too, with all the imagery usual in Apocalyptic literature, is to be found
a description of vague and confused fighting, when most of the Kings of
the earth come together to fight a last and desperate battle. The Seven
Angels go forth, each armed with a vial, the first poisoning the earth,
the second the sea, the third the rivers and fountains of waters, the
fourth the sun. Then out of the mouth of the dragon, of the beast, and of
the Antichrist come the lying spirits which persuade the Kings of the
earth to gather all the people for that great day of God Almighty "into a
place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon." Translated into our
language the account might very well serve for the modern assemblage of
troops in which nearly all the kingdoms of the earth have to play their
part, with few, and not very important, exceptions. It is almost absurd to
speak of the events of the past three months as though they were merely
incidents in a great and important campaign. There is nothing in history
like them so far as we are aware. In the clash of the two great European
organisations--the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente--we have all
those wild features of universal chaos which the writer of the Apocalypse
saw with prophetic eye as ushering in the great day of the Lord, and
paving the way for a New Heaven and a New Earth.


A COLOSSAL UPHEAVAL

It is a colossal upheaval. But what sort of New Heaven and New Earth is it
likely to usher in? This is a question which it is hardly too early to
discuss, for it makes a vast difference, to us English in especial, if,
fighting for what we deem to be a just cause, we can look forward to an
issue in the long run beneficial to ourselves and the world. We know the
character of the desperate conflict which has yet to be accomplished
before our eyes. Everything points to a long stern war, which cannot be