were occupied, and Pizzigithone was invested; and Bonaparte again occupying the place of Attila, fixed his residence in the ducal palace of Milan. The French occupied the best and fairest share of northern Italy, while the Austrian general found himself confined to Piedmont. Bonaparte, on his part, was anxious to relieve Genoa. With this view he resolved to force his passage over the Po, and move against the Austrians, who were found to occupy in strength the villages of Casteggio and Montebello. These troops proved to be the greater part of the very army which he expected to find before Genoa. The battle of Montebello was a most obstinate one. The tall crops of rye hid the hostile battalions from each other's sight till they found themselves at the bayonet's point, a circumstance which led to much close fighting, and necessarily to much slaughter. It was a conflict of man against man, and determined at a dear cost of blood. The Austrians retreated, leaving the field of battle covered with their dead. The remains of their defeated army were rallied under the walls of Tortona.

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But the battle of Marengo decided the fate of Italy. The plain, on which it was fought, ed lists formed by nature for such an encounter, when the fate of kingdoms was at issue." The French occupied the plain. The Austrians concentrated their forces in front of Alexandria, divided by the river Bormida from the purposed field of fight. It was the last, long the most doubtful, and finally the most decisive battle of all the Italian campaigns, which had introduced a new era in war: nor was it less desperate and bloody than any of its predecessors for it was only after the Austrians "had been wearied with fighting the whole day and disordered with their hasty pursuit," and after "the plain had been filled with flying soldiers, and Bonaparte him

self was seen in full retreat," that, on the advance of fresh troops from a distance to the field, the exhausted Austrian column was charged with new vigour, its ranks were penetrated, their army divided, and the whole French line, rallying at the voice of Napoleon, forced back their enemies at all points, who were pursued along the plain, suffering immense loss, and were not again able to make a stand, till driven over the Bormida.* The confusion at passing the river was inextricable," the river rolled red amidst the corpses of horse and men."+ became blood.

It

We would refer the reader to the accompanying maps for illustration of the successive campaigns,remarking only that such was the effect of the last of the many battles fought in this single region, so full of rivers and numberless fountains of waters, that, in the words of Sir Walter Scott, "even Pitt himself, upon whose declining health the misfortune made a most unfavourable impression, had considered the defeat of Marengo as a conclusion to the hopes of success against France for a considerable period,

Fold up the map,' he said, pointing to that of Europe; it need not be again opened for these twenty years." +

"Almost all the loss sustained by the French in the disastrous campaigns of 1799, was regained by the battles of Montebello and Marengo." " Bonaparte set out for Switzerland on the 6th of May. Two months had not elapsed, and in that brief space what wonders had been accomplished ?" " Enough," says Sir Walter Scott, "had been done to shew, that as the fortunes of France appeared to wane and dwindle after Bonaparte's departure, so they revived

* Sir Walter Scott's Life of Napoleon, vol. iv. pp. 268-232. + Hist. of Napoleon, vol. i. p. 223. ‡ Vol. iv. p. 289,

with even more than their original brilliancy as soon as this Child of Destiny had returned to preside over them."* And enough has been said to shew, how hitherto that destiny was accomplished, as it was written in the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Napoleon became the avenger of the blood of the saints, against the king of Sardinia, the emperor of Germany, and the pope of Rome. And the like retribution was exacted of the French by the hands of Suwarrow. And enough may have been said to shew how the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and upon the fountains of waters, and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink, for they are worthy. And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.

Events in history follow in their natural course, or maintain their due consecutive order. And one vial, like the judgments that preceded them, leads on to another. The connexion is too conspicuous to pass unnoticed by the historian. But it is not easy to see how more can reasonably be asked, than the unconscious adoption of the identical symbol. The concluding paragraphs of Gibbon's History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, have, in this respect, more than once served us in good stead; and the concluding paragraph of the ninth chapter of Sir W. Scott's Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, which closes the narrative of his Italian campaigns, has these words, which may form an appropriate conclusion to the third, or introduction to the fourth vial. "It appeared as if Bonaparte was the SUN of France; when he was hid from her all was gloom, when he * Vol. iv. p. 283.

appeared, light and serenity were restored."* That sun, indeed, then began to arise, which not only dazzled France with its glory, but scorched Europe with its heat, and which, as speedily as it arose, has been blotted from the political horizon.

CHAPTER XXVII.

THE FOURTH VIAL.

AND the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun, and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues; and they repented not to give him glory, ver. 8, 9.

If we look to the political horizon, after the Italian campaigns of the close of last century, a sun is seen arising, which, manifest as the sun in the firmament, soon shone with unparalleled brilliancy over Europe, scorched the nations in its course, and of which the setting or the smiting was scarcely less marvellous than the great heat of its scorching blaze.

But it is not by one symbol alone, however apt its significancy, and however suited to the time, nor by a general description that might be indefinite in its application, but by the scriptural exposition of the symbol, (in reference to the imperial power,) derived from history long past, and by a discrimination which vividly marks all the strongest features of that eventful era, as well as by the rise to supreme earthly do

*Sir Walter Scott's Life of Napoleon, vol. iv. p. 285.

minion and the contrasted doom of this "child of destiny," that, at the end, after the events have been accomplished and the facts may be retrospectively seen, this prophecy, like all whose fulfilment has preceded it, does speak, and calls on the whole reign of Napoleon to bear witness that it does not lie.

Divested of hypothesis-the scriptural warrant for the appropriation of the emblem, the sun, to Napoleon 1.; the power that was given him; the scorching of men with great heat, or the grievous effect of his ascendancy, in chastisement of the nations, over the kingdoms of Europe; the blasphemy which prevailed and abounded throughout his reign; the impenitence which succeeded it; his fall, like the smiting of the sun; and the power of God over these plagues ;-all speak in such a manner as to shew, that this judgment too has been made manifest.

The import of the symbol has first to be regarded, as a joint view of scripture and history expound it.

The rivers and fountains of waters formed the scene, limited to a specified region, and strongly marked by local peculiarities, over which the third trumpet sounded and the third vial was finally poured out. The order is still progressive; and there is a like accordance between the fourth trumpet and the fourth vial, but, as in the former, without restriction to the third part. The third and fourth trumpets may be viewed conjointly with the third and fourth vials, that the order may be more distinctly seen, and that the similarity of meaning attached to the very same terms may be obvious in the one case as in the other.

"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 WATERS. And the name of the star is called wormwood, and the third part of the