d his capture of the Eternal City established the free
government of United Italy. The temporal sun of the Pope set forever;
his kingdom was left in darkness.

12. And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river
Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of
the kings of the east might be prepared.

13. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the
mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out
of the mouth of the false prophet.

14. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which
go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to
gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

15. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and
keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his
shame.

16. And he gathered them together into a place called in the
Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

The symbols under this vial are so different that at first they scarcely
look like anything constituting a plague. By recalling a few
circumstances of history we shall understand why the river Euphrates was
selected as a symbol, and also, its true signification in this
connection. This river was connected with ancient Babylon, and while
running in its own channel was the protection of the city and an
obstacle to its capture. By turning the water of this river from its
course, King Cyrus (according to the account given by Herodotus)
succeeded in overthrowing the city, with the result that God's people
who were at that time in captivity there received permission to return
to their own land and to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. Ezra
1:1-3. Under the sixth trumpet this symbol was applied to the four
angels as a symbol of the restraint placed upon their operations, they
being bound in that river. As there are no agents in this vision who are
represented as bound, we must apply it to the city itself, the name of
which is given in verse 19--Babylon--being a symbol of one of its
defenses. According to verse 19 this mystical Babylon is composed of
three parts, being made up of the dragon (in his modern form), the
beast, and the false prophet mentioned in verse 13. And its location is
not confined to the territory of the ten kingdoms; for its field of
operations is not only that of the "earth"--the Apocalyptic earth--but
"_of the whole world_." Ver. 14. In one division of thi