ture of a suppliant, Anastasius appeared on the throne of the circus. The Catholics, before his face, rehearsed the genuine Trisagion; they exulted in the offer, which he proclaimed by the voice of a herald, of abdicating the purple; they listened to the admonition that, since all could not reign, they should previously agree in the choice of a sovereign; and they accepted the blood of two unpopular ministers, whom their master, without hesitation, condemned to the lions. These furious but transient seditions were encouraged by the success of Vitalian, who, with an army of Huns and Bulgarians, for the most part idolaters, declared himself the champion of the Catholic faith. In this pious rebellion, he depopulated Thrace, besieged Constantinople, exterminated sixty-five thousand of his fellow-Christians, till he obtained the recall of the bishops, the satisfaction of the pope, and the establishment of the Council of Chalcedon, an orthodox treaty, reluctantly signed by the dying Anastasius, and more faithfully performed by the uncle of Justinian. And such was the event of the first of the religious wars, which have been waged in the name, and by the disciples of the God of peace."

In this war the Catholic church for the first time waged a successful war against both the civil authority of the empire and the church of the east, which had for the most part embraced the Monophosite doctrine. The extermination of 65,000 heretics was the result. Thus they, the Goths, Huns and Bulgarians, for the most part IDOLATORS, place the abomination which maketh desolate; they forgot their pagan charac

ter, and espoused the papal cause.

This war

let it be kept in remembrance, according to Gibbon, originated in 508.

Verses 32, 33: "And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits. And they that understand among the people shall instruct many; yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days."

Having thus introduced us to the first papal war and the victory of the Catholic church over the heretics, we are presented with a brief view of the whole course of papal persecutions.

"Such as do wickedly against the covenant," have more regard for human traditions, and the decisions of popes and councils, than they have for God's word,-" shall he," the pope, "corrupt by flatteries." They shall be beguiled by the show and glitter of pompous ceremonies, and high-sounding titles, and drawn away from the simplicity of the gospel, and purity of Christian faith and practice. They shall do homage to the creature rather than the Creator.

"But the people that do know their God,"—the true, humble followers of the Savior, who love and keep to the word of God,-" shall be strong and do exploits." They shall keep pure religion alive in the earth, during the darkest times.

Such

were the Waldenses, the Albigenses, and the Huguenots, who, under the dominion of the man of sin, fell "by the sword, by flame, by captivity, and spoil, many days.” The number of days is named in Daniel xii. 11.

Verse 34: "Now, when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries."

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Shall be holpen with a little help." During the period of papal supremacy, when the man of sin is in his full strength, a partial deliverance of the church from his hand will be effected, by the reformation under MARTIN LUTHER; when the German states will espouse the protestant cause, and grant toleration and support to the reformers, protecting them from the violence of the Roman church in its efforts to exclude the dawning light as it breaks in upon the world. But when this help comes, and the protestant cause becomes popular—

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Many shall cleave to them with flatteries." A multitude will come into the reformed churches from unworthy motives. Such was the case of Henry VIII., of England, who seceded from the church of Rome, because the pope refused his sanction to the divorce of queen Catherine, and Henry's marriage with Ann Boylen. After this refusal of the pope, Henry appealed to the universities of Europe on the question; the result of this appeal was favorable to his views and wishes, and he divorced his wife and married another, and immediately renounced popery, and was himself declared by the parliament and people of England, to be the supreme head on earth of the church of England.

Verse 35: "And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed."

"Shall fall, to try them," &c. Although the

power of the pope over the heretics was in a measure broken, yet it did not entirely cease. Some still fell, despite the protection of protestant princes and kings. Such was the state of the English church. especially. The religious state of that kingdom was fluctuating; at one time being under protestant, and at another under papal jurisdiction. The bloody queen Mary, was a mortal enemy of the protestant cause; and during her reign, multitudes of Christians were victims of her unrelenting persecutions.

"To the time of the end." The power of the church of Rome, although greatly restricted and held in check by the protestant governments, was not to be taken away until " the time of the end" should come. Then it must fall.

"Because it is yet for a time appointed." The time of the end is not when the partial deliverance or "little help" comes; but after the reformation, and before "the time of the end," another government of a purely atheistical character was to arise.

THE WILFUL KING-THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.

That an event of such magnitude as the French Revolution, and coming, as it does, within the range of the great leading events of prophecy, the history of the four great governments of the earth, should receive no notice in the prophecy, is not to be credited. And if it is to receive notice anywhere, what more likely place to find it than in this most singularly definite and particular prediction in the 11th chapter of Daniel? And where in this

chapter, except in the decline, and before the overthrow of popery? In short, where, but in the very place in which we find the following exact description of a government perfectly an swering the history of the revolution in France?

Verses 36, 37: "And the king shall do according to his will, and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god; and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all."

Such a system as is here described was the French Revolution. It was founded in Atheism, and triumphed in the overthrow of everything which interposed a barrier to their object. The seed of this revolution were sown by Voltaire, the noted French infidel, who in early youth vowed to dedicate his life to the extermination of Christianity. He used to say, "I am weary of hearing people repeat that twelve men established the Christian religion. I will prove that one man may suffice to overthrow it." To accomplish his object he associated with himself a band of philosophic infidels, such as Rousseau, De Alembert, Didervit, and others. Their numbers rapidly increased, and their success was beyond measure. In speaking of Christ, one of the watchwords of the fraternity was, "Crush the wretch." They held the following language and sentiments :"The fear of God is so far from being the beginning of wisdom, that it is the beginning of folly. Modesty is only an invention of refined voluptuousness.