while her ancient rites and ceremonies "the shadow of good things to come"-are now thrown beneath her feet as of no farther use (v. 1). It therefore seems that only the Christian portion of that Church was here intended.

The "dragon" is "that old serpent which is the devil and Satan" (v. 9, and ch. xx., 2); and by his efforts to destroy the "man-child" is meant the opposition of the enemies of the truth generally, and of his servant Herod in particular (Matt., ii., 3-18). His "seven heads" may denote his numerous agents. "Horns" are the proper symThe numbers seven and ten, as in many other places, represent multiplicity or completeness.

bols of power.

From the rise of Christianity the inspired writer glances rapidly forward, through a long vista of time, to the exile of the church in the wilderness, the conflict with the powers of darkness, and the triumph of the Redeemer's kingdom (v. 6–11); and then back again to take another view of the persecuted daughter of Zion fleeing into the wilderness from the face of her great enemy the serpent (v. 12-14). It is still the Hebrew-Christian Church-" the woman which brought forth the man-child” (v. 13). But as this church, or a portion of it, had long been in the wilderness, how, it may be asked, could it be represented as flying there at a later period, and on the wings of

a great eagle? This apparent difficulty may be removed by considering, 1st. That they were not all in the wilderness, and of those who were there many had become dispersed abroad: 2d. That bearing them on eagle's wings (Ex., xix., 4) denotes the special providence of God in providing for their escape, rather than the distance they were borne and, 3d. That the language fairly implies that they had long had an abode in this wilderness: "Where she hath a place" (v. 6)"into her place" (v. 14). It was the “place prepared of God" in "the wilderness" for his Church of old (Hos., ii., 14). The manner in which she has been fed and nourished in this wilderness during the long night of Mohammedan darkness and tyranny we have already seen, and also how the earth helped the woman, while the serpent sent forth his legions, like a desolating flood, over all these lands, till the most of the Eastern Church has been swept away, and the remnant, except these "sealed ones," present a spectacle scarcely less pitiable than the deluded followers of the Arabian prophet. So successful has been the warfare which the dragon has waged "with the remnant of her seed" (v. 14–17).

What is intended by the earth opening her mouth to swallow up the flood is not clear; but if in any case the earth has helped the Church, it is in this.

REV., xiii. 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 (v. 1). And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb (v. 11).

So intimately connected with our main topic is the question whether the beasts here brought to view denote the Eastern or the Western Antichrist, i. e., Mohammedanism or papacy, that I shall make no apology for entering upon its examination in this connexion. But I am met at the threshold of the inquiry by the prevailing opinion, that the latter, and not the former, is intended.

Nor is it surprising that Western Christians should regard the clearer light which illumines their horizon in these latter days as the sun and centre of all that relates to the interests of Zion in the world. The scenes of the reformation, opening like the dawn of a cloudless day upon the long and dreary night of papal ignorance and superstition, and the increasing light and activity of later times, have so completely occupied our vision, that we have almost lost sight of our now benighted brethren in the East, together with their Moslem oppressors.

But when the visions of the Apocalypse were first revealed, and for many succeeding centuries, the Eastern was the principal portion of the Christian Church, containing, as we find it still does,

the original Hebrew stock upon which the whole Gentile Church was ingrafted-a remnant of the first-fruits, preserved under "the seal of the living God." Was it nothing in the view of "the Good Shepherd" what wild beasts came in to waste this purchased flock? Or is it not reasonable to suppose that he would reveal to his under-shepherds the character and duration of the chastisements in store for his erring sheep? Why, then, are ancient Babylon and Assyria made so prominent on the pages of the Bible? Is not the Mohammedan beast, regarded simply as a persecuting power, the staff of God's indignation, with its twelve and a half centuries of relentless warfare waged upon the blood-bought Church of Christ, enough to secure a name and a place by the side of the recorded woes and final triumphs of that Church?

The first beast is introduced to our notice in the same manner as the four beasts in Daniel's vision (ch. vii., 2), that is, rising at once out of the sea, or from the midst of the nations (v. 1; compare Jer., li., 42, and Isa., viii., 7). In the description given of him, there may be an allusion to the first three of those beasts, which were respectively compared to a lion, a bear, and a leopard. If by the allusion we are to understand that this beast is to occupy the same territory with those mentioned by Daniel, this is true of the Mohammedan pow

ers; or if, as seems more probable, reference is had to the qualities or character of those beasts, the comparison is more strikingly true of the Mohammedan than of the Roman, or any other power. The leopard was regarded as the fleetest of animals (see Hab., i., 8), the bear possessed of the strongest feet, and the lion of the most powerful jaws or mouth. Such an animal was peculiarly fitted to represent qualities for rapid conquest and great slaughter; and so effectually was his power used, that Mohammed and his successors extended their conquests farther in eighty years than did imperial Rome in eight hundred! In this and his farther conquests and dominion, he was aided by the "power" of the dragon; and well might the prince of darkness (see ch. xii., 9, and xx., 2) give "his seat and great authority" to such a champion of evil, arrayed against the church of the living God (v. 2).

In the East, a man's rank or authority is known by the seat that he occupies; and to yield one's seat in favour of another is to yield his influence, just as to give up the king's seat is to yield the kingdom. Hence, when the dragon is said to give his seat to the beast, it is equivalent to owning him as his vicegerent or representative, implying that the beast would faithfully do the work of the devil.

The great power of the beast is particularly denoted by his ten horns (v. 1), the usual symbol of