idiots,' who, unable to control their zeal, everywhere eagerly extolled the word of the Lord. All the followers of the evangelical princes wore these letters embroidered on their right sleeves: V.D.M.I.Æ., that is to say, 'The word of the Lord endureth for ever.' The same inscription might be read on the escutcheons of the princes, suspended over their hotels. The word of God-such from this moment was the palladium of the Reformation.”

Paul supports the justice of this historically enforced conclusion in his respective epistles to the Ephesians and Hebrews, by likening the word of God to sharp instruments. In the former, he calls the word of God, "the sword of the spirit" (vi. 17), and in the latter, he writes (iv. 12), “The word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword."

Whilst, however, history is peremptory in demanding the conclusion (from which the sanction of scripture is not withheld) that "the sharp sickle," now under notice, symbolises the word of God, it must be observed that that reality is imparted to the symbol by the word of God having been the instrument wielded by the Reformers in defence and vindication of their principles, and not by the inherent force of the symbol itself, which, as will be hereafter seen, might equally represent any instrument used in accomplishing such cutting process as the prophecy might prefigure. In the present instance, therefore, it is interesting to note the propriety with which the "sharp sickle" may be held to refer particularly to the word of God as embodied in the written Confession of Augsburg.

In the next terms, "And another angel came out of the temple," the superiority of the Sinaitic manuscript is again manifest, its reading being, as before noticed, " And another angel came out of his temple;" for whilst the former leaves the temple referred to open to conjecture, the latter defines it as that of the Protestants, and accordingly the angel would represent either one or more of the Protestant divines. Adopting the Sinaitic version, the prophetic record reads:"And another angel came out of his temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy

sickle and reap; for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped."

It will be readily seen that this figurative harvest presents a metaphorical picture strictly accordant with that presented by the gathering of the Protestants under the banner of the Word of God, as embodied in the Confession of Augsburg, and accordingly that a general illustration of the above terms is already before us sufficiently emphatic to enable us to consider their elucidation completed by the extracts given below in satisfaction of their more particular demands. Having concluded that "the sharp sickle" is a symbol of the doctrine of justification by faith, or of the Word of God as embodied in the Confession of Augsburg, a more perfect illustration of "And he that sat upon the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth" could scarcely be devised than the public reading of that Confession which history will shortly place before us. Hence "and all [the Elector of Saxony and Protestant princes] resolved on demanding of the emperor that the Confession should be read publicly" (the quotation noted at p. 502) as perfectly illustrates "And another angel came out of his temple crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle and reap;" for as the Elector was the medium of communication between the emperor and the princes, the resolution, in effect, was the unanimous voice of the princes exhorting him, or "crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud," saying, Secure the public reading of the Confession, or "Thrust in thy sickle and reap ;" and as passing the resolution carries with it the princes' conviction that the time was come for the Confession to be presented to the world, and that the public mind was prepared to receive it, so also is the demand satisfied of "For the time is come for thee to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe."

The quotation "And all resolved on demanding of the emperor that the Confession should be read publicly" was taken from D'Aubigné's Book xiv. cap. vi., and concluded

his account of the ceremony of signing the Confession embracing the recently transcribed declarations of the Elector of Saxony, and Wolfgang prince of Anhalt, on subscribing their names. In continuation of history's elucidations we now extract the following from cap. v. :-"After the mass of the Holy Ghost, the emperor [Charles V.] entered his carriage, and having reached the town-hall, where the sittings of the Diet were to take place, took his seat on a throne covered with cloth of gold, while his brother placed himself on a bench in front of him; then all around were arranged the electors, forty-two sovereign princes, the deputies from the cities, the bishops, and ambassadors, forming indeed that illustrious assembly which Luther, six weeks before, had imagined he saw sitting in the air.

"The count-palatine read the imperial proposition. It referred to two points; the war against the Turks, and the religious controversy. Sacrificing my private injuries and interests to the common good,' said the emperor, ‘I have quitted my hereditary kingdoms, to pass, not without great danger, into Italy, and from thence to Germany. I have heard with sorrow of the divisions that have broken out here, and which, striking not only at the imperial majesty, but still more at the commandments of Almighty God, must engender pillage, conflagration, war, and death.' At one o'clock the emperor, accompanied by all the princes, returned to his palace.

"On the same day the Elector gathered around him all his co-religionists [or "white cloud" that he "sat on"], whom the emperor's speech had greatly excited, and exhorted them not to be turned aside by any threats from a cause [whose principles were embodied in their Confession] which was that of God himself. All seemed penetrated with this expression of Scripture: 'Speak the word, and it shall not stand; for God is with us' (Isaiah viii. 10).

"The Elector had a heavy burden to bear. Not only had he to walk at the head of the princes [in accordance with his prophetic position], but he had further to defend himself against the enervating influence of Melancthon. Throughout the whole of the Diet this prince

offers to our notice no mere abstraction of the State, but the noblest individuality [such as might be expected from "him that sat on the cloud"]. Early on Tuesday morning, feeling the necessity of that invisible strength which, according to a beautiful figure in the Holy Scriptures, causes us to ride upon the high places of the earth [in this instance expressed by sitting on a white cloud]; and seeing, as was usual, his domestics, his councillors, and his son assembled around him, John begged them affectionately to withdraw. He ["like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown"] knew that it was only by kneeling humbly before God that he could stand with courage before Charles [the wearer of the earthly golden crown]. Alone in his chamber, he opened and read the Psalms: then falling on his knees, he offered up the most fervent prayer to God; next, wishing to confirm himself in the immovable fidelity that he had just vowed to the Lord, he went to his desk, and there committed his resolutions [respecting the public reading of the Confession] in writing. Dolzig and Melancthon afterwards saw these lines, and were filled with admiration as they read them.

"Being thus tempered anew in heavenly thoughts, John took up the imperial proposition, and meditated over it; then, having called in his son and the chancellor Bruck, and Melancthon shortly after, they all agreed that the deliberations of the Diet ought to commence with the affairs of religion; and his allies, who were consulted, concurred in this advice.

"The legate had conceived a plan diametrically opposed to this. He desired to stifle the religious question, and for this end required that the princes should examine it in a secret committee. The evangelical Christians had no doubt that if the truth was proclaimed in the great council of the nation [if the Confession in the hands of the Elector was read publicly or "the sharp sickle in the hand of the one that sat on the cloud was thrust in "] it would gain the victory ["For the time is come for thee to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe"]; but the more they desired a public confession, the more it was dreaded by the pope's friends. The latter wished

to take their adversaries by silence, without confession, without discussion, as a city is taken by famine without fighting and without a storm: to gag the Reformation, and thus reduce it to powerlessness and death, were their tactics. To have silenced the preachers was not enough, the princes must be silenced also. They wished to shut up the Reformation in a dungeon, and there leave it to die, thinking they would thus get rid of it more surely than by leading it to the scaffold.

"This plan was well conceived: it now remained to be put in execution, and for that purpose it was necessary to persuade the Protestants that such a method would be the surest for them. The person selected for this intrigue was Alphonso Valdez, secretary to Charles V., a Spanish gentleman, who afterwards showed a leaning towards the Reformation. Policy often makes use of good men for the most perfidious designs. It was decided that Valdez should address the most timid of the Protestants-Melancthon. . . .

...

"Melancthon was almost won over; a secret conference agreed better with his disposition. Had he not often repeated that peace should be sought after above all things? Thus everything induced the legate to hope that a public struggle would be avoided, and that he might be content, as it were, to send mutes against the Reform, and strangle it in. a dungeon.

Fortunately the Chancellor and the Elector did not think fit to entertain the propositions with which Charles had commissioned the worthy Valdez. The resolution of these lay members of the church saved it from the false step its doctors were about to take; and the wiles of the Italians failed against evangelical firmness. Melancthon was only permitted to lay the Confession before the Spaniard, that he might look into it, and in despite of the moderation employed in it, Valdez exclaimed: 'These words are too bitter, and your adversaries will never put up with them!' Thus finished the legate's manœuvre.

"Cap. vi.-Charles, compelled to resign himself to a public sitting ordered on Wednesday, 22nd June, that the Elector and his allies should have their Confession ready