Revelation 16:4-7

THE THIRD VIAL.

And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. And. heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous,. Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. And. heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments."--16:4-7.

John sees the third "vial poured upon the rivers and fountain or waters; and they become blood." This vial will symbolize another event calamitous to Rome. The seat of the disasters is described as the rivers and we may expect some historical events, connected in some way with rivers, that result in the injury of the papacy. There are two marks given which help us to locate the seat where the plague of the third vial is poured. 1. It must be. region of rivers and fountains of water. 2. It has evidently been the scene of terrible persecutions of the people of God. When the judgment is inflicted the angel of the waters exclaimed, "Thou art righteous,. Lord, who art and wast and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets and thou hast given them blood to drink, for they are worthy.". land of persecution is to become the scene of calamities which are justly visited upon it for its sins.

If the reader will look upon the map of northern Italy he will find it crowded with rivers. The streams rush down from the Alps and haste away to the sea. This river region of Italy has been the battle ground of nations. Here Gaul and Roman contended for the mastery of Italy; here Hannibal crushed the Roman legions in. succession of battles; here Attila the Hun, the "blazing Star," the wormwood of the rivers, laid Rome prostrate at his feet; here France and Spain wrestled for the possession of the decrepit Peninsula; here the French armies under the young General of the Directory humiliated Austria and destroyed the temporal power of Rome.

We ask first, has this country been the scene of persecutions? None more terrible, more bloody or more continued, have been known in the dark history of Rome. This very region was the home of the Albigenses. Against them the Papacy had hurled its fanatical legions from generation to generation. The blood of the Protestants of the Alps had for centuries dyed the rocks and streams with crimson. One of the mightiest services that Oliver Cromwell did for the human race, was to announce to the Pope of Rome that unless he called off his wolves from preying upon the flock of God in Piedmont, the cannon of. Puritan army should teach him mercy around the castle of St. Angelo. This river region is then. theatre of persecution.

We ask next whether this region of rivers, this region red with the blood and hallowed by the sufferings of martyrs, was the theatre of any great historical events in this series of steps towards the destruction of the power of Rome?

Thus far there has been. connection between the plagues. The first, the French Revelation, the Reign or Terror in France, for. time destroyed and forever weakened the papal grasp upon that nation. Out of it sprang the second plague, which resulted in driving the Catholic powers from the ocean. Still springing from that same revolution there follows the descent of the French armies upon Italy, and the destruction of the spell by which Rome for more than. thousand years had held the nations.

In 1796,. General, aged 27, then comparatively unknown, led an army of 35,000 Frenchmen into Italy. Bold, unscrupulous, "with no god but ambition," he was not held back by veneration of the successor of St. Peter. On the river system of Italy, on the Rhone, the Po and its tributaries, he battled with the Austrians and their allies. It is remarkable that every one of his great conflicts were fought upon the rivers. Who has not heard of the Bridge of Lodi, the first of his great victories, fought upon the river Adda? or of the Bridge of Arcole, the scene of another triumph upon the Adige? or of Marengo, begun with the river Bromida between the armies? Listen how history records the exploits of the young Napoleon in this campaign:

"The French crossed the Po at Piacenza on the 7th of May, and drove back Beaulieu upon the line or the Adda; the strongly fortified bridge of Lodi was carried after. severe struggle, and the enemy retreated, in the utmost confusion, upon the line of the river Mincio."-- Student's France, page 581.

Again: "Marching secretly from Verona, the French descended the Adige (river) as far as Ronco. There they crossed the Adige, and on Nov. 14th made it furious attack upon the village and bridge (over the Adige) of Arcole."-- Ibid. page 583.

Again: "From the theater of their triumphs upon the Adige and Mincio (rivers), Bonaparte led his armies into the territories of the Pope, against whom the Directory had resolved to proceed to extremities."-- Page 584.

Again: "Bonaparte took up. position with his whole force upon the great plain of Marengo, being separated by the river Bromida from the enemy's lines."-- Page 598.

Again: "A convention was signed the day after the battle by which the Austrians agreed to retire beyond the river Mincio."-- Page 598.

Thus it becomes apparent that the scene of ancient persecution, the region of rivers, again becomes the theater of. mighty struggle, in which the rivers, curiously the scene of every conflict, are reddened with blood. We have yet to ask whether these events were disastrous to the Papacy.. will briefly give the results of the struggle. In 1796 Bonaparte entered Italy. The next year his armies take the city of Rome and proclaim an Italian Republic. Previously an armistice had been granted, for which the Pope paid 21,000,000 francs and gave up. hundred masterpieces or art to be carried to Paris. In 1798 Pope Plus VI. was carried as. prisoner into to die. His successor was not elected in Rome, which was still in the hands of the spoiler, but in Venice. Other results that follow from this invasion will be given under the fourth vial.

Ah! how triumphantly the long persecuted Waldenses, as they saw the Pope carried. prisoner into exile, must have joined in the voice from behind the altar: " Yes,. Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments! "