exhibited by his children. Paul, Gal. v. 22., declares this fruit to be, "Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance."

If therefore we observe that the masculine designation of this Spirit in no way interferes with the force or propriety of the feminine symbol-the relations, of the one to the spirit and of the other to the flesh, being strictly identical in character-we may not only without hesitation conclude that the Spirit of the lately-proclaimed kingdom of heaven was personified by the woman, but also that the title "SPIRIT OF TRUTH" is as eminent for its suitability to denominate that Spirit on the present occasion, as for its authority. Christianity, in the strictest sense of the term, might have been adopted, but being open to a more general construction, arising from its frequent abuse, it falls short of the designating precision required by the Apocalyptic figure.

Having thus determined that the woman symbolised the Spirit of truth, whom Jesus Christ promised he would send from the Father for the comfort and edification of his disciples, we may now proceed to gather the information supplied by the woman's characteristics.

Already instructed that the firmamental luminaries are the ordinary symbols by which the ruling powers on earth are prophetically denoted, it will be easily seen that "clothed with the sun " exhibits the Spirit of truth in the enjoyment of imperial favour; that "the moon under her feet" gives him the support of a lesser but nevertheless eminent ruler; and, if we observe that the number twelve is that of the Apostles to whom the preaching of the new kingdom was first intrusted, we may equally see that "upon her head a crown of twelve stars" may be properly held to symbolise ecclesiastical authorities or bishops, adorning and reflecting the glory of his presence by diffusing the light-giving testimony of Jesus Christ. Notwithstanding the imperial favour, the support of a lesser but eminent ruler, and the zeal of christian bishops thus symbolically bestowed on the Spirit of truth, the next terms, "And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered," exhibit him struggling under circumstances of

great trial and peril, to obtain for "those who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ" a publicly recognised position in the world such as they had not previously occupied.

And here may be discerned the accuracy, before referred to, with which not only the time, but also the locality of representation is pointed out. Following the female figure, and ascribing a literal year to a prophetic day on the scriptural authority already quoted, as well as on the proofs of its propriety which have arisen during our investigations, the 280 days figuratively represented by the woman's period of gestation indicate the lapse of 280 years since the coming of the spirit of truth on the earth, which event having taken place in the year 33, as shown in the last lecture, and as recorded in The Acts of the Apostles, it necessarily follows that "pained to be delivered" refers us to the year 313. And as we witnessed, in the last lecture, the extinction of the Jewish luminaries under the effect of "the great earthquake" and by the instrumentality of the Roman eagle, so "the sun "" now visible transfers the scene

of representation to the Roman firmament, and determines the imperial mantle enveloping the spirit of truth to be that of a Roman emperor.

History has therefore to show, in order to continue its correspondence with revelation, that in the year 313, the Spirit of truth enjoyed the favour of a Roman emperor; that a lesser but eminent ruler supported him; and that the zeal of christian bishops was manifested in his behalf; but nevertheless that his struggles to give to those "who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ" a publicly recognised position in the world such as they had not previously occupied, were attended by circumstances of great trial and peril.

The reply of history to these requirements we shall postpone until the completion of our analysis of the remaining figures, the first of which is, "And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten 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 was born."

As in the previous case a subsequent declaration afforded a key to the reality of the symbolic woman, so, in this case also, we are told in the ninth verse that the great dragon was "that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world." We have no difficulty therefore, in determining the reality of the figurative dragon to be the spirit referred to by Paul in his epistle to the Ephesians, ii. 2, "the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience." Paul calls him in the same verse "the prince of the power of the air," and in his second epistle to the Corinthians, iv. 4, "The god of this world." The Lord thus speaks of him when promising the advent of the Spirit of truth, John xiv. 30, " For the prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me," and again, xii. 31, "Now is the judgment of this world, now shall the prince of this world be cast out." We may without hesitation conclude, therefore, not only that "the spirit that worketh in the children of disobedience" was figured by the dragon, but also that THE PRINCE OF THIS WORLD as his designative title is as eminent for its suitability and authority as that affixed to the symbolic woman, whose reality we have concluded to be the Spirit of truth. And if we observe that the visible manifestation of the prince of this world is restricted equally with that of the Spirit of truth, and is therefore only observable on the earth by the works of his adherents, we may also conclude that the situation here prefigured by the attitude of the dragon is precisely such as Paul delineates to the Galatians, who, as a sequel to the verse already quoted, "But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all," adds, "But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the spirit, even so it is now." The works of the flesh manifesting the prince of this world are enumerated by Paul to be, "Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings and such

like ;" and as we have been previously informed that "love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance" are the manifesting fruits of the Spirit of truth, it will be seen that the respective exponents of the presence of the Spirit of truth and of the prince of this world on the earth are sufficiently defined to be easily recognised; and that, when confronted, as indicated on the present occasion by the woman's and dragon's simultaneous occupation of the same symbolic heaven, their divergence of character would naturally lead to the conflict which is subsequently prefigured to have ensued between them. And finding in the Acts of the Apostles, xi. 26, "The disciples were called Christians first in Antioch;" and that Paul writes in his second epistle to the Corinthians, xi. 14-16, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers; for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath be that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God," so it will be also seen that we have sufficient authority for designating the exponents of the presence of the Spirit of truth by the title of "CHRISTIANS," and those of the prince of this world by the title of "UNBELIEVERS;" and therefore for already concluding, without the aid of the dragon's characteristics to be presently considered, that although the realities of the symbolic woman and of the dragon are primarily the Spirit of truth and the prince of this world, the prophetic purpose is not only to reveal the operation of those unseen agencies, but also to embody and exhibit the relative positions of the Christians and the Unbelievers at the time denoted, or, as we have seen, A.D. 313.

Having already deduced from the figure of the unborn child of the symbolic woman that the Christians, as a body, occupied at this time no publicly recognised position in the world, and from "pained to be delivered" that the Spirit of truth was nevertheless struggling to obtain such position for them; and having determined the dragon's reality to be the prince of this world, we may proceed to analyse the dragon's

characteristics with the expectation that the position of the Unbelievers at the same period will be thereby as well defined as that of the Christians by the characteristics of the symbolic woman.

The terms which we have now therefore to consider, are, 'Having seven heads and ten 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 was born."

We have here another instance of the simplicity and at the same time comprehensiveness of the Apocalyptic figures. For, as in the prophetic imagery local appropriateness is strictly regarded, so we cannot interpret the dragon's appearance in the present instance otherwise than as having an Oriental or Asiatic reference without being convicted of ignoring that appropriateness by the Feast of the Dragon celebrated in China down to the present day, and by the following extract from the Natural History of the Bible, by H. B. Tristram, M.A. :-" In the New Testament the word dragon is used only metaphorically, as applied to Satan in the Revelation, and without any reference to any actually existing creature, but with a symbolical meaning. Dragon worship was common in the east, typfying usually the power of evil, or sometimes the powers of nature as distinct from God. The dragon, a huge reptile with enormous jaws and short legs, such as was represented in the dragon temples of old, and is now depicted on the imperial banners of China, was held to symbolise the union of gigantic power with subtilty and malignity, and an enmity against the human race. Dragon worship was wide-spread, existing in Egypt, Babylonia (as is shown in the history of Bel and the dragon), among the Celtic nations, and in the far east of India and China. Perhaps too its ancient prevalence in Greece was indicated by the myth of Apollo slaying the Python, supplanting serpent worship, the worship of fraud and violence, by the adoration of wisdom." And if we further observe that the crowns on the dragon's heads are diadems (diademata); that the diadem was essentially an Oriental badge of royalty;