"The time of the end," styled
also by Daniel (Dan
There elapsed four years and eight months between
the publication of the Justinian code, and that of the pandects and institutes.
A second edition of the code, amended and enlarged, was proclaimed in rather
less than six years after its first publication. Now it is remarkable, that
about the same space of six years was occupied by the antagonists of the Beast,
in the national assembly of its principal kingdom, in repealing, by its 8,370
decrees, the Justinian constitution of the empire by which the Bishop of Rome
became the lion-mouth of the dominion, and the Roman superstition, the State
religion of the Horns. In 533, the supremacy of
Having responded to the "great voice from
the heaven, saying unto them, Come up hither!" they were not long in
making their power felt. They converted the States General into the National Assembly
on
In 1794 the saints had nearly completed the
national justice for the present upon the French horn of the beast for its
cruelties upon their brethren, and its impiety, and licentiousness, down to
this time. It was truly "a great earthquake," and had produced
terrible devastation. The real character of the events of this epoch has never
been appreciated so far as I am informed. They have been viewed too much as the
incidents merely of a sanguinary conflict between political factions. Viewed in
this light, indeed, the actors in the scenes can only be looked upon with
horror and detestation. They were exceedingly wicked and depraved men; and so
were God's "sanctfied ones" the unpitying Medes, whom He had
prepared to execute vengeance upon
If the saints to whom the judgment of the beast
is committed were men disposed to mercy, they would be unqualified for their
work in the absence of the captain of their salvation. The saints of the
holy city are not appointed to take vengeance at present. This work is for
the wicked, that the wicked may destroy the wicked. But with all their
depravity, the saints of the sword were no worse, nor, indeed, so detestable,
as Charles IX, Louis XIV, the Popes, the Inquisition, and the savage
mercenaries by whom their orders were executed. There has been this redeeming
quality in the saints, that they have "helped the woman"; and in
their conflicts protected "the remnant of her seed" against the
Beast; while kings, priests, and nobles, have soaked the soil of
A most unexpected event marked the end of the
second woe which has hitherto been under consideration. It was revealed to John
that the reign of terror would pass away by their giving "glory to the God
of heaven." The democracy, which had been trained to atheism and blasphemy
by the Roman superstition and the "philosophers," had decreed that
there was no God when they abolished the Papal worship. The nation, however,
did not maintain this edict for many months; for on
THE SEVENTH TRUMPET.
"In the days of the voice of the seventh
angel when he shall sound the secret of God shall be finished, as he
hath declared to his servants the prophets." (Rev 10:7) Here is a
continuance of time specified, namely, "in the days of the voice
of the angel"; that is, the sounding of the last trumpet would be no
exception to those which had gone before; but, that as they had occupied years
in sounding, so the seventh would sound through a succession of years, even
until the kingdom of God should be established as revealed in the writings of
the prophets (Dan 2:44). This is the declared mystery, to the manifestation of
which all things are tending.
The things which will have been accomplished when
the seventh trumpet shall have ceased to sound are stated summarily in the
following words: "And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great
voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of
our Lord and of his Anointed; and he shall reign for ever and ever." This
is the consummation, which is introduced by these foregoing events, to wit: "The
nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they
should be judged, and that thou shouldest give the reward to thy servants the
prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and
shouldest destroy them that destroy the earth." In connection with these
wonderful events," the temple of God was opened in the heaven, and there
was seen in his temple the Ark of his testament"; and this exhibition is
to be accompanied by "lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an
earthquake, and great hail" (Rev 11:15-19); the result of which will be
the translation of the kingdom under the whole heaven to the prophets, and
saints, and to them who fear the name of the Lord.
The eleventh chapter of the Revelation terminates
with the glorious and terrible advent of Christ. The thirteenth verse records
the end of the sixth trumpet or second woe; and the nineteenth, the end of the
seventh trumpet, or of the third woe, which is consummated in the destruction
of the tyrants who have for so many ages been the demoralizers and destroyers
of the people; and in the introduction of the era of blessedness to the world.
As I have said, the sounding of the last trumpet is not an instantaneous blast,
but a series of blasts in regular succession. He is the trumpeter who summons
the nations to war throughout the time of the end, after which "the
judgment sits to take away the dominion of the fourth beast to consume and to
destroy it unto the end."
While this trumpet is sounding, seven angels, or
messengers, are engaged in pouring out "the wrath of God upon the
earth," or continental
The reader can consult the history of the period
for details; it will be sufficient for me to say here, that with every
disadvantage in the outset, the sans-culottes-soldiery became at length
everywhere triumphant. They were without funds, imperfectly armed and
disciplined, and led on by inexperienced generals; they were opposed by
well-appointed armies, with all the military talent of
The Third Vial. -- From among the lowest
of the people there arose a military hierarchy, headed by a chief who became
the sword of God and scourge of
The Fourth Vial. -- But the vengeance of
the "earth" upon the little horn did not stop here. They next
proceeded to pour out God's wrath upon "the sun" of Roman Europe.
They had eclipsed him in
The Fifth Vial was, therefore, poured out
upon the beast's throne. The vengeance was terrific. The people of the beast
"gnawed their tongues for pain, and blasphemed the God of heaven because
of their pains and their sores, but repented not of their deeds." The
power of the little horn was "consumed," but not yet "destroyed
to the end." The battle of
But the work was yet unfinished while the Papal
Jupiter remained temporal sovereign of
Thus, by the power given to "the
earth," the dominion of the ten-horned, and two-horned, Beasts and their
Image, was completely taken away till the fall of their consumer. The kingdoms,
or horns, of the Beast were all reduced to vassalage, while the imperial chief
of the democracy created thrones, and made kings and princes of whomsoever he
pleased. It was a glorious sight to the eye of faith to behold him and his
democratic nobles with the Beast writhing at their feet. He claimed for his
immediate liege subjects a population of 42,000,000 of souls; with
But the time had not then arrived either for the final
destruction of the Beast's dominion; or, for the saints to possess
the kingdom for ever; nor, indeed, are the saints of the Median class the
persons for whom everlasting dominion is intended. These are merely the consumers
and tormentors of the fourth beast; and not "the possessors of the kingdom
under the whole heaven for ever, even for ever and ever." This is reserved
for the saints of the holy city, styled by Daniel, "the people of the
saints." It was necessary, therefore, to energize the prostrate Beasts,
and to enable them once more to prevail against the saints, but not to kill
them, as in 1685; for their agency was still needed for the perfecting of the
plagues that yet remain to be executed for the tormenting of the Little Horn to
the end.
To compass this necessity, God had reserved
powers on the east and west of
In attacking
Thus far the seventh trumpet had sounded with
terrible effect against the Greco-Roman dragon; which was plagued not only in
The Sixth Vial. -- The time at length
arrived to make preparation for the restoration of
When we look into the history of our own time, it
is easy to perceive that the sixth vial began in 1820-3. The other vials had
been exhausted principally upon the western division of the empire, with the
exception of the second which affected the east and west alike. The sixth,
however, is poured out primarily upon the east, and drying up the desolator's
dominion there, pours on until its stream is commingled with that of the
seventh, by which both the east and the west are wrapped in a universal
conflagration, which terminates in the final destruction of the little horn, or
two-horned beast and his prophet; the subjection of the ten kingdoms to the
dragon of Constantinople; and lastly, their combined overthrow at the battle of
Armageddon by the Lord of hosts. The details of the sixth and seventh Vials are
amplified in that portion of the Apocalypse beginning at the fourteenth verse
of the seventeenth chapter, and ending at the sixth of the twentieth. But to
return to the sixth.
The sixth trumpet brought up the four
dynastic powers from the
The judgment of the sixth vial is to take
away his supremacy, and to wrest from him the dragon's sceptre. This is termed "drying
up the waters of the
In June, 1844, which was 391 years and 30 days
from the capture of the city, and the imposition of these conditions upon the
conquered, religious liberty and the right of apostasy were conceded at the
instance of the western powers. This was 782 years and 2 months from Alp Arslan's
invasion. These facts suggested to me a principle of calculation in relation to
the passing away of the Sultan's supremacy. It was 396 years 131 days from
Togrul Beg's investiture by the commander of the faithful, to the taking of
The following events will give the reader some
idea of the manner in which the sixth vial has been pouring out "on the
great river Euphrates." In 1820, the Greeks rebelled against the Sultan
and after several years war, succeeded, by the aid of the western powers, in
establishing the kingdom of Greece. In 1826, the Janissaries revolted, and thousands
of them were massacred by order of the Sultan. In 1827, Turkey lost 100 ships
in the battle of Navarino. In 1828, war with Russia, and a general revolt
throughout Albania. From 1821 to 1831, ravages of cholera and plague, and
depopulation of the eastern provinces. From 1829 to 1848, the Algerine war by
which Algeria was annexed to France. In 1839, Egypt and Syria wrested from the
Porte by Mehemet Ali. War between Egypt and Turkey, in which the Turkish fleet
revolts to Egypt. In 1844, massacres by the Turks in Syria; and exterminating
war between the Maronites and Druses there. And in 1848, Russia moved her
forces south, and took up her position in the Turkish Principalities of the
Danube, to be in readiness to avail herself of subsequent events. All these
disasters so weakened the Porte that the dominion of the Sultan could not be
preserved for a month, but for the jealousies of England and France against
Russia, which only awaits the opportunity of re-planting the Greek cross on the
dome of St. Sophia.
Ten years after the commencement of the sixth
vial, its second series of plagues began to affect the political constitution
of the Beast. By the judgment of the sixth, a ninth horn was brought out upon
the Greco-Roman dragon, which at present wears a crown. This is the Greek
kingdom. But there was still another wanting to make up the ten. This tenth
horn was brought to light by the second series, whose beginning was marked by
the revolution in Paris in 1830. The congress of Vienna had constituted the
kingdom of the Netherlands, part of which lay in Roman Europe, and part of it,
namely, Holland, beyond it. The sixth vial, however, paid no respect to the
political geography of the "holy alliance." The beast required ten
crowned horns to answer the prophetic symbol at the epoch of its destruction;
for they are then to he unjewelled that they may become the vassal-horns of the
Greco-Roman Dragon. Hence, when the air of the Roman world was touched, an
electric shock passed through all its kingdoms, producing "voices, and thunders,
and lightnings" on every side. A thunderbolt fell upon the Netherlands,
striking the throne, and dividing it into two. The result was the establishment
of the kingdom of Belgium as the tenth horn of the beast.
It is unnecessary for me to enumerate the ten
horns, for they are the same as the ten toe-kingdoms of Nebuchadnezzar's image
which are already named. The constitution of France was changed; Louis
Philippe, the citizen king, being substituted, by a ruse upon the democracy,
for the elder branch of the Bourbons imposed upon them by the "holy
alliance." The kingdom of Poland was suppressed, and incorporated as a
conquered province with the Russian empire. In Spain and Portugal their several
thrones were disputed by pretenders; and even England, though not included in
either of the beasts, or in the dragon of "the time of the end," did
not escape the vibrations of the air. Events on the Continent gave a salutary
impulse to the reform movement, and passed "the bill" (1832).
In 1848 eighteen years had passed away since the
blending of these first and second periods. Two years before, a new Pope was
elected to the Papal throne. He intended to rule, he said, according to the New
Testament! His professions deceived the simple hearted, and alarmed the despots
of the kingdoms. When Satan undertakes to cast out Satan his kingdom is sure to
be convulsed. The reforms of Pius IX satisfied nobody, and tended only to
create a longing after liberty, and a determination to free the country from
the rule of priests. The hopes of the democracy throughout Europe were
inflamed; and "the earth" began to tremble until in 1848 every throne
was shaken to its foundation. The events of this wonderful year are too recent
to require to be chronicled in this place. It will be enough to say that the
democracy broke loose, and commenced a movement, which, though it has been
restrained to prevent it progressing too rapidly, cannot be suppressed until
the little horn, or two-horned beast and his prophet, be destroyed to the end,
and the dominion of the ten-horned beast be taken away.
The events of February, 1848, have developed the
"unclean spirits" of the sixth vial. These are precursory to the
earthquake of the Apocalypse, chap. 11:19. Its first shocks will be terrific;
but they are only the premonitions of worse to come. The earthquake, or
political convulsion, which followed the resurrection and ascension of the
witnesses in 1789, was awful; as all know who are versed in the history of the
time. But that fell far short of what God is preparing for Europe. The tumult
of the peoples, and the tempest whose howlings are heard even now, are thus
intimated by the prophet, saying, "There shall be a time of trouble such
as never was since there was a nation to that same time: and at that time
Israel shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
(Isa 4:3) And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,
some to everlasting life, and some to everlasting shame and contempt."
(Dan 12:1,2)
This "time of trouble" is contemporary
with the resurrection of a portion of the dead. It is the epoch of Israel's
deliverance, both of the Ishmael, and Isaac, seeds; and of the casting down of
the thrones of the beast (Dan7:9). The convulsion which effects their overthrow
is described by the apostle as "a great earthquake, such as was not since
men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great" (Rev
16:18). Ascertain the calamities of former ages, and however terrible they may
appear, this will exceed them all. The Flood, Sodom, Egypt, Jerusalem, the fall
of the Roman empire, were all judgments which chill the heart, and make the
blood run cold to contemplate; but times have now come over the world which
will have been hitherto unsurpassed. The wrath of the sixth and seventh vials
which remains, is about to over-whelm the nations with "torment and
sorrow," for the cup of their iniquity is full.
The more remote effect of past events will be the
subdivision of Roman Europe, styled "the great city," into "three
parts." This division will be the result of war, for which the governments
are now preparing themselves, perhaps unwittingly. The tripartite division is
attended by the fall of the cities of the nations, as it is written, "The
great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations
fell." That is, as I take it, that in consequence of the approaching
contest, growing out of the Frog-power mamfestation of 1848, the ten kingdoms
will lose their independence; by which a new partition of the Roman world will
ensue; and that when this is brought to pass, events will flow more directly
eastward. But before " the cities fall," or as Daniel expresses it,
"the thrones are cast down," Rome comes in for her final overthrow. I
say, " before," because these kings are to be parties to her
tormenting, and are to "bewail and lament for her," to them,
unexpected doom. "Judgment" hath then to be given to Zion; for as yet
she hath in no part performed her mission. Then are prostrated the horns, the
little horn, and the image of the beast, and consumed their dominion; but in
connection with this earthquake of the last vial, she has "to destroy
it to the end."
They are repressed for the moment; but things are
progressing in such a direction as to bring the power of the democracy to bear
against Austria and Rome, perhaps through France and Prussia. When they have
done their work, the earth must be again repressed and suppressed, as they were
in 1814 and 1815, by a power, however, that will subdue all for itself. There
will be no more resuscitation of the old governments, but all things will be
absorhed into one continental dominion upon the old Roman domain. In the midst
of this great commotion, Britain promotes the colonization of Judea, which is
an event pertaining to the sixth vial. By this time, Turkey is no more; and
Constantinople acknowledges the sceptre of the Autocrat. England and the
Russian lead on the world to the day of doom. They advance their hosts to
"the wine-press without the city," (Rev 14:20) which is called
Armageddon (Rev 16:16) in the Hebrew tongue, and geographically situated in the
land of Israel. (Exek 39:4; Dan 11:41,45). There "as a cloud to cover the
land " the armed multitudes are assembled, and preparing to decide the
fate of Asia by the sword.
But there falls upon them "a great hail out
of heaven." Their power is broken; Judah is saved; Messiah appears "as
a thief"; the Roman Dragon is bound; and the restoration of the
kingdom and throne of David is commenced. Such is an outline of the results to
be brought about by the "mighty earthquake" whose premonitions have
already revealed what is hereafter to come to pass. In the coming tumult,
"great Babylon comes into remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup
of wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island disappears, and the
mountains are not found. And there falls upon men a great hail out of heaven,
every stone about the weight of a talent; and men blaspheme God because of the
plague of the hail; for the plague thereof will be exceeding great." (Rev
16:19-21)
"THREE UNCLEAN SPIRITS LIKE FROGS."
But the "mighty earthquake" having
commenced in 1848, and the democracy which caused it having been repressed to a
considerable extent, what agency remains, as revealed in the scriptures of
truth, by which is to be brought about the wonderful consummation we have been
considering? The answer to this question is contained in the following words.
"I saw," says the apostle, "three unclean spirits like Frogs out
of the mouth of the Dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the
mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of demons working wonders,
and they go forth to the kings of the earth, and of the whole habitable to
assemble them to the war of that great day of God the Almighty. And he gathered
them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue, Armageddon." (Rev
16:13-16)
In this passage we have to consider the
"THREE UNCLEAN SPIRITS like frogs," THE THREE MOUTHS out of which
they proceed, the parties to whom they go forth, and THE FRUIT OF THEIR
MISSION. There are three spirits, and three mouths, that is, one spirit
proceeding out of each mouth; but as they are all three like frogs and unclean,
though proceeding from three different mouths, they are in nature, origin, and
tendency, the same. They are called "the spirits of demons," not
because of their uncleanness, or wickedness; but because the mouths from which
they issue are the demons, or chiefs, of the dominions represented by the
dragon, the beast, and the false prophet.
Now the throne of the dragon is Constantinople;
that of the two-horned beast Vienna; and that of the image of the beast,
Rome. The thrones being in these cities, it follows that the demon of
the dragon is the Sultan; the demon of the two-horned beast, the Emperor of
Austria; and the demon of the image, the False Prophet himself. It is worthy of
observation here, that the text says, "out of the mouth of the false
prophet," and not "out of the mouth of the image of the beast."
In the beginning of the chapter, while the first vial is supposed to be pouring
out, the Papal Jupiter is styled the beast's image; but in the thirteenth verse
of the same chapter (Rev. 16), while the spirits are at work, he is termed the
false prophet; and in verse twenty of chapter nineteen also, where it speaks of
his perdition. This change of style is by no means accidental.
If the reader take a view of the Papal dominion
at the close of the eighteenth century; then view it as it is now, and compare
the views together; he will doubtless come to the conclusion, that the Pope is
no longer the image of the imperial head of the beast. He has no dominion
really, for it is so far consumed, that what remains is of little, or no
account. He has good will enough to make terrible examples of the democrats who
caused his flight from Rome; but he cannot carry it into effect, because the
French will not permit him. He is a fugitive in exile, and though pressed to
return to Rome, he is afraid to go. He is, then, no longer imperial, and
consequently, has fallen from his Iconism, and become a simple prophet.
Protestant and Papal scribes are in the habit of
applying the epithet "faise prophet" to Mohammed, and
therefore do not perceive its applicability to the Roman bishop. But neither
Mohammed, nor his successors, are termed "the false prophet" in the
Apocalypse. The Arabian was false enough, doubtless; but he was a far more
respectable character than any Pope that has ever reigned; and were I to choose
between the two superstitions, I would rather be a Moslem than a Papist. It was
the glory of Mohammed to destroy idolatry: it is the infamy of the Popes to be
the high priests of the "queen of heaven." The Saracens were God's
locusts to torment, and the Ottomans, God's cavalry to slay with political
death, the Catholic image-worshippers of the Asiatic third part of the Roman
dragon. Mohammed was the star; and his successors, the "commanders of the
'faithful'," the "angel of the bottomless pit; whose name in the
Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon."
(Rev 9:1,11) These names in English signify Destroyer, which is
indicative of the mission of those who marshalled themselves under the standard
of the Arabian.
The epithet "false prophet" is
singularly applicable to the Roman bishop. It is a part of his function to
preach or prophesy; that is, to "speak unto men to edification, and
exhortation, and comfort." (1 Cor 14:3) From him these blessings are
supposed to flow to all "his children." Aaron was given to Moses to
be his prophet because he could speak well. As Aaron, then, was speaker, mouth,
or prophet, to Moses; so the Pope is now the mouth, or prophet, or speaker, of
the Papacy, and no more. He is virtually stripped of his dominion; he can
prophesy, but his rule is a thing of name, and not a fact. A false prophet is
he; truth-less as Satan; sporting himself with his own deceivings, and thereby
provoking a speedy fate, which is "capture and destruction."
But, before he and the two-horned beast before
whom he is now working, perish in the European fiery lake they are blowing into
a flame, they must fulfil the mission to which they are appointed under this
series of the sixth vial. The Sultan, the Pope, and the Emperor, are the "demons"
of the crisis, and the mouths, or speakers, of the systems to which they
belong. Forth from them are to proceed such measures of policy as will produce
a general war. These political measures are symbolized as "unclean
spirits." They are "spirits," or influences, exerted
through the policy of the three governments; and "unclean,"
because nothing clean can proceed out of such mouths. Rome, Vienna, and
Constantinople, are so many centres of intrigue, whence proceeds the evil that
is to ruin the beast. From these are to go forth to "the kings of the
earth," and to "the kings of the whole habitable," the results
of the intrigues, which will stir up all their propensities to war. The
"kings of the earth" are here distinguished from the "kings of
the habitable." The former are the kings of Germany and Russia, etc.;
while the latter are the kings of Roman Europe, such as of Belgium, France,
Spain, Portugal, Sardinia, Naples, and Greece. They are all to be involved in
war by the "unclean spirits" of the three demons, whose policy will
bring about results that will ruin themselves, and astonish the world.
But why are these three political influences
likened to frogs? "I Saw," says the apostle, "three unclean
spirits like frogs come out of these mouths." The interpretation, I
conceive, is this. The frogs are the heraldic symbols of a power; which
at the prophetic crisis is to be the proximate cause of the several policies
which characterize the demon-mouths. That is to say, if this frog-power had not
struck out a new course of operation which deranged everything, there would
have been no ground for the Sultan, the Emperor and the Pope, to change their
policy, and all things would have gone on as usual. The frogs, therefore, and
"the spirits" stand related to each other as cause and effect, the
"demons" being only the media through which the
frog-power brings about the fatalities of the two-horned beast and the false
prophet; and at the same time brings upon the arena a power which is to overtop
the horns, repress the frog-power itself, and build up the image of
Nebuchadnezzar, preparatory to its being shivered to pieces on the mountains of
Israel.
In other words, the scenery of the thirteenth and
fourteenth verses of this chapter is a symbolical representation of the working
of things unto the judgment, when "they shall take away his
dominion to consume and to destroy it to the end." (Dan 7:26) Who "they"
are to whom the work of destruction is committed is obvious from the
twenty-second verse, where it is written, "judgment was given to the
saints," that is, in the higher sense, who do their work coevally with
"the people of the Saints," or saints of the holy city, assuming the
ruling-judgment "under the whole heaven."
Now, from the evidence I am about to adduce, I
think I shall be able to convince the reader that "the Frogs"
are the symbol of the French democracy, the old enemy of the Beasts and
their Image. The testimony to establish this is as follows, gleaned from
Elliott's Horae Apocalypticae.
1. Montfaucon, in his Monuments de la
Monarchie Francaise, p.4, plate vi., gives a Frog as one of the monuments
of the French king, Childeric; thus writing respecting it, "3. Another
medal representing a frog, which was also an Egyptian symbol." This
was found A.D. 1653, at St. Brice, near Tournay, with other things belonging to
Childeric. He reigned A.D. 456. That is, before the Franks acknowledged the
Roman Bishop.
2. In the Monde Primitif, compare avec Le
Monde Moderne, par M. Court de Gebelin, Paris, 1781, the author thus
writes, p. 181, "Nous venons de voir que les Armoiries de la Guyenne sont
un leopard, celles des Celtes (surtout les Belgiques) etoient un lion,
et celles des Francs Un crapaud. Le Crapaud designe les
marais dont sortirent les Francs." And again, on p.195, "La
Cosmographie de Munster (1. ii.) nous a transmit un fait tres remarquable dans
ce genre. Marcomir, Roj des Francs, ayant penetre de la Westphalie dans le
Tongre, vit en songe une figure a trois tetes, l'une de lion, l'autre d'aigle,
la troisieme de crapaud. Il consulta la dessus, ajoute on, un celebre
Druide de la contree, appele Al Runus; et celui-ci l'assura que cette figure
designoit les trois puissances qui auroient regne successivement sur les
Gaules; les Celtes dont le symbole etoit le lion, les Romains designes
par l'aigle, et les Francs par le crapaud, a cause de leur
marais."
(The following translation will serve for those
who do not understand French. -- In M. Court de Gebelin's work, styled
"The Primitive World compared with the Modern World," he says,
"The armorial bearings of Guyenne are a leopard; those of the Colts
(especially of the Belgians) are a lion and of the French a frog.
The frog represents the marshes whence the French sprung." And again,
"The Cosmography of Munster has transmitted to us a very remarkable fact
of this kind. Marcomir, king of the French, having penetrated from Westphalia
into Tongres, saw in a dream a figure with three heads, the one of a lion,
the other of an eagle, and the third of a frog. He consulted there,
it is added, a celebrated druid of the country, named Al Runus; who assured him
that this figure represented the three powers which had reigned successively
over the Gauls the Colts whose symbol was the lion; the Romans designated by
the eagle, and the Franks by the frog, because of their marshes".)
3. In the sixth century, xlvi. of the prophecies
of Nostra Damus (p.251), translated by Garencieres of London, 1672,
Occur the following lines:
Unjuste sera un exil envoye
Par pestilence aux confins de mon seigle;
Response au rouge le fera desvoye,
Roi retirant a la Rane et a l'aigle.
On which, Garencieres observes: "By the
eagle he meaneth the Emperor; and by the frog, the King of France; for,
before he took the fleur-de-luce, the French bore three frogs."
4. In Pynson's edition of Falyan's Chronicle,
at the beginning of the account of Pharamond (the first king of the Franks, who
reigned at
The banner underneath, having upon it the three
frogs, is from ancient tapestry in the cathedral of Rheims, representing
battle scenes of Clovis, who is said to have been baptized there upon his
conversion to Christianity.
The next engraving is from the Franciscan church
at Innspruck; where is a row of tall bronze figures, twenty-three in number,
representing principally the most distinguished personages of the House of
Austria; the armour and costumes being those chiefly of the 16th century, and
the workmanship excellent. Among them is
5. Uptonus de Militari Officio., p.155,
states that three frogs were the old arms of
6.Professor Schott supposes the three
frogs to have been distinctly the original arms of the Bourbons; bourbe
signifying mud. This may have been the case. When their family became
the dynasty of
7. Typotius, p.75, gives as the device on
a coin of Louis VI., the last French king before Hugh Capet, the first of the
Bourbons, a frog with the inscription, Mihi terra lacusque, land
and water are mine.
8. In the Encylopedia Metropolitana, on
Heraldry, it is stated that "Paulus Emilius blazons the arms of France,
argent three diadems gules; others say they bear three toads, sable in a
field vert (ap Gwillim. c. 1), which, if ever they did, it must have been
before the existence of the present rules.
Such is the testimony I have to offer in the case
before us. The conviction produced on my mind is, that the Frogs in the
prophecy are the symbol of the French democratic poicer. It will be seen
from the armorial shield of
But on the shield of Pharamond so far back as
A.D. 420, the frogs without the lilies appear in the armorial bearings
of the Franks; and in the medal of Childeric I there is no lily, but the frog
only. It would therefore seem from this, that the lilies were not in the
original arms, but superadded many years after; and at length adopted by the
Bourbons, as the symbol of their race in its dominion over the frogs. These,
then, represent the nation, and the lilies, or fleurs-de-lis, the ruling
dynasty. Now, if the apostle had said, "I saw three unclean spirits like
lilies come out of the Mouths," he would have intimated by such a
similitude that the French Bourbons were the cause of the "unclean
spirits" issuing forth from the Sultan, the Emperor, and the Roman
prophet. But he does not say this; he says they were like frogs.
The truth, then, is obvious. In A.D. 96, when
John was an exile in
The foregoing analysis of the eleventh, and
sixteenth, chapters of Revelation will be found in no other book that I am
aware of. It is entirely new. But, as I have said before, no interpretation of
prophecy in relation to the past, or present, is worth any thing which is not
in harmony with facts. My interpretation must be tried by the same rule, and if
it will not stand the test, then let it fade away into everlasting
forgetfulness; but if it prove to be correct, I have no apprehension that it
will be lost. Facts, then, I remark, are in strict accordance with the
exposition given, as I shall briefly point out.
In the last week of February, 1848, the Parisian
democracy, ever foremost in revolution, plucked the Bourbon Lily from its
throne, and thrust it deep into its native mud. This dynasty of a thousand
years was abolished, and the nation resumed its original Westphalian right of
choosing a ruler better suited to its taste. The Fleur-de-lis being
thrown aside, the Frogs by a vote of six millions set over themselves the
nephew of their democratic emperor, who had done such good service in executing
judgment upon their enemies. The President of the
By this move the Frog-nation placed itself in
antagonism to the two-horned Beast and the false prophet. The Frogs invite the
prophet to return to Rome; in other words, to put himself in their power, for
which, with the experience of French hospitality towards his predecessors
before his eyes, and the treatment he has already received in Rome, he has not
the smallest inclination, notwithstanding all his professions to the contrary.
If he were to return, he could not remain there twenty-four hours in the
absence of a stong military force; and the Frogs will consent to no other than
their own; for they occupied
The army of the Frog-power has seized upon Rome,
and the false prophet will not return, because he regards the Frogs as his real
foes. If the Austrians had possession of the city he would go back in triumph:
but this not being the case, he is obliged to temporize until the times be more
propitious. After this manner, then, the Frogs have become an obstacle in the
way of Austria and the Pope, who are both desirous of their expulsion from
Rome. They have become the occasion of unclean spirits proceeding from the
Emperor and the Roman prophet, which will yet embroil them all, and in the end
accomplish the destruction of the Austro-Papal dominion.
In regard to the Sultan, the Frogs are seen
exerting their influernce upon him. They have assured him of their support in
case of his being attacked by Russia. This promise is sure to bring on a war
between the Porte and the Autocrat. (It did,in 1853) If the Sultan had been
left to himself, being weak, he would have yielded and so have avoided war; but
being energized by France and England, two strong military and naval powers,
the Sultan feels himself a match for Russia, and prepared to assume a bold and
warlike attitude. But these assurances will ouly lure him on to ruin. No
powers, however strong, can save dominions fore-doomed of God. Their friendship
for the Sultan will be as fatal to him as the friend-ship of England for
Austria and the Pope was to them in the days of Napoleon. The Autocrat, being
God's sword upon Turkey, will be too strong for them both; for in the tumult
and confusion created by the measures of the Sultan, the emperor, and the Roman
bishop, their several dominions will be abolished, and the Autocrat remain lord
of the ascendant.
If the reader take a survey of Europe as
exhibited in the events of the last two years, he will see the view I have
presented still further illustrated. The Pope and the Emperor have been the
principals who have brought about the wars on the Continent. The unclean spirit
of the Little Horn went forth to Russia and brought down its hosts upon
Hungary; it is also going forth to Prussia in opposition to the democratic
constitution it is developing at Erfurt; and, in concert with Russia, it has
gone forth to the Sultan, with whom it has interrupted its former amicable
relations. Before the Pope consented to be restored by France, an unclear
spirit went forth from him likewise, and brought the Austrians, Neapolitans,
and Spaniards, into his States, when he found the Frogs could not be excluded.
I pointed these things out to thousands of people
in my lectures, and told them that in regard to Hungary, they were deceiving
themselves if they imagined the Magyars would succeed in their war of
independence. That Hungary was a brittle toe-kingdom, and one of the three
horns which were to be "plucked up by the roots" by the Little Horn.
Meetings of sympathy for the Hungarians were being held throughout England; and
news arriving every week of Austrian defeats, and Magyar victories. Still, I
said, if I have fallen upon the true principles of interpretation, it is
impossible for the Hungarians to triumph. So certainly incorrect did some
regard this view of the matter, that they said, when I returned to London I
should have to expunge what I had advanced about Hungary from the manuscript
before I published this book. A preacher who had listened to me at one place,
was so convinced of my error, that in his next discourse, he predicted the
certain triumph of the "brave Hungarians" over all their enemies.
But, alas for him. Men should never prophesy of the future from present
appearances.
Though these were against my exposition, I was
persuaded would turn out in the end as I had said; and I added, furthermore,
that "an unclean spirit" was to go forth out of the mouth of the
dragon, as well as from the mouths of the beast and of the false prophet; but
that while we could discern "the spirits" issuing forth from these,
we did not yet perceive one issuing from the Sultan: nevertheless, though then
calm and tranquil, we should soon see a warlike disposition manifest itself in
his policy growing out of the Hungarian war. The unclean spirit of the Little
Horn had brought the Russians into Hungary, which would only whet their
appetites for Turkey, whom they would prepare to devour next. In two or three
weeks after making these statements, which as I have said before, were not
whispered in a corner, but spoken before thousands, all Europe was astounded by
the news of Gorgey's surrender, and the ruin of the Magyar cause. The details
are known to every one. And as I had said, so it came to pass, Turkish sympathy
with the Hungarians, and hospitality to the refugees, was made a casus belli
by the Autocrat; and on the refusal of the Sultan to violate it, diplomatic
relations were broken off between Russia, Austria, and Turkey; and the "unclean
spirit" energized by the Frogs, exhibits even the Sultan as a
belligerent.
The mission, then, of these three demons for the
period which remains of their political existence, is to stir up the nations to
war, which will redound to their own confusion. The Press is prophesying smooth
things, and persuading the world of the moderation of the Autocrat, and of the
good intentions of
The Bible is the enlightener. If men would not be
carried about by every wind that blows, let them study this. It will unfold to
them the future, and make them wiser than the world. The coming years will
not be years of peace. The policy of the Autocrat will be to throw
his adversaries off their guard, and take the Sultan by surprise. He is to
"come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and
with many ships; and he will enter into the countries, and overflow and pass
over. And many countries shall be overthrown." (Dan 11:40,41) This is the
career marked out for him; which neither
"BEHOLD, I COME AS A THIEF!"
In dismissing this part of the subject, it is
necessary to call the attention of the reader to a very important intimation in
connection with the prophecy of the "unclean spirits like frogs."
This part of the prediction is contained in four verses, that is, from the
thirteenth to the sixteenth inclusive. Now, if the reader will examine the
passage, he will find that there is a break in the prophecy. That is to say,
the subject of the spirits of demons gathering the kings. of the whole
habitable to war, is suddenly and entirely dropped; and an altogether different
subject introduced.
This new topic is nothing less than the
appearance of him who sent and signified the contents of the Apocalypse to his
servant John (Rev 1:1) "Behold," says he, "I COME AS A THIEF. Blessed
is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they
see his shame."
Then, in the next verse, the former subject is revived,
and it is revealed, that the angel of the sixth vial gathers the kings and
their armies into the battlefield of Armageddon; where, as we learn from other
testimony, they encounter the Lamb, upon whom they make war, without knowing,
probably, that he is the Commander of the forces with which they are
contending. (
Now, does it not strike the reader as remarkable
that the coming of the Lord should be introduced in a prophecy like that
concerning the frogs? But singular as it may seem it is by no means accidental,
but the best possible place for it, because it is. intimately connected with
their operations. It is mercifully introduced as a warning of what is
about to happen at the crisis, that the believer may not be taken unawares. It
speaks to us in effect, saying, "When you perceive the policy of the
Frog-power acting upon the demon of Turkey, the demon of Austria, and the demon
of Romanism, so as to cause them to assume an attitude tending to embroil the
nations, you may then know that I, the Lord, am about to revisit the world
stealthily."
Christ says, "Behold, I come as a
thief." That is, he comes as a thief comes when he is bent on
stealing. A thief not only comes unexpectedly, but he gets into the house with
secrecy. John, indeed, says, "He cometh with clouds, and every eye shall
see him, even those who pierced him; and all the tribes of the land shall mourn
over him (Rev 1:7). This, however, is affirmed of his appearance in
The 185,000 Assyrians in the reign of Hezekiah
felt the vengeance of the destroyer, but they saw him not; so I believe it will
be at the battle of Armageddon, the kings and their armies will be overcome
with dreadful slaughter, but they will not see the Avenger's person. The work
of the succeeding years requires that so signal a revelation be withheld from
them.
But, let the reader observe, that in connection
with the warning given, a blessing is pronounced on those who are heedful of
the signs of the times. "Blessed," says Jesus, "is he that
watcheth." Now no one can watch without light. If the heavens be dark, the
watchman must be provided with a light, or he cannot watch. By gazing at the
natural luminaries as some professors are accustomed to do, no light can be
derived, nor signs observed premonitory of the coming of the Lord. This is
"the way of the heathen," and "a custom which is vain."
(Jer 10:2,3) The natural heavens are impenetrably dark in relation to his
appearing. The believer, or spiritual watchman, must take "the sure word
of prophecy," which is the only "light" capable of enlightening
him in the surrounding gloom. This world is "a dark place," and its
cosmopolites who understand not the prophetic word, mere embodiments of fog. If
we understand "the word of the kingdom" we shall "shine as
lights in the world," and be enabled to rejoice in the approach of
"the day of Christ." By the "shining light of prophecy" we
shall be able to interpret the signs which God has revealed as appearing in the
political heavens and earth. Events among the nations of the Roman habitable,
and not atmospheric phenomena, are the signs of the coming of the Lord as a
thief; whose nature, whether signs or not, can only be determined by "the
testimony of God."
From the whole, then, there can be no doubt in
the mind of a true believer. He discerns the sign given under the sixth vial as
manifestly, and believes as assuredly that the Lord is at hand as they who
observed the sun setting in Syrian splendour knew that the coming day would be
glorious. Be not deceived, then, by the siren-voices of the peace-prophets. Ere
long, the last and most terrible of wars will break out. The Beast and the
False Prophet will be plagned, and the Lord will come as a thief in the night.
Let this conviction work out its intended results. The blessing is not simply
to him that watcheth; but to him that "watcheth and keepeth his
garments" Simply to believe that the Lord is near, and to be able to
discern the signs of the times, will not entitle a man to the blessing.
He must "buy gold tried in the fire; and white raiment, that he may be
clothed, and that the shame of his nakedness do not appear; and anoint his eyes
with eye-salve, that he may see." (
A community of such persons in a city,
constitutes the Lamb's wife there, prepared for the coming of the Lord. She is
arrayed in fine linen, clean and white; for the fine linen represents the
righteousness of the saints (Rev 19:7,8); who have "washed their robes,
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." Therefore they will be
"before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple (or
kingdom): and he that sitteth upon the throne shall dwell among them. They
shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them,
nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them,
and shall lead them unto living fountains of water; and God shall wipe away all
tears from their eyes." (Rev 7:14-17) The representative number of their
aggregate is 144,000 (Rev 14:1-3) and their representative measure 144 cubits.
(
This, then, is the great desideratum of the age
-- namely, the preparation of a people for the Lord; a people whose
character shall answer to the testimonies adduced. "The churches" do
not contain such a people, neither can their pulpit ministrations produce them.
In fact, "the churches" are precisely what college divinity is alone
competent to create. "The truth as it is in Jesus" is not taught in
the schools. They are mere nurseries of pride, professional religion, and
conceit; and "the droppings of the sanctuary" which their nurslings
are appointed to distil, wear away the intelligence of the people, and leave
them irresponsive to "the testimony of God." Nothing short of this,
unmixed with the traditions of men, can make people what they must be if they
would inherit His kingdom. Other gospels will make other kinds of Christians
than those who believe the gospel the apostles preached. We must forsake the
pulpits, and devote the time usually spent in dozing over their mar-text
expositions, to the Berean scrutiny of the scriptures for ourselves. These
alone are able to make us wise unto salvation through the faith which is in
Christ Jesus.
Hearing "sermons" is not "hearing
the word." It is this we must hear if we would have faith; for "faith
comes by hearing the word of God." If the gospel of the kingdom were
preached in "the churches," and believed, there would be no more
complaints of want of spirituality and life. There would be so much of these,
that they would be too hot to hold the worldlings who overshadow them with the
wings of death. They would go out from them, because they were not of them. Let
the well-disposed in "the churches" try the experiment, and they will
soon discover the truth of what is here stated. The time is come in which there
must be no faint-heartedness, and when a courageous testimony must be borne for
the word of the kingdom. Ministerial favour and popularity must be utterly
disregarded; and the question be, not "What saith the minister?" or
"What will people think?" It matters not what they say, or think, in
the case; the simple question is, "How is it written?" "What
saith the word?" Let this course he pursued in candour, and I doubt not,
but in a short time a people will spring up in these islands prepared for the
Lord, whom he will acknowledge at his return