before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh."

In the 20th chapter is the record of the millennial reign that immediately succeeds the judgments, some description of which we have in these passages.

The imagery is altogether awful, and borrowed plainly from scenes with which every reader of history must be more or less familiar; in order that, by the employment of such vivid imagery, a very deep, and strong, and abiding apprehension may be created in the hearts of men of the scenes of which these are the descriptions. In turning your attention to this subject on this solemn day, I hope I shall exercise all that forbearance, all that moderation, which becomes one who is neither a prophet nor a prophet's son, but simply an interpreter of the word of the living God. It is one thing to foretell it is quite a different thing to forthtell. A prophet foretells what God reveals to him;

a preacher forth tells what God has written in His holy word.

Some will exclaim, the moment that they hear read such passages as these, "Better not meddle with them." But all Scripture is given by inspiration of God; and this blessed book begins with a special benediction upon him that reads, and upon them that understand, the words that are written in this book. And if some ministers and men, fallible as we all are, have gone into unjustifiable conclusions in interpreting this book, and have dared to predict, when they ought simply to have tried to explain, it may be no less an offence to cast the book into a nook in the library, and to assume that God has inspired, and an evangelist written, what He never meant man to study, or to try to understand.

Besides, as the age rolls on, lights are struck out in successive years, that are making what were mysteries before, full of simple and suggestive meaning now. And moreover, the very faults that previous interpreters have committed, are warnings and lessons to subsequent interpreters; just as the wreck that sunk in the channel, having a buoy floating above it, indicates a clearer, a deeper, and a surer channel for

succeeding voyagers. So the very errors of those that have preceded, may help us more to come to a clear and a distinct apprehension of what is the meaning of this blessed book, and to learn those truths which will not make us sad, but must make us solemn, which at least will keep us from despair, and possibly enable us to see, through the storm, the turmoil, and the tempest, evidently gathering around us, a bright and a blessed haven, the dawn of a better day, when the spear shall be turned into the pruning-hook, and the sword into the ploughshare, and the nations shall learn war no more.

I have already expressed my thorough conviction that our Queen, and our rulers, and our country, were quite justified, on Christian grounds, in the course they have now decided on, and that there was no alternative, in the judgment of common sense, or in the maturest thoughts and feelings of a Christian, but the course of proclaiming that dread word that should make many faces grow pale, and many hearts beat faster-war. Ours has not been the acceptance of war as a preference, but the very reverse. Nothing is so terrible, nothing so horrible, as that man should be driven to slaughter his fellow-man. But this war is not a crusade

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for conquest, nor a mere attempt to humble Russia, and play a national bravado over its humiliation; it is not an unprovoked effort upon our part to injure a single country, or to loosen a gem in a single crown, or to alter the sway or lessen the sovereignty of the feeblest king: this is not our desire. If our country were to declare war for the sake of conquest, or of showing that we are braver, and stronger, and abler than Russia, it would be a monstrous crime. Instead of praying for a blessing on its banners, we would pray that we might learn by defeat, that such conduct the God that reigns amid the nations of the earth never will suffer to go impunity. But this is not what we find here; this war presents itself in altogether a different aspect. It is a war of defence, in behalf of the invaded against the invaders, a war on our part to keep off from ourselves the aggressor. It is a question for statesmen to settle, not for us to canvass, whether it is best to attack the robber after he has got into your house, or to keep him out of the house and the garden both. They have decided that the best way is to make the effort when it is likely, under God, to be most successful; not to wait till aggression has gained power by impunity, and aggressive

strength becomes too formidable for us successfully to resist.

Believing, then, that the war is just and righteous on our part, we may pray for God's blessing on it. We may pray, not that God would blot out Russia from the map of nations, but that God would humble, convert, arrest, and bring to a better mind, its ambitious and misguided ruler. The worst we wish him is, that he may be sent back to the Kremlin a wiser man; the worst we desire is, that he will see the awful error of his way, and cease to do evil and learn to do well. But we should not, as a nation, be worthy of our place, and our rulers would be bearing the sword in vain, if they did not employ all the resources that God has entrusted to them for the defence of a people that provokes no war-for the protection of a land that, with all our faults, is the last asylum where freedom will find a foot-hold, humanity have a champion, and religion raise and maintain a pure and a holy altar. On vital questions I can speak with emphasis, and absolutely, because they are clearly revealed; on the dim topics of the future I must speak with great reserve. But I cannot withhold from you, who know that I have always tried to speak with caution on

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