WHILE the Vandals under Genseric, (the great burning mountain,) for forty years were destroying the Roman power by sea, there were other clans of barbarians confederating, in order to strike a decisive blow against the same power by land. All Europe and a part of Asia had been aroused to the great struggle for the mastery. Attila, the leader of the Huns, had already devastated seventy cities of the East. The fear of his iron will made even the contemporary barbarians tremble at his acquisitions of dominion. The tribes north of the Danube had already yielded to his government. Nearly all of what is now Russia was obedient to his dictate, and from the steppes of Asia were hordes of plunderers awaiting the summons of the conqueror. Rome herself had consented, reluctantly, to pay him tribute. Her cup of iniquity was fast filling up, and her punishment was certain. The prophecy declared she should be divided into ten parts. “It was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.” Dan. 7:7. From stern virtue, sobriety, economy, and clemency, Rome had degenerated to vice, intemperance, extravagance, and cruelty The monarchs of mighty kingdoms were dragged at the wheels of her triumphal chariots, at the caprice and pomp of her martial rulers. Once, she exercised mercy toward the weak and succored the helpless, as when she leagued with the Jews, who were oppressed by Antiochus; but now, the starving mother may devour her tender infant before the eyes of the Roman, and he heeds it not. That fierceness spoken of by the prophet, Deut. 28:50, has become developed. Her ambition, aggrandizement, and supremacy required every conquered foe to bow beneath the yoke of slavery. Many tribes are rallying to the standard of Attila, and the Romans are preparing to repel their terrible foe. Attila anticipates that his best trophies are beyond the Alps. At the sound of his war-cry all Europe muster to arms. Since Xerxes led his immense army against the Greeks, no greater body of warriors had ever assembled to act a part in the fulfillment of prophecy. The engagement that succeeded is recorded as one of the four decisive battles of history. Rome collects her forces to meet the intruder, she also invites her very foes to lend a helping hand. The Visigoths, Burgundians, and Franks, joined the Roman forces. They met in what is now French territory. At Orleans, and finally at Chalons, the struggle between one and a half millions of Romans and barbarians took place. Neither party could claim a victory. About 300,000 were left dead upon the battle-field. After the conflict, the Roman general hastened to the imperial city and his confederates to their respective kingdoms. Attila recruited his forces and the next spring appeared in the north of Italy with his army as large as it was before it was reduced at Chalons. And here comes in the force of the symbol spoken of by the prophet in Rev. 8:10, 11, “And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of water.” The symbol of a great star burning as it were a lamp, is fulfilled by Attila and the Huns. A star does not long give light before it sets; a lamp does not long emit rays unless it is replenished: so was Attila’s course in respect to his attack upon the middle tripartite division of the Roman empire. It was of short duration. He continued only about a year in the region of the Alps and the highlands of central Europe. Every student of geography knows that the Alps is a great source, or head, of many of the rivers and streams of Europe. The region where he halted to operate in his work of devastation, was emphatically, “the fountain of waters.” Before reaching the Alps, he also made a total wreck of everything in his way. The star fell upon the “third part of the rivers”—that is, the streams in the middle tripartite division of the empire. It fell from Heaven. A star falling from Heaven is a wonderful phenomenon—it is not a natural occurrence. So it was not in the natural course of events that Attila should have received so sudden a check in his rapid career for conquest and plunder. Why so? Because formerly these very allies of Rome had been her bitterest enemies, and were heretofore as determined as Attila himself to destroy her power. The Visigoths, Franks, and Burgundians, whose repeated war-cry, and ruin by conflagration and sword, had so often aroused the Roman fears, are here fighting side by side with the Roman legions, in order to subdue the man who claimed himself to be a “scourge of God.” Attila’s career suddenly ceased; and after making a treaty with the Romans he left for his own capital on the Danube, where his death soon after occurred in A. D. 453. The effect of his ravages in the north of Italy could not better be described in the English language than by the word wormwood. “And the name of the star is called wormwood.” Bitterness was the result of his course wherever he went. Bitterness was in the hearts of the people of the Alpine regions as they saw their habitations burnt, their cattle made a prey, and their fair fields entirely laid waste. History states that in his march, before he reached the Alps, he devastated the land and burnt the Roman cities. Aquileia, the most important city of northern Italy, after a siege of three months, was reduced to ashes. The plains around it were nothing but blackness and ashes. And writers say that the great earthen mounds that encircled their encampment may yet be seen by the traveler. It being in the hot season many of the Huns died of disease. On the part of both Romans and barbarians many perished in consequence of the evil effects of the invasion. “And many men died of the waters because they were made bitter.” Attila’s attack upon the middle tripartite division of the empire was during A. D. 451 and 453. For other particulars in regard to this invasion the reader is referred to “Thoughts on the Revelation,” published at Battle Creek, Mich. J. SAWYER. Battle Creek, Dec., 1874.