Ver. 17-19. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city! And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea, by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate. These verses are narrative, and evidently are not uttered by the voice from heaven.

Ver. 20. Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her. The voice from heaven is here perhaps again heard. For God hath avenged you on her. This passage and various others that will be noticed* shew that the influence of Babylon has been most hostile to true religion, to man's best interests. Ver. 21-23. And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; and the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. Still another mighty angel has a part, by a most emphatick testimonial, in this final judgment of the mystick harlot. Observe his concluding words addressed to her. For by thy sorceries were ALL NATIONS deceived.

lick displays; but would the loss of the entire traffick impoverish any considerable number of the merchants of the earth? and on the other hand, can this extended list of merchandises, represent the sale of masses, indulgences, &c.? as if the merchants of the earth, ver. 11, were factors of the church.

*See verses 6- ; 23.

Ver. 24. And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth. The language in this last verse, once more assumes the narrative form. The statement in this verse proves, first, the universal extent of Babylon. But is it not true in another sense that Babylon has either directly caused, or influenced, modified, or to some extent given form and shape, to all murders, all assassinations, all wars, from the first murder to the present time?

V. BABYLON-IS NOT SPIRITUAL ROME.

In the two chapters, some of the more prominent particulars of which we have now considered, there are two judgments of Babylon; as she sitteth upon the scarletcoloured beast, and upon many waters, which last are explained, in the text, to mean all nations and peoples, or perhaps all without the limits of the Roman Empire. The second and final judgment incomparably exceeds the first in extent and dignity, in the sublimity of the descriptions, and the eminency of those by whom it is conducted, rising from exalted angels, to the Supreme Majesty of Heaven. It is proved then conclusively, and so as not to admit of a question, that Babylon is not Spiritual Rome. But there is abundant internal evidence to this effect, in the seventeenth chapter, and which, as I proposed, I will now consider. If it can be shown that Babylon is not Spiritual Rome, it will go far toward proving, in the Protestant mind at least, that Babylon is indeed the individual system.

Babylon, as has been noticed, is first introduced as sitting upon many waters. This statement is probably definitive, including that which directly follows, in which a personification of Babylon is described, and as sitting upon a scarlet-coloured beast. Both Catholicks and Protestants admit that this beast is the Roman empire; only the

Catholicks hold that it is merely heathen Rome. What is comprised in the Roman empire? Does it consist of the surface, the buildings, the valuables, and the inhabitants; or of the inhabitants only? On either supposition, how utterly incongruous is the metaphor, which supposes that seven moderately sized hills, the mere hills, are the heads of the beast. The term employed in the text to describe the heads, seven mountains, cannot include the city upon the hills, for that is the woman. And the woman, which thou sawest, is that great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth. Ver. 18, with 9. The ten horns of the beast are explained to be ten kings; and it is intimated that each of them is to receive a kingdom. If these originate at Rome, either from its political or religious influence, they proceed, not from the heads of the beast, but from the woman. Is this hypercritical? All difficulty will be obviated by another mode of interpretation. It is said, somewhat abruptly, ver. 10, that there are seven kings. But for these nothing is said concerning kingdoms. As the number is the same as that of the heads, is it not probable that these are the kingdoms? The term mountain then, seven mountains, is used in the sense in which it is so often employed in the prophetical writings of the Old Testament, as denoting kingdoms, or some other aggregate of men; and the literary connexion between the Old and the New Testament will not be questioned. Is. 2: 2. And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house-the church-shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. Many other instances might be cited. The seven kings, or governments, exist, not contemporaneously, but in succession. The seven mountains then, or heads of the beast, are seven kingdoms, or people, or possibly the chief cities of such, which at different times, have become predominant, within the limits of the Roman empire. What is said of the succession of the kings, or governments, is true of the kingdoms; though it

is to be observed that after their predominance ceases, (which constitutes them heads of the beast, in the more considerable sense,) they still continue to exist. As is said of the beasts in Daniel, that they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season, &c., &c. Of the kings or kingdoms in Revelation, it is said, five are called. There are different ways of enumerating these, but the following will perhaps be as satisfactory as any. The Assyrian monarchy, the Egyptian, (which in the time of Sesostris came as near to being a universal monarchy as others so accounted,) the Babylonian, the Persian, the Grecian. Five are fallen, and one is. The Roman was the existing monarchy, or empire as it was called, in the time of John. When the Roman empire was established on the ruins of those which had fallen, the Roman people, or possibly the city of Rome, became the sixth head. If the city of Rome, it was only as one of the heads; the septenary is found only in the seven hills, and these, it has been shewn, cannot be the seven heads. When the bishop of Rome assumed the supremacy in the church, which was permanently conceded by the western division of the empire; the religious element (whether genuine or otherwise is a question which I will not here attempt to determine,) manifested itself locally, after an unwonted sort, but not as a principal. The splendid Hierarchy and the multiplied religious houses, or monastic establishments, gave a peculiar phase to the social constitution; but Babylon, the worldly Babylon, the same Babylon that ruled in India and China, as well as in the kingdoms of the west, was predominant.

Ver. 10. And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. In the work referred to above-Millennial Institutions, 1833-I' advanced the hypothesis, that this "ascendency or government, is "the popular imperial, founded by Napoleon." The Roman empire has continued, in some sort, to our own times,

and France is within its ancient limits. But the restoration of the French empire, by Louis Napoleon, renders this hypothesis more than doubtful. I now incline to the belief that the seventh government may be described as that of atheistical, republican France, or perhaps of the French revolution. It continued a short space, or perhaps till the restoration by the first Napoleon, of publick Christian worship.

It will not be needful here, to consider farther, the prophetical divisions of the Roman empire, and the transactions within its limits-it being my object at present, merely to prove that Babylon is not Spiritual Rome; but events are rapidly transpiring-Dec. 2, 1861-which may render it expedient to return to this obscure portion of scripture, at the close of the present work.

VI. BABYLON-RELATIVE CLAIMS OF ROME AND CONSTANTINOPLE TO THE TITLE-THE CIVIL LAW -CECUMENICAL BISHOP-GRANT OF THE EMPEROR PHOCAS-BABYLON EARLIER THAN THE TIME OF JOHN-SITTETH A QUEEN-THE TWO CITIES SINCE THE CAPTURE OF CONSTANTINOPLE BY THE TURKS-ST. GEORGE.

It is remarkable that Protestant commentators, after having determined that Babylon is a corrupt Christian power, established in a city which is seated on seven hills, should so lightly set aside the claims of Constantinople, also seated upon seven hills. Mr. Scott, the author of the popular commentary, merely says, "This is the wellknown situation of Rome: " (upon "seven mountains,") "and though Constantinople is also built on seven hills, they are comparatively obscure, and no other mark of the beast answers to it." The italicks are mine. Bishop Newton expresses himself briefly, to much the same effect. It would altogether exceed my limits to go into a full ex