ades, or princes who succeeded Abdalrahman, Mr. Gibbon remarks in general,
" Their mutual designs or declarations of war evaporated without efi'ect; but instead of opening a door to the conquest of Europe, Spain was dissevered from the trunk of the monarchy, engaged in perpetual hostility with the East, and inclined to peace and friendship with the Christian sovereigns of Constantinople and France." iii. p. 472. Fow much
docs this look like some change occurring by which they would cease to be a source of " torment" to the nations witb whom they now dwelt! From this period, they gave themselves to the arts of peace; cultivated literature and science; lost entirely their spirit of conquest, and their ambition for universal dominion, until they gradually withdrew, or were driven from those parts of the Christian world where they had inspired most terroi", and which in the days of their power and ambition they had invaded. By turning merely to the table of "contents" of Mr. Gibbon's history, the following periods, occurring at about the time that would be embraced in the "five months," or hundred and fifty years, are distinctly marked:
" A. D. 668-675. First siege of Constantinople by the Arabs. *' 677. Peace and tribute. " 716-18. Second siege of Constantinople. '* " Failure and retreat of the
Saracens. *' " Invention and use of the
Greek fire. " 721. Invasion of France by the
Arabs. •< 732. Defeat of the Saracens by
Charles Martel. ■' " They retreat before the
Franks. " 'M6-750. The elevation of the
Abassides. ••■ 750. Fall of the Ommiades. " 755. Revolt of Spain. " " Triple division of the caliphate. " 750-960. Magnificence of the caliphs. ■* " Its consequence on private and public happiness. 734, &c. Introduction of learning among the Arabians. *' " Their real progress in the sciences."
It ^i\\ be seen from this that the decline of their military and civil power; their defeats in their attempts to subjugate Europe; their turning their attention to the peaceful pursuits of literature and science, synchronize remarkably with the period that would be indicated by the five months, or the hundred and fifty years. It should be added, also, that in the year 762, Almanzor, the 'Caliph, built Bagdad, q.nd made it the hold, there come two woea more hereafter.
capital of the Saracen empire. Henceforward that became the seat of Arabic learning, luxury, and power, and the wealth and talent of the Saracen empire were gradually drawn to that capital, and they ceased to vex and annoy the Christian world. The building of Bagdad occurred within just ten years of the time indicated by the " five months" — reckoning that from the Hegira, or flight of Mohammed; or reckoning from the time when Mohammed began to preach (A. D. 609, Gibbon, iii. 383), it wanted but three years of coinciding exactly with the period.
These considerations show with what propriety the fifth trumpet — the symbol of the locusts — is referred to the Arabian hordes under the guidance of Mohammed and his successors. On the supposition that it was the design of John to symbolize these events, the symbol has been chosen which of all others was best adapted to the end. If, now that those events are passed, we should endeavor to find some symbol which would appropriately represent them, we could not find one that would be more striking or appropriate than that which is here employed by John.
12. One tcoe is past. The tcoe referred to in vs. 1-11. In chapter viii. 13, three woes are mentioned which were to occur successively, and which were to embrace the whole of the period comprised in the seven seals, and the seven trumpets. Under the last of the seals, we have considered four successive periods, referring to events connected with the downfall of the Western empire; and then, we have found one important event, worthy of a place in noticing the things which would permanently affect the destiny of the world — the rise, the character, and the conquests of the Saracens. This was referred to by the first xcoe-trumpet. We enter now on the consideration of the second. This occupies the remainder of the chapter, and in illustrating it the same method will be pursued as heretofore; first, to explain the literal meaning of the words, phrases, and symbols; and then to enquire what 1 events in history, if any, succeeding tit*
13 And the sixth ang^l sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
former, occurred, -whieli would correspond with the Language used. ^ And behold (here come two tcoes hereafter. Two inomentous and important events that will be attended with sorrow to mankind. It cannot be intended that there would be no other evils that would visit mankind; but the eye, in glancing along the future, rested on these as having a special pre-eminence in affecting the destiny of the church and the world.
13. And the sixth angel sounded. See Notes on ch. viii. 2, 7. ^ And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God. In the language here used there is an allusion to the temple, but the scene is evidently laid in heaven. The temple in its arrangements was designed undoubtedly to be in important respects a symbol of heaven, and this idea constantly occurs in the Scriptures. Comp. the epistle to the Hebrews passim. The golden altar stood in the holy place, between the table of shew-bread and the golden candlestick. See Notes on Heb. is. 1, 2. This altar, made of shittim or acacia wood, was ornamented at tho four corners, and overlaid throughout with laminas of gold. Hence it was called " the golden altar," in contradistinction from the altar for sacrifice, which was made of stone. Comp. Notes on Matthew, xxi. 12, seq. On its four corners it had projections which were called horns (Ex. XXX. 2, 3), which seem to have been intended mainly for ornaments. See Jahn, Arch. § 332; Joseph. Ant. iii, 6. 8. When it is said that this was ''before God," the meaning is, that it was directly before or in front of the symbol of the divine presence in the most holy place. This image, in the vision of John, is transformed to heaven. The voice seemed to come from the very presence of the Deity; from the place where offerings are made to God.
14. Saying to the sixth angel which lind the trumpet. Notes ch. viii. 2. ^ Loose, (fee. This power, it would seem, was given to the sixth aiiu,el in addition to hia office of blowing the trumpet.
which had the trumpet, Loose tlje four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. •
All this, of course, was in vision, and cannot be literally interpreted. The meaning is, that the effect of his blowing the trumpet would be the same as if angels that had been bound should be suddenly loosed and suffered to go forth over the earth: — that is, some event would occur which would be properly symbolized by such an act. ^ The four angels. Comp. Notes ch. viii. 1, 2. It was customary to represent important events as occurring under the ministry of angels. The general meaning here is, that, in the vicinity of the river Euphrates, there were mighty powers which had been bound or held in check, which were now to be let loose upon the world. What we are to look for in the fulfilment is evidently this — some power tliat seemed to be kept back by an invisible influence as if by angels, now suddenly let loose and suffered to accomplish the purpose of desolation mentioned in the subsequent verses. It is not necessary to suppose that angels were actually employed in these restraints, though, no one can demonstrate that their agency was not concerned in the transactions here referred to. Corap. Notes on Daniel, X. 12, 13. It has been made a question why the number four is specified, and whether the forces were in any sense made up of four divisions, nations, or people. While nothing certain can bo determined in regard to that, and while the number four may be used merely to denote a great and strong force, yet it must be admitted that the most obvious interpretation Avould be to refer it to some combination of forces, or to some union of powers, that was to accomplish what is here said. If it had been a single nation, it would have been more in accordance with the usual method in prophecy to have represented them aa restrained by an angel, or by angels in general, without specifying any number. ^ Which are bound. That is, they seemed to be bound. There was something which held them, and tlie forces under them, in check, until they were thus commanded to go forth. In the fulfil-
15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared " for an hour, and a day, and a month,
meut of this, it will be necessary to look for Bomething of the nature of a check or restraint on these forces, until they were commissioned to go forth to accomplish the work of destruction. ^ In the great river Euphrates. The wellknown river of that name, commonly called, in the Scriptures, "the great river," and, by way of eminence, "the river." Ex. xxiii. 31; Isa. viii. 7. This river was on the east of Palestine; and the language here used naturally denotes that the power referred to under the sixth trumpet would spring up in the east, and that it would have its origin in the vicinity of that river. Those interpreters, therefore, who apply this to the invasion of Judea by the Romans, have great difficulty in explaining this — as the forces employed in the destruction of Jerusalem came from the west, and not from the east. The fair interpretation is, that there were forces in the vicinity of the Euphrates which were, up to this period, bound or restrained, but which were now suffered to spread wo and sorrow over a considerable portion of the world.
15. And the four avgeh loere loosed. Who had this mighty host under restraint. The loosening of the angels was in fact also a letting loose of all these hosts, that they might accomplish the work which they were commissioned to do. 5[ Which icere prepared. See ver. 7. The word here used properly refers to that which is made ready, fitted up, arranged for any thing: — as persons prepared for a journey, horses for battle, a road for travellers, food for the hungry, a liouse to live in, &c. See Rob. Lex., p. voce feroi/ia^w. As used here, the word means that whatever was necessary to ]:irepare these angels — the leaders of this host — for the work which they were commissioned to perform, was now done, and that they stood in a state of readiness to execute the design. In the fulfilment of this it will be necessary to look for some arrangements existing in the vicinity of the Euphrates, by which tliese restrained hosts were in a state of readiness to be summoned forth to the execution of this work, or in such a con- 22*
and a year, for to sUy the third * part of men.
dition that they would go forth spon taneously if the restraints existing were removed. ^ For an hour, &c. Marg., at. The Greek — hs — means properly 7mto, with reference to; and the sense is, that with reference to that hour, they had all the requisite preparation. Prof. Stuart explains it as meaning that they were " prepared for the particular year, month, day, and hour, destined by God for the great catastrophe which is to follow." The meaning, however, rather seems to be that they were prepared, not for the commencement of such a period, but they were prepared for the whole period indicated by the hour, the day, the month, and the year; that is, that the continuance of this " woe" would extend along through the whole period. For, (a) this is the natural interpretation of the word "for" — «?; [h) it makes the whole sentence intelligible— for though it might be proper to say of any thing that it was " prepared for an hour," indicating the commencement of what was to be done, it is not usual to say of any thing that it is " prepared for an hour, a month, a day, a year," when the design is merely to indicate the beginning of it; and (c) it is in accordance with the prediction respecting the first "woe" (ver. 5), where the time is specified in language similar to this, to wit, " five months." It seems to me, therefore, that we are to regard the time here mentioned as a prophetic indication of the period during which this woe would continue. ^ An hour, and a.day, and a month, and a year. If this were to be taken literally, it would, of course, be but little more than a year. If it be taken, however, in the common prophetic style, where a day is put for a year (Notes on Dan. ix. 2i, seq.), then the amount of time (360 4 30 -f 1 -f an hour) would be three hundred and ninety-one years, and the portion of the year indicated by an hour — a twelfth oi twenty-fourth part, according as the day was supposed to be divided into twelve or twenty-four hours. That this is the true view seems to be clear, because thia accords with the usual style in thia book; because it can hardly be supposed
16 And the number of the army " of the horsemen were two hundred thous<and thousand: * and I heard '^ the number of tb^m.
that the " preparation" here referred to would have been for so brief a period as the time would be if literally interpreted; and because the mention of so small a portion of time as an " hour/' if literallytaken, would be improbable in so great transactions. The fair interpretation, therefore, will require us to find some events that will fill up the period of about three hundred and ninety-one years. ^ For to slay the third 2iart of men, Comp. eh. viii. 7. 9. 12. The meaning here is, that the immense host which was restrained on the Euphrates, would, when loosed, spread desolation over about a third part of the world. We are not to suppose that this is to be understood in exactly a literal sense, but the meaning is, that the desolation would be so wide-spread that it would seem to embrace a third of the world. No such event as the cutting off of a few thousands of Jews in the siege of Jerusalem would correspond with the language here employed, and we must look for events more general and more disastrous to mankind at large.
16. And the numher of the army of the horsemen. It is to be observed here that the strength of the army seemed to be cavalry. In the former plagues there is no distinct mention of horsemen; but here that which struck the beholder was the immense and unparalleled number of horsemen. ^ Were two hundred thousand thonsand. A thousand thousand are a million, and consequently the number here referred to would be two hundred millions. This would be a larger army than was ever assembled, and it cannot be supposed that it is to be taken literally. That it would bo a very large host — so large that it would not readily be numbered — is clear. The expression in the original, while it naturally conveys the idea of an immense number, would seem also to refer to some peculiarity in the manner of reckoning them. The language is, two myriads of myriads — livo iivpiddes uvpidiiav. The myriad was ten thousand. The idea would seem to be this. John Baw en immense host of cavalry. They
17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire,
appeared to be divided into large bodies that were in some degree separate, and that might be reckoned by ten thousands. Of these different squadrons there were many, and to express their great and unusual number he said that there seemed to be myriads of them — tAvo myriads of myriads, or twice ten thousand myriads. The army thus would seem to be immense — an army, as we would say, to be reckoned by tens of thousands. ^ And I heard the numher of them. They were so numerous that he did not pretend to be able to estimate the number himself, for it was beyond his power of computation; but he heard it stated in these round numbers, that there were " two myriads of myriads" of them.
17. And thus I saw the horses in the vision. That is, he saw them as he proceeds to describe them, for the word thus — 'dvTias — refers to what follows. Comp. Rob. Lex. on the word, (6), and see Matt. i. 18, ii. 5; John xxi. 1; Heb. iv. 4. Prof. Stuart, however, refers it to wha^ precedes. The meaning, as it seems to me, is, that he fixed his attention on the appearance of the immense army — the horses and their riders, and proceeded to describe them as they struck him. ^ And them that sat on them. He fixed the attention on horse and rider. Their appearance was unusual, and deserved a particular description. ^Having hreast- 2)lates of fire. That is, those who sat on them had such breast-plates. The word here rendered breast-plate, denoted properly a coat of mail that covered the body from the neck to the thighs. See Notes on Ephesians, vi. 14. This would be a prominent object in looking at a horseman. This was said to be composed of ''fire, and jacinth, and brimstone;" that is, the part of the body usually encased in the coat-of-mail had these three colors. The word " fire" here simply denotes red. It was burnished and bright, and seemed to be a blaze of fire. — The word "jacinth" — ^hkivSivovs — means hyacinthine. Tlie color denoted is that of the hyacinth — a flower of a deep purple or reddish blue. Then it refers to a gem of the same color and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses loere as the heads of lions: " and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.
nearly related to the zircon of the mineralogists, and the color here mentioned is deep purple or reddish blue. The word rendered "brimstone" — ^uu)Sr]s — means properly sulphurous, that is, made of sulphur, and means here simply yclloio. The meaning of the whole then is, that these horsemen appeared to be clad in a peculiar kind of armor — armor that shone like fire, mingled with blue and yellow. It will be necessary to look for the fulfilment of this in cavalry that was so caparisoned. ^ And the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions. Resembled, in some respects, the heads of lions. He does not say that they were the heads of lions, or that the riders were on monsters, but only that they, in some respects, resembled the heads of lions. It would be easy to give this general appearance by the way in which the head-dress of the horses was arrayed. ^ And out of their mouths issued, •^hat is, a2)peared to issue. It is not necessary to understand this as aflSirmiug that it actually came from their mouths, but only that, to one looking on such an approaching army, it would have this ap- ^tearance. The heathen poets often speak of horses breathing out fire and smoke (Virg. Geor. ii. 140, iii. 85; Ovid, Met. vii. 104), meaning that their breath seemed to be mingled smoke and fire. There is an image superadded here not found in any of the classic descriptions, that this was mingled with brimstone. All thi3 seemed to issue from their mouths; that is, it was breathed forth in front of the host, as if the horses emitted it from their mouths. *^ Fire and smoke, and brimstone. The exact idea, whether that was intended or not, would be conveyed by the discharge of musketry or artillery. The fire, the smoke, and the sulphurous smell of such a discharge would correspond precisely with this language, and if it be supposed that the writer meant to describe such a discharge, this would be the very language that would be used. Moreover, in describing a battle, nothing
18 By tliese three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.
19 For their power is in their
would be more proper than to say that this ajipeared to issue from the horses' mouths. If, therefore, it should be found that there were any events where fire-arms were used, in contradistinction from the ancient mode of warfare, this language-would be appropriate to describe that, and if it were ascertained that the writer meant to refer to some such fact, then the language here used would be that which he would adopt. One thing is certain, that this is not language which would be employed to describe the onset of ancient cavalry in the mode of warfare which prevailed then. No one describing a charge of cavalry among the Persians, the Greeks, or the Romans, when the only armor was the sword and the spear, would think of saying that there seemed to be emitted from the horses' mouths fire, and smoke, and brimstone.
IS. By these three. Three things — explained immediately as referring to the fire, the smoke, and the brimstone. ^ Was the third part of men killed. See Notes on ch. viii. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, on each of which verses we have notices of calamities that came upon the third part of the race, of the sea, of rivers, <fcc. We are not to suppose that this is to be taken literally, but the description is given as it apj^cared to John. Those immense numbers of horsemen would sweep over the world, and a full third part of the race of men would seem to fall before them.
19. For their 2iower is in their month. That is, as described — in the fire, smoke, and brimstone that proceeded out of their mouths. What struck the seer as i-emarkable on looking on the symbol was, that this immense destruction seemed to proceed out of their mouths. It was not that thoy trampled down their enemies; nor that they destroyed them with the sword, the bow, or the spear: it was some new and remarkable power in warfare — in which the destruction seemed to proceed from fire and smoke and sulphur issuing from tho
mouth, and in tlieir tails: for their tails " loere like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.
20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues, yet ^ repented not of the works of their hands, that they
mouths of the horses themselves. ^ And in their tails. The tails of the horses. This, of course, was something unusual and remarkable in horses, for naturally they have no power there. The power of a fish, or a scorpion, or a wasp, may be said to be in their tails, for their strength or their means of defence or of injury are there, but we never think of speaking in this way of horses. It is not necessary, in the interpretation of this, to suppose that the reference is literally to the tails of the horses, any more than it is to suppose that the smoke and fire and brimstone literally proceeded from their mouths. John describes things as they appeared to him in looking at them from a considerable distance. From their mouths the horses belched forth fire, and smoke, and sulphur, and even their tails seemed to be armed for the work of death. ^ For their tails loere like unto serpents. Not like the tails of serpents, but like serpents themselves. ^ And had heads. That is, there was something remarkable in the position and appearance of their heads. All serpents, of course, have heads; but John saw something unusual in this — or something so peculiar in their heads as to attract special attention. It would seem most probable that the heads of these serpents appeared to extend in every direction — as if the hairs of the horses' tails had been converted into snakes, presenting a most fearful and destructive image. Perhaps it may illustrate this to suppose that there is reference to the Amphisbaena, or twoheaded snake. It is said of this that its tail resembles a head, and that with this it throws out its poison. Lucan, ix. 179. Pliny, Hist. Nat. viii. 35. It really has but one head, but its tail has the appearance of a head, and it has the power of moving in either direction to a limited
should not worship devils, * and idols ^ of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk. 21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, * nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts,
degree. If we suppose these snakes fastened to the tail of a horse, the appearance of heads would be very prominent and remarkable. The image is that of the power of destruction. They seemed like ugly and poisonous serpents instead of tails. ^ And with them they do hurt. Not the main injury, but they have the power of inflicting some injury by them.
20. And the rest of the men whichwere not killed by these plagues. One third part is represented as swept oflF, and it might have been expected that a salutary eflfeet would have been produced on the remainder, in reforming them, and restraining them from error and sin. The writer proceeds to state, however, that these judgments did not have the effect which might reasonably have been anticipated. No reformation followed; there was no abandonment of the prevailing forms of iniquity; there was no change in their idolatry and superstition. In regard to the exact meaning of what is here stated (vs. 20, 21), it will be a more convenientarrangementto consider it after we have ascertained the proper application of the passage relatins: to the sixth trumpet. What is here stated (vs. 20, 21) pertains to the state of the world after the desolations which would occur under this woe-trumpet, and the explanation of the words may be reserved therefore, with propriety, until the inquiry shall have been instituted as to the general design of the whole.
AVith respect to the fulfilment of this symbol — the sixth trumpet — it will be necessary to inquire whether there has been any event, or class of events, occurring at such a time, and in such a manner, as would be properly denoted by such a symbol. The examination of this question will make it necessary to go ov3r the leading points in the sym-
6ol, and to endeavor to apply them. In doing this, I shall simply state, with 8uch illustrations as may occur, "what seems to me to have been the design of the symbol. It would be an endless task to examine all the explanations which have been proposed, and it would be useless to do so.
The reference, then, seems to me to be to the Turkish power, extending from the time of the first appearance of the Turks in the neighborhood of the Euphrates, to the final conquest of Constantinople in 1453. The general reasons for this opinion are such as the following:— (o) If the previous trumpet referred to the Saracens, or to the rise of the Mohammedan power among the Arabs, then the Turkish dominion, being the next in succession, would be that which would most naturally be symbolized, (b) The Turkish power rose on the decline of the Arabic, and was the next important power in affecting the destinies of the world, (c) This power, like the former, had its seat in the East, and would be properly classified under the events occurring there as aflfecting the destiny of the world, (d) The introduction of this power was necessary, in order to complete the survey of the downfall of the Koman empire — the great object kept in view all along in these symbols. In the first four of these trumpets, under the seventh seal, we found the decline and fall of the icestern empire; in the first of the remaining three — the fifth in order — we found tlie rise of the Saracens, materially aflfectiug the condition of the eastern portion of the Roman world; and the notice of the Turks, under whom the empire at last fell to rise no more, seemed to be demanded in order to the completion of the picture. As a leading design of the whole vision was to describe the ultimate destiny of that formidable power — the Roman — which, in the ♦^ime wlien ihe Revelation was given to Johii, ruled over the whole world; under which the church was then oppressed; and which, either as a civil or ecclesiastical power, was to exert so important an influence on the destiny of the church, it was proper that its history should be sketched until it ceased — that is, until the conquest of the capital of the Eastern empire, by the Turks. Here the termination of the empire, as traced by Mr.
\ Gibbon, closes; and these events it was important to incorporate in this seriea of visions. j The rise and character of the Turkish people may be seen stated in full in: Gibbon, Dec. and Fall, iii. 101, 102, 103, j 105, 486, iv. 41, 42, 87, 90,, 91, 93, 100, [ 127, 143, 151, 258, 260, 289, 350. The leading JFacts in regard to the history of the Turks, so far as they are necessary to be known before wp proceed to apply the symbols, are the following: (1) The Turks, or Turkmans, had their origin in the vicinity of the Caspian sea, and were divided into two branches, one on the East, and the other on the West. Tho latter colony, in the tenth century, could muster forty thousand soldiers; the other numbered an hundred thousand families. Gibbon, iv. 90. By the latter of these, Persia was invaded and subdued, and soon Bagdad also came into their possession, and the seat of the caliph was occupied by a Turkish prince. The various details respecting this, and respecting their conversion to the faith of the Koran, may be seen in Gibbon, iv.: 90-93. A mighty Turkish and Moslem \ power was thus concentrated under Togrul, who had subdued the caliph, Ik the vicinity of the Tigris and the Euphrates, extending east over Persia and the countries adjacent to the Caspian sea, but it had not yet crossed the Euphrates to carry its conquests to the lYest. The conquest of Bagdad by Togrul, the first prince of the Seljuk race, was an important event, not only; in itself, but as it was by this event that the Turk was constituted temporal lieutenant of the Prophet's vicar, and so the head of the temporal power of the reli-
gion of Islam. " The conqueror of the East kissed the ground, stood some time in a modest posture, and was led toward the throne by the vizier and an interpreter. After Togrul had seated himself on another throne, his commission was publicly read, which declared him the temporal lieutenant of the prophet. He was successively invested with seven robes of honor, and presented with seven slaves, the natives of the seven climates of the Arabian empire, <fec. Their alliance [of the sultan and the caliph] was cemented by the marriage of Togjrul's sister with the successor of the prophet," <fec. Gibbon, iv. 93. The conquest of Per-
sia, the subjugation of Bagdad, the unioB of the Turkish power with that of the caliph — the successor of Mohammed, and the foundation of this powerful kingdom ia the neighborhood of tlie Euphrates, is all that is necessary to explain the sense of the phrase " which were prejyared for an hour," &c. ver. 15. The arrangements were then made for the important eeries of events which were to occur when that formidable power should be summoned from the East, to spread the predicted desolation over so large a part of the world. A mighty dominion had been forming in the East, that had subdued Persia, and that, by union with the Caliphs, by the subjugation of Bagdad, and by embracing the Mohammedan faith, had become "^:)?-e/ja?-erf" to play its subsequent important part in the affairs of the world. (2) The next important event in their history was the crossing of the Euphrates, and the invasion of Asia Minor. The account of this invasion can be best given in the words
of Mr. Gibbon. " Twenty-five years after the death of Basil [the Greek emperor] his successors were suddenly assaulted by an unknown race of barbarians, who united the Scythian valor with the fanaticism of new proselytes, and the art and riches of a powerful monarchy. The myriads of Turkish horse overspread a frontier of six hundred miles from Taurus to Arzeroum, and the blood of one hundred and thirty thousand Christians vras a grateful sacrifice to the Arabian prophet. Yet the arms of Togrul did not make any deep or lasting impression on the Greek empii-e. The torrent rolled away from the open country; the Sultan retired without glory or success from the siege of an Armenian city; the obscure hostilities were continued or suspended with a vicissitude of events; and the bravery of the Macedonian legions renewed the fame of the conquerer of Asia. The name of Alp Arslan, the valiant lion, is expressive of the popular idea of the perfection of man; and the successor of Togrul displayed the fierceness and generosity of the royal animal. [" The heads of the horses were the heads of lions."] He passed the Euphrates at the head of the Turkish cavalry, and entered Cesarea, the metropolis of Cappadocia, to which he had been attracted by the Aime and the wealth of the temple of St. Basil." Vol.
next important event was the establishing of the kingdom of Roum in Asia Minor. After a succession of victories and defeats; after being driven once and again from Asia Minor, and compelled to retire beyond its limits, and after subjecting the East to their arms (Gibbon, iv. 95-100), in the various contests for the crown of the eastern empire, the aid of the Turks was invoked by one party or the other, until they secured for themselves a firm foothold in Asia Minor, and established themselve? there in a permanent kingdom — evident'.y with the purpose of seizing upon Constantinople itself when an opportunity should be presented. Gibbon, iv. 100, 101. Of this kingdom of Bourn, Mr. Gibbon (iv. 101) gives the following description, and speaks thus of the efi"ect of its establishment, on the destiny of the Eastern em-
pire: — " Since the first conquests of the Caliphs, the establishment of the Turks in Anatolia or Asia Minor, was the most deplorable loss which the church and empire had sustained. By the propagation of the Moslem faith, Soliman deserved the name of Gazi, a holy champion; and his new kingdom of the Romans, or of Roum, was added to the table of oriental geography. It is described as extending /Vo»i the Euphratea to Constantinople, from the Black sea to the confines of Syria; pregnant with mines of silver and iron, of alum and copper, fruitful in corn and wine, and productive of cattle and excellent horses. The wealth of Lydia, the arts of the Greeks, the splendor of the Augustine age existed only in books and ruins, which were equally obscure in the eye? of the Scythian conquerors. By the choice of the Sultan, Nice, the metropolis of Bithynia, was preferred for hia palace and fortress, the seat of the Seljukian dynasty of Roum was planted one hundred miles from Constantinople; and the divinity of Christ was denied and derided in the same temple in which it had been pronounced in the first general synod of the Catholics. The unity of God, and the mission of Mahomet, were preached in the mosques; the Arabian learning was taught in the schools; the Cadis judged according to the law of the Koran; the Turkish manners and language prevailed in the cities; and Turkman camps were scattered over th« plains and mountains of Anatolia," Ac
(4) The next material event in the | history of the Turkish power, was the conquest of Jerusalem. See this described in Gibbon, iv. 102-106. By this, the attention of the Turks was turned for a time from the conquest of Constantinople— an event at which the Turkish power all along aimed, and in which they doubtless expected to he ultimately successful. Had they not been diverted from it, by the wars connected with the Crusades, Constantinople would have fallen long before it did fall, for it was too feeble to defend itself if it had been attacked. (5) The conquest of Jerusalem by the Turks, and the oppressions which Christians experienced there, gave rise to the Crusades, by which the destiny of Constantinople was still longer delayed. The war of the Crusades was made on the Turks, and as the crusaders mostly passed through Constantinople and Anatolia, all the power of the Turks in Asia Minor was requisite to defend themselves, and they were incapable of making an attack on Constantinople, until after the final defeat of the crusaders, and restoration of peace. See Gibbon, iv. 106-210. (6) The next material event in the history of the Turks was the conquest of Constantinople in A. D. 1453 — an event which established the Turkish power in Europe, and which completed the downfall of the Roman empire. Gibbon, iv. 333-359.
After this brief reference to the general history of the Turkish power, we are prepared to enquire more particularly whether the symbol in the passage before us is applicable to this series of events. — This may be considered in several particulars.
(1) The time. If the first woe-trumpet referred to the Saracens, then it would be natural that the rise and progress of the Turkish power should be symbolized, as the next great fact in history J and as that under which the empire fell. As we have seen, the Turkish power rose immediately after the power of the Saracens had reached its height, and identified itself with the Mohammedan religion, and was, in fact, the next great power that affected the Roman empire, the welfare of the church, and the history of the world. There can be no doubt, therefoi-e, that the time is such as is demanded in the uroper interpretation of the symbol
(2) The place. We have seen (in tht remarks on ver. 14) that this was on ol near the river Euphrates, and that this power was long forming and consolidating itself on the east of that river before it crossed it in the invasion of Asia Minor. It had spread over Persia, and had even invaded the region of the East as far as the Indies; it had secured, under Togrul, the conquest of Bagdad, and had united itself with the Caliphate, and was in fact a mighty power ^' prejtared" for conquest before it moved to the west. Thus, Mr. Gibbon (iv. 92),
says, " The more rustic, perhaps the wisest, portion of the Turkmans, continued to dwell in the tents of their ancestors; and from the Oxus to the Eti- 2ihrates, these military colonies were protected and propagated by their native princes." So again, speaking of
Alp Arslan, the son and successor of Togrul, he says (iv. 94), "He passed the
Exiphrates at the head of the Turkish cavalry, and entered Cesarea, the metropolis of Cappadocia, to which he was attracted by the fame and the wealth of the temple of St. Basil."— If it be ad-
mitted that it was intended by John to refer to the Turkish power, it could not have been better represented than as a power that had been forming in the vicinity of that great river, and that was prepared to precipitate itself on the Eastern empire. — To one contemplating it in the time of Togrul or Alp Arslan, it would have appeared as a mighty power growing up in the neighborhood of the Euphrates.
(3) The four angels: — "Loose the four angels which are bound." That is, loose the powers which are in the vicinity of the Euphrates, as if they were under the control of four angels. The most natural construction of this would be, that under the mighty power that was to sweep over the world, there were four subordinate jjowers, or that there were such subdivisions that it might be supposed they were ranged under four angelic powers or leaders. The question is, whether there was any such division or arrangement of the Turkish power, that to one looking on it at a distance, there would seem to be such a division. In the History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (iv. 100), we find the following statement: "The great-
nei3 and unity of the Poraian empir*
expired in tte person of Malek Shab. The vacant throne was disputed by his brother and his four sons; and, after a series of civil wars, the treaty which reconciled the surviving candidates eonfirmed a lasting separation in the Persian dynasty, the oldest and principal branch of the house of Seljuk. The three younger dynasties were those of Kerman, of Sijria, and of Roum; the first of these commanded an extensive, though obscure dominion, on the shores of the Indian ocean; the second expelled the Ai-abian princes of Aleppo and Damascus; and the third [our peculiar case], invaded the Roman provinces of Asia Minor. The generous policy of Malek contributed to their elevation: he allowed the princes of his blood, even those whom he had vanquished in the field, to seek new kingdoms worthy of their ambition; nor was he displeased that they should draw away the more ardent spirits who might have disturbed the tranquillity of his reign. As the supreme head of his family and nation, the great Sultan of Persia commanded the obedience and tribute of his royal brethren: the thi'ones of Kerman and Nice, of Aleppo and Damascus; the Atabeks and emirs of Syria and Mesopotamia, erected their standards under the shadow of his sceptre, and the hordes of Tudimans overspread the pUins of Western Asia. After the death ii Malek, the bands of union and subordination were gradually relaxed and dissolved; the indulgence of the house of Seljuk invested their slaves with the inheritance of kingdoms; and, in the Oriental style, a crowd of princes arose from the dust of their feet." Here it is
observable, that, at the period when the Turkman hordes were about to precipitate themselves on Europe, and to advance tb the destruction of the Eastern empire, we have distinct mention of four grbat departments of the Turkish power: — the original power tbat had established itself in Persia, under Malek Shah, and the three subordinate powers that sprung out of that of Kerman, Syria, and Roum. It is observable («) that this occurs at the period when that power ifould appear in the East as advancing In its conquests to the West; [h) that it was in the vicinity of the great river Snphrates; (c) that it had never before oocorred — the Turki;h power having been before united as one; and {d) that it never afterwards occurred — for, in the words of Mr. Gibbon, " After the death of Malek, the bands of union and subordination were relaxed and finally dissolved." It would not be improper, then, to look upon this one mighty power as under the control of four spirits that were held in check in the East, and that were " prepared" to pour their energies on the Roman empire.
(4) The preparation: — " Prepared for an hour," &e. That is, arranged; made ready — as if by previous discipline — for some mighty enterprise. Applied to the Turkmans, this would mean that the preparation for the ultimate work which they executed had been making as that power increased and became consolidated under Togrul, Alp Arslan, and Malek Shah. In its successful strides, Persia and the East had been subdued; the Caliph at Bagdad had been brought under the control of the Sultan; a union had been formed between the Turks and the Saracens; and the Sultanies of Kerman, Syria, and Roum had been established— embracing together all the countries of the East, and constituting this, by far, the most mighty nation on the globe. All this would seem to be a work of preparation to do what was afterwards done as seen in the visions of John.
(5) The fact that they were bound: — "Which are bound in the great river Euphrates." That is, they were, as it wei'e, restrained and kept back for along time in that vicinity. It would have been natural to suppose that that vast power would at once move on toward the West to the conquest of the capital of the Eastern empire. Such had been the case with the Huns, the Goths, and the Vandals. But these Turkish hordes had been long restrained in the East. They had subdued Persia. They had then achieved the conquest of India. They had conquered Bagdad, and the entire East was under their control- Yet for a long time they had now been inactive, and it would seem as if they had been bound or restrained by some mighty power from moving in their conquests to the West.
(6) The material that composed th* army: — " And the number of the army of the horsemen." " And thus I saw the horses in the vision. And the heads of the Jiorses were as the heads of lions." From this it appears that this vast host was composed mainly of cavalry; and it is hardly necessary to say that this description would apply better to the Turkish hordes than to any other body of invaders known in history. Thus Mr. Gibbon (iv. 94), says, "The myriads of the Turkish horse overspread a frontier of six hundred miles from Taurus to Arzeroum.*' A. D. 1050. So again, speaking of Togrul (iv, 94), " He passed the Euphrates at the head of the Turkish cavalry." Ibid. So again (iii. 95), "Alp Arslan flew to the scene of action at the head of forty thousand horse." A.D. 1 071. So in the attack of the crusaders on Nice, the capital of the Turkish kingdom of Roum, Mr. Gibbon (iv. 127), says of the
Sultan Soliman, " Yielding to the first impulse of the torrent, he deposited his treasure and family in Nice; retired to the mountains with fifty thousand
horse," <fec. And so again (ibid.), speaking of the Turks who rallied to oppose the "strange" invasion of "the Western
barbarians," he says, "The Turkish emirs obeyed the call of loyalty or religion; the Turkish hordes encamped round his standard; and his whole force is loosely stated by the Christians at two hundred, or even three hundred thousand horse." A. D. 1097. Every stu-
dent of history knows that the Turks, or Turkmans, in the eai-ly periods of their history were remarkable for their cavalry.
(7) Their numbers: — " And the number of the array of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand." That is, it was vast, or it was such as to be reckoned by myriads, or by tens of thousands — 6io nvpidScg fivpidhtav — two myriads of myriads. Thus Mr. Gibbon (iv. 94), says, " The myriads of Turkish horse overspread," <S;c. It has been suggested by Daubez that in this there may be probably an allusion to the Turkman custom of numbering by tomans, or myriads. This custom, it is truo, has existed elsewhere, but there is probably none with whom it has been so familiar as with the Tartars and Turks. In the Seljukian age, the population €>f Samarcand was rated at seven tomans (myriads), because it could send out 7"0,000 warriors. The dignity and rank of Tamerlane's father and grandfather was tluis dcseribtdj that "'tbcy woro tLo Luroditary ciuof.^ of a toman, or 10,000 horse" — a myriad (Gibbon, iv. 270), so that it is not without his usual propriety of language that Mr. Gibbon speaks of the myriads of the Turkish horse, or of the cavalry of the earlier Turks of Mount Altai, " being, both men and horses, proudly computed by myriads." One thing is clear, that to no other invading hosts could the language here used be so well applied, and, if it were supposed that John was writing after the event, this would be the language which he would be likely to employ— for this is nearly the identical language employed by the historian Gibbon.
( 8) Their personal appearance: — " Them that sat on them having breastplates of fire, and jacinth, and brimstone"— as explained above, in a "uniform" of red, and blue, and yellow. This might, undoubtedly, be applicable to other armies besides the Turkish hordes, but the proper question here is, whether it woidd be applicable to them. The fact of the application of the symbol to the Turks in general must be determined from other points in the symbol which designate them clearly; the only natural enquiry here is, whether this description would apply to the Turkish hosts, for if it would not, that would be fatal to the whole interpretation. On the application of this passage to the Tusks, Mr. Daubez justly remarks, that " from
their first appearance the Ottomans have affected to wear warlike apparel of scarlet, blue, and yellow: a descriptive trait the more marked from its contrast to the military appearance of the Greeks, Franks, or Saracens contemporarily." Mr. Elliott adds, " it only needs to have seen the Turkish cavalry (as they were before the late innovations), whether in war itself, or in the djerrid war's mimicry, to leave an impression of the absolute necessity of some such notice of their rich and varied colorings, in order to give in description at all a iust impression of their appearance." 1. 481.
(9) The remarhahle appearance of the cavalry: — " Having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses wore as the heads of lions: and out of their mouths issued fire, and smoke, and brimstone." It was remarked in the cxpofcitlon of this pasiUgo, that tLi^ is jutit iucii a dcscriptiou as would be given of an army to which the use of gunpowder was known, and which made use of it in these wars. Looking now upon a body of cavalry in the heat of an engagement, it would seem, if the cause were not known, that the horses belched forih smoke and sulphurous flame. The annexed cut may serve to show how natural this representation would be. The only question now is, whether in the warfare of the Turks, there was any thing which would peculiarly or remarkably justify this description. And here it is impossible not to advert to the historical fact that they were among the first to make use of gunpowder in their wars, and that to the use of this destructive element they owed much of their success, and their ultimate triumphs. The historical truth of this it is necessary now to advert to, and this will be done by a reference to Mr. Gibbon, and to the account which he has given of the final conquest of Constantinople by the Turks. It will be seen how he puts this new instrumentality of war into the foreground in his account; how prominent this seemed to Ju'ni to be in describing the victories of the Turks; and how probable, therefore, it is, that John in describing an invasion by them would refer to the *' fire, and smoke, and brimstone" that seemed to be emitted from the mouths of their horses. As preparatory to the account of the siege and conquest of Constantinople by the Turks, Mr. Gibbon gives a description of the invention and use of gunpowder. " The chemists
of China or Europe had found, by casual or elaborate experiments, that a mixture of saltpetre, sulphur, and charcoal, produces, with a spark of fire, a tremendous explosion. It was soon observed that if the expansive force were compressed in a strong tube, a ball of stone or iron might bo expelled with irresistible and destructive velocity. The precise era of the invention and application of gunpowder is involved in doubtful traditions
and equivocal language; yet we may clearly discern that it was known before the middle of the fourteenth century; and that before the end of the same, the use of artillery in battles and sieges, by sea and land, was familiar to the states of Germany, Italy, Spain, France, and England. The priority of nations is of small account; none would derive any exclusive benefit from their previous or superior knowledge; and on the common improvement they stand on the same level of relative power and military science. Nor was it possible to circumscribe the secret within the pale of the church; it was disclosed to the Turks by the treachery of apostates and the selfish policy of rivals; and the sultans had sense to adopt, and wealth to reward, the talents of a Christian engineer. By the Venetians, the use of gunpowder was communicated without reproach to the sultans of Egypt and Persia, tlieir allies against the Ottoman power; the secret was soon propagated to the extremities of Asia; and the advantage of the European was confined to his easy victories over the savages of the now world." iv. 291. In
the description of the conquest of Constantinople, Mr. Gibbon makes frequent mention of their artillery, and of the use of gunpowder, and of its important agency in securing their final conquests, and in the overthrow of the Eastern
empire. ''Among the implements of destruction, he [the Turkish sultan] studied with peculiar care the recent and tremendous discovery of the Latins; and his artillery surpassed whatever had yet appeared in the world. A founder of cannon, a Danfe or Hungarian, who had almost starved in the Greek service, deserted to the Moslems, and was liberally entertained by the Turkish sultan. Mohammed was satisfied with the answer to his first question, which he eagerly pressed on the artist: *Am I able to cast a cannon capable of throwing a ball or stone of sufiicient size to batter the wails of Constantinople? I am not ignorant of their strength, but were they more solid than those of Babylon, I could oppose an engine of superior power 5 the position and management of that engine must be left to your engineers.' On this assurance a foundry was established at Adrianople; the metal was prepared; and at the end of three months Urban produced a piece of brass ordnance of stupendous and almost incredible magnitude; a measure of twelve palms is assigned to the bore; and the stone bullet weighed above six hundred pounds. A vacant place before the new palace was chosen for the first experiment; but to prevent the sudden and mischievous effects of astonishment and fear, a proclamation was issued that the cannon would be discharged the ensuing day. The explosion was felt or heard in a circuit of a hundred furlongs; the ball, by the force of gunpowder, was driven about a mile; and on the spot where it fell, it buried itself a fathom deep in the ground." iv. 339. So in
speaking of the siege of Constantinople by the Turks, Mr. Gibbon says of the defence by the Christians (iv. 343),
'•'The incessant volleys of lances and arrows were accompanied with the smoke, the sound, and the fire of their musketry and cannon." " The same destructive secret," he adds, " had been revealed to the Moslems, by whom it was employed with the superior energy of zeal, riches, and despotism. The great cannon of Mohammed has been separately noticed — an important and visible object in the history of the times: but that enormous engine was flanked by two fellows almost of equal magnitude; the long order of the Turkish artillery was pointed against the walls; fourteen batteries thundered at once on the most accessible places; and of one of these it was ambiguously expressed that it was mounted with one hundred and thirty guns, and that it discharged one hundred and thirty bullets." iv. 343, 344. ^^ain: "The first
random shots were productiro of more sound than efi"ect; and it was by the advice of a Christian that the engineers were taught to level their aim against the two opposite sides of the salient angles of a bastion. However imperfect, the weight and repetition of the fire made some impression on the walls." iv. 344. And again: "A circumstance that distinguishes the siege of Constantinople, is the re-union of the ancient and modern artillery. The cannon were intermingled with the mechanical engines for casting stones and darts; the bullet and the battering-ram were directed against the same walls; nor had the discovery of gunpowder superseded the use of the liquid and inextinguishable fire." iv. 344. So again, in the
description of the final conflict when Constantinople was taken, Mr. Gibbon
says, "From the lines, the galleys, and the bridge, the Ottoman artillery thundered on all sides; and the camp and city, the Greeks and the Turks, were involved in a cloud of smoke which could only be dispelled by the final deliverance or destruction of the Koman
empire." iv. 350. Assuredly, if such was the fact in the conquests of the Turks, it was not unnatural in one who was looking on these warriors in vision, to describe them as if they seemed to belch out 'fire, and smoke, and brimstone.' If Mr. Gibbon had designed to describe the conquests of the Turks as a fulfilment of the prediction, could he have done it in a style more clear and graphic than that which he has employed? If this had occurred in a Christian writer, would it not have been charged on him that he had shaped his, facts to meet his notions of the meaning of the prophecy?
(10) The statement that 'their power was in their mouth, and in their tails,' ver. 19. The former part of this has been illustrated. The enquiry now is, what is the meaning of the declaration that ' their power was in their tails.' In ver. 19, their tails are described as resembling 'serpents, having heads,' and it is said that 'with them they do hurt.' See Notes on that verse. The allusion to the 'serpents' would seem to imply that there was something in the horses* tails as compared with them, or in some nse that was made of them, which ^ould make this language proper; that is, that their appearance would so suggest the idea of death and destruction, that the mind would easily imagine they were a bundle of serpents. The following remarks may show how applicable this was to the Turks: — (o) In the Turkish hordes there was something, whatever it was, that naturally suggested some resemblance to serpents. Of the Turkmans when they began to spread their conquests over Asia, in the eleventh century, and an effort was made to rouse the people against them, Mr. Gibbon makes the following remark: — " Mas-
eoud, the son and successor of Mahmoud, had too long neglected the advice of his wisest Omrahs. 'Your enemies,' [the Turkmans] they repeatedly urged, 'were in their origin a swarm of ants; they are now little snakes; and unless they be instantly crushed, they will acquire the venom and magnitude of serpents.' "
Iv. 91. (6) It is a remai-kable fact that the horse's tail is a well-known Turkish standard — a symbol of office and autho-
rity. " The Pashas are distinguished, after a Tartar custom, by three horsetails on the side of their tents, and receive by courtesy the title of heyler leg, or prince of princes. The next in rank are ihe pashas of two tails, the beys who are honored with one tail." Ed. Ency.
Art. Turkey. In the times of their early n^arlike career, the principal standard was once lost in battle, and the Turkman commander, in default, cut off his horse's tail, lifted it on a pole, made it the rallying ensign, and so gained the victory. So Tournefort in his Travels states. The following is Ferrario's account of the origin of this ensign: "An
author acquainted with their customs says, that a general of theirs, not knowing how to rally his troops that had lost their standards, cut off a horse's tail, and fixed it to the end of a spear; and the soldiers rallying at that signal, gained the victory," Ho adds farther, that whereas " on his appointment a Pasha of three tails used to receive a drum and a standard, now for the drum there have been substituted three horses' tails, tied at the end of a spear, round a gilded haft. One of the first officers of the palace presents him these three tails as a standard." Elliott, i. 485, 486. This
remarkable standard or ensign is found only among the Turks, and, it there was an intended rofereuec to them, "-^c symbol here would be the proper one to ba adopted. The meaning of the passage where it is said that * their poicer is in their tails,' would seem to be, that their tails were the symbol or emblem of their authority — as in fact the horse's tail is in the appointment of a Pasha. The image before the mind of John would seem to have been, that he saw the horses belching out fire and smoko;and, what was equally strange, he saw that their power of spreading desolation was connected with the tails of horses. Any one looking on a body of cavalry with such banners or ensigns, would be struck with this unusual and remarkable appearance, and would speak of their banners as concentrating and directing their power. The following cut, representing the standard of a Turkish Pasha> will illustrate the passage before us.
(11) The number slain, ver. 18. Tha^ is said to have been " the third part of men." No one in reading the account? of the wars of the Turks, and of tlio ravages which they have committed, would be likely to feel that this is an exaggeration. It is not necessary to suppose that it is literalbj accurate, but it is such a representation as would strike one in looking over the world, and contcnipliiting the effect of their invasions
If the other specifications in the symbol are correct, there would be no hesitation in admitting the propriety of this.
(12) The time of the continuance of this power. This is a material, and a more difficult point. It is said (ver. 15) to be " an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year;" that is, as explained, three hundred and ninety-one years, and the portion of a year indicated by the expression " an hour:" — to wit, an additional twelfth or twenty-fourth part of a year. The question now is, whether, supposing the time to which this reaches to be the capture of Constantinople, and the consequent downfall of the Roman empire — the object in view in this series of visions — in reckoning back from that period for 391 years, we should reach an epoch that would properly denote the moving forward of this power towards its final conquest; that is, whether there was any such marked epoch that if the 391 years were added to it, it would reach the year of the conquest of Constantinople, A. D. 1453. The period that would be indicated by taking the number 391 from 1453 would be 1062 — and that is the time in which we are to look for the event referred to. This is on the supposition that the year consisted of 360 days, or twelve months of thirty days each. If, however, instead of this, we reckon 365 days, and six hours, then the length of time would be found to amount to 396 years, and 106 days.* This would make the time of the "loosening of the angels," or the moving forward of this power, to be A. D. 1057. In the uncertainty on this point, and in the unsettled state of ancient chronology, it would, perhaps, be vain to hope for minute accuracy, and it is not reasonable to demand it of an interpreter. On any fair principle of interpretation, it would be sufficient if at about one of these pe- riods— A. D. 1062, or A. D. 1057— there was found such a definite or strongly marked event as would indicate a movement of the hitherto restrained power toward the West. This is the real point, then, to be determined. Now, in a common work on chronology, I find this record:—"A. D. 1055, Turks reduce Bagdad, and overturn the empire of the Caliphs." In a work still more important to our purpose (Gibbon, iv. 92, 93) under the date of A. P. 1055, I find a series of statements, which will show the propriety of referring to that event as the one by which this power, so long re strained, was "let loose;" that is, was placed in such a state that its final conquest of the eastern empire certainly followed. The event was the union of the Turkish power with the Caliphate in such a way that'tiie Sultan was regarded as "the temporal lieutenant of the vicar of the prophet." Of this event Mr. Gibbon gives the following account. After mentioning the conversion of the Turks to the Moslem faith, and especially the zeal with which the son of Seljuk had embraced that faith, he proceeds to state the manner in which the Turkish Sultan, Togrul, came in possession of Bagdad, and was invested with the high office of the " temporal lieutenant of the vicar of the prophet." There were two Caliphs — those of Bagdad and Egypt, and " the sublime character of the successor of the prophet" was "disputed" by them. iv. 93. Each of them became "solicitous to prove his title in the judgment of the strong though illiterate barbarians." Mr. Gibbon then says,
" Mahmoud the Gaznevide, had declared himself in favor of the line of Abbas; and had treated with indignity the robe of honor which was presented by the Fatimite ambassador. Yet the ungrateful Hashemite had changed with the change of fortune; he applauded the victory of Zendecan, and named the Seljukian Sultan his temporal vicegerent over the Moslem world. — As Togrul executed and enlarged this important trust, he was called to the deliverance of the Caliph Cayem, and obeyed the holy summons, which gave a new kingdom to his arms. In the palace of Bagdad, the commander of the faithful still slumbered, a venerable phantom. His servant or master, the prince of the Bowides, could no longer protect him from the insolence of meaner tyrants j and the Euphrates and the Tigris were oppressed by the revolt of the Turkish and Arabian armies. The presence of a conqueror was implored as a blessing; and the transient mischiefs of fire and sword were excused as the sharp but salutary remedies which alone could restore the health of the Republic. At the head of an irresistible force, the Sultan of Persia marched from Hamadan; the proud were crushed, the prostrate were spared; the prince of the Bowides disappeared; the heads of the most obstinate rebels were at the feet of Togrul; and he inflicted a lesson of obedience on the people of Mosul and Bagdad. After the chastisement of the guilty, and the restoration of peace, the royal shepherd accepted the reward of his labors; and a solemn amnesty represented the triumph of religious prejudice over barbarian power. The Turkish sultan embarked on the Tigris, landed at the gate of Racca, and made his public entry on horseback. At the palace gate, he respectfully dismounted, and walked on foot, preceded by his emirs without arms. The caliph was seated behind his black veil; the black garment of the Abbassides was cast over his shoulders, and he held in his hand the staff of the Apostle of God. The conqueror of the east kissed the ground, stood some time in a modest posture, and was led toward the throne by the vizier and an interpreter. After Togrul had seated himself on another throne, his commission was publicly read, which declared him the temporal lieutenant of the vicar of the prophet. He was successively invested with seven robes of honor, and presented with seven slaves, the natives of the seven climates of the Arabian empire. His mystic veil was perfumed with musk; two crowns were placed on his head; two scimetars were girded to his side, as the symbols of a double reign over the East and West. Their alliance was cemented by the marriage of Togrul's sifter with the successor of the prophet." iv. 93, 94. This event, so de-
Bcribed, was of sufiBcient importance, as constituting a union of the Turkish power with the Moslem faith, as making it practicable to move in their conquests toward the west, and as connected in its ultimate results with the downfall of the Eastern empire, to make it an epoch in the history of nations. In fact it was the point which one would have particularly looked at, after describing the movements of the Saracens, (ch. ix. 1-11), as the next event that was to change the condition of the
Happily we have also the means of fixing the exact date of this event, so as to make it accord with singular accuracy with the period supposed to be referred to. The general time specified by Mr. Gibbon, is A. D. 1055. This, according to the two methods referred to of determining the period embraced in the " hour, and day, and month, and year," would reach, if the period were 391 years, to A.D. 1446; if the other method were referred to, making it 396 years and 106 days, to A. D. 1451, with 106 days added — within less than two years of the actual taking of Constantinople. But there is a more accurate calculation as to the time than the general one thus made. In vol. iv. 93, Mr. Gibbon makes
this remark: — " Twenty-five years after the death of Basil, his successors were suddenly attacked by an unknown race of barbarians, who united the Scythian valor with the fanaticism of new proselytes, and the art and riches of a power-
ful monarchy." He then proceeds (pp. 94, seq.) with an account of the invasions of the Turks. In vol. iii. 307, we have an account of the death of Basil.
"In the sixty-eighth year of his age, his martial spirit urged him to embark in person for a holy war against the Saracens of Sicily; ho was prevented by death, and Basil, surnamed the slayer of the Bulgarians, was dismissed from the world, with the blessings of the clergy, and the curses of the people."
This occurred A. D. 1025. "Twentyfive years" after this would make A. I). 1050. To this add the period here referred to, and we have rcspectivelj', as above, the years A. D. 1446, or A. D. 1461, and 106 days. Both periods arc near the time of the taking of Constantinople, and the downfall of the Eastern empire (A. D. 1453), and the latter strikingly so; and, considering the general nature of the statement of Mr. Gibbon, and the great indefinitencss of the dates in chronology, may be considered as remarkable. — But we have the means of a still more accurate calculation. It is by determining the exact period of the investiture of logrul with the authority of Caliph, or as the "temporal lieutenant of the vicar of the prophet." The time of this investiture, or coronation, is mentioned by Abulfeda as occurring on the 25th of Dzoulcad, in the year of the Hegira 449; and the date of Elmakin's narrative, who has given an account of this, perfectly agrees with this. Of this transaction, Elmakin makes the following remark: "There was now none left in Irak or Chorasmia who could stand before him." The importance of this investiture, will be seen from the charge which the caliph is reported by Abvilfeda to have given to Togrul on this
occasion: " The caliph commits to your care all that part of the world which God has committed to his care and dominion; and entrusts to thee, under the name of vice-gercnt, the guardianship of the pious, faithful, and Godserving citizens."* The exact time of
this investiture is stated by Abulfeda, as above, to be the 25th of Dzoulcad, A. H. 449. Now, reckoning this as the time, and we have the following result: — The twenty-fifth of Dzoulcad, A. H. 449 would answer to February 2, A. D. 105S. From this to May 29, 1453, the time when Constantinople was taken, would be three hundred and ninety-five years and one hundred and sixteen days. The ^^rophetic period, as above, is 396 years and 106 days — making a differenco only of one year and ten days — a result that cannot but be considered as remarkable, considering the difficulty of fixing ancient dates. Or if, with Mr. Elliott (i. 495-499), we suppose that the time is to be reckoned from the period when the Turkman power went forth from Bagdad on a career of conquest, the reckoning should be from the year of the Hegira, 448, the year before the formal investiture, then this would make a difference of only twenty-four days. The date of that event was the tenth of Dzoulcad, A. H. 448. That was the day on which Togrul with his Turkmans, now the representative, and head of the power of Islamism, quitted Bagdad to enter on a long career of war and con-
quest. " The part allotted to Togrul himself in the fearful drama soon to
* Mandat Clialifa tua; curje omiie id terrarr.m quod Deus ejus curas et imperio commisit; tibiqua civium piorum, fidelium, Deum colentiuni, tutelam sublocatot'n nomins dMuaodat.
open against the Greeks was to extend and establish the Turkman dominion over the frontier countries of Irak and Mesopotamia, that so the requisite strength might be attained for the attack ordained of God's counsels against the Greek empire. The first step to this was the siege and capture of Moussulj his next of Singara. Nisibis, too, was visited by him; that frontier fortress that had in other days been so long a bulwark to the Greeks. Everywhere victory attended his banner; a presage of what was to follow." Reckoning
from that time, the coincidence between the period that elapsed from that, and the conquest of Constantinople, would be 396 years and 130 days — a period that corresponds, with only a difi"erence of 24 days, with that specified in the prophecy according to the explanation given above. It could not be expected that a coincidence more accurate than this could be made out on the supposition that the prophecy was designed to refer to these events; and if it did refer to them, the coincidence could have occurred only as a prediction by Him who sees with perfect accuracy all the future.
(13) The effect. This is stated, in vs. 20, 21, to be that those who survived these plagues did not repent of their wickedness, but that the abominations which existed before still remained. In endeavoring to determine the meaning of this, it will be proper, first, to ascertain the exact sense of the words used, and then to enquire whether a state of things existed subsequent to the invasions of the Turks Vv'hich corresponded with the description here.
(A) The explanation of the language used in vs. 20, 21. % The rest of the men. That portion of the world on which these plagues did not come. Onethird of the race, it is said, would fall under these calamities, and the writer noAV proceeds to state what would be the effect on the remainder. The language used — " tJie rest of the vien" — is not such as to designate with certainty any particular portion of the world, but it is implied that the things mentioned wera of very general prevalence. ^ Which were not hilled hy these ]}la.ffues. The two-thirds of the race which were spared. The language here is such as would be used on the supposition that the Crimea here referred tc abounded in all those regions which came within the range of the vision of the apostle. ^ Yet repented not of the loorks of their hands. To wit, of those things which are immediately specified. ^ That they should not iDorship devils. Implying that they practised this before. The v/ord used here — 6aiix6viov — means properly, a god, deity; spoken of the heathen gods, Acts xvii. IS; then, a genius, or tutelary demon, e. g. that of Socrates; and, in the New Testament, a demon in the eense of an evil spirit. See the word fully explained in the Notes on 1 Cor. X. 20. The meaning of the passage here, as in 1 Cor. x. 20, " they sacrifice to devils," is not that they literally worshipped devils in the usual sense of that term (though it is true that such worship does exist in the world, as among the Yezidis (see Layard, Nineveh and its Remains, vol. i. pp. 225-254, and Rosenmiiller, Morgenland, iii. 212-216); but that they worshipped beings tchich were inferior to the Supreme God; created spirits of a rank superior to men, or the spirits of men that had been enrolled among the gods. This last was a common form of worship among the heathen, for a large portion of the gods whom they adored were heroes and benefactors who had been enrolled among the gods — as Hercules, Bacchus, Ac. All that is necessarily implied in this word is, that there prevailed in the time referred to, the worship of spirits inferior to God, or the worship of the spirits of departed men. This idea would be more naturally suggested to the mind of a Greek by the use of the word than the worship of evil spirits as such — if indeed it would have conveyed that idea at all; and this word would be properly employed in the representation if there was any homage rendered to departed human spirits which came in the place of the worship of the true God. Comp. a dissertation on the meaning of the word used here, in Elliott on the Apocalypse, Appendix I., vol. ii. ^ And idols of (/old, and silver, &c., &G. Idols were formerly, as they are now in heathen land?, made of all these materials. The more costly would, of course, denote a higher degree of veneration for the god, or greater wealth in the worshipper, and all would be employed as symbols or representatives of the gods whom they adored. The meaning of this passage is, that there would prevail, at that time, what would be properly called idolatry, and that this would be represented by the worship paid to these images or idols. Tt is not necessary to the proper understanding of this, to suppose that the images or idols worshipped were acknowledged heathen idols, or were erected in honor of heathen gods as such. All that is implied is, that there would be such images (hSuiXa), and that a degree of homage would be paid to them which would be in fact idolatry. The word here used — udiuXov, f i^wAa — properly means an image, spectre, shade; then an idol-image, or that which was a representative of a heathen god; and then the idol-god itself — a heathen deity. So far as the word is concerned, it may be applied to any kind of image-worship. ^ Which neither can see, nor hear, nor ivalk. The common representation of idol-worship in the Scriptures, to denote its folly and stupidity, see Psalm cxv.; comp. Isa. xliv. 13-19. ^ Neither 7-epented they of their murders. This implies that, at l^e time referred to, murders would i.j.jund; or that the times would be characterized by that which deserved to be called murder. ^ Nor of their sorceries. The word rendered sorceries— (papitaKiia, whence our vioxUpharmacy, means properly the preparing and giving of medicine, Eng., 2^^^'^^'^^^(^i/' Hob. Lex. Then, as the art of medicine was supposed to have a magical power, or as the persons who practised medicine, in order to give themselves and their art greater importance, practised various arts of incantation, the word came to be connected with the idea of magic, sorcery, or enchantment. See Schleusner, Lex. In the New Testament, the word is never used in a good sense as denoting the preparation of medicine, but always in this secondary sense, as denoting sorcery, magic, &c. Thus in Gal. v. 20, "the works of the flesh — idolatry, witchcraft." Rev. ix. 21, " Of their sorceries." Rev. xviii. 23, " For by thy sorceries were all nations deceived." Rev. xxi. 8, "Whoremongers, and sorcerers." The word does not elsev.'here occur in the New Testament, and the meaning of the word would be fulfilled in anything that purposed to accomplish an object by sorcery, by magical arts, by trick, by cunning, h% sleiglit of hand, or by deceiving the senses in any way. Thus it would be applicable to all jugglery, and to all pretended miracles. ^ JVor of their fornication. Implying that this would be a prevaleat gin in the times referred to, and that the dreadful plagues which are here predicted would make no essential change in reference to its prevalence. •([ And of their thefts. Implying that this, too, would be a common form of iniquity. The word used here — KXimia — is the common word to denote theft. The true idea in the word is that of privately, unlawfully, and feloniously taking the goods or moveables of another person. In a larger, and in the popular sense, however, this word might embrace all acts of taking the property of another by dishonest arts, or on false pretence, or without an equivalent.
(B) The next point, then, is, the enquiry whether there was any such state of things as is specified here, existing in the time of the rise of the Turkish power, and in the time of the calamities which that formidable power brought upon the world. Thei-e are two things implied in the statement here: — (1) that these things had an existence before the invasion and destruction of the Eastern empire by the Turkish power; and (2) that they continued to exist after that, or were not removed by these fearful calamities. The supposition all along in this interpretation is, that the eye of the prophet was on the Roman world, and that the design was to mark the various events which would characterize its future history. We look, then, in the application of this, to the state of things existing in connexion with the Roman power, or that portion of the world which was then pervaded by the Roman religion. This will make it necessary to institute an enquiry whether the things here specified prevailed in that part of the world before the invasions of the Turks, and the conquest of Constantinople, and whether the judgments inflicted by that formidable Turkish invasion made any essential change in this respect.
(1) The statement that they worshipped devils,• that is, as explained, demons, or the deified souls of men. Homage rendered to the spirits of departed men, and substituted in the place of the worship of the true God, would meet all that is properly implied here. We may refer, then, to the worship of saints in the Romish communion as a complete fulfilment of what is hero implied in the language used by John. The fact cannot be disputed that the invocation of saints took the place, in the Roman Catholic communion, of the worship of sages and heroes in heathen Rome, and that the canonization of saints took the place of the ancient deification of heroes and public benefactors. The same kind of homage was rendered to them j their aid was invoked in a similar manner, and on similar occasions; the eflFect on the popular mind was substantially the same; and the one interfered as really as the other with the worship of the true God. The decrees of the Seventh General Council, known as the Second Council of Nice, A. D. 787, authorized and established the worshipping {TrpoarKwiu) — the same word used here — TrpvaKw/joucn rH Saifidvia) of the saints and their images. This occurred after the exciting scenes, the debates, and the disorders produced by the Iconoclasts, or image-breakers, and after the most careful deliberation on the subject. In that celebrated council, it was decreed, according to Mr. Gibbon
(iii. 341), " unanimously," " that the worship of images is agreeable to Scripture and reason, to the fathers and councils of the church; but they hesitate whether that worship be relative or direct; whether the Godhead and the figure of Christ be entitled to the same mode of adoration." This worship of
the "saints," or prayer to the saints, asking for their intercession, it is well known has from that time every where prevailed in the Papal communion. Indeed, a large part of the actual prayers offered in their services, is addressed to the Virgin Mary. Mr. Maitland, " the able and learned advocate of the Dark
Ages," says " The superstition of the age supposed the glorified saint to know what was going on in the world; and tc feel a deep interest, and to possess a considerable power, in the church militant on earth. I believe that they who thought so are altogether mistaken; and I lament, abhor, and am amazed at, the superstition, blasphemies and idolatries, which have grown out of that opinion."
Elliott, ii. p. 10. As to the question whether this continued after the judgments brought upon the world by tbe hordes "loosed on the Euphrates," or whether they repented and reformed on account of the judgments, we have only to look into the Roman Catholic religion every whei-e. Not only did the old practice of " daemonolatry," or the worship of departed saints, continue, but new " saints" have been added to the number, and the list of those who are to receive this homage has been continually increasing. Thus in the year 1460 Catharine of Sienna was canonized by Pope Pius 11.; in 1482, Bonaventura, the blasphemer,* by Sixtus IV.; in 1494, Anselm by Alexander VI. Alexander's Bull, in language more heathen than Christian, avows it to be the Pope's duti/ thus to choose out, and to hold up the illustrious dead, as their merits claim, for adoration and ioorsliip.'\
(2) The statement that idolatry was practised, and continued to be practised, after this invasion: — " Repented not that they should not worship idols of gold, silver, and brass." On this point, perhaps it would be sufficient to refer to what has been already noticed in regard to the homage paid to the souls of the departed; but it may be farther and more clearly illustrated by a reference to the worship of imagea in the Romish communion. Any one familiar with church history will recollect the long conflicts which prevailed respecting the worship of images; the establishment of images in the churches; the destruction of images by the *' Iconoclasts;" and the debates on the subject by the council at Hiera; and the final decision in the Second Council of Nice, in which the propriety of image-worship was affirmed and established. See on this subject, Bowers' History of the Popes, ii. 98, scq. 144, seq.; Gibbon, vol, iii., pp. 322-341. The importance of the qu-estion respecting image-tcorahip may bo seen from the remarks of Mr. Gibbon, iii. 322. He speaks of it as " a question of popular superstition which produced
* In the Hereford Discussion, between the Rev. J. Venn and Bev. James Waterworth, it was admitted by the latter, an able and learned Romish priest, that Bonaventura's Psalter to tbe Virgin Mary, turning the addresses to God into addresses to the Virgin, was hlasphcmy. Elliott, ii. 25.
t Romanas Pontifex viros claros, et qui sauctimonid floruerunt, et eorum exigeutibus clarissimis meritis aliorum sanctorum numero aggregari merentur — inter •anctos praed'clos debit coUocare, et ut sanctosabom- Dibus Christi fidclibus coli, venerari, et ADORARI ■tundare.
the revolt of Italy, the temporal power of the Popes, and the restoration of the Roman empire in the "West." A few extracts from Mr. Gibbon — who may be regarded as an impartial witness on this subject — will show what was the popular belief, and will confirm what is said in the passage before us in reference to the
prevalence oiidolatry. " The first introduction of a symbolic worship was in the veneration of the cross, and of relics. The saints and martyrs, when intercession was implored, were seated on the right hand of God; but the gracious, and often supernatural favors, which, in the popular belief, were showered round their tombs, conveyed an unquestionable sanction of the devout pilgrims, who visited, and touched, and kissed, these lifeless remains, the memorials of their merits and suffering. But a memorial, more interesting than the skull or the sandals of a departed worthy, is a faithful copy of his person and features delineated by the arts of painting or sculpture. In every age, such copies, so congenial to human feelings, have been cherished by the zeal of private friendship, or public esteem; the images of the Roman emperors were adorned with civil and almost religious honors; a reverence, less ostentatious, but more sincere, was applied to the statues of sages and patriots; and these profane virtues, these splendid sins, disappeared in the presence of the holy men, who had died for their celestial and everlasting country. At first the experiment was made with caution and scruple, and the venerable pictures were discreetly allowed to instruct the ignorant, to awaken the cold, and to gratify the prejudices of the heathen proselytes. By a slow, though inevitable progression, the honors of the original were transferred to the copy; the devout Christian prayed before the image of a saint; and the Pagan rites of genuflexion, luminaries, and incense, again stole into the Catholic church. The scruples of reason or piety were silenced by the strong evidence of visions and miracles; and the pictures which speak, and move, and bleed, must bo endowed with a divine energy, and may be considered as tho proper objects or religious adoration. The most audacious pencil might tremble in the rash attempt of defining, by forms and colors, the infinite Spirit, the devout Father, who pervades and
Btistains the universe. But the superr-iitious mind was more easily reconciled to paint and worship the angels, and above all, the Son of God, under the human shape, which on earth they have condescended to assume. The second person of the Trinity had been clothed with a real and mortal body; but that body had ascended into heaven; and had not some similitude been presented to the eyes of his disciples, the spiritual worship of Christ might have been obliterated by the visible relics and representatives of the saints. A similar indulgence was requisite, and propitious, for the Virgin Mary; the place of her burial was unknown; and the assumption of her soul and body into heaven was adopted by the credulity of the Greeks and Latins. The use, and even the worship of images teas firmly established be/ore the end of the sixth century; they were fondly cherished by the warm imagination of the Greeks and Asiatics; the Pantheon and the Vatican were adorned icith the emblemf of a new superstition; but this semblance of idolatry was more coldly entertained by the rude Barbarians, and the Arian clergy of the West." vol. iii. p. 323. Again: "Before the end of the sixth century, these images, made without hands (in Greek it is a single word — axeiponoirjTos), were propagated in the camps and cities of the Eastern empire; they were the objects of xcorship, and the instruments of miracles; and in the hour of danger or tumult, their venerable presence could revive the hope, rekindle the courage, or repress the fury of the Roman legions." vol. iii. pp. 324, 325. So again (vol. iii. pp. 340, seq.'): "While the Popes established in Italy their freedom and dominion, the images, the first cause of their revolt, were restored in the Eastern empire. Under the reign of Constantine the Fifth, the union of civil and ecclesiastical power had overthrown the tree, without extirpating the root, of superstition. The idols, for such they were now held, were secretly cherished by the order and the sect most prone to devotion; and the fond alliance of the monks and females obtained a final victory over the name and the authority of man."
Under Irene a council was convened — the second council of Nice, or the seventh general council, in which, according to Mr. Gibbon (iii. 341), it was "unani mously pronounced that the worship of images is agreeable to Scripture and reason, to the fathers and councils of the church." The arguments which were urged in favor of the worship of images, in the council above referred to, may be seen in Bowers' Lives of the Popes, vol. ii. pp. 152-158, Dr. Cox's edition. The answer of the bishops in the council to the question of the empress Irene, whether they agreed to the decision which had been adopted in the council, was in
these words: "We all agree to it; we have all freely signed it; this is the faith of the apostles, of the fathers, and of the Catholic church; we all salute, honor, worship, and adore the holy and venerable images; be they accursed who do not honor, worship, and adore the adorable images." Bowers' Lives of the
Popes, ii. 159. As a matter of fact, therefore, no one can doubt that these images were worshipped with the honor that was due to God alone — or that the sin of idolatry prevailed; and no one can doubt that that has been continued, and is still, in the Papal communion.
(3) The next point specified is viurders (ver. 21): 'Neither repented they of their murders.' It can hardly be necessary to dwell on this to show that this was strictly applicable to the Roman power, and extensively prevailed, both before and after the Turkish invasion, and that that invasion had no tendency to produce repentance. Indeed, in nothing has the Papacy been more remarkably characterized than in the number of murders perpetrated on the innocent in persecution. In reference to the fulfilment of this, we may refer to the following things, (a) Persecution. This has been particularly the characteristic of the Roman communion, it need not be said, in all ages. The persecutions of the Waldenses, if there were nothing else, show that the spirit here referred to prevailed in the Roman communion, or that the times preceding the Turkish conquest were characterized by what is here specified. In the third Lateral) council, A. D. 1179, an anathema was declared against certain dissentients and heretics, and then against the Waldenses themselves in Papal bulls of the years 1183, 1207, 1208. Again, in a decree of the fourth Lateran council, A. D. 1215, a crusade, as it was called, was proclaimed against them, and "plenary absolution promised to such as should perish in the holy war, from the day of their birth to the day of their death." *' And never," says Sismondi, " had the cross been taken up with more unanimous consent." It is supposed that in this crusade against the Waldenses, a million of men perished. (6) That this continued to be the characteristic of the Papacy after the judgments brought upon the Romjin world by the Turkish invasion, or that those judgments had no tendency to produce repentance and reformation, is well known, and is manifest from the following things: (1) The continuance of the spirit of persecution.
(2) The establishment of the Inquisition. One hundred and fifty thousand i^ersons perished by the Inquisition in thirty years; and from the beginning of the order of the Jesuits in 1540 to 1580, it is supposed that nine hundred thousand persons were destroyed by persecution.
(3) The same spirit was manifested in the attempts to suppress the true religion in England, in Bohemia, and in the Low Countries. Fifty thousand persons were nanged, burned, beheaded, or buried alive, for the crime of heresy, in the Low Countries, chiefly under the Duke of Alva, from the edict of Charles V. against the Protestants to the peace of Chateau Cambrisis, in 1559. Comp, Notes on Dan. vii. 24-28. To these are to be added all that fell in France on the revocation of the edict of Nantz; all that perished by persecution in England in the days of Mary; and all that have fallen in the bloody wars that have been waged in the propagation of the Papal religion. The number is, of course, unknown to mortals, though efforts have been made by historians to form some estimate of the amount. It is supposed that fifty millions of persons have perished in these persecutions of the Waldenses, Albigenses, Bohemian Brethren, Wickliffites, and Protestants; that some fifteen millions of Indians perished in Cuba, Mexico, and South America, in the wars of the Spaniards, professedly to propagate the Catholic faith; that three million and a half of Moors and Jews perished, by Catholic persecution and arms, in Spain; and that thus, probably, no less than sixtyeight millions and five hundred thousand human beings have been put to 4eath by this one persecuting power.
See Dr. Berg's Lectures on Romanism, pp. 6, 7. Assuredly, if this be true, it would be proper to characterize the times here referred to, both before and after the Turkish invasion, as a time when murders would prevail.
(4) The fourth point specified is, sorceries. It can hardly be necessary to go into detail to prove that this also abounded, and that delusive appeals to the senses; false and pretended miracles; arts adapted to deceive through the imagination; the supposed virtue and efBcacy of relics; and frauds calculated to impose on mankind, have characterized those portions of the world where the Roman religion has prevailed, and been one of the principal means of its advancement. No Protestant surely would deny this, no intelligent Catholic can doubt it himself. All that is necessary to be said in regard to this is, that in this, as in other respects, the Turkish invasion, and the judgments that came upon the world, made no change. The very rec«nt imposture of the ' holy coat of Treves,' is a full proof that the disposition, to practise such arts still exists, and that the power to impose on a large portion of the world in that denomination, has not died away.
(5) The fifth thing specified is fornication. This has abounded everywhere in the world, but the use of the term in this connexion implies that there would be something peculiar here, and perhaps that it would be associated with the other things referred to. It is as unne« cessary, as it would be improper, to go into any detail on this point. Any one who is acquainted with the history of the Middle Ages — the period here supposed to be referred to — must be aware of the wide-spread licentiousness which then prevailed, especially among the clergy. Historians and poets, ballads and acts of councils, alike testify to this fact.* It is to be remarked also, as illustrating the subject, that the dissoluteness of the Middle Ages was closely, and almost necessarily, connected with the worship of the images and the saints above referred to. The character of many of those who were worshipped as saints, like the character of many of the gods:f the Pagan Romans, was just euch as to be an incentive to every species of licentiousness and impurity. On this point, Mr. Hallam makes tlie fol-
lowing remarks: " That the exclusive worship of saints, under the guidance of an artful, though illiterate priesthood, degraded the understanding, and begat a stupid credulity and fanaticism, is sufficiently evident. But it was also BO managed as to loosen the bonds of religion, and pervert the standard of morality." Middle Ages, vol. ii. pp. 249,
250. Edit. Phil. 1824. He then, in a Note, refers to the legends of the saints as abundantly confirming his statements. See particularly the stories in the " Golden Legend." So, in speaking of the Monastic orders, Mr. Hallam (Middle
Ages, vol. ii. 253), says, " In vain new rules of discipline were devised, or the old corrected by reforms. Many of their worst vices grew so naturally out of their mode of life that a stricter discipline would have no tendency to extirpate them. Their extreme licentiousness was sometimes hardly concealed by the cowl of sanctity." In illustration of
this we may introduce here a remark of Mr. Gibbon, made in immediate connexion with his statement about the decrees respecting the worship of images.
"I shall only notice," says he, "the judgment of the bishops on the comparative merit of image worship and morality. A monk had concluded a truce with the demon of fornication, on condition of interrupting her daily prayers to a picture that hung in his cell. His scruples prompted him to consult the Abbot. ' Rather than abstain from adoring Christ and his mother in their holy images, it would be better for you,' replied the casuist, 'to enter any brothel, and visit every prostitute in the city.' "
open simony might be the consequence of distress; and his blasphemous invocation of Jupiter and Venus, if it be true, could not possibly be serious. But we read with some surprise that the worthy grandson of Marozia lived in public adultery with the matrons of Kome; that the Lateran palace was turned into a place of prostitution, and that his rapes of virgins and of widows had deterred the female pilgrims from visiting the tomb of St. Peter, lest, in the devout act they should be violated
system of iiizlidgenccs led directly to licentiousness. In the Pontificate of John XXII. about A. D. 1320, there was invented the celebrated Tax of Indulgencies, of which more than forty editions are extant. According to this, incest was to cost, if not detected, Jive groschen: if known and flagrant, six. A certain price was affixed in a similar way to adultery, infanticide, &c. See Merle D'Aubigne's Picformation, vol. i. p. 41. And farther, the very pilgrimages to the shrines of the saints, which were enjoined as a penance for sin, and which were regarded as a ground of merit, were occasions of the grossest licentiousness. So Hallam, Middle Ages,
says, "This licensed vagrancy was naturally productive of dissoluteness, especially among the women. Our English ladies, in their zeal to obtain the spiritual treasuries of Rome, are said to have relaxed the necessary caution about one tiiat was in their own custody." Vol. ii. 255. The celibacy of
the clergy, also, tended to licentiousness, and is known to have been everywhere productive of the very sin which is here mentioned. The state of the nunneries in the middle ages is wellknown. In the 15th century, Gerson, the French orator so celebrated at the Council of Constance, called them Prostibula meretricum. Clemangis, a French theologian, also contemporary, and a man of great eminence, thus speaks of
them: — Quid aliud sunt hoc tempore puellarum monasteria, nisi qusedam non dico Dei sanctuaria, sed veneris execranda prostibula; ut idem sit hodie puellam velare, quod et publici ad scortandnm exponere. Hallam, Middle Ages,
ii. 253. To this we may add the fact that it was a habit, not unfrequent, to license the clergy to live in concubinage, (See the proof in Elliott, i. 447, Note), and that the practice of auricular confession necessarily made " the tainting of the female mind an integral part of Roman priestcraft, and gave consecration to the communings of impurity." It hardly needs any proof that these practices continued o/ter the invasions of the Turkish hordes, or that those invasions made no changes in the condition of the world in this respect. In proof of this, we need refer only to Pope Innocejit VIII., elected in 1484 to the
Papacy;* to Alexander VI,, his successor, who at the close of the 15th century stoGd before the world a monster, notorious to all, of impurity and vice; and to the general well-known character of