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 A c cessions No. :^SZ "ts / Shelf No. 
 
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THE TWO LATER VISIONS OF DANIEL. 
 
PRINTED BY 
 LEONARD SEELEY, THAMES DITTON. 
 
THE TWO LATER VISIONS 
 OF DANIEL: 
 
 HISTORICALLY EXPLAINED. 
 
 BY THE REV. T. R. BIRKS, M. A. 
 
 LATJJ FELLOW OP TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBKIDGE, 
 AND RECTOR OF KBL8HALL, HERTS. 
 
 SEELEY, BURNSIDE, AND SEELFY 
 
 FLEET STREET. LONDON. 
 
 MDCCCXLVl. 
 
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 2 
 
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 PREFACE. 
 
 This volume continues the historical exposition of 
 Daniel's Prophecies, which was begun in the " Four 
 Prophetic Empires." From thegreater length of the two 
 visions which are its subject, the work is less discur- 
 sive than its predecessor, and more strictly confined to 
 the actual details of the prophetic history. To com- 
 plete the series, two other volumes would be needed ; 
 one, on the Vision of the Seventy Weeks and the pro- 
 phetic numbers : and the other, to unfold the doctrinal 
 and practical aspect of the visions, and especially the 
 tenth and twelfth chapters, the opening and close of 
 the latest prophecy. But I feel quite uncertain whether 
 it will ever be granted me, amidst the pressure of other 
 important subjects, to enter on this part of a complete 
 Exposition. 
 
 From the nature of the details, of which the volume is 
 
 mainly composed, it may perhaps have less interest than 
 
 the former for general readers. But those who patiently 
 
 read the whole will, I trust, find themselves repaid by a 
 
 b 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 more deep and lively sense than ever of the actual Pro- 
 vidence of the Almighty in thisfallen world. Why have 
 we, in the word of God itself, so many genealogies and 
 lists of names, the offerings of the princes, the minute re- 
 cord of the journeys in the wilderness, and other passages 
 that seem dry and barren, but to teach us that we must 
 stoop to details and individual names, if we would 
 rightly understand the condescension of our God, and 
 the reality of His special oversight of the children 
 of men 1 Those who are soon weary of these details, 
 must pay the cost of their own impatient spirit, by a 
 more loose, unreal, and slippery faith. The tree of faith 
 must throw out ten thousand little roots into the lowly 
 soil of the prophetic history, if it is to grow and expand 
 into that noble confidence of hope which no storms of 
 temptation can uproot or destroy. 
 
 In the Exposition of the eighth chapter, the view 
 here unfolded is different, I am well aware, from one 
 which has had great currency of late years, and which 
 refers the Little Horn to the Mahometan power. This 
 latter opinion was once my own, and it has not been 
 forsaken lightly, nor without close and repeated exa- 
 mination. However current of late, its very recent 
 origin, for it seems hardly fifty years old, may clear me 
 from all presumption in renouncing it. I should feel 
 more reluctance in departing from the opinion of 
 such writers as Mr. Faber, Mr. Frere, Dr. Keith, and 
 Mr. Elliott, if my own conviction were not slowly and 
 carefully formed ; and Mr. Cuninghame, one of the 
 oldest and ablest of living expositors, besides Sir Isaac 
 
PREFACE. Vll 
 
 Newton, Bishop Newton, and Dr. Zouch, may serve at 
 the very least to balance their authority, and open the 
 way for the arguments themselves, which appear to me 
 quite decisive against the more modern view. On the 
 other hand, with regard to the opening of the same 
 vision, and its reference to Cyrus, the reasoning of 
 Mr. Faber amounts, in my judgment, to a moral demon- 
 stration. 
 
 In the last vision, and the exposition of the Wilful 
 King, I have to make a similar apology. I am aware 
 that, in adopting the view of Mede, I have to depart 
 from several Protestant interpreters, including Mr. 
 Faber, of deserved reputation. But here also, I am now 
 fully persuaded that the old wine is better, and that the 
 arguments which have persuaded many to renounce the 
 earlier exposition, however plausible, are shadowy and 
 deceptive. Every fresh inquiry has only strengthened 
 my conviction of the unsoundness of those novel 
 theories which have been broached within the last 
 twenty years, and the truth of the leading maxims of 
 our elder writers, maintained in the " Elements of Pro- 
 phecy." In short, I should have felt that I was guilty 
 of a serious offence against the truth, if, when the 
 Church has been so vexed with diversity of expositions, 
 I had offered crude and hasty opinions, which had not 
 been repeatedly searched, tried, and 'sifted, in the use of 
 every help of which I could avail myself, to ascertain 
 the true meaning designed by the Spirit of God. To 
 start new expositions, or even to choose among old ones, 
 in debated passages, without a strict examination of 
 b2 
 
vUi PREFACE. 
 
 the arguments on each side, and a careful statement of 
 the reasons for the choice, seems to me the high road 
 to universal doubt, and a direct sin against the God of 
 truth and holiness. 
 
 Since my former work, a volume has appeared, by a 
 noble and learned author, whom I have the privilege to 
 know, on " the Times of the prophet Daniel." With a 
 very deep personal regard for that noble author, whose 
 studies are a bright contrast to the follies which occupy 
 too many of our peers, I am compelled to diflfer entirely 
 from his views. I had prepared a chapter on the sub- 
 ject for the present work ; but as it seemed rather 
 foreign to the scope of the volume, I have suppressed 
 it at present. But I feel it right to observe that I have 
 examined closely the two difficulties, which alone give a 
 seeming strength to his Grace's theory, — the succession 
 of names in the Persian history, and the two covenants 
 under Zerubbabel and Nehemiah, — and feel confident 
 that I can meet them both with a full and complete 
 answer. It seems to me surprising that the paradox of 
 two Scripture Nebuchadnezzars, and a Scripture Cyrus, 
 totally unknown to profane history, in the reign of 
 Longimanus, contemporary with Cimon and Pericles, 
 can ever be received by any mind, accustomed to pay 
 the least regard to the laws of evidence. Every fresh 
 inquiry has only increased my confidence in the usual 
 chronology, derived from the Canon of Ptolemy, and 
 its truth, I believe, may be almost entirely established 
 even by Scripture evidence alone. 
 
 A chapter, near the close, has been spent in examining 
 
PREFACE. IX 
 
 the theory of Dr. Arnold in his two Sermons on Pro- 
 phecy. In common with most who have read his life, 
 I feel a deep honour and esteem for his memory. Few 
 have appeared of late among us with so many features 
 of true nobility of mind, adorned and heautiiied by the 
 love of Christ. But truth requires the further state- 
 ment, that his paradoxes are of no common order for 
 their mischievous rashness. The Sermons in question^ 
 to which my attention was kindly drawn by an excel- 
 lent dignitary of our Church, are really, when stripped 
 of their colouring, a heap of puerile fallacies, destructive 
 to the very nature of prophecy, as a revelation from the 
 All- wise God, of things to come. The limits and design 
 of this work have compelled me to pass over many other 
 statements, equally dangerous and unsound as those 
 I have exposed. The very first page opens with a most 
 astounding assertion, as foolish as it is astounding, that 
 Isa. liii. is only accommodated to the history of our 
 Lord. The worst rationalism could scarcely go further 
 in contradicting the Spirit of God. 
 
 This theory has led the same writer, in private letters 
 published since his death, to revive the objections of 
 Porphyry and Toland against Daniel's prophecies. I 
 had prepared an answer to these also, but have forborne 
 them, partly because few readers are likely to adopt 
 this infidel error ; and as a further reason, because a 
 work of Hengstenberg on this subject is now advertised 
 as under translation, and though I have not met with 
 the original, from the learning and piety of the author 
 I have no doubt that it will leave nothing to desire. 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 It was my wish also to avoid needless controversy, lest 
 it should interfere Avith the general use and practical 
 influence of the rest of the work. 
 
 The main subject of these prophecies, the Divine his- 
 tory of earthly kingdoms, and the mournful events of 
 the last year, when our nation took a fearful stride in 
 the road of apostacy from the truth, have led me 
 to some reflections, in another chapter, on the use 
 of these visions, to supply lessons of political wisdom. 
 But the duty of Christian States is one of such 
 pressing importance, and so beset with doubts and 
 darkness in the minds of Christians themselves at the 
 present day, that it could not possibly be unfolded here, 
 as its momentous issues deserve. A few germs of 
 thought were all that could be off^ered. Should it please 
 God to spare me, and no duties more pressing should 
 intervene, I purpose to treat the subject at large in a 
 distinct work, which I shall desire to present to the 
 Church, at once as an ofi^ering to the cause of truth, 
 and a help, under the blessing of God, to the manifested 
 unity of believers in these last days. 
 
 And now I commit this volume, with its many known 
 and unknown imperfections, to the humble, serious 
 study of thoughtful observers of God's Providence, and 
 to the blessing of Him who is the only Giver of light 
 and wisdom, to whom be glory in the Church by Christ 
 Jesus, for ever and ever. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. PAGB 
 
 Introduction 1 
 
 I. The Conquests of Cyrus 4 
 
 II. On Alexander and his Successors . 17 
 
 III. The Three Successors of Cyrus . . 30 
 
 IV. The Expedition op Xerxes .... 51 
 V. Ptolemy and Seleucus Nicator . . 60 
 
 VI. Antiochus Theus and Ptolemy Phi- 
 
 LADELPHUS 73 
 
 VII. Seleucus Ceraunus and Antiochus 
 
 the Great 82 
 
 VIII. Antiochus The Great and the Jews 99 
 
 IX. Antiochus the Great and the Romans 110 
 
 X. Seleucus Philopator and Antiochus 
 
 Epiphanes 121 
 
 XL On the Precursive Fulfilment of 
 Prophecy. — The Desolation of An- 
 tiochus 148 
 
Xll CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. PAQB 
 
 XII. The Proper Fulfilment of the 
 
 Little Horn 172 
 
 XIII. The Eastern Empire of Rome . . 187 
 
 XIV. The Abomination of Desolation . 222 
 XV. The Abomination of Desolation . 241 
 
 XVI. The Wilful King 255 
 
 XVII. The History of the Wilful King 284 
 
 XVIII. The Warfare of the Latter Days 303 
 
 XIX. The Latest Conflicts in the East 328 
 
 XX. The Historical Reality of Prophecy 342 
 
 XXL The Political Worth of Daniel's 
 
 Visions 363 
 
 XXII. Historical Review of the Prophecy 380 
 
THE TWO LATER VISIONS OF DANIEL. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The two earKer visions of Daniel, unfolded in a pre- 
 vious work, lead us through the wide range of Pro- 
 vidence from the time of the prophet down to the 
 present day. The truths which they reveal, however 
 simple in themselves, have an unspeakable grandeur 
 and sublimity. Four great empires, as the prophecy 
 announces by a double emblem, and history has plainl}^ 
 confirmed, were successively to appear in the world, 
 and to be followed by an everlasting kingdom of righ- 
 teousness. After the fall of Babylon, the overthrow of 
 Persia, and the division and decay of the Macedonian 
 empire, Rome, the last of these great kingdoms, ob- 
 tained the supreme power, and held it in unbroken 
 strength for nearly five hundred years. Then, as the 
 visions had foreshewn, it was broken, and ten smaller 
 kingdoms arose in its peculiar territory, the western 
 countries of Europe. It was further announced that 
 a power would arise among these divided kingdoms, 
 small in size, but vast in its claims, assume the pro- 
 phetic character, usurp authority over the whole divided 
 
 B 
 
2 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 empire, and persecute the servants of God. The Roman 
 Papacy has fulfilled all these features of the prediction, 
 and has thus lent us a fresh proof of the Divine fore- 
 knowledge. But now, for three hundred years, this 
 power, once irresistible, has begun to decay. It may 
 still revive for a moment, and struggle for the victory ; 
 but the judgment is set, and has begun to take away 
 its dominion, to consume and destroy it unto the end. 
 We are now living in the pause before this last conflict, 
 which the kingdoms of the West will shortly undergo, 
 and which, amidst tumult, strife and suffering, will 
 bring on the dawn of the millennial glory. The Son of 
 Man, as here announced, will then appear in the clouds 
 of heaven. His universal empire will be established, 
 and the saints of the Most High will take the kingdom, 
 and possess it for ever and ever. 
 
 We are now drawing near to this eventful crisis, 
 which will end the Fourth Empire, and usher in the 
 kingdom of the Messiah in its manifested power and 
 triumph. With such a prospect before us, it is our 
 duty to gain all the light which the word of God sup- 
 plies, that we may understand the present duty, and 
 the future hopes, of the Church of Christ. The other 
 prophecies are all given for this end. But especially 
 the two later visions, in the eighth and eleventh of Da- 
 niel, fill up more completely the outline which was 
 revealed in his earlier prophecies. 
 
 The first vision, that of the Great Image, had been 
 given to Nebuchadnezzar himself, in the beginning of 
 his reign ; and it was expounded by Daniel when he 
 was only a youth, in his exile at the court of Babylon. 
 Fifty years almost had passed before any further reve- 
 lation was given to the holy prophet. But when the 
 monarchy of Babylon had begun to decay, and Daniel 
 himself had experienced the fickleness of royal favour, 
 the vision of the Four Beasts, in the first year of Bel- 
 shazzar, enlarged and confirmed the previous message. 
 Two j'-ears later a further vision was added, to unfold 
 more fully the course of the second and third empires, 
 
INTRODUCTION. 8 
 
 and the events of Eastern history, in connexion with 
 the temple and the people of Israel. The prophecy of 
 the Seventy Weelj s, fifteen years afterward, revealed the 
 times of Messiah's first Advent, and his rejection by his 
 own people. Last of all, after four years, a fuller ac- 
 count was given of the trials and conflicts through which 
 the Jews would pass, under the S3'rian and Egyptian 
 kings ; with a brief history of later events, that would 
 be fulfilled in the time of the end, and issue in the 
 gathering of Israel, and the resurrection of those who 
 are sleeping in the dust. 
 
 The two visions which occupy the eighth and ele- 
 venth chapters, like the visions of the Great Image, and 
 of the Four Beasts, have a close and evident connexion 
 with each other. On this account it seems better to 
 combine them in the historical exposition. There are 
 many interesting truths, which are suggested by each 
 of them, rich with instruction to the Church of God. 
 But since, from the extent and fulness of the last 
 vision, the history alone will require considerable space, 
 it seems better to refrain at present from a wider range 
 of discussion. My object, then, will be to unfold the ac- 
 tual fulfilment of these two prophecies, chiefly from the 
 original authorities, and to intermix no collateral topics, 
 but those which seem essential to the main object of 
 the work. These will be introduced amidst the histori- 
 cal chapters, where they seem required by the course 
 of the exposition. 
 
 May it please Him, who is the Fountain of-all wisdom, 
 and who has given the word of prophecy to be a light 
 to our steps amidst the darkness of the world, to bless 
 this effort to unfold one part of His holy oracles, and 
 to make it effectual, in its own measure, for the instruc- 
 tion and comfort of His people^ and their preparation 
 for His blessed and eternal kingdom ! 
 
 B 2 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE CONQUESTS OF CYRUS. 
 Daniel viii. 1 — 4 — " In thb third tear of the reign of king Bel- 
 
 SHAZZAR A VISION APPEARED UNTO ME, EVEN UNTO MB DaNIEL, AFTER 
 THAT WHICH APPEARED UNTO ME AT THE FIRST. 
 '' And I SAW IN A VISION ; and it came to pass, when I SAW, THAT I WAS 
 AT SHUSHAN the palace, WHICH IS IN THE PROVINCE OP EtAM ; AND 
 I SAW IN A VISION, AND I WAS BY THE RIVRR UlAI. 
 
 " Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and behold, there stood before 
 
 THE river a ram WHICH HAD TWO HORNS : AND THE TWO HORNS WERE 
 UIUH ; BUT ONE WAS HIGHER THAN THE OTHER, AND THE HIGHER CAME 
 UP LAST. 
 
 '' i saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; 
 
 so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there ant 
 
 that could deliver out of his hand ; but he did according to his 
 
 will, and became great." 
 Yerse 20. — " The ram which thou sawest, having two horns, are the 
 
 KINGS op Media and Persia." 
 
 Before entering on the detail of these later visions, it 
 is well to inquire what internal marks are given, which 
 may help us to determine their main object. The sa- 
 cred text supplies us with several indications of this 
 kind, which throw light upon the scope of each pro- 
 phecy. 
 
 The first mark is found in the language of the visions. 
 The two first are in Chaldee, the dialect of the chief 
 Gentile power. In the eighth chapter the Hebrew lan- 
 guage is resumed, and is used in all the visions that 
 follow. It is natural to infer that, in the former pro- 
 phecies, the Holy Spirit reveals the course of Gentile 
 dominion ; and, in the latter, describes mainly the for- 
 tunes of the Jewish nation. 
 
THE CONQUESTS OF CYRUS. 5 
 
 The view will be greatly confirmed by a closer search. 
 For the two lirst visions clearly pursue the course of 
 worldly dominion through the four Empires. On the 
 fall of Persia, they pass westward to Greece and Rome, 
 and the second of them is chiefly occupied with the lat- 
 ter times of the Roman power. But the East continued 
 still to be the main theatre of many important changes, 
 which affected both the nation of Israel and the Church 
 of Christ. It would be reasonable to suppose that Da- 
 niel, a Jewish prophet, and now an exile far away to the 
 East, would be commissioned to reveal the main events 
 of Providence in Palestine and its border countries, no 
 less than in Europe, from his own age down to the close 
 of his other prophecies. 
 
 This will be further proved by a close and detailed 
 inspection. The Vision of the eighth chapter, as the 
 angel himself tells us, refers mainly to the Eastern Em- 
 pire of Media and Persia, and to the Eastern conquests 
 of Greece. The little horn waxes great towards the 
 East, and the pleasant land. The main event in the 
 vision is the removal of the daily sacrifice, and the 
 casting down of the temple. Nearly all the terms 
 employed have a natural application to the people of 
 the Jews, and the land of Israel. 
 
 In the prophecy of the Seventy Weeks the same 
 feature appears. Its occasion is the fervent prayer of 
 Daniel for the restoration of his people, and the rebuild- 
 ing of Jerusalem. Its main subject is declared to be 
 the people of Daniel, and Zion, the holy city. Its chief 
 events are the rebuilding of Jerusalem, with its street 
 and rampart, the coming of Messiah, his rejection by 
 the Jewish nation, and their judicial overthrow. The 
 Jews are plainly the subject, and the East as plainly is 
 the theatre, of the whole prophecy. In the last vision, 
 again, the scene of nearly all the events is clearly ex- 
 pressed. They relate, almost entirely, to Syria, Egypt, 
 Palestine, the temple of God, and the holy mountain of 
 Israel. 
 
 Again, the range of time in the former visions natu- 
 
6 CHAPTER I. 
 
 rally divides itself into two parts, before and after the 
 First Advent. In the second period the supreme power 
 is transferred to the West, and the kingdom of God, or 
 visible Church, is also translated from the Jews to the 
 Gentiles. Hence, if the object of the later visions be 
 chiefly the history of the East, they will be likely to 
 expand the history of events before the Advent, since 
 these were nearer to the time of the prophet, and the 
 East was then the main theatre of Divine providence. 
 And this is clearly true. The prophecy of the Seventy 
 Weeks parts the whole interval of time by the coming 
 of Messiah, and details events in the land of Israel only, 
 from the baptism of our Saviour to the fall of Jerusalem. 
 The two other visions unfold the events from Cyrus to 
 the death of Antiochus, and the complete triumph of the 
 Romans, with a fulness of detail unexampled in other 
 prophecies. 
 
 There is another feature common to the three later 
 in contrast with the former visions. They all make 
 repeated allusions to the temple of God. In the eighth 
 chapter the term translated, the jpleasant land, will be 
 found, by a comparison with other scriptures, to denote 
 the temple itself. Twice, again, in that vision the sanc- 
 tuary is directly named. The prophecy of the Weeks 
 also directly mentions the temple, both in the prayer 
 of Daniel and the message of the angel. In like man- 
 ner, in chapter xi. 16, 81, 41, we have a similar allusion. 
 Each vision appears thus to divide itself into two por- 
 tions, the times of the second temple, and a period 
 of renewed and heavier desolation. Their close also 
 looks forward to a third era, more blessed and glorious, 
 when the sanctuary shall be cleansed, and the holy 
 people shall be scattered no longer ; but Gentiles shall 
 come to the light of Zion, and kings to the brightness 
 of her rising. 
 
 We are thus led to the following conclusions. The 
 eighth chapter unfolds, more fully than the two earlier 
 prophecies, the course of Providence under the Second 
 and Third Empires, perhaps also under the Fourth, but 
 
THE CONQUESTS OF CYRUS. 7 
 
 with a special reference to the East, the land of Pales- 
 tine, and the nation of Israel. The eleventh chapter 
 expands this account into more copious details, as the 
 Great Image was expanded in the vision of the Four 
 Beasts. But since it is the last of all these prophecies, 
 has also links of connexion, especially in the times it 
 reveals, with the vision of the Four I3easts, and thus 
 binds the whole into one harmonious system. The pro- 
 phecy of the Seventy Weeks, interposed between the two 
 others, parts their whole course into two main divisions, 
 and reveals the wonderful transition from the first to 
 the second period, in the solemn events connected with 
 the First Advent of our Lord, and all the wonders that 
 cluster around the great mystery of godliness, the in- 
 carnation of the Son of God. 
 
 Let us now return to the present vision. It was re- 
 vealed to the prophet in the third year of Belshazzar. 
 There is no solid reason to doubt that this king answers 
 to Nabonadius in the Astronomical Canon, and his third 
 year will be a.c. 553. The power of Babylon was then 
 rapidly declining, and Persia, under Cyrus the Great, 
 was rising just as rapidly upon its ruins. The First 
 Empire, which has been already spoken of in two 
 visions, is therefore passed by in silence, and the pro- 
 phecy begins with the victorious career of Cyrus, which 
 raised Persia to the suj>reme dominion. 
 
 Only two years had now passed since the date of the 
 last vision, though there had been an interval of fifty 
 years between the two former prophecies. One reason 
 may have been the deeper profaneness of the empire 
 under Belshazzar, which called for a fuller supply of 
 these Divine consolations. When the world is darkest, 
 then the word of prophecy commonly shines forth with 
 the clearest light. 
 
 It is not very plain whether Daniel were actually at 
 Shushan, and by the banks of the Ulai, or in vision only. 
 The former view seems more probable, when we com- 
 pare his other prophecies. The scene of the two first 
 was plainly at or near Babylon, and the first of them 
 
8 CHAPTER I. 
 
 in the palace of tlie king. In chapter x., in like man- 
 ner, the prophet was really by the Hiddekel, or Tigris, 
 when the angel appeared to him. We may therefore put 
 the same construction on the statement in this prophecy, 
 and suppose that Daniel was really by the bank of the 
 Ulai, or Choaspes, when the vision was revealed. For 
 though Cyrus had begun his conquests, Susiana, close to 
 the Tigris, was distinct from Persia Proper, and might 
 still be under the power of Belshazzar. It is possible 
 that its exposed position might have caused the presence 
 of Daniel at this time, since his abilities had been prized 
 so highly under former reigns. He was on the business 
 of the king ; and whether that business were an embassy, 
 or the protection of an exposed frontier, his presence at 
 Shushan would be easily explained on either view. 
 
 The place and time of the vision were exactly suited 
 to its main object. The first event revealed was the 
 supremacy of the Medes and Persians ; and hence its 
 date was a few years after the accession of Cyrus, and 
 its scene at Shushan, the future abode of the Persian 
 monarchs, and on the banks of the Choaspes, the royal 
 river. The voyager who is about to sail over a wide 
 ocean, fixes carefully the point of departure, where he 
 loses sight of land. And so also the Holy Spirit, when 
 he would guide the church through the dark sea of 
 Providence by the chart of prophecy, marks out very 
 clearly the point of time where each prophecy begins, 
 and the nature of the earliest events which it reveals. 
 The site of Susa is now a desert. The name of Sus, and 
 a few broken fragments, are all that remain. But the 
 word of God, revealed there to the prophet by the river- 
 side, endures for ever, and yields an enduring light, even 
 in these last days, to the millions of benighted sojourners 
 in our fallen world. 
 
 The Ram is expounded by the angel to be the kings 
 of Media and Persia. It is clear, then, that the word 
 kings is not used in a personal sense. The emblem 
 would be incongruous and monstrous, to describe two 
 persons merely. The kings of Media and Persia, it is 
 
THE CONQUESTS OF CYRUS. 9 
 
 plain, are the two ruling dynasties or powers, confede- 
 rate in conquest, and of which IVIedia was superior at 
 first, and Persia after the sole reign of Cyrus. The 
 successive rise of the two horns prefigured this successive 
 sway of the two dynasties. But after they have once 
 arisen, they hecame a permanent and historical symbol, 
 unaffected by later changes ; for the Ram itself, and 
 not the two horns, denotes the compound Median and 
 Persian power. 
 
 The emblems, again, in this vision are animals of 
 sacrifice, not beasts of prey. Perhaps there may be a 
 moral reason for this change. The two empires, in the 
 persons of their founders, to whom the prophecy mainly 
 alludes, were both of them favourers of the temple -wor- 
 ship. The captivity of the Jews was closed by a decree 
 of Cyrus. He said " to Jerusalem, Thou shall be built, 
 and to the temple. Thy foundation shall be laid." 
 Alexander also, when he entered Judea, paid reverence 
 to the high-priest, and offered sacrifices for the service 
 of the temple. The emblems are thus varied, to retain 
 their harmony with the moral lessons and historical 
 truths which they are designed to convey. 
 
 The order of the two dynasties appears in all the 
 profane historians. Herodotus, Xenophon, and Ctesias, 
 all agree that the Medes were superior, until the fame 
 and victories of Cyrus turned the scale, and gave rise to 
 a Persian dynasty. They vary, however, not a little 
 in the details of this change. But even Scripture his- 
 tory alone, without foreign aid, will explain the pro- 
 phecy by undesigned coincidences, at once remarkable 
 and minute. After the fall of Belshazzar, we are told 
 that " Darius the Mede took the kingdom ; " and again, 
 that " Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the 
 Medes, was jnade king over the realm of the Chal- 
 deans." Both at the fall of Babylon and during the 
 reign of this Darius, the Scripture gives the Medes 
 precedence over the Persians. But, after the accession 
 of Cyrus, this order is constantly reversed, not only in 
 the history of Daniel, but in those of Ezra, Nehemiah, 
 
10 CHAPTER I. 
 
 and Esther. The PersianSj from that time, have the 
 foremost place. Their continued pre-eminence is 
 marked, even in the title of the last king recorded in 
 the sacred canon, and who is called, in the book of 
 Nehemiah, Darius the Persian. The reign of Smerdis, 
 in Herodotus, is the history of an abortive attempt, by 
 the Medes, to recover the tlirone. After his fall, the 
 Persian supremacy continued without a change, till the 
 final overthrow of the whole empire. 
 
 The Ram was seen "pushing westward, and north- 
 ward, and southward." These words are a very clear 
 prediction of the conquests of Cyrus, though perhaps 
 they may include the later conquest of Egypt by his 
 son Cambyses. The wars of Darius Hystaspes, at a 
 still later period, to which one able commentator refers 
 them, do not answer to the description. The vision 
 was in the sixth or seventh year of Cyrus, when his 
 career of victory had already begun. It must naturally, 
 on this ground alone, be referred to these conquests, 
 and not to others separated from them by nearly forty 
 years. The conquests in the vision are those by which 
 the empire became great ; and this is true • of those of 
 Cyrus only. They are unbroken victories in every di- 
 rection ; but those of Darius were mingled with great 
 and heavy reverses. The chief, perhaps the only, direc- 
 tion of the conquests of Darius was eastward ; and this 
 is the only quarter excluded in the prophecy. They 
 were after the empire had attained the pinnacle of 
 greatness ; they were chequered by many and shameful 
 defeats, and were much too late to form a natural com- 
 mencement of the vision. 
 
 Two principal reasons have been assigned for a dif- 
 ferent view. The chronology of the vision has seemed 
 to require a later date for its commencement. But this 
 objection would control the plainest part of the pro- 
 phecy by that which is most difficult and obscure. Al- 
 most every reader, learned or unlearned, has seen for 
 ages that the opening of the chapter relates to Cyrus 
 and his conquests. But the full sense of the two thou- 
 
THE CONQUESTS OF CYRUS. 11 
 
 sand three hundred days has only heen unfolded in the 
 last century, or a little earlier, and its precise adjust- 
 ment may be reasonably expected to be only the ripest 
 fruit of patient research. It is unnatural to determine 
 the sense of the plainest clauses by inferences drawn from 
 one of the most obscure. 
 
 Again, the place of the Ram, before the river, has been 
 thought to imply the previous establishment of the Per- 
 sian Empire. But this would be to draw a refined and 
 uncertain inference from an emblem, directly opposed to 
 the plain words of the vision. If the Ram only became 
 great in consequence of its threefold pushing, it could 
 not have been a great and established Empire before that 
 pushing began. And, in fact, since the Ram was first 
 seen at rest, the most natural sense of the words, before 
 the river, is with its face to the river. And, since the 
 first direction of conquest is westward, this would imply 
 that the Ram was seen on the eastern bank of Ulai. 
 But whether its place in vision were on the one side or 
 the other, there can be no certain conclusion drawn 
 from it, to fix the time of the vision. For some part of 
 the Median dominion was west of the river at the time 
 of the prophecy ; and on the other hand, Darius set out 
 on his various expeditions from Susa, east of the river. 
 All that the emblem can properly teach us is, that 
 the Persian power bordered on the Ulai when this 
 career of conquest began, and that this river would 
 have some peculiar connexion with the rising monar- 
 chy. The rise of the second and higher horn is also 
 spoken of, as if it occurred under the 63^6 of the pro- 
 phet, which is a further mark that it begins from ,the 
 reign of Cyrus. Every reason, therefore, combines to 
 prove that reign the true commencement of the predic- 
 tion. It remains only to trace its fulfilment from the 
 profane historians. 
 
 The Ram was seen, first of all, pushing westward, or 
 towards the waters of the western sea. Early among 
 the victories of Cyrus, and one of the most celebrated, 
 was the overthrow of Croesus and the Lydian Empire, 
 
12 CHAPTER I. 
 
 with the capture of Sardis on the coast of the Mge&n sea. 
 The first book of Herodotus, the father of profane his- 
 tory, is thus one complete comment on this first clause 
 of the inspired prophecy. The brief notice of Solinus 
 assigns the date. ' In the fifty-eighth Olympiad (a.c. 
 548 — 545) C^'^rus entered Sardis as conqueror.' The ac- 
 count in Xenophon may be questionable in the details, 
 but in its main features it agrees with Herodotus. A 
 summary from the first book will show, more palpably, 
 the harmony between the prophecy and the statements 
 of heathen writers. 
 
 Bk. I. 1 — 95. — First origin of enmity between the Greeks and 
 the people of Asia. Croesus, king of Lydia, first made the Greeks 
 in Asia tributaries. The first kings of the Lydians sprung from 
 Atys : then the Heraclidse, of whom Candaules was the last. 
 Gyges slays Candaules ; transfers the dominion to the Mennnadse, 
 sends presents to Delphi, assails Miletus and Smyrna, and takes 
 Colophon. Ardes, son of Gyges, under whom the Cimmerians 
 takes Sardis. Sad3^attes and Alyattes, who drives the Cimme- 
 rians from Asia, and makes peace with the tyrant of Miletus. 
 Croesus, son of Alyattes, makes the Greeks on the continent tri- 
 butary, and assails those of the islands. Solon comes to Sardis. 
 The Medes being conquered by Cyrus, Croesus, anxious about the 
 power of the Persians, consults the oracles, but first makes trial 
 of their truth ; approves the Delphic, and that of Amphiaraus. 
 The ambiguous answer of the oracles about war with the Persians. 
 Croesus makes an alliance with the Lacedaemonians. 
 
 71 — 95. — A wise Lydian dissuades Croesus in vain from the war. 
 The river Halys, the boundary between Cappadocia and Lydia. 
 Croesus purposes to wrest Cappadocia from Cyrus, and avenge As- 
 tj-ages the Mede, from whom Cyrus had taken his kingdom. War 
 between Cyaxares and Alyattes broken off by an eclipse of the sun, 
 predicted by Thales. A battle is fought between Croesus and 
 Cyrus, in the Pterian field, beyond the Halys, with doubtful suc- 
 cess. Croesus returns to Sardis, to renew the war next year. 
 Cyrus follows him into Lydia, and after a prosperous battle, in 
 which he opposed camels to the enemy's horse, besieges Sardis. 
 The Lacedaemonians, when ready to succour Croesus, learn that he 
 is captured by Cyrus. The'citadel taken by a part of the wall which 
 seemed inaccessible. Croesus, bound in chains, and placed on the 
 funeral pile, remembers Solon. He is preserved, when on the 
 point of being burnt alive. Croesus is honoured by Cyrus, and 
 
THE CONQUESTS OF CYRUS. 13 
 
 gives him good counsel. Memorable features of Lydia ; the sepul- 
 chre of A lyattes. The Lydians first coined gold and silver. Tyr- 
 rhenus, son of Atys, being their leader, they sent a colony to 
 Umbria (Italy). Who this Cyrus was, who stripped Croesus of 
 his kingdom. How the Persians obtained the supreme power in 
 Asia. 
 
 The opening book of this father of heathen history, 
 is thus in full accordance with the sacred vision. The 
 Ram was seen pushing westward from tlie banks of 
 Ulai beyond the Halys, and to the very shore of the 
 ^gean sea. 
 
 But it was seen also pushing northward. The northern 
 conquests of Cyrus, in the writers now extant, have 
 their order less clearly assigned than the rest. Herodotus 
 passes over the intermediate events, from the fall of 
 Sardis to the siege of Babylon. The fact of such con- 
 quests is, however, certain. Herodotus says, in general 
 terms, that he subverted all Upper Asia, before the great 
 event of the siege. This w^ould include Pontus, and the 
 Upper Armenia, with the tribes bordering on the Cas- 
 pian sea. The details in Xenophon are obscure, and 
 perhaps not very trustworthy ; but they lean to the 
 same view, for the siege of Babylon is made a final 
 step after all the neighbouring states, which might have 
 proved dangerous, had been subdued. In the absence 
 of fuller accounts, we may be content with this general 
 correspondence. The events that are clear and certain 
 require that very order of conquest Avhich the prophecy 
 had foretold. 
 
 The Ram was seen, last of all, pushing south w^ard. 
 The four quarters ought clearly to be referred to the 
 actual geography of Asia, rather than to the abstract 
 parallels of science. The westward line of conquest is 
 clearly from Persepolis or Susa, to Sardis. The north 
 and south in the vision will be parted by this line. To 
 the south of this line is Babylon, the last and most im- 
 portant conquest of the Persian king. The history of 
 the siege in Herodotus and Xenophon, answers closely 
 to the predictions of Jeremiah, and the. narrative in 
 
14 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Daniel. The summary from Herodotus, will again 
 illustrate the vision. 
 
 Bk. I. 152 — 2IG.— The LacedfEmonians refuse help to the 
 lonians, but charge Cyrus not to harass the Greeks. He answers 
 contemptuously. He returns to Sardis, and brings Croesus with 
 him, intending to war against Babylon himself, and by his lieu- 
 tenants against the lonians. The Lydians under Pactyas, rebel, 
 and are pardoned by the intercession of Crcesus. Mazarus assails 
 those who had rebelled. His successor, Harpagus, besieges the 
 Ionian cities, and first Phocoera. The Teans migrate to Thrace, 
 and build Abdera. The other lonians on the continent submit to 
 the yoke. 
 
 Cyrus subdues all the Upper Asia. The size, beauty, ditch, 
 wall, river, and temple, of Babylon. Queen Semiramis had formed 
 the embankments of the river. Nitrocris changed its course and 
 dug a vast lake. Her sepulchre and its inscription. Cyrus marches 
 against Labynetus king of Babylon. He orders the river Gyndes 
 to be cut into three hundred and sixty streams. After defeating 
 the Babylonians and shutting them up in the city, he besieges 
 them in vain. The Euphrates having been turned aside into the 
 lake, he enters through the bed, and takes Babylon by sui-prise. 
 He prepares an expedition against the Massagetse. 
 
 The prophecy after these threefold conquests describes 
 the power and greatness to which they led. " No beast 
 could stand before him, neither could any deliver out of 
 his hand ; but he did according to his will, and became 
 great." The words of Herodotus and Xenophon are 
 almost exactly the same. After recounting the victo- 
 ries of Cyrus, Herodotus thus introduces his last expe- 
 dition. 
 
 " The Massagetse occupy by no means the smallest 
 portion of this vast plain, against whom Cyius was 
 eager to march. For there were many and great causes 
 which elated him, and urged him on ; first indeed his 
 birth, wherein he seemed more than human ; and next, 
 his good fortune in war. For wherever Cyrus directed 
 his course to march, the escajic of that nation was im- 
 2:>ossibley 
 
 The remarks of Xenophon, at the opening of the Cy- 
 ropaedia, are in equal harmony with the prediction. 
 
THE CONQUESTS OF CYRUS. 15 
 
 ' Cyrus, however, we know, was obej^ed willingly by 
 those who were distant many days' journey, or even 
 many months, and by those who had never seen him ; 
 nay, even by those who knew that they would never 
 see him ; and yet they were willing to submit to him. 
 So much did he surpass other kings, who have either 
 inherited power from their parents, or acquired it 
 themselves. For the Scythian, though he rules over 
 very many Scythians, can obtain power" over no other 
 tribe ; nay, he would be glad to secure its continuance 
 over his own nation ; and the Thracian king over the 
 Thracians, the Illyrian over the Illyrians, and so of 
 all other known tribes. But Cyrus, receiving the tribes 
 of Asia, when still under their own laws, and starting 
 with a small body of Persians, took the command of the 
 Medes and Hyrcanians with their own consent ; and 
 subverted the Syrians, the Assyrians, the Arabians, the 
 Cappadocians, both the Phrygias, the Lydians, the 
 Carians, the Phoenicians, the Babylonians ; and ruled 
 also over the Bactrians, the Indi, and the Cilicians, and 
 in like manner over the Sacse and Paphlagonians, and 
 Mariandyni, and many other tribes, whose very names 
 we can scarcely repeat. He also gained victories over 
 the Greeks of Asia, and coming down to the sea, re- 
 duced the Cyprians and Egyptians. Over these na- 
 tions, then, he bore rule ; who differed in language 
 both from him and from each other. Yet he was able 
 to traverse so wide a tract by the reverence he inspired, 
 so that all icere confounded, and none dared to assail him. 
 And indeed he subdued so many countries, that it is 
 hard to travel over them, in whatever direction we 
 should set out from the palace, to the east or to the 
 west, to the north or to the south.' 
 
 At the close of the work he contrasts these victories 
 of Cyrus with the decline and decay of the empire 
 under later kings. 
 
 ' That the kingdom of Cyrus was the fairest and 
 largest of all in Asia, it is its own witness. For toward 
 the east it was bounded by the Erythraean sea, and 
 
16 CHAPTER I. 
 
 towards the north, by the Euxine ; to the west, by 
 Cyprus and Egypt ; and to the south, by Ethiopia. 
 But although it was so vast, it was governed, however, 
 by the sole Avill of C^a-us : and he honoured and che- 
 rished his subjects as his own children, while they re- 
 verenced him as a father. But when Cyrus was dead, 
 presently his sons broke out into factions, cities and 
 tribes revolted, and all things went on from bad to 
 worse.' 
 
 The greatness which the empire attained, through 
 these victories of Cyrus, is clear from the- historical 
 books of Scripture alone, and is confirmed by the whole 
 current of profane history. The title of the Persian 
 monarch, among all the writers of Greece, was the 
 Great King ; and the opening of the book of Esther 
 forms a vivid commentary on the meaning of the 
 phrase. 
 
 In the last vision, the word of prophecy reveals to 
 us four successions of Cyrus on the Persian throne, and 
 the gigantic expedition of Xerxes against the land of 
 Greece. But in this more concise prediction, no details 
 are given of the Persian history in the time of the em- 
 pire's continued greatness. We pass on at once, after the 
 two centuries of its undisputed supremacy, to the rise of 
 a new empire under another conqueror, whose exploits, 
 though more transitory than those of C^^rus, were still 
 more rapid and wonderful, and have been still more 
 celebrated by profane historians. 
 
17 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ON ALEXANDER AND HIS SUCCESSORS. 
 Dan. viii. 5 — 8. — And as I was considering, bbhold, an he goat came 
 
 FROM THE WEST ON THE FACE OF THE WHOLE EARTH,' AND TOUCHED NOT 
 THE GROUND : AND THE GOAT HAD A NOTABLE HORN BETWEEN HIS EYES. 
 And HE CAME TO THE RAM WHICH I HAD SEEN STANDING iSEFORE THE 
 
 river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power. and i saw 
 him come close to the ram, and he was moved with choler 
 against him, and smote the ram and rraee his two horns ; and 
 there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast 
 him down to the ground, and stamped upon him ; and there was 
 none that could deliver the ram out op his hand. therefore 
 the he-goat waxed very great ; and when he was strong the 
 great horn was broken ; and for it came up four notable ones, 
 toward the four winds of heaven. 
 Verse 21, 22. — And the rough goat is the king of Grecia ; and the 
 great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. now that 
 
 being BROKEN, WHEREAS FOUR STOOD UP FOR IT, FOUR KINGDOMS SHALL 
 STAND UP OUT OF THE NATION, BUT NOT IN HIS POWER. 
 
 The fulfilment of these words in Alexander the Great 
 is so plain, that no proof seems to be required. Per- 
 haps only one writer has ever ventured to deny this re- 
 ference ; while many infidels, and even a few Chris- 
 tians, have maintained, from the clearness of the pro- 
 phecy, that it is really spurious, and written after the 
 event. Their view will be fully examined in another 
 chapter, and its entire falsehood be shewn. Meanwhile 
 a few extracts will serve to continue the historical ex- 
 position, and will add one further proof of the Divine 
 foreknowledge. 
 
 The emblem itself has a peculiar fitness. For the 
 
18 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Macedonians were called ^geadae, or the goat-people, 
 and perhaps on this account the son of Alexander was 
 surnamed JEgits. The rapid course of the He-Goat, 
 from the West, is still more descriptive of Alexander's 
 conquests. The preface of Diodorus, in this part of his 
 narrative, will show the rapidity of the Macedonian 
 hero, and the extent of his dominion. 
 
 * This king, in a short time, accomplished great ex- 
 ploits, and by his own prudence and courage excelled in 
 the vastness of his achievements all the kings who have 
 been handed down to memory from the beginning of 
 time. For in twelve years he subverted no small part 
 of Europe, and almost the whole of Asia, and obtained 
 such celebrity and glory, as even rivalled the fame of 
 the ancient demigods and heroes. But it is not needful 
 to anticipate the successful exploits of this king, since 
 the facts, in detail, will sufficiently attest the greatness 
 of his renown.' 
 
 After the account of his accession, a.c. 836, Diodorus 
 reverts to the Persian history ; and the moral corrup- 
 tion of that empire, under its latest kings, furnishes one 
 key to the moral of its signal overthrow. 
 
 ' While Philip still reigned, Ochus ruled over the 
 Persians, and his behaviour to his subjects was cruel 
 and violent. Since he was hated for his severity, Ba- 
 goas the Chiliarch, an eunuch, wicked and warlike in 
 his character, took him off by poison through a cer- 
 tain physician, and introduced Arses, the king's young- 
 est son, to the throne. He destroyed too the bro- 
 thers of the king, who were young also, that the youth 
 might be more dependent on him. But the young mo- 
 narch being disgusted with these crimes, and showing 
 that he designed to avenge the author of the wicked- 
 ness, Bagoas anticipated his plans, and took off Arses 
 with his children, in the third year of his reign. Now 
 since the house of the king was desolate, and there was 
 none of the family to receive the kingdom, he chose out 
 one of liis friends, Darius hy name, and gave it to him. 
 He was the son of Arsanes, the son of Ostanes, who was 
 

 ON ALEXANDER AND HIS SUCCESSOlfe. .-iy J^., 
 
 brother of Artaxerxes, king of the Persians.' ' But the 
 end of Bagoas was memorable. Following his murder- 
 ous custom, he planned to remove Darius by poison. 
 But his plot was betrayed, and the king calling him to, 
 himself as in friendship, and giving him the poisoned 
 cup, compelled him to drink it. Now Darius was thought 
 worthy of the kingdom, because he excelled all the 
 Persians in valour. For once, when Artaxerxes made 
 war with the Cadusians, and one of these challenged 
 any of the Persians to single combat, no one else ven- 
 tured to meet him, but Darius risked the danger, and 
 slew the enemy. For this the king honoured him with 
 great gifts, and he carried off among the Persians the 
 prize of pre-eminent valour.' 
 
 It is this Darius, who is surnamed in Scripture, the 
 Persian ; whom Alexander overthrew. The rapidity 
 of the Macedonian conquests will perhaps be best seen by 
 extracting, from a valuable and accurate Chronologer, a 
 b^ief summary in order of time. 
 
 01. cxi. 3. A. c. 334. Alexander " in the opening of the spring 
 marches to the Hellespont." Arr. I. 11. Granicus, " in the 
 month Thargelion " (May). He had conquered Caria before the 
 winter. After the capture of Halicarnassus, " he sends away those 
 who had lately married, to winter in Macedonia." Arr. I. 24. 
 
 A. C. 333. Alexander had reached Gordium in the beginning 
 of this campaign. He had reduced Lycia " already before the 
 winter." Arr. I. And "those who were sent back to Macedonia 
 came, and with them an army newly enrolled." 
 
 Battle of Issus, Arr. II. 112, " when Nicostratus was archon 
 at Athens, in the month Magmacterion," (Nov. a. c. 333.) Cur- 
 tius marks the season, " when the winter was close at hand." 
 And after the battle, " a storm of snow had fallen, and the ground 
 was hard with the frost." 
 
 01. cxii. A. c. 332. Siege of Tyre begun, in the middle of win- 
 ter ; taken after seven months (Plut. Alex. c. 24. Diod. xvii. 46. 
 Curt iv. 4, 19) ; in the archonship of Nicetes, in Hecatombaeon, 
 or July, A. c. 332. After the capture of Gaza, Alexander " set 
 out for Egypt." Arr. III. 1. While at Gaza the Isthmian 
 games were held. He founds Alexandria, Arr. III. 1. and 
 marches to the oracle of Hammon. He returns to Memphis, and 
 remains there till spring. 
 
 C 2 
 
20 CHAPTER II. 
 
 A. C. 331. Alexander " when spring appeared" set out from 
 Memphis to Phenice, and arrived at Thapsacus in the month He- 
 catombaeon, when Aristophanes was Archon, July, A. c. 331. 
 
 Arbkla in the archonship of Aristophanes, and the month 
 Pyanepsion, eleven days after an eclipse of the moon, Oct. 1, A. c. 
 331. He remained four months of the ensuing winter at Persepo- 
 lis, " wishing to recruit the soldiers, for it was the season of 
 winter." Plut. Alex. c. 37. 
 
 A. C. 330. Darius slain (aged 50 years) " when Aristophon 
 was archon, in the month Hecatombseon," July, A. c. 330. After 
 his death, Alexander conquers the country bordering on the Cas- 
 pian sea ; — Hyrcania^ Ait. III. 23, — the Mardi — and after fifteen 
 days' halt at Zadracarta, c. 25, traverses Parthia and Asia ; and 
 marches in pursuit of Bessus through the Zarangaei^ Drangiana 
 and ^racAosi'a, when it was now winter. " All these nations he 
 reached amidst deep snow." Thence across the mountains of 
 -Cawfia/, " the Caucasian mountain," northwards, to Bactra, distant 
 from Zadracarta, by this route, seventeen hundred and fifty miles. 
 Along this mountain tract Alexander " marched with difficulty, 
 in much snow and want of necessaries." " The unusual rigour of 
 the snow killed many, and perished the feet of many others." 
 " In a space of seventeen days the army passed the Caucasus." 
 When they descended from the mountains, the warm season had 
 begun. 
 
 A. C. 329. Sixth campaign of Alexander in Asia. He 
 passes the Oxus, to Maracanda. " This is the royal abode of 
 the Sogdian province." Hence he marched on to the river 
 Tanais (Jaxartes). He founds Alexandria on the Tanais "wall- 
 ing it in twenty days." Arr. iv. 3. about 420 miles north of Bac- 
 tra. He passes the Tanais, and engages the Scythians. After 
 this campaign he wintered at Bactra. " He came to Zariaspa, and 
 there remained until the depth of winter was gone by." 
 
 01. cxiii. A. C. 328. Seventh campaign in Asia. " He marched 
 again to the Oxus, and resolved to pass into the Sogdian province." 
 The whole of the campaign is employed in Sogdiana, and at the end 
 of it Alexander winters at Nautaca, in the middle of the province, 
 twenty-five miles from Samarcand, and two hundred and twenty 
 north of Bactra. " He rested the army about Nautaca, since it 
 was the depth of winter, having resolved to winter there in Sog- 
 diana," Arr. iv. 17, 18. Early next spring, Rhoxana, daughter 
 of Oxigartes, is captured. 
 
 A. C. 327. Eighth campaign in Asia. Alexander, " when 
 spring was already come, set out from Bactra as against the In- 
 dians. IV. 22. When he reached the Hydaspes " it was the 
 season of summer, when the sun is hottest after the solstice." 
 
ON ALEXANDER AND HIS SUCCESSORS. 21 
 
 Defeat of Porus, " in the month Metageinion (August). "The 
 army remained during winter in the mountain country, and when 
 spring began they descended the plains to Taxila." 
 
 A. C. 326. Ninth campaign. The whole autumn, winter, and 
 spring, of the archon Hegemon, A. c. 327-6, spent in the naviga- 
 tion down the Indian rivers. " Having begun to sail, not many 
 days before the setting of the Pleiads, (autumn) the whole time 
 till summer was passed in the voyage, so that it occupied ten 
 months." (Aristob. in Strab. xv. p. 691). Alexander reached the 
 Indus a little before the time for sailing. He set out on his march 
 in August, leaving Nearchus to wait for the winds. He reached 
 Pura on the borders of Caramania, in two months. Nearchus 
 began the voyage in October, " on the twentieth of Boedromion, 
 in the eleventh of Alexander's reign." 
 
 A. C. 325. Alexander, having reached the capital of Gedrosia 
 in October, a. c. 326, arrives in Susiana, where Nearchus met 
 him, about Feb. a. c. 325. The whole time of the voyage from the 
 Indus to Diridotus was 129 days. 
 
 Death of Hephaestion at Ecbatana, in the year of the archon 
 Anticles ; followed by a winter campaign against the Cossaei. 
 Diod. xvii. 111. Arr. vii. 15. *' Thence he makes an expedition 
 against the Cosssei, and overthrew their nation, although he 
 marched in the winter." 
 
 A. C. 324. Alexander, after the Cosssean war, approached 
 Babylon, " which he entered in the spring, a year before his 
 death." Diod. xvii. 112. "• And as he was entering into Babylon, 
 ambassadors from the Greeks met him." 
 
 A. C. 323. Death of Alexander, probably in May or June ; 
 " in the 114th Olympead, when Hegesias was archon. And he 
 lived two and thirty years and about eight months; and 
 reigned twelve years and eight months." 
 
 The journey to Babylon, and the embassies which 
 met him there, are described by Diodorus. 
 
 ^ Recalling his forces, he set out from 8usa, and pass- 
 ing the Tigris (Hiddekel, Dan. x. 8), encamped in the 
 villages called Carae. In four days more, having crossed 
 Sitta, he came to Sambaca. After staying there seven 
 days, he collected his forces anew, and came to Colonae 
 on the third day, where a Boeotian colony still reside, 
 having been exiled in Xerxes' expedition ; and they 
 still retain the usages of their country. Waiting till 
 the close of the day, he turned aside from the main road 
 to view Bagistana ; and after a stay of thirty days. 
 
22 CHAPTER II. 
 
 arrived in seven days at Ecbatana in Media. Here 
 Hephaestion, drinking intemperately of wine, was seized 
 with sickness and died. And the king, being greatly 
 distressed, committed his corpse to Perdiccas, that he 
 might convey it to Babylon, intending to honour it with 
 a most magnificent burial.' 
 
 ' At this time came ambassadors from almost the 
 whole world, some to rejoice in his successes, some to 
 offer him votive crowns, others to procure friendship 
 and alliance, and many too bringing magnificent pre- 
 sents, and some to excuse themselves for alleged of- 
 fences. Besides those from the tribes and cities of 
 Asia and their governors, many also met him from Li- 
 bya and Europe ; from Libya, the Carthaginians and 
 Liby- Phoenicians, and all who inhabit the sea-coast as 
 far as the pillars of Hercules; and from Europe, the 
 cities of the Greeks sent to him, and the Illyrians, most 
 of those who dwell by the Adriatic, the Thracian tribes, 
 and the neighbouring Gauls, whose race then for the 
 first time became known to the Greeks. Alexander, 
 having received a list of the embassies, arranged who 
 should first receive an answer, and the rest in order. 
 The first place was assigned to those who came about 
 religious rites, the second to those with presents, the 
 next to those who had disputes with border tribes, the 
 fourth to those who came about private affairs, the 
 fifth to those who had disputes about the return of 
 exiles.' 
 
 In this remarkable manner had the predicted he- 
 goat, the king of Javan, notable and eminent above all 
 others of his nation, traversed Asia, with unexampled 
 rapidity of conquest, from the Hellespont to the Hy- 
 daspes and Indus. He had stamped upon the Persian 
 power, and broken it as in utter contempt ; " and no 
 one could deliver it out of his hand." He had waxen 
 so great, that the world came, with suppliant and ser- 
 vile embassies, to prostrate itself at his feet. But the 
 remaining words were to be fulfilled at once, after this 
 crowning proof of his greatness, and of the universal ex- 
 
ON ALEXANDER AND HIS SUCCESSORS. 23 
 
 tent of his fame. " When the he-goat was strong, the 
 great horn was broken." 
 
 * His attendants caught him ; they laid him down on 
 his couch, and tended him carefully. As the sickness 
 gained strength, the physicians were summoned, but 
 none of them could render him any help. Being racked 
 with many pains and grievous suffering, he despaired of 
 life, and took off his ring, and gave it to Perdiccas. 
 When his friends asked of him, To whom do you leave 
 the kingdom 1 he said, To the strongest. And he said 
 further (the last words that he uttered) that all his 
 chief friends would celebrate his funeral with great con- 
 flicts. In this manner he died, when he had reigned 
 twelve years and seven months ; after he had achieved 
 the greatest exploits, not only of all who ever reigned 
 before him, but also of those who have come after him, 
 even to our own times.' 
 
 The fulfilment of this prophecy, in the wondei-ful 
 triumphs of Alexander, is still more interesting, since 
 it seems to have been one direct link in the preservation 
 of the Jewish people. The history in Josephus, though 
 some have questioned its truth, seems in full agreement 
 with the other facts which profane writers have re- 
 corded, and illustrates, in a remarkable manner, the 
 overruling providence of God, in whose hand the hearts 
 of kings " are like the rivers of waters, and he turneth 
 them whithersoever he will." 
 
 ' Now when Alexander was come into Syria, he took 
 Damascus and Sidon, and besieged Tyre ; and sending 
 letters to the high-priest of the Jews, he charged him to 
 send him a contingent, and to supply corn for his army 
 and to give him whatever presents were before given to 
 Darius, and to choose the friendship of the Macedo- 
 nians, for that he would not repent of his conduct. But 
 the high-priest answered those who brought the letters, 
 that he had taken oaths to Darius not to bear arms 
 against him, and these he would not transgress while 
 Darius was alive. When Alexander heard this, he was 
 enraged, and decided not to leave Tyre, as the siege 
 
24 CHAPTER II. 
 
 was not nearly finished ; but threatened, when he 
 had taken it, to march against the high-priest of the 
 Jews, and to teach all men, by his example, towards 
 what parties their oaths ought to be kept. Wherefore, 
 prosecuting the siege with fresh vigour, he took Tyre, 
 and having ordered its affairs, marched against Gaza, 
 and besieged it. 
 
 * When Alexander had taken Gaza, he was eager to 
 go up against the city of Jerusalem. And the high-priest 
 Jaddua, when he heard, was in perplexity and fear, and 
 was at a loss how to meet the Macedonians, since the 
 king was enraged at his former disobedience. Having 
 enjoined therefore supplications to the people, and him- 
 self offering sacrifices, he entreated of God to be the 
 shield of his people, and to free them from the impend- 
 ing dangers. And when he slept after the sacrifice, 
 God warned him in a dream to be of good courage, and 
 that they should crown the city with garlands, and 
 open its gates ; and the others in white robes, and he 
 himself in priestly attire, should meet the king ; fearing 
 no danger whatever, since God would provide. When 
 he awoke from sleep, he himself rejoiced greatly, and 
 having revealed the message to all, and done what was 
 commanded, he awaited the king's arrival. 
 
 ' When he heard that he was not far distant, he went 
 forward with the priests and the multitude, to meet 
 him in priestly dignity, and differently from other na- 
 tions, as far as a place called Sapha. Now this name, 
 interpreted, denotes a watch-tower, for both Jerusalem 
 and the temple can be seen from it. But when the 
 Phoenicians and Chaldeans, who followed the king, 
 expected such a charge as his anger made likely, that 
 that they should plunder the city and destroy the high- 
 priest with tortures, just the contrary came to pass. For 
 when Alexander, at a distance, saw the multitude in 
 white robes, and the priests standing in their linen 
 raiment, and the high-priest in purple and golden cloth- 
 ing, and the mitre on his head, and over it the golden 
 plate whereon the Name of God was written, he came 
 
ON ALEXANDER AND HIS SUCCESSORS. 25 
 
 forward alone and did reverence to the Name, and was 
 the first to embrace the high-priest. And when all the 
 Jews around with one voice saluted Alexander, and en- 
 circled him, the kings of Syria and all the others were 
 astonished at his conduct, and suspected that the king 
 had lost his reason. But when Paraienio came forward 
 alone, and inquired, why forsooth, when all did obei- 
 sance to him, he should do obeisance to the high-priest 
 of the Jews 1 ' It was not him,' he answered, ' but 
 God, to whom I did reverence, of whom he is honoured 
 to be the high-priest ; for I saw this same person in the 
 same robes in a dream, when at Diun in Macedonia. 
 And when I was pondering how I should conquer Asia, 
 he charged me not to delay, but to cross over boldly ; 
 for that he would guide my army, and give me the 
 kingdom of the Persians. So that, as I have seen no 
 other in such robes, and see him now wearing them, 
 I am reminded of my dream and the exhortation, and 
 believe that, as I have made the expedition under a Di- 
 vine guidance, I shall conquer Darius, and destroy the 
 power of the Persians, and that all will prosper accord- 
 ing to my wishes.' Having spoken thus to Parmenio, 
 he took the high-priest by the right hand, and came 
 into the city. And when he had gone up to the 
 temj^le, he sacrificed to God under the instruction of the 
 high-priest, and treated him and the other priests with 
 worthy honours. And when, the book of Daniel the 
 prophet had been read to him, in which he announced that 
 some one of the Greeks would destroy the kingdom of the 
 Persians, he judged that he himself was the party in- 
 tended, and being delighted at it, he dismissed the peo- 
 ple for the present ; but having summoned them the next 
 day, commanded them to ask of him whatever favours 
 they pleased. And when the high-priest entreated that 
 they might use their country's laws, and be free from 
 tributes every seventh year, he granted all their desire. 
 And when they besought him that he would permit 
 the Jews also in Babylonia and Media to use their own 
 laws, he promised readily to do what they required.' 
 
26 CHAPTER II. 
 
 This narrative not only throws light on the prophecy, 
 but illustrates remarkably the care of God over His 
 chosen people. The providence of God has thus put a 
 distinct seal on the fulfilment of these verses in Alex- 
 ander, by the privileges which were thus procured from 
 the Macedonian for the whole Jewish nation. 
 
 When the great horn was broken, four stood up for 
 it out of the nation, but not in his power. The division 
 and distraction of the Macedonian Empire, after Alex- 
 ander's death, are noticed by many historians. The 
 writer of the first book of Maccabees describes the 
 change briefly, — " So Alexander reigned twelve years, 
 and then died. And his servants bare rule every one 
 in his place. And after his death they all put crowns 
 upon themselves ; so did their sons after them many 
 years, and evils were multiplied on the earth." 
 
 The fourfold division is referred, by Jerome and The- 
 odoret, to Ptolemy, Seleucus, Antigonus and Antipater, 
 four chief generals who obtained power after Alexan- 
 der's death. By Sir Isaac Newton and later authors, it 
 is explained more accurately of the fourfold division 
 after the battle of Ipsus, when Antigonus was slain, 
 and Ptolemy, Seleucus, Lysimachus, and Cassander, 
 shared the whole monarchy among them, and assumed 
 also the title of kings. Amidst the complex and con- 
 fused changes of that whole period, a close inquiry will 
 reveal the strict accuracy of the description. The ac- 
 count of those changes by Dexippus, the most complete 
 that we now possess, is in the following words. 
 
 *^ After the death of Alexander, Aridaeus, his bro- 
 ther, of the same father and Philine the Thessalian 
 (surnamed Philip from the love of the Macedonians 
 to his father Philip), and Alexander, his son by Rhoxane 
 the daughter of Oxigartes, divide the rule of the Mace- 
 donians ; then the others ruled each in their own dis- 
 trict. Of these the leaders were Ptolemy, the son of 
 Lagus, who obtained the kingdom of Egypt ; Seleucus 
 Nicator, that of Syria and Cilicia as far as Babylon. 
 Perdiccas, who received from Alexander his own ring, 
 
ON ALEXANDER AND HIS SUCCESSORS. 27 
 
 is appointed over the greater Phrygia ; Lysimachus 
 obtains the right coast of Pontus ; Antigonus the lesser 
 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, and Lycia ; Eumenes, Pam- 
 phlagonia and Cappadocia ; and Cassander, the son of 
 Antipater, with his father, disposes the kingdom of 
 Aridseus and Alexander JEgns among the Macedonians, 
 and rules over Greece. All these things took place in 
 the hundred and fourteenth Olympiad, (b.c. 824 — 820.) 
 In its beginning, before Aridaeus reigned, Olympias, 
 the mother of Alexander, slew him, either being sent 
 by ^acus, king of Epirus, or when she had fled from him 
 into Macedonia, — for two accounts are given. Having 
 slain him, then, and his wife, in the seventh year of his 
 reign after Alexander, she was soon after slain by Cas- 
 sander, the son of Antipater. Now she had begun to 
 reign over the Macedonians with the two sons of Alex- 
 ander, the one by Barsine, called Hercules, and Alex- 
 ander, already mentioned, son of Rhoxane, daughter of 
 Oxigartes, king of the Bactrians. These also Cassander 
 himself slew, and having cast out Olympias unburied, 
 proclaimed himself to the Macedonians as their king ; 
 and after marrying the wife of king Philip, Thessalo- 
 nica, and reigning nineteen years, perished with a wast- 
 ing disease, by means of his three sons, Philip, Alexan- 
 der, and Antipater. Philip ruled first after Cassander, 
 and died in Elatea. Antipater, after slaying his own 
 mother, Thessalonica, who had conspired with Alexan- 
 der his brother, fled to Lysimachus, and was slain by 
 him, though he had married his daughter. Alexander 
 married Lysandra, daughter of Ptolemy, and was slain 
 by Demetrius Poliorcetes, whom he had summoned to 
 his aid against Antipater his younger brother. This 
 Demetrius now reigned over the Macedonians, being the 
 son of Antigonus, who had the lesser Phrygia for his por- 
 tion, and had become the most powerful of the kings in 
 Asia at that time, who also died in Phrygia, all the 
 rival princes having confederated to overthrow him, 
 after a reign of eighteen years. This Demetrius reigned 
 over the Macedonians six months only after he had slain 
 
28 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Alexander, Cassander's son, and was driven from his 
 kingdom by Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, and son of 
 jEacus, a man both of valour in action, and skill in 
 counsel. Pyrrhus, having driven out Demetrius, reigned 
 seven months in Macedonia. But Lysimachus, the 
 Thessalian, son of Agathocles, and one of Alexander's 
 spearmen, who reigned over Thrace and the rest of the 
 Chersonesus that bordered on Pontus and Macedonia, 
 made an incursion on the latter, as an adjoining coun- 
 try, and succeeded Pyrrhus ; and himself reigned over 
 the Macedonians five years and six months ; but being 
 slain in battle by Seleucus king of Syria and Asia, who 
 had also made prisoner Demetrius Poliorcetes, he fell 
 from his power. It is now plain how Antigonus died 
 who ruled Phrygia, Pamphylia and Lycia, immediately 
 after Alexander, and how his son Demetrius, after gain- 
 ing Macedonia by fraud, was driven out by Pyrrhus, 
 and died, after being made captive by Seleucus in Cili- 
 cia ; and again, how Lysimachus, after expelling Pyrr- 
 hus, was vanquished by Seleucus : it remains to show 
 how Seleucus also obtained the kingdom. Ptolemy, the 
 son of Lagus, who first ruled over Egypt after Alexan- 
 der forty years, joined battle at Palaegaza with Deme- 
 trius, son of Antigonus, and, upon his victory, proclaimed 
 Seleucus king of Syria and the upper regions. But 
 Seleucus, going up as far as Babylonia, and overcoming 
 the barbarians, reigned fifty-two years, for which reason 
 also he was surnamed Nicanor. In the fifty-second 
 year, then, of his reign, and the seventy-fifth of his 
 whole life, when he had driven Lysimachus from Ma- 
 cedon, and was elated with the victory, he was slain by 
 Ptolemy, called Ceraunus, when on the point of reigning 
 over Macedon." 
 
 The summary of these changes, given by Venema, 
 serves still more clearly to explain the words of the 
 vision. 
 
 " New troubles presently arising after the house of 
 Alexander was extirpated, a war sprang up between 
 the allies, Cassander, Lysimachus, Ptolemy, and Seleu- 
 
ON ALEXANDER AND HIS SUCCESSORS. 29 
 
 cus on the one side, and Antigonus and his son Deme- 
 trius on the other. After Demetrius had defeated Pto- 
 lemy with great slaughter, and taken Cyprus, Antigonus, 
 elated with his success, first assumed the diadem, and 
 placed it on Demetrius ; which when the allies presently 
 imitated, six kings suddenly appeared on the scene, An- 
 tigonus, Demetrius, Ptolemy, Lysiraachus, Cassander, 
 and last, Seleucus, who had now enlarged his kingdom 
 through tiie East. This was b.c. 806. The war was then 
 renewed on both sides with greater forces ; and a decisive 
 battle being fought at Ipsus, in Phrygia, Antigonus 
 was vanquished and slain, and his kingdom extin- 
 guished. B.C. 301. To use the words of Plutarch, the 
 victor kings divided among themselves the whole king- 
 dom of Antigonus and Demetrius, like a great carcass 
 torn to pieces, and joined it to their own provinces. By 
 this fourth and last division, Ptolemy retained his 
 kingdom, and added to it Coele Syria, Phoenice, and 
 Judea ; Lysimachus, besides Thrace, received Bithynia 
 and other regions on the Asiatic side of the Hellespont 
 and Bosphorus ; Cassander obtained Macedonia and 
 Greece ; Seleucus the rest of Asia, so that from that time 
 he founded the Syro-Macedonian kingdom." 
 
 The facts of history, it appears from these extracts, 
 are in full accordance with the prophecy. When the 
 great horn was broken, four notable horns were to rise 
 in its stead, and out of the same nation. After the race 
 of Alexander was extinct, which was very soon after his 
 death, only one formal partition occurred ; and this was 
 a four-fold partition, among four confederate and victori- 
 ous kings. But the strength of Alexander's sceptre had 
 already passed away. The new kingdoms were " not 
 according to his power." Two of them were soon ab- 
 sorbed into one ; and the rest fell into rapid decay ; till 
 Macedon, Egypt, and Syria, all sank alike beneath the 
 domination of Rome. 
 
30 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE THREE SUCCESSORS OF CYRUS. 
 Daniel xi. 1, 2.— And I in the first tear of Darius the Mede, even I 
 
 STOOD TO CONFIRM AND TO STRENGTHEN HIM. AND NOW WILL I SHEW 
 thee THE TRUTH. BEHOLD, THERE SHALL STAND UP TET THREE KINGS 
 
 IN Persia. 
 
 The Proplietie History, in the vision of the eighth chap- 
 ter, has now been continued to the point where the 
 differences of interpretation appear. Before we enter 
 on the rest, it will be more natural to complete the out- 
 line, from the later and fuller vision which closes the 
 whole book. This is clearly a more detailed account of 
 the events to occur in the East, and a kind of supplement 
 to the former message. The one reveals the Persian vic- 
 tories of Cyrus ; the other adds an account of his succes- 
 sors to Xerxes, when the first great defeat of the empire 
 began. The one reveals the conquests of Alexander, and 
 the general division of his empire ; the other continues 
 it onward through the reigns of the Syrian and Egyp- 
 tian kings for more than a century and half after Alex- 
 ander's death. The two combined are the most complete 
 body of history, clearly revealed, to be found in the 
 whole range of sacred prophecy. 
 
 The speaker, in this last vision, is the Son of God 
 himself. His appearance exactly answers to the one in 
 the Apocalypse, where he reveals himself to the beloved 
 disciple, as here to the beloved prophet. His station re- 
 sembles that which He held in the former vision, when 
 He gave command to Gabriel to expound the meaning. 
 
THE THREE SUCCESSORS OF CYRUS. 31 
 
 A full discussion of this point would belong rather to 
 a commentary on the tenth chapter ; but there are two 
 things which, in my judgment, may be clearly proved ; 
 thatithe princes of Persia and Javan, as also Michael and 
 Gabriel, are created angels, and that the speaker in this 
 last vision is the Angel of the covenant, the Son of God. 
 
 The prediction begins, as before, with the actual date 
 of the vision. Thus the dream of Nebuchadnezzar be- 
 gins with the height of Babylonian power ; the vision 
 of the four beasts, with the plucking of the eagle wings, 
 or the empire's weakness under Belshazzar ; that of the 
 Ram, with the early conquests of Cyrus, westward ; 
 and the prophecy of the seventy weeks begins also, vir- 
 tually, with the decree of the same monarch. So also 
 the present vision, given only five years before the death 
 of Cyrus, begins with the three kings his successors. The 
 point of departure is indeed marked doubly. A clause 
 is prefixed, which links it with the accession of Darius 
 four years earlier. For the fall of Babylon was an era 
 far more conspicuous than the third year of Cyrus, and 
 would hence form a more suitable commencement for 
 a history, that was to reach onward to the end of time. 
 
 This clause is instructive on several accounts. The 
 short reign of Darius the Mede for two years at Ba- 
 bylon, and the eminence of Daniel as his first noble, 
 have almost disappeared from profane authors. Thus 
 Divine prophecy, even where plainest, resembles human 
 life. It issues from a mysterious origin, and buries 
 itself once more in deep mystery at its close, while the 
 clear sunlight of historic evidence beams on its midway 
 course. There is no solid ground, however, to doubt 
 the truth of the usual view, that this Darius is the Cy- 
 axares of Xenophon, and the uncle of Cyrus. Both 
 from sacred and profane history we may infer that he 
 was a mild and pacific prince, very unlike his ambitious 
 and enterprising comrade. And hence, under the veil 
 of Grecian romance, and pourtrayed by the pen of a 
 soldier, he appears in a light almost despicable. But 
 the judgment of God and man is often widely different ; 
 
32 CHAPTER III. 
 
 and in every rank that meek and quiet spirit, which 
 man despises, is in the sight of God of great price. 
 The present case is perhaps one example of this truth. 
 Certainly scarce any one of the heathen kings appears 
 to us in God's word under a more attractive light ; both 
 from his strong personal affection for Daniel, and the 
 deep and solemn impression made upon him by the 
 prophet's deliverance. 
 
 ' There seems, then, to be a secret emphasis, commonl}^ 
 overlooked, in this opening clause. The Angel has just 
 spoken of his own strong contention with the Prince of 
 Persia. He now mentions the help he had given to 
 Darius the Mede, as a fresh example of the same truth. 
 In Herodotus and the Canon, and most other profane 
 authors, this king is passed by in silence, and the reign 
 of Cyrus dates from the fall of Babylon. The supre- 
 macy of Persia seems to have blotted out this short 
 reign of the Mede, as if it were a tacit affront to the 
 fame of the Persian conqueror. We must naturally 
 conceive that all the Persians, and the army of Cyrus, 
 with few exceptions, would desire him to assume the 
 sovereign power. The claims of Darius, as the elder 
 prince, and son of Astyages, would seem unable to resist 
 such a mighty influence. But the Angel began his resis- 
 tance to the Prince of Persia, by securing this short reign 
 to the Median king. Thus the prophecies were fulfilled ; 
 seventy years were completed before the decree of Cy- 
 rus ; Daniel himself was exalted to fresh honour ; and a 
 bright gleam of truth, in the decree of Darius, and the 
 rescue of the prophet, broke through the darkness of 
 the heathen empire. The Angel may thus refer doubly 
 to the reign of that king, as one fruit of his own super- 
 natural power, and a pattern of his constant advocacy 
 of the cause of God's people. 
 
 The phrase, " to strengthen him," is also very signi- 
 ficant. The word is nuahoz, the same which occurs in 
 the plural, onahuzzim, at the close of the prophecy. Here 
 it plainly denotes a tutelary or guardian power, exer- 
 cised on behalf of Darius by the Son of God. At the 
 
THE THREE SUCCESSORS OF CYRUS. 33 
 
 close of the vision it must bear a similar meaning. The 
 Mahuzzim are thus tutelary powers, whether saints, 
 angels, or demons, who are objects of great honour to 
 the wilful king. 
 
 The prophecy itself announces the three successors 
 of Cyrus, and a fourth, of greater riches, who would 
 stir up all against the realm of Grecia. The key 
 to this brief account may be found in the previous 
 chapter. There we learn that the leading moral object, 
 in the lirst part of the vision, is the conflict of Persia and 
 Greece, and the overthrow of the former. The crisis, it 
 was foreseen, would occur in the days of the fourth 
 king ; and the three others are specified, without any 
 detail of their actions, to fix the place of their cele- 
 brated, but inglorious successor. "VVe may now select 
 from Herodotus, almost a contemporary, the chief oc- 
 currences of these reigns. 
 
 ' When Cyrus was dead, Camb^^ses took the kingdom, 
 the son of Cyrus and Cassandane, daughter of Pharnas- 
 pes. On her dying before him, Cyrus himself had 
 grieved very greatly, and commanded all over whom he 
 ruled, to make public mourning. Cambyses, being the 
 son of such a mother, and of Cyrus, reckoned the loni- 
 ans and jEolians slaves, inherited from his father ; but 
 marched against Egypt, taking w^ith him others of those 
 whom he ruled over, and also some of the Greeks who 
 were under his command. 
 
 ' Now when Cambyses was bent on marching against 
 Egypt, and at a loss how to effect his march across the 
 desert, Phanes arrived, and told him many other things 
 besides about the affairs of Amasis, but especially about 
 the march, exhorting him to send to the King of Ara- 
 bia, to secure a safe passage. 
 
 * The invasion of Egypt is open only in this direction. 
 For from Phoenice to the borders of the city Cadytis 
 (Jerusalem), a city, as it appears to me, not much less 
 than Sardis, the sea-coast harbours, as far as lenysus, 
 belong to the Arabian. From lenysus again they are 
 Syrian, as far as the Serbonian bog, near which Mount 
 
 D 
 
84 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Casius reaches into the sea ; but from the Serbonian 
 bog, where the fame is, that Typhon is concealed, you 
 are already in Egypt. Now the part between the city 
 lenysus, and Mount Casius and the Serbonian bog, be- 
 ing no small distance, but full three days journey, is 
 excessively parched and desert.' 
 
 A short account of the conquest then follows, as given 
 already, with the savage barbarity of Cambyses, in 
 whose person the emblem of the bear, in the second 
 vision, seems most aptly to have described the Persian 
 kingdom. After a fruitless and destructive march 
 against the temple of Hammon, he returned to Mem- 
 phis. Soon after, he was completely phrenzied, and 
 first ordered the death of his own brother Smerdfs, 
 whom he had sent back to Susa from Egypt ; and then 
 slew himself, in a passion, his sister Merve, whom he had 
 incestuously married. " And while he lingered in 
 Egypt in his raving madness, two brothers. Magi, revolt 
 against him ; of whom Cambyses had left one in charge 
 of his house. This one therefore revolted, and learning 
 that the death of Smerdis was kept secret, since few of 
 the Persians knew him, and most of them thought him 
 to be alive, he laid his plan accordingly. He had a 
 brother, who, as I said, revolted along with him, resem- 
 bling Smerdis the son of Cyrus very much in his ap- 
 pearance ; and he also himself had the name of Smerdis. 
 Him therefore the Magus Pateizeithes led into the throne 
 of the king. And when this was done, he sent out 
 heralds both in other directions and into Egypt also, 
 proclaiming to the army that henceforward they must 
 obey Smerdis the son of Cyrus and not Cambyses 1 " 
 
 While Cambyses was hastening to suppress the re- 
 volt, he died from an accidental wound by his own 
 sword, at Ecbatana in Syria. Such was the end of the 
 first of these three kings, a monster of cruelty and 
 wickedness. 
 
 And now the second reign began, though of very 
 short continuance. " The Magus, when Cambyses was 
 dead, reigned without fear, using the title of his 
 
THE THREE SUCCESSORS OF CYRUS. 85 
 
 namesake Smerdis, the son of Cyrus, for the seven 
 months which still remained to complete the reign of 
 Cambyses to eight years. In this interval he shewed 
 many acts of kindness to all his subjects, so that when 
 he died, all in Asia mourned him, except the Persians 
 themselves. For the Magian, sending to every nation 
 which he ruled over, proclaimed to them an immunity 
 from military service and tribute for three years. This 
 proclamation he gave as soon as he entered on his 
 reign." 
 
 In the eighth month the fraud was discovered, and 
 seven Persian nobles conspired together, and slew both 
 Smerdis and his brother. One reason, among others, was 
 their hatred of a Median ruler. Thus Gobryas mentions 
 the indignity — " We being Persians, are ruled by the 
 Magian, who is a Mede, and one too who has lost his 
 ears." After some delay, it was determined to restore 
 the monarchy, and having agreed to decide the choice 
 by a kind of augury, the neighing of their horses at 
 sunrise, Darius obtained the throne. 
 
 " Darius then, the son of Hystaspes, was made king ; 
 and all in Asia were subject to him, except the Ara- 
 bians ; being subverted by Cyrus first, and then by 
 
 Cambyses He appointed twenty governments, which 
 
 they call satrapies. And having arranged these, and 
 appointed satraps, he ordained the tributes to be brought 
 to him from every nation... =.. For under Cyrus, and 
 also Cambyses, there was no fixed tribute, but they 
 offered gifts. On account of this imposition of taxes, 
 and other similar acts, the Persians say that Darius 
 was a tradesman, and Cambyses a master, but Cyrus a 
 father ; the first, because he put out all things for profit, 
 the second, because he was stern and passionate ; and 
 the other, because he was gentle and planned for them 
 all manner of benefit." 
 
 It would be tedious to follow at length the acts of 
 this reign. A summary of the account in Herodotus 
 will give a fuller view than a few separate extracts, and 
 will be enough to illustrate the prophecy. 
 
 D 2 
 
36 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Darius (justly styled trades77ian) seeks for gain by intercepting 
 the supply of water from certain tribes. Intaphernes is forbidden to 
 approach the king, and when he had foully mutilated the guards, is 
 given over to death with his sons and relations. At the intreaty 
 of his wife, her brother and one of her sons are spared. 
 
 Polycrates, the Saniian, allured to Sardis by Oroetes, the pre- 
 fect of Darius, ends his life by a disgraceful punishment. Demo- 
 cedes the physician, his companion, with others, is led away in 
 slavery to Susa. Darius has Oroetes put to death for other crimes. 
 Democedes, on healing the king's foot, is loaded with gifts. Having 
 cured Atossa of an ulcer, he is sent with fifteen noble Persians to 
 spy the coasts of Greece, and having obtained leave to visit Cro- 
 tona, his native place, under promise of return, breaks his engage- 
 ment. Gillus, a Tarentine exile, redeems the captive Persians, 
 whom the Cnidians strive in vain, by the king's command, to res- 
 tore to their country'. 
 
 The Babylonians revolt from Darius. Having before laid up 
 provisions, and strangled most of the Avomen, they are besieged by 
 the king to no purpose. At last, by the deceit of Zopyrus, the 
 king gains the city, and deprives it of its walls and gates. 
 
 Darius determines to take vengeance on the Scythians, who 
 once for twenty-eight years had obtained the Empire of Asia. The 
 Scythians' account of their own origin. Geography and tribes of 
 the Scythians. Beyond the Tanais, the Sauromatse, Budini, Thys- 
 sagetae, and Jyrcae ; beyond these the Agippaei. Beyond these 
 men who are said to sleep for six months. Geography of the Earth. 
 Africa surrounded by sea, as proved by the Phoenicians, under 
 Necho, and the Carthaginians. The voj-age of Sataspes, the Per- 
 sian, Avas begun at Darius' command, but not completed. By the 
 same Darius, a great part of Asia disclosed, by means of Scylax. 
 Institutes of the Scythians. 
 
 Artabanus, brother of Darius, dissuades in vain from the war. 
 Darius slays three sons of a noble Persian, who begged that one 
 might be exempt from service. The king comes to the Bosporus. 
 Two columns reared at the bridge, one in Assyrian, the other in 
 Greek letters. The lonians sent with ships into the Ister, to form 
 a bridge. Darius journeys through Thrace. Other Thracians 
 surrender, the Getse subdued by force. Darius crosses the Ister, 
 and leaves the bridge in charge of the lonians. The Scythians, 
 dividing their forces in three parts, lead Darius about, at the dis- 
 tance of a day's journey, so that he can never overtake them. 
 Darius, declining battle, prepares to return. The Scythians, by a 
 shorter road, arrive first at the Ister, and exhort the lonians to 
 break down the bridge. When they have retired, Darius reaches 
 the Istei', and by the help of Istiaeus, passes over the bridge into 
 
THE THREE SUCCESSORS OF CYRUS. 87 
 
 Thrace. Then he returns to Asia, and leaves Megabazus his 
 general, in Europe. 
 
 Lybian expedition of the Persians. History of Cyrene. The 
 people of Lybia. The Persians assail Barce to no effect. At 
 length by deceit and perfidy they take the city. Pheretiraa rages 
 against the Barccei and their wives. The Persians strive in 
 vain to seize on Cyrene ; they are wasted by the Lybians. A 
 town in Bactriana given to the captives of Barce. Pheretima dies, 
 eaten of worms. 
 
 Megabazus, being left in Europe, subdues th€ Perinthians,and 
 all Thrace. Darius mak^s Goes, the Lesbian, tyrant of Mitylene, 
 and gives Myrcinus to Istiaeus, tyrant of Miletus. The Poeonians 
 are betrayed to Darius, and led over into Asia. Megabazus de- 
 mands earth and water from Amyntas, king of Macedon. The 
 ambassadors are slain by Alexander, son of Amyntas. Darius 
 calls Istiaeus to Sardis, and takes him along with him to Susa. 
 Artaphemes is appointed over Sardis, Otanes over the navy. He 
 reduces Byzantium, Chalcedon, Leranos. 
 
 The misfortunes of Ionia from Naxos and Miletus. Naxian 
 exiles intreat Aristagoras to restore them to their country, which 
 he promises to do by the help of Artaphemes. Megabazus is sent 
 with troops, and a strife arising between him and Aristagoras, the 
 Persians return from Naxos without success. Aristagoras plans a 
 revolt of Ionia from the Persians, Hecataeus, the historian, dis- 
 suading him. He restores liberty in appearance to the Milesians 
 and other cities ; and then goes to Sparta, to seek help against 
 the Persians. 
 
 Cleomenes, son of Anaxandrides, king of Sparta. Aristagoras 
 shews him in a map the road to Susa, and exhorts him to make 
 war on the Persians, but is ordered to leave the city. 
 
 The description of the route from Sardis to Susa will 
 throw light on the scene both of the former and the pre- 
 sent vision. 
 
 * Now the road is as follows : — Everywhere there are 
 royal stages, and excellent resting-places ; and the whole 
 passes through a safe and inhabited country. For 
 through Lydia and Phr3^gia are twenty stages,and 
 ninety-four and a half parasangs. Next comes the river 
 Halys, at which there are gates that must be passed, 
 and the river itself crossed, and here there is a large 
 fortress, — crossing next into Cappadocia, and journey- 
 ing to the bounds of Cilicia, there are twenty-eight 
 
38 CHAPTER IIT. 
 
 stages and one hundred and four parasangs. At these 
 bounds you pass two sets of gates and two fortresses. 
 After these, journeying through Cilicia, there are three 
 stages and fifteen and a half parasangs. Now, the boun- 
 dary of Cilicia and Armenia is a navigable river, of 
 which the name is Euphrates. In Armenia are fifteen 
 resting-places, and fifty- six and a half parasangs. Four 
 navigable rivers flow through this province, all of which 
 must be crossed ; the first, the Tigris, the second and 
 the third with the same name, though the rivers are 
 different and flow from different sources ; and the fourth 
 has the name Gyndes, which is the river that Cyrus 
 divided. In passing from this Armenia to Matiene, 
 there are four stages ; and hence into the Cissian pro- 
 vince, eleven stages and forty-two and a half parasangs 
 to the river Choaspes, being itself also navigable for 
 ships, upon which river Susa is built. All the stages 
 are a hundred and eleven ; and if the royal road has 
 been correctly numbered in parasangs, and the parasang 
 is equal to thirty stadia, from Sardis to the Memnonian 
 palace, will be 450 parasangs and 13,500 stadia, or a 
 journey of ninety days." 
 
 The summary of the reign is continued as follows : — 
 
 Hippias solicits the lielp of the Persians against the Athenians. 
 The lonians with the Athenians capture Sardis, except the cita- 
 del ; the city is set on fire. The Persians defeat them in a battle 
 at Ephesus. After the return of the Athenians, the lonians join 
 to them the cities of Hellespont ; and a part of Caria, Cyprus, ex- 
 cept Amathus, revolts from the Medes, and joins the lonians. 
 Darius sends Istiseus to appease the tumults. 
 
 A. C. 498. The Ionian fleet and Persian forces reach Cyprus at 
 the same time. The lonians conquer by sea, the Persians by 
 land. All Cyprus at length is subdued by the Persians. Their 
 leaders, in different parts, press the war against the lonians. The 
 Carians, with the Milesians, are defeated again ; but afterwards 
 inflict a great slaughter on the Persians. The cities of the Helles- 
 pont, of Ionia, and^oliaare subdued. Aristagoras in despair 
 leaves Miletus for Myrcinus, and is slain by the Thracians, a. c. 
 497. 
 
 A. C. 496. Histiaeus sent down to Sardis, he betakes himself 
 with Lesbian ships to Byzantium. The Persians besiege Miletus 
 
THE THREE SUCCESSORS OF CYRUS. 89 
 
 by land and sea ; the lonians, deserted by the Samians are slain 
 in great numbers. Miletus is taken, as the Pythian oracle had 
 predicted ^ the inhabitants deported to the mouth of the Tigris. 
 The Athenians fine Phrynichus for his tragedy, " the capture of 
 Miletus." A. D. 494. 
 
 Part of the Samians, abhorring the Persian yoke, flee to Sicily 
 and seize on Zancle. Samos and Caria are subdued. Histiaeus 
 reduces Chius; then meeting with the Persians on the continent, 
 is taken alive. He is sent to Sardis, and slain by Artaphemes 
 against the will of the king. The Chersonesus and Thrace up to 
 Byzantium are brought under the Persian rule. 
 
 A. C. 492, Mardonius, after Ionia is reduced, seeks Europe, 
 with a great fleet to make war on Trachin and Athens. Thasus 
 and part of Macedon are reduced. Darius sends heralds through 
 Greece to demand earth and water. The kings of Sparta. 
 
 A. D. 490. Datis and Artaphemes, in the place of Mardonius, 
 invade Greece with a great navy. They storm Naxos and other 
 of the Cyclaiades, but spare Delos. They seize on Carythus and 
 Trachin. With Hippias for their guide they pasB on to Mara- 
 thon. The Athenians march against them, with Miltiades for 
 their chief general, who was lately driven from the Chersonesus 
 The Plataeans alone help the Athenians.. The battle of Ma- 
 rathon. The Persians seek the Phalerus; but finding the city 
 well guarded return to Asia. After the battle, the Spartan suc- 
 cours reach Athens, Darius prepares a new war against Greece, 
 and against the revolted Egyptians. When about to march, he 
 names a successor, not his eldest son, but Xerxes. Presently 
 Xerxes succeeds on the death of Darius. 
 
 Such is the outline which Herodotus suppHes to us of 
 these three successors of Cyrus. The Canon of Ptolemy 
 agrees in the same account, only Smerdis is omitted, as 
 usual, because his reign was less than a year. On the 
 other hand, ^Eschylus mentions the son of Cyrus or 
 Cambyses, and Mardus, or Smerdis, in the same order ; 
 but, if his text be genuine, inserts two names, probably 
 of the conspirators, before Darius the third king. All 
 the other classical authorities agree on the succession 
 already given. It remains only to show its accordance 
 with the sacred history. 
 
 We are told, Ezra iv. 4 — 6, that the enemies of the 
 Jews, when their help had been rejected, " hired coun- 
 sellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the 
 
40 CHAPTER 111. 
 
 days of Cyrus, king of Persia, even until the reign of 
 Darius, king of Persia. And in the reign of Ahasuei-us, 
 in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation 
 against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. And 
 in the reign of Artaxerxes, wrote Bishlam, Mithredath, 
 Tabeel, and the rest of their companions, unto Artax- 
 erxes, king of Persia." The prohibition was granted 
 them at their request. " And when the copy of king 
 Artaxerxes' letter was read before Rehum and Shim- 
 shai the scribe, and their companions, they went up in 
 haste to Jerusalem unto the Jews, and made them to 
 cease by force and power. Then ceased the work of the 
 house of God which is at Jerusalem. So it ceased unto 
 the second year of the reign of Darius, king of Persia." 
 
 Here we have plainly three reigns after Cyrus ; and 
 the name of the third king is the same as in Herodotus, 
 confirmed by the Canon and other writers. We learn 
 also from Zech. iv., that, in the fourth year of this Da- 
 rius, seventy anniversary fasts were completed from the 
 fall of the temple. Now, as the reign of Nebuchadnez- 
 zar in Scripture dates two years earlier than in the 
 Canon, his nineteenth, when the temple was burnt, will 
 be the seventeenth in the Canon. Twenty-six years, 
 the remainder of his reign, two of Ilverodamus, four of 
 Nericassolassar, seventeen of the last king of Babylon, 
 nine of Cyrus, and eight of Cambyses, complete sixty- 
 six years. So that the four first years of Darius Hy- 
 staspes plainly complete seventy years, as the prophet 
 Zechariah declares. 
 
 The only occasion for doubt is the difference of the 
 two former names. But this is of no real weight. The 
 second of these kings has no less than four different 
 names, even in profane writers. He is called Smerdis 
 by Herodotus, Mardus by ^schylus, Spendadates by 
 Ctesias, and by Justin, Oropastes. And again, both 
 Artaxerxes Mnemon and Ochus assumed the name Ar- 
 taxerxes on coming to the throne ; yet the former only 
 is usually styled by that name in classical history. 
 
 The events also in Ezra and Zechariah agree well 
 
THE THREE SUCCESSORS OF CYRUS. 41 
 
 with the same view. The hindrance which had begun 
 in the time of Cyrus, would be likely to become greater 
 in the reign of a prince so fierce and brutal as Camby- 
 ses. The precise mention of *'the beginning of the 
 reign of Ahasuerus, while no such distinction occurs in 
 the following verse, agrees well with two reigns of eight 
 years and of seven months. For in the second of these, 
 there would be little more than time to procure the de- 
 cree, and to put it in execution, before the death of 
 Smerdis. The work, on this view, would be hindered 
 for fourteen years, but entirely prohibited for two years 
 only. And this is confirmed by the words, verse 16, 
 " Then came the same Sheshbazzar, and laid the foun- 
 dation of the house of God ; and since that time even 
 until now, hath it been in building, and it is not yet 
 finished." This answers exactly to the nature of the 
 interval, as determined above. 
 
 Again, the recent decree, in chapter iv., must have 
 been notorious. Yet it is passed over in silence, in the 
 report chapter v., and only the authority of Cyrus him- 
 self is appealed to as decisive. The history supplies us 
 with a key to the contrast of tone. Cambyses w^as 
 deservedly unpopular, and his memory detested. Smer- 
 dis, though popular in the provinces, had just been put 
 to death as an impostor and usurper, and Darius had 
 slain him with his own hand. His decree against the 
 Jews would rather incline his successor to favour them. 
 Darius Hystaspes, after obtaining the kingdom by 
 subtlety from his fellow-conspirators, sought to strength- 
 en his claim by marrying the daughter of Cyrus. And 
 the Darius in Ezra, in like manner, seems to disclaim 
 acting from his own will, and refers the whole to 
 the previous decision and decree of Cyrus himself. 
 There is, in this correspondence between the book of 
 Ezra and the narrative in Herodotus, a plain and clear 
 stamp of historical truth, which confirms the previous 
 conclusion. 
 
 In the reign of this Darius, the third successor of 
 Cyrus, the rebuilding of God's house was renewed, under 
 
42 CHAPTER III. 
 
 the exhortations of Haggai and Zechariah. Its dedication 
 took place in his sixtli year, in the month Adar, or 
 about March A. c. 516. "And the children of Israel, 
 
 which were come again out of captivity kept the 
 
 feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy ; for 
 the Lord had made them joyful, and turned the heart 
 of the king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their 
 hands in the work of the house of God, the God of 
 Israel." 
 
 Both in the prophecy and in the Persian history, the 
 close of these three reigns is marked by the clearest evi- 
 dence. The fourth king, who is far richer than all, and 
 stirs up all against the realm of Grecia, plainly answers 
 to Xerxes, the son and successor of Darius, whose ex- 
 pedition against Greece is the most famous event of all 
 classical history, and hence is singled out for such dis- 
 tinct notice in this angelic prediction. In the previous 
 reign, Haggai and Zechariah had begun and ceased 
 their prophecies, and a fresh light had thus been thrown 
 upon the hopes and future destinies of the people of 
 God. 
 
 Let us now dwell on some of the lessons which these 
 words supply to us ; opening, as they do, a long vista 
 of worldly changes that reach onward to the resurrec- 
 tion of the just. 
 
 And first, the brevity of the announcement is most 
 instructive, and full of a sublime grandeur. The reigns 
 are exactly numbered, and thus become a pledge of the 
 Divine foreknowledge, which embraced all their changes 
 in one comprehensive glance of wisdom. But not one 
 detail is given ; the Angel passes them by without a 
 single remark. Yet those three reigns reach forward 
 through fifty years of the world's history, a. c. 534 — 
 485. During that interval, one whole generation, and 
 half of a second, were born and passed away. The 
 events themselves were various and important. Egypt, 
 once the first of kingdoms, was finally debased into a 
 province, and the pride of the Pharaohs was for ever 
 humbled in the dust. Mighty armies from Asia ti-a- 
 
THE THREE SUCCESSORS OF CYRUS. 43 
 
 versed the Arabian . and Lybian deserts. The nations 
 of the East, under Darius, crossed for the first time into 
 Europe, and the conquests of Trajan and of the Huns 
 and Ottomans in later times, beyond the Danube, were 
 first explored by Persian invaders. Tribute was im- 
 posed on twenty satrapies and a hundred and twenty 
 provinces, from the shore of the JEgean sea to the Indus. 
 Babylon, so lately the mistress of the world, revolted, 
 was besieged and taken, and its proud walls broken 
 down. The coasts of Asia were for the first time ex- 
 plored, and the Indus, now the boundary of our own 
 empire, was navigated by the ships of Darius. " The 
 parts of Lybia about Cyrene" were first subdued by the 
 Persian armies. Thrace was subjugated, with Byzan- 
 tium, the future seat of empire for a thousand years. 
 Greece and Persia were brought more and more into 
 deadly conflict. Sardis was burnt by the lonians. 
 Cyprus revolted and was subdued. Miletus was taken 
 and plundered. Europe itself was invaded with mighty 
 armies, and the battle of Marathon gave an earnest to 
 the Persian monarchy of those heavier defeats which it 
 was presently to endure. The history of Greece, during 
 the same interval, was not less fertile in events of deep 
 interest. Pythagoras flourished, and gave rise to a new 
 school of philosophy. Tragedy first began, under Thespis 
 and Phrynichus. ^schylus, Anaxagoras, Pindar and 
 Sophocles were born. The naval power of Athens arose 
 into formidable strength. The sons of Pisistratus were ex- 
 pelled from Athens, and the Tarquins from Rome. In 
 short, few periods have been more fruitful in great events, 
 and in names that have been. conspicuous through all 
 later generations. Hundreds of millions were born into 
 this world of change, and reared from infancy to man- 
 hood. Each, with his own deep interests and emotions, 
 a world in himself, became an actor in the eventful 
 drama of life ; and hundreds of millions, in their turn, 
 sank into the grave, to await the solemn voice of the 
 archangel in the day of judgment. 
 
 With all these changes full in his view, the revealing 
 
44 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Angel passes them by in silence, and veils them all 
 under one short sentence — " Behold, there stand up yet 
 three kings in Persia." His eye of wisdom reached 
 beyond to the most distant ages, and each separate part 
 of the scheme of Providence, though so vast in itself as 
 to confound human thought, is reduced at once to its 
 due proportion in the Divine narrative. His purpose 
 was to reveal the trials of Israel, and the delay of their 
 final deliverance ; yet not to crush the spirit of his 
 servant with the prospect of a boundless and intermina- 
 ble waste of suffering and sin. Therefore He wisely 
 and graciously contracts the whole into narrow com- 
 pass. He passes quickly over events just at hand, 
 when the voice of prophecy would be still granted to 
 His people, and dwells chiefly on those middle ages of 
 trial under the Syrian kings, when the last prophet 
 would have ceased his message, and still the dawn of 
 Messiah's presence would not have risen upon Zion. 
 All events are measured here by their bearing on the 
 interests, the hopes and trials of the people of God ; and 
 the conquests of Persia, the birth of Grecian poetry and 
 philosophy, and the expiring struggle of Babylon, are 
 equally passed by in total silence. 
 
 And yet these few words, thoughtfully considered 
 give a dignity to the events of these reigns, beyond all 
 which they can borrow from the skill of human histori- 
 ans, or from the splendor of Grecian oratory. They 
 lift the whole out of the level of mere human perishable 
 interests and passions, and present it to our view as one 
 secret link, foreseen from the beginning, in the eternal 
 counsel of God. The same spirit of prophecy has an- 
 nounced them, which revealed, in the previous chapter, 
 the sacrifice of Messiah and his everlasting righteous- 
 ness ; and which proclaims, in the close of this same 
 vision, the resurrection of the dead. These passing 
 sojourners, like all the later generations of mankind, 
 are here made to pass under a triumphal archway, whose 
 sacred pillars are the atonement and the resurrection, 
 infinite grace and eternal judgment. The kings and 
 
THE THREE SUCCESSORS OF CYRUS. 45 
 
 princes, the satraps and chieftains of Persia, the poets, 
 historians, and orators of Greece, and all the multitudes 
 who fought at Miletus or at Marathon, are here set 
 before us, as within the grasp of infinite wisdom, which 
 fixed the times before appointed, and the bounds of 
 their habitation, that even in the thick darkness they 
 might feel after the Lord their Maker. How strangely 
 deep and thrilling will the interest of this prophecy 
 appear, when its first and latest revelations shall blend 
 into one, and the Persians who fell in the Lybian sands 
 or in the plains of Marathron, shall be found among the 
 sleepers in the dust who have arisen for their final judg- 
 ment ! This prophecy, so wide in its range, and so 
 wonderful in its issue, is thus like a glimpse into that 
 Infinite Mind, with whom a thousand years are only as 
 yesterday when it is past, or as one of the night-watches 
 before the morning has arisen. 
 
 But the statement acquires a fresh interest, when we 
 connect it with the prophet to whom it was revealed. 
 Seventy years had now passed since he stood before 
 Nebuchadnezzar, then in the height of his power, and 
 he must now have been almost ninety years of age, and 
 ready to be gathered to his fathers. 
 
 How empty the world must now have appeared to 
 him, and the glory of its mightiest Empire, like the 
 dream of a night vision ! The image of gold, and its 
 idolatrous worshippers, had all passed away for ever. 
 The pride of Nebuchadnezzar and the revels of his 
 grandson, had alike been buried in the silence of the 
 grave. The captivity, so long warned of, and the deli- 
 verance so long promised, both in their turn had been 
 fulfilled, and still a fresh waste of sin and trouble and 
 change was now opening before him. Well might he 
 utter, with deep emotions of pain and wonder, that ear- 
 nest enquiry — " my Lord, what shall be the end of 
 these things ? " When shall this fleeting vision of change 
 be ended, and lasting peace, and solid and eternal feli- 
 city, dawn at length on the people of God ? 
 
 The contrast, indeed, must have been strange to the 
 
46 CHAPTER III. 
 
 eyes of Daniel himself ; and it is still more wonderful, 
 now that the fulfilment has enlarged the meaning of the 
 prediction. When he stood before Nebuchadnezzar, a 
 lonely captive, Babylon was in the height of its glory. 
 Now that he is on the verge of eternity, and the glory 
 of heaven is opening around him, the last struggles of 
 the proud city and its double ruin, are passed by in 
 silence, as unworthy of a place in this brief notice of 
 the three Persian reigns. At that time, Persia was a 
 despised province, and Cyrus was not yet born. Now 
 the predicted deliverer has risen from obscurity into 
 unexampled power, and founded an Empire wider than 
 that of Babylon, by victories which would furnish the 
 subject of Grecian romance and Eastern fable, and be 
 celebrated through all future ages. And his course also 
 was now almost ended, and five years would see the 
 conqueror himself return to the dust. The history of 
 the prophet resembled in its various changes the fleeting 
 scenes which he had witnessed around him. First in 
 Judea, he was one of the royal seed, and with the hopes 
 which such a descent inspires ; presently, in Babylon, 
 an orphan and an exile, and then exalted in the gate of 
 the king. High in the favour of an earthly monarch, 
 and honored with the visits of angels, he is once more 
 despised and forgotten, till the dreadful hand-writing 
 calls him from neglect and. obscurity, and he is made 
 glorious in the very hour of Belshazzar's ruin. The 
 den of lions is succeeded by exaltation to the highest 
 place of honour in the Persian kingdom, and the visit 
 of an archangel from heaven. Now once more he seems 
 deserted or disgraced ; but while earth closes against the 
 aged prophet, heaven opens more brightly to his view, 
 and he receives here the last and most wonderful of his 
 visions. Who then could enter so deeply as himself 
 into the spirit of the message, while it refuses to dwell 
 on the detail of these reigns, and view them only as the 
 shadows, which delay for a little time the dawning of a 
 brighter and eternal kingdom ! 
 
 But this connexion of the message with the prophet 
 
THE THREE SUCCESSORS OF CYRUS. 47 
 
 who receives it may supply another lesson, scarcely less 
 important. Daniel was now about to leave the world, 
 after so long and wonderful an experience of its changes, 
 and to enter into his rest. Yet the Son of God does not 
 count it an useless distraction, to reveal to him, at such 
 a time, this series of political changes in the earth. His 
 language implies, on the contrary, that the message is 
 a precious gift, vouchsafed to the prophet, because of 
 his deep humility and fervent prayer. It is not a mark 
 of a spiritual mind to neglect the Providence of God 
 on earth, or to be indifferent to the changes of the 
 world's kingdom. The higher the soul advances in holi- 
 ness, the more intense will be its interest in the progress 
 of the kingdom of God, and in the display of His long- 
 suffering. His grace and righteousness, here below. There 
 seems at first a vast and inconceivable descent, from a 
 celestial vision so glorious, to the bare enumeration of 
 three Persian kings. But this is really the highest attain- 
 ment of heavenly wisdom, to combine reality with mys- 
 tery, and to bring the most glorious truths of the unseen 
 world, to light up the passing events of time with an 
 interest borrowed from a coming eternity. During 
 those three reigns, that temple was to be rebuilt, in 
 which God incarnate would presently appear ; and 
 the conflicts of Persia and Greece were preparing 
 the triumph of that language in which the mystery 
 of godliness was shortly to be revealed and recorded 
 by the Spirit of God, for the salvation of innumerable 
 souls in every age. Like the rock, which was smitten 
 by the rod of Moses, the meanest and most barren event 
 of Providence, once touched with a ray of light from 
 God's eternal counsels, becomes a fountain of living 
 waters, to instruct and cheer the whole Church of God 
 through countless generations. The changes of worldly 
 politics, seen with the eye of the Atheist, are a barren 
 and sandy wilderness ; — read in the light which these 
 prophecies supply to us, they are a bright land of pro- 
 mise, enriched in every part with earnests and sure 
 tokens of the glory to be revealed. 
 
48 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The history of these three reigns acquires still a deeper 
 interest, when we associate its changes with the angelic 
 warfare which is here dimly revealed to us. The con- 
 flicts of Persia and Greece in the reign of Darius, the 
 Ionian revolt, the Thracian conquests, the burning of 
 Sardis, the invasion of Greece, and the victory of Mara- 
 thon, are no mere arbitrary changes, but are linked in- 
 separably with an angelic conflict in the heavenly 
 places, and before the throne of the supreme Judge. 
 The Princes of Persia and of Rome, the Angel of the 
 Covenant, and Michael the chief Prince of Israel, are 
 the parties in this sublime contention, and every crime 
 of the rival Empires, their kings or chieftains, has its 
 due weight in the counsels of heaven, and is pleaded on 
 either side with all the energy of superhuman might 
 and angelic wisdom. The cruelties of Cambyses, and of 
 Darius himself, the growing degeneracy of the Persian 
 chiefs, would be the causes why so heavy a blow was 
 sent upon the Empire ; and perhaps also the favour 
 shewn to the Jews, and the decree of that king for the 
 rebuilding of God's house, might be the secret cause 
 why his reign was continued so long, with such general 
 prosperity, and the main reverses were delayed to the 
 reign of Xerxes. 
 
 But whatever might be the special form which it as- 
 sumed in this instance, the truth revealed is universal 
 in its application. The changes of States and Empires 
 do not arise by chance. However unsearchable may be 
 the reasons which influence the counsels of the all-wise 
 God, when he fixes the limits of each reign, the issue of 
 every battle, and the bounds of every empire's power ; we 
 are here taught that far more is revealed to the celestial 
 spirits than our dim eyes are able to perceive. The cry 
 of sin from every household, in each kingdom of the 
 world, rises before the throne. Angelic advocates are 
 there, to plead the various claims of justice or mercy, 
 of forbearing grace, or offended and affronted holiness ; 
 and they watch with intense and eager interest, the sen- 
 tence which issues perpetually from the lips of the King 
 
THE THREE SUCCESSORS OF CYBES* 49 
 
 of nations. The history of the world, now sucfit a dreary 
 waste to the sjiiritual mind, because our vision is so 
 earthly, will hereafter reveal to us all the attributes ot 
 God in ceaseless and harmonious exercise, with a bright- 
 ness of holy wisdom that will dazzle and confound us. 
 Tlie prophet was favoured now with a glimpse of this 
 secret glory, in connection with the fullest and clearest 
 of all the inspired predictions. But the vision will be 
 far brighter and more wonderful, when, according to 
 the voice of the Angel, he shall stand in his lot in the 
 end of the days, and awake from sleeping in the dust, 
 to shine as the brightness of the firmament, " For now 
 we see through a glass darkly, but then, face to face : 
 now we know in part, but then shall we know even as 
 we are known." 
 
 But this short clause, so trivial in appearance, as- 
 sumes a still deeper interest, when we reflect on the 
 jjrophecies which were given during its fulfilment, and 
 the true character of the revealing Angel. During this 
 interval, the same holy Messenger who prevailed to ob- 
 tain this revelation for the beloved Daniel, continued 
 His work of love by further messages to the Church of 
 God. When the second close of the seventy years' cap- 
 tivity was now come, and the predicted troubles began 
 to lour in the horizon, a fresh series of visions were 
 given to cheer the hearts of His people, and prepare 
 them for His own Advent in mortal flesh and in great 
 humility. It was in the reign of Darius, so glorious in 
 the eyes of the world, but here passed over silently as 
 the third in order of succession, that another king was 
 announced, whose advent was to be marked by features 
 widely different from the proud grandeur of the world's 
 sovereigns. He who now appeared with such dazzling 
 brightness before the eyes of the prophet, revealed by 
 Zechariah His own advent to His waiting people. 
 " Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion ; shout, daugh- 
 ter of Jerusalem ; behold, thy king cometh unto thee ; 
 he is just, and having salvation ; lowly and riding upon 
 an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass." The fulfil - 
 
 E 
 
50 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ment of a prophecy seemingly the most minute and in- 
 significant, included in it the fresh announcement of 
 other events inconceivably wonderful and glorious. In 
 this third reign it was revealed, for the first time, that 
 the Eternal Son of God, Jehovah of Hosts, (Zech. ii. 
 8.) would enter Zion in such wonderful condescension 
 of love ; and thirty pieces of silver be weighed for his 
 price by unbelieving sinners. But it was also revealed, 
 that he would appear again attended by all His saints, 
 and wonders beyond the proudest triumphs of human 
 royalty, earthquakes, and the rending of mountainsj 
 would bear witness to His advent as the King of kings. 
 " His feet shall stand in that day," the prophet declares 
 to us, " on the Mount of Olives, and the Mount of 
 Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof towards the east 
 and towards the west, and tliere shall be a very great 
 valley .... and the Lord my God shall come, and all 
 the saints with thee.'* The glory of the reign of Darius 
 has long passed away, and all his mighty Empire crum- 
 bled into ruins and disappeared. But the prophecy 
 then given by the Son of God remains even now a bea- 
 con of hope to the Church, and a bright glimpse into 
 a glory still to be revealed ; when Israel shall look with 
 agony of remorse on the pierced Saviour, and their sins 
 be washed away for ever, in the fountain He has opened 
 for sin and uncleanness. The succession of human 
 inonarchs will then have merged in a more glorious 
 kingdom. "The Lord shall be king overall the earth, 
 — there shall be one Lord, and His name shall be One." 
 From the boundary of the conquests of Darius in the 
 farthest India, to those of Csesar in the remotest coun- 
 tries of the West, ail will then be blended in one domi- 
 nion of peace and righteousness, " and they shall go 
 up from year to year to worship the kiHg, the Lord 
 of Hosts." The end, dimly revealed to Daniel in the 
 close of his vision, is here more clearly unfolded in 
 its eternal blessedness ; when the Son of God shall 
 appear, and the exclamation of joy shall burst from the 
 lips of an admiring universe — how great is His goodness 
 and how gi»at is His beauty ! 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE EXPEDITION OF XERXES. 
 Dan. XI. 2. — And thb fourth shali be fab eichbe than thet ali, and 
 
 BY HIS STRENGTH THROUGH HIS RICHES HE SHALL STIR UP ALL AGAINST 
 THB REALM OF GrECIA. 
 
 The fulfilment of these words is plain even to a chilcj. 
 Xerxes was the fourth king after Cyrus the Great, and 
 his invasion of Greece is perhaps the most conspicuous 
 and celebrated event of all ancient history. The three 
 last books of Herodotus and the eleventh of Diodorus, 
 are entirely occupied with this one subject, besides the 
 countless allusions in other classical writers. The three 
 former kings are mentioned here by the Angel, to fix 
 the place of the fourth, and thus to attest the Divine 
 foreknowledge ; but the invasion of Xerxes is singled 
 out for notice, because it was the grand crisis in the 
 long conflict of Persia and Greece, when the scale of 
 victory began steadily to incline to the latter power, and 
 the second began to yield to the ascendant of the third 
 empire. An intimation of this approaching conflict 
 had already been given in those words of the Angel. 
 " When I go forth, the prince of Javan will come." A 
 new power, it was thus implied, would soon stand up to 
 dispute the Persian supremacy'-, and by its Advocate in 
 heaven, and its armies on earth, break the proud sceptre 
 which was now stretched out to thwart and hinder the 
 work of God. 
 
 After mentioning the death of Darius, and the con- 
 sultations of Xerxes on the Grecian war, to which he 
 E a 
 
52 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 was urged, according to the historian, by singular 
 dreams, thrice repeated, with threats if he refused to 
 obey them, he continues his narrative in these words : 
 
 * Xerxes therefore collected his army, searching every 
 part of the continent. For, after the recovery of Egypt, 
 four full years he went on preparing his forces and their 
 provisions, and in the beginning of the fifth he marched 
 with a mighty force. For this was by far the largest 
 armament of all that we have known ; so that neither 
 that of Darius against the Scythians appears any thing 
 by its side, nor that of the Scythians when in pursuit of 
 the Cimmerians they invaded Media, and subverted 
 most of the upper Asia, which Darius sought to avenge ; 
 nor that of Atrides against Ilium ; nor that of the My- 
 sians and Teucrians before the Trojan war, who crossed 
 into Europe by the Bosporus, and subverted all Thrace, 
 and penetrated over to the Ionian sea, and southward 
 to the river Peneus. 
 
 * All these armies, and any other beside, are not wor- 
 thy to be compared with this one of Xerxes. For what 
 tribe of Asia did not he lead against Greece 1 What 
 stream did not fail to supply them, except the great 
 rivers 1 Some provided ships, others were marshalled 
 on foot, and others furnished cavalry, others transports 
 for horses which might share in the expedition. Others 
 provided large ships for the bridges, and others both 
 ships and provisions.' 
 
 The reception of Xerxes at Celaenae, by Py thius, who 
 was second in riches to the king himself, further illus- 
 trates the words of the prophecy. Seven days and nights 
 were spent in crossing the Hellespont, and the river Melas 
 was drunk up by the army. They were then numbered 
 by ten thousand at once, and the various tribes are re- 
 counted in order. 
 
 ' Now those who marched were as follows. The 
 Persians, who were thus equipped : they had tiaras, 
 as they are called, about their heads, and about their 
 body variegated tunics, greaves on their legs, and 
 bucklers instead of shields. Beneath, their quivers 
 
THE EXPEDITION OF XERXES. 58 
 
 were suspended. They had short spurs, and long 
 bows with feathered arrows ; and daggers in their 
 girdle by their right tliigh ; and they had Otanes for 
 their captain, the father of Amestris, the wife of 
 Xerxes.' 
 
 ' The Medes marched equipped in the same way ; for 
 this costume is the Median, and not Persian. But the 
 Medes had Tigranes for their ruler, of the race of 
 Achaemenes : and they were formerly called Arii. And 
 the Cissians were equipped in other respects as the 
 Persians, but instead of caps, they wore mitres, and 
 Amaphes the son of Otanes was their captain. And 
 the Hyrcanians had Megapanus for their captain, who 
 after this was governor of Babylon.' 
 
 * The Ass3ri-ians, in their march, had brazen helmets 
 on tlieir heads, twisted in a barbarian manner, not easy 
 to describe, and shields, and spears, and daggers, very 
 like the Egyptians ; and swords pointed with iron, and 
 linen breastplates. These were called Syrians by the 
 Greeks, but Assyrians by the barbarians. Amidst these 
 were the Chaldseans, and Otaspes the son of Artachaeus 
 was their leader.' 
 
 * The Bactrians marched, equipped nearly as the Medes 
 about the head, but with reed arrows of their country, 
 and short spears. And the Scythian Sacae had sharp 
 pointed cyrhases about their heads, and wore loose trow- 
 sers ; and carried also the arrows of their country, daggers 
 and battle-axes. These they called Sacae, being Amj^r- 
 gean Scythians ; for the Persians call all the Scythians 
 by that name. The Bactrians and Sacae Hystaspes led, 
 the son of Darius and of Atossa the daughter of Cyrus.' 
 
 ' The Indians had garments made of wood, and bows 
 and arrows of reeds, the arrows tipped with iron. The 
 Arians were equipped with Median bows, in all else as 
 the Bactrians, and Sisamnes the son of Hydarnes was 
 their leader. The Parthians and Chorasmians and 
 Sogdi and Gandarii and Dadicae marched with the 
 same weapons and costume as the Bactrians. Artaba- 
 zus led the Parthians and Chorasmians, Azanes son of 
 
64 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Arteeus the Sogdians, and Artyphius son of Artabinus 
 the Gandarians and Dadicae.' 
 
 ' The Caspians marched, equipped with sisyrmae and 
 reed bows of their country and scymitars, and Aroimar- 
 dus, brother of Artyphius, was their commander. The 
 Sarangae were conspicuous with dyed garments, and 
 they had boots reaching to the knee, and Median bows 
 and spears ; Pherendates, son of Megabazus, was their 
 leader. The Pactyes too had sisyrmae, and the bows 
 and daggers of their country ; and Artyntes commanded 
 them, son of Ithamatres.' 
 
 ' The Utii and Myci and Paricanians were equipped 
 as the Pactyes ; Arsamanes, son of Darius, and Siroma- 
 tres, son of (Eobazus, were their leaders.' 
 
 The progress of the forces to Thermopylae is next de- 
 scribed, and Herodotus then attempts a summary of 
 their total number. 
 
 ' Thus far the army was free from disaster, and its 
 numbers were the following, as I find on reckoning up 
 the whole. In the 1207 ships from Asia, the original 
 crews were twenty-four myriads one thousand four 
 hundred, reckoning two hundred to each vessel. Thirty 
 Persians, Medes, or Sacae, were on board of each, be- 
 sides others of their respective nations, and these 
 amount to three myriads, ten thousand two hundred 
 and ten. I will add the crews of the fifty -oared vessels, 
 reckoned eighty a-piece. There were, as I said before, 
 three thousand of these vessels, and the crews will be 
 twenty-four myriads. This was the navy from Asia, 
 being 517,610 men. Of the infantry, there were one 
 hundred and seventy myriads. I will add to these the 
 Arabians with camels, and the Libyan chariots, amount- 
 ing to twenty thousand. The whole amount becomes 
 two hundred and thirty-one myriads, seven thousand 
 six hundred and ten. This was the army brought from 
 Asia, without the provision vessels and their crews. 
 
 ' But the army from Europe must be added in ; and 
 this must be told by conjecture. The Greeks of Thrace 
 and the islands near Thrace, furnished 120 ships j the 
 
THE EXPEDITION OF XERXES. 55 
 
 crews then would amount to 24,000 men. But the in- 
 fantry of the Thracians, the Psktnians and Eordi, the 
 Bottiseans and Chalcidians, and Brugians and Pierians, 
 the Macedonians and Perrhoebi, the Eninians and Do- 
 lopians, and Magnesians and Achaeans, and those of the 
 sea coast. I reckon that these amount to thirty myri- 
 ads. The whole amount would be two hundred and 
 sixty-four myriads, sixteen hundred and ten.' 
 
 * The number of men-of-war being so great, I imagine 
 that their camp followers were not fewer, but rather 
 that they were more numerous. But reckoning them 
 only equal, the number that Xerxes, son of Darius, led 
 to Thermopylae, was five hundred and twenty-eight 
 myriads, three thousand two hundred and twenty men. 
 (5,283,220).' 
 
 Even this amazing host was not the whole force that 
 was 'stirred up ' against the realms of Grecia. Diodo- 
 rus adds another feature to the description. * Xerxes,' 
 he says, ' wishing to subvert utterly all the Greeks, sent 
 an embassy to the Carthaginians about acting in con- 
 cert, and covenanted with them, that he would march 
 against the Greeks who dwelt in Greece itself ; but that 
 they should at the same time prepare a mighty force, 
 and vanquish the Greeks, who dwelt in Sicily and 
 Italy. Pursuant to their covenant, the Carthaginians, 
 collecting large revenues, hired mercenaries from Italy 
 and Liguria, and also from Gaul and Iberia, and besides 
 these they enrolled a force from all Libya and Carthage ; 
 and at length, having busied themselves three years in 
 preparation, assembled above thirty myriads of men, 
 and two hundred ships. Bat Xerxes, rivalling the zeal 
 of the Carthaginians, surpassed them as much in all 
 kinds of military preparation, as in the number of 
 tribes which he commanded.' 
 
 Thus, in the words of the prediction, all were stirred 
 up against the devoted country of Greece, — Europe,'^ 
 Africa, and Asia, all being combined in one enormous 
 multitude. 
 
 The issue of this mighty invasion is not expressed in 
 
66 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 the vision, but is clearly implied, since it passes on at 
 once to the supremacy of Greece and the conquests of 
 Alexander. The Persce of ^schylus, acted within eight 
 years, to celebrate the triumph of the Greeks, will help 
 to convey a more vivid impression of the predicted in- 
 vasion. 
 
 The play opens with the forebodings of the Persian 
 senators, left in charge of the state, when no tidings 
 have been received from the army, and then proceeds to 
 recount the names and valour of the chieftains. * No 
 messenger and no horsemen come to the city of the 
 Persians. They who set out, leaving Susa and Agba- 
 tana, and the Cissian fortress, some on horses, some on 
 ships, and foot soldiers, furnishing a warlike band, even 
 such as Amistres and Artaphranes, and Megabates and 
 Astaspes, leaders of the Persians, kings, subjects of the 
 Great King, have set forth, the generals of a numerous 
 host, archers and horsemen, dreadful to behold, and ter- 
 rible in battle for their warlike renown ; also Artembares 
 delighting in horses, and Masistres, and the skilful 
 archer, Imseus, and Pharendaces, and Sosthanes the 
 excellent horseman. Others the mighty and fruitful 
 Nile sent forth, Susiscanes, and Egypt-bred Pegastagon, 
 and mighty Arsames, ruler of sacred Memphis, and 
 Ariomardus, governor of Ogygian Thebes, and the 
 dwellers in the fens, most skilful rowers, and countless 
 in number. There follows the throng of luxurious Ly- 
 dians, and those who lead the whole tribe of the conti- 
 nent, whom Melangathes and brave Arcteus, kingly 
 rulers, and the wealthy Sardis, send forth mounted on 
 chariots, double and treble multitudes, a fearful specta- 
 cle to behold. Those also who dwell by the sacred 
 Tmolus set out to fling the yoke of slavery over Greece ; 
 Mardon, Tharybis, skilful in the spear, and the Mysians, 
 wielding javelins. And most wealthy Babylon sends 
 forth confusedly a very mingled crowd, both chiefs of 
 the navy, and others trusty in the bow ; and the whole 
 multitude of swordsmen from all Asia follow at the 
 dreadful behest of the king. Such are the men who are 
 
THE EXPEDITION OF XERXES. 67 
 
 gone forth, the flower of the Persian land ; whom the 
 whole region of Asia having reared, is now pining with 
 intense desire, and parents and wives, gathering in 
 silence, tremhle at the long delay.' 
 
 On the arrival of the tidings, the shade of Darius is 
 invoked to appear, and advise with them in their cala- 
 mity. He utters this lamentation over the reverse of 
 his son, in which he ascribes the disaster to Divine pro- 
 phecy. 
 
 ' Alas ! there has come a quick fulfilment of the 
 oracles ; and Jove has hurled upon my son the consum- 
 mation of his predictions ; but I had hoped that the 
 gods would accomplish this only after a long delay. But 
 when one hastes to ruin himself, the Divinity also con- 
 curs.' After a few lines he continues : 
 
 * A deed is accomplished, mighty and ever me- 
 morable, such as never alighted on this city of Susa to 
 waste it ; since the time when Jove the king granted 
 this honour, that one man should rule all fruitful Asia, 
 holding a rightful sceptre. For a Mede was the first 
 ruler of the people ; and another, his son, completed 
 the work ; for his prudence, like a rudder, guided 
 his zeal. And, third from him, Cyrus ruled, a prosper- 
 ous hero, and secured peace for all his friends, and con- 
 quered the people of the Lydians and Phrygians, 
 and drove out by force all Ionia ; for the Divinity 
 envied him not, since he was of noble soul. And the 
 son of Cyrus, fourth in order, ruled the people. And 
 fifth, Mardus ruled, a disgrace to the country and 
 the ancient throne. Him brave Artaphrenes slew in 
 the palace with guile, with others his friends, to whom 
 the task was assigned. (And sixth was Maraphis, and 
 seventh Artaphrenes). And I also obtained the lot 
 which I desired, and warred often with a mighty army, 
 but never brought such an evil as this upon the state. 
 But Xerxes my son, being a youth, has young thoughts, 
 and remembers not my commands ; for know this well, 
 my companion, all we who have held the supreme 
 power, have never wrought calamities so grievous.' 
 
58 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The rest of the fourth reign corresponded with its 
 prophetic character, and was marked, after the climax 
 of Persian power, by political and moral degradation. 
 The battles of Thermopylae and Salamis were crowned 
 by those of Plataea and Mycale in the following year. 
 ' Xerxes, upon the news of these two overthrows, left 
 Sardis with the same hurry and precipitation as he had 
 left Athens after the battle of Salamis, making all haste 
 towards Persia, that he might get as far as possible out 
 of the reach of the conquering enemy. But before he 
 set out, he gave orders that all the temples of the Greeks 
 cities in Asia should be burnt and demolished, and not 
 one was left standing except that of Diana at Ephesus.' 
 
 ' The Grecian fleet, after the battle of Mycale, steer'ed 
 their course first to Samos, and thence to the Helle- 
 spont, to possess themselves of the bridges, but finding 
 them broken by storms, the Peloponnesians sailed 
 home. Xanthippus, with the Athenians and his allies 
 the lonians, remaining there, made himself master of 
 Sestos and the Thracian Chersonesus, where the army 
 was enriched with immense booty. From this time the 
 Ionian cities in Asia, shaking off^ the Persian yoke, re- 
 covered their ancient liberty.' 
 
 ' The Greeks, having settled their affairs at home, 
 resolved to pursue the war, and drove the Persians out 
 of all the Greek cities in Asia, and the neighbouring 
 islands. With this view they equipped a powerful 
 fleet, and sailing to f^yprus, drove the Persians out of 
 that island. They sailed from thence to the Hellespont, 
 and reduced the city of Byzantium, where they took 
 several persons of note. A few years after, the Athe- 
 nian fleet under Cimon, took Eion on the Strymon. 
 Cimon then passed over to the coasts of Asia, and hav- 
 ing driven the Persians out of the maritime cities of 
 Asia and Lycia, sailed in quest of their fleet ; and find- 
 ing it at the mouth of the Eurymedon, in Pamphylia, 
 while the army was encamped on shore, first attacked 
 the fleet and then the army, and gained two victories 
 
THE EXPEDITION OF XERXES. 59 
 
 the same day, one equal to Salamis, and the other to 
 that of Plat«a.' 
 
 ' Xerxes, heing wholly discouraged by a continual 
 series of heavy losses and shameful defeats, gave over 
 all thoughts of war, and never after suffered his ships to 
 appear on the ^gean sea, or his forces on the coasts. 
 He gave himself entirely to luxury and ease, minding 
 nothing but the gratifying of his lusts and vicious in- 
 clinations. This dissolute life drew upon him the con- 
 tempt and hatred of his subjects, which induced Arta- 
 banuS; captain of the guards, to conspire against him. 
 He prevailed on Mithridates, one of the eunuchs, to en- 
 gage in the conspiracy ; and, being let into the king's 
 bed-chamber, murdered him while he was asleep, in the 
 twenty -first year of his reign.' 
 
 Such was the inglorious era of the fourth king, whose 
 reign opened with such unequalled magnificence, and 
 preparations for universal conquest that appeared irre- 
 sistible. But the hour of retribution was hastening, 
 and the Prince of Persia had begun to quail in the 
 heavenly places before the superior might of his celes- 
 tial adversaries. 
 
 In the sacred history this reign of Xerxes, so cele- 
 brated elsewhere, seems to be passed over without no- 
 tice. For though some reasons might favour the idea 
 that he was the Ahasuerus in the book of Esther, others 
 of greater weight seem to prove decisively that the his- 
 tory belongs to Artaxerxes his successor. But in- 
 deed this very silence is scarcely less instructive to us, 
 when we reflect on it closely, than the most distinct 
 mention of Xerxes could have been. The triumphs of 
 the Second Empire were now past, and a Third was soon 
 to rise into eminence, under the swift he-goat from the 
 land of Javan. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 PTOLEMY AND SELEUCUS NICATOR. 
 Dan. XI. 3— 5— And a mighty king shali stand up, that shall rule 
 
 "WITH GREAT DOMINION, AND DO ACCORDING TO HIS WILL. AND WHEN 
 HE SHALL STAND UP, HIS KINGDOM SHALL BE BROKEN, AND SHALL BE 
 DIVIDED TOWARD THE FOUR WINDS OF HEAVEN ; AND NOT TO HIS POS- 
 TERITY, NOR ACCORDING TO HIS DOMINION WHICH HE RULED : FOR HIS 
 KINGDOM SHALL BE PLUCKED UP, EVEN FOR OTHERS BESIDE THOSE. AND 
 THE KING OF THE SOUTH SHALL BE STRONG, AND ONE OF THE PRINCES ; 
 AND HE SHALL BE STRONG ABOVE HIM, AND HAVE DOMINION ; HIS DO- 
 MINION SHALL BE A GREAT DOMINION. 
 
 The two first of these verses relate evidently to the 
 great and notable horn of the he-goat in the former 
 vision, under whom a furious onset would be made 
 on the Persian empire, ending in its complete and 
 speedy overthrow. In other words, they refer to Alex- 
 ander, whose history has been sketched in a former 
 chapter. But here the brief account of the division 
 of his empire, given already, is followed by a history 
 of the Syrian and Egyptian kings. It will be needful 
 to enter now upon these further details of the prophecy, 
 and to compare them with the independent evidence 
 which may still remain to us. 
 
 We have seen already that, after the battle of Ipsus, 
 four kings divided the monarchy among them. Ptolemy 
 reigned in Egypt, Seleucus in Babylon, Lysimachus in 
 Thrace and Bithynia, and Cassander in Macedon and 
 Greece. The prophecy confines itself to the two former 
 only, or the Syrian and Egyptian divisions, as it was 
 between these that Judea lay. There were at first the 
 southern and eastern portion. But as Seleucus, about 
 twenty years later, defeated and slew Lysimachus, and 
 
PTOLEMY AND SELEUCUS NICATOR. 61 
 
 joined most of the northern division with his own, and 
 the compound territory lay chiefly north of Palestine, 
 the two monarchs are styled kings of the north and the 
 south, throughout the whole prophecy. 
 
 " And the king of the south shall be great." After 
 the death of Alexander, when the provinces were divided 
 among his generals, Egypt fell to the share of Pto- 
 lemy, the son of Lagus. His prudence and ability gra- 
 dually increased and confirmed his power. A war 
 between factions having arisen in Cyrene, his aid 
 is called in. ' Ophelias, having vanquished Thimbro, 
 and made him prisoner, and become master of the 
 cities, delivered them and the country to king Ptolemy. 
 The Cyrenians then, and the surrounding cities, having 
 lost their liberty in this way, were united to Ptolemy's 
 kingdom.' 
 
 Antipater, suspecting the designs of Perdiccas, formed 
 a league with Ptolemy of mutual defence. Soon after, 
 the remains of Alexander were brought fi*om Babylon 
 to Egypt. ' And Ptolemy, in honour of Alexander, met 
 them with his forces as far as Syria, and receiving the 
 body, treated it with the greatest care. For he judged it 
 best at present not to convey it to Hammon, but to de- 
 posit it in the city which he had founded, being nearly 
 the most conspicuous in the world. He prepared there- 
 fore a shrine, both in size and ornament worthy of 
 Alexander's glory ; where, honouring and reverencing 
 him with heroic sacrifices and games, he received an 
 excellent recompense, not only from men, but from the 
 gods also. For men, on account of his liberal and noble 
 spirit, hasted on all sides to Alexandria, and enrolled 
 their names readily among his troops, though the royal 
 army was ready to make war on him ; and the gods, 
 because of his virtue, and gentleness to all his friends, 
 rescued him beyond hope from the greatest dangers.' 
 Accordingly, when Perdiccas invaded Egypt, to wrest 
 it from Ptolemy, he was not only unsuccessful, but even 
 lost his life, through his own unpopularity, and the 
 favour of the Macedonians towards Ptolemy himself 
 
62 CHAPTER V. 
 
 whose power and influence became firmer and fuller 
 than ever. 
 
 ' In Egypt, Ptolemy having unexpectly shaken off 
 Perdiccas, and the forces of the kings, held it, as it were, 
 the conquest of his spear ; and seeing Phoenice and 
 Coele Syria lying conveniently near, was very eager to 
 become master of those cities ; he sent therefore an ample 
 force, and Nicanor, one of his friends, for general. He 
 marched into Syria, and made captive Laomedon the 
 satrap, and took possession of the whole country. And 
 in like manner having gained over the cities of Phoe- 
 nice, and put garrisons in them, he returned into 
 Egypt, after a short successful expedition. Diod. 
 xviii. 43. 
 
 ^ The same summer (a.c. 31) the Cyrenians revolt 
 from Ptolemy, and lay siege to the citadel, to expel the 
 garrison. And Avhen legates were sent from Alexan- 
 dria, and exhorted them to desist from the siege, they 
 put them to death, and pursue the siege with greater 
 vigour. Irritated by these things, Ptolemy sends Agis 
 with a land army, and also a fleet under Epsenetus as 
 admiral. Agis vigorously pursued the war, and gained 
 the city by force, and sent the authors of the revolt in 
 chains to Alexandria ; and stripping the rest of their 
 arms, and disposing the afi^airs of the city as he thought 
 best, returned to Egypt. But Ptolemy, since the affairs 
 of Cyrene fell out as he wished, set out to Cyprus, 
 against those who disobeyed the kings, and slew Pyg- 
 malion, whom he found parleying with Antigonus. 
 After this, he appointed Nicocrates, ruler of Cyprus, and 
 gave him the cities and revenues (»f the exiled kings. 
 Then sailing with his army into Upper Syria, he be- 
 sieged and took Posideum and Potamos Carum, and 
 sailed quickly into Cilicia, and took Mallus, and sold 
 the inhabitants for slaves. He also visited the bordering 
 country, and having filled the army with booty, sailed 
 back to Cyprus. By such conduct he quickened the 
 courage of his soldiers for the coming dangers.' Diod. 
 xix. 79. 
 
PTOLEMY AND SELEUCUS NICATOR. 63 
 
 '■ And Ptolemy, having sent the captives to Eg^pt, 
 gave orders to distribute them through the* prefectures 
 of the fleet. And, having buried all his own troops 
 honourably, who died in the battle, he assailed with his 
 forces the cities of Phoenicia, besieging some, and gain- 
 ing others by persuasion. And when master of the 
 open country, he gained over Sidon, and encamping near 
 Tyre, invited Andronicus to give up the city, pro- 
 mising ample rewards and honour. But he said that 
 he would by no means betray his faith to Antigonus 
 and Demetrius, and reproached Ptolemy severely. And 
 presently, being driven out of Tyre by a sed ition, and 
 captured, he expected to be punished, both for his re- 
 fusal and his reproaches. Ptolemy, however, did not 
 bear any grudge, but treated him in the opposite way ; 
 counting him one of his friends, and honouring him 
 greatly. For this prince was exceedingly gentle and 
 forgiving, and highly beneficent. And this especially 
 caused his growing power and greatness, and made many 
 wish to partake of his friendship.' Diod. xx. 85, 86. 
 
 The extracts of Diodorus are confirmed by Justin, 
 who continues the narrative. ' Ptolemy, in Egypt, by 
 wise industry, prepared great forces ; he had enlarged 
 the bounds of his empire by the acquisition of Cyrene, 
 and had now grown so great that he had not so much 
 cause to dread his enemies as to be dreaded by them.' 
 (xiii. 6.) And his death is briefly described in similar 
 terms — ' The war being ended, Ptolemy dies with great 
 glory, on account of his exploits.' xvi. 2. 
 
 The greatness, then, of the king of the north after 
 the death of Alexander, was abundantly fulfilled. But 
 there was to be another chief, whose fame would over- 
 shadow even the reputation of Ptolemy. " One of his 
 princes shall be great ; and he will be strong above 
 him, and have dominion ; and his dominion will be a 
 great dominion." 
 
 These words refer to Seleucus Nicator, who founded 
 the Syrian kingdom. He might be called one of the 
 princes of Ptolemy, because when an exile, he served 
 
64 CHAPTER V. 
 
 in his army, and under his authority. But when once 
 restored to the satrapy of Babylon, his power continued 
 steadily to increase till his death, and became mightier, 
 by several degrees, than the power of Egypt. Here 
 again, Diodorus will be sufficient guide. 
 
 In the first division of the provinces by Perdiccas, 
 Seleucus received only the command of the allied horse, 
 which Hephsestion and Perdiccas had successively held 
 before. When Perdiccas was slain in Egypt, and Anti- 
 pater became guardian of the kings, a new partition 
 took place, and Seleucus received the satrapy of Biaby- 
 lon. His further course will appear from the following 
 extracts. 
 
 ^ In Asia, Eumenes having the Argyraspid Macedo- 
 nians, and their leader Antigonus, ventured on Babylo- 
 nia, in what are called Comse Cassim ; and sent am- 
 bassadors to Seleucus and Python, claiming that they 
 should assist the kings, and strive with him against 
 Antigonus. Of these Python had been appointed satrap 
 of Media, and the other of Babylonia, when the second 
 distribution of satrapies took place in Triparadisus. 
 But Seleucus answered that he was ready to help the 
 king, but would never submit to obey the commands of 
 Eumenes, whom the Macedonians in full assembly had 
 condemned to death.' xix. 12. 
 
 ' When Praxibulus was archon at Athens, and Spur- 
 ius Nautius and Manius Popillius consuls at Rome, 
 Antigonus left Aspisas, one of the natives, satrap in 
 Susiana, and himself having decided to convey all his 
 money to the sea, prepared wagons and camels, and 
 taking these with his forces, went on to Babylonia. 
 Having reached Babylon after two and twenty days, 
 Seleucus, the satrap of the country honoured Antigo- 
 nus with royal presents, and entertained all his forces. 
 But when Antigonus required an account of the reve- 
 nues, he said that he owed no account for this province, 
 which the Macedonians had given him for his services, 
 while Alexander was alive. The variance daily in- 
 creasing, Seleucus considered what had happened to 
 
PTOLEMY AND SELEUCUS NICATOR. 65 
 
 Pytho, and was very full of fear, lest Antigonus, snatch- 
 ing at some pretext, should endeavour to slay him. For 
 he seemed as one in haste to remove out of his way all 
 those who were distinguished, and who might take part 
 in public affairs. Fearing these things, he escaped with 
 fifty horsemen, with the purpose of betaking himself 
 to Ptolemy, in Egypt ; who was famed for his kind- 
 ness, and his benevolence and humanity towards those 
 who fled to him. But Antigonus, when he heard, leapt 
 for joy, and was delighted, because he was spared the 
 effort of laying hands on one that had been his friend, 
 and had striven zealously in his cause ; and Seleucus 
 had condemned himself to exile, and given up the satrapy 
 without conflict and dangers. But afterward, when 
 the Chaldeans came to him, and warned him that if he 
 should let Seleucus slip out of his hands, it would hap- 
 pen that all Asia would be subject to him, and Antigonus 
 himself lose his life in battle against him, repenting of 
 what he had done, he sent men to pursue him, who fol- 
 lowed to a certain distance, and then returned unsuc- 
 cessful. 
 
 ' Seleucus then, having escaped into Egypt, received 
 all kindness from Ptolemy, and bitterly accused Anti- 
 gonus ; saying, that he had determined to drive from 
 their satrapies all the distinguished men, and especially 
 those who had marched with Alexander ; and gave in 
 proof that he had taken off Pytho, and deprived Peu- 
 cestes of Persia, besides what had befallen himself. For 
 that all of them had done no wrong to him, nay, had 
 even rendered him many and great benefits by their 
 friendship, and yet had obtained this reward for their 
 virtue. He disclosed also the greatness of his forces, and 
 the abundance of his wealth, and his late successes ; 
 whence he shewed that he was inflated with pride, and 
 had compassed with his hopes the whole kingdom of the 
 Macedonians. By these discourses having urged on Pto- 
 lemy to prepare for war, he sent some of his friends to 
 Europe, to attempt by similar motives to make Cassander 
 and Lysimachus enemies to Antigonus.' xix. 55, 5Q. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 * And while Antigonus was thus occupied (building 
 a navy from Lebanon) having his camp near the sea 
 shore, Seleucus came from Egypt with a hundred ships, 
 royally adorned and sailing well. And as he sailed 
 contemptuously by the camp, those of the allied cities, 
 all who took part with Antigonus, were much dis- 
 heartened ; for it was plain that their enemies, being 
 masters of the sea, would ravage those who opposed 
 them through friendship to Antigonus.' c. 58. 
 
 ' Ptolemy, then, sends Myrmedon the Athenian, with 
 ten thousand soldiers, and Polycletus with a hundred 
 ships, and Menelaus his brother, general of the whole. 
 These, after sailing to Cyprus, and there meeting Seleu- 
 cus with his fleet, held a council what they should do. 
 They determined that Polycletus with fifty ships should 
 sail to the Peloponnesus, and make war on Aristodemus, 
 and Alexander, and Polysperchon ; and Myrmedon and 
 the allies should go to Caria, and assist Cassander ; but 
 that Seleucus and Menelaus should stay in Cyprus with 
 Nicrocreon the king, and war against their adversaries. 
 Their forces being thus divided, Seleucus besieged and 
 took Cerynnia and Lapithus ; and not being able to 
 gain over the town of Citium, besieged it with all his 
 force, c. 62. 
 
 ^ And when Seleucus besought Ptolemy to give him 
 soldiers to go up with him to Babylon, he readily con- 
 sented, and told him that he would do every thing for 
 him in his power, until he should recover his former 
 satrapy.' c. 86. 
 
 *But Seleucus, after the defeat of Demetrius at Gaza 
 in Syria, receiving from Ptolemy not more than 800 
 foot soldiers and abont 200 horsemen, set out for Baby- 
 lon ; being so full of hope, that even if he had no forces 
 at all, he would have made the journey with his friends 
 and his own children. For he thought that the Baby- 
 lonians would readily receive him on account of their 
 former good will, and that Antigonus, with his forces 
 withdrawn to a great distance, had given a fair opening 
 to his own efforts. Such being his own spirit, his 
 
PTOLEMY AND SELEUCUS NICATOR. G7 
 
 friends, when they saw that very few troops were with 
 him, and that the enemies, against whom they marched, 
 had great armies in readiness, and rich supplies, and 
 a multitude of confederates, were not a little dishear- 
 tened. But Seleucus, seeing them cast down, cheered 
 them, and reminded them that those who had marched 
 with Alexander, and been promoted by him for valour, 
 ought not to trust in forces and money, but in experi- 
 ence and wisdom, through which he had wrought his 
 great exploits, celebrated by all men. He also bore 
 himself friendly towards the soldiers, as their equal, so 
 that all reverenced, and willingly took a share in his 
 venturous enterprize. 
 
 ' When he entered Babylonia, many of the natives 
 met him, and joining his band, said that they would 
 do whatever he fdeased. For, having been four years 
 the satrap of the country, he had behaved well to all, 
 procuring the good will of the populace, and had thus 
 prepared helpers long before, whenever he should think 
 it time to contend for the government. And Polyarchus 
 also came over to him, with more than a thousand 
 soldiers. But those who kept to the friendship of An- 
 tigonus, perceiving that the bent of the people could 
 not be restrained, fled to the citadel, of which Diphilus 
 was governor. But Seleucus, having besieged it, and 
 soon taken it by force, brought out his servants and 
 friends who had been there kept in prison by Antigonus 
 after his own departure into Egypt. Having done this, 
 he collected troops, and bought horses, which he distri- 
 buted to those who could use them. And conversing 
 as a friend with all, and cheering them with good hopes, 
 he made them ready and forward to share all dangers 
 along with him.' c. 90, 91. 
 
 The next passage has an interest of another kind, as 
 it shows almost the last stage in the desolation of Ba- 
 bylon. 
 
 ' Antigonus therefore, being anxious about the upper 
 satrapies, sent his son Demetrius with five thousand 
 
68 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Macedonian foot -soldiers, and ten thousand mercenaries, 
 and four thousand horsemen ; and charged him to go 
 up as far as Babylon, and, after recovering the satrapy, 
 to come down quickly to the sea ; Demetrius then, set- 
 ting out from Damascus in Syria, did zealously what 
 his father commanded. But Patrocles, who was ap- 
 pointed the commander of Babylon by Seleucus, learn- 
 ing that the enemies were in Mesopotamia, did not 
 venture to await their attack, as he had only a few men 
 with him : but he commanded the others to forsake the 
 city, and that some of them, leaving the Euphrates, 
 should flee into the desert, and that others, passing the 
 Tigris, should go into Suaiana, to Euteles, and the Ery- 
 thraean sea. But he himself, with his own soldiers, 
 using tlie defence of the rivers and ditches, kept in the 
 satrapy, both lying in ambush for the enemies, and 
 sending to Seleucus into Media about the state of affairs, 
 and exhorting him to come speedily to his succour. 
 And Demetrius, when he came to Babylon, and found 
 the city deserted, endeavoured to lay siege to the citadels, 
 and when he had taken one, gave it to the soldiers to 
 plunder, (xix. ]00.) 
 
 ' Antigonus, hearing of the victory, and elated by the 
 greatness of the success, assumed the diadem, and from 
 that time used the title of king ; and granted also to 
 Demetrius the same title and honour. But Ptolemy, 
 not being cast down by the defeats, himself also assumed 
 the diadem, and styled himself king in all his epistles. 
 In like manner the other chiefs, in rivalry, proclaimed 
 themselves kings, Seleucus, who had lately recovered 
 the upper satrapies, and Lysimachus and Cassander, who 
 preserved the shares assigned to them. 
 
 ^ At this time Seleucus also came from the upper sa- 
 trapies', and crossed into Cappadocia with a great force, 
 having prepared tents for his soldiers to winter. He 
 had twenty thousand foot-soldiers and twelve thousand 
 horsemen and horse-bowmen, four hundred and eighty 
 elephants, and more than a hundred scythe-bearing 
 chariots. The fortes then of the kings were collected in 
 
PTOLEMY AND SELEUCUS NICATOR. G9 
 
 this manner, having- all determined, in the next sum- 
 mer, to decide the war by their arms.' (xx. 113.) 
 
 Here the account in Diodorus closes, before the battle 
 of Ipsus, and the later victories, which crowned the 
 arms of Seleucus. The fragment of Dexippus briefly 
 completes the narrative. ' Seleucus, going up to Baby- 
 lon, and conquering the barbarians, reigned thirty-two 
 years, wherefore also he was called Nicanor. In the 
 thirty second year of his reign, having driven Lysima- 
 chus from Macedon, and being elated by the victory, he 
 was slain by Ptolemy Ceraunns, when about to rule over 
 the Macedonians.' The northern and eastern dominions 
 were thus united under his power before his death, so 
 that Appian calls him ^ the greatest of the kings after 
 Alexander.' 
 
 * Seleucus,' says Vaillant, ' was the greatest of all the 
 successors of Alexander, both in the extent of his domi- 
 nions, and the wisdom of his administration. He was 
 the terror of his enemies by his valour, and the father 
 of his subjects by his humanity. He possessed sixty- 
 two satrapies or great provinces, which all agreed to 
 celebrate his virtues. We may reckon thirt,y-four cities 
 that he founded, and to which he gave Greek names, 
 after peopling them with Macedonian colonies. He was 
 the friend of learning, and deserved the gratitude of the 
 Athenians, for sending back from Persia the library 
 which Xerxes had carried away ; by which he deserved 
 the statue of brass which they reared to him in one of 
 their porticos. In no degree elated by his grandeur, he 
 was wont to say, that if men knew what care is involved 
 in the affairs of government, even to w^rite letters and 
 answer those they receive, they would not be at the 
 trouble to pick up the diadem, if it had fallen on the 
 ground. As a proof of his prodigious strength, in a 
 sacrifice made by Alexander, when the bull had escaped, 
 he held it with his hands by the horns, and pulled it 
 back. 
 
 ' The memory of his strength and valour is perpetua- 
 ted even to our days by ancient monuments. There are 
 
70 CHAPTER V. 
 
 existing medals, in which he is represented, his head 
 covered with the skin of a lion, and on the reverse the 
 emblem of a furious bull.' 
 
 * Besides the famous Antioch, on the Orontes, he had 
 built sixteen other towns of the same name ; nine Se- 
 leucias, of which one is situate on the west bank of the 
 Tigris, opposite the present site of Bagdad ; three Apa- 
 meas, and one Stratonice.' 
 
 Three principal marks attest the greatness of this 
 prince ; the era which dates from his reign, and the two 
 famous cities, Seleucia and Antioch, of which he was 
 the founder. For the first we may consult the Bene- 
 dictines. 
 
 ' The second era was commonly and justly styled, 
 the era of the Seleucidae, or Greeks ; also, the era of 
 the Syro-Macedonians. Its beginning is in the year of 
 Rome 442, twelve years after the death of Alexander, 
 and 311 years and four months before the vulgar 
 era ; the epoch of the first conquests of Seleucus Nica- 
 tor in that part of the East which formed afterward 
 the vast empire of Syria. It obtained not only in the 
 monarchy of the Seleucidae, but among nearly all the 
 people of the Levant, and has even continued to our 
 day. But all who adopted it did not date it from the 
 same month or day. The Greeks of Syria began it on 
 the first of Gorpiaens, or Elul, which answers to our 
 September, and this is still the practice of the catholics 
 of Syria. The other Syrians, from the first of Hyperbe- 
 retaeus, or Tisri,' which answers to our October ; and 
 they are now followed by the Nestorians and Jacobites 
 of the East.' 
 
 ' The Jews, after t^ey were subject to the kings of 
 Syria, also adopted the era of the Seleucidae. They 
 called it Tarik Dilkarnaim, or the Era of Contracts, 
 because they used it in their purchases and civil acts. 
 They began it from the autumnal equinox. It is only 
 about 300 years ago, it is said, since they abandoned it 
 for another, which they now employ. The Arabs, with 
 whom this Era is still in use, some of them began it 
 
PTOLEMY AND SELEUCUS NICATOR. 71 
 
 with Alfragan, on the first of September ; and others, 
 as Albategnius, on the first of October.' (L'Art. de Verif. 
 les Dates.) 
 
 ' Seleucia> on the western bank of the Tigris, about 
 forty -five miles north of ancient Babylon, was the 
 capital of the Macedonian conquests in Upper Asia. 
 Many ages after the fall of their empire, Seleucia re- 
 tained the genuine characters of a Greek colony ; arts, 
 military virtue, and the love of freedom. The indepen- 
 dent republic was governed by a senate of three hun- 
 dred nobles, the people consisted of six hundred thou- 
 sand citizens ; and as long as concord prevailed among 
 the orders of the state, they viewed with contempt the 
 power of the Parthian s. . . Under the reign of Marcus, 
 the Roman generals penetrated as far as Ctesiphon and 
 Seleucia. They were received as friends by the Greek 
 colony ; they attacked as enemies the seat of the Par- 
 thian kings ; yet both cities experienced the same treat- 
 ment. The sack and conflagration of Seleucia, with 
 the massacre of three hundred thousand of the inhabi- 
 tants, tarnished the glory of the Roman triumph. 
 Seleucia, already exhausted by the neighbourhood of 
 too powerful a rival, sank under the fatal blow.' (Gibb. 
 Decl. c. viii.) 
 
 Such was the end of this metropoMs; by which the 
 king of the north sought to perpetuate his greatness. 
 At the foundation of Seleucia, the inhabitants of Ba- 
 bylon were compelled by him to migrate to the new 
 city ; now the very ruins of Seleucia have perished. 
 But still, for nearly five centuries, it was one of the 
 noblest cities of the East, and spoke the fame and great- 
 ness of its original founder. 
 
 Another city, founded by the same prince, has been 
 more fortunate. To immortalize his renown, he 
 built Antioch on the Orontes, and named it from his 
 father and son, who, both alike, were called Antiochus. 
 * This town quickly succeeded to Babylon in being the 
 seat of the Syrian Empire, and Queen of the East. 
 But Seleucus did not give it size or magnificence enough 
 
72 CHAPTER V. 
 
 to deserve this title. Antioch, in its splendour, was 
 enclosed in a circuit of about two thousand paces, which 
 compassed four towns, separated from each other by 
 four walls, and their separate fortifications. The first 
 was built by Seleucus ; the second by those who resorted 
 thither when it became the capital of the empire, and 
 were attracted by the privileges granted to its citizens ; 
 the third by Seleucus Callinicus ; the fourth by Anti- 
 ochus Epiphanes.' (Greyon. Hist, of Seleucidae. viii. 35.) 
 Thus various and profound are the traces which this 
 prince has left of his actions and greatness on the page 
 of history, and on the face of the earth. Antioch, next 
 to Rome, Constantinople and Alexandria, the first city 
 of the known world, and the seat of one of the four 
 patriarchates, owes its foundation to Seleucus, and bears 
 indirect witness to the truth of these words, that " his 
 dominion was a great dominion." History and geo- 
 graphy, medals and monuments, all conspire to illus- 
 trate the words of Divine prophecy, and to assure us 
 that the present vision was indeed noted in * the Scrip- 
 ture of truth,' that secret volume of the Divine coun- 
 sels, which is perpetually unrolling its mysteries amidst 
 all the conflicts and confusion of time. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ANTIOCHUS THEUS AJVD PTOLEMY PHILADELPHUS. 
 Dan. XI. 6—9. — And in the end of years they shall join themselves 
 
 TOGETHER ; FOR THE KING'S DAUGHTER OF THE SOUTH SHALL COME TO 
 THE KING OF THE NORTH TO MAKE AN AGREEMENT : BUT SHE SHALL NOT 
 RETAIN THE POWER OF THE ARM ; NEITHER SHALL HE STAND, NOR HIS 
 ARM: BUT SHE SHALL BE GIVEN UP, AND THEY THAT BROUGHT HER, AND 
 HE WHOM SHE BROUGHT FORTH, AND HE THAT STRENGTHENED HER IN 
 THESE TIMES. BUT OUT OP A BRANCH OF HER BOOTS SHALL ONE STANB 
 UP IN HIS ESTATE, WHICH SHALL COME WITH AN ARMY, AND SHALL ENTER 
 INTO THE FORTRESS OF THE KING OF THE NORTH, AND SbALL DEAL 
 AGAINST THEM, AND SHALL PREVAIL . AND HE SHALL ALSO CARRY CAP- 
 TIVES INTO Egypt their gods, with their princes, and with their 
 
 PRECIOUS VESSELS OF SILVER AND OF GOLD ; SHE SHALL CONTINUE MORE 
 YEARS THAN THE KING OF THE SOUTH. So THE KING OF THE SOUTH 
 SHALL COMB INTO HIS KINGDOM, AND SHALL RETURN INTO HIS OWN LAND. 
 
 In these four verses a later stage of the Syrian and 
 Egyptian history is set before us, in the marriage of 
 Berenice, daughter of Ptolemy Philadelphus, with An- 
 tiochus Theus, the grandson of the great Seleucus. As 
 the prophecy contains the actions of several different 
 monarchs, it will be convenient, first of all, to exhibit 
 their dates, and the succession of their different reigns. 
 
 A. C. 
 
 323 Ptolemy Soter (satrap) 
 Oct. 312 ..... Seleucus Nicator. 
 Nov. 305 . . . (king) 
 Nov. 285 Ptolemy Philadelphus. 
 
 Jan. 280 Antiochu s Soter. 
 
 (Jan.) 261 Antiochus Theus. 
 
74 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 A. C. 
 
 (Nov.) 247 Ptolemy Euergetes. 
 
 Jan. 246 Seleucus Callinicus. 
 
 Aug. 226 .Seleucus Ceraunus. 
 
 Aug. 228 Antiochus Magnus. 
 
 Nov. 222 Ptolemy Philopator. 
 Nov. 205 Ptolemy Epiphanes. 
 
 Oct. 187 Seleucus Philopator. 
 
 Oct. 181 Ptolemy Philometor. 
 
 Aug. 175 Antiochus Epiphanes. 
 
 Jan. 169 Ptolemy Euergetes II. 
 
 Dec. 164 Antiochus Eupator. 
 
 Of these kings the following are referred to in the 
 prophecy, in the order of their several reigns ; — Ptolemy 
 Soter and Seleucus Nicator, v. 5 ; Ptolemy Philadel- 
 phus, and Antiochus Theus, v. 9 ; Ptolemy Euergetes 
 and Seleucus Callinicus, v. 7, 8 ; Seleucus Ceraunus 
 and Antiochus Magnus, v. 10 ; Ptolemy Philopator, v. 
 11, 12 ; Ptolemy Epiphanes, v. 14,17 ; Seleucus Philo- 
 pator, V. 20 ; Antiochus Epiphanes, v. 21 ; and Ptolemy 
 Philometor, v. 25. But it is time to resume the thread 
 of the narrative. 
 
 " In the end of years they shall join themselves to- 
 gether." The phrase clearly imports some considerable 
 interval of time. Accordingly this marriage seems to 
 have occurred about the year a. c. 250, and nearly thirty 
 years after the death of the first Seleucus. Antiochus 
 Soter, the son of the great Seleucus, from whom Antioch 
 was named, is not mentioned in the prophecy. His 
 reign of nineteen years was marked by no event of his- 
 torical importance, and he was slain in a battle with the 
 Gauls. 
 
 Ptolemy Philadelphus, the king of the north here 
 mentioned, reigned thirty-six years from the death of 
 his father. Athenaeus mentions the museum and library 
 which he founded. Eusebius tells us, a.c. 276, that 
 * Ptolemy set free the captive Jews in Egypt. He also 
 sent royal presents to Jerusalem to Eleazer the high- 
 priest, and took pains that the books of the Jews should 
 
ANTIOCHUS THEUS AND PTOLEMY PHILADELPHUS. 75 
 
 be translated from the Hebrew to the Greek tongue, 
 and ordered the versions to be laid up in the Alexan- 
 drian library, which he had founded.' Vitruvius re- 
 marks : * When the Attalian kings had founded a noble 
 library at Pergamus for the public benefit, Ptolemy, ex- 
 cited by an earnest emulation, laboured to provide one 
 of the same kind at Alexandria. And when he had 
 accomplished this with the utmost diligence, he did not 
 think it enough, unless he took pains for its increase 
 by propagating the seeds of literature. Therefore, he 
 dedicated games to the Muses and Apollo.' 
 
 The king of the north is Antiochus Theus, the grand- 
 son of Seleucus. ' When the fore -mentioned Antiochus 
 Soter was dead, Antiochus,surnamed Deus (the God,) 
 succeeded and reigned fifteen years. He died of disease at 
 Ephesus 01. 133, 2, (a.c. 247,) at forty years of age. He 
 had two sons, Seleucus, called Callinicus, and Antiochus 
 (Hierax) ; and two daughters by Laodice, daughter of 
 Achseus, of whom Mithridates married one, and Arathas 
 the other. Appian thus speaks of the fact in the sacred 
 prophecy. ' When Seleucus was dead, these received the 
 kingdom of the Syrians in succession, son from father : 
 Antiochus first, who was enamoured of his step-mother ; 
 and was called Soter, because he expelled the Gauls, 
 when they had invaded Asia from Europe. Secondly, 
 another Antiochus who sprang from this marriage, who 
 was styled Theus by the Milesians, because he took 
 away their tyrant Timarchus. But this god his wife 
 slew by poison ; for he had two, Laodice and Berenice, 
 from love and from covenant, the latter of them the 
 daughter of Ptolemy Philadelphus. And Laodice slew 
 him, and with him Berenice and her infant ; and Ptole- 
 my the son of Philadelphus, avenging these things, slew 
 Laodice, and invaded Syria, and marched as far as 
 Babylon.* 
 
 The account in Jerome, drawn partly from authori- 
 ties which have now perished, agrees with these brief 
 fragments of Appian and others, which still remain. Of 
 Antiochus Theus he writes as follows : * He waged 
 
76 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 many wars against Ptolemy Philadelphus, the second 
 who reigned over the Egyptians, and fought with all 
 the powers of Babylon and the East. Ptolemy then, 
 after many years wishing to end this troublesome con- 
 flict, gave his own daughter, named Berenice, for a 
 wife to Antiochus, who had two sons by his former 
 wife Laodice ; and he led her as far as Pelusium, and 
 gave her for dowry many thousands of gold and silver ; 
 whence he was styled Phernopliorus, or the giver of 
 dowry. But Antiochus, after some time, overcom^e 
 with love, received Laodice and her sons again into the 
 palace. And she, fearing the wavering mind of her 
 husband, lest fie should recal Berenice, slew him with 
 poison by her attendants. ' 
 
 The same marriage is mentioned by Polybius, as ex- 
 tracted in Athenaeus (1. 2, p. 45, Casaub.). ' The second 
 king of Egypt, called Philadelphus, having given his 
 daughter Berenice to Antiochus the king of Syria, was 
 careful to send her the water of the Nile, that his daugh- 
 ter might drink of this only, as Polybius records.' 
 
 Thus were the words of the prediction fulfilled. Be- 
 renice did not retain the power of the arm. The subtle 
 stroke of policy was abortive. The plan which was to 
 unite the two kingdoms by a clever expedient, in defi- 
 ance of the first law of God, only aggravated the feud 
 between them, as it usually fares with such schemes of 
 skilful ungodliness ; she was given up, and put to death 
 by Laodice ; and they that brought her, of whom Poly- 
 aenus tells us, that ' the women about her endeavouring 
 to defend her, died at the same time ;' and he whom she 
 brought forth, her son, who, as Appian tells us, was 
 slain along with her ; and he that strengthened her in 
 those times, her husband Antiochus, who fell a victim 
 to Laodice's jealousy and revenge. Thus the wicked- 
 ness of man only fulfilled the sure counsel of God. 
 
 " But out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up 
 in his estate." The words refer to Ptolemy Euergetes, 
 brother of Berenice, who succeeded to the throne of 
 Egypt two or three months before these hateful mur- 
 
ANTIOCHUS THEUS AND PTOLEMY PHILADELPHUS. 77 
 
 dei*s took place, and who presently avenged his sister's 
 death. He is fitly called a branch from her roots, being 
 descended from the same parents. 
 
 In the scanty remains which are left to us of this pe- 
 riod, it seems the simplest plan to present the authorities 
 themselves, so far as they exist. Bishop Newton has 
 combined most of them in his Commentary. 
 
 First, Jerome gives us the following account. ' Pto- 
 lemy Euergetes came with a great army, and entered 
 the province of the king of the north ; that is, of Seleu- 
 cus, surnamed Callinicus, who was reigning in Syria 
 with his mother Laodice, and prevailed over them ; and 
 obtained such victories, that he took Syria and Cilicia, 
 and the upper parts beyond the Euphrates, and nearly 
 all Asia. And when he heard that a sedition was arisen 
 in Egypt, he plundered the kingdom of Seleucus, and 
 caiTied off forty thousand talents of silver, and precious 
 vessels, and statues of the gods, two thousand five hun- 
 dred, among which were those also that Cambyses had 
 captured in Egypt and carried into Persia. In short, 
 the race of the Egyptians, given up to idolatry, because 
 he had brought back their gods after many years, called 
 him Euergetes, or Benefactor.' 
 
 The very surname of this king, it thus appears, arose 
 from the fulfilment of the prophecy in the restoration 
 of the Egyptian idols. Polyaenus says, further, that, he 
 made himself master of all the country from Mount 
 Taurus as far as India, without war or battle ;' and 
 Justin, that ' if he had not been recalled by a domestic 
 sedition, he would have possessed the whole kingdom of 
 Seleucus.' Poly bins, in his account of Antiochus the 
 Great, alludes further to these conquests. 
 
 ' Seleucia had been possessed by an Egyptian garri- 
 son from the time of Ptolemy Euergetes. For this 
 prince, in resentment of the death of Berenice, had en- 
 tered Syria with an army, and made himself master of 
 this city. The situation of Seleucia, with the country 
 round it, is as follows. The city stands very near the 
 sea, between Cilicia and Phoenice, at the foot of a moun- 
 
78 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 tain of uncommon height, which is called Coryphaeus. 
 This mountain on the western side is washed by the 
 sea that divides Cyprus and Phoenice, and on the other 
 side towards the east, it commands the country that lies 
 round Antioch and Seleucia. The city itself being 
 situated on the southern side of the mountain, and 
 separated from it by a valley very deep and abrupt, 
 winds away towards the sea, and is surrounded on almost 
 every side by broken rocks and precipices. In the plain, 
 between the city and the sea, are the markets and suburbs 
 which are strongly fortified with walls. The city also 
 is enclosed with walls of uncommon strength and beauty, 
 and is adorned with temples and other sumptuous edi- 
 fices. On the side towards the sea it can only be ap- 
 proached by a steep ascent of steps, which are cut close 
 and deep into the rocks. Not far from the city is the 
 mouth of the river Orontes ; which takes its source 
 near the Libanus and Antilibanus, and passing through 
 the plains of Assyria, flows on to Antioch, and having 
 cleansed that city of its filth, falls at last into the sea 
 of Cyprus, near Seleucia.' On the accession of Anti- 
 oclius the Great, ApoUophanes, one of his counsellors, 
 urges the disgrace, that ' Seleucia, the capital of thelcing- 
 dom, and their sacred seat of empire, was still suffered 
 to remain in the hands of Ptolemy.' 
 
 The accounts in Eusebius and Justin, throw farther 
 light on the same history. 
 
 * The elder son (of Antiochus Theus) Seleucus, sur- 
 named Callinicus, took the kingdom 01. 183.3 (a.c. 
 246) and held it till 01. 188.2 (a.c. 227). On his death 
 his son Seleucus Ceraunus succeeded. But while Cal- 
 linicus was still alive, Antiochus Hierax his younger 
 brother, impatient of control, obtained a helper and 
 favourer in Alexander, who held the city of Sardis, 
 and was brother of his mother Laodice. He employed 
 also Gaulish auxiliaries. Presently, in a fresh battle 
 in Cappadocia against Mithridates, twenty thousand of 
 his troops were slain, and he himself disappeared. But 
 Ptolemy seized on the regions of Syria with Damascus, 
 
ANTIOCHUS THEUS AND PTOLEMY PHILADELPHUS. 79 
 
 and besieged Orthosia, which was relieved 01. 134.3, 
 (a.c. 242) by the arrival of Seleucus. The brother of 
 Seleucus, roving over Phrygia, loaded the inhabitants 
 with tribute. While pursuing Attains into Thrace, 
 after a battle in Caria, he lost his own life. The next 
 year Seleucus Callinicus came to his end.' 
 
 The decree of the Smyrnaeans, in the Arundel mar- 
 bles, illustrates further the reign of this Seleucus. It 
 begins in these words : — 
 
 It has seemed good to the people by the advice of the generals. 
 Since before now, when the king Seleucus passed over into 
 Seleucis, and many and great dangers surrounded our city and 
 coimtr}'', the people maintained their good will and friendship 
 towards him, neither overwhelmed by the inroad of the adver- 
 saries, nor caring for the loss of their possessions, but counting all 
 things of less importance than to persevere in their choice, and to 
 help his affairs, to the extent of their power, as they stood from 
 the beginning ; wherefore also the king Seleucus, being reverent 
 to the gods, and piously affected towards his parents, being also of 
 noble mind, and wise to repay kindness to his benefactors, 
 honoured our city, both for the good will of the people, and its 
 zeal for his affairs, and because his father Antiochus Theus (the 
 God,) and his mother Stratonice Thea (the Goddess,) have 
 temples among us, being honoured with worthy honours both 
 publicly by the people, and in private by each of the citizens, and 
 he has (fonfirmed to the people free laws and democracy ; he has 
 written also to the kings and rulers, and cities and tribes, claiming 
 that they should allow the temple of the Stratonician Venus to 
 be a sanctuary, and our city sacred and a sanctuary ; the king 
 now having passed over into Seleucis, the generals eager to sustain 
 the affairs of the king beneficially, have sent to the exiles in 
 Magnesia, and the horsemen and soldiers in the open country, and 
 have sent out from themselves one Dionysius, to exhort them to 
 maintain their friendship and alliance with king Seleucus for ever. 
 
 A further record of the expedition of Ptolemy re- 
 mains, in the Monumentum Adulitanum, published in 
 1631 by Leo Allatius at Rome. The inscription con- 
 tains these words : — 
 
 Ptolemy Euergetes, having received from his father the 
 sovereignty of Egypt, Lybia, Syria, Phenice, Cyprus, Lycia, 
 Caria, and the Cyclades, assembled a mighty army of horse and 
 
80 CHAPTER VT. 
 
 foot, with a great fleet, and elephants out of Troglodytica and 
 Ethiopia, some of which had been taken by his father, and the 
 rest by himself, and brought from thence, and trained up for war. 
 With this great force he sailed into Asia, and having conquered 
 all the provinces which lie on this side the Euphrates, Cilicia, 
 Pamphylia, Ionia, the Hellespont and Thrace, he crossed that 
 river with all the forces of the conquered countries, and the kings 
 of those nations, and reduced Mesopotamia, Babylonia, Susia, 
 Persia, Media, and the country as far as Bactria. 
 
 The greatness and power of tlie Egyptian kingdom, 
 under the three first Ptolemies, is further alluded to in 
 another passage of Polybius. 
 
 ' While they were masters of Cyprus, and of Coele 
 Syria, they lay close upon the kings of Syria, both by 
 land and sea. Possessed also of the most considerable 
 cities, ports, and harbours along the coast, from Pam- 
 phylia towards the Hellespont, and as far as Lysima- 
 chia, they were always able to control the powers of 
 Asia and the islands. And even with respect to Thrace 
 and Macedon, they were still ready to attend to all 
 commotions, and repel every danger that might threaten 
 them, while they held a garrison in Acros, and Ma- 
 ronea, and in some cities also beyond them. By this 
 wise policy, while their power was spread wide abroad, 
 they reigned in full security in Egypt, which "was co- 
 vered against all attacks by the barrier of their distant 
 provinces. It was not therefore without good reason 
 that they still watched over the condition of these coun- 
 tries with the utmost care.' 
 
 The king of the south, it is here predicted, would 
 continue more years than the king of the north. Ac- 
 cordingly the death of Seleucus Callinicus occurred 
 about August, a.c. 226, and that of Euergetes about 
 November, a.c. 222, or rather more than four years 
 later. 
 
 Thus, however brief and scanty the remains of this 
 period, every feature in the prophecy is confirmed by 
 the fragments of heathen writers. The very name of 
 Euergetes is a memorial of the idol gods whom he re- 
 
ANTIOCHUS THEUS AND PTOLEMY PHILADELPHUS. 81 
 
 stored to Egypt. The cause of his expedition, as Poly- 
 biuSj Appiaii, and Justin declare, was to revenge the 
 murder of his sister Berenice. He entered into the 
 fortress of the king of the nortli, or Seleucia, the port 
 of Antioch, * the capital city, and sacred seat of their 
 empire, surrounded by broken rocks and precipices, and 
 fortified by walls of uncommon strength and beauty.' 
 It was this same fortress, in later days, which was wit- 
 ness to a campaign of a very different kind, in the first 
 missionary circuit of the great apostle. We are told 
 that " Barnabas and Saul, being sent forth by the Holy 
 Ghost, departed unto Seleucia." It was the same Spirit 
 of prophecy, who gave this prediction, and afterwards 
 hallowed this scene of heathen strife by the first great 
 message of salvation to the heathen world. The king 
 of the north also ' prevailed ' in this expedition against 
 Syria, and the monument just given describes the great 
 extent of his transitory conquests. ^ So the king of the 
 south came into his own kingdom, and returned into his 
 own land.' 
 
 These events suggest many lessons to the Christian ; 
 but the most striking and important is the folly of the 
 ungodly expedients of worldly polic3^ The marriage 
 of Berenice with Antiochus was designed to close a 
 tedious and doubtful war. But it was an act of ini- 
 quity, since Antiochus was married already. And it 
 recoiled upon its authors. It led, first, to the murder 
 of Berenice and Antiochus, then to the death of Laodice, 
 the author of the murder, and the degradation of the 
 Syrian kingdom ; and soon after, to calamities not less 
 bitter and lasting on the kingdom of Egypt. How far 
 wiser to steer by the maxims of Divine truth, than to 
 plunge blindly and madly into acts of rebellion against 
 the laws of God, under the vain pretence of securing 
 union, removing irritation, and healing the breaches of 
 a distracted kingdom ! Sooner or later, the Providence 
 of God will confound all such schemes of ungodly 
 policy, and cause them to recoil upon the nations which 
 follow them, to their perpetual shame. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 SELEUCUS CERAUNUS AND ANTIOCHUS THE GREAT. 
 
 Dan. XI. 10 — 13. — But nis sons shall be stirred up, and shall assem- 
 ble A multitude of great forces : AND ONE SHALL CERTAINLY COME, 
 AND OVERFLOW, AND PASS THROUGH : THEN SHALL HE RETURN, AND BE 
 STIRRED UP, EVEN TO HIS FORTRESS. AND THE KING OF THE SOUTH SHALL 
 BE MOVED WITH CHOLER, AND SHALL COME FORTH AND FIGHT WITH HIM, 
 EVEN WITH THE KING OF THE NORTH : AND HE SHALL SET FORTH A GREAT 
 MULTITUDE ; BUT THE MULTITUDE SHALL BE GIVEN INTO HIS HAND. AND 
 WHEN HE HATH TAKEN AWAY THE MULTITUDE, HIS HEART SHALL BE 
 LIFTED UP ; AND HE SHALL CAST DOWN MANY TEN THOUSANDS : BUT HE 
 SHALL NOT BE STRENGTHENED BY IT. FOB THE KING OF THE NORTH 
 SHALL RETURN, AND SHALL SET FORTH A MULTITUDE GREATER THAN THE 
 FORMER, AND SHALL CERTAINLY COME AFTER CERTAIN YEARS WITH A 
 GREAT ARMY AND WITH MUCH RICHES. 
 
 These words continue the history, after the death of 
 Seleucus Callinicus, through the fi;-st part of the reign 
 of Antiochus the Great. Their meaning, when compared 
 with those which go before and follow after, is very plain. 
 The king of the south, who avenged the death of his 
 sister, was to continue longer than the king of the north. 
 The sons of the latter king, after their father's death, 
 will seek to avenge the invasion of their country. One 
 of them, surviving the other, will actually seek, after 
 other conquests, to invade Egypt. The king of the south, 
 whether the same monarch as before, or his successor, 
 will resist and defeat the invasion. But his victory will 
 not increase his strength. After some years the king of 
 the north will return with added forces, and prevail 
 
SELEUCUS CERANNUS AND ANTIOCHUS THE GREAT. 88 
 
 against his rival. It now remains to compare this 2)rophe- 
 tic outline with the facts which profane history reveals. 
 And first, we learn from Appian this brief account. 
 ' After Antiochus Theus, Seleucus the son of Theus and 
 Laodice, became king of Syria, whose surname was 
 Callinicus ; and after Seleucus, two sons of Seleucus, 
 each of them in the order of his age, Seleucus and An- 
 tiochus. But Seleucus being weak and poor, and his 
 army untractable, his friends conspired against him 
 with poison, and he reigned only two years.' Accord- 
 ing to Jerome, ' when Seleucus Ceraurius, the elder bro- 
 ther, was slain in Phrygia in the third year of his reign, 
 b}^ the treachery of Nicanor and Apaturius, the army in 
 Syria called his brother Antiochus, surnamed the Great, 
 from Babylon to the kingdom.' And Eusebius, ' His 
 son Alexander succeeded him, who preferred to be called 
 Seleucus, and was styled Ceraunus by the army. He 
 had a brother named Antiochus. And when Seleucus 
 had ruled his father's kingdom three years, he was 
 treacherously slain in Phrygia by one Nicanor, a Gaul. 
 01. 139.1 (a. c. 224.)' Sulpicius briefly confirms the 
 same account. Polybius also alludes to the fact in 
 three different places of his history. * About the same 
 time Ptolemy also (Euergetes) died of some disease, 
 and Ptolemy Philopator succeeded to the kingdom. Se- 
 leucus, the son of Seleucus Callinicus, who was also 
 named Pegon, being likewise dead, his brother Antio- 
 chus reigned in Syria. For it is remarkable that as 
 those who first obtained these kingdoms after Alexan- 
 der, Seleucus, Ptolemy, and Lysimachus, all left the 
 world in the 124th 01,>Tnpiad, so the princes now men- 
 tioned died together likewise in the 189th.' (ii. 71.') 
 ' But Seleucus being dead, and Seleucus the eldest of 
 his sons having received the kingdom, Antiochus crossed 
 the Taurus along with him on account of his affinity, 
 about two years before the time now mentioned. For 
 the young Seleucus, as soon as he came to the throne, 
 perceiving that Attains had rendered all the dynasty on 
 this side of Taurus under his own power, was eager to 
 
 G 2 
 
84 CHAPTER Vll. 
 
 lend tliem succour. But having crossed Taurus with a 
 great force, he was treacherously slain by Apaturius 
 the Gaul, and Nicanor, and so lost his life.' (iv. 48.) 
 And again, v. 5. * Antiochus was the youngest son of 
 Seleucus, surnamed Callinicus. As soon as his father 
 was dead, and his elder brother succeeded to the throne 
 in right of his birth, he retired from court and fixed his 
 residence in Upper Asia. But some time afterwards 
 when his brother had passed mount Taurus, and was 
 deprived of his life by treachery, as we related before, 
 he returned and took possession of the kingdom, leaving 
 to Achaeus the government of the country on this side 
 of mount Taurus. 
 
 " And one shall certainly come and overflow, and 
 pass over ; and he shall return and be stirred up, even 
 to his fortress." These words relate to the younger son 
 of Callinicus, Antiochus the Great, who succeeded after 
 the murder of his brother by Nicanor, and reigned, ac- 
 cording to Appian, Eusebius, and Sulpitius, thirty-six 
 full years, a.c. 223 — 187. His reign occupies ten verses 
 of the prophecy, and is happily given us in Polybius and 
 Josephus more fully than those of his predecessors, for 
 whom we have only scattered fragments of history. 
 
 This first stage of his reign is described in Polybius 
 v. 5. On his accession, he left to Achseus the govern- 
 ment west of Taurus, and assigned Media to Molon, 
 and Persia to Alexander, Molon's brother. These, how- 
 ever, in the hope of help from Achaeus, and out of their 
 dread of Hermias, the wicked minister of Antiochus, 
 threw off their allegiance. ' Hermias had been en- 
 trusted with the supreme direction of the kingdom by 
 Seleucus, the brother of Antiochus, when he set out to 
 mount Taurus.' This crafty minister urged that ' the 
 king should lay aside all thoughts of marching against 
 Molon, and turn his arms against the king of Egypt . . . 
 for he was persuaded that Ptolemy, a prince immersed 
 in sloth and pleasure, might be attacked with little 
 hazard ; and he never ceased to press the king to enter 
 Coele Syria with an army ; thinking that if this young 
 
SELEUCUS CEEAUNUS AND ANTIOCHUS THE GREAT. 85 
 
 prince were once enclosed on every side by war, and 
 perplexed with difficulties, he would never inquire into 
 his former faults, or make any attempt to divest him of 
 his power.' For this end he forged a letter from Ptolemy 
 to Achseus, urging him to assume the royal diadem, and 
 promising to aid him with ships and money, ' Antio- 
 chus gave full credit to this letter, and was now fixed 
 in his design of invading Ccele Syria without delay.' 
 
 But while Antiochus, under the control of Hermias, 
 was marching by Laodicea and Libanus into Coele Syria, 
 he was not only repulsed by Theodotus at Gerrha, but 
 heard of the total defeat of Xenaetus his general, by Mo- 
 lon,who made himself master of Seleucia on the Tigris, 
 and Babylon. Moved by these events, Antiochus adopted 
 the[advice of Epigenes, contrary to that of Hermias, and 
 marched against the rebels. ' The king now advanced 
 to the Euphrates, and continuing his march came to 
 Antiochin Mygdonia, about the beginning of the winter.' 
 After the cold was past ' they divided the ai-my into 
 three separate bodies, passed the Tigris in three different 
 parts, and came to Dura, which was then besieged by 
 one of the generals of Molon. The siege was raised on 
 their approach. They then continued their inarch 
 without delay, and on the eighth day passed the Oris- 
 cus, and arrived at Apollonia. In the battle that fol- 
 lowed, part of Molon's troops deserted to the king, and 
 Molon upon this killed himself with his own hands.' 
 
 ' The king, elate with his success, resolved now to 
 turn his arms against Artabazanes, who governed the 
 Atropatians and some other neighbouring tribes, the 
 most considerable of all the princes in strength and 
 
 power He began the march with all his forces, 
 
 passed beyond the Zagrus, and entered the territory of 
 Artabazanes, which lies close to Media. This kingdom 
 having never been subdued by Alexander, had remained 
 entire from the destruction of the Persian Empire, But 
 Artabazanes, being struck with terror at the approach 
 of the king, and now far advanced in age, submitted 
 without reserve to the conditions that were imposed on 
 
86 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 him.' Soon after Hermias was slain by a conspiracy, 
 with the approbation of Antiochus, who, after passing 
 over these distant and before unconquered regions, 
 * directed his route back again to Syria.' 
 
 " Then shall he return, and be stirred up even to his 
 fortress." This fortress here named, refers us naturally 
 to the former verses, where " the king of the south" was 
 said to " enter into the fortress of the king of the north." 
 The latter, or rather his son and successor, after his 
 foreign conquests, is naturally desirous to recover the 
 citadel of his own kingdom, and stirs up his strength 
 to remove this national disgrace. In harmony with the 
 prediction, the history is continued as follows. 
 
 ' As soon as the king arrived at home, he sent letters 
 to Achaeus, filled with reproaches, because he had dared 
 to place the diadem on his head, and usurped the name 
 of king ; and assured him that he was well acquainted 
 with the measures he had concerted with Ptolemy, and 
 his rebellious projects. For while Antiochus was en- 
 gaged against Artabazanes, Achaeus, persuaded that he 
 would perish in the war, or that he himself might enter 
 Syria with an army before his return from a country 
 so remote, marched from Lydia with his army ; and 
 when he arrived at Laodicea in Phrygia, he first assumed 
 the diadem, and wrote letters in the royal name to all 
 the cities. But when he was just ready to enter Lyca- 
 onia, the troops perceiving that he meant to lead them 
 against their natural prince, fell into discontent and 
 mutiny. Achasus therefore desisted from his project, 
 and changing the direction of his march, pillaged the 
 province of Pisidia, and thus regaining the confidence 
 and favour of the troops, he returned home. But Anti- 
 ochus was infonned of all that was designed against 
 him. He sent messengers therefore to reproach Achae- 
 us, and meanwhile used all diligence in preparing for 
 the war against Ptolemy.' 
 
 As the spring approached, having drawn his forces to 
 Apamea, he consulted with his friends, how he might 
 best enter Coele Syria. After many discourses, Apollo- 
 
SELEUCUS CERAUNUS AND ANTIOCHUS THE GREAT. 87 
 
 phanes, wlio was a native of Seleucia, cut short every 
 opinion that had been proposed, and said, 'that it 
 seemed in a high degree absurd to show such eagerness 
 and haste to conquer Coele Syria ; while at the same 
 time Seleucia, the capital of the kingdom and their 
 sacred seat of empire, was suffered to reraain in the 
 hands of Ptolemy ; that besides the dislionour that was 
 reflected on the king, from suifering his chief city to be 
 held by an Egyptian garrison, the place itself would 
 aff'ord man}^ advantages for the conduct of the war ; 
 that while an enemy was master of it, there was a con- 
 stant obstacle in the way of all their enterprises ; since 
 w^henever they should advance into a distant province 
 they would need no less pains to secure the posts at 
 home, than for the expedition abroad ; but that if they 
 could once regain possession of this place, as their own 
 kingdom would be secured from insult, the happy situ- 
 ation of the city would enable to pursue with great ad- 
 vantage all their other projects, both by sea and land.' 
 These sentiments were aj)proved by all ; and it was re- 
 solved to begin the war by attempting to take Seleucia, 
 which had been possessed by an Egyptian garrison from 
 the time of Ptolemy Energetes. For this prince, in re- 
 sentment for the death of Berenice, had entered Syria 
 with an army, and made himself master of this city. 
 When tlie affair was thus determined, the king ordered 
 Diognetus to steer his course towards Seleucia with the 
 fleet, and himself began his march from Apamea. ' 
 
 The description of Seleucia follows, which has been 
 already given, and the history then continues. ' An- 
 tiochus found means to gain some of the inferior 
 officers to his party, and trusting to their assistance, he 
 resolved immediately to attack the city on the side to- 
 wards the sea, with the naval forces, and with the land 
 army on the opposite side. He divided the troops into 
 three bodies, and having promised crowns and great 
 rewards to the officers and soldiers, he posted Zeuxis 
 against the gates that led to Antioch, and Hermogenes 
 on the side towards Dioscurium. Ardys and Diognetus 
 
»» CHAPTER VIT. 
 
 were commanded to attack the port and suburbs. The 
 signal was given for the attack, and the troops advanced 
 from every part with vigour. When the king was 
 master of the suburbs, the officers who were joined to 
 his interests ran together to Leontius, the governor, 
 and urged him to send to Antiochus and obtain condi- 
 tions from him, before the city was stormed. Leontius 
 not suspecting their treachery, and himself also struck 
 by their pretended consternation, sent and demanded 
 life and safety for all within the city. The king pro- 
 mised that those of free condition should be safe ; their 
 number was about six thousand. He then entered the 
 city, and not only spared the inhabitants, but permitted 
 those who had fled to return, and restored their posses- 
 sions and former rights. He also secured the port and 
 citadel by a sufficient garrison.' 
 
 Thus the king of the North, after " passing over " to 
 distant conquests in the East, " returned, and was stirred 
 up " against his own fortress," whicli he now recovered 
 from the king of Egypt. Still prosecuting his design of 
 vengeance, he marched into Coele Syria. 'About this time 
 Theodotus and Panaetolus (generals of Ptolemy) with 
 all their friends advanced to join him, and were received 
 with the greatest marks of favour. The king then took 
 possession of Tyre and Ptolemais, with all the arma- 
 ments and stores. Among these were foity vessels. The 
 king left the care of this fleet to Diognetus, and having 
 been informed that Ptolemy had retired to Memphis, 
 and that the forces of the kingdom were drawn together 
 at Pelusium, and the sluices all opened ; he desisted 
 from his march to Pelusium, and leading his army 
 round the country, drew the cities over, some by gentle 
 means, and some by force. Those that were slightly 
 fortified surrendered at his first approach ; but other 
 that were stronger and well supplied with stores, re- 
 mained firm, and forced him to employ much time and 
 pains to reduce them by a regular siege.' 
 
 Ptolemy Philopator, ' the king of the South,' whom 
 Antiochus assailed, unlike his father Euergetes, was a 
 
SELEUCUS CERAUNUS AND ANTIOCHUS THE GREAT. 89 
 
 lazy and luxurious prince. Yet even he, or at least his 
 ministers, were ' moved with clioler ' by these insults 
 and victories, and prepared for active war. Sosibius 
 and Agathocles resolved to make the needful prepara- 
 tions with the greatest diligence, and meanwhile to send 
 ambassadors to treat of peace. They sent secret orders 
 for gathering together to Alexandria all the mercenaries 
 in the provinces abroad, and made new levies also, with 
 supplies of corn and other stores.' 
 
 ' Among the generals, every one was appointed to the 
 charge which seemed adapted to his talents and skill. 
 Eurylochus the Magnesian commanded three thousand 
 men, who were called the royal guard ; Socrates of 
 Bceotia, the Peltasts, in number two thousand ; Phox- 
 idas the Achaean, Ptolemy son of Thauseus, and Andro- 
 machus the Aspendian, the phalanx and mercenaries. 
 The phalanx, twenty-five thousand, were commanded by 
 Ptolemy and Andromachus, and the mercenaries, about 
 eight thousand, by Phoxidas. Seven hundred horse, 
 the cavalry from Africa, and the levies in the country, 
 about three thousand, were exercised and commanded 
 by Polycrates. Echecrates, the Thessalian, had two 
 thousand foreign cavalry, and trained them with such 
 skill, that they performed the greatest service in the 
 battle. But none surpassed Cnopias of Alorus, in the 
 management of the troops entrusted to him, who were 
 ten thousand Cretans. There were also three thousand 
 Africans, under Ammonius of Basle, and a phalanx of 
 twenty thousand Egyptians, under Sosibius ; with a 
 body of Gauls and Thracians ; and among these, four 
 thousand troops, who had long been settled in the coun- 
 try. Such were the numbers and the nations, of whom 
 the army of Ptolemy was composed.' 
 
 Antiochus was still occupied in the siege of Dura. 
 A truce of four months then ensued ; and he returned 
 to winter in Seleucia, which he had so lately recovered. 
 Negotiations were carried on through the winter, but to 
 no effect, while each side claimed Coele Syria as their 
 evident right, derived from Seleucus or Ptolemy Soter in 
 
90 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 the first division. In tlie spring Antioclius began a 
 career of seeming triumph. He entered S3a-ia, and came 
 to Berytus (Beyrout), and liaving taken Botrys in his 
 march, set fire to Calamus and Trieres. He continued 
 his march onward, and encamped on the banks of the 
 Danura, followed by his fleet under Diognetus. He 
 then attacked Nicolaus, who was in a strong port be- 
 tween Libanus and the sea. The Egyptian forces ' fled 
 with gi-eat precipitation. About two thousand ^vere 
 killed in the pursuit, and as many taken prisoners, the 
 rest escaped to Sidon.' ' Antioclius came and encamped 
 before Sidon : but as the city was well filled with stores 
 and troops, he made no attempt to take it, but conti- 
 nued his march to Philoteria, and ordered Diognetus to 
 sail to Tyre. The king, having gained possession of 
 both these places, was now filled with the most flatter- 
 ing hopes about the final issue of the war. Having left 
 in both a proper garrison, he came to Atabyrium, and 
 became master of it by a stratagem. As he advanced, 
 he took Pella, Carnus and Gephrus. After this success, 
 all the neighbouring people of Arabia urged each other 
 to submit, and with one cpnsent embraced his party. 
 Full of joy and confidence, he passed through the dis- 
 trict of Gladiatis, and made himself master of Abila. 
 (Lu. iii. 1). Gadara, which w^as esteemed one of the 
 strongest cities in that part of the country, still re- 
 mained to be subdued. (Mar. v. 1.) But no sooner had 
 the king encamped before it, than the inhabitants were 
 struck with terror and surrendered. He then began his 
 march to Ptolemais with all the army, designing to pass 
 the winter in that city.' 
 
 Thus far his course was marked by unbroken success, 
 but now a signal reverse was at hand. " The king of 
 the South shall be moved with choler, and shall come 
 forth and fight with him, even with the king of the 
 North : who shall set forth a great multitude, but the 
 multitude shall be given into his hand." 
 
 ^ When the spring approached, Antioclius and Ptolemy, 
 having completed their preparations, were ready to de- 
 
SELEUCUS CERAUNUS AND ANTIOCHUS THE GREAT. 91 
 
 cide the war hy battle. Ptolemy began his march from 
 Alexandria with seventy thousand foot, five thousand 
 horse, and twenty-three elephants. Antiochus also drew 
 together all his forces. His army was composed of five 
 thousand light-armed troops, Daians, Cannanians, and 
 Cilicians, nnder Byttacus, a Macedonian, and twenty- 
 thousand armed as Macedonians, under Tlieodotus the 
 jEtolian, who had deserted from Ptolemy. There was a 
 phalanx of twenty thousand, commanded by Nicarchus 
 and Theodotus the Hermionian, two thousand Agriani- 
 ans and Persians, with bows and slings, a thousand 
 Thracians under Menedemus ; five thousand Medes, Cis- 
 sians, Cadusians, and Carmanians ; ten thousand from 
 Arabia and the neighbouring countries, under Zabdi- 
 philus, five thousand Greek mercenaries, fifteen hundred 
 Cretans, a thousand Neocretans, a thousand Carduchi- 
 ans, and five hundred Lydian archers. The number of 
 the cavalry were about six thousand. Four thousand 
 were commanded by Antipater, brother of the king, and 
 the rest by Themison. Thus the whole army consisted 
 of 72,000 foot and six thousand horse, with a hundred 
 and two elephants.' 
 
 * Ptolemy, advancing to Pelusium, and waiting there 
 for troops who had not come up, passed by Mount Ca- 
 sius, and arrived at Gaza. Having allowed time for 
 the refreshment of the army, he continued his route by 
 slow and gentle marches, and on the fifth day fixed his 
 camp at the distance of fifty stadia from Raphia, which 
 is situated beyond Rhinocolura, and stands nearest to 
 Egypt of all the cities of Ccfile Syria.' 
 
 ' When the two armies were ranged in order, and ready 
 to engage, the two kings, attended by their officers and 
 friends, advanced along the line, and endeavoured to 
 inspire their troops with courage, especially the pha- 
 lanxes, in which they had placed their greatest hopes. 
 Ptolemy was accompanied by his sister Arsinoe, and by 
 Sosibius and Andromachus ; Antiochus, by Theodotus 
 and Nicarchus ; for these were the generals by whom 
 the phalanxes were commanded. They promised great 
 
92 CHAPTER YII. 
 
 rewards to every officer apart, and to the whole army, 
 and used not only exhortations, but prayers and entrea- 
 ties, to engage them to perform their duty with alacrity 
 and vigour. When Ptolemy, with his sister, came to 
 the left wing of his army, and Antiochus, with his 
 guards, had taken his station on his right, the signal 
 was given to engage, and the elephants approaching 
 first, began the combat. 
 
 * The whole left wing of Ptolemy was defeated, and 
 forced to fly. Echechrates, who commanded the right, 
 for some time waited to observe the event of the engage- 
 ment on the left. But when he saw that their elephants 
 fled wholly from the combat, he ordered Phoxidas, who 
 commanded the Greek mercenaries, to advance against 
 the troops opposite him, while he himself charged the 
 left wing of Antiochus in flank and rear, and soon 
 caused a general route. Phoxidas also forced the Ara- 
 bians and Medes to fly in great disorder. Thus Antio- 
 chus, who had gained the victory on the right was com- 
 pletely vanquished on the left ; and the phalanxes 
 stripped of both their wings, remained in the middle of 
 the plain, and knew not what to expect or fear. 
 
 ' While Antiochus pursued his victory on the right, 
 Ptolemy advanced into the centre, and showing himself 
 to both armies, struck the enemy with terror, and in- 
 spired his own forces with alacrity and confidence. An- 
 dromachus and Sosibius, levelling the spears of their 
 phalanxes, advanced against the enemy. The troops of 
 Syria some time sustained the charge, but those under 
 Nicarchus turned their backs and fled. Antiochus 
 saw what had happened, and ran back in haste with 
 his guards to the place of battle. But as the troops 
 were now completely routed, he was forced to retreat 
 to Raphia. Ptolemy having obtained by his phalanx a 
 complete and decisive victory, and killed also, by his 
 cavalry and mercenaries of the right wing, great num- 
 bers in the pursuit, returned again to his camp, and 
 next day directed his march to Raphia. Antiochus re- 
 tired to Gaza. He had lost in the action scarcely fewer 
 
SELEUCUS CERAUNUS AND ANTIOCHUS THE GREAT. 93 
 
 than ten thousand of his infantry, with more than three 
 hundred horse. Above four thousand also were taken 
 prisoners. On the part of Ptolemy were slain fifteen 
 hundred foot, and seven hundred horse ; but seventeen 
 elephants were killed, and a greater number taken. 
 Such was the end of the battle of Raphia, between 
 these two princes for the sovereignty of Coele Syria.' 
 
 ^ Antiochus directed his route again to his own king- 
 dom. Ptolemy took possession of Raphia, and the rest 
 of the neighbouring cities, which all seemed to strive 
 which should be the first to receive him as their mas- 
 ter. He was received among them with crowns, and 
 sacrifices, altars, and every other honour that flattery 
 could devise.' 
 
 " And when he hath taken away the multitude, his 
 heart shall be lifted up, and he shall cast down many 
 ten thousands ; but he shall not be strengthened by it." 
 
 These words describe the fruits of the victory to the 
 king of the south. Its immediate effects would be the 
 subjugation of many enemies, but no lasting accession 
 of political strength. The history strictly corresponds. 
 Thus Polybius observes, after the victory of Raphia — 
 ' Ptolemy having gained a victory which he scarcely 
 had the courage to expect, and finding himself possessed 
 of Ccele Syria, was so far from being averse to peace, 
 that he embraced it with immoderate haste ; and fled 
 again to that repose to which his indolence and habitual 
 vices forcibly inclined him. As soon then as the am- 
 bassadors arrived, he consented to a truce for a year, and 
 sent away Sosibius to ratify the treaty. And when he 
 hadjiassed three months in Syria and Phcenice, and 
 restored peace and order to the cities, he committed the 
 government to Andromachus, and returned with his 
 sister and his favourites to Alexandria." 
 
 The many ten thousands, who are cast down by the 
 kings of the south, may thus refer, in general, to the 
 conquest of Coele Syria, and of the cities which strove 
 emulously to submit themselves to the victor. But it 
 may relate, more especially, to the Jews whom Philo- 
 
04 CHAPTER Vll. 
 
 pator oppressed. In the third book of Maccabees we 
 read that after the battle, " being puffed up with pride 
 and insolence, he resolved to enter into the holy place ; 
 and being hindered, returned into Egypt with bitter 
 threats. Being grievously incensed against the Jews, he 
 commanded that they should be assembled with all haste 
 and put to a bitter death.' In the Chronicon of Euse- 
 bius, the number slain in the persecution is said to have 
 been forty thousand. Thus many ten thousands were 
 cast down, either in conquest or murderous persecution ; 
 but he was not strengthened by it. I'he Jews were 
 alienated from the throne of Egypt, and prepared to 
 revolt to his Syrian adversary. Oppression and profli- 
 gacy armed even his own subjects against him ; and all 
 the fruits of the victory slipped away from his grasp. 
 Thus we read in Justin ; — " Peace being made, he 
 eagerly souglit occasions of rest, and rolling back into 
 luxury, after slaying his wife and sister Eurydice, was 
 caught by the charms of the courtezan Agathoclea. 
 And thus, forgetting the majesty of his house and 
 royal power, he spent his nights in lust, his days in 
 revels ; nor any one in the kingdom had less power 
 than the king himself." Polybius confirms the descrip- 
 tion. " Not long after," he tells us, " Ptolemy was 
 engaged in war against the people of his own kingdom. 
 In arming them for the war against Antiochus he had 
 acted wisely indeed for that emergence ; but with re- 
 gard to the future, the measure was attended with most 
 pernicious consequences. For the people, elated by the 
 victory of Raphia, began to reject with haughtiness the 
 orders of the king ; and being persuaded that they 
 had strength enough to regain their liberty, they 
 only waited for a leader in the attempt they had 
 concerted, and which not long after they carried into 
 execution." 
 
 The corrupt and profligate character of Philopator, 
 which made his first victory really fruitless, is noted 
 by many historians. Under the influence of his minis- 
 ter, Sosibius, he put to death his uncle Lysimachus, his 
 
SELEUCUS CERAUNUS AND ANTIOCHUS THE GREAT. 95 
 
 brother Magas, his mother Berenice, his wife and sis- 
 ter, Arsinoe, and the Spartan king Cleomenes. His 
 crimes and incapacity seem to have caused the revolt 
 to which Polybius alludes, and which weakened the 
 internal strength of his kingdom ; while his cruelty 
 to the Jews alienated their aflections, and disposed them 
 to embrace heartily the cause of Antioclms. 
 
 " For the king of the north shall return, and shall 
 set forth a multitude greater than the other ; and shall 
 certainly come after certain years with a great army 
 and much riches." 
 
 Twelve years elapsed from the battle of Raphia 
 (a. c. 217) to the death of Philopator (a. c. 205.) Dur- 
 ing this interval, Antiochus w^s confirming and en- 
 larging his power, and made no fresh attempt on Egypt, 
 till the accession of the infant son of Philopator, Ptolemy 
 Epiphanes. The course of his conquests m.ay be gathered 
 from the fragments of Polybius. 
 
 The very year after the defeat at Raphia, ' Anti- 
 ochus, having made great preparations in the winter, 
 when the summer approached, passed beyond Mount 
 Taurus, entered into an alliance with Attains, and 
 began his war against Achseus.' (a. c. 216) In a short 
 time Sardis became the seat of the conflict. 'Sharp 
 skirmishes passed continually round the walls of the 
 city, and battles by night and day without intermis- 
 sion. But when the siege was now continued to the 
 second year, it was ended by the contrivance of Lagoras, 
 a Cretan.' Soon after Achseus was betrayed by the 
 treachery of his own followers and friends, and the 
 citadel surrendered to Antiochus. 
 
 After his success, Antiochus marched against Arsaces 
 into Media, and arrived at Ecbatana. ' This city stands 
 on the north side of Media, and commands all that part 
 of Asia which lies along the Mseotis and the Euxine sea. 
 It was even from ancient times the seat of the royal 
 residences, and seems to have exceeded very greatly all 
 the other cities in splendour and magnificence. . . When 
 Antiochus arrived, there were still remaining in the 
 
96 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 temple of Diana, some pillars cased with gold, and a 
 large quantity of silver tiles. There were also some 
 wedges of gold, and many more of silver. These were 
 now coined with the royal stamp, and amounted to 
 nearly four thousand tvilents.' 
 
 Antiochus then advanced through the desert to He- 
 catompylus, and pursued Arsaces into Hyrcania. After- 
 wards he entered Bactria, and crossing the river Arius, 
 defeated Euthydemus. ' In this action he distinguished 
 himself above all that were with him ; and the first 
 "squadrons of. the enemy were at last broken by the king. 
 Antiochus had a horse killed under him, and there was 
 no action of his life in which he gained so high a repu- 
 tation for courage.' J^^uthydemus retreated to Zarispa, 
 and soon after entered into treaty with Antiochus, who 
 granted him the continued possession of the province. 
 
 ' After the treaty, Antiochus, having taken the ele- 
 phants that belonged to Euthydemus, began his march 
 with all his army. Passing mount Caucasus, he came 
 into India, and renewed his alliance with the Indian 
 king. In this place he obtained more elephants, so that 
 his whole number was now a hundred and fifty, and 
 having furnished his army with a new supply of corn, 
 he again decamped ; but left Androsthenes to receive 
 the tribute which the king engaged to pay. He then 
 traversed Arachosia, and having passed the Eryman- 
 thus, and advanced into Carmania, as the winter ap- 
 proached, he sent the troops into their quarters. Such 
 was the end of his expedition into the upper provinces 
 of Asia, which secured him the obedience, not of those 
 provinces only, but of all the maritime cities, and of all 
 the princes on this side of mount Taurus, and covered 
 his own kingdom from invasion, while it gave all men 
 the highest opinion of his courage and love of labour. 
 For from this time, not the people of Asia alone, but 
 those of Europe also, considered him a prince most 
 worthy to reign.' (Pol. xi.) 
 
 Antiochus had now reduced Achajus in Lydia, and 
 the western provinces, and subdued Media, Parthiu^ 
 
SELEUCUS GERMANUS AND ANTIOCHUS TH] 
 
 Hyrcania, and Bactria, his return, * with a gr^t anny 
 and much riches,' was quickly followed (a. c. 205) by 
 the death of Philopator, and the accession of his son 
 Ptolemy Epiplianes, in the fifth year of his age. On 
 this he renewed his designs against Egypt. Thus 
 Justin tells us — ' On the death of Philopator, king of 
 Egypt, Antiochus the king of Syria, despising the weak- 
 ness of his infant son who, though left to the expecta- 
 tion of the kingdom, was a prey even to his own do- 
 mestics, determined to seize on Egypt.' (xxxi. 1.) So 
 also Polybius (iii. 1.) alludes to ' the commotions that 
 were raised in Egypt, after the death of Ptolemy, by 
 Philip and Antiochus, the wicked acts by which those 
 princes endeavoured to share between themselves the 
 dominions of the infant king ; and the manner in which 
 the former invaded Egypt, Samos and Caria, and the 
 latter, Coele Syria and Phoenice.' In another place 
 (Bk. XV.) he reprobates their iniquity in these words : — 
 * It is strange to consider, that as long as Ptolemy 
 (Philopator) lived, Philip and Antiochus were ready to 
 support him ; but no sooner was he dead, and had left 
 an infant son, than those princes whose duty it was, by 
 the laws of nature, to maintain the child's possession 
 of the kingdom, combined to share his dominion be- 
 tween them, and to destroy the helpless orphan ; nor 
 did they even endeavour, like other tyrants, to cover 
 their shame with the slightest pretext, but prosecuted 
 their design with barefaced and brutal violence. We 
 need only turn our eyes upon the treaty made between 
 the two kings on this occasion, and we shall see, as in a 
 glass, the strongest picture of their avowed impiety, 
 their savage inhumanity, and their unbounded ambi- 
 tion. If any one, however, be disposed to censure for- 
 tune, for admitting such injustice in human affairs, let 
 them consider that afterwards she punished both these 
 princes as their actions deserved, and exposed them as 
 a memorable warning ; for while they were practising 
 all the arts of treachery, and tearing away by pieces 
 the dominions of the infant king ; the Deity having 
 
 H 
 
08 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 raised up the Romans against them, inflicted on them, 
 with a most exact measure of justice, tlie very evils 
 they had unjustly meditated against others. Subdued, 
 each in his turn, they were compelled to submit to tri- 
 bute, and to receive orders from the Romans.' 
 
 Such was the lesson which even a heathen historian 
 could gather from these striking changes, and the re- 
 verses which followed close on acts of signal treachery. 
 How much more should Christians, while they read 
 these events, as noted before in the scripture of truth, 
 and revealed by the Angel of the Covenant, adore the 
 righteousness of the God of heaven, who delights to 
 exercise judgment, justice, and loving kindness in the 
 earth 1 
 
 The further progress of Antiochus in the prosecution 
 of this treacherous design, his temporary success, and 
 final defeat by the Romans, will form the subject of the 
 follovvung chapters, and thus continue the striking de- 
 velopment of this inspired prophecy. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ANTIOCHUS THE GREAT AND THE JEWS. 
 Dax. XI. 14 — 17.— And in those times therb shall many stand up 
 
 AGAINST THE KING OP THE SOUTH : ALSO THE ROBBEIiS OF THY PEOPLE 
 SHALL EXALT THEMSELVES TO ESTABLISH THE VISION ; BUT THEY SHALL 
 FALL. So THE KING OP THE NORTH SHALL COME, AND CAST UP A MOUNT, 
 AND TAKE THE MOST FENCED CITIES : AND THE ARMS OF THE SOUTH 
 SHALL NOT WITHSTAND, NEITHER HIS CHOSEN PEOPLE, NEITHER SHALL 
 THERE BE ANY STRENGTH TO "WITHSTAND. BUT HE THAT COMETH 
 AGAINST HIM SHALL DO ACCORDING TO HIS OWN WILL, AND NONE SHALL 
 STAND BEFORE HIM : AND HE SHALL STAND IN THE GLORIOUS LAND, WHICH 
 BY HIS HAND SHALL BE CONSUMED. He SHALL ALSO SET HIS FACE TO 
 ENTER WITH THE STRENGTH OP HIS WHOLE KINGDOM, AND UPRIGHT 
 ONES WITH HIM ; THUS SHALL HE DO : AND HE SHALL GIVE HIM THE 
 DAUGHTER OF WOMEN, CORRUPTING HER : BUT SHE SHALL NOT STAND ON 
 HIS SIDE, NEITHER BE FOR HIM. 
 
 In these words th-e prophecy exhibits a later stage of 
 the history of Antiochus, when he was brought into 
 closer contact with the people of Israel, the secret 
 object kept in view throughout the whole pre- 
 diction. 
 
 The times which are here intended, are those which 
 followed after the death of Ptolemy Philopator, (a.c. 
 205) and continued about thirteen years, till the invasion 
 of Greece by Antiochus. (a.c. 192.) Many, as we have 
 seen from Justin and Polybius, stood up against the 
 infant king, who seemed left entirely defenceless. Philip 
 and Antiochus entered into a perfidious league to share 
 his dominions. The Jews, v.'ho had been revolted by 
 the cruelty and pride of Philopator after the battle of 
 
 H 2 
 
100 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Raphia, were prepared in great numbers to swell this 
 current of prosperous wickedness. 
 
 During the whole course of the Grecian dynasty in 
 Syria and Egypt, the Jews suffered great calamities. The 
 times, as perhaps implied in Dan. ix. 25, were strait and 
 troublous ; and at the same time a perpetual blending 
 took place, till the Greek language nearly superseded the 
 Syriac dialect. Their troubles began under Ptolemy 
 Soter. That prince, as Josephus tells us, (Ant. xii. 1.1) 
 * seized upon Jerusalem, and made use of deceit and 
 treachery ; for he came into the city on a sabbath day, 
 as if he would offer sacrifices, and gained it without 
 any trouble, while the Jews did not oppose him, for they 
 did not suspect him to be their enemy ; and when he 
 gained it, he ruled over it in a cruel manner. And 
 when he had taken a great many captives from the 
 mountainous parts of Judea, and from the places about 
 Jerusalem and Samaria, and the places near mount 
 Gerisem, he led them into Egypt, and settled them 
 there. Nay, there were not a few other Jews who, of 
 their own accord, went into Egypt, invited by the good- 
 ness of the soil and the liberality of Ptolemy.' Phila- 
 delphus, his successor, 'procured the law to be trans- 
 lated, and set free the Jews who were in slavery in 
 Egypt, in number one hundred and twenty thousand.' 
 The same writer tells us that ' Seleucus Nicator made 
 the Jews citizens in the cities he built in Asia, in the 
 lower Syria, and in the Metropolis itself, Antioch ; and 
 gave them privileges equal to those of the Macedonians 
 and Greeks, insomuch that those privileges continue to 
 this very day.' But in spite of these partial favours, 
 the wars between Syria and Egypt involved the nation 
 continually in heavy troubles. At the time of Epi- 
 phanes' accession, many of the Jews, as we may infer 
 from the words of Josephus, revolted from the Egyp- 
 tian power. 
 
 ' Now in the reign of Antiochus the Great, who ruled 
 over all Asia, the Jews and inhabitants of Coele Syria 
 suffered greatly, and their land was sorely harassed. 
 
ANTIOCHUS THE GREAT AND THE JEWS. 101 
 
 For while he was at war with Ptolemy Philopator, and 
 with his son Epiphanes, they were equally sufferers 
 when he was beaten and when he beat the others. So 
 that they were very like a ship in a storm, which is 
 tossed by the waves on both sides. Such was their 
 situation, midway between Antiochus' prosperity, 
 and his change to adversity. At length, when Antio- 
 chus had beaten Ptolemy, he seized on Judea. But 
 when Philopator was dead, his son sent out a great 
 army under Scopas, the general of his forces, against 
 the inhabitants of Coele Syria, who took many of their 
 cities, and especially our nation ; and when he fell upon 
 them, they went over to him. This is the testimony 
 of Polybius, in the sixteenth book of his history. 
 *' Now Scopas, the general of Ptolemy's army, went in 
 haste to the upper parts of the country, and in the 
 winter time overthrew^ the nation of the Jews." ' 
 
 Thus it appears, from the combined testimony of 
 Polybius, Justin, and Josephus, that at this time many 
 foes combined against the young king of Egypt, and that, 
 among these, the Jews had revolted in great numbers ; 
 hut that they fell under the power of Scopas, the 
 Egyptian general, before Antiochus was ready to march 
 to their aid. 
 
 " But the king of the north shall come, and cast up 
 a mount, and take the city of munitions." 
 
 In the failure of original heathen authorities, we must 
 here have recourse to Josephus and Jerome. The for- 
 mer says that, * not long afterward, Antiochus overcame 
 Scopas, in a battle fought at the fountains of Jordan, 
 and destroyed a great part of his army. He also quotes 
 the words of Polybius, that *when Antiochus had 
 beaten Scopas, he received Batanea and Samaria, and 
 Abila and Gadara.' But Jerome supplies fuller infor- 
 mation. ' When Antiochus had defeated Scopas, he shut 
 him up, with ten thousand of his troops, in Sidon. To 
 set him free, Ptolemy sent famous generals, Eropus, 
 Menocles, and Damoxenus, but they could not raise 
 the siege ; and at length Scopas, overcome by famine. 
 
102 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 surrendered.' It is plain how exactly this event cor- 
 responds with the statement in the prophecy, and how 
 fully Sidon, an ancient and strong city, and at this time 
 the key of Palestine, might he called ' the city of mu- 
 nitions.' 
 
 The next words admit of a little variety in their 
 translation, and the true version must be established, 
 before we can compare them with the history. The 
 phrase rendered by our translators ' the goodly land ' 
 is literally, the land or country of hatsebi^ ' the goodly 
 ornament.' Now this last word occurs in about thirty 
 passages. In fourteen of these it denotes the roe or 
 gazelle ; in the others, by a sense derived from the pro- 
 verbial grace of that animal, beauty, or glory, or some 
 beautiful or glorious object. In Ez. vii. 20, it is 
 plainly used for the temple itself, as the peculiar glory 
 of the people of Israel. The same meaning is equally 
 plain in Dan. viii. 9, where the word stands alone. 
 " Towards the goodly ornament," or in other words, 
 towards the temple and sanctuary, that was afterwards 
 cast down. It is most natural then, to retain the same 
 meaning in the other passages of this prophet, and to 
 render the phrase, * the land of the goodly ornament,' 
 or in other words, the land where the temple of God, 
 the special scene of his presence and the glory of His 
 people, was to be found. 
 
 Again, the word Kalah, translated here, to consume, 
 is very often used in the sense, to finish, or complete. 
 This appears to be its constant meaning in connexion 
 with the tabernacle or temple of God ; the completion 
 of which is almost always described by this term. The 
 following passages are examples of this usage. Exod. 
 xxxix. 82 ; xl. 83. Numb. vii. 1. 1 Kings vi. 9, 14, 
 88 ; ix. 1. 1 Chron. xxviii. 20. 2 Chron. vii. 11 ; viii. 
 16 ; xxiv. 14 ; xxxi. 1. Now, since hatsebi is certainly 
 employed to denote the temple, as the goodly delight or 
 ornament of Israel, and this other term is so often em- 
 ployed in connexion with the same subject, the follow- 
 ing appears the most natural version of the text. " He 
 
AXTIOCHUS THE CHEAT AND THE JEWS. 103 
 
 shall stand in the country of the goodly ornament, and 
 it (the goodly ornament) shall he perfected hy his hand.' 
 It remains to see how precisely the facts correspond 
 with this prediction. 
 
 In the campaign of a.c. 198, Antiochus reduced all 
 the cities of Coele Syria. * Scopas,' as Livy informs 
 us (xxxi. 43), the chief of the ^tolians, had been sent 
 by King Ptolemy from Alexandria with a great weight 
 of gold, and had brought away to Egypt six thousand 
 foot soldiers and horsemen, and would have left none 
 of the ^tolian youth, unless Damocritus, by his re- 
 proofs, had retained some of the young men at home.' 
 The next year, according to Polybius, (xvi. 18,) a.c. 
 198, there occurred ' the siege of Gaza, and the array 
 of Antiochus against Scopas in Coele Syria at Panium.' 
 Livy continues the narrative in the following year. 
 ' Antiochus, when in the former summer he had re- 
 duced all the cities of Ptolemy in Ccele Syr'm under 
 his power, and then retired to winter quarters at An- 
 tioch, in the early spring, sent before him by land his 
 two sons Ardys and Mithridates, with an army, and 
 orders to meet him at Sardis, and himself set out with 
 the fleet ; intending both to gain over the cities under 
 the rule of Ptolemy in the whole coast of Cilicia and 
 Caria, and also to aid Philip, who was not then van- 
 quished, both with his army and navy.' 
 
 It was about this time, a.c. 199 — 197, that Antio- 
 chus, to secure the favour of the Jews, conferred on 
 them various privileges. At an earlier time, when still 
 in tiie eastern provinces, he seems to have written the 
 following letter, which gave an earnest of his good-w^ill 
 to the nation. 
 
 ^ King Antiochus to Zeuxis his Father. 
 * Having been informed that a sedition is arisen in 
 Lydia and Phrygia, I thought that matter required 
 great care. And on advising with my friends what 
 was fit to be done, it has been thought proper to remove 
 two thousand families of Jews, with their effects, out 
 
104 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 of Mesopotamia and Babylon, unto the castles and 
 places most convenient. For I am persuaded that they 
 will be well-disposed guardians of our possessions, from 
 their piety towards God, and because I know that my 
 predecessors have borne witness to them, that they are 
 faithful, and do with alacrity what they are desired to 
 do. I will, therefore, though it be a laborious task, 
 that thou remove these Jews ; under a promise that 
 they shall be allowed to use their own laws. And when 
 thou shalt have brought them to the fore-mentioned 
 places, thou shalt give every family a place for building 
 their houses, and a portion of land for husbandry and 
 planting of vines ; and discharge them from all taxes 
 for the fruits for ten years, and let them have wheat 
 for the maintenance of their servants, until they receive 
 bread corn from the earth. Also, let a share be given to 
 those who minister to them of the necessaries of life, 
 that by enjoying the fruits of our humanity, they may 
 be more willing and ready in our affairs. Take care 
 also of that nation, as far as thou art able, that no dis- 
 turbance be given them by any.' 
 
 Afterwards, when the king had gained the victory 
 over Scopas, the Jews, according to Josephus and others, 
 * of their own accord, went over to him, and received 
 him into the city of Jerusalem, and gave plentiful pro- 
 vision to all his army and his elephants, and readily 
 assisted him in besieging the garrison in the citadel of 
 Jerusalem. Wherefore Antiochus thought it just to re- 
 quite their diligence and zeal in his service ; and wrote 
 to the generals of his armies and his friends, to declare 
 the good behaviour of the Jews towards him, and the 
 rewards he had resolved to bestow on them for their 
 behaviour.' 
 
 The following letter of Antiochus appears to have 
 been written soon after the prosperous campaign of the 
 battle of Panium, and probably in the very next year. 
 
 ^ King Antiochv^ to Ptolemy, greeting, 
 ' Since the Jews, on our first entrance in their coun- 
 
ANTIOCHUS THE GREAT AND THE JEWS. 105 
 
 try, showed their friendship to us, and when we came 
 into their city received us in a splendid manner, and 
 met us with their senate, and supplied abundant pro- 
 "Nision for our soldiers and elephants, and joined with 
 us in capturing the Egyptian garrison in the citadel, 
 we also have thought fit to recompense them for these 
 things, and to retrieve their cities which have been 
 wasted by calamities that have befallen its inhabitants, 
 and to bring back into the city those who have been 
 scattered abroad. And first, for their piety, we have 
 resolved to bestow on them a pension for their sacrifices, 
 of cattle for sacrifice, and wine and oil and incense, to 
 the value of twenty thousand pieces of silver, and six 
 sacred arbatroe of fine flour, after the measure of the 
 country, 1460 medimni of wheat, and three hundred 
 and seventy-five medimni of salt. -And I wish these 
 things to be paid to them, as I have written, and that 
 the vjork about the temple should be finished, both the 
 pillars, and whatsoever else needs to be built. And let 
 the materials of the wood be brought down from Judea, 
 and the other countries, and from Libanus, no custom 
 being charged. 80 also in all the other things, in ivhich 
 the furniture of the temple needs to be made more glo- 
 rious. And let all who are of the nation live according 
 to their own laws, and let the senate, and the priests, 
 the scribes of the temple, and the temple-singers, be 
 free from the poll-tax, and the crown impost, and other 
 tribute also. And that the city maybe inhabited more 
 quickly, I grant to those who now dwell there, or 
 who shall come until the month Hyperbereteeus im- 
 munity from taxes for three years. We also release 
 them, in future, from the third part of the tribute, so 
 that their loss may be repaired ; and whoever, having 
 been carried off from the city are now in slavery, re- 
 store them and their children to liberty, and order their 
 property to be repaid.' 
 
 This letter was soon follow*ed by a public decree of 
 Antiochus addressed to the whole kingdom, in which fur- 
 ther provision was made for perfecting the temple of God. 
 
106 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 * It shall be lawful for no stranger to enter within 
 the circuit of the^temple, which is forbidden to the Jews, 
 except those for whom, when purified, it is customary- 
 after the laws of the country. Let no one bring into 
 the city the ilesh of horses, or mules, or of asses, wild 
 or tame, nor of leopards, and foxes, and hares, nor of 
 all those beasts which are forbidden to the Jews, nor 
 shall it be lawful to bring in their skins, nor to rear any- 
 such in the city. But it is permitted to make use only 
 of the sacrifices appointed by their forefathers, whereby 
 they are to do honourable service to God. Whoever 
 transgresses any of these laws, let him pay to the 
 priests three thousand drachms of silver.' 
 
 In this manner Antiochus, when he entered the land 
 of Judea, where the temple stood, their delight, and the 
 desire of their eyes, made provision that the work 
 should be perfected, and all be provided that Avas need- 
 ful to make the sanctuary glorious. ' He sball stand in 
 the country of the goodly ornament, and it shall be 
 perfected by his hand.' 
 
 The prophecy next describes his attempt to gain poc* 
 session of Egypt, by means of intermarriage. The very 
 year, which followed the victory over Scopas at Pani- 
 um, the power of Macedon was broken by the Romans, 
 in the battle with Philip at Cynoscephalse, a.c. 197- A 
 mightier enemy was thus arising in the west, and An- 
 tiochus was anxious to make peace with the king of 
 Egypt, that he might strengthen himself against this 
 more dangerous foe. After that decisive battle, his legates 
 met the consul Quinctius at the Isthmus. ' It was pro- 
 claimed to the king, not ambiguously as before, when 
 Philip was safe, and the event doubtful, but openly, 
 that he must retire from the cities of Asia which had 
 belonged to Philip or Ptolemy. Above all, it was de- 
 nounced to him, that he should not pass over, either in 
 person, or with his forces, into Europe.' (Liv. xxxiii. 
 34.) The later preparations of Antiochus, before the final 
 conflict, may be collected from the same author. 
 
 ' The same year (a.c. 196) Antiochus, after he had 
 
ANTIOCHUS THE GREAT AND THE JEWS. 107 
 
 wintered at Epliesus, endeavoured to reduce all the 
 cities of Asia under the ancient form of empire. Smyr- 
 na and Lampsacua still kept their liberty, and there 
 was danger, if it were granted to these, that other cities 
 w^ould follow the example. Therefore he set out from 
 Ephesus to besiege Smyrna, and ordered the forces from 
 Abydos to besiege Lampsacus. In the beginning of the 
 spring, setting out from Ephesus, he sought the Helles- 
 pont, and his land forces crossed to Madytus, a city of 
 the Chersonesus ; a navy accompanied him, and the city, 
 shut in by his troops, surrendered. He then came to 
 Lysimachia with all his land and sea forces.' 
 
 An interview then took place between the king and 
 the Roman legates, which shewed that a conflict was at 
 hand. The Romans ' thought it just that all the cities 
 should be restored to Ptolemy which had been under his 
 power. But as to the cities of Philip which Antiochus 
 had seized by occasion of the Roman war, it was not 
 to be endured that the Romans for so many years 
 should have all the dangers and toils of the war, 
 and Antiochus should reap its rewards. And even 
 though they were to pass over his arrival in Asia, what 
 was it short of open w^ar, when he had passed into 
 Europe with all his land and sea forces 1 ' 
 
 ' The king replied, that the Romans seemed long 
 ago to busy themselves enough with the inquiry, what 
 king Antiochus ought to do ; but never to ask, how 
 far they themselves were to encroach by sea and land. 
 With Asia the Romans had nothing to do, nor was it 
 more their business to inquire what Antiochus did in 
 Asia, than for Antiochus what the Roman people are 
 doing in Italy. As to Ptolemy, whose cities they com- 
 plained were taken away, he was both in friendship 
 with Ptolemy, and hoped that shortly they would even he 
 joined in affinity' 
 
 A rumour of Ptolemy's death broke off the confer- 
 ence. 'Antiochus thought that Egypt would be his 
 own, if he improved the opportunity. Therefore, dis- 
 missing the Romans, and leaving his son Seleucus with 
 
108 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 the land forces to restore Lysimachia, he sailed with all 
 the fleet to Ephesus, and following the coast of Asia, 
 came to Lycia : but learning at Patara that Ptolemy 
 was alive, gave up his purpose of sailing into Egypt. 
 Sailing then to Cyprus, he met with a storm, and re- 
 turned to Seleucia. ' There he ordered the ships to be 
 drawn ashore, and retired to winter quarters at Antioch.' 
 At Rome, * all their cares, after the arrival of the 
 legates, were turned to king Antiochus. These, after 
 an account of the war with Philip, told them that no 
 less task remained with Antiochus. That he had passed 
 with a great fleet and powerful army into Europe, and 
 unless an empty hope, derived from an emptier rumour, 
 of invading Egypt, had turned him aside, Greece would 
 soon have been in the flames of war.' 
 
 Soon after this time, Annibal fled from Carthage, by 
 Tyre to Antioch. ' He reached the king at Ephesus, 
 when he was still fluctuating and uncertain about the 
 Roman war, and the arrival of Annibal had no slight 
 power to urge him to the contest.' 
 
 It was now that the king sought to strengthen his 
 league with Ptolemy, before his conflict with the Ro- 
 mans. 'That winter (a.c. 19 ) king Antiochus at Ra- 
 phia, in Phoenice, gave his daughter in marriage to king 
 Ptolemy, and after returning to Antioch, pasaed through 
 Cilicia over Mount Taurus, and came at the end of the 
 winter to Ephesus.' (xxxv. 13.) Josephus adds fur- 
 ther particulars, which throw light on the prophecy. 
 Ant. xii. 4. 1. 'After this,' he says, 'Antiochus made 
 a friendship and league with Ptolemy, and gave him 
 his daughter Cleopatra in marriage, and yielded up to 
 him Coele Syria, Samaria, Judea, and Phoenice, by way 
 of dowry. On the division of the tribute between the 
 two kings, all the principal men farmed the taxes of 
 their several countries, and collecting the appointed 
 sum, paid the same to the two kings.' These appear to 
 explain the * conditions of equity' named in the sacred 
 text. They consisted in the cession of all the disputed 
 provinces, to this extent, that the tribute should be 
 
ANTIOCHUS THE GREAT AND THE JEWS. 109 
 
 shared equally between the two kings. The hope of 
 Antiochus was doubtless, by his superior power, and 
 the influence of Cleopatra, to obtain the real sovereignty 
 of both kingdoms. But the project failed of success, 
 not only through the victories of the Romans, but also 
 through the defection of Cleopatra from her father's 
 cause. " She shall not stand on his side, nor be for 
 him." And thus Livy tells us presently, that ^ambas- 
 sadors came from Ptolemy and Cleopatra, kings of 
 Egypt, to express their joy that the consul Acelius had 
 expelled Antiochus from Greece, and exhorting them 
 to lead over their army into Asia.' 
 
 Thus minutely, in every point, the prophecy was ful- 
 filled. Amidst the subtle policy of rival siates, the trea- 
 chery of princes, the complicated web of a thousand in- 
 terests, the fickleness of female passion, and the steady 
 course of Roman ambition, the word of God was con- 
 tinually accomplished, and not one jot or tittle failed 
 from these words of the angel, this transcript from 
 the secret writing of eternal truth in the counsels of 
 heaven. The more we meditate on the simple narrative 
 of the vision, and trace the steps of its fulfilment, the 
 more deeply sliall we enter into the ascription of the 
 holy prophet. " Blessed be the name of God for ever, 
 for wisdom and might are his. He removetli kings 
 and setteth up kings ; he knoweth Avhat is in the dark- 
 ness, and the light dwelleth with Him ! " 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 ANTIOCIIUS THE GREAT AND THE ROMANS. 
 Dan. XI. 18, 19.— ArTEti this shall hk turn his face unto the isles, 
 
 AND SHALL TAKE MANY : BUT A PRINCE FOR HIS OWN BEHALF SHALL 
 CAUSE THE EEPKOACH OFFERED BY HIM TO CEASE ; WITHOUT HIS OWN 
 REPROACH HE SHALL CAUSE IT TO TURN UPON HIM. ThEN HE SHALL 
 TURN HIS FACE TOWARD THE FORT OF KIS OWN LAND : BUT HB SHALL 
 STUMBLE A>'D FALL, AND NOT BE FOUND. 
 
 These words complete the prophetic history of Antio- 
 clius the Great. In striking contrast with his early 
 victories, they exhibit the total reverse he endured in 
 his conflict with the Romans ; and form thus a link of 
 transition from the times of the Third, to those of the 
 Fourth Empire, which were to be still more eventful t<.> 
 the Church of God. 
 
 The books of Livy, which are still extant, supply us 
 with a full comment on these verses, without the need, 
 as in other parts, of recurring to brief fragments of 
 various authors. 
 
 The war M'as introduced by a conference between ten 
 Roman legates and two from the king, at Rome. Quinc- 
 tius, in the name of the Romans, said ' There were 
 two conditions apart from which they might tell the 
 king, that there could be no friendship with the Roman 
 people. The first, that if he wishes us to care nothing 
 about the cities of Asia, he himself shall abstain from 
 the whole of Europe. The other, that if he does not 
 keep within the bounds of Asia, but passes over into 
 
ANTIOCIIUS THE GREAT AND THE ROMANS. Ill 
 
 Europe, it shall be lawful for tlie Romans to maintain 
 their present alliance with the cities in Asia, and to form 
 new ones.' Hegesianax replied, that ' it was unworthy 
 to listen to such terms, that Antioch should be excluded 
 from the cities of Thrace and the Chersonesus ; which his 
 ancestor Seleucus, when king Lysimachus had been 
 conquered and slain in war, had won with much glory, 
 and left to his successors ; and which Antiochus with 
 equal honour had partly recovered from the Thracians, 
 and partly when deserted, as Lysimachia, had colonized 
 anew, and built them at great expense when destroyed 
 by decay and conflagration. In what were the clahns 
 alike, that Antiochus should be driven from a possession 
 thus obtained and thus recovered, and the Romans ab- 
 stain from Asia which was never theirs 1 That Antio- 
 chus sought the friendship of the Romans, but one 
 which should be honourable, not disgraceful.' Quinc- 
 tins replied, ' Since your appeal is to honour, which 
 should be the only motive, or at least the highest, with 
 the foremost people of the world and so great a king, 
 which is more honourable, to desire that all the cities of 
 Greece every where should be free, or slaves and tribu- 
 tary ? If Antiochus thinks it honourable to reclaim 
 for slavery the cities his ancestor gained by right of 
 war, but his grandfather and father never used as their 
 own ; the Roman people also think it befits their faith 
 and constancy, not to desert the cause they have under- 
 taken, the liberty of the Greeks. As they have freed 
 Greece from Philip, so the}' intend to free the cities in 
 Asia, which bear the Grecian name, from Antiochus. 
 For colonies were -not sent into iEolia and Ionia to be 
 royal slaves, but to extend their race, and propagate 
 an ancient tribe through the earth.' Sulpitius added, 
 ' Choose one of these two conditions, or forbear to treat 
 of friendship.' Menippus rejoined, ' We have neither 
 will nor power to promise any thing by which the king- 
 dom of Antiochus shall be diminished.' 
 
 Towards the close of the next year, (a.c. 192) actual 
 hostilities began. ' The Romans being intent on pre- 
 
112 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 paring for a new war, Antiochus also was not back- 
 ward. Three cities detained him, Smyrna, Alexandria 
 in Troas, and Lampsacus, which up to that day he 
 could neither subdue nor allure by treaty, and yet was 
 not willing to leave them in his rear, passing over into 
 Europe.' ... * He determined to delay his march into 
 Greece no longer. Before he weighed anchor, he went 
 to Ilium from the sea, and sacrificed to Minerva. Then, 
 returning to the fleet, he set out with forty decked and 
 sixty open ships, and two hundred transports, followed 
 with all the provision of war. He first seized on the 
 island of Imbrus ; thence he passed over to Sciathus ; 
 and gathering the ships that were scattered on the sea, 
 touched first at Pteleum on the continent. There Eury- 
 lochus, chief of the Magnesians, and their other leaders, 
 met him from Demetrius. He then reviewed his forces, 
 ten thousand foot soldiers, and five hundred horsemen, 
 with six elephants ; scarcely enough to occupy Greece 
 if empty, far less to sustain a Roman war.' (xxxv. 43.) 
 ' Antiochus brought his army to Aulis, and partly by 
 his own persuasions, partly by those of the yEtolians, 
 procured that the gates of Chalcis should be opened to 
 him. Since the king held the chief city of Euboea, the 
 ^ther towns of the island did not refuse his sway ; and 
 he thought that he had made a fair beginning of the 
 war, when so large an island^ and so many cities, con- 
 veniently situate, had come under his power.' (c. 51.) 
 
 * In the following winter, Antiochus, who was still at 
 Chalcis, solicited some of the states of Greece by legates, 
 and others came to him of their own accord, as the 
 Epirots and Eleans. But the advice of Annibal was 
 neglected, and the whole war was conducted with a weak 
 and idle ostentation, unworthy of the king's reputation, 
 and totally unsuited to the enemy with whom he had 
 to contend. Instead of securing at any cost, the alliance 
 of Philip, Antiochus sent two thousand troops to bury 
 the Macedonians who had fallen at Cynoscephalse ; and 
 by this act, which seemed like a studied insult to the 
 Macedonian king, threw him into a hasty alliance with 
 
ANTIOCHUS THE GREAT AND THE ROMANS. 113 
 
 the Romans. After taking Pherae, Scotussa, Pellinaeum, 
 Perrhoebia, Malloea, Cyretiae, and Pharsalus, and a 
 fruitless attempt on Larissa, the king retired to De- 
 metrius and Chalcis.. There he celebrated his marriage 
 with the daughter of Cleoptolemus, a Chalcidian. For- 
 getting what two weighty affairs he had undertaken 
 together, a Roman war and the liberation of Greece, 
 neglecting the care of every thing, he spent the rest of 
 the winter in feasting and the pleasures that follow 
 wine, and when fatigued with these, he slept. The same 
 luxury seized on the prefects of the king and the 
 soldiers ; none of them wore arms, or kept his station 
 or watch, or fulfilled any one duty of the soldier. 
 So that in the beginning of spring, when he had come 
 through Phocis to Chseronea, where the army were or- 
 dered to assemble, he easily perceived that the soldiers 
 had not passed the winter under stricter discipline than 
 their leader.' 
 
 The arrival of the Romans quickly changed the face 
 of affairs. ' Manius Acilius, the Consul, crossed the 
 sea with twenty thousand foot soldiers, two thousand 
 horses, and fifteen elephants, and ordered chosen tri- 
 bunes to lead the infantry to Larissa. He himself 
 with the cavalry came to Philip at Limnsea.' Mallaea, 
 Phaestus, Cyretrae, had already been recovered by 
 Philip and Marcus Boebius. On the arrival of Acilius, 
 Pieria, Metropolis, Pharsalus, Scotussa and Pherse, 
 and the garrisons of Antiochus in them, surrender- 
 ed. Antiochus, while this was done, was in Chalcis ; 
 and now, perceiving that he had obtained nothing 
 from Greece, but pleasant winter quarters at Chalcis, 
 and dishonourable nuptials, accused the vain promises 
 of Thoas and the jEtolians, and began to admire 
 Annibal, not only as a man of great pi-udence and 
 renown, but as almost a prophet of every thing that 
 had occurred. That sloth might not thoroughly ruin 
 his rash attempt, he sent messengers into ^tolia, 
 that they should assemble with all their youth. He 
 himself led thither about ten thousand foot soldiers, 
 
114 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 of those who had come afterwards 
 hundred horses. And when these assembled in fewer 
 numbers than ever before, and the chiefs only came 
 with a few followers, and said that they had done every 
 thing to summon all from their cities, but could not 
 prevail by authority, or favour, or commafld, over their 
 dislike to the service ; deserted on every side by his own 
 subjects who lingered in Asia, and by his allies, who 
 fulfilled none of the hopes by which they had invited 
 him, he retired to the pass of Thermopylae. This is 
 the only military way by which armies can pass, if they 
 are not hindered ; a place memorable by the death 
 rather than the battle, of the Lacedaemonians against 
 the Persians.' 
 
 The speech which Livy ascribes to the Consul Acil- 
 nis, is very significant of the issue of the conflict. 'You 
 ought to keep well in your mind, that you do not fight 
 merely for the liberty of Greece, though that would be 
 a noble exploit after it has been freed before from 
 Philip, to free it now from Antiochus and the ^tolians ; 
 nor will that be your whole reward which is now in the 
 camp of the king ; but all the stores which are daily 
 expected from Ephesus, will be your ptey. Next you 
 will open Asia and Syria, and all the richest kingdoms 
 towards the rising of the sun to the Roman Empire. 
 What will then hinder us, but that we may bound our 
 empire, from Gades to the Erythraean sea, by the ocean 
 which shuts in the world with its embrace, and all 
 mankind venerate the Roman name, like that of the 
 divinities '? ' 
 
 The battle ensued on the following day. The Romans 
 assaulted the camp of Antiochus, and might have been 
 repelled, had not a detachment under Marcus Porcius 
 driven the JEtolians from the heights and appeared on 
 a hill which commanded the entrenchment. ' The Ma- 
 cedonians and others, who were in the royal camp, at 
 first thought that they were ^tolians coming to their 
 aid. But as soon as the standards and arms shewed 
 their mistake, such a panic seized them all, that they 
 
ANTIOCHUS THE GREAT AND THE ROMANS. 115 
 
 flung down their weapons and fled. The entrenchments 
 delayed them, and the narrowness of the pass, through 
 which they had to retire, and most of all the elephants, 
 which were placed hindmost, which the foot soldiers 
 could scarcely pass, and the horsemen not at all, since 
 their horses were terrified, and caused more tumult than 
 even in battle. The plunder of the camp delayed the 
 Romans a little time, yet they pursued the enemy the 
 same day to Scarphia. The king did not stop in his 
 hasty flight until he reached Elatia, and there first col- 
 lecting the remnant left from the route and the battle, 
 w4th a small troop of half armed soldiers, betook him- 
 self to Chalcis. The Roman horse did not overtake 
 the king himself at Elatia, but crushed a great part of 
 the army, either loitering through weariness, or scat- 
 tered through ignorance of the roads and want of leaders. 
 No one escaped of the whole army, but five hun- 
 dred who were about the king ; a small number, even 
 out of ten thousand whom, following Polybius, we have 
 said that the king brought with him into Greece. What 
 if we were to believe Valerius of Antium, who writes 
 that there were sixty thousand in the royal army, that 
 forty thousand fell, and five thousand were taken, with 
 two hundred and thirty standards ? ' xxxv. 19. 
 
 Antiochus, on the approach of the Consul, retired to 
 Tenus, and then passed over to Ephesus. There he 
 stayed for a time, ' quite secure about the Roman war, 
 as if the Romans would not cross over into Asia ; a 
 security which most of his friends increased, either 
 through ignorance or flattery. Annibal alone, whose 
 authority then stood very high with the king, said that 
 he rather wondered the Romans were not already in 
 Asia, than doubted whether they would come. That it 
 was nearer to pass from Greece into Asia, than from 
 Italy into Greece, and the Roman arms were no less 
 powerful by sea than by land. Therefore Antiochus 
 should cease to delude himself by the vain hope of 
 peace. He must soon contend with the Romans in Asia, 
 and for Asia, by sea and land, and either deprive them 
 
 I 2 
 
IIG CHAPTER IX. 
 
 of the empire, who aimed at the whole world, or lose 
 his own kingdom.' 
 
 This prediction of military and political foresight 
 speedily proved to be true. ' The Consul, who had 
 Greece appointed for his province, beside the two legions 
 he received from Manius Acilius, received in addition, 
 of Roman citizens three thousand foot and a hundred 
 horse of Latin allies five thousand and two hundred 
 hoi*se ; and it was added, that when he reached his pro- 
 vince, if it seemed for the benefit of the republic, he 
 should cross over into Asia.' ' Legates came from Pto- 
 lemy and Cleopatra, to congratulate the senate that 
 Acilius the Consul had driven Antiochus out of Greece, 
 and to exhort them to pass over into Asia.' ' That all 
 was full of alarm, not only in Asia, but in Syria ; and 
 the kings of Egypt were ready to do whatever the senate 
 should determine.' A second battle took place in Asia soon 
 after, near Thyatira. Its issue was equally disastrous 
 to the king. ' Antiochus turned his horse to flight. The 
 Romans, conquerors in both wings, made their way 
 through heaps of bodies to plunder the camp. The 
 horsemen of Eumenes, and all the rest of the cavalry, 
 pursued and slaughtered the enemy through the whole 
 plain. In the camp too there was a great slaughter, 
 almost more than in the battle. For those who fled 
 first bent their course hither, and through confidence in 
 their numbers, those who were thus sheltered fought 
 more obstinately at the trench ; so that when at length 
 the Romans forced their way, their anger caused a 
 heavier carnage. About fifty thousand foot are said to 
 have been slain that day, and four thousand horse ; 
 fourteen hundred were made prisoners, and fifteen ele- 
 phants with their rulers. Some of the Romans were 
 wounded, but there fell not more than three hundred 
 foot and twenty-four horsemen, and five and twenty 
 of the army of Eumenes. The victors, after plunder- 
 ing the* camp of the enemy, returned with great spoil 
 to their own ; and the next day stripped the bodies of 
 the slain, and secured t]ie captives. Antiochus fled with 
 
ANTIOCHUS THE GREAT AND THE ROMANS. 117 
 
 a few, and more gathering in his flight, came almost at 
 midnight with a small company to Sardis. And when 
 he heard that Seleucus his son, and some of his friends 
 had reached Apamea, he himself set out thither in the 
 fourth watch with his wife and daughter.' 
 
 Antiochus, after this total defeat, sent ambassadors to 
 obtain peace. Their plea shews of itself the vast re- 
 sults which issued from the Roman victory. ' You 
 have always,' he said, ' used magnanimity to conquered 
 kings and people. How much more should you deal 
 gently in this victory, which has made you lords of the 
 whole world ! For now, laying aside contests against 
 all mortal men, you ought, no less than the gods, to con- 
 sult for and spare the whole human race.' The condi- 
 tions of peace, though stern in themselves, wore an ap- 
 pearance of moderation from the greatness of the king's 
 defeat. ' The same terms,' Africanus answered in the 
 name of the Roman deputies, ' which we offered before 
 we crossed the Hellespont, we offer now as conquerors 
 to the conquered. Abstain from Europe, and retire from 
 all Asia on this side of Mount Taurus. Next, for the 
 expenses of the war you shall pay fifteen thousand 
 Euboean talents ; five hundred at once, two thousand 
 five hundred when the Roman senate and people have 
 confirmed the peace, and theu a thousand talents for 
 twelve years. You shall also pay Eumenes four hun- 
 dred talents, and the rest of the coin which was due to 
 his father. To be sure of your performance, it will be 
 some pledge, if you shall give twenty hostages of our 
 choice ; but we shall never be sure that there is peace 
 with the Roman people, where Annibal shall stay. We 
 demand him before all things. The king will make 
 peace in worse plight, because he makes it later than 
 was in his power. If he now delays, let him know that 
 the majesty of kings is harder to bring down half way 
 from its eminence, than to complete its fall.' The treaty 
 was soon afterwards ratified on these terms. The words 
 of the prediction were thus amply fulfilled, and the re- 
 proach which Antiochus had cast on the Romans, and 
 
118 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 his contempt of their poAver, in invading Greece with 
 such a feeble army, was turned upon himself, in the 
 loss of his provinces, the ruin of his troops, and the tri- 
 bute imposed on his kingdom. 
 
 " Then shall he turn his face towards the forts of his 
 own country, and he shall stumble and fall, and not be 
 found." 
 
 The end of this king, the Angel here predicts, would 
 be as obscure and ignominious, as the opening of his 
 reign had been successful and renowned. Not only the 
 event, but even the manner in which it is made known 
 to us, corresponds. The death of Antiochus is only 
 mentioned by Livy in a kind of parenthesis, and briefly 
 alluded to in other writers. The fragments of Diodorus 
 illustrate this and the previous verses. 
 
 ' Antiochus, perceiving that the Romans had crossed 
 into Asia, sent a message to Heraclides the Byzantian, 
 about a peace, and gave back one half of the expense, 
 and surrendered Lampsacus, Smyrna and Alexandria, 
 about which the war seemed to have arisen. For these 
 cities, first of all the Greeks in Asia, sent an embassy 
 to the senate entreating for their liberty.' 
 
 ' Antiochus promised Publius Scipio, the chief of the 
 senate, to release his son without ransom, whom he had 
 made prisoner, when he was staying at Euboea ; and 
 also a great amount of money if he would help him to 
 procure peace. But Scipio replied, that he should bear 
 gratitude to the king for the ransom of his son, and did 
 not need the money ; and in return for this benefit, coun- 
 selled him not to array his forces against the Romans, 
 having once made trial of their valour.' 
 
 ' The king abandoning the war, sent messengers to 
 the Consul, claiming that he should be pardoned for his 
 faults, and entreating for peace on any terms. The 
 Consul, maintaining the Roman moderation, and in- 
 duced by his brother Publius, granted peace on these 
 terms ; that the king should resign Europe to the 
 Romans, and Asia on this side Taurus, with the cities 
 and tribes therein, and give up his elephants and large 
 
ANTIOCHUS THE GREAT AND THE ROMANS. 119 
 
 vessels, and repay the expenses of the war, counted at 
 eighteen thousand Euboean talents, and give up Annibal 
 the Carthaginian, Thoas the ^tolian, and some others, 
 and twent}^ hostages at the choice of the Romans. He 
 accepted every condition in his desire for peace, and wits 
 freed from the war.' 
 
 * Antiochus being at a loss for money, and hearing 
 that in Elymais, the temple of Belus had much silver 
 and gold from the offerings, determined to plunder it. 
 Having come then to Elymais, and charged the inhabi- 
 tants with beginning the war against him, he plundered 
 the temple, and having gathered a great sum of money 
 very soon endured the fitting vengeance from the gods.' 
 
 Cicero, in his oration for Deiotarus, mentions a 
 doubtful anecdote of Antiochus after his defeat. ' The 
 great Antiochus, king of Asia, when, after the victory 
 of Scipio, he was commanded to reign only as far as 
 Taurus, and had lost all the nearer Asia which is now 
 our province, was wont to say, that the Roman people 
 had done him a kindness, because he was now freed from 
 excessive ease, and had more moderate boundaries for 
 his kingdom.' His necessity, however, and real dis- 
 tress, seem to be implied in the account of Diodorus, 
 which is confirmed in substance by Eusebius and Justin. 
 The former tells us, that ' having gone to Susa and the 
 upper satrapies, and entered into conflict with the Ely- 
 maeans, he was slain by violence, and left two sons, 
 Seleucus and Antiochus.' The account in Justin is a 
 little fuller. ^Meanwhile, in Syria, king Antiochus, 
 being loaded with heavy tribute after his defeat by the 
 Romans, whether urged by want of money, or impelled 
 by avarice, and flattering himself that under the plan 
 of necessity from the tribute, he might with a fairer 
 excuse commit sacrilege, assailed with an army by night 
 the temple of Elymaean Jove. But the fact being 
 discovered, there was a concourse of the inhabitants, 
 and he was slain with all his forces.' 
 
 Such was the issue of this varied and eventful reign. 
 The monarch, who had unjustly and deceitfully assailed 
 
120 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 the infant king of Egypt, was himself stripped of his do- 
 minions, and compelled to pay a disgraceful tribute, the 
 badge of his dependence. And when he turned his face 
 from the west, the scene of his disgrace, to Antioch, 
 Susa and Elymnes, the forts of his own land, he stum- 
 bled in the very act of attempted sacrilege, was defeated 
 by a handful of his own subjects, and was not found — 
 scarcely even a trace being left of the manner and cir- 
 cumstances of his fall. From the time of his defeat 
 and ignominious peace, the heathen historian scarcely 
 deigns to bestow one passing sentence on the closing 
 history of this once triumphant and haughty king. 
 What a double lesson of the vanity and instability of 
 all human greatness, and of the unfailing truth and 
 faithfulness of the word of God ? Kings may stunjble 
 and fall and not be found, and the mightiest Empires, 
 which have filled the world with their fame, may pass 
 away ; but these true sayings of God are sure and 
 faithful, and eternity will only unfold, with growing 
 clearness, the wisdom of those deep and hidden counsels 
 of the Most High, which are here revealed. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 SELEUCUS PHILOPATOR AND ANTIOCIIUS EPIPHANES. 
 
 Dan. XI. 20— 30.— Then shall stand up in his estate a baisbr op 
 
 TAXES IN THE GLORY OF THE KINGDOM : BUT WITHIN FEW DAYS HE 
 SHALL BB DESTROYED, NEITHER IN ANGER, NOK IN BATTLE. AND IN HIS 
 ESTATE SHALL STAND UP A YILB PERSON, TO WHOM THEY SHALL NOT 
 GIVE THE HONOUR OF THE KINGDOM : BUT HE SHALL COME IS PEACEABLY, 
 AND OBTAIN THE KINGDOM BY FLATTERIES. AND WITH THB ARMS OF 
 A FLOOD SHALL THEY BE OVERFLOWN FROM BEFORE HIM, AND SHALL 
 BE BROKEN ; YEA, ALSO THE PRINCE OP THE COVENANT. AND AFTER 
 THE LEAGUE MADE WITH HIM HE SHALL WORK DECEITFULLY : FOR HE 
 SHALL COME UP, AND SHALL BECOME STRONG WITH A SMALL PEOPLE. 
 He SHALL ENTER PEACEABLY EVEN UPON THE FATTEST PLACES OP THB 
 PROVINCE • AND HE SHALL DO THAT WHICH HIS FATHERS HAVE NOT 
 DONE, NOR HIS FATHERS' FATHERS; HE SHALL SCATTER AMONG THEM THE 
 PREY, AND SPOIL, AND RICHES: YEA, AND HE SHALL FORECAST HIS 
 DEVICES AGAINST THB STRONGHOLDS, EVEN FOR A TIME. AND HE 
 SHALL STIR UP HIS POWER AND HIS COURAGE AGAINST THE KING OF 
 THE SOUTH WITH A GREAT ARMY ; AND THE KING OF THE SOUTH 
 SHALL BE STIRRED UP TO BATTLE WITH A VERY GREAT AND MIGHTY 
 ARMY ; BUT HE SHALL NOT STAND : FOR THEY SHALL FORECAST DEVICES 
 AGAINST HIM. YeA, THEY THAT FEED OF THE PORTION OP HIS MEAT 
 SHALL DESTROY HIM, AND HIS ARMY SHALL OVERFLOW : AND MANY 
 SHALL FALL DOWN SLAIN. AnD BOTH THESE KINGS* HEARTS SHALL BE 
 TO DO MISCHIEF, AND THEY SHALL SPEAK LIES AT ONE TABLE ; BUT IT 
 SHALL NOT PROSPER : FOR YET THE END SHALL BE AT THE TIME AP- 
 POINTED. Then shall he return into his land with great riches ; 
 
 AND HIS heart SHALL BE AGAINST THE HOLY COVENANT ; AND HE SHALL 
 DO EXPLOITS, AND RETURN TO HIS OWN LAND. At THE TIME APPOINTED 
 HE SHALL RETDRN, AND COME TOWARD THE SOUTH : BUT IT SHALL NOT 
 BB AS THE FORMER, OR AS THE LATTER. FOR THE SHIPS OP ChiTTIM 
 SHALL COME AGAINST HIM : THEREFORE HE SHALL BE GRIEVED, AND RE- 
 TURN, AND HAVE INDIGNATION AGAINST THE HOLY COVENANT : SO SHALL 
 HE DO ; HE SHALL EVEN RETURN, AND HAVE INTELLIGENCE WITH THEM 
 THAT FORSAKE THE HOLY COVENANT. 
 
 In these eleven verses, the prophecy sets before us the 
 history of the two sons and successors of Antiochus the 
 
122 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Great, Seleucus Philopator, and Antiochus Epiphanes. 
 The first of these reigns was idle and inglorious, and is 
 very briefly described by its main feature, the payment 
 of the Roman subsidy. The other was marked by 
 several warlike expeditions, and many political changes. 
 Partly on this account, and still more from the bad 
 eminence of Antiochus through his severe persecution 
 of the Jews, his reign is predicted with a greater ful- 
 ness of detail than that of any other king. The ac- 
 counts of this prince in heathen writers and Josephus, 
 though tolerably full, are so broken and fragmentary 
 in the parts which alone have reached us, as to occasion 
 some difficulty in the exact explanation of the vision. 
 The fulfilment however, of all itsmain features is striking 
 and conspicuous. I shall endeavour to follow closely 
 the order of the text, and to illustrate its truth, as far 
 as possible, in the very words of the original authori- 
 ties. 
 
 '' Then shall stand up in his estate a raiser of taxes 
 in the glory of the kingdom.' The marginal reading 
 seems here preferable. " There shall stand up in his 
 estate one that maketh an exactor to pass over the glory 
 of the kingdom." The words refer to Seleucus Philo- 
 pator, the eldest surviving son of Antiochus the Great, 
 who came to the throne on his father's death, and occu- 
 pied it twelve years, a.c. 187—175. His father had 
 left the kingdom burdened with a subsid\^ of 12,000 
 talents, to be paid to the Romans, in twelve annual in- 
 stalments, for the expenses of the war. It is probable, 
 from the immediate payment of 8000 talents, to which 
 Antiochus was further compelled, and the short inter- 
 val before his death, that this annual tribute only 
 began with the accession of Seleucus. At least it ap- 
 pears from the first embassy of Antiochus Epiphanes, 
 in Livy, that it was only fully discharged after the 
 death of Seleucus. His whole reign then, probably, 
 began and ended with the twelve years of actual 
 payment. There is thus a strict historical truth in 
 the description given of him in the text — one that 
 
SELEUCUS PHILOPATOR AND ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES.123 
 
 causeth an exactor to j^ass over ; since the one feature 
 which distinguished this reign was this heavy annual 
 impost paid to the Romans. The exactor passed over 
 the glory of the kingdom. This was doubly true, in 
 the abstract, and in the concrete. It was the greatest 
 humiliation and dishonour to a kingdom, once so 
 famous and powerful, that it should not only lose some 
 of its fairest provinces, but also have the ignominy of a 
 yearly tribute to its conquerors. And in the collection 
 of this tribute, the need of the monarch, or the rapacity 
 of his servants, led them to pillage and despoil the 
 buildings and temples, which formed the glory of the 
 Syrian empire, as appeared most of all in the sacri- 
 legious design against the temple of Jerusalem. 
 
 All the brief notices of this king agree with the pro- 
 phetic description. Thus Jerome. ' He performed no- 
 thing worthy of the empire of Syria or of his father, 
 and perished ingloriously without fighting any battles.' 
 And Appian. ' He reigned twelve years, at once idly 
 and feebly, on account of his father's calamity.' So 
 again Diodorus. * Seleucus, having collected a consi- 
 derable force, led it on to cross the Taurus, with a view 
 to assist Pharnaces ; but calling to mind the treaty his 
 father had made with the Romans, by which this was 
 unlawful, he abandoned his design.' In full accordance 
 with these notes of character, Josephus mentions (Ant. 
 xii. 4, 11), that in this reign Hyrcanus seized on the 
 parts beyond Jordan, ' and ruled over them seven years, 
 all the time that Seleucus was king of Syria. But when 
 he was dead, his brother Antiochus, called Epiphanes, 
 took the kingdom : and Hyrcanus, fearing to be brought 
 to punishment, slew himself with his own hand.' The 
 same truth appears from the passage of Livy, where he 
 mentions the death of Seleucus, and the accession 
 of Antiochus. Four coins of Seleucus are now extant, 
 and part of a Delian inscription on the marriage of 
 his daughter Laodice with Perseus, the last king of 
 Macedon. 
 
 The most interesting fact, however, left on record in 
 
124 CHAPTER X. 
 
 connexion with this reign, is the attempt to rob the 
 temple of Jerusalem, mentioned in the second book of 
 Maccabees, and which, according to that writer, was 
 signally prevented by a miraculous apparition. 
 
 * The king chose out Heliodorus his treasurer, and 
 commanded him to bring the money. So Heliodorus 
 took his journey, under pretence of visiting the cities 
 of Coele Syria and Phcenice, but really to fulfil the 
 king's purpose. And when he was come to Jerusalem, 
 and was courteously received by the high priest, he told 
 him what account had been given of the money, and 
 declared wherefore he came, and asked if these things 
 were so indeed. Then the high priest told him, that 
 there was much money laid up for the relief of widows 
 and fatherless children, the sum whereof was four hun- 
 dred talents of silver, and two hundred of gold ; and 
 that it was impossible such wrong should be done to 
 those who had intrusted it to the holiness of the place, 
 and the inviolable majesty of the temple, honoured 
 through all the world. But Heliodorus, because of the 
 king's command, said, that in anywise it must be 
 brought into the king's treasury. 
 
 ' Now as he was there present himself with his guard 
 about the treasury, the Lord of spirits and the Prince 
 of all power, caused a great apparition, so that all who 
 presumed to come in with him were astonished at the 
 power of God,'and fainted, and were sore afraid. For there 
 appeared unto them a horse with a terrible rider, and 
 adorning with a very fair covering, and he was fiercely, 
 and smote at Heliodorus with his prefect, and it seemed 
 tliat the rider had complete harness of gold. Moreover 
 two other young men appeared before him, notable in 
 strength, and excellent in beauty, who stood on each 
 side, and scourged him continually with many sore 
 stripes. And Heliodorus fell suddenly to the ground, 
 and was compassed with great darkness, and they took 
 him up, and put him into a litter. 
 
 ' Thus him that lately came with a great train, and 
 with all his guard into the treasury, they carried out. 
 
SELEUCUS PHILOPATOR AND ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES.125 
 
 unable to help himself with his weapons ; and mani- 
 festly they acknowledged the power of God And 
 
 when the king asked Heliodorus who might be a fit 
 man to send again to Jerusalem, he said, — If thou hast 
 any enemy or traitor, send him thither, and thou shalt 
 receive him well scourged, if he escape with his life ; 
 for there''doubtless is an especial power of God. For 
 he that dwelleth in heaven hath his eye on that place, 
 and defendeth it, and he beateth and destro^^eth them 
 that come to hurt it.' (2 Mace. iii. 7—13, 24—40). 
 
 " But within a few days he shall be destroyed, nei- 
 ther in anger nor in battle." 
 
 The few days, here mentioned, may either refer to 
 the whole reign of Seleucus, compared with that of his 
 father, as it was less than one-third of it in length, and 
 utterly inglorious ; or perhaps to the time from the 
 close of these exactions to his death. The tribute was 
 not fully paid when Antiochus his brother took the 
 kingdom. The mission of Heliodorus to Jerusalem was 
 probably one part of a systematic collection of revenues 
 for this payment through the whole kingdom, and the 
 murder of Seleucus appears to have occurred very 
 shortly after his return. He was to fall " neither in 
 anger, nor in battle." Accordingly, not long after this 
 attempted sacrilege, Heliodorus, with a hope of obtain- 
 ing the kingdom, slew Seleucus in cool and deliberate 
 treachery. Thus the supplement to Livy, in agreement 
 with Appian and other writers. 
 
 ' At that time (a.c. 175) Antiochus, the son of An- 
 tiochus the Great who had long been hostage at Rome, 
 on the death of Seleucus his brother, seized on the king- 
 dom of Syria. For Seleucus, whom the Greeks call 
 Philopator, when he had received Syria with its strength 
 much broken by his father's losses, after an idle reign 
 of twelve years, ennobled by no great actions, recalled 
 this younger brother, and sent his son Demetrius in his 
 stead, according to the conditions of the treaty, which 
 required the hostages to be changed in this way. But 
 Antic elms had scarcely readied Athens, when Seleucus 
 
126 CHAPTER X. 
 
 died through the treachery of Heliodorus, one of his 
 chief officers of state.' (xli. 19. Supp.) 
 
 Thus fell this prince, after an inglorious reign, hy the 
 very hand which had been the instrument of his own 
 crime. But the murderer did not reap the expected 
 fruit of his wickedness, and seems to have perished soon 
 after, when Antiochus had seized on the throrife. 
 
 " And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to 
 whom they will not give the honour of the kingdom ; 
 but he will come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom 
 by flatteries." 
 
 These words are a clear and exact description of An- 
 tiochus Epiphanes, the brother of Seleucus, who next 
 succeeded to the kingdom. He was at Athens, on his 
 return to Syria, when Seleucus fell by the treachery of 
 Heliodorus ; and as the lawful heir, Demetrius, was 
 newly become a hostage at Rome in his stead, he thought 
 the opportunity favourable to defraud him of the inhe- 
 ritance, and secure to himself the kingdom. The honour 
 of the kingdom w^as not given to him. He did not suc- 
 ceed, by universal consent, as the rightful heir. Helio- 
 dorus sought to gain the kingdom for himself. Another 
 party, as Jerome tells us, were in favour of Ptolemy, 
 the nephew of the late king, being the son of Cleopatra, 
 daughter of Antiochus the Great, and sister of Seleucus. 
 Demetrius, also, the son of Seleucus, was plainly the 
 lawful heir. 
 
 " But he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the king- 
 dom by flatteries." He flattered Eumenes, the king of 
 Pergamus, and Attalus his brother, who both assisted 
 him to secure the kingdom. He flattered the Syrians, 
 as Jerome informs us, by a pretended clemency, and, 
 as many writers teach us, by strange and low arts of 
 popular subserviency ; while the pride of the Romans 
 was soothed by a humiliating embassy, in which he en- 
 treated them to lay on him their commands, and pro- 
 mised to observe them. In Livy we have an account 
 of his first accession and embassy to the Romans, in 
 these words : — 
 
SELEUCUS PHILOPATOR AND ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES.127 
 
 * But when Heliodonis was aiming at the kingdom, 
 Eumenes and Attains expelled him, and brought Anti- 
 ochus into the possession of it, who, as they thought, 
 would value them highly, after he was bound to them 
 by so great a kindness. For now already, on account 
 of some slight causes of offence, they viewed the Romans 
 with suspicion. Antiochus, having obtained the king- 
 dom through their help, was received with such joy of 
 the people, that they gave him the surname of Epipha- 
 nes, or the Illustrious, because when aliens from the 
 royal race had seized on the kingdom, he had claimed 
 on his friends as an assertor of his paternal claims. 
 Nor w^as he wanting in talents or vigour of mind for 
 the affairs of war ; but he was so depraved and sense- 
 less in the whole course of his manners and life, that 
 very soon, by a change of his surname, instead of Epi- 
 phanes the Illustrious, they called him Epimanes, the 
 Madman.' His embassy to the Romans, after his acces- 
 sion, shows at once the dependent and feeble state of 
 the Syrian kingdom, and the flatteries which he used to 
 secure possession. 
 
 * At the same time ambassadors came from Antiochus 
 the king, of whom Apollonius, the leader, having been 
 introduced to the senate, excused the king with many 
 and just reasons, because he had paid the tribute later 
 than the time appointed. " That he had brought the 
 whole of it along with him, lest any other cause of com- 
 plaint, beside the time, should arise. That he also 
 brought a present, vessels of gold, to the weight of five 
 hundred pounds. That the king besought them to renew 
 with himself the league and covenant made with his 
 father, and that the Roman people would lay such com- 
 mands on him as were fit to be laid on a good and faith- 
 ful king, their ally." That he would neglect no duty of 
 friendship. Such were the merits of the senate towards 
 him, when he was at Rome, such the kindness of the 
 youth, as that by all ranks he had been treated rather 
 like a king than an hostage. A favourable answer was 
 given, and Atilius the proctor was commanded to renew 
 
128 CHAPTER X. 
 
 the league with Antiochus which had been made with 
 his father.' 
 
 Such were some of the courtly flatteries by which 
 Antiochus obtained the throne, to the exclusion of the 
 lawful heir. His conduct on his first accession, as re- 
 ported by Livy, Diodorus, and others, while it illustrates 
 further his flatteries to the Syrian populace, throws the 
 fullest light on the epithet b}^ which the Holy Spirit 
 has briefly described him, ' a vile person.' 
 
 * Often leaving the palace without the knowledge of 
 his attendants, and with only one or two companions, 
 he walked through the city crowned with roses^ and with 
 a robe inwoven with gold. Sometimes he flung stones 
 which he carried under his sleeve at those whom he 
 met with ; sometimes, on the contrary, he used to scatter 
 coins among the populace and to shout aloud — Let him 
 take them to whom fortune gives them. —At other times 
 he used to go through the workshops of the goldsmiths, 
 gravers and other workmen, and talk ambitiously about 
 every one's trade. Sometimes he mixed freely in dis • 
 course in public, with every one whom he met of the 
 lowest ranks ; sometimes he used to ramble through the 
 taverns, and indulge in drinking with strangers of the 
 basest kind. If he learned by chance that any young 
 men were holding a seasonable feast, he at once came 
 unexpectedly with a cup and symphony, to revel and in- 
 dulge with them, so that most of them startled by the 
 novelty of the thing, took to flight, and the rest were 
 silent with fear. In the public baths also, it is well 
 known that he was accustomed to bathe with the crowd. 
 Then, when he was still using the most costly ointments, 
 one of the populace is reported to have said to him— 
 You are happy, king ; you smell of the most precious 
 ointments. Delighted with the speech, he answered — 
 J will now make you so happy, that you shall confess 
 yourself to be satisfied, and immediately ordered an urn 
 of the noblest ointment to be poured on his head ; so 
 that as the pavement swam with it, the others fell on 
 the slippery ground, and the king himself amidst shouts 
 
SELEUCUS PHILOPATOR AND ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES.129 
 
 of laughter. Afterwards, assuming a gown instead of the 
 royal robe, he went round the forum, as he had seen the 
 candidates do at Rome, saluting each one of the people, 
 taking them by the hand, and begging, now the aedile- 
 ship, and now the tribuneship of the people. Having 
 at length gained the magistracy by the votes of the 
 people, sitting in an ivory chair after the Roman cus- 
 tom, he administered justice, and decided the most tri- 
 vial causes ; and so little did he adhere to any form, 
 wandering through every kind of life, that neither he, 
 himself, nor others, could tell certainly what kind of 
 person he was. 
 
 ' He often did not speak to his friends, and smiled 
 familiarly on those whom he scarcely knew; he amused 
 himself and others by unequal munificence ; to some 
 who were honoured and esteemed themselves highly, he 
 gave puerile presents, as morsels of meat, and play- 
 things, and enriched others who expected nothing. He 
 seemed, therefore, to some, as one who did not know 
 his own meaning ; some thought that he was merely in 
 sport, and others that he was unquestionably mad. In 
 two great matters, however, his mind was truly royal, 
 in presents to cities, and in the worship of the gods. 
 He promised the Megapolitans in Arcadia, that he 
 would surround their city with a wall, and gave them 
 the greater part of the money. He determined to build 
 a magnificent theatre of marble at Tegea. At Cyzicum 
 he gave to the Prytany, where those to whom the 
 honour belongs are fed at the public expense, the golden 
 vessels for one table. To the Rhodians, though no one 
 gift was remarkable, he gave presents of all kinds, as 
 their use might require. Of his munificence toward 
 the gods, even the temple of Olympian Jove at Athens, 
 the only one begun in the world answering to the 
 greatness of the divinity, may be a witness. But he 
 also adorned Delos with noble altars, and abundance of 
 statues ; and at Antioch he promised a magnificent 
 temple of Capitolian Jove, having layers of gold 
 over the whole of its walls, and many other temples 
 
 K 
 
130 CHAPTER X. 
 
 in other places ; but because the time of his reign 
 was very short, he did not complete them. He sur- 
 passed also the former kings in the magnificence of 
 his shows of every kind ; the others, after the Greek 
 custom, and with a multitude of Greek artificers. The 
 gladiators only, a Roman custom, he exhibited at first 
 more to the alarm than the delight of men unused to 
 such a spectacle ; afterwards, by frequent repetition, 
 sometimes with wounds only, sometimes even to extre- 
 mity, he made the spectacle familiar and grateful to 
 the eyes, and inflamed many of the youth with the love 
 of arms. So that he who at first was accustomed to 
 hire gladiators, at a great price, from Rome, at length 
 easily procured voluntary ones from his own kingdom, 
 who offered themselves to the contest for a slight re- 
 ward. However, he showed the same depravity and 
 levity of mind in giving the spectacles, as in the rest of 
 his life ; so that nothing seemed more magnificent than 
 the celebration of the games, and nothing more vile and 
 contemptible than the king himself. This appeared 
 often on other occasions, but especially in those games 
 which, in emulation of the magnificence of Paulus, i-n 
 his games to celebrate the victory over Perseus, he cele- 
 brated at Antioch, at an immense cost, and no less to 
 his own disgrace.' 
 
 Thus, even in the eyes of a heathen historian, the 
 character of Antiochus was vile and contemptible, and 
 how much more so in the sight of heaven ! The partial 
 praise bestowed on him, when tried by a true stan- 
 dard, is merely an aggravation of the charge. His only 
 virtues, as here described, were an ostentatious and 
 costly support of foul idolatry, and the depraved taste 
 which led him to cultivate the appetite for blood among 
 his people by the shows of gladiators. The words of 
 the prophecy describe, with equal clearness, his surrep- 
 titious entrance on the kingdom, defrauding the natu- 
 ral heir, and the low and flattering art& which he em- 
 ployed to court popularity and secure the favour of the 
 vulgar. Every other author who speaks of this 
 
SELEUCUS PHILOPATOR AND ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES.131 
 
 prince, bears the same testimony to his luxury and 
 vileness. 
 
 In Appian we have a brief summary of the reign in 
 these words. ' Antiochus reigned not twelve full years ; 
 in which he subdued Artaxias the Armenian, and 
 marched into Egypt against the sixth Ptolemy, who was 
 then an orphan, and against his brother. And as he was 
 encamped near Alexandria, Popillius the Roman legate 
 came, bringing a tablet with this writing— that Antio- 
 chus make no war on the Ptolemies. And when he had 
 read it, and said that he would consult about it, Popil- 
 lius drew a circle round him with a rod, and said to 
 him — Consult there. Being then struck wdth fear, he 
 decamped, and burnt the temple of Eleusinian Venus, 
 and afterwards pined away and died, leaving a son only 
 seven years old, Antiochus Eupator.' 
 
 Porphyry, as quoted in Eusebius, gives a similar out- 
 line of the Egyptian reigns, which throws light on the ■ 
 history of Antiochus, and the course of the predicted 
 war. 
 
 ' After Epiphanes, his two sons, the Ptolemies, re- 
 ceived the kingdom, both the elder, surnamed Philo- 
 metor, and the younger, called Euergetes the Second ; 
 and the years of both are reckoned four and sixty. For 
 we have reckoned them in one sum, because from their 
 quarrels and alternate reigns, there is a confusion of 
 their times. Philometor first reigned eleven years alone. 
 But when Antiochus marched into Egypt, and stripped 
 him of the diadem, the Alexandrians committed the 
 government to the younger Ptolemy ; and afterwards 
 driving out Antiochus, rescued Philometor ; so that 
 year was reckoned the twelfth of Philometor, and first 
 of Euergetes. They then agreed till the seventeenth 
 year, and the eighteenth again belongs to Philometor 
 only. For the Romans restored the elder brother when 
 he had been ejected by the younger ; and he ruled over 
 Egypt, resigning Lybia to his brother, for eighteen 
 years alone. And when he had died in Syria, for he 
 was master of those places also, Euergetes was called 
 
 K 2 
 
132 CHAPTER X. 
 
 from Cyrene, and proclaimed king, and reckoned his 
 years from the date of his first accession, so that reign- 
 ing twenty-five years after the death of his brother, he 
 seemed to assign himself fifty-four.' 
 
 The details of each separate campaign of Antiochus 
 are rather difficult to trace, from the scanty nature of 
 the records that have come down to us. Yet enough 
 has been left to illustrate the outline of the prophecy. 
 
 " And the arms of the flood shall be overflown from 
 before him ; yea, also the prince of the covenant." 
 
 In one of the prophets the figure occurs — " Egypt 
 riseth up wholly, like a flood." The inundation of the 
 Nile would supply a natural and striking emblem for 
 the overflow of the forces of Egypt, when invading any 
 foreign country. The arms of the flood may thus be 
 viewed as probably equivalent here to " the arms of 
 Egypt." The words will refer, therefore, to the first 
 • campaign of Antiochus against Egypt, placed by the 
 best chronologers, a.c. 171, in the fourth year of his 
 reign. 
 
 It is plain that, on the accession of Antiochus, Pales- 
 tine was in the power of the Syrian kings. Though 
 Coele Syria and Phenice are said to have been ceded by 
 Antiochus the Great as the dowry of Cleopatra, it 
 would seem that this amounted really to nothing- more 
 than a nominal share of the sovereignty, and a division 
 of the revenues, for throughout the reign of Seleucus 
 they were subject to Syria. The aggression does not 
 appear to have been entirely on the part of Antiochus. 
 We may infer, from a fragment of Diodorus (Tom. ix. 
 p. 414), that the " arms of the flood" or of Egypt, were 
 first in the field. 
 
 * Ptolemy, king of Egypt, knowing that his ancestors 
 had held Ccele Syria, made great preparations, intend- 
 ing to reclaim it. For he hoped that as it had been lost 
 by an unjust war, he might justly reclaim it by the 
 same laws of arms. Antiochus, perceiving this, sent 
 ambassadors to Rome, and charged them to declare to 
 the senate, that Ptolemy was attempting to make war 
 
on liim unjustly. The other in his turn sent persons 
 to excuse himself, and explain to the senate, that An- 
 tiochus held Coele Syria contrary to all right, since it 
 belonged to Ptolemy from his forefathers.' 
 
 In spite of these Egyptian preparations, as for aggres- 
 sive warfare, the arms of the flood were overflown from 
 before him. Thus Jerome relates. ' Antiochus was 
 uncle of Philometor, who was the son of his own sister 
 Cleopatra. And when, after the death of Cleopatra, 
 Eulseus the eunuch who had brought up Philometor, 
 and Lenaeus, ruled over Egypt, and sought to recover 
 Syria, which Antiochus had seized on by fraud, a 
 battle took place between the uncle and the boy 
 Ptolemy, and when the conflict was joined between 
 Pelusium and Mount Casius, the captains of Ptolemy 
 were defeated.' 
 
 So again Diodorus. ' The guardians of the young 
 Ptolemy, Eulasus the eunuch, and Lenaeus the Syrian, 
 used every art and contrivance. The eunuch embraced 
 martial conflicts, and the Coele Syrian ventured to 
 renew the war about Syria, though Antiochus was 
 inferior to no one in forces and other warlike provisions. 
 But, what was the strangest of all, though they were 
 perfectly ignorant of the contests of war, and had nei- 
 ther any skilful counsellor, nor able general, they rushed 
 into a •business so weighty. Wherefore they quickly 
 reaped the due punishment of their folly, and so far as 
 lay in them, utterly subverted the whole kingdom.' 
 And Polybius, after mention of the Egyptian defeat. 
 ^ All laid the blame of these events on Eulgeus ; but 
 alleging the youth of Ptolemy, and how nearly he was 
 akin to Antiochus, they accused also the passion of that 
 king.' (xxviii. 17.) 
 
 The same invasion is alluded to by Livy. (xlii. 29.) 
 'Antiochus was threatening the kingdom of Egypt, 
 since he despised the boyhood of the king and the sloth 
 of his guardians, and thought that he should have a 
 cause of war in the dispute about Coele Syria, and might 
 carry it on without any hindrance, as the Romans 
 
134 CHAPTER X. 
 
 were now busied in the war with Macedon. Yet 
 he made every promise in the fairest way, both him- 
 self to the legates, and by his ambassadors to the 
 senate. Ptolemy, from his youth, was still in the 
 power of others. His guardians prepared for a war 
 with Antiochus, to vindicate their right to Coele Syria, 
 and also promised the Romans every help for the war 
 with Macedon.' 
 
 The anecdote in Diodorus appears to refer to the battle 
 between Mount Casius and Pelusium in this first in- 
 vasion. 
 
 ^ Antiochus, when he had it now in his power to slay 
 the routed Egyptians, rode up and cried out to his 
 troops not to kill them, but to take them alive. He 
 quickly reaped the fruits of his prudent forbearance, 
 both in the capture of Pelusium, and afterwards in the 
 conquest of Egypt, to which this act of humanity 
 greatly contributed.' 
 
 We may perhaps infer from this fragment, in har- 
 mony with hints in other authors, that the result of the 
 first campaign was mainly the capture of Pelusium, the 
 key of Egypt, and that the main conquest was in the 
 following year. 
 
 The prince of the covenant, it is predicted, would also 
 be overthrown. This was fulfilled in the deposition of 
 Onias the high priest ; and afterwards of Jason, as 
 recorded by the writer of the second book of Maccabees. 
 
 ' After the death of Seleucus, when Antiochus Epi- 
 phanes took the kingdom, Jason the brother of Onias 
 laboured underhand to be high priest. And he pro- 
 mised to the king by intercession, three hundred and 
 three-score talents of silver, and of another revenue 
 eighty talents. Besides this, he promised to assign one 
 hundred and fifty talents more, if he might have licence 
 to set up a place of exercise for training up the youth 
 in the fashions of the heathen, and to write to them of 
 Jerusalem by the name of Antiochians. Which the 
 king granted ; and when he had gotten the rules, he 
 brought his own nation to the Greek fashion.' 
 
SELEUCUS PHILOPATOR AND ANTIOCIIUS EP1PHANES.135 
 
 ' Three years after, Jason sent Menelaus, the brother 
 of Simon, to bear the money to the king, and to put 
 him in mind of certain necessary matters. But when 
 he came to the presence of the king, he magnified him 
 for the glorious appearance of his power, and got the 
 priesthood to himself, offering three hundred talents of 
 silver more than Jason. So he came with the royal 
 mandate, bringing nothing worthy of the high priest- 
 hood, but the fury of a cruel tyrant, and the rage of a 
 savage beast. Thus Jason who had undermined his own 
 brother, being undermined by another, was compelled 
 to flee into the country of the Ammonites.' 
 
 ' Now Menelaus, supposing the time convenient, stole 
 some vessels of gold out of the temple, and gave some 
 of them to Andronicus, and some he sold to Tyre and 
 the cities round about. And when Onias knew it, he 
 reproved him, and withdrew into the sanctuary of 
 Daphne, near Antioch. Wherefore Menelaus prayed 
 Andronicus to get Onias into his hands ; and he, being 
 persuaded, came to Onias in deceit, and gave him his 
 right hand with oaths, and persuaded him to come forth 
 from the sanctuary ; whom he shut up forthwith without 
 regard to justice. For which cause not the Jews only, 
 but many other nations, took great indignation, and 
 w^ere much grieved for the unjust murder.' 
 
 Thus it appears that Onias first, and then Jason, 
 w^ere removed from the high priesthood by the arbitrary 
 decree of Antiochus against the will of the people, and 
 the deposition of Onias, a just and holy man, was soon 
 followed by his hateful murder. The prince of the cove- 
 nant, like the forces of Egypt, was overthrown by the 
 vile person. 
 
 " And after the league made with him he shall work 
 deceitfully, &c." 
 
 The word here used, is the same which occurs in the 
 sixth verse. " And in the end of years they shall join 
 themselves together." It seems here also, as in the 
 former case, to denote a league or treaty, between the 
 kings of Syria and Egypt. As no complete history 
 
136 CHAPTER X. 
 
 of Antioclius has come down to us, it is more difficult 
 to trace the exact course of events at the time of his 
 second campaign. It is clear, however, that after his 
 first victory he contented himself with the capture of 
 Pelusium, and retired to Syria. When he was at Tyre 
 on his return, an embassy came to him from the Jews 
 against Menelaus, as recorded in 2 Mace. iv. 44 — 50. It 
 is highly probable, from the following passage of Dio- 
 dorus, that a league had been made with him at this 
 time, and that Ptolemy had made great concessions, to 
 secure his retreat from Pelusium. It occurs immedi- 
 ately after the mention of the forbearance of Antiochus, 
 and therefore seems naturally to refer to this interval 
 between the two campaigns. For it results from the 
 notes of time given by Porphyry, that Euergetes was 
 appointed king in the middle of a.c. 170, and hence the 
 league in question must have been earlier, and followed 
 after the first campaign. 
 
 ^ But w^e cannot pass over without notice, the ignoble 
 disposition of Ptolemy. For that when he was out of 
 danger, and so far distant from the enemies, he should 
 l^ien, as of his own accord, resign a very great and most 
 opulent kingdom, how can we fail to ascribe it to a 
 thoroughly effeminate soul ? Now if that of Ptolemy 
 were such by nature, w^e might justly blame it ; but 
 since by his later actions, nature has sufficiently cleared 
 herself, shewing that he was a king inferior to none in 
 constancy and activity, it is necessary to ascribe the 
 blame of his cowardice and ignoble conduct at this 
 time to the eunuch and his training : who, from child- 
 hood keeping the youth in luxury and womanish pur- 
 suits, corrupted his force of mind.' 
 
 It appears, from the subsequent history, that the in- 
 terval must have been employed in corrupting the 
 Egyptian ministers, or some of the chief officers. For 
 though no direct record of their treachery remains, to 
 confirm the prophecy, the facts of the campaign, and 
 the historical character of those ministers, conspire to 
 establish the truth of the prophetic explanation. Jerome 
 
SELEUCUS PHILOPATOR AND AXTIOCHUS EPIPHANES.137 
 
 follo-\ving Porphyry, gives the following notices of the 
 campaign. 
 
 ' Antiochus fought again against Ptolemy Philometor, 
 the son of his sister, in the eleventh year of his reign, 
 who hearing of his approach, gathered together many 
 thousand people.' 
 
 ' Moreover, Antiochus, sparing the youth, and feigning 
 friendship, went up to Memphis, and there receiving 
 the kingdom after the custom of the Egyptians, and 
 saying that he was consulting for the affairs of the 
 youth, with a small army subdued all Egypt to him- 
 self. Thus writes Porphyry, following Sutorius. ^ An- 
 tiochus made a peace with Ptolemy, and entered the 
 feast with him, and plotted wiles ; yet it availed him 
 nothing, because he could not obtain the kingdom, but 
 was driven out by Ptolemy's soldiers.' 
 
 To this second campaign, the passage in 1 Mace. i. 
 16 — 19, chiefly refers, as it was immediately followed 
 by his cruelties at Jerusalem. 
 
 ' Now when the kingdom was established before An- 
 tiochus, he thought to reign over Egypt, that he might 
 have the dominion of two realms. Wherefore he en- 
 tered Egypt with a great multitude, with chariots, and 
 elephants, and horsemen, and a great navy, and made 
 war against Ptolemy king of Egypt ; but Ptolemy was 
 afraid of him and fled ; and many were wounded to 
 death. Thus they got the strong cities in Egypt, and 
 he took the spoils thereof.' 
 
 The prophecy ascribes the success of Antiochus to 
 the treachery of Ptolemy's servants. Accordingly^ we 
 learn from Diodorus and Polybius, that Eulaeus and 
 Lenaeus, his two chief ministers, were universally 
 charged with the blame of his reverses. Ptolemy Ma- 
 cron also, son of Dorymenes, the governor of Cypnis, 
 at this time revolted from the king of Egypt. 2 Mace. 
 X. 12 — 14. Upon this defection he was in high favour 
 with Antiochus, as appears from the use that Menelaus 
 made of his intercession. 
 
 ' Now when the king came to Tyre, three men sent 
 
138 CHAPTER X. 
 
 from the sanhedrim pleaded the cause before him. But 
 Menelaus, being now convicted, promised Ptolemy, son 
 of Dor^'^menes, much money, if he would pacify the 
 king. Whereon Ptolemy, taking the king aside, brought 
 him to another mind, so that he discharged Menelaus ; 
 and those poor men who, had they told their cause even 
 before Scythseus, would have been judged innocent, he 
 condemned to death.' 
 
 Afterwards this Ptolemy was appointed governor of 
 Coele Syria and Phenice, in reward for his desertion : 
 (2 Mace. viii. 8,) but on the death of Antiochus he fell 
 into disgrace, and being upbraided with his former 
 perfidy, poisoned himself in dispair. 
 
 Thus, at the time of the second campaign, all seemed 
 to conspire against the young Ptolemy. After he came 
 into the hands of Antiochus, the Alexandrians revolted, 
 and made his younger brother their king, while Cyprus 
 had previously been transferred by the treachery of 
 Macron, and the invader took possession of nearly all 
 Egypt. 
 
 It was at this time, when Philometor was in the power 
 of Antiochus, and his younger brother was made king 
 at Alexandria, that the following verse was fulfilled. 
 The exposition of Bishop Newton is confirmed by the 
 dim light which history still supplies to us of this short 
 interval. ' Antiochus pretended to take care of his 
 nephew Philometor's interest, and promised to restore 
 him the crown, at the very time he was plotting his 
 ruin, and was contriving means to weaken the two bro- 
 thers in a war against each other, that the conqueror, 
 wearied and exhausted, might fall an easier prey. On 
 the other side, Philometor laid the blame of the war on 
 his governor Eulaeus, professed great obligations to his 
 uncle, and seemed to hold the crown by his favour, at 
 the same time that he was resolved to take the first op- 
 portunity of breaking the league with him, and of being 
 reconciled to his brother ; and accordingly, as soon as 
 Antiochus was withdrawn, he made proposals, and by 
 the mediation of their sister, Cleopatra, a peace was 
 
SELEUCUS PHILOPATOR AND ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANEsJSO 
 
 made between the brothers, who agreed to reign jointly 
 in Egypt and Alexandria. But still this artifice and 
 dissimulation did not prosper on either side. For nei- 
 ther did Antiochus obtain the kingdom, nor did Philo- 
 metor utterly exclude him, and prevent his returning 
 with an army, as each expected by the measures he had 
 taken ; for these wars were not to have an end till the 
 time appointed, which was not yet come.' 
 
 *' Then shall he return into his land with great 
 riches, and his heart shall be against the holy covenant ; 
 and he shall practise, and return to his own land." 
 
 At the close of this second campaign, after great suc- 
 cess in Egypt, Antiochus returned to Syria ; and on 
 his way, plundered the temple of Jerusalem. Thus 
 Josephus (Ant. xii. 5. 2.) 
 
 ' Antiochus came with great force to Pelusium, and 
 circumvented Ptolemy Philometor by treacher^^, and 
 seized upon Egypt. He then came to the places about 
 Memphis, and when he had taken them, he made haste 
 to Alexandria, in hopes of taking it by siege, and sub- 
 duing Ptolemy (Euergetes), who reigned there. Re- 
 turning out of Egypt, for fear of the Romans, he made 
 an expedition against the city Jerusalem, and when he 
 was there, in the 143d year of the Seleucidae, he took 
 the city Avithout fighting, the inhabitants opening their 
 gates to him. And when he had possession, he slew 
 many of the opposite party, and when he had plun- 
 dered it of much money, he returned to Antioch.' 
 
 In this extract are tw^o slight errors, as from the dates 
 of Josephus himself, it is plain that the capture two 
 years later, was on the forced return of Antiochus for 
 fear of the Romans, and it is proved by other authori- 
 ties, that the city was taken by force. The writer of 
 the book of Maccabees is more exact. (1 Mac. i. 20 — 30.) 
 
 * And after that Antiochus had smitten Egypt, he 
 returned again in the 143d year (Sept. — Dec. a.c. 170), 
 and went up against Israel and Jerusalem with a great 
 multitude ; and entered proudly into the sanctuary, 
 and took away the golden altar, and the candlestick of 
 
140 CHAPTER X. 
 
 light, and all the vessels thereof. And the table of the 
 shew-bread, and the pouring vessels, and the vials, and 
 the censers of gold, and the vial and the crowns, and 
 the golden ornaments before the temple, all of which he 
 pulled off. He took also the silver and the gold, and 
 the precious vessels ; also he took the hidden treasures 
 which he found. And when he- had taken all away, he 
 went into his own land, having made a great massacre, 
 and spoken very proudly. Therefore there was great 
 mourning in Israel, in every place, so that the princes 
 and elders mourned, the virgins and the young men 
 were made feeble, and the beauty of women were 
 changed. Every bridegroom took up lamentation, and 
 she that sat in the marriage-chamber w^as in heaviness. 
 The land also was moved for the inhabitants thereof, 
 and all the house of Jacob was covered with confusion.' 
 
 In this manner, with treasures plundered from Egypt 
 and Judea and from the holy city, the king of the north 
 returned with great riches to his own land. His heart 
 was against the holy covenant, and all its sacred ves- 
 sels were profaned, and given to the hand of the spoiler, 
 and the land of the covenant was filled with mourning, 
 and desolate. 
 
 " At the time appointed he shall return, and come 
 towards the south." The further progress of Antiochus 
 may be partly traced by two passages of Livy, which 
 introduce the narrative of his final repulse by the Ro- 
 mans. His partial success in the third campaign, a.c. 
 169, appears from the complaint of Ptolemy's ambassa- 
 dors at Rome in the following year. 
 
 ' The ambassadors of Alexandria, from Ptolemy and 
 Cleopatra, the kings (Euergetes and his sister) were 
 now summoned. They entered the senate-house in 
 sordid apparel, their beard and hair neglected, with 
 boughs of olive, and fell on their faces ; and their words 
 were even more pitiful than their appearance. Antio- 
 chus, king of Syria, who had been hostage at Rome, 
 under the fair pretext of restoring the elder Ptolemy 
 to the kingdom, was now waging war with the 
 
SELEUCUS PHILOPATOR AND AXTIOCHUS EP1PHANES.141 
 
 younger brother, who then occupied Alexandria. He had 
 been victor in a sea-fight at Pelusium ; and a bridge 
 having been built hastily over the Nile, he had crossed 
 with his army, and terrified Alexandria itself with a 
 siege, and seemed very near seizing on that most opu- 
 lent kingdom. The ambassadors in their complaint, 
 implored the senate to lend their aid to an allied king- 
 dom and sovereigns. That such were the merits of the 
 Roman people toward Antiochus, such its authority 
 with all kings and nations, that if they would send 
 legates and declare that it did not please the senate, war 
 should be made on kings their allies, he would straight- 
 way depart from the walls of Alexandria, and lead aw^ay 
 the army into Syria. But if they delayed to do this, 
 very soon Ptolemy and Cleopatra, driven from their 
 kingdom, would come to Rome ; with some disgrace to 
 the Roman people, because they had lent them no aid 
 in their utmost danger. The Fathers, moved by the 
 prayers of the Alexandrians, immediately sent C. Popil- 
 lius Lsenas, C. Decimius and C. Hostilius, as legates, 
 to put an end to the war between the kings. They 
 were told to see Antiochus first, and then Ptolemy, and 
 to announce that unless they ceased from war, which- 
 ever were the cause, he would no longer be accounted 
 an ally or a friend.' (Liv. xlv. 19). 
 
 The same author, in another passage, describes the fur- 
 ther course of Antiochus in the following year. ( a.c.168.) 
 
 ' While these things were transacted, Antiochus had 
 left Alexandria, after a fruitless attempt on its walls ; 
 and having seized on all the rest of Egypt, and left the 
 elder Ptolemy at Memphis, to whom he pretended that 
 the kingdom must be sought by its own forces, that he 
 might presently assail the victor, led back his army 
 into Syria. But Ptolemy, not being ignorant of his 
 purpose, while he kept his younger brother terrified 
 with the fear of a siege, thought that he might be re- 
 ceived at Alexandria, by the help of his sister, and his 
 brother's friends not being adverse, and did not cease 
 fram sending first to his sister, and then to his brother 
 
142 CHAPTER X. 
 
 and his friends, till he had made peace with them. It 
 had made him suspect Antiochus, that while all the 
 rest of Egypt had been resigned to him, a strong garri- 
 son had been left at Pelusium. It was plain that he 
 kept hold of the door of Egypt, that he might bring an 
 army whenever he pleased. These things were pru- 
 dently observed by the elder brother, and received with 
 assent by the younger, and his partizans : their sister 
 gTeatly helped the reconciliation, not only by her ad- 
 vice, but by entreaties. Therefore a peace was made 
 wath general consent, and he was received into Alexan- 
 dria, and even without opposition from the multitude ; 
 who, in the war, had been distressed by want of all 
 things, not only during the siege, but after the army 
 had left the walls, because nothing was imported from 
 Egypt. When it was natural that Antiochus should be 
 rejoiced at this change, — if he had led his army into 
 Egypt for the sake of restoring his nephew, the specious 
 pretext he had used with all the states of Asia and 
 Greece, in receiving their embassies or answering their 
 letters — he was so offended, that he prepared for war 
 with fiercer hostility against the two brothers, than be- 
 fore against one. He at once sent his fleet to Cyprus ; 
 and he himself in the early spring, seeking Egypt vvitli 
 his anny, came into Ccele Syria. Near Rhinocolura, 
 when the ambassadors of Ptolemy rendered thanks, 
 because by his help he had recovered his paternal king- 
 dom, and intreated that he would sustain what was his 
 own gift, and rather say what he wished to be done, 
 than, turning from an ally into an enemy, deal with 
 arms and violence, he answered, that he would not 
 recal his fleet, nor lead back his army, unless Ptolemy 
 should yield to him all Cyprus, and Pelusium, and the 
 district around the Pelusian mouth of the Nile. He 
 also assigned a day, before which he was to receive an 
 answer to these conditions of peace.' (xlv. 11). 
 
 " But it shall not be as the former, nor as the latter. 
 For ships of Chittim shall come against him ; therefore 
 he shall be grieved and return." 
 
SELEUCUS PHILOPATOR AND ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES.143 
 
 Hitherto the subtle policy of this ambitious and 
 wicked prince had been attended, if not with entire suc- 
 cess, at least with partial victory, and gave flattering- 
 hopes of a still fuller triumph. The kingdom of Egypt, 
 after these long distractions, seemed ready to yield to 
 his arms. But now the word of prophecy was again to 
 be fulfilled. Just in the crisis of his ambitious scheme, 
 a mightier power stept in, and snatched from him the 
 expected prey. 
 
 ' After the day assigned for the truce was past, the ma- 
 ritime prefects who accompanied the land army sailing 
 in by the Pelusium mouth of the Nile, he himself entered 
 Egypt by the deserts of Arabia, and being received by 
 those who dwelt about Memphis and by the other Egyp- 
 tians, in part willingly, and in part through fear, he 
 came down to Alexandria by moderate marches. When 
 he had crossed the river at Leusine, which is four miles 
 from Alexandria, the Roman legates met with him. 
 And when he saluted them as they arrived, and offered 
 Popillius his right hand, Popillius gave him the tablets 
 that contained the message of the senate, and bade him 
 read it first of all. When he- had read them through, 
 and said that he would consider with the advice of his 
 friends, what he ought to do, Popillius, with his usual 
 severity of mind, drew a circle round the king with the 
 staff which he bore in his hand, and said, — Before you 
 quit this circle, tell me what answer I shall carry back 
 to the senate. When he had hesitated a moment, 
 struck mute by so imperious a command, — I will do, 
 he said, what the senate thinks right. Then, at 
 length, Popillius held out his right hand to the king, 
 as a friend and ally. At the end of the day, when 
 Antiochus had retired from Egypt, the legates con- 
 firmed by their influence the concord of the brothers, 
 between whom the peace was even now hardly sealed, 
 and then sailed to Cyprus, and sent back from tlience 
 the fleet of Antiochus, which had already defeated the 
 Egyptian navy. That embassy was celebrated among 
 the nations, because without any doubt Egypt had been 
 
144 CHAPTER X. 
 
 snatched from Antiochus when he already held it, and 
 his paternal kingdom was restored to the race of Pto- 
 lemy. . . . Popillius and the embassy which had been 
 sent to Antiochus, returned to Rome. He reported that 
 the controversies between the kings were settled, and 
 that the army was led back from Egypt into Syria.' 
 
 The grief and vexation of Antiochus, when thus sud- 
 denly disappointed of his prey, may be readily con- 
 ceived. His feelings would be embittered, not only by 
 the imperious tone of the legate, and the public humilia- 
 tion he had endured, but by the continued necessity of 
 stifling his indignation, and using the language of con- 
 tentment and almost of gratitude, ' Afterwards,' Livy 
 continues, ' there came the ambassadors of the kings. 
 Those of Antiochus brought the message — That a peace, 
 which pleased the senate, seemed to the king more de- 
 lightful than any victory, and that he had obeyed the 
 commands of the Roman legates, not otherwise than 
 the dominion of the gods. Tliey then congratulated 
 them on their victory (over Perseus) in which the king 
 would have assisted with all his power, if any orders 
 had been given him. The ambassadors of Ptolemy gave 
 thanks in the common name of the king and of Cleo- 
 patra. That they owed more to the Roman senate and 
 people than to their own parents, or to the immortal 
 gods themselves ; since by them they had been set free 
 from a most miserable siege, and recovered their pater- 
 nal kingdom when it was almost lost. The senate an- 
 swered, that Antiochus had acted rightly and well, in 
 obeying the legates, and that this was pleasing to the 
 Roman senate and people. To the kings of Egypt, 
 Ptolemy and Cleopatra, that if any thing good or be- 
 neficial had happened through their means, the senate 
 were highly pleased, and would bestow their pains, that 
 they might always reckon the greatest Safeguard of 
 their kingdom to be in the fidelity of the Roman people.' 
 
 Such was the tone of humble submission which An- 
 tiochus and the kings of Egypt were now fain to assume 
 in the presence of the Roman power. The vexation 
 
SELEUCUS PHILOPATOR AND ANTIOCHUS EP1PHANES.145 
 
 and pride which were thus violently pent up within the 
 breast of the monarch, and dared not loose themselves 
 against his chief and most dreaded enemy, found another 
 and safer outlet, where they flowed soon with redoubled 
 bitterness and rage. "He shall be grieved, and return, and 
 his heart shall be against the holy covenant." * He led 
 back his forces into Syria,' as Polybius relates, 'grieved 
 and groaning, but thought it expedient at present to 
 yield to the times.' But his grief and anger were too 
 great to be entirely shut up within his bosom. Policy 
 and fear dictated a humble and almost slavish embassy 
 to the Romans. But his passions found another vent. 
 * He had indignation against the holy covenant.' Ac- 
 cordingly, the next event which history records is the 
 profanation of the temple, and a cruel persecution of 
 the Jewish nation, who were feebler adversaries, and 
 seemed unable to resist his power. •* 
 
 ' And after two years fully expired (a. c. 168) the 
 king sent his chief collector of tribute unto the cities 
 of Judea, who came to Jerusalem with a great multi- 
 tude : and spake peaceable words, but in deceit ; for 
 when they had given him credence, he fell suddenly on 
 the city and smote it sore and destroyed much people of 
 Israel. And when he had taken the spoils of the city, 
 he set it on fire and pulled down the houses and walls 
 of it on every side. And the women and children they 
 took captive, and possessed the castle. Then builded 
 they the city of David with strong towers, and made it 
 a stronghold. And they put therein a sinful nation, 
 wicked men, and fortified themselves therein. . . . Thus 
 they shed innocent blood on every side of the sanctuary 
 and defiled it. Insomuch that the inhabitants of Je- 
 rusalem fled because of them ; whereupon the city was 
 made a habitation of strangers, and became strange to 
 those that were born in her, and her own children left 
 her.' 
 
 Such was the indignation of this wicked prince against 
 the holy covenant, when the ships from Chittim had 
 come against him, and compelled him to retire from 
 
 L 
 
146 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Egypt. But the history has now brought us to 
 that point of time, where double care is needed to 
 fix the true reference of the prophecy, and w^here it 
 will be necessary for this end ^to revert to the former 
 vision. 
 
 The sole difficulty in tracing any part of this remark- 
 able prediction, arises from the loss of many ancient 
 histories, so that the fragments which remain are very 
 imperfect, and each author only illustrates a part of the 
 whole series. Thus Jerome observes, — ' To understand 
 the last parts of Daniel, many histories of the Greeks 
 are necessary, namely, those of Sutorius, Callinicus, 
 Diodorus, Hieronymus, Polybius, Posidonius, Clau- 
 dius, and Andronicus Alypius, whom also Porphyry 
 professes to have followed ; that of Josephus also, 
 and those whom Josephus names, and especially of 
 our own Livy, Pompeius Trogus, and Justin, who 
 relate the whole history of this latest portion.' 
 
 To the same effect. Bishop Newton justly observes, — 
 * There is not so complete and regular a series of these 
 kings, there is not so concise and comprehensive an ac- 
 count of their affairs to be found in any other of those 
 times. The prophecy is really more perfect than any 
 history. No one historian hath related so many cir- 
 cumstances, and in such exact order as the prophet 
 hath foretold them. So that it was necessary to have 
 recourse to several authors, Greek and Roman, Jewish 
 and Christian ; and to collect here something from one, 
 and there something from another, thus to explain and 
 illustrate the great variety of particulars contained in 
 the prophecy. We have been particularly obliged to 
 Porphyry and Jerome, who made use of the same au- 
 thors for different purposes, and enjoyed the advantage 
 of having those histories entire which have since, either 
 in whole or in part, been destroyed. They had not only 
 Polybius, Diodorus, Livy, and Trogus Pompeius and 
 Justin, some parts of whose works are now remaining ; 
 but likewise Sutorius, Callinicus, Hieronymus, Posido- 
 nius, Claudius, and Andronicus Alypius, historians 
 
SELEUCUS PIIILOPATORAND ANTIOCHUS EPIP^^<&^Tl47 
 
 who wrote of those times^ and whose works hav6'siiice 
 entireh^ perished.' 
 
 This partial difficulty, however, to which Prideaux 
 also alludes in his connexion, (Pt. ii. Bk. iii. ad. fin.) 
 relates more to the trouble required for a connected 
 exposition, than to the real evidence of the fulfilment. 
 If any one continuous history of these wars and alliances 
 were now extant, the correspondence between the pro- 
 phecy and the events would be easier to trace. But 
 now, when it results from the careful collation of sepa- 
 rate fragments, gathered from eight or ten authors, 
 Pol^'^bius, Diodorus, Appian, Josephus, Justin and Tro- 
 gus Pompeius, the writers of the two books of Macca- 
 bees, Livy, Porphyry and Dexippus, with medals and 
 inscriptions ; and in several of them, from incidental 
 allusions, or brief and passing statements, where the 
 leading object of the history is quite different ; the moral 
 evidence becomes far more striking to every ingenuous 
 mind. I have now brought together the greater part of 
 these historical allusions in the words of the original 
 authorities. The result of the whole comparison must 
 be a deep and full conviction that no human history 
 ever furnished a more accurate transcript of the events 
 of Providence, than has been here supplied to the 
 holy Daniel, nearly four hundred years before their oc- 
 currence, by the sacred Spirit of God. How impres- 
 sive is the lesson which is thus taught us, of the all- 
 seeing wisdom and controlling Providence of tlie Most 
 High, to whom all his works are known from the be- 
 ginning, and who can overrule the most perplexed and 
 tortuous policy of abandoned and wicked men, to the ful- 
 filment of His own sure and everlasting counsels ! 
 
 L 2 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 ON THE PRECURSIVE FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY, 
 THE DESOLATION OF ANTIOCHUS. 
 
 The vision of the Ram and He Goat, in its earlier por- 
 tion, is so clear and plain, that scarcely any doubt has 
 ever arisen upon its true meaning. Here Infidels them- 
 selves agree both with Jews and Christians, in the strict 
 correspondence of events with the prophecy, and differ 
 only by maintaining that the visions were a forgery of 
 later times. With the later part of the vision the case 
 is different. The true application of the Little Horn 
 of the He Goat has been a subject of much dispute, 
 and different opinions are held even to the present hour. 
 This contrast between the clearness of the first part in 
 each vision, and the fancied obscurity of the rest, has 
 itself been turned into a plausible objection to the 
 genuineness of the whole, and has been made by Por- 
 phyry and his followers the main ground of their blas- 
 phemous reproach against this portion of the word of 
 God, as if it were merely a Jewish forgery of later 
 times. Our present object must be simply to fix the 
 true meaning of the Little Horn ; and either to recon- 
 cile opposing theories, or at least to explain the cause 
 of their divergence ; and, in spite of these variations, to 
 establish the accuracy and faithfulness of the inspired 
 prediction. 
 
THE DESOLATION OF ANTIOCHUS. 149 
 
 There are four chief varieties of opinion with regard 
 to the meaning of the Little Horn. Nearly all writers, 
 Jewish as well as Christian, down to modern times, 
 have supposed that it describes to us the character and 
 persecutions of Antiochus Epiphanes ; though several 
 maintain that there is a further reference to the Anti- 
 christ predicted in the New Testament. Sir Isaac 
 Newton, who has been followed by Bishop Newton, 
 Dr. Zouch, Mr. Cuninghame, and others, view it as a 
 description of the Roman power in the East, or Graeco 
 Roman Empire. A view still more prevalent of late, 
 though ver}^ recent in its origin, refers it to the spiri- 
 tual Empire of Mahomet, while one or two writers 
 modify this interpretation, by restricting it to the Turk- 
 ish power. Finally, there have been of late a few 
 authors, who claim for it an undivided application to a 
 future Infidel Antichrist, hereafter to arise in the last 
 times. 
 
 The cause of this variety of judgment is easily ex- 
 plained. The Little Horn is clearly some power which 
 was to arise after the division of the Macedonian Empire, 
 of which the East would be the main theatre, and which 
 would be marked by active hostility to the truth of 
 God, and either to the Jewish nation or the Church of 
 Clirist. These are the main and prominent features of 
 the inspired description ; the rest are secondary and 
 subordinate. Now there are doubtless several powers, 
 from Antiochus Epiphanes onward, which answer to 
 this general outline, and have thus a kind of moral unity 
 among themselves. Whether the emblem be directly 
 referred to one or other of these, the spirit and scope 
 of the prophecy will include the rest ; since its chief 
 object is to prepare the Church of God for the do- 
 minance of an apostate and persecuting power in the 
 regions of the East, and to confirm its hopes bj'" the 
 promise of a final deliverance. 
 
 The view which claims our first notice, both from its 
 long prevalence, and from the order of time, is that 
 which refers the Little Horn to Antiochus Epiphanes. 
 
160 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 For nearly seventeen centuries, this opinion was held 
 by almost every Christian expositor, as well as by many 
 among the Jews. The clear fact that at least eleven 
 verses of the last vision are occupied with the history 
 of that prince, adds a further weight to this interpre- 
 tation. Two distinct questions, however, will arise ; 
 whether the vision receives its true and proper fulfil- 
 ment in Antiochus ; and if otherwise, whether we may 
 safely admit a double application, first to Antiochus 
 himself, and then to some later and more formidable 
 power. 
 
 We have first to inquire whether the emblem of the 
 Little Horn finds its full and proper counterpart in the 
 person of Antiochus. However general this opinion 
 may have been, and though it is maintained, even now, 
 by a few learned advocates, there are strong and deci- 
 sive reasons, in my opinion, which forbid us to receive 
 it for the truth. Some of these reasons are forcibly 
 stated by Sir Isaac Newton in the following passage : — 
 
 ' The last horn is by some taken for Antiochus Epi- 
 phanes, but not very judiciously. . . . This horn was at 
 first a little one, and waxed exceeding great, but so did 
 not Antiochus. His kingdom on the contrary was weak 
 and tributary to the Romans, and he did not enlarge it. 
 The horn was a king of fierce countenance, destroyed 
 wonderfully, prospered and practised ; that is, he pros- 
 pered in his practices against the holy people ; but An- 
 tiochus was frightened out of Egypt by a mere message 
 of the Romans, and afterwards routed and baffled by 
 the Jews. The horn was mighty by another's power, 
 Antiochus by his own. The horn stood up against the 
 Prince of the host of heaven, the Prince of princes ; 
 and this is the character, not of Antiochus, but of An- 
 tichrist. The horn cast down the sanctuary to the 
 ground, and so did not Antiochus : he left it standing. 
 The sanctuary and host were to be trampled under foot 
 until two thousand three hundred days, and in Daniel's 
 prophecies days are put for years. But the profanation 
 in the reign of Antiochus did not last so many natural 
 
THE DESOLATION OF ANTIOCHUS. 151 
 
 days. They were to last until the time of the end, till 
 the last end of the indignation against the Jews ; and 
 this indignation is not yet at an end. They were to 
 last until the sanctuary which had been cast down, 
 should be cleansed ; and the sanctuary is not yet 
 cleansed.' 
 
 There are, in fact, five main points of distinction be- 
 tween this prophetic emblem, and the history of Antio- 
 chus. And first the little horn, though small in its 
 first rise, was to wax exceeding great. But Antiochus 
 continued, from first to last, tributary and dependent. 
 His suppliant, and almost slavish embassies to the 
 senate, at the beginning and near the close of his reign, 
 have been quoted before. Even in the height of his 
 power he never rivalled the greatness of his more dis- 
 tinguished predecessors. One word of the Roman legate, 
 Popillius, frightened him into obedience, and made him 
 resign a kingdom already in his grasp. His conduct 
 on that occasion was an exact contrast to the character 
 of the little horn, a king fierce of countenance. 
 
 Secondly, though the sacrifice was taken away, the 
 place of the sanctuary was never, in his reign, cast 
 down. One half of the prediction, in its central part, 
 thus remained unfulfilled. 
 
 Thirdly, the vision was to be until the time of 
 the end, in the last end of the indignation, and for 
 many days. Now, even in the widest sense of this 
 phrase, the time of the end, it must be limited to the 
 Christian dispensation. The last end of the indignation 
 seems to refer, not less plainly, to the second era of the 
 Jewish dispersion, when the captivity of Babylon was 
 succeeded by another, more lasting and severe. Again, 
 since the former visions, both of them reach through the 
 times of the Fourth Empire, and this prophecy is de- 
 clared, with a marked emphasis, to be for many days, it 
 is against all reason to suppose that it terminates sooner 
 than the others by an interval of two thousand years. 
 
 Fourthly, the little horn was to understand dark 
 sentences, and to destroy w^onderfully. But Antiochus, 
 
lo2 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 though vain-glorious in the highest degree, has left few 
 traces of profound policy, and his conquests were as 
 transitory as they were limited in extent. Seleucus 
 Nicator, Ptolemy Lagus, and Antiochus the Great ; not 
 to mention Cyrus, Alexander, or the Romans, were far 
 more conspicuous for their achievements and greatness. 
 
 Finally, the time does not agree. Many attempts 
 have been made to fit the 2,800 days with the profana- 
 tion by Antiochus, but with no real success. The ac- 
 tual desolation lasted just three years ; while the period 
 here announced, if literal days, would be nearly six 
 years and a half ; and there is no other natural limit 
 that can be assigned to the period than the cleansing of 
 the sanctuary, or restoration of the daily sacrifice. 
 
 The general analogy of these prophecies would furnish 
 other reasons ; but those which have been now offered, 
 appear of themselves to be decisive ; and require us to 
 look for some power, mightier and more formidable 
 than Antiochus, in whom the emblem shall be com- 
 pletely fulfilled. 
 
 A second inquiry still remains. The long prevalence 
 in the Church, both before and after the birth of our 
 Lord, of that view which applies the emblem to Antio- 
 chus, and the many actual features of close resemblance, 
 may lead us to suspect that this application was really 
 designed by the Spirit of God. This requires us, to 
 examine first, whether any prophecy may admit of a 
 double sense ; next, whether this be possible in a chro- 
 nological prophecy ; and finally, whether there are 
 reasons to justify such an interpretation of the Little 
 Horn. 
 
 Some writers have denied strenuously that any pro- 
 phecy of Scripture has a double sense, and denounce 
 the principle, as fatal to all clear and definite exposi- 
 tion. Others, on the contrary, both admit the fact, and 
 Bee in it a further proof of Divine fulness and wisdom 
 in the inspired predictions. Several decisive examples, 
 indeed, may be given. The very first prophecy of 
 Scripture, the sentence on the serpent, has been fulfilled 
 
THE DESOLATION OF ANTIOCHUS. 153 
 
 in the animal creation down to the present day : but 
 its full application is to Satan, the real tempter, and to 
 his final overthrow by Messiah, the Son of the Virgin. 
 The promise to Abraham, " To thy seed will I gave this 
 land," had a primary fulfilment in the conquests of 
 Joshua. Yet in the New Testament it is clearly referred 
 to the spiritual seed of Abraham, and to a nobler inhe- 
 ritance in the world to come. The words of Hosea vi. 1, 
 have plainly an historical sense, and refer backward to 
 the Exodus of Israel. But the Holy Spirit, by St. 
 Matthew, reveals in them a prophecy of our Saviour's 
 abode in Egypt, and return to Judea. So also the 
 sevent3''-second Psalm is called a prayer for Solomon, 
 and relates directly to his reign ; but the words of our 
 Lord himself may clearly be applied to it — a greater 
 than Solomon is here. These examples, to which many 
 others might be added, are enough to prove the existence 
 of a double sense, in some prophecies, to reasonable and 
 thoughtful minds. 
 
 Some of the reasons which may account for this mode 
 of revelation are very plain. There is a close analogy 
 between the world of nature and the kingdom of grace, 
 so that natural changes may often yield the most ex- 
 pressive language, to describe others of a moral or spi- 
 ritual kind. Again, the providence of God, in the long 
 conflict of good and evil, ever enlarges, and unfolds itself 
 more and more, so that partial victories of truth and holi- 
 ness are only the harbingers of others more full and com- 
 plete. It is very natural, then, that predictions of greater 
 and more distant events should also embrace others infe- 
 rior in dignity, but nearer at hand, and which would 
 therefore occupy a larger space in the eye of the prophet. 
 For the Holy Spirit, when using the sacred penmen to 
 convey his messages, never supersedes the laws of hu- 
 man thought, but has respect always to the place and 
 time from which the prophet surveys the future, and 
 thus blends the reality and specialty of a human mes- 
 sage with the breadth and fulness which must belong 
 to all the words of God. The great advantage of bre- 
 
154 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 vity also, where the inspired volume was to he acces- 
 sible to all Christians, and still to embrace so vast a 
 range of truth, would be a further motive for reveal- 
 ing future events in this condensed form. 
 
 There are some, however, who grant the double fulfil- 
 ment of many predictions, but deny that the principle 
 can be admitted in chronological prophecies. One dis- 
 tinguished writer has even numbered this among the 
 fundamental canons of interpretation. The reason as- 
 signed is, that such prophecies are an anticipated his- 
 tory, and that as no event in history can be double, no 
 link of such prophecy can admit of a twofold appli- 
 cation. 
 
 This objection on abstract grounds is clearly untena- 
 ble and fallacious. For other prophecies too are anti- 
 cipated history ; and the objection, if decisive in one 
 case, must be decisive in all. The true question is, not 
 whether an event of history can occur double, but 
 whether two distinct events may not be predicted in 
 one and the same passage. There is nothing in the 
 nature of a connected or chronological prophecy to ren- 
 der this impossible. With one single restriction, the 
 double sense might occur in these prophecies, no less 
 than in others of a discursive nature. The restriction 
 needed is only this, that either fulfilment shall hold the 
 same place with regard to the rest of the prediction, as 
 if it stood alone. In other words, the double fulfilment 
 must follow all the events which fulfil the earlier parts 
 of the vision, and be completed before the fulfilment of 
 the rest begins. Only let this law be observed, and a 
 double or even treble fulfilment will do no violence to 
 the order or connexion of the prophecy. The danger 
 ^ of ambiguity is the only practical difficulty that would 
 still remain. 
 
 But however possible this double sense may be in the 
 abstract, even in chronological visions, the frequent 
 adoption of such a style of prophecy, it must be owned, 
 would be very embarrassing, and might defeat the very 
 purpose for which the message was given. But whe^ 
 
THE DESOLATION OF ANTIOCHUS. 155 
 
 the principle is applied sparingly, and to one part only, 
 which stands out prominently from the rest, the objec- 
 tion is almost entirely removed. No abstract reason can 
 decide whether such cases do or do not exist ; the fact 
 can only be determined, in each case, by a direct and 
 careful inquiry. 
 
 There is even one reason, a priori, why it is probable 
 that the Holy Spirit might sometimes adopt this mode 
 of prophetic revelation. Let us suppose that there are 
 two events, one of them nearer and less important, the 
 other more remote and on a larger scale, but which 
 have otherwise a close resemblance. These events might 
 be predicted in various ways. Either might be sepa- 
 rately announced, or both in succession, by those fea- 
 tures which distinguish it from the other; or one pre- 
 diction might be given, with features common to both 
 events, so that either of them would satisfy its terms. 
 Or lastl}'", the prediction might be given in such a form, 
 as exactly to describe the more distant event, and 3^et 
 so few elements of contrast be introduced, that nearer 
 event also might seem to be accurately described on a 
 hasty view, or with a looser acceptation of terms. In 
 the first case, one event will be entirely passed by, and 
 the other described by those features which are not the 
 most important. In the second case, the prediction will 
 be tedious and diffuse ; and in the third, it would seem 
 ambiguous and uncertain. So that the last alternative 
 might perhaps appear to the Divine wisdom the most 
 suitable, and the prophecy will then have, first, a precur- 
 sive, and then a true or proper fulfilment. One clear 
 practical advantage will flow from this style of predic- 
 tion. The partial fulfilment, occurring soon after the 
 time of the prophecy, will be a support to the faith of 
 the Church, and an evidence of the Divine foresight 
 until the time for the fuller accomplishment is arrived. 
 The exact fulfilment in later events, will only be ren- 
 dered more striking by this partial and precursive ap- 
 plication, and by the marks of that Divine foresight, 
 which provided for the weakness of our faith during 
 
156 CHAPTER XT. 
 
 ages of delay. As a finder, attached to a larger telescope, 
 assists the eye of the observer, so this germinant and 
 preparatory fulfilment will guide our eye more steadily 
 along the magnificent stream of Divine Providence to 
 the final consummation. 
 
 To establish such a double sense, in any particular 
 prophecy, three conditions are requisite. First, that 
 tlie supposed fulfilment agree with the course, the scope, 
 and the order of the vision. Secondly, that its resem- 
 blance be so close to the terms of the prophecy, as to 
 leave a natural impression on those who saw the events, 
 that it was really designed. And thirdly, that this im- 
 pression, and the resemblance to which it owes its birth, 
 shall have been the express design of the revealing 
 Spirit of God. 
 
 All these conditions appear to be satisfied in the in- 
 terpretation which refers the Little Horn to Antiochus 
 Epiphanes. It is the emblem which concludes the 
 vision, where a double fulfilment would be least unna- 
 tural, and least open to the charge of ambiguity. The 
 interpretation was nearly universal for seventeen or 
 eighteen centuries, and received both by Jewish and 
 Christian expositors, with scarcely a doubt of its truth. 
 The events agree perfectly with the order of the vision ; 
 for Antiochus appeared, as the prophecy declares of the 
 Little Horn, in the latter time of the four Grecian 
 kingdoms. Finally, the Spirit of God has chosen out 
 such features in this description as will apply mainly 
 to the Syrian king. The differences are chiefly such 
 as might either be easily overlooked, or removed by a 
 lax construction of the terms, while there is a striking 
 resemblance in the broader features of the prophecy. 
 Antiochus arose in one of the four Grecian kingdoms, 
 and in the latter time, when their dominion was just 
 ready to expire. His power was so far increased, that 
 from a fugitive, an exile and hostage, he became one of 
 the most formidable oppressors of the Jewish people. 
 His persecution of the truth was bitter and unrelenting. 
 He took away the daily sacrifice, and magnified himself 
 
THE DESOLATION OP ANTIOCHUS. 157 
 
 against the God of Israel, and against the promise of Mes- 
 siah, the Prince of princes. But his persecutions lasted 
 only a few short years, as the vision, at first sight, seems 
 to imply in the case of the Little Horn. His death was 
 also sudden and calamitous. When to these features we 
 add the place occupied by the emblem in the vision, 
 the clear fact that Antiochus is predicted in the later 
 prophecy, and the universal conviction, for ages, that 
 Antiochus was really designed, with the moral import- 
 ance to the Jews of such a warning, to sustain them in 
 that hour of trial ; the conclusion seems inevitable, that 
 the Holy Spirit, in this emblem, designed to include the 
 Syrian persecutor, although the words may require a 
 fuller and wider application. 
 
 Let us now trace this precursive fulfilment of the em- 
 blem in the history of Antiochus. We shall then feel 
 no surprise that Jews and Christians, for so many ages, 
 have regarded him as the sole and direct object of the 
 prediction. 
 
 The Little Horn was to arise from a horn of the he- goat, 
 or one of the four divided Macedonian kingdoms. So 
 Antiochus arose from the stock of the Syrian kings. His 
 surname was given him, 'quod, cum alieni a stirpa re- 
 gia regnum invaderent, ipse avitce ditionis assertor ex- 
 ortus suis illuxisset ;' because when aliens from the 
 royal race, had seized on the kingdom, he had dawned 
 on his friends as the maintainer of his ancestral power. 
 Syria was one of the four kingdoms in the first ro^j^al 
 division, and its boundaries w^ere nearly the same at this 
 time as when Seleucus received his share after the battle 
 of Ipsus. 
 
 The horn was to appear in the latter time of the 
 Grecian kingdoms, when the transgressors were come 
 to the full. Here also, as Mede has observed, there 
 is a punctual correspondence. "For when was this 
 latter end of the Grecian kingdom to be taken notice 
 of, but when they should see that kingdom begin to be 
 given to another people, or when the fourth kingdom, 
 the Roman state, should begin to encroach on the third ? 
 
158 CHAPTER XT. 
 
 This Roman encroachment Was at length accomplished, 
 when ^milius the consul having quite vanquished Per- 
 seus, king of Macedon, all Greece came under the Ro- 
 man obedience, one hundred and sixty-six years before 
 the birth of Christ. Which no sooner was come to pass, 
 but the very self-same year, within three months after, 
 Antiochus set up the abomination of desolation in the 
 temple of Jerusalem." The history of Antiochus, then, 
 both in time and place, completely agrees with the vision. 
 
 The horn was small at the first, but soon waxed 
 great. Antiochus was at first a hostage at Rome, with 
 no prospect of succeeding to the kingdom. But the 
 murder of his brother Seleucus by Heliodorus, and the 
 absence at Rome of his nephe\v Demetrius, the lawful 
 successor, paved his way to the throne of Syria, where 
 he soon became the most formidable, in his own day, of 
 all the Eastern kings. 
 
 The three directions of conquest were equally fulfilled. 
 He waxed great towards the south, for he invaded 
 Egypt, and almost entirely subdued it ; towards the 
 East, for he subdued Artaxias the Armenian, and reco- 
 vered the upper provinces as far as Elymais ; and to- 
 wards the pleasant land, or temple, for he profaned the 
 sanctuary, and cruelly oppressed the people of Israel. 
 
 The other leading features of the Little Horn, are its 
 profanation of the temple, and bitter persecution of the 
 faithful Jews, and its sudden and calamitous ruin. It 
 remains to trace these in the history of Antiochus, and 
 thus to continue the prophetic narrative from the point 
 of time which we have reached in the later vision. Our 
 materials will be drawn chiefly from the books of Mac- 
 cabees, and the history of Josephus. The account of 
 this last writer is as follows : — 
 
 ' Now after two years, in the hundredth and forty- 
 fifth year, on the twenty -fifth day of the month Chi sleu 
 (a.c. 168, Dec.) in the hundred and fifty -third Olympiad 
 the king came up to Jerusalem, and pretending peace, 
 got possession of the city by treachery ; at which time 
 he did not even spare those who admitted him, on ac- 
 
THE DESOLATION OF ANTIOCHUS. 159 
 
 count of the riches of the temple ; but, led by his 
 covetous inclination, in order to plunder its wealth, 
 broke the league which he had made. So he left the 
 temple bare, and took away the golden candlesticks and 
 the golden altar and table, and the altar of burnt offer- 
 ing ; and did not abstain even from the veils of fine 
 linen and scarlet. He also emptied it of its secret 
 treasures, and left none remaining ; and by these means 
 he cast the Jews into great lamentation, for he forbade 
 them to offer the daily sacrifices unto God, according to 
 the law. And when he had pillaged the whole city, he 
 slew some of the inhabitants, and others he carried away 
 captive, with their wives and children, of whom the 
 whole number amounted to ten thousand. He also 
 burnt down the finest buildings, and when he had over- 
 thrown the walls, he built the citadel in the lower city ; 
 for the site of it was high and overlooked the temple. 
 And for this reason he fortified it with high walls and 
 towers, and put into it a garrison of Macedonians. 
 There dwelt however, also, in that citadel, the impious 
 and wicked rabble of the Jews, from whom the citizens 
 underwent many and sore calamities. And when the 
 king had built an idol altar even on the altar of God, 
 he slew swine upon it, an offering contrary alike to the 
 law and customs of the Jewish worship. He also com- 
 pelled them to forsake the service of their own God, 
 and to adore those whom he took to be gods, and made 
 them build temples and idol altars in every city and 
 village, and offer swine upon them every day. He com- 
 manded them further, not to circumcise their sons, and 
 threatened to punish any one who should be found to 
 have transgressed these injunctions : he also appointed 
 overseers, who should compel them to do what he had 
 commanded. And indeed, many Jews, some willingly, 
 and others through fear of punishment, complied with 
 his commands ; but those who were most distinguished, 
 and of the noblest spirit, disregarded him, and paid more 
 respect to the customs of their country than to the 
 punishment he threatened to the disobedient ; on which 
 
160 CHAPTER XT. 
 
 account they were slain every day with misery and 
 bitter torments. For they were scourged, and their 
 bodies torn with wounds, and then, wliile they were 
 still alive and breathed, they were crucified ; but their 
 wives and the sons whom they had circumcised, by the 
 special orders of the king, were strangled, and hanged 
 about the necks of their fathers who had been crucified. 
 And if any sacred book or law were discovered, it was 
 destroyed, and the poor creatures with whom they were 
 found, perished also miserably.' (Ant. xii. 54.) 
 
 This desolation of the temple, like that which oc- 
 curred later under the Romans, appears to have been 
 announced by remarkable signs and prodigies, as we 
 learn from the second book of Maccabees, (vi. 4.) 
 
 * About the same time Antiochus prepared his second 
 march into Egypt. And then it happened, that through 
 all the city, for the space almost of forty days, there 
 were seen horsemen running in the air, in cloth of gold, 
 and armed with lances, like a band of soldiers ; and 
 troops of horsemen in array, encountering one another, 
 with shields and lances, and drawing of swords, and 
 casting of darts, and glittering of golden ornaments and 
 armour of all sorts. "Wherefore every one prayed that 
 this apparition might turn to good.' 
 
 The first act of profanation is mentioned in both the 
 books of Maccabees. 
 
 ' And after that Antiochus had smitten Egypt, he re- 
 turned again in the hundred and forty-third year, and 
 went up against Israel and Jerusalem with a great mul- 
 titude, and entered proudly into the sanctuary, and took 
 away the golden altar, and the candlestick of light, and 
 the vessels thereof; and the table of the shewbread, 
 and the pouring vessels, and the vials, and the censers 
 of gold, and the veil, and the crowns, and the golden 
 ornaments that were before the temple. He took also 
 the silver and the gold, and the precious vessels, also he 
 took the hidden treasures which he found.' 
 
 * And when he had taken all away, he went into his 
 own land, having made a great massacre and spoken 
 
THE DESOLATION OF ANTIOCHUS. Id 
 
 very proudly : therefore there was great mourning in 
 Israel.' 1 Mace. i. 20—25. 
 
 ' Now when this was brought to the king's ear, he 
 thought that Judea had revolted. Whereupon removing 
 out of Egypt with a furious mind, he took the city by 
 force of arms, and commanded his men of war not to 
 spare such as they met, and to slay such as went upon 
 the houses. Thus there was killing of young and old, 
 slaying of men, and women, and children, of virgins 
 and infants. And within three days there were des- 
 troyed fourscore thousand, of whom forty thousand 
 were slain in the conflict, and no fewer sold than slain. 
 Yet he was not content with this, but presumed to go 
 into the most holy temple, Menelaus, that traitor to the 
 laws and his own country, being his guide. And taking 
 the holy vessels with polluted hands, and with profane 
 hands pulling down the things dedicated by other kings 
 to the glory and honour of the place, he gave them 
 away. And so haughty was Antiochus in mind, that he 
 considered not the Lord was angry for a while with the 
 sins of them that dwelt in the city ; else had this man, 
 as soon as he had come, been scourged and put back 
 from his presumption, as Heliodorus was, whom Seleu- 
 cus the king sent to view the treasury. ... So when 
 Antiochus had carried out of the temple eighteen thou- 
 sand talents, he departed in all haste to Antioch, ween- 
 ing in his pride to make the land navigable, and the sea 
 passable on foot, so great was the haughtiness of his 
 mind.' (2 Mace. v. 11—21.) 
 
 Two years later that further profanation ensued, 
 when the daily sacrifice ceased, and the heavy persecu- 
 tion against the Jews began. The account in the first 
 of Maccabees has been partly quoted before, and is con- 
 tinued as follows. 
 
 * Moreover king Antiochus wrote to his whole king- 
 dom, that all should be one people, and every one leave 
 his own laws ; so all the heathen agreed to the command- 
 ment of the king. Yea, many also of the Jews con- 
 sented to his religion, and sacrificed unto idols, and pro- 
 
162 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 faned the sabbath. For the king sent letters by mes- 
 sengers unto Jerusalem and the cities of Judea, that 
 they should follow the strange laws of the land. And 
 he forbade burnt offerings, and sacrifice, and drink offer- 
 ings, in the temple ; and that they should profane the 
 sabbaths and festival days, and pollute the sanctuary 
 and holy place, set up altars and groves, and idol- 
 temples, and sacrifice swine's flesh and unclean beasts. 
 That they should also leave their children uncircum- 
 cised, and make their souls abominable with all un- 
 cleanness, to the end they might forget the Law and 
 change the ordinances. And that whosoever would 
 not do after the commandment of the king, should die.' 
 ' In the same manner he wrote to his whole kingdom, 
 and appointed overseers over all the people, and com- 
 manded the cities of Judah to sacrifice, city by city. 
 Then many of the people were gathered unto them, 
 every one that forsook the law, and so they committed 
 evils in the land ; and drove the Israelites into secret 
 places, wheresoever they could flee for succour.' 
 
 ' Now the fifteenth day of the month Casleu, in the 
 hundred and forty-fifth year, they set up the abomina- 
 tion of desolation on the altar, and builded idol altars 
 throughout the cities of Judah on every side, and burnt 
 incense at the doors of their houses and in their streets. 
 And when they had rent in pieces the books of the law 
 which they found, they burnt them with fire. Thus 
 did they by their authority to the Israelites every 
 month, as many as were found in the cities.' 
 
 ' Now*the five and twentieth day of the month they 
 did sacrifice upon the idol altar, which was upon the 
 altar of God : at which time, according to the com- 
 mandment, they put to death certain women, who had 
 caused their children to be circumcised, and hanged the 
 infants about their necks, and rifled their houses, and 
 slew them that circumcised them. Howbeit many in 
 Israel were fully resolved not to eat any unclean thing, 
 and chose rather to die that they might not be defiled 
 with meats, nor profane the holy covenant ; so then they 
 
 J 
 
THE DESOLATION OF ANTIOCHUS. 163 
 
 died, and there was very great wrath upon Israel.' 
 1 Mace. i. 41 — 54. 
 
 A similar account of the persecution is given in the 
 second hook. 
 
 ' He sent also ApoUonius, with an army of two and 
 twenty thousand, commanding him to slay all those 
 that were in their best age, and to sell the Women and 
 younger sort : who, coming to Jerusalem, and pretend- 
 ing peace, did forbear till the holy day of the sabbath, 
 when he commanded his men to arm themselves. And so 
 he slew all them that were gone to celebrate the sabbath, 
 and running through the city with weapons, slew great 
 multitudes. But Judas Maccabeus, with nine others, 
 withdrew into the wilderness, and lived on the moun- 
 tains after the manner of wild beasts with his com- 
 pany, who fed on herbs continually, lest they should be 
 partakers of the pollution. 
 
 ' Not long after, the king sent an old man of Athens 
 to compel the Jews to depart from the laws of their 
 fathers, and not to live after the laws of God ; and to 
 pollute also the temple of Jerusalem, and call it the 
 temple of Jupiter Olympius ; and that in Gerizim, of 
 Jupiter the defender of strangers, as they who dwelt 
 there desired. 
 
 ^ The coming in of this mischief was sore and grievous 
 to the people. For the temple was filled with riot and 
 revelling by the Gentiles, who dallied with harlots in 
 the circuit of the holy places, and brought in things 
 that were not lawful. The altar also was filled with 
 profane things, neither was it lawful for a man to keep 
 sabbath-days or ancient feasts, or at all to profess him- 
 self to be a Jew. And in the day of the king's birth, 
 every month they were brought by constraint to eat of 
 the sacrifices ; and when the feast of Bacchus was kept, 
 the Jews were compelled to go in procession to Bacchus, 
 carrying ivy. Moreover there went out a decree to the 
 neighbouring cities of the heathen, by the suggestion of 
 Ptolemy (Macron) against the Jews, that they should 
 observe the same fashions, and be partakers of their 
 
 M 2 
 
164 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 sacrifices. And whoso would not conform themselves 
 to the manners of the Gentiles should be put to death. 
 Then might a man have seen the present misery. For 
 there were two women brought, who had circumcised 
 their children, whom when they had led openly round 
 about the city, the babes hanging at their breasts, they 
 cast them down headlong from the wall. And others, 
 that had run together into caves hard by, to keep the 
 sabbath-day secretly, being discovered to Philip, were 
 all burnt together, because they forbore to help them- 
 selves, for the honour of the most sacred day.' 2 Mace. 
 V. 24 ; vii.ll. 
 
 A host was given to the Little Horn against the daily 
 sacrifice by reason of transgression. Such was the con- 
 fession of those who endured this persecution. ' For 
 we suffer because of our sins. And though the living 
 Lord be angry with us a little time for our chastening 
 and correction, yet shall He be as one again with his 
 servants. But I, as my brethren, offer up my body and 
 life for the laws of our fathers, beseeching God that he 
 would speedily be merciful unto our nation ; and that 
 thus by torments and plagues thou mayest confess that 
 He only is God, and that in me and in my brethren the 
 wrath of the Almighty, which is justly brought on all 
 our nation, may cease.' (vii. 82 — 88.) 
 
 Thus did Antiochus practise and prosper, and destroy 
 the mighty and the people of the holy ones. By his 
 policy craft seemed for a little time to prosper in his 
 hand. He destroyed many in peace, or secure tranquil- 
 lity, when his forces came to Jerusalem with words of 
 peace, and barbarously slaughtered many ten thousands 
 of the inhabitants. He stood up against the God of Israel, 
 and against the Son of God, the Prince of princes, when 
 he sought to abolish both the law and the prophets, and 
 to blend the Jews entirely with the heathen. An host 
 was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of 
 transgression, and he cast down the truth to the ground, 
 till the faithful had to take refuge " in deserts and moun- 
 tains, and in dens and caves of the earth." The prayer 
 
THE DESOLATION OF ANTIOCHUS. 165 
 
 of the Maccabee, when he began the task of rescuing 
 his people, gives a lively picture of the desolation. 
 
 ' Then Judas Maccabeus, and they that were with 
 him, went secretly into the towns, and called their kins- 
 folk together, and all such as continued in the Jews' 
 religion, and assembled about six thousand men. And 
 they called upon the Lord, that he would look down 
 upon the people that was trodden down of all ; and pity 
 the temple profaned of ungodly men ; and that he 
 would have compassion upon the city sorely defaced, 
 and ready to be made even with the ground, and hear 
 the blood that cried unto him, and remember the wicked 
 slaughter of harmless infants, and the blasphemies 
 against his name, and that he would show his hatred 
 against the wicked.' 
 
 The prophecy declares further, that after an appointed 
 time of desolation the sanctuary would be cleansed, 
 and the cruel persecutor " be broken without hand," or, 
 as the words import, ' without any human succour.' 
 These particulars also were fulfilled in the later history 
 of Antiochus. 
 
 The cleansing of the sanctuary is thus described in 
 Josephus and the books of Maccabees. 
 
 ' When the generals of Antiochus had been beaten so 
 often, Judas assembled the people together, and told 
 them, that after so many victories, which God had given 
 them, they ought to go up to Jerusalem, and purify the 
 temple, and offer the appointed sacrifices. And when 
 they were come to Jerusalem, and found the temple 
 deserted, the gates burnt down, and plants growing of 
 their own accord in the temple, on account of its being 
 deserted, they began to lament, and were quite con- 
 founded at the sight. So he chose out some of his sol- 
 diers, and gave them orders to fight against the guards 
 in the citadel, until he should have purified the temple. 
 When therefore he had carefully cleansed it, and 
 brought in new vessels, the candlestick, the table, and 
 tlie incense- altar, which were of gold, he hung up the 
 vails at the gates, and ^dded doors. He also took down 
 
1G6 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 the altar, and built a new one of stone, which he ga- 
 thered together, and not of such as were hewn with 
 iron tools. So on the five and twentieth day of the 
 month Casleu, which the Macedonians call Apellseus 
 (Dec. A.c. 168), they lighted the lamps on the candle- 
 stick, and burnt incense on the golden altar, and laid 
 the loaves on the table, and offered burnt offerings on 
 the altar. These things were done on the very same 
 day on which the divine worship had ceased, and been 
 perverted to a profane use, after three years ; for the 
 temple was made desolate by Antiochus, and three years 
 it so continued. And this desolation came to pass ac- 
 cording to the prophecy of Daniel, which was given 
 408 years before (a.c. 573). For he declared that the 
 Macedonians would dissolve that worship.' (Ant. xii. 
 7. 6). 
 
 So also the writers of the Maccabees. 
 
 ' Now Maccabeus and his company, the Lord guid- 
 ing them, recovered the temple and the city. But the 
 altars which the heathen had built in the open streets, 
 and also the chapels, they pulled down. And having 
 cleansed the temple, they made another altar, and 
 striking stones, they took fire out of them, and offered 
 a sacrifice after two years, and set forth incense and 
 lights and shew-bread. When that was done, they fell 
 doT\Ti, and besought the Lord that they might come no 
 more into such troubles, but if they sinned any more 
 against him, that He himself would chasten them in 
 mercy, that they might not be delivered unto the blas- 
 phemous and barbarous heathen. Now on the same day 
 that strangers profaned the temple, the very same day 
 it was cleansed again, even the five and twentieth day 
 of the same month, Casleu. And they kept eight days 
 with gladness, as in the feast of the tabernacles, remem- 
 bering that not long before they had held the feast of 
 tabernacles, when they wandered in the mountains and 
 dens like beasts. Therefore they bare branches, and 
 goodly boughs, and palms also, and sang psalms unto 
 Him who had given them good success in cleansing His 
 
THE DESOLATION OF AXTIOCHUS. 167 
 
 place. They ordained also by a common statute and 
 decree, that every year those days should be kept of the 
 whole nation of the Jews.' 2 Mace. x. 1 — 8. 
 
 The description of this joyful event in the former 
 book is still more lively and impressive. 
 
 * Then said Judas and his brethren, " Behold our 
 enemies are discomfited : let us go up to cleanse and 
 dedicate the sanctuary." Upon this all the host assem- 
 bled themselves together, and went up unto Mount 
 Zion. And when they saw the sanctuary desolate, the 
 altar profaned, and shrubs growing in the court as 
 in a forest, or one of the mountains, and the priests' 
 chambers, pulled down ; they rent their clothes, and 
 made great lamentation, and cast dust on their heads ; 
 and fell down flat on their faces to the ground, and 
 blew an alarm with the trumpets, and cried toward 
 heaven. Then Judas appointed certain men to fight 
 against those in the fortress, until he had cleansed the 
 sanctuary. So he chose priests of blameless conversa- 
 tion, such as had pleasure in the law ; who cleansed 
 the sanctuary, and bore out the defiled stones into an 
 unclean place. And when they had consulted what to 
 do with the altar of burnt-offering, which was profaned, 
 they thought it best to pull it down, lest it should be a 
 reproach to them, because the heathen had defiled it. 
 Wherefore they pulled it down, and laid up the stones 
 in a convenient place, until there should come a pro- 
 phet to sh9w what should be done with them. Then 
 they took whole stones, according to the law, and built 
 a new altar, and made up the sanctuary, and the things 
 within the temple, and hallowed the courts. They 
 made also new holy vessels, and brought into the tem- 
 ple the candlestick, and the altar of burnt offering, and 
 of incense, and the table. And upon the altar they 
 burned incense, and the lamps upon the table they 
 lighted, to give light in the temple. Furthermore, they 
 set the loaves on the table, and spread out the vails, 
 and finished all the works. Now on the five and twen- 
 tieth day of the ninth month, which is Casleu, in the 
 
168 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 hundred and forty-eighth year, they rose up betimes in 
 the morning, and offered sacrifice according to the law 
 upon the new altar of burnt offering which they had 
 made. Look, at what time, and what day the heathen 
 profaned it, even in the same was it dedicated with songs, 
 and citherns, and harps, and cymbals. Then all the 
 people fell upon their faces, worshipping and praising 
 the God of heaven, who had prospered them. And 
 so they kept the dedication of the altar eight days, and 
 offered burnt offerings with gladness, and sacrificed the 
 sacrifice of deliverance and praise. They decked also 
 the forefront of the temple with crowns of gold, and 
 with shields, and the gates and chambers they renewed, 
 and hanged doors on them. Thus was there very great 
 gladness among the people, because the reproach of the 
 heathen was put away. Moreover Judas and his bre- 
 thren, with the whole congregation, ordained that the 
 days of the dedication of the altar should be kept in 
 their season for eight days from year to year, from the 
 five and twentieth of Casleu, with mirth and gladness.' 
 1 Mace. iv. 86—59. 
 
 Three things are worthy of especial notice in these 
 narratives. First, Josephus declares without hesita- 
 tion, that these events happened in fulfilment of the 
 words of Daniel the prophet ; and both from the date 
 which he assigns to the prophecy, and the mention 
 of the Macedonians, it is clear that he refers to the 
 prophecy of the eighth, and not to that in t\\e eleventh 
 chapter. Secondly, the terms repeatedly employed by the 
 writers of the two books of Maccabees, the abomination 
 of desolation, and the cleansing of the sanctuary, espe- 
 cially the former phrase, show how familiarly the book 
 of Daniel was known, to which there is an evident 
 allusion. And further, the feast of dedication, thus 
 appointed to commemorate this great deliverance, is 
 the same which our Lord honoured with His own pre- 
 sience. It was virtually the command of Judas and his 
 companions that he obeyed ; because that command, 
 though human in form, and given by a civil leader in 
 
THE DESOLATION OF ANTIOCHUS. 169 
 
 sacred things, was in itself right, reasonable, and holy. 
 " It was in Jerusalem, the feast of dedication, and it 
 was winter ; and Jesus walked in the temple in Solo- 
 mon's porch." John x. 22, 23. And since the Son of 
 God honoured this feast with His own presence ; it is 
 highly probable that the Spirit of God should have 
 honoured the deliverance itself with some distinct men- 
 tion in the word of prophecy. 
 
 The end of Antiochus equally resembles the predicted 
 ruin of the Little Horn. It is related by Josephus, and 
 in the two books of the Maccabees, nearly in the same 
 manner. It will be enough to extract one account 
 only. 
 
 'About that time came Antiochus with dishonour 
 out of the country of Persia. For he had entered the 
 city called Persepolis, and went about to rob the tem- 
 ple and hold the city ; but the multitude running to 
 defend themselves, with their weapons put them to 
 flight ; so that Antiochus, being defeated by the inha- 
 bitants, retired with shame. 
 
 ' Now when he came to Ecbatane, news was brought 
 him of what had befallen Nicanor and Timotheus. 
 Then, swelling with anger, he thought to avenge upon 
 the Jews the disgrace done to him by those who had 
 made him flee. Therefore commanded he his chariots 
 to drive without ceasing, and dispatch the journey, the 
 judgment of God now following him. For he had 
 spoken proudly, that he would come to Jerusalem, and 
 make it the common burying-place of the Jews. But 
 the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, smote him with 
 an incurable and unseen plague, for as soon as he had 
 spoken these words, an incurable pain of the bowels 
 came upon him, and sore torment in the inward parts. 
 Howbeit he was still filled with pride, breathing out 
 fire in his rage against the Jews, and commanding to 
 hasten the journey ; but it came to pass, that he fell 
 down from his chariot, so that all the members of his 
 body were much pained. And thus he that thought he 
 might command the waves of the sea, so proud was he be- 
 
170 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 yond the condition of man, was now cast on the ground, 
 and carried in a litter, showing forth tlie manifest 
 power of God. So that the worms rose up out of his 
 body, and while he lived in sorrow and pain, his flesh 
 fell away, and the stench was noisome to all his army. 
 And the man that thought, a little before, he could reach 
 to the stars of heaven, no one could endure to carry 
 for the intolerable stench. And when he himself could 
 not abide it, he said, " It is meet to be subject unto 
 God, and that mortal man should not think proudly 
 of himself, as if he were God." This wicked person 
 vowed also to the Lord, who now no more would have 
 mercy on him, that he would set at liberty the holy 
 city ; and as touching the Jews, whom he had counted 
 unworthy even of burial, and cast out to the fowls and 
 wild beasts, he would make them equal to the citizens 
 of Athens. And the holy temple^ which he had s^Doiled, 
 he would garnish with goodly gifts, and restore the 
 holy vessels, with many more, and out of his own reve- 
 nue defray the charges belonging to the sacrifices. But 
 for all this his pains would not cease, for the just judg- 
 ment of God was come upon him. Thus the murderer 
 and blasphemer, having suffered most grievously, as he 
 had intreated other men, died a miserable death in a 
 strange country in the mountains.' 2 Mace. ix. 1 — 28. 
 
 From a review of the whole history of this wicked 
 king, it seems to result plainly that in his person 
 there was a precursive fulfilment cf the emblem of the 
 little horn. The Jews themselves, in the very time of 
 those heavy afflictions, seem clearly to have understood 
 that he was the object of the prophecy, and both when 
 the abomination of desolation was set up, and when the 
 sanctuary was cleansed with mirth and gladness, these 
 predictions occupied the memories, and cheered and 
 sustained the hearts of the faithful servants of God. 
 It was scarcely possible that they should fail, at such 
 a time, to apply the emblem to this Syrian persecu- 
 tor ; and since the Holy Spirit would not minister 
 comfort by delusion, it was His purpose that it should 
 
THE DESOLATION OF ANTIOCHUS. 171 
 
 be SO applied. The prophecy may have internal marks, 
 which require some fuller and later event to satisfy its 
 tenns ; but the features of resemblance with Antiochus 
 are also too striking to be overlooked by any thoughtful 
 mind, and mucli more, by the actual sufferers from his 
 cruelty. And hence we may safely conclude that, as 
 the Son of God honoured the feast of the dedication by 
 hifi own attendance at Jerusalem, so too the Holy Spirit, 
 in this vision, designed to predict that deliverance of the 
 Jews, as well as the bitter persecutions of Antiochus, 
 when the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the sanc- 
 tuary profaned by the heathen. The prophetic history 
 of the third Empire will thus close with that joyful 
 feast of mercy, and foreshadow another deliverance still 
 more glorious, when the fourth Empire shall have run 
 its course, and the sanctuary of God shall be cleansed 
 for ever. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE PROPER FULFILMENT OF THE LITTLE HORN. 
 
 The events which have fulfilled the two later visions of 
 Daniel, in a great part of their course, are very plain. 
 From the first conquests of Cyrus to the division of 
 Alexander's kingdom ; and again, from the date of the 
 last prophecy just before the death of Cyrus, to the re- 
 treat of Antiochus from Egypt, the meaning of these 
 chapters scarcely admits of a dispute, and all the testi- 
 mony of heathen history proves the accuracy of their 
 predictions. The meaning, however, of the Little Horn, 
 which closes the former vision, and of the fifteen last 
 verses of the other, is open to more debate, and requires 
 greater care to ascertain it on sure grounds. I have en- 
 deavoured to prove, in the last chapter, that parts of a 
 chronological prophecy may admit of a double fulfil- 
 ment, one precursive, the other full and complete. I 
 have also shewn, I think, by conclusive evidence, that 
 the history of Antiochus does not fully satisfy the em- 
 blem of the Little Horn, but that it has all the features 
 required in an improper and precursive fulfilment ; 
 that the resemblance is strong, the diff'erences both sub- 
 ordinate, and such might easily be overlooked, and that 
 the facts of the persecution and the history of inter- 
 pretation, shew that the prophecy was really designed 
 to be a warning of his cruelty, and to supply comfort 
 under those heavy trials to the people of God. The 
 prophetic history is thus continued, in unbroken course, 
 
THE PROPER FULFILMENT OF THE LITTLE HORN. 173 
 
 from the early victories of Cyrus to the cleansing of 
 the sanctuary, and the feast of its dedication by the 
 Maccabean heroes. 
 
 We have now to enquire what is the true and full 
 reference of this striking emblem, and what further 
 enemy, mightier and more lasting than Antiochus, it 
 was designed to reveal. Some writers have referred it 
 to the Papacy, others to the Turkish power, and others 
 to some future Antichrist. Not to perplex the reader 
 with needless discussion, it will be sufficient here to 
 compare together the two expositions, which are most 
 plausible, and have had more currency in the Church. 
 The first, of which Sir Isaac Newton appears to be the 
 author, applies the emblem to the Eastern Empire of 
 Rome. The second, of still later origin, but perhaps 
 more prevalent at this time, interprets the symbol to 
 denote the spiritual Empire of Mahomet, or the great 
 Apostasy of the East. 
 
 There are several particulars in which either of these 
 powers would answer to the description. A horn in 
 these visions is constantly used for a dynasty, rather 
 than for a single person, and such was the Caliphate, 
 and the Eastern Roman Empire. The little horn was 
 to rule in the East, and over the land of Israel ; and 
 accordingly Palestine was a prey successively to the 
 armies of Pompey, and the hosts of the Saracens. The 
 vision was to be for many days, and on either hypo- 
 thesis it would range over nearly two thousand years. 
 The predicted king was to be of fierce countenance, 
 and understanding dark sentences, politic, subtle, and 
 crafty. Such was very much the character both of the 
 Romans, and of the Arabian prophet and his succes- 
 sors. The Romans desolated the Jewish sanctuary ; 
 and the Mahometan triumphs have been, for ages, a 
 desolating scourge to the figurative sanctuary, the visi- 
 ble Church of God. Where so many features are com- 
 mon to both, and the moral resemblance is so great, 
 there is less cause for surprize that each, in turn, should 
 have been taken for the true fulfilment. I shall first 
 
174 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 examine the reasons which have been given for the 
 later application to the Mahometan Empire ; and then 
 the opposite arguments, which comj)el me to renounce 
 that interpretation, and with Sir Isaac and Bishop 
 Newton, Dr. Zouch and Mr. Cuninghame, to apply the 
 emblem to the Roman power. 
 
 The chief reason which has led many to refer the 
 emblem to Mahomet and his spiritual Empire, is the 
 symmetry which it seems to establish between the two 
 visions of the seventh and eighth chapters. If the for- 
 mer Little Horn be applied to the Papacy in the West, 
 it seems natural to apply the other to Mahometanism 
 in the East, a spiritual delusion of still wider preva- 
 lence. Such views of abstract symmetry, however, 
 may soon mislead us, from the complexity of God's pro- 
 vidence, and the various points of sight in which an 
 observer may be placed. The parallel here, for instance, 
 however strong it may seem at first sight, fails entirely in 
 one main feature. The Papacy grew up at once, and 
 without interval, on the division of the Fourth Empire. 
 On the contrar}^, eight hundred years had elapsed from 
 the fall of the Grecian kingdoms before the rise of the 
 Saracens. The appeal to general analogy, where there 
 is one point of such broad and total contrast, may be 
 only deceptive. Instead of relying on a general re- 
 semblance, that diminishes on a closer view, the words 
 of the vision must be narrowly examined, before we 
 can decide safely on their true meaning. 
 
 The sameness of the emblem in the two visions, has 
 been thought a still more decisive argument, and a 
 clear proof that the Mahometan Empire is designed. The 
 two Little Horns it is argued, are homogeneous. Hence, 
 if the first of them denotes a spiritual Empire, so too 
 must the second. But the former little horn denotes the 
 Papacy. Hence the horn of the He Goat must denote 
 an ecclesiastical, and not a merely civil power, to arise 
 in the East. In other words, it must be referred to the 
 Empire of Islam, and not of the Romans. 
 
 This reason, on closer inspection, will appear unsound. 
 
THE PROPER FULFILMENT OF THE LITTLE HORN. 175 
 
 For the two horns are homogeneous in part only ; in 
 part they are heterogeneous. Each is a little horn, 
 grafted on the body of an Empire, and which after- 
 ward obtains the supreme power. But there are several 
 points in which the two symbols differ. The little horn 
 of chap, vii., has eyes and a mouth : — no such features 
 are specified in the other. The little horn of chap. viii. 
 on the other hand, waxes exceeding great : — no such 
 change of size is predicted in the earlier vision con- 
 cerning the horn of the fourth beast, though it obtains 
 dominion over the other kings. 
 
 What feature is it then, in the first little horn, M-hicIi 
 betokens its spiritual character ? Clearly the mouth 
 of the prophet, and the eyes of a seer, ascribed to it 
 in the vision. If these occur in the other emblem, con- 
 sistency will require us to refer it to some ecclesiastical 
 power. If they do not occur, the same consistency 
 must require an opposite interpretation. 
 
 Now, in fact, these features do not occur in the later 
 emblem. And hence the alleged argument, when 
 strictly examined, disproves the interpretation it is 
 brought to establish. The two little horns are hetero- 
 geneous on that very point where they have been as- 
 sumed to be homogeneous. We may infer, with more 
 justice, that since the eyes and mouth of a man are not 
 specified in the second little horn, it relates to a civil, 
 and not a spiritual power. 
 
 The same general argument, from the homogeneous 
 nature of the emblems of prophecy, has been applied 
 in another form, to disprove the application of the Little 
 Horn to the Romans, and thus to confirm indirectly its 
 application to the Mahometan Empire. When the Per- 
 sians conquered Babylon, or Alexander the Persians, 
 the emblem used is the overthrow of one animal or beast 
 of prey by another. So too the Roman conquests have 
 been described in the former vision. The silent growth 
 of the little horn on the body of the goat is a very dif- 
 ferent symbol, and therefore cannot fitly represent the 
 course of Roman triumphs in the East. 
 
176 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 To this objection a double answer may be given. And 
 first, it applies just as forcibly to the Mahometan as to 
 the Roman conquests. The Saracen power assailed the 
 Eastern Empire from without, and subdued it by a 
 course of direct and open aggression. It was not the 
 internal growth of a spiritual empire, by the arts of 
 religious fraud, or the zeal of false teachers within ; it 
 was simply and entirely, in all its early stages, and up 
 to the fall of Constantinople, the victory of the sword. 
 If the sjniibol here employed is unfit to denote one 
 event, it must be equally unfit to dSnote the other ; for 
 the Mahometan conquests were more rapid, and bore on 
 their face clearer marks of open defiance. The objec- 
 tion, if really valid, must be fatal alike to both inter- 
 pretations. 
 
 But here also more exact enquiry will remove the 
 seeming difficulty. The Roman conquests in the East 
 did not, in point of fact, resemble the overthrow of 
 Babylon by Persia, of Darius by Alexander, or their 
 own conquests over the Western kingdoms. They pre- 
 vailed more by policy and alliance than by direct war- 
 fare. Their course was one of insidious, persevering, 
 stealthy aggression, in which they used, at every step, the 
 aid of those very powers which they presently subverted. 
 The vision clearly regards Macedon, Thrace, Syria, and 
 Egypt, as the joint components of the He Goat, or 
 Third Empire. When the first Empire was overthrown 
 by the second, or the second by the third, the conquest 
 was direct and immediate. But when the Romans 
 passed over into Greece, the Macedonian Empire was 
 divided into several notable kingdoms, besides minor 
 states and cities, constantly at war with each other. The 
 future masters of the East appeared on the scene of their 
 triumphs, not as enemies, but as liberators and friends. 
 It was by alliance with the smaller states of Greece 
 that they overthrew the king of Macedon ; and their 
 first step, after the triumph over Philip, was to proclaim 
 the freedom of the whole country. In the same manner, 
 by specious alliances with other Grecian states, they 
 
THE PROPER FULFILMENT OF THE LITTLE HORN. 177 
 
 subdued in succession the Macedonians and the Spar- 
 tans, the ^tolians, and the Achseans. It was as the 
 allies of Philip, the Rhodians, and Eumenes, and libe- 
 rators of the Greek cities in Asia, that thay warred 
 with Antiochus the Great, and stripped him of nearly 
 half his dominions. It was as the friends of Ptolemy 
 that they expelled Epiphanes from Egypt. The same 
 policy continued through all their later conquests, 
 which, in every stage, were the victory of one part of 
 the Third Empire, warring against another, till the as- 
 cendancy of the Romans was gradually established over 
 the whole. The emblem therefore, which described the 
 rapid victories of Alexander, would have been quite un- 
 suitable for these Roman encroachments, while the sym- 
 bol here employed corresponds exactly with their real 
 nature. 
 
 There is no reason, then, from the law of homogene- 
 ous interpretation, why the prophecy should be referred 
 to the Mahometan, rather than to the Roman power. 
 That very feature which fixes upon the first little horn 
 an ecclesiastical or spiritual character, is absent in the 
 second vision ; and the growth of the Mahometan em- 
 pire, even more than of the Eastern dominion of Rome, 
 was by direct military conquest. Even on the very 
 grounds alleged for the former application of the text, 
 the latter interpretation has a superior claim. It re- 
 mains to consider next, in detail, the features of the 
 vision, and to discover what is the power to which they 
 fully apply. 
 
 First of all, the Little Horn arises while the divided 
 kingdoms of the Macedonian empire are still in being, 
 and succeeds to their dominion. The Law of Conti- 
 nuity thus requires us to refer it to the next main 
 power, which obtained rule in the East after the de- 
 cline of these Macedonian kingdoms. And this was 
 plainly the dominion of Rome. 
 
 This view is confiimed by the words of the angel, 
 where he expounds the emblem. The Little Horn was 
 to arise in " the latter time" of the Macedonian king- 
 
 N 
 
178 CHAPTER XIT. 
 
 doms. The word, even in the Hebrew, is clearly de- 
 scriptive of time, not of place. In the latter sense it 
 is scarcel}^ ever used, and never in Daniel ; and besides 
 the clause would then be out of its natural order. The 
 word denotes also the latest part of any time, and not 
 some other period, after the event has completely ex- 
 pired. The horn, therefore, must have arisen before 
 the Grecian kingdoms were overthrown, a mark Avhich 
 excludes every power but Antiochus and the Romans. 
 
 The direction of conquest, ascribed to the Little Horn, 
 is another test of the same kind. It waxes great to- 
 wards the south, and the east, and the pleasant delight, 
 or temple of Jerusalem. So also the Roman power, when 
 once engrafted on the kingdom of Greece by its victory 
 over Philip, extended itself southward to Upper Egypt, 
 and eastward to the Euphrates and Tigris. But the 
 Mahometan power, after being engrafted on the pro- 
 vince of Egypt, which was its first entrance within the 
 Third Empire, extended to the north and the west, to 
 Pontus, and Spain, not less than eastward toward India ; 
 and the south was the only direction where it made no 
 progress. This feature, therefore, does not apply to the 
 Saracen conquests, but only to those of the Graeco-Roman 
 Empire. The Saracens spread northward, westward, 
 and eastward, but not southward ; the Romans, to the 
 south, and the east, and the pleasant land. 
 
 Thirdly, the Little Horn was to cast down the sanc- 
 tuary, and take away the daily sacrifice. Both of these 
 characters met in the Romans, when Titus sacked Jeru- 
 salem, and one stone of the temple was not left upon 
 another. At the time when Mahomet arose, the literal 
 sanctuary had long been in ruins : and even the figura- 
 tive temple of the Christian Church had been already 
 defiled by superstitions and idolatries, which spread 
 earlier in the East than in the West. Either in the 
 letter, or figuratively, the Mahometan triumphs will 
 not answer to the description, for they only continued 
 a desolation already begun. 
 
 But the words in the vision, on every rule of sound 
 
THE PROPER FULFILMENT OF THE LITTLE HORN. 179 
 
 interpretation, must be referred to the Jewish temple, 
 
 and its sacrifices. The term hatsehi, in the previous verse, 
 had been ah-eady used by Ezekiel as a distinctive name 
 for that temple. It is here joined with two other local 
 directions of conquest, the south, and the east, and must 
 therefore be used in a local and literal sense. But if 
 the Little Horn is said to wax great towards the literal 
 temple, it is a manifest violence to deny that the literal 
 temple is the sanctuary which he would cast down. 
 Again, the repeated mission of the angel Gabriel shows 
 that the present is very closely connected with the fol- 
 lowing vision. Now there the sanctuary undoubtedly 
 means the Jewish temple ; it ought therefore to be 
 taken here in the same sense. That there are symbols 
 used in the vision, is no proof whatever that the sanc- 
 tuary is figurative. For then the three directions of 
 conquest must all be symbolical together, which is ab- 
 surd. Nothing is more common than for literal clauses 
 or objects to be mingled with symbols in the same vision. 
 And again, when we reflect on the views of Daniel him- 
 self, and of the Jews to whom the prophecy was ad- 
 dressed, and observe also its connexion with the follow- 
 ing chapter, and with the words of our Lord on the 
 Mount of Olives, together with the general conviction of 
 Jews and Christians in all former ages, the conclusion 
 seems inevitable, that a desolation of the Jewish sanc- 
 tuary is the real object of the prophecy. This is one 
 further reason why the Little Horn must denote the 
 Roman, and not the Mahometan empire. 
 
 The title of this horn, a king of fierce countenance, 
 lends a further presumption in favour of the same view. 
 Scripture prophecy is its own constant interpreter. 
 Now the phrase occurs in one other passage only. Deut. 
 xxviii. 49, 50. And there it is clearly the Romans who 
 are described by the same epithet, " a nation of fierce 
 countenance." The words, thus applied, form a link 
 to unite the latest prophecy of Moses with these am- 
 pler visions of the beloved Daniel ; but, on every other 
 
 N 2 
 
ISO CHAPTER XII. 
 
 view of their meaning, tliis beautiful harmony of mu- 
 tual reference entirely disaj^pears. 
 
 The connexion of the present with the former vision 
 is another indication of the meaning-. The fourth beast, 
 which succeeds to the third, was to devour the whole 
 earth, and break it in pieces. The Little Horn, arising 
 in the latter time of the third empire, must henee either 
 be included within those times, like Antiochus, or be 
 some form of that power which was to rule over the 
 whole earth when the third empire fell. "Now since the 
 Little Horn waxes " exceeding great," a stronger term 
 than the prophecy applies to Alexander, and still is 
 might}^ " not by its own power," its characters are in 
 exact harmony with the above conclusion, and imply 
 that it is a dominion borrowed from the fourth, and en- 
 grafted on the third empire. 
 
 The prophecy of the Seventy Weeks will lend us an- 
 other argument. The " people of the prince that shall 
 come," it is quite evident, are the Romans, by whom 
 the Jewish temple was destroyed. But since the same 
 angel is the messenger in both visions, (a point, to 
 which the Spirit draws our special attention,) the 
 meaning of the phrase is most simply explained by this 
 narrative of the Little Horn. A king of fierce counte- 
 nance, the angel Gabriel has already taught the prophet, 
 will cast down the place of the sanctuary, and destroy 
 the people of the holy ones. He now declares afresh, 
 when the Messiah shall be cut off, the people of the 
 prince that shall come will destroy the city and the 
 sanctuary. Can any allusion be more distinct and 
 clear 1 Surely it is plain that the same prince and 
 people are announced in the two visions, and the pro- 
 phet himself could never have supposed, for a moment, 
 that the desolation of the sanctuary, which had been 
 announced fifteen 3'ears before, would be nearly six 
 hundred years later in its fulfilment. The Little Horn, 
 then, must be an emblem of the Roman power. 
 
 The general scope of the prophecy favours this inter- 
 pretation. Its main object, evidently, was to warn the 
 
THE PROPER FULFILMENT OF THE LITTLE HORN. 181 
 
 Jews of troubles to come upon their nation, even after 
 the close of the captivity of Babylon. On the eve of 
 that great deliverance, they were still to rejoice with 
 trembling. Fresh sins would arise ; and fresh enemies, 
 on account of those sins, would be raised up to scourge 
 them. Besides the time of wrath which was now almost 
 ended, there was still a future time, or latter end, of 
 God's indignation against them. But the Romans, from 
 Pompey onwards, far more signally than the Caliphs 
 in later times, have been the appointed instruments to 
 execute the anger of God against Israel. The depression 
 of the Jews was completed, and their degradation w^as 
 most bitter and severe, before the Saracen empire arose. 
 How unnatural, then, would it be for the prophecy to 
 overleap the main instrument of their desolation, and to 
 speak only of a later power, w^hich bore a secondary 
 part in the indignation against Israel. 
 
 Another argument, to confirm and seal all the rest, 
 may be drawn from the orderly and progressive de- 
 velopment of sacred prophecy, viewed as a whole. 
 When we view the history of the world ecclesiastically, 
 or with reference to the visible constitution of the 
 Church of God, and the economy of redemption, the 
 leading divisions are the Patriarchal, the Levitical, and 
 the Gospel dispensations. These are parted from each 
 other by two short and eventful periods, the forty years 
 in the wilderness, from the Exodus to the entrance into 
 Canaan, and the period of the same length from our 
 Lord's baptism, or Crucifixion, to the fall of Jerusalem, 
 and abolition of the whole Jewish polity. In the earlier 
 prophets, as Moses and Isaiah, the second is commonly 
 blended with the former desolation, and its distinct 
 nature appears, if at all, very dimly. With the visions 
 of Daniel a fuller revelation of the Divine counsels evi- 
 dently begins. The two first, in Chaldee, reveal the 
 political history of the world in its main outlines, or 
 the course of the four Gentile kingdoms. The three later, 
 in Hebrew, have plainly a closer connexion with the land 
 of promise and the chosen people. The grand transition 
 
182 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 from the Jewish synagogue to the Gentile church, had 
 at that time been nowhere revealed in a chronological 
 or definite form. It is most natural to expect that this 
 great era of change, from the Jewish to the Gentile dis- 
 pensation, would be first revealed, and then those events 
 which subdivide the new dispensation thereupon to suc- 
 ceed, and which were to last for ages. This \slw of natural 
 propriety, if we accept the application of the Little 
 Horn to the Romans, has been fully observed ; if we 
 apply the emblem to Mahomet and his successors, it will 
 have been completely violated. The prophet will have 
 been hurried into the midway changes of the Gentile 
 dispensation, before any hint of the Jewish desola- 
 tion, and the total change of the Church's visible eco- 
 nomy, has been given. 
 
 It may be replied, it is true, that the Papacy, an 
 ecclesiastical power almost as modern as the Saracen 
 empire, has been already predicted in the former vision. 
 But the answer to this remark is plain. The main as- 
 pect of both the former visions is that of political history. 
 The Little Horn appears there, chiefly as the distinc- 
 tive political mark of a later stage in the course of 
 the fourth empire. Though spiritual features appear, 
 the political features predominate in the description. 
 Here, on the contrary, the sacrifices, the temple, and 
 the chosen people, are the express object of the vision, 
 and those from which it derives its name. And there- 
 fore, so far as we can safely argue from the laws of 
 symmetry, we may infer that ecclesiastical changes in 
 the times of the Gospel would not be predicted, till that 
 grand and decisive revolution had been first announced, 
 by which the whole Jewish polity would be overthrown, 
 and a fresh dispensation opened, to run parallel with 
 the ruin of the holy sanctuary of God. 
 
 There are still one or two further difficulties to be 
 removed, before the mind can rest with full and entire 
 confidence in the tnith of this interpretation. How can 
 the same power be denoted by the fourth beast, and by 
 a little horn of the he-goat ? Or how can the one empire 
 
THE PROPER FULFILMENT OF THE LITTLE HORN. 183 
 
 of Rome, a single and compacted dominion, be parted 
 into two powers, and described by two such different em- 
 blems 1 Is it not harsh and incongruous to separate the 
 provinces of Rome which lay within the range of Ma- 
 cedonian kingdoms, and then to style this fragment a 
 little horn ] 
 
 The first objection applies just as powerfully to the 
 other exposition, which refers the emblem to the Ma- 
 hometan power. The spiritual domain of the Arabian 
 prophet reached far beyond the limits of the Greek em- 
 pire. Its birthplace lay beyond them, in Arabia. Its 
 conquests were far wider, including Libya, Mauritania, 
 and Spain, in the West, and the Babylonian, Persian, 
 and Indian provinces, in the East. A difficulty which 
 applies with greater force to this modern exposition, 
 can never be a reason why the emblem should be re- 
 ferred to the Mahometan, rather than to the Roman 
 power. 
 
 Again, the difficulty has its main source in the com- 
 plexity of the actual changes, and in the nature of the 
 events themselves. The Roman dominion in the East 
 had two principal stages, one before, and the other after, 
 the division of the Empire. Now the emblem which 
 describes one of these stages will appear imperfect when 
 applied to the other. Yet still the dominion itself, in 
 all its main features, was one and the same, both before 
 and after that separation. 
 
 There are three facts, also, which remove the apparent 
 harshness, and justify the use of a distinct emblem, 
 like the little horn of the he-goat, to describe this Eas- 
 tern dominion of Rome. And first, out of the sixteen 
 centuries from ^milius Paulus, who subdued Persius, 
 to Constantine Palaeologus, there are not less than 
 eleven in which the Graeco-Roman Empire was evidently 
 a distinct and separate power. The longer continuance 
 of this separate state would be a reason why the em- 
 blem might be adapted to the later form, rather than 
 to the other period, when the whole Empire seemed one 
 united body. 
 
184 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Again, even during the four centuries from Pompey, 
 who completed these Eastern conquests, to Valens, when 
 the Empire was divided, the distinction, though less 
 apparent, was deep and real. The separation after- 
 wards could not have been so decisive and lasting, unless 
 the rent had previously existed. An extract from Gibbon 
 will bear witness to this fact, and thus w^ill serve to 
 vindicate the propriety of the explanation here offered. 
 
 ^ The ancient dialects of Italy, the Sabine, the Etrus- 
 can, and the Venetian, sank into oblivion ; but, in the 
 provinces, the East was less docile than the West, to 
 the voice of its victorious preceptors. This obvious 
 difference marked the two portions of the Empire with 
 a distinction of colours which, though it was in some 
 degree concealed during the meridian splendour of pros- 
 perity, became gradually more visible, as the shades of 
 night descended on the Roman world. The western 
 countries were civilized by the same hands that sub- 
 dued them. The language of Virgil and Cicero, though 
 with some inevitable mixture of corruption, was so 
 universally adopted in Africa, Spain, Gaul, Britain, 
 and Pannonia, that the faint traces of the Punic or 
 Celtic idioms, were preserved only in the mountains, or 
 among peasants. Education and study insensibly in- 
 spired the natives of those countries with the sentiments 
 of Romans, and Italy gave fashions as well as laws, to 
 her Latin provinces. The situation of the Greeks was 
 very different from that of the Barbarians. The former 
 had long since been civilized and corrupted. They had 
 too much taste to relinquish their language, and too 
 much vanity to adopt any foreign institution. Still 
 preserving the prejudices, after they had lost the virtues, 
 of their ancestors, they affected to despise the unpolished 
 manners of their Roman conquerors, while they were 
 compelled to respect their superior wisdom and power. 
 Nor was the influence of the Grecian language and sen- 
 timents confined to that once celebrated country. Their 
 empire, by the progress of colonies and conquest, had 
 been diffused from the Hadriatic to the Euphrates and 
 
THE PROPER FULFILMENT OF THE LITTLE HORN. 185 
 
 the Nile. Asia was covered with Greek cities, and the 
 long reign of the Macedonian kings had introduced a 
 silent revolution into Syria and Egypt. Such was the 
 general division of the Roman Empire, into the Latin 
 and Greek languages.' 
 
 The distinction, therefore, between the Eastern and 
 Western Empire of Rome, was a deep historical fact, 
 even before it appeared outwardly in their visible separa- 
 tion. This will help further to explain why a separate 
 emblem might be used for that Roman power in the 
 East, which was a foreign graft upon the Grecian 
 Empire. 
 
 This union also of the little horn with some other 
 power, from which its strength is derived, is inti- 
 mated in the vision itself. It was to be mighty, but 
 not by its own power. Its political strength, in the 
 era of its triumphs, would be derived from a foreign 
 source, beyond its own proper and immediate sphere. 
 No other explanation of the phrase appears more simple 
 and natural than this, which Sir Isaac Newton has 
 proposed, in accordance with his own interpretation. 
 
 One further objection may still be raised. The little 
 horn was to be "broken without hand." This is often 
 explained to denote a miraculous overthrow, and the ab- 
 sence of all human agents, or at least, of the conscious 
 efforts of man. How can this be reconciled with the 
 fall of the Eastern Empire, which was the direct result 
 of a Turkish invasion 1 
 
 This objection lies equally against the other expo- 
 sition. Prophecy, combined with Providence, seems to 
 imply that the fall of the Mahometan power will be 
 gradual, not miraculous, a silent wasting and decay. 
 But the phrase, when examined closely, seems to re- 
 quire a different explanation. The words really mean 
 ' in defectu roboris,' in the failure of hands. They 
 denote, not a miraculous overthrow by supernatural 
 power, but a helpless fall, where there is no human de- 
 liverer to avert the blow. The phrase answers exactly 
 to the words of the last vision — " He shall come to his 
 
186 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 end, and none shall help him." Such is the constant 
 sense of the word in other passages, confirmed here also 
 by several of the best versions. Thus the sole remaining 
 difficulty is removed. No power ever more signally an- 
 swered the words of the prediction, in the manner of its 
 fall, than the Eastern Empire. The help of saints in 
 heaven, and kings and republics upon earth, of its own 
 subjects, and of the Western powers, though implored 
 with sedulous prayers and entreaties, all failed in the 
 day of its calamity. Utter helplessness was the feature 
 most conspicuous in the history of its ruin ; and even 
 those whom its overthrow filled with terror, refused to 
 lend it their aid in the hour of its judgment. 
 
 Such appears to be the result of a careful enquiry 
 into the nature of the emblem, and the scope of the 
 whole vision. The Little Horn, in a lower and precur- 
 sive sense, was fulfilled in the history of Antiochus, 
 and gave warning to the Jews, in the time of the Mac- 
 cabees, of the cruelty and profaneness of that Syrian 
 king. In its full and proper sense, it denotes the power 
 of Rome, grafted upon the Grecian Empire, which by 
 stealthy and gradual steps obtained dominion over the 
 whole ; a power, which arose in the latter time of the Ma- 
 cedonian kingdoms, stretched its dominion southward to 
 Egypt, eastward toward the Tigris, and towards the 
 land of Israel, cast down the sanctuary of God, and 
 prospered for ages in persecution of the truth ; till at 
 length, wasted away by the mighty hand of God, it 
 sank in utter and helpless ruin. It remains now to 
 trace out, from the page of history, the details of the 
 fulfilment, and thus to confirm, still further, the justice 
 of the interpretation. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE EASTERN EMPIRE OF ROME. 
 Dan. VIII. 9 — 12.— And out of one op them came forth a iittle hoen, 
 
 WHICH WAXED EXCEEDING GREAT, TOWARD THE SOUTH, AND TOWARD 
 THE EAST, AND TOWARD THE PLEASANT LAND. AND IT WAXED GREAT, 
 EVEN TO THE HOST OF HEAVEN ; AND IT CAST DOWN SOME OF THE HOST 
 AND OF THE STARS TO THE GROUND, AND STAMPED UPON THEM. YeA, 
 
 he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him 
 the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanc- 
 tuary was cast down. and an host was given him against the 
 daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the 
 truth to the ground ; and it practised and prospered. 
 23 — 25. — And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the trans- 
 gressors ARE COME to THE FULL, A KING OF FIERCE COUNTENANCE, AND 
 
 understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power 
 
 SHALL BE mighty, BUT NOT BY HIS OWN POWER : AND HE SHALL DESTROY 
 WONDERFULLY, AND SHALL PROSPER, AND PRACTISE, AND SHALL DESTROY 
 THE MIGHTY AND THE HOLY PEOPLE. AND THROUGH HIS POLICY ALSO 
 HE SHALL CAUSE CRAFT TO PROSPER IN HIS HAND ; AND HE SHALL MAG- 
 NIFY HIMSELF IN HIS HEART, AND BY PEACE SHALL DESTROY MANY : HE 
 SHALL ALSO STAND UP AGAINST THE PRINCE OF PRINCES ; BUT HE SHALL 
 BE BROKEN WITHOUT HAND. 
 
 The Little Horn of the He Goat, as I have now shewn, 
 has a precursive and subordinate application to Anti- 
 ochus, confirmed by the fact that the Jews were com- 
 forted and sustained by it under his severe persecu- 
 tions ; but it has its true and proper fulfilment in the 
 Eastern dominion of Rome. This view will be esta- 
 blished more fully, by a direct appeal to the events 
 of Roman history. The importance of the emblem, 
 and the different interpretation adopted by several able 
 expositors, will require a double fulness of historical 
 
188 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 evidence, to complete the proof that this prophecy- 
 has indeed been fulfilled in the Roman power, and 
 in that alone. The Inquiry of Dr. Zouch, who has 
 maintained this view with much learning, will supply 
 part of the materials, and further evidence be derived 
 from original authorities. Instead of attempting a full 
 and unbroken outline of the Roman conquests, it will 
 be more convenient to compare each separate clause of 
 the prediction with some of the facts by which they 
 have been fulfilled. 
 
 I. The Little Horn, in the first place, was to arise out 
 of one of the divided Macedonian kingdoms, and in the 
 latter end of their dominion. There is thus a double 
 mark, of place and of time, to fix the application. The 
 word here translated, the latter time, occurs in sixty-one 
 passages, and in fifty of these it is a mark of time. It also 
 requires or admits the same sense in every instance, 
 namely, the closing part of the season or period to which 
 it is referred. No other meaning therefore, is admissible 
 in this passage. This one mark excludes every power 
 but Antiochus or the Romans from being the true fulfil- 
 ment of the emblem. 
 
 After the death of Lysimachus, the four divided king- 
 doms had merged into three, by the union of the eastern 
 and northern divisions. Of these three, Syria and 
 Egypt, as we have seen already, have their wars and 
 alliances fully predicted in the eleventh chapter. The 
 Macedonian horn, however, was first in order of time, 
 and gave name to the whole monarch}^ of the he- goat. 
 It was from this first or primary horn that the Roman 
 power arose. Through Greece the ambitious republic 
 began its inroads on the whole territory of the East. 
 
 The first entrance of the Romans among the Grecian 
 states, like the modern conquest of Algeria, was occa- 
 sioned by the robberies of pirates. ' The lUyrians had 
 become of late a considerable nation, and were a party 
 in the quarrels of the Macedonians and Greeks. Having 
 convenient harbours, they carried on a piratical war 
 with most of their neighbours, and in particular, com- 
 
THE EASTERN EMPIRE OF ROME. 189 
 
 mittecl depredations on the traders of Italy, which it 
 concerned the Romans, as sovereigns of the country, to 
 prevent. They accordingly sent deputies to complain 
 of these practices, to demand reparation for past injuries, 
 and security from such attempts for the future. The 
 Illyrians were then under the government of Teuta, the 
 widow of the late king, and guardian for her son. She 
 answered, that in her kingdom no public commission 
 had ever been granted to make war on the Italians ; 
 but that the sea being open, no one could answer for 
 what was transacted there, and that it was not the cus- 
 tom of kings to debar their subjects from what they 
 could seize by their valour. To this one of the deputies 
 replied, that his country was ever governed by different 
 maxims, tbat they restrained the crimes of private 
 persons by the authority of the State, and should in 
 this case find a way to reform the practice of kings. 
 The queen was incensed, and resenting his words as an 
 insult to herself, gave orders to waylay and assassinate 
 the deputy on his return to Rome.' 
 
 ' In revenge for this barbarous outrage and former in- 
 juries, the Romans made war on the queen of Illyri- 
 cum, (a. c. 219.) obliged her to make reparation for the 
 injury done by her traders, to evacuate all the towns 
 on the coast, to restrain her subjects in the use of armed 
 ships, and to forbid them to navigate the Italian sea 
 with more than two vessels in company. 
 
 ' Being desirous of having their conduct in this matter 
 approved of by the nations of that continent, they sent 
 a copy of the treaty, with an exposition of the motives 
 which induced them to cross the Hadriatic, to be read in 
 the assembly of the Achaean league. They soon after 
 made a like communication at Athens, and at Corinth ; 
 where, in consideration of their services against the 
 Illyrians, then reputed the common enemies of civilized 
 nations, they had an honorary place assigned them at 
 the Isthmian games ; and in this manner made their 
 first appearance in the councils of Greece.' (Ferg. 
 Rom. Rep.) 
 
190 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Here we see the first and feeble step in the germina- 
 tion of the little horn, this new graft on the Greek or 
 Macedonian kingdom. It consisted in a few towns on 
 the coast of Illyricum, and an honorary place at the 
 Isthmian games. Eleven years later (a. c. 201) the 
 ^tolians, when they met Philip and the Achaeans at 
 Rhuim, said that war could not be hindered, ' unless 
 the Achaeans restored Pylos to the Messenians, and Atin- 
 tania, (a small district of Illyricum) were restored to 
 the Romans, and the Ardyaeans to Scordilaedus and 
 rieuratus.' (Li v. xxvii. 30.) Thus w^e see how in- 
 significant was the place the Romans now held, yet 
 still a place, in the Greek confederation. The little 
 horn was exceeding small ; and no suspicion of its por- 
 tentous growth within fifty years seems to have haunted 
 the Mse Athenians, or the valiant Achaeans, w^hen they 
 hailed the passage of the Romans beyond the Adriatic 
 With such marks of joy. 
 
 During the next forty years the germination of this 
 new power amidst the territory of the Macedonian 
 kingdom went on, with a gradual, but sure and steady 
 progress. A few brief extracts from the Fasti Hellenic! 
 will be enough to shew the steps of its growth and ad- 
 vancement. 
 
 A. C. 215. Treaty of Philip with Hannibal. 
 
 A. C. 213. " In this summer the war with Philip was agitated. 
 The death of Aratus." 
 
 A. C. 211. " A treaty with the -<^tolians (Liv. xxvi. 24.) after 
 the surrender of Capua. Their defection was announced to Philip 
 while he wintered at Pella." c. 25. 
 
 A. C. 208. " This summer Philip succoured the Achseans. As 
 he was coming down into Greece, the ^tolians met him at Lamea, 
 under Pyrrheas. They had also auxiliaries from Attains, and 
 one thousand troops sent by Sulpitius from the Roman fleet. After 
 the campaign Attains and Sulpitius wintered at ^gina." 
 
 A. C. 207. In the beginning of the summer, Attains and Sul- 
 pitius passed to Lemnos. They take Oreum. When they were 
 consulting about putting an end to the war, the legates of Ptolemy 
 and the Rhodians were present, (xxviii. 7.) 
 
 A. C. 205. " Sempronius named the conditions of peace, that 
 the Parthinians, Dimallum, BarguUum and Eugenium should 
 
THE EASTERN EMPIRE OF ROME. 191 
 
 belong to the Romans. Atintania should be yielded to Macedon, 
 if Philip on sending legates, should procure the assent of the se- 
 nate. When peace was made on these terms, on the part of the 
 king, there subscribed to the treaty, Prusias, king of Bithynia, 
 the Achaeans, Boeotians, Thessalians, Acarnanians and Epirots ; 
 on that of the Romans, the people of Ilium, king Attains, Pleu- 
 ratus, Nabis, the Eleans, Messenians and Athenians. A truce 
 was made for two months, till the treaty should be confirmed by 
 the people." 
 
 A. C. 200. *' War was renewed with king Philip. Sulpitius 
 wintered at Apollonia." 
 
 A. C. 199. " The -^tolians, and Damocritus their praetor, are 
 reconciled to the Romans." The next year " Flamininus be- 
 sieges Elatia, and forms a league with the Achaeans. In the win- 
 ter a truce for two months. Philip makes an alliance with Nabis. 
 Autiochus the Great conquers Coele Syria. 
 
 A. C. 197. Battle of Cynoscephalae. " Truce of four months, 
 and then a peace." 
 
 ' The Romans had passed into the country as the 
 protectors of Athens, and were now satisfied with the 
 title of Deliverers of Greece ; and, under pretence of set- 
 ting the republics of that quarter free, detached them 
 from the Macedonian monarchy. 
 
 * They obliged the king to withdraw his garrisons 
 from every fortress in Greece, and to leave every Gre- 
 cian city to the enjoyment of its own laws. To secure 
 the effects of the treaty, they obliged him to surrender 
 all his ships of war, except one galley. They made him 
 reduce his ordinary force to five hundred men, and for- 
 bade him the use of elephants. By this treaty the Ro- 
 mans not only weakened their enemy, hut acquired 
 great accessions of reputation and confidence. They 
 announced themselves the protectors of all free nations ; 
 and in this character took an ascendant, which by de- 
 grees might rise into sovereignty and formal dominion. 
 To give the greater solemnity to the gift of libertj'-, they 
 had this act of munificence proclaimed at the Isthmian 
 games at Corinth ; and in return, were extolled by the 
 flatterers of their power, or the dupes of their policy, 
 as the common restorers of freedom to mankind. Under 
 pretence of observing the motions of Antiochus, the 
 
192 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Romans, although they had professed an intention to 
 evacuate the Greek cities, still kept possession of Deme- 
 trias, a convenient sea-port in Thessaly, and of Chalcis 
 in Eubsea ; and Flamininus, under the pretext of re- 
 straining the violence of Nabis, tyrant of Lacedaemon, 
 still remained with an army in the Peloponnesus.' 
 
 A. C. 196. Greece declared free by Titus Quinctius at the 
 Isthmian games (Liv. xxxiii. 2. Pol. xviii. 27, 29.) The next 
 year the senate decree war against Nabis. Peace granted to the 
 tjTant. Liberation of Argos, publicly proclaimed at the Nemaean 
 games. 
 
 A. C. 192. Antiochus in Greece; he occupies Chalcis. Next 
 year, Acilius the consul defeats Antiochus, at Thermopylse. The 
 king winters in Phrygia. 
 
 A. C. 190. Scipio in Asia. Defeat of Antiochus. Eumenes, 
 the king of Pergamos, and the republic of Rhodes, who had dis- 
 tinguished themselves by zeal in the war, were the chief gainers 
 in the treaty. " The Greek cities tributary to Eumenes were to 
 continue so, but those which had been tributary to Antiochus 
 were set free." 
 
 A. C. 189. Fulvius besieges Ambracia, and grants peace to the 
 -^tolians on their submission. The next year disputes occur be- 
 tween the Lacedaemonians and Achseans. " This tumult brought 
 the consul into the Peloponnesus. At his bidding a council was 
 called at Elis, and the Lacedaemonians were invited to plead their 
 cause. Then there arose a great altercation, to which the consul 
 put an end by one simple command, that they should abstain from 
 war, until they had sent legates to the senate at Rome." 
 
 A. C. 187, Achaean embassies to Rome and Egypt. 
 
 A. C. 172. Eumenes and Attains come to Rome. Preparations 
 for war with Perseus. 
 
 A. C. 168. The battle of Pydna, June 22. Overthrow of the 
 Macedonian kingdom. The Illyrian war ended in thirty days. 
 
 The next year, ^Emilius makes a progress through Greece, and 
 settles the affairs of Macedonia ; and after the destruction of 
 seventy towns in Epirus, returns into Italy. More than a thou- 
 sand of the principal Achaeans sent to Rome. Embassy of the 
 Rhodi^s. 
 
 These extracts, though brief, exhibit the ceaseless 
 course of Roman encroachments in Greece and Asia, 
 and the pleas of friendship and alliance under which 
 they were perpetually carried on. At first they were 
 
^^r-i*^ 
 
 THE EASTERN EMPIRE Of ROf^l^ 193 
 
 content with a feAV sea-coast towns of In^^i^j^m, of 
 little note — ' Dimallum, Bargnlum, and Eug'eBium' — 
 and a seat of honour in the public games. But very 
 soon they wielded the whole power of Greece and Ma- 
 cedon ; and exalted or deposed, exiled or restored, both 
 kings and people at their OAvn pleasure. 
 
 This Little Horn waxed great towards the south, and 
 towards the east, and toward the pleasant delight, or 
 temple of Jerusalem. A few extracts, as before, will 
 illustrate this further progress. 
 
 A.C.I 57. Ariarathes, king of Cappadocia, comes to Rome- 
 " Having been driven from his kingdom by the policy and 
 foi:ces of Demetrius, king of Syria, he Avas afterwards restored 
 b}' the senate." 
 
 A. C. 144. Embassy of Scipio Africanus into Egypt. 
 
 A. C. 131. "War with Aristonicus in Asia. " Aristonicus, after 
 the death of Attalus Philometor, went into the midland region, 
 and gathered quickl}^ a multitude of slaves and needy men. He 
 did not however continue long, but soon the cities sent a force 
 against him, and Nicomedes the Bithyiiian succoured them, and 
 the Cappadocian kings. Then there came five legates of the Ro- 
 mans, and after these an army, and the consul Publius Crassus ; 
 and after this Marcus Perperna, who ended the war and took 
 Aristonicus prisoner. Thep Manius Acilius coming with ten 
 legates, arranged the province under its present form." (Strabo 
 xiv. p. 646.) 
 
 A. C. 96. Ptolemj', king of Cyrene, dies, and leaves the Ro- 
 man senate his heir. 
 
 A, C. 9'2. Sylla is sent to Cappadocia, and receives the ambas- 
 sadors of Arsaces, king of Parthia ; the first public transaction 
 between Rome and the Parthians. 
 
 A. C. 88. Mithridates seizes upon Asia. 
 
 A. C. 86. Athens is stormed by Sylla. 
 
 A. C. 84. " Sylla, having quickly ended the war with Mithri- 
 dates, and in less than three years slain 160,000 men, returned, 
 after recovering to the Romans, Greece and Macedonia, Ionia and 
 Asia, and many other tribes, on which Mithridates had seized." 
 (App. Av. i. 76.) 
 
 A. C. 75. Servilius subdues the Isaurians. The next year 
 Nicomedes, king of Bithynia dies, and makes the Roman people 
 his heir. 
 
 A. C. 69. Lucullus passes the Euphrates; Siege of Tigranocerta. 
 Defeat of Tigranes. Lucullus takes Tigranocerta. Next year he 
 
194 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 besieges Nisibis, and "■ using every mode of attack, in a short 
 time he takes the city." Quintus Metellus conducts the war in 
 Crete. 
 
 A. C. G6. Pompey ends the Mithridatic war. He defeats 
 Mithridates, and Tigranes surrenders. He winters on the banks 
 of the Cyrnus. 
 
 A. C. 64. Pompey winters in Syria. Next year Mithridates 
 dies, and Jerusalem is taken by Pompey, after a siege of three 
 months. " Cneius Pompey vanquished the Jews and took their 
 temple in Jerusalem, which till that time was inviolate. (Liv. Ep. 
 102.)" The birth of Augustus. 
 
 Thus exactly did the progress of the Romans answer 
 to the words of the vision. They waxed exceeding 
 great toward the south, in Cyrene and Egypt, towards 
 the east, on the banks of the Euphrates and to the 
 w-alls of Nisibis, and toward the pleasant delight, or the 
 holy and once inviolable temple at Jerusalem. Engraft- 
 ing themselves, by stealth and crafty policy, on the 
 stock of the Grecian commonwealth, or the tirst of the 
 divided horns of the he-goat, they gradually rose to a 
 power even greater than that of Cyrus and Alex- 
 ander themselves. The gradation in the prophecy is 
 observable. The ram became great ; and the he-goat, 
 after his victories, waxed very great ; but the Little 
 Horn, with an emphasis still higher, is said to have 
 waxed exceeding great. The empire of Cyrus was 
 surpassed in extent by that of Alexander ; and the 
 Macedonian, in his turn, yielded the palm to the supe- 
 rior energy, firmness, and deep-rooted greatness of the 
 Roman conquerors, who engrafted a new dominion on 
 the old stock of the Grecian states and institutions. 
 
 II. The Little Horn was to be " a king of fierce coun- 
 tenance." Long before the time of Daniel, the Holy 
 Spirit, by Moses, had given the same prophetic charac- 
 ter of the Romans, as " a nation of a fierce countenance." 
 Deut. xxxiii. 50. The remarks of Dr. Zouch on this 
 feature of the Roman character seem scarcely to require 
 any addition. 
 
 ' This great nation could not have been more happily 
 described. Their fortitude, or rather ferocity of temper, 
 
THE EASTERN EMPIRE OF ROME. 195 
 
 seems to have distinguished them from every other 
 people. The countenance is not unfrequently the index 
 of the heart. A people of fierce countenance implies 
 an austere and resolute temper. Sprung originally 
 from a wild rabble of robbers and assassins, they com- 
 menced their empire with acts of rapine and violence. 
 The success of their arms was enforced by the severity 
 of discipline, and their internal safety confirmed by the 
 authority of the censors, which Valerius calls 'the 
 censorial brow* (censorium supercilium). A Roman 
 consul, preceded by twelve lictors, with rods and axes, 
 the instruments of severe justice, may well be termed 
 a king of fierce countenance.' 
 
 ' The Roman virtue has ever been exhibited to our 
 view as rigid and untractable, and graced with no allur- 
 ing charms. A Roman hero is scarce ever susceptible 
 of tenderness and compassion. All commiseration is 
 extinguished in the love of his country, and the lust of 
 acquiring universal empire.' 
 
 ' The valour of Horatius Codes has been the subject 
 of general encomium. This illustrious soldier sustained 
 singly the attacks of a victorious army, eager to enter 
 the gates of Rome. How striking is the language of 
 the historian. " Rolling his fierce eyes on every side 
 upon the Etrurian chiefs, now he challenged them one 
 by one, now he reproached all of them together." 
 
 ' Nor was the ardour of Scsevola less applauded, when, 
 disappointed in his purpose of destroying Porsena, 
 with an undaunted aspect he thrust his right hand into 
 the fire which was burning on the altar. 
 
 * Appius Claudius, when brought to trial, discovered 
 an equal firmness. He changed neither his dress, nor 
 his language, nor his looks. " Idem habitus oris, eadem 
 contumacia in vultu ; adeo at magna pars plebis Appi- 
 um non minus reum timeret quam consulem timuerat." 
 
 ^ A war broke out, a.u.c. 412, between the Romans 
 
 and the Samnites. After a long engagement, the latter 
 
 were defeated. This they attributed to the fierce looks 
 
 of the Romans. ' The Samnites being asked, What 
 
 2 
 
196 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 cause impelled them to flee 1 answered, That the eyes 
 of the Romans seemed to them to burn, their counte- 
 nances maddfened, and their aspect full of rage, whence 
 more terror had come upon them than from any other 
 cause.' '"" ' Can a people of fierce countenance be more 
 graphically delineated than in these words ? ' 
 
 ' After the defeat of the Roman army on the Allia, 
 Brennus, the leader of the Gauls, marched with his troops 
 to Rome. They found it abandoned by almost all its 
 inliabitants. Advancing into the Forum, they were seized 
 with astonishment and reverence at the sight of the 
 aged senators, seated on their curule chairs, and dressed 
 in their pontifical, consular, and triumphal robes. As 
 if ready to worship, they beheld the heroes in the vesti- 
 bule of the temple, besides a more than human dignity 
 in their habits and dress, like gods, in the graA^e ma- 
 jesty which they bore on their countenance.' 
 
 A Cimbrian soldier, who undertook to put Marius to 
 death, oiled awe-struck from his countenance. The 
 story is beautifully related in Plutarch. The lustre of 
 Marius' eyes, naturally vivid, now kindling into light- 
 ning {(pXoya) by his emotion, while he exclaimed, — 
 Darest thou kill Caius Marius? — and glaring with 
 greater effect in a dungeon, frightened the barbarian so 
 much, that he thought he saw and heard a god. 
 
 The same Marius, when sinking under the weight of 
 3^ears, came to Cinna's camp. He walked slowly, and 
 like a man oppressed with misfortunes. But, through 
 the disguise of that doleful countenance, something so 
 fierce was discerned in his visage, that he moved terror 
 ratlier than compassion. (Vertot II. 199.) 
 
 ' Plutarch thus describes Coriolanus. ' For he was (as 
 Cato requires a soldier to be) dreadful to meet, not only 
 for the strokes of his hand, but in the tone of his voice, 
 and the look of his countenance.' 
 
 ' The rigid virtue of Cato of Utica is almost proverbial. 
 
 * Liv. viii. 3. "Oculos sibi Romanorum ardere visos, vesanosque 
 \'ultus, et faientia oi-a ; inde plus quani ex alia lerroris ortum." 
 
THE EASTERN EMPIRE OF ROME, 197 
 
 His countenance, like his mind, was rough and turbu- 
 lent. Thus Horace speaks of him. ' But if one, with 
 fierce countenance, and naked foot and scanty gown, 
 should copy Cato, would he represent Cato's virtue and 
 manners ? ' The fierce looks of Catiline are noticed by 
 Sallust. He died, as he had lived, * retaining in his 
 looks the fierceness of his mind, which he had while 
 alive.' So Florus describes some of the Roman sol- 
 diers, ' Omnium in manibus enses, et relictse in vulti- 
 bus minse.' Their swords were still in all their 
 hands, and the threats still survived in their counte- 
 nances.' 
 
 ' Horace, in several places, has drawn this national 
 portrait of the Roman soldiery. — " The countenance of 
 the Marsian foot-soldier, fierce against the bloody 
 enemy." ' 
 
 ' When C. Popilius Lasnas, the Roman legate, met 
 Antiochus Epiphanes, the stern dignity with which he 
 demanded an immediate answer, covered the king with 
 confusion. ' Senatus faciem attulerat Popilius, aucto- 
 ritatem republicae. Non legatum locutum, sed ipsum 
 curiam ante oculos positam videres.' Popilius had 
 brought the countenance of the senate, the authority of 
 the state. It seemed that it was not a legate that spoke, 
 but the senate that stood before his eyes. 
 
 ' The Macedonian nobility were entertained by ^mi- 
 lius the conqueror of their king, and expressed their 
 surprise at his politeness. He answered, " That it be- 
 longed to the same character to preside well over a 
 battle array and a feast ; to make the one as dreadful 
 as possible to the enemies, and the other as pleasant as 
 possible to the guests." ' 
 
 ■ Thus it appears that the various incidents of Roman 
 history, when combined with the broader outlines of 
 their national conduct, and the pride and fierceness so 
 often manifested towards their foes and allies, prove 
 abundantly the justice of the prophetic description, as 
 applied to this nation. Their grand distinction, in the 
 sight of all other people, was their military fierce- 
 
198 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 ness, and even their national physiognomy bore the 
 deep marks of this unbending and stern severity. 
 
 III. The predicted king is described by a further 
 mark, " understanding dark sentences." The word has 
 been sometimes explained in its active sense, " teaching 
 dark sentences." But the common version is much 
 more agreeable so the usage of Scripture, as there is 
 hardly one passage in five where this participle has a 
 causative meaning. Here the whole context shows that 
 it refers to subtle policy, the crafty intrigue of clever, 
 but unscrupulous statesmen. This feature was emi- 
 nently seen in the whole history of the Romans, and is 
 marked by all the best historians. Thus one of them 
 describes their policy in these words. ' It was their 
 maxim to spare the obsequious, and to crush the proud ; 
 an artful profession, by which, under the pretence of 
 generosity or magnanimity, they stated themselves to 
 be the sovereign nation. Under this presumptuous 
 maxim their friendship was to be obtained by submis- 
 sion alone ; and was fatal, no less than their enmity, to 
 those who embrcced it. The title of ally was, for the 
 most part, no more than a specious name, under which 
 they disguised their dominion, and availed themselves 
 of the strength and resources of other nations, with the 
 least possible alarm to their jealousy.' (Ferg. Rep. I. 3. 
 p. 85.) 
 
 ' The Romans were in general the umpires in the 
 differences of nations, gave audience in all their com- 
 plaints, and interposed with their forces as well as their 
 authority. They kept a vigilant eye on the conduct 
 and policy of all the different powers with which they 
 were at any time likely to be embroiled. Their com- 
 missioners took informations, formed plans, and made 
 their reports for the final decision of the senate. The 
 senate itself, though, from its numbers, and the emula- 
 tion of its members, likely to embarrass affairs by de- 
 bate, delay, and the rash publication of all its designs, 
 in reality possessed all the advantages of decision, 
 secresy, and dispatch. This numerous assembly appear 
 
THE EASTERN EMPIRE OF ROME. 199 
 
 to have maintained, for a long period, one series of uni- 
 form and consistent designs, and kept their intentions so 
 secret, that they were known, for the most part, only 
 by their execution. The king of Pergamus made a 
 journey to Rome, to excite the Romans to a war with 
 his rival, the king of Macedon. He preferred his com- 
 plaints to the senate, and prevailed on that body to re • 
 solve on the war, but no part of the transaction was 
 public, until after the king of Macedon was a prisoner 
 at Rome.' 
 
 ' During the respite from war, the Romans balanced 
 the kingdoms of Pergamus, Bithynia, and Cappadocia 
 against each other, in such a manner as to be able, at 
 pleasure, to oppress any of those powers that should 
 be formidable to their interest. They made the king- 
 dom of Syria devolve on a minor, the son of Antiochus, 
 and under pretence of this minority, sent a legate to 
 take charge of the kingdom.' 
 
 ^Demetrius, the son of Seleucus, who ought to have 
 succeeded his father in the monarchy of Syria, being 
 then an hostage at Rome, had been supplanted by his 
 3'ounger brother, the father of the minor who was now 
 acknowledged by the Romans. Upon an insult being 
 offered to their commissioner at Antioch, Demetrius 
 urged his claim on the senate ; but these crafty usurpers, 
 notwithstanding the offence they had received, preferred 
 their advantage with a minor king, to the precarious 
 interest or gratitude of an active and spirited prince, 
 and accordingly denied his request.' 
 
 * As patrons of the kingdom of Egypt, they promoted 
 the division of that country between the two brothers, 
 who shared its sovereignty, and were rivals for the sole 
 possession of the throne.' 
 
 ' As the Achaean league was dissolved on having in- 
 curred the resentment of the Romans, so the unhappy 
 remnant of the Spartan republic perished in having ac- 
 cepted their protection. The enmity or friendship of 
 the Romans being equally fatal, these and every other 
 state of Greece, from this time forward, ceased to be 
 
200 CHAPTER XIII, 
 
 numbered among nations ; having fallen the prey to a 
 power, whose force nothing could equal, but the ability 
 and cunning by which it was exerted. Such is the com- 
 ment we are tempted to make on the policy with which, 
 about fifty 3'ears earlier, Flamininus, to detach the 
 Grecian cities from Philip, proclaimed with so much 
 ostentation, at the Isthmus at Corinth, their indepen- 
 dence and the free exercise of their own laws. That 
 people, when they meant to ingratiate themselves, sur- 
 passed every state in generosity to their allies. They 
 thus gained entire confidence, and taught nations, other- 
 wise able to maintain their own independence, to rely 
 on that very power from which they had most to fear 
 for their liberty ; and in the end, under some pretence 
 of ingratitude or affront, stripped of every right those 
 very states which had most plentifully shared in their 
 bounty.' (Ferg. ii. 1. p. 273.) 
 
 The phrase then of the text, "understanding dark sen- 
 tences," alludes, as it has been justly observed, to ' their 
 sagacity in discovering the designs of their enemies, 
 and their detection of the parties and interests that 
 prevailed in the councils of different princes ; in short, 
 their consummate skill in the intricacies of political 
 intrigue. This extensive power was not derived from 
 accidental conquests, or the impulse of momentary am- 
 bition ; it must be attributed to a cautious foresight, a 
 vigour of mind, and a firmness of design, which made 
 them superior to all difficulty and danger. The contri- 
 vances of crafty statesmen may very justly be called 
 enigmas, or dark sentences. In the art of unravelling 
 their covei-t machinations consisted that peculiar ad- 
 dress, which formed one part of the character of the 
 Roman people. With eagle glance they penetrated the 
 views of ambitious monarchs, and thus secured to them- 
 selves the empire of the world. Their arms were vic- 
 torious, but their victories w^ere ensured only by the 
 prudence with which they conducted themselves on 
 every occasion. This policy acquired them influence 
 even in countries where they possessed no real power.' 
 
 I 
 
THE EASTERX EMPIRE OF ROME, 201 
 
 But the phrase will also apply, with almost equal 
 propriety, to the assiduous culture of the arts of divina- 
 tion by the Roman state. Perhaps in no country was 
 so high an importance ever attached to this pretended 
 science, which was formally enrolled, by the College of 
 Augurs, among their foremost national institutions. 
 ' A class of men was set apart among them, whose chief 
 employment was to excel in that art, which boasts to 
 ascertain a priori, the good or bad success of any de- 
 signs. No election of officers, no military enterprize, 
 was undertaken without a strict and rigid observance 
 of various rites, derived from Etruria. In vain were 
 wise men chosen to fill the departments of government ; 
 in vain did the General form in his tent a noble plan, 
 unless the Haruspex, or Augur, pronounced a happy 
 concurrence of favourable omens. Well might they be 
 said to understand dark sentences, who could translate 
 the growl of thunder, or the croaking of a raven, into 
 intelligible language, and interpret the meaning of a 
 chicken, when he pecked his corn in this or that man- 
 ner, or refused to eat at all. . . . When the very being 
 of a nation seems to depend upon such a science, as was 
 the case at Rome, the people pretending to consummate 
 skill in this science may be declared to understand dark 
 senteyices. It was among the Romans chiefly that matters 
 of the greatest importance depended on them.' 
 
 * Cicero has remarked that the Romans surpassed all 
 other nations in piety and religion. But what was this 
 religion ? Chiefly, their attention to the occult science 
 of divination, to omens, prodigies, spectres, dreams, 
 visions, auguries, and oracles. Sometimes this was 
 childishly ridiculous, as when a Dictator was named for 
 the sole purpose of driving a nail into a post ; some- 
 times madly expensive ; as when they decreed a ver 
 sacrum, or devoted to the altar the entire produce of 
 their flocks for a whole season. At others, it was in- 
 humanly cruel. Thus on the report of a prophecy 
 that the Greeks and Gauls were to possess the city, they 
 buried alive a man and woman of each of these nations 
 
202 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 in the Forum Boarium, as if by this barbarous act they 
 could accomplish or elude the prediction.' 
 
 ^ No less sinj^ular was the reverence paid to the Sibyl- 
 line oracles. These enigmatical books, if we may be- 
 lieve Cicero, were composed with such dextrous artifice, 
 that, however the event terminated, the prediction might 
 seem to be accomplished. The magistrates to whose 
 care they were consigned affected an extraordinar}'^ de- 
 gree of wisdom in their explication. These dark oracles 
 were often accommodated to serve political designs. 
 They were preserved with religious solicitude, and care- 
 fully consulted in times of danger ; nor did their au- 
 thority cease before the end of the fourth century.' 
 
 Thus, in whatever sense we explain the words, whe- 
 ther as denoting the acuteness with which the Romans 
 conducted their politics, or the skill which they pre- 
 tended to have in exploring the events of futurity, they 
 may emphatically be styled, a people understanding 
 dark sentences.' (Zouch. i. p. 100 — 119.) 
 
 It may be objected perhaps, to the latter construction 
 of the phrase, that this pretended science was false and 
 ambiguous, and a proof rather of the weakness than 
 the depth, of the Roman understanding. But the ob- 
 jection has no real force. However absurd, in the ab- 
 stract, these pretended arts of divination, in the hands 
 of the Roman senate and leaders they were builded up 
 into a deep and subtle engine of state policy, by which 
 they could work mightily upon the citizens and soldiery. 
 They were the powerful cement of superstition, by 
 which they bound together the fabric of ambitious 
 greatness. The very absurdity of the system, when 
 tested by abstract truth alone, may only increase its 
 graphic power, as a counterpart of the prophetic des- 
 cription. It was in truth a more various, refined, com- 
 plicated, solemn scheme of state jugglery than has 
 almost ever been witnessed in the history of the world. 
 
 IV. The Little Horn, it is further prophesied, would 
 be mighty, but not by his own power. These words 
 will admit of several interpretations ; but in every 
 
THE EASTERN EMPIRE OF ROME. 203 
 
 sense which they can naturally bear, they are fulfilled 
 in the Eastern conquests of Rome. 
 
 And first, the words may denote conquests obtained 
 by the help of allies, in contrast to those which are the 
 result of a nation's own efforts, without foreign support. 
 Such was the case remarkably in all the Eastern pro- 
 gress of the Romans. They vanquished Phihp of Ma- 
 cedon by the aid of the iEtolians and Rhodians. They 
 defeated Antiochus and the iEtolians, by the alliance 
 of Philip, of the Rhodians, and the Achaeans. Eumenes, 
 king of Pergamus, and the Rhodians, as well as 
 Philip, befriended them in their first invasion of Asia 
 Minor. Their victories over Mithridates were also pro- 
 cured by the help of Asiatic allies. ' Caius Longinus, 
 Manius Aquillius, and Caius Oppius were, in different 
 characters, stationed in the province of Asia, and took 
 under their protection every power that was likely to 
 oppose the progress of Mithridates.^ Thus Montes- 
 quieu remarks, that ' they made soldiers of the several 
 people they conquered, and considered the vanquished 
 only as so many instruments of future triumph.' The 
 army of Vespasian and Titus, by which Jerusalem was 
 overthrown, was composed mainly of auxiliary troops, 
 from Greece, Syria, Egypt and Arabia. 
 
 But the words may be explained in another sense. 
 The Eastern power of Rome was a foreign graft on the 
 old stock of the Grecian monarchies. This Eastern 
 kingdom was distinct from the Latin Empire, in its lan- 
 guage, habits, institutions, and whole historical being. 
 It was a mighty dominion, but not by its own power. 
 So long as its connexion remained firm with the pro- 
 vinces of the West, the Roman horn in Asia and Greece 
 continued strong and mighty. When that connexion 
 was severed, and the Eastern Empire was left to its own 
 resources, it began to decline, with a steady and sure 
 progress of decay. Its vast dominion dwindled at 
 length into one solitary and beleaguered city, and it 
 sank, a helpless victim, beneath the hand of the spoiler. 
 
 V. The Little Horn was to arise " when the trans- 
 
204 CHAPTER xiir. 
 
 gressors came to the full." It was to be a scourge upon 
 national guilt, either in the four Grecian kingdoms, or 
 in the chosen peoj^le of God. The context in the twenty- 
 third verse seems to require the former application ; in 
 the twelfth and thirteenth verses it clearly relates to 
 the transgression of the Jews themselves. Tlie pro- 
 phet knew that their present captivity, the fruit of their 
 sin, was quickly to come to an end : but the vision re- 
 veals to him a fresh course of guilt, which would bring 
 on fresh judgments. It is a violence which the words 
 do not allow, to refer this fulness of transgression to 
 the Gentile Church, a body which did not exist till 
 nearly six hundred years after the date of the prophecy, 
 and when the sceptre of all the four kingdoms of the 
 he-goat had passed away. That they were eminently 
 fulfilled in the moral state of the Grecian kingdoms and 
 of Judea, when the Romans began to prevail in the 
 East, is proved by ail the records of history. 
 
 The war of Rome Avith Macedon began under the 
 reign of Philip. The personal character of that monarch 
 is thus described by Livy, on occasion of the king's 
 presence in Achaia. a. c. 208. 
 
 ' He would, doubtless, have thereby awakened their 
 hopes of freedom, if he had not made all things foul 
 and hateful by his intolerable lust. For he wandered 
 day and night with one or two companions, through mar- 
 ried houses ; and, entering under private roofs, was the 
 more unbridled in proportion to his condescension ; and, 
 after offering others an empty show of liberty, turned 
 the whole to his own personal licence. He did not even 
 gratify all his desires by bribes and blandishments, but 
 used force in his profligacy, and it was dangerous to 
 husbands and parents to interpose barriers to royal lust 
 by inconvenient severity. The wife of Aratus, a chief 
 of the Achffians, was carried off into Macedonia, under 
 the hope of a royal marriage. Amidst such acts of pro- 
 fligacy were celebrated tlie Nemsean games.' 
 
 The war was closed in the reign of Perseus. That 
 king came to the throne by the murder of his own bro- 
 
THE EASTERN EMPIRE OF ROME. 205 
 
 ther, the victim of his perfidious falsehood, and indeed 
 of his father also, whose death was hastened by grief 
 on the discovery of the crime. His character is thus 
 described in few words, by the same historian. 
 
 ' After Perseus had obtained the kingdom of Mace- 
 donia by fraud and wickedness, his cruelty, universally 
 hateful, towards his own countrymen, his senseless ava- 
 rice amidst immense riches, and his heedless folly in 
 forming and executing his plans, plunged him into ruin.' 
 
 The characters of Antiochus Epiphanes, in Syria, and 
 of the later Ptolemies in Egypt, especially Ptolemy Plii- 
 lopator, and Ptolemy Physcon, have already been des- 
 cribed. Of Philopator Justin tells us, (xxx. 1,) that 
 ' the kingdom was obtained by parricide, and to the 
 murder of both parents he added that of his brother 
 also.' To complete his crime, he lived in incest with 
 his own sister Arsinoe or Cleopatra, and afterwards, at 
 the entreaty of the courtezan Agathoclea, put her to 
 death. 
 
 After the deposition of Onias, on the accession of 
 Antiochus Epiphanes, the degradation of the Jews was 
 equally deplorable. Jason and Menelaus, his successors 
 in the office, rivalled each other in treachery, cruelty, 
 and profaneness. The nation at large shared very 
 deeply in the guilt of their rulers ; and their history, 
 except for the brief period of the Maccabees, becomes a 
 succession of revolting crimes. The transgressors, how- 
 ever, came completely to the full, when the gospel of 
 Messiah was rejected, and the state fell under the Roman 
 armies." 
 
 VI. " He shall destroy wonderfully." ' Rome,' as 
 Dr. Zouch has observed, ' was the source of perpetual 
 wars.' Mithridates said of them — ' These conquerors 
 of mankind seem to be really descendants of a wolf, 
 such is their rapacity, such their insatiable avidity.' 
 Lactantius has ridiculed them for enrolling among the 
 gods their fortunate commanders, who founded their 
 only claim to immortality on their success in pillaging 
 provinces and laying waste cities. * Forsooth the more 
 
206 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 men they have afflicted, plundered and slain, the more 
 noble and renowned they deem themselves. He who 
 has slain innumerable thousands, flooded plains, and 
 polluted rivers with blood, is admitted, not only to the 
 temples, but to the skies.' 
 
 ' Their cruelty excites our indignation. According 
 to Poly bins, when they took a city by storm, they mas- 
 sacred all the inhabitants, without regard to age, sex, or 
 condition ; and extended their resentment to the brutes 
 themselves. The law which permitted a triumph was 
 singularly cruel. It was enacted that no one should 
 triumph, who had not slain five thousand in one battle. 
 (Val. Max. II. viii. 1.) The dreadful carnage which 
 followed their odious proscriptions, the savage slaughter 
 of their noblest and most virtuous citizens, can inspire 
 no other sentiments than those of horror and aversion.' 
 
 The words in the vision appear, however, to refer 
 chiefly to military conquest, and the destruction of 
 social independence and liberty, even more than of 
 human life. In this view, they were fully verified in 
 the eastern progress of Rome. Never, in the history of 
 the world, was there a career of conquest, so stedfast, 
 so long continued, and so complete. One state after 
 another sunk beneath the victorious ascendant of Rome, 
 till the infant colony on the banks of the Tiber had ex- 
 tended its reign to the Euphrates, the Tigris, and the 
 Nile. And these conquests were not bloodless. The 
 carnage with which they were attended was answerable 
 to their own greatness. In the battle with Antiochus 
 the Great, in Asia, fifty-four thousand men are reported 
 to have been slain, and many other victories of the 
 Romans were attended with an equal destruction. 
 The words especially are appropriate in the mouth of a 
 Jewish prophet, when we remember the vast multitudes 
 of that nation who were destroyed, from the days of 
 Pompey to those of Adrian, by the Roman armies. 
 
 VIII. " And he shall prosper, and shall practise." 
 
 * The treaties which the Romans made with foreign 
 nations were introduced with the words — quod lonum, 
 
THE EASTERN EMPIRE OF ROME. 207 
 
 faustum, felixque sit populo Romano, And what nation 
 was ever so successful ? Even temporary defeats inspired 
 them with fresh vigour. Like the fabulous hydra, they 
 recovered their strength after the most violent attacks 
 upon it ; and though for a short time sunk in calamity, 
 exerted their powers with redoubled efforts. They 
 seem to have been thoroughly sensible of their own 
 good fortune. Hence we meet with the following in- 
 scriptions on thfcir coins — Felicitas Imperii ; Feli- 
 ciTAS Orbis ; Felicitas Populi Romani ; Felicitas 
 PuBLiCA ; Felicitas Perpetua ; Roma Felix ; 
 Roma Victrix ; Roma Sterna ; ^ternitati Im- 
 perii.' And this good fortune principally attended 
 them in their Eastern conquests. They were near five 
 hundred years in reducing Italy ; it did not cost them 
 above half that time to subdue all the countiies round 
 the Mediterranean. 
 
 '■ Plutarch has written an entire treatise on the For- 
 tune of the Romans, Here Virtue and Fortune are 
 said to have contended to which of them the power of 
 the Romans should be ascribed, and the dispute is de- 
 cided in favour of the latter. According to his allegory. 
 Fortune, having abandoned the Persians and Assyrians, 
 flew swiftly into Macedonia. She then changed her 
 course, traversed Syria and Egypt, and thence visited 
 Carthage ; when quitting Africa, she came into Italy, 
 crossed the Tiber, and advanced to the Palatine Hill. 
 There she laid aside her wings, put off her sandals, and 
 threw away her globe, as if resolved to fix her habita- 
 tion in that place. The kings of Rome admired and 
 revered her, as ■npmoKoXt.v /cat TiOrjvTjv Kai (pep^iroAn> ttjs 
 Pwfir]5 — as the chief guardian, the nurse, and the pro- 
 tectress of Rome.' Several Roman coins, now extant, 
 have on the reverse the figure of Fortune seated, with 
 the inscription — Fortune Manenti. 
 
 But the Little Horn was to ' practise' also, or perform 
 great works. ' The splendid actions of the Romans,' the 
 same author justly observes, ' have commanded the ad- 
 miration of all ages. So long as the volume of history 
 
208 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 is read, tliey will be viewed with astonishment. By a 
 felicity peculiar to themselves, they are the only people 
 recorded, in whom the odium of their cruelties is almost 
 extinguished by the brilliancy of their achievements.' 
 
 The phrase may be referred also, without violence, to 
 works and monuments of art, the outward signs of na- 
 tional industr}'-, impressed visibly on the face of the 
 world. In no state have these practical signs of power 
 and greatness been so abundant as in the Roman em - 
 pire. The East, no less than the countries of the West, 
 is filled with Roman works and colonies. The struc- 
 ture of Herodes Atticus, as mentioned by Gibbon, are 
 one instance out of many, that the efforts of Roman citi- 
 zens rivalled the magnificence of kings. At Athens 
 he constructed a stadium six hundred feet in length, of 
 white marble, dedicated a theatre of unparalleled mag- 
 nificence to the memory of his wife Regilla, and re- 
 stored the Odeum of Pericles to its ancient beauty. 
 Besides these, he built a temple to Neptune in the Isth- 
 mus, a theatre at Corinth, a stadium at Delphi, a bath 
 at Thermopylae, and an aqueduct at Canusium. ' The 
 people of Epirus, Thessaly, Euboea, Boeotia, and Pelo- 
 ponnesus, experienced his favours ; and many inscrip- 
 tions of the cities of Greece and Asia gratefully style 
 Herodes their patron and benefactor.' 
 
 The same practical character extended through all 
 the Eastern dominion of Rome. They practised as well 
 as prospered. ' The provinces of the East,' Gibbon has 
 observed, ' present the contrast of Roman magnificence 
 with Turkish barbarism. The ruins of antiquit}^, scat- 
 tered over uncultivated fields, and ascribed by ignorance 
 to the power of magic, scarcely afford a shelter to the 
 oppressed peasant or wandering Arab. Under the reign 
 of the Caesars, the proper Asia alone contained five hun- 
 dred populous cities, enriched with all the gifts of na- 
 ture, and adorned with all the refinements of art. Eleven 
 cities of Asia once disputed the honour of dedicating a 
 temple to Tiberius, and their respective claims were ex 
 au:iined by the senate. Four of them were immediately 
 
 J 
 
THE EASTERN EMPIRE OF ROME. 209 
 
 rejected as unequal to the burden^ and among these 
 was Laodicea, whose splendour is still displayed in its 
 ruins. Yet it had received, a little before the contest, a 
 legacy of above 400,000 pounds by the test^ient of a 
 generous citizen. If such was the poverty of Laodicea, 
 what must have been the wealth of those whose claim 
 appeared preferable, and particularly of Pergamus, of 
 Smyrna, and of Ephesus, who so long disputed for the 
 titular primacy of Asia ? All these cities were con- 
 nected with each other and with the capital, by the 
 public highways, which traversed the provinces, and 
 were terminated only by the frontiers of the empire. 
 They ran in a direct line from city to city, with very 
 little respect to the obstacles of nature, and of private 
 property. Mountains were perforated, and bold arches 
 were thrown over the broadest and most rapid streams. 
 Such was their solid construction, that their firmness 
 has not entirely yielded to the effort of fifteen 
 centuries.' 
 
 Thus, whether we consider their exploits in war, or 
 their diligent prosecution of public works, that adorn a 
 peaceful state, the Romans practised and prospered, 
 beyond the example of former powers, through the 
 whole extent of their Eastern possessions. The Little 
 Horn, which had firmly grafted itself on the Macedo • 
 nian kingdom, left deep traces on every side of its un- 
 wearied energy and triumphant success, and even cen- 
 turies of misrule and Tartar desolation have been 
 unable to obliterate these lasting memorials of the con- 
 querors of the East. 
 
 IX. " And through his policy also he shall cause 
 craft to prosper in his hand." These words were fully 
 verified in the history of Roman conquests. Under the 
 show of friendship they lulled the suspicions of border- 
 ing states, till a favourable occasion arose to bring them 
 in subjection. 'AH Asia,' said Mithridates, 'expects 
 me as its deliverer ; so great is the hatred which the 
 rapacity of the pro-consuls, the confiscations of the 
 revenue officers, and the quirks and cavils of the 
 p 
 
210 CHAPTER Xlll. 
 
 judicial proceedings, have excited against the Ro- 
 mans. 
 
 * The depredations of the provincial governors in 
 Achaia, I^cia, Pisidia, Phrygia, Cilicia, and the islands 
 of the ^gean sea, rendered the Roman name justly 
 odious throughout the East. Houses, cities, and tem- 
 ples were pillaged ; the inhabitants were stripped of 
 their wealth, and the most exquisite works of art ; their 
 gold and silver vases of inestimable value, their statues, 
 their gods, and the very monuments of the dead, were 
 not spared. At one single time, five hundred statues 
 were brought to Rome from the temple of Apollo at 
 Delphi. If fraud and rapine ever reigned on earth, and 
 were made to prosper, it was under the auspices of such 
 men as Verres and Dolabella. The remark of Cicero is 
 abundantly confirmed by history — "All people mourn ; 
 all kingdoms at length expostulate with us for our ava- 
 rice and injuries. There is no place within the ocean 
 so distant or so concealed, as that the lust and iniquity 
 of our countrymen have not overrun it in these times." ' 
 (In Verr. v. Zouch. i. p. 125.) 
 
 X. And he shall magnify himself in his heart. This 
 feature was eminently fulfilled in the Romans. Na- 
 tional pride was conspicuous in every part of their pub- 
 lic conduct. 
 
 ^ Flushed with victory, her commanders saw their 
 ambitious hopes terminated in the magnificence of a 
 triumph. Their insolence upon these occasions was 
 so much dreaded, that the wretched captive frequently 
 preferred a voluntary death to the humiliation of being 
 led in chains to adorn the procession of the conqueror. 
 Of this we have instances in Annibal, Mithridates, and 
 Cleopatra. Juvenal has severely censured the vain 
 ostentation of the Roman hero (x. 34), enthroned in 
 his triumphal car, gorgeously robed, crowned with 
 laurel, and thus literally mxignifyinq himself in his 
 heart. Rome, as Rollin observes, had nothing more 
 magnificent and majestic than this pompous ceremony. 
 But the sight of the captives, the mournful objects of 
 
THE EASTERN EMPIRE OF ROME. 211 
 
 compassion, if these victors had been capable of any, 
 effaced all its lustre. What inhuman pleasure ! what 
 barbarous joy ! " 
 
 ' The most arrogant titles were conferred on her empe- 
 rors. To the Divine Julius. To the Eternal Prince, 
 always, everywhere to be revered, Augustus ; To the 
 Prosperous, Unconquered ; Unconquerable and Perpe- 
 tual, Ever August ; The Restorer of the World ; To the 
 Triumphal Lord of the whole w^orld : the Salvation of 
 the Human Race.' 
 
 ' Her poets, oratoi*s, and historians, seldom lose an 
 opportunity of exulting in her universal empire. Thus 
 Claudian speaks of her — 
 
 Qu4 nihil in terris complectatur altius aether 
 Armorum legumque parens, quae fundit in omnes 
 Imperium. 
 
 ' And Martial — 
 
 Terrarum dea, gentiumque Roma 
 Cui par est nihil et nihil secundum. 
 
 ' Her citizens held themselves equal to kings and 
 princes. They confounded their dominion with the 
 extent of the earth. Cicero terms her — the home of 
 virtue, of empire, of dignity, the abode of glory, the 
 light of the whole world. By one of her historians she 
 is called, the city destined for the habitation of gods and 
 men. So Eumenes, king of Pergamus, when he ad- 
 dressed the Romans, artfully soothed them by placing 
 them on a level with the divinities — ' That one cause of 
 his coming to Rome was the desire of visiting those 
 gods and men, to whose kindness he owed his fortune.' 
 (Liv. xlii. 11 ; Zouch. i. p. 128.) 
 
 XI. And hy •peace shall destroy many. These words 
 seem to denote victories and conquests, the fruit of neg- 
 ligence and prosperous ease in the vanquished people. 
 And this was the character of the Roman triumphs in 
 the East, with only few exceptions. Thus the decisive 
 victory which expelled Antiochus from Greece was the 
 result of his negligent security, who had spent the pre- 
 vious winter at Chalcis in luxury, and indolence, with 
 
212 CHAPTER XIll. 
 
 all the pomp of royal nuptials. When that king had 
 retired into Asia, he scarcely suspected that the Romans 
 would prosecute their victory further, till they were 
 ready to cross the Hellespont. And it may be observed, 
 in general, that it was the luxurious indolence into 
 which the nations of the East had sunk, and their want 
 of suspicion or foresight, which brought them in suc- 
 cession under this foreign yoke, and fastened it upon 
 the neck of all the Eastern kingdoms. 
 
 There are three further marks, by which the course 
 of the Little Horn is described, and which still remain 
 to be examined. 
 
 XII. He shall destroy the mighty, and the people of the 
 holy ones. This feature seems to be the same which ap- 
 pears in the vision itself. " It waxed great, even to the 
 host of heaven ; and it cast some of the host and of the 
 stars down to the ground, and stamped upon them." 
 The host of heaven, in this passage, has been sometimes 
 referred to the ministers and priests of the Jewish or of 
 the Christian church. There is, however, no mark in 
 the propliecy, to prove that the emblem belongs to 
 ecclesiastical rulers. It is repeatedly used, in Scripture, 
 as an emblem of civil rulers and princes, who ex- 
 ercise authority on earth, as visible, though often 
 unconscious deputies of the Most High. Hence it 
 seems naturally to refer, in this place, to the kings 
 and rulers of the East, whose proud titles were succes- 
 sively humbled and laid low by the triumphs of the 
 Little Horn. 
 
 The word mighty will thus be the angel's interpreta- 
 tion of the symbolical stars in the vision. Many of the 
 Eastern kings, after their death, and some of them even 
 before, received Divine honours. The emblem probably 
 refers to these proud assumptions, and is a prediction 
 of their overthrow by the mighty usurper. The fall 
 of the king of Babylon, after his claim to Divine 
 greatness, is denoted in Isaiah by this very emblem of 
 a falling star. And so also, when the Roman supremacy 
 began to reach over the East, it cast down the oldest 
 
THE EASTERN EMPIRE OF ROME. 213 
 
 and proudest dynasties that stood in its way, and prac- 
 tically annulled the ostentatious titles of the Eastern 
 kings. The mighty Macedonians, whose arms had sub- 
 dued the world, the proud and victorious Antiochus, and 
 his son, who assumed the blasphemous surname. Illus- 
 trious God, quailed before a superior might. The 'illus- 
 trious God ' himself, in a suppliant embassy, entreats 
 the favour of his masters, and tells them, that * he has 
 obeyed the voice of their legates, no less than he would 
 the dominion of the gods.' Thus were the mighty de- 
 stroyed, and the figurative stars of heaven cast do wn to 
 the ground, through the whole firmament of power in 
 the Eastern empire. 
 
 The ^people of the holy 07ies may be explained, with 
 almost equal propriety, of the Jewish nation at large, 
 or of the true Church of God, whether before or after 
 the Advent of Messiah. In either sense alike, it was 
 fulfilled by the Roman power. The destruction of 
 Jerusalem, the slaughter of more than a million of 
 Jews, and the persecutions of the early Church, the 
 blood of the martyrs shed throughout all the Eastern 
 empire, combine to justify the application of the pro- 
 phec}'", and to prove its entire fulfilment. 
 
 XIII. Aiid hy him the daily sacrifice was taJcen aivay, 
 and the place of his sanctuary cast dovm. It has been 
 shewn, already, that these words ought to be referred to 
 the Jewish sacrifice and the temple at Jerusalem. They 
 form one of the clearest marks, to fix the true applica- 
 tion of the prophecy. Neither of them will apply to the 
 Mahometan victories, and one only to the history of 
 Antiochus. In the triumphs of the Romans both parts 
 were completely fulfilled. During the last siege of Je- 
 rusalem by Titus, the daily sacrifice ceased ; and the 
 cessation, unlike every former example, has now lasted 
 for nearly eighteen hundred years. The place of the 
 sanctuary too, which Antiochus had left standing, was 
 completely thrown down, and a heathen temple to Ju- 
 piter was erected, not long after, upon the ruined site 
 of the temple of God. 
 
214 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 It is scarcely possible, indeed, to place ourselves in 
 the position of tlie beloved seer, and not to be convinced 
 that the desolation by the Romans is here pourtrayed. 
 For what was his actual position, and what was the 
 future course of Divine Providence 1 He was then at 
 Babylon, or Susa, an exile from Palestine, where the 
 daily sacrifice had ceased, and the temple was in ruins 
 But he knew that a redemption was at hand, when hi; 
 people would be restored, renew the sacrifices, and re- 
 build the temple. A partial interruption of the sacrifices, 
 for a few years, was then to occur under Antiochus, 
 but the temple might not fall, till the Lord himself, 
 in human flesh, had honoured it with his presence, 
 After the rejection of Messiah there was to be a long 
 blank in the history of his people. The daily sacrifice 
 was to cease, the temple to be desolate, and his people to 
 become exiles once more, for about seventeen hundred 
 years. Writing under the influence of that Spirit, who 
 sees the end from the beginning, and yet moulds his reve- 
 lations according to the human channel by which they 
 are conveyed, how could the eye of the prophet overlook 
 this grand transition, the very key of Divine Provi- 
 dence for ages, and rest merely on secondary events, 
 which are far inferior to it in dignity, or do not answer, 
 with any accuracy, to its terms ? In the rise of Maho- 
 metanism there was no sacrifice, and no temple standing 
 at Jerusalem. Even the figurative sacrifice of a spiritual 
 worship, which Daniel himself would never understand 
 by those terms, was almost unaffected by the Saracen 
 scourge. The unsealed Christians were its object, and 
 the faithful worshippers in spirit and truth scarcely felt 
 its power. But the desolation by the Romans answers 
 in every respect to the words of the prophecy, and 
 ushered in, as the angel implies of the predicted judg- 
 ment, the long indignation against Israel in the latter 
 days. 
 
 XIV. He magnified himself even against the Prince of th. 
 host. He shall stand up against the Prince of princes 
 It is plain that the same character of the Little Hon 
 
THE EASTERN EMPIRE OF ROME. 215 
 
 is implied in these words of the vision and in the an- 
 gel's interpretation. We have thus a further proof, by- 
 comparing the two phrases, that the stars, or host of 
 heaven^ cast down by the Little Horn, really denote 
 princes ; or, in this case, rulers of the Eastern king- 
 doms, cast down from their lordly eminence by the 
 mightier power of Rome. But the aspiring arrogance 
 of their conqueror was to rise still higher, and exalt 
 itself against the son of God, who is Prince of the kings 
 of the eai-th, the King of kings, and Lord of lords. 
 
 The prophecy had thus a clear and exact fulfilment 
 in the condemnation of our blessed Lord by Pilate, the 
 Roman governor. Other evil powers have indirectly 
 stood up against the Prince of princes ; this power 
 alone has directly usurped sovereignty over the Son of 
 God in His own person. At the very time when it is 
 declared of the Lord Jesus that the Father had given 
 all things into his hand, this adversary steps in, with a 
 claim of superior authority and dominion, and sentences 
 him to a shameful and accursed death. No event could 
 more exactly satisfy the terms of the prediction. The 
 word, to stand up, is often used in a forensic meaning, 
 when two parties implead each other before a judge ; 
 once or twice, for the exercise of the judicial office itself. 
 In either sense, it will apply to the condemnation of 
 our Lord. The very same phrase is employed, where 
 the Son of God, by the prophet Isaiah, predicts his own 
 trial before the Roman tribunal, " He is near that jus- 
 tifieth me, who will contend with me ? let us stand to- 
 gether : who is mine adversary ? let him come near to 
 me." The king truly magnified himself against the 
 Prince of the host, when Pilate, with offended dignity, 
 made that address to our Lord ; — '■• Speakest thou 
 not unto me % knowest thou not that I have power to 
 crucify them, and have power to release thee?" And 
 not less remarkable are the words, in which the Prince 
 of the host rebukes the vain-glorious and ignorant pride 
 of His adversary. " Thou couldst have no power at all 
 against me, unless it had been given thee from above ; 
 
216 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the 
 greater sin." 
 
 But while the prophecy is most directly fulfilled in 
 the person of our Lord, there is no need to confine it to 
 this event only. We have his own warrant for a wider 
 extension of it in those solemn words, " He that despis- 
 eth you, despiseth me ; and he that despiseth me, de- 
 spiseth Him that sent me." " Inasmuch as ye did it to 
 one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it unto me." 
 In this wider sense, every act of persecution against the 
 brethren of Christ, the members of His mystical body, 
 is really, though less conspicuously, to stand up against 
 the Prince of princes. In the persecutions of heathen 
 Rome against the Eastern Christians of the first ages, 
 and perhaps also in the later cruelties exercised on the 
 Paulicians by idolatrous emperors, we have a continued 
 fulfilment of the words of the vision ; and the moral 
 warfare was continued, with unabated violence, though 
 ■under a varied form, against the Prince of princes, and 
 the King of kings. 
 
 XV. The last feature, in this description of the little 
 horn, consists in the nature of his fall. He shall be bro- 
 ken ivitliout hand. These words are often explained to 
 denote a miraculous and sudden overthrow. In this 
 view, they would be alike inconsistent with the history 
 of the Eastern Empire of Rome, or the actual circum- 
 stances of gradual decay in the Mahometan power. But 
 this construction seems due only to an oversight of the 
 true sense of the terms, as confirmed by the usage of 
 Scripture in other times. Thus we read in Pro v. xiv. 28 — 
 " In the want of people is the destruction of the prince." 
 And again, xxvi. 20—" In the want, or absence of 
 wood, the fire goetli out." When compared with these 
 and similar texts, the words will clearly denote, as 
 Dathe and Montanus explain them — without human 
 help, or in the failure of hands. They will thus agree 
 exactly in meaning with the words of the last vision — 
 " he shall come to his end, and Qione shall help him.'''' 
 The little horn, after rising to such a height of power 
 
THE EASTERN EMPIRE OF ROME. 217 
 
 and arrogance, is to prove utterly helpless and desolate 
 in the hour of its fall. From within or from without, no 
 succour shall he found, but signal marks shall be seen, 
 in its overthrow, that it is under the sentence of God, 
 and therefore, in His righteous judgment, deserted by 
 man. 
 
 And surely there never was a power, in the history 
 of the world, whose fall bore such marked and visible 
 signs of utter helplessness as the Eastern Empire of 
 Rome. When we view its historical pretensions, as the 
 proud queen of nations, and compare them with its 
 hopeless decline and final ruin, we may say with literal 
 truth, it was broken by the want of hands. Its sub- 
 jects had no hands to fight ; its provinces were rent 
 away ; its very friends refused to lend it their succour, 
 and the feeble victim was marked out for the knife of 
 Sacrifice, long before it received the fatal blow. Let us 
 hear a few extracts from the historian of its fall. 
 
 ' At every step, as we sink deeper in the decline and 
 fall of the Eastern Empire, the annals of each succeed- 
 ing reign impose a more ungrateful and melancholy 
 task. Those annals must continue to repeat a tedious 
 and uniform tale of weakness and misery. From the 
 time of Heraclius, the Byzantine theatre is contracted 
 and darkened : the line of empire which had been de- 
 fined by the laws of Justinian and the arms of Belisa- 
 rius, recedes on all sides from our view ; the Roman 
 name is reduced to a narrow corner of Europe, to the 
 lonely suburbs of Constantinople ; and the fate of the 
 Greek Empire has been compared to that of the Rhine, 
 which loses itself in the sand, before its waters can 
 mingle with the ocean. On the throne, in the camp, 
 in the schools, we search with fruitless diligence the 
 names and characters that may deserve to he rescued 
 from oblivion.' (Gibb. c. xlviii.) 
 
 ' The Greeks of Constantinople held in their lifeless 
 hands the riches of their fathers, without inheriting 
 their spirit : they read, they praised, they compiled ; 
 but their languid souls seemed alike incapable of thought 
 
218 CHAPTER XIII. M 
 
 artd action. In the revolution of ten centuries, not a 
 single discovery was made to exalt the dignity or pro- 
 mote the happiness of mankind. Not a single idea has 
 been added to the speculations of antiquity, and a suc- 
 cession of patient disciples became in their turn the 
 dogmatic teachers of the next generation. When the 
 Empire of the Cgesars was reduced, at first to the East, 
 and at last to Greece and Constantinople, the Byzantine 
 subjects were degraded to an abject and languid temper, 
 the natural effect of their insulated and solitary state. 
 Whatever authority could enact was accomplished, at 
 least in theory, in the camps and marches, the exercises 
 and evolutions, the edicts and books, of the Byzantine 
 monarch. But neither authority nor art could frame 
 the most important machine, the soldier himself. A 
 cold hand and a loquacious tongue was the vulgar de- 
 scription of the nation : the author of the Tactics was be- 
 sieged in his own capital ; and the last of the barbarians 
 who trembled at the name of the Saracens or Franks, 
 could proudly exhibit the medals of gold or silver, 
 which they had extorted from the feeble sovereign of 
 Constantinople.' (cc. liii.) 
 
 As we draw nearer to the time of the final overthrow, 
 the marks of growing helplessness stand out in clearer 
 relief on the page of history. 
 
 ' While Mahomet threatened the capital of the East, 
 the Greek Emperor implored with fervent prayers, the 
 assistance of earth and heaven. But the invisible 
 powers were deaf to his supplications ; and Christendom 
 beheld with indiff'erence the fall of Constantinople. 
 Some states were too weak, and others too remote ; by 
 some the danger was considered imaginary, by others 
 inevitable ; the Western princes were involved in their 
 endless and domestic quarrels, and the Roman Pontiff 
 was exasperated by the falsehood or obstinacy of the 
 Greeks. Nicholas the Fifth had foretold their approach- 
 ing ruin, and his honour was engaged in the accom- 
 plishment of his prophecy. Perhaps he was softened 
 by the last extremity of their distress ; but his com- 
 
 I 
 
THE EASTERN EMPIRE OF ROME. 2lK 
 
 passion was tardy, his efforts were faint and unavailiug, 
 and Constantinople had fallen before the squadrons oi 
 Genoa and Venice could sail from their harbours. Ever 
 the princes of the Morea and of the Greek island; 
 affected a cold neutrality ; and the Genoese colony oi 
 Galata negociated a separate treaty. A plebeian crowd, 
 and some Byzantine nobles, basely withdrew from the 
 danger of their country ; and the avarice of the rich 
 denied the Emperor, and reserved for the Turks, the 
 secret treasures which might have raised in their defence 
 whole armies of mercenaries. The indigent and soli- 
 tary prince prepared to sustain his formidable adver- 
 sary, but his strength was inadequd,te to the contest. 
 The Greek places on the Black Sea surrendered on the 
 
 first summons In her last decay, Constantinople 
 
 was still peopled with more than an hundred thousand 
 inhabitants ; but these numbers are found in the ac- 
 counts, not of war, but of captivity ; and they mostly 
 consisted of mechanics, priests, and women, and of 
 men devoid of that spirit which even women have some- 
 times exerted for the common safety. The man who 
 dares not expose his life in defence of his children and 
 his property, has lost in society the first and most active 
 energies of nature. By the Emperor's command, a par- 
 ticular enquiry liad been made through the streets and 
 houses, how many of the citizens, or even of the monks, 
 were able and willing to bear arms for their country. 
 The lists were entrusted to Phranza, and, after a dili- 
 gent addition, he informed his master, with grief and 
 surprize, that the national defence was reduced to four 
 thousand nine hundred and seventy Romans. Between 
 Constantine and his faithful minister, this comfortless 
 secret was preserved. . . . Europe and Asia were open 
 to the besiegers, but the strength of the Greeks must 
 sustain a daily decrease ; nor could they indulge the 
 
 expectation of any foreign succour or supply 
 
 The Emperor was deprived of the affection and sup- 
 port of his subjects ; and their native cowardice was 
 sanctified by resignation to the divine decree, or the 
 
220 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 vistonary hope of a miraculous deliverance,' (Gibb,- 
 Ixviii.) 
 
 It is difficult to conceive how the fall of a State could 
 be marked by more conspicuous features of helpless 
 abandonment than these extracts reveal. The Emjnre, 
 which once seemed justly to claim, with the name of 
 Rome, the supreme dominion of the world, and boasted 
 of its unbroken descent from the conquerors of the East 
 and the West ; the power which had once cast down 
 the figurative stars of heaven, and magnified itself above 
 the Prince of princes, was now persecuted, with none 
 to hinder. The Emperors, in person, became plaintive 
 suppliants for aid in the courts of the Western nations, 
 but no succour could be found. The provinces, though 
 ruled by their own kinsmen, refused their aid in the 
 hour of distress. The citizens themselves, under the 
 double influence of national cowardice and religious 
 rancour and delusion, stood aloof from the defence of 
 the state. Except a scanty remnant of four or five 
 thousand, no hands were found, throughout the whole 
 Roman Empire, that proud and empty title which they 
 still retained to the last, to wield the weapons of war 
 against the enemy. It was broken without hand. 
 Saints and angels in heaven, and citizens and foreigners 
 on earth, were all appealed to for their succour, but in 
 vain. The hour of judgment was come, and the long 
 period of military triumph and heathen grandeur, and 
 then of dark and idolatrous superstition, was to be fol- 
 lowed at last by the stroke of Divine vengeance, the 
 day of visitation for the sins of ages, and for the for- 
 gotten crimes of former generations. 
 
 It is now time to close with a brief review of these 
 various characters, which meet in the vision of the pro- 
 phet, and have been fulfilled in the Eastern Empire of 
 Rome. The graft of the Roman power on the Third 
 Empire, began, like the power of the little horn, in the 
 latter times of the Greek kingdoms of Macedon, Syria, 
 and Egypt, and when the wickedness of their rulers, as 
 well as of the Jewish high priests and people, was 
 
 I 
 
THE EASTERN EMPIRE OF ROME. 221 
 
 almost full. It was small at first, consisting in a 
 few Illyrian towns, and a honorary place in the Gre- 
 cian councils. But it soon waxed exceeding great, be- 
 yond the examples of Cyrus and Alexander, till it 
 reached the Nile in the south, the Tigris in the East, and 
 became absolute sovereign over the pleasant land of 
 Israel, and the temple at Jerusalem. The princes of 
 the East, who in their pride had assumed the glorious 
 titles of Divinity, as gods upon earth and stars of hea- 
 ven, were cast down and trampled in the dust by its vic- 
 torious legions. It was a power fierce of countenance, 
 eminent for deep and subtle policy, and its w^onderful 
 sagacity caused craft to prosper in its hand. It was 
 mighty, but not by its own power ; because its victories 
 were due to the skilful use of allied forces, and to the 
 strength borrowed from the kingdoms of the West. It 
 stood up against the Prince of princes, when He appeared 
 on earth ; and, with impious presumption, condemned 
 him as a criminal, and nailed him to the cross ; and it 
 continued long to persecute Him in the person of his fol- 
 lowers. Ittook-away the daily sacrifice, and cast down 
 the sanctuary of God to the ground ; and thus brought 
 in a new era of the Divine dispensations, and began the 
 long desolation of the holy people, which has now lasted 
 for eighteen hundred years. And finally, after it had ga- 
 thered on itself every other feature of the prediction, 
 it sank beneath the stroke of God into helpless weak- 
 ness, and perished miserably, without one friendly hand 
 to shield it in the hour of its utter ruin. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 ON THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION. 
 Dan. XI. 31 — 35. — And arms shall stand on his part ; and they shall 
 
 POLLUTE THE SANCTUARY OF STRENGTH, AND SHALL TAKE AWAY THE 
 DAILY SACRIFICE, AND THEY SHALL PL A.CE THE ABOMINATION THAT MA- 
 KETH DESOLATE. AND SUCH AS DO WICKEDLY AGAINST THE COVENANT 
 SHALL BE CORRUPT BY FLATTERIES ; BUT THE PEOPLE THAT DO KNOW 
 
 THEIR God shall be strong and do EXPLOITS. And they that under- 
 stand AMONG THE PEOPLE SHALL INSTRUCT MANY ; YET THEY SHALL 
 FALL BY THE SWORD, AND BY FLAME, BY CAPTIVITY, AND BY SPOIL, 
 MANY DAYS. NoW WHEN THEY SHALL FALL, THEY SHALL BE HOLPES 
 WITH A LITTLE HELP, BUT MANY SHALL CLEAVE TO THEM WITH FLAT- 
 TERIES. And SOME OF THEM OF UNDERST&NDNIG SHALL FALL, TO TRY 
 THEM, AND TO PURGE, AND TO MAKE THEM WHITE, EVEN TO THE TIME 
 OP THE END ; BECAUSE IT IS YET FOR A TIME APPOINTED. 
 
 The vision of the eighth chapter, to the end of the eighth, 
 and that of the eleventh chapter, to the end of the 
 nineteenth verse, are so clear and perspicuous, that 
 scarcely a doubt has ever arisen as to their true mean- 
 ing. Infidels indeed, from Porphyry onward, have 
 charged them with being written after the events ; but 
 scarcely any one has been blind or perverse enough to 
 deny that they refer to the events of Persian and Syrian 
 history, from Cyrus to Antiqchus the Great, and have 
 been accurately fulfilled in every part. The fulfilment 
 also of the verses xi. 20 — 30, in Seleucus and Antio- 
 chus Epiphanes, with two or three exceptions, has been 
 universally allowed. The last part, however, of each 
 vision, has received a greater variety of interpretation. 
 
ON THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION. 223 
 
 This fancied contrast, between the clearness of one part 
 and the obscurity of the other, has even given birth to 
 that infidel hypothesis, which dates the w^hole prophecy 
 in the time of the Maccabees. Even at the first glance, 
 however, it will be plain to any candid mind, that the 
 contrast is not at all of such a nature as this hypothesis 
 would require. The objectors themselves cannot agree 
 where the supposed transition occurs. No line can be 
 drawn,' with brightness on the one side, and darkness on 
 the other. On the contrary, it is disputed, even now, 
 which part relates to Antiochus, and which to some 
 later adversary. The obscurity, so far as real, arises 
 plainly from that law of prophecy, by which more dis- 
 tant events are grouped together like hills in the per- 
 spective of a natural landscape ; and from the purpose 
 of God, expressly announced in these visions themselves, 
 that the later part, which refers to the Christian dis- 
 pensation, should continue veiled till a distant period of 
 time. So that this very objection, when calmly weighed, 
 and compared with these warnings of the Holy Spirit, 
 becomes a fresh witness to the Divine truth and wis- 
 dom of the whole prophecy. 
 
 In the three last chapters I have endeavoured to as- 
 certain the meaning of the Little Horn, which closes 
 the vision of the Morning and Evening ; and have 
 shewn, by copious evidence, that it had a precursive re- 
 ference to Antiochus Epiphanes ; but that its full and 
 proper application is to the Eastern dominion of Rome. 
 The vision becomes thus one continuous and connected 
 prophecy from the rise of the Persian Empire to the 
 fall of Constantinople ; and reaches onward, through 
 that long desolation, to the future cleansing of the Jew^ish 
 sanctuary in times near at hand. It includes thus, in 
 its ample course, the rise and victories of Cyrus, the 
 greatness of the Persian monarchy, the rapid triumphs 
 of Alexander, the fourfold division of his kingdom, the 
 reign of Antiochus, and the Maccabean persecutions, 
 the Eastern triumphs of Rome, the crucifixion of our 
 Lord, the Prince of princes, the destruction of Jerusa- 
 
224 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 lem §nd the Jewish sanctuary, and the helpless over^ 
 throw of the Eastern Empire. 
 
 Let us now return to the last vision, which has already 
 unfolded the main events, from the reign of Cyrus to 
 the return of Antiochus Epiphanes from Egypt at the 
 mandate of the Romans. * Thus far,' as Bishop New- 
 ton observes, ' commentators are in the main agreed, 
 and few or none have deviated much out of the common 
 road ; but hereafter they pursue so many different paths, 
 that it is not always easy to know whom it is best and 
 safest to follow. Some, as Porphyr}^ among the an- 
 cients, and Grotius among the moderns, contend that 
 the whole was accomplished in Antiochus Epiphanes. 
 Others, as Jerome and most of the fathers, consider 
 Antiochus as the type of Antichrist, just as, in the 
 seventy-second Psalm, Solomon is a type of Christ, and 
 many things are said of the one which are only appli- 
 cable to the other. Some again understand what re- 
 mains partly of the tyranny of Antiochus, and partly 
 of the great apostasy of the latter days. Others apply 
 it wholly to the invasion and tyranny of the Romans, 
 and the subsequent corruption in the Church, and alte- 
 rations in the empire.' (xvii. part II.) 
 
 Since the time of Bishop Newton, these varieties have 
 perhaps increased rather than diminished, and double 
 care is 'therefore needed in the interpretation. The 
 varieties, however, all lie between two extremes, of 
 which one refers the whole to Antiochus, and the 
 other reserves it entirely for these last times, before the 
 restoration of Israel. The interpretations, though nu- 
 merous, melt into each other, by slight variations, and 
 later writers generally incline to defer the fulfilment 
 also to a later period. It may help the reader to un- 
 derstand the subject more clearly, if we classify the 
 views which have been adopted by able or popular 
 writers. 
 
 The portion, of which the meaning has been disputed, 
 if we include the widest varieties, extends from verse 
 20 to the close of the chapter. It consists of four parts, 
 
ON THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION. 
 
 225 
 
 each distinct in itself, and which occupy respectively 
 eleven, five, four, and six verses. The various inter- 
 pretations may then he classified as below.* 
 
 The first and last of these expositions, which are 
 the widest apart, have really a common foundation. 
 Both of them assume that one person only is described 
 thi^ugh the whole of these twenty-six verses. This 
 assumption Porphyry and Grotius have combined with 
 the evident truth that the vile person denotes Antio- 
 chus, and thus have referred the whole to that Syrian 
 persecutor. Others have combined it with the fact, no 
 less evident in the prophecy, that its close reaches to 
 the final gathering of Israel, and hence break off the 
 prophecy violently at tlie twentieth verse, or earlier, 
 and transport the whole into our own days, or a time 
 still future. Now that all the varieties have been set 
 full in our view, we may proceed with more confidence 
 to ascertain the true meaning. 
 
 1. And first, the Vision, down to the nineteenth verse, 
 has been evidently fulfilled in the Persian, Syrian, and 
 Egyptian kings, a.c. 534 — 187. This has been amply 
 proved, by direct evidence, in the previous chapters. It 
 results also from the express words of the text, which 
 prove that the prophecy begins with Cyrus and his 
 three next successors, that it continues with Alexander 
 and the division of his kingdom, and the reign of those 
 
 * Porphyry "» 
 and Grotius / 
 
 Jerome and \ 
 Theodorct J 
 
 Luther 
 
 Mede 
 
 Sir I. Newton 
 
 Bp, Newton "i 
 
 & Dr. Keith J 
 
 Mr.Cuninghame 
 
 Mr. Faber 
 
 Mr. Habershon 
 
 Mr. Frere 
 Mr. Burgh \ 
 Dr. Todd / 
 
 Antiochus 
 Antiochus 
 Antiochus 
 Antiochus 
 
 Antiochus 
 
 Antiochus 
 Antiochus 
 Antiochus 
 
 Antiochus 
 Napoleon 
 
 Antiochus 
 
 Antiochus 
 Antiochus 
 Antiochus 
 
 Pagan Rome 
 
 Pagan Rome 
 
 Pagan Rome 
 f Pagan and "i 
 t Papal Rome/ 
 f Pagan and \ 
 \ Papal Rome j 
 
 Napoleon 
 
 All future. 
 4 
 
 Antiochus 
 
 f Antichrist, or 
 \ Man of Sin. 
 The Papacy 
 r Rome Pagan i 
 I and Papal I 
 
 Eastern Empire 
 
 Papacy i 
 
 Papacy 
 
 Infidel France 
 
 I 
 Napoleon 1 
 
 Napoleon 
 
 Antiochus 
 
 The Papacy. 
 f Saracens 
 \ and Turks, 
 f Saracens 
 I and Turks, 
 r Saracens 
 L and Turks. 
 Future ? 
 
 Future. 
 
 Future. 
 Future. 
 
22G CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 princes wlio ruled first after the division of his empire. 
 Only two writers, at most, seem ever to have denied this 
 truth ; while on the other hand, many infidels have been 
 led, from the clearness of the prediction, to deny the 
 genuineness of the Avhole prophecy. Of these t^vo forms 
 of incredulity, the latter is indeed the less unreasonable. 
 
 2. There i's no internal proof that the rest of the prophecy 
 all belongs to one and the sarae person. This is the as- 
 sumption in which Porphyry and Grotius agree with 
 the opposite extreme of interpretation. Doubtless the 
 words of this part of the vision, taken alone, would not 
 render such an application impossible, as they do in the 
 former part, where there is so clear and plain a succes- 
 sion of many kings. So far as grammar alone can 
 guide us, the whole might be referred to the vile per- 
 son, (v. 2Q.) But then, on the other hand, there is no 
 proof i\\dX the whole refers to him. The hinq (v. 36) 
 is mentioned by a distinct title, and after an implied 
 season of delay. Again, in the former part of the chap- 
 ter, which events have clearly expounded, there are 
 several transitions from one person to another of which 
 no express mark appears. The kings of the north and 
 south, in the fifth verse, are Ptolemy Soter and Seleucus 
 Nicator ; in the sixth, Ptolemy Philadelphus, and An- 
 tiochus Theus. So again, the king of the south in verse 
 9, is Ptolemy Euergetes ; in verse 11, his successor, 
 Ptolemy Philopator. The same transition occurs, 
 verse 14, to the reign of Ptolemy Epiphanes. The as- 
 sumption, therefore, on which both of these extreme 
 vie'vvs depend, that all the twenty-six verses (xi. 20 — 45), 
 relate to one person, is clearly unproved ; and is even 
 opposed to the analogy of those'parts of which the ful- 
 filment is l)eyond all controversy. 
 
 3. The raiser of taxes, and the vile person (verses 20, 21), 
 are clearly Seleucus and Antiochus Epiphanes. This is 
 proved by the accurate correspondence with the events 
 in each case, and by the manifest violence done to the 
 prophecy, when a sudden break of 2000 years is inter- 
 posed, where the marks of close connexion are so palpa- 
 
ON THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION. 227 
 
 bly evident. After the fall of Antioclms the Great, the 
 raiser of taxes is to rise up in his estate ; and this was 
 true only of Seleucus Philopator, his son and succes- 
 sor, whose attempted pillage of the temple is recorded in 
 the second book of Maccabees. The only excuse for such a 
 violent leap as some propose is the transition from Xerxes 
 to Alexander (xi. 4, 5), an interval of one hundred and 
 fifty years. But there is a vast difference between a cen- 
 tury and half, and two thousand years. The first is 
 only one sixteenth part of the range of the prophec}^, 
 the other would be nearly five times the actual extent of 
 the whole. Besides, the invasion of Xerxes was the 
 direct cause of those Grecian hostilities which came to 
 their height in the campaigns of Alexander, and the in- 
 termediate events were only the gradual ripening of that 
 reaction of vengeance. The vision also is in this part 
 an evident comment on the earlier prophecy, which is 
 really continuous, for the Ram continued its dominion 
 until it was assailed by the He-Goat from the West. 
 
 The verses themselves equally exclude this immense 
 hiatus, whether we place it at the fifth, as one writer 
 has done, or at the twentieth, or twenty-first verse. The 
 first supposition is so preposterous, and involves so many 
 absurdities, that it is needless to dwell on it further. 
 The mention, again, ofa few days, in verse 20, would be 
 most unnatural, if the prophecy had just overleapt two 
 thousand years without notice. Such notes of time 
 would be merely delusive, for the words seem to refer 
 just as much to the interval from the end of the former 
 reign, as from this king's accession. The contrast 
 between the king who receives the glory of the king- 
 dom, and the vile person, to whom the honour of that 
 kingdom is not given, equally implies that these are 
 immediate successors, or at the least that there is only a 
 very short interval between them. Thus every reason 
 concurs to establish the application of these verses to 
 the two Syrian kings. 
 
 4. The i^asmge (xi. 21 — 30) relates throughout to Anti- 
 ochus Epi;phanes. For the connexion of the parts is so 
 Q 2 
 
228 CHArxER XIV. 
 
 close, that no transition is here possible. In verse 29, 
 there is a distinct reference to the two former success- 
 ful campaigns, mentioned in verses 22, 25. The events 
 of history, also, fully answer to the prediction; and 
 especially the repulse of Antiochus by the Roman 
 legates, by its exact correspondence with the words of 
 the text, is a decisive proof of the true application, and 
 one of the most remarkable examples of the Divine fore- 
 knowledge. 
 
 5. The close of the jproijliecy reaches to the future restora- 
 tion of the Jews. 
 
 This axiom admits of many proofs. At the opening 
 of the vision we are told, that " the thing was true, but 
 the time appointed was long." The angel repeats this 
 notice to the prophet, " I am come to make thee un- 
 derstand what shall hefal thy people in the latter days ; 
 for yet the vision is for many days." The same truth is 
 implied in either statement, that the prophecy, though 
 it began with Cyrus, would extend to a very distant age. 
 
 At the close of the vision the marks of time are still 
 more decisive. " When he shall have finished scatter- 
 ing the power of the holy people, all these things shall 
 be finished." But the Jews are manifestly still scattered, 
 and hence the prophecy has not yet run its course. The 
 last event recorded is the resurrection of many sleepers 
 in the dust ; clearly parallel with Rev. xx. 4, and 
 therefore, whether literal or figurative, a time certainly 
 future. The last verse, again, of the whole book seems 
 to assure us, that, when the days of this prophecy shall 
 be fulfilled, the holy prophet himself will be standing 
 in his lot in the glory of the resurrection. 
 
 The inquiry is now brought within a narrower com- 
 pass. There are three parts of the prophecy, of which 
 the meaning has to be determined ; and which describe 
 the abomination of desolation, the wilful king, and the 
 events to occur in the time of the end. The limits 
 which include them are the last return of Antiochus 
 from Egypt, and the future and final restoration of 
 Israel. The first of these three divisions will form the 
 subject of the present and the following chapter. 
 
ON THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION. 220 
 
 Three different views have been taken of the event 
 here predicted, or the abomination of desolation. 
 Jerome and Theodoret, who are followed by Luther, 
 Mede, Prideaux, Halifax, and Chandler, refer it to An- 
 tiochus, whom several of them regard also as a type of 
 Antichrist. Several Jewish writers in the time of Je- 
 rome, who are followed by Sir Isaac and Bishop New- 
 ton, Cuninghame, Faber, and Keith, refer it exclusively 
 to the days of Titus and the fall of Jerusalem. A third 
 opinion, held by a few recent writers, applies it to a 
 brief desolation in the time of a future infidel Anti- 
 christ. 
 
 This last construction of the passage evidently labours 
 under two great, and indeed insuperable objections. 
 First, it requires a sudden hiatus of two thousand years, 
 at a point where there are scarcely any marks even of 
 a transition. And secondly, it supposes that the profana- 
 tion of a third temple, to be reared in the last times, is 
 here announced, before any notice has been given of 
 the doom of that second temple, in which our Lord him- 
 self appeared. The words of our Lord, Matt. xxiv. 15. 
 when compared with Luke xxi. 20, are a further disproof 
 of this interpretation. 
 
 The words in question must therefore be referred 
 either to Antiochus or to the Romans. Weighty rea- 
 sons may be urged for either exposition. The defeat of 
 Antiochus was a clear mark of the Roman supremacy, 
 as already established, and therefore would be no unna- 
 tural place for a transition from the third to the fourth 
 empire. Our Lord himself clearly refers this phrase, the. 
 abomination of desolation^ to the events which attended 
 the fall of Jerusalem by the Roman armies. And, thirdly, 
 since there is a proved transition from Antiochus to the 
 last times, it will be most gradual and easy, if we sup- 
 pose it to begin at this verse. A fourth reason, which 
 some have added, is plainly unfounded,— that the 
 words, to stand up, are applied only to the rise of a 
 distinct empire. 
 
 But however weighty these arguments, which have 
 
230 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 led most recent expositors to refer the verse entirely to 
 the Romans, it cannot he denied that the view of ear- 
 lier writers has also strong presumptions in its favour. 
 The former verse has just mentioned the indignation of 
 Antiochus against the holy covenant, and his intelli- 
 gence with the apostates who forsake it. It seems a 
 natural inference that the pollution of the sanctuary, in 
 the next verse, was the result of this confederacy of 
 evil. The historical connexion is immediate and close, 
 between the repulse of Antiochus from Egypt, and the 
 desecration of the Jewish temple by his forces. The 
 fact that this crime was not committed by Antiochus 
 in person, but by a part of his forces, is in equal har- 
 mony with the words of the text. And further, the 
 words of the narrative in the book of Maccabees seem 
 to imply that this passage was referred, at the time, to 
 that very persecution. The words of the next verse, lie 
 shall corrupt with flatteries, appear to be more natu- 
 rally applied to Antiochus than to the Romans. So 
 that the early writers of the Church, v/ho argued justly 
 against Porphyry that the close of the chapter referred 
 to Antichrist, and not to Antiochus, still expounded 
 these verses of the Maccabean persecution. 
 
 To sum up the whole, the first of the three disputed 
 portions has had a clear fulfilment in Antiochus, and 
 no other Scripture proves that such events were to 
 have place in the history of the Christian Antichrist. 
 The third portion of the text (xi. ^<6 —45) has never 
 been fulfilled in Antiochus, but answers closely to seve- 
 ral other passages that refer expressly to the predicted 
 Antichrist. The middle portion has a more doubtful 
 character. The Fathers, and all the earlier expositors, 
 as Luther and Mede, while they believe that the Wil- 
 ful King is the Antichrist of the New Testament, still 
 apply these verses to the Syrian oppressor. Newton, and 
 most other later commentators, while they see a clear pre- 
 diction of Antiochus in the passage xi. 20 — 80, refer the 
 verses that follow to the Roman desolations. The his- 
 tory in Maccabees, and the prophecy of our Lord, lend 
 
ON THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION. 231 
 
 an equal support to these opposite interpretations. It 
 seems a conclusion almost inevitable, that these verses, 
 like the emblem of the Little Horn, have in truth a 
 double reference, and that in them the real transition 
 occurs from Antiochus to the Roman power, and its 
 Antichristian warfare against the Church of God. 
 
 There are many, however, who shrink from such a 
 double exposition, as in its own nature ambiguous and 
 uncertain. An able living commentator has even as- 
 sumed, as a first princiiile, that it can have no place in 
 these chronological prophecies. It seems desirable, then, 
 briefly to state once more the warrant we have for receiv- 
 ing it, and the laws which define its nature, and secure 
 it from the risk of introducing perplexity and confusion 
 into the word of God. 
 
 And first, that many discursive prophecies have a 
 double sense, must be plain to every thoughtful and 
 judicious reader. Some event, nearer in time, and lower 
 in dignity, is often made the earnest and vehicle of a 
 higher truth. The Spirit of God thus leads onward 
 the thoughts of his people, more gently, to the dis- 
 tant wonders of His Providence. His mercies and 
 judgments, like the larva of the insect, seem commonly 
 to pass through a dim and imperfect stage, before they 
 appear full grown, in their exact form and perfect 
 brightness. So clear is this fact, that a late author has 
 rushed to the other extreme, and has reared a hasty 
 theory of prophetic exposition on one single postulate, 
 that this is the uniform and constant nature of all the 
 Divine prophecies. 
 
 But if this be true elsewhere, there is no reason what- 
 ever for rejecting it as impossible in a chronological 
 prophecy. If this be anticipated history, so are all pro- 
 phecies, even those where a double sense is allowed. If it 
 be a history that needs to observe a definite law of order 
 and connexion of parts, this too is quite consistent with 
 the double sense here maintained. Only let the two 
 events occupy in common the same place with regard to 
 the rest of the prophecy, and no law of order or sue- 
 
232 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 cession of parts in the vision can possibly be disturbed 
 by such an extension of its meaning. And if it be clear 
 that this double sense occurs repeatedly in other pro- 
 phecies, it cannot justly surprize us, if it be found to 
 occur also in these chronological visions. 
 
 Three reasons may be assigned why the Holy Spirit 
 may sometimes choose to adopt this peculiar method of 
 revealing future events — the need of brevity, the avoid- 
 ance of seeming tautology, and the close and varied 
 analogies which run through the whole course of Pro- 
 vidence. From these analogies it must result that many 
 series of events will arise, which bear some strong resem- 
 blance to each other in their main features. Such events 
 must either be predicted with all their minute charac- 
 ters of distinction from each other, and with an apparent 
 tautology from their general resemblance, or else they 
 must be predicted mainly by those features which are 
 common to both, and then a double interpretation of the 
 prophecy will at once ensue. If no distinctive features 
 enter into the prediction, then it will strictly have a 
 double sense, and each of these will be equally real and 
 exact. But prophecy is given for practical ends of warn- 
 ing, encouragement, and instruction. Viewing it in this 
 light, it will be enough to establish a double sense, if 
 even those events, which fulfil it more imperfectly, cor- 
 respond in so many points, and differ in so few, and these 
 reconcileable by such an usual license in the use of terms, 
 that those who compare them with the prediction be- 
 fore any further fulfilment, would naturally, and of 
 course, regard them as the true object of the inspired 
 message. For prophecy is not written merely for the 
 learned, or for a few critics, but for the church at large. 
 If it is so framed, that to the faithful at large, it reads 
 like a message to warn them of particular events, it is 
 a safe conclusion that those events, at least inclusively, 
 were designed in the message. 
 
 In the passage before us this view is confirmed by the 
 authority of all the early writers. With one consent, 
 they regard Antiochus, in these visions, as a type of the 
 
ON THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION. 233 
 
 predicted Antichrist. Yet when they pursue the ex- 
 position in its details, the}-- really abandon the reference 
 to Antichrist, in the first part of the narrative, xi. 20 
 — 30, and equally renounce the fulfilment of the last 
 part, xi. 36 — 45, in Antiochus himself. Thus Theodoret 
 writes on verse 37- " The following words disprove 
 their madness, who think that these things were spoken 
 of Antiochus. These things by no means agree with 
 Antiochus, but with the architype himself of Antiochus, 
 of whom Antiochus being an image and type, strove to 
 surpass all former kings in impiety.' And on verse So, 
 ' Having spoken these things of Antiochus Epiphanes, 
 he passes on from the type to the antitype : but Anti- 
 christ is the architype of Antiochus, and Antiochus is 
 an image of Antichrist. For as Antiochus compelled 
 the Jews to do impiety, and break the law, so the man 
 of sin, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth 
 himself against all that is called God, or worshipped, 
 and sitfeth in the temple of God, shewing himself that 
 he is God — will strain every effort to deceive the godly, 
 and use every kind of jjunishment against the disciples 
 of godliness.' Yet Theodoret plainly views this part as 
 referring to Antichrist also ; for he says afterwards on 
 xii. 12, 'the abomination of desolation is Antichrist 
 himself, and the taking away of the daily sacrifice, the 
 order of the Church's worship dissipated and destroyed 
 by his fury and madness.' When to this authority, 
 which has been rejected without any solid reason, we 
 add the double evidence of the statement in Maccabees, 
 and the prophecy of our Lord, the proof appears com- 
 plete, that these five verses were designed by the Holy 
 Spirit to bear a double application ; first to the trials of 
 the Maccabean persecution, and then to later times. 
 
 Nor is the objection from the supposed danger of am- 
 biguity of any real weight. A double interpretation, 
 under the restrictions already given, is no less precise 
 and definite than any other, and only serves to illustrate 
 with fuller evidence the wisdom and foreknowledge of 
 God. On the other hand, if the double sense be re- 
 
234 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 jected on abstract gTOiinds, clearly erroneous and insuf- 
 ficient ; then, wherever it does exist, a real perplexity 
 must arise. One of the two rival expositions must be 
 forcibly rejected, and, in proportion to its own clearness 
 and currency, will weaken our confidence in that which 
 is received. But where both are received, under the 
 limits already prescribed, each tends to confirm the other, 
 and to fill up the distinct outline of Providence revealed 
 in the sacred visions. 
 
 Let us now trace briefly the fulfilment of these verses, 
 first in the times of Antiochus, and then in their later 
 application to the Romaii Empire and the Christian 
 Church. 
 
 And from him arms shall stand up ; and they shall 
 'pollute the sanctuary of strength. 
 
 Immediately after the repulse of Antiochus from 
 Egypt, on his way to Antioch, he detached 22,000 troops 
 under Apollonius, to ravage and lay waste Jerusalem. 
 His wrath, on account of the humiliation he had re- 
 ceived, was all turned against the Jews, and he had in- 
 telligence with an apostate party among them, and 
 Menelaus, the wicked priest at their head, in concert 
 with whom he carried on his later persecutions. * They 
 polluted the sanctuary of strength.' So 2 Mace. v. 24 
 — 26. ' He sent that detestable chief Apollonius with 
 two and twenty thousand, commanding him to slay all 
 those that were in their best age, and to sell the women 
 and younger sort ; who coming to Jerusalem and pre- 
 tending peace, did forbear till the holy sabbath, when 
 he commanded his men to arm themselves. And so he 
 slew all them that were celebrating the sabbath, and 
 running through the city with weapons slew great mul- 
 titudes.' ' Thus they shed innocent blood on every side 
 of the sanctuary, and defiled it, insomuch that the in- 
 habitants of Jerusalem fled because of them, and the 
 city was made an habitation of strangers.' 1 Mace, 
 i. 87, 88. 
 
 And shall take away the daily sacrifice. 
 
 ' The king sent messengers by letters unto Jerusalem 
 
ox THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION. 235 
 
 and the cities of Judah, that they should follow the 
 strange laws of the land ; and forbad burnt-offerings, 
 and sacrifice, and drink-offerings, in the temple, and 
 that they should profane the sabbaths and festival days, 
 and pollute the sanctuary and holy people.' 1 Mace, 
 i. 44—46. 
 
 And shall iDlace the ahommation that maJceth desolate. 
 
 ' Now the fifteenth day of the month Casleu, in the 
 hundred and forty -fifth year, they set up «:he abomi- 
 nation OF desolation upon the altar, and builded idol 
 altars throughout the cities of Judah on every side. . . . 
 Now the five and twentieth day of the month they did 
 sacrifice upon the idol altar, which was before the altar 
 of God.' 1 Mace. i. 54, 55, 59. 
 
 * And they polluted also the temple of Jerusalem, 
 and called it the temple of Jupiter Olympius. The 
 coming in of this mischief was sore and grievous to the 
 people ; for the temple was filled with riot and revelling 
 by the Gentiles .... the altar also was filled with pro- 
 fane things which the law forbiddeth.' 2 Mace. vi. 2 — 5. 
 
 And svxh as do wickedly against the covenant shall be 
 corruiJt with flatteries. 
 
 * And they builded the city of David with a great 
 and strong w^all, and with mighty towers, and made it a 
 stronghold for them. And they put therein a sinful 
 nation, wicked men, and fortified themselves therein. 
 Yea, many of the Israelites consented to his religion, 
 and sacrificed unto idols, and profaned the sabbath. . . . 
 Then many of the people were gathered unto them, 
 every one that forsook the law, and so they committed 
 evils in the land, and drove the Israelites into secret 
 places.' 1 Mace. i. 33 — 53. 
 
 But the people that do know their God shall he strong 
 and do exploits. 
 
 These words answer exactly to the exploits of the 
 Maccabees in this time of deep affliction. They were 
 men who knew the God of Israel, and their exploits 
 exceeded all the noblest examples in heathen warfare. 
 
 ' Then Judas Maccabeus, and they that were with 
 
236 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 him, called their kinsfolk together, and all such as con- 
 tinued in the Jews' religion, and assembled about six 
 thousand men. And he came at unawares, and burnt 
 up towns and cities, and put to flight no small number 
 of his enemies, insomuch that the report of his manli- 
 ness was spread every where. . . . When he had made 
 them bold with these words, and ready to die for the 
 laws of the country, he divided his army into four parts. 
 And by the help of the Almighty, they slew above nine 
 thousand of their enemies, and put all to flight and 
 pursued them far . . . and yielded exceeding praise and 
 thanks to the Lord who had preserved them that day, 
 which was the beginning of mercy distilling upon them.' 
 2 Mace. viii. 1—27. 
 
 ' So he gat his people great honour, and put on a 
 breastplate as a giant, and put his warlike armour about 
 him, and made battles, protecting the host with his 
 sword. In his acts he was like a lion, and as a lion's 
 whelp roaring for his prey. For he pursued the wicked, 
 and sought them out, and burnt up those that vexed 
 his people. Wherefore the wicked shrank for fear of 
 him, and all the workers of iniquity were troubled, 
 and salvation prospered in his hand. ... So that he 
 was renowned unto the ends of the earth, and re- 
 ceived unto him such as were ready to perish.' 1 Mace, 
 iii. 3—9. 
 
 And they that understand among the people shall in- 
 struct many. 
 
 These words appear to relate to the same time as the 
 former, when the champions of Israel first arose. Thus 
 Mattathias said, when he retired into the wilderness — 
 * Whosoever is zealous of the law and maintaineth the 
 covenant, let him follow me. And many that sought 
 after justice and judgment went down into the wilder- 
 ness to dwell there, because afflictions increased sore 
 upon them. Then came there unto him a company of 
 Chasidians, who were mighty men of Israel, all such 
 as were voluntarily devoted to the law. And all they 
 
ON THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION. 237 
 
 that fled for persecution joined themselves unto them, 
 and they were a stay unto them.' 
 
 The dying words of Mattathias (1 Mace. ii. 49 — 64.) 
 are one beautiful specimen of these instructions by the 
 faithful men of understanding in these days of trial. So 
 again, iii. 48, ' They laid open the book of the law,' and 
 followed its sacred directions before their conflict with 
 the enemy. Before the battle with Nicanor, Judas ' ap- 
 pointed Eleazar to read the whole book, and gave them 
 the watch-word, the help of God.'' Nor must we over- 
 look the mute, but powerful instruction, of those whom 
 the Apostle singles out, to complete the cloud of wit- 
 nesses, who instruct the whole church by their holy 
 example. ' Others were tortured, not accepting deliver- 
 ance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.' 
 (Heb. xi. 85. 2 Mace. vi. 18—31 ; vii.) 
 
 Yet they shall fall by sword, and hy flame, by captivity 
 and by spoil, many days. 
 
 During the whole desolation under Antiochus, these 
 various afflictions came upon the faithful Jews. They 
 fell by the sword. The enemies shed innocent blood on 
 every side of the sanctuary. 1 Mace. i. 37. ' Running 
 through the city with weapons they slew great multi- 
 tudes.' ' There was killing of young and old, making 
 away of men, women and children, slaying of women 
 and infants.' They fell also by flame. The seven sons 
 and their mother, in 2 Mace. vii. were tortured with 
 burning fire. A thousand of the Jews who had hid 
 themselves in the caves ' being discovered to Philip, were 
 all burnt together, because they forbore to help them- 
 selves, for the honour of the most sacred day.' (2 Mace, 
 vi. 11.1 Mace. ii. 83—38.) They fell by captivity and 
 spoil. At the first assault of Antiochus on Jerusalem, 
 there were destroyed fourscore thousand, whereof forty 
 thousand were slain in conflict, and no fewer sold than 
 slain.' * Apollonius was ordered to slay all those who 
 were in their prime, and to sell the women and younger 
 sort.' 2 Mace. v. 14, 24. Afterwards Nicanor ' under- 
 took to make so much money of the captive Jews, as 
 
288 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 should defray the tribute of 2000 talents, which the 
 king was to pay the Romans. Wherefore he sent to 
 the cities on the sea-coast, proclaiming a sale of the cap- 
 tive Jews, and promising that they should have four- 
 score and ten bodies for one talent.' So in the lamen- 
 tation of Mattathias — ' Her infants are slain in the 
 streets, and her young men with the sword of the 
 enemy. What nation hath not had a part in her king- 
 dom, and gotten of her spoils 1 ' When Lysias invaded 
 Judea, * the merchants of the country, hearing the fame 
 of them, took very much gold and silver, and came into 
 the camp to buy the children of Israel for slaves.' 
 
 Such were the multiplied calamities under which the 
 people of Daniel groaned at this time, and which lasted 
 for a considerable interval, called here by an indefinite 
 term, da7/s ; and which may be viewed as extending over 
 three or four years. 
 
 JVow when they fall, they shall he holpen vjith a little 
 help ; but many shall cleave to them loith flatteries. 
 
 These words may be referred to the victory of Judas 
 over Lysias, the cleansing of the temple, and the letter 
 of Antiochus in his last mortal sickness, which occurred 
 in quick* succession. These were a little help to the 
 afflicted Maccabees, and assuaged the first bitterness 
 and intensity of the persecution. But many clave to 
 them with flatteries. This was fulfilled in the conduct 
 of multitudes of a230state Jews upon the success of 
 Judas, and in the treaty made by Lysias and Antiochus 
 Eupator, immediately on the death of Antiochus Epi- 
 phanes. 
 
 And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try 
 them, and purify them, and make them white, even to the 
 time of the end. 
 
 Such was the death of Eleazar, the brother of Judas 
 (1 Mace. vi. 43 — 46) ; of those who perished with famine 
 in Jerusalem (verse 54) ; of the Chasidians who made 
 peace with Alcimus, threescore of whom were treach- 
 erously slain in one day (vii. 16, 17) ; of the others who 
 were slain by Alcimus and Bacchides (v. 19 — 23) ; of 
 
ON THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATIOX. 239 
 
 Judas, and those who were slain with him, in battle 
 (1 Mace. ix. 17, 18) ; of those who perished in the 
 affliction after his death (verse 24 — 27) ; and of Jona- 
 than, and those who were treacherously slain at Ptole- 
 mais. This last event was the end of the Jewish perse- 
 cution ; for Simon, who succeeded him, in the first year 
 of his government, obtained the freedom of his nation 
 from tribute to the Macedonians. And hence they be- 
 gan to reckon by a new era, in their contracts and re- 
 cords, " in the first year of Simon, the benefactor and 
 monarch of the Jews." 
 
 Thus almost every word of these verses had an exact 
 and punctual fulfilment in the twenty-five years of the 
 Maccabean persecution. The Jews, at the time, as the 
 use of the phrase in Maccabees may prove to us, referred 
 them to these very events. And since the earlier part 
 of the reign of Antiochus, which affected the Jews very 
 slightly in comparison, is here recorded at length, and 
 the very object of the whole is to make known what 
 hould befal the people of Daniel in the latter days, 
 the conclusion is plain, that the desolation of the temple 
 by that king, and the miseries of the Jews under his 
 reign, are really predicted in this remarkable passage. 
 The harmony is thus maintained also, with the vision 
 of the eighth chapter, and the continuity of each pro- 
 phecy is preserved unbroken and complete. 
 
 But this interpretation, however fully confirmed by 
 the history, does not exhaust the meaning of these 
 verses. The part which precedes them relates clearly 
 to Antiochus ; that which follows, as clearly, not to An- 
 tiochus, but some later Antichristian power. The 
 transition must therefore be made in the present pas- 
 sage. The Jews, in the time of the Maccabees, and all 
 the earlier writers of the church, down to Luther and 
 Mede in modern days, have expounded it in reference 
 to Antiochus. But they all with one consent, regard 
 Antiochus as a type of Antichrist, and yet the double 
 application is possible in these verses only. We have 
 also the direct warrant of our blessed Lord for connect- 
 
240 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 ing the abomination of desolation with the fall of Jeru- 
 salem ; and accordingly, most later commentators, from 
 Newton onwards, have applied these verses to the 
 Romans and the Church of Christ. The afflictions of 
 the Maccabees were indeed a brief rehearsal of a longer 
 series of changes, which serve, in this prophecy, to 
 conduct us into a fresh dispensation, and down to the 
 rise of a more dangerous and powerful persecutor than 
 Antiochus, to prevail afterwards in the latter days. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION. 
 
 'Prophetic history,' Lord Bacon has observed, 'consists 
 of two parts, the propliecy itself and its fulfilment. There- 
 fore its nature ought to be such, that every prophecy of 
 Scripture be joined with a true account of events which 
 have fulfilled it ; and this through all ages of the world, 
 both to confirm our faith, and also to train us by expe- 
 rience in the interpretation of those prophecies which 
 are yet to be fulfilled. But herein we must allow that 
 latitude which is agreeable and usual unto Divine pro- 
 phecies, that their fulfilment may be both continuous 
 and definite. For they answer to the nature of their 
 Author, with whom one day is as a thousand years, and 
 a thousand years as one day. And though their full 
 and entire completion be commonly fixed to some cer- 
 tain age, yet they have meanwhile steps of fulfilment 
 through various ages of the world. This work is want- 
 ing ; but it is so weighty, that it should be treated with 
 great wisdom, sobriety, and gravity, or altogether de- 
 clined.' 
 
 These remarks apply, in some measure, to the verses 
 now under examination. For these answer exactly, it 
 has been already shown, to the troubles of the Jews 
 under Antiochus. But they correspond also with no less 
 accuracy, on a wider scale, to the whole course of Pro- 
 vidence towards the Jews and the Christian Church, 
 from the time of the Maccabees far into the present 
 dispensation. Our Lord, in His own prophecy, seems 
 
 R 
 
242 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 to lead us by the hand to their wider meaning, when 
 he refers the abomination of desolation, spoken of by 
 Daniel, to the ruin then impending over Jerusalem. 
 
 The very place which these verses occupy may prove, 
 of itself, that they form a transition from Antiochus to 
 the time of the end. And what were the leading events 
 of that interval, which bear directly on the Church of 
 God 1 Clearly these — the gradual encroachments of 
 the Romans in Judea, till at length they destroyed the 
 city and temple, and brought on the desolation which 
 has now brooded for ages over Jerusalem ; the ministry 
 of our blessed Lord ; the bold and zealous preaching of 
 the Apostles, the spread of the Gospel through the Ro- 
 man empire, the bitterness of the Pagan persecutions ; 
 the triumph of the faith when the whole empire nomi- 
 nally received it ; the rapid corruption of the visible 
 Church, renewed troubles and persecutions, and the 
 growth of an apostate tyranny, without example in the 
 history of the world. All these, except our Lord's per- 
 sonal ministr}^, which had been just revealed in a sepa- 
 rate prophecy, seem here distinctly pourtrayed to us in 
 their natural order, and in colours of light. Let us trace 
 once more, in order, the words of the text and their 
 fulfilment. 
 
 And from him arms shall stand up. These words serve 
 to describe very accurately the character and course of 
 the Romans, from the days of Antiochus to the conquest 
 of Judea, Arms {hrachia) are used throughout these 
 prophecies to denote military forces or power. They 
 are said to stand up, when they manifest themselves in 
 vigorous action. After the defeat of Antiochus the 
 Great by the Romans, and the repulse of Epiphanes 
 himself by their ambassadors in the ships from Chit- 
 tim, which have been already announced, it is natural 
 that their formidable power should be next predicted. 
 The word rendered, on his part, niay, as in verse 23, 
 denote simply a succession in time. And even if it be 
 thought to require a still closer connexion between An- 
 tiochus and the arms here mentioned, this existed in the 
 
 I 
 I 
 
THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION. 243 
 
 case of tlie Romans, no less really than in that of Apol- 
 lonius and his forces, who ravaged Jerusalem. The 
 Romans not only received tribute from Antiochus, but 
 were virtually his successors in the kingdom. His son 
 Eupator was only a child of nine years on his acces- 
 sion, and the Romans claimed to exercise a guardian- 
 ship over him. Thus when Eupator, just after the 
 death of his father, made a covenant with the Jews, we 
 read, that " the Romans also sent unto them a letter in 
 these words : — Quintius Memmius and Titus Manlius, 
 ambassadors of the Romans, to the people of the Jews, 
 greeting. Whatsoever Lysias, the king's cousin, hath 
 granted, therewith we also are well pleased. But on 
 such things as he reserved to the king, when ye have 
 advised thereon, send one forthwith, that we may speak 
 what is profitable for you ; for we are going to Anti- 
 och.' In this manner the Roman arms stood up from 
 Antiochus, as they crept stealthily into the management 
 of his kingdom after his death, and began to usurp 
 superiority over the Jewish nation. 
 
 When the Maccabean troubles had ceased, on the 
 accession of Simon, a fresh step in advance was made, 
 and the patronage and friendship of the Romans began to 
 pave the way for an open assumption of full sovereignty. 
 The embassy of Simon, which he sent with a present of a 
 shield of gold, met with a gracious reception. In return, 
 Lucius the consul addressed letters to Ptolemy, king of 
 Egypt, Demetrius king of Syria, Attains, Ariarathes and 
 Arsaces, the kings of Pergamus, Cappadocia and Arme- 
 nia, " also to the Lacedaemonians, Delos, Myndus, 
 Sicyon, Caria and Samos, Pamphylia and Lycia, Hali- 
 carnassus, Rhodes, Phaselis and Cos, Side and Aradus, 
 Gortyna and Cnidus, Cyprus and Cyrene." In these 
 letters, they were charged to abstain from meddling 
 with the Jews, and also to restore deserters from Judea 
 to be duly punished by the high-priest. Here was a 
 fresh mark of their growing ascendancy over all the 
 countries of the East, and a further step to their entire 
 subjugation of the chosen people. 
 
 R 2 
 
244 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 A7id the// shall pollute the sanctmiry of strength. In the 
 time of Antiochus, the sanctuary was first polluted, by 
 the blood which he and his generals shed through the 
 city, and by his own intrusion, under the guidance of 
 Menelaus, into the holy place. The'daily sacrifice was 
 then taken away, when Acra was fortified so as to 
 overlook the temple. Last of al], but soon after, the 
 abomination of desolation was set up, when the image 
 of Jupiter Olympius was erected by the king's command 
 on the altar of God. It is natural, then, to expect a 
 similar order of succession, if the prophecy be fulfilled 
 anew in the Roman power. 
 
 Such are the facts which liistory sets before us. The 
 first pollution of the sanctuary of strength by the 
 Romans, took place on the siege and capture of Jeru- 
 salem by Pompey the Great. The account is given us 
 in Josephus. (Ant. xiii. 4. 2, 4). ' But Pompey fixed _ 
 his camp within, on the north side of the temple, where 
 it was most practicable. And when the bank was 
 sufficiently raised, and the ditch filled up, he brought 
 his engines from Tyre, and placing them on the banks, 
 he battered the temple with stones hurled against it. . . 
 And now all was full of slaughter ; some of the Jews 
 being slain by the Romans, and some by one another : 
 nay, some there were who threw themselves down pre- 
 cipices, and set fire to their houses and burnt them, as 
 not able to endure their miseries. Of the Jews there 
 fell twelve thousand ; of the Romans, very few. And 
 no small enormities were committed about the temple 
 itself, which in former ages had been inaccessible, and 
 seen by none ; for Pompey xoent into it, and not a few 
 of them that were with him, and saw all that was unlaw- 
 ful for any to see hut the high priest.'' 
 
 This first act of pollution, however, was transitory, 
 and quickly repaired. It arose from the mere wanton- 
 ness of power, and not from the malice of persevering 
 impiety and hatred. " There were in the temple the 
 golden table and the holy candlestick, and tJie vessels 
 and spices, and two thousand talents of sacred money. 
 
 I 
 
 
THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION. 245 
 
 Yet did Pompey touch none of these, from his regard to 
 religion. The next day he gave orders to tliose who 
 had charge of the temple to cleanse it, and bring the 
 offerings, which the law required, to God." 
 
 But however transient the pollution itself, the free- 
 dom of the Jews was lost, and the Roman yoke was 
 fixed on their neck, to prepare the way for heavier 
 judgments. ' For now,' Josephus observes, ' we lost 
 our liberty, and became subject to the Romans, and 
 they exacted of us in a little time above ten thousand 
 talents.' 
 
 The next signal act of Roman profanation was under 
 Crassus. On his expedition to Parthia, which proved, 
 as in punishment for his sacrilege, so signally disas- 
 trous, ' he came into Judea, and carried off the money 
 in the temple, which Pompey had left, and was disposed 
 to spoil it of all the gold belonging to it, which was 
 eight thousand talents. He also took a beam of solid 
 beaten gold, weighing three hundred minge, of two 
 pounds and a half. It was the priest, Eleazar, who 
 had the custody of the veil of the temple, which hung 
 down from this beam, who gave it him, as a ransom for 
 the whole ; but not until he had given his oath that he 
 would remove nothing else out of the temple, but be 
 satisfied with this only. Yet Crassus took away this 
 beam, on condition of touching nothing else that be- 
 longed to the temple, and then brake his oath, and 
 carried away all the gold that was in the temple.' (Ant. 
 xiv. 7. 1). 
 
 A further pollution of the sanctuary by the Romans 
 took place on the accession of Herod, a.c. 88, when 
 Sosius took the city by storm. ' The first wall was 
 taken in forty days, the second in fifteen more, when 
 some of the cloisters about the temple were burnt. 
 And when the outer court of the temple, and the lower 
 city were taken, the Jews fled into the inner court of 
 the temple and the upper city : but fearing lest the 
 Romans should hinder them from offering their daily 
 sacrifices, they sent an embassy, and desired that they 
 
246 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 would only permit tliem to bring in beasts for sacrifice. 
 And now all parts were full of those who were slain by 
 the rage of the Romans ; and as they were flying to the 
 temple for shelter, there was no pity taken of infants 
 or the aged, nor did they spare those of the weaker sex, 
 and none restrained their hand from slaughter." (Ant. 
 xiv. 16. 8). 
 
 In the same list of Roman acts of pollution, com- 
 mitted against the sanctuary, we may place also the 
 slaughter in the temple by Archelaus, on the first Pass- 
 over after Herod's death ; for both he and his father 
 were little more than deputies of the Romans. The cru- 
 elties of Sabiuus, during his absence, are another open 
 instance of the same kind. ' The soldiers were prevailed 
 upon, and leapt out into the temple, and fought a 
 terrible battle with the Jews ; in which, while there 
 were none over their heads to distress them, they were 
 too hard for them by their skill in war, but when once 
 many of the Jews had climbed to the top of the clois- 
 ters, and threw their darts downward, many of the 
 soldiers were destroyed. Since then they were sorely 
 afflicted, they set fire to the cloisters, works to be ad- 
 mired both for their size and costliness. At last^ some 
 of the Jews being destroyed and others dispersed through 
 their terror, the soldiers fell upon the treasure of God, 
 which was now deserted, and plundered about four 
 hundred talents.' (Wars ii. 3. 2). 
 
 In this manner, from the victory of Pompey to the 
 very eve of Jerusalem's fall, the Romans polluted the 
 sanctuary of strength, and gave a foretaste of the still 
 heavier calamities, shortly to come on those rejectors 
 of Messiah, who had desired a murderer to be granted 
 them, and had crucified the Lord of glory. 
 
 And they shall take away the daily sacrifice. 
 
 The cessation of the daily sacrifice in the Roman 
 siege of Jerusalem, a.c. 70, is too well known to require 
 many testimonies. It is mentioned, as follows, by 
 Josephus : — 
 
 * And now Titus gave orders to his soldiers to dig up 
 
THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION. 247 
 
 the foundations of the tower of Antonia, and make him 
 a ready passage for his army to come up. And he him- 
 self had Josephus brought to him, for he had been in- 
 formed, that on that very day, which was the seven- 
 teenth day of Panemus, the sacrifice called the daily 
 sacrifice, had failed, and not been offered to God, for 
 want of men to offer it, and the people were grievously 
 troubled on this account.' (Wars vi. 2. 1). 
 
 From this time forward the words of Hosea have 
 been fulfilled for ages. *' The children of Israel shall 
 abide many days without a king and without a prince, 
 and without a sacrifice, and without an image and 
 without an ephod, and without teraphim." This event, 
 with the total destruction of the temple which presently 
 followed, were indeed a signal era in the history of the 
 Church ; the final close of the Jewish, and the full intro- 
 duction of the Gentile dispensation. It forms therefore 
 a fit commencement of the historical transition from 
 the period of Daniel, and the second temple, to the new 
 and mysterious history of Gospel times, which occu- 
 pies the close of his latest prophecy. 
 
 And they shall 'place the dbomincition that maheth de- 
 solate. 
 
 These words acquire a deep and peculiar interest, from 
 the reference which our Lord has made to them in His 
 own prophecy, and the special note by which the Spirit 
 of God fixes our attention on this part of the message. 
 " When ye shall see the abomination of desolation, 
 spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in a holy place 
 (let him that readeth understand) ; then let them which 
 be in Judea flee to the mountains." These w^ords of 
 our Saviour are commonly referred, and with much 
 reason, to the times of Vespasian. But since it has 
 been maintained that they refer solely to some future 
 event, a few remarks are needed to prove their true 
 application, and shew their connexion with the present 
 verse. 
 
 Now the words of our Lord form the answer to a de- 
 finite inquiry, made just before by the disciples. They 
 
248 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 ask when that temple on which they were gazing with 
 a fond admiration, and which their hopes had con- 
 nected with all the glory of Messiah's kingdom, was to 
 be overthrown and destroyed. Of the fact itself they 
 had just been assured by our Lord, and it filled them 
 with deep sorrow.^ They now inquire the time, ' when 
 these things should be.' Whatever else may be added to 
 their question, this was their first and immediate ob- 
 ject. Our Lord's answer corresponds, and gives them 
 a sign when the desolation would be close at hand. And 
 as this was the first practical object of the prophecy, 
 the Holy Spirit fixes the attention of the early Chris- 
 tians on this part of our Saviour's warning, and inserts 
 the direction in two of the gospels—" whoso readeth, let 
 Jdm understand.'''' 
 
 Secondly, since the phrase, which our Lord adopts 
 from the prophecy, was rather obscure as He applied it, 
 its meaning is gradually explained in the two later 
 Evangelists. It is clear that the passages Matt, xxiv., 
 Mark xiv. and Luke xxi., are three records of the same 
 discourse. It is equally plain that the fifteenth, four- 
 teenth, and twentieth verses respectively, in the three 
 gospels, correspond with each other. And thus the 
 phrase in St. Matthew, " standing in a holy place " is 
 explained in St. Mark, by the words " standing where 
 it ought not ;" and still more clearly by the description 
 in St. Luke — " when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed 
 with armies." The holy 'place, by emphasis, would be 
 the inner court of the temple. The words used by our 
 Lord, as the article is wanting, admit, and in this place 
 require, a wider sense. But as this might be overlooked, 
 and thus the warning be too late to be useful, the later 
 gospels have expounded it ; so that the early Christians 
 might be warned in time, when first the idol-standards of 
 the Romans stood in the holy precincts around Jerusa- 
 lem, and thus be spared from the impending judgment. 
 
 The meaning, then, of our Saviour's words in St. 
 Matthew, doubly expounded by the later gospels, and 
 by the practical deliverance of the Jewish church, is 
 
THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION. 249 
 
 clear and certain. The abomination of desolation refers 
 to the Roman armies with their idol-standards. As 
 idols they were abominable ; as the direct agents and 
 signals of long lasting ruin, they were an abomination 
 that maketh desolate. They stood (ci/ tott^ 07/^) on holy 
 ground, or where they ought not, when Cestius made 
 his first attack on the city, as Josephus describes. 
 
 ' On the fourth day, the thirtieth of Tisri, when he 
 had put his army in array, he brought it into the city. 
 . . . But when Cestius was come into the city, he set the 
 part called Bezetha on fire, after which he came into 
 the upper city, and pitched his camp against the royal 
 palace. . . . And after five days, he took a great many 
 of his choicest men, and the archers, and attempted to 
 break into the temple at the northern quarter ; but the 
 Jews beat them off from the cloisters. ... So the soldiers 
 undermined the wall, and got all things ready for setting 
 fire to the gate of the temple.' 
 
 The words of Christ, it thus appears, have been ful- 
 filled in the Roman siege of Jerusalem, and relate to that 
 momentous crisis of Providence, which completely sepa- 
 rates the old from the new dispensation. But the pro- 
 phecy of our Lord, as He himself tells us, is only the 
 exposition of an earlier prediction of Daniel. And that 
 the reference is eminently to the present passage xi. 81, 
 appears evident at once, because it is here only that the 
 phrase occurs. The other passages, viii. 13 ; ix. 26, 27, 
 resemble it closely ; and two, if not three of them, really 
 belong to the same event ; but the strict verbal corre- 
 spondence is found in this vision only. And hence we 
 may regard the discourse of our Saviour as a clear war- 
 rant for applying the text before us to the desolation of 
 Jerusalem by the Roman armies. 
 
 And, here also, w^e may distinguish three or four stages 
 in the fulfilment. The first was when the Roman 
 forces, under Cestius, assailed the temple, and endea- 
 voured to set fire to the gate of the sanctuary. The 
 second, when Titus pitched his camp on the Mount of 
 Olives, the very spot where the prophecy was uttered, 
 
250 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 and which had been rendered holy by the presence and 
 the words of One greater than the temple. The third 
 was after the capture of the city, which Josephus re- 
 cords as follows. 
 
 ' And now the Romans, upon the flight of the sedi- 
 tious into the city, and upon the burning of the holy 
 house itself, and of all the buildings round about, 
 
 BROUGHT THEIR ENSIGNS INTO THE TEMPLE, and SCt 
 
 them over against its eastern gate, and there did they 
 OFFER SACRIFICES TO THEM, and there did they make 
 Titus Emperor with the greatest acclamations of joy.' 
 (Wars vi. 6, 1.) 
 
 A still further stage in the same desolating abomina- 
 tion took place in the time of Adrian, after the revolt of 
 Barchochebas, when a temple was built and consecrated 
 to Jupiter Capitolinus, on tlie very site of the sanctuary 
 of God. Nor is there any need to exclude from our in- 
 terpretation those later acts of the Roman power, which 
 carried still higher the offence against the Divine holi- 
 ness, and set up the desolating abomination of public 
 idol-worship wdthin the visible church, the true, and 
 after the fall of Jerusalem, the only earthly temple of 
 the living God. 
 
 And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he 
 corrupt with flatteries. 
 
 In the application of this whole passage to the 
 Romans, the change of number seems at first to be a 
 slight difficulty. But this may be easily removed, and 
 perhaps may justify us in asserting a minute correspon- 
 dence with the event. When first the Roman pollu- 
 tion of the sanctuary began, under Pompey, the govern- 
 ment was still by two consuls, and arms would thus 
 be an emblem strictly appropriate to describe its nature. 
 But when the abomination of desolation was set up, 
 and the predicted flatteries were fulfilled, the govern- 
 ment was become a monarchy, and Judea reduced to a 
 Roman province. Or the words may be explained dis- 
 tributively, by a frequent idiom, as they are translated by 
 some writers who refer the passage solely to Antiochus — 
 
THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION. 251 
 
 ^ each one of them shall deal corruptly with flatteries,'' Of 
 these flatteries the Gospels and Acts afford us many 
 examples, and they lasted until the final ruin of the 
 city. We see, in Josephus himself, a Jew corrupted 
 by these Roman flatteries, who could reject the true 
 Messiah, and gravely assert that Vespasian fulfilled 
 the national prophecies of a Deliverer to arise in the 
 holy land. The language of the chief priests to 
 Pilate, the promise of Pilate to release whom they 
 would, the address of Tei-tuUus to Felix, and the wish 
 of Felix and Festus to do pleasure to the Jews, are 
 further examples of these hollow flatteries, which soon 
 brought on a bitter destruction. 
 
 But the people that do know their Go^ shall he strong, 
 and do exploits. 
 
 We need not look beyond the Acts and the Epistles 
 for evidence of the fulfilment of these words, during 
 the forty years from the baptism of John to the fall of 
 Jerusalem. The disciples, who knew their God, even the 
 God and Father of the Lord Jesus, were indeed strong 
 in the Lord and in the power of his might, and did ex- 
 ploits in the midst of hatred and persecution. Of these 
 triumphs wrought by Christian warriors, the apostle 
 has twice and three times given us the description in his 
 own person, 1 Cor. iv. 9—13 ; 2 Cor. xi. 23—29 ; 2 Tim. 
 iii. 10 — 12, and the history might be enlarged without 
 end. While Roman flatteries were prompting that 
 servile speech of politic dissemblers — We have no king 
 but Cesar — the servants of Christ were " bold in their 
 God to preach the gospel of God with much contention." 
 No sufferings could damp their ardour, no danger abate 
 their zeal ; they were willing not only to be bound, 
 and to suffer joyfully the spoiling of their goods, but to 
 die also for the name of the Lord Jesus. 
 
 And they that understand among the people shall in- 
 struct many. 
 
 The former clause is naturally explained of the faith- 
 ful witness of the apostles and first disciples among the 
 Jews ; these words are an equally exact description of 
 
252 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 their message to the idolatrous Gentiles. They who had 
 the true knowledge of Messiah among the Jewish peo- 
 ple, or in other words, the apostles and first Jewish 
 Christians, instructed many. Their voice to their un- 
 believing countrymen was loud and clear. "It was neces- 
 sary that the word of God should first be preached to 
 you. But seeing ye put it from you, and judge your- 
 selves unworthy of eternal life, lo ! we turn to the Gen- 
 tiles." " Be it known unto you, that the salvation of 
 God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear 
 it." So that, very soon, one of the foremost of this glo- 
 rious company could affirm with truth — From Jericsa- 
 lem round about unto Illyricum I have fully preached 
 the Gospel of Christ. Never before had the truth of 
 God been spread abroad on so wide a scale, or so many 
 immortal souls been instructed in that knowledge which 
 makes wise unto salvation. And indeed if we inquire 
 what was the main feature of history for two whole 
 centuries from the fall of Jerusalem, it was the ceaseless 
 diffusion of saving truth among the multitudes of the 
 Roman Empire. Thus Pliny, in his celebrated letter 
 to Trajan, a.d. 130, tells us that the temples of the gods 
 were already deserted, and none could be found to buy 
 the victims for sacrifice. The daily sacrifice might have 
 been taken away from the Levitical sanctuary'-, but a 
 nobler sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, through the 
 labours of the first messengers of Christ, was fast rising 
 to the God of heaven throughout all the cities of the 
 Roman world. 
 
 Yet they shall fall hy sword, by flame, and by captivity, 
 and by spoil, many days. 
 
 These words describe to us vividly the Pagan perse- 
 cutions. Although the truths of the gospel spread 
 rapidly, and many received them, the kingdom of dark- 
 ness was not invaded so rudely, and shaken to its foun- 
 dations, without a bitter and desperate opposition from 
 the powers of hell. Many converts were beheaded with 
 the Roman axe ; many were tortured, like Polycarp, by 
 the burning flame. Many suffered the spoiling of their 
 goods, and took it joyfully for Christ's sake ; and the 
 
THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION. 253 
 
 devil cast many into prison, and sent upon them a fiery 
 tribulation. From the reign of Nero, a.d. 66, to the 
 abdication of Diocletian at the close of the last and 
 heaviest persecution, a.d. 313, the furnace was almost 
 perpetually kindled against the servants of God ; and 
 no words could describe, more accurately than this 
 verse, the general state of the Church for two hundred 
 and fifty years. 
 
 ^^ow when they fall, they shall he holpen with a little 
 help, hut roomy shall cleave to them with Jlatteries. 
 
 * The Church,' Bishop Newton well observes, * had 
 now laboured under long and severe persecutions from 
 the civil power. The last was begun by Diocletian ; it 
 raged, though not at all times equally, ten years ; and 
 was suppressed by Constantine, the first Roman Emperor 
 who made open profession of Christianity ; and then 
 the church was no longer persecuted, but protected and 
 favoured by the state. But still this is called only a 
 little help ; because, though it added much to the tempo- 
 ral prosperity, it contributed little to the spiritual graces 
 and virtues of Christians. It enlarged their revenues 
 and increased their endowments, hut proved the fatal 
 means of corrupting the doctrine, and relaxing the dis- 
 cipline of the Church. It was attended with this pecu- 
 liar disadvantage, that " many clave to them with flat- 
 teries." Eusebius, a cotemporary writer, reckons that 
 one prevailing vice of the time was " the dissimulation 
 and hypocrisy of men w^io fraudulently entered into 
 the church, and borrowed the name of Christian with- 
 out the reality." It is also called a little help, because 
 even the temporal peace and prosperity of the church 
 lasted but a little while. The spirit of persecution pre- 
 sently revived.' (Diss. xiv. part 2.) 
 
 " And some of them of understanding shall fall, to 
 try them, and to purify them, and to make them white, 
 even to the time of the end ; because it is yet for a 
 time appointed." 
 
 Here a season of renewed persecution is announced, 
 but with two distinctive features, in contrast with the 
 former. It is partial, as to its objects, and it is of longer 
 
254 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 continuance. Some only of them of understanding 
 will be thus afflicted with open persecution, and this 
 period of affliction will continue even to the time of the 
 end. Both features meet in the later persecutions of the 
 faithful, since the nominal conversion of the Roman 
 Empire. Real Christians have been found since, partly 
 sheltered from open violence by an outward communion 
 with the dominant church, in which they have still re- 
 tained the vitals of the faith ; partly cast out as 
 heretics, and witnessing in sackcloth against the pre- 
 vailing forms of idolatrous corruption. This chequered 
 and mingled state of the church began soon after the 
 days of Constant ine, and it has continued down even to 
 our own times, which may be called, with a peculiar 
 emphasis, the time of the end. 
 
 Such is the simple exposition of these verses which the 
 broad facts of history supply. The events which occurred 
 in the time of the Maccabees reappeared in the same or- 
 der, but on a larger scale, in the desolations of Judea, the 
 triumphs of the gospel, and the deep affliction of the true 
 and valiant champions of the Lord. The thing was true, 
 but the time appointed was long. Age after age, as it 
 slowly passed away, only continued to reveal the senten- 
 tious fulness, as well as the detailed accuracy of this holy 
 prophecy ; and even those parts of it which were sealed 
 unto the time of the end, when they once began to un- 
 fold, were seen to be rich with all the mysteries of Divine 
 wisdom, and pregnant with truths that deeply affected 
 the whole Church of Christ, even to the very end of 
 the world. Amidst all the designed obscurity, which was 
 to rest for a season on the latest part of the message, 
 and the complex variety of the predicted changes, it 
 was yet for a time appointed. Every step in this mighty 
 scheme of Providence, like the covenant of our salva- 
 tion, was ordered in all things and sure ; and through 
 sword and flame, through captivity and spoil, the 
 Church of God marches onward, with sure step and 
 incessant progress, to its final victory in the resurrection 
 of the just. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE WILFUL KING.' 
 Dan, XI. 36—39. 
 
 This Prophecy is one of deep interest, and needs to be 
 approached with peculiar caution. There is none which 
 should remind us more strongly of the need of Divine 
 wisdom, to interpret it rightly, and fix its true mean- 
 ing. The words are imperfectly translated, and ob- 
 scure in themselves. Even their grammatical force 
 has often been disputed, and still more, their historical 
 reference. Some have referred the whole to Antiochus, 
 others to an infidel king yet to arise, others to demo- 
 cratic infidelity in the Roman empire, and others to 
 the Popedom, or the Christian Greek empire. Most 
 divines, whether Fathers, Protestants, or Roman Catho- 
 lics, believe that the same power or person is designed 
 as in the Little Horn and the Man of Sin. But a few 
 able writers maintain an opposite view, and while they 
 refer those emblems or titles to the Papacy, apply this 
 prophecy and the Antichrist of St. John to an infidel 
 power of the last days. 
 
 Where so many Protestants agree with the Romish 
 interpreters, in applying the words to a heathen or in- 
 fidel, an opposite view must lie, at first, under a strong 
 suspicion of obstinate prejudice. I was myself once 
 a convert to those arguments which have been urged 
 for the application to a power opeiily infidel and 
 blasphemous. A closer search, however, has compelled 
 
256 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 me to recur, in substance, to the interpretation of Mede, 
 though since abandoned by several of his followers. 
 And I hope to prove, in this chapter, that the strict rules 
 of scriptural induction, confirmed by the voice of history, 
 fix these words to the idolatrous apostasy of the Church 
 in the latter days. 
 
 To pursue this inquiry aright, we must advance with 
 cautious steps, from the removal of false impressions, to 
 the establishment of true maxims of exposition ; from 
 the outlines which are most clear and evident, to those 
 which, at first sight, are ambiguous and obscure. 
 
 I. First, the Wilful King is not Antiochus Epipha- 
 nes. It is true that not only Porphyry, but several 
 learned Christian divines, have maintained this opinion. 
 But, however great the ingenuity and research which 
 have been employed in its behalf, the interpretation 
 does violence to the plainest truths. It is clear that the 
 description (xii. 1 — 3) was not fulfilled in the time of 
 the Maccabees. The prophecy ends with a resurrection 
 from the dust, and the end of all the Jewish dispersion. 
 It was to be, eminently, for many days. It is to last 
 until the indignation against Israel be accomplished. 
 Daniel himself must be found standing in his lot in the 
 end of the days of this vision. St. Peter clearly alludes 
 to the description in chapter xii., when he declares " it 
 was revealed that not unto themselves, but unto us, the 
 prophets did minister the things now preached" — or, in 
 other words, that the times referred to in tlie question 
 of Daniel lie within the Christian dispensation. With 
 all these clear marks to fix the close of the vision far 
 beyond the days of Antiochus, and even in times still 
 future, those only can rest satisfied in the view of Por- 
 phyry, in whom a cumbrous learning has entirely stifled 
 all simplicity of faith. Next to the historical reference 
 in the early part of the prophecy, its most conspicuous 
 feature is the future application of the closing verses, in 
 the promised time of the Jewish restoration. 
 
 II. Next, there is no proof that the Wilful King de- 
 notes one individual person. This has been often 
 
THE WILFUL KING. 257 
 
 affirmed, but without any solid reason. Three different 
 pleas for it have been alleged. First, that the prophecy 
 is free from symbols, and hence the word king may not 
 bear a symbolical sense. Secondly, that the object is to 
 describe a personal Antichrist of the last times, in con- 
 trast to the two former visions, and that this explains 
 why it begins with a history of individual kings. 
 Thirdly, that since all the rest of the vision treats of 
 individuals, a solitary exception cannot be allowed 
 without gross inconsistency, and an open violence to the 
 text. 
 
 The first of these arguments rests on a palpable error. 
 The absence of symbols is no reason why the word 
 Icing should be confined to a single person. The official 
 sense is not a symbol, but occurs both in the explanation 
 of symbols, and in other passages also. It is frequent in 
 those human writings, with which symbols have nothing 
 to do. Its use depends on a cause entirely different. 
 In a history of minute details, personal actions or fea- 
 tures will have to be described, and the term will be 
 used, naturally, in a personal and restricted sense. In 
 a broad outline of national changes, or in maxims 
 of law and policy that endure for ages, relations merely 
 personal, like hedgerows in the distant landscape, will 
 often disappear, and then the word must resume its 
 wuder meaning. The unity of the king is defined, in 
 this latter case, not by the birth or death of a person, 
 but by the sameness of the office. He becomes a per- 
 petual person ; the king never dies. Hence the warrant 
 for such an use of the word, in prophecy, depends on 
 the wide range of the prediction, and not on the pre- 
 sence or absence of prophetic symbols. 
 
 Again, it is a mere assumption that the chief aim of 
 this whole vision is to predict one remarkable person, an 
 infidel king, whether Napoleon, or some one who is still 
 to arise, and that this is the secret reason why so many 
 individuals are described. Its object has been clearly 
 stated — to make known what would befal the people of 
 Daniel in the latter days. This purpose may be equally 
 s 
 
258 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 fulfilled by a prediction of individual monarchs, or of 
 long-lasting powers. Nay, in reality, the description of a 
 power that would afflict Israel for ages must attain this 
 end more fully, than to pass over century after century 
 without notice, and predict one persecutor only, to arise 
 in the last times. Nothing can be more delusive than to 
 frame a purpose for the vision, of which it says not a 
 word, and then to make this our only key to its inter- 
 pretation. Here there is a very plain reason why the first 
 part should unfold the history of individual kings. It 
 was the design of God to reveal the fortunes of the Jews, 
 in times near at hand, with great fulness of detail, but the 
 events of distant ages with more reserve. The last part 
 of the vision was to be sealed until the time of the end. 
 The same motive of Divine wisdom that explains why 
 individuals are recorded, in all the former part, must 
 render it unlikely that they should appear in the close 
 of the prophecy. The space of time which has to be tra- 
 versed in a few verses must require either the adoption 
 of a more brief and comprehensive style, or a total de- 
 parture from the simplest laws of historical narrative. 
 
 The argument, drawn from the uniform character of 
 the rest of the chapter, is thus anticipated and over- 
 thrown. But there is a further reply which may be 
 offered, drawn simply from observation of the text. 
 The prince who turns back the reproach of Antio- 
 chus, was the Roman consul, viewed ojffkially, and no 
 one individual person. Instead of personal reproach, 
 Antiochus had offered much personal flattery, and two 
 or three different consuls took part in his overthrow. 
 The insult was offered to the nation, and it was na- 
 tionally repelled. 
 
 The titles used throughout the vision, King of the 
 North, and King of the South, illustrate the same law 
 of official unity. Several changes really occur in each 
 dynasty, which are lost and concealed under these per- 
 manent titles. So apparent is this tendency to view 
 the whole dynas^ as 07ie, wherever no personal rela- 
 tion, such as birth or death, requires notice, as to have 
 
THE WILFUL KING. 259 
 
 led one writer to maintain the absurd paradox, that only 
 one king of the north, and one king of the south, is in- 
 tended throughout the whole prophecy. 
 
 III. The general theatre of the vision, which is the 
 East, is no safe test by which to ascertain the "Wilful 
 King. It is clear that the whole prophecy, down to the 
 thirtieth verse, has its scene laid in Asia, and the coun- 
 tries around Judea. It is equally clear that the same 
 features occur in its last verses. But it would be a hasty 
 and unsound conclusion, that the Wilful King must be 
 looked for in the East only. 
 
 The express design of the vision, as the angel himself 
 tells usj is to reveal to Daniel the future lot of his people. 
 Now for six centuries the Jews were mainly, though 
 not entirely, confined to the East, and the land of Is- 
 rael. In the last days they will be gathered once more 
 from their second dispersion, and dwell in the land of 
 their fathers. From this it will naturally result that 
 all the early part of the vision, and also its close, have 
 their scene laid in the countries of the East. 
 
 For seventeen centuries, however, since the fall of 
 Jerusalem, the Jews have been exiles from Palestine. 
 The West, even more than the East, has been the 
 scene of their sufferings. The Gentile Church also, 
 which has succeeded for a time to so many of their pri- 
 vileges, has been seated chiefly in the West. To infer, 
 then, that the whole prophecy must relate to the East, 
 because this is plainly true of its earliest and latest por- 
 tions, would be quite illusive. While the Jews were 
 to be found only in Palestine and Asia, this would 
 also naturally be the scene of the vision ; but, during the 
 ages when they are dispersed both in the East and the 
 West, the same latitude must be given to the prophecy, 
 or it will fail to answer its revealed purpose. A false 
 unity would otherwise be introduced, and obscure that 
 which really exists, and runs through the whole course 
 of the vision. 
 
 IV. The Wilful King is not an open Atheist, and re- 
 jecter of all religion. This view of his character is ad- 
 
2G0 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 vocated, both by Romish divines, and by several Pro- 
 testant writers, as a first principle in the interpre- 
 tation. They affirm that he is to be ' an Infidel and 
 open Atheist, who will not only abolish the worship of 
 idols, but stand up against Christ, and take away the 
 name and adoration of the true God.' When authors of 
 such opposite schools agree in this assertion, some will 
 l)e ready to infer that a contrary view, which applies 
 the text to Christian idolatries, must be a mere contro- 
 versial prejudice opposed to the plain meaning of the 
 text. Yet it needs only an impartial view of the whole 
 prediction, to shew that the assertion is quite ground- 
 less, and refuted at once by the letter of the prophecy. 
 
 Two verses of the prediction, it must be allowed, de- 
 scribe an extensive rejection of various kinds of wor- 
 ship on the part of the Wilful King. But the two other 
 verses, it is equally plain, describe a new worship 
 which he sets up instead of the other. If one-half of 
 the prophecy can prove him an Infidel and open Athe- 
 ist, the other half will equally prove him to be an ido- 
 lator, and superstitious worshipper. To fix his character 
 by one-half of the prediction, excluding the rest, must 
 lead only to error and confusion. If one interpreter 
 may assume that the worship, in these latter verses, is 
 insincere and pretended, such as an atheist might offer ; 
 another has the same right to assume that the blas- 
 phemy in the former part, is unconscious and unde- 
 signed, such as may be offered by the blindest slaves of 
 superstition. A worship rejected, and another worship 
 set up in its room — former gods despised and set aside, 
 and a strange God increased with Divine honours, are 
 features that must meet and be reconciled in the true 
 fulfilment of the vision. No form of open and entire 
 ajbheism can possibly answer to the statement of the 
 inspired text. 
 
 The force of this truth has been felt by several of 
 those writers who refer the prophecy to an infidel 
 Antichrist. When they would refute the view of 
 Protestant interpreters, they lay down the maxim 
 
THE WILFUL KING. 2G1 
 
 broadly, like most writers of the Roman Church, 
 that the Wilful King must he an open Atheist. But 
 when they would explain the prophecy on their own 
 system, they discover that bare Atheism is too cold and 
 negative to sustain the tremendous power which Anti- 
 christ is to wield. They then discover that he will both 
 be a worshipper himself, and an object of worship to 
 others. Such contradictions must arise, when one-half 
 of the prophecy is overlooked in expounding the rest, 
 instead of explaining each separate feature in harmony 
 with the entire description. 
 
 To refute the opinion just named it is needless to 
 enter into minute details. It is enough that the Wilful 
 King is said to be a worshipper, and plainly acknow- 
 ledges a Divine power ; that, whatever be the nature of 
 this Divinity, he honours it, and increases it with glory, 
 secures to it costly offerings, and dedicates gold and 
 silver and precious stones, to increase and maintain the 
 splendour of the worship. It is a false religion, secretly 
 inspired by arrogance and pride, not a total rejection of 
 all religion, which is imputed to him as his crime. 
 Every exposition which starts by assuming the reverse, 
 is convicted by the plain words of the text of a funda- 
 mental error. 
 
 Having removed these false grounds of decision on 
 the application of the prophecy, let us now examine 
 direct marks which it supplies, to fix its own meaning. 
 
 V. The first mark may be drawn from the place of the 
 Wilful King in the prophetic history. The verse xi. 80, 
 clearly refers to the return of Antiochus from Egypt, 
 A. c. 167. The passage, xii. 1 — 8, as plainly relates to 
 a time still future. The fifteen verses which intervene 
 must therefore spread over a space of two thousand 
 years, and be either a partial selection, or a compre- 
 hensive description, of the events affecting the Jews or 
 the Church of God during those long ages. Unless 
 there be some total departure from the usual laws of 
 historical narrative, we should infer that the present 
 description relates to a period of six or seven centuries 
 
262 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 in the midway portion of that long interval of time ; and 
 that it might probably be a description of the main events 
 from the fifth to the twelfth century of the Christian 
 era. Of course so brief a history cannot reasonably be 
 tied down to the rule of exact proportion. But still the 
 above conclusion is that which would result most natu- 
 rally from the fixed data which the vision itself sup- 
 plies. 
 
 But we may reduce the inquiry within narrower 
 limits. The verses xi. 31 — 85, are by some referred to 
 the time of the Maccabees ; by others, to the military 
 triumphs and religious persecutions of the Romans, 
 from the days of Pompey to Constantine and his suc- 
 cessors. I have shown that the prophecy embraces 
 both series of events, and that it thus reaches onward 
 to the renewed persecutions of the faithful, after the 
 imperial help afforded to the Church. This will answer 
 naturally to the time of the Vandal persecutions in Africa, 
 which would clearly fulfil the words of the text. And 
 thus the continuity of the vision will lead us to assign 
 the close of the fifth, or the opening of the sixth cen- 
 tury, as the most natural date for the rise and first 
 dominion of the Wilful King. 
 
 This first mark, however, is merely a presumption, 
 and not strictly a proof. It is possible that the 85th 
 verse might include the whole range of time, down to 
 the last Papal persecution, and the Wilful King occupy 
 merely the short interval which terminates the long 
 reign of superstition in a paroxysm of infidel violence. 
 But certainly it is far less natural to suppose that one 
 verse describes the history of fourteen centuries, and 
 the ten verses which follow, only forty or fifty years at 
 the most ; than to believe that here, as elsewhere, the 
 Angel adheres closely to the main purpose of the vision, 
 and that common law of proportion which reigns in all 
 the serious narratives of history. 
 
 VI. The wilful king shall prosper till the indignation 
 he accomplished. This is a further mark of his time and 
 continuance. From Zech. i. 12. Isa. x. 24, 25 ; xii. 1. 
 
THE WILFUL KING. 263 
 
 Luke xxi. 23. 1 Tliess. ii. 16. Dan. viii. 12, 19 ; xii. 
 7 ; it will be plain that the indignation denotes here 
 the anger of God against his ancient people. That 
 anger had been signally displayed in the captivity 
 of Babylon, and its M^eight had only just been re- 
 moved. But the prophet had been warned already 
 that there was to be a future time, or latter end, of 
 this Divine indignation, that the daily sacrifice would 
 again be taken away by reason of transgression, 
 and the city and temple laid once more in ruins. He 
 is here taught that the present vision will cease, when 
 God has accomplished scattering the power of the holy 
 people. Till then, the indignation would rest heavily 
 upon them. Jerusalem, in the words of our Saviour, 
 would be trodden down of the Gentiles, and the wrath 
 would come upon Israel unto the end. 1 Thess. ii. 16. 
 When we combine these truths with the plain declara- 
 tion, that this vision relates to the future history of the 
 Jews, the meaning of the indignation seems too clear 
 to admit any reasonable doubt. To refer it to the anger 
 of the wilful king would reduce it to a mere tautology. 
 " He will prosper till his prosperity shall end." 
 
 The wilful king, therefore, is to prosper, until the 
 anger of God against Israel is accomplished. This 
 is another proof that Antiochus cannot be really meant. 
 But it is also a strong presumption that no short- 
 lived Infidel power is the object of the prediction. For the 
 reign of the wilful king is here limited by the close of the 
 Jewish desolation, and that desolation has now lasted 
 for eighteen hundred years. Now if his reign were 
 so short that it might be viewed as a mere limit, w^hen 
 compared with this long season, the phrase would 
 be unsuitable and unnatural. We should expect rather 
 one of these statements — ' he shall prosper in the end of 
 the indignation,' or * the indignation shall last until he 
 shall appear.' The actual statement implies that his 
 reign will be commensurate with the indignation, not 
 perhaps of the same length, but on a similar scale 
 and ending at the same time. This will agree with a 
 
264 CHAPTER xvr. 
 
 dynasty that lasts for ages, but not with the transient 
 and hasty reign of one Infidel king. 
 
 If we once place ourselves in the same point of view 
 with the prophet, and conceive ourselves to follow the 
 Angel's narrative down through the course of following 
 ages, the natural conclusion from the words will be very 
 plain. Whether the preceding verse refer to the Macca- 
 bean troubles, or more fully to the renewed sufferings 
 of the faithful after Constantine, the reign of the wilful 
 king must reach from that time to the final close of the 
 Jewish tribulation. 
 
 VII. In the tirtu of the end the king of the south will 
 push at him. This phrase, the time of the end, has been 
 used already in the eighth chapter, and occurs three 
 times elsewhere in the present vision. An argument 
 has been drawn from it to confine the wilful king to an 
 Infidel power of the last days ; but a more exact in- 
 quiry will derive from it an opposite conclusion. 
 
 The reasoning used has been of this kind. The ex- 
 ploits of the king are to be within this time of the end. 
 But the word end, by its derivation in Hebrew, imports 
 a cutting off, or a final and absolute limit. The tinu of 
 the end must thus be the limiting time, or the very close 
 of all these visions. In other words, it must be the 
 same with the end of the three times and a half of the 
 Little Horn. Assuming that these denote 1260 natural 
 years, the last of those years will be the time of the 
 end, or the season assigned for the exploits of the wilful 
 king. 
 
 Every part of this reasoning is unsound. The word 
 end, whatever be its derivation, is not limited in Hebrew, 
 or perhaps in any language, to the sense of a mathe- 
 matical limit, or absolute close. In fact, the Hebrew 
 word is one of three nouns, all of kindred meaning and 
 derivation ; and they are all used to denote coasts or 
 borders, in place, and a closing portion when referred to 
 time. The ends of the earth, who turn to the Lord, 
 are not mathematical lines, but the border countries of 
 the world and their inhabitants. 
 
THE WILFUL KING. 265 
 
 And even if the word, end, were thus rigidly confined, 
 the natural phrase to express an absolute close must 
 be, the end of the thiies, and not as in the prophecy, the 
 time of the end. This latter phrase cannot properly de- 
 note the end itself, but some continuous period of time, 
 distinguished from others which precede it, by a close 
 connexion with the end. In short, it must be the 
 latest of those definite intervals or spaces of time which 
 have been clearly expressed, and must reach even to 
 the final close. 
 
 Let us now seek a key to the true meaning of the 
 phrase from the visions themselves. Four great empires 
 had been revealed to the prophet, to be followed by the 
 everlasting kingdom of Messiah. By the end, he would 
 clearly understand the great crisis, when the last of 
 • these empires should fall, and the Son of Man receive 
 the kingdom. The fourth empire, he had been taught, 
 would exist in two successive forms, one of union and 
 strength, the other of weakness, division, and decay. In 
 this latter stage of its continuance, a Little Horn would 
 arise, and prosper for a time, times, and a half, until 
 wasted by Divine judgments, that would consume and 
 destroy it unto the end. Now the time of the eTid, to the 
 ear of the prophet, must imply some definite period, 
 marked oiF from others, and closely linked with the 
 fall of the last empire. One such period, and one only, 
 has been revealed to him. The little horn was to pre- 
 vail for a tim£, tvnfies and a half, during the last stage 
 of the last Empire. Here, therefore, the visions them- 
 selves being our guide, we have a period which satisfies 
 every featuife of the phrase. The time of the end must 
 be the definite period assigned to the Little Horn. To 
 those wholive near the expiration of those periods, the 
 phrase will doubtless acquire a double emphasis, when 
 restricted to its closing portion only, or to those days 
 which seem afterwards added to its termination. But 
 still the meaning derived from the prophecy itself, must 
 be " the definite predicted season of the Little Horn." 
 A strong presumption will now arise, that the Little 
 
266 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Horn of the Fourth Beast, and the Wilful King, are one 
 and the same. And this idea is greatly confirmed by the 
 oath of the Angel in the following chapter. The in- 
 quiry is made — " How long shall be the end of these 
 wonders '^" Several views have been taken of the pre- 
 cise meaning of these words. The simplest paraphrase, 
 to agree with the context, is this— How long shall be 
 the closing part of the prophecy, occupied with these 
 marvels or wonders of the wilful king 1 He replies, 
 *' that it shall be for a time, times, and a half ; and 
 when he shall have accomplished scattering the power 
 of the holy people, all these things shall be finished." 
 In other w^ords, when the indignation on the Jews is 
 accomplished, the power of the king shall come to an 
 end. The same period which had been assigned to the 
 Little Horn is thus the appointed duration of the mar-'» 
 vels in this vision, and of the king from whom the 
 marvels proceed. The close of the period is the same 
 in each case, and hence its beginning must also be the 
 same. The conclusion is hardly to be avoided, that since 
 the Wilful King is a contemporary from first to last with 
 the Little Horn, and coincides so plainly in most fea- 
 tures, these two powers are in reality one and the same. 
 
 The meaning here assigned to the phrase is in perfect 
 harmony with its use in every passage. In viii. 17, the 
 angel Gabriel says to the prophet, " the vision shall be 
 unto the time of the end." And again, " I will make 
 thee know what shall be in the future time of the in- 
 dignation ; for it (the vision) will be unto the time of 
 the end." In other words, the Angel will reveal events 
 that occur during the second and longer affliction of the 
 Jews, for the vision reaches unto the latest revealed 
 stage of the fourth empire, or the appointed times of 
 the Little Horn. 
 
 Again, the words are said to be closed up and sealed 
 until the time of the end. This, as now explained, will 
 signify that the last part of the prophecy will begin to 
 be understood clearly only when it begins to be ful- 
 filled. The opposite view compels us to infer that the 
 
THE WILFUL KING. 267 
 
 prophecy will remain sealed till its fulfilment is ended, 
 and will thus be fatal to those very expositions in which 
 it has been maintained. 
 
 The oath of the Angel assigns, therefore, the same pe- 
 riod for the marvels of the wilful king, which is pre- 
 scribed to the tyranny of the Little Horn. The same 
 period recurs five times in the Book of Revelation, where 
 it measures the abode of the Church in the wilderness, 
 the sackcloth state of the witnesses of Christ, the reign 
 of the seven-headed Beast, and the profanation of the 
 outer court by the Gentiles. When we compare these 
 passages together, and mark the unity of the moral fea- 
 tures, as well as the sameness of the time, there will 
 be a cumulative proof that the Little Horn, the Wilful 
 King, and the first or second Beast of Rev. xiii. are in 
 ' truth different expressions for one single power. 
 
 VIII. The king shall do according to his will. The 
 title is here instructive, and may assist in determining 
 the Power really designed. The article implies a re- 
 ference to some person or power already revealed to 
 the prophet. The previous history has brought us to 
 the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes, and indeed still 
 lower. That Antiochus himself is not described, has 
 been proved already. It must therefore be some per- 
 son or power, included within the times of Roman 
 sovereignty. For we have been brought already to the 
 close of the third empire, and the dominion of the fourth 
 was to last until the visible kingdom of Messiah. 
 
 There are thus three kings, already named, to one or 
 other of which the prophecy must be referred. These 
 are the fourth hinq, vii. 17, or the Roman Empire in 
 general, including the Pagan form of heathen idolatry — 
 the fierce king, viii. 23, already shewn to denote the 
 Roman power, as a foreign graft on the third or Greek 
 Empire, and which subsisted in complete separation 
 from the West for eleven hundred years ; and lastly, 
 the little horn or other king, vii. 24, which has been 
 proved in another work to represent the Papacy of 
 Rome. But since the previous verses have described 
 
268 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 the Pagan persecutions, and the Imperial help received 
 by the Church, it is more natural to identify the wilful 
 king Avith the last of these, or the little horn. 
 
 The exposition which applies these words to an Infi- 
 del king seems here to fail entirely. No previous men- 
 tion has been made of such a person, distinct from both 
 of the two little horns. Those who refer the previous 
 emblems also to such a shortlived, future Antichrist, 
 are on this point more consistent. The article has then 
 its proper reference. But to retain the true application 
 of the Little Horn to the Papacy, and then to explain 
 the king of an Infidel power, noticed here for the first 
 time, deprives the article of all force, and thus destroys 
 the internal harmony of these inspired predictions. 
 
 IX. And he will exalt himself, and magnify himself 
 above every god. The former clause referred us backward 
 to the vision of the seventh chapter, and identified the 
 king with the Little Horn. The present words form a 
 link of connexion, even still clearer, with another pro- 
 phecy. The description which St. Paul gives to the 
 Thessalonians of the Man of Sin is almost in the very 
 same words. " That day shall not come, except there 
 come the falling away first, and that Man of Sin be 
 revealed, that Son of perdition, who opposeth and ex- 
 alteth himself above all that is called God or wor- 
 shipped ; so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of 
 God, shewing himself that he is God." 
 
 The description, in these two passages, is partly in 
 the very same words. It is also plainly implied by 
 the holy Apostle that the character he describes had 
 been already announced in the Old Testament prophets. 
 Hence we may infer that St. Paul alludes to this very 
 prophecy of the wilful king, and borrows even the words 
 of his description, from those employed by the Angel 
 in this verse. 
 
 This allusion is so plain, that it has been recognized 
 by every class of interpreters, from Theodoret down to 
 our own day. And hence, even if the Antichrist of St. 
 John and the Man of Sin were two distinct powers, the 
 
THE WILFUL KING. 269 
 
 wilful king must be identified with the latter only, 
 unless we do violence to one of the clearest marks of 
 reference in the whole word of prophecy. 
 
 Fresh points of resemblance appear on further in- 
 quiry. This king is introduced, after the men of under- 
 standing have instructed many. The prediction of the 
 Man of Sin was given when the gospel was fast spread- 
 ing through the empire, and that evil power was to follow 
 a great apostasy from the faith. If pride and self-will are 
 the essence of sin, then the title, Man of Sin, and the de- 
 scription of this king, are really the same. The multi- 
 tude of gods, against or above whom he magnifies him- 
 self, are distinguished from the God of gods, who is 
 separately named. The same contrast equally ap- 
 pears in the other prediction. The Apostle notes, with 
 a strong emphasis, that the Man of Sin has a time pro- 
 perly his own, within which he must be revealed. So 
 also, a solemn oath from the Son of God limits and 
 defines the tyrannj^ of this wonder-working king. And 
 thus, as he has been identified before with the Little 
 Horn, he is here proved to be the same with the Man 
 of Sin, or Lawless one, in the later prophecy. 
 
 X. He sludl speak marvellous things against the God of 
 gods. This clause, perhaps, has chiefly led to the im- 
 pression that the predicted king is an open atheist and 
 blasphemer. Yet a close attention to the passage and to 
 its whole context will shew how little there is to coun- 
 tenance such a view. 
 
 Three alternatives are open to us, in the meaning 
 we may attach to these words. This king may 
 deny the very existence of the God of gods, and treat 
 Him as a chimera of superstition : or he may own Him 
 under that very title, and bid open defiance to his pov/er : 
 Or lastly, he may acknowledge Him in words as the 
 Supreme God, and still dishonour His name, by imput- 
 ing to Him a partnership in the foulest crimes, and thus 
 treat Him as an accomplice in his own wickedness. 
 
 There are two reasons, which seem nearly decisive 
 against the first view. To deny the existence of the 
 
270 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 God of gods is a marvel of ungodliness, entire and com- 
 plete in itself, but it seems to exclude every other. It 
 is not, as here twice repeated, Qiijphlaoth, and pelaoth, 
 marvels and wonders. This implies rather a sin, mul- 
 tiplied in various shapes and forms, against a Divinity 
 who is owned to exist. Again, since the king does 
 plainly worship, and own a Divine power, it is hardly 
 conceivable, however depraved, that he should deny the 
 being of a God of gods, or supreme Divinity. This 
 would be rather the insanity of an idiot, than the mad- 
 ness of subtle and arrogant sin. 
 
 To own the God of gods, under that very title, and 
 still to bid him defiance, seems equally impossible. It 
 is a title, not of holiness, or wisdom, or goodness, but 
 of supreme power. The blasphemies, whether openly 
 avowed, or practised without avowal, are to be aimed 
 against Jehovah under this peculiar character and title, 
 which betokens His absolute power and dominion. But 
 open blasphemy against God, under this one title, seems 
 to be possible only in the dark writhing of impious 
 despair. 
 
 We are thus brought, almost of necessity, to the last 
 alternative. Since the king will utter blasphemies 
 against the true God under this one character, as the 
 Supreme Power of the universe, it is neither a bare de- 
 nial of His existence, nor open and daring defiance, 
 that i& here described. It must rather be the ascription 
 to the Source of all Power, the God of gods, of actions 
 which He disclaims, and maxims which He regards 
 with holy abhorrence. If hateful idolatries were en- 
 joined, and the laws of God daringly repealed ; if reason 
 were to be crushed, humanity outraged, doctrines of 
 devils enforced under pain of death, and hideous cruel- 
 ties inflicted on the servants of Christ, and the name of 
 the God of gods were boldly used to justify the wicked- 
 ness, — nay, even the wrath of the Omnipotent solemnly 
 denounced against every one who might dare to resist 
 and oppose it ; then surely the words would have the 
 most complete fulfilment possible, and the king, who 
 
THE WILFUL KING. 271 
 
 should thus act, would speak marvellous things against 
 El Elim, the Supreme and Almighty God. 
 
 XI. He shall not regard the Elohim of his fathers. 
 
 This is another feature in the angelic description of 
 the king. The clause is rather ambiguous, since the 
 word Elohim may receive two opposite constructions. 
 In our received version, which Bishop Newton and 
 others prefer, it is referred to the one true God, to whom 
 the word belongs in countless passages. But the Sep- 
 tuagint, followed by Mede and many able writers, ren- 
 ders it in the plural, the gods of his fathers, and thus 
 refers it to the false gods of the heathen. 
 
 That the latter is the true meaning may be proved 
 by several arguments. First, the true God has been 
 alread}^ named by a distinct and most expressive title, 
 THE God of gods. Besides the ambiguity, it would be 
 a needless repetition, if He were spoken of in the very 
 next clause under so different a name. 
 
 Next, if the allusion had been to Antiochus, the vile 
 person mentioned before, then the Elohim of his fathers 
 would clearly be the false gods of Syria. Hence, even 
 though a transition is made to another monarch, since 
 the moral unity is so close, and the juncture almost in- 
 visible, analogy requires that the phrase should bear a 
 similar meaning. 
 
 Thirdly, the king must denote some form or stage of 
 the Roman power. But this empire has been promi- 
 nently set forth in the previous visions, as heathen and 
 idolatrous, and never as converted to the faith. The 
 rejected Elohim of his fathers must therefore be the 
 gods of his heathen ancestors, whom the king will set 
 aside. 
 
 Fourthly, since the singular, Eloah, is used' in this 
 very passage, it is more natural that its plural form, 
 Elohim, should retain the plural sense. Hence false 
 gods must be here denoted by the ambiguous term. 
 
 Finally, the word has been used already in this vision 
 to denote the false gods of Syria, which were carried by 
 Ptolemy into Egypt, xi. 8. A direct sanction is thus 
 
272 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 given to our adoption of the same version here, even 
 though the other application is more frequent. 
 
 This clause, therefore, in its simplest and most natural 
 sense, declares that the predicted king will abandon 
 every form of idol-worship derived from his Pagan fore- 
 fathers ; and that this open rejection of a religion long 
 inherited will be one marked feature in his ambitious 
 pride. 
 
 But here an objection may be started. The descrip- 
 tion is one of blame, and not of praise. But the rejec- 
 tion of heathen idolatry is a plain duty, and were it 
 the result of a Christian profession, would call for high 
 praise. It cannot therefore be the event really designed. 
 
 The difficulty may be very easily removed. To reject 
 idol- worship in the fear of God, out of zeal for His 
 commands, and jealousy for His undivided honour, is 
 indeed worthy of praise. But to reject one kind of 
 idolatry, inherited from his own forefathers, and then to 
 replace it by another, the fruit of mere self-will, and 
 condemned equally with the former by the voice of God, 
 can be no praiseworthy act in the Wilful King. Rather 
 it is the mark of a proud arrogance, which disdains 
 alike the voice of God, and the most revered customs of 
 ancestors, a double contempt of God and man. Such is 
 clearly the nature of this mark, when viewed in its 
 moral aspect, and hence the objection must entirely 
 disappear. 
 
 XII. Neither shall he regard the desire of women. 
 
 All the early writers, whether Jews or Christians, 
 seem to have understood by this phrase a pretence of 
 chastity, or a contempt of marriage, or some kindred 
 idea. Of late, several writers have maintained, that the 
 desire of women is the personal title of some Deity ; ac- 
 cording to Venema, the celestial Venus, but, as others 
 interpret, the Messiah. This view has been supported 
 by some plausible and ingenious arguments. It is per- 
 haps the chief cause why not a few Protestant writers 
 have here forsaken the view of Mede, and referred the 
 whole description to some open Atheist. In spite, how- 
 
THE WILFUL KING. >\*^27S 
 
 eVeY, of the currency which this opinion has laf^jj pb'- 
 tained, I believe that it is quite groundless, and that a 
 strange inaccuracy in a simple point of verbal criticism 
 is the sole foundation on which it rests. 
 
 Two chief arguments have been urged to prove that 
 th€ desire of ivomen denotes the Messiah. First, it is 
 said that the Hebrew idiom requires us to interpret the 
 phrase, that which women desire to have, and not, as in 
 the usual construction, the desire of hamnq women. The 
 word, desire, wherever it is joined with a genitive in the 
 Hebrew, is asserted to be taken passively for the object 
 of that desire. Again, the form of the sentence proves 
 that some Deity is meant, since the desire of women is 
 included between the ffods of his fathers, and tverij god^ 
 and it is said of all these alike, that he will disregard 
 them. Hence it is inferred that it must denote the 
 Messiah, since his birth was a leading object of desire 
 to Jewish women. 
 
 Even at the first glance, there are two difficulties in 
 the way of this reasoning, however ingenious and con- 
 vincing it may appear. If the true construction depends 
 entirely on a Hebrew idiom, it is strange that no 
 early writer, either Jew or Christian, should have lit 
 on the correct meaning. And again, the birth of Mes- 
 siah was not an object of desire to women in general, 
 but only to believing women among the Jews. This 
 seems a narrow basis for so general a title, and no spe- 
 cial reason is assigned for its adoption here. But there 
 is no need to rest on presumptions merely. The alleged 
 fact, on which the theory is made to rest, is a mere 
 oversight, which a closer inspection overthrows entirely. 
 
 The word chemdah, here translated desire, occurs only 
 in fifteen other places. (1 Sam. ix. 20 ; 2 Chron. xxi. 
 20 ; xxxii. 27 ; xxvi. 10 ; Psalm cvi. 24 ; Isa. ii. 16 ; 
 Jer. iii. 19 ; xii. 10 ; xxv. 34 ; Ez. xxvi. 12 ; Dan. xi. 
 8 ; Hos. xiii. 15 ; Nah. ii. 19 ; Hag. ii. 7 ; Zech. vii. 
 14). The passage in Haggai, like the one before us, has 
 its meaning still disputed. Setting this aside, there is 
 Jiot one passage in the whole nwriber, where it deiiotes an 
 
 T 
 
274 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 object of desire. In every instance it signifies the emo- 
 tion itself, or the abstract quality of beauty or pleasant- 
 ness which gives rise to that emotion. 
 
 The meaning of the word being thus clear and cer- 
 tain, its use with a genitive must follow the universal 
 law, which extends to Hebrew and most other languages. 
 The genitive will be either active or passive, as its own 
 context decides in each particular case. The desire of 
 women must therefore denote, either the emotion of de- 
 sire that women feel, or that of which they are the ob- 
 ject, or the beauty and pleasantness from which these 
 emotions arise. The first sense is here plainly unsuitable. 
 The two others agree in effect, and one or other of 
 them must therefore certainly be the meaning of the 
 phrase. Such is indeed the construction of the words 
 which has been generally received for many ages. 
 
 The other argument has still to be examined. The 
 position of these words has been thought a clear proof 
 that they must denote some Deity. They are joined in 
 the same construction with the gods of his fathers, and 
 with every god, the double object of his contempt. This 
 reasoning has been carried still further. The general 
 statement, " he shall magnify himself above every god," 
 is divided, it is maintained, into three parts, which relate 
 to the God of gods, the Desire of women, and the gods 
 of his fathers. Then the words at the close, " for he 
 shall magnify himself above all," shut in the desire of 
 women among the deities which he rejects ; for their 
 only possible sense must be — above all the deities, who 
 have been already named. 
 
 This reasoning is equally deceptive. The structure 
 of the words does not warrant this idea of a threefold 
 division of the general statement. The two verses are 
 distinguished from each other, and the threefold cha- 
 racter, which by an ingenious omission they seem to 
 countenance, disappears when the text itself is given. 
 
 " And he will exalt himself, and magnify himself 
 against every God, and will speak marvellous things 
 against the God of gods ; and w^ill prosper until the in- 
 
 J 
 
THE WILFUL KING. 276 
 
 dignation be accomplished ; for the thing determined 
 shall be done. 
 
 " And to the gods of his fathers he will not have regard ; 
 and to the desire of women ; and to every god he will 
 not have regard, for he will magnify himself above all." 
 There is here no trace of a threefold structure, as if 
 the God of gods, the desire of women, and the gods of 
 his fathers, were named to subdivide the more extensive 
 phrase, every god. The words point rather to an opposite 
 view ; that the God of gods, the El Elim is contrasted 
 with the Elim, over whom He reigns, and is the object 
 of an offence different in kind ; and that the gods of his 
 fathers, and the desire of women, are the objects of an 
 offence different in kind from the general contempt of 
 every god : in short, that impiety is mainly condemned 
 in the former verse, and in the latter, the aggravation 
 of that impiety by a contempt of the deepest feelings 
 and most sacred ties of human reverence and love. 
 
 Again, the last clause leads to an inference exactly 
 the reverse of that which it has been supposed to prove. 
 If the word, all, be paraphrased, all deities, the clause is 
 a mere useless repetition of the one before it. On the 
 same hypothesis, the previous expression should have 
 been, any other god. As the phrase now stands, it is a 
 clear proof that the word, all, has a wider range than 
 every god, which is one only of the three particulars 
 it includes. 
 
 There is then another meaning, which restores its 
 propriety and force to the expression, and removes all 
 appearance of useless repetition. The grand feature of 
 the description is arrogant pride. This may reveal 
 itself in two main aspects, impiety towards all celes- 
 tial power, and contempt of all earthly and human 
 affections. The dark outline will then be complete, and 
 both tables of the law alike will be shattered and 
 broken. Such is the character here described. The king 
 shows his impiety by exalting himself above every sub- 
 ordinate Divine power, and utters marvellous speeches 
 of arrogance against the Supreme God himself. His 
 
 T 2 
 
27<5 cflAPTEH xrr, 
 
 impiety is aggravated by a contempt of the strongest 
 ties of nature. The religious usages of his own fathers 
 are not on this account the more sacred in his eyes. 
 The bonds of marriage, and the tender emotions of fe- 
 male love are equally despised. He will magnify himself 
 above all — all divinities in heaven, and all the claims of 
 kindred upon earth j above all celestial powers and all 
 human sympathies, however sacred and venerable^ and 
 however closely interwoven with the deepest passions of 
 the heaii;. 
 
 The words, thus restored to their natural meaning, 
 form a new link of connexion, and lead us by the hand 
 to another prophecy, which may throw further light on 
 tlie character of this king. 1 Tim. iv. 1-— 3. " Now the 
 Spirit saith expressly, that in after times some will re- 
 volt from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and 
 doctrines of demons ; through the hypocrisy of liars, 
 seared as with a hot iron in their own conscience, that 
 forbid to Triarry, and command to abstain from meats, 
 which God created to be received with thanksgiving by 
 them that believe and have known the truth." 
 
 If the word, expressly, bore the sense which Mede 
 ascribes to it, in a written prophecy, the allusion here 
 would be, as he supposes, immediate and full. But this 
 appears to be an error. The word signifies rather, 
 jilairdy and clearly, in contrast to a message that is 
 ambiguous or obscure. The statement may refer to this 
 passage in Daniel, but in an opposite manner. This 
 part of the vision had been closed up and sealed until 
 the time of the end. It was therefore couched pur- 
 posely in terms, "hard to be interpreted" (Heb. v. 12), 
 and wore the features of peculiar mystery. But when 
 the Christian dispensation, out. of which the apostasy 
 would arise, was now begun, the Spirit of God saw fit 
 to draw the veil gradually aside, and hence repeated 
 the warning, before so dim and mysterious. In a plainer 
 and more intelligible form. The obscure or ambiguous 
 clauses of the elder prophecy now find their counterpart 
 in phrases of similar meaning, but easier to understand. 
 
THE WILFUL KING. 277 
 
 The new woi"ship set up by the king is now, more 
 plainly, an apostasy from the Christian faith ; the wor- 
 ship of Mahuzzim is a " doctrine concerning demons " or 
 idolatrous additions to the Gospel ; and his disregard of 
 the desire of women is expounded by " the hypocrisy 
 of liars, that forbid to marry." The whole outline comes 
 out clear and distinct in two main features, idolatry 
 under the mask of Christian faith, and selfish pride 
 under a thin veil of Christian holiness. 
 
 XIII. But in his estate with Eloah he will honour Ma- 
 huzzim. 
 
 We now enter on the second part of this description, 
 which exhibits the new worship set up by the wilful 
 king. Here several questions of some difficulty will arise. 
 I will fii-st offer what appears to me the most natural 
 translation, and consider afterwards the chief points in 
 dispute one by one. 
 
 ' But in his estate with Eloah he will honour Ma- 
 huzzim ; even with an Eloah, whom his fathers knew 
 not, he will honour them, with gold, and with silver, 
 and with precious stones, and with pleasant things. 
 
 ' And he will offer to the strongholds of Mahuzzim, 
 with a foreign Eloah whom he will acknowledge ; he 
 will increase their glory, and will cause them to rule 
 over many, and will divide the land for gain.' 
 
 First, what is the meaning here of the word Mahuz- 
 zim % We have almost a sufficient key in this chap- 
 ter alone. In the very opening of the prophecy, the 
 Angel says to Daniel — " In the first year of Darius the 
 Mede, I stood up, lemahoz lo,'" to strengthen him, or 
 be a Mahoz to him. In the ninth verse, the king of 
 the south enters into the Mahoz, or fortress, of the king 
 of the north. In the next verse, again, the king is 
 stirred up, "even Mamzah^'' to his fortress. In the 
 thirty-first verse the arms that stand up are said to pol- 
 lute hammiqdosh hammahoz, the sanctuary of strength. 
 Lastly, in 2 Sam. xxii. 33 ; Psalm xxvii. 1 ; xxviii. 8. 
 Nah. i. 7, and five other places, the title is applied to God 
 himself, the true strength and fortress of His people. 
 
273 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 These texts throw a clear light on the passage before 
 us. The word properly denotes a fortress, and hence is 
 frequently applied to God, the true fortress of his ser- 
 vants. The Son of God has here employed it to de- 
 scribe His own guardian care, as the Angel of God's 
 covenant, over Darius the Mede. The sanctuary is 
 styled the sanctuary of the Mahoz, from the protecting 
 presence of the God of Israel. And hence Mahumm 
 must here denote guardian deities, or tutelary powers, 
 who receive worship as protectors and guardians, de- 
 fences and fortresses, from their votaries. 
 
 Next, is the Eloah, here mentioned, distinct from the 
 Mahuzzim, or the very same ? The preposition seems 
 ambiguous, and will allow either version, "/or a god, or 
 with Ood, he will honour Mahuzzim." But the phrase 
 is repeated three times, and the third repetition removes 
 the ambiguity, and seems to prove that the two are 
 really distinct. 
 
 " And with, or for Eloah, he will honour Mahuzzim 
 in his seat, even with an Eloah his fathers knew not, 
 he will honour them ; and he will offer to the strong- 
 holds of the Mahuzzim, with a foreign god whom he 
 will acknowledge ; and he will cause them to rule over 
 many." 
 
 In the third clause the Eloah is distinguished from 
 the Mahuzzim, both by another preposition, more defi- 
 nite in its meaning, and by the plain contrast of number, 
 one Eloah and many Mahuzzim. The same construction 
 must therefore be retained throughout. The king will 
 honor Eloah, even an Eloah whom his fathers knew not, 
 a foreign Eloah whom he will acknowledge. With this 
 Eloah, he will honour gods protectors in his seat ; he 
 will honour them with gold and silver, and pleasant 
 things ; he will offer to their strongholds with the foreign 
 Eloah, and will cause them to rule over many, and 
 divide the land for gain. The general feature of the 
 whole is that of one chief, and many subordinate, 
 objects of worship. 
 
 Let us now endeavour to fix the meaning of the 
 
THE WILFUL KIXG, 279 
 
 Eloah, or foreign God, whom the king will acknow- 
 ledge. Three distinct phrases are employed, and seem 
 to imply three gradations of Divine honour. We 
 have first El, and its plural Elim, v. 38, a term ap- 
 plied also to mighty men ; and which the Apostle 
 seems to expound by the phrase, irdvTa KeySfievov Oehi/, fi 
 afBaa-fia, " every one that is called god, or an object of 
 worship." It will thus include human governors, and 
 all the lower deities of the heathen. There is next 
 Eloah, and its plural Elohim, v. 37, which denotes 
 either the true God, in the distinctness of three Per- 
 sons ; or the celestial gods of heathen worship, the 
 chief Divinity of each separate nation. Such appears 
 its distinctive sense in the speech of Sennacherib, and in 
 the description of the Chaldeans in Habakkuk, the only 
 texts where it is applied to a heathen god. " No Eloah 
 of any nation hath delivered his people out of my hand." 
 " His mind shall change, and he shall offend, imputing 
 this his power to his Eloah." Yet the appearance of 
 the Son of God is described b}-- the same prophet under 
 this very title. "Eloah came from Teman, and the 
 Holy One from Paran." The word may thus denote a 
 heathen Deity, or the Son of God himself, but chiefly 
 under this one aspect, as the main protecting Deity of 
 some one power or nation. The third and highest term 
 employed here is El Elim, the God of gods. And this 
 clearly denotes Jehovah, the true God, supreme alike 
 over all the hosts of heaven, and the false idols of the 
 heathen. 
 
 Who then is the Eloah here mentioned in this de- 
 scription of the wilful king "J This is the feature of the 
 passage which is the hardest to explain. If a false 
 god w^ere meant, why is he contrasted with the Ma- 
 huzzim, as one with many, and described by a term 
 used elsewhere, with two exceptions, for the true God 
 only 1 Why also is he first mentioned in a way that 
 implies an exclusive claim to the title — " with God he 
 will honour Mahuzzim? " On the other hand, if the 
 true God were designed, why is a new title employed. 
 
280 CHAPTER XTI. 
 
 and not the God of gods, or Jehovah, the incommnni- 
 cable name of Divine Majesty ? Why has the term 
 been applied just before to heathen deities, or how- 
 should the worship of this Eloah be made one main 
 feature in the dark character of this apostate king ? 
 
 These contradietary features appear to be all satisfied 
 b^^ the following interpretation, and by this alone. The 
 Eloah spoken of may be viewed in two opposite aspects. 
 One light may exhibit what he is in himself, and the 
 other the nature of the worship he receives, and what 
 he is in the view of these predicted worshippers. He 
 is the true God, and yet a false Divinity. He is an 
 Eloah in that blessed Elohim of whom it is written in 
 the great commandment-—" The Lord our Elohim is one 
 Lord ; " yet he is here made the object of a heathenish 
 worship, with many subordinate idols. In short, our 
 Lord himself, the Son of God, may be here intended ; 
 but known and worshipped after the flesh, not after 
 the Spirit ; not as received into the incommunicable 
 glory, the object of incommunicable worship, but de- 
 graded into an Eloah, or chief patron Divinity, who 
 shares His worship with many Mahuzzim ; dishonoured 
 by a gross and sensual adoration, in the image, the cru- 
 cifix, or wafel's of bread, while really disowned and re- 
 jected in His spiritual and eternal glory. 
 
 This view seems alone to meet all the characters, of 
 the prediction, apparently so discordant. " With Eloah 
 the king will honour Mahuzzim in his seat ; " even with 
 Eloah, of whom it is written — " God came from Teman, 
 and the Holy One from Paran." "Is there an Eloah be- 
 side me ? Yea, there is none, I know not any." Yet 
 He is worshipped as the tutelary power of a visible 
 and worldly community, like the Eloah to whom the 
 Chaldean king ascribed his victories. It is an Eloah 
 whom the ancestors of the king knew not ; " for had 
 they known Him, they would not have crucified the 
 Lord of glory." It is " a foi*eign Eloah whom he will 
 acknowledge ; " as St. Paul seemed to the Athenians 
 *-a setter forth of foreign gods," because he preached 
 
THE WILFUL KING. 281 
 
 Jesus and the resurrection. He is the son of David, 
 and king of the Jews, adopted as an Eloah by their 
 Roman conquerors, and now become the object of a na- 
 tional and worldly confidence by that state w^hich had 
 levelled the temple with the ground, and laid the throne 
 of David in the dust. 
 
 XIV. And he will offer to the strongholds of the Mahuz- 
 zim, with the foreign Eloah whom he %oill acknowledge ; 
 he icill increase their glory ^ and cause them to ride over 
 Qnang, and divide the land for gain. 
 
 This last verse of the description has received various 
 tmnslations, and certainly presents some difficulty. The 
 version of Mede is as follows — 
 
 " And he shall make the strongholds of the Mahuz- 
 ^im jointly to the foreign god, whom, acknowledging, 
 he will increase with glory ; and he will cause them to 
 rule over many." 
 
 Bishop Newton adopts a diflFerent rendering — 
 
 " Thus shall he do : to the defenders of Mahuzzim, 
 with the foreign god whom he will acknowledge, he 
 will increase glory ; and will cause them to rule over 
 many." 
 
 And Dr. Gill, followed by others, another variety — 
 
 " And he shall make for his fortified cities Mahuz- 
 zim, together with the strange god, whom he will ac- 
 knowledge ; he shall multiply their honour, and make 
 them rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain." 
 
 Wintle offers a fourth translation — 
 
 " And he shall provide for fortresses of Mahuzzim, 
 together with God ; whom he will certainly acknow- 
 ledge, and he shall multiply the honour, and cause them 
 to have dominion over many ; for the land will he dis- 
 tribute at a price." 
 
 There is a difficulty in each of these versions which 
 renders it unlikely that they give the exact meaning. 
 The first, besides other objections to which it is exposed, 
 entirely overlooks a Hebrew preposition. The second 
 isolates the first words in a manner scarcely natural, 
 and the meaning it assigns to miUsari is at least doubt- 
 
282 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 ful. The third adopts a harsh license, in neglecting the 
 regimen of the same word, which ought naturally to 
 govern the following noun ; and the last is equally 
 strained, in translating the adjective, Tiekar, as a parti- 
 ciple of the verb, to acknoivledge. On the whole, the one 
 offered above appears the simplest, and requires the 
 least departure from the common usage of terms. 
 
 The word mihtsari occurs thirty-seven times in the 
 Hebrew Scriptures, and everywhere bears the uniform 
 sense, fortresses^ or strongholds. It is therefore harsh, 
 and scarcely admissible, to translate it in this place only, 
 defenders. The usual meaning should be preserved. And 
 since the temple, consecrated to God, is called the sanc- 
 tuary of Mahoz, buildings dedicated to tutelary deities, 
 whether cities, forts, or temples, may be naturally 
 termed, strongholds of Mahuzzim. Hence the connexion 
 between the two words in their construction cannot be 
 broken without violence. 
 
 Again, the word asah, to do, is very wide and various 
 in its meaning. It is used, among its other applications, 
 to denote acts of worship, or religious offerings, as Ex. 
 X. 25. " And we shall sacrifice (veasinu) to the Lord 
 our God." It occurs in this sense nearly a hundred times. 
 In these prophecies it has been frequently used to de- 
 note military or political success. But in the passage 
 before us it is joined with several terms, which relate 
 to acts of worship ; and such is plainly the chief subject 
 of these verses. It is quite natural, therefore, to un- 
 derstand the word in this sense. " And he shall offer^ 
 or do service, to the strongholds of Mahuzzim." The 
 construction will then present scarcely any difficulty, 
 and a meaning will result in entire harmony with the 
 previous verse. 
 
 The words " a foreign god whom he will acknow- 
 ledge," are a further explanation of the previous de- 
 scription, " a god whom his fathers knew not." Its proper 
 and natural meaning must be, that the worship of this 
 Divinity was borrowed by the wilful king from some 
 other nation, and was unknown to his fathers. 
 
THE WILFUL KING. 283 
 
 Such, in conclusion, are the results which flow from 
 a careful inquiry into the natural meaning of this pas- 
 sage. The Wilful King here described is one who might 
 he expected to rise after the renewed persecutions of the 
 faithful, when imperial help had been given them, and 
 to continue, perhaps for ages, until the restoration of 
 Israel. His title as the king, and the time appointed 
 him in the words of the Angel, prove him to be the 
 same with the Little Horn, speaking great words against 
 the Most High. The description of his acts, and the 
 very words employed, prove him further to be the same 
 with the predicted Man of Sin. He will reject every 
 form of heathen worship, commended to him by the 
 long practice of his fathers, utter proud speeches of 
 surprising arrogance, and of real blasphemy against the 
 God of heaven, trample under his feet the strongest in- 
 stincts of domestic love, and thus magnify himself 
 against God and man. He will, however, adopt a foreign 
 Eloah, derived from the Jews, for his own ; but will 
 turn the very worship he pays to the Son of God into 
 the key-stone of a wide and spreading system of idola- 
 try, in which he will pay reverence to a multitude of 
 guardian powers, and cause them to receive homage 
 and costly worship from his people. 
 
'^Bm 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE WILFUL KING. 
 
 Dan. XI. 36—39. — And the king shall do according to his will ; and 
 he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above eveky god, 
 and shall speak mabtellous things against the god of gods, and 
 shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished : for that 
 that is determined shall be done. neither shall he regard the 
 God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god : 
 for he shall magnify himself above all. but in his estate shall 
 he honour the god of forces : and a god whom his fathers knew 
 not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious 
 stones, and pleasant things. thus shall he do in the most strong 
 holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and in- 
 crease with glory : and he shall cause thbm to rule over many, 
 and shall divide the land fob gain. 
 
 The main critical difficulties in this remarkable pas- 
 sage have been resolved in the last chapter. I shall now 
 endeavour to trace its historical application, and to ex- 
 plain more fully the connexion and natural force of the 
 prediction. The exposition already offered of the Little 
 Horn, in the former work, will render it less needful to 
 enlarge ; but there are here several fresh features, to 
 which history, as before, will supply an exact key. 
 
 The previous verse had announced a renewed perse- 
 cution, not of all the faithful, but of some among their 
 number, which would continue even to the time of the 
 end. These words apply accurately to the local perse- 
 cutions of believers under the Arian Emperors, and the 
 fierce and savage cruelties of the Vandals against the 
 
THE HISTORY O'P THE WILFUL KING. 285 
 
 confessoi-s of th6 faith. When, however, the time of the 
 end, or the predicted three times and a half should be- 
 gin, these persecutions would gradually become more 
 systematic and severe. So that the prophecy at once 
 proceeds to describe the king, who would prosper in 
 the time of the end, and by whom the fires would be 
 kindled afresh, with more than Pagan cruelty, against 
 the followers of God. 
 
 And the king shall do according to his will. The title, 
 as we have seen, refers us naturally to the previous 
 mention of the king, under the emblem of the Little 
 Horn, who displaces three kings, and then exalts him- 
 self to supreme power in the fourth empire. The same 
 phrase has been used before to describe the rise of the 
 Persian empire, the victories of Alexander, and the ex- 
 ploits of Antiochus the Great. In each instance it de- 
 notes a prosperous dominion, that triumphs over every 
 adverse power. Such was truly the character of the 
 Papal empire, for several centuries of its long course. 
 The language of its own orator, just before the Refor- 
 mation, was this, ' nemo reclamat, nemo resistit ;' while 
 he boldly applied to the Pope that prediction as actu- 
 ally fulfilled. — " All kings shall fall down and worship ; 
 all nations shall serve and obey him." 
 
 And he will exalt himself , and magnify himself above 
 every god. This character of self-exaltation was never 
 more signally fulfilled than in the Popedom. The lan- 
 guage of praise is nowhere higher or more ostentatious, 
 than in the Decretals and Bulls of the Popes themselves. 
 There we read, that their princedom is far more excel- 
 lent than every human princedom ; that emperors ought 
 to obey, and not to rule over the pontiffs ; that they 
 owe an oath of fealty and subjection to the Pope, as 
 their superior and head ; that the tribunals of kings are 
 subject to the sacerdotal power : that what they decree, 
 ought to be observed by all ; that as the Son of God 
 came to do the will of His Father, so ought the will of 
 the Pope to be done by all Christians ; that their deci- 
 sions are to be received as the voice of the Divine Peter 
 
286 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 himself ; that even if they impose an intolerable yoke, 
 it must be borne with pious devotion ; that for any 
 Christian or Church to affect independence, is for the axe 
 to boast against him that heweth therewith ; that the 
 word by which heaven and eartli were founded, has com- 
 mitted to them the authority of earthl}-^ and heavenly 
 empire ; that the sacred power and authority of the 
 Pontiffs govern the rulers of this world ; that the Pope 
 has a perpetual dowry of merits, and the inheritance of 
 innocency ; that Christian emperors are bound to 
 submit their mandates to his ; that the Pontiff can- 
 not be bound or judged by the secular power, be- 
 cause it is manifest that God cannot be judged by 
 man. This king declares further, in his own decrees, 
 that it is permitted neither to speak nor to think 
 differently from him ; that appeal must be made unto 
 him as the nile of faith : that he imparts authority to 
 laws, but is not bound by them ; that in others there 
 is the necessity of obeying, in him the authority 
 to enjoin observance ; that He alone may decide 
 on the extent of his own power ; that he is made 
 the head of the whole world ; that none may speak in 
 public or private, against his decisions ; that He has 
 power to judge all men, and is judged by none ; and in 
 fine, that by the Divine mouth he is known to be 
 EXALTED above ALL. Such are, even in his own words, 
 the declarations of this king concerning his own great- 
 ness, and they fully answer to the prediction. 
 
 This rejection of every god must, however, be ex- 
 plained and limited by the following verses. In the case 
 of worldly rulers, who are called gods, his exaltation 
 above them is complete. So it is also with regard to all 
 the deities of the heathen, and their subordinate ob- 
 jects of worship, who are chiefly denoted by this 
 term. With respect, on the other hand, to the God 
 of gods, or to the Eloah and Mahuzzim of the follow- 
 ing verses, one statement limits and explains the other. 
 In heart he magnifies himself above every god ; but 
 in profession there are those to whom he renders divine 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE WILFUL KING. 287 
 
 honours and costly worship. A king, who claims the 
 power of creating his own Creator, and placing whom 
 he will among the gods-protectors whom he has canon- 
 ized, fulfils thoroughly every part of the description. 
 
 And he will speak marvellous things against the God of 
 gods. The offence of the Wilful King against the God 
 of gods is here marked as different in kind from that 
 direct self-exaltation, by which he magnifies himself 
 above all heathen deities, or all worldly rulers. He 
 speaks marvellous things concerning him, or against 
 him ; for the word bears equally either sense. The 
 title here used seems designed to point out to us the na- 
 ture of the sin. It is a title of supreme power, not 
 of goodness or holiness. The king speaks marvel- 
 lous things against the Almighty, by charging Him 
 with a direct confederacy and partnership in his own 
 acts and decrees, however enormous their guilt. He 
 declares that the God of gods himself has put kings 
 under his power, and commands them to be subject 
 to him ; that his decrees are really part of the 
 word of the living God ; that the written oracles of 
 the God of gods are to be received, because he has 
 given his judgment for receiving them ; that the Lord 
 has received him into a share of his own undivided 
 unity ; that the voice of tlie Lord has made him su- 
 preme ; that the word by which heaven and earth and 
 all the elements were made, has committed to him both 
 earthly and heavenly empire ; that those who trans- 
 gress any of his decrees shall feel the anger of the Al- 
 mighty in this life and the life to come, and those who 
 observe them shall be protected by the Almighty God ; 
 that his decrees, even where they flatly contradict the 
 Scriptures, are the judgment of the Holy Ghost ; that 
 those, whether emperors, nobles, governors, or senators, 
 w^ho distrust even the grossest lies, uttered by him to ad- 
 vance his own pride, shall be bound under eternal dam- 
 nation " by the living God and his terrible judgment." 
 (Four Emp. p, 214.) 
 
 Further, he denounces solemnly the indignation of 
 
288 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Almighty God against those who venture to affirm that 
 the best penitence is a new life, or that indulgences are 
 pious frauds and remissions of good works, or that it 
 is against the will of the Spirit to burn heretics ; or 
 that the Pope cannot make articles of faith, or is not 
 supreme over all Christians. He boldly proclaims 
 the everlasting God to be his acccomplice, whether he 
 deifies himself as a god upon earth, or hunts out the 
 faithful of Christ for torture and death, or enrols his 
 own decrees amongst the Scriptures of truth, or deposes 
 emperors and kings from their thrones, or absolves from 
 the obligation of the most solemn oaths, or requires all 
 men to believe, under peril of eternal damnation, that a 
 consecrated wafer of bread is the true and supreme God, 
 and the proper object of Divine worship. If these are not 
 marvellous speeches against the God of gods, how can our 
 imagination invent others which may deserve the name ? 
 
 And will prosper until the indignation he accomplished, 
 for the thing determined shall he do7u. 
 
 These words, as we have seen, refer to the indignation 
 of God against Israel, his ancient people. They answer 
 thus to the prediction of our Saviour. " There shall 
 be great distress in the land, and wrath (indignation) 
 on this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the 
 sword, and be led away captive into all nations, and 
 Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until 
 the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." 
 
 Pagan Rome was the direct instrument of God in 
 the overthrow of the temple, and of the Jewish nation. 
 When the Christian faith prevailed over the empire, it 
 might have been hoped, seeing that our Lord had de- 
 clared salvation to be of the Jews, that an opposite 
 spirit would henceforward have prevailed, that the suf- 
 ferings of the outcasts would have been assuaged by 
 grateful memories of the past, and the hearts of Gentile 
 believers, children in the faith, would have been turned 
 towards their Jewish forefathers, and look with sympa- 
 thy and deep kindness upon the wanderers of Zion. But 
 facts very soon dispelled this illusive hope. The indig- 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE WILFUL KING. 289 
 
 nation was not accomplished, and Papal Rome, even 
 towards the Jews, learned to rival or surpass the seve- 
 rity of those heathen warriors who laid the temple in 
 ruins. 
 
 Of these sufferings of the Jews in Christendom dur- 
 ing the Papal domination, and as the direct result of 
 the revived maxims of persecution of which Rome was 
 the fountain-head, it will be enough to extract two or 
 three examples, derived from a single author. 
 
 * The intolerant spirit,' Gibbon writes, in reference 
 to Spain when newly subjected to Rome, "since it 
 could find neither idolaters nor heretics, was reduced to 
 the persecution of the Jews. Tliat exiled nation had 
 founded some sjmagogues in the cities of Gaul; but 
 Spain, shice the time of Hadrian, was filled with their 
 
 numerous colonies Sisebut, a Gothic king, ivho 
 
 reigned in the beginning of the seventh century, proceeded 
 at once to the last extremes of persecution. Ninety 
 thousand Jews were compelled to receive the sacrament 
 of baptism ; the fortunes of the obstinate infidels were 
 confiscated, their bodies were tortured ; and it seems 
 doubtful w^hether they were permitted to abandon their 
 native country. The excessive zeal of the Catholic king- 
 was moderated, even by the clergy of Spain, who so- 
 lemnly pronounced an inconsistent sentence ; that the 
 sacraments should not be forcibly imposed, but that the 
 Jews who had been baptized should be constrained, for 
 the honour of the Church, to persevere in the outward 
 practice of a religion which they disbelieved and de- 
 tested. Their frequent relapses provoked one of the 
 successors of Sisebut to banish the w^hole nation from 
 his dominions, and a council of Toledo published a de- 
 cree that every Gothic king should swear to maintain 
 this salutary edict. But the tyrants were unw'iliing to 
 dismiss the victims, whom they delighted to torture, or 
 to deprive themselves of industrious slaves, over w^hom 
 they might exercise a lucrative oppression. The Jews 
 continued in Spain under the Aveight of those civil and 
 ecclesiastical laws, which in the same country have 
 u 
 
290 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 been faithfully transcribed in the code of the inquisi- 
 tion." (Gibbon c. 37.) 
 
 These persecutions began a.d. 614, within thirty- 
 years after the subjection of the Gothic monarchy to 
 the see of Rome by the accession of Recared, who re- 
 nounced the Arian creed of his fathers. And it is re- 
 markable how the history links the last act of heathen 
 Rome's persecuting violence, under Hadrian, with this 
 signal renewal of the same indignation under the cruel 
 intolerance of the Wilful King. 
 
 The same spirit had been shown still earlier in Italy 
 itself, under the eye of the Pope, and by his direct in- 
 stigation, even at a time when his power was in its 
 infant weakness. 
 
 ' The religious toleration which Theodoric introduced 
 into the Christian world, was painful and offensive to 
 the orthodox zeal of the Italians. They respected the 
 armed heresy of the Goths ; but their rage was safely 
 pointed against the rich and defenceless Jews, who had 
 formed their establishments at Naples, Rome, Ravenna, 
 Milan, and Genoa, for the benefit of trade, and under 
 the sanction of the laws. Their persons were insulted, 
 their effects were pillaged, and their synagogues burnt 
 by the mad populace of Ravenna and Rome. A legal 
 inquiry was instituted, and as the authors of the tumult 
 had escaped in the crowd, the whole community was 
 condemned to repair the damage, and the obstinate 
 bigots who refused their contribution were whipped 
 through the streets by the hand of the executioner. 
 This simple act of justice exasperated the discontent of 
 the Catholics, who applauded the merit and patience of 
 these holy confessors, and three hundred pulpits de- 
 plored the persecution of the Church.' (c. 39). 
 
 The connexion of these persecutions with the worship 
 of the predicted Mahuzzim, and the false wonders by 
 which that worship was ushered in, with their natural 
 effect on infidel minds, may be traced in another and 
 earlier passage of the same historian, where (c. 28) he 
 describes the rise of Christian polytheism. * At Minor- 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE WILFUL KING. 291 
 
 ca,' he tells us with his wonted sarcasm, * the relics of 
 St. Stephen converted in eight days 540 Jews, with the 
 help, indeed, of some wholesome severities, such as burn- 
 ing the synagogue, and driving the obstinate infidels to 
 starve among the rocks. See the original letter of Seve- 
 rus, bishop of Minorca.' (c. 28, note 80.) 
 
 When, in the time of the crusades, the power of the 
 Wilful King began to reach its height, its culmination 
 ■\tas equally marked by bitter sufferings to the Jews. 
 To persecute was become a main element of the new 
 idolatrous religion, and in these persecutions the Jews 
 naturally came in for one chief share. 
 
 ' Of these (the first crusaders), and of other bands of 
 enthusiasts, the first and most easy warfare was against 
 the Jews, the murderers of the Son of God. ... At Ver- 
 dun, Treves, Mentz, Spires, and Worms, many thou- 
 sands of that unhappy people were pillaged and massa- 
 cred, 7ior had they felt a more bloody stroke since the i^er- 
 secution of Hadrian. A remnant was saved by the firm- 
 ness of their bishops, who accepted a feigned and trans- 
 ient conversion ; but the more obstinate Jews opposed 
 their fanaticism to the fanaticism of the Christians, 
 barricaded their houses, and precipitating themselves, 
 their families, and their wealth, into the rivers or the 
 flames, disappointed the malice, or at least the avarice, 
 of their implacable foes.' (c. 58). 
 
 But these words of the Angel are more than a predic- 
 tion that the indignation against the Jews will continue 
 during the sway of the wilful king, who is to be one 
 chief instrument, in the hand of God, for executing his 
 heavy judgments. They teach us, further, that this 
 king will continue to have power, till the final restora- 
 tion of Israel shall begin. Thus, in the later and more 
 expanded prophecy of Revelation, it is when Babylon 
 falls, that the Jewish song of praise is heard once 
 more in the Church, and, soon after, the Beast and 
 False Prophet fall on the mountains of Israel. How- 
 ever modified the garb it may assume in its latest hour, 
 or whatever new devices the king may employ to 
 u 2 
 
292 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 strengthen himself for the last conflict, the power, in 
 the eye of prophecy, is one and the same, even to the 
 very eve of Israel's restoration, and the dawn of the 
 millennial kingdom. 
 
 For the thing determined shall he done. It must have 
 seemed strange and incredible, to those whose views and 
 hopes were formed in the bosom of the elder dispensa- 
 tion, that God's ancient people, honoured for fourteen 
 hundred years with miracle on miracle, and prophet 
 after prophet, — the chosen people of the Most High, 
 should be cast off, exiled from their own land, and 
 crushed under Gentile oppression for nearly two thou- 
 sand years. Yet such was the secret meaning of the 
 Vision, to be unfolded in due season by the Providence 
 of God. This gives a deep emphasis to the inserted 
 phrase. As if the Angel had said, — ' However unlikely it 
 may seem in the eyes of man, that the God of Israel 
 should so long forsake His own people, and suffer such 
 new forms of idolatry to arise, there are deep and wise 
 reasons in the Divine counsels for this mingled vengeance 
 and long suffering. To the eye of sense, this long re- 
 jection of Israel, and all the permitted cruelty of the 
 Wilful King may appear strange and surprizing, but 
 "the thing determined shall be done." An oath of the 
 Son of God assures us that these times of delay shall 
 run their appointed course. His repeated oath assures 
 us, equally, that at their close the mystery of God shall 
 be finished, the blindness of Israel shall cease, and the 
 Church, the bride of the Lamb, be made ready for her 
 husband. 
 
 And he shall not regard the gods of his fathers. The 
 Roman king, here predicted, will signalize himself by 
 a total rejection of those heathen gods, in whose pro- 
 tection his ancestors, for ages, had made their boast. 
 This disregard and contempt of hereditary idols, if it 
 were the fruit of true religion, would deserve high praise. 
 But it is here mentioned as a further proof of the arro- 
 gance and pride of the wilful king. It is not the fruit 
 of a true reverence for the command of God ; since he 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE WILFUL KIXG. 293 
 
 sets up new idols of his own. It is rather a proud con- 
 tempt for those forms of idolatry which, if any idols were 
 lawful, would be commended to him by the natural in- 
 stincts of human res^erence. 
 
 Nor is there any real violence in such a construction 
 of the words, in their application to the events of his- 
 tory. The rapid conversions from Paganism, in the 
 fifth century, were many of them notoriously insincere, 
 the result of worldly ambition. It Avas just the class 
 from whom the Bishops of Rome were chiefly elected, 
 in whom these worldly motives were most powerfully 
 at work. And hence it is not only true, when we con- 
 template the history on a large scale, but even in the 
 details of those first ages of Papal power ; that the re - 
 jection of heathenism was not to welcome a purer faith, 
 but merely to substitute, out of worldly policy, one 
 form of idol worship for another. The twenty-eighth 
 chapter of Gibbon may serve for a full commentary on 
 the words of the prediction. A few extracts will suffice 
 to shew the fulfilment. 
 
 ' Paganism was still the constitutional religion of the 
 senate. The hall or temple, in which they met, was 
 adorned by the statue and altar of Victory, a majestic 
 female standing on a globe, with flowing garments, ex- 
 panded wings, and a crown of laurel in her hand. . . . 
 Four hundred and twenty -four temples still remained 
 to satisfy the devotion of the people ; and in every 
 quarter of Rome the delicacy of the Christians was 
 off'ended by the fume of idolatrous sacrifices. . . . Four 
 deputations were voted to the Imperial Court, to solicit 
 the restoration of the altar of victory. The conduct of 
 this important business was intrusted to the eloquent 
 Symmachus, a wealth}^ and noble senator, who united 
 the sacred offices of pontiff^ and augur, with the dignity 
 of proconsul of Africa and prefect of the city. . . . He 
 maintains that the Roman sacrifices would be deprived 
 of their force and energy, if they were no longer at the 
 expense, as well as in the name, of the republic. . . . 
 The test of antiquity and success was applied with sin- 
 
294 CHAPTER xvir. 
 
 gular advantage to the religion of Numa, and Rome 
 herself, the celestial genius that presided over the fates 
 of the city, is introduced by the orator to plead her own 
 cause before the tribunal of the emperors. " Most ex- 
 cellent princes," says the venerable matron, " pity and 
 respect my age, which has hitherto flowed in an unin- 
 terrupted course of piety. Since I do not repent, per- 
 mit me to continue in the practice of my ancient rites. 
 This religion has reduced the world under my laws. 
 These rites have repelled Hannibal from the city, and 
 the Gauls from the capital. Were my grey hairs re- 
 served for such intolerable disgrace. I am ignorant of 
 the new system that I am required to adopt, but I am 
 assured that the correction of old age is always an un- 
 grateful and ignominious office." . . . But the hopes of 
 Symmachus were repeatedly baffled by the firm and 
 dexterous opposition of the Archbishop of Milan. . . . 
 In a full meeting of the senate, the Emperor proposed, 
 according to the forms of the republic, the important 
 question, Whether the worship of Jupiter, or that of 
 Christ, should be the religion of the Romans ? The 
 liberty of suffrage, which he affected to allow, was des- 
 troyed by the hopes and fears his presence inspired ; 
 and the arbitrary exile of Symmachus was a recent 
 admonition that it might be dangerous to oppose the 
 wishes of the monarch. On a regular division, Jupiter 
 was condemned and degraded by the sense of a very 
 large majority. . . . The hasty conversion of the senate, 
 must be attributed either to supernatural or to sordid 
 motives, and many of these proselytes betrayed on every 
 favourable occasion, their secret wish to throw aside the 
 mask of odious dissimulation. But they were gradu- 
 ally fixed in the new religion, as the cause of the ancient 
 became more hopeless ; they yielded to the authority of 
 the emperor, the fashion of the times, and the entreaties 
 of their wives and children. The example of the Ani- 
 cian family was soon imitated by the rest of the nobi- 
 lity ; the Bassi, the Paulini, the Gracchi, embraced the 
 Christian religion ; and the luminaries of the world, 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE WILFUL KING. 295 
 
 the venerable assembly of Catos (such are the high- 
 flown expressions of Prudentius) were impatient to 
 strip themselves of the pontifical garment, to cast the 
 skin of the old serpent, to assume the snowy robes of 
 baptismal innocence, and to humble the iwide of the con- 
 sular fmces before the tombs of the martyrs. The decrees 
 of the senate, which proscribed the worship of idols, 
 •were ratified by the general consent of the Romans ; 
 the splendour of the Capitol was defaced, and the solitary 
 temples abandoned to ruin and contempt. . . . The tor- 
 rent of enthusiasm and rapine was conducted, or rather 
 impelled, by the spiritual rulers of the Church. In 
 Gaul, the holy Martin, bishop of Tours, marched at the 
 head of his faithful monks to destroy the idols, temples, 
 and consecrated trees of his extensive diocese. In Syria 
 the divine and excellent Marcellus, as he is styled by 
 Theodoret, a bishop animated with apostolic fervour, 
 resolved to level with the ground the stately temples 
 within the diocese of Apamea. . . . The churches were 
 filled with the increasing multitude of unworthy pro- 
 selytes, who conformed, from temporal motives, to the 
 reigning religion, and whilst they devoutly imitated the 
 postures, and recited the prayers of the faithful, satisfied 
 their conscience by the silent and sincere invocation of 
 the gods of antiquity. 
 
 ^ The ruin of the Pagan religion is described by the 
 sophists as a dreadful and amazing prodigy, which 
 covered the earth w4th darkness, and restored the reign 
 of chaos and night. They relate, in pathetic strains, 
 that the temples were converted into sepulchres, and the 
 holy places which had been adorned with the statues of 
 the gods, basely polluted by the relics of Christian mar- 
 tyrs. " The monks," says Eunapius, " are the authors 
 of the new worship, which in the place of those deities 
 who are conceived by the understanding, has substituted 
 the meanest and most contemptible slaves. The heads, 
 salted and pickled, of malefactors, w^ho for their crimes 
 sufi^ered ignominious death, their bodies marked by the 
 lash and scars of tortures inflicted by the magistrate — 
 
296 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 such are the gods which the earth produces in our days, 
 such are the martyrs whose tombs are now consecrated 
 as the objects of veneration to the people." — The most 
 respectable bishops persuaded themselves that the igno- 
 rant rustics would more cheerfully renounce the super- 
 stitions of Paganism, if they found some compensation 
 in the bosom of Christianity. The religion of Constan- 
 tine, in less than a centur}^, achieved the final conquest 
 of the Roman Empire, but the victors themselves were 
 insensibly subdued by the acts of their vanquished 
 rivals.' 
 
 In this great and momentous change, we must not 
 overlook those moral features, by which alone it comes 
 to fulfil the prediction. If the Empire, under its new- 
 head and representative, the Bishop of Rome, while 
 despising and rejecting the gods of its Pagan forefathers, 
 consecrated by the victories of nine hundred years, from 
 Romulus to Trajan, had embraced the pure worship of 
 God in spirit and truth, such a change would have 
 been, in the eye of the Holy Spirit, a subject for un- 
 mingled joy. But there are two circumstances in 
 the actual change which entirely alter its nature in 
 the sight of the heart-searching God. The idolatry 
 abandoned is abandoned from no pure and enlightened 
 reverence for the word of God : but in the bigotry of 
 a zeal, which is ready, at the same moment, to adopt 
 fresh idols, and new gods lately come up, which their 
 fathers knew not. Again, all the pretensions of worldly 
 pride and greatness, derived from the achievements of 
 Pagan Rome, are retained and warmly cherished, while 
 the gods of their Pagan fathers are superciliously des- 
 pised. The king still boasts of the Eternal City, while 
 he sets aside, and tramples under his feet, the gods under 
 whose auspices his forefathers achieved their worldly 
 greatness. It is this secret pride, this national arro- . 
 gance, joined with new idolatries, which turns a re- 
 jection of idols, in itself laudable, into a profane rejection 
 of the gods of his fathers. 
 
 Nor shall he regard the desire of women. The meaning 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE WILFUL KING. 297 
 
 of this clause has been ascertained in the previous 
 chapter. How fully it describes the animating spirit of 
 the whole Papal kingdom, will be clear to those who 
 are familiar with its public decrees, or the facts of its 
 history. The latter may be summed up in a few sen- 
 tences, borrowed from a recent review, and which will 
 suffice instead of a long and tedious detail. 
 
 * In the West, from the time of Pope Siricius, the 
 celibacy of the clergy was the law of the Church ; but 
 it was a law so opposed to the common feelings of man- 
 kind, that it was for some centuries eluded, defied, and 
 even resisted by main force. In the north of Europe, 
 in England during parts of the Saxon period, in Ger- 
 many, if we receive for authority the indignant decla- 
 mations of the high advocates of celibacy, the breach 
 was at least as common as the observance of the rule. 
 If it was an evil, it was an evil of vast extent, against 
 which Hildebrand for the first time hurled the thunders 
 of the Vatican with much success. Even in Italy the 
 Lombard clergy, especially of Milan, boldly asserted 
 their liberty of marriage ; they declared that they had 
 a tradition from St. Ambrose himself, which allowed 
 them the same latitude as the Greek church. It needed 
 the sword of a fierce crusader, Herlembard, to hew 
 asunder the bonds which united the clergy with their 
 wives, whom it was the policy of the hostile party to 
 brand with the name of concubines. Hildebrand, a 
 wise man in his generation, knew that the power of the 
 Pope through the clergy and over the clergy depended 
 on their celibacy. . . . We speak of the system, and we 
 appeal to history. Perhaps the monkish institutes may 
 have the excuse or palliation that they were composed 
 in hard times for hard men. But what sentences of 
 unfeeling, unmitigated, remorseless cruelty do they con- 
 •tain ! What delight do they seem to have in torturing 
 the most sensitive fibres of the heart, in searing the 
 most blameless emotions of human nature.' (Quar. 
 Rev. No. 152, pp. 333—335.) 
 
 Neither sJiall he regard any god, for he will raagnify 
 
298 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 himself above all. These words resume and amplify the 
 general statement of his irreligious pride. Every form 
 of human superstition, however venerable for its anti- 
 quity, except such as he will himself impose, and every 
 instinct of social union, even those which God himself 
 has appointed and sanctioned, shall give way to his vast 
 and aspiring claims. He will assert his dominion over 
 every form of human authority on earth, and even de- 
 cide who are to receive Divine honours in heaven. 
 
 But with God he loill honour Mahuzzim in his seat ; 
 even with a God whom his fathers kneio not, he vjill honour 
 them, with gold, and with silver, aiid with iwecious stones^ 
 and with "pleasant things. 
 
 In these words the Angel describes the new worship 
 set up by the king, to replace the abandoned gods of his 
 own fathers. He will acknowledge a foreign god, the 
 same whom St. Paul preached to the Athenians ; but 
 still only with a superstitious worship, that degrades 
 the Son of God himself into a tutelary Eloah, and which 
 is joined with Divine honours to many Mahuzzim, or 
 gods protectors, a new hierarchy of polytheism under 
 a Christian form. How fully the facts of history cor- 
 respond, has been shewn by Mede, in his Apostasy of 
 the Latter Times. To the direct quotations from the 
 Fathers which he has given, may be added the uncon- 
 scious illustrations of the infidel historian. After quot- 
 ing the words of Eunapius, in which the sophist de- 
 plores the overthrow of the heathen worship. Gibbon 
 continues in these words, borrowed almost from the 
 vision. 
 
 ' Without approving the malice, it is natural enough 
 to share the surprise, of the sophist, the spectator of a 
 revolution, which raised those obscure victims of the 
 laws of Rome, to the rank of celestial and invisible 
 PROTECTORS OF THE RoMAN EMPIRE. The grateful 
 respect of the Christians for the martyrs of the faith, 
 was exalted, by time and victory, into religious adora- 
 tion, and the most illustrious of the saints and prophets 
 were associated to the honours of the martyrs. In the 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE WILFUL KING. 299 
 
 age which followed the conversion of Constantine, the 
 emperors, the consuls, and the generals of armies, de- 
 voutly visited the sepulchres of a tent-maker and a fish- 
 erman ; and their venerable bones were deijosited under 
 the cdtars of Christ, on which the Bisho]) of the royal city 
 continually offered the unbloody sacrifice The exam- 
 ple of Rome and Constantinople confirmed the faith and 
 discipline of the Catholic world. The honours of the 
 saints and martyrs, after a feeble and ineffectual mur- 
 mur of human reason, were universally established ; 
 and in the age of Ambrose and Jerome, something was 
 still deemed wanting to the sanctity of a Christian 
 church, till it had been consecrated by some portion of 
 holy relics, which fixed and inflamed the devotion of 
 the faithful. In the long period of twelve hundred 
 years, which elapsed between the reign of Constantine 
 and the Reformation of Luther, the worship of saints 
 and relics corrupted the pure simplicity of the Christian 
 
 model The sublime and simple theology of the 
 
 primitive Christians was gradually corrupted ; and the 
 monarchy of heaven, already clouded by metaphysical 
 subtleties, was degraded by the introduction of a popu- 
 lar mythology, which tended to restore the reign of poly- 
 theis'in. 
 
 ' If in the fifth century TertuUian or Lactantius had 
 been raised from the dead, to assist at the festival of 
 some popular saint or martyr, they would have gazed 
 with astonishment and indignation on the profane spec- 
 tacle which had succeeded to the spiritual worship of a 
 Christian congregation. They would have been offended 
 by the smoke of incense, the perfume of flowers, and 
 the glare of lamps and tapers, which diffused, at noon- 
 day, a gaudy, supei*fluous, and in their opinion, a sacri- 
 legious light. As they approached the balustrade of 
 the altar, they made their way through the prostrate 
 crowd, consisting for the most part of strangers and 
 pilgrims, who resorted to the city on the eve of the 
 feast. Their fervent prayers were directed, whatever 
 might be the language of their church, to the bones, the 
 
800 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 blood, or the ashes of the saints, which were usually 
 concealed, by a linen or silken veil, from the eyes of 
 the vulgar. Whenever they undertook any journeys, 
 they requested that the holy martyrs would be their 
 guides and protectors on the road.' (c. 24.) 
 
 ^ A vague tradition was embraced, that two Jewish 
 teachers, a tent-maker and a fisherman, had formerly 
 been executed in the circus of Nero, and at the end of 
 five hundred years their genuine or fictitious relics were 
 adored as the Palladium of Christian Rome. The pil- 
 grims of the East and West resorted to the holy thresh- 
 old ; but the shrines of the apostles were guarded by 
 miracles and invisible terrors, and it was not without 
 fear that the pious Catholic approached the objects of 
 his worship.' (c. 45.) 
 
 ' The remains of Simeon were transported from the 
 mountain of Telenessa by a solemn procession of the 
 patriarch, the master- general of the East, six bishops, 
 twenty-one counts, and six thousand soldiers ; and 
 Antioch revered his bones, as her glorious ornament 
 and im'pregnahle defence. The fame of the apostles and 
 martyrs was gradually eclipsed by these popular Anti- 
 christs, and the Christian world fell prostrate at their 
 shrines.' (c. 37.) 
 
 These Protectors, the vision further informs us, will 
 be honoured with gold, and silver, and precious stones, 
 and pleasant things. The words of the historian closely 
 correspond. ' The satisfactory experience,' Gibbon 
 sarcastically observes, * that the relics of saints were 
 more valuable than qold or precious stones, stimulated 
 the clergy to multiply the treasures of the Church. . . . 
 The walls were hung round with symbols of the favours 
 which they had received ; with eyes and hands, and feet 
 oi gold and silver. The ambassadoi-s of Recared respect- 
 fully ofi^ered on the threshold of the Vatican his rich 
 presents oi gold and gems ; they accepted, as a lucrative 
 exchange, the hairs of St. John the Baptist, a cross, 
 which enclosed a small piece of the true wood ; and a 
 key, that contained some particles of iron which had 
 been scraped from the chains of St. Peter.' (c. 37.) 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE WILFUL KING. 801 
 
 How direct and immediate in many cases, was the 
 transition from the old to the new idolatry, may ap- 
 pear from the words of Mosheim, on the conversions of 
 the barbarians in the sixth century. ' All that was 
 required of them amounted to an oral profession of the 
 name of Christ, to their abstaining from sacrificing to 
 their gods, and committing to memory certain forms of 
 doctrine, while they continued to distinguish themselves 
 by the most horrid acts of cruelty and rapine, and the 
 
 practice of all sorts of wickedness Attached to 
 
 Christ by a mere nominal profession, they, in effect re- 
 nounced the authorit}^ of his Gospel by their flagitious 
 lives, and the idolatrous rites they continued to observe. 
 See the orders given to the Anglo-Saxons by Gregory 
 the Great, where we find him permitting them to sacri- 
 fice to the saints, on their respective holy days, the vic- 
 tims they had formerly offered to the gods The 
 
 principal injunctions imposed on these proselytes were, 
 that they should get by heart certain summaries of 
 doctrine, and pay to the images of Christ and the saints 
 the same religious services which they offered before to 
 their own idols.' (Mosh. Cent. v. Part I. c. i.) 
 
 And he shall offer to the strongholds of the Protectors, 
 v)ith the strange God ivhom he loill acknowledge ; he will 
 increase their glory ^ and w'ill cause them to ride over many, 
 and divide the land for gain. 
 
 These words can scarcely require much explanation. 
 The temples dedicated to the saints, and where they re- 
 ceived idolatrous worship, may be fitly termed the strong- 
 holds of Mahuzzim. To these, perpetual offerings were 
 made throughout the Papal kingdom. The indulgences 
 of Tetzel, which w^re the immediate occasion of the 
 Reformation, were dedicated, as is well known, to one 
 of these strongholds, and designed to complete the costly 
 structure of St. Peter's at Rome. But all of these 
 offerings were nominally shared by the strange God, 
 whom he will acknowledge. Though the direct offer- 
 ings to the favoured saint, in most cases, far exceeded 
 those which were paid to Christ, yet they were profes- 
 
302 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 sedly joined together. The dedication was commonly 
 * Deo et Sanctis,' to God and the saints. The words of 
 the prophecy aptly express the nominal pre-eminence, 
 and practical inferiority, of the strange or foreign God, 
 in this new system of idolatrous worship. Such has 
 been the character of Christian idolatry, almost from its 
 very rise. In theory it has maintained the supremacy 
 of the One Mediator above the crowd of saints and an- 
 gels, whom it has invited to share his office. But in 
 practice the inventions of superstition have ever occu- 
 pied the foremost place. The offerings are to the shrines 
 of saints and the Virgin, though it may be ' jointly with 
 the foreign God, whom he will acknowledge.' These 
 tutelary and guardian divinities are made to rule over 
 many. Every kingdom, and every province, had its 
 separate patron, and the earth, from east to west, was 
 divided and parcelled out for the gain of a superstitious 
 hierarchy, who made a fearful merchandize of the souls 
 of men. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE WARFARE OF THE I^ATTER DAYS. 
 Dan. XI. 40 — 45. — And at ihe time of the end shall the king op thb 
 
 SODTH PUSH AT HIM : AND THE KING OF THE NORTH SHALL COME AGAINST 
 HIM LIKE A WHIRLWIND, WITH CHARIOTS, AND WITH HORSEMEN, AND 
 WITH MANT SHIPS ; AND HE SHALL ENTER INTO THE COUNTRIES, AND 
 SHALL OVERFLOW AND PASS OVER. Hb SHALL ENTER ALSO INTO THE 
 GLORIOUS LAND, AND MANY COUNTRIES SHALL BE OVERTHROWN : BUT 
 THESE SHALL ESCAPE OUT OF HIS HAND, EVEN EDOM, AND MOAB, AND 
 THE CHIEF OF THE CHILDREN OP AMMON. He SHALL STRETCH FORTH 
 HIS HAND ALSO UPON THE COUNTRIES : AND THE LAND OF EGYPT SHALL 
 NOT ESCAPE. But HE SHALL HAVE POWER OVER THE TREASURES OF 
 GOLD AND OP SILVER, AND OVER ALL THE PRECIOUS THINGS OF EGYPT : 
 
 AND THE Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. But 
 
 TIDINGS OUT op THE EAST AND OUT OP THE NORTH SHALL TROUBLE HIM : 
 THEREFORE HE SHALL GO FORTH WITH GREAT FURY TO DESTROY, AND 
 UTTERLY TO MAKE AWAY MANY. AnD HE SHALL PLANT THE TABERNA- 
 CLES OF HIS PALACE BETWEEN THB SEAS IN THB GLORIOUS HOLY MOUN- 
 TAIN ; YET HB SHALL COMB TO HIS END AND NONE SHALL HELP HIM. 
 
 After the description of the Wilful King, the Angel 
 now proceeds to describe wars and conflicts, to arise in 
 the latter time during the continuance of his power, and 
 which will prepare the way for the final deliverance of 
 the people of God. In this and the next chapter it will 
 be endeavoured to fix the true application of these words, 
 from the light of past history, and the various warnings 
 of unfulfilled prophecy. 
 
 Three general views have been adopted, by difi^erent 
 writers, in the interpretation of these verses. The first 
 is that of Porphyry, followed by Junius, Grotius, Ve- 
 
304 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 nema, and others, who refer the whole to Antiochus 
 Epiphanes. The second, adopted by Mede, More, Sir 
 Isaac and Bishop Newton, and many writers since, ap- 
 plies the prophecy to the Saracens and Turks, whose 
 inroads they justly conceive to be the subject of the 
 First and Second Woes. Several other Protestant ex- 
 positors, along with the Romanist and Futurist com- 
 mentators, refer the passage to an Infidel Antichrist 
 still to arise, and to the last conflicts in the land of 
 Judea. 
 
 Of these views the first has been already set aside, by 
 the arguments advanced in the earlier parts of the 
 prophecy. These verses, however, alone are its full 
 disproof. The time of the end, in its widest sense, refers 
 to the latter stage of the Fourth Empire, and Antiochus 
 perished when that empire w^as first rising into power. 
 Even if referred only to his reign, a very inadequate 
 view, it is fatal to the proposed exposition. After 
 his repulse by the Roman legates, he seems never to 
 have returned into Egypt, and the King of the South 
 made no assault on him at the end of his reign. His 
 return was not caused by tidings from the East and the 
 North, but simply by the stern command of the Roman 
 senate. Above all, the events described in the following 
 chapter entirely refute this application. No violence 
 can be more gross and inexcusable than to expound 
 these words of the times of Antiochus, or the results of 
 his death. They plainly refer to a still future deliver- 
 ance of the people of God. 
 
 The two other interpretations have, on the first glance, 
 a much greater appearance of truth. The former has 
 been held by most Protestant writers from the time of 
 Mede, or perhaps even earlier. It has latterly been 
 abandoned by several modern expositors, partly from 
 objections which it is easy to remove ; but partly from 
 the strong features of correspondence between these 
 verses and other prophecies that are unfulfilled. 
 
 In harmony with the views already advanced, I shall 
 here establish, by history, their past fulfilment ; and 
 
THE WARFARE OF THE LATTER DAYS. 805 
 
 then show, from the testimony of Scripture, that it is 
 highly probable, if not certain, that they will yet be ful- 
 filled in the last conflicts before the final restoration 
 of Israel. 
 
 The events here predicted are to occur in the time of 
 the end. Now it has been shown already, by the inter- 
 nal evidence of the visions, that this phrase relates to 
 the latter time of the fourth and last empire, or to the 
 three times and a half of the Little Horn. That Little 
 Horn was seen to arise soon after the breaking up of the 
 Roman empire into ten separate kingdoms. And 
 hence it is natural to expect that the warfare, here 
 mentioned, would begin about the same period with the 
 predicted apostasy of the three kings, or not much 
 later. Accordingly the triumphs of the Saracens began 
 in the seventh century, between the fall of the Gothic 
 and of the Lombard power. 
 
 The same view will result from the harmony and 
 unity of the visions. In the two first an outline is given 
 of the Four Empires, and of the main course of Gen- 
 tile power from the reign of Nebuchadnezzar to the 
 fall of the Papal kingdom. The others describe chiefly 
 the events of the East. In chapter viii. w^e have a gene- 
 ral view of the Persian, Macedonian, and Syrian king- 
 doms, before the Lord's coming, and of the Eastern power 
 of Rome, by which the sanctuary was cast down and 
 destroyed. The former part is clearly expounded in 
 the present vision, and its full narrative of the Syrian 
 and Egyptian kings. It is natural to infer that the 
 other part will be continued and expounded, in the same 
 manner, by the close of the present prophecy. Now if 
 we inquire w^hat were the next main changes in the 
 East, after the Roman power had engrafted itself on the 
 Third Empire, and appeared as a distinct power, the 
 answer will be plain. It was the destructive inroad, 
 first of the Saracens, and then of the Turks or Otto- 
 mans, by whom the Eastern empire was overthrown 
 in helpless ruin, and who were to share in their turn 
 a similar judgment from the hand of God. 
 
306 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 A third reason for this view may be drawn from the 
 later visions of the Apocalypse. The Holy Spirit un- 
 folds gradually the truths he has already revealed. That 
 the Saracens and Turks are predicted in the two first 
 woes, is one of the plainest truths in that Divine pro- 
 phecy. Now if the kings of the south and the north, in 
 this passage, refer to the same powers, there is a fresh 
 harmony, of the closest kind, established between the 
 two predictions. The mention of the horsemen, in verse 
 40, will answer to the expanded symbols of the Second 
 Woe ; wliile the description of the Wilful King has a 
 resemblance, hardly less striking, to the general char- 
 acter of the remnant (Rev. ix. 20), who repent not of 
 their idol-worship, even after these severe visitations 
 of Divine judgment. 
 
 The king of the south shall push at him. The refer- 
 ence of these words to the Saracens has been rejected on 
 this ground, that the use of the titles must be homo- 
 geneous throughout the prophecy, and hence that they 
 must relate solely to some king of Egypt. It is needless 
 here to examine the premise, which is perhaps rather 
 a probable than a necessary result of the language. No 
 article occurs in the text, which might be rendered, a 
 Icing of the south, — the same title which our Lord applies 
 to the queen of Yemen in Arabia. But, in fact, Egypt 
 was one of the first conquests of the Caliphs, by which 
 they entered on the prophetic theatre. 
 
 'From his camp in Palestine (June, a.d. 638) Amrou 
 had surprised or anticipated the Caliph's leave for the 
 CONQUEST OF Egypt. The magnanimous Omar trusted 
 in God and his sword, which had shaken the thrones of 
 Chosroes and Csesar ; but when he compared the slender 
 force of the Moslems with the greatness of the enter- 
 prize, he condemned his own rashness. The pride and 
 greatness of the Pharaohs were familiar to the readers of 
 the Koran ; the cities of Egypt were many and popu- 
 lous, their architecture strong and solid ; the Nile, with 
 its numerous branches, was alone an insuperable bar- 
 rier, and the granary of the Imperial city would be ob- 
 
THE WARFARE OF THE LATTER DAYS. 307 
 
 stinately defended by the Roman powers The 
 
 rapid conquest of Alexander was assisted by the super- 
 stition and revolt of the natives ; they abhorred the 
 Persian oppressors, the disciples of the Magi, who had 
 burnt the temples of Egypt. After a period of ten cen- 
 turies the same revolution was renewed by a similar 
 cause, and in the support of an incomprehensible creed, 
 the zeal of the Coptic Christians was equally ardent. , . 
 The Saracens were received as the deliverers of the Ja- 
 cobite church, and a secret and effectual treaty was 
 opened, during the siege of Memphis, between a victori- 
 ous army and a people of slaves. The Copts above and 
 
 below Memphis swore allegiance to the Caliph 
 
 The Greeks of Egypt, whose numbers could scarcely 
 equal one-tenth of the natives, were overwhelmed by 
 the universal defection. The magistrate fled from his 
 tribunal, the bishop from his altar, and the distant gar- 
 risons Avere surprised or starved by the surrounding 
 multitudes. Had not the Nile afforded a safe and easy 
 conveyance to the sea, not an individual could have 
 escaped, who, by birth, or language, or office, or reli- 
 gion, Avas connected with their odious name. ... The 
 standard of Mahomet was planted on the walls of the 
 capital of Egypt. ' I have taken,' said Amrou to the Ca- 
 liph, ' the great city of the West.' ' It is impossible for 
 me to enumerate the variety of its riches and beauty. 
 It contains four thousand palaces, four thousand baths, 
 four hundred theatres or places of amusement, twelve 
 thousand shops for vegetable food, and forty thousand 
 tributary Jews' The commander of the faithful di- 
 rected his lieutenant to reserve the wealth and revenue 
 of Alexandria for the public service and the propaga- 
 tion of the faith : the inhabitants were numbered, a 
 tribute was imposed ; the zeal and resentment of the 
 Jacobites were curbed ; and the Melchites, who sub- 
 mitted to the Arabian yoke, were indulged in the ob- 
 scure, but tranquil exercise of their worship.' (Gibb. 
 c. 51.) * The genius of Amrou soon renewed the mari- 
 time communication which had been attempted or 
 
806 CHAPTER xviir. 
 
 achieved by the Pharaohs, the Ptolemies, or the 
 C^SARs, and a canal, eighty miles in length, was opened 
 from the Nile to the Red Sea.' 
 
 Thus, in the predicted time of the end, after the Pha- 
 raohs of sacred history, the Ptolemies, whose reigns are 
 described so fully in the present vision, and the Caesars, 
 whose rule is announced both here and in a former 
 chapter, a fourth dynasty arose to wield the power of 
 Egypt, and assume the prophetic character of hing of 
 the south. History, while it reveals the rapid triumph 
 by which it possessed the ancient capitals of Egypt, 
 points out from the first its claim to a place in the sa- 
 cred narrative, from its close connexion with the for- 
 tunes of captive Israel. 
 
 Another difficulty has still to be removed. The as- 
 saults of the Saracens were aimed chiefly against the 
 Eastern empire. But if the Wilful King, like the 
 Little Horn, be referred to the Papacy of the West, 
 how can the words of the angel be properly fulfilled, or 
 what unity can there be in the whole description 1 
 
 To this difficulty a double reply may be made. The 
 first and simplest is drawn from a full observation of 
 the facts themselves. The Saracens, however wide their 
 other conquests, did really push, with furious vehe- 
 mence, against the Papal dominions, whether we 
 interpret them, in a narrower sense, of St. Peter's 
 patrimony, or more widely, of the nations in commu- 
 nion with the see of Rome. How violent their inroad 
 on the Western nations at large, till their defeat by 
 Charles Martel, is known to the most cursory reader 
 of history or of romance. The writer who so often 
 throws unconscious light on the fulfilment of the in- 
 spired visions, has noted the connexion between these 
 onsets, and the Mahuzzim, or tutelary protectors of the 
 Papal kingdom. 
 
 * The veteran commander adjudged to the obedience 
 of the prophet whatever yet remained of France or of 
 Europe ; and prepared to execute the sentence at the 
 head of a formidable host, in the confidence of surmount- 
 
 I 
 
THE WARFARE OF THE LATTER DAYS. 809 
 
 hig all opposition either of nature or of man The 
 
 arms of Abderhmane were not less successful on the side 
 of the ocean. A second army sustained a second defeat, 
 so fatal to the Christians, that, according to their sad 
 confession, God alone could reckon the numher of the 
 slain. . . . The memory of these devastations, for Abde- 
 rhmane did not spare the country or the people, was long 
 preserved by tradition, and forms the groundwork of 
 those fables which have been so widely disfigured in the 
 romances of chivalry, and so elegantly adorned by the 
 Italian muse. In the decline of society and art, the 
 deserted cities could supply a slender booty to the Sara- 
 cens : their richest spoil was found in the churches and 
 monasteries, which they stripped of their ornaments 
 and delivered to the flames ; and the tutelar saints, 
 both Hilary of Poictiers and Martin of Tours, forgot 
 their miraculous poivers in the defence of their own sepul- 
 chres.'' 
 
 And even if the words were confined to the temporal 
 dominions of the Papacy, they wall be equally verified 
 in the Saracen inroads. Let us hear once more the voice 
 of history. 
 
 * The Arabian squadrons issued from the harbours of 
 Palermo, Biserta, and Tunis ; an hundred and fifty 
 towns of Calabria and Cajsnpania were attacked and 
 pillaged ; nor could the suburbs of Rome be defended by 
 the name of the Caesars and the Apostles. Had the 
 Mahometans been united, Italy must have fallen an 
 easy and glorious accession to the empire of the pro- 
 phet. But the caliphs of Bagdad had lost their autho- 
 rity in the West, the Aglabites and Falamites usurped 
 the provinces of Africa ; their emirs of Sicily aspired to 
 independence, and the design of conquest and dominion, 
 was degraded into a repetition of predatory inroads. 
 
 ' In the sufferings of prostrate Italy, the name of Rome 
 awakens a solemn and mournful recollection. A fleet 
 of Saracens from the African coast, presumed to enter 
 the mouth of the Tiber, and to approach a city which 
 even yet, in her fallen state, was revered as the metropolis 
 
310 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 of the Christian world. The gates and ramparts were 
 guarded by a trembling people ; but the tombs and 
 temples of St. Peter and St. Paul were left exposed in 
 the suburbs of the Vatican and of the Ostian way. 
 Their invisible sanctity had protected them against the 
 Goths, the Vandals, and the Lombards ; but the Ara- 
 bians disdained both the Gospel and the legend ; and 
 their rapacious spirit was approved and animated by 
 the precepts of the Koran. The Christian idols were 
 stripped of their costly offerings ; a silver altar was 
 torn away from the shrine of St, Peter ; and if the bodies 
 or the buildings were left entire, their deliverance must 
 be imputed to the haste, rather than the scruples, of the 
 Saracens ! . . . . The same danger still impended over 
 the heads of the Roman people, and their domestic force 
 was unequal to the assault of an African emir. . . . The 
 storm soon burst with redoubled violence ; a fleet of 
 Arabs and Moors cast anchor before the mouth of the 
 Tiber, sixteen miles from the city ; and their discipline 
 and numbers seemed to threaten not a transient inroad, 
 but a serious design of conquest and dominion. . . The 
 pontiff, at the head of the citizens and allies, paid his 
 grateful devotions at the shrines of the apostles ; and 
 among the spoils of this naval victory, thirteen Arabian 
 bows of pure and massy sliver were suspended round 
 the altar of the fisherman of Galilee. The churches 
 were renewed and embellished ; near four thousand pounds 
 of silver were consecrated to repair the losses of St. Peter ; 
 and his sanctuary was decorated with a plate of gold of the 
 weight of two hundred and sixteen pounds, embossed 
 with the portraits of the Pope and Emperor, and encir- 
 cled with a string of pearls. . . . The love of fame may be 
 detected in the name of the Leonine City, which he 
 bestowed on the Vatican ; yet the pride of the dedica- 
 tion was tempered with Christian penance and humi- 
 lity. .... The walls were besprinkled with holy water, 
 and the ceremony was concluded with a prayer, that, 
 under the guardian care of the Apostles and the angelic 
 host J both the old and new Rome might ever be pre- 
 
THE WARFARE OF THE LATTER DAYS. 311 
 
 served pure, prosperous, and impregnable.' (Gibb. 
 c.lii.) 
 
 In these facts we see plainly how the Saracen power 
 pushed violently against the very seat of the Papal 
 Empire, and the strongholds of Mahuzzim, honoured 
 as they were by their worshippers with gold, and silver, 
 and precious stores, and pleasant things. But the onset, 
 though violent, failed. The Wilful King was reserved for 
 longer and prouder triumphs, and a later time of judg- 
 ment ; and the worship of the Mahuzzim, and the 
 decoration of their strongholds, was prosecuted with a 
 double ardour of idolatrous and unholy zeal. 
 
 But, however complete the fulfilment of the words, 
 when confined to Western Christendom, and the seat 
 of the Papal Empire, there is no need to restrict 
 ourselves to this aspect alone. The Wilful King is here 
 described, not as in the previous prophecy, by his poli- 
 tical character, a little horn rising up in the Fourth 
 Empire, and locally situate amid its divided kingdoms. 
 He is pourtrayed by spiritual features as the head of a 
 new system of idolatry, w^hich would replace the old 
 and exploded forms of heathen worship. His jurisdic- 
 tion, in this light, extends wherever his spiritual au- 
 thority was owned, or as far as the influence and worship 
 of the new Protectors, whom he sanctions with his pa- 
 tronage. The system of Christian idolatry, though it was 
 most compacted and matured in the west, and received 
 there a monarch of despotic pride, to enforce and main- 
 tain it under peril of death, was even earlier in its spread 
 throughout Eastern Christendom. The Byzantine 
 Empire was thus only like a spacious border pro- 
 vince to the territories more immediately under the 
 power of this haughty king. And hence the whole of 
 the Saracen inroads on the Roman Empire ; their con- 
 quests of Syria and Asia, their repeated attempts on the 
 Imperial city of the East, may all be viewed as part of 
 the predicted onset, in which the king of the south was 
 to thrust or butt powerfully against the Wilful King, 
 and the strongholds of those Mahuzzims whom he had 
 
812 CHAPTER xviir. 
 
 set up for worship. This is merely a comprehensive 
 view of the history, such as we might expect to find re- 
 cognized in so brief a narrative ; and of which the Cru- 
 sades were the grand and visible exponent in later times. 
 The East will thus furnish us with fresh materials to 
 illustrate this onset of the king of the South against 
 the Mahuzzim, or the new idol-gods of the Wilful King. 
 ^ The image of Edessa, after an oblivion of five hun- 
 dred years, was released by some prudent bishop, and 
 seasonably presented to the devotion of the times. Its 
 first and most glorious exploit was the deliverance of 
 the city from the arms of Chosroes Nushirvan, and it 
 Avas soon revered as a pledge of the Divine promise, that 
 EJessa should never be taken by a foreign enemy. . . . 
 Before the end of the sixth century, these images made 
 without hands, were propagated in the camps and cities 
 of the Greek Empire. They were the objects of wor- 
 ship and the instruments of miracles, and in the hour 
 of danger their venerable presence could revive the hope, 
 rekindle the courage, or repress the fury, of the Roman 
 legions. . . . The cities of Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, 
 had been fortified with the images of Christ, his mother, 
 and the saints, and each city presumed on the hope or 
 promise of a miraculous defence. In a rapid conquest 
 of ten years, the Arabs subdued these cities and these 
 images ; and in their opinion the Lord of Hosts pro- 
 nounced a decisive judgment between the adoration and 
 contempt of these mute and inanimate idols. For a 
 while Edessa had braved the Persian assaults, but the 
 chosen city, the spouse of Christ, was involved in the 
 common ruin ; and his divine resemblance became the 
 slave and trophy of the infidels.' 
 
 Thus, whether we confine our view to the proper ter- 
 ritory of the Little Horn, or extend it to the kingdoms 
 that directly owned the jurisdiction of the Papacy, or 
 to the whole range of that Christian idolatry, of which 
 the Wilful King is here described as the spiritual head, 
 the words were strictly fulfilled. The push was not 
 fatal, but it was violent and dangerous, and in a later 
 
THE WARFARE OF THE LATTER DAYS. 813 
 
 prophecy is expanded into the severe infliction of the 
 first or locust woe on the idol-worshippers both of the 
 east and the west. 
 
 And the king of the north shall come against him like 
 a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with 
 Ttiany ships> 
 
 After the violent inroads of the Saracens, the next 
 main event, affecting the visible church and the people 
 of Israel, was the rise and prevalence of the Turkish 
 power. The words before us have, therefore, been ap- 
 plied very naturally by many writers to their progress 
 and victories. But here also, there are several difficul- 
 ties to be removed, before we can see clearly the warrant 
 for such an interpretation. 
 
 First, the use of the pronouns has caused some per- 
 plexity. Three questions may arise ; first, whether the 
 Wilful King and the king of the North are the same 
 party or different ; next, if different, is it the king of the 
 South, or the Wilful King, against whom the king of 
 the North comes like a whirlwind 1 and thirdly, on the 
 latter supposition, is it the Wilful King, or the king of 
 the North to whom the rest of the narrative belongs ? 
 To the first question it must be replied that the text is 
 ambiguous, and might be consistent with either view. 
 The exposition M'ould be more compact, if we suppose 
 that the same power is designed by both titles ; but there 
 is nothing to compel us to this construction. Infact^ the 
 Wilful King has already had the proper seat of his power 
 fixed in the west, in the heart of the Fourth Empire. 
 The two titles can therefore only meet in one person, 
 if Europe and the north of Asia should ever come to 
 belong to one and the same power. 
 
 Next, if the two are different, the onset of the king of 
 the North is most naturally explained to be against the 
 Wilful King, or the unity of the whole will be completely 
 destroyed. But the rest of the narrative must as clearly 
 be referred also to the king of the North. The chariots, 
 and horsemen, and ships, are evidently the means by 
 which he shall overflow and pass over ; and the very 
 
31-4 CHAPTER XVIIT. 
 
 places mentioned fix the application, almost of ne- 
 cessity, to some Asiatic power. It is, therefore, a 
 combination strangely absurd to maintain, as one 
 writer has done, that the same king of the North is in- 
 tended from V. 6 to v. 40, and yet to transfer all the 
 rest of the passage, v. 40 — 45, to an entirely different 
 person. 
 
 Still there is one objection which may appear to be 
 of some weight. For if we view the Wilful King and 
 the king of the North as distinct, the whole of the 
 closing verses ought plainly to be referred to the latter. 
 In this case no mention will be made of the history or 
 fall of the Wilful King, after his character has been so 
 fully described. This appears in some degree unnatural. 
 
 In the following chapter a view will be unfolded, 
 which seems entirely to remove this objection. But mean- 
 while its force may easily be overrated. The true unity 
 of the vision is defined by its purpose, to make known 
 what shall befal the people of Daniel in the latter days. 
 In the conflict, verses 6 — 21, there is little direct men- 
 tion of the Jews. But the two powers of Syria and 
 Egypt were those which most vitally affected their wel- 
 fare, and hence these kingdoms are described at length. 
 Now if in the latter times there should be two main 
 powers, one in the East, and one in the West, by which 
 the fortunes of the Jews, as well as the Christian 
 Church, would be vitally affected ; one of them marked 
 by the spiritual features of a new and strange worship, 
 the other by the military triumphs of a powerful invader 
 and mighty conqueror, then the real unity will be main- 
 tained, if both of these powers are successively set be- 
 fore us. And if one of these be identified by clear 
 signs with a power already mentioned, and the fall 
 of which has been previously described, then the vision 
 may naturally confine itself to the overthrow of the 
 fresh adversary of the truth, now for the first time dis- 
 tinctly revealed. 
 
 Now such, beyond a doubt, has been the general na- 
 ture of the facts which the history of the latter time^ 
 
THE WARFARE OF THE LATTER DAYS. 815 
 
 has disclosed. Popery in the West, and the Turkish 
 power in the East, have been the two grand adversaries 
 of the truth, and oppressors of Israel, in the latter days. 
 And if the former of these has been predicted already, 
 it is not surprizing that it should be here introduced 
 only just so far as to maintain the historical connexion 
 and spiritual unity of the whole vision. 
 
 It has been further objected that the application of 
 these verses to the Turkish conquests destroys the 
 homogeneous character of the prophecy. The king 
 of the North has been used hitherto in one unvaried 
 sense, to denote the king of Syria. It seems then a 
 harsh licence to explain it here, vaguely, of any great 
 northern power. Without deciding on the exact force 
 of this objection, in the abstract, it is enough to ob- 
 serve that history alone, as in the case of the Saracens, 
 entirely removes it. For as Egypt was one of the first 
 conquests of the Caliphs, by which they obtained a 
 footing within the prophetic theatre, so also Syria was 
 the country which the Turks first subdued, and made 
 the basis of all their farther assaults on the Roman Em- 
 pire. Armenia, Georgia, and Cappadocia, the territo- 
 ries ruled by Seleucus, were the first westward conquests 
 of Togrul and Alp Arslan. ' The Asiatic provinces of 
 Rome were irretrievably sacrificed.' The later rise of 
 the Ottomans was also within the dominions of the 
 Syrian princes, and they might thus be called, with 
 local accuracy, kings of the north. 
 
 Jle shall come against him like a whirlwind. The fury 
 of the Turkish warfare has almost passed into a pro- 
 verb. It was eminently fulfilled in the victories of Alp 
 Arslan and Soliman, and in the later conquests of Ba- 
 jazet and Amurath. The surname of Ilderiiii, " the 
 lightning," given to Bajazet, is expressive of the same 
 idea with the figure in the text. 
 
 With chariots, and horsemen^ and many ships. The 
 numerous horsemen of the Turks are the leading fea- 
 ture of their warfare. In their earlier progress, nearly 
 the whole of their forces were cavalry. It was "the 
 
816 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 myriads of the Turkish horse" hy which the first pro- 
 vinces were wrested from tlie Roman empire, and, even 
 to the present century, the same style of warfare pre- 
 vails. 
 
 Nor were they less conspicuous, in the time of their 
 European triumphs, for their naval power. When So- 
 lyman ' had constructed a fleet of two hundred ships, the 
 Emperor,' we are told, ' trembled beliind the walls of 
 his capital, and his plaintive epistles were dispersed 
 over to Europe.' Three hundred ships were employed 
 by Mahomet the Second in the siege of Constantinople, 
 two hundred in the siege of Rhodes, and a liundred at 
 the same time in the capture of Otranto. For many 
 years the naval force of the Turks was the most formid- 
 able in the world, and their conquests throughout the 
 Levant are so many witnesses of its triumphs. In the 
 general term, chariots, we may naturally include all the 
 heavier equipage of war, and its military engines, to 
 which the Turkish victories were mainly due. The an- 
 cient and modern artillery, it has been justly observed, 
 were combined in their conquests, and no nation ri- 
 valled them in all the outward helps and provisions of 
 war. * The Turkish troops possessed every advantage 
 which arises from superior military discipline. The 
 most impartial autliors of the sixteenth century lament 
 their higher attainments in this science. Guicciardini 
 informs us, that the Italians learned the art of fortify- 
 ing cities from the Turks. Busbequius, the ambassador 
 from Ferdinand to Solyman, who had observed the 
 state both of the Christian and Turkish armies, gives 
 an elaborate description of the immense advantages the 
 infidels possessed, both in discipline and military im- 
 jn-ovements of every kind.' (Mill. Hist. Mah. p. 274.) 
 
 A nd he shall enter into the countries, and overjioiv, and 
 2MSS over. These words aptly describe the first passage 
 of the Turks into Europe. They had already entered 
 into the countries of Asia Minor, and established them- 
 selves there as kings of the north. But they were not 
 restrained within these narrow bounds. ' The disorders 
 
 ( 
 
 I 
 
THE WARFARE OF THE LATTER DAYS. 317 
 
 of the Greek empire encouraged the Turkish emirs to 
 build a fleet, and pillage the adjacent islands and sea- 
 coasts of Europe. . . . The prince of Ionia assembled at 
 Smyrna a fleet of three hundred vessels, with an army 
 of 29,000 men, sailed in the depth of winter, and cast 
 anchor at the mouth of the Hebrus. The Chersonese 
 was insensibly filled with a Turkish colony, and the 
 B3"zantine court solicited in vain the restitution of the 
 fortresses of Thrace. The dismantled places were occu- 
 pied by the Turks, and Gallipoli, the key of the Helle- 
 spont, was rebuilt and repeopled by the policy of Soli- 
 man.' The results of this first overflow of the Turks 
 into Europe are too well known, and too legible in the 
 map of Europe for centuries, to require further details. 
 
 These victories and conquests, though their immedi- 
 ate result was the overthrow of the Greek empire, were 
 really aimed against the Western Papacy, and thus 
 answer to the description, as a fierce onset on the power 
 of the Wilful King. The whole conflict was no com- 
 mon warfare, but the direct and mighty struggle of two 
 rival creeds. The Christian idolatry of Mahuzzim, set 
 up by this king of pride, and which owned him as its 
 true head, w^as met by the warlike message of the Ara- 
 bian prophet, — " the sword, tribute, or the Koran." The 
 war, in its very essence, was religious ; and when the 
 East fell, the blow was really felt as aimed against 
 Rome herself, the true metropolis of the Christian, 
 In the w^ords of Gibbon, * the grief and terror of the 
 Latins revived, or seemed to revive, the old enthusiasm 
 of the Crusades. The lofty genius of Mahomet aspired 
 to the conquest of Italy ; he was now possessed of a 
 strong city and capacious harbour ; and had his life 
 been prolonged, the same reign might have been deco- 
 rated wdth the trophies of the New and the Ancient 
 Rome.' 
 
 Thus also Sismondi describes Italy and the Pope, as 
 the true objects, at this time, of the Turkish aggressions. 
 ' Among the islands, Rhodes belonged to the valiant 
 order of the knights of St. John ; the house of Lusig- 
 
318 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 nan reigned in Cyprus, under the protection of the Sul- 
 tan of Egypt ; Candia and Negropont belonged to Ve- 
 nice, with many other islands of less importance. Many 
 strong places on the Adriatic were in immediate depen- 
 dence on the Venetians. Now that the empire of the 
 East was destroyed, all these states regarded Italy as the 
 centre of their negociations, and the court of the Pope, 
 and the republic of Venice, as their natural protectors- 
 All the towns of Italy were full of refugees from the 
 Levant, some of whom brought with them relics of the 
 saints of Christianity^ and others the most precious ma- 
 nuscripts or monuments of art The progress of 
 
 the Turks was become, since the fall of the empire, a 
 plague ever menacing, a danger from which the atten- 
 tion could not be withdrawn. 
 
 '■ The devastation advanced towards the West, and 
 
 every year saw a new kingdom fall Thomas Pa- 
 
 laeologus, fleeing before Mahomet, passed over to Anco- 
 na, to solicit succour from Pius the Second. He brought 
 with him, as a recommendation to the Christian princes, 
 the head of the apostle, St. Andrew ; but neither his 
 sacred relics, nor hereditary rights, could stir the Latins, 
 who did not even arm in their own defence^ 
 
 At length the urgent danger aroused Pius the Second, 
 and the Pontiff, summoning his cardinals, determined 
 to enter on the war in person. ' Shall we exhort the 
 kings,' he said, * to march, and to repulse the enemy 
 from our frontiers ? We have already tried it in vain. 
 I have resolved to march myself to the war against the 
 Turks, and to invite the Christian princes, as well by 
 deeds as words, to follow me. Perhaps when they shall 
 see THEIR MASTER AND FATHER, old and sick, set out 
 for the holy war, they will blush to stay at home ; they 
 will take up arms, and embrace with all their courage 
 
 the defence of our holy religion' An eloquent bull 
 
 summoned all Christians to the holy war, and menaced 
 with the thunders of the Church those who should 
 trouble the peace of Christendon by private hostilities.' 
 
 But however great the zeal displayed by the Pontiff, 
 
THE WARFARE OF THE LATTER DAYS. 819 
 
 his policy was worthy of the Wilful King. ' Scander- 
 beg had accepted and sworn a peace with the Sultan, 
 and the Mussulmen kept the treaty with fidelity. Pius 
 charged the archbishop of Durazzo to decide this cham- 
 pion of the faith not to be wanting to tliis battle which 
 the Western Christians were about to deliver in its 
 cause. He offered to release him from all his oaths, 
 by the sovereign powder of the Church. Scanderbeg, 
 though held back for a time by his scruples, yielded at 
 last to the entreaties of the head of his religion. He 
 took the field without a declaration of war. Pius hav- 
 ing offered his prayers in the Basilica of the Apostles, 
 set out for Ancona.' 
 
 The triumphs of the Turks were thus felt to be aimed 
 against aU Christendom, and eminently against the 
 Pope, its recognized head ; while perjury and idolatry 
 were the stamp which betrayed the dark features of the 
 lawless king. 
 
 The vow of Mahomet II.. published in all the moschs 
 through his empire (Mar. 11th, 1470), places this aspect 
 of the war in a still clearer light. ' I, Mahomet, son of 
 Amurath, sultan and governor of Baram and Rachmael, 
 •raised by the supreme God, placed in the circle of the 
 sun, covered with glory above all emperors, happy in 
 everything, feared by mortals, powerful in arms, by the 
 prayers of the saints in heaven, and of the great pro- 
 phet Mahomet, Emperor of emperors, and Prince of 
 princes, from the rising to the setting sun : I promise 
 to the only God, Creator of all things, by my vow and 
 my oath, that I will not give sleep to my eyes, that 
 I will not eat any choice viands, that I will not seek 
 out that which is pleasant, nor touch that which 
 is beautiful, that I will not turn my face from the 
 west to the east, till I overthrow and tread under the 
 feet of my horses the gods of the nations ; these 
 
 GODS OF WOOD, OF BRASS, OF SILVER, AND OF GOLD, 
 OR OF PAINTING, WHICH THE DISCIPLES OF ChRIST 
 HAVE MADE WITH THEIR HANDS. I SWCar that I 
 
 will root out all their iniquity from the face of the 
 
320 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 earth, from the rising to the setting sun, to the glory of 
 the God of Sabaoth and of the great prophet Mahomet. 
 For this cause I make known to all the circumcised 
 people, my subjects, who believe in Mahomet ; to their 
 chiefs and allies, if they fear God, the founder of heaven 
 and earth, and fear my invincible power ; that they ga- 
 ther to me on the seventh of tlie month of Rama- 
 dan, in this year 874 of the Hegira, obeying the com- 
 mand of God and of Mahomet, of whom the first by His 
 Providence, and the second by his prayers, will doubt- 
 less give us their aid.' 
 
 This proclamation bears a striking resemblance to 
 those words of the Holy Spirit, in a later prophecy, 
 where He clearly sets before us these Turkish con- 
 quests, and the impenitence of the Western Christians. 
 ' The remnant which were not slain by these plagues, 
 yet repented not of the works of their hands, that 
 they should not worship demons, and idols op gold 
 
 AND SILVER, AND BRASS, AND STONE, AND WOOD, which 
 
 neither can see nor hear nor walk.' 
 
 These overflowing conquests of the Turks will be 
 traced more clearly, by extracting the summary of their 
 reigns, in the margin of Rycaut's History of the- 
 Ottoman Kings. 
 
 A. D. 1422. Amurath II. sixth Emperor of the Turks. He 
 suppresses a counterfeit, and has him hanged. Causes his bro- 
 ther to be strangled, and his chief Pasha's eyes to be put out. 
 Conquers the Prince of Smyrna^ and seizes his dominions. A. D, 
 1432, Takes Thessalonica, and makes Gk^^q-e. tributary. In- 
 vades dirers kingdoms successfully. Entirely subdues Servia. 
 His general routed by Hunniades. Scanderbeg escapes and takes 
 Croia and invades Macedonia. Amurath beats the Hungarians 
 that had broken the truce, and kills their king. " In this fight 
 two-thirds of the Christians were slain or taken prisoners, with 
 the legate Julian, the principal author of this perjured expe- 
 dition." Amurath reduces the Peloponnesus, and beats Hunniades, 
 who is taken prisoner. His great preparations against Epirus, 
 reduces Sfetigrade, dies with grief and age, A. D. 1450. Mahomet 
 the Great, first emperor of the Turks, disappoints the Christians, 
 and murders his brothers. " He was a direct Atheist, ascribing 
 
THE WARFARE OF THE LATTER DAYS. 321 
 
 all things to chance or fortune ; for which reason he held himself 
 obliged by no promise, league or oath, longer than suited his profit 
 or convenience ; nay, the bonds of nature had no tie upon him, 
 for, being proclaimed Sultan, his two innocent brothers were pro- 
 scribed and put to death." He invades Caramania, and subdues 
 Caria, which is annexed to the monarchy. Besieges Constanti- 
 nople. The city is taken, and the Emperor crushed to death. 
 Invades and subdues Peloponnesus (A. D. 1460.) Servia becomes 
 a Turkish province. He invades and subdues the Prince of Sin- 
 ope. Conquers Trebizond and extirpates the Comneni. A. D. 
 1461. . He gains Wallachia by policy. Subdues the island of 
 Mitylene. Reduces Bosnia, and makes it a province. . . . The 
 Turks have peace with Scanderbeg, but war with the Venetians. 
 A Christian league against Mahomet frustrated by the Pope's 
 
 death Mahomet invades Negropont with 300 galleys, 
 
 and takes its metropolis, A. D. 1470. He takes Caffa and makes 
 the Tartars tributary ; and beats the Venetians in two signal de- 
 feats. He invades his neighbours with different success. Besieges 
 the city of Rhodes. Achmet Bassa takes Otranto. Mahomet's 
 death. 
 
 A. D. 1481. Bajazet II, second Emperor of the Turks, over- 
 throws his brothers. Epirus and Albania recovered. He sub- 
 dues Cilicia. Beats the Croatians and Hungarians. Makes war 
 on the Venetians and takes Lepanto, Modon, and other towns. 
 Is conspired against by his son Selim, A, D. 1514. 
 
 With such steady and continual advance the Sultan 
 and his forces overflowed the Christian countries, and 
 struck terror and alarm through the dominions of the 
 West, and all the worshippers of Mahuzzim. 
 
 And he shall enter into the glorious Icmd, and racmy 
 countries shall he overthrown ; hut these shall escape out of 
 his hands, Edom andMoah, and the borders of the children 
 of Ammon. 
 
 These words seem fulfilled in the next main events of 
 Turkish history, when their European conquests were 
 almost complete. 
 
 A. D. 1514. Selim, third Emperor of the Turks. Goes against 
 the Sultan of Egypt. Overthrows him, and gains Aleppo. Several 
 cities surrender to him. Purposes the conquest of Egypt and ob- 
 tains Gaza. 
 
 ' Selim, being in possession of this great victory, and 
 
 Y 
 
322 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 of the city of Aleppo, came soon after to Damascus 
 with his whole army ; but finding his enemies fled to 
 Cairo, easily obtained Damascus, and the other cities 
 along the sea-coasts, Tripoli, Berytus, Sidon, and Pto- 
 lemais. Having resolved on the conquest of Egypt, he 
 dispatched Sinan Bassa with 15000 horse and a strong 
 body of foot, into Judea, to open the way for him to 
 Gaza. . . . The flying Turks were, many of them, cut 
 off" by the wild Arabs, and had certainly all perished 
 had they not met with Julib, governor of Acliaia ; who 
 nevertheless, could not well defend them from the Ara- 
 bian archers ; for these greatly annoyed them from the 
 hills, and cut off" all those that straggled. . . . Selim, with 
 the remainder of his army, advanced towards Gaza. 
 From hence he marched to Rama, where by the way he 
 revenged himself on the habitations, wives, and children 
 of the Arabians, who had done him so great mischief. 
 Soon after, he turned aside with his horse to visit Jeru- 
 scdem, novj hut a desolate place ; where, having paid his 
 devotion to the tombs of the old prophets, he in four 
 days reached the rest of his army, not without conti- 
 nual skirmishes with the Arabians.' 
 
 And he shall stretch forth his hand on the countries, and 
 the land of Egypt shall not escape. But he shall have 
 power over the treasures of gold and silver, and all the 
 precious things of Egypt, and the Libyans and Ethiopians 
 shall he at his step)s, 
 
 '■ Selim, having made himself master of Cairo, com- 
 manded the fire to be quenched, and proclamation to be 
 made — That whoever of the Mamelukes should yield 
 himself within twelve hours, should have mercy, but 
 no others. Hereon many surrendered, who were forth- 
 with cast into irons, and not long after barbarously 
 murdered. The Turks rifled the houses of the Egyp- 
 tians, as well friends as foes, and suffered nothing to be 
 locked up or kept private from them. Some raged with 
 cruelty and lust, and, while others rifled, they ravaged 
 and killed.' 
 
 ' The terror of Selim's victories now spreading wide. 
 
 I 
 
THE WARFARE OF THE LATTER DAYS. 323 
 
 there was no city between Judea and Arabia but yielded to 
 his obedience. The kings of Africa also, bordering on 
 Cyrene, sent their ambassadors with proffers to become his 
 tributaries. The vnld Arabs alone bid him defiance, till 
 such time as he had, by large gifts, brought many of 
 their leaders over, who soon influenced the rest. Other 
 more remote nations towards Ethiopia ivere induced to join 
 in amity with the Turks. Selim, a little after, went in 
 his galley to Alexandria, which having viewed, and left 
 a garrison there, he returned to Cairo, whence he caused 
 500 chief families of the Egyptians to be transported 
 to Constantinople, as also a great number of the Mame- 
 lukes' wives and children, beside the Sultan's treasure, 
 and other vast riches.'' (Rye I. pp. 246 — 248.) 
 
 In this account of the Turkish conquest of Egypt, 
 every feature of the text, with one exception, appears 
 conspicuous. The king of the north enters into the 
 land of the goodly delight, and visits the site of the long- 
 ruined temple, there to worship in the mosch of Omer, 
 and at the tombs of the prophets. Many countries, 
 once the seats of populous tribes, were overthrown. The 
 land of Egypt does not escape, but comes entirely under 
 his power. Its treasures of gold and silver, and all its 
 precious things, were rifled by the soldiers, or carried 
 away in triumph by the victorious Sultan. The Libyans 
 and Ethiopians waited submissively at his steps, with 
 proffers of tribute and subjection which have been ful- 
 filled for centuries, or with promises of alliance equally 
 servile. 
 
 The only feature that remains obscure, is the escape 
 of Edom and Moab, and the borders of the children of 
 Amnion ; for this appears the probable meaning of the 
 term, since the whole language relates to countries 
 rather than to persons. Those districts were now oc- 
 cupied by " the wild Arabian tribes," the only parties 
 who bade successful defiance to the power of the Turk. 
 And though they were afterwards gained by presents, 
 this was the reverse of the policy practised to others, 
 and has never succeeded in securing their real subjec- 
 
 Y 2 
 
824 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 tion. They escaped upon the first inroad, and ever 
 since have continually reclaimed their liberty. Edom, 
 Moab and Amnion, have been peopled by these rovers 
 of the wilderness, who, unlike all surrounding countries, 
 maintain their independence of Turkish control. 
 
 But tidings out of the East and out of the West will 
 trouble him ; therefore will he go forth in great fury to 
 destroy, and utterly to make away many. 
 
 The two main adversaries of the Sultan were at this 
 time the Persians in the East, and the Christians of 
 Europe on his northern frontier. If the application 
 hitherto be just, then will history shew that his return 
 from the conquest of Egypt was hastened by tidings 
 from these two sources. The word also implies, not 
 simply to destroy, but to devote to a religious curse or 
 ban. Accordingly these three features do meet us in 
 the narrative. There were tidings, first from the east, 
 and then afterwards from the north, and each of these 
 from the champions of a rival creed, whom the orthodox 
 Mahometans devoted, not only to the sword, but to a 
 religious curse and final perdition. 
 
 ' Whilst Selim lay at Cairo, he diverted himself with 
 the overflowing of the Nile. When he had amused 
 himself with this sight for some time, he resolved upon 
 his departure for Syria ; and this, because he then heard 
 that the Sophy Ismael was coming to invade him in 
 Commagene. Having left a garrison in Cairo, he set 
 forward as he had determined. . . . The winter following 
 he continued in Syria to settle his affairs ; and early in 
 the spring, on information that Pope Leo X. had stirred 
 up the Christian princes to invade him in Europe, he 
 hasted to Constantinople, to observe the motions of his 
 enemies.' (Rye. I. pp. 249—251.) 
 
 And he shall pla7U the tabernacles of his palace between 
 the seas in the glorious holy mountain ; yet he shall come 
 to his end, and none shall help him. 
 
 These words form the last element in the description 
 of the king of the north. Their interpretation, in agree- 
 ment with the previous history, is attended with some 
 
THE WARFARE OF THE LATTER DAYS. 825 
 
 slight difficulty, The writers, who apply the passage 
 to the Turkish power, here differ greatly from each 
 other. One has referred it to a supposed invasion 
 and conquest of Rome, the seat of the Wilful King, by 
 the Turkish Sultan ; another to the past, and another 
 to some future occupation, of Jerusalem ; and others, by 
 a partial reversion in the order of time, to the first oc- 
 cupation of Constantinople, their seat of empire, 
 situate between two seas. 
 
 A little close attention will remove, perhaps, this 
 ambiguity. The expression clearly implies that the 
 king of the north will occupy '* the mountain of delight 
 of holiness," a place between two seas, for the tempo- 
 rar}" or permanent seat of his empire. It implies, fur- 
 ther, that this is the main event of his history, be- 
 tween the time of the conquest of Egypt and his final 
 overthrow. 
 
 • If now we inquire what one feature has marked the 
 Turkish power, from the time of Selim down to the 
 present hour of its utter weakness, the answer is plain. 
 It has obtained no signal conquests. A slight extension 
 of empire has been followed by a gradual and sure de- 
 cay. But, throughout the whole time, the mother city 
 of the Christian faith, itself, as Napoleon observed, an 
 empire, has been the proud seat of their dominion. 
 There has thus been a standing memorial that the Cres- 
 cent has prevailed over the Cross, in the very regions 
 where the Gospel had gained its earliest triumphs. 
 
 " The mountain of the delight of holiness " does lead 
 our thoughts, it is true, most naturally to Jerusalem. 
 But there is nothing in the words which requires this 
 application. The term is used without the article, and 
 might thus be explained indefinitely, " a mountain of 
 holy delight." Or, if taken definitely, it may be re- 
 ferred to the actual state and history of the Church, in 
 the times when Jerusalem was trodden down and in 
 ruins. If there were one place more than another which 
 might then claim pre-eminence, for the union of sanc- 
 tity and royal splendour, it was surely New Rome, bap- 
 
326 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 tized in its first infancy into the faith of Christ, and the 
 most public memorial, in the ej^es of the world, of the 
 lasting triumph achieved by the Gospel. Literally and 
 figuratively, its site was fixed on a high eminence ; and 
 the very reason for selecting the spot was its commanding 
 position between two seas ; by which it seemed born to 
 preside over the commerce of the world. The passage, 
 thus applied, becomes a prophecy of that feature in the 
 Turkish power, which throws a deep and mournful in- 
 terest around its conquests. Where Christianity had 
 most signally triumphed at first, it was signally and 
 permanently overthrown. No event could be more 
 adapted to awaken reflection and repentance, in those 
 who had corrupted the pure faith of Christ, and ob- 
 scured its glory, till the protecting hand of the Lord was 
 removed from his people, and even turned against them 
 in fiery judgment. 
 
 The words, thus explained, will describe the whole 
 history of the Porte from the time of the Reformation, 
 when Egypt was conquered, to the present day of its 
 utter weakness. But an augury was given in the his- 
 tory of Selim himself. * Having heard that Leo X. had 
 stirred up the Christian princes to invade him in Europe, 
 by forced marches he hasted to Constantinople, to 
 observe the motions of his enemies. Being arrived at 
 Constantinople, and having caused wonderful prepara- 
 tions to be made against the Christians, especially by 
 sea, which threatened either Rhodes or Italy, he was 
 all of a sudden struck with a cancer in the reins of his 
 back, which daily increased ; and as he was on his way 
 to solemnize the great feast Bairam, he died in Septem- 
 ber, 1520, in the very same place where he had formerly 
 assaulted his aged father.' (Rye. i. p. 251). 
 
 But he shall come to his end, and none shall help 
 him. These words, which had thus an earnest of their 
 fulfilment in the person of Selim, have been fulfilling 
 for a century past in the continual decay of the 
 Turkish power. That empire, once so mighty and 
 threatening, the source of terror to all the kingdoms of 
 
 I 
 
THE WARFARE OF THE LATTER DAYS. 327 
 
 Europe, which had planted its seat of govermnent in 
 that high eminence of imperial grandeur, consecrated 
 by the first Christian emperor for the citadel of the 
 faith, is now sunk into miserable decrepitude, and can 
 scarcely sustain itself by foreign help from a total 
 ruin. But that help will not be long continued. The 
 appointed time of its final extinction seems nearly •ome. 
 The expedients of policy, by which it has been propped 
 up for a moment, will then desert it, and, like the do- 
 minion which it replaced, no hand will be stretched 
 out to succour it in the day of ruin. So too must pe- 
 rish every power that exalts itself against the Son of 
 God, and refuses the yoke of obedience to His holy 
 word ; but they that love Him shall be as the sun when 
 he goeth forth in his might. The ruin of proud- apos- 
 tates will only be the signal, to His believing people, 
 for the bright dawn of their eternal glory. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE LATEST CONFLICTS IN THE EAST. 
 
 The fulfilment of these last verses of the prophecy has 
 now been traced in the wars of the Saracens and 
 Turks, which have had so close and vital a connexion, 
 for ages, with the history of the Church of Christ, and 
 of the land of Israel. If we now review the whole 
 course of the visions, there will be found, throughout, 
 a gradual development, and a remarkable historical 
 completeness. In the vision of the Image, we have the 
 general outline of the Four Empires, and the division 
 of the fourth and last, to be followed by the visible 
 kingdom of Messiah. In the next vision this outline 
 is expanded, the ten kings of the divided empire are 
 specified, and one remarkable power is revealed, whose 
 proud usurpations would form the main feature in the 
 latter stage of the fourth and last kingdom. We have 
 thus the broad and general outline of history, Babylon, 
 Persia, Greece, and Rome ; the dissolution of the Ro- 
 man empire, the formation of the Barbaro-Roman 
 kingdoms, and the long reign of the Papacy, small in 
 territory, and unrivalled in spiritual pride and great- 
 ness. The visions then revert to a fuller description of 
 those events which bear on the history of Israel. The 
 triumphs of Persia and Macedon are revealed, the four- 
 fold division of Alexander's Empire ; with a desolating 
 power, that was fulfilled partially in the reign of Anti- 
 ochus, but fully and properly, in the Eastern dominion 
 of Rome, from the death of Epiphanes to the overthrow 
 
THE LATEST CONFLICTS IN THE EAST. 829 
 
 of the sanctuary by Titus, and then onward to the fall 
 of the Eastern empire. In the Seventy Weeks we have 
 another prediction, still in the East, of the coming of 
 our Lord, his crucifixion, the rejection of the Jews, 
 their overthrow by. the Roman armies, and a moral 
 warfare, undefined in its length, to be closed by the 
 renewal of Israel's covenant in the last days. Finally, 
 in this last vision, we have an expanded history, which 
 combines all the former revelations into a complete out- 
 line of the events of two thousand years. Before, the 
 triumphs of Cyrus were revealed : here they are conti- 
 nued by the reign of his three successors, and the vast 
 expedition of Xerxes against Greece. The conquests 
 of Alexander had been announced. Here they are con- 
 tinued by the history of Syria and Egypt for two hun- 
 dred 3^ears from his death, to the return of Antiochus 
 from Egypt. Before, the persecutions of Antiochus, and 
 the longer desolations of the Romans in the East, 
 had been announced under language common to both. 
 Here they are again predicted in the same manner, with 
 further details of the Maccabean persecution, and of the 
 history of the Church from the days of our Lord to the 
 division of the empire. In a former vision the power to 
 reign in the latter time of the Roman empire had been 
 generally revealed. Here the prophecy is unfolded by 
 new features in the description of the Apostate King, 
 and of the novel form of religion to be then established, 
 with a sketch of the main political conflicts in the East 
 at the same time ; and these were to be further unfolded, 
 in a later prophecy, into the narrative of the first and 
 the second woe. There is thus a mutual connexion among 
 all the visions, with a gradual enlargement of the mes- 
 sage ; and, in their union, a clear and connected outline 
 of all the great changes of worldly power, both in the 
 East and the West, for two thousand five hundred years, 
 from the time of Nebuchadnezzar to the present day. 
 
 Still, it must be owned, something may still appear 
 wanting to the unity of the whole. The last portion of 
 this latest vision, we might naturally expect, would link 
 
m 
 
 380 CHAPTER XIX. * 
 
 itself with other predictions of God's word, and bear 
 the features of a final consummation. On the contrary, 
 the application of the Wilful King to the Papacy, and 
 of the king of the North to the Turkish dominion, leaves 
 on the mind an impression of the want of entire unity, in 
 the very part of the visions where we might expect 
 that all would converge upon the final issue. The in- 
 quiry may thus naturally arise, whether these last 
 verses have not some further application to events still 
 future. That such a double fulfilment is possible, has 
 been shown in other cases ; but still it ought not to be 
 received without direct and conclusive evidence. That 
 these verses have been really fulfilled in the Saracens 
 and Turks, has been proved already, and is confirmed 
 by the completeness of the historical outline which is 
 thus revealed, and by the analogy with the first and 
 second woe. I shall now endeavour to prove, from 
 direct evidence of Scripture, as well as from internal 
 marks in the vision, that there is a further accomplish- 
 ment of these verses in events near at hand, and which 
 will complete and close the Gentile dispensation. 
 
 And first, the prophecy itself lends us a strong pre- 
 sumption in favour of this view. When a series of 
 events either fully satisfy all the terms of a prediction, 
 or agree with most of them in their proper sense, and 
 with the others by an accommodation so easy, that it 
 could not fail to be made, the Spirit of God must clearly 
 have designed to point out those events, and there is a 
 real fulfilment. Still more is this the case, where every 
 phrase is taken in its strict and legitimate meaning. 
 Yet if there are words in the prediction which more 
 naturally suggest, by their allusion to other Scriptures, 
 a different meaning from that which the history has 
 assigned them, it is not unreasonable to suspect a fur- 
 ther reference. We must look, in the word of God, for 
 the fullest harmony of parts, and the deepest signifi- 
 cance in every phrase. Now there are two or three 
 points, in the interpretation already given, which clearly 
 diverge from this most natural view. The Wilful King, 
 
THE LATEST CONFLICTS IN THE EAST. 831 
 
 and the King of the North, so far as the letter of the 
 prophecy is concerned, may very well be distinct 
 powers. Yet the moral unity of the passage would 
 clearly be greater, if they were both to be one and the 
 same, and the closing events belonged to the same 
 power whose character has been so fully pourtrayed, 
 and not to one silently introduced. The mountain of 
 delight of holiness may be applied, with literal truth, 
 to an}^ elevated site, placed between two seas, and sig- 
 nally consecrated to the true God. But its most natural 
 reference is, beyond a doubt, to Mount Zion and the holy 
 city of Jerusalem. The timie of the end also, as explained 
 generally by the previous visions, will be the three 
 times and a half of the latter stage of the fourth empire. 
 But, as explained by the next chapter, it would apply 
 with most emphasis to those additional days, which are 
 added to this period as its completion, and which make 
 up the total of 1335 days, when the time of full blessed- 
 ness is to ensue. The place, also, of this passage, at the 
 close of all the visions, would incline us to refer it to 
 some events which should form a common close to the 
 various changes of the Christian dispensation, and sig- 
 nally usher in the millennial glory. Let us now see 
 whether, from the internal marks of the vision itself, 
 and the evidence of other prophecies, we cannot deduce, 
 with high probability, such an interpretation, yet still 
 in full harmony with the expositions already offered, 
 which have been confirmed by the voice of Providence 
 in past ages. 
 
 First, the vision, as already explained, has set before 
 us, three Antichristian powers ; the vile person, or An- 
 tiochus Epiphanes ; the Wilful King, or the idolatrous 
 Papacy of Rome ; and the king of the North, or that 
 open adversary of the faith, and mighty conqueror, the 
 Sultan of the Turks, or the Ottoman empire. In each 
 of these we have a distinct element of the Antichristian 
 character. The first is an individual and personal ad- 
 versary : the second an idolatrous corrupter of the faith ; 
 the third, an open rejecter of the Son of God. The pro- 
 
332 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 phecy itself makes no broad transition ; before the 
 event, all the three might readily be supposed to be one. 
 It is therefore not unnatural to suppose that these three 
 features of Antichristian character will coalesce and 
 combine in the last days. When the power denoted by 
 the Wilful King shall come to its end, we are sure that 
 it will be headed by some one person, and thus two fea- 
 tures will necessarily be combined. All analogy would 
 lead us to expect that the constructive, though real apos- 
 tasy, of Christian idolatry, will issue in a more open 
 and avow^ed opposition to Christ. In this case, the three 
 features will all meet and be combined in the last 
 day of the Papal empire, before the coming of the Lord. 
 The same power, which will then wield the resources 
 of Western Christendom, may have become possessed 
 of the north of Asia, and the Syrian kingdom. Then 
 without any fresh license, and by the ^natural force 
 of the terms, the Wilful King and the King of the 
 North wdll be one and the same person. Events are 
 clearly tending, even now, towards such a change : and 
 the completed fall of Turkey must bring Asia Minor 
 and Syria, sooner or later, under the control of the 
 western powers. 
 
 With this leading idea kept in view, let us now re- 
 sume the examination of these verses, and compare 
 them with the other statements of Scripture prophecy. 
 
 At the time of the end the king of the south ivill push at 
 him. We have seen that the vision, taken as a whole, 
 leads to a natural presumption that the Wilful King will 
 hereafter become the King of the North, and the narra- 
 tive, having diverged for a time to the West, revert again 
 to the East, its main theatre. Such a reunion of the 
 Western countries of Rome with the northern countries 
 of Asia seems to be taught in several passages, but most 
 clearly in the thirty-eighth of Ezekiel. The time of 
 that prophecy is plainly just before the final restoration 
 of Israel. Gog, the leader of this great confederacy, is 
 there said to combine Gomer and his bands with the 
 power of Meshech and Tubal. Now Gomer is referred 
 
THE LATEST CONFLICTS iN THE EAST. 833 
 
 commonly, with much apparent reason, to the Cymri, 
 or Celtic tribes, who were the first peoplers of western 
 Europe. Rosh, Mes*hech, and Tubal, appear directly to 
 refer to Russia, Moscow, and Tobolsk, the collective 
 description of the Muscovite or Russian em23ire. The 
 direction of the march clearly implies that the regions 
 of Asia Minor and Syria are incorporated in the same 
 power. And hence we have a strong presumption that 
 one mighty leader will hereafter group under his banner 
 the western tribes of Europe, the power of Russia, and 
 the districts held long before by the King of the North. 
 This chieftain, whether a Russian Emperor, or a second 
 Napoleon, more successful in his eastward warfare, 
 would fulfil every condition which the vision of Daniel 
 suggests, and which the words of Ezekiel seem evidently 
 to require. 
 
 The time of the end has already been referred, on the 
 evidence of the prophecies, to the three times and half of 
 the Little Horn. These, however, themselves receive 
 an extension and supplement in the close of the present 
 vision. The three periods there mentioned must naturally 
 be referred to a common origin, and thus two intervals of 
 thirty and forty-five days are added to complete the 
 one first mentioned. If so, the time of the end will 
 describe, by way of eminence, the last of these periods, 
 or the forty -five prophetic days, which follow the 1290, 
 and complete the last interval of 133-5 days. Of this 
 period it is probable that more than twenty years 
 have already expired. But even now we see a great 
 preparation made for a political reunion of the East and 
 of the West, and the part which remains, if the date be 
 rightly assigned, is enough for that rapid career of con- 
 quest which the words of Ezekiel set before us. Other 
 scriptures, as the sixth vial, imply the same reunion of 
 various powers in one mighty confederacy before the 
 time of the end, and seem to prove that western Europe, 
 and not Russia, will be its real origin, and the birth- 
 place of the mighty leader who is to arise. 
 
 The king of the South is said to push against the 
 
834 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Wilful King. Egypt has, for some time, been rising into 
 prominence as a separate power. But still Egypt alone 
 seems too feeble to undertake any serious resistance to a 
 confederacy so vast and mighty. It is more natural to 
 suppose that, as in the case of the Saracens, this country 
 is merely the salient point of attack, and that the power 
 which occupies it, and thereby claims the prophetic 
 title, king of the south, is one of wider influence, and 
 of other possessions. That the same power which holds 
 the vast southern empire of India may then also have 
 possession of Egypt, and from thence push against the 
 inroads of its northern adversary, it would be rash to 
 expect with confidence, but the conjecture is not un- 
 reasonable. The course of events, and the necessities 
 of commerce, appear more and more to be grouping to- 
 gether India, Egypt, and Britain. The designs of 
 France upon Egypt, and of Russia upon India, have long- 
 been the subjects of political discussion and military 
 conjecture. Whenever, therefore, all the continent shall 
 be gathered under one head, as king of the north, it 
 seems not improbable that the maritime empire of Bri- 
 tain may be the rival power, and that its acquisition of 
 Egypt, as the emporium of its Indian commerce, will 
 give to it the prophetic character of the king of the 
 south ; while the same policy which has led before in 
 Caubul to such fearful disaster, may be repeated once 
 more, with results still more grievous, in this push of 
 military violence against the grand and overwhelming 
 confederacy of the northern power. 
 
 And the king of the north shall come against him 
 like a whirlwind, with chariots and horsemen and many 
 ships.'''' The theatre of the campaign will now be, like 
 tliose of Antiochus, in Palestine and Egypt. The great 
 leader of the north will overflow and pass on to the 
 south, to crush the power which has assailed him. The 
 description answers- exactly to the words of Ezekiel, 
 where he predicts the march of Gog, the prince of 
 Magog, against the land of Israel. His army are said 
 to be " horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with 
 
THE LATEST CONFLICTS IN THE EAST. 385 
 
 all sorts of armour, and a great company with bucklers 
 and shields, all of them handling swords." The cha- 
 racter of his march is then described. " Thou shalt as- 
 cend, and come like a storm ; thou shalt be like a cloud 
 to cover the land, thou and all thy lands, and many 
 people with thee." " Thou shalt come from thy place 
 out of the north parts, thou and many people with 
 thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, 
 and a mighty army." 
 
 The King of the North was to enter into the glorious 
 land, and to overthrow many countries. Such also is 
 the description of Gog in Ezekiel. The fierce invader 
 wull pass " like a cloud " over the glorious land of Is- 
 rael, and all resistance will be overcome. But in the 
 eager pursuit of his enemy, the king of the south, he 
 does not stay at first to reduce the border countries be- 
 yond Jordan. " These shall escape out of his hand, 
 Edom, and Moab, and the borders of the children of 
 Ammon." The same districts, which before, when held 
 by the Arabian tribes, escaped the dominion of the 
 Turkish invaders, will equally be passed over by this 
 fiercer king of the north, in the rapidity'- of his progress. 
 And thus perhaps the words of Isa. xvi. 4. may be ful- 
 filled anew, and the land of Moab, and the rocks of 
 Petra, be a refuge to the outcasts of Israel from the 
 spoiler and oppressor of the last days. 
 
 The next event announced is the victory of the fierce 
 invader over the land of Egypt, and his full possession of 
 its treasures. At present those treasures are but small. 
 But a few years of wise and firm government, should it 
 become the emporium of the Indian commerce, might 
 soon enable it to rival and surpass its riches in an- 
 cient times. And this may perhaps be its condition 
 when Gog shall have mustered his host. The Li- 
 byans and Ethiopians, who are at his steps, are men- 
 tioned also in the earlier prophecy of Ezekiel. " Persia, 
 Ethiopia, and Libya, are with them, all of them with 
 shield and helmet." All the strength of Africa after this 
 Egyptian conquest would fall naturally under his sway. 
 
836 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 But tidings out of the east and the north shall 
 trouble him. The nature of these tidings we may 
 learn from other prophecies, that leave scarcely any 
 room for doubt as to their nature and meaning. The 
 Ten Tribes have been cast off afar toward the East, and 
 from the East they are to return in the last days. Their 
 restoration is to be with signs and wonders, and visible 
 marks of the Divine favour. " They shall fly on the 
 shoulders of the Philistines towards the west ; they 
 shall spoil them of the East together ; they shall lay 
 their hand upon Edom and Moab, and the children of 
 Amnion shall obey them." Not only the direction 
 is the same, but the countries which they will first 
 occupy are those which are here said to escape 
 from this king of the north. The tidings from the 
 east, therefore, are probably a rumour of the first ga- 
 thering together, in some eastern country, of these 
 outcast tribes of Israel. 
 
 Again, when the king is emploj^ed in the conquest 
 of Egypt, tidings from the north will most naturally 
 refer to the land of Palestine. There, as many Scrip- 
 tures teach us, God will raise up a powerful wit- 
 ness against this great enemy. Spiritual triumphs 
 resembling those of the Maccabees, but on a larger 
 scale, and attended probably by open signs and won- 
 ders, either from Elias himself, or witnesses in his spirit 
 and with his power, will trouble the king amidst his 
 career of victory. He will then hasten back to Palestine 
 to extirpate every rebel, and to establish at Jerusalem 
 the seat of an almost universal dominion. " He will 
 go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make 
 away many." The word, to make away, denotes more 
 than political warfare, a fierce anathema and religious 
 curse. Every rebel against the new and idolatrous wor- 
 ship, which the king has set up, will be doomed, as 
 under Antiochus, to tortures and death. 
 
 And he shall plaiit the talernacles of his 'palace between 
 the seas in the glorious holy mountain ; yet he shall come 
 to his end, and none shall help him. 
 
THE LATEST CONFLICTS IN THE EAST. 337 
 
 Such is the parallel description in Ezekiel and Zech- 
 arlah. The purpose of Gog, when he invades Judea, is 
 " to take a spoil, and to take a prey : to turn his hand 
 upon the desolate places now inhabited ; and upon the 
 people gathered out of the nations, wliich have gotten 
 cattle and goods, and dwell in the midst of the land." 
 The same features appear in Zechariah, where all na- 
 tions are gathered against Jerusalem to battle, " and 
 the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and half 
 the city shall go out into captivity." It may be in- 
 ferred, from a careful comparison of several scriptures, 
 that at this time the temple, described in Ezekiel, will 
 have been built, and that here this fierce and mighty 
 king will seat himself as a sovereign, and claim to be 
 the object of a Divine adoration. For, as the spiritual 
 resurrection of believers, through all the times of the 
 gospel, will be visibly crowned by the resurrection of 
 their bodies in the day of Christ, so will all the abomina- 
 tions of Antichrist in the spiritual temple, or the Church 
 of Christ, when once a literal temple is rebuilt in Jerusa- 
 lem, converge thither, as to the place and time of their 
 final consummation. Then will come, as in Isaiah Ixvi, 
 the hour of Zion's travail, and " a voice from the city, a 
 voice from the temple, a voice of the Lord, that ren- 
 dereth recompense to His enemies." 
 
 Yet he shall come to his end^ and none shall help 
 him. This total overthrow of the last confederacy 
 against Israel is the burden of many prophecies. It 
 was prefigured in the miraculous ruin of the host of 
 Sennacherib ; and is announced in the Apocalypse as 
 " the battle of the great day of God Almighty," and by 
 the prophet Joel, as the time when the vats shall over- 
 flow, and the vintage of wickedness shall be trodden, 
 and multitudes shall fall in the valley of decision. 
 
 Thus every part of these verses, which close the vi- 
 sion, when compared with other prophecies, appear to 
 have a concentrated fulfilment in the last expedition of 
 Gog against the land of Israel. The three separate fea- 
 tures of Antichristian pride will then have been united 
 
S38 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 in one single power. The Papac}'', denoted by the 
 Wilful King, in its last hour will fill up the measure 
 of its apostasy, and gather to itself those partial 
 features of Antichrist, which are now to be seen in the 
 Mahometan delusion, and its open rejection of the Son 
 of God. At the same time a kader will arise, the last 
 personal head of the compound system of evil, and the 
 heathen Antiochus, the Pope, and the Turk, contribute 
 to supply the features of his iniquity. The Wilful 
 King, in this last stage of his power, and represented 
 now by this leader, will gather on himself the predicted 
 character of a king of the north, and then come down 
 like a whirlwind on the land of Israel. Success for a 
 time will attend his banners, so that in the words of 
 Habakkuk, "he will gather to himself all nations, and 
 heap unto himself all people." The faithful witnesses, 
 who protest against his idolatry and blasphemy, will be 
 persecuted with great wrath, and hunted out for des- 
 truction. The king of pride will take Jerusalem, the 
 holy city, for the se£lt where he will plant his standard, 
 and probably claim Divine honours from the subject 
 nations ; a worship to be paid, in his person, to the dig- 
 nity of regenerate and glorified humanity, freed from 
 the long delusions of past ages. " Yet he shall come to 
 his end, and none shall help him." " Like as the young 
 lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds 
 is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their 
 voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them : so shall 
 the Lord of hosts come down to fight for Mount Zion 
 and for the hill thereof. As birds flying, so will the 
 Lord of Hosts defend Jerusalem : defending also he will 
 deliver it, and passing over he will preserve it." Then 
 will the Assyrian, the last enemy, fall upon the moun- 
 tains of Israel, and the prophecy of Ezekiel on the over- 
 throw of Gog and his multitude, after the lapse of so 
 many ages, be at length fulfilled. 
 
 And in that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince 
 that standeth for the children of thy people, and there shall 
 he a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a na- 
 
THE LATEST CONFLICTS IN THE EAST. 330 
 
 tion to that time ; and in that time shall thy people he de- 
 livered, every one that shall he found written in the hook. 
 
 The description of the fall of Gog, in Ezekiel, is 
 nearly the same. 
 
 " And it shall come to pass at the same time, when 
 Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord 
 God, that my fury shall come up in my face. For in 
 my jealousy, in the fire of my wrath have I spoken. 
 Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the 
 land of Israel ; so that the fishes of the sea, and the 
 fowls of the heaven, and the heasts of the earth, and all 
 creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the 
 men that dwell on the face of the earth, shall shake at 
 my presence ; and the mountains shall be thrown down, 
 and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall 
 to the ground. And I will call for a sword against him 
 throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord God : 
 every man's sword shall be against his brother. And I 
 will plead against him with pestilence and blood ; and 
 I will rain upon him and his bands, and upon the many 
 people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great 
 hailstones, fire and brimstone. Thus will I magnify 
 myself and sanctify myself, and I will be known in 
 the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I 
 am the Lord." 
 
 There is thus, in the series of these holy visions, a 
 complete outline of all the great changes of Providence, 
 in regular succession and unbroken order, from Nebu- 
 chadnezzar till the times of the Gentiles are expired, 
 and Jerusalem has ceased to be trodden down. The 
 main course of worldly dominion is traced through the 
 Four Empires, with a fuller view of the latter times of 
 Rome, when the Papal domination shall bind the bro- 
 ken kingdoms into a new confederacy of Christian idol- 
 worship, and a warning of the judgment which shall 
 consume and destroy this idolatry for ever. The history 
 of the East is then described, with equal clearness, in the 
 victories of Cyrus, and the reigns of his four successors, 
 till the proud invasion of Xerxes was repelled, and the 
 
340 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 strength of Persia began to decay. The history then 
 continues under Alexander and the four divided king- 
 doms of his Empire, followed by the wars of Syria and 
 Egypt, from Seleucus Nicator to the repulse of Antio- 
 chus by the Romans. The desolations, first of Antio- 
 ochus, and next of the Romans themselves, are then 
 expressively pourtrayed ; and, while a separate prophecy 
 reveals the events of our Lord's ministry, the history is 
 continued through the persecutions of the early Church 
 to the fall and ruin of the Eastern Empire. The en- 
 larged prophecy of the Scripture of truth now resumes 
 the message of the earlier visions, and unfolds more 
 clearly the idol-worship set up by the Little Horn, or 
 Wilful King, in the three times and a half of his per- 
 mitted power, with the warfare of the Saracens and 
 Turks, and their dominion in the East. A further ex- 
 tension of the predicted times is at length revealed. In 
 this latest portion of the prophetic calendar, the Wilful 
 King enters on the last form of his apostate power ; and, 
 assuming to himself the features of personal malignity, 
 and an open rejection of Christ, which belong to An- 
 tiochus, his type and predecessor, and the king of the 
 north, his temporary rival, gathers at length under his 
 banner all the apostate nations ; and, in the height of his 
 power and pride, is broken and overthrown by the hand 
 of God in the mountains of Israel. Then the times of 
 restitution will begin. " Israel shall blossom and bud, 
 and fill the face of the world with fruit," and " all the 
 ends of the earth shall see the salvation of the Lord." 
 
 With what humble reverence, then, should the Chris- 
 tian gaze on these holy prophecies ! They are a tran- 
 script from those secret and sure decrees, written in the 
 Scripture of truth, in the volume of God's counsels in 
 heavenly places. Already they have been a light for 
 ages to the weary pilgrims of the Church ; and they will 
 continue to be a beacon-light to the faithful, until the 
 darkness shall be past, and the shadows of this vain 
 and transitory world shall flee away. May we have 
 grace to take heed to them, with a humble and prayer- 
 
THE LATEST CONFLICTS IN THE EAST. 341 
 
 fill spirit, that we may be counted worthy to escape 
 those things which shall come to pass, and, after pass- 
 ing through all the trials of the last days, and resisting 
 every form of spiritual delusion and Antichristian error, 
 may be more than conquerors through Him who hath 
 loved us, and stand before the Son of Man in the da}^ 
 of His glory ! 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE HISTORICAL REALITY OF PROPftECT. 
 
 The Vision of the Ram and He-Goat, and the Prophecy 
 of the Scripture of Truth, have now heen explained, in 
 their historical fulfilment, down to the present day. On 
 a review of the whole, we €an scarcely fail to be struck, 
 not only with the accuracy of the Divine predictions, 
 but with the variety of facts and particular changes 
 which are here contained. The main outlines of Pro- 
 vidence, through twenty-four centuries, are distinctly 
 announced ; and, although remoter events are predicted 
 in general and comprehensive terms, in those which 
 were nearer at hand the variety of details may rival the 
 narratives of direct history. Nearly twenty individuals, 
 most of them unborn, are separately announced, and the 
 actions and exploits of many among them are described 
 with unusual clearness. So that the Spirit of God, in 
 these visions, more than elsewhere, would manifest to 
 the Church that historical reality is one grand and 
 conspicuous excellence of His holy prophecies. 
 
 Divine truth, like the sunlight of heaven, may appear 
 in three different forms, as it has three distinct offices 
 to fulfil. In the first, it is like the unbroken sunbeams, 
 that remain in their own pure brightness ; while it re- 
 veals to us immediately the titles, the attributes, and 
 glorious perfections, of the living God. In the second, 
 it exhibits this light of Divine goodness, refracted, like 
 the hues of the rainbow, into all the diversities of spiri- 
 tual experience, and the various promises of the cove- 
 nant of grace. In the prophecies, however, it stoops 
 
THE HISTORICAL REALITY OF PROPHECY. 343 
 
 still lower. As the light of heaven rests on the moun- 
 tain, and beams down upon the quiet valley, biennis 
 with every separate landscape, to enrich it with fresh 
 beauty, and enters into a secret union with every tree 
 and flower, to quicken their growth and unfold their 
 loveliness, so is it with this portion of the word of God. 
 It stoops to all the variety of human actions, whether 
 in the elevations of human greatness, or in the quiet 
 valleys of life. It reveals to us a secret and hidden 
 wisdom in the darkest scenes of the world's history, and 
 quickens every plant in the vineyard of the Church with 
 the bright and cheering hope of good things to come. 
 Even the seeming triumphs of evil are thus turned into 
 auguries of the coming redemption. For here we see 
 that every link of change, however inscrutable to men, 
 is held firmly in the hand of God ; and that even in the 
 darkest hours, Omniscient Wisdom is at the helm, and 
 is guiding all to the predestined issue of triumphant 
 holiness, peace, and joy. 
 
 This feature of the prophecies, next to their moral 
 grandeur, is the secret of their inestimable worth. They 
 thus become a Divine bridge, to unite all the passing 
 events of time with the most glorious truths of the spi- 
 ritual world. Deprive them of their moral and spiritual 
 elements, and they will become the sport of a vain cu- 
 riosity, or the nurseries of a gloomy fatalism ; strip 
 them, on the other hand, of their historical reality, and 
 they melt away into airy dreams of fancy or specula- 
 tion, and become practically worthless. 
 
 A theory, however, has been lately advanced,* which 
 entirely sets aside this view of Divine prophecy. And 
 since its adoption has betrayed a Christian writer, of 
 undoubted piety and distinguished learning, into a re- 
 vival of Infidel objections, long exploded, against these 
 visions of Daniel, it seems natural, and almost ne- 
 cessary, to devote a little space to its examination. In the 
 present day even the most puerile fancies or dangerous 
 errors, if once shielded by a great name, will often ob- 
 * Sennons on Prophecy, by Dr. Arnold. 
 
344 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 tain a surprising currency among superficial minds. Our 
 esteem for persons must not therefore prevent us from 
 pruning, with a vigorous hand, those falsehoods which 
 dishonour the word of God, and endanger the faith of 
 weak and unsettled Christians. 
 
 Sacred Prophecy, we are told by this new theory, 
 is not, as is commonly supposed, an anticipation of 
 history. For History deals with particular nations, 
 times, places, and persons. But Prophecy cannot do 
 this, or it would alter the very conditions of humanity. 
 It deals only with general principles, good and evil, 
 truth and falsehood, God and his enemy. It is the voice 
 of God, announcing the issue of the great struggle be- 
 tween good and evil. However diversified its forms, 
 the message is one and the same, that it shall be well at 
 the last, and there shall be a time when good shall per- 
 fectly triumph. 
 
 History, then, is busy with particular facts. Prophecy 
 with general maxims. The first extracts, as well as it 
 can, from the study of its own facts, some general prin- 
 ciples ; and Prophecy finds, in like manner, some histori- 
 cal events that bear analogy to its own peculiar lessons. 
 The mixed character, however, of nations and persons, 
 while it embarrasses and qualifies the judgment of the 
 historian, in the same degree lowers and qualifies the 
 promises and threatenings of the prophet. So far as 
 any nation is good, the prophecies of blessing apply to 
 it ; so far as it is evil, the predictions of sin and sorrow, 
 " It is History that deals with the twelve tribes of Is- 
 rael ; but the Israel of Prophecy are God's Israel really 
 and truly, who walk with Him faithfully, and abide 
 with Him to the end." Twice the prophecies have thus 
 failed of their proper fulfilment, first in the circum- 
 cised, and then in the baptized Church. " We see 
 clearly enough, conscience tells us too plainly, why : its 
 promises are for the righteous, and we are not the 
 righteous." 
 
 Prophecy, it results from this view, cannot be literally 
 fulfilled, because individual persons or nations represent 
 
THE HISTORICAL REALITY OF PROPHECV. 345 
 
 good or evil -very imperfectly ; and their moral state, 
 which alone fits them to be the objects of prophecy, is 
 in continual change. How then must it be fulfilled 1 
 Simply, it is answered, in the person of Christ. In 
 Him good was pure and unmingled, and achieved a per- 
 fect triumph. His resurrection is the true fulfilment of 
 all prophecy, whatever dim earnests one or another pre- 
 diction may have received elsewhere. And thus every 
 part of it may be affirmed to have a double sense, " one 
 historical, comprehended by the prophet and his own 
 generation, in all its poetic features, but never fulfilled 
 answerably to the magnificence of its language, because 
 that was inspired by a higher object ; the other, spiri- 
 tual, the proper forms of which neither the prophet nor 
 his contemporaries knew, but fulfilled adequately in 
 Christ, and his promises to his people, or judgments on 
 his enemies." 
 
 Such is the hypothesis lately advanced, as the true 
 and only key to the whole system of Divine Prophecy. 
 It rests on the following maxims, — that, vi-hile sacred 
 history deals only in particular facts, inspired prophecy, 
 on the contrary, deals only with general principles ; 
 that its declarations are all conditional, and dependent 
 on the uncertain goodness of individual states or per- 
 sons ; that it has always a double sense, of which one 
 is due to the ignorance of the pi'ophet, and the other to 
 the mind of the revealing Spirit ; and that the true and 
 proper fulfilment of every prediction is in the person of 
 Christ only. Each of these maxims, without one ex- 
 ception, is utterly and demonstrably untrue. Their 
 effect, when joined together, is to destroy the very exis- 
 tence of Prophecy, as distinct from the general promises 
 of God's word ; and to change it, from the beacon-light 
 of the Church, into a heap of blind conjectures, clothed 
 in glowing metaphors and Eastern hyperboles by the 
 heated fancy of good, but fallible and ignorant men. 
 
 First of all. Sacred History itself does eminently re- 
 late to general principles, no less than to particular 
 times, places, events and persons. This truth meets our 
 
S46 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 eye in every part of the Divine narrative. From the 
 first account of the Creation and the Fall, to the part- 
 ing message of St. Paul to the Jews at Rome, deep 
 lessons of Divine sovereignty, of sin and holiness, of 
 .truth and righteousness, beam out upon us continually 
 in every page. Who can read the history of the Flood, 
 or of Abraham's intercession for the cities of the plain, 
 -the life of Joseph, the Exodus of the Jews, or the suf- 
 ferings and triumphs of David, and not see that the 
 Sacred History is transparent with lessons of Divine 
 wisdom, and that it reveals the great principles of good 
 and evil, their opposite character, and their contrasted 
 results, not less clearly than the inspired prophecies 
 themselves ? 
 
 It is owned, however, that history does extract, as well 
 as it can, some general principles from the study of par- 
 ticular events ; but still the mingled character of these 
 events embarrasses the judgment of the historian. A 
 strange and foolish paradox ! In those histories which 
 alone can be contrasted with the inspired prophecies, the 
 Holy Spirit is the true historian. To say that He ex- 
 tracts, as well as He can, some general principles from the 
 events which He records, would be foolish and blasphe- 
 mous ; and yet, if this be not the import of the maxim, 
 it is utterly without meaning. The past and the future 
 are alike full of instruction, when they are seen in the 
 light of heaven, and linked with their true and secret 
 causes in the councils of eternal wisdom. The Holy 
 Spirit, to whom the whole scheme lies open from first < 
 to last, can feel no embarrassment in extracting deep 
 lessons of truth from the parts which have been ful- 
 filled ; and can also temper his own promises or threat- 
 enings with equal ease, so as to represent accurately 
 those events which are still to come. 
 
 But this leads us on to the next maxim, that Prophecy 
 deals only with general principles, and not with par- 
 ticular events. No statement could be more evidently 
 untrue. Prophecy does relate to particular nations, 
 as in the plagues on Egypt, announced to Abraham ; 
 
THE HISTORICAL REALITY OF PROPHECY. 347 
 
 the expulsion of the Canaanites, revealed to the same 
 patriarch, and again to Moses ; the ruin of Amalek, 
 predicted by Balaam ; and the doom of Tyre and 
 Babylon, foretold by Isaiah. Of particular times 
 the examples are as numerous ; one hundred and twenty 
 years before the flood ; four hundred from Isaac to 
 the Exodus, forty years in the wilderness, a famine 
 of seven years under Elisha, sixty-five years from the 
 message of Isaiah to Ephraim's captivity, and seventy 
 more from the first of Nebuchadnezzar to the return 
 from Babylon ; besides many other predictions of a 
 similar kind. Places are also specified with equal 
 minuteness ; the worship of Israel at the foot of Mount 
 Horeb, the judgment on Ahab in Naboth's vineyard, 
 the destruction of the altar at Bethel, the birth-place of 
 our Lord, the ruin of Tyre, the place of the king of 
 Babylon's throne in Egypt ; and many others, both 
 fulfilled and unfulfilled. Of particular actions we have 
 an instance in every prediction ; and, even of persons, 
 three are mentioned byname, Solomon, Josiah, and Cyrus ; 
 and several more by express description, as David, Sen- 
 nacherib, Judas, and John the Baptist. The contrast, 
 therefore, between sacred history and sacred prophecy, 
 fails entirely in every part. To maintain it, we must 
 do violence to the whole current of the word of 
 God. Its history is rich throughout with lessons of 
 spiritual wisdom ; and its prophecies abound, from 
 first to last, with specific notices of nations, times, 
 places, and persons. 
 
 It is true that Prophecy, in its revelation of the 
 future, must naturally be more sparing of detail than 
 History in its narratives of past events. It might else 
 weigh down the conscience under a load of fatalism, 
 and defeat the moral ends for which it is given. But 
 this difference is one of degree only, and lends no real 
 support to the preposterous maxims of this novel theory. 
 It is still an evident truth that moral principles are 
 conspicuous in the sacred narratives, and that details of 
 
348 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 particular events abound in every part of the inspired 
 prophecies. 
 
 Why indeed, should the language of prophecy need 
 to be lowered and qualified, as the theory maintains ? 
 Is the Holy Spirit so ignorant that He cannot foresee the 
 true nature of coming events 1 Or, if He foresees them, 
 even in their minutest details, is He so infected with 
 oriental hyperbole and the love of exaggeration, that 
 He cannot predict them as they really are, within their 
 real limits and under their true colours ? Or has the 
 scheme of Providence been so ill and unwisely arranged, 
 that its real facts cannot be predicted in accurate terms, 
 without banishing at once every glimpse of high and 
 holy design, and all moral grandeur, from the revela- 
 tion ? Surely every one of these alternatives is equally 
 foolish and absurd. Why, then, must the messages of 
 the Holy Spirit be tempered and lowered, to bring them 
 into harmony w^ith the truth of history 1 Such state- 
 ments, even from the lips of pious men, deserve only 
 one answer, which our Lord has already given in His 
 severe rebuke to the disciples — " O fools ! and slow of 
 heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken ! " 
 
 The natural effect of these principles is to degrade all 
 the sacred predictions into mere conditional promises 
 or threatenings. Their blessings, it is thought, must 
 be lowered to suit the imperfect goodness of God's 
 sei'vants, and their threatenings mitigated for earthly 
 evil-doers. Israel represented goodness very imper- 
 fectly, and hence the predictions made concerning Israel 
 are imperfectly fulfilled. The features of good and 
 evil, in particular nations, which make them fit to re- 
 present general principles, are in continual change, and 
 hence the prophecy dies of its own accord, and, as in the 
 case of Nineveh, cannot be fulfilled at all. " God must 
 either stint for our sin's sake the abundance of his mercy, 
 or impair, for His promise's sake, the perfection of His jus- 
 tice. The Christian Israel does not answer more wor- 
 thily to the expectations of Prophecy than Israel after 
 the flesh. Twice has God willed to mark out its guests, 
 
THE HISTORICAL REALITY OF PROPHECY. 349 
 
 that all who were circumcised, and all who were bap- 
 tized, should be heirs of its promises ; and twice the sin 
 of man has rendered it impossible ; again have the peo- 
 ple whom He brought out of Egypt corrupted them- 
 selves ! " 
 
 A theory so startling, so destructive to the very idea 
 of real Prophecy, ought surely to be fortified by clear 
 proofs, either from reason or the word of God. It should 
 be shown, either that Prophecy, in its very nature, ex- 
 cludes all unconditional statements ; or else that none 
 but conditional promises are actually to be found. Here, 
 however, no such attempt has been made. The theory 
 is advanced, without one shadow of abstract reason to 
 sustain it, and in defiance of multiplied examples, where 
 absolute predictions have been given and literally ful- 
 filled. It is true that moral exhibitions of promise or 
 threatening do naturally depend for their fulfilment on 
 moral conditions. Such was that message of the prophet 
 " If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of 
 the land ; but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be de- 
 voured with the sword." But to confound Prophecy 
 wath such conditional warnings is a glaring and funda- 
 mental error. The Omniscient God foresees all events 
 from the beginning, however involved with the free 
 agency of man, or variable in their features of good 
 and evil. What He clearly foresees, whenever it pleases 
 Him, He can certainly reveal. The very meaning of 
 an inspired prediction is, a revelation of future events 
 by the voice of God. To affirm that such predictions 
 must fail, from the changing character of men and 
 nations, is to affirm, either that the All-wise God 
 cannot foreknow the actions of His creatures, or 
 that He is unable to express with accuracy the truths 
 that lie within the range of His own foresight. Either 
 supposition would be impious and absurd. Again, to 
 suppose that the moral design of Prophecy forbids all 
 such revelations of the future, is no less foolish. For 
 one great purpose is to manifest the Divine fore-know- 
 ledge, and hereby to confirm the faith of God's people ; 
 
350 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 and another, to guide their hopes and calm their fears* 
 amidst results too complex for their own power of fore- 
 sight. A third reason for which these prophecies are 
 given, and not the least important, is, to reveal the laws 
 and ceaseless progress of the Divine dispensations. No 
 mere conditional promise can answer any of these ob- 
 jects, which require a true revelation of things to come. 
 On every ground of reason, the explanation of prophecy 
 above suggested must appear delusive and untrue. 
 
 But if reason condemns this theory, the facts of Scrip- 
 ture are no less decisive against it. It is indeed sur- 
 prising how any one, at all familiar with the word of 
 God, could embrace such a view for one moment. Pro- 
 phecy, it is assumed, announces unmingled good and 
 evil ; and hence its words must be tempered and lowered 
 down, when they are applied to earthly objects. But 
 the assumption is quite untrue. In predictions which 
 refer to one and the same object, blessings and warnings 
 are continually blended. The Egyptians were to op- 
 press Israel till the close of 400 years, and then to 
 be judged for their sin. The same voice, which con- 
 demns one generation to die in the wilderness, pro- 
 mises that their sons shall enter the land ; yet not, as 
 they are often warned, because of their righteousness, 
 but merely because of God's oath and covenant. The 
 promise to the race of David, of the throne of Israel, 
 provided for the fact of repeated and multiplied trans- 
 gressions. Many predictions exclude, from their very 
 nature, all dependence on moral conditions. Such was 
 the warning of the birth of Josiah, and his desecration 
 of the altar at Bethel. Such was the statement given to 
 Moses for a sign, that they should worship at Mount 
 Horeb, or the prediction, by Micah, of Messiah's birth- 
 place. It is indeed strange that any Christian should 
 advance such a theory ; and still more strange that he 
 should assert it, even if it were an error, to be quite 
 harmless. In its very nature it sets aside and destroys 
 all the evidence of fulfilled prophecy, obscures from the 
 view of the Church the foreknowledge and sovereignty 
 
 J 
 
THE HISTORICAL REALITY OF PROPHECY. 851 
 
 of God, and turns all the inspired predictions into a 
 heap of mere possibilities, that depend for their fulfil- 
 ment on the faithfulness of unfaithful man, and on the 
 perfect goodness of fallen sinners. 
 
 The message of Jonah to Nineveh is the only exam- 
 ple which lends even a seeming warrant to this theory. 
 Here, however, the very fact of that message being sent 
 in so unusual a form, was a clear token, to thoughtful 
 minds, that a secret condition lay couched under the 
 seeming prophecy. The words appear like an absolute 
 prediction ; but the mission of Jonah, after such a de- 
 liverance, was a sign that repentance might perhaps 
 still obtain some reprieve of mercy. It is a strange per- 
 version of the narrative to maintain that " because of 
 the repentance of the Ninevites, the prophecy could not 
 be fulfilled ; that its objects were no longer in being, 
 because sin, and not Nineveh, is the true subject of its 
 threatenings." Neither Jonah nor the Ninevites rested 
 their fears or hopes on so baseless a surmise. Had the 
 words been a simple prediction, they would have been 
 fulfilled, though Nineveh had repented ; as the oath of 
 God took effect against the Israelites, even when they 
 said — " We have sinned, we will go up and possess the 
 land." Even when the message is viewed in its true cha- 
 racter, as a solemn warning, the repentance of the 
 Ninevites did not make its execution impossible, but 
 only brought their deliverance within the possible range 
 of Divine liiercy. No abstract reasoning on the lan- 
 guage of the prophecy could have assured either the 
 prophet or the king that the pardon would be given, 
 until the forty days were past, and no vengeance came. 
 
 But the same book supplies us, though in a typical 
 form, with a true prophecy. Tlie trials and deliverance 
 of Jonah were a type of our Lord's death and resurrection. 
 And because this was a real prediction, the sins of men 
 could not hinder it, but were the very means of its ful- 
 filment. He was crucified and slain by wicked hands ; 
 but their wickedness only revealed, in brighter relief, the 
 sure truth of the determinate counsel and foreknow* 
 
352 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 ledge of God. He had announced those sufferings of 
 Christ, and His word of prophecy could not fail. 
 
 Again, the experience of the Jewish and Christian 
 Churches is alleged as a proof that the prophecies are 
 only conditional. Twice, it is ^aid, the people brought 
 out of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They have for- 
 feited the condition, and so have caused the prophecies, 
 in their literal meaning, to fail. Strange and unaccount- 
 able delusion ! One of the main objects of prophecy, 
 both under the Old and New Testaments, is to predict 
 those very corruptions, first of Israel, and then of the 
 Gentile Church, which are here made the pretext for as- 
 serting them to have failed. St. Jude, when he uses the 
 very phrase which is thus perverted, does it to ex- 
 plain, by the past history of the Jews, the future course 
 of sin in the visible Church of Christ. St. Paul dwells 
 at length on the same truth, and declares plainly that 
 the sins of the Jews are types of similar evils that would 
 prevail among Christians in future ages. What can be 
 more hopeless than an attempt to prove all the prophe- 
 cies to be mere conditional promises that have failed, by 
 these sins of the Church, which have been separately 
 predicted in the plainest terms ? 
 
 Out of this view of the conditional nature of all pro- 
 phecy another false theory has grown. They are all 
 asserted to have a double sense ; one, which embraces 
 the historical elements, and is due chiefly to the igno- 
 rance of the prophet ; the other, which includes the 
 spiritual truth, divested of its forms, or the triumph of 
 pure goodness, and is the real meaning of the Holy 
 Spirit in every prediction. 
 
 Now first, if this principle be advanced as the key to 
 all prophecy, its falsehood must be apparent at once. 
 The numerous predictions that involve specific times 
 and places, as the overthrow of the altar by Josiah, or 
 the seventy years' captivity, are enough to condemn it, 
 and prove it to be groundless and untrue. 
 
 But the explanation is very defective and erroneous, 
 even when restricted to those prophecies in which there is 
 
 I 
 
THE HISTORICAL REALITY OF PROPHECY. 353 
 
 I'easoii to admit a double sense. The Holy Spirit may 
 doubtless include two different events, or series of events, 
 under one prediction, when some close analogy exists 
 between them. He may announce moral truths, as in 
 the sentence on the serpent, under figures that have a 
 separate fulfilment in the natural world ; or predict 
 later events, of greater magnitude, in language that will 
 apply to other events near at hand. But a double 
 sense, of which one should be due to the ignorance of 
 the prophet, and the other only to the mind of the re- 
 vealing Spirit, is futile and worthless. The false notions 
 which the prophets might fasten upon their own visions 
 are no part of the Divine revelation, any more than 
 the false expositions which their messages may have 
 suffered in later times. The message is the word of 
 God. The double sense, if it really exists, cannot be 
 due to the false impressions of the prophet, but to the 
 design of the Holy Spirit, that two kindred subjects 
 should be revealed at once, and that the language should 
 be suited to both, though possibly not to both in the 
 same degree. That such prophecies do exist, there is 
 strong and ample proof ; but the ignorance of the 
 prophet is a very unsound basis on which to rest their 
 double interpretation. 
 
 Equally groundless is the further hypothesis, which 
 would seek the proper fulfilment of every prophecy 
 in the person of our Lord. His life, death, and re- 
 surrection, are indeed the yea and amen, the seal and 
 stamp of assured and certain truth, placed upon every 
 prediction of the word of God. The highest proof was 
 thus given to us of the Divine faithfulness, and a sure 
 pledge that nothing He has foretold is too hard or too 
 wonderful for H imto perform. It is true also that the first 
 coming of Messiah, and His return in glory, are the main 
 and central truths in the whole word of prophecy. But 
 to assert that every prediction has its only true and pro- 
 per fulfilment in our Lord himself, is a paradox as wild 
 as it is worthless. There are many prophecies, in 
 which the statement would be blasphemous, and many 
 
 2 A 
 
354 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 more in which it would be absurd. Our Lord confutes 
 it at once, when he contrasts those of them which relate 
 to himself with others of a different kind. "This 
 which is written, must yet be fulfilled in me, — He was 
 numbered with the transgressors — for even the things 
 which regard me have their consummation." The ful- 
 filment of predicted sufferings, so deep and agonizing, 
 in a person so glorious, is a seal of truth on every 
 other prophecy, and assures us that these also, in their 
 tuj'n, will certainly come to pass. 
 
 The effect of all these false maxims is to degrade 
 the prophecies, from their high dignity of inspired 
 and infallible truth, into the mere conjectures, or 
 Eastern hyperboles, of fallible and mistaken men. 
 Their particular conjectures all fail ; the language never 
 has a real counterpart in such events as they had solely 
 in their view. But though all their conjectures fail, 
 and their hyperboles prove deceptive, still they were 
 good men, and had a general faith in the triumph of 
 pure goodness. And this general hope of theirs proves 
 true, though realized in events of a totally different 
 kind, under forms and circumstances of which they 
 knew nothing.. They predict, for instance, in glowing 
 terms, a restoration of Israel. The actual event has 
 never answered their prediction, and never will. But 
 then goodness has triumphed in another way, for the 
 Son of God has brought life and immortality to light 
 by the gospel. They predict that Jerusalem shall be 
 inhabited in her own place, and never thrown down. 
 Their private conjecture was wrong, for Jerusalem is 
 thrown down in her own place, and has long been deso- 
 late ; but then a Gentile Church, of which they suspected 
 nothing, has arisen in its stead. Thus the authority of 
 God's word is completely destroyed. So far as it deals 
 with special facts, it becomes a heap of overstrained 
 hyperboles, or fallible and false conjectures. So far, 
 again, as it announces spiritual triumphs, it only fore- 
 tels, in very strange and obscure phrases, what the 
 general promises have revealed in far simpler and plainer 
 
THE HISTORICAL REALITY OF PROPHECY. 355 
 
 terms. Every part of the word of prophecy becomes 
 as the words of a book that is sealed. And if any 
 portion bears too plainly on its forehead the stamp 
 of Divine Prescience, sooner than lay aside a foolish 
 and empty theory, the spirit of rash speculation will not 
 scruple to join hands with the open Infidel, and to re- 
 ject, as wicked, Jewish forgeries, even the noblest 
 oracles of the living and eternal God ! 
 
 Every maxim of the suggested theory has now been 
 proved to be baseless and untrue. Sacred History does 
 not deal merely with particular events, nor is Pro- 
 phecy a statement of general principles only. The 
 narratives of Scripture are rich, every-where, with 
 high and holy lessons of Divine wisdom ; and the sacred 
 Prophecies stoop down to shed their light on innumera- 
 ble details in the low valleys of time. " Known unto God 
 are all His works from the beginning." Whatever 
 He foresees, when He sees fit, He is able to reveal. 
 He needs not that His words should be qualified and 
 tempered, to suit the predicted events, because He is 
 able to announce the future in its true colours, and is 
 faithful to accomplish whatever He has foretold. 
 
 The excellence, indeed, of the Divine prophecies, con- 
 sists mainly in those very features which the hypothesis 
 now examined would set aside. They are no abstract 
 revelations of moral truth, but serve to bring down the 
 sense of God's presence into close and perpetual contact 
 with all the varied changes of the world's history. They 
 are not mere conditional promises, but continued wit- 
 nesses to the perfect foresight and holy sovereignty of 
 the Most High ; and a clear proof that, amidst all the 
 complex variety of human affairs. His counsel shall 
 stand, and He will do all His pleasure. They are no 
 loose conjectures of fallible men, clothing their own dim 
 fanciful hopes in vague hyperboles, but the true sayings 
 of God ; so sure and faithful, that it were easier for heaven 
 and earth to pass, than for one jot or tittle of these pro- 
 phecies to fail. And while they all centre in the work 
 and the person of our Lord, they stream forth from that 
 
SBC) CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Divine centre and fountain, in a flood of light, over the 
 wide field of Providence, that every pArt may become 
 glorious with the power, the presence, and manifest do- 
 minion, of the living and eternal God. 
 
 The Sacred Prophecies are marked, in the first place, 
 by a large and wide variety of historical details. There 
 are, it is true, many promises that announce, in general 
 terms, the future triumphs of goodness, and thus reveal 
 t(vus the glorious issue of the Divine counsels. But 
 these predictions disclose the various steps of Divine 
 wisdom, all sure and unfailing, through which the final 
 triumph is attained. Even before the Flood, the pre - 
 science and truth of God were confirmed by every drop 
 that stood on the brow of the labourer, by every hour 
 of woman's travail and sorrow, by every serpent 
 crushed under the foot of man, and every corpse that 
 returned to the dust. The same prescience and sove- 
 reignty were revealed, in more definite events, by the 
 curse that rested for seven generations on the race of 
 Cain, and the hundred and twenty years of forbearance 
 to the old world, followed by the seven days of warning, 
 before the windows of heaven were opened, and the 
 flood sent on the world of the ungodly. 
 
 After the flood, still more numerous details of the 
 future were given. The sin and punishment of Canaan, 
 the blessing of Shem, and the enlargement of Japheth, 
 were announced by Noah himself. In this one pro- 
 phecy the victories of Joshua, the long privileges of the 
 chosen seed, and the later call of the Gentiles, perhaps 
 even the mighty empire formed in the East, amidst the 
 tents of Shem, by our own western kingdom, were in- 
 cluded from the first ; and the new and infant world 
 had the events of its old age revealed from its ver}^ 
 cradle. Other details were added upon the call of Abra- 
 ham. The birth of Ishmael, the dwelling of his poste- 
 rity, his twelve sons and their princely dignity, the wild 
 and roving character of the Arabian tribes ; the birth of 
 Isaac, the four hundred years until the Exodus, the judg- 
 ments on Egypt, the deliverance of Israel, their vast 
 
THE HISTORICAL REALITY OF PROPHECY. (^57 
 
 numbers, their inheritance of Canaan, their very riches, 
 when the slaves spoiled their own masters, and came 
 out with much cattle, and jewels, and silver, and gold, 
 were all clearly announced to the aged patriarch. So too 
 the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the later 
 triumphs of Israel over the race of Esau, the return of 
 Jacob to Bethel after his loni^ absence, the future pos- 
 session of Canaan by his children, the exaltation of 
 Joseph, the obeisance of his brethren, the seven years, 
 first of plenty, and then of famine, the increase of Ma- 
 nasseh, and the greater fruitfulness of Ephraim, the 
 dispersion of Simeon and Levi among the tribes, the 
 sea-coast dwelling of Zebulun, and the extent of his 
 border, the entrance of the bones of Joseph into the 
 land of Canaan ; and above all, the coming of the great 
 Deliverer to spring from the tribe of Judah, the Shiloh 
 of God, and the continuance of the sceptre until after 
 his birth ; — all these events were announced in the first 
 book of Scripture alone. 
 
 If we pass on at once to these visions of Daniel, the 
 same feature appears. Instead of a mere glimpse of 
 the sure triumph of goodness at the last, we have most 
 numerous details of the steps of Providence which lead 
 to that blessed consummation. The seven years' mad- 
 ness of Nebuchadnezzar, and his restoration to the 
 throne ; the fall of Belshazzar, and the conquests of 
 the Medes and Persians ; the rise of the second Em- 
 pire, the earlier dignity of the Medes, and the later pre- 
 eminence of the Persians over them ; the victories of 
 Cyrus, westward in Lydia, northward in Armenia, and 
 southward in Babylon, the unrivalled greatness of his 
 Empire, and the exactions on the subject-provinces ; the 
 three successors of Cyrus, Cambyses, Smerdis and 
 Darius ; the accession of Xerxes, and the vast armament 
 he led against Greece, are all predicted, within the time of 
 the two earlier Empires. In the time of the third king- 
 dom a fuller variety of details is given. The mighty ex- 
 ploits of Alexander, his total conquest of Persia, the ra- 
 pidity of his course, and his uncontrolled dominion, his 
 
3^8 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 sudden death in the heij^ht of his power, the fourfold diri- 
 sion of his kingdom, and the extinction of his posterity ; 
 the prosperous reign of the first Ptolemy and of the great 
 Seleucus, with the superior power of the latter before 
 his death ; the reign of Philadelphus, and the marriage 
 of Berenice, his daughter, with Antiochus Theus ; the 
 murder of Antiochus and Berenice and their infant 
 son, by Laodice ; the vengeance taken by Euergetes, 
 brother of Berenice, on his accession to the throne ; his 
 conquest of Seleucia, the fortress of Syria, and the idol 
 gods which he carried into Egypt ; the earlier death of 
 Callinicus ; the preparations of his sons, Seleucus, 
 Ceraunus and Antiochus the Great, for war with Egypt, 
 are all distinctly set before us. Then follows the his- 
 tory of Antiochus. His sole reign, after his brother's 
 death, his eastern conquests, and recovery of Seleucia ; 
 the strength of the two rival armies, and the Egyptian 
 victory at Raphia ; the pride of Ptolemy Philopator, 
 and his partial conquests, with the weakness of his pro- 
 fligate reign ; the return of Antiochus with added strength 
 after an interval of years, and with the riches of the 
 East ; his victories in Judea, and the capture of Sidon ; 
 the overthrow of the Egyptian forces at Panium, the 
 honour shewn by Antiochus to the temple, and his care 
 for its completion and beauty ; his treaty with Egypt, the 
 marriage of his daughter Cleopatra with Ptolemy Phi- 
 lometor, and her defection from her father's cause ; his 
 invasion of the isles of Greece, his rude repulse by the 
 Roman Consul, and the reproach of tribute which came 
 upon him through his defeat : his return to Antioch, 
 and speedy death, are all described in regular order. 
 Tlien follow the reigns of Seleucus and Antiochus Epi- 
 phanes, given with an equal fulness of prophetic detail, 
 and close the narrative of the Third Empire. 
 
 Even in the time of the fourth and last kingdom, 
 though more remote from the days of the prophet, the 
 events predicted are not few. We find there, distinctly 
 revealed, the iron strength of the Romans, their gradual 
 subjugation of other powers, their fierce and warlike 
 
THE HISTORICAL REALITY OF PROPHECY. 359 
 
 nature, their cruel and devouring conquests, the stealthy- 
 policy of their empire, and its gradual advance in the 
 countries of the East, southward and eastward, and to- 
 wards the land of Israel, till it had cast down the no- 
 blest kings, and firmly engrafted its new dominion on the 
 stock of the Greek empire. We have next described its 
 oppression of the Jews, the overthrow of their city and 
 sanctuary by Titus, the abomination of desolation in 
 the holy place, and their arrogant pride in standing up 
 against Messiah, the Prince of princes. Then follow 
 the persecutions of the faithful by the Pagan empire, 
 the help they received from the civil power, and their 
 renewed sufferings in later times ; the weakness and 
 decay of the proud monarchy, its division into ten king- 
 doms, partly weak, and partly strong, their frequent 
 attempts to reunite by intermarriage, and their constant 
 failure ; the rise of the Papacy, the removal of three dy- 
 nasties to prepare room for its growth, its small terri- 
 tory and mighty spiritual power, its abrogation of Divine 
 and human laws, and severe persecution of the servants 
 of God. Last of all, the assault of the Saracens on Papal 
 Christendom, and the more successful inroads of the 
 Turks ; the passage of the latter into Europe, their 
 conquest of Palestine and Egypt, the long dependence of 
 the African powers, the seat of their empire between 
 two seas, in the city once dedicated to the Christian 
 faith, and their final decay, with still future changes in 
 those countries of the East, complete the long catalogue 
 of distinct events, predicted in the time of the Roman 
 power. Similar details, though perhaps less numerous, 
 occur in the other Jewish prophets ; and when we 
 pass on to the New Testament, more than a hundred 
 predictions of distinct events may there be found in the 
 Apocalypse alone. 
 
 Such then, in spite of all the false surmises of human 
 theories, is the true nature of the prophecies of God. 
 Their historical reality forms one main element of their 
 glory. They are the voice of Him who sees the end from 
 the beginning, and pronounces, in His secret counsel, even 
 
860 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 on the destiny of the falling sparrow. They are designed 
 to stoop to the earthly estate of the Church, while they 
 exalt her hopes to the glory that shall he revealed. And 
 hence, while some of them appear to melt away into 
 the pure light of heaven, and clothe, under thin and 
 transparent emblems, the highest forms of spiritual 
 truth, there are others which seem like an extract be- 
 forehand from the page of human history. They range 
 onward through everlasting ages ; but they let fall, in 
 passing, a bright gleam of light, that discovers to us the 
 ass's colt, tied at the meeting of three ways, on which 
 the Lord of glory was to ride into Jerusalem. They dwell 
 on the glories of the heavenly city, where an archangel 
 is seen at every gate, and which will hereafter gladden a 
 ransomed universe with its beauty ; but, meanwhile, 
 they single out for their notice the little village, Bethle- 
 hem Ephratah, with the tomb of Rachel, and its desolate 
 mothers weeping for their murdered children. They 
 lead our thoughts onward to the battle of the great day 
 of God Almighty, and that sublime conflict, in which 
 Heaven and Hell shall contend for the final mastery over 
 our world ; but still every step in the long vista of pre- 
 paration lies open before them, from the seven months' 
 reign of Smerdis, and the marriage of Berenice with 
 Antiochus (Dan. xi. 2 — 6.) to the seven months' burial 
 of corpses, in days to come, in the land of Israel, and the 
 marriage-supper of the Lamb. In short, they resemble 
 their Divine Author. Their dwelling is amid high and 
 heavenly truths ; but they have respect unto the lowly, 
 and stoop down to the common events of time. They 
 touch, as with an enchanter's wand, the perplexed and 
 tangled skein of human history ; and it becomes a woof 
 of curious and costly workmanship, that bespeaks the 
 skill of its Divine Artificer ; an outer hanging, embroi- 
 dered by heavenly wisdom, for that glorious tabernacle 
 in which the God of Heaven will reveal Himself for ever. 
 These predictions, again, do not depend on the uncer- 
 tain will of man ; they are absolute and certain, the true 
 sa^angs of God. Many conditional promises and threat- 
 
THE HISTORICAL REALITY OF PROPHECY. 361 
 
 enings, it is true, may be found in the Scriptures, and 
 these have an important office in the scheme of revela- 
 tion. But the prophecies serve another purpose, entirely 
 distinct. The relation between them is not so much one 
 of resemblance as of contrast. The conditional promises 
 teach us the responsibility of man : the Prophecies re- 
 veal the sovereignty of God, and the unfailing truth of 
 His counsels. In some of them no moral element appears ; 
 others are direct predictions of human sin ; and others 
 again announce absolutely a time of bitter repentance, 
 and the removal of those sins which are a barrier to the 
 Divine mercy. In others the contrast is openly made, 
 between the sureness of God's counsels, and the sin and 
 ignorance of those by whom they are accomplislied. And 
 hence no error, in this branch of Divine truth, can be 
 more fundamental and pernicious, than to confound all 
 the inspired prophecies with the conditional warnings 
 or promises of the word of God. 
 
 This absolute certainty of the Prophecies, like the 
 variety of their details, adds greatly to their power and 
 moral excellence. In the views which men form of 
 history, they are ever exposed to two opposite dangers. 
 Some are worshippers of Chance, and others of Fate. The 
 former gaze on the complexity of human motives, and 
 the free agency of man, till they almost fancy Divine 
 foresight to be impossible, and would make God himself 
 wait in suspense, until contingent events have revealed 
 their actual nature, before He can arrange His own 
 counsels. To them the world's history must become a 
 sea of chance, and, in their zeal for human liberty, they 
 really set aside the prescience and sovereignty of God. 
 Others look simply at results, as independently decreed 
 and absolutely certain, without any reference to their 
 conditional antecedents and moral causes. All is in their 
 eyes an irreversible system of predestined events, where 
 no room is left for choice, but the human will is a mere 
 drudge, working in chains, and all moral elements are 
 crushed under a blind fatality. Either view is disho- 
 norable to God, and dangerous to the souls of men. 
 
362 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 When the true and living God, at once holy and sove- 
 reign, is banished from the throne of the universe, it is 
 hard to say whether Chance or Fate, usurping His seat, 
 constitutes the more foul and hideous idol. 
 
 These opposite evils have each their appropriate 
 remedy in the word of God. Its conditional warnings 
 and promises are the true antidote for the worship of 
 Fate. These serve to quicken the dull conscience, and 
 relieve it from the load of blind fatality, which views 
 results as certain, irrespective of their true causes, the 
 equity, justice, and mercy of the Most High. 
 
 But when, by an opposite danger, the pride of rea- 
 son would dispute with God the government of His own 
 world, and Man would make his will a rival of that 
 Will which is absolute and supreme, the true anti- 
 dote is to be found in the word of prophecy. There 
 we see clearly that, however complex may be the 
 motives of human action, and however deep the hidden 
 springs of thought on which they depend, their results, 
 through all ages, lie open to the eye of God ; and that 
 no folly or sin of His creatures can ever defeat His 
 counsel, or erase one jot or tittle from the volume of His 
 decrees. A deep and holy calm is thus infused into the 
 hearts of His children, who might else be ready to faint 
 under the long dominion of evil. When their conscience 
 grows dull, and their spirit slothful, the promises cheer 
 them onward, and threatenings arouse them into fresh 
 diligence and zeal. But lest they should ever exalt them- 
 selves in their heart, or forget their entire dependence 
 upon their Maker, the word of prophecy is spread over 
 them, as an everlasting canopy ; and while it reveals 
 clearly to them the Divine greatness, they learn to hum-' 
 ble their souls, in lowly adoration, before the footstool 
 of the Supreme and Eternal King. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 THE POLITICAL WORTH OF DANIEL's VISIONS. 
 
 These later visions of Daniel, at their close, open a 
 wide field of thought on various subjects that bear im- 
 mediately on the present state of the world, and the 
 future prospects of the Church of God. Such are the 
 cleansing of the sanctuaiy, the evening and the morn- 
 ing, the angelic conflict, the oath of the angel concerning 
 the times, the season of trouble in the last days, and the 
 resurrection of the sleepers in the dust. But these 
 would require a separate work to unfold them as their 
 importance demands. It seems, however, unnatural to 
 close these varied details of prophetic history, without a 
 few remarks on the great lessons they are adapted and 
 designed to convey to every thoughtful and Christian 
 mind. 
 
 On a hasty review of the fulfilment of prophecy, 
 traced in these pages, some, perhaps, will be ready to 
 condemn the whole as unprofitable and barren. What 
 can it benefit us, they will ask, in the present day, to 
 know how many kings reigned from Cyrus to Xerxes^ 
 the changes in the empire of Alexander, the troops who 
 fought at Raphia, the marriage of Berenice, and the 
 results of the invasion of Greece by Antiochus ? When 
 so many grave questions, in Church and State, are 
 pressing around us, why should the eye of Christians 
 be turned aside, to dwell on events so distant and ob- 
 scure, and so barren in direct lessons of spiritual wis- 
 dom ? Why not suffer these antiquated facts of history 
 to sleep quietly in the dust, and bend our strength to the 
 controversies and practical mo vements of the present hour ? 
 
364 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Such feelings as these may perhaps have been one 
 source of the theory, examined in the last chapter, which 
 denies all historical reality to the sacred prophecies, and 
 would turn the voice of God's holy prophet into a mere 
 Jewish forgery, rather than renounce a crude and un- 
 scriptural fancy. This novel paradox, however, is 
 condemned equally by sound reason and the word 
 of God. The Holy Spirit, with deep wisdom, has so 
 varied His messages, that they combine two opposite 
 features, — historical reality, and moral and spiritual 
 grandeur. In some prophecies He has given, as in 
 these visions, a simple and unadorned record of worldly 
 changes ; while there are others w^here all details ap- 
 pear to be lost in the bright and glowing sunshine of 
 hope and love. This variety and contrast of character, 
 which rash theory would set aside, is a crowning excel- 
 lence of the word of prophecy. In this manner it stoops 
 to our weakness, that it may raise us from the dust, 
 and enables the sojourners of a day to rise above pass- 
 ing events, and to gaze on those counsels which are from 
 everlasting to everlasting. 
 
 The mere perusal, however, of numerous facts, drawn 
 from profane historians, and their comparison with the 
 sacred text, will not, of itself, enable us to reap the full 
 benefit of these holy prophecies. We must dwell upon 
 them in the light of one great and solemn truth, that all 
 these are the foreseen counsels and works of the living 
 God ; the vast scheme of Providence which He has or- 
 dained for His own glory ; and steps in the fulfilment of 
 His everlasting counsel. Viewed calmly in this light, 
 they will grow in their interest, even while we gaze upon 
 them. They will raise us, by degrees, out of the feverish 
 cares of life, into a filial and childlike trust in the Provi- 
 dence of our heavenly Father, and a sense of the dignity 
 of our high calling, to be the servants of the most high 
 God, and fellow- workers, in our own generation, in His 
 counsels of eternal wisdom and love. Let us consider 
 them, in these closing chapters, as they illustrate the 
 duty of the Christian Statesman and of every separate 
 
THE POLITICAL WORTH OF DANIEL's VISIONS. SGo 
 
 believer. Barren as they are to the careless eye, they 
 contain mines of spiritual wealth for all those who 
 search for wisdom as for hid treasures. 
 
 Let us inquire, first, what is the political worth of 
 these sacred visions ? What lessons may be drawn 
 from them, to guide the counsels of statesmen, and ele- 
 vate the tone of policy in a Christian kingdom ? This 
 inquiry is rendered more seasonable, from the contempt 
 which has lately been expressed towards these holy 
 messages by some of our own statesmen. We have been 
 told with oracular voice, that it is folly to appeal to 
 Daniel or the book of Revelation, in g-uiding the 
 policy of a great empire. Such an appeal, in their 
 view, is mere bigotry, untenable folly, idiocy, and 
 madness. 
 
 What conclusion, as Christians, must we draw from 
 such statements as these ? Simply, that modern states- 
 men have outgrown, in their own conceit, the authority 
 of the word of God. The visions of all the prophets have 
 once more become to them, as in the days of Isaiah, like 
 the words of a book that is sealed ; and they themselves 
 boast of the consummation, and are the joyful heralds 
 of their own shame. Once it might be the ideal of 
 Christian government, that " kings should see and arise, 
 and princes also should worship " at the feet of the 
 exalted Saviour, and consecrate their honour and 
 greatness to His service, who is Prince of the kings of 
 the earth. But those dreams of fancy, it would now 
 seem, have passed away for ever. Modern statesmen, 
 by the progress of liberal opinions, are at least 
 eighteen centuries in advance of prophets and apostles. 
 They can look back, with a smile of contempt, on the 
 antiquated prejudices of those inspired men. To bribe 
 the seditious into loyalty and peace, by supplying them 
 with funds to propagate the maxims of persecution ; and 
 to pension all creeds without believing them, form their 
 new ideal of Christian government. How should those 
 holy men who once received the visits of angels, or 
 leaned on the bosom of the King of Kings, be able to 
 
36(3 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 add anything to the perfect wisdom of such statesmen 
 as these ? 
 
 When these floods of ungodliness begin to be let 
 loose upon us, and open scoffing at the word of God 
 can pass current in high places, it becomes the servants 
 of Christ to assume a bolder tone. We cannot and do 
 not expect that those who have Pilate's question on 
 their lips, and who need to be taught the firstletters of the 
 Christian faith, should be able to use these prophecies 
 aright, or extract from them one grain of political wis- 
 dom. They bear the warning on their portal — " none 
 of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall un- 
 derstand." The Spirit, by whom they were given 
 to the church, looks down, with holy disdain, on all the 
 scorners of the last days ; whose ungodly schemes are 
 quickly to sink in darkness, and whose boasts of light 
 and wisdom will so soon be tested by " the great tribula- 
 tion, which is coming on all the world, to try them that 
 dwell on the earth.". 
 
 What then are those truths which the Christian 
 Statesman may learn from these visions, and the influ- 
 ence which they will shed, when once rightly appre- 
 hended, on the whole field of political thought and 
 national duty in these last ages of time ? 
 
 The first lesson, which is essential to true political 
 wisdom, and plainly taught in these prophecies, is the 
 reality of Divine Providence, and the actual and cease- 
 less dominion of the living God over men and nations. 
 Abstract truths have little power to break the spell of 
 worldliness, and pierce within the charmed circle of 
 political strife and debate. There may be, now and 
 then, a vague and general allusion to Providence, and 
 yet all the plans of statesmen may be framed, from year 
 to year, as if there were no God in heaven, whose holy 
 eyes are fixed continually on the children of men. 
 Amidst the busy counsels of senates, and the brilliance 
 of human eloquence, or the complexity of national 
 affairs, it needs a mighty influence to keep alive the 
 great truth, that the Most High ruleth among the king- 
 
THE POLITICAL WORTH OF DANIEL's VISIONS. 367 
 
 doms of men, and givetli them to whomsoever He will. 
 Yet this fear of the Lord is the beginning of true wis- 
 dom. To reverence Him, in whose hand is the breath 
 of all flesh, and who alone reserveth to nations the ap- 
 jDointed weeks of the harvest, is the dictate, not merely 
 of enlightened conscience, but even of natural prudence, 
 wherever the dominion of God is really felt and known. 
 But millions, who are called Christians, are almost en- 
 tirely ignorant of this great truth. They have never 
 risen into that holy elevation of thought, where the 
 soul is lost in contemplating the Divine Majesty, and 
 exclaims with the prophet, " All nations before him are 
 as nothing, and they are counted to him less than no- 
 thing, and vanity." False and hollow maxims of policy 
 will never cease to spring up, and true wisdom never 
 dawn on the counsels of statesmen, till they have learned 
 thus to adore and tremble before the God of Daniel, and 
 princes on earth, like the heavenly elders, cast down 
 their crowns, as humble offerings, before His throne. 
 
 These visions, when we meditate on them with calm 
 and quiet thought, will restore the doctrine of Divine 
 Providence to its right place in the view of the Chris- 
 tian. Even worldly statesmen, if they are not too 
 proud to give their attention, might learn here to reve- 
 rence and adore. From Cyrus and Nebuchadnezzar, 
 through all the later changes of human history, we see 
 here, at every step, the determinate counsel and fore- 
 knowledge of God. Known unto him are all his works 
 from the beginning. The reigns of Cambyses, Smer- 
 dis, and Darius ; the armament of Xerxes, with its 
 countless myriads ; the marches, counter-marches and 
 conflicts, the su,btle plots and shifting alliances of con- 
 tending kings, long before they occurred, were noted 
 down in " the Scripture of truth," the secret volume of 
 the Divine counsels. All of them, before they rose into 
 birth, were revealed by the Son of God to His holy pro- 
 phet ; and they remain, till the end of time, an impe- 
 rishable monument of His Providence and foreknow- 
 ledge. All was foreseen by His wisdom, and or- 
 
868 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 dained by His sovereign power. The passing genera- 
 tions of mankind, while they see this blue arch of 
 Providence above them and around them, sure and sted- 
 fast, age after age, like Him who has ordained it, must 
 feel a deep and quiet reverence take possession of their 
 soul. " Kings will see and arise, princes also will wor- 
 ship." The great, and mighty, and wise of the earth, 
 in the presence of this counsel of love that has endured 
 for ages, must learn that their might is weakness, and 
 their wisdom mere folly, and will thus be taught to 
 look up with child-like dependence, that they may be 
 led and guided, in all their high and sacred duties, 
 by the God of heaven. 
 
 Let us trace this great doctrine, briefly, through the 
 course of these later visions. They open with the reign 
 and conquest of Cyrus, and what secret cause explains 
 the victories of that hero, almost unrivalled in his fame 1 
 The prophet Isaiah has given the answer. " Thus saith 
 the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I 
 have holden, to subdue nations before him, and I will 
 loosen the loins of kings ; to open before him the two- 
 leaved gates, and the gates shall not be shut. I will go 
 before thee, and make the crooked places straight : I 
 will break in pieces the gate of gates, and cut in sunder 
 the bars of iron. And I will give thee the treasures 
 of darkness, the hidden riches of secret places ; that 
 thou may est know that I, the Lord, which call thee 
 by thy name, am the God of Israel." And when the 
 victory was complete, what effect did these prophecies 
 leave on the mind of the conqueror 1 " In the first 
 year of Cyrus, king of Persia, that the word of God by 
 the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord 
 stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, that he 
 made proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and 
 put it also in writing, saying — Thus saith Cyrus, king 
 of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath given me all 
 the kingdoms of the earth, and he hath charged me to 
 build him an house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. 
 Who is there among j^ou of all his people ? his God be 
 
THE POLITICAL WORTH OF DANIEL's VISIONS. 369 
 
 with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in 
 Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel 
 (he is the God) which is in Jerusalem." 
 
 As the stream of prophecy rolled on, three kings were 
 to succeed Cyrus in the kingdom, and the two first of 
 these opposed the work of mercy, and their reigns were 
 short and disastrous. But the third of them, Darius, 
 did homage afresh to the God of Israel, and his reign 
 was prosperous and of long continuance. His decree 
 seems to renew the lesson which every part of these 
 visions, as it is fulfilled, sets before the princes of the 
 earth. " Now, therefore, Tatnai, and your companions, 
 be ye far from thence. Let the work of this house of 
 God alone ; let the governor of the Jews, and the elders 
 of the Jews, build this house of God in its place. 
 Moreover, I make a decree what ye shall do to the elders 
 of these Jews, for the building of this house of God . . . 
 and that which they have need of, for the burnt-offer- 
 ings of the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine and oil, 
 let it be given them day by day without fail, that they 
 may offer sacrifices of sweet savour to the God of heaven, 
 and pray for the life of the king and of his sons. And 
 the God that hath caused his name to dwell there, de- 
 stroy all kings and people that shall put to their hand 
 to alter and to destroy this house of God which is at 
 Jerusalem." 
 
 When the fourth king, Xerxes, had stirred up all Asia 
 against the realm of Greece, he trusted in the multitude 
 of his forces for certain conquest. But he had not, 
 like Darius his father, or like Cyrus, given honour to 
 the Lord God of Israel, and all his immense forces only 
 made his ruin more signal and complete. His son and 
 successor, warned by the experience of his fathers, seems 
 to have been aw-ake, once more, to the hand of Divine 
 Providence. Ilis decree, which fully restored the Jewish 
 state, seems plainly to allude to the impiety of Xerxes, 
 and the ruin which had followed. " Whatsoever is 
 commanded by the God of heaven, let it be diligently 
 done for the house of the God of heaven : for vjhy 
 
 2 B 
 
370 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 should there he ivrath against the realm of the king and 
 of his sons ? " 
 
 When we pass onward to the times of Alexander and 
 his successors, these royal testimonies are more scanty 
 and unfrequent. But the same truth appears, with 
 equal evidence, in another form. The minute details 
 which these visions here supply, from Alexander and 
 Ptolemy Soter to the repulse of Antiochus, are a con- 
 stant lesson of God's ceaseless presence in all the plans 
 and counsels of the rulers of mankind. Every royal 
 marriage, like that of Berenice or Cleopatra, with all 
 its secret issues of peace or war, of discord or union ; the 
 levying of every army, the capture of every fortress, the 
 length of every reign, the issue of every battle, the lies 
 of deceitful ambition, the treachery of counsellors, the 
 complex web of policy, woven out often thousand thou- 
 sand human wiles, and each of these again the product 
 of ten thousand various influences of good and evil, all 
 are pourtrayed, with unerring accuracy, in " the Scrip- 
 ture of truth," in the presence of the living and eternal 
 king. The mightiest of conquerors, in the height of 
 his power, touched by this wand of prophecy, like the 
 rod of Moses, falls a victim to his own intemperance, 
 and is suddenly cut off and his posterity destroyed. 
 The subtlest plans of alliance and affinity, because they 
 set aside the first ordinance of God in Paradise, and put 
 asunder those whom He had joined together, instead of 
 procuring conciliation and harmony, lead only to hatred, 
 cruel murder, bitter national strife, and a bloody and 
 severe revenge. 
 
 The pride of Antiochus the Great, his successful am- 
 bition and military triumphs, his schemes of politic 
 affinity, nay, even his prudent regard for the house of 
 God, cannot avert the sentence written against him, for 
 his fraud and violence, in the word of truth. In the 
 height of seeming power, his own reproach is turned 
 against him, and he stumbles and falls, and is not found. 
 Thus at every step, as we trace the course of Providence 
 in these holy visions, the truth must seek deeper into 
 
THE POLITICAL WORTH OF DANIEL's VISIONS. ^il 
 
 the most careless heart, that " doubtless there is a God 
 that judgeth the earth." 
 
 How brightly does the same truth appear, once more, 
 at the close of the whole narrative ! " He shall come 
 to his end, and none shall help him." Whether we 
 aj)ply these words to the Turkish Sultan, their earlier 
 fulfilment, or to the head of the last Gentile confede- 
 racy in the land of Israel, they sound in our ears like 
 the death-knell of every ungodly nation. Whatever 
 be the power which exalts itself against the God of 
 heaven, or in whatever height it may plant the taber- 
 nacle of its greatness ; though countless numbers may 
 ,do homage at its throne, the sentence of doom is already 
 pronounced against it, the handwriting is on the wall, 
 and must soon be fulfilled. " He shall come to his end 
 and none shall help him." From Cyrus to the day of 
 the resurrection, the welfare and safety of every state 
 and kingdom depends solely on the blessing of the 
 Almighty God. " He changeth times and seasons ; he 
 removeth kings, and setteth up kings ; he giveth wisdom 
 to the wise, and knowledge to them that know under- 
 standing." When His anger goes forth against an un- 
 godly people, in what striking words does he display 
 the folly of their counsellors ! " I am the Lord that 
 maketh all things, that stretcheth forth the heavens 
 alone, that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself ; that 
 frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners 
 mad ; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh 
 their knowledge foolish." Yet still, even to the latest 
 age, " he confirmeth the word of his servants, and per- 
 formeth the counsel of his messengers ; " and all his 
 inspired prophecies, however man may forget or despise 
 them, will prove themselves at last to have been, in 
 every part, the true sayings of God. 
 
 What a change would be made in the tone and spirit 
 of national policy, if even this one truth were deeply 
 impressed on the hearts of all modern statesmen ! They 
 would still have to consult, as now, for the complex and 
 varied interests of human life, moulded by the new 
 
 2 B 2 
 
372 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 forms which society has assumed in these latter times. 
 But there would then he a tone of deep and holy reve- 
 rence for eternal things, like an atmosphere of light, 
 around their deliherations. The remembered presence 
 of the living God would silence the blind rage of human 
 passions, still the clamours of party, and throw a hal- 
 lowing influence over all the seats of power. Man 
 w^ould be dealt with as an immortal creature, the object 
 of hopes and fears that reach into eternity. Every 
 event of life, every subject of legislation, would be lit 
 up by the beams of that holy love which is resting from 
 age to age on the sojourners of mankind. National re- 
 ligion, freed alike from superstitious perversions, and , 
 the blind contempt heaped on it by infidel theories, 
 would become the living homage of princely hearts and 
 noble minds, the leaders of the nation, consulting for its 
 highest good, to the everlasting word of God, the only 
 true and perennial fountain of public and private wis- 
 dom. That promise, which alone might shame into 
 silence the spurious theories of an unbelieving age, 
 would then be fulfilled in the sight of a rejoicing uni- 
 verse. " All the kings of the earth shall worship thee, 
 O Lord ! for they have heard the words of thy mouth. 
 Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the Lord, that great 
 is the glory of the Lord ! " 
 
 Another lesson which statesmen may derive from 
 these visions, is the close union between political and 
 heavenly wisdom. Of all the civil rulers, recorded in 
 holy Scripture, Daniel is almost the only one in whom 
 no fault appears. Even his bitter enemies are compelled 
 to bear witness to his integrity. " We shall not find 
 any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it con- 
 cerning the law of his God." But he who is thus pro- 
 posed to us, by the Holy Spirit, as the pattern of a 
 wise and upright ruler, was also the most favoured of 
 the prophets, and received message after message of hea- 
 venly wisdom, by the ministry of holy angels, and the 
 direct vision of the Son of God. 
 
 The union of these two elements, so conspicuous in 
 
THE POLITICAL WORTH OF DANTEl's VISIONS. 378 
 
 the prophet himself, re-appears in the whole course of 
 these sacred visions. They are political narratives of 
 earthly changes : they are a main and integral part of 
 the oracles of God. Here we see how the kingdom of 
 God, which is from everlasting to everlasting, includes 
 and grasps, in its sublime progress, all the kingdoms of 
 the world. Heathen rulers, unconsciously and blindly, 
 but Christian kings and princes, by their free and 
 willing allegiance, become fellow- workers in this mighty 
 plan, and help on the final triumph of the king of 
 Righteousness, the Prince of Peace. There is indeed 
 another kind of political wisdom, which comes from 
 beneath, and minds only earthly things, and is itself 
 justly condemned, as earthly, sensual, and devilish. But 
 true political wisdom, such as the holy Daniel had at- 
 tained, is from above, and has its eye fixed upward on 
 the everlasting hills. It plans for the happiness of na- 
 tions ; but then it remembers that true happiness can 
 only be found, when man rises above himself, and holds 
 fellowship with his Maker, and the glorious realities of 
 the spiritual world. Such a wisdom, while it sits in the 
 gate of earthly kings, has its ear ever open to drink in 
 those messages of truth and grace which may be sent 
 down from the sanctuary of heaven. When it dwells 
 on the facts of human history, and has sketched the 
 comprehensive outlines of the past, it is never content 
 to trace merely the policy of man, but rises to contem- 
 plate the Divine counsels, and those laws of justice, for- 
 43earance, righteousness, and mercy, which are perpetu- 
 ally unfolding themselves in all the works of God 
 towards the children of men. For this is the true poli- 
 tical wisdom, to know the place which a nation holds 
 in the great plan of redemption, the love of God which 
 is resting over it, the truths and duties on which its 
 peace and safety depend, the special calling with which 
 God has called it, and the wide range of holy happiness 
 which lies before it, in obedience to His will, and a free 
 and glad submission to the great and eternal laws of His 
 righteous kingdom. How unlike the mercenary theories 
 
374 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 of physical wealth and bodily comfort, is the ideal which 
 these visions supply to us, of political duty and national 
 greatness ! To execute justice on earth, and receive 
 angel-visits from heaven ; to trace the course of human 
 history, and see in every step the direct and visible 
 hand of God ; to catch the bright dawn of the coming 
 glory, and guide the sojourners of the world, through 
 the mists of time and of sense, towards that holy light ; 
 to teach them, like the prophet, to renounce unprofitable 
 and hurtful luxuries, and the dainties of royal tables, 
 but to hunger and thirst for everlasting truth, and mes- 
 sages of grace from on high ; these are the true features 
 of national wisdom, the maxims, revealed in these pro- 
 phecies, to guide and mould the whole policy of righteous 
 statesmen and Christian kingdoms. 
 
 These visions, again, if they were duly studied by 
 our modern statesmen, might deliver them from the 
 snare of a blind subservience to the popular will, and 
 teach them to govern by a higher standard than the ex- 
 pedients of the passing hour. There was a time when 
 the chief snare of rulers was a proud and unfeeling sel- 
 fishness, that would sacrifice the happiness and peace of 
 millions to the splendour of a court, or the caprice of a 
 king. That age of servile flattery and selfish royalty 
 has gone by, and opposite evils have succeeded in its 
 room. Now, from the spread of knowledge, and the 
 rapid communication of thought and intelligence, the 
 power of the state has passed, more and more, into the 
 hands of the people. The temptation to which states- 
 men are now chiefly exposed is therefore of an opposite 
 kind. It is to purchase the favour of the people, at 
 whatever cost ; to shift their opinions with the tide, to 
 guide the helm of the state, merely by the eddies of pub- 
 lic opinion, with no appeal to higher maxims than the 
 expediency of the hour, and thus to degrade Christian 
 legislation into the mere art of securing the votes of a 
 majority, and of changing so dextrously with the tide 
 as to avoid all public disgrace. Where the will of the 
 people is made the final appeal, and has itself to be 
 
THE POLITICAL WORTH OF DANIEL's VISIONS. 375 
 
 discovered amidst the feverish excitement of passion, 
 the character of statesmen must tend to sink continually 
 towards this pitiable standard, and their views to become 
 the servile echo of every delusion of their times. 
 
 A close and intimate study of these inspired visions 
 would have a mighty power to counteract and overcome 
 this degrading influence. The Statesman, no longer led 
 away blindly by the passions of the hour, or even by 
 the delusions of his own generation, will have his feet 
 lifted out of the mire, and planted on a rock of eternal 
 truth. Instead of borrowing his views from the preju- 
 dices of the multitudes, or floating blindly with the 
 stream of opinion, he will enter into the secret place of 
 the Most High, and there abide under the shadow of the 
 Almighty. Whatever be the floods of error or selfish 
 folly in the world below, these prophecies, in their ful- 
 filment, will be like a sure anchor of hope, and teach a 
 lesson of simple confidence in the wisdom of the supreme 
 and eternal King. He will see here that there are truths 
 unaffected by all the changes of time, and that his own 
 duty and privilege is not to echo blindly the follies of 
 the passing age, but to be a fellow- worker in the mighty 
 counsel of love which endures for ever. 
 
 Everywhere, at the present time, this element of true 
 greatness needs restoring to the national councils. We 
 are warned, by many signs, to rest upon no principles 
 or professions, which refuse to own the direct authority 
 of the word of God. Modern statesmen, with but few 
 exceptions, seem now to accept the will of the people 
 for their supreme law, and popular opinion for their 
 only guide, and hence the curse of Reuben is resting 
 upon them. " Unstable as water, they cannot excel." 
 Between the supple cleverness of a Tallej^rand, and the 
 holy wisdom of Daniel, there is a wide gulf of separa- 
 tion. And how can our politicians renounce the de- 
 grading standard of the apostate priest, and rise to emu- 
 late the beloved prophet, unless they learn, from these 
 visions, to read history in the light of heaven, and con- 
 sidei^ how their own conduct and maxims will appear, 
 
376 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 when they are registered in "the Scripture of truth," 
 and written in the book of remembrance before the 
 throne of God ! 
 
 There is another truth, which modern statesmen 
 would do well to consider, revealed in almost every one 
 of these holy prophecies. However blind they may be 
 to the details of interpretation, and however plausible 
 the excuse they may often find for their willing igno- 
 rance in the disputes of commentators and divines, here 
 that excuse will scarcely apply. There is a searching 
 trial at hand, an hour of sorrow to the Gentile king- 
 doms. The mighty Image must soon be smitten on its 
 feet of iron and clay, and broken to pieces. The last of 
 the four empires must, at length, be destroyed, and 
 given to the burning flame of Divine displeasure. The 
 sanctuary of God must be cleansed in these last days, 
 while judgment is executed on those who have profaned 
 it. The determined consummation must come at last 
 on the desolators of the land of Israel. In short, to 
 sum up the whole in the words of this last vision, 
 " there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was 
 since there was a nation to that same time, and at that 
 time the people of God shall be delivered, every one that 
 shall be found written in the book." 
 
 How many popular delusions would this one truth, if 
 simply and heartily believed, scatter to the winds ! How 
 it would frown into silence the empty and frivolous 
 laugh of self-conceited politicians, who dream of clear 
 skies and smooth water, when rocks and breakers are 
 around them, and the tempest is gathering over their 
 heads. The boasted triumph of liberal opinions, whi- 
 ther, alas ! does it lead 1 Useful knowledge, popular 
 freedom, the growth of science, the activity of trade — 
 what are they all, without the national fear of God, but 
 delusion and folly 1 The life of a nation consisteth not 
 in the abundance of the things it possesseth. Surely, if 
 it were felt that such dangers were before us, statesmen 
 would no longer account it untenable folly to tremble 
 in spirit at the Divine threatenings against idolatrotis or 
 
THE POLITICAL WORTH OF DANIEL's VISIONS. 377 
 
 apostate nations. They would rather humble them- 
 selves under the mighty hand of God. However deep 
 their wisdom, or large their experience, they would feel 
 that a wisdom far higher than theirs was needful, to 
 guide the course of a nation aright in times which are 
 close at hand. They would see that, in the prospect of 
 so bitter and searching a trial, the only safety, for men 
 or states, is in that righteousness which exalteth a na- 
 tion, the direct blessing of the God of heaven on the 
 prayer of faith, and a willing obedience to His com- 
 mandments. 
 
 There are many other lessons of political wisdom, 
 which might be drawn from every part of these visions 
 of Daniel, now explained, if only the ear of Christian 
 senators were attentive to catch the messages they con- 
 vey. A clear view of these warnings of the persecu- 
 tions of the Little Horn, and the idolatries of the Wil- 
 ful King, would expose the folly which confounds light 
 with darkness, and the national patronage of a hateful 
 idol- worship, with a public homage to the God of truth 
 and holiness, and the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 We can scarcely hope that such a measure of light 
 will pierce within that atmosphere of mist and unbe- 
 lieving self-conceit, in which too many politicians of 
 the present day seem to be immured. But a great step 
 would be gained, if they could only learn to meditate, 
 with quiet thought, on those great truths which a single 
 glance may reveal to them in these holy pages of in- 
 spired wisdom. For here they may see that all the 
 changes of time are noted, from eternity, in " the Scrip- 
 ture of truth" by the all -seeing wisdom of God. Mili- 
 tary ambition, subtle policy, the arts of statesmen, the 
 voice of excited multitudes, the passions of every hour, 
 the delusions of every age — all must pass in silent re- 
 view under the eye of heaven. The interests that now 
 agitate parties, and convulse nations, will soon be hushed 
 in the silence of the grave. The weighty disputes on 
 questions of perishable wealth, will be succeeded by 
 times of trouble and alarm, when the hearts of worldly 
 
378 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 men shall fail them for fear, and for looking after those 
 things that are coming upon the earth. The policy 
 which cannot discern between truth and en-or, light 
 and darkness, the Gospel which saves immortal souls, 
 and the superstition that destroys them, maj^ soon have 
 its fatal blindness exposed before the judgment-seat of 
 Christ. The proud boasts of a light in which God is 
 forgotten, and exiled from the councils of mlers or the 
 fields of science, will expire and be lost in the bright 
 splendour of the manifested kingdom of the Most High. 
 The systems of thought which would divorce politics 
 from religion, and this world from the world to come, 
 will die of themselves, like shadows of the night, when 
 once the morning of the resurrection dawns on the un- 
 believing world. Then " a king shall reign in righteous- 
 ness, and princes shall rule in judgment." Then the 
 " work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of 
 righteousness quietness and assurance for ever." Once 
 let the statesmen of these latter times begin to realize 
 these hopes of prophecy, or its past fulfilment for thou- 
 sands of years, and the clouds of earthliness which are 
 now around them must gradually pass away. They 
 would then live, and study, consult and legislate, as 
 immortal beings, in the sight of the everlasting God, 
 and with a view to the advance of His glorious king- 
 dom. The tricks of party would be succeeded by the 
 accents of fervent prayer ; the flashy brilliance of de- 
 clamation, wasted on trifles of a moment, by a profound 
 thoughtfulness of spirit, and the tone of deep awe and 
 reverence which befits the task of helping millions of 
 fellow immoiials in the steep and upward pathway of 
 life eternal. 
 
 May the God of Daniel, in these days, raise up a 
 school of Christian politicians, who, like that great 
 prophet, may combine human, political wisdom, with 
 that which is heavenly and divine ! Instead of that 
 melancholy spectacle of national covetousness and con- 
 tempt for Divine truth, reflected, as by a faithful mirror, 
 in the public councils and legislation, we might then 
 
THE POLITICAL WORTH OF DANIEL's VISIONS. 379 
 
 see bright earnests of the kingdom of Christ, in care for 
 the welfare of the souls of the poor, and unfeigned zeal 
 for the glory of God. We should then insult heaven no 
 longer, by plans to secure national peace and safety, 
 through bribes offered to promote and perpetuate idol- 
 worship. Instead of profane scoffs directed against God's 
 holy prophets, the ear of such rulers and senators would 
 drink in the truths they proclaim with a deep reverence, 
 as a message given for their own guidance by the King 
 of kings. They would look up to Him for wisdom 
 in every hour of perplexity, and that wisdom would be 
 given. They would then be afraid no longer in the 
 perilous time, and in the days of famine the}" would be 
 satisfied. For still, through everv" age, and in every 
 nation, whether in the nineteenth century or in the 
 days of Cyrus, whether a people be cursed with the 
 clever wickedness of a Talleyrand, or blessed with a 
 faithful Zerubbabel and holy Daniel, the promise and 
 the threatening of God will be accomplished without 
 fail — " Them that honour me I will honour, and they 
 that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE PROPHECY. 
 
 In the variety of details which the fulfilment of these 
 visions has brought before us, we are liable to forget the 
 grandeur of that view of Divine providence which they 
 unfold. I shall therefore endeavour, in closing this 
 work, to review the whole course of history, so as to 
 catch, if possible, the full impression of majesty and 
 sublime simplicity, which render these inspired mes- 
 sages so deeply profitable and instructive to the whole 
 Church of God. 
 
 And first, let us resume the vision of the evening and 
 the morning, which reminds us, by its very name, that 
 the dark night of the world is to be followed by the 
 dawn of everlasting joy to the children of God. 
 
 The holy Daniel had now been an exile, for fifty 
 years, from the land of Israel. The burial-places of his 
 fathers had long been forsaken, and Jerusalem and its 
 temple were in ruins. He had himself been long in the 
 court of Babylon, first a captive, and then a prince, 
 among the foremost in honour ; now perhaps, in the 
 reign of the profligate and profane Belshazzar, once 
 more neglected and despised. He was at Shushan, where 
 the Persian kings, in after-times, would exhibit all the 
 pride of royalty, and Haman plan the murder and ruin 
 of the chosen people. What truths were there revealed 
 to him in the visions of the night, and what glimpses 
 into the dark and distant future opened before him 1 
 It was a long and wonderful course of events which the 
 seer beheld by the banks of the Ulai, and a glorious 
 
HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE PROPHECY. 881 
 
 messenger who was sent from above to remove his dark- 
 ness. First, he beheld the youthful conqueror of Per- 
 sia, in his career of victory. He saw the Persians pur- 
 suing their course of triumph, till Croesus and all his 
 wealth fell under their power, and their horses were 
 wet with the billows of the western sea. He saw the 
 tribes of Armenia, and the proud nobles of Babylon, 
 humbled before the advancing empire, and the two- 
 leaved gates of the rejoicing city left open to the war- 
 riors, while the hand-writing on the wall pronounced 
 the sentence of her ruin. His eye glanced rapidly over 
 two centuries of time, when the Persian empire stood in 
 its glory, and the decrees from the palace of Shusban 
 went forth to the shores of the Hellespont, the borders 
 of the Indus, and the banks of the Nile. Then another 
 change passed over the shifting scene. The rude and 
 warlike mountaineers of Macedonia, under their youth- 
 ful king, rushed eagerly from the west, to assail the 
 colossus of Persian power. Granicus, Issus and Arbela, 
 the siege of Tyre, the conquest of Egypt, the victories 
 of six campaigns, pass rapidly before his eyes. He be- 
 holds the new empire, with unexampled rapidity, sub- 
 due all the mightiest provinces of the East, till all na- 
 tions, from the pillars of Hercules to the banks of the 
 Hydaspes, either submit openly to its yoke, or acknow- 
 ledge its undisputed supremacy. Then, in the height 
 of the conqueror's power, his sceptre is broken and falls 
 from his hands. The festive luxury of Babylon is 
 mightier to destroy than all the armies of Persia, or the 
 elephants of Indian kings ; and the kingdom is broken, 
 and given to others. Amidst a trouble and scene of con- 
 fusion, and ambitious strife, four kingdoms emerge 
 from the ruins of the mighty empire, and Macedon, 
 Thrace, Syria and Egypt, appear, for the first time, 
 under the sway of Grecian kings. These trials and 
 heavy sufferings, with growing sin, are sent once more 
 upon the people of Israel. And first, as a warning of 
 longer and heavier judgments, a Syrian oppressor arises 
 in the latter time of the Eastern kingdoms, and defiles 
 
382 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 the sanctuary, takes away the sacrifice, and murders 
 the faithful witnesses of God. But the short-lived per- 
 secution of Antiochus is only the prelude to heavier and 
 more lasting woe. The infant republic on the banks of 
 the Tiber, after fierce struggles with the Italian tribes, 
 and hard-won triumphs over the power of Carthage, 
 would ingraft itself, by stealth and subtle policy, on the 
 Grecian kingdoms. Step by step this foreign power 
 would usurp dominion over the nations of the East, till 
 the oldest and most powerful states should be trodden 
 down and stamped by its warriors in the dust. This 
 Roman power would extend itself, with a might beyond 
 that of Cyrus and Alexander, to the sources of the Nile, 
 to the banks of the Tigris, and against the favoured land 
 of Israel. The prophet saw in vision its fatal victories, 
 the bitter fruits of the sins of Israel. There would rise 
 dimly before him the legions of Pompey and of Titus ; 
 the temple repeatedly profaned by heathen violence ; the 
 Prince of the host condemned and scorned by the Roman 
 conquerors, and the temple itself cast down and utterly 
 destroyed. Then a long and dreary blank would follow 
 in the prophetic outline, with few sounds but those of 
 lamentation and woe ; the ways of Zion desolate and 
 in ruins, the indignation of God resting the second time 
 on his once-favoured people, and the truth cast down to 
 the ground under the oppression of its enemies. At 
 length, after this long evening and night of trouble, a 
 morning of deliverance begins to appear. He sees in 
 vision the power which had occupied the holy land, and 
 crushed the truth for ages, wasting in slow decay. He 
 hears the sounds of its approaching fall, and sees its 
 vain efforts to secure human help and deliverance. The 
 judgment of God alights on that proud Empire of the 
 East, where the name of Rome and the city of Con- 
 stantine, had seemed like the double pledges of immor- 
 tality. From the first restoration of Ezra and Nehe- 
 miah, two thousand three hundred years slowdy pass 
 away, a little moment in the calendar of heaven, and 
 then the deliverance dawns more brightly. The sane- 
 
HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE PROPHECY. 383 
 
 tuary of God begins to be cleansed from its long desola- 
 tion. First of all, the true Church of Christ, entan- 
 gled by the ties of the world, and rent by error, strife 
 and division, begins to awake and arise from the dust. 
 The hearts of God's children long for unity, peace, and 
 love, and follow after the forgotten standard of His 
 word. Slowly and painfully, the work of cleansing 
 proceeds in all the courts of the spiritual temple ; till 
 at length the Providence of God returns in mercy to 
 His ancient people, and in the East, and in the land of 
 promise, the outcasts seek the home of their fathers ; 
 and the sanctuary of the God of Israel, in the last days, 
 begins once more to be rebuilt in Jerusalem. Then the 
 long weary evening of sin and darkness will pass away, 
 and a morning without clouds, a morning of joy, and 
 peace, and righteousness, shall dawn on the weary 
 sojourners of this fallen world. 
 
 But the Holy Spirit is not content to have led the 
 prophet, once only, over this wide range of the world's 
 history, until the redemption of His people in the last 
 days. Once more he renews the message, but it is now 
 fuller than before ; the details are more various, and 
 the introduction is more august. The Son of God, the 
 Angel of the Covenant, himself is the bearer of this 
 latest message, and appears to the beloved Daniel in 
 vision, as afterward to the beloved John, with an awful 
 majesty and gentle condescension of love. It was an 
 hour of mourning and deep sorrow. At the age of 
 almost ninety years, seventy of them spent in exile, far 
 from his own land, the prophet is in sackcloth and 
 ashes, to bemoan the sins of his people, and the new 
 hindrances, arising in the Persian court, to their full and 
 complete deliverance. On the banks of one of the four 
 rivers of Paradise, a vision, as of Paradise itself, opens 
 before him. The Son of God, unveiled to him in human 
 form, yet with Divine glory, cheers his fainting servant, 
 and unfolds dimly some of the hidden mysteries of 
 Providence, and those angelic conflicts in the heavenly 
 places before the throne of God, which are linked 
 
884 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 invisibly with the warfare and policy of contending 
 states and sinful nations here in the world below. Then, 
 after the soul of the prophet has been raised above the 
 mists of sense, and the distractions of worldly cares, 
 once more the awful veil is drawn aside, and the future, 
 in all its dim solemnity, is disclosed to his view. No 
 symbols are employed, but, as if the eye of the holy 
 prophet were now inured to the light, a simple narra- 
 tive is given of the Divine counsels, to be fulfilled 
 through long ages in the history of the world. 
 
 What is the view given to Daniel in this parting 
 vision ? The reign of Cyrus, predicted so long before, 
 so splendid in its achievements, and striking in its vast 
 results, is now drawing to its close. But the second 
 Empire was not to be so rapid in its fall, as that of Ba- 
 bylon. Three kings were still to succeed, the third of 
 them to be an instrument of mercy in restoring the 
 temple ; and then the fourth monarch, Xerxes, would 
 stir up all the tribes of Asia, in countless numbers, 
 against the freemen of Greece. But the eye of the 
 prophet is not suffered to rest on this stirring scene, or 
 to be dazzled with the variety and greatness of the Gre- 
 cian triumphs. The names of Marathon, of Thermo- 
 pylae, of Salamis and Platae, cannot detain him for one 
 moment, as he is hurried along the course of the world's 
 changes, which are to issue in the full redemption of 
 the Church of God. He who divided to the nations 
 their inheritance, and set the bounds of the people ac- 
 cording to the number of the children of Israel, seems 
 here to teach the prophet the same lesson, and subordi- 
 nates all other history to the future destinies of the 
 chosen people. Once more the prophet is hastened over 
 two centuries of Persian greatness, sinking in slow 
 decay, till his eye is fixed on the Macedonian hero, who 
 avenges the invasion of Greece on the tribes of Asia, 
 and rules with a great dominion according to his own 
 will. How rapidly that vision of glory sweeps by in this 
 sublime procession of mortal conquerors and kings ! Even 
 while the eye rests upon the Macedonian hero and his 
 
HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE PROPHECY. 385 
 
 greatness, the pageant dies away, his kingdom is broken, 
 his posterity are cut off, and the four winds of heaven, 
 contending on the great sea, are a feeble emblem of the 
 passionate contests of ambition that cover the plains of 
 the East with slaughter and desolation. Out of this 
 chaos of military strife, the kingdoms of Syria and 
 Egypt emerge slowly to view, and their destinies are 
 next revealed. Between them lay the land of promise, 
 soon to be visited in mercy b}'^ the Lord of heaven, but 
 now exposed in turn, from the north, and from the 
 south, to the bitterness of conquest and war. That ark 
 which bore the freight of a world's hopes, is now fiercely 
 buffeted between the contending kingdoms, and tost on 
 the billows of perpetual change. Alliances and mar- 
 riages, feuds and murders, invasion and triumph, cap- 
 tivity and spoil, the birth and the death of kings, the 
 deceits of policy, the shock of armies, the siege and 
 capture of mighty cities, the elephants of India and the 
 riches of the East ; all these changes pass under the 
 view of the prophet, till the eye grows weary with the 
 interminable round of folly, sin, and amhitious violence. 
 One gleam of light appears for a moment, when the 
 temple of God is perfected by the hand of the Syrian, 
 and a moment's respite seems to be given to suffering 
 Israel. But the clouds return once more. The conqueror 
 of Asia, the repairer of the temple, stumbles at the shock 
 of the Roman legions, and disappears in darkness. The 
 prophet's eye turns westward, and sees there a Syrian 
 captive, a hostage, almost forgotten amidst the busy 
 thi-ong of the Imperial city. He sees him, escaping 
 from his captivity, one moment amidst the streets of 
 Athens, and the next, seated, by stealth and policy, and 
 skilful flatteries, on the throne of Syria. He tracks his 
 steps through his course of vileness and profligacy, 
 while he prospers for a time appointed in his plots 
 against Egypt, and is ready to seat himself by fraud on 
 the throne of the ancient Pharaohs. In the midst of 
 his triumphs the ships are seen from the West, from the 
 isles of Chittim, entering the mouth of the Nile, and 
 
S86 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 the imperious message is heard from the Roman senate, 
 denouncing war to the disobedient. The Syrian mad- 
 man has his prey wrested from his grasp, and returns, 
 filled with anger against the covenant-people of God, 
 Then a scene of woe and sorrow appears. First, in the 
 foreground, the vision reveals the Syrian desolation, a 
 harbinger of still heavier woes ; and the short paroxysm 
 of distress, when Judali was desolate, and the faithful 
 were driven into the wilderness, while the temple of the 
 living God was profaned with idol-offerings to Olympian 
 Jove. Yet still, amidst the gloom, the hand of God 
 was with his people. The glorious inscription — " Who 
 is like thee, O Lord," was seen waving on their banners, 
 and the Maccabean heroes were strong, and did exploits 
 against the heathen, till a respite was given from the 
 bitter trial. But as the sins of Israel continued and 
 increased, the vision renewed its message in still heavier 
 judgments. The mighty conquerors of the world place 
 their foot proudly on the neck of the daughter of Zion. 
 The temple, hallowed by the presence of Emmanuel, is 
 polluted by their idol-standards. The abomination of 
 desolation, denounced by our Lord when on earth, stands 
 at length in the holy place, and the latter end of God's 
 indignation, warned of in many prophecies, begins to 
 rest heavily on His ancient people. 
 
 And now, in the crisis of judgment, new wonders 
 begin to open dimly before the eye of the beloved seer. 
 In the hour of his nation's desolation, light arises in 
 the darkness, and their casting away is the reconciling 
 of the world. The saints who knew their God, in His 
 incarnate humility and risen glory, were strong in the 
 Lord their Saviour, and did mighty exploits, more than 
 the Maccabean heroes, against the powers of darkness. 
 Clad in "the unresistible might of meekness" they 
 went forth to do battle with all the spiritual wickedness 
 of the world, and a mouth and wisdom were given them, 
 which no human power could resist or effectually op- 
 pose. The weapons of their warfare were mighty 
 through God, to cast down all the strongholds of Pagan 
 
HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE PROPHECY. 387 
 
 wickedness. Many days they were to be tried and 
 sifted with flame and captivity and spoil, but their faith 
 had a might which could overcome the world. They 
 instructed many perishing souls in the mysteries of 
 God, and at length, after their weary conflicts a little 
 help was given them, and the proud Empire bowed its 
 reluctant neck to the yoke of Christ. 
 
 But the vision of sorrow had not yet reached its close : 
 the hour of deliverance was not come. Fresh troubles and 
 distresses were still to arise, and vex the Church of God. 
 The prophet, even in the hour of its triumph, is told 
 of flatteries and false converts, who would stir up new 
 troubles within its own bosom. Thus persecution would 
 set in once more against the faithful. At length the 
 vision reveals to him a gigantic and awful power, which 
 would cast aside the antiquated superstitions of the 
 Pagan world, and set up new gods and tutelary powers 
 for the objects of religious worship and Divine honours. 
 Thiere is revealed to him, though dimly and in general 
 terms, the Antichristian monarchy which, under Chris- 
 tian titles, and holy names, would revive the lifeless 
 body of heathen superstition, and inspire it with a life 
 of persecuting malice, to destroy the faithful witnesses 
 of God. He sees also in the far distance, the two suc- 
 cessive woes, which God, whose name is Jealous, would 
 send to punish his own apostate people, and the still 
 later conflicts of the last confederacy, when the Gen- 
 tiles, uuder their triumphant leader, in days to come, 
 shall be as a cloud to cover the land of Israel. And 
 now, after ages of long delay, his eye can rest on the 
 joyful consummation. Beyond that time of trouble, 
 unequalled in the history of mankind, he can catch the 
 dawn of the Sun of Righteousness, and bear the joyful 
 tidings of deliverance to his own people, the desolate 
 outcasts of Israel. The vision which began with a 
 glimpse into the unseen world, and the ministry and 
 warfare of angels, closes with a prospect not less glo- 
 rious, and of still deeper interest to ourselves. It reveals 
 to us that day when the ransomed children of men shall 
 
 2 2 
 
388 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 be equal to the angels, and shall be children of God, 
 being children of the resurrection. It crowns the 
 fleeting changes of this mortal life by the joyful hope 
 of immortality. " Many of them that sleep in the dust 
 of the earth shall awake ; these to everlasting life, and 
 these to shame and everlasting contempt. And they 
 that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firma- 
 ment, and they that turn many to righteousness as the 
 stars for ever and ever," 
 
 Let us only meditate for a moment on the truths im- 
 plied in this comprehensive prophecy, and we shall be 
 lost in wonder at the mystery of unsearchable wisdom 
 which it opens to our view. Its unadorned simplicity, 
 for which the vain theories of foolish men would brand 
 it as a mere forgery, a dry fragment of Maccabean his- 
 tory, is to the spiritual mind its crowning excellence, 
 and a proof of its Divine glory. Who but the Spirit, 
 who searches the deep things of God, and sees the end 
 from the beginning, could have given so brief a sum- 
 mary, beforehand, of the events of three thousand years, 
 and have linked it, so calmly and firmly, with the highest 
 truths of the unseen world, the glory of the blessed an- 
 gels, and the resurrection from the dust of the children 
 of God 1 This golden chain of truth is let down from 
 heaven, and touches the whole range of providence here 
 on earth for age after age — but its extremities are held 
 by the Angel of Covenant, with a steady grasp, within 
 the veil, in that world of mystery where archangels now 
 minister before the throne, and where the saints, in glo- 
 rified bodies, ransomed from death, shall stand for ever 
 iji the lot of their heavenly inheritance. This is the 
 problem which infidel theories of history, on the one 
 hand, and an abstract, scholastic theology on the other, 
 may strive long to solve, but must strive in vain ; to 
 reconcile the shadowy changes of time with the absolute, 
 the true, the abiding, and the eternal. Here also, in these 
 last days, when conflict and strife are before the Church, 
 she may learn her real strength, and rise above the 
 passions and fears of a day, to anchor her hopes on that 
 
HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE PROPHECY. 889 
 
 sure counsel of love, no one link of which can ever fail 
 or be broken through the wickedness of men. However 
 dark the pathway, however long and wearisome the 
 journey, there is light and glory at its close. What 
 though a long succession of ungodly rulers may distract 
 the eye with sights of discord, and weary the heart with 
 scenes of misery and bloodshed from age to age ! The 
 kingdom of peace and righteousness must dawn at length 
 on the world, and the dominion be given to the holy 
 prophets and apostles, who shall stand in their lot, with 
 joy and triumph, at the end of the days. What though 
 the worship of Mahuzzim shall long defile even the 
 Christian Church with foul idolatries, and flatterers, 
 who cleave to a faith which their hearts never welcome, 
 may usurp the name of the Catholic Church, to crush, 
 under holy titles, the faithful witnesses of the Lord ! 
 It is but a little time, and the tyranny shall cease, and 
 the delusion shall pass away. The sanctuary of God, 
 in these latter days, must still be cleansed from its many 
 defilements ; the flatterers of the outer court be exiled 
 from the assemblies of Christ, and a pure and virgin 
 Church be prepared to welcome the returning Bride- 
 groom. What though the scoff'ers of the last days may 
 exult in their vain boasts of a light, which is not of hea- 
 ven, and of a knowledge in which the only Saviour of 
 sinners is forgotten and despised ! What though the mul- 
 titudes may gather, under deceitful watchwords, of 
 liberty, light, and progress, and the worship of man self- 
 regenerate by his own wisdom, for one last confederacy 
 of Gentile unbelief ! They shall still come to their end, 
 and none shall help them. Though statesmen may ex- 
 clude the truth of God from their counsels, though phi- 
 losophers may speculate on all the depths of history 
 without once discovering their own need of a Saviour, 
 and build up a new Babel in the last days, of human 
 liberty and equality, and imaginary triumphs of reason ; 
 though divines may invent a gospel without Christ, 
 and metaphysicians a world without the living God ; 
 this record, like a firmament of unalterable, unefface- 
 
390 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 able truth, is above them and around them, to rebuke 
 their folly, and confirm the faith of all the servants of 
 the Lord. In the strife of modern parties, amidst the 
 fever of commerce and trade, it reminds us of a counsel 
 which is ever advancing swiftly to its bourne, of angel 
 ministries that are unceasingly around us, and of a so- 
 lemn resurrection which draws nearer and nearer, and 
 like a thief in the night, may break in suddenly, with a 
 wild and strange surprise, upon all the schemes and pro- 
 jects of worldly men. True it is, that none of the wicked 
 shall understand. " He that is unjust will be unjust 
 still, and he that is filthy will be filthy still." But the 
 wise shall understand. They will read the past, and see 
 in it, everywhere displayed, the hand of the living God. 
 They will read even the future, and see it reveal to them, 
 as in colours of light, the sure hope of the resurrection. 
 Then, in that day, " the deaf shall hear the words of the 
 book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity 
 and out of darkness." The prophecies that we now 
 trace, dimly and painfully, with the eyes of the flesh, and 
 amidst the thick mists of a fallen world, will then start 
 out before us in their clear and unveiled beauty, and 
 awaken perpetual songs of wonder and praise and ado- 
 ration, in the hour of the resurrection, and throughout 
 everlasting ages in the kingdom of our God. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 L. SEELEV, THAWKS DITTON. 
 
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