531; the Persian, which ended B.C.

331; the Macedonian, or Greek Empire of Alexander, which was made to stretch to B.C.

44; and the Roman, which had begun B.C.44, with the Accession of Augustus Caesar, and which had included, though people might not see how, all that had happened on the Earth since then.

But this last Monarchy was tottering, and a Fifth Universal Monarchy was at hand.

It was that foreshadowed in Rev.xx.: "And I saw an Angel come down from Heaven, having the key of the Bottomless Pit and a great chain in his hand.