints of divine and human laws. I say "probably." It must not be forgotten that anarchy acts in open day, in defiance of every ordinary restraint; Popery acts covertly, and, with smooth and oily words to the world, commits her violence in the dark cell and dreary dungeon.

That the writer has vague and loose notions about THE ANTICHRIST is certain. And the difficulty, which he has himself created, is by taking a single text of Scripture, and expounding it without reference to the whole context; consequently, he has misunderstood it. It has presented a difficulty to his mind, and on that account, it would appear, that he casts aside the whole range of prophecy which bears upon the important subject. And because the text says "all shall worship him whose names are not written in the Lamb's book of life," the writer "has not the credulity to imagine that there are no wicked men around us except Roman Catholics;" and he concludes at once that the Papacy, as a system, is not the Man of Sin, consequently, not THE ANTICHRIST, but that the Antichrist is to be found in universal infidelity, or universal rejection of Christ. He concludes that every human being not written in the Lamb's book of life shall worship Antichrist; and, consequently, that every heathen man, every nominal Christian man, all not having a saving knowledge of Christ, will worship Antichrist. And that this universal infidelity will hereafter assume a form of concentrated action which will develop a future, and THE, ANTICHRIST.

In opposition to this, I assert that THE ANTICHRIST is the embodiment of a system, existing, which had its rise at a given period,

will continue for a given time, and will meet with an overthrow to its extinction at a declared period.*

If the question of which is the Man of Sin, or THE ANTIChrist, depended upon ascertaining whether every Roman Catholic has been, and is, a lost man, the question would soon be answered. There could be, in that case, no difficulty in determining that Roman Catholics, as a whole, do not embody THE ANTI-Christ. But the question does not depend upon such an answer.

It should be borne in mind that the Scriptures deal with the chief features of a system; and when they describe these they regard them in their essential qualities. And we all know that there are many grades of character, and shades of belief, within the circle of any one system. When, therefore, Popery is described, it is portrayed by its strongest lineaments. If there be a condemnatory passage, it refers to those possessing essentially the portrayed lineaments. The passage, however, referred to, is not so much condemnatory as it is descriptive.

THE ANTICHRIST is described by the prophet Daniel, and by Jesus Christ in the Revelation, in terms that render it impossible to apply them to that vague and indefinite perception which unbelief, or ignorance, or universal infidelity, presents.

If atheism be the Antichrist to arise, it will be singular, indeed, should it arise in a form in accordance with the features portrayed by the holy penmen. It will be singular if, hereafter, another train of circumstances should again fulfil all the conditions. If another beast from the sea should again change or glide into a lamb-horned beast, and progress into a scarlet-coloured beast carrying a woman, or the false one with whom the kings of the earth commit spiritual fornication. It will be remarkable if atheistic anarchy dress itself in a garb of religious truth. And it will be still more wonderful if this new Antichrist shall retain power for 1260 years, and through that period make war with the saints and overcome them. It is idle even to fancy such things.

*See "The True Church."

The whole stream of prophecy is opposed. The sacred writings describe a state of things more palpable and distinctive than any given amount of general infidelity.

The writer has, it seems to me, altogether misunderstood the portion of the 13th chapter of the Revelation, from which he quotes. We have seen that he thinks the word all includes within it every man not in saving union with Christ, and he believes it is intended to represent Antichrist as worshipped by every, what he calls, wicked person. And these are, in his estimation, every human being who has not a saving and personal conscious interest in Christ. He has misunderstood the term earth. He, plainly, believes it to mean this globe. applied in the text, does not mean this globe. Not having understood this term, he has, as I think, on the subject before us, an erring judgment. His good nature, it may be, has misled him, and got the better of his judgment.

The term earth, as

The term earth, in the Apocalypse, does not embrace the whole terraqueous globe. It is used to designate a portion of the inhabitants. In the 12th chapter, mention is made of inhabiters of heaven, inhabiters of earth, and inhabiters of the sea. These three classes of inhabiters include all upon the face of this globe. Heaven, earth, and sea, are terms used as figures to convey a distinctive meaning. The whole Apocalypse is a series of allegories. A train of events is conveyed in a series of pictures, which pictures represent allegorically the events they predict. In these pictures are figures to represent persons, or things, or conditions, or circumstances. Thus, the inhabiters of heaven," are the faithful; "the inhabiters of the earth," are nominal Christians; "the inhabiters of the sea," are Pagans. And when St. John writes "all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him whose names are not written in the Lamb's book of life," he means all within Christendom described by the term earth. If this be not the meaning of the terms heaven, earth, and sea, who are the inhabiters of the sea?

The term "inhabiters of the earth" is limited to the class of nominal Christians, about whom the action of the drama presented in the vision concerns itself. The vision discloses a state of things which have relation to the reign of the saints predicted by Daniel, and which our Lord came to establish. The "saints of the Most High" compose the Church. The vision concerns itself only with the Church and her opponents. It shows the course she would have to run, the difficulties to surmount, and her ultimate success. Things which interfere not with her course, which do not come into immediate collision with her, are not presented in the Apocalypse. It is always right to bear this in mind, because it marks out a limit to the meaning of expres

sions.

We must, also, be careful not to confound with a system men who are but loosely attached to it. Though nominally allied, their hearts may be far from it. In our day we find some whose bondage is very slight. In every age there have been some such. A system apparently retains them, but they are not with it. An occasion arises to speak out, and then is seen whether they belong to it or not. Men are influenced in so many ways, and by such varied reasonings, that we are not to conclude, because a man remains within the circle of a system, that he upholds that system. He may be apparently of it, and yet be battling against it. He may think it right, for the sake of unity, not to depart from it, but to try and correct that which he sees amiss in it. Or his light received may not be to the extent which would enforce him to quit a false system, and yet be sufficient to lead him to the Saviour. He may denounce a portion of the system which militates against the great saving truth, and yet retain enough to keep him within its circle. To worship the beast and its image is to renounce the worship of Christ. Those who worship Christ cannot worship the beast. Though such may be found beneath the same roof with idolaters, yet are their hearts lifted to their Saviour and they worship Him.

But the Revelation is not concerned so much in these personal and individual interests. It deals with large masses, and presents the chief features of leading systems. Let it be remembered that it concerns itself with events that spread over a period of, at least, 3000 years; commencing from the coming of Christ in the flesh, up to a period when all nations shall be gathered into the one fold; all brought under the influence of the Gospel. The relation seizes the chief features; it portrays the true Church, the antagonist or false Church, or THE ANTICHRIST, and another power which was to interfere materially with the Church, Mahomedanism. It introduces, also, Paganism, showing when this should be wholly overthrown. Judgment sits upon it; and the kingdoms of this world "become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ." In a relation of this character, comprehending, as it does, a vast expansive range, seizing the principal features, portraying, by figures which stand as emblems of, the chief actors and chief scenes, and embracing a whole train of complex events, can it be expected that minute shades of character will be introduced. In such a work, if we would understand it, we must not take up an isolated passage, and expound it by confining the terms, and limiting their use to their ordinary meaning. Their meaning will be best known by ascertaining the scope and design of the whole. In the 13th chapter, from which the words "all that dwell upon the earth" are taken, is a description of the antagonist Church. It begins by describing its origin in Paganism, by a figure of a beast that rises out of the sea. The sea here, as I have before shown in "The True Church," represents, as in the writings of Isaiah and David, Paganism. Its course is shown, its antagonism to the saints, or the proper kingdom, or true Church. Its changed form is given from Paganism to the lamb-horned beast. Its identity is disclosed by the portrayal of its marked features, and the declaration of its familiar and usually received name, applicable to it both as Pagan and as Papal Rome-the Latin kingdom. The antagonist of the Church is, first, Pagan