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that it must at least be equal to the two double woes of the twofold Apostasy: but history mentions no event, as immediately succeeding the establishment of the reformation in Germany, that is either of a sufficient magnitude, or of a sufficiently peculiar nature, to warrant us in concluding, that the third woe did really "come quickly" after this establishment. Matters went on in the usual succession of state intrigues, hollow peaces, and rapidly recurring wars: and it has frequently been observed, that the balance of Europe, as it is termed, was first thought of in the reign of Charles the fifth; and that afterwards the different states, by means of various alliances, and counter-alliances, were pretty equally poised till the tremendous explosion of the French revolution. It is plain therefore, that this explanation of the earthquake will not hold good: and, if it do not, all the other explanations, attached to the other schemes of interpreting the war of the witnesses, must of course fall to the ground along with the schemes to which they are attached*. We must look out then for å very different event from the establishment of the German reformation, in order to find a satisfactory exposition of the great earthquake, which was to overthrow a tenth part of the city; and of the third woe, which was to "come quickly" after it. We have seen, that Daniel predicts the tyranny of Popery and Mohammedism, under the symbols * The reader will find an account of them in Bp. Newton's Dissert. on Rev. xi.

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of two little horns; and that of the atheistical government of France, under the character of a king who neither revered the God of heaven, the Desire of women, nor any other god, but who magnified himself above all. Hence we may naturally expect, that St. John, writing under the influence of the same Holy Spirit, would observe the same order, and would fortel the same events: and such, I apprehend, we shall find to be really the case. The apostolical prophet, having fully detailed the history of the two double woes of the twofold Apostasy, Mohammedan and Papal, introduces, at the close of the second woe, what may be termed the primary revelation of Antichrist; and immediately after, under the third woe, proceeds to the full developement of the same power in all its multiplied horrors: a power, fully worthy of being. celebrated under a fresh trumpet; for Popery and Mohammedism only corrupted and mutilated the word of God, but it has defied him even to his. face, and as a national act (a portent hitherto unheard of) has openly denied his very existence.

An earthquake is the symbol of a violent revolution either religious or political: and a tenth, part of the great city, or the Roman empire, is manifestly the same as one of the ten horns of the Roman beast. But, from the time of the German reformation to the close of the last century, there has been no event to which this prophecy of the earthquake can with any probability be applied, except the revolution of France; a country, which

has

has always been one of the most powerful of the ten streets of the great city, and which at the period of this earthquake was the only one of the ten original horns that remained*. Hence I scruple not to conclude, that that revolution is here foretold.

It is represented however as taking place before its own proper woe-trumpet began to sound; because, as the event has shewn, Antichrist was not destined to appear at first in all his naked horrors. The great earthquake of the second woe, and the fall of the tenth part of the city which it produced, were for some time celebrated, by the fanatical advocates of a chimerical liberty, as the very quintessence of human wisdom, the glory of an enlightened age, the most sublime effort of political jurisprudence. We were loudly called upon to contemplate the magnificent spectacle of a great nation rising as one man, and decreeing themselves free; and we were particularly charged to venerate the mild splendor of a phenomenon hitherto unknown in the annals of a guilty world, the phenomenon of a bloodless revolution. however the scene changed, even before the third woe-trumpet began to sound and the infidel tyrant, weary of his unnatural lamb-like mask almost as soon as he had assumed it, impatiently dashed it aside, and commenced a series of mas

:

Soon.

*I have already observed, that, owing to the frequent revolutions of nations, the other original horne, have long since fallen.

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sacres and proscriptions worthy of a Sylla or a Marius. In the year 1789, the earthquake commenced; and in it fell a tenth part, the only remaining tenth part; of the great Roman city: that is to say the French monarchy, the only one of the ten original regal horns then in existence. This circumstance, added to the chronological era to which the earthquake is assigned, namely the close of the second woe or a period subsequent to the permitted season of Ottoman conquest, might in itself be sufficient to teach us, that the French revolution can alone be intended in this prediction. But the prophet adds even a yet more decisive mark: "in the earthquake," says he, "were slain "seven thousand names of men." The expression is remarkable, and full of meaning. In common earthquakes or political revolutions, men alone are ordinarily slain; but, in the present earthquake, their very names are to be slain; and the number of their names is said to be seven thousand or seven multiplied by a thousand, the usual apocalyptic method of describing a great multitude*. Now

Thus the mystic number of God's elect is 144, or the square of 12, which is multiplied by a thousand to shew us that they constitute an exceeding great multitude. [Rev. vii, 4.]. The number 12 is similarly multipled by a thousand in the apocalyptic description of the new Jerusalem. [Rev. xxi. 10-16.]. The present prediction is constructed upon the very same principle. The number of the names or titles is seven: and this number is multiplied by a thousand to describe, how great a multitude the ancient French nobility constituted. It is well known, that they were the most numerous of any Country in Europe, Germany alone perhaps excepted.

it is a remarkable circumstance, that not merely names or titles of nobility in general should be abolished or slain by the earthquake of the French revolution, but that precisely seven such names or titles should be then abolished:

1. Prince. 2. Duke. 3. Marquis. 4. Count. 5. Viscount. 6. Bishop. 7. Baron. All these names were slain in the course of the earthquake, which overthrew the only remaining. tenth part of the Roman city, or the monarchy of France: for the first shock of the earthquake took place in the year 1789; and the last on the memorable 10th of August 1792. Thus are we alike directed by chronological and circumstantial evidence to apply this prediction to the French revolution. It was to be fulfilled after the Ottoman power had ceased to be victorious: it was to be fulfilled in one of the ten original horns of the beast: it was to be fulfilled in the downfall of the monarchy symbolized by that tenth horn, and in the abolition of precisely seven names or titles of nobility. No event, except the French revolution, answers to all these particulars: and it does exactly answer to them all: consequently we have as much certainty, as can be attained in these matters, that the French revolution is here foretold by St. John*.

While

I have explained this prophecy much better in the present edition, than I did in the first: and I readily acknowledge my obligation to Mr. Bicheno for what is here said relative to the phrase names of men. To his remarks on this phrase, I have, added

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