~ nune of religion. Wrong Is ----ay hypocritical. 8. On account of 1M 1.IIOfMlm,- !,Al lMwe• llaal will r...i,Jrom U. Resulta will 1pring from evil which the origioaton and agents never designed, nay, wl1ich they would dread. The introduction of u became the ~ion of a new and brighter manifestation of God. All the glorious developmenta of Divine juatice anli love and power which we have in Christ owe their· existence to evil Evil bas done an immense injury to the universe, but I believe that; in the long run of ages it will be found to have been overruled lor a greater good. · II. l'l'B ooussB IS LA¥ENTABLJL "The beast. that thou sawest was, and ii not~ and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit (is about to come out of the abymi). and go into perdition" ("1'111". 8). What meaueth this? The Roman emperors, especially Nero, Ja the answer of some. Ky answer ia deeper, broader, more practical, It is moral ,wrw; t.bat which originated all lhat was had in Rome, in Babylon, ay, and in the world and ages throughout.. Moral error is the beamfying force in human nature ; it make, men beasts everywhere. Its beginning and end are lamentable; it rises from the " bottomlell pit," from the fathomless aby8868 of impure huts, ravenous greed, burning ambi~ 118Dl1W yearnings,,impi0111 irreverencee, and blaaphemoua aaaumptiona, et.c. Ita ,md is lamet1table. It leadll to "perdition.'' t;o. ruin. The oourae of moral error is like the OOUl'll8 of the meteor, whicli, rising from the abyl!Bea of the 1ulphurous cloud, fiashea aero• the ooocave heavens, and then falls into darkness and forgetfulnea "Lust, when it. oonoeiveth, bringeth forth sin; sin, when it ii finished, bringeth forth death." "'l'he wages of sin is deaUi. "-the death of everything that givee value t;o life; the death of an approving cooacien.ce, pure friendships. bright hopes, et.o. What a glorious cion- t;rast is the oourae of moral ff'uth to this I " The path of the just is as the shmmg light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." Light is the emblem of in~genoe, purity, and blessedness. The march of the good is like the maroh of t.he IIWl. L Glorioua. How glorio111 is the ann as it rises in the morning, tinging the distant hills with beauty, at noon flooding the earth with 1plendour, in enning fringing the clouds with rich purple, crimson, and gold J 2. Oommanding. The mn is the ruler of the day; at hi1 appt,aranoe the world wakens from its slumben; the winds and waves obey him; as he moves, all nature movea. 3. Uf!tjjul. The sun enlighien.1 the system and maintains harmony throughout every part. H renews the earth, quickens the seed& into life, coven the landscape with beauty, ripens the harvest for. man and beast. -i. Ind~t. Troops of blMlk clouds may roll over the earth, 'but they touch not the 1u.n; furious storms may shake the globe, but the sun is beyond their reach. It is always behind the darkest clouds, and looks calmly down u.pon the ocean in fury and the earth in a tempest. 6. O,:rtain,. 'l'he sun is never. ou, of ame; it is ever. in it.II place at the right hour. In all. this it ii the emblem of the good. IIL l'l'B SUPPORTS ARB UXSTADLL "And the beast that was, ami is not, even be.is the [ia himself also au] eighth, and ii or the seven, and goetb into perditfon" (ver, 11). This "mother of harlots" (the emblem of corrupt. Christianity) ia here rei,resented. u sitting "on the beaat; with seven heads and ten horns.". 'l'he aeven. heads a;re "seven mountains" (vere. 9, 10). What mountains? 'l'he Bfl.Ven hills on which Rome W&II' built, is the anawer or popular ex.positol'II. There are "seven kings." Who are these kings, five of whom are gone, one remaining and waiting for another-who are they P One expositor augge■ te ilia; " the reference is rather to lllven great mowuchies, Jive of ,rhicli, via. Aasyria, EgyP', Babylon, Persia, and Macedon, had fallen before the time of St. John. The pagan empire of the Roman Qesarll then existing would be the sixth, the papal power might. be the seventh, and the last. form of antfohrist. the eighth." I confaia my utter inability to give any verbal interpretation &gret!able to the diet.at.e. of common sense or the conditions of spiritual culture. The one idea which it suggests t;o me and serves to illustrate is that the ,upporta of moral ml ""' uMtlJble. .Moral evil in our world has its mpporte. Maoy seem strong as "seven mounta.in~ mighty as "•ven kings," and more, but all are ahifting and traneitory, Mauy have been and are not, 10me have risen and have paued away, others in their COW'l!lt b.a\'e come and will diaappear. This hu betwl the history of moral evil in our world. .Many of the e.rgwnente that have 1118tained it. from time to time have appeared as eettlm and iapoliDg • mountains, as gorgeoua and maje11tio u kings; but "· mountains :bave fallen and eome to nought," and even impetial bulwarks have disappeared .aa 'Vili\lDII of the ni£ht. So it ha.a been, so it is, and BO it muat be to the end. Moral error Ju:u no 430 TilE nF.:VELATION OF ST. JOIIN· THE DIVINE. [Olf. xvn. 1-18.
1asfmg /Qfffldatio'll. Its superstructures are not honses on the rocks, bnt on shifting 88llda. Whether it appears in the form of thrones, governments, churches, colle~ea, markets, it stands nowhere but on Tolcanic hills. They may be clad in lovehest; verdure and enriched with the choicest fruit, bttt fires lie beneath them which will rive them llo piecea a.nd engulf in ruin all that have stood and flourished above.-D. T.