appointed the establishment, duration,
and destruction of kingdoms and empires, as well in regard to the general
plan of the whole universe, known only to God, who constitutes the order
and wonderful harmony of its several parts; as particularly with respect
to the people of Israel, and still more with regard to the Messiah, and
the establishment of the church, which is his great work, the end and
design of all his other works, and ever present to his sight; _Notum a
seculo est Domino opus suum._(8)

God has vouchsafed to discover to us, in holy Scripture, a part of the
relation of the several nations of the earth to his own people; and the
little so discovered, diffuses great light over the history of those
nations, of whom we shall have but a very imperfect idea, unless we have
recourse to the inspired writers. They alone display, and bring to light,
the secret thoughts of princes, their incoherent projects, their foolish
pride, their impious and cruel ambition: they reveal the true causes and
hidden springs of victories and overthrows; of the grandeur and declension
of nations; the rise and ruin of states; and teach us, what indeed is the
principal benefit to be derived from history, the judgment which the
Almighty forms both of princes and empires, and consequently, what idea we
ourselves ought to entertain of them.

Not to mention Egypt, that served at first as the cradle (if I may be
allowed the expression) of the holy nation; and which afterwards was a
severe prison, and a fiery furnace to it(9); and, at last, the scene of
the most astonishing miracles that God ever wrought in favour of Israel:
not to mention, I say, Egypt, the mighty empires of Nineveh and Babylon
furnish a thousand proofs of the truth here advanced.

Their most powerful monarchs, Tiglath-Pileser, Shalmanezer, Sennacherib,
Nebuchadnezzar, and many more, were, in God's hand, as so many
instruments, which he employed to punish the transgressions of his people.
"He lifted up an ensign to the nations from far, and hissed unto them from
the end of the earth, to come and receive his orders."(10) He himself put
the sword into their hands, and appointed their marches daily. He breathed
courage and ardour into their soldiers; made their armies indefatigable in
labour, and invincible in battle; and spread terror and consternation
wherever they directed their steps.

The rapidity of their conquests ought to have enabled them to discern the
invisible ha