cerning the fasts, which had been celebrated in the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months; in memory of the capture of the city, the burning of the temple; the murder of the surviving remnant; and perhaps, of the tidings arriving among the exiles. (Jer. lii. 12; xli. Ezek. xxxiii. 21.) The message would therefore be seventy years, within one month, from the latest of those annual fasts; and would thus be a natural occasion to inquire whether they were to be renewed. Accordingly the promise was given, "The fasts of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah, joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love the truth and peace."

With this joyful strain of hope and promise the captivity of Babylon was closed; and, soon after, the temple was dedicated, and the Passover kept with peculiar solemnity and gladness.

In the first day of the first month, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes, the commission was given to Ezra after an interval of near sixty years. That monarch's reign seems to have begun about Dec. A. c. 465. Whether the accession were reckoned from its true date, or from the following April, the first month of the seventh year would be alike April a. c. 458. The year that followed will include all the remaining events in the book of Ezra.

The history of Nehemiah begins in Chisleu or the ninth month of the twentieth year. But in the first month, still in the twentieth year, he received his commission. Hence the years of the monarch must here be reckoned from the Persian dates, and not from the beginning of the Jewish year. The accession also must have been not later than the ninth month, which nearly answers to December. But the nominal date of the accession, which precedes the true, is in the canon Dec. 17, A. c. 465. And hence the true accession would lie between Dec. 17, and the close of the Julian year; a result which exactly agrees with the

But at this very

independent narrative of Thucydides, and with the conclusion drawn in the Fasti Hellenici from profane history. The commission will thus bear date April A.c. 446; and the last period distinctly specified in the Old Testament, the thirty-second of Artaxerxes, will answer to the Julian date, A.c. 433. Here the sacred history ceases. point the chronology is continued by the well-known history of Thucydides; as the following year was the first of the Peloponnesian war. Then that great struggle began in the third Empire, which issued soon after in the defeat of Athens, and the short supremacy of the Spartan power. Within a few years Thebes rose to eminence in its turn, and for a short period prevailed over Sparta, till its victories were closed at Leuctra by the death of Epaminondas. Soon after, Philip of Macedon began his career of successful ambition; and, in spite of the eloquence of Demosthenes, broke the power of Athens, and gained the supremacy in Greece. At length Alexander, his son, burst like a torrent on the expiring monarchy of Persia, and the ram, once allpowerful, was trampled down by the fierce he-goat from the west.

This review of the Persian and Grecian history, as compared with the prophecy, might convey to us many lessons of spiritual instruction. But the truth which appears most solemnly and impressively revealed is the emptiness of mere human ambition in the sight of God. The period of these two empires, from Cyrus to the death of Alexander and to the reign of Antiochus, is that which is most celebrated in ancient history. Within its range are found the conquests of Cyrus, Cambyses, and Darius, the wars of Greece, the expedition of Xerxes, the battles of Marathon, Thermopylae and Salamis, the names of Miltiades, Themistocles, Aristides, Cimon, and Pericles, the struggles of Athens and Sparta, of Sparta and Thebes, the eloquence of Demosthenes, and the victories of Alexander. Arts and arms, taste and genius, conspire to make the ear

memorable for ever in the eyes of men. And yet how briefly does the Spirit of God dismiss the whole narrative! A few verses are the space which it occupies in the word of God. Measured on the scale of eternity, and contrasted with the great facts on which the salvation of the world depends, this period of eloquence, genius, and refinement, shrinks away and shrivels into insignificance. The proudest exploits of worldly ambition, the victories of Themistocles or Alexander, come within the description of the holy apostle, by which he would impress on us the vanity of earthly things. However dazzling and splendid in the eyes of ambitious mortals, in the sight of heaven they are all of them 66 a vapour, which appeareth for a little while, and then vanisheth away."

CHAPTER V.

ON THE UNDIVIDED FOURTH EMPIRE.

A.C. 201.-A. D. 323.

DAN. II. 40.-" 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."

VII. 7.-" AFTER THIS I SAW IN THE NIGHT VISIONS, AND BEHOLD A FOURTH BEAST, DREADFUL AND TERRIBLE, AND STRONG EXCEEDINGLY ; AND IT HAD GREAT IRON TEETH IT DEVOURED AND BRAKE IN PIECES AND STAMPED THE RESIDUE WITH THE FEET OF IT AND IT WAS DIVERSE FROM ALL THE BEASTS THAT WERE BEFORE IT; AND IT HAD

TEN HORNS."

19. "THEN I WOULD KNOW THE TRUTH OF THE FOURTH BEAST, WHICH

WAS DIVERSE FROM ALL THE OTHERS, EXCEEDING DREADFUL, WHOSE TEETH WERE OF IRON, AND HIS NAILS OF BRASS; WHICH DEVoured, BRAKE IN PIECES, AND STAMPED THE RESIDUE WITH HIS FEET.' 23." THUS HE SAID, 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.'"

In the former part of these visions the Holy Spirit has briefly unfolded the history of the world, under the three empires of Babylon, Persia, and Macedon. These words continue the narrative within the times of the gospel, and under the fourth empire of Rome. They are the basis of all those prophecies which relate more especially to the Christian church. They claim therefore our most thoughtful attention, not so much to fix their general reference, which is soon determined, but to imbue our minds with those lessons of divine foreknow

ledge and wisdom, which they convey; and that we may duly apprehend the great outlines of God's holy providence in this lower world.

The fourth or iron kingdom, it has been proved already, denotes the empire of Rome. Every objection which has been brought against this universal conviction of the church, serves only, on examination, to confirm it the more. This empire, it is here taught us, was to exist in two different stages. In the first of these it would remain united, with a strength like that of iron; and would devour the whole earth and break it in pieces. In the second it was to experience a tenfold division, and share in the weakness of miry clay. The most general review of the events of history shews their agreement with the prediction. And hence the verses above must include the unbroken power of Rome, from the days of Scipio, Sylla, and Pompey, to those of Constantine, or Valens.

The direct proof of this application of the sacred text is clear and simple. The nature of the emblem in the vision of the great image proves that the prophecy is continuous. The same truth is evident from the parts which have been clearly fulfilled, and from the gradual succession of the metals, from the gold to the iron and clay. Now the transition from the third to fourth empire is naturally placed at the time when the power of Macedon yielded to the ascendant of Rome, or about a. c. 197. And again, the close of the unbroken period of the empire cannot be later than the time of Valens, when the barbarians began their fatal inroads.

This interval of about six centuries is the natural object of the above predictions. And such accordingly is the view of their meaning which has prévailed from the earliest times. No early expositor ever confined these words to a few years of Roman history, excluding all the rest. With one consent they extend the prediction from Alexander's successors, at the latest, down to that fall of the Roman power which