This baseless theory has sometimes received a further addition. The Babylon of the Apocalypse has been conjectured to be the literal Babylon of Chaldea, which is thus to be a future fourth empire. It is needless to adduce all the reasons which the Apocalypse yields to refute this strange fancy; that Babylon is a name of mystery, that its site is on seven mountains, and that in St. John's days it was ruling over the kings of the earth. One argument alone, from the visions of Daniel, refutes it decisively. The gold, silver, brass, and iron are broken to pieces together. But the gold is the kingdom of Babylon; and therefore the iron cannot possibly be the same. No fancy can be more baseless and more opposed to all the evidence of God's word than this supplemental theory. The conclusion from the whole examination is clear. That the three first empires are those of Babylon, Persia, and Greece, is established on the firmest grounds, as well as confirmed by an assent of the church almost unbroken in every age.

II. THE UNITY OF THE GREEK EMPIRE is the next subject to be examined; since, by an opposite error to the last, this has been denied, and the successors of Alexander have been erected into a fourth kingdom. This opinion, though once adopted by nearly every one who deviated from the common view, has now scarcely an advocate. It will be enough to adduce only two or three plain arguments to disprove it.

1. First, the emblem of the he-goat is alone decisive. That symbol plainly includes the division of Alexander's kingdom, and the reign of his successors in the divided provinces. Yet the whole is denoted by one beast only. This proves clearly that the successors of Alexander are only the continuance of the third empire, and not a distinct power.

2. The characters of the fourth kingdom equally disprove the hypothesis. Beyond all question the successors of Alexander were less powerful than that monarch himself. But the fourth beast on the contrary is stronger and more terrible than the third; the iron is stronger than the brass which precedes it.

3. A third proof is found in the events which mark the close of the fourth empire. It is said that in the days of those kings, " the God of heaven will set up a kingdom," &c. But even admitting, for the sake of argument, that the reference might be to the First Advent, the last of Alexander's successors was extinct before the birth of our Lord. The concession, however, may be safely withheld; for what can be clearer than that the description in Daniel vii. 13, 14, does not relate to the First Advent? Tried by every test, the hypothesis is found wanting.

III. THE SAMENESS OF THE EMPIRES IN THE TWO VISIONS is the chief point which still remains to be proved. This had been received, without a question, from the earliest age of the church; but within the last few years, among other innovations, this truth has been also assailed. One reason only has even the show of weight. "The four beasts," the angel says to the prophet, are four kings which shall arise out of the earth." But Babylon had already arisen. And this has been thought a fatal objection to the received view, and a clear proof that the lion is the symbol of a different empire from the head of gold.

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Surely it is very rash and unwise to reject the concurrent judgment of divines, through fifteen centuries, upon no other evidence than this refined and subtle objection. Every book almost of scripture will furnish examples to refute it. For instance, the word of God solemnly announced to the Jews in the desert, "Your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years." The reasoning in the objection would prove this statement to be untrue; for nearly a year and a half out of the forty years had already expired when this warning was given. So also with the words of Elizabeth to the Virgin, and the two-fold declaration of the Apostle, “All Israel shall be saved.” “As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."

Every other argument, without exception, proves the sameness of the empires in the two visions. The num

ber is the same, four in each. The starting point is the same; for each was given while Babylon was the ruling power. The issue is the same; for both are immediately followed by the visible kingdom of Christ. The order is the same; for the kingdoms in the first vision, as all admit, are successive; and, in the other, there are no less than seven or eight clauses which denote a succession in time. There is the same gradation; for the noblest metal and the noblest animal take the lead in each series. Further, the kingdoms in each vision are described as occupying the whole space till the dominion of the saints of God. This is the plain import of the words of the angel.-"These great beasts, which are four, are four kings which shall arise out of the earth; but the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever and ever."

In fact, the true sense of these four kingdoms may be learned, almost without an inference, from the direct and explicit statements of Holy Writ. The first empire is that of Babylon; for to the king of Babylon it was said, "Thou art this head of gold." If we require the names of the two next kingdoms, the angel Gabriel continues the message of the Prophet,-" The ram having the two horns, is the kings of Media and Persia." “The rough goat is the king of Grecia." If we ask the name and character of the fourth empire, the evangelist supplies the answer,- "There went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed." "If we let him alone, all men will believe on him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation." And thus four supreme and ruling kingdoms, and four only, are announced by name in the word of God, from the time of Daniel to the close of the sacred canon.

Let us now review, for a moment, the scope of these opening visions, and the view of the four empires already established, will appear with fresh evidence of its truth. The occasion of these prophecies was the captivity of Israel. And hence their main purpose was to

cheer and sustain the people of God, through ages of delay and frequent suffering, till the kingdom of Messiah should appear in its glory. For this end it was needful to give a continuous outline of the worldly powers to succeed, that the delay might not seem interminable and without end. Now such is the message given in these two visions. It is revealed that four empires only were to appear in succession, and then the everlasting reign of Messiah would begin. To break the continuous order of these kingdoms destroys the main purpose of the revelation. And the whole detail of the prophecy shews that the fourth was to have the longest duration, and to be most vitally connected with the fortunes of the Church of God.

Again, the four Empires are not only a complete succession in time, reaching from the days of the prophet to the future glory of Israel: they are also a complete succession in territory and position. Each retains its being after its rule is past. And therefore each of them claims to itself a distinct portion of the earth's surface, which gives it a separate being, whether ruling, or subject to a foreign power. And this succession is complete. From Babylon and Persia in the East to the shores of the Atlantic, the lands have been occupied by one or other of these powers; and when Rome conquered and incorporated the tribes of Spain, Gaul, and Britain, the crowning proof was given of its character as the fourth kingdom. On this wide chart, the mystery of providence was now to be unfolded, till the voice of the seventh angel should announce its close with the trump of God.

But there is also a moral completeness in the emblems of this prophecy, as well as a complete series in place and time. The empires are set forth in two visions, to the heathen monarch, and to the beloved prophet of God. The king of Babylon gazes with surprise and wonder on an image of terrible brightness-a fit emblem of the vain glory of the world, as it appears before the eye of the unbeliever. It seems to have been this

deep impression of wonder and admiration which led him soon after to set up the image of gold on the plain of Dura, and to command the worship of the assembled people. Thus, by the sin of the monarch, was revealed the true character of these earthly kingdoms; and it was shewn that the worship of human pride and ambition leads to persecution of the truth, and open idolatry. The sentence on the pride of the king is, to be debased into the resemblance of a beast of the field. In harmony with this parable, the prophet beholds the four empires, not in the false splendour of the idol of gold, but degraded into the likeness of four wild beasts of prey. The visions exhibit to us the course of the world as it is seen by the worldling and by the devout Christian, in the sight of man and in the sight of God. And thus, in these few chapters, the Church for more than two thousand years has been provided with a clear light, to reveal to her the place where she stands in the vast field of providence, to unmask the deceits of the world, and to clothe her with Divine armour in each successive hour of conflict and trial.