7 Trumpets James White

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AN EXPOSITION

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THE SEVEN TRUMPETS

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REVELATION VIII & IX.

Third Edition, Revised nd En!r"ed.

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STEAM PRESSOF THE SEVENTH-$A% A$VENTIST PULISHIN' ASSO(IATION.

ATTLE (REE), MI(H.*+.

THE SEVEN TRUMPETS.

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INTRO$U(TOR%.

The great leading features of Daniel's visions were th

e four great governments of antiquity, beginning with theBabylonian, and ending with the Roman, in its papal form.Not so, however, with John he lived when three of thosegovernments had passed away, and the fourth and last was in being, and in the hight of its glory as a universal monar!hy. "nder that government John was in banishment on the isle of #atmos, $for the word of %od, and the testimony


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of Jesus &hrist.$ !!ordingly, instead of predi!ting the rise and triumph of either of those four great governments, it was his part to give the propheti! history of the fall of th e last of the four, and give us the various means by whi!h

that great perse!uting system should !ome to ruin. The first de!isive step in the downfall of Rome, was t

he removal of the seat of empire from the (est to the )ast. This transfer of the !apital from Rome to &onstantinople was a!!omplished by &onstantine in . D. **+. "ntil then, its unity had been very faithfully preserved. fter that,division and subdivision be!ame the order of the day, until the final ruin of the empire.

The sounding of the first four trumpets !omes in as a!omplement to the prophe!y of Dan. and -. t des!ribesthe fall of the Roman )mpire, and the manner of brea/ingit up into ten parts as represented by the ten toes of the image, or the ten horns of the beast.

(e see in Num. 0+12, and 3eph. 0104, that the trumpet is a symbol of war. 5en!e, we say in the words of another1 $The trumpets denote great politi!al !ommotions to ta/e pla!e among the nations in this age.$ The events, as set forth in our sub6e!t, must belong to the &hristian dispensation from authority of the angel's words1 $(rite the things whi!h thou hast seen, and the things whi!h are, and the things whi!h shall be hereafter.$

n .D. **-, we find the Roman )mpire divided into three parts by &onstantine the %reat, and a part given to ea!h of his three sons. t is on the ground of this division that we understand, in Rev. 7, where it spea/s of the $third

part of men,$ it alludes to the part of the empire under the s!ourge. &onstantius possessed the )ast, and fi8ed his residen!e at &onstantinople, the new metropolis of the empire. &onstantine the 9e!ond held Britain, %aul, and 9pain. &onstans held llyri!a, fri!a, and taly. :9ee $9abine's)!!l. 5ist.,$ p. 0;;.< =f this well>/nown histori!al fa!t, ?r.Barnes, the !ommentator, in his notes on Rev. 01@, says1


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$Twi!e, at least, before the Roman )mpire be!ame divided into the two parts, the )astern and the (estern, there was a tripartite division of the empire. The first o!!urred .D. *00, when it was divided between &onstantine, Ai!iniu

s, and ?a8imin the other, .D. **-, on the death of &onstantine, when it was divided between his three sons, &onstantine, &onstans, and &onstantius.$

!!ording to !hronology, we find the last of the three sons above noti!ed died in .D. *;@, and in .D. *;4 the 5uns, a tribe of barbarians, had in!reased to su!h a power that the Roman armies dare not assail them. (e find them on both sides of the "ral !hain of mountains, $inhabiting from the regions of perpetual snow to the &aspian 9e

a, and ravaging at will )urope on the one side and sia onthe other.$ >> 9heppard's Ball of Rome.

n idea of the territory whi!h they o!!upied may behad from the treaty whi!h was made between them and the Romans. The parties met on the ban/s of the Danubeat a pla!e !alled ?argus. 9aid the /ing of the 5uns to theRoman envoys1 $Brea/ off all !onne!tion with the "ltra>Danubian tribes.... n!rease your tribute from *++ to -++ p

ounds of gold. Do this, or war.$ >> 9heppard's Ball of Rom e.

The Roman embassadors a!!epted the terms. (e have, them, one of the toes of the metalli! image, or one of the horns of the terrible beast, represented by the 5uns .

The %oths were a tribe who at this time o!!upied &entral )urope, but in .D. *--, *-7, divided themselves into two nationalities, and are /nown in history as =strogoths, who o!!upied the )ast :?ysia


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er the most of the habitable part of the world from the days of ugustus &aesar, dismembered. Three large par!elsof its territory are o!!upied by barbarians, who neither pay tribute nor yield allegian!e to its authority.

(e !an readily see, then, that here are brought to view three of the toes of the image, or three of the horns of the terrible beast.

s to the nature of these trumpets we differ from some e8positors. They are, in our opinion, essentially different from the seven seals. (hile the seals give an inspired e!!lesiasti!al history of the !hur!h, the trumpets are a symboli!al prophe!y of the uprooting of !ertain !ivil powers,

as !onne!ted with the !hur!h.

n giving an outline of this sub6e!t, we shall, for the most part, follow eith, in his $9igns of the Times,$ on the first four trumpets. (e should be glad to give his remar/s and histori!al quotations entire, would our limits admit it.

The sub6e!t properly begins with the se!ond verse of the eighth !hapter and the first verse should have been anne8ed to the seventh !hapter, it being the !on!lusion ofthe opening of the seals.

n verses >;, of !hap. 7, we have the prefatory remar/s, preparatory to the sounding of the trumpets. Then follows the sounding of the first angel.

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5) BR9 R"?#) .

Cerses 4, -. $nd the seven angels whi!h had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were !ast upon the earth and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.$


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?r. eith has very 6ustly remar/ed on the sub6e!t of this prophe!y1 >>

$None !ould elu!idate the te8ts more !learly, or e8pound them more fully, than the tas/ has been performedby %ibbon. The !hapters of the s/epti!al philosopher thattreat dire!tly of the matter, need but a te8t to be prefi8ed,and a few unholy words to be blotted out, to form a seriesof e8pository le!tures on the eighth and ninth !hapters of Revelation.$ $Aittle or nothing is left for the professed interpreter to do but to point to the pages of %ibbon.$

The first sore and heavy 6udgment whi!h fell on (est

ern Rome in its downward !ourse, was the war with the Cisigoths under lari!. fter the death of Theodosius, the Roman )mperor, in January, *2;, before the end of the winter the Cisigoths, under lari!, were in arms against the empire. The 5uns, whose territory lay east of the =strogoths, o!!upied mostly the !ountry now /nown as Russia. n

.D. *2;, they made war upon the =strogoths, and for!edthem into the territory of the Cisigoths, The =strogoths submitted to the 5uns for awhile, but we afterward find them independent.

The Cisigoths, under lari!, turned their for!es to the)astern tripartite division of the Roman )mpire and overran %ree!e. t was in su!h a dry season of the year that thearmy !ould easily ford the streams. Cegetation was so dried up that the forest trees burned when ignited. They devastated the plains of northern %ree!e and slaughtered the inhabitants.

$5ail and fire, mingled with blood.$ The terrible effe!ts of this %othi! invasion are thus des!ribed by %ibbon, vol. iii. pp. E 02+>02@1 >>:The edition we quote from is the new edition of #hillips,9ampson F &o., Boston, 07;@.<

$The barbarian au8iliaries ere!ted their independent


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standard, and boldly avowed hostile designs, whi!h theyhad long !herished in their fero!ious minds. Their !ountrymen, who had been !ondemned by the !onditions of thelast treaty to a life of tranquility and labor, deserted their f

arms at the first sound of the trumpet, and eagerly assumed the weapons whi!h they had relu!tantly laid down. The barriers of the Danube were thrown open the savage warriors of 9!ythia issued from their forest and the un!ommon severity of the winter Gthat season of the year in whi!h natural 5A and 9N=( o!!urH allowed the poet to remar/ that 'they rolled their ponderous wagons over the broad and i!y ba!/ of the indignant river.' The unhappy nations of the provin!es to the south of the Danube submittedto the !alamities, whi!h, in the !ourse of twenty ears, wer

e almost grown familiar to their imagination and the various troops of barbarians, who gloried in the %othi! name,were irregularly spread from the woody shores of Dalmatia to the walls of &onstantinople. The %oths were dire!tedby the bold and artful genius of lari!. n the midst of a divided !ourt and a dis!ontented people, the emperor, r!adius, was terrified by the aspe!t of the %othi! arms. lari! disdained to trample any longer on the prostrate and ruined !ountries of Thra!e and Da!ia, and he resolved to see/ a plentiful harvest of fame and ri!hes in a provin!e whi!h had hitherto es!aped the ravages of war.

$lari! traversed, without resistan!e, the plains of ?a!edonia and Thessaly. The troops whi!h had been postedto defend the straits of Thermopylae retired, as they weredire!ted, without attempting to disturb the se!ure and rapid passage of lari! and the fertile fields of #ho!is andBoeotia were instantly !overed with a deluge of barbarians, who massa!red the males of an age to bear arms, and d

rove away the beautiful females, with the spoil and !attleof the flaming villages. The travelers who visited %ree!e several years afterward !ould easily dis!over the deep andbloody tra!es of the mar!h of the %oths. The whole territory of tti!a was blasted by his baneful presen!e and if we may use the !omparison of a !otemporary philosopher,

thens itself resembled the bleeding and empty s/in of a


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slaughtered vi!tim. &orinth, rgos, 9parta, yielded without resistan!e to the arms of the %oths and the most fortunate of the inhabitants were saved, by death from beholding the slavery of their families, and the !onflagration of the

ir !ities.$t was thus that $hail,$ from the fa!t of the northern o

rigin of the invaders $fire,$ from the destru!tion by flameof both !ity and !ountry $blood,$ from the terrible slaughter of the !itiIens of the empire by the bold and intrepid warriors, $were !ast upon the earth.$ The phrase, $!ast upon the earth,$ may refer to a general devastation, fulfilled not simply by the Cisigoths under lari! and his brother upto . D. @0@, when their /ingdom be!ame transferred and

established in the western tripartite division of the empire but, also, by other northern barbarians who were overrunning the middle and western divisions during the sameperiod. 9ee $9heppard's all of Rome,$ pl 02+.

The historian, %ibbon, thus graphi!ally des!ribes theprowess and su!!ess of lari!1 >>

$The birth of lari!, the glory of his past e8ploits, andthe !onfiden!e in his future designs, insensibly united thebody of the nation under his vi!torious standard and, with the unanimous !onsent of the barbarian !hieftains, themaster>general of llyri!um was elevated, a!!ording to an!ient !ustom, on a shield, and solemnly pro!laimed G. D.@+*,H /ing of the Cisigoths and all the tribes of /indred name. rmed with this double power, seated on the verge of the two empires, he alternately sold his de!eitful promises to the !ourts of r!adius and 5onorius Gof &onstantinople and RomeH, till he de!lared and e8e!uted his resolution

of invading the dominions of the (est Gof RomeH. The provin!es of )urope whi!h belonged to the )astern emperorwere already e8hausted, those of sia were ina!!essible,and the strength of &onstantinople had resisted his atta!/. But he was tempted by the fame, the beauty, and the wealth of taly, whi!h he had twi!e visited and he se!retlyaspired to plant the %othi! standard on the walls of Rom


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e, and enri!h his army with the a!!umulated spoils of three hundred triumphs.

$(hen 9tili!ho seemed to abandon his sovereign in t

he unguarded pala!e of ?ilan, he had probably !al!ulated the term of his absen!e, the distan!e of the enemy, andthe obsta!les that might retard their mar!h. 5e prin!ipally depended upon the rivers of taly, the dige, the ?ini!o, the =glio, and the ddua whi!h, in the winter or spring, by the fall of rains, or by the melting of the snows, are !ommonly swelled into broad and impetuous torrents. Butthe season happened to be remar/ably dry, and the %oths !ould traverse, without impediment, the wide and stonybeds, whose !enter was faintly mar/ed by the !ourse of a

shallow stream. The bridge and passage of the ddua were se!ured by a strong deta!hment of the %othi! army and as lari! approa!hed the walls, or rather the suburbs of?ilan, he en6oyed the proud satisfa!tion of seeing the emperor of the Romans fly before him. 5onorius, a!!ompanied by a feeble train of statesmen and eunu!hs, hastily retreated towards the lps, with the design of se!uring his person in the !ity of rles, whi!h had often been the royal residen!e of his prede!essors. But 5onorius had s!ar!ely passed the #o before he was overta/en by the speed of the%othi! !avalry sin!e the urgen!y of the danger !ompelled him to see/ a temporary shelter within the fortifi!ationof sta, a town of Aigurian, or #iedmont, situate on the ban/s of the Tanarus. The siege of an obs!ure pla!e, whi!h!ontained so ri!h a priIe, and seemed in!apable of a longresistan!e, was instantly formed, and indefatigably pressed by the /ing of the %oths.$ >> %ibbon's 5ist., vol. iii. pp. 027>+@.

But although lari! thus put to flight the emperor of the (est, deliveran!e soon !ame, and Rome was saved from his hands. lari! was first !onquered in @+*, by 9tili!ho, that distinguished !ommander of the Roman for!es, atthe battle ground of #ollentia.

That part of the first trumpet whi!h says that $all gre


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en grass was burnt up,$ seems to refer to a remar/ably total devastation of the vegetation, whi!h followed in the train of the Cisigoths, in the eastern tripartite division, and also that of the other two bodies of he northern barbarians

who were at the same time atta!/ing the empire in its middle and western divisions.

(hile we leave lari! arranging his plans for anotheratta!/ upon the Romans, we will !onsider the operationsof the other two bodies of barbarians before referred to,who were fleeing before the aggressive 5uns to the westand south of )urope.

=ne of these divisions, under Radagaisus, !rossed th

e lps with a for!e of ++,+++, atta!/ed loren!e, and was defeated. The other, !omposed of Burgundians, Candals, lans, and 9uevi, $burst over the Rhine,$ over!ame theran/s in their onward mar!h :devasting, says %ibbon, seventeen provin!es of %aul> ma/ing a prey of the largestpart of the western tripartite division of the Roman )mpire. %ibbon says, in spea/ing of this invasion1 $The pasturesof %aul, in whi!h flo!/s and herds graIed, and the ban/sof the Rhine, whi!h were !overed with elegant houses and well>!ultivated farms,.... were suddenly !hanged into adesert, distinguished from the solitude of nature only by smo/ing ruins.$

This was in . D. @+-. This vast army divided the !ountry whi!h they subdued among their respe!tive tribes, leaving the ran/s in possession of what is now northern ran!e. The Candals settled in a part of what is now 9pain.:Their /ingdom, says Jernandes, the %othi! historian, was

afterward transferred to fri!a in about . D. @7.< The lans and 9uevi settled in what is now #ortugal, and the north>western part of what is now 9pain. The lans only maintained their independen!e for a short time. The Romans almost annihilated them . D. @07, and the remnant of thenation in!orporated themselves with the Candals. :9ee $9heppard's all of Rome,$ p. ;*-.< The Burgundians too/ w


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hat is now 9witIerland and a portion of ran!e and %ermany.

(e see, then, that up to . D. @+-, seven powerful !l

ans of barbarians, who were on!e sub6e!t to the Roman power, had established themselves as independent nationalities :/ingdoms>

$bout four years after the vi!torious Toulan had assumed the title of han of the Deougen, another barbaria

n, the haughty Rhodogast, or Radagaisus, mar!hed from the northern e8tremity of %ermany almost to the gates ofRome, and left the remains of his army to a!hieve the destru!tion of the (est. The Candals, the 9uevi, and the Burgundians, formed the strength of this mighty host but the

lans, who had found a hospitable re!eption in their newseats, added their a!tive !avalry to the heavy infantry of the %ermans and the %othi! adventurers !rowded so eagerly to the standard of Radagaisus, that, by some historians, he has been styled the /ing of the %oths. Twelve thousand warriors, distinguished above the vulgar by their noble birth or their valiant deeds, glittered in the van and thewhole multitude, whi!h was not less than two hundred thousand fighting men, might be in!reased by the a!!ession of women, of !hildren, and of slaves, to the amount of f our hundred thousand persons.

$The !orresponden!e of nations was in that age so imperfe!t and pre!arious that the revolutions of the North

might es!ape the /nowledge of the !ourt of Ravenna, till the dar/ !loud, whi!h was !olle!ted along the !oast of theBalti!, burst in thunder upon the ban/s of the "pper Danube. ?any !ities of taly were pillaged or destroyed and the siege of loren!e, by Radagaisus, is one of the earliestevents in the history of that !elebrated republi!, whose firmness !he!/ed, or delayed, the uns/illful fury of the barb


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arians.

$(hile the pea!e of %ermany was se!ured by the atta!hment of the ran/s and the neutrality of the lemanni,

the sub6e!ts of Rome, un!ons!ious of the approa!hing !alamities, en6oyed a state of quiet and prosperity whi!h had seldom blessed the frontiers of %aul. Their flo!/s and herds were permitted to graIe in the pastures of the barbarians their huntsmen penetrated, without fear or danger, into the dar/est re!esses of the 5er!ynian wood. The ban/s of the Rhine were !rowned, li/e those of the Tiber, withelegant houses and well>!ultivated farms and if a poet des!ended the river, he might e8press his doubt on whi!h side was situated the territory of the Romans. This s!ene of

pea!e and plenty was suddenly !hanged into a desert and the prospe!t of the smo/ing ruins !ould alone distinguish the solitude of nature from the desolation of man. Theflourishing !ity of ?entI was surprised and destroyed and many thousand &hristians were inhumanly massa!red in the !hur!h. (orms perished, after a long and obstinatesiege 9trasburg, 9pires, Rheims, Tournay, rras, miends,e8perien!ed the !ruel oppression of the %erman yo/e and the !onsuming flames of war spread from the ban/s of the Rhine over the greatest part of the seventeen provin!es of %aul. That ri!h and e8tensive !ountry, as far as the o!ean, the lps, and the #yrenees, was delivered to the barbarians, who drove before them, in a promis!uous !rowd,the bishop, the senator, and the virgin, laden with the spoils of their houses and altars.$ >> d., vol. iii. pp. 0;>@.

fter this invasion of the empire by Radagaisus, lari! again returned, invaded taly in @+7, and in @0+ he beseiged, too/, and sa!/ed, Rome, and died the same year.

n @0 the %oths voluntarily retired from taly, and in . D.@0@, under the brother of lari!, the Cisigoths re>established themselves in what is now southern ran!e and a part of 9pain.

rom the foregoing e8tra!ts and data, the reader willreadily see that the blast of the first trumpet has its lo!ati


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on at the !lose of the fourth !entury and onward, and refers to the desolating invasions of the Roman )mpire by the

Cisigoths under lari!, and by other northern tribes.

(e thus see that by the year . D. @+-, seven of the ten toes of the image, or seven of the ten horns of the terrible beast, had been made apparent namely, the 5uns, =strogoths, Cisigoths, ran/s, Candals, 9uevi, and Burgundians.

These dominant tribes retained their identities until the fall of Rome was !ompleted. nd some of them, after alapse of 0@++ years, are a standing proof of the prophe!ywhi!h says1 $They shall not !leave one to another, even as

iron is not mi8ed with !lay.$

(e /now not how the history of the sounding of the f irst trumpet !an be more impressively !on!luded than bypresenting the graphi! rehearsal of this history, by ?r. eith, in his $9igns of the Times,$ vol. i. pp. 0>**1>>

$Aarge e8tra!ts show how amply and well %ibbon hase8pounded his te8t, in the history of the first trumpet, thefirst storm that pervaded the Roman earth, and the first fall of Rome. To use his words in more dire!t !omment, weread thus the sum of the matter1 The %othi! nation was inarms at the first sound of the trumpet, and in the un!ommon severity of the winter, they rolled their ponderous wagons over the broad and i!y ba!/ of the river. The fertile fields of #ho!is and Boeotia were !rowded with a deluge ofbarbarians the males were massa!red the females and !attle of the flaming villages were driven away. The deep and bloody tra!es of the mar!h of the %oths !ould easily b

e dis!overed after several years. The whole territory of tti!a was blasted by the baneful presen!e of lari!. The most fortunate of the inhabitants of &orinth, rgos, 9parta, were saved by death from beholding the !onflagration of their !ities. n a season of su!h e8treme heat that the bedsof the rivers were dry, lari! invaded the dominion of thewest. se!luded 'old manE of Cerona' patheti!ally lament


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ed the fate of his !otemporary trees , whi!h must blaIe in the !onflagration of the whole !ountry Gnote the words of the prophe!y >> the third part of the trees was burnt up H and the emperor of the Romans fled before the /ing of the

%oths.E The poet &laudian.

$ furious tempest was e8!ited among the nations of%ermany from the northern e8tremity of whi!h the barbarians mar!hed almost to the gates of Rome. They a!hieved the destru!tion of the (est. The dar/ !loud whi!h was!olle!ted along the !oasts of the Balti!, burst in thunderupon the ban/s of the "pper Danube. The pastures of %aul, in whi!h flo!/s and herds graIed, and the ban/s of the

Rhine, whi!h were !overed with elegant houses and well>!ultivated farms, formed a s!ene of pea!e and plenty whi!h was suddenly !hanged into a desert, distinguished from the solitude of nature only by smo/ing ruins. ?any !ities were !ruelly oppressed or destroyed. ?any thousands were inhumanly massa!red. nd the !onsuming flames ofwar spread over the greatest part of the seventeen provin!es of %aul.

$lari! again stret!hed his ravages over taly. During f our years, the %oths ravaged and reigned over it without!ontrol. nd, in the pillage and fire of Rome, the streets of the !ity were filled with dead bodies the flames !onsumed many publi! and private buildings and the ruins of a pala!e remained Gafter a !entury and a halfH, a stately monument of the %othi! !onflagration.$

$The first angel sounded, and there followed hail andfire, mingled with blood, and they were !ast upon the eart

h and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.$

The e8pression $all green grass was burnt up,$ very plainly illustrates the sweeping and withering effe!t whi!h f ollowed the invaders in the three parts of the empire. ?r.eith adds >>


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$The !on!luding senten!e of the thirty>third !hapterof %ibbon's history, is, of itself, a !lear and !omprehensive !ommentary for, in winding up his own des!ription of t

he brief, but most eventful period, he !on!entrates, as ina parallel reading, the sum of the history and the substan!e of the predi!tion. But the words whi!h pre!ede it are not without their meaning1 'The publi! devotion of the agewas impatient to e8alt the saints and martyrs of the &atholi! !hur!h on the altars of Diana and 5er!ules. The union of the Roman empire was dissolved its genius was humbled in the dust and armies of un/nown barbarians, issuingfrom the froIen regions of the North, had established their vi!torious reign over the fairest provin!es of )urope and

fri!a.'

$The last word, fri!a, is the signal for the sounding of the se!ond trumpet. The s!ene !hanges from the shoresof the Balti! to the southern !oast of the ?editerranean,or from the froIen regions of the North to the borders of burning fri!a. nd, instead of a storm of hail being !ast upon the earth, a burning mountain was !ast into the sea.$

rom . D. @+- to . D. @7 these seven independent powers :/ingdoms< seemed determined to wea/en and sub6ugate the already de!lining power of Rome but the transferring of the Candal /ingdom to fri!a, . D. @7, brought in a new feature in the plans whi!h the warli/e !lansadopted in order to fulfill the prophe!y !on!erning the se!ond trumpet of Rev. 717, 2.

5) 9)&=ND R"?#) .

C)R9)9 7, 2. $nd the se!ond angel sounded, and asit were a great mountain burning with fire was !ast into the sea and the third part of the sea be!ame blood and the third part of the !reatures whi!h were in the sea, and had life, died and the third part of the ships were destroyed.$


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The history illustrative of the sounding of this trumpet evidently relates to the invasion and !onquest of fri!a,and afterward of taly, by the terrible %enseri!.

The word Candalism has be!ome !ommonpla!e among historians. n spea/ing of the de!line of Rome, it is re!orded that $Candalism desolated her !lassi! fields.$ The hero of Candal aggression and destru!tion was %enseri!. Aatin author des!ribes him as follows1 $5e was a more frightful barbarian than any who had as yet arisen among thefoes of Rome. Aame and hideous in aspe!t, of slow spee!h, but of iron will, in!on!eivable dupli!ity and boundlessambition, he had never been /nown to listen to the voi!eof 6usti!e or mer!y he had never re!oiled from any a!t of

perfidy or blood whi!h he believed his interests to demand. 5is is admitted to have been temperate in his personalhabits, but utterly in!apable of !ontrolling himself when aroused to anger. 5is perspi!a!ity saw to the bottom of everything. 5e never missed an opportunity he !arried outa pro6e!t in less time than others spent in meditating upon it.$

5is !onquests were, for the most part, NCA, and his triumphs were $as it were a great mountain burning withfire, !ast into the sea.$ (hat figure would better, or so well, illustrate the !ollision of navies, and the general havo!of war on maritime !oasts n e8plaining this trumpet, weare to loo/ for some events whi!h will have a parti!ular bearing on the !ommer!ial world. The symbol used naturally leads us to loo/ for agitation and !ommotion. Nothingbut a fier!e maritime warfare would fulfill the predi!tion. f the sounding of the first trumpet refers to the ravages ofthe Cisigoths under lari!, and of other barbarians, in this

we naturally loo/ for the ne8t su!!eeding a!t of invasionwhi!h shoo/ the Roman power and !ondu!ed to its fall. T he ne8t great invasion was that of $the terrible %enseri!$ at the head of the Candals. This tribe, who at first settled inwhat is now 9pain, saw brighter prospe!ts for themselvesin fri!a, !onsequently about . D. @7 their /ingdom was transferred there, ma/ing &arthage their headquarters.


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5ere %enseri! soon gained the greatest maritime power of his age. But, as %ibbon states, $The dis!overy and !onquest of the bla!/ nations GGin fri!aH that might dwell beneath the torrid Ione, !ould not tempt the rational ambition

of %enseri! but he !ast his eyes T=(RD T5) 9) he resolved to !reate a naval power , and his bold resolution was e8e!uted with steady and a!tive perseveran!e.$ rom the port of &arthage he repeatedly made pirati!al sallies, and preyed on the Roman !ommer!e, and waged war withthat empire, and his atta!/s were mostly on the middle division of the empire.

To !ope with this sea monar!h, ?a6orian, the emperor of the (est, who retained only the middle tripartite divi

sion of the empire :as it was divided by &onstantine the %reat


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$taly !ontinued to be long affli!ted by the in!essantdepredations of the Candal pirates. n the spring of ea!hyear they equipped a formidable navy in the port of &arth

age, and %enseri! himself, though in a very advan!ed age, still !ommanded in person the most important e8peditions. 5is designs were !on!ealed with impenetrable se!re!y till the moment that he hoisted sail. (hen he was as/ed by his pilot what !ourse he should steer, $Aeave the determination to the winds,' replied the barbarian, with piousarrogan!e, 'they will transport us to the guilty !oast whose inhabitants have provo/ed the divine 6usti!e.' But %enseri! himself deigned to issue more pre!ise orders he 6udged the most wealthy to be the most !riminal. The Candal

s repeatedly visited the !oasts of 9pain, Aiguria, Tus!any,&ampania, Aeu!ania, Crutium, pulia, &alabria, Cenetia,Dalmatia, )pirus, %ree!e, and 9i!ily they were tempted to subdue the island of 9ardinia, so advantageously pla!ed in the !enter of the ?editerranean, and their arms spread desolation or terror from the !olumn of 5er!ules to the mouth of the Nile. s they were more ambitious of spoilthan of glory, they seldom atta!/ed any fortified !ities, orengaged any regular troops in the open field. But the !elerity of their motions enabled them, almost at the same time, to threaten and to atta!/ the most distant ob6e!ts whi!h attra!ted their desires and as they always embar/ed a suffi!ient number of horses, they had no sooner landed than they swept the dismayed !ountry with a body of light !avalry. n the treatment of his unhappy prisoners, he sometimes !onsulted his avari!e, and sometimes his !ruelty1he massa!red five hundred noble !itiIens of 3ante, or 3a!ynthus, whose mangled bodies he !ast into the onian sea.$ >> %ibbon , vol. iii. pp. @70>@7-.

5is su!!ess at sea, and his desperate assaults upon?a6orian, so enraged Aeo, the emperor of eastern Rome, that he sent him word that, if he did not desist from his ravages, he would send a for!e suffi!ient to e8terminate the

Candal power entirely. or this purpose a fleet left &onstantinople . D. @47, and arrived before &arthage. t !onsist


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ed of 000* vessels, at a !ost of ;,++,+++ pounds sterling, and soldiers and mariners about 0++,+++. s soon as this fleet arrived, %enseri! as/ed for a tru!e of three days.During this time, he fitted up vessels filled with !ombustib

le materials, impelled them against the unsuspe!ting Romans at night, and thus set fire to their whole fleet, and gained a !omplete vi!tory.

This naval ren!ounter is des!ribed by %ibbon as follows1>>

$The whole e8pense of the fri!an !ampaign amounted to the sum of one hundred and thirty thousand pounds of gold >> about five million two hundred thousand poun

ds sterling. The fleet that sailed from &onstantinople to &arthage !onsisted of eleven hundred and thirteen ships, and the number of soldiers and mariners e8!eeded one hundred thousand men. The army of 5era!lius, and the fleetof ?ar!ellinus, either 6oined or se!onded the mperial Aieutenant. The wind be!ame favorable to the designs of %enseri!. 5e manned his largest ships of war with the bravest of the ?oors and Candals, and they towed after them many large bar/s filled with !ombustible materials. n the obs!urity of the night, these destru!tive vessels were impelled against the unguarded and unsuspe!ting fleet of theRomans, who were awa/ened by a sense of their instant danger. Their !lose and !rowded order assisted the progress of the fire, whi!h was !ommuni!ated with rapid and irresistible violen!e, and the noise of the wind, the !ra!/lingof the flames, the dissonant !ries of the soldiers and mariners, who !ould neither !ommand nor obey in!reased thehorror of the no!turnal tumult. (hilst they labored to e8tri!ate themselves from the fire>ships, and to save at least a

part of the navy, the galleys of %enseri! assaulted them with temperate and dis!iplined valor and many of the Romans who es!aped the fury of the flames, were destroyed or ta/en by the vi!torious Candals. fter the failure of this great e8pedition, %enseri! again be!ame the tyrant of thesea the !oasts of taly, %ree!e, and sia, were again e8posed to his revenge and avari!e. Tripoli and 9ardinia return


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ed to his obedien!e he added 9i!ily to the number of hisprovin!es and before he died, in the fullness of years andof glory, he beheld the NA )KTN&T=N of the empireof the west.$ >> %ibbon , vol. iii. pp. @2;>@27.

This naval warfare is symboliIed by a great burningmountain !ast into the sea. $The third part of the sea be!ame blood,$ seems to have referen!e to the terrible slaughter of men in this division of the empire. fri!a was in!luded in this division by &onstantine the %reat.

$The third part of the !reatures whi!h were in the sea, and had life, died.$ This may in!lude the mariners engaged in this warfare.

But why, says one, do you here !all the !reatures men re not !reatures sometimes inferior animals, as fish

They are. But the great burning mountain symboliIes a great warfare. Now the fish had nothing to do with the warf are hen!e su!h !reatures as men or horses whi!h are used in a battle !ould only supply the analogy in the symbol.

$nd the third part of the ships were destroyed.$ Thisdoubtless refers to the !omplete ruin of Aeo's fleet.

&on!erning the important part whi!h this bold !orsair a!ted in the downfall of Rome, ?r. %ibbon uses this signifi!ant language1 $%enseri!, a name whi!h, in the destru!tion of the Roman empire, has deserved an equal ran/ with the names of lari! and ttila.$

n . D. @2, he began his atta!/s upon the Romans,

and in . D. @47, his !rowning feat was a!!omplished.

(hile %enseri! was redu!ing the Roman power by sea, there began to be !arried on a !onfederate atta!/ of the other above>mentioned tribes by land, under ttila, the/ing of the 5uns, whi!h brings us to the third trumpet.


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5) 5RD R"?#) .

C)R9)9 0+, 00. $nd the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lam

p, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters nd the name of the star is !alled(ormwood, and the third part of the waters be!ame wormwood and many men died of the waters, be!ause theywere made bitter.$

(e have now rea!hed that point of time in whi!h the5uns, =strogoths, Cisigoths, ran/s, Burgundians, Candals, and 9uevi, are desolating the !lassi! fields of Rome, and often visiting her armies with defeat.

n the interpretation and appli!ation of the above passage, we are brought to the third important event whi!hresulted in the subversion of the Roman )mpire. nd in finding a histori!al fulfillment of this third trumpet, we shallbe indebted for a few e8tra!ts from the Notes of ?r. lbert Barnes. n e8plaining this s!ripture, it is ne!essary to suppose, as this !ommentator says1>>

$That there would be some !hieftain, or warrior, whomight be !ompared to a blaIing meteor whose !ourse would be singularly brilliant who would appear suddenly, A) a blaIing star, and then disappear li/e a star whose light was quen!hed in the waters. That the desolating !ourse of that meteor would be mainly on those portions of theworld that abounded with springs of water and running streams. That an effe!t would be produ!ed as if those streams and fountains were made bitter that is, that many persons would perish, and that wild desolations would be !a

used n the vi!inity of those rivers and streams, as if a baleful star should fall into the waters, and death should spread over lands ad6a!ent to them and watered by them.$ >>Notes on Rev. 7.

t is here premised that this trumpet has allusion to t


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he desolating wars and furious invasions of ttila against the Roman power, whi!h he !arried on at the head of thehordes of 5uns. (hile the Candals, under %enseri! :the great burning mountain


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e lps. t the sound of his war>!ry, all )urope musters toarms. 9in!e Ker8es led his immense army against the %ree/s, no greater body of warriors had ever assembled to a!t a part in the fulfillment of prophe!y. The engagement th

at su!!eeded is re!orded as one of the four de!isive battles of history.

Rome !olle!ts her for!es to meet the intruder she also invited her very foes to lend a helping hand. The Cisigoths, Burgundians, and ran/s, 6oined the Roman for!es. T hey met in what is now ren!h territory. t =rleans, and finally at &halons, the struggle between one and a half millions of Romans and barbarians too/ pla!e. Neither party !ould !laim a vi!tory. bout *++,+++ were left dead upon t

he battle>field. fter the !onfli!t, the Roman general hastened to the imperial !ity, and his !onfederates to their respe!tive /ingdoms. ttila re!ruited his for!es, and the ne8tspring appeared in the north of taly with his army as large as it was before it was redu!ed at &halons. 9pea/ing ofthis warrior, parti!ularly of his personal appearan!e, ?r. Barnes, on Rev. 7, says1>>

$n the manner of his appearan!e, he strongly resembled a brilliant meteor flashing in the s/y. 5e !ame from the east, gathering his 5uns, and poured them down, as we shall see, with the rapidity of a flashing meteor, suddenly on the empire. 5e regarded himself also as devoted to?R9, the god of war, and was a!!ustomed to array himself in a pe!uliarly brilliant manner, so that his appearan!e, in the language of his flatterers, was su!h as to daIIle the eyes of the beholders.$

n spea/ing of the lo!ality of the vents predi!ted by t

his trumpet, ?r. Barnes has this note1>>

$t is said parti!ularly that the effe!t would be on 'therivers' and on the 'fountains of waters.' f this has a literalappli!ation, or if, as was supposed in the !ase of the se!ond trumpet, the language was su!h as had referen!e to the portion of the empire that would be parti!ularly affe!te


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d by the hostile invasion, then we may suppose that this refers to those portions of the empire that abounded in rivers and streams, and more parti!ularly those in whi!h therivers and streams had their origin >> for the effe!t was pe

rmanently in the 'fountains of the waters.' s a matter of fa!t, the prin!ipal operations of ttila were in the regions of the lps, and on the portions of the empire when!e the rivers flow down into taly. The invasion of ttila is des!ribed by ?r. %ibbon in this general language1 'The whole breadth of )urope, as it e8tends above five hundred miles from the )u8ine to the driati!, was at on!e invaded, and o!!upied, and desolated, by the myriads of barbarians whom ttila led into the field.'$

n further illustration of the sounding of the third trumpet, we shall be indebted to ?r. eith. 5e spea/s as follows1>>

$ third angel sounded1>> and a third name is asso!iated with the downfall of the Roman )mpire. The soundingof the trumpets manifestly denotes the order of the !om men!ement , not the period of the duration, of the wars, or events whi!h they represent. (hen the se!ond angel sounded, there was seen, as it were, a great mountain burning with fire. (hen the third angel sounded, there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp. The symbol, in ea!h instan!e, is e8pressly a similitude, and the oneis to the other, in !omparative and individual resemblan!e, as a burning mountain to a falling star ea!h of them was great. The former was !ast into the sea, the latter was first seen as falling, and it fell upon the fountains and riversof waters. There is a dis!rimination in the similitude, in the des!ription, and lo!ality, whi!h obviously

implies a !orresponding differen!e in the ob6e!t represented.

$=n su!h plain and preliminary observations we mayloo/ to the intimation given in the third trumpet, and to the a!hievements of ttila, the third name mentioned by %ibbon, and asso!iated in equal ran/ with those of lari! an


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d %enseri!, in the de!line and fall of the Roman )mpire.

$%enseri! landed in fri!a in the year @2, and in thefollowing year spread desolation along its !oast, througho

ut the long>e8tended territory of Rome, whi!h was then fi nally separated from the empire. ttila invaded the )astern )mpire in the year @@0. rom that period, ten years elapsed before he tou!hed the (estern )mpire, and twenty>two years intervened, from @2 to @;0, between the invasion of fri!a by %enseri!, and of %aul by ttila. 'The burning mountain' arose R9T, though it blaIed longer than the'falling star.'$

nd right here we may add that we understand the b

lasts of these trumpets to be su!!essive, though the effe! ts might be at the same time. t is as if a !larion blast wassounded upon a bugle, and, ere its shrill tones had !eased undulating upon the air, another blast was blown, and so on. This will !learly illustrate the !hara!ter of some of the first of the seven trumpets. ?r. eith further says1>>

$The !onne!tion between the events predi!ated under the first and se!ond trumpets is mar/ed by the passingof the Candals from )urope to sia, and the !onsequent !ombination of ?oors and ?auritanians in the !onquest of

fri!a, 'the most important provin!e of the (est and in the overthrow of the naval power of Rome. The sequen!e and !onne!tion between the events denoted by the se!ond and third trumpets, are, we apprehend, equally definite.

$'The allian!e of ttila :. D. @@0


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had been sent against %enseri! were hastily re!alled from9i!ily.'

$But if symboliIed or des!ribed under the se!ond an

d third trumpet, the respe!tive nature of their power, or !hara!ter of their warfare, must needs be des!ribed, as well as the order mar/ed, in whi!h %enseri! and ttila first assaulted the empire of Rome, and a!!elerated its ruin.

$ great star is the symbol>>of whi!h the signifi!an!yhas to be sustained burning as it were a lamp, is the !hara!ter of the warfare. The lo!ality is neither the earth, in the full e8tent of the term as appli!able to the Roman )mpire, and the wide s!ene over whi!h the hail and fire swept

on the sounding of the first trumpet, nor yet the third partof the sea, as e8pressive of the se!ond, by whi!h the fri!an !oast was forever separated from the empire, and theships finally destroyed, but, as referring to a portion of theremains of the empire of Rome>>the fountains and rivers of waters.$

$There fell a great star from heaven.$ star falling from heaven is a wonderful phenomenon>>it is not a naturalo!!urren!e. 9o it was not in the natural !ourse of events that ttila should have re!eived so sudden a !he!/ in his rapid !areer fro !onquest and plunder. (hy so Be!ause f ormerly these very allies of Rome had been her bitterest enemies, and were heretofore as determined as ttila himself to destroy her power. The Cisigoths, ran/s, and Burgundians, whose repeated war>!ry, and ruin by !onflagration and sword, had so often aroused the Roman fears, are here fighting side by side with the Roman legions, in orderto subdue the man who !laimed himself to be $the 9!ourg

e of %od.$ The name of ttila is to this day a memorial ofhis greatness, of whi!h a brief des!ription may suffi!e1>>

$The !rowd of vulgar /ings, the leaders of so many martial tribes, who served under the standard of ttila, were ranged in the submissive order of guards and domesti!s, round the person of their master. They wat!hed his no


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d they trembled at his frown and, at the first signal of hiswill, they e8e!uted, without murmur or hesitation, his stern and absolute !ommands. n time of pea!e, the dependent prin!es, with their national troops, attended the royal !

amp in regular su!!ession but when ttila !olle!ted hismilitary for!es, he was able to bring into the field an armyof five, or a!!ording to another a!!ount, seven hundred thousand barbarians.'$

$Burning as it were a lamp.$ star does not long givelight before it sets a lamp does not long emit rays unless it is replenished1 so was ttila's !ourse in respe!t to his atta!/ upon the middle tripartite division of the Roman )mpire. t was of short duration. 5e !ontinued only about a ye

ar in the region of the lps and the highlands of &entral )urope. ttila's !areer suddenly !eased and after ma/ing atreaty with the Romans he left for his own !apital on theDanube, where his death soon after o!!urred in . D. @;*.

eith says1 $The armies of the )astern )mpire were vanquished in three su!!essive engagements and the progress of ttila may be tra!ed by the fields of battle. rom the 5ellespont to Thermopylae, and the suburbs of &onstantinople, he ravaged, without resistan!e and without mer!y, the provin!es of Thra!e and ?a!edonia. 5era!lea and5adrianople might es!ape this dreadful irruption of the 5uns but the words, the most e8pressive of total e8tirpation and erasure, are applied to the !alamities whi!h they inf li!ted on seventy !ities of the )astern )mpire.

$'ttila threatened to !hastise the rash su!!essor Theodosius but he hesitated whether he should first dire!t hi

s invin!ible arms against the )astern or (estern )mpirewhile man/ind awaited his de!ision with awful suspense,and his ministers saluted the two emperors with the samehaughty de!laration, ttila, my lord and they lord, !ommands thee to provide a pala!e for his immediate re!eption.But as the barbarian despised, or affe!ted to despise, theRomans of the )ast whom he had so often vanquished, he


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soon de!lared his resolution of suspending the easy !onquest, till he had a!hieved a more glorious and important enterprise. n the memorable invasions of %aul and taly, the 5uns were naturally attra!ted by the wealth and fertility

of these provin!es.$'The trumpet sounded. The /ings and nations of %er

many and 9!ythia, from the Colga perhaps to the Danube,obeyed the warli/e summons of ttila. rom the royal village in the plains of 5ungary, his standard moved toward the west and, after a mar!h of seven or eight hundred miles, he rea!hed the !onflu8 of the Rhine and the Ne!/er. The hostile myriads were poured with violen!e into the Belgi! provin!es. The !onsternation of %aul was universal. ro

m the Rhine and the ?oselle ttila advan!ed into the heart of %aul !rossed the 9eine at u8erre and, after a longand laborious mar!h, fi8ed his !amp under the walls of =rleans. n allian!e was formed between the Romans and Cisigoths. The hostile armies approa!hed. myself, said ttila, will throw the first 6avelin, and the wret!h who refuses to imitate the e8ample of his sovereign is devoted to inevitable death. The spirit of the barbarians was re/indled by the presen!e, the voi!e, and the e8ample, of their intrepidleader and ttila, yielding to their impatien!e, immediately formed his order of battle. t the head of his brave andfaithful 5uns, ttila o!!upied in person the !enter of the line. The nations from the Colga to the tlanti! were assembled on the plain of &halons. The number of the slain amounted to one hundred and si8ty>two thousand, or, a!!ording to another a!!ount, three hundred thousand persons and these in!redible e8aggerations suppose a real oreffe!tive loss, suffi!ient to 6ustify the historians remar/ that whole generations may be swept away, by the madness

of /ings, in the spa!e of a single hour.'$

The star fell upon the $third part of the rivers$>>that is, the streams in the middle division of the empire.

$ell upon the fountains of waters.$ )very student ofgeography /nows that the lps is a great sour!e, or head,


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of many of the rivers and streams of )urope. The region where ttila halted to operate in his wor/ of devastation was, emphati!ally $the fountains of waters.$ Before rea!hingthe lps, he also made a total wre!/ of everything in his w

ay. eith !ontinues1>>$The !ourse of the fiery meteor was !hanged, not sta

yed and, tou!hing taly for the first time, the great star, af ter having burned as it were a lamp, fell upon a 'third partof the rivers,' and upon the fountains of waters.

$Neither the spirit, nor the for!es, nor the reputationof ttila, were impaired by the failure of the %alli! e8pedition. 5e passed the lps, invaded taly, and besieged quil

eia with an innumerable host of barbarians. The su!!eeding generation !ould s!ar!ely dis!over the ruins of quileia. fter this dreadful !hastisement, ttila pursued his mar!h and, as he passed the !ities of ltinum, &on!ordia, and #adua were redu!ed into heaps of stones and ashes. T he inland towns, Ci!enIa, Cerona, and Bergamo, were e8posed to the rapa!ious !ruelty of the 5uns. ?ilan and #avia submitted, without resistan!e, to the loss of their wealth, and applauded the unusual !lemen!y whi!h preservedfrom the flames the publi! as well as private buildings, and spared the lives of the !aptive multitude. ttila spread his ravages over the ri!h plains of modern Aombardy, whi!h are divided by the #o, and bounded by the lps and pennines. 5e too/ possession of the royal pala!e of ?ilan.t is a saying, worthy of the fero!ious pride of ttila that the 'grass never grew on the spot where his horse had trod.'

$'The (estern emperor, with the senate and peopleof Rome, embra!ed the most salutary resolution of depre

!ating, by a solemn and suppliant embassy, the wrath of ttila. The Roman ambassadors were introdu!ed to the tent of ttila, as he lay en!amped at the pla!e where the slow>winding ?in!ius :?in!io< is lost in the foaming waves of la/e Bena!us, and trampled with his 9!ythian !alvary thefarms of &atullus and Cirgil. The barbarian monar!h listened with favorable, and even respe!tful, attention and the


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without !alling on history to dis!harge its tas/ in e8pounding the full meaning of the words, whi!h sum up the de!line, and are the immediate prelude to the fourth trumpet,the death>/nell of the (estern )mpire.

$'nd the name of the star is !alled (ormwood' Gdenoting the bitter !onsequen!esH. These words>whi!h are more intimately !onne!ted with the pre!eding verse, as even the pun!tuation in our version denotes>>re!all us for amoment to the !hara!ter of ttila, to the misery of whi!hhe was the author, or the instrument, and to the terror that was inspired by his name.$

The effe!t of his ravages in the north of taly !ould n

ot better be des!ribed in the )nglish language than by the word wormwood . $nd the name of the star is !alled wormwood.$ Bitterness was the result of his !ourse whereverhe went. Bitterness was in the hearts of the people of the

lpine regions as they saw their habitations burnt, their !attle made a prey, and their fair fields entirely laid waste.Before he rea!hed the lps, he devastated the land and burnt the Roman !ities. quileia, the most important !ity of northern taly, after a seige of three months, was redu!edto ashes. The plains around it were nothing but bla!/nessand ashes. nd writers say that the great earthen moundsthat en!ir!led their en!ampment may yet be seen by the traveler. t being in the hot season many of the 5uns diedof disease. =n the part of both Romans and barbarians many perished in !onsequen!e of the evil effe!ts of the invasion. $nd many men died of the waters, be!ause they were made bitter.$

ttila's atta!/ upon the middle tripartite division of t

he empire was during . D. @;0>@;* ?r. eith !ontinues1>>

$'Total e8tirpation and erasure are terms whi!h bestdenote the !alamities he infli!ted.

$'=ne of his lieutenants !hastised and almost e8termi


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nated the Burgundians of the Rhine. The Thuringians served in the army of ttila they traversed, both in their mar!h and in their return, the territories of the ran/s and they massa!red their hostages as well as their !aptives. Two

hundred young maidens were tortured with e8quisite andunrelenting rage their bodies were torn asunder by wildhorses, or were !rushed under the weight of rolling wagons and their unburied limbs were abandoned on publi! roads, as a prey to dogs and vultures.'

$t was the boast of ttila, that the grass never grew on the spot whi!h his horse had trod. 'The 9!ourge of %od,'was a name that he appropriated to himself, and insertedamong his royal titles. 5e was 'the s!ourge of his enemies,

and the terror the world.' The (estern emperor, with thesenate and people of Rome, humbly and fearfully depre!ated the wrath of ttila. nd the !on!luding paragraph of the !hapters whi!h re!ord his history, is entitled $9ymptoms of the De!ay and Ruin of the Roman %overnment.' Thename of the star is !alled (ormwood.

$'n the spa!e of twenty years sin!e the death of Calentinian' Gtwo years subsequent to the death of ttilaH, 'nine emperors had su!!essively disappeared and the son of=restes, a youth re!ommended only by his beauty, wouldbe the least entitled to the noti!e of posterity, if his reign,whi!h was mar/ed by the e8tin!tion of the Roman )mpirein the (est, did not leave a memorable era in the historyof man/ind.$

5) B="R 5 R"?#) .

Three full blasts of the trumpets have already signaliI

ed the sad fate of Rome. The e!ho of their sounding reverberates through the earth, as the death /nell of her departed glory is hightened by another furious outbrea/. Beforewe attempt to apply the words of the prophet, as e8pressed by the fourth angel, it will be in pla!e to give a des!ription of the rise, lo!ation, and some relations of other powers, whi!h were the means of the fulfillment of this prophe


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!y.

bout the end of the fourth !entury, barbarous tribes from the North and )ast !ommen!ed inroads on the Ro

man )mpire, and in the !ourse of the su!!eeding hundred and fifty years, overthrew the Roman power.>>?it!hell'sn!ient %eography, p. 0@*.

bout the last of the eigth !entury, the various little tribes whi!h rose on the ruins of the Roman )mpire gradually merged into a few great monar!hies, whi!h, in the general outline, have !ontinued till the present day.>>?it!he ll's n!ient %eography, p. 0@2.

bout the middle of the fifteenth !entury arose an able historian and statesman, ?a!hiavel,E of Aombard nationality, who says that Rome in its fall was divided into tenparts, or /ingdoms, and enumerates their rise as ta/ing pla!e between . D. *;4 and . D. @7*.

E?a!aulay, the )nglish historian, says1 $bundant proofs remain of the high estimation both of ?a!hiavel's wor/s and person, and so they were held by his !otemporaries.$>>?is!ellaneous (ritings, p. +.

$nd after this saw in the night visions, and beholda fourth beast, . . . . . and it was diverse from all the beaststhat were before it and it had ten horns.$ Dan. -1-.

$nd stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten !rowns.$ Rev. 0*10.

9even of these ten horns, or /ingdoms, have alreadybeen des!ribed under the three former trumpets, and there remain three more divisions, to bring the strong iron power of Rome into a !ondition in whi!h it may well be li/ened unto iron, mi8ed with miry !lay.

The first of these three powers were the 5eruli. They


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were in ttila's army at the battle of &halons. =doa!er afterward be!ame their /ing. "nder him they too/ Rome ande8e!uted the emperor in . D. @-4.>>9heppard's Ball of R ome, pp 027, 47, -.

The 5eruli, after the death of ttila, returned westward, made repeated atta!/s on the (estern )mpire, and deposed the last emperor, ?omyllus ugustulus. Their rulerwas =doa!er, who be!ame the first /ing of taly.>>?it!hell 's n!ient %eography, p. 0@;.

The 5eruli followed ttila in his mar!h to %aul, . D.@;0, and after his death, under their leader =doa!er, uniting with other %erman tribes, were powerful enough to de

stroy the (estern )mpire. =doa!er su!!umbed to the =strogoths, . D. @2*.>>ppleton's )n!y!lopedia.

nother of the three above>mentioned powers was the nglo>9a8on. The su!!essful establishment of the nglo>9a8on 5eptar!hy !annot date earlier than . D. @-0, when Cortigern began his se!ond reign in Britian.>>5ayden'sDi!tionary of Dates, rt. Britian.

The last event of Roman Britian, when the people petitioned etius for aid to repel the #i!ts and the 9!ots, was . D. @@4, e8a!tly thirty years before the fall of Rome in

. D. @-4. The intervention of thirty years witnessed the establishment of the 9a8ons in the island of Britian.>>9mith' s 5istory of the (orld, vol. ii. p. -*;.

bout the middle of the fifth !entury, the 9a8ons arrived in Britian. They helped the Britians repel the #i!ts and 9!ots. or this favor they were allowed to invite over oth

er 9a8ons, ngles, and Jutes, to settle among them. nstead of longer assisting the Britians, the 9a8ons and nglesmade war upon them, and in the !ourse of the fifth !entury gained the as!endan!y in )ngland.>>ppleton's )n!y!lo pedia.


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The Aombards, the last of the ten divisions, now !laim our attention. This tribe, after the battle of &halons anddeath of ttila, . D. @;*, be!ame one of the !hief powersthat arose.>>9mith's 5istory of the (orld, p. -@*.

The Aombards first established themselves on the Cistula, then on the Danube, when!e they invaded taly, andfounded the /ingdom of Aombardy.>>?it!hell's n!ient % eography, p. 0@;.

The Aombards were among ttila's for!es in the greatde!isive battle of &halons, . D. @;0.>>9heppard's Ball ofRome, p. 027.

n the fifth !entury, the Aombards appeared on the north ban/ of the Danube. They over!ame their former masters, the 5eruli. %oing south of the Danube, they subdued the %epidae, and after the annihilation of their enemies, !rossed into northern taly and there founded, . D. ;47, a powerful 9tate.>>ppleton's )n!y!lopedia.

Aombardy :North taly< sustained its own sovereigntytill the fifteenth !entury. t has sin!e been !ontended for

both by ren!h and %erman sovereigns. n 07+;, Napoleon, at ?ilan, was pro!laimed /ing of taly. fter his abdi!ation, in 070;, the allied sovereigns established it as the Aombardo>Cenetian /ingdom. n 07@7, it revolted from thisallian!e, and its revolt was sustained by the /ing of 9ardinia and the pope. Ci!tor mmanuel is of Aombard des!ent, and the heir to the talian throne is 5umbert, prin!e of9avoy in Aombardy.>>5ayden's Di!tionary of Dates.

(e have given a brief a!!ount of the last three powers whi!h were to arise a!!ording to the prophe!y. 5istorians agree in the manner and time of their rise. #rofane history grants these powers monar!hi!al dominion, and prophe!y gives them !rowns.

The 5eruli in taly, the nglo>9a8ons in )ngland, and


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the Aombards on the Danube, with the seven other powerful tribes before des!ribed, furnish the fulfillment of Daniels prophe!y, whi!h says1 $t had ten horns.$ Now it is evident all these powers were at some time !otemporary for t

he prophet saw a beast upon whi!h there were visible atone time ten horns. This was the !ase with Rome from .D. @7* to . D. @2*.

The prophet saw afterward three of the horns $plu!/ed up by the roots.$ The e8pression, $plu!/ed up by the roots,$ a!!ording to the plain )nglish language, would signif y a !essation of e8isten!e. t is said three horns fell before:in the presen!e of< another power whi!h !ame up and in verse @ of Dan. -, the very power that !ame up should

subdue these three /ings.

Between . D. @2* and . D. ;*7, three of these powers whi!h held to rianism were destroyed. The 5eruli, in

. D. *2*, were e8terminated by the =strogoths under Theodori!. t was brought about in this way1 "nder the proposal, or what was !alled the #ragmati!$E of 3eno, who wasthen emperor of the )ast, and who was orthodo8 in religion the =strogoths, whose dominions lay east of taly, wereen!ouraged to ma/e war upon the 5eruli, who then heldRome, and who were rians. Theodori! assembled his for!es, mar!hed to taly and dispossessed the 5eruli. 5e now repudiated the $#ragmati!,$ had himself de!lared /ingof taly, and governed it for thirty>eight years. n rian, $he showed at first no violen!e to the opposite party, and established friendly relations with the popes.$ 5e was a great statesman and brought taly to a state of renown. The foundation of some of the most renowned !ities was due tohis genius1 yet there was a spiritual power arising that was

in!ompatible with the permanen!y of his /ingdom be!ause of its rian !hara!ter.>>9heppard's Ball of Rome, pp. 74, 2-, *++, *+.

E #atri!ian by the emperor's appointment.

new emperor of the )ast, Justin arose and pros!ri


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bed rianism. Theodori! felt the pros!ription as an indignity. 5e tried to depre!ate its severity by negotiation but he met with little su!!ess. 5e then retaliated by e8e!utingsome of the dignitaries of Rome. s he began to suppress

treason and orthodo8y, he was ta/en away by disease. bout four years after, . D. ;*4, his /ingdom fell into the hands of Justinian's general. Belisarus entered Rome in triumph, . D. ;*4, after he had 6ust !ompleted the !onquestof the Candals in fri!a.

The finishing stro/e against Candal rule was this1 Belisarius had ta/en the Candal /ing !aptive at &arthage. 5ewas ta/en then!e to &onstantinople. 5e was here stripped of his s!arlet robe and as/ed to renoun!e his rian prof

ession. Be!ause he was unwilling to do so, he found no favor in the eyes of Justinian, but was refused the dignitieswhi!h were promised to him at his !apitulation.

The three powers thus fell by the poli!y of this spiritual power that was !oming up. There was nothing now in the way of its assumption over the !ivil power whi!h it laidhold of, . D. ;*7, and be!ame the noted little horn of Dan. -.

or fifteen years after the overthrow of the =strogoths, Narses ruled taly in the name of the emperor of the )ast, as )8ar!h of Ravenna. 5e was about to be re!alled andhave his authority ta/en away, whi!h summons stung himto the heart. 5e immediately sent word to the powerful Aombards on the Danube that taly lay at the mer!y of theirarms. The Aombards soon after invaded taly, and in . D.@47 it fell into their hands.

The territory of (estern Rome, over whi!h her banners had waved so gloriously for more than five !enturies, isnow entirely o!!upied by barbarians, and in her state of effemina!y, it is only ne!essary, in order to entirely effa!e her mere nominal sovereignty, to blot her rulers from e8isten!e, and her glory as an empire has departed forever. t remains, then, only to mention a few fa!ts !on!erning the


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rulers of Rome at the last stage of her e8isten!e.

=doa!er !ompelled ugustulus to write to the Roman senate that a single emperor was now suffi!ient for both

%ree!e and Rome. The senate then sent the ornaments of the imperial pala!e, diadems, purple mantles, and all other insignia of imperial power to 3eno, emperor of the )ast, and as/ed him to yield to their wishes, and allow =doa!er to be their ruler. 5e !on!eded to their entreaty, and appointed him #atri!ian and governor of taly in his own name, about . D. @7*.>>9heppard's Ball of Rome, p. -4.

(hen Theodori! over!ame =doa!er, he re!eived anappointment as #atri!ian from the emperor of the )ast, a

bout . D. @7;. The senate of Rome was still in e8isten!efor, during his reign, he sent an eminent senator on an embassy to the !ourt of Burgundy.>>9heppard's Ball of Rome,pp. 7;, *4+.

Belisarius entered Rome in triumph, . D. ;*4 but the entire sub6ugation of the =strogoths was a!!omplishedby Narses, about . D. ;; and for fifteen years after, Rome was governed by him under the title of )8ar!h of Ravenna. (e thus see that the ruling of the senate terminatedabout . D. ;;.>>9heppard's Ball of Rome, p. *00.

C)R9) 0. $nd the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of themoon, and the third part of the stars so as the third partof them was dar/ened, and the day shone not for a thirdpart of it, and the night li/ewise.$

This trumpet illustrates the !losing up of the Roman

government. 9un, moon, and stars, are evidently symbolsthat denote the rulers in the government>>its emperors, !onsuls, and senators.

The sun sends forth light of itself>the de!ree of the emperor is law. The moon shines by a borrowed light>>theauthority of the !onsul was dependent in some measure


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on the will of another. The stars shine when the night !omes>>the wants of the people demanded attention, and then the senate a!ted.

$The sun was smitten.$ =doa!er !aused the title of emperor to !ease. But one>third part only is effe!ted>>the 6urisdi!tion of Rome then e8tended over only the middle division of the empire, as !eded by &onstantine to his three sons. =ne>third part of the moon was smitten the effe!tof this politi!al !alamity had the same e8tent as the former. (hen the !onsulship was ta/en away, Rome had !ededall her territory beyond the lps.>>9heppard's Ball of Rom e, p. -4.

$nd the third part of the stars$ was smitten. (hen Narses ruled Rome as )8ar!h, in the name of the emperor of the )ast, there was no longer any need of a senate at Rome, for Justinian had one of his own.

$9o as the third part of them was dar/ened.$ This smiting !ontinued, until in the middle division of the empire these rulers were merely nominal they !ould not a!t.

$nd the day shone not for a third part of it, and thenight li/ewise.$ 9uperior and inferior rulers>>)mperors, &onsuls, and 9enators, !eased to be.

n the for!ible language of eith, this sounding of thefourth angel is illustrated1>>

$t the voi!e of the first angel, and the blast of his trumpet, the whole Roman world was in agitation, and 'the storms of war' passed over it all. 'The union of the empire w

as dissolved a third part of it fell and the $Transalpine provin!es were separated from the empire.' "nder the se!ond trumpet, the provin!es of fri!a, another, or the maritime, part, was in li/e manner reft from Rome, and the Roman ships were destroyed in the sea, and even in their harbor. The empire of Rome, hemmed in on every side, was then limited to the /ingdom of taly. (ithin its bounds, and


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along the fountains and rivers of waters, the third trumpetre>e!hoed from the lps to the ppennines. The last barrier of the empire of Rome was bro/en. The plains of Aombardy were ravaged by a foreign foe and from then!e new

enemies arose to bring to an end the strife of the world with the imperial !ity.

$Though the union of the empire was dissolved, there was still an emperor in Rome. The ma6esty of the Romanname was not obliterated, though tarnished. nd after themiddle of the fifth !entury, the &aesars had still a su!!essor in their own !ity. But the pala!e of ?ilan !ould not again be the temporary abode of the Roman !ourt, when it was the seat and !enter of a hostile power. nd the marshes

of Ravenna !eased to be a se!urity, after the waters weremade bitter, and when hordes of 5uns mingled with othersavages in the northern regions of taly. The time, too, had long passed for realiIing the pro6e!t, whi!h the terror of the %oths had first suggested, of transferring the !ourt ofRome to the shores of fri!a, and transforming &arthage into another &onstantinople.$

The remnant, or the refuse, of previous invasion, wasenough to destroy the last remaining parts of Roman greatness in taly, and to abolish the offi!e and the name of the emperor of Rome. ?r. eith says1>>

$Aong had that name been a terror to the nations, and identified with supreme authority n the world. Aong hadthe emperor of Rome shone and ruled in the earth, li/e the sun in the firmament. 5is was a /ingdom and dominion,great and terrible, and strong e8!eedingly, to whi!h all others were sub6e!ted or subordinate. 5is supreme or impe

rial authority, had, in the de!line of the empire, been greatly obs!ured, but till then it had never been e8tinguished.t had been dar/ened and disfigured by a great storm e!lipsed, as it were, by a mountain that burned with fire andoutshone, as it were, by a falling star, li/e a fiery meteor. thad survived the assaults of %oths and Candals and 5uns.

Though !louded and obs!ured, it had never been smitte


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n and though its light rea!hed but a little way, where previously it had shone over all, it had never been e8tinguished.

$Neither, at last, was the whole sun smitten, but the third part. The throne of the &aesars had for ages been the sun of the world, while other /ings were designated as stars. But the imperial power had first been transferred to&onstantinople by &onstantine and it was afterward divided between the )ast and the (est. nd the )astern )mpire was not yet doomed to destru!tion. )ven the (estern)mpire was afterwards revived and a more modern dynasty arose to !laim and maintain the title of emperor of theRomans. But, for the first time, after sudden, and violent,

and distin!tly mar/ed and !onne!ted !onvulsions, the imperial power in Rome, where for so long a period it had reigned triumphant, was !ut off forever and the third part of the sun was smitten.

$')8tin!tion of the (estern )mpire, . D. @-4 or . D.@-2. Royalty was familiar to the barbarians, and the submissive people of taly were prepared to obey without a murmur the authority whi!h he should !ondes!end to e8er!ise as the vi!egerent of the emperor of the (est. But =doa!er resolved to abolish that useless and e8pensive offi!e and su!h is the weight of antique pre6udi!e that it required some boldness and penetration to dis!over the e8treme fa!ility of the enterprise. The unfortunate ugustuluswas made the instrument of his own disgra!e1 and he signified his resignation to the senate1 and that assembly, in their last a!t of obedien!e to a Roman prin!e, still affe!tedthe spirit of freedom and the forms of the !onstitution. nepistle was addressed, by their unanimous de!ree, to the

)mperor 3eno, the son>in>law and su!!essor of Aeo, whohad lately been restored, after a shot rebelling, to the ByIantine throne. They solemnly dis!laim the ne!essity or even the wish of !ontinuing any longer the imperial su!!ession in taly sin!e in their opinion the ma6esty of a sole monar!h is suffi!ient to pervade and to prote!t, at the sametime, both the )ast and the (est. n their own name, and


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in the name of the people, they !onsent that the seat of universal empire shall be transferred from Rome to &onstantinople and they basely renoun!ed the right of !hoosing their master, the only vestige whi!h yet remained of the

authority whi!h had given laws to the world.'$The power and the glory of Rome, as bearing rule ov

er any nation, be!ame e8tin!t. The name alone remainedto the queen of nations. )very to/en of royalty disappeared from the imperial !ity. 9he who had ruled over the nations sat in the dust, li/e a se!ond Babylon, and there was no throne where the &aesars had reigned. The last a!t of obedien!e to a Roman prin!e, whi!h that on!e august assembly performed, was the a!!eptan!e of the resignation of

the last emperor of the (est, and the abolition of the imperial su!!ession in taly. The sun of Rome was smitten. But though Rome itself, as an imperial !ity, !eased to e8er!ise a sovereignty over any nation, yet the imperial ensigns,with the sa!red ornaments of the throne and pala!e, weretransferred to &onstantinople, where 3eno reigned underthe title of sole emperor. The military a!!lamations of the!onfederates of taly saluted =doa!er with the title of /ing.

$ new !onqueror of taly, Theodori!, the =strogoth,speedily arose, who uns!rupulously assumed the purple,and reigned by the right of !onquest. 'The royalty of Theodori! was pro!laimed by the %oths :?ar!h ;, . D. @2*,


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mered, for a little longer in the western hemisphere, evenin the midst of %othi! dar/ness. The !onsulship and the s enate G'the moon and the stars'H were not abolished by Theodori!. $ %othi! historian applauds the !onsulship of T

heodori! as the hight of all temporal power and greatness1'>>as the moon reigns by night, after the setting of the sun. nd, instead of abolishing that offi!e, Theodori! himself !ongratulates those annual favorites of fortune, who, without the !ares, en6oyed the splendor of the throne.'

$But in their propheti! order, the !onsulship and thesenate of Rome met their fate, though they fell not by thehands of Candals or of %oths. The ne8t revolution in talywas its sub6e!tion to Belisarius, the general of Justinian, e

mperor of the )ast. 5e did not spare what barbarians hadhallowed. 'The Roman &onsulship )8tinguished by Justinian, . D. ;@0,' is the title of the last paragraph of the fortieth !hapter of %ibbon's 5istory of the De!line and all ofRome. 'The su!!ession of !onsuls finally !eased in the thirteenth year of Justinian, whose despoti! temper might be gratified by the silent e8tin!tion of a title whi!h admonished the Romans of their an!ient freedom. The third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, andthe third part of the stars. n the politi!al firmament of thean!ient world, while under the reign of imperial Rome, the emperorship, the !onsulate and the senate, shone li/e the sun, the moon, and the stars. The history of their de!line and fall is brought down till the two former were 'e8tinguished,' in referen!e to Rome and taly, whi!h so long had ran/ed as the first of !ities and of !ountries and finally,as the fourth trumpet !loses, we see the 'e8tin!tion of that illustrious assembly,' the Roman senate. The !ity that had ruled the world, as if in mo!/ery of human greatness, w

as !onquered by the eunu!h Narses, the su!!essor of Belisarius. 5e defeated the %oths :. D. ;;


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nna, Rome was degraded to the se!ond ran/.' The third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon,and the third part of the stars. The ra!e of the &aesars was not e8tin!t with the emperors of the (est. Rome, before

its fall, possessed but a portion of the imperial power. &onstantinople divided with it the empire of the world. ndneither %oths nor Candals lorded over that still imperial !ity, the emperor of whi!h, after the first transferren!e of the seat of empire by &onstantine, often held the emperorof Rome as his nominee and vi!egerent. nd the fate of &onstantinople was reserved till other ages, and was announ!ed by other trumpets. =f the sun, the moon, and the stars, as yet but the third part was smitten.

$The !on!luding words of the fourth trumpet imply the future restoration of the (estern )mpire. The day shone not for the third part of it, and the night li/ewise. n respe!t to !ivil authority, Rome be!ame sub6e!t to Ravenna,and taly was a !onquered provin!e of the )astern )mpire. But, as more appropriately pertaining to other prophe!ies, the defense of the worship of images first brought thespiritual and temporal powers of the pope and of the emperor into violent !ollision and, by !onferring on the popeall authority over the !hur!hes, Justinian laid his helpinghand to the promotion of the papal suprema!y, whi!h afterward assumed the power of !reating monar!hs. n the year of our Aord 7++, the pope !onferred on &harlemagnethe title of )mperor of the Romans. That title was again transferred from the /ing of ran!e to the emperor of %ermany. By the latter it was formally renoun!ed, within the memory of the e8isting generation. n our own days the iron!rown of taly was on the head of another 'emperor.' nd the sun, as in the sequel we will see, is afterward spo/en o

f in the boo/ of Revelation.$

C)R9) 0*. $nd beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voi!e, (oe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voi!es of the trumpet of the three angels, whi!h are yet to soundL$


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aniel, and the first and se!ond woe, will be noted in the subsequent illustration of the latter. The spiritual suprema!y of the pope, it may be remembered, was a!/nowledged and maintained, after the fall of Rome, by the )mperor J

ustinian. nd whether in the !hara!ter of a trumpet or a woe, the previous steps of history raise us, as on a platform,to behold in a politi!al view the 6udgments that fell on apostate &hristendom, and finally led to the subversion of the )astern )mpire.$

&5#. 210 $nd the fifth angel sounded, and saw astar fall from heaven unto the earth1 and to him was giventhe /ey of the bottomless pit.$

$&onstantinople was besieged for the first time afterthe e8tin!tion of the (estern )mpire, by &hosroes, the /ing of #ersia.$

$ star fell from heaven unto the earth and to him was given the /ey of the bottomless pit.$

$'(hile the #ersian monar!h !ontemplated the wonders of his art and power, he re!eived an epistle from an obs!ure !itiIen of ?e!!a, inviting him to a!/nowledge ?ahomet as the apostle of %od. 5e re6e!ted the invitation, and tore the epistle. $t is thus,$ e8!laimed the rabian prophet, $that %od will tear the /ingdom, and re6e!t the suppli!ation of &hosroes.$ #la!ed on the verge of these two empires of the )ast, ?ahomet observed with se!ret 6oy theprogress of mutual destru!tion and in the midst of the #ersian triumphs he ventured to foretell that, before many years should elapse, vi!tory should again return to the banners of the Romans.' 't the time when this predi!tion is s

aid to have been delivered, no prophe!y !ould be more distant from its a!!omplishment :L< sin!e the first twelve years of 5era!lius announ!ed the approa!hing dissolutionof the empire.'

$t was not, li/e that designative of ttila, on a singlespot that the star fell, but "#=N T5) )RT5.


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$&hosroes sub6ugated the Roman possessions in siaand fri!a. nd 'the Roman )mpire,' at that period, 'was redu!ed to the walls of &onstantinople, with the remnant of

%ree!e, taly, and fri!a, and some maritime !ities, from T yre to Trebisond, of the siati! !oast. The e8perien!e of si8 years at length persuaded the #ersian monar!h to renoun!e the !onquest of &onstantinople, and to spe!ify theannual tribute, or the ransom of the Roman )mpire1 a thousand talents of gold, a thousand talents of silver, a thousand sil/ robes, a thousand horses, and a thousand virgins.5era!lius subs!ribed to these ignominious terms. But thetime and spa!e whi!h he obtained to !olle!t those treasures from the poverty of the )ast, was industriously employ

ed in the preparation of a bold and desperate atta!/.'

$The /ing of #ersia despised the obs!ure 9ara!en, and derided the message of the pretended prophet of ?e!!a. )ven the overthrow of the Roman )mpire would not have opened a door for ?ahometanism, or for the progressof the 9ara!eni! armed propagators of an imposture, though the monar!h of the #ersians, and !hagan of the vars :the su!!essor of ttila< had divided between them the remains of the /ingdom of the &aesars. &hosroes himself f ell. The #ersian and Roman monar!hies e8hausted ea!h other's strength. nd before a sword was put into the hands of the false prophet, it was smitten from the hands of those who would have !he!/ed his !areer, and !rushed hispower.

$9in!e the days of 9!ipio and 5annibal, no bolder enterprise has been attempted than that whi!h 5era!lius a!hieved for the deliveran!e of the empire. 5e permitted th

e #ersians to oppress, for a while, the provin!es, and to insult with impunity the !apital of the )ast while the Roman emperor e8plored his perilous way through the Bla!/ 9ea and the mountains of rmenia, penetrated into the heart of #ersia, and re!alled the armies of the great /ing to the defense of their bleeding !ountry. The revenge and ambition of &hosroes e8hausted his /ingdom. The whole !ity


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of &onstantinople was invested>>and the inhabitants des!ried with terror the flaming signals of the )uropean and siati! shores. n the battle of Nineveh, whi!h was fier!ely f ought from daybrea/ to the eleventh hour, twenty>eight st

andards, besides those whi!h might be bro/en or torn, were ta/en from the #ersians the greatest part of their army was !ut in pie!es, and the vi!tors, !on!ealing their ownloss, passed the night on the field. The !ities and pala!esof ssyria were open for the first time to the Romans.

$'The %ree/s and modern #ersians minutely des!ribed how &hosroes was insulted, and famished, and torturedby the !ommand of an inhuman son, who so far surpassed the e8ample of his father but at the time of his death, w

hat tongue !ould relate the story of the parri!ide what eye !ould penetrate into the tower of dar/ness The gloryof the house of 9assan ended with the life of &hosroes his unnatural son en6oyed only eight months fruit of his !rimes and in the spa!e of four years the regal title was assumed by nine !andidates, who disputed, with the sword or dagger, the fragments of an e8hausted monar!hy. )veryprovin!e and every !ity of #ersia was the s!ene of independen!e, of dis!ord, and of blood, and the state of anar!hy !ontinued about eight years longer, till the fa!tions were silen!ed and united under the !ommon yo/e of the rabian &aliphs.'

$The Roman emperor was not strengthened by the !onquests whi!h he a!hieved and a way was prepared at the same time, and by the same means, for the multitudeof 9ara!ens from rabia, li/e lo!usts from the same region, who, propagating in their !ourse the dar/ and delusive?ahometan !reed, speedily overspread both the #ersian

and Roman )mpires.

$?ore !omplete illustration of this fa!t !ould not bedesired than is supplied in the !on!luding words of the !hapter from %ibbon, from whi!h the pre!eding e8tra!ts are ta/en.$


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$'Met the deliverer of the )ast was indigent and feeble. =f the #ersian spoils the most valuable portion had been e8pended in the war, distributed to the soldiers, or buried by an unlu!/y tempest in the waves of the )u8ine. The

loss of two hundred thousand soldiers, who had fallen bythe sword, was of less fatal importan!e than the de!ay ofarts, agri!ulture, and population, in this long and destru!tive war1 and although a vi!torious army had been formedunder the standard of 5era!lius, the unnatural effort seems to have e8hausted rather than e8er!ised their strength. (hile the emperor triumphed at &onstantinople or Jerusalem, an obs!ure town on the !onfines of 9yria was pillaged by the 9ara!ens, and they !ut in pie!es some troopswho advan!ed to its relief>>an ordinary and trifling o!!urr

en!e, had it not been the prelude of a mighty revolution. These robbers were the apostles of ?ahomet their fanati! valor had emerged from the desert and in the last eightyears of his reign, 5era!lius lost to the rabs the same provin!es whi!h he had res!ued from the #ersians.'

$'The spirit of fraud and enthusiasm, whose abode isnot in the heavens,' was let loose on earth. The bottomless pit needed but a /ey to open it and that /ey was the fallof &hosroes. 5e had !ontemptuously torn the letter of anobs!ure !itiIen of ?e!!a. But when from his 'blaIe of glory' he sun/ into 'the tower of dar/ness,' whi!h no eye !ouldpenetrate, the name of &hosroes was suddenly to pass into oblivion before that of ?ahomet and the !res!ent seemed but to wait its rising till the falling of the star. &hosroes, after his entire dis!omfiture and loss of empire, was murdered in the year 47 and the year 42 is mar/ed by 'the !onquest of rabia, 'and the first war of the ?ahometans against the Roman )mpire.' 'nd the fifth angel sounde

d, and saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth and tohim was given the /ey of the bottomless pit. nd he opened the bottomless pit.' 5e fell unto the earth. (hen the strength of the Roman )mpire was e8hausted, and the great /ing of the )ast lay dead in his tower of dar/ness, the pillage of an obs!ure town on the borders of 9yria was 'the prelude of a mighty revolution.' 'The robbers were the apos


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tles of ?ahomet, and their fanati! valor emerged from thedesert.'

$ more su!!in!t, yet ample, !ommentary may be giv

en in the words of another historian1>>$'(hile &hosroes of #ersia was pursuing his dreams o

f re!overing and enlarging the empire of &yrus, and 5era!lius was gallantly defending the empire of the &aesars against him while idolatry and metaphysi!s were diffusing their baneful influen!e through the !hur!h of &hrist, and the simpli!ity and purity of the gospel were nearly lost beneath the mythology whi!h o!!upied the pla!e of that of an!ient %ree!e and Rome, the seeds of a new empire and of

a new religion were sown in the ina!!essible desrts of rabia.'

$The first woe arose at a time when transgressors had !ome to the full, when men had !hanged the ordinan!eand bro/en the everlasting !ovenant, when idolatry prevailed, or when tutelar saints were honored>>and whe

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7 Trumpets James White