568
AN GAODHAL.
and Ireland, which the Irish prophecies demons¬
etrate as the theatre of hostilities and much
bloodshed during the Mor ghliadh or great relig¬
ious war of the near future.
The seventh vial will be poured out upon the
atmosphere in order to shorten the duration of hu¬
man life so that the deaths may be in the ratio of
birth for the prevention of the over population of
the earth's surface.
So now finding that I am rapidly filling up my all¬
otted space in the columns of the Gael, I hasten to
peremptorily summon before the tribunal of my
thoughtful judgment that dreaded malefactor,
"The man of sin," "The son of perdition" that I
may pronounce upon him an impartial sentence
suitable to the nature of his case.
According to the prophet Daniel the beginning of
the kingdom of the beast, who is called Antichrist
was to be established upon three horns or provinc¬
es of the Eastern possessions of the Roman empire,
and we historically know that this was done be¬
tween the year 630 and 644, when Syria, Palestine
and Egypt fell under the yoke of the Saracens.
The said prophet gives us to understand that the
term of the reign of this cruel monster of iniquity
would only last for three years and a half, during
which short period the saints of God were to be
given into his power for persecution. The same
fact is further confirmed in the Apocalypse which
elucidates the subject by exhibiting the personal¬
ity of the beast, represented as a man the number
of whose name shall constitute 666. As the Apoc¬
alypse of St. John was originally written in Greek,
the solution of this enigmatical mystery must be
sought for in Greek numerals. And it has been
proved by Euthymius, and the Greek historians
Honoras and Credenus, that the letters of the word
"Maometic", (or Mahomet) according to the Greek
enumeration make up the mystic number 666.
From the foregoing it may be seen that Mahom¬
et was the original Antichrist, a fact further con¬
firmed by the prophecies, and especially by the
declaration of St. Paul, who has affirmed that the
kingdom of the beast was to be developed after the
fall of the Roman empire. I may now observe
that the period allowed for the operations of Anti-
christ is entirely too short for the achievement of
the great work which he had to accomplish; and
that the placing of the Saints of the Most High
under his yoke during the whole time of his re¬
gime involves a paradox ; for he could not under
any circumstance bring the Christian world under
his dominion without a fierce and protracted strug¬
gle. I am therefore convinced that the duration
of his reign is not to be counted as three and a half
years, but 1260 years, every day in the former
short period being taken as a year. Mahomet
died in the year 632 and Jerusalem was taken by
his followers five years after his death. It is from
this last epoch which brought so many of the
Eastern Catholics under the dominion of Islam
that the duration of the Mahometan empire is to
be computed. And as this event took place in the
year 637 the fall of the Turkish empire may with
certainty be looked for about the year 1897 ; but
as coming events cast their shadows before them
the war that will lead to the final overthrow of
Mahometanism may be expected to begin in the
year 1890.
The study of the prophecies in connection with
these letters, has rendered it incumbent upon me to
devote the whole energy of my mind to the subject,
eschewing all religious prejudices and educational
prepossessions, and I am extremely sorry to find
despite all my wishes to the contrary, that the fu¬
ture, as it has been understood, is a chaotic ag¬
glomeration of weakness, — a stupendous, vapid
bubble that will not bear to be touched by the fin¬
ger of faith or reason. As, for instance, the great
army of two hundred millions of horsemen is ac¬
cording to Pastorini, to be recruited partly from
China, Tartary, Persia, the Turkish Empire and
from the infernal regions, and it is to be inferred
that Plato's realms are also to furnish a large quota
of the incredible number of horses which are
to be supplied. But when the Antichristian
army has killed the third part of men, who are sup¬
posed to be Christians, no suggestion is made to
where the people of the Saints are to come from
to whom, according to the prophet Daniel, the
kingdom under the whole heaven is to be given
after the overthrow of the beast, or if the Christ¬
ians be not killed no reason is given why the mul¬
titudinous host of infidels are to destroy each other
and thereby make room for their hated enemies to
obtain the government of the whole earth.
Thus my mind has been led into a maze of per¬
plexity by all that is being taught concerning the
day of judgment, so that I am greatly tempted to
to come to the conclusion to opine that much that
is believed concerning it, must have first origina¬
ted in an age of great fanatical credulity.
Christian Theology even goes so far as to bring
Henoch and Elias from heavan at the last day, to
fight against Antichrist and be killed by him in
order that they may pay the "Debt of Nature".
Now, one of these great saints was bodily taken up
to heaven before the food, and the other centuries
before the coming of the Messiah; and Christ tells
us, if he be good authority, that John the Baptist
was Elias: and we know that John lost his head in
the prison of Herod, therefore his coming back
with the same body that he took to heaven is a
manifest impossibility; but Henoch and Elias
will come, not however with the bodies that they
took with them to heaven but according to the
course of nature: They are, as I believe now, liv¬
ing in this world, and may be old men for that
matter, without any manifest power of miracles :
but they can never meet or see Antichrist who
died more than 1200 years ago, as I have already
