Now though the Papacy lost its temporal power in 1870, it is far from having lost its political influence. Ecclesiastically, too, though it has received various set-backs, it is manifestly gaining power. This is especially observable, for example, in Britain, the overthrow of which as a Protestant Power is undoubtedly the object of the persistent aggressiveness of Romanism. This aggressiveness is manifest in all the dominions of the British Empire, as well as in other lands. Again, while certain governments have of late shaken off the ecclesiastical yoke, and infidelity has spread among the people of Roman Catholic lands, the number of Roman Catholics has increased with great rapidity. They were estimated at somewhat over 200,000,000 twenty years ago, they are now said to number about 300,000,000. Indications are not wanting of a tendency towards A Reunion of Christendom, which would be facilitated by a willingness on the part of the Papacy to adapt itself to the impulse of the time. Present events, therefore, point to a great renewal of Papal power involving the fulfilment of the prophecy relating to the woman and the beast that carries her. This renewed alliance between the political and the ecclesiastical powers will, however, be of brief duration. The successful efforts of governments in recent times to liberate themselves from Papal authority, as in the case of France and Portugal, are but foreshadowings of the eventual entire destruction of ecclesiasticism and sacerdotalism under the revived Roman Empire. "The ten horns ... and the beast, these shall hate the harlot, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and shall burn her utterly with fire" (Rev. 17. 16). Thus it would seem that, when at the very zenith of its power and ambition, the Papacy, at the head of amalgamated Christendom, will suddenly meet its doom. The Doom of Religious Babylon. Its accumulated wealth would probably be an incentive in determining the ten kings to take this step, owing possibly to the impoverishment of their kingdoms as a result of wars and political and social upheavals. An additional cause will doubtless be the widespread spirit of antagonism against all religion. Submission to the Papal yoke has invariably had an aftermath of infidelity; similarly the temporary subservience of the beast to the woman will issue in the casting off of all religious restraint and in the universal acknowledgment of the presumptuous claims of the world-ruler. Satanic Authority of the Emperor.