"The Cæsar of Western Rome—he only of all earthly potentates, past or to come, could be said to reign as a monarch, that is, as solitary king. He was not the greatest of princes, simply because there was no other but himself. There were, doubtless, a few outlying rulers, of unknown names and titles, upon the margins of his empire; there were tributary lieutenants and barbarous reguli, the obscure vassals of his scepter, whose homage was offered on the lowest step of his throne, and scarcely known to him but as objects of disdain. But these feudatories could no more break the unity of his empire, which embraced the whole civilized world,—the total habitable world as then known to geography or recognized by the muse of history,—than at this day the British Empire on the sea can be brought into question or made conditional, because some chief of Owyhee or Tongataboo should proclaim a momentary independence of the British trident, or should even offer a transient outrage to her sovereign flag.
"Parthia, it is true, might pretend to the dignity of an empire. But her sovereigns, though sitting in the seat of the great king, were no longer the rulers of a vast and polished nation. They were regarded as barbarians, potent only by their standing army, not upon the larger basis of civic strength; and even under this limitation, they were supposed to owe more to the circumstances of their position—their climate, their remoteness, and their inaccessibility except through arid and sultry deserts—than to intrinsic resources, such as could be permanently relied on in a serious trial of strength between the two powers. The kings of Parthia, therefore, were far enough from being regarded in the light of antagonistic forces to the majesty of Rome. And, these withdrawn from the comparison, what else was there—what prince, what king, what potentate of any denomination—to break the universal calm that through centuries continued to lave, as with the quiet undulations of summer lakes, the sacred footsteps of the Cæsarian throne."—De Quincey's Essays, The Cæsars, introduction, par. 3.
"As respected the hand of man, Rome slept for ages in absolute security. . . . The Roman power, in its centuries of grandeur, involved every mode of strength, with absolute immunity from all kinds and degrees of weakness. It ought not, therefore, to surprise us that the emperor, as the depositary of this charmed power, should have been looked upon as a sacred person, and the imperial family considered as a 'divina domus.' . . . Much more may this be supposed of him to whose care was confided the weightier part of the human race; who had it in his power to promote or suspend the progress of human improvement; and of whom, and the motions of whose will, the very prophets of Judea took cognizance.
"No nation and no king was utterly divorced from the counsels of God. Palestine, as a central chamber of God's administration, stood in the same relation to all. It has been remarked, as a mysterious and significant fact, that the founders of the great empires all had some connection, more or less, with the temple at Jerusalem. . . . And we may be sure that, amongst them, the Roman emperor, as the great accountant for the happiness of more men, and men more cultivated, than ever before were entrusted to the motions of a single will, had a special, singular, and mysterious relation to the secret councils of Heaven."—Id., par. 9, 10.
"All the self-governing powers that had previously filled the world are seen to bend one after the other, and finally disappear. How suddenly did the earth become desolated at her free nations! . . . However deeply we may sympathize with the fall of so many free States, we cannot fail to perceive that a new life sprang immediately from their ruins. With the overthrow of independence, fell the barriers of all exclusive nationalities: the nations were conquered—they were overwhelmed together; but by that very act were they blended and united; for, as the limits of the empire were held to comprise the whole earth, so did its subjects learn to consider themselves as one people."—Von Ranke, History of the Popes, Book 1, chap. 1, sec. 1, par. 2, 5.
"Although it would be difficult to affirm, and still more so to prove, that this people [the Romans under the republic] had, from their first rise, formed a plan in order to conquer and subject all nations, it cannot be denied but that, if we examine their whole conduct attentively, it will appear that they acted as if they had a foreknowledge of this; and that a kind of instinct had determined them to conform to it in all things. . . . Enemies to the liberty of all nations; having the utmost contempt for kings and monarchy; looking upon the whole universe as their prey, they grasped, with insatiable ambition, the conquest of the whole world; they seized indiscriminately all provinces and kingdoms, and extended their empire over all nations: in a word, they prescribed no other limits to their vast projects than those which deserts and seas made it impossible to pass."—Rollin's Ancient History, Sequel to Alexander's Successors, chap. 1, sec. 7, last two paragraphs.
The Roman conquests were almost entirely accomplished by the arms of the nation as a republic, and when Augustus succeeded in merging into himself all the authority of the empire, then, as shown by the quotations already given, he became the master of the world, and the remote peoples that had not yet felt the terror of the actual presence of the Roman arms, hastened, as in the day of Alexander the Great, to send their ambassadors, with presents, to crave his friendship.
"The name of Augustus growing famous all over the world, the remotest nations of the North and East, that is, the Scythians, the Sarmatians [Sarmatians], the Indians, and the Seres, sent ambassadors, with presents to him, to pray his friendship, the last of which, Florus tells us, were four years on their journey, which is to be supposed coming and going. The Seres were the farthest people of the East, the same whom we now call the Chinese. They being anciently famous for the making of silk, and silken manufactures; hence serica became the name of silk, and sericos of a silken garment, both among the Greeks and Latins."—Prideaux's Connection, part 2, book 8, last par. but one, An. 25, Herod 13.
In the year 21 B. C., Augustus started on an official journey into the East. After spending some time in Sicily, he sailed into Greece, and wintered at Samos.
"While Augustus lay at this place, there came thither to him ambassadors from Candace, queen of Ethiopia, . . . who, finding him at Samos, there obtained from him the peace which they desired, and then returned again into Ethiopia. . . . Early the next spring Augustus passed from Samos into Lesser Asia, and, having settled all matters there, continued his progress through that country into Syria, and came to Antioch.
"Phraates, king of Parthia, on Augustus's coming into Syria, sent ambassadors to him to pray his friendship. For being then upon ill terms with his people, whom he had much alienated from him by his tyranny and cruelty, he dreaded a foreign war, and he had reason at that time to fear it from Augustus. For whereas Augustus had three years before released to him one of his sons (whom he had in captivity at Rome), upon promise that he would send back to him all the prisoners and ensigns which the Parthians had taken from the Romans in their wars with Crassus and Antony, he had not yet discharged himself of that obligation. That, therefore, this might not be a cause of war against him, he now not only sent back all those captives and ensigns, but also yielded to all other terms of peace which were then required of him, and gave four of his sons, with their wives and children, in hostage for the performance of them."
"At the same time that Augustus made peace with Parthia, he settled also the affairs of Armenia. . . . Augustus, toward the end of summer, returning out of Syria, was attended by Herod to the sea-shore, where he embarked; and from thence sailed back to Samos, and there resided all the ensuing winter in the same manner as he had the former. . . . While Augustus lay at Samos, there came thither to him a second embassy, from the king of India, to desire the establishment of a league of friendship with him, to which purpose he wrote to him a letter in the Greek language, telling him therein, that though he reigned over six hundred kings, yet he had such value for the friendship of Augustus, by reason of the great fame which he had heard of him, that he sent this embassy on so long a journey on purpose to desire it of him; to which letter he subscribed by the name of Porus, king of India. . . . Of the ambassadors that first set out from India on this embassy, three, only, reached the presence of Augustus; the others that were in commission, died on the way. . . . Among the presents which they brought were several tigers, and these were the first of this sort of wild beasts that had been seen either by Greeks or Romans."—Id., Book 9, An. 21, Herod 17; An. 19, Herod 19.
When it is remembered that at this time the Parthian hordes held dominion from the Tigris to the borders of China; that the hordes of the Scythians and the Sarmatians were spread over all the north country above the Sea of Aral, the Caspian, and the Black Sea, and westward to the River Vistula and the Baltic Sea (the Baltic was then called the Sarmatian Ocean); and that from the Vistula, the Upper Danube, and the Rhine, to the German Sea, was covered with the German tribes, as wild and savage as were the American Indians when the Pilgrim Fathers landed at Plymouth Rock, and that even these had been chastised by Germanicus; then when it is seen, as above, that the Sarmatians, the Scythians, the Parthians, the Chinese, and the Indians, came to the throne of Augustus, bringing presents, asking his friendship, and praying for promises of peace—bearing all this in mind, it stands as the literal truth that, from the Atlantic to the Pacific; from the Arctic regions to the Indian Ocean; and from the German Sea and the Friths of Forth to Ethiopia; there was not a single organized people in the world that did not either feel or fear the power of Rome. See "Labberton's Historical Atlas," map 15; "Ginn and Heath's Classical Atlas," map 12.
The boundaries of the actual conquests of the Roman armies—the limits to which the Roman soldiers actually marched and conquered—were marked by the Tigris, the Danube, the Rhine, the Friths of Forth, the Atlantic Ocean, the Deserts of Sahara, the Desert of Arabia, and the Persian Gulf.
To quote Gibbon's elegant lines:—
"The arms of the Republic, sometimes vanquished in battle, always victorious in war, advanced with rapid steps to the Euphrates, the Danube, the Rhine, and the ocean; and the images of gold, or silver, or brass, that might serve to represent the nations and their kings, were successively broken by the iron monarchy of Rome."—Decline and Fall, chap. 38, par. 43, the first paragraph under "General Observations," etc., at the close of the chapter.
"In the second century of the Christian era, the Empire of Rome comprehended the fairest part of the earth, and the most civilized portion645of mankind. The frontiers of that extensive monarchy were guarded by ancient renown and disciplined valor. The gentle but powerful influence of laws and manners had gradually cemented the union of the provinces. Their peaceful inhabitants enjoyed and abused the advantages of wealth and luxury. The image of a free constitution was preserved with decent reverence: the Roman senate appeared to possess the sovereign authority, and devolved upon the emperors all the executive powers of government. . . .
"The principal conquests of the Romans were achieved under the republic; and the emperors, for the most part, were satisfied with preserving those dominions which had been acquired by the policy of the senate, the active emulation of the consuls, and the martial enthusiasm of the people. The seven first centuries were filled with a rapid succession of triumphs; but it was reserved for Augustus to relinquish the ambitious design of subduing the whole earth, and to introduce a spirit of moderation into the public councils. . . .
"His generals in the early part of his reign attempted the reduction of Ethiopia and Arabia Felix. They marched near a thousand miles to the south of the tropic; but the heat of the climate soon repelled the invaders, and protected the unwarlike natives of those sequestered regions. The northern countries of Europe scarcely deserved the expense and labor of conquest. The forests and morasses of Germany were filled with a hardy race of barbarians, who despised life when it was separated from freedom; and though, on the first attack, they seemed to yield to the weight of the Roman power, they soon, by a signal act of despair, regained their independence, and reminded Augustus of the vicissitude of fortune. On the death of that emperor, his testament was publicly read in the senate. He bequeathed, as a valuable legacy to his successors, the advice of confining the empire within those limits which nature seemed to have placed as its permanent bulwarks and boundaries; on the west the Atlantic Ocean; the Rhine and the Danube on the north; the Euphrates on the east; and, towards the south, the sandy deserts of Arabia and Africa."—Dec. and Fall, chap. 1, par. 1-3.
(To be continued.)
At the Lodge Door.
By W. R. Young
RAP, rap, rap.
Door-keeper.—"Who is there?"
Ans.—"I am the lover of all mankind, the great benefactor of the human race, who died that they might live, and I seek admission to your lodge that your members may receive the benefits I bring."
D. K.—"What is your name?"
Ans.—"My name is Jesus Christ."
D. K.—"You will wait until your request is communicated to our presiding officer, and his answer returned."
Jesus.—"I am willing to wait so long as there is hope of my being admitted."
AFTER A PAUSE.
D. K.—"Our answer to your request is this: There are many of us who do not believe you are what you claim to be; but we all believe in God, and put our trust in him, and we are seeking to inculcate the great principles of virtue and morality, for which we have the greatest respect. If, therefore, you are willing to come in upon this basis, you can talk as much as you please about faith in God and our duty to our neighbors, but you must be silent about your peculiar doctrines. We do not want to hear anything about the cross, or about the notion that you suffered death to atone for the sins of mankind, or that you alone can bring to man everlasting life."
Jesus.—"But if I consent to be silent on these themes, how can I fulfill my great mission as the Saviour of sinners? 'No man cometh unto the Father, but by me;' and God will not accept your homage except you render it through me, for it is his will that all men shall honor the Son even as they honor the Father. And though he offers to men the unspeakable blessing of eternal life, it is only in and through me; for 'I [alone] am the way, the truth, and the life.'"
D. K.—"Well, as a lodge, we entirely ignore these claims of yours; and if you should advance them in our meetings, you would only produce discord; there are proper places and times for you to speak on these themes."
Jesus.—"I ask not to interfere with any other business that is right, or to monopolize the speaking, but only that I may have the privilege of using suitable opportunities to invite men to partake of the benefits of my salvation."
D. K.—"You will not be permitted to talk at all on these subjects in our lodge; and unless you consent to be silent, I must refuse you admission."
Jesus.—"To refuse to admit me as your Saviour is to refuse to admit me at all, for where my salvation is ignored, I cannot come; but I must warn you that by rejecting me you are rejecting Him that sent me, for I am the salvation which God has provided for you. Your professed reverence for God, whilst turning from the Son of God, is an insult to the Most High, even as was the offering of fruit and flowers presented by Cain. God hath declared that 'without shedding of blood there is no remission of sins,' and I alone am the 'Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.'"
The Saviour turns sadly away from the lodge door; and as he does so, one who professes to be a follower of his comes up, but instead of following his Master, he obtains admittance upon the terms which Christ himself would not consent to. He agrees to let the cross of Christ sink out of sight, and enters into a covenant of brotherhood upon the basis of a belief in a god who is not "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," and therefore not the true God at all, any more than is the god the Mohammedan worships. The god of the lodges is said to be the God of the Bible, but it is a false claim. The god of the lodges is a counterfeit of the true God. There is a surface resemblance, as there is between the counterfeit and the genuine coin, but it does not go below the surface. The god of the lodges requires no shedding of blood, no atonement for sin, has provided no Saviour for sinners, and no Holy Spirit to transform the moral nature; but the devotees of this false god claim that their god requires nothing from his worshipers but what every one can provide for himself; or that his righteousness consists of nothing more than conformity to certain right rules of conduct.
True follower of Christ, follow him as he turns away from the lodge door! Go nowhere that Christ does not lead you; enter into fellowship with no company where Christ is not received. Let the refusal to admit your Master be the bar to your own entry. Be not deceived by a talk about fellowship with God. There is no fellowship with God apart from Christ. Only those have fellowship with God who can say: "Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ."—Elder W. R. Young, in Bible Banner.
The Victor.
By S. S. Times
To BE silenced is not always to have the worst of an argument. When Hananiah, in the name of Jehovah, by eloquent speech and no less eloquent symbol, demonstrated that Jeremiah's prophecies were all wrong, we read that the prophet Jeremiah quietly "went his way," leaving his opponent to exult as a victor among the priests and the people who thronged the temple. A man who knew that he was on the Lord's side, and that he had spoken the truth of the Lord, could afford to do that. The bitter sequel showed whether Hananiah or Jeremiah was right. There are occasions when it is the part of a wise man to follow this precedent of Jeremiah. When one is in the midst of scoffers who have demonstrated to their own satisfaction that there is no God, that the Bible is a fiction, and that immortality is a dream, it is sometimes better, having once delivered one's testimony, quietly to go one's way, rather than to spend precious time in fruitless parlaying. What does it matter if the enemies of God's truth enjoy an occasional cheap triumph? The truth itself is sure beyond the reach of arguments however brilliant, of sneers however cutting, of gibes however witty. Knowing that, the Christian can afford to go upon his way, even though, for a time, it seems as if he were silenced, and to wait quietly for the time which will justify all truth and put to shame all falsehood.—S. S. Times.
Looking for the Man from Heaven
By Moody
THE true attitude for every child of God on this earth for 6,000 years, except for 33, has been to look for a Man from Heaven. When Adam fell in Eden, he was promised that the seed of the woman should bruise the head of the serpent; and for 4,000 years the Promised One was expected; Eve's daughters were looking for the Man from Heaven. Now when Christ had been here for 33 years, he said, "I will come again," and he sent those angels to tell them that he was coming back. And from that day to this the true attitude of every child of God is to be watching—looking for the Man from Heaven; and I don't know of anything that will take a man out of the whirlpool of this world sooner than this doctrine.—Moody.
Knowledge and Responsibility
KNOWLEDGE and responsibility go together. According as we know or may know our duty, are we accountable to God for its faithful performance. It is in vain to plead the violence or the suddenness of temptation, as if that should excuse our neglect or diminish our guilt. God's grace is sufficient for our need. His wisdom, and power, and love are at our service, and all we need to do to secure help is to call on him. If God's commandment is exceeding broad, so is his grace. God's will is the measure of man's duty, and when that will is revealed, and all-sufficient grace is offered to us, our responsibility is complete.—Sel.
Three Crowns for Servants.
By Marcus Rainsford
HAVE you ever remarked that the three crowns spoken of are all for servants? First, is the crown of righteousness: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day." There is a crown of life: "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." Then the climax—may we all claim it—you that feed the flock, you that go breaking the bread of life and telling of the Saviour's love and trying to win others to life: "When the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away." It is the business of a good master to supply his servants. You do not expect your servants to serve you out of their means, but out of your means. I have known the servants in a house—I wish there were more of them, but they are a generation that is fast dying out—that were so incorporated into the family, felt so identified with the property of the family, that I have heard them speak of "our horses," "our coaches," "our children." Brethren, your privilege as servants of God is to claim all he is and all he has to strengthen you for your service. Is not this a great privilege—the privilege of service?—Rev. Marcus Rainsford.
Resist the Pleasures of Sin
NEVER allow yourself to pause and consider the pleasures you might derive from sin.
The Sabbath-School.
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
LESSONS FOR PACIFIC COAST—NOV. 14 AND 21.
The Fourth Kingdom.
IN order to catch up, so that the notes may be of service to Sabbath-school scholars in the East, it is necessary this week to furnish notes on lessons 9 and 10. This may be done without any break in the notes, since the subject begun in the ninth lesson,—The Fourth Kingdom,—is continued through the tenth.
THIS fourth kingdom is described in Dan. 2, 7, and 8. It will therefore be our work to quote these several descriptions, to show that they all apply to the same power, and to show beyond question the name of that power. The basis of the whole is found in the second chapter of Daniel. In that chapter, as already learned, four universal empires are symbolized by the four different metals of which the image was composed. The fourth division of the image was the legs of iron, and the feet and toes of mingled iron and clay. Of this division the prophet said: "And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron; forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things; and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise." Dan. 2:40.
THIS fourth kingdom is the only one that is not somewhere in the prophecy directly named; but by the data given we may identify it as readily as though it were called by name. Thus: There are to be but four universal monarchies from the time of Daniel's prophecy, since the fourth closes with the setting up of God's everlasting kingdom, which is to take the place of all others. See Dan. 2:34, 35, 44, 45. From Dan. 2:37, 38 we learn that Babylon was the first of these universal monarchies. Daniel 5 relates the history of the last night of Babylonian rule, and verses 28, 30, 31 tell what power succeeded. Ezra 1:2 shows that the Medo-Persian Empire, like its predecessor, was a universal dominion. In Dan. 8:3-7, 20, 21, we are plainly told that Grecia was to overthrow the Persian Empire, and fill its place; and history bears witness that such was the case. The Grecian Empire, especially under Alexander the Great, did "bear rule over all the earth." Dan. 2:39.
Thus we have identified three of the four universal kingdoms that were to reach from the prophet's time till the end of the world. Now if we can find any mention of a universal monarchy, other than Babylon, Persia, and Greece, we shall know that it is the fourth kingdom, the one represented by the legs of iron. This is as evident as it is that three from four leaves one. Now in Luke 2:1 a universal dominion is brought to view; for we read: "And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed." But everybody recognizes Cæsar as a Roman name, and Cæsar Augustus as the first Roman emperor. Then since his dominion extended over all the world, it follows that Rome was the fourth universal empire,—the one represented by the legs of iron in Dan. 2:33.
PROFANE history coincides with sacred history in declaring Rome to be universal. Says Gibbon:—
"A modern tyrant who would find no resistance either in his own breast or in his people, would soon experience a gentle restraint in the example of his equals, the dread of present censure, the advice of his allies, and the apprehension of his enemies. The object of his displeasure, escaping from the narrow limits of his dominions, would easily obtain in a happier climate a secure refuge, a new fortune adequate to his merits, the freedom of complaint, and, perhaps, the means of revenge. But the empire of the Romans filled the world; and when that empire fell into the hands of a single person, the world became a safe and dreary prison for his enemies. The slave of imperial despotism, whether he was compelled to drag his gilded chain in Rome and the Senate, or to wear out a life of exile on the barren rock of Seriphus or the frozen banks of the Danube, expected his fate in silent despair. To resist was fatal, and it was impossible to fly. On every side he was encompassed with a vast extent of sea and land, which he could not hope to traverse without being discovered, seized, and restored to his irritated master. Beyond the frontiers his anxious gaze could discover nothing except the ocean, inhospitable deserts, hostile tribes of barbarians of fierce manners and unknown language, or dependent kings, who would gladly purchase the emperor's protection by the sacrifice of an obnoxious fugitive. 'Wherever you are,' said Cicero to the exiled Marcellus, 'remember that you are equally within the power of the conqueror.'"—Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chap. 3, paragraph 37.
THE same historian, in another place, in recording the universal conquest of Rome, makes unmistakable reference to Dan. 2:40, in the following words:—
"The ambitious design of conquest, which might have been defeated by the seasonable conspiracy of mankind, was attempted and achieved, and the perpetual violation of justice was maintained, by the political virtues of prudence and courage. The arms of the republic, sometimes vanquished in battle, always victorious in war, advanced with rapid strides to the Euphrates, the Danube, the Rhine, and the ocean; and the images of gold, or silver, or brass, that might serve to represent the nations and their kings, were successively broken by the iron monarchy of Rome."—Decline and Fall, chap. 38, par. 44.
IN the seventh of Daniel, four beasts are seen coming up out of the sea. These beasts denote four kingdoms. Verse 17. These four kings are universal; for it is expressly said of the fourth: "The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces." Dan. 7:23. Then the four beasts must represent respectively Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. The description of the fourth kingdom, as given in verse 23, tallies exactly with the character of Rome as described by Gibbon. So we find that the "dreadful and terrible" beast of Daniel 7, is identical with the legs of iron of Daniel 2.
AGAIN, in the eighth of Daniel we find the same succession of universal kingdoms referred to. The prophecy begins with Medo-Persia, represented by the ram, and shows its conquest by Grecia, which was represented by the goat. The great horn between its eyes, represented the first king of Grecia as a universal monarchy, viz., Alexander the Great. When this horn was broken, four notable ones came up in its place (Dan. 8:8), indicating that at the death of the first king, Alexander, four kingdoms should "stand up out of the nation, but not in his power." Verse 22. Alexander died B. C. 323, and the history of the kingdom after his death is thus briefly summarized by Dr. Barnes in his notes on this passage:—
"Though the kingdom was not by him [Alexander] divided into four parts, yet, from the confusion and conflicts that arose, power was ultimately concentrated into four dynasties. At his death, his brother Aridæus was declared king in his stead, and Perdiccas regent. But the unity of the Macedonian power was gone, and disorder and confusion, and a struggle for empire, immediately succeeded. . . . In 305 B. C. the successors of Alexander took the title of kings, and in 301 B. C. there occurred the battle of Ipsus, in which Antigonus, who reigned in Asia Minor, was killed, and then followed in that year a formal division of Alexander's empire between the four victorious princes, Ptolemy, Seleucus, Cassander, and Lysimachus. In the division of the empire, Seleucus Nicator obtained Syria, Babylonia, Media and Susiana, Armenia, a part of Cappadocia, Celicia, and his kingdom, in name, at least, extended from the Hellespont to the Indies. The kingdom of Lysimachus extended over a part of Thrace, Asia Minor, part of Cappadocia, and the countries within the limits of Mount Taurus. Cassander possessed Macedonia, Thessaly, and a part of Greece. Ptolemy obtained Egypt, Cyprus, and Cyrene, and ultimately Cœle-Syria, Phenicia, Judea, and a part of Asia Minor and Thrace. Thus the dominions of Seleucus were in the East; those of Cassander in the West; those of Ptolemy in the South; and those of Lysimachus in the North."
THE entire history of these four divisions of the Grecian Empire is given by Rollin under the head of "Alexander's Successors," thus showing that each one of the divisions, and all the kings of each division, are considered as still forming a part of the goat,—Grecia,—and not as forming a kingdom which should take the place of Greece.
"AND out of one of them [i. e., one of the four horns of the goat], came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land." Dan. 8:9. The power here brought to view is described in verses 10-12 and 23-25. Before noticing any points in this description, we pause to state that from what we have already learned, we know that this little horn symbolizes Rome. We know it by the same means by which we determined that the legs of iron symbolize Rome. Four universal monarchies cover the world's entire history, from the time of the prophet until the coming of the Lord. These four kingdoms we have found to be Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. The first three are named in the prophecy; the last one we determine by a mathematical demonstration. Well, in this prophecy we have Medo-Persia brought to view, with Greece succeeding it. These powers are respectively termed "great" and "very great." Verses 4, 8. Now immediately following Greece, we have a power represented by a little horn, which is said to wax "exceeding great." It must then have been more powerful than either Medo-Persia or Greece, and consequently could not be less than universal. But if it was universal, it must have been Rome; for Rome was the only power, after Greece, which, as both sacred and profane history agree, was able to break in pieces and subdue all nations.
LACK of space prevents our noticing the further description of this little horn, and showing its exact fulfillment in the Roman Empire. These points will be noted next week, before commenting on the next lesson. E. J. W.
Paul’s Unfailing Mission
PAUL ever had his eye on his work. His mission was to preach Jesus, first to his brethren, then to the Gentiles. Nothing could make him forget this. In the dungeon at Philippi, on the stairs of the tower at Jerusalem, before the king at Cæsarea, chained to a soldier at Rome,—he kept that mission always in view, and improved every moment for its prosecution. And his imprisonment was doubtless less irksome, through his activity for his Master and for those whom his Master loved. The best way of bearing a burden, is by forgetting it in absorbing thought about something else. Brooding over trouble only increases its weight.