tion; or rather of the second part, commencing at the fourth chapter. Chapter 4, ver. 1. After this I looked, and behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. However repugnant it may be to the feelings of those who regard the theatre as of most evil tendency, it cannot be denied that this part of Revelation is essentially dramatick. A few particulars will render this evident. There is an auditory. The fields of heaven, or a visionary structure above them, afford a theatre, suitable for representing the events of prophecy, as on the earth. Still above this there is an arrangement, representing a relative heaven. Different places and various objects, as mountains, the wilderness, the sea, &c., are actually represented. There is frequent change of scene. The action of the piece, so to speak, comprises the prophetical events of a most important period, in the history of the human race. There is a plot, not involved, perhaps, after the manner of the secular drama, but displaying God's judgments; and resulting in the triumph of the righteous, and the destruction of the wicked. The different series of events are so many acts, and the changes of place, time, &c., in these, are scenes. There are expressive emblems. Various characters are introduced. Neither pantomine nor dialogue are wanting, but the language (of the speakers,) is principally monologue. There is a chorus far transcending in sublimity, all that the Greek dramatists ever imagined. All this is described by the apostle. He relates what he saw, and gives the words of the different speakers.

The language is commonly figurative, but becomes literal, by an easy transition, when circumstances require. When a prominent word is employed in some special figurative sense, there is always a suspicion that it is employed in the same sense thereafter, but this is not in all instances the case.

Babylon is obviously pre-eminent, chiefest, among the powers of evil, that oppose the gracious and beneficent designs of God, towards the children of men. It becomes therefore, a subject of the highest interest, what Babylon is, what is meant by her emphatick, almost startling designation. And there is a time in prophecy, when the question becomes one of momentous importance, in view of the command, cited above, and given by a voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. I propose to endeavor to investigate the question, by considering the principal evidence on the subject, which is to be found in Revelation; and then to refer to some of the most considerable passages, which are supposed to be illustrative or explanatory, in the Old Testament. A complete examination of the subject, would far exceed my limits. This inference may be safely drawn from the passages, which have thus been passed in brief review, that, previous to the millennium, the powers of evil will not relinquish the world, which they have possessed so long, without a desperate struggle.

III. MYSTICAL BABYLON-IS THE INDIVIDUAL SYSTEM-IS UNIVERSAL.

IN the work referred to in the introductory sectionMillennial Institutions, 1833-I propose the theory that Babylon is the individual system. This is a term employed by Mr. Owen to denote the individual tenure of property, or, more generally, the organization of society by families. During the long period which has intervened since, I have seen no reason to doubt the correctness of that hypothesis, so far as it extends; though I have seen abundant reason for believing that another and darker element, not sufficiently regarded then, is essen

tial to the constitution of this mysterious and baleful influence.

Babylon is mentioned twice in Revelation, previous to chapter seventeen. Ch. 14: 8. And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made ALL NATIONS drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. I believe it will be found that the statements concerning Babylon can be rendered consistent, only in one way. By supposing that the term, that great city, is put, by synecdoche, for all the cities of the earth.* Without any violent figure of speech, commercially speaking, and as respects their universal influence upon all, whether kings of the earth or peoples, and multitudes, and nations and tongues, they may be regarded as one city. A merchant in London sends to Smyrna, or Surat, or Canton, for articles, which they respectively produce, as he would send to a remote street, or streets, of London itself. When the Sultan has exhausted the resources of the moneylenders, or money holders, of his own capital, he borrows of a banker in Naples or Amsterdam.

Babylon is fallen, is fallen. This form of expression, (as above) the particular style of repetition, as well as the words employed, is not used in scripture, I believe, concerning any state, nation, kingdom, organization or influence, except Babylon. It is used concerning Babylon, both in the Old and the New Testament. And it is observable that it seems to be employed, in the Old Testament, in a double sense, referring both to the ancient and the prophetical Babylon; and also with a reference to our own time. See Is. 21: 9. The other instance in which it is employed in the New Testament, is at ch. 18: 2. It was the purpose, as I believe, in all these instances, to convey an idea of the universal extent, and duality of the sway of Babylon, spreading over the east and the west, the old continent and the new.

*The term great city is employed in a similar sense, when first used in Revelation: see ch. 11: 8. It there can mean nothing less than the Turkish empire. See also, 16: 19.

In addition to the instance above, Babylon is mentioned in Revelation, previous to chapter seventeen, at chapter 16: 19, in the description of what followed on the pouring out of the seventh vial. And this instance is entirely confirmatory, in the connexion, of the views above. To understand the connexion, it will be needful to refer, once more, to the account of the sixth vial. Verse 12. And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. The waters of the Euphrates were dried up, as the waters of the Adriatic were, at the same time. Commerce had taken another direction, in consequence of the discovery of the passage to India, by the Cape of Good Hope. Caravans no longer crossed the Euphrates, or started from the cities on its banks, with the commodities of Persia, India and Cathay, for the marts of the west. Verse 13. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. From the Roman Empire, which still existed in spirit as well as in name, from feudal Europe, and from an imperfect, and probably a corrupt and deteriorated church, went forth discoverers, adventurers, conquerors, founders of states, merchants, and missionaries, accompanied, as we shall see in another section, by literal" spirits of devils." Verse 16. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue, Armageddon. He gathered them, that is, the angel of the sixth vial. The pouring out of the seventh vial, and what immediately followed, is described in the two next verses, 17, 18. It then follows, ver. 19, And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. The great city. Keeping in mind that Babylon is called the great city, ("that great city,”) when

first mentioned in Revelation, ch. 14: 8, that made ALL NATIONS drink of the wine, &c., that the three unclean spirits, ch. 16: 13, 14, went forth to the kings of the earth and of the WHOLE WORLD, to gather them to the battle, that they, or the sixth angel, gathered them together to Armageddon-see verse 16-and that the seventh angel, evidently in continuation, poured out his vial into the air, which surrounds the earth, and that nothing which follows conveys the least intimation that the field of vision is contracted, can it be doubted that the great city, or Babylon, that was divided into three parts, comprises all the cities of the earth? The cities of the nations-and the cities of the nations fell, ver. 19,—are not then, without but within the great city, constituting perhaps, one of the three parts, into which the city is divided. And the cities of the na tions fell and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. The judgment of Babylon, and her final destruction, are described in the two next chapters, 17, 18.

Chapter 17. I trust it is proved, above, that the influence of Babylon is universal. I will proceed to consider evidence tending to prove that Babylon is the individual system; including, of course, other combinations and influences, that naturally result from this organization of society. Babylon is personified in chapter 17, as a splendid harlot, arrayed in gorgeous apparel, and decked with gold and precious stones, and having in her hand, a golden cup, full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication. It is said in Jeremiah, 51: 7, of ancient Babylon, renowned for commerce and wealth,-Jer. 51: 13, O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures :—that Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord's hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine, therefore the nations are mad. See also, in connexion, Rev. 17: 2. With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the