wrought out, and in which it is still being carried on to its glorious completion. In studying this subject we meet with the greatest episodes of all history -the Incarnation, Crucifixion, and Resurrection of Christ, the acts of the Apostles, the miracle of Pentecost, the tragedy of the fall of Jerusalem and of the dispersion of the Jewish people; the birth and spread of the Christian religion, and the growth, apostacy, and reformation of the Church-events unparalleled for commanding interest and for their far-reaching results. The story of Rome, Pagan and Papal, has in it all the elements of sublimest drama. It presents one long and bitter conflict between the powers of good and evil-a conflict whose end, though certain, is not yet, and in which we are personally interested. On a vast and varied stage it exhibits the actings of God, of man, and of Satan, in a great and age-long warfare. The story is a complicated one. It fills countless volumes of history in many languages, while existing buildings, sculptures, pictures, monuments, and coins illustrate its innumerable episodes. Yet Inspiration has con densed it all into a few mystic and marvellous hieroglyphics, which are described by the prophet Daniel and by the apostle John, to whom they were shown. Guided by this Divine epitome, these pages recall in briefest outline the main incidents of the fateful story. In their high lights and deep shadows, in their striking contrasts and dramatic unity, these lend themselves most naturally to the poetic form in which I have here presented them. But the sketch is no merely imaginative one. The outline is accurately historic, and the very details are often sketched from life and personal observation. Twenty-one years ago, standing breast-deep in the ashes of the martyrs when the Quemadero, or burning place of the Inquisition, was accidentally laid open at Madrid, I wrote the first penned lines of this poem (pp. 119-123). Later on I visited the vales of Lucerna, Angrogna and Pra-del-tor, the scenes of the awful massacres described on pp. 51, 52. Never shall I forget my subsequent interview with the Inquisitors in their "Holy Office" at Romethe suggestive precincts, the proud and portly chief in his Dominican attire with cowl and cross; his domineering tone and stentorian voice; his rigid right arm, and the tyrannic principles which he sternly enunciated. "Furrowed was his brow And firm his mouth-I think I see him now," and hear again the semper eadem of his reply to my inquiry, whether Rome had in anywise changed her persecuting principles! The lines on the Catacombs and the Coliseum were written on the spots to which they refer, and those on St. Peter's under its imposing dome. The confessional scene was sketched in St. Mark's, Venice, and the victims of the Mexican Inquisition are drawn from what I saw in that country. It was in the city of Mexico that I procured the photograph re-produced on page 160, and I am glad of the opportunity of publishing it in this volume. My knowledge of Popery and its practices is not derived from study merely. I have preached the Gospel in Roman Catholic countries, in Ireland, France, Spain, and Italy, and have witnessed the PREFACE. state of things produced by Romanism. ix History in connection with prophecy has long been a special research with me. I have waded through many volumes of martyrology in various languages; and the records have produced on my convictions the profoundest impression. The Papal medal, commemorative of the massacre of St. Bartholomew, represented on page 221, is in my possession, with other relics of the martyrs. It is perhaps too often forgotten that England itself has martyr memorials enough to forbid that its sons and daughters should ever forget the tragic story of old. The soil of these islands is sacred through martyr blood. Oh, never may the light kindled by the sacrifice of our noble English and Scottish reformers be quenched afresh by the Papal superstition which slew them! Let us "remember those who have been the guides," whose faith we are commanded to follow, considering the end of their conversation, "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever." The urgent need of Protestant testimony in the present day is undeniable. That this Poem may |