". Hi OF THE Theologiscal Seminary, PRINCETON, N. J. ^'f'-^f. Division .~BS.l556, She/J, Section.;^ j^i 2f. '^««/.. No I.SU n^g^ / DISSERTATION PROPHECIES, '.HAT HAVE BKEN FULFILLED, ARE NOW FULFILLING, OK WILL HEREAFTER BE FULFILLED, RELATIVE TO THE GREAT PERIOD OF IQ60 YEARS ; THE PAPAL AND MOHAMMEDAN APOSTACIES ; •LUE TYRANNICAL REIGN OP ANTICHRIST, OR THE INFIDFL POWER ; AND THE RESTORATION OF THE JEWS. TC i«/HICH IS ADDED, AN APPENDIX. BY THE REV. GEOUCE STANLEY FADER, B. D. VICAR OF STOCKTON-UPON-TEES. Secotiil .American from the secotid London Edition. tN TWO VOLUMES. Shut up the Words, and seal the Book, even to the lime of the end : many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." dan. xii. 4. NEW-YORK : PUBLISHED BY M. AND VV. WARD, AND EVERT CUYCKINCK. George Long, printer. isa HONOURABLE AND RIGHT REVEREND FATHER IN GOD, mUTE BAHRIXGTOX LL. D. LORD BISHOP OF DUIIHAM, ilY LORD, THE kindness which I have uniformly experien- ced, particularly in a late instance, from your Loi dship, encourages me to request permission to place the follow- ing Work under your protr<"tioxi. It treats of :i subje^J^t peculiarly interesting to every serious Protestant : for the famous period of I960 pro- phetic days, so frequently mentioned by Daniel and St. John, comprehends the tyrannical reign of those three great oppnents of the Gospel, Popery, Mohammedism, and Infidelity. This period indeed may not impro|)erly be styled the permitted hour of the powers of darkness ; since the true Church is represented as being in an af- flicted and depressed state during the whole of its con- tinuance, and since its expiration will be marked by a signal display of the judgments of God upon his enc mies and by the commencement of a new and happy order of thinsfs. In the subject which I have chosen so raauy eminent expositors have preceded lue, that I fear my choice of it 4 alone may render me liable to the charge either of need- less repetition, or of unwarrantable presumption. Your Lordship howe\'er, I am confident, will not prejudge me from the mere statement of my subject: and tlie can- dour, whicli I anticipate from my venerable Diocesan, I feel myself justified in claiming from the Public. In fact, had I nothing new to ofier upon the subject, the discussing of it afresh would have been plainly su- perfluous ; but an attentive examination of the writings of Daniel and St. John has led mo to think, that in some points my predecessors have partially erred, and that in others they have been altogether mistaken. In the in- terpretation of Prophecy knowlc(]ae is undoubtedly pro- gressive. The predictions of ScrijyYure, extending as they do from the earliest periods to the consummation of all things, although they be gradually opened partly by the hand of time and partly by human labour undertaken in humble dependence upon the divine aid, are yet necessa- rily in some measure a sealed booky even to the time of the end. As that time approaches, we may expect, agi-eeablj' to the angel's declaration to Daniel, that majiy will run to andfrOy and that knowledge will be increased. Hence it was observed by Sir Isaac Newton, that " amongst the in- terpreters of the last age there is sciirce one of note, \x\\& hath not made some discovery worth knowing." Noth- ing however requires so much caution and prudence, so much hesitation and circumspection, as an attempt to unfold these deep mysteries of Cod. Ah intemperate introduction of new interpretations is highly dangerous and mischievous : because it has a natural tendency to unsettle the minds of the careless and the wavering, and is apt to induce them hastily to take up the preposterous opinion that there can be no certainty in the exposition of Prophecy. On these grounds I have ever l>een per- suaded, that a commentator discharges his duty but very imperfectly, if, w^hen he advances a new interpretation of any prophecy that has been already interpreted, he satisfies himself with merely urging in favour of his scheme the most plausible arguments that he has been able to invent. Of everj^ prediction there may be many erroneous expositions, but there can only be one that is right. It ia not enough therefore for a commentator to fortify with elaborate ingenuity his own system. Before Ke can reasonably expect it to be adopted by others, he must shew likewise, that the expositions of his prede- cessors are erroneous in those points wherein he differs from them. Such a mode of writing as this may un- doubtedly expose him to the charge of captiousness : it will likewise unavoidably increase the size of his Work ; and may possibly weary those readers, who dis- like the trouble of thoroughly examining a subject : but it will be found to be the only way, in ^vhich there is even a probability of attaining to the truth. This plan I have adopted : and it has at least been of infinite use to myself. It has at once compelled me, in the course ef writing and revising the present Dissertation. to relinquish, as utterly untenable, many opinions which I had once adopted ; and it has confirmed me in adher- ing to those, which I have retained. In short, it en- ables me to say, that not a single new interpretation is here advanced without having been previously subject- ed to the severest scrutiny. Whatever would not bear the test of nil the objections, which I was able to alledge against it myself, has been rejected, as still less being able to bear the test of those which others might al- ledge. Flattering as the countenance of the great may be, that of the good as well as great is much more rational- ly satisfactory. Your Lordship's character can be heightened by no testimony of mine. Yet 1 may be allowed to say, that the favours which I have received from you, have been rendered doubly valuable, both by the manner in which they have been conferred, and by the recollection of the hand that conferred them. I have the honour to be. My Lord, Your Lordship's much obliged and dutiful humble Servant, GEORGE STANLEY FABEK. StocIcton-7ipov-Ttes, June ^9, 1805. PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION, THE work, which is here offered to the Public, is founded iijwn the three following very simple princii-les. 1. to assign to each prophetic symbol its proper definii^ meaning, and never to vary from that meaning ; Q. To allow no interpretation of a prophecy to be valid, except the prophecy agree, in every particular, with the event to which it is supposed to relate ; S. And to deny, that any link of a chronological pro- phecy is capable of receiving its accomplishment in more than one event. If we examine the predictions of Daniel and St. John agreeably io these principles, we shall find, that two great enemies of the Gospel, Fopenj and Mohammedism, are described as commencing th^ir tyrannical career together at the beginning of a certain period which comprehends \lm years, and as perishing together at the end of it: that, towards the close of this period, a third power is in- troduced ; whose characteristic marks are a total disre- gard of all religion, an impious determination to do ac- cording to his will, and an open profession of absolute atheism, blended nevertheless with the worship of a cer- tain foreign god and other tutelary deities whom his fa- thers never knew : that this last power is likewise destin- ed to be destroyed at the end of ilie 1 ?60 years : that he will previously unite himself, for political reasons, ^^ ith Popery : that the stage of th?ir joint overthrew will be Palestine: and that, when the period of IQ,Q0 years h completed, the restoration of the Jews will commence. All these matters may, I think, be clearly deduced from prophecy : and the actual completion of many predictions relative to them aftbrd us ample warrant for concludijirr, that the rest will likewise be accomplished in God"s own good season. The present awful state of the world naturally leads all serious men to search tlie Scriptures : and the atten- tion of more than one modem writer has been laudably directed to the elucidation of those prophecies, which either have been fulfilled, or are now fulfilling. Those, who have considered the subject most at large, are, I be- lieve, Mr. Whitaker, Dr. Zouch, IMr. Kett, and Mr. Gal- loway.* Mr. Whitaker and Mr. Zouch, with some ex- ceptions, have undertaken to defend the scheme of in- teipretation adopted by Mr. Mede and Bp. Newton : while Mr. Kett and Mr. Galloway, though they diflfer from each oUier in many points, have avowedly attempt- ed to establish a new scheme of interpretation. 1. Although I am not able to assent to several of Mr. Whitaker's opinions, most sincerely can 1 recommend his Coviinentari) on the Revelation to the attention of eveiy protestant, particularly every English protestant. At the present juncture, when Popery once more begins to rear its hydra head, a full stateuitjut of its abominable princi- ples was })eculiarly seasonable. This has been most sa- tisfactorily executed by Mr. Whitaker : but he apj^ears to me at the same time io have exceeded his commission, in branding the Papacy with the title of Antichrist. Many indeed and wonderfully explicit are the prophecies, which describe the detestable cruelties and unholy superstitions of that great Apostacy ; which teach us the precise duration of its persecuting tyranny ; which foretell its union with rebellious Infidelity ; which point out both the place and manner of its destruction : but I have not yet been able to discover upon what scriptural irrounds the name of Antichrist has been so generally appliexl to it. St. John is the only inspired writer who uses the term ; and nothing that he says relative to it, affords us any warrant for coiiierring it upon the Papacy. " He is Antichrist, thatdenieth the Father and the Son :" the Chnrch of Borne never denied either the Father or • To these 1 miplit have added Archdeacon Woodhouse and Mr. Bicheno ; but 1 had not read tlieir \vritini?s at tlie time wlien tlie first edition of this work was publisiicd. In the present edition, those of Mr. Bicheno are occa- sionally animadverted upon in the notes : but the scheme of the Archdeacon possesses so much unity of design, that I found it more couvementto considei" it altogether apart in an appendix. 9 tlip Son : therefore the Church of Rome cannot bo tJie Antichrist intended by St. John. As for the identity of Antichrist and the little horn of the Roman beast, it seems to me to have been rather taken for granted, than proved. Valuable however as Mr. Whitaker's Commentary is in many respects, he is guilty of one inconsistency which must not be passed over unnoticed. While he asserts, that he gives no interpretation of a symbol but what may be justified by some text of Scripture, he verj^ un- warrantably explains the prophecies of the Apocalypse sometimes Jfgur a tive I i/ and sometimes literalli/. Thus, for instance, the elTusion oithe frst, the fourth, and the jifthy trials he interprets //^'«r«^/re/j/ ; and yet to the ef- fusion of the second und the third he affixes an absolutely literal meaning, supposing those two vials to describe a series of wars carried on both by sea and by la?id. Now it is obvious, that, if we interpret these predictions some- times Jigurafiveli/ and sometimes Uterallyy we involve them in the same indecision and uncertainty, as if we apply a sj^mbol sometimes to one thing and sometimes to another : for, if the mode of interpretation is in every particular instance to be left to the option of the com- mentator, who shall draw the line between the literal and the figurative prophecies of the Apocalypse ? The whole book, excepting those very few passages which are avowedly descriptive, must be understood either lite- rally throughout or figiirativeli/ throughout : otherwise it will be utterly impossible to ascertain the meaning de- signed to be conveyed. The whole of the present Dissertation was written, and the corrections of it were nearly completed, before I had perused Mr. Whitaker's former publication, intitled A general and connected view of the prophecies. I there found, what gave me no small satisiaction, that the mere force of evidence had led two writers, between whorn no communication had ever passed, to adopt the same opin- ion relative to the little horn of the Macedonian he-goat and the proper method of ascertaining the date of the X^QO years. Unconnected as we have been with each other, we have naturally treated the subject with some VOL, I. " '2 10 degree of difTerence ; and, while I assent in the general to Mr. VVhitakcr's opinions on these points, I feel myself compelled to protest against his idea, that any of the jiiimhcrs of Daniel and St. John may be considered as round mimbers. The perfect accuracy, with which some of them have been already filled up, alTords the best war- rant for believing that the rest will likewise be filled up with equal accuracy. Indeed the very notion of a round number is irreconcileable with that of a definite and spe- cijic number. Hence I think, that Mr. Whitaker's at- teinj>t to harmonize the number mentioned in the eighth chapter of Daniel, with the date which he rightly assigns to the 1^260 years, by adopting the reading of the Seven- ty, entirely tails of success, because the calculation pro- duces 2404 year Si instead of Q^iOO years y which it ought to have produced had it been founded upon just princi- ples, even were the reading of the Se\enty the genuine reading."* A similar train of ideas had once led me to adopt this very hypothesis of Mr. Whitaker ; but the same reason which forced me to erase it from my own work, forces me also to reject it in his. On the same grounds, his opinion, that the holy city mentioned in the etcventh chapter of the Revelation is the literal city of Jerusalem, \\'\\\ be found equally untenable, even inde- pendent of other objections to which it is liable. The taking of Jerusalem by the Persians in the year 1614, can never be made to synchronize with the delivering of the saints into the hand of the Papal little horn in the year C06 ; nor is it tome at least at all satisfactory to be told, that the nearest round number, which will include the whole time intervening from the year^li to theyear 1866, will be 1360.t Since the saints are to be given into the hand oithe little //o?7/ during the precise period of \^Q0 yeai^s, and since the holy city is to be trodden under foot by the Gentiles during the self-same period of 42 prophetic months ; the reign of the little horn and the treading of the holy city under foot must be exactly commensurate. Consequently, if the saints were lirsi given into the hand of the litcle horn in tht year 606. ♦ CenersU View, p. 272— 2r7. f l^'d. 11 ike holy city must have begun to be trodden 'under foot in that same year. But the literal Jerusalem did not then begin to be trodden under foot by the literal Gen- tiles!'^ Therefore the literal Jerusalem cannot be meant by the holy city ; nor the Christians of Jerusalem siir- rounded with the abominatiom of 3Iohamrnedism by the two, witnesses. Mr. Whitaker seems to allow that this prophecy may be understood in &. fgur alive sense, as it is by Bp. Newton, no less than in a literal one : I, on the other hand, will venture explicitly to assert, that it is incapable of any other than 2l figurative sense. In short, in the self-same year that the saints were first de- livered into the hand of the little horn, the mystic holy^ city began to be trodden under foot by a new race of idolaters, the mystic witnesses began to prophesy in sack- cloth, the mystic woman fled into the wilderness, and the ancient pagan Roman bead revived. So again: in the self-same year, at the termination of ^Z^^- 1360 days, that series of events will commence, by which the kingdom shall be given unto the saints, the power of the tittle horn shall be destroyed, the sanctuary shall be cleansed, and the beast shall be slain. These synchronisms must ever be kept in view : and, unless they be absolutely per- fect, they are in effect no synchronisms. A failure oijour years or of eight years, as in the two cases which have been last discussed, destroys a synchronism no less com- pletely than a failure of as many centuries. 9.. Dr. Zouch's fVor/c on Prophecy is liable to many of the same objections as the two works of Mr. Whit- aker : but it deserves the same commendation and at- tention from the protestant reader, on account of its se- vere though just censures of Popery. Differing as I do very essentially from Dr. Zouch in many points, I with pleasure acknowledge my obligation to him for the in- terpretation of the apocalyptic image of the beast, which I have adopted in the present work : an interpretation so simple, so natural, so perfectly according both with the text and with the event, so little liable to any rea- * In strictness of speech the literal Jerusalem bej^an to be trodden under foot Inn^ before, even in the year 70 ; so that Mr. Wliit.iker's scheme is untenal.'lc either wav. See Luke sxi. 24, which can h.ave no relation to Kev. -si. 2. sonable objection, that I cannot hut wonder how it came to be overlooked both by Mr. Mede, Sir Isaac Newton, and Bp. Newton. ]\Ir. Kelt's History the Interpreter of Prophecy^ and j\Ir. Gallowaj's Commentary on the lie'cclation, I have read with much attention : but I have risen from the perusal of them unconvinced. Both of these respect- able authors appear to me to have fallen into several considerable errors ; although the general idea, that 7nany receid events are foretold by the inspired writers, is, I think, well founded. o. Mr. Kctt has involved the beautifully simple, and chronologically accurate, prophecies of Daniel in much needless confusion, by his scheme of ascribing to the same prediction a primary and a secondary, and some- times even a three- fold and afour-foldy accomplishment. Had he more fully considered the nature of chronologi- cal prophecy, he would not have fallen into this mistake. Whatever may be the case with insulated predictions, it is physically impossible that a chronological one can admit of more than a single completion. The only difference between a connected jicries of chronological prepheciesy and a regular hisfory, is this : a scries of strictly chro- nological prophecies is a prospective detail of successive future events; a history is a retrospective detail of suc- cessive past events. As well therefore might we suppose, that, when a history relates 07;c circumstance, it ultimate- ly means another ; as expect to find, in a chronological prophecy, v/hat Mr. Kett terms double links of accom- plishment. The thing in both cases is equally impossi- ble. The very circumstance of a prophecy being a chronological one excludes every idea of a twofold completion. And, when it is further recollected, that Daniel more than once connects his predictions with certain specific numbers of years, it will appear yet more evidently, that Mr. Rett's system is perfectly untenable. 4. The preceding error cannot be charged upon Mr. Gailov;ay : but, although he escapes this fault, he is re- peatedly guilty of another ; I mean iJie want of a strict adherence to unity of symbolical interpretation. If a symbol may signify one thing in one part of a prophecy, 13 •and another thing in another part, there never can be even any approximation to certainty in explaining an hieroglyphical prediction. The whole must be mere vague conjecture : for a prophecy, delivered in symbols which admit of no specific definition, may safely bid de- fiance to the most elaborate efforts of the most acute commentator. This injudicious method of exposition has, I am persuaded, excited a greater degree of preju- dice against every attempt to explain the writings of Daniel and St. John, than any other cause whatsoever. It has given a handle to the ignorant and the irreligious to represent these portions of Scripture as altogether un- intelligible : whereas figurative language is undoubtedly as plain as any mere hteral language, provided only the symbols of which it is composed be accurately and de- finitely understood ; and for the right understanding of them Scripture itself furnishes a key. Besides the preceding general objections to the re- spective schemes of Mr. Kett and Mr. Galloway, 1 have many particular ones to their application of certain pro- phecies both of Daniel and St. John to the tremendous infidel power of France ; a power, which nevertheless I cannot refrain from esteeming the long expected Antichrist, But I will not anticipate the observations which will ap- pear with more propriety in the body of my work. For the present, suffice it to say, that I am not conscious of ever having been guilty of the worse than childish vanity of introducing a new exposition merely because it is a new one. The Scriptures contain subjects much too solemn to be trifled with : and a commentator upon the prophecies ought never to displace any interpreta- tion of his predecessors, without first assigning very weighty reasons for it. VVith regard to the 1260 prophetic days, I have fol- lowed the most usual interpretation, which supposes them to be 1260 natural or solar ijears, Mr. Fleming indeed is of opinion, that, although these prophetic days be doubtless 1260 years, yet they are 1260 years, each consisting of no more than o60 natural days ; because each great prophetic year contains, not ^Q^ years, but on\y 3(\0year^. Hence he argues, that the 1260 years. ]4 being years consisting of only 360 natural daijs each, arc in reality no more than 124'2 solar years ; and that they must be estimated as such in all computatims that are m^de respecting them.* Independent however of the conlusion introduced by such a mode of reckoning (for, would we be perfectly exact in it, we ought to attend both to the surplus of days above l/te 12 i-'S years,^ and to the hours and minutes by which the true solar year exceeds o65 days, J the Apocalypse itself, I think, aflords us a suflicient proof of its erroneousness. Many other numbers are mentioned in that mysterious book besides the 12160 years ; we must unavoidably therefore con- clude, that the same mode of reckoning, which is used in one case, must be used likewise in another. Now Mr. Fleming himself allows, compelled thereto by the exact accomplishment of the prediction, that tht five prophetic months of the Saracenic locusts are 150 natural yearsy not 150 years of no more than S60 days each ;% and Bp. Newton has admirably shewn from the event, that the prophetic knur, and day, and month, and year, al- lotted to the victories of the EuphraI.ean horsemen, are equivalent to 391 solar years and 15 days-, being the pe- riod comprehended between A. D. 1281 and A. D. 1672.^ Such then being the case, since both these sets of numbers are evidently to be computed by solar years, the number 1260 must, if we would preserve consisten- cy, be computed by solar years likewise. Consequently the 1260 prophetic days of Daniel and St. John are 126o complete svlar year Si not, as Mr. Fleming supposes, only 1242 i,olar years. • Fleming's Apoc. Key, p. 20, 21, 22. f \2(>0 years of 560 days each are equivalent to 1242 yeays and 270 days, 4 3600 270 1260 X 360=453600. =l24i 365 365 i Apoc Key, p. Z7, 38 $ Mr. Fleminf^ attemptt to reconcile this period with his own scliemc by computing' it from the rise of the Turknh empite to the takinff nf C<.itstantinople • but he forjjetb that the prophet directs us to compute it from the time when the four Sul tallies were prepared to be let loose against the Greek empire ; an ex- pression, which implies that they were already in existence, tliougli as yet botmd fa.st by the dispensations of Providence, previous to tlic commencement •>l"tlie period in question. See Apoc Key, p, 3?, 40. 15 To conclude : whatever may be the faults of the pre- sent work, they are exclusively my own. Had this, and my two former publications, been perused by the emi- nent characters to whom they are respectively inscribed, previous to their being sent to the press, they doubtless would have been much more perfect than they are : as it is, I alone am responsible for the errors which they may contain. Jan. SO, 1805. PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION WHEN t]ie first edition of this Work was pub- lished, we had not received intelligence of the disastrous termination of the campaign of 1805, at the battle of Austerlitz : noWy although one decisive victor}'- has been gained over the armies of Prussia, we are nevertheless in a state of somewhat similar uncertainty respecting the final issue of the present contest. I can therefore only again observe, as I then observed, that " the Christian cannot reasonably doubt, that the hand of God is stretch- ed forth over the earth in a peculiar and remarkable manner ; and that all things \\\\\ assuredly work together to fulfil those prophecies which yet remain unaccom- plished, and to prepare a way for the last tremendous manifestations of God's wrath." The Work, of which a second edition is now offered to the public, was wholly written in the year 1804. After it was written, and even while I was revising and correcting it for the press, so many important events oc- curred, that I soon found it an endless labour perpetually to alter the text : hence I adopted the plan of preserv- ing the text substantially the same as it was originallij written, and of introducing into additional notes any re- markable passing circumstances that seemed to throw fresh light on my subject. The same plan is still pur- sued in the present edition. Except where I have cor- rected some errors (of no very great moment so far as my main subject is concerned,) into which I have since seen reason to believe that I had fallen, the text remains the same as it stood in the year 1801.: and whatever matters of importance have occurred previous to my sending to the press, in June 180^ the revised copy from which this second edition has been printed, are all thrown into the notes. Yet so rapidly do great events succeed each other, that even this has not been sufficient 17 to bring the present edition perfectly down to the day of its publication : and it is only in a Preface that I have an opportunity of mentioning the formal resignation of the Roman C'arlovingian emperorship by the chief of the house of Austria, the entire dissolution of the Ger- ^ jnanic body, and the rapid formation of a new feudal empire subject to France under the title of the Rhenish confederacy .*' While the reader therefore is ret[uested to consider the body of the work as written in tJie yar 1804, he will find its proper date annexed to every note which has been subsequently added. Such, when the peculiar nature of rny subject is considered, a subject on which every day throws new light, was thought to be on the whole the best plan which I could adopt. Nothing is more favourable to the cause of truth thaii fair and open discussion. My work has l>een attacked , and I have answered the attack. As yet I have seen no reason to alter any of my main positions : however, both the attack and the reply are before the public. Though I am little inclined to be swayed entirely by mere au- thority, it would nevertheless argue an intolerable degree of presumption to slight with wayward petulance the; opinions of those, whose superiority of learning and tal- ents is acknowledged by all. Two of my positions, which were impugned with peculiar acrimony, were the application of Daniel'' s wilful king] to injidel France, svhich I conceived to be the great Antichrist of the last- days ; and the reference of the remarkable e.cpedition tigainst Palestine and Egypt ^Xi^of to the king of^ he nor thy but to this xvilful king. Yet in both these positions I have the satisfaction to say that I am supported by the Very high authority of the late Bp. Horsley. A letter, tvhich I received from him, contains the following pas- sage. " I entirely agree with you, that the latter part of the 11th chapter of Daniel (i. e. all that follows the 30th verse) has no sort of relation to Antiochus or any of the * In one of the last sheets which was sent to me previoufi to the impression -being struck off, I have had it in my power to notice the assembling' of tiie Jews by Buonaparte : but I have Caret'nlly avoided indulging myself in any speculations on this event. t Dan. xi. 3^39. * Dan. si. 40—45. VOL. I. 3 !8 Syrian kings. And the wilful kin.s; of the last ten verses I can iTnderstand of nothing but the great Antichrist of the last ages." Tliis alone is a sufTiciently explicit de- claration, tliat his Lordship conceived the wilful king to be the subject of all the last ten verses of the 1 1th chap- ter, and that he did not refer the si.v last of those ten verses to the king of the north, as Mr. Whitaker main- tains that we ought to do. If however the declaration contained in the Bishop's letter to me required any ex- planation, a most full explanation of it would be found in his Lordship's letter to Mr. King on Isaiah xviii. He there scruples not to avow his belief, that in the monstrous tyranny of infidel France, he beheld the rise of the Antichrist of the West, or at least of a principal and conspicuous branch of Antichrist: and to this An- tichrist thus interpreted, the Antichrist depicted in Dan. xi. 06 — 39, he unreservedly ascribes the whole expedi- tion into Palestine, foretold in Dan. xi. 40 — 45 ; adding, in perfect harmony with ver. 45, that he thinks there is ground for believing, as the early fathers believed, " that Palestine is the stage on which Antichrist, in the height of his inapiety, will perish."* Thus it appears, that his Lordship held the very opinion which drew upon me the censure of Mr. Whitaker. He supposed Daniel's wilful king to be the great Antichrist of the last ages ; lie supposed the great Antichrist of the last ages to be infidel France ; and he supposed, that the expedition into Palestine would be undertaken by the great Anti- christ or the wilful king, and consequently not by the kins: of the north. Nov. 24, I8O6. • See Kp. Horsley's Letter on I&alah svlii. p. 102, 105, 106, 107, 108, 8^, 87. £8, 98, lUJ, 104, 103, and see Uie citfttion from this letter in the second vol umc of tliC present work. CONTENTS. VOL. I. CHAP. L General statemejit of the subject. THE 1260 years cannot have any connection with the persecutions ^of piig.in Rome, p. 25. — They are the period of the doniinuncx of the great Apostacy, and of the reign of the two little horr.s, p. 27.—. They conipreheHd likewise towards their conclusion the tyranny of the Infidel king, who was destined to arise after the era of the Re- formation, p. 35. — At the end of the 126© years all these enemies of God will be destroyed, and the restoration of the Jews will com- mence, p. 36.— These matters are predicted in four of the prophecies of Daniel. 1, The dream of Nebuchadnezziu-. 2. The visior. of the four beasts. 3. The vision of the ram and the he~goat. 4. The latter end of the prophecy of the Scripture of trutl-, p. 36. — With these four prophecies the Apocalypse is closely connected, p. 46 This grand chronological prediction contains a history of the Church of Christ from the days of St. John to the end of the world, p. 47.— -It is divided into three successive periods of seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven vials, p. 48. — Under the three last trumpets the period of 1260 days is comprehended ; the final trumpet containing the seven vials, p. 49.— .This period is equal to the whole duration of the great two-fold Apostacy in its dominant state, p. 49 .—The History of the Apostacy is detailed in two distinct parallel prophetic lines, p. 50.. — The little book contains the peculiar history of the Western Apos- tacy under all the three woe-trumpets, p. SI. — .Under the last woe- trumpet Antichrist is fully revealed, p. 52. — This last woe-trumpet comprehends along with its seven vials two remarkable periods of God's wrath, the harvest and the vintage, p. 54 The harvest syn- chronizes with the three first vials; and the vintage with the last vial, p. 55.— After all the vials have been poured out, and the enemies of the Lord have been destroyed, the Millennium will commence, p. 56. — Points of correspondence between the prophecips of Daniel 4nd §t. John, p. 5,9. CHAP. IL On the symbolical language of Jirofihecy. One symbol docs not represent many different things, though one vhlng is frequently represented by many diilerent symbols, p. 62.— 20 Symbols typify at once both temporal and spiritual things, provided the matlers thustypificd havcaiiuituul relation and correspondence, p. 63. — Svn.bols may be reduced into various classes. — 1. Heaven, -with its suboi'dinate symbols, p. 64. — 2. Earth, witli its subordinate symbols, p. 65. — 3. A city, ^vith its subordinate symbols, p. 68. — 4. A woman, 1). 72. — 5. A vine, p. 73. — 6. A beast, vith its subordinate sytti" Dols, p. 73. CHAP. HI. Concerning' the scriptural fihrases of the latter day s^ the last days^and the ti7nc of the e7id. In the old Testament, the phrases of the latter days and the last days, are synonymous ; for the original expression, thus variously translated, is the end of days,Y)- 77. — ^he end of days denotes pri- marily any time yet to co?ne, but secondarily the period of the Millen^ 7U117H, p. 78. — In the new Testament, the last days, when not spoken of prophciically, signify, the ivhcle/u-riod of the Gospel disJiensa:io7iy p. 80. — But, when the latter days, and the last dtiys, are spoken of prophetically, tlien they bear two entirely distinct significations, p. 80. .—In this case, the laiu-rdays import fhereig7inf snperstiiion, which continues during the greater part of the Aposlacy : while the last days Tucan/Af rciff7i of Jlrhtisinand l7ifidelity, which openly commences un- der the lastwoe-trumpet towards the termination of the Aposiacy, p. 81. — The propriety of this distuiction appears from a survey of the dif- ferent prophecies professedly descriptive of the latter days and the last days, p. 82 ^Vhat we are to understand by the term Jntichrist^ p. ST.— The ti/ne of the end is the ter/ni/ia-ion of the 126G day ft ; and it apparently extends through tlie 75 years, which intervene between that termination and the commencement of the Millennium, being the period of God's great controversy with his enemies, p. 91. CHAP. IV. Concer7iing the tvjo first prophecies of Daniel^ and the little horn of the fourth beast. From the days of Nebuchadnezzar tc the commencement of the Millennium, there arc to l)c no more than four empires, universal &o far as the Church is concerned : the Babylonian ; the Medo-Per- bian ; the Macedonian ; and the Honmn, p. 98. — These are doubly symbolized by the difierent parts of a large human image, and i)y four distinct beasis, p. 98. — The last or Ronvan beast is described as hav- ing ten horns, and a little horn rising up among and behind them, p. py.: — The history of the little horn is not an epitome of the whole Jijstory of Antichrist, considered jts Papal, Moh^inimedan, and In- 21 CA.) T. 102— Nor is the little horn itself revolutionary France, p, 106 -On the contrary, it is the Papacy, p. 1 17.-Yet it cannot be the temnoi-al kingdom of the Papacy; but must be that spu-,tual kmg- dom of he Bishop of Rome, which, small as it originally was, grew at Leth into a catholic spiritual empire, symbolized by the second beS tie Apocalypse, p. I17.-It was to arise during the period that the Roman empire was divided into ten kingdoms, p. 11 9. -It wasto be harmless during the first part of its existence ; but. after the s^ts had been given by the secular power into its hand, it was Jo become an univei sal ecclesiastical tyrant, utterly offensive _m the eves orcod p 19.-At that period of their being thus given mto its hind, he 1260 days of the great Apostacy of the man of sin, con- sSei4d hi its dominant state, commenced,?. 1 20.~Exact correspon- dence of the character of the little horn with ^l^e character of the Papacy, p. 127.-The three horns, which were to be plucked up be- fore the little horn, are not the Greek sovereignty m Italy, the kmg- dom of the Lombards, and the western imperial authority in Italy, p. IS^lNeither are they the Exarchate of Ravenna, the kingdom of the Lombards, and the state of Rome, p. 1 32.-But they are the kmg- 1 o the Heruli, the kingdom of the Ostrogoths, and the kingdom o?The Lombards, p. 1 35.-The body of the foVr%^'^^^Tri44 - the whole Roman empire, both in the East and in the West, p. 44.- But the ten horns are to be sought for only m the ^Vest, p. 1 44 — FortheConstantinopolitan Emperor was the representative of he sixth head, and consequently cannot be esteemed one of the ten honfslile;ise,p.l45.-i.Theten horns are the ten kingdoms, into which the Empire was originally cUvided, p. 148. CHAP. V. Concernins the vision of the ram and the he-goat, and the little hom. of the he-goat. The ram symbolizes the same power as the bear in the preceding Vision ; and Uie he-goat, the same as the leopard ••thejam therefore is the Medo-Persian empire; and the he-goat, the Macedonian, p. 149.— The great horn of the he-goat is the imperial dynasty ot Alexander, p. 150.-His four horns are the four Greek kingdoms erected by Cassander, Lysimachus, Ptolemy, and Seleucus, p. 50.- The little horn of the he-goat is not Antiochus Epiphanes, p. 5 .— Neither is it the Roman power in Macedon and the Last, p. 151.— Nor is it a compound symbol, typifying at once Antiochus Epiphanes, the Roman power in the East, Mohammedism, and the infidel lepub- licof France, p. 158.-But it relates to Mohammedism alo^ie- because nothing, except the spiritual empire of Mohammed, cm - responds with it in every particular, local, circumstantial, and chi o- nolosricahp. 159.— The tyrannical reign of both the spiritual little horns, Papal and Mohannncdan, is to be dated from the same year ^06, p. 163.— The propriety of fixing upon this date snewn, both ^^2 from the circumstance of the saints having been deUvcred into the hand of the Pupal horn in this very year, and from its beinijthe only date which will make all the prophetic numbers of Daniel harmonize together, p. 164 — Date of the vision of the ram and the he-goat as- cei'tumed by a computation deduced from the year 606, p. 173. — The character of the little norn of the iie-goat perfectly corresponds with the character of Moaammcdism in every particular, p. 165. — Whence it is concluded, that it symbolizes Moharamedism aiui nothing but Mohammedism, p. 2 1 h CHAP VI. Concerning Daniels last vision, and the king tvho magnijied himself above every god. The first part of this prophecy is both unconnected with the period of the 1260 days, and has been so amply and satisfactorily explained by Bp. Newton, that it is impossible to add any new observations to those which he has already made, p. 212. — But the second pait is at- tended with considerable difliculties, p. 213. — What power did Daniel mean to describe under the character of tlie king, who vt'asto mag- nify himself above every god ? p. 213. — He is not a compound pow- er, including both the Eastern Emperors and Western Popes, p. 213, 216. — Neither is he a double type ; relating piimarily to the Papacy, and ultimately cither to Mohammedism or Infidelity, p. 214, 233. — What are we to understand by his disregarding the desire of womc» ? p. 225. — He cannot be the same power as the man of sin, p. 230 — The power, which he typifies, must be sought for after the Reforma- tion, as appears from the chronological series of events detailed by Daniel previous to the first mention of him, p. 221, 234.— It must likewise be sought for, as is manifest from the character of the king, in the last days of Atheism and Infidelity, p. 225. — The king however is not to be, like the mockers of the last days, any single individual, but a nation composed of individuals who openly profess the princi- ples of the mockers, p. 238. — This nation is revolutionary France, the long-predicted Antichrist, p. 2-'0. — The Atheism of France, p. 241. — Her worship, notwithstanding this Atlieism, of a foreign god and tutelary deities, p. 241. — In what manner she caused her foreign god, and the upholders of her tutelaiy deities, to rule over many, p. 243 — In what manner she honoured them with desirable things, p. 247. — In what m; nner she has divided the land among the upholders of her tutelary deities for a price, p. 248. — Although the principles of Antichrist were working even in the apostolic age, yet eventually the main cause of his success in propagating his blasphemous opinions ■was the corrujnion of the truth by Popery, p. 249. — It was predicted however, that some of those, who had clean escaped from them that live in error, should be deluded by the false teachers of the last days, p. 251. — This accordingly has hap])encd in various prolestant coun- tries, p. 251 — The possible objection, that the French have agaiu 93 Ci'ofessed themselves Christians, answered, p. 251. —1. The pstah- lislied religion in France is a mere political puppet, p. 251— 2. Th^ prophecies relative to the duration of the great dominant Apostacy, could not have been accomplisned, unless Antichrist had become the avoxved supporter of it, p. 252.-3. The prophecies, relative to the great events which are about to take place at the close of the 1260 years, could liOt have been exactly fulfilled, xmless Anticlirist, at some period or another of his existence, had actually lea,L-ued him- self with the Papacv,p. 253.— The wars of the infidel king with the kings of the North 'and the South are not to take place till the time of the end, and consequently are still future, p. 256.— Such 'ikewise is the case with his invasion of Palestine, and his destruction there, at the period of the restoration of the Jews, p. 267. CHAP VII. Of the four first aj[iocalytiti<: trwnJieiM. The seven apocalyptic trumpets may be divided into the four, which prepare the way for the revelation of the man of sin ; and the three which comprehend the whole history of the apostacy in its dominant state both in the East and in the West, and which are styled ivoe-trumpets, p. 270. — The silence at the opening of the seventh seal indicates the anxious expectation of the troubles about to be produced by the sounding of the trumpets, p. 271. — By the sounding of the four first trumpets, he, that letted or prevented the revelation of the man of sin, is taken out of the way, p. 273.— At the sounding of the first trumpet, the northern nations, under Alaric, Radagaisus, and Attila, overrvm the Roman empire, p. 273. — At the sounding of the second, Genseric king of the Vandals assaults the Western Em- pire from the South, and hurls it from its base, like a huge blazing mountain, p.278.— -At the sounding of the third, the line of the Westertx Cesars becomes extinct in the person of Augustulus, p. 280. — At the sounding of the fourth, the Roman Empire, considered as one great whole, experiences an eclipse of its poAver and splendor, by the down- fell of its Western half, p. 282. — Statement of the grounds on which this explanation of the four first trumpets is adopted in preference to that of Bp. Newton, p. 283. CHAP. vni. JOfthe three last aiiocalyfitic trumfiets^ or, as they are peculiarly stifl- ed^ the three woe-trumpets. The prophecy here divides itself into two distinct lines, treating severally of the Eastern and Western branches of the great Apos- tacy, p. 215 The first of the three W0Q-trumpet5 describes the com- -24 menccmcnt of the dominance of the two-fold Apostacy, p. 286. — '< The second represents it in the zenith of its power, till the primary and only partial manifestation of Antichrist, p. 286. — The third ex- hibits its downfall, displaying at the same tunc the multiplied horrors of the harvest and vintage of the Lord, or the uncontrolled reign of the atheistical king and his subsequent destruction along with the otliei- enemies of God, p. 286. CHAP. IX. Concerning the effects of the t%vo first woe-trumfiets in the East. At the sounding of the fifth trumpet, or the first woe-trumpet, in the East, the Apostate star Sergius opens the door of the bottomless pit, and lets out the impostor Mohammed with his Saracenic locusts, p. 287 At the sounding of the sixth trumpet, or the second woe- trumpet, the four Sultanies of the Turkish horsemen are loosed from the river Euphrates ; and, in due season, slay the third part of men, or subvert the Constantinopolitjin moijarchy, p. 291. DISSERTATION, ^c. CHAPTER I, General Statement of the Subject. IN the Prophecies of Daniel and St. John, fre- cjuent mention is made of a certain period, during which, for wise purposes, unknown to us, the enemies of God should be allowed to persecute and oppress his Church. This period is indifferently described as consisting of three times and a Jialf, 42 months, or 12.60 days : for if we reckon a time or a year to contain 360 daijs, 42 months^ or IQQO days, will, in that case, be exactly equal to three such years and a half. In. the language of pro- phecy however, as it is well known, natural years are iermeddays. Hence 1260 days mevLW I'^QO years : and, by a parity of reckoning, 42 months mean so many months of years ; and three years and a half the same number of years rf years. Consequently the period, during which the Church is to be oppressed by her enemies, amounts to 1260 nainral years. ^ * That days mean years, ma)% I tliink, be proved, so far as matters of this nature are capable of proof, from the writings even of Daniel and St John them- selves. We may venture to assume, tliat the same mode of computation, whicli is used by these writers in one passag'e, Ti'ill be used by them in all other passag'es; at least in all those, wbich arc marked by the common feature of treating", not of the fate of individuals, but of the fortune of communities Hence, if any of their numerical prophecies be fl^rertf/f/ accomplisiied, we shall thereby have a clue for ascertaining' the proper method of interpreting all the rest Upon these principles, when we find that Daniel's famous prophecy of tlie 70 7veeks has been proved by the event of our Lord's advent to speak of 70 weeks of years, or 490 years, we may infer that his three years and a half mean years of years, and that his 2300, 1290, and 1335, days, mean the savie number of natural years. In a similar manner, finding equally from the event that the ten days per- secution of the chvrch of Swi'rr.nme&n the ten years persecution carried on by ])io- cletian, that thefve tnonths ravages of the Saracenic Iccitsts mean 150 years, and that the year, the montr,the day, and the hour of the Eitpliratean Iiorseir^en mean 391 years and \ 5 days : v/e may thence infer, that St. John's three years and a hafnre years of years ,- liis 42 months, months of years,- and his 1260 days and bis three days and a half, the same ninnber of natural years. But we find that the three years and a half the 42 months, and the 1560 days, are all plainly descriptive of one and VOL. r. 4 '26 h()[h Daniel and St. Jolui have given us abundantly sullicient reasons for concluding, that this period of per- secution and trouble has no connexion with the per- secutions which f//e Church endured from the pagan Roman Emperors. The first of these prophets, in his the same period ; lie^nce we are circumstatitiall;/ led to conclude, even a priori, that they all denote the same space of time- If then we adopt the ancient mode of con^piiUng by years of ;3C0 days each, we shall find, that by such a mode of compulation three vcars ami a half exactly contain 42 -lUonfL^, or 1260 daus : hence we are numericaUtt led to conclude, that tlie three expressions are only different modes of describing one and the same period. The result of the whole is, that prophetic days mean years .- and tliat the three years and a half, the 42 months, and the 1260 days, are alike used to denote 12'JU natural years. I am aware that o year is sometimes used in its literal sense, as in Isaiah vli. 8 xxiii. "iT- Jerem. xxv. 11, 12, and even bv Daniel himself when predicting the punishment of the individual Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. iv. 25.) ; yet other in- stances may be brought, as well as those already adduced, to prove that day.i, in the language of prophecy, mean years. "After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, sliall ye bear your iniquitie*, even forty years." (Kumb. xiv. 34.) "Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel ti^^on it; according to the number of the days that thou .shalt lie upon it, thou shalt be.ir their iniquity. For 1 have laid upon thee the years of their in- iquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days : so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. And, when tliou liast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniqui- ty of tlie house of Judah forty days : I have appointed thee each day for a year." (Ezck. iv. 4, 5,6.) The only writers, that I have met with, who are unwilling to allow (he three timcn and a half to be the same period as the 1260 duys, are Mr. Burton and Mr. (i.alloM-ay. The former asserts, without a shadow of authority from Daniel, that eaih time comprehends 70 prophetic ^l^eelfs, or 490 years, mr rely be- cause the famous prophicy relative to the Messiah, includes a i)ciiod of 70 ■weeks ; (Dan. ix. 24.) and he dates ! to concede, andtoo feeble to assume ' Yet, within a few ^Lars, in , he year 606, did Boniface assume the title of Universal Bishop, in viriue of a grant from the •yrant Phocau." General r.nd conn-ected Vievr of 'she Proi^ijecic's, u. i'07, V.OS. vor,. T. .J ^4 iomles:i pit, nudtolet o\it ApcUyon and his j/guralive lo- (uslsj and we sliall liiul, in exact harmon}' with the pro{)hccv, that Mohammed ism is in realify a Sd't of cor- rupted nud apostate Ckristiaiiiii/. Like the divine reli- gion of the Messiah, it claims to be a revelation from God, at the hand of an inspired prophet, to call the world from the vanities of polytheism to the worship of the one true God, and to decUire authoritatively a state of future re- winds and punishments. Like the Gospel, it professes to build itself upon the law of Moses ; and allows the divine commission both of the Jewish legislator, and of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. But, borrow ing the pecu- liar tenet of the fallen star, it pronounces the Saviour of the world to be a mere nicn-tal, and makes void the whole of the Gospel; it contaminates, with licentious impurity, the doctrine of luture retribution; it presump- tuously thrusts the Messiah from his oHice; and, like its fellow apostacy Popery, it propagates and upholds itself by the sword. It appears, moreover, from a computation which will hereafter be made from t!ie numbers of Dan- iel, that, like Popery, it is to reign precisely IQ60 years ; and consequently, since doth these apostacies commenced Ui the same year, that they are both likewise to begin to be overthrown in the same year. Of this jieriod nearly twelve Qcniuries have already elapsed : we arc thccforo fast approaching to the Vnne of the end, and to the day of God's controversy with the nations. The prosperous i\\XTAi\o\\X\\2noi Mohammedism being the very same as the prosjierous duration oi Popery,'^ and each being con- sidered by the inspired a\ ritcrs as an apostacy or dejlec- tion frovi pure Christianity, we shall not wonder to find them botl) represented by the very same symbol of a little horn. Accoidingly, as we shall hereafter sec, Daniel de- scribes Poj'cry, or the wcstcru apostacy of the vian of sin, under the image of fl little horn springing up among ///r ten conternporarii horns of the Horn an beast; while h^ predicts the tyranny oi Mohammed isvi, or the eastern apos- tacy founded upon the anli-trinit;.rian doctrines of the fallen star, under the kindred image of another little horn • The leailcr will of course understand that 1 mean I'uf/erv proper lu go calh-n. or lite rci^n of the lilflf horn after (Ik saints hail been rciicii into his hanii. 35 arising out of the ruins of ojw of the four Greek horns of the yiacedonian 6easL* These t\\ o great enemies of the Gospel flourish during the whole space of the 1:260 2/ears comprehended under the three woe-trumpets ; a third enemy is predicted as arising tovviirds the close of those yecars, as continuing only a short space of time, and as perishing firmly leagued with Popery at the veri) time of the eiid, or after tiie termination of the \^ur stood up in its stead, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the na- tion, but not in his power. And at the end of their kingdom, 9 when the transgressors are come to theftdl, a king of fierce countenance, and teaching || dark senten- ces, shall stand up. And his power shall be mightj^? but not by his own power; and he shall destroy won- derfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the people of the holy ones. And through his policv also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart and he shall destroy many in negligent security .H He shall * See Bp Newton's Dissert, xv. t 'l"he Seventy read 240(J days, and certain copies mentioned by Jerome ?200 days. These varying numbers will be discussed hereafter. :j; So the i,xx and the Arabic version translate this passage, and I believe very rightly, as the context indeed sufficiently shows. It had just before been declared, that the length of the vision should be 2300 ■lays : it is no»v declared, that the vision should be to r/.e tivie of the end or to f.'jf tennination of those days : and it is immediately after declared, that it should be to tie appointed time of the end. All these seem to be only different modes of specifying: the same thing, namely, xol.at the angel cons dered to be the length fthe vision. % I'he meaning of the expression (if we may judge from the symbolical part of the prophecy.) is, not duri„g the latter perio ' of titeir kingdom, but after tlte ccmplete tennination rf their ki.igdom : that is to say, the king of fe.-ce countC' nance was to stand up, not ivhile they luereyet reignifig, but some time or other after they had ceased to reign. II The word, here used in the original, is in the Hiphil or causal form ; whence it will not signify under staiulmg as it is rendered in our English trans- lation, hwt cmisijiff to understand, or teaJiing ^ 1 conceive the phrase to mean, '• lie shall destroy many while in a state of negligent stcurity, and little suspecting that any attack would be made upon them from that quarter." vSee Parkhurst's Heb. Lex. Vox. T]^^.) The Sev- VOL. I. 6 also stand up against the prince of princes ; but he shall be broken without hand. And the Vision of the even- ing and the morning which was told, is true : wherefore shut thou up the Vision ; for it shall be for many days."* 4. The fourth is contained in tlw latter end of I lie elev- enth Chapter y and extends to the cow^lnsion of the Bonk. *' And after him (Antiochus Epiphanesf) arms shall stand i:p, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that niaketh desolate. And such as do wickedly ag.dnst the covenant he shall cause to dissemblej with fla>ieries: but the people, that do know their God, shall be strong and do exploits. And they that understr.nd among the people shall instruct many : yet they ^hall fall by the sword and by ilame, by captivity and by spoil, many days. Now, when they shall fall, they sh^U be hol;)en with a little help : but many shall cleave lo them with fl-atteries And some of them of understanding shall fall^ in purifying them, and in pu g- ing them, and in making them whitr, even to the time of the end : because it is yet unto thf time appointed And (after this second persecution of the men of understand- ing) a king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, enty and the Arabic translate the passajre " he shall destroy many by fraud," which conveys an idea nearly similar There is a passage in the book of Jud- ges, which is an excellent comment on these words of the pro])het. " Then the five men tleparted and came to Laish, and saw the people thil were there- in, hoiu they dwelt careless, after the manner f;f the Zidonians. quiet and se- oure. — And they came unto Laish, ur.to a people tliat were at quiet unJ secure .- and they smote them with the edfjc of the sw onl, and burnt the city with fire." (Judg-. xviii 7, 27.) The same idea occurs in the book t)f Proverbs : " Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth sccurrli/ by thee'" (Prov iii. 29. See also Ezek. xxxviii. 11.^ Tacitiis uses a similar mode of expression. " In latere Cliaucorum Cattorumque, (Iherusci nimiam ac marcentum diu pa- cem illacessiti nutrierunt : idque jucundious quam tutius fuit; quia inter impo- tentes ac validos /also quiescas." Tac. de mor tierm. C- 36. * Dan. viii. 3. f Sec sir Isaac Newton's Observ. on Dan. c 12. p. 188, 189. ^ The Arabic version and the i.xx read this verb plurally ; and I firmly be- lievf that .such is tlie proper reading, for the Jioman arms are here spoken of. Hence, as it is said, they, (tlie arms) shall pollute, they shall take away, titcy shall place ; so it seems to have been likewise originally said, tliey shall cause to dit- scmhle. § That is perish. The word used here is tlie same as that which occurs im- mediately above, when the men of under atandiv^ are said to fall by the sword and by flame. 45 and shall speak marvellous things against the God of (rods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accom- plished: for that, that is determined, shall be done. Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor (him who is) tlie desire of women,=* nor regard any god : for he shall magnify himself above them all. Yet, when he is established (in power,) he shall honour tutelary gods together v/ith a godf ; even, together with a god whom his fathers knew not, he shall honour them with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and desirable things : and he shall practise! (prosperously). Unto the upholders of his tutelary gods,5i together with the foreign god whom he shall acknowledge, he shall multiply glo- ry : and he shall cause them to rule over many : and he shall divide the land (among them, selling it) for a price. And at the time of the end a king of the South s' all butt at him ; and a king of the North shall come against * Such.I ara conTinced, is the proper translation of the phrase D>Uf2 mOIT. It means, not the Jesh-e of women by others, or the wish to have ijomen,- but, on the contrary, that -which wotnen themselves desired to have. This point will be discussed at large hereafter. t " Whereas the preposition 7 in TOVh is usually neglected, I express the preposition ^, and construe God and Mahuzzitn apart as two ; mz. To or tO' pether with, God he shall honour Mahuzzim. For the preposition 7 is made of vKi and signifies the same with it, namely an addition or adjoining of things, ad, juxta, apud, to. besides, together with ; as Lev. xviii. 18. Thou shalt not take a wife to her sister HDnK ^K, that is, together with her sister." (Mede's Wciks Book ni. Apostacy of the latter times. Part I. Chap. 16.) Mr. Mede suppo- ses the foreign god adored along with the Mahuzzimio be Chri^! ,- and render* the passage "together with God he shall honour Mahuzzim " The foreign god however, venerated by the king, certainly cannot be C/zrwf, both because the prophet had just before declared, that the king should speak mar\ ellous things against the God of gods ; and because, as we shall hereafter see, he was spe- cially to reject the worship of Christ, here represented as the desii e of women. or wives, as Haggai styles him the Desire of all natians. On tliese grounds, I render the passage " together with a god he shall honour Mahuzzim," rather than " together with God he shall honour Mahuzzim." J *• Faciet, id est, mire succedet quicquid agit." (Calv apud Pol. Syn i» loc ) " It cast down the truth to the ground, and it practised and prospered." (Dan. viii V2.) The same woid is used in the original in both these passages. See also Rev. xiii 5, and Bishop Newton's remarks upon the word 7rot»icr«i in his DissertHticn upon that Chapter. § " D'lya njfDOV, cu.todibus Maozim, ex 1^3— Liquet ex verbo OVU/fSn, domin lis faciet eos, notari in vocabulo ♦Uf3Dj6tr*ona.j, non tniinitiones.^* (Hou- bigant in loc ».itcd b) Bp. Newton.) The Bishop himself considers the wocd to mean defrnuers. supporters, or champiors: and these champions he supposes to be the popish /».' iests and incnks. Though I entirety differ from his Lordship in the inlerpretcition of the prophecy, and though I va unable to discover in it an^ all"sion to Popery, yet I think him perfectly right in his translation of the word in question. 44 Jiim like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, ana many shi'is. Yet he shall enter into the countries, and sh;dl overflow, and pass over, and shall enter into th:^ gloiious land, and many countries shall be over- thfown : but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edora, and Moah, and the chief of the children of Am- mon. He shall stretch forih his hand also upon the coil itries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. But he shall ha\'e pou er over the treasures of gold and silver, and overall the precious things of Egypt : and the Lybi- ans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. And tidings out of the F'.ast and out of the North shall trouble him: therefore he shailgofoith with great fury to destroy, and to devote many to utter destruction under the pretext of religion.* And he sh;dl plant the cunains of his pavil- ions between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end and none shall help him. And at that time shall Michael stand up, th? great prince which standeth up for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to hat same time : and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake; some to ever- lasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that unrferstandf shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righte- ousness as the stars for ever and ever. But thou, Dan- iel, shut up the words, and Feal the book, even to the tiirie of the end: many shall run to and fro, and know- ledge shall be increased. Then I Daniel looked ; and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, r.nd the other oji that side of the bank of the river. And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was above the waters of the river, l.^ntil how long shall br the end of the wonders! And 1 heard ho man plothed in linen, which was above the waters ol the ri- ver ; and ho held up his right hand and his left l)and unto heaven, and swear by him that li\eth lor ever, that it ♦ Heb Dnnrv. t The per»ons mentioned above Chap. xi. 33, 35. 45 shall be until a time, and times, and a Iialf; and when he shall have finished to scatter the [iower of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. And I heard, but I understood not : then said I, O my Lord, what is the end of these things ? x\nd he said, Go thy way, Dan- iel ; for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried ; but the wirked shall do wici^edly; and none of the wicked shall understand : but the wise shall under- stand. And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh deso- late set up, there shall be computed a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he that waiteth, and Cometh to a thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. But go thou thy way till the end be ; for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot, at the end of the days."* These Jour prophecies of Daniel-, when the former part of the last of them is added to it, extend from his own time to the time of the end., or the termination of the 1260 days — In the first of them he gives only the tem- poral history of the world, bringing it down however to the spiritual victories of tJie stone^ and the triumphant reign of the rnomitain — In the second, he gives the same history of the world, under a different set of symbols ; further introducing a power y not mentioned before, under the denomination of a little horn-, into whose hand the saints of the Most High were to be delivered diiring the space of a time and times and the dividing of a time, or three prophetic years and a half-^ln the third, he gives only a partial history of the world ; totally omitting the first and the fourth great beasts or pagan empire^, and describing another wicked power, under the kindred sym- bol of a second Utile horn, which was to come forth out of the dominions of the Macedonian hegoat, but at the last end, or after the termination, of his kingdom. He moreover instructs us, that the length of the vision, in- cluding the exploits of the second little horn, should be Q300 days ; or, according to the reading of the Seventy, 2400 days; or, according to another reading mentioned * Dan. xl 31—45. xii 1 — 13. The beginning' of the last four prophecies I have omitted, as having no immediate connection witli my subject. 46 by Jerome, Q^OO dnys — In the fourth prnphen/, after de- tailing the fortunes of the Persian and Gr^ rk empif s, after noticing the Roman conquests in the East, and after predicting th-' destruction of Jerusalem, the persecutions of the primitive Christians, the conversion of the Empire under Constantine, the declension of real piety, and the second persecutions of the reformers under Popery : after he has foretold all these particulars in regular chronolo- gical succession, lie introduces, towards the close of this his last prophecy, a third power, under the title of a king or Idnndoyriy describing it in such a manner as to lead us to conclude that it is the Antichrist predicted by St. John. While the tyranny of this monster is at the height, but at some indefinite period after its developement,* he teaches us, that the great work oi *he redoraiion of the Jervs shall commence. He adds, that to the end of the w^nders it shall he three pmpheiic years and a half or 1^60 prophetic daps ; and that the wholef of them shall not be finished, till God has ceased to scatter his ancient people, or, in other words, till he has begun to restore them. He next informs us, that from the taking away of the daily sacrifce, and the setting up of the abomination 9 f desolation y there shall be 1290 days, which is exac'ly SO days more than the former number ; but he does not tell us what particular event will take place at that era. And he lastly pronounces a blessing upon hirri, who should wait and come to a third number', or 1335 days: which is 15 days longer than the first member, and 45 days longer than the second number. * The wars oi the power here predicted, which terminate in his destruction, Daniel places at t]u thne of the . rui ,- consequently the rise of the fiover must be expected before the time of the end, though after the Reformation. Compare Dan \\. Si, S6 with Vi-r 40. f That is to say the luho/e of the bonders comprshended viithin the space tf the 1260 u(trs These wonders tlierefore do not include the overtlirow of the Ro- tniin hvasty of the two little horns, and of the viifU king, whicii lakes place after the expiration of those years : still less do they include the resurrection of the just and the unjust, predicted in Dan xii 2- Very apposite is the rema k of Bp- Newton, that the beitst is not so much slain exactly at the end of the 1 60 yeais, as that the judgments of God then begin to gnfjrth against him "Tic \ -GO years of the reign (rf tk, beast I suppose, end with the 1 ()0 j^ears of the •witnesses pn)phesying in sackcloth : and now the destinefl lime is come foi 'he judf^ments of dod to ov>Tlake him : for, as he might exist bt fore t t I 60 yea s began, so lie may exist UkewiM.- after ihey are fini jhed, in order to be made ai» eminent example of divine justice. ' Dissert, xxvi. 47 With the latter part of these fovr prophecies of Daniel, (he revelation of St. John is immediately connected, be- m yea s When the seventh viai is com- pletely exhausted, the joyftd part of the seventh trumtet commences Sec Rev. xi 1 .' — 19; where, for the consolation of the Churcn, the order of events is inverted, and the joyful part of the seventh trumpet spoken of before its ixoeful part. See Bp Newton's Dissert in loc- + Dr Hammond and Mr Burton stranpely apply the three ikocs to the death of our Jiord, the sacking of Jerusalem by Titus, s»nd its Jinal destruction by Adrian. Till- notion is so utterly irreconcileable with the whole chronology of the Apocalypse, particularly that part of it which relates to the r260 days ; and it is moreover so perfectly incongruous with tlieprophf;ti<' description of the three r-r.cs, that I cannot refrain from expressin;:: my wonder that it should ever have been seriously adopted. What resemblance can be discovered between the propliecy contained in Uev ix l — 1 ?, which treats ofthcjirst inoe, and the death of Christ with its immediate consequences, I cannot imagine : and I am as lit- tle able to discover any siniilarity between the second nioe, described in Rev. JX. 13 — 21. an't the sacking of Jerusaiepi by Titus. As for the third icoc, which brings us through \\.i seven vials to the end of the present order of things, lu>\v can itha*. c any connection with the destruction of Jeru^aitm by Mrian which happened many centuries ago? When Mr Burton asserted, that fiuo ojthe •n-ocs were ))ast in St. John's time, because we read, " The second woe is past, behold the third cometh quickly ; (Rev xi 14.) he surely must have overlook- ed the denunciation of the angel, "Woe, woe, woe, to ".he inli:\biters of the caith by reason oi the other voices of the trumpets of the three angels, vchfh tire yet to sound" (Rev. viii 13) In fact Mr Burton ought to have known, th.it St. John describes an event as past, when he has advanced beyond ii in the chronological order of his propliecy Jle docs not mean to intimate b\ the expression, that the event had lit<-rally taken place in his own days hut tliat lie was about to announce another event which should succeed m joint of lime the event Ijbt predicted Hammond's Par.iphrysi^ on the NVw Test Fol. y06. Clarion's Essay on llic numbers of Daniel and St. Julin, p. 104 — 107. 61 commencement of the first woe-t7Uimpety the Apocal3^pse branches out liito two distinct concurrent lines of pro- phecy. In the ninth chapter ot the Revelation, the history of the two first periods of the eastern branch of the Apes- tacy is detailed, under the two first of the three woe-trinn- pets, separately from the corresponding' periods of the 7ves em branch : and afterwards the ivhole conteinporane- oits liistory of the we tern branch, under atl the three wot-tnmipetSy is likewise separately detailed, in order to prevent confusion, in what St. John terms a little book or codicil to the larger general book of the whole Apoca- li/f^se. This little hok contains the eleventh, tweljih, thi. teenthy and fourteenth chapters of the Revelation : and, in point of chronology, all these chapters run paral- lel to each other, relating severally, though with some vari ty of circumstances, to the same period and the same extents ; so as to form jointly a complete history of the western Apostacy, and of .11 the principal actors in it. That the chapters of the little book run parallel, and not successive, to each other, is manifest from the express declaration of the three first of them. All these repre- sent themselves as describing one and the same period, namely, that of the 1^60 years : consequently, if they describe the same period, they must necessarily run pa- rallel to each other.* llie last chapter of the little bonk does not indeed specifically make any such declaration respecting itself ; but its contents, as we shall hereafter see, afford a sufficient degree of internal evidence to prove that it likewise relates to the period of 1^60 years, and therefore that it runs parallel to its three predecessors. 1. The first of the four chapters describes the desolate prophesying of the witnesses, s^n&the treading under foot , of the holy city by a new race of gentiles, differing from their heathen predecessors only in name, during the space of 1260 days : predicting, in its ISih. verse, the primary * It may not be improper to observe, that the third chapter of the little book, vr)\ic]\ Answers to the thirteenth chapter &i the lievelation, ou.^ht to have been divided into ttuo chapters, llie division taking place at the e'evcnfh verse. The second apocalyptic beast is contemporary, during the whole period of liis exis- tence, with the first ,- consequent!)- the latter part of the thirteenth chapter, com- mencing with the eltiver.th ilerse, run.', parallel witli ilie former part oftlie same chapter Such being the ci\se, tlie contents of r//t little h?': vreu^Jl ^3 more. clearly arranged, if this chanter v\'erc broken into tvo. &2 aod only partial raauifestatioii of JnlichrisLy when it is declared that the second iioe is past ; and announcing, in its \otli verse, the sounding of i/ic stveuth Irumpet or th^ t/it'rd noe, at the lirst blast of which he is fully revealed. 2. The second shews us, who was the prime moV( r of the persecution carried on against t/ie si/w6olical nv?nan, or the true Churchy during the appointed {)eriod of the I'iGO dai/s. 3. The third reveals to us the political character and history of ihe sevai-headed and tcn-lwrned beast, who was to wage war with the saints for the space of 42 months or 1260 daijs i and describes hkewise the form and actions of his instigator and assoc'iiite the two horned-6easty who is elsewhei a styled ihe false prophet.*' These tivo beasts acting in concert together, tread the holij ctij under foot 42 vionths ; and persecute the my tic woman and her off- sprini^y or the two witnessess of Christ w ho are his true proplieiSy during the same period of V2QiOdays. 4. The fourth describes the internal state of the true Church throughout the prevalence of the western Apos- iacy ; predicts the Reformation ; and divides some of the most pr ominent events of the seventh trumpets which are detailed hereafter in the larger book under the seven viah\ into two grand classes, the harvest and the vintage of God's wrath, separated from each other by an indefinite peiiod of time ; teaching moreover, that ihe wine-Press shall be trodden in a certain country, the space of whicU extends l60() furlongs. It seems, as if St. John, when he received the little hook from the haiul of tlx' angel, imagined that it would contain the full and exclusive history of the third and last woe-trumpet : and such a supj)osition was not unnatural, for he had already heard the two first woe- trumpets sound, before the angel gave him tlie book. We must observe however, that, although the secoiui ivue-trumpet had begun to sound, the prophet had not as yet received any intimation that the second woe was past. The angel therelore, to prevent the possibility of any such mistake, solemnly swears by the Almighty, that " the time (of the last woe^ shall not be yet, but in the • Ucv. xii. 20. 63 days of the voice of the seventh angel," or the last of the three angels who bore the three not-tni7)cpets, '' w];en lie shall begin to sound, and when the mystery of God shall be about finishing."^ Hence, when St. John was eaf^erly proceeding to wile the history of the seven thun- ders, which are apparently the san^c as the severi vials comprehended under the last woe-tnajipet,\ he hearl a voice from heaven arresting his progress and conuaand- ing him to *' seal up those things which the seven thun- ders uttered, and to write them not."} The reason of this is evident : they were not yet to come to pass, for the prophet had still to detail the events contained un- der the two first woe-trumpets, so far as they respected the western branch of the Aposiaci/, the peculiar history of which the angel was now presenting him with in the Utile book. He had still to " prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings ;"$ tlie beast, when he commenced his new term of existence during the ^^ months, being no longer, as throughout his • Rev. X. 6, 7. Such I conceive to be the proper translation of the passag'e. The angel does not swear, that time shall be no '.onger. biiS that the time, name- ly oitlie third woe, shall not be yet vSee Bp. Newton's Dissert on this chapter.) So again the aorist teXectSu ought not here to be translated shouul be finished, but should be about finishing, or shotdd draw near to its completion. It is a mode of expression exactly analogous to that usedby the prophet in'Rev xi. ": where the active subjunctive aorist TEXso-wa* ought, in a similar manner, to be trans- lated, as Mr. Mede justly observes, they shall be about finishing, not tliti shall have finished. f Mr. Whitaker thinks, that the seven thunders are the seven crusades under- taken for the purpose of delivering Palestine from the hands of the Infidels ; and that St John was forbidden to write them, because f/;e restoration of the Jews was not to take place till the seventh angel had sounded (Comment on Rev p. 176 et infra ) Vitringa is of the same opinion- But, since it is ex- pressly declared, that the time of the seven thunders should not be yet, but in the davs of the \o\ce oi the seventh angel ; and since the blast of the seventh trumpet produces the effusion of the »eten vials : it appears to me much more probable, that the sevi^n thunders are in effect tlie same as the seven vials. Both Mr Mede and Bp. Newton censure those, who attempt to explain the seven thunders, on the ground that the angel charged St John to seal tliem up and to write them not. This censure I cannot but tliink a little unreasonable : for tfie scaling up of the thunders, and the -.i"-iting them not, does not mean, that they were never to be understood ; bat simply, that the events, predicted under them, were not then to be written, but were to be reserved for afriure part of the Apocalypse, namely that which treats of the seventh trmnpet. Hence the angel asserts, that tlieir time shall not be yt;t, but in the days of tlie voice of the seventh angel. When he began to sound, then they should begin to be un- derstood ; till then they should be sealed up. See Dan. xii. 9. + Rev. X. 4. §— " the beast,'that was, and is not, and yet is-" (Rev. xvii. 8.) More will be said upon tfds revival of the beast bereaiter. 54 ancient term of existence,* one great undivided pnna'y but ha\iiig now, under the prophecy of t/ie little bo«k, put fortli te^: d'fferent horns, each bearing a separate and independent crown.f He had still therefore to prophesy again ; or a second time to go over the same period in the West, that ho had already gone over in the East. Hence, although the contents of the little book extend to the very terminalion of the l^GOdai/s, as St. J )hn re- peatedly declares, yet they peculiarly detail the efiects of the twn first ivoe-trumpets. The sounding of the third n'oe-lr2impet accoidingly, which brings us down to the very end of those days, is simply mentioned in the little book; and an intimation is briefly given, that toward the close of tiie IQ60 days the harvest and the viiitage of God's wrath should be gathered in : for the particular account of the calamities, which the concluding trumpet was about to produce, is reser\ed for the pouring out of the seven vials, and for the subsequent chapters more largely explanatory of the efiects of the last vial. Having finished the contents of the little book, which relates the history of the western branch of the Apostacy chiefly under the two first woe-trumpets, though without excluding the third woe-trumpet, the prophet returns to the larger book which contains the general history of the Church, in order that he may fully detail the con- sequences of the sounding of the last woe-trumpet. This concluding trumpet aflects both the East and the West : and it conducts us, through the two grand epochs of the liarvest and the vintage, and through the diflcrent stages of its seven Vicds, to the very time of the end, to the destruction of the two-fold Apostacy, to the com- plete overthrow of Antichrist, and to the commencement of that happy period, when all the kingdoms of the world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. Hence we find, that, from the great variety of important matter which it contains, a very considerable portion of the Apocalypse is exclusively devoted to it. This poition includes the fifteenth, the sixteenth, the seventeenth, the eightenith, and the nineteenth, chapters ; all of which constitute jointly one continued prophecy • Rev. X. 11. t^ev. xiii. 1 55 iof the events comprehended under the third woe-tntin- pet — T\\e fifteevtii c\\a.\iiev \s a kind of ivtroductory pre- face to the pouring out of the Viah-, in order that this Vmal display of God's wrath against his impenitent and irreclaimable enemies may be described with the greater majesty — The sixtteMh chapter contains a summary and distinct account of the miseries, brought upon mankind by the atheistical principles of AntuhrlsU during the pe- riod of the Jis^urative harvest ; of the events vhich will intervene between tlie harvest and the vintage ; and of the earthquake^ during the period of the vntage, by which the great city will be divided into three parts, when '* Babylon will come in remembrance before God to gi e unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath." These various events are represented as taking place in consequence of the successive pouring out of seven Vials : the three former of which synchronize, I apprehend, with the harvest of God's wrath : and the last, with the vintage ; while the remaining three are poured out between the two grand periods of the harvest and the vintage-, and relate to certain intermediate events — The three following chapters, namely, the seve?iieenthf the eighteenth, and the nineteenth, give a full and explicit account of the vintage, which synchronizes, as I have just observed, with the last Vial. The events of the vintage are the division of the great city into three parts, men- tioned in the sixteenth chapter, immediately upon the pouring out of the last Vial ; the subversion of the mys- tic Babylon ; and the total overthrow of the confederacy of the beast, the false prophet, and the kings of the Ro- man or Papal earth, in the battle oj Armageddon. The confederacy itself will vnconsciously be gathered to the place of its destruction by the secret diabolical influence of ihree unclean spirits; but this will physically be brought about by the military despotism exercised un- der the fourth Vial, by the subversion of the Ottoinan empire imder the sixth Vial, and by the political earth- quake at the beginning c^' the effusion of the seventh Vial, which divides the great city, or the Latin empire, into three parts. All the events of the vin'age or the last Via! will hap- 50 pen at the lime of the endy or at the termination of the 1Q60 jjears.* ^^.v^/c/^mY himself will then perish, united as at present, contrary to every expectation at his origi- nal developement, with the false Romish prophet; for, accoiding to the sure word of Scripture, one fate awaits them both in the region hitmeen (no seas near the glo- rious hob) mountain, in the covntry ivhich extends 1600 furlongs, in the valley of Megtddn.\ Then will the ful- ness of the Gentiles be come in : then will the wnie-press of God's wrath begin to be trodden in the valley of concision :J then will the great controversy of Jehovah Tvith the nations commence. At the beginning of this time of unexampled trouble, that is to say, at the expiration oi the 1260 years, the Almighty will put forth his hand to bring back his ancient pf ople the Jews to the country of their fathers : and, when that is accomplished, and when Antichrist is over- * Mr. Mede believes, like myself, that the seventh vial will begin to be pour- ed out exactly at the termination of the 1260 years : for he supposes, that f Palestine, the length of which country extends 1600 Jewish 7?i«/« or stadia. The subject will be discussed at large hereafter. Mr Mede very justly re- marks, that the treading of the-Min^-press at t/u- period of the symbolical vintage is ihe same jiS the ffreat battle of ^Irmageddon under the cast vial / r\h\ for this plain reason : the beast, tne false prophet, and tlicir confederate, cannot expe- ricncc t-wo 'Inal overiiirows. Tlie vintage however, predicted in the little book, is rppre.senled as being the last event that takes place in that book : but the littU book reaches to the end of the 1J60 years, and indeed in its first and last chaptei 8 cxti nds beyond iW. end of those years ; therefore the vintage must t;ike place after tlie end of tin 1 .GO yc.rs. Hence it must necessarily be the same as tlie b.ttle of.lrmagrddon ,- which is tiie last event of the last vial, and conse- quently tak s lace nftcr the end of the 1260 years likewise. Scc Mcde's Com mcnt Apoc. in Vindcmiam. 4^ Joel iii. 14. 57 thrown, the lost ten tribes of Israel will likewise be re^ sto' ed, and will henceforth form only one people with Judoh. Then will the first resurrection take place, and the Milleimiwn will commence. That there will be a preternatural manifestation of the Messiah at this event ful period, we have, I think with Mr. Mede, reason to expect.* But, whether the first resurrection mentioned hy St. John as taking place before the Millemiiinn, and the coniimied reign of Christ with his saints vpon earth during tlie Millennium, are to be understood in a literal or in a figurative sense, time alone can determine.f Such "secret things," as unaccomplished pro})hecies, " belong imto the Lord our God;" and it is a vain waste of time to weary ourselves with conjectures resjiccting the Irrecise mode of their accomplishment. Upon these points, when we go beyond what is written, we exceed our commission : and it has almost invariably been found, that the commentator, who attempted to shew how a prophecy was about to be fulfilh d, was, by Ihe event, convicted of error. We may safely and positively de- clare what will come to pass, and we may even say liow it will come to pass, so long as we resolutely confine our- selves to the explicit declarations of Scripture : but to point out the inanner in which an event will be accom- • This point is discussed at larj^e in a Work which T am now preparing- for the press on the restoration of Israel and the overthrow of the Antichristian con- federacy. f Mr Mede strongly maintains, that the first resurrection will be a literal re' surrection of the martyrs. I confess that his arguments rather silence me, than convince me. The -esurrection is not unfrequently used in Scripture to typify the political resurrection of a nation or comtnuniti/. Should such be the meaninjj of the apocalypticfirst resurrection, it will simply denote that the saints of God.long oppressed by the Papacy, shall ultimately be raised up to political power and influence, agreeably to the literal predictions both of Daniel and St. John (Dan. vii. 27 Rev xx 4. 6 ) To this interpretation however, which I could -cish to adopt, Mr. Mede urges objections not very easy to be answered. (See a cu- rious discussion of this point in his Works Book iv. Epist. ?0 ) Abp. Tillot- son is inclined to understand the reign of Christ in a spiritual sense. " Though I see no sufficient grounds from Scripture to believe the persona! reign of Christ upon earth for a thousand years: yet it seems to be not improbable, that some time before the end of the world, the glorious kingdom of Cluist. I mean the prevalency of the pure Christian religion, should be of as long a continu- ance, as the reign of Mohammed and Antichrist have been, both of which have now lasted about a thousand years." (Serm. Aol x p \77 ) The rea- der will find the question, IVhether the first apocalyptic resw rection ov^ht to be •nndentood figuratively or literally, very well discussed in Lowman's Paraphrase on Rev XX. I dare not give an opinion on the subject. VOL. J. § 58 })lished, any further than the word of God hath repealed the manner oj ity is to pry too curiously into what he bath purposely concCcaled, and to aim at becoming pro- plat s\n9>{c2ii\ of coiiteu ting ourselves with being humble and fallible expositors of prophecy. What the Bible hath declared, that we may without hesitation declare : beyond this, all is mere vague conjecture. It was very wisely remarked by Sir Isaac Newton, that " the folly of interpreters has been to fortell times and things by the Apocalypse, as if God designed to make them prophets. By this rashness they have not only exposed themselves, but brought the prophecy also into contempt. The de- sign of God was much otherwise. He gave this and the prophecies of the Old Testament, not to gratify men's curiosities by enabling them to foreknow things, but that after they were fulfilled they might be interpreted by the event, and his own Providence, not the interpre- ter's, be then manifested thereby to the world. For the event of things, jiredicted many ages before, will then be a convincing argument, that the world is governed by Providence." May I add, without the imputation of vanity, in the words of the same great and good man ? *' Amongst the interpreters of the last age there is scarce one of note u ho hath not made some discovery worth knowing : and thence I seem to gather, that God is about opening these mysteries. The success of others put me upon considering it ; and, if I have done any thing which may be useful to following writers, I have my design."* At the close of the Millemuiun^ Satan will again be let loose to deceive the nations : when the last confederacy against the Churchy which this world shall ever behold, will be formed by certain enemies of the Messiah, whom both St. John and Ezekiel concur in denominating Gog and Mag g.^ Upon this occasion, God will specially interfere in behalf of his people. While the enemies of the saints arc encompassing the cam}) and the Ijcloved city, fire will come down from heaven and devour them. Their great instigator thr devil will then be finally cast into the lake of lire and l)rinistone, to which t'ie beast * Obscrv on tlic Apocalypse, p 251, '2'2, '~J3. f Ucv. XX. 8. liztk. xxxviii. XXSix. The two first "Woe-trumpets. 59 and the false prophet had already beeii consigned at the commencement of tlie tlwnsnvd years : and fhe seco ul, OY general resurrection will take place. The Aj)ocalypse triumphantly concludes with a figurative description of the happiness of the pious. The following scheme will shew, at one point of view, the manner in which I arrange that part of the Apoca- lypse, which treats of the 1260 daysy under the three successive periods of the woe-iriimpeis. Rev. IX. CHistory of the Eastern Apostacy un- ^der the tivojirst -woe-trumpets. Introduction to tJte little book. CoiUemporary history of th Western \ Aposta y under the t-wo frstwoe-tritni- i pets, and to the endof tf.e third ,- \ The llltle the particular events of the third / hook, however are reserved for the subject \ of the foUowing prophecy. / C Introduction to the pouring out of i^the f'ials. rVial 1. ) The harvest j Viar2.[- of God's I Vial 3. ) wrath. XVL CThe pouring out of the^ Vial 4. I Vials. I Vial 5. Vial 6. I N ial 7. f A detailed account of the events a- \ The vin- XVIl V bout to take place under i/iesewn^A ^ t age of XVIII ^ Vial; such SiS t'l'- destruction of t!,e > God's XIX. ) scarletivhQre,tke ovtrth owof Bi:bii- i wrath. ' Ion, and the battle of Jlnnageddon. ^ If we compare the four preceding prophecies of Dan- iel with the Revelation of St. John, the point of their chronological coincidence will of course be that age of the Roman empire m which St. John flourished; or the period, as the Apostle himself tells us, when the fourth great beast was existing under his sixth head.^ Hence the feet of the image branching out into ten toes, the fourth beast with ten horns, and tlie apocahiptic beast with seven heads and ten horns, must all be designed to symbolize the same power. It is equally evident, that the three years and a half of Daniel are the three years and a kalf, the 4'2! months, or the l'i60 days of St. John. The third Woe-trumpet. * Rev- svii. 10. Since then the feet of the image, the ten-homed beasty and the seven-headed and ten-homed heasty are one mid the same po'^ er : the victory achieved b\) the stove over the feet (f the image must be equivalent to the victory of the Jjamb ofver the beast y the fdse prophet, and the con- fedrrated kings y* and the triumphant reign of the vioun- tai ', to the duration of the Millennium.] In a similar manner the judgment of Daniel's fourth beast by the Avcient of days must be the same as the victories of the stone and the Lamb :% while the beasts, whose domiyiion was taken away, and whose lives were prolonged during the reign of the mountain, (for there was no other reign during which they could be prolonged,^ inasmuch as the first judgment was aheady pst,) must be identified with the Gog and Magog mentioned by St. John, as existing during the period of the Millennium, and as making a final effort against ////e of the Holy Ghost, which is in you ?'' (1 Corin vi. 19.) " What agree- ment hath tlif temple of God with idols ? for ye are the temple of the living God ; as God hath said, 1 will dwell in them and walk in them ; and 1 will be their (iod, and they shall be my people." (2 Corin. vi. 16.) " Christ as a spn over his own house, luhote house are xue." Heb iii. 6. t A9{0« ev tw KtxrpM. Ephes. ii. 12. "71 however is not to be confined exclusively to the times qf the Christian dispensation ; it had existed froj/i the xiery beginning of the world in the hearts of the faithful, and had afterwards assumed a definite jorm in the age of Mo- ses and Aaron. Abraham rejoined to see the day of hiss Redeemer; he " saw it, and was glad." Moses esteemed "the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt." The ancient patriarchs " all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off." In short, " althousjh they were not named Christian Wd-w, yetwas \\.a Christian faith that they had ; for they looked for all benefits of God the Father, through the merits of his Son Jesus Christ, as we now do. This difference is between them and us, that they looked when Christ should come, and we be in the time when he is come. Therefore, saith St. Augustin, The time is alter- ed and changed, but not the jaith ; for we have both o'ne faith in Christ."^ Hence we find in the mystic temple two double symbols ; namely tfvo olive trees and fivo can- dlesticks. The first olive tree, and the fir\t candlestick, represent the Church of God before the incarnation of our Lord ; and the second olive tree, and the second candle- sticky represent the Church after the incarnation. Ac- cordingly the prophet Jeremiah denominates the Leviti- cal C hurch " a green olive tree^ fair, and of goodly fimit /'■\ and St. Paul, adopting the same symbolical imagery, describes the conversion of the gentiles by the figure of a wild olive graffed into a good olive and thus producing valuable fruit.X As for a candlestick^ our Lord himself declares it to be the type of a Cliurch.^ The temple then symbolizing the faithful worshippers of God ; the outer court-, which under the Levitical dispen- sation was set apart for the gentiles, represents those who are only nomindl Christians ; and the treading it under foot signifies the introduction of heresies and apostacies» sufficient to deceive even the elect of God, were they not secure within his holy temple. \\ In a similar manner, the prof anation of the sanctuary, the abolition of the daily * 2d part of Horn, of faith. t Jerem, xi. 16, \ Rom. xi. 17—24. 5 Rev. i. 20. 1) Matt. ssiv. 24. 79f sacrifice which is oftered in form though not in spirit by tlie tares as well as by the wheat,*" and the setting up of tiw abomination of desolatimiy which are all images takea from the history of the Jews, and which, as we are taught by our Lord hiaiself, signify literallii the sacking' oj Jerusalem hf the Romans and the mirodttctian of their abominable idolatry into the verjf precincts of the tem- ple ."t these images, when taken symbolically ^ mean the introduction of impf0?fs cpostactSf and t/te abolition, or at least the studied interrtfption, of divine worship. 4 A chaste woman is a S} mbol of the true Church ; which, throughout the whole of Scripture, is considered as ^he bride of the Lamb, and the mother of his spiritual childreji.J On the other hand, a harlot is a symbol of an apostate and idolatrous Church, apostacy and idolatry being spi- ritual whoredom and adultery.^ In the Apocalypse mention is made of two women, but of a very different character from each other. TJie for* mer of them is represented, as being driven into the wil- derness by the persecution of the dragon : the latter is described, as being also in the wilderness, but as riding there triumphantly and joynvsly upon a scarlet coloured beast. This symbol of a wilderness is manifestly borrow- ed from the history of the children of Israel, during their sojourn of forty years in the great wilderness ; and it denotes a state of extreme spiritual barrenness and ig- norance. Into such a wilderness of religious error the woman, who is the symbol of the true Church, is jorcibly drivni by the infernal seipmt ; where, in the midst of su rounding abominations, like Israel in the midst of the gentiles, she is nourished by the grace of God, and mi- raculously though invisibly upheld by the power of liis * Matt xiii 38. t ' The B>man army is called the abomination for its ensigns and ima.SfeS which were so to the Jews As Chrysostom affirms, every idol and even im- ag^i- -fa man was calltd .xi § See Ezgk. xvi— Jcrem. Ul— Rev. zrii. 7a arm, during the space of I960 days or three years and a hvlf ; as the Israelites were fed with manna, tlie type of Christ himself who is the spiritual bread of his church,* during their pilgrimage of forty years. Into the same wilderne' which he had be- fore happily laid aside. And, when his dominion is said io be taken from him, the meaning is that he is deprived of his power of persecuting the Church. In this last idea the loss of lawful temporal authority is not neces- sarily included. Tlie dominion of the little horn of the Roman beast has already begun to be taken away by the •withdrawing of many of its former supporters from the communion of the Church of Rome ; and eventually it shall be deprived of the remainder of its dominion, and of its temporal authority likewise by the death of its col- league and supporter the secular ten-horned beast : yet we are not to suppose, that, when the secular beast ceases to exist as a beast, all government will cease within the hraits of what was once his empire.* Sa again : though the little horn will be deprived both of its dominion and its temporal authority, since the two ideas are not necessarily connected, it does not therefore follow, that, because the other beasts are to be deprived of their dominion, they shall also be deprived^ of their temporal authority. On the contrary, the taking away of their dominion while their lives are prolonged means, not that the pagan nations, which shall co-exist with the Church during the millennium, shall possess no temporal power within their proper territories, but only (like the empire of China for instance) that they shall possess no * Dan. vii. 11, 26. 76 c. power of perseadivg the Clinrch.* This is suffioiently m.mifest from the state of those nations at the close of the millennium, as it is described both by Ezekiel and St John. In the writings of those two prophets, they appear as a regularly organized body of men, making no attempt upon the pious Christian governments, which jointly constitute the fifth great monarchy y or spiritual einpire of the Messiah, during the space of a thousand years ; but at the end of those years assailing them at the instigation of Satan with the utmost rancour, and perishing in consequence of it. Hence it may be col- lected, that, when their do?ninioii is said tobe taken away, the meaning must be, not their temporal dominioji within their own limits, but their power of injuring the Church.^ In a spiriiiial or ecclesiastical ^cnse, a beast is a super- stition aff^ecting universal do7ninion : for unixersality as I ha\ e already observed, is the peculiar characteristic of a beast, as opposed to the horn of a beast. On the same grounds, a horn, in an ecclesiastical sense, is a spiritual kingdom : and, as such, it may be represented, eithei as springing out of a secular beast, or out of an ecclesiasti- cal beast. In the former case, its geographical origin is pointed out; in the latter case, its connection with, and substrviency to, a spiritual empire. An ecclesiastical liingdom however may increase into an ecclesiastical em* fnre, and it may then have ecclesiastical kingdoms subser- vient to it. Hence, what is symbolized in one prophecy by the horn of a secular beast, may hereafter in another prophecj/ be symbolized by a distiiict spiritual beast, hav- ing a proper head ox supreme governor -dnd proper horns or ecclesiastical kingdoms ol its oicn. There is oniy one such beast mentioned in the whole Bible : and he sup- plies the place of what in a collateral prediction had been represented by a lit tie horn gradually acquiringunlimited power : while, to prevent the possibility of mistaking his character, he is expressly denominated a false prophet X These beasts have both a natural and a spiritual origin. Hence the same beast is sonjetiraes said to arise both out * Dan. vii 12. + Ezek. xxxviii. xxix. Rev. xx. 1—10. t Compare Dan. vii. 7, 8, 11, 20, 21, 24, 2 • with Rev xiii. 1, 11, 16 andxix. £0. The specific character of the two apocalyptic Iseasts will be discussed at ]-irge hereafter. 77 of the sea, and out of the bottomless pit ; the former ex- pre'=!Sion denoting his physical birth out of contending nations^ and the latter his injernal extraction. The sovereign and instigator and spiritual parent of the various beasts or idolatrous empires, that have [persecuted the ( hurch, is the dragon or serpent. This fi- rce and noxious --eptile, when si^nply mentioned, is the devil, that old serpent v/hich deceiveth the whole world, poi- soning the principles of its inhabitants, and introducing death both temporal and eternal : but, when described as being connected with certain other marks or symbolSy it is the devil considered as acting through the instru- mentality of the power or poivers thus marked or sym- boiized. Accordingly the great red dragon of tlie Apocalypse is, as we are repeatedly assured by St. John, the devil : and, inasmuch as he is said to have seven heads and ten horns, he can only be thus described, be- cause he acts through the instrumentality of the seven- headed and ten-horned beast ; to whom he is said to have given his power, and his seat, and great authority.* CHAPTER iir. Concerning the scriptural phrases of the latter daySy the last days, and the time of the end. FOR the right understanding of prophecy it is necessary to ascertain the meaning of certain phrases, which are used by the inspired writers to describe differ- ent future periods. The phrases, to which I allude, are the latter times or days, the last times or days, and the end or the time of the end. Bp. Newton remarks, that the two former of these phrases " signify primarily any time yet to come ; but de- note more particularly the times of Christianity :" and * llev. xiil. 2. 78 he adds, that sometimes this phraseology relates, not only to thexohole period of the Christian dispensation^ but likewise to the latter or last days of the latter or last times* In this observation there is much that is true : but I cannot think, that it is by any means stated so accu- rately as it might have been. Throughout the Old Testament, the two apparently different phrases of latter days and last days never once in reality occur. The single expression, which our trans- lators thus variously render comparatively and superla- tively, (as if there were tu^o different e.vpressions in the original,) is simply d'OM n>nnN, the end of days. Conse- qucntl3% the latter days aud the last days of our present translation of the Old Testament must mean the very same period, whatever that period maj^- be ; because they are each equally aversion of one and the same phrase^ which literallj^ and properly ought to be rendered the end of days. The end of days means primarily, as Bp. Newton very justly remarks, any time yet future .-f but I much doubt, whether it ever signifies the whole period of the Chris- tian dispensation. On the contrary, whenever it is not used in its primary sense, I believe it exclusively to relate to that portion of time, which begins at the termina- tion of the great Apostacy of \9.60 years ■> andzvhich ex- pires at the end of the Millennium and at the consum- wation of all things. This great period Mr. Mede styles thekingdom of the mountain in opposition iothekingdom of the stone : in other words, the tt'iumphant reign of Christianity after the \260 yeat^Sy in opposition to //.? depressed state before the eipiratio7i of that term. The end of days therefore includes not only the millennium, but the 15 years which will intervene between the end of the 1 260 years and the proper commencement of the Millennium ; xvhich 75 years will be occupied in tlieres- • Dissert, iv — Dissert, xxiii. 3. See also Mede's Apostacy of tlie latter TiiTi(.», I'art I Chap. 11. ♦ In this case, perhaps it raipht more properly be translated the sitccession of ffav', ii.s denoting what Mr Mede calls a continuation or lengtn of time : for nnnN signifies either tli« ivhole length of avology of demons, professed by the gentiles, should be revived among Christians— Demons, according to the 83 leypocrisy of liars, having their consciences seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to ab- stain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth — Refuse profane and old wives' fables ; and exer- cise thyself rather unto godliness : for bodily exercise profiteth little."* " The time will come, when they will not endure sound doctrine: but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears ; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.'' 't "And the rest of the men, which were not killed hy these plagues," (namely, those which took place under the Ji?'st and second woe-trumpetSy andconsequently dur- ing the period, which, as I conceive, the apostolical prophets denominate the latter days, ) " yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not wov- ship devils, J and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood : which neither can see, nor hear, Jior walk : neither repented the}'" of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts."^ " Let no man beguile you of your reward, in a volunta- ry humility and worshipping of angels,, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by liis fleshly mind, and not holding the head — Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will-worship, and humility, and disciplining of the body ; not in any honour to the satisfying of th.e flesh "j| tlieology of the gentiles, were middle powers between the sovran gods and mortal men — These demons were regarded as mediators and agents between the gods and men — Of these demons there were accounted two kinds. One kind of demons were the soulo of men, deified or canonized after death — The other kind of demons were such as had never been the souls of men, nor ever dwelt in mortal bodies — The latter demons may be paralleled with angels, as the former may with canonized saints." Dissert, xxiii. 2. * 1 Tim.iv. 1. t i Tim. iv. 3. t That is, demons or mediat'nig spirits, as before. St. John uses the very same word ox(,a««a or demons, that St. Paul does. (1 Tim. iv. 1.) § llev. ix. 20. Ij Colos.?. ii. 18, 19, 23. The express phrase o^ latter times or davs only oc- curs in ow/t-of these prophecies ; but the purport of the rest, relating as they a!l do to the very same super-sUtious practices astiiose stigmatized in the lirst, sufficiently shew that they muit ail be referred to the same period,. M'hatever hat period maj be. 84 Prophecies relative to the last days, or the atheism of Antichrist. "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despis- ers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of i)leasures more than lovers of G d ; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. Of this sort are they, which creep into Louses and lead captive silly women, laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now, as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth ; men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. But they shall proceed no furtiier ; for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was."* *' Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming ; jor, since the fa- thers fell asleep, all things continue as they were jrom, the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water ; whereby the world that than was, being over- flowed with water, perished.f "But there were false })rophets among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their perni- cious ways ; by reason of whom the way of truth sliall be evil spoken of. And through covetouaness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you ; whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their It is worlliy of remark, that in a Popish tract republished go laic as tin ijear t798, the editor defends the worship of the Virgin Mary on the very ground predicted by the Apostle, the pica of humlUtij mid having a just sense of cur o-nir. umporthinesc. See Whitakcr's Comment, on Kcv. p. 31 i — 318. * 2 Tim. Ui. 1. ■^ 2 I'cter iii. 3. 85 damnation slumbereth not — The Lord knoweth how to dehver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished. But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of un- cleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dig- nities— These, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they under- stand not, and shall utterly perish in their own corrup- tion, and receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are, and blemishes, sporting themselves witli their own deceivings while they feast with you. Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin ; beguil- ing unstable souls ; an heart have they exercised with covetous practices : cursed children — These are wells without water, ch^uds that are carried with a tempest : to whom the mist of darkness is reserved f r ever. For, when they s[)eak great swelling words of vanity, they al- lure, through the lusts of the flesh, through much wan- tonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.* While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption : for, of whom a man is overcome, of the same he is brought in bon- dage. For, if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Sav- iour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb. The dog is turned to his own vomit again, and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.'*t " There are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly * The eiTor, here spoken of, is tJie ^^postaaj of tlie laticr davfi. Many, ^vho had seen and reject.ed|it.s al)Siirdities, were, notwithstanding', to be deceived by the wiles of Infidelity. ■■ 2 Peter ii. 86 nien, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. I will therefore" (namely, with a view to ac- count for this spirit of infidelity,) *' put you in remem- brance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, after- ward destroyed them that believed not. These lilthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. These speak evil of those things which they know not : But what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. Woe unto them ! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsajnng of Core. These ai\3 spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feed- ing themselves without fear; clouds they are without water, carried about of winds ; trees whose fruit wither- C'th, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots ; raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame ; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness lor ever. And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord Cometh with ten thousand of his saints, to execute judg- ment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. These are murmurers, coraplainers, walking after their own lusts ; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage. But ])eloved, remember ye the words which were spoken be- fore of the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ ; how that they told you there should be mockers in the last timcy who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit."* " As ye have heard that the Antichrist shall come, even now are there many Antichrists — Who is the liar, but he that denicth that Jesus is the Christ ? This is tlie Anti- christ, that denicth the Father and the Son. — Every spirit^ • Jude 4— W. that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the fiesh., is not of God : and this is that spirit of the Antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come, and even now already is it in the world."* Let any one attentively compare together the two pre- ceding sets of prophecies relative to the latter days-, and the last days, and he will be convinced, that they cannot both relate to the same persons ; and consequently that the latter days and the last days must be two entirely dis- tinct periods of time. All the prophecies, as I have already observed, that relate to the latter days, speak of a great prevalence of superstition, as being the distinguishing feature of this period ; while all the prophecies, that re- late to the last days, speak of a great prevalence of blas- phemous infidelity, as being equally the distinguishing feature of that period. In the account indeed which St. John gives of the principles of Antichrist, he uses tlw last time in the sense of the whole period of the Chris- tian dispensation, because he uses it declaratively ; but the reason of this will sufficiently appear, if we consider the import of the passage in \vhich he describes the character of that great opponent of the Messiah. Dr. Whitby supposes, that the Jews, who rejected the promised Saviour, are meant by Antichrist. Others have applied the character to Cerintiius and the Manicheans ; and others, to the imposter Barchochehas.\ From the language however of St. John, who is the only inspired writer that uses the term, I am much inclined to think, that Antichrist, strictly speaking, is a sort of generic name, including all persons who answer to the description given of that character. Now the special badge assigned to the character is a denial of the father and the Son: a denial of the ^on positively, a denial of the Father either positively or by implication. All therefore, who answer to this description, are members of Antichrist. The ex- istence of his blasphemous principles is commensurate with the whole period of the Christian dispensation; but * 1 Jolm ii. 18. 22. iv. 3. - See Pol Svnop. In loc. 88 his peculiar reigUy his open developemcnU is confined to the Inst days of the last time. St. John tells his disciples, *'ye have heard that the ^w//r/jm^ shall come." This opinion that has ever prevailed in the Church respecting the manifestation of some great opj)onent of the Messiah at an era far remote from the days of the Apostle,* an opinion founded no doubt upon the prophecies of Daniel, he by no means controverts : he warns them however to be upon their guard ; inasmuch as there were many even then in the world, who were tainted with the principles of Anti Christy namely a denial of the Father and the Son. The harmony of the apostolical writers upon this point is very remarkable. St. John declares, that the spirit oi Antichrist or Injidelitij was already, even in his days, in the world ; although it was not yet revealed-, or exhibited to mankind in an embodied form. Daniel had given a description of the monster in his mature state, as a king or power that magnified himself above every god and spoke marvellous things against the God of gods ; and St. John adds, that his detestable principles v/ere already working, and would continue to work through the whole period of the last tinier as meaning the Christian dispen- sation, though they would not be developed till the last days of the last time. In a similar manner, both St. Peter and St. Jude represent persons of the same principles as those which should be openly avowed and acted upon in the last days, as intruding into the feasts of charity usual among the primitive Christians, and consequently as contemporary with themselves.f Events have amply shewn the accuracy of these declarations. The opinions of Antichrist were secretly lurking in the Church even in the earliest ages : it has been our lot to behold them * *' The idea, which the early Christians in general formed of Antichrist, was that of a power to be revealed in distant times, atler tlie dissolution of the Roman empire : of a power to arise out of tlie ruins of that empire." (Bp. Hurd on Prophecy, p. 221 ) To this we must add the declaration of St. .lohn, xXviX. the j>ru-cr in question ^\\Q\i\i\ deny both the Fatlier and the Son ; and we shall ilien perceive, that the ^57;<hl? A.H that the VOL. I, 1^ 90 superstition of thai great apostaci) is indeed to continue to the very end oithe 10^60 daj/s^ and is therefore to be Apostle teaches his disciples is, that, since the delusive spirit of the .Intichrist vas already working, they might be sure that they were living in the hist time,- or under the last dispensation, and need not look for ami further lii.tpcnsation. As jet however, although there were manii individual antichrists in tlie world, the tfreat . bitiehrist himself, M'hose special badge should be a denial of the Father and the Son, was not manifested. His spirit indeed was already work- ing in the children of disobedience, but he himself wns not as yet revealed : nor m <;ontemporaiy during tho latter period of its existence \\'ii\\ the reign of Antichrist : but the domination of that infidel tyrant is so strongly marked hj atheism-, iiistibor- dinatioih and a total ivani of all the kinder affections of our nature ; that, for a season, till he has united himself with the man of sin the domineering head of the apostacy^ ■the abominations even of the papal superstition are scarcely visible near the infernal glare of avowed A)di- christianity . It requires some degree of circumspection clearly to ascertain themeaning of the phrase of the end or the time of the end., yp or j^p n;?, so frequently used by Daniel. To myself it certainly appears to mean the termination of the whole IQ60 da^s ; the conclusion of the great drama (f the twofold aposiacy and the reign of Antichrist. I conceive the time of the €nd to commence, so soon as the 11260 days expire ; and to extend through the 75 years, which intervene betvreen the end of the V260 days, and the deginning of the season of millennian blessedness. I believe it in short to be the awful period, during which tlie judgments of God will go abroad through all the earth, and during which his great controversy with the nations -will be carried on."^' Before I attempt to shew that such is the import of the phrase, it will be proper for me to observe, that a very difTerent interpretation of it has 'been given by Mr. jNIede, in which he has been follov/ed by Bp, Newton. instead of supposing it to mean the termination of the 1;260 days, he conceives it to denote the latter days of the Roman empire, or the whole duration of iJie 1260 da?/s.i * The time of the end, or at least the first portion of it, which contains 30 r/cars, (Dan. xii. 11, ) synchronizes with the last apncahjpttc vial, which will begin to be pnureel out so soon as the 1260 dut-s shall have expired. f Yet it is woi'thy of notice, that in two places Bp. Newton understands the phrase precisely as I do ; namely, as denoting ivit ihecontinuitn'-', but ^/;e te.r- 'inumtion of the 1260 years. reserved for the tiinu of the end, ///^ 92 In support of this opinion, I cannot find however, that he brings forward any argument, excepting one which is built upon his own exposition of the question and answer recorded by Daniel : " Until how long shall be the end of the wonders ? It shall be until a time and times and a hall."* Now the imj)ort of this passage Mr. Mede sup- poses to be, that the period, styled the eyid of the wonders, oi- (as he translates it) the latter end of the wonders, shall be in length three times and a half or 1260 years. Whence he argues, that, since such is to be the length of this latter end, the time of the end must denote the whole period of the IQ,Q0 years. ^ Were such an exposition of the passage allowable, it would at least render it ambiguous ; for w^e should not be absolutely obliged to concede, that, because it was allowable, no other was allowable : but it appears to me to be by no means allowable ; and I believe that our common English version has accurately expressed the sense of the original, although it doubtless is not quite literal. If we consider the general context of the passage, Daniel first speaks of the end of certain ivoi ders, and immediately afterwards of the finishing of these things. Now tliese things plainly appear to be the same as the wonders. But if these things be the same as the wonders (which I suppose will scarcely be denied ;) it seems most natural to conclude that the fmisliing of these things is the same as the end of the wonders. The finishing of tliese things however is plainly the absolute termination of them, and it is declared moreover to be contemporary •uioitls are closed up and scaled till the timeof the end..— As Prideaux judiciously observes, it is the nature of such propliecies not to be thoroughly understood, till they are thoroughly fulhlled." (Dissert. XVII. in loc.) In both these pas- sages, unless I greatly mistake tiieir import, Up. Newton considers the time of tilt eiul as being yet future, and as commencing so soon as /lie vien of un- del standing or the ivitnesses shall liave ceased to prophesy in sackcloth, that is to say, at the end of the V16Q years. ♦ Dan. xii. 6 7- \ Mede's Works, B. iv. Epist '■4.— B. v. (jhap 9 Both Mr Mede and Bp. Newton make a very important use of the sense which tlu y annex to the phrase oi' the end or the time of the end. They suppos , that the kind's of the south and the 7101th mentioned by Daniel as attacking the ivilful k-iuff. arc the Saracens and the Turks. Now, whatever powers these kin^^s may be, their wars are said to begin at the time of the end But, if the time nf the end denote the expira- tion, -And not the ccn'inua7ice. 'f tlie \1(>{) years, they cetainly cannot be tht Sttracer.j and the Turh. This subject WiU be icsumed hereafter. 03 1 with the restoration of the Jews ; the end of the wonders therefore must at once be the termination of the wovders, and must synchronize with the restoration of the Jens. Hence the end of the wonders cannot denote the whole period of the 12160 yearsy but must, on the contrary, de- note the temiination of it ; because the restoration of the Jewsy even according to Mr. Mede's own opinion,* will synchroi>ize with the downfall of the papal Roman empire, and that downfall will not take place till after the expira- tion of the \%Q0 years. This however is by no means the only objection to the exposition in question. Mr. Mede translates the original passage, not the end of the wonders, but the latter end of the wonders ; evidently with a view to excite the idea, that of a certain period, considered by Daniel as the period of wonders, (suppose for instance the whole dura- tion of his last "vision, J the latter portion is contradistin- guished from the former portion, and that this latter portion is termed, by way of distinction, the latter end of the wonders, in opposition to the first part of the wonders. In order to appreciate the solidity of this exposition, it will be necessary to descend to verbal criticism. Two wordst are used in Hebrew to express the end, Aariih and Ketz together with its cognates Ketzah and Miket- zath. Now the former of these denotes either the con- tinuance of a period or the termination of a period, for it is derived from a root which signifies after ; and it is ob- vious, that both the successive parts of a period and the absolute terviination of it are alike after its commencement : hence the Old Testament phrase of the end of days, which I last considered, denotes either futurity, that is a succession of time in general, or the end of the present order of things and the duration of the Millennium m par- ticular. Whereas the latter, unless I be quite mistaken, never denotes the continuance of the pm or/ of which it speaks, but always the termination of it ; for it is derived from a verb which signifies to cut off or to cut short : * Mcdc's Works, B. v. Chap. S. + I do not mean to say, that no more than two Avords are used ; but that these are the two words with which tiie present discussion is chieily concern- ed. Daniel sometimes uses the Chaklaic Siipha instead of Kciz, wiiich signi- lies precisely the same. 94 < xvlience Buxtorf with much propriety observes, that it denotes tlie end, " quasi prcecisum clicas ; ubi enim res prseciditur, ibi ejus finis est." This latter word, not the formevy is used by Daniel, both in the present passage, and in every other passage where the time of the end is spoken of* The end of the wonders therefore, when it is considered what word is used in the original to express //?e endy cannot, as it appears to me, denote either the zvholeperiod during which these wonders were transact- ing^ or thelatter part of that period ; but must, on the contrary, denote the absolute cutting off or tei^mijiatio?i oj the period of the wonder s.-\ The end then, or the time of the end, must, agreeably to the import of the original word, signify the tcrminatio?i of some period or another : the question is, what period ? Daniel informs us, the period of the wonders : for, since he speaks of the end of the ivonders, the e7/f/can only mean the termination of that period xvhich comprehends the wonders. Still the question will occur, whRt'is the period of the wonders ? Is it thezchole period of DanieVs last vis- ion, orisit the particular period of the \^60 years? This question appears to me not very difficult to be answered. In the earlier part of Daniel's last vision, which treats of the wars between the kings of Syria and Egypt, there is nothing that peculiarly deserves the name oi a wonder. The age oj wonders, on which both Daniel and St. John dwell witli so much minuteness and astonishment,^ is undoubtedly ///e great period of 1260 years; during * Excepting those in whicli he uses Supha. + It is observable, that, whenever Daniel uses the co,^nates oi Kctz to mark time, he invariably uses them in the sense of" the tenninatio7i of the pt-nod con- cerning which they speak, never in the sense of «7j continuance ; a sense in- deed oi' which I believe them to be incapable ; insomuch that, if b> the time of the end and the end of the ivondcrs he means either the -.uhole or a part of the period of those ivonders, he entirely departs from the sense which he el^cvvliere annexes to these cognate words. {See Uan. i. 5, 15, i8. iv. 29. See also Gen. ]v. 3. margin trans.) There is one passag-e, in which Daniel plainly appears to me to use the words .^t7r///j and AVfr in direct opposition to each other. **I will make thee know what shall be in tlie latter end of the indignation ; for it (the vision} shall be until the appointed time of the end." (Dan. viii. 19.) Here the latter end, or rather the contimuince, fJlarithJ oj the indignation, de- notes the whole period of the tijraMvj of t lie he goat's little horn, or in otlier words the -whole pel iod of the 12b0 ^ ears ; while the end f KetzJ to whicii the vision is to reach, denotts the expiration of the 1260 t/icrs or the end of tit- period of the ivonJem, which tlierefore synchronizes with the expiration of the 20)0 j/ca) s, to whicli the vision is likewise to reach. Uan. viii. l.j, 14. i See Uan vil. 8, 15, 19— 2C, 28. viii. 9—14, 27. Rev. si. xli. xiii. xvii. 6, ?. 95 winch the world was destined to behold the wonderM sight, a txvO'fold apostacy from the pure religion of the Gospel, and of the developement of a momtroits power that set the Majesty of heaven itself at defiance. Hence the period of the ivmders can surely be only the period of the 1260 years; for let us attentively peruse the writings of Daniel and St. John, and see whether we can discover another j^eriod to which v»^e can with the slight- est degree of propriety apply the title of the period of the wonders. But a yet more positive proof, ihat the period of the 1^60 years is the period of the wonders, may be deduced from the very passage, which Mr. INIcde uses to estabhsh his own exposition, by assigning to the word ■Ketz a sense which it is incapable of bearing. " And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, until how long shall be the end (that is, the termination J of the wonders? And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and swear by him that liveth for ever, that it shall be until a time and times and a half ;, and, when he shall have finished to scatter the power of the hol}^ people, all these things shall be finished. And I heard, but I understood not. Then said I, O my Lord, what is the end of these things ? And he said. Go thy way Daniel ; for the words are closed up and sealed til! the time of the end." A question is here asked, how long a time shall elapse hefore the C7ul of the period of 7Vonders arv'nes ? The an- swer is, three times and a half or 1260 years : and it is further declared, that, when the Jews shall begin to be restored, all these things, namely all the wonders which were to come to an end at the expiration of the 1 260 years, shall be finished. Upon this Daniel enquires, what is the end of them : but the only reply ^given him in, that the words are sealed till tJie time of the end:, or that his prophecies shall not be fully understood till the end of the wonders arrives. Now, if \2Q0 years are to elapse before the end of the wonders arrives, and if all these things, that is to say, all the wonders, are to be finished contemporaneously with 915 the restoration of the Jews ; it will both follow that ike penod of the wonders must exactly comprehend 1560 yearSi and that the restoration of the Jews will commence at the expiration of that period. In other words it will follow, that tlie period of the wonders is the same as the period of tlie \^Q0 years ; and consequently that the end of the period of the wonders, or the time oj the end, de- notes the termination, not the continuance, of the period of the IQ60 years. This will yet further appear from comparing together what Daniel says relative to the time 0/ the end and what he says relative to the expiration of the \Q.QO years. If all the jvonders are to be finished at the close of the IQGOyears, and if they are likewise to be finished at the tiine of the end ; it is manifest that the time of the end must so synchronize with the expiration of the 1060 years, that it must commence exactly when the 1260 years terminate. Accordingly we shall find, that the ?vonders which are generally declared to be finished at the close of the 1260 years are severally declared to be likewise finished at this very time of tiie end. Thus tJie vision of the ram and the he-goat, which comprehends the wonders of Moham- medism, or a portion of the wonders of the h260 years, is to reach unto the time of the end* Thus the reforjnation from the great apostacy, or tlie prophesying of the two witnesses, is to continue in a progressive state to the time of the end.] Thus tlie little horn is to have the saints given into his hand during the space of three times and a half : and, although his dominion is to begin to be taken away htfore the expiration of that period, even at the era oitlic Reformation, yet it will not be completely consumed till the end. X Thus the war of tiie atheistical Icing with the kings of the south and north, his invasion of Pales- tine and Egypty and \i\s suht>e(/nent destruction between the seas, are at once to take place at the time of the end, and to synchronize \\\i\\ the restoration of the Jews ; which will commence at the expiration of tlie IQQO yea->\<;, or at the time zolien all tlie wonders are fmi sited.') Thus the • Dan. viii, 17 f Dan xi. 35. \ Dan. vii- 25, id. J Compare Dan. xi. 40—45. with xii. 1, 6—9. 97 jTi'ophecies of Daniel are to he sealed, or, in other words, not receive their full acconiplishnient so as to be com- pletely understood, till tlie time of the e?id.'^' And thus the prophet himself is commanded to wait patieiitly till the ench wi h an assurance that he shall stand in his lot at the end of the days.-\ In absolute strictness of speech, then the end is the very moment when the 1' ■ 60 yc^r^ expire : but Daniel teaches us to extend it somewhat more widely. He rtyles this tei^mination both the end of the xconders and the time of the end ; by which it appears we must understand the time at or about the end or the cutting off of the 1550 years : for he informs us, that both the two J it tie horns will be destroyed, and that the whole expedition ol the xviljul Icing will take place, at this time of the end ; events of such magnitude, that, although they may connnence at the end of the period of the xconders, they plainly cannot be finished in a single day or a single year. He does not in- deed acquaint us what precise length of time will be oc- cupied in the full accoraphshraent of ih.e?>e important events, but he teaclics us that 75 years will elapse be- tween the termination of the I'SoO years ^\v\ the com- mencemcntof the time ofblessednessor the Millennium.X Hence it seems most reasonable to conclude, that these 75 * Dan xii. 4, 9. I Dan xil. 13. " The end f A'c/z not .-iani/ij of the clays." This curious pas&age both shews plainly, that the end or tlie time of the end cannot mean the Kvhok period of the 12&0 years : and gives some \varrant to ^ir Mede's opinion, that, the first resurrection, which immediately precedes the MiUenniuvi, and which consequently takes place during ihe lapse of that intermediate period Avhich I believe to be styled the time of the end, will be a literal resurrection of the saints and martyrs. Daniel will certainly not stand in his lot during the 3.260 i/ears ; but he is directed to wait for that purpose till the end ,- therefore the end cannot mean the 1260 years. Much the same argumem may be deduced from tlxe time specified for the imsealing of Daniel's prophecies. If they are to remain sealed till the tiine of the end, and if the time of the 6'7i£/ denote the xuhole period of the 12Q0 days, as Mr Mede supposes ; then they will be opened either at the beginning, or diir- ing the lapse, oi' the V.i60 years : but \vc know, that even now thev are not perfectly opened, and moreover that they will not be perfectly opened till af- ter the overthrow of the ^I>:ti christian coifederacy at Armageddon, which takes place subsequent to the expiration of the 1'260 yeai-s, and at some era during the lapse oi the T5 years which intervene between the end rf ihe V260 yeais and the beginning- of the JMillenniinn : therefore the time of the end cani'iOt denote the ■whole period of .the 121)0 years, but must denote thei7iterTe;iinor period o/'75 ycais, in the course of which the now painly sealed prophecies of Daiuel will he com- pletely opened ; that is to sav, so fuUv accomplished as to be compktelv under- stood. ' ;; Uan'xii. 11, 12. VOL. I. Jo 98 years constitute what Daniel styles the end or the time of theend; as being that short portion of intermediate time, which cuts off[\nd divides the great period of IQ60 yeai^s from the great period of the Millennium. CHAPTER IV. Concerning the txvo first prophecies of Daniel and the little horn of thejourth beast. THE prophetic dream of Nebuchadnezzar, and the vision of the four beasts, equally predict, that, from the era of the Babylonian monarchy to the com- mencement of the Millennium, there should be foury and no more than four empires, universal so far as the Church is concerned. The first or Babylonian empire^ is symbolized by the golden head of the image ; and by the lion with eagle s wings. The second, or Medo-Persian empire, is symbolized by the silver breast and arms of the image ; and by the bear with three ribs in its mouth. The third, or Macedonian empire, is symbolized by the brazen belly and thighs of the image ; and by the leopard with four wings and four heads. And the fourth, or Roman empire, is symbolized by the iron and clayey feet of the image, brandling out into ten toes; and by the fourth beast diverse from all the others, being compounded of the three preceding symbols, a lion, a bear, and a leopard,* and having ten horns. The accuracy, with which the three first sets of these double hieroglyphics describe the three first great mon- archies, has been so amply shewn by writers upoji the prophecies, that it is superfluous for me to discuss the subject afresh : I shall therefore confine myself to the history of the fourth empire, symbolized by the feet of the image and by the ten-ltorned beast. * See Rev. xiii. Z 99 The account oi this fourth empire in Nebuchadnezzar'' s dream is simply, that it should be as strong as iron, and break in pieces and bruise the three preceding empires ; but that it should afterwards he d^vx&Q^'mio ten kingdcms, answering to the ten toes of the image, which, like a mix- ture of clay and iron, should not be equally powerful, but partly strong, and partly weak : that the sovereigns of these different kingdoms should be perpetually con- tracting matrimonial alliances with each other, but that nevertheless they should not cohere together the better on that account ;* for, although one or two of the kingdoms might be thus united together under a single govern- ment ,t yet that the principle of adhesion should be so completely destroyed, that there never should be a fifth universal monarchy like the foiir preceding ones : on the contrary, that the only fifth empire should be of a spirit- ual nature, which was to break in pieces and consume all the other kingdoms, and stand, itself, for ever. To see how exactly the whole of this prophecy has been accomplished, excepting the last particular which is still future, we need only read the modern history of Europe. The SLCcowaioi the fourth empire, in the second pro- phecy of Daniel, varies from that, in the dream cf Nebu- chadnezzar, only by the introduction of another power, not mentioned before among the ten sovereigns, which is termed a little horn. The description given of tJiis elev- enthpO)ver is, that it came up among the other ten horns : that three of the first horns were plucked up before it : that it had eyes like the eyes of a man, ^id a mouth speaking great things : that its look was more stout than its fellows : and that it " made war upon the saints, and prevailed against them, until the Ancient of days came, * " Whereas thou sawest iron minified witli miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men ; but 'they shaft not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed w-ith clay." (Dan. ii. 43 ) '1 he interpretation of this pas- sage, which I have adopted, seems to me by mucli the most simple and natu- ral. (See Bp. Newton's Dissert, in loc) t The empire of Charlemagne forms a seeming' exception to this statement ;_ hut, as we shall hereafter see, that empire is predicted under the symbol of tke last head ef the great Roman beast, n head that should l^e commensurate \y\\.\\the -whole beast. After the death of Charlemagne, his vast dominior.s sgon fell asunder, and//:? Jiojnan tmpirs again returned to its divided state. 100 aikl judgment was given to the saints of the Most Highr and the time came liiat the saints possessed the king- dom." Upon Daniel's inquiring tlie meaning ot tfiis SifmboU he is informed by the interpreting angel, that it repioscnts a pO)vc)\ which was to rise up behind the ten kings, and was to subdue or depress three of them : that it was, in some respect or another, to be difTerent from all the rest of the kings : that it was to speak great words by the side of the Most High : that it was to wear out or persecute the saints of the Most High : that it was to change times and laws : and that it was to continue in the possession of a tyrannical authority until a time-, and times, and the dividing oj' tiine-, or tliree prophetic years and a half ; in other words, till the commencement of the time of tJte ew^/, which ushers in thereign oj thesaints or the apocalyptic millennium : for, since the little horn was to prevail both to the beginning of thisreicn of the saintSy and to the end of the three years and a half it is manifest, that, when tJie three years and a half end, the 7'eign of the saints will be about beginning.*' Exactly at the same time, the Roman beast, or the fourth great em- Inre, from among whose ten horns the little horn waste arise, will be slain ; and that on account of the sin which lie has contracted by tolerr.ting and sanctioning the great words spoken by his little horn :\ for the Roman beast in his revived state,X and his little tyrannical horn-, are each to continue in power during the very same period of three years and a halfov^^ months ; consequently they are to he}cil, will occupy a period of at ka^t 101 But the three oilier beasts^ namely the Babylonian, the Medo-Persiaih and the Macedomaih wliich were all ichla- troiis beasts, as contradistinguished from an apostntically idolatrous o??(?, although their dominion oy their power of oppressing the Church be taken a^vay, will have their lives or idolatrous principles prolonged for a season and a time: that is, prolonged, after the utter destruction of the revived fourth beast and his apostatical principles, and consequently during the reign of the saints ; which, as we have seen, is to commence at the death of the fourth beast. The lives however of the three beasts are only to be prolonged for a season. Unreclaimed by the glorious manifestations of God in favour of his millenman Church, they will still persevere in their idolatry ; and, at the close of the thousand years, will arrive at such a pitch of daring impiety as to make an open attack even upon the beloved city. But fire from the Lord will consume them 3 and the Church of Christ will be linally translated from earth to heaven.^ No doubt has been entertained by most commenta- tors upon the prophecies, that Daniel's fourth beast is the Roman empire ;t nor by most p rote slant commenta- tors, that the ten horns of the beast are the ten independent kingdoms into which that empire was fmally divided. But there has not been quite the same unity of opinion, at least not of late, respecting either the character of the little horn or the three kings whom it was to subdue. Q>Q years ; consequenUy, in ci^o/f^^e strictness of speech, they will not be de- stroyed/))'ea,je((/ at the end of the 1260 yearn ; but only the judgments of God will then begin to go forth against them. * Compare Dan. vii. 13. with Rev. xx. Both St. John and Ezekiel agree in calling the nations, which will continue unreclaimed during the Millennium, Gog and Magog. See Ezek. xxxviii and xxxix. + " All ancient writers, both Jcwisli and Christian, agree with Jerome In explaining tlie fourth khigdotn to be the lioman. Porphyry, who was a heathen, was the first wlio broached the other opinion ; which, though it hath been maintained since by some of the moderns, is yet not only destitute of the autho- rity, but is even contrary to the authority, of both scripture and history. Itis a just ob.servation of Mr. Mede, who was as able and consummate a judge as any of these matters ; The Roman empire to be the fourth kingdom of Daniel, 'was heliex^ed by the Clmrch of Israel both before andin our Saviour's time ; received., by the disciples of the Apostles, and the whoie Christian Church, for the first 30(X years, -without any kno-ivn contradicriou. .^nd I co)fess, haxi>:g so good ground in- Scripture, it is -with vie tuntiim non articidns fidei, little kss than an article of faith." Up. Xewton's J)issert. in loc. 10^ Mr. Kett supposes, that the history of the little horn of the fourth beast is "an epitome of the whole iiistory of Antichrist ;"* who, according to his scheme, is a triple monster^ compounded of Popery, Mohammedism, and Infidelitx).\ Hence he conjectures, that the little horn of the he-goatX is nearly alhed to tlie little horn of the fourth bemty and in some measure even the same : for as the eastern little horn is upon his plan primarily MohanDiiedism, and ultimately Infidelity : so the we'^tem little horn is primarily Popery, and ultimately Infidelity likewise. Nay, it is even more : for, if I rightly under- stand Mr Kett, it is also to include Mohammedism : in- asmuch as Daniel's account of it " is to be considered as an epitome of the whole history of Antichristy^ that is, of Antichrist in every one of the three forms which Mr. Kett ascribes to him. " In the main points of opposi- tion to Christ," says he, " and of persecution of his ser- vants, all the branches of Antichrist must necessarily agree; but the marks, which distinguish these confede rate powers from each other, appear to me very strongly descriminated in these different visions of Daniel. Alt foretell the power of Antichrist, and contain allusions perhaps to all the difTerent forms of that power : but each vision seems to describe one of these forms with pe- culiar distinctness, while it points to some circumstances which strongly characterize that po^^•er, which was to arise the last ; and, if we rightly conjecture, will prevail the most, and which are not easily appropriated to either of the other.jS The symbol of ^ little horn is appplicable to Antichrist in the begimiings of all its forms. Papal, Mo- hammedan, and Infidel. The power of Antichrist is stili the little horn : but, as exerted in Greece and the East, * Hist, the Interp. Vol. 1. p. 340. f Ibid. p. 309. + Dan. viii. 9. § I have not been able clearly to discover, w/i/cA of the three visions Mr. Kett supposes to describe lyj'r/i peculiar distinctness the iiijldcl . hitichrist. Ac- cording to his plan, the little horn of tlie fourth beast is primarily the Papacij, secondrrily JHohanimediain, and ultimately Iifidelitri; (Hist, the Inter ot Proph. Vol. 1. p 378 et infra) the little horn of the he-:(oat or the third beast is piimarily Muhatnmcdium, and ultimately Jiifidcliti', (Ibid. p. 355. et infra) and the kin^, predicted in Ihinicl\'i last visioti, is botli the Papacy, in whicli case his antas'onists, the kintf of the South, and the kin^ of the J\''orth, arc the Sara- cens and the Turk.- ,- (Ibid p. 3G8.) and he is likewise n double type of Anti- christ. (Ibid ) In the table of contents indeed prefixed to hi.s second volume, lie speaks of the Utile horn of the fourth beast as being solely the i/ifJcl pouer ,.■ but the table itself by no means quadrates with the contents of cither volume. 103 it is described as thelittle horn of the he-goat ox the third empire, and this even to the present hour ; for the seat of the Mohammedan empire is Grecia, or what was cal- led the Greek emjnre As exerted in Italy and the West. it is described as the little horn of the fourth beast or the fourth empire. But it is remarkable, that in those pre- dicaons, which the angel expressly declares will be acconi- plished towards the end of the appointed time, this distinction of East and West seems to be lost, both m this of ///e Ram and the He-Goat, andm the following vision, (which I conceive intended particularly to de- scribe the Mohammedan and Papal pozvers,) and A72ti- Christ appears with all the subtlety and fury and univer- sally extended tyranny, with which we Imdhim dehne- ated in the Revelation under the symbol of the second beast, and which corresponds with the little horn in the vision of the four beasts, which is to be considered as an epitome of the whole history of Antichrist.'^ And this circumstance, I apprehend, intimates the ^'e«er«/ aposta- cy and persecution which is to take place under the inji- del power, which was to succeed the violence of the txvo former, and be an instrument of punishment to their ad- herents, and of trial to the church of Christ."t What the three horns or hngdoms are which the pro- phet beheld plucked up before the little horn, Mr. Kett does not himself attempt to decide ; but agreeably to his supposition, that this little horn is a symbol of An- tichrist in all his three Jorms, he seems to think that €>very one of these three fonns will respectively depress three kingdoms. " When we consider the vision of the hasts, and the little horn which rose among or after the ten horns, it was observed, that this vision p'.obably con- tained a description of the whole of Antichrist. The d'stinct pictures, vrhich we have since seen of the Mo- hammedan a.m\ papal forms of this power, appear to con- firm this idea. And, when we reflect upon the superior solemnity of the conclusion of this first vision, it will, 1 * Mr. Kett means, that the little horn, not the vklon of the four beasts, 5s the epitome of the whole history of .intichrist. " This account ot the little honi, says he, " 1 consider as an epitome of the whole history of Antichrist > oi. 1. p. 340. • + Hist, the Intern, of Tropb. Vol. 1. p. o'W- 104 think, seem probable, that in this general description the last of the forms it was to assume would be the most par- ticularl}^ noticed, if any were particularized above the rest. We shall find, I think, u})on examination, that this was really the case. These ten kingdoms do not ne- Cessa rill/ appear to belong to the xvestern ilivision of the empire f and it seems clear that this broken form is to remain till the judgment is set. We are therefore at liber- ty to suppose, that tliis Wtle horn, which is Antichristy represents both the Mohammedan poxver in theeast^ and the papal poxver in the west ; which were in fact raised up nearly together : and, if the description of this horn be found fairly applicable to another poxver which was to arise afterwards, within the bounds of the ancient Roman empire, (as we gather from the consideration of other prophecies,) we may as naturally conclude, that it was designed to represent that poxver aho. If this be grant- ed and surely it can baldly be denied, the dilTerent opin- ions of commentators respecting this horn, so far from being discordant, will be found in unison, and more loudly sound the harmony of prophetic truth.f Those, * It V. ill hereafter be shewn, that they do necessarily belong to the western division of the empire. +This metliod olshewinj^ tlie concordance of commentators, and tJie harmony of prophetic truth, would, I fear, have but very little weight with a captious infi- del. Such a person would naturally say, " If a single symbol may at once repre- sent so many different powers, it is im])ossible that there should be any cer- tainty in prophecy. A symbol must typify sotne one specijic poivcr to the exclusion of all others ; or else it may be made to signify just what the commentator pleases. In one age it may be convenient to apply it to Mokammcdism ; in another, to Popery, in a third, to Infdelity ,• Mr. Aett informs us, that it repre- sents ihem all .• a succeeding ivriter may apply it to a poii-er not yet arisen ; what opinion can we form of so very ductile a prophecy as this f" These ob- jections I am unable to answer upon Mr. Kett s plan ; but nothing is more easy if we adopt the simple and reasonable scheme of " utterly denying the possi- bility of a chronulo^ical prophecy being capable of receiving more than ore com- pletion ; and of allowing no interpretation of it to be valid, except the pre- diction agree with its supposed accomplishment mevery particular." On these principles, the answer would be sufficiently obvious. There is a certain poxver, which pefectly accords with this symbol of the little horn both clnonologically, locally, and circumstanti.illy : therefore the symbol must relate to this iniliviilual poiver, and to none else ; to none eiUier of those which preceded it, or which hereafter may succeed it. History undeniably shews us, that the power in ques- tion does agree in all these points with the symbol .• we knoii< tliat Daniel flou- rished long before this prr.ier arose : we ino7v that in his days no human wisdom C(j7/W have foreseen that it -j'<>!i/f/ arise; how then are we to account for this exact correspondence between the symbol and the power except by allowing the divine inspiration of him, to whom the mystic vision oi' the four brasia was so accurately revealed, and to whom at the same time a literal interpretation of it was prophetically detailed r" 105 who see the Mohammedan power in the little horn which arose from the fourth heast, generally suppose Egijpt, Asia, and Greece, to be the three horns plucked up by the roots before it. Bp. Newton, in his application of this prophecy to the papal power, considers them to be the exarchate of Ravenna, the kingdom of Lomhardy, and the. state of Rome ; and observes, that the Pope hath in a manner pointed himself out for the person described, by wearing the triple crown. We can at present form no opinion concerning the three horns, which are to be eradicated by the infidel power; whether absolutely kingdoms be meant, or whether independent states may be considered as a sufficient explanation : but posterity may be enabled to decide upon this subject perhaps more clearly than the partial fulfilment of this prophecy has hitherto enabled us to do, respecting the conquests oithe Mohaminedan and papal powers ^^ The foregoing plan of Mr. Kett appears to me much too complicated and intricate to be probable. If one andthesanie horn is to symbolize three different powers, there certainly cannot be any precision or defmiteness in the prophecy ; for it must be mere conjecture to attempt to determine, wA^^/w/'^; of the history of tlie little Iiorn belongs to one of the tliree powers, and what respectively to the two otiiers. From the language of Daniel him- self no such system can be fairly deduced. Throughout the whole vision of the four beasts, the little horn is described as strictly and simply one power, uniform and consistent in its conduct, performing a certain number of clearly defined actions, and continuing in the exercise of a tyrannical authority the precise terra of tliree pro- phetic years and a half. It is surely then highly im- probable, and extremely unlike the usual method of Daniel's writing, to suppose, that, while in the exu- berance of his symbolical imagery he gives two several hieroglyphical descriptions of i/?^/r^^ and fourth empres, and no less than three such descriptions of tlie second and third empires ;\ he should nevertheless be suddenly reduced to such a poverty of imagination as to represent * Hist, the Int. of Proph. Vol. i. p. 376. t ^an- ii- ^'i '*'i'i- VOL. T. 14 106 lliree *cei'y different powers by one ami the same symbol, ihcrehy '\\.\\'o\\'mgihe\i\sioxy oi those powers m the most imjicnetrable obscurity and the most perplexing uncer- taint}''. To repeat an observation which 1 have aheady made, if various symbols be used to represent the same thing-, we shall be in no danger of mistaking the pro- phet's meaning, provided only we can ascertain the import of each individual symbol ; but, if, on the contrary, in the course of a single passage, the sujtie symbol be used to express many different things, it will be impos- sible to understand a prophecy couched in such ambi- guous terms, because we can never be sure, when we proceed to consider the prophecy article by article, to which of those different things each article is to be re- ferred. On these grounds I feel mj^self compelled to reject Mr. Kett's interpretation of the history of the little horn, as resting upon no solid foundation, and receiving no warrant from the plain language of Daniel. Mr. Galloway, avoiding the perplexity introduced by Mr. Kett, supposes, that tlie little horn is one, and only one, power; which power he conjectures to be re- rolutionary France. Many however are the difficulties which must be ovciccme, before such an opinion as this can be satisfiictorily established. The difficulties are these. The horn is termed by the prophet a little horn, and is represented as a distinct power from the other ttn horns ; whereas France is not only one of these teii horns, but the t'ery largest of them all : and this little horn is to subdue three of the first Jmigs, to wear out the saints of the Most High, and to contimie in power during the space of a time, and times, and the dividing of time ; whcreRS none of these marks appear, at the first sight, to be at all applicable torevolutionanj France. With regard to the epithet little, Mr. Galloway will not allow it to be taken in the literal and most obvious sense. " It cannot," says he, " be little in respect to strength and powder ; but he is, in the sense of the pro- phet, as I humbly apprehend, little, and oi no weight, in the scale of virtue and religion, and of lii/ie or no account in the sight and estimation of God. He is little and worthless, because he is to exceed in wickedness all be- 107 fore him. In this sense the word is used in many pas- safyes of Scripture.* Moreover his power, however great for a time, is little^ because it is to continue but a Utile time when compared with other prophetic periods ; and it is little indeed when compared with the power of Christ, who, according to St Vv.xAy shall consume it with the spirit of his mouth, and destroy it zvifh the brightness of his coming. With this sense of the word little all its other tropes, as we shall presently find, are in perfect agreement ; and therefore we may conclude it is the true literal sense/ 'f The three kingdoms, which the little horn w^as to subdue, Mr. Galloway conjectures to be the kin gdomof France, the Stadholderateof Holland, and the Helvetic union orSzviss confedcraci/.X And the saints of the Most High, whom it was to wear out, he supposes to be the popish clergy of France and such of the laity as adhered to them.^ — The prophet however asserts, that the little horn was to wear out the saints during the space of three years and a half These years have been usu- ally thought to be prophetic years, in wdiich case they would be the same period as the forty -txvo prophetic months, or the txvelve hundred and sixty prophetic days : but Mr. Galloway maintains, that they are mere natural or solar years ; and cites, in proof of his supposition, the history of Nebuchadnezzar, whose madness was to con- tinue seven times, or seven natural years, not seven pro- phetic years.\\ The three times and a half then, during which the horn was to w^ear out the saints, are, according to Mr. Galloway, tJie three natural years and a half, dur- ing which Christianity was formally suppressed by law in France. "Taking," says he, *' certain late events, which have come to pass in France, as my guide, I am led to interpret these numbers into three (literal) years and a half : a construction, not only justified by the text, but clearly supported by the events. For, if we date the beginning of this period, at the time of the last dreadful decree for the exile of the clergy, and its mur- derous execution ; and its end, at the thne of the decree * The texts, which Mv. Galloway cites In favour of this interpretation, are the following : 1 Sam. .tv. 17— Xehem. ix, 32 — Isaiah xl. 15— Micah v. 2. t Comment, p. 401. 4 Ibid. p. 419. § Ibid. p. 417. Ij Ibid. p. 413—117. 108 granting to the Christians, who remained in France, and had, through the mercies of God, been wonderfully pre- ser\ed, a tree toleration of their religion : we shall find it a timcy iimesy and the dividing of tivie^ or exactly three years and a half. The decree for the exile of the clergy passed the Q.Qth of August \1^% but the murderous ex- ecution of it was not finished until the latter end of the folio win g VLonth. From that time no person in France dared to mention the name of God, or of his blessed Son Jesus Christ, but with disrespect and contempt ; or, if he did, he was scorned and insulted, and put to death as a fanatic. This is therefore a [)roper epoch, from vv hence to date the giving up the saints into the hands of the little horn, or the then horrible government of France^ whose {XDwer was theji styled the reign of teiror and of death. As to the end of this prophetic period, the event is equally demonstrative of it. For from tlie end of Sep- tember 1 79^i, v\ hen the clergy were imprisoned and mas- sacred, (for they were not permitted even to go into ex- ile) the distressing state of the Christians in France sur- passes description. Death, the most horrible, was con- tinually staring them in the face. The guillotine, the cannon, musket, and national baths, were in constant exorcise ; and the minds of every man, woman, and child, professing ( hristianity, were smitten with the dread of immediate death. In this dreadful state (a state in which, according to the literal sense of the text, they were given info the hand of the French government) thoy remained until the latter end of March 179') ; when, glu ted with Christian blood, the atheistical demagogues passed a decree, granting a full toleration of all kinds of religion, which virtually repealed all the decrees against fanatics, and delivered the Christians out of their hands. Now, if we calculate the time between the latter end of September lld% and the latter end of March 1796', wc shall find it, in the language of prophecy, a timcy timest and a dividing oj time ; which, when interpreted, is ex- actly a |)eriod of three years and a half .''^ This hypothesis of Mr. Galloway is, I fear, no better founded than that of Mr. Kett. • Comment, p. 41?'. 109 Whatever the epithet little may signify in other parts of Scripture,* the context sufficiently shews, that, when applied to the eleventh horn of the Roman beast-, it ^xxa- p\y means small m point of size There is a very sensi- ble rule, that words used in the same passage antitheti- cally or relatively must bear the same kind of significa- tion. Thus, when Ezekiel, in one continued clause, speaks of a righteous man turning from his righteousness Xoiniquityy and of a wicked man turning from his wicked- ness to righteousness : no one can reasonably doubt, that the righteousness., which the one has forsaken, is the very righttousnessy which the other has attained ; or that the iniquity y which the one has plunged into, is no less an aberration from the will of God, (though it may not be precisely the same mode of aberration,) than the ini- quity, which the other has happily forsaken. Unless this be allowed, the antithesis and relation of the words righ- teous man and wicked man, and righteousness and wicked- ness-, are entirely destroyed ; and the whole passage is consequently deprived of all definiteness of meaning. If then we advert to the context of the passage, wherein the little horn is mentioned, we shall find, that the pro- phet beheld four great beasts coming up from the sea; * I am not perfectly clear, that the word little ever occurs in Scripture in the sense ot morally -zvorthless. The passaf^es, cited by Mr Galloway in support of this interpretation of the word, afford it no support whatsoever. In all of them, without exception, the epithet ^/V^/e is used in the sense of worthiess or trifling inpoim of value or consequence, not in that ot'~vorthiess in point of religion and morality. It is superfluous to observe, that there is a viost essential aif- ference between these tivo kinds of ijcorthlessness. Cruden, than whom few men were better acquainted with the bible, does not mention the sense of moralli/ worthless among the different scriptural significations which he supposes the word little to bear : and Parkhurst only gives three meanings of the radical *T3/l5 here used by Daniel, namely *mrt//in point of s/ze, ti/ne, Sind qvantify. The matter, after all, is reducible to this. We are not concerned with what the Eug'lish word little may mean, when it occurs in Scripture ; but with what the Hebre~M word IW which occurs in this particular passage, means Let the reader then turn to Calasio's Ileb. Concordance, and he will soon be satisfied, that the word TJ/I never signifies mora//)/ worfA/ej*. Mr. Galloway does not seem to have been aware, that tliis word lyi is not used in any one of the passage.s to which he refers in proof of his interpretation. Consequently, even if our English translation little had signified morally tvorthlessin all of them, he would have been no nearer to the establishing of his opinion. In one of them indeed the cognate word "lj?lf is used ; but this no more bears the sense of morally worthless than ^3;l. In the three others, three entii-ely different words are employed ; all of which are alike translated little. + Ezek. xviii. 26, 27. and that one of these great beasts had a little horn, which sprung up among his other ten larger\\oxTi^. In a simi- lar manner, if we advert to the context of the passage, wherein tJie little horn of the he-goat or third great beast is mentioned,* we shall find, that this he goat is said to have had one great horn ; from the broken stuinp of which came up four notable horns, and also a little horn which came forth out of one of the four notable horais.f With such a double context then before us, is it reason- able to suppose, that the four great beasts, and the great /iarn,mea,n lite '-ally /b^^r beasts, and a horn, large in point of size i but that the little horn does not mean literally a horn small in point of size, but figuratively a morally worthless horn? To make the two passages at all con- sistent, the same kind of signification must be borne by the wQix^L great, as by the word little : consequently, if a little horn mean a morally worthless stale, a great horn, and a great beast will mean a morally worthy state or empire. But, since this conclusion is a manifest absur- dity, and since agreat horn and a great beast certainly mean a large state or empire, a Utile horn must necessa- rily mean a small state. France however is both a large state, and one of the ten horns ; and the little horn, what- ever it may be, is both a small state, and not one of the ten horns : France therefore most undeniably cannot be symbolized by the little horn. Having thus shewn, that the little horn cannot be France, it may seem almost unnecessary to prosecute the matter any further ; for, if the horn itself Ix; not France, none of the particulars which are predicated of the horn can be applied to that country. Nevertheless, in order that the non-identity of France and the Utile horn may be the more satisfactorily established, I shall likewise consider the other points wherein Mr. Galloway thinks that he has discovered an agreement between them. The little horn is to depress three of the first ten horns. These, according to Mr. Galloway, are the monarchy of * T}\e he-goat symbolizes the same power as the leopard in the preceding visioii Q^thefourbcatts. + Dan. vili. 8, 9. HI ♦ France, the St acVi older ate of Holland, and the Szviss co7i- federacv — The first objection, that an historical ?>\.\xAi^xv\. would make to such a mode of interpretation, is obvi- ously this: Daniel declares, that three of the first ten horns should be plucked up before the little horn : now, upon adverting to the list of the ten primary Gothic sovereign- ties into which the Roman empire was originally divided, we shall find it a vain labour to discover among them those two completely modern states, Holland and Sxvit- zerland. One only of the first ten horns was in exis- tence when the French revolution broke out, the ancient kingdom of the Franks :* hence it is plainly impossible, that the prophecy should receive its accomplishment in i\\e present day. If it has not been lo7ig since fulfilled, it flow never can be fulfilled — The next objection is, that France cannot, with any shew of probability, be reckoned at once both the little horn which subdues, and the horn which is subdued. I am aware, that Mr. Gallo- way supposes the little horn to be revolutionary Francey and fne other horn to be regal France ; but the language of prophecy knows no such distinctions. It considers states, rather than revolutions of states ; though it will frequently m.ark, with wonderful accuracy, even those very revolutions. The Roman empire, or the fourth beast, under all its seven different heads ox forms ofgov- ernment, is still considered as only one power. l"he de- struction of its regal head hj the co7istilate, and of its consular head by the e??iperoj^ship,is notrepresented un- der the image of its being attacked by another beast : Rome is never said by the prophet to subdue Rome. In • In strict propriety of speech, the original kingdom of the .^ingels cannot be considered as being at present in existence, the line of succession having been broken both by the Danish and Norman conquests : o.ie only therefore of the ten pmnary kingdoms, that of the Franks, remained at the era of the revolu- tion. The kingdom of the Huns indeed still exists noviimd/tf, but its indeper.' tlence is no more. It is swallowed up in tlie superior power oi Jlustria, in the same manner as the primitive kingdom of Bnrgundij is lost in that of the Frank:. There is moreover another reason, why tJie Timdcrn kingdom of Hungary can scarcely be considered tlie same as the primitive kingdom of the Huns. " Hun- gary," says Mr. Gibbon, " has been successively occupied by three Scythian colonies ; tlie Huns of Attila (who constitute d the primitive kingdom -J tiie Abares, in the sixth century ; and the Turks of Magiars, a. d. 889. the im- mediate and genuine ancestors of the modern Hungarians, whose connection with the two former is cxtremelv faint and rcrp.ou-." Hist of Hecline and Fall, Vol, vi. p. 38. a slmila'- manner. Trance-, whether under the government of the Merovingians, the Carlovingians, or the Capets : whether opprt ssed by the diabolical tyranny of the re- publican faction^ or tamely subraittins: to the degrading usurpation of the upstart family of Buonaparte : France-^ however circumstanced in point of legislature, is still France, still one of the original ten horns of the Roman beast Hence surely it cannot be at once both tlie hum that subdues, and the horn that is subdued: France is never said by the prophet to subdue France. The little hoini is further toxvear out the saints of the Most High — Fhese saints Mr. Galloway supposes to be the popis'i clergy of Fratice, and such of the laity as were unwilling to give up the Christianity of the Church oj Rome tor the blasphemous atheism of the mock republic. That there have been many sincere Christians in the midst of all the voluntary humility and superstitious will- worship of the mystic Babylon^* I am by no means dis- posed to deny. To adopt the words of the excellent Hooker, " Forasmucli as it may be said of the Church of Rome, she hath yet a little strength, she doth not directly deny the foundation of Christianity ; I may, I trust, without offence, persuade myself that thousands of our fathers, in former times living and dying within her walls, have found mercy at the hands of God.f Nevertheless, though I readily make this concession to the pious papist, I cannot quite so easily bring myself to think, that the members of an idolatrous and persecuting Apostacy, xvhen spoken of collectively, would be called by the Holy Spirit of God the saints of the Most High. They, w^ho as a body, are represented as worshippers of mediating demons, and idols of gold and silver and brass and stone andxi'Ood ; vl?> murderous persecutors, sorcerers or Jug- glers, spiritual J ornicato?'s,and thieves:X they, who bear * Coloss. ii. 18—23. + Discourse of Justification, Sect. 17 Hooker however gruards, with his usual wisdom, ai^ainst any misapprehension or perversion of these words. « M;iny in former times, as their hooks and writings do yet shew, held the foundation, to wit, salvation by Christ alone, and therefore mipU he saved. God Iiath always had aChurch amongst tliem, which firmly kept his saving truth. As for such as hold with the Church of Home, that we cannot be siived by Christ alone without works ; they do, not only by a circle of coasequence, but directly deny the foundation of fititli ; they hold it not, no not so much as by a thread." Ibid. Sect. 19. * Uev. ix. 20, 21. 113 such a character in one part of Scripture, can never sure- ly l^e honoured with the title of saints of the Most fligk in another part. Even Mr. Gallovi^ay himself, though he supposes the popish clergy of France io ha the saints worn out by the tyranny of the little horn ; yet, in another part of his work thinks, that the second vial of the wrath of God is to be poured out xx^onpapal Rome^ " as a just judgment for her abominable idolatry, for her artful se- duction and unrelenting and bloody persecutions of the Church of his blessed Son, and for her daring impiety in the assumption of his divine attributes.'"^ Now, al- though the French clergy did not quite so implicitly sub- mit to the unqualified claims of the pretended successors of St. Peter as those of Spain, PortugaU and Italy : yet I never heard, that they had in any degi^ee renounced their heretical opinions, their blasphem.ous idolatries, and their ridiculous m.ummeries ; or that any of them felt a single scruple of conscience respecting the execrable oath, exacted by the Pope from all whom he consecrates bis'i- ops, that they will, as far as in them lies, persecute and oppose all impitgners of the authority of the see of Rome. This being the case, let the little horn be what power it may, the bigoted adherents of that sanguinary hie- rarchy cannot surely he styled, by a divinely inspired prophet, saints of the Most High.\ • Comment, p. 235. + The reader will find a very full and satisfactory statement of the pernicious maxims of Popery in the able strictures on J^lowden's Historical Revierj of L-e- /and, commencing in the .!nii-Jacobin lievie-w for 'Sov 1804 He \yill likt- wise do well to peruse a tract published at Cambridg'c in the year 1746, intitled The true spirit of Popery displayed. A'.-.d, if he require a yet moi-e circumstantial detail of the principles and practice of the Church of Rome, he will find uin Mr. Whitaker's well-timed Commentary on the Revelation. To these writers I beg to refer him, if he wish for any further confutation of Mr. Galloway's opinion, that the popish clergy and royalist laiiy of France are the saints of the Most High ivorn out bn the tyrcmny of the little horn. Mr Rett's conjecture, that the little horn ultimately typifies the Infidel power nf Frarice, and that the beast of the bottomless pit which slays the apocaiyptic ■witnesses is French /7i^Je//rv, must necessarily lead him to adopt Mr. Galloway's sentiments respecting' the .'iaints of God mentioned by Daniel, and the -.vitnesses mentioned by St. Jolin : (Compare Hist, the Interp. Vol I p 3?1, with p. 413, 419.) nay, his scheme is perplexed with mors irreconcileable contradictions tlian even that of T^li: Gallowr.y. When the little horn, in its primary sense, meaiiK Popery ; then the saints ivoni out by it must of course mean all those holy men ivho protested against its corruptions. But, wlien the little horn, in its -.dti- jnate sense, means, the hfdel pov^er of France ; then the saints -vtrrn^ on! by it must mean the Popish clergy and Royalist laity. Thus it is evident, t': .1, upon Air. Kett's plan, the ■■^ainta sometimes mean the persecuted pro.'estants, and at VOL. T. 1-^ Lastly, the little horn is to cmtinne in power tlireeyears and a half — These years Mr. Galloway decides to be natural years, and pronounces them to be the three years and a half, during which atheism w^is established by law in France. Upon this point, I cannot see, that the ar- gument, wdiich he brings from the term of Nebuchad- nezzar's madness, is at all conclusive. Because the word timCy when it occurs in a prophecy relative to a single individual, manifestly signifies a natural year ; other timfts the persecuting papists ,• while the little hovn, with equal flexibility, sometimes means the pemecutijisr cliuich of Rome, and at other times the French Jiepui^'ic, wirich in its turn persecuted the members of that persecuting Church, Or, to state the matter somewliat diflerently, the'Uttle horn in its ultimate sense, persecutes the little horn, in its priviary sense ; while the saints, in their ulti' 7na/e sense, Are the very set of men -vho persecuted the saints, in their priniari/ sense ; in other words, the saint.^, in their ultimate sense, and the little horn, in its /)mna;7/ sense, equally symbolize the Church of Home and her memSers. Such is the strange conlusiou that results from Mr. Kelt's scheme of primary and secondary interpretations of the same prophecy. Ur. Zouch's sentiments on this point so perfectly accord with my own, that I cannot resist the pleasure of transcribing them. Speaking of those interpre- tations which apply the character of the little horn to the French Itepublic and the chaxACier oi the saints 'Korn out by it to the Popish clergy, he observes: "An indiscriminate massacre of more than two millions of the human race suf- ficiently indicates a most savage and relentless power, but by no means at- taches to it tl>e peculiar attribute of ivearing out the saints of the JMost High .- a character this strongly expressive of spiritual tyranny, of persecution exer- cised upon others merely for their religious opinions, and truly appropriate to //le €/ia;cA w/'i^oTne which punishes good men as being heretics; professing enmity against them as such ; regardless of the atrocity of guilt, however no- torious, in her own followers, while those, who dissent from her, become the victims of her inexorable rage. A serious pi-otestant, conversant in those in- spired writings in which the portrait o( ^Antichrist" (bad as the Papacy is, I can sec no j: I st warrant by the way for applying ;/;« title to it) "is delineated as with a pencil of light, will hesitate to pronounce the members of the church of liome tlic saints of the Most Jligh. Svithout violating the law of Christian charity, be must consider them as professors of a religion perfectly abhorrent from the purity of the Gospel, as involved in idolatrous and superstitious prac- tices, as men who have not repentedof the works of their hands, that t/icy should not -wors/iip dtvils and idols of gold and silver and bras.^ and stone and xvood, ivhich neither cati see nor hearnor -walk ; neither repented they of their murders norof their sorceries, nor of their for ni cation, nor of their thefts. The blood of such men has been prodigallyshed: and it is very remarkable, that the Frencli anarchists have in- troduced the horrors of war principally into popish eoimtries, as if those nations, which profess the purity of the protestant religion, were providentially preserv- ed from danger." (Zouch on Prophecy, p. 61.) The unerring voice of prophecy many ages ago predicted this last circumstance, which Ur Zouch justly styles a. rcmarhable one. The lials of God's -urath were to be poured out, not upon the mystic -iuitr.esses, but upcin those " which had the mark of the beast and wor- shipped his image," u])on those " who had shed the blood of saints and pro- phets," and along with them upon those dai-ing infidels, whctlier apostate pro- tei>l;'.iits or rcnegado p.".pl.'egan to persecute them, hut only that the po,-er of perserution w/sthen conferred upon him, that he wag The falsehood of many of these computations has been alrle to point out any specific seasoa "when the t fines and Laos were delivered formally into liis hand, which the pas- sage obviously reqiiii'es ; bui such an opinion is totally ii reconcileable with the parallel context of the Rtvebtion. The saints, mentioned by Daniel, are manlftstly the same as che ap'icalyhtic luit'. esses and as the persecuted Church in the loilierness But the apocalyptic -ivitaesses were to propliesy in sackcloth, and the Church was to flee fr m the aitack of the dragon, each during the period of 1260 years: hence it is clear, that the saints, not the times and la~.vs, were to be giv- en into the hand of the Utile horn during- the very same space of three prophetic years and a half The identity of the numbers suificiently shews that they refer to the same peiso is ; but the apocalyptic ) 260 years refer to the cahnnitous prophc ^y*i'S 'f '''^ witnesses and the desolation of the true Church ; therefore the three times and a half of IJaniel must refv;r to the v.earing out of the saints, not sure- ly to the changing of times and laivs. In short, the delivi'ring of the saints into the hand of the little hor-i dur'?:g three prophetic years and a half \s c\enr\y the same *=ivent, as the causing of the xvitnesscs to proplicst' in sackcloth by giving the outer court of the temple and the holy city to the geiitiles (or those Christians who had relapsed into tlie idolatrous abominations of gentilism) during 42 m.ent'.s The legenerate church however, and along- with it the faithfu' ivi.nesses, were then first g-iven into the hand of 'he little horn, when the Pope was declar- ed to be Universal Bishop and Supreme Ik'.:d of the Church. It is almost su- perfluous to remind the reader, tiiat three years and a half, 42 months, and! 1260 days, are all the same period. (Compare Dan vii 2i>. with Kev. si. ?, 3. xii 6, 14. and xiii. 5, 7 "i I may properly add, at the conclusion of this note, that, even if Sir Isaac Newton's supposition be adopted, the dates fixed upon by Mr Mede and Bp. Newton for the commencement of the 1..'60 years will be equally irreconcileable with their opinion that the Papacy becatne a horn by the eradication uf the three horns- The times and laws could no more be deli'- vei-ed inti Jie hand of the iutle horn previous to the period of its beg-inning- to exist, tlian f/ie .sflw« could. I write this however not as in the least hesitat- inic respecting- what I have said of Sir Isaac's acceptation of the passage in. question Since the apocalyptic vdtuessts are manifestly the same as the saints mentioned by Daniel, and »;ii.ce those -witiesses were to prophesy in sackclotJi 126U .ays ; what wa^ delivn-ed into the hand of Uni'versal Bishop and supre7ne head of the Clrirch. declaring li^t in ^ipintualsa;l the churches were subject to hira, we can clra.iy see that at that particular era the saints were sub- jected to an imperious master, that they were given into the i^nnd oi the little horn now beconic a great empire. If th'^'n the saints were given into his hand at that par- ticular time, (and I know not any more probable^ era thf.ri this that can be pitched upon for such an event,) the little horn must at that time have been already in ex- istence ; but, if we suppose that this symbol denotes the temporal kinpdom oi the Papacy, that was not as yet in existence, for the Pope had not then either thrown off his allegiance to the Greek Emperor, or acquired the Exarchaie of Haxenna. The little horn however, ac- cording to the prophecy, was not merely to begin to exist when the saints were given into his hand, but was al- ready to have been in existence an indefinite period of time. Such being the case, it certainly cannot symbol- ize the temporal kingdom of the Papacy : and, if it do not" symbolize its temporal kingdom, I know not what it can symlx)lize except its spiritual kingdom. We have seen, that the little horn was to arise pre- vious to the commencement of the Apostacy of I .^60 year^ wher the Roman beast revived, and therefore that it was to arise during the time that the beast lay dead. • There is another era, which is possible, Ihonpch (I Uiink) not probable ; nftjmcly, tie ijfar 787, wlicn the supremacy ofl/ie Pope was acknowledged by llic seconc coii-icil ©<■ Tsice This matter will he discussed more largely here- ■A\rr ; mciiT.\\'hile I v.isli it fully to be uudei stood, that 1 pitch upon the yem^ flOQ, ynly a;, appearing to mc tlic most probable date. Tlie event alone Wil> C'-.able us Vj alUin t» absolute certmnti/. us Daniel accordingly teaches us, that it was to come up amon^ the tenjirst horns into which the empire should be divided by the incursions of the northern nations. Now the fir St of these kingdoms, that of the Htms, arose about the year S5^ ; and the last of them, that of the Lombards, about the year 48-3 in the north of Germany, and about the year ^^^ in Hungary. We must look therefore for the gradual rise of the little horih by which I think we are obliged to understand the spiritual king- dom of the Pope, between the years 356 and 5Q6. As for the temporal kingdom of the Pope, it did not come up among the first ten hornsy as Bp. Newton himself al- lows, who is thence obliged to construct a catalogue of ten kingdoms, not suited to the primitive division of the Empire, but to the eighth century : the ternporal king- dom oj the Pope therefore cannot be intended by the little horn. But the spiritual kingdom of the Pope arose precisely at this period. In the primitive Church, the authority of the Bishops of Rome extended not beyond their own diocese : precedence only was allowed to them in general councils by reason of the imperial city being their see. This precedence of honour was gradu- ally enlarged into a precedence of authority. Still how- ever no direct right could be claimed, for the Church was not as yet supported by the secular arm. But, af- ter the conversion of the Empire to Christianity, great privileges were conferred upon the more dignified sees, especially upon that of Rome. Sir Isaac Newton has given a very minute detail of the gradual rise of this spi- ritual power ; and the first special edict, that he mentions as being made in its favour, bears date either the end of the year 378, or the beginning of the year S79. This edict gives the Church of Borne the right of deciding ap- peals in all doubtful cases that concerned the western bishoprics. Sir Isaac accordingly dates very properljr tli(j commencement of the Pope's spiritual jurisdiction from it. This power however constituted but a very small kingdom compared to that which was afterwards erected upon its foundations. The irruption of the northern tribes, which at first seemed likely to involve every thing m ruin and confusion, and the previous transfer of the seiit of government from Rome to Const antinoj)le, jointly contributed to increase the authority oi the Jioniau Bi^ shop " \V hilc this ecclesiastical dominion was risiiig up," says Sir Isaac, " the northern barbarous nation- invaded the IVcstcrn empire, iXVi&ic)\im\ei\sc\era\ kingdoms there- in f)f dillerent religions Irom the Church of Rome. But these kingdoms by degrees embraced the; liomau taith, and at the same time submitted to the Pope's authority. The Franks in Gaul submitted in the end of the filth century; the Goths in Spain, at the end of theauih; and the Lombards in Italy were conquered by Charles the great in the year ll'\!. Between the years 77.'> and 79i-, the same Charles extended the Pope's authority over all Germany and flungary as far as the river Theysse and the Baltic sea. He then set him above all human judicature ; and at the same time assisted him in subdu- ing the city and dutcliy of Rome."* The manner, in wiiicii the little horn almost insensibly arose, after the transfer ot the seat of government, and during the dark period of Gothic invasion, is similarly described by Ma- chiavel. Having shewn how the Roman empire was di- vided b}'' the incursions of the northern nations, he ob- serves, " About this time the Bishops of Rome began to take upoji them, and to exercise greater authority than they had formerly done. At first, the successors of St. Peter were venerable and eminent for their miracles, and the holiness of their lives ; and their examples add- ed daily such numbers to the Christian ( hurch, that, to obviate or remove the confusions which were then in the world, many princes turned C hristians : and the Em- peror of Rome being converted among the rest, and quit- ting Rome to hold his residence at Constantinople, the Roman empire began to decline, but the church of Home augmented as fast. "t After this he shews how the ho- Via?i empire declined, and how the power of the ( hurch of Rome increased, iirst under the Ostrogoths, then un- der the Lombards, and lastly under the Franks. I liave borrowed the preceding very apposite citation from iJp. J^^ewton, who, somewliat singularly, according to his * Observ on Dan. Chap. viii. + ^Ii«t.,of t'lofcncci li. 1. p. 6. cited by Pp. Newton. 9^5 iBcl^m/iversal empire imder a Bishop of bishops^ and when the saints were thus formally delivered into its hand. How great, even before the commencement of the 1260 daysy was its authority become, compared with what it had been, when tJie Pope was only Archbishop of the neighbouring Italian bishops ^ and ecclesiastical judge in cases of appeal from the other bishops of the TVestern empire ! As yet however the man of sin, the head of the great Apostacy * was not revealed. Gregory equally abhorred idolatry, persecution, and the proud claim of universal episcopacy : and it was left to his suc- cessors formally to re-establish the worship of images, to wear out the saints of the Most High, and to assume the metropolitanship, not only of Italy and the West, but of the whole world.t Though tinctured with the growing supei'stition of the age, his piety was fervent and sincere : and this last of the primitive bishops of Rome was snatched away to a better world, ere the 7nojistrous two-fold dominant Apostacy of the East and the li 'est had commenced. His death was, as it were, the signal lor its deveiopement. Thus we have seen, that the little horn cannot typify the temporal kingdom of the Pope, because it is present- ed as springing up, as existing, and ?i^ d.c\'mg, previous to the time when the three horns were eradicated ixifore it, and consequently previous to the time when it acquired * nist. of Dedine and FuH, Vol. vm. p. 164:— 16r. * This subject wiU be r«;sumed Lere^fier. m by their fall St. Peter s patr'wiony. Its acquisition of temporal authority is indeed distinctly predicted in that part of the prophecy which relates to the subversion of the three horns : but this is mentioned as it were only by the bye, only as a mark whereby we might certainly know the power typified by the little horn. The power in question was gradualiy to arise during the turbulent period of Gothic invasion : and, after it had existed an indefinite space of time, the prophet teaches us thfit three horns should be plucked up before it, by the fall of which it should acquire temporal dominion. Plence it is plain, that, since the little horn was to be in existence previous to its acquisition of temporal dominion by the successive eradication of the three horns, it cannot liave been designed to symbolize, as Sir Isaac Newton, Mr. Mede, and Bp. Newton, suppose, the Papacy considered as a secular principalify. This will appear yet more evident, when w^e examine the prophetic character of the little horn article by article.. 1. The little horn rvas not only to be a small kingdom at its first rise, but it was to be different from all the other horns — Accordingly every one oi the ten kingdoms., founded by the northern nations, were tempoi-al sovereignties : but the papol horn was a spiritual sovereignty. And after* wards, when it had acquired a secular principality by 'he fall of three of the ten temporal horns, it still continued to differ essentially from them, being an ecclesiastical and spiritual, as well as a cixiil and temporal power. % The little horn had eyes like the eyes of a maiv—- This particular, like the former, serves to shew, that a spiritual, not a temporal, kingdom was intended by the symbol. " By its eyes it was a seer ; and by its mouth speaking great things and changing times and laws it was a prophet — A seer, Emo-HOTro?, is a bishop in the li- teral sense of the word ; and this church claims the uni- versal bishopric."* At its first rise indeed, it presumed not to make so bold a claim : still nevertheless it was equally a seer, or a bishop, within its own proper diocese and metropolitanship. o. The little horn had a mouth speaking great things-^ * Sir Isaac Newton's Observ on Ban. Chap. 7, I9S In his pretended capacity ot a prophet and vicar of Chrieing thus removed, the little horn attained its full growth ; and occupied the place, which had been before occupied by the three eradicated horns. Sucii apparently was the action of the symbols ; up- on which the interpreting angel observes, that an eleventh kingdom should arise behind the first ten kingdoms-, and should depress three of them. Now, since it is said, in Che passage, that the three horns were plucked up be- fore tlie Wile horn ; in another, that they fell before fhe little horn ; and in a third that the poxoer represented hy the Utile horn should depress the power represented by the three horns : a question arises, which can only be determined by the event : namely, whether this smaller pmcer should depress three of \heji7^st powers immedi- ately or media tely.hy his oxvn proper e.vert ions or by fhe instrumentality of others ? History is ever the best in- terpreter ot prophecy ; and by its decisions we may alwa3's safely abide. I3aniel specially informs us, that three oi the Jirst ten kingdoms, into which the empire should he di\'ided, were to be plucked up before the little horn. Hence it is evident, that we must look for the completion of the prophecy among ihcicn Jirst kingdoms, and among those 07ily. Now we do not find, as it shall be presently shewn from history, that a?iy three of the ten original * He seems to have overlooked t/ie little horn at first, owing to its diminu- tive size. Jind to its sprinjjiiig up behind the other harm ; and to have fixed his attention entinly upon the ten korm ,- till it vas diverted frojn tliem by the increasing sii:e of the Utile hgrju 137 kin.ajdoms* were ever literally depressed by the immediate exertions ol an eleventh smaller kingdom : but \\ c^ do find tliat precisely three of them were eradica-ted by the instrumentality of each other ^ of the Greeks, and of the Franks, before an eleventh little horn, which had been gradually rising in the midst of troublesome times, and which at length occupied the place of its three depressed predecessors. Tims does history at once interpret the prophecy, and undeniably point out to us the pozver in- tended by the little horn. @. As the three horns are to be sought for among the ten Jirst horns, we must obviously learn what those ten first horns are, before we can inquire with any prospect of success for ^^e three which were to be eradicated be- fore the little horn. The historian Machiai^el, whom I cannot but consider as the best, because the most un- prejudiced, judge, of the manner in which the Romcm empire was divided, very undesignedly, and (as Jip. Chandler remarks) little thinking what he was doing, reckons up the ten primary kingdoms as follows : 1. The Ostrogoths iiiMesia; '2. The Visigoths in Pannonia ; 3. The Sueves and iMans in Gasgoigne and Spain ; 4. The Vandals in Africa ; 5. The Franks in France ; 6. The Burgundians in Bdrgundy ; 7 The Heruli and Turingi in Italy ; 8. The Saxons and Angles in Britain ; 9. The. Huns in Hungary ; and 10. The Lombards, at first upon the Danube, afterwards in Italy. f The self-same cata- logue is exhibiied by that excellent chronologer Bp. Lloyd, who adds the dates v. hen these ten kingdoms arose : i. The Huns about A. D. 35Q ; 2. The Ostrogoths, 377 ; S. The Visigoths, S78 ; 4. The Franks, 407 ; 5 The Vandals, 407; 6 TheS.;eves and Alans, 407; 7. The Burgundians, 407 ; 8. The Heruli and Rugii, 476 ; 9. T\\j Saxons, 476 ; 10. The Longo bards in the north of Germany, 483 ; in Hungary, 5'26.J These then, upon the concurring testimony of an his- torian and a chronologer, are the ten kingdoms into which * In fact, we do not find that dny three kingdoms were subdued by the /m- mediate force oithe Papacy The Pope hivudf neither subdued t4je kin^doia of the Lombards, the state ot Rome, nor the Exarchate. + Bp. Newton's Dissei* XiV- * Ibid. VOL. f. 18 138 the Roman empire was orig'iiall^'- divided, and conse- quently the}' are flie teu first horns of which we are in quest. Hence, if ever three Id.-gdoms were phicked up before a little kingclojn which arose imperceptibly among the tdi priynarij kingdoms', they niust be thrte^ the names of which occur in the preceding list of Machiavel and Bp. Lloyd. Accordingly wo shall find, that the king- dom of the Heruli, the kingdom oj the OstKgothSy and the kingdnn of the h'-nibards^ were successive! v eradicat- ed before the little papal horn, which at length became a temporal no less than a spiritual power at the expence of these three depressed primary states. 1. In ike year 476, Odoacer, king of the Heruli,* put an end to the wesfeni empire., and caused himself to be proclaimed king of Italy. J^y this conquest he stood " before," or in the way of, the papal horn ; whence it was necessary, that his r^ gal horn should be plucked up in order to make room for the future aggrandisement of the spiritual kingdom of the Pope. This was eflected, in tlie year 493, by Theodoric king of the O.Arognths. Leading his hardy troops from their original settlement in Mesia and the neighbourhood of Constantinople, he de- scended from the Julian Alps, and displayed his banners on the confines of Italy. Victory crowned his enter- prise ; from the Alps to the extremity of Calabria Theo- doric reigned by right of conquest; and he was accept- ed as the deliverer of Rome by the Senate and the people. 2. This second of the three horns however, standing equally in the v/ay of })apal aggrandisement, was destin- ed, like its immediate predecessor, to fall Ijefore the Utile * Disputr s liave arisen respectinj;^ the proper name of Odoacer's subjects, but they arc disputes which are of little consequence to the completion of the prophecy Machiavel stylos his kingdom, :/taf of the Uervli and Txtrivgi ; Bp. Lloyd, /A(/r 'J the Ikruliwnl Jiugii ; and Mr (i.bbon asserts, lliat his immedi- ate anil licroditary subjects were the tribe (.A' the Svyni, while the Italian king- dom whicli he founded was comp(f the tJinr honm The accurate par- liciilurisinf.j rf tlie tribes which composed it canniiL make it either n)ore or less a primary kingdom All possibility of dis)>utc might be uvoidetl, if, iu the ca'alogue nf the ten lingilomn, it were styled, tk: kiiiffJ.nmof Odoacer in Jtaht, instead oi'the hing, om of the Ileruii and Tuvin^i in Italy, or the kingdum if the lleruli and Jiugii in Italy. 139 •■..( horn. After the kingdom of the Ostrogoths liad subsist- ed in Italy its allotted time, it was attacked by Bellisa- rius ; and at length was utterly eradicated by Narses the lieutenant of the Eastern emperor, and his auxilia- ries the Lombards. 3. Italy now became a province of the ConstavMvopol- itan empire^ and was governed by an imperial officer, who bore the title of Exarch of Ravenna. Scarcely however v/as the Exarchate established,* when tJie Lom- bards^ who had lent their assistance to Narses in his at- tack upon the kingdom, of the Ostrogoths, began to me- ditate the conquest of Italy for themselves. Narses was engaged in the settlement of that country under the government of theConstantinopolitan emperors from the year 55^ to the year 568 ; and it was in the year 567, that Alboin, king of the Lombards, undertook the sub- jugation of it. Descending from the same Julian Alps that his Gothic predecessor Theodoric had done, he be- came, with ut a battle or a siege, master of Italy from the Trentine hills to the ^ates of Ravenna and Rome. The exarchate of Ravenna still feebly subsisted, but it was at length completely subdued by the Lombardic monarch Aistulphus about the year 759. I'his conquest however was only the prelude to the utter eradication of the third and lat horn, which interfered with the ag- grandisement of the Papacy, and which was therefore to be plucked up by the roots before it. Alarmed at the growing power of Aistulphus, the Pope appliid for as- sistance to Pipin king of France ; who, in the course of two successive expeditions into Italy, wrested from that prince the whole district of the Exarchate, and bestowed it in perpetual sovereignty upon the Bishop of Rome. " After this double chastisement, tJie Lombards lan- guished about twenty years in a state of languor and de- cay. But their minds were not yet humbled to their * ''The destruction of a mig'hty king-dom established the fame of Alboin — But his ambition was yet unsatisfied ; and the conqut-ror of the Gepidse turn- ed his eyes from the Danube to the richer banks of the Po and the Tiber. Fif- teeri years had not elapsed, since his subjects, the confederates of Narses, had visited the pleasant climate of Italy ; the mountains, the rivers, the high-ways, "Were familiar to their memory ; the report of tlieir success, peihaps the view of their spods, had kindled in the rising generation the flame of eiuulation and enterprise. Their hopes were encouraged by the spirit and eloquence of Al- boin." Hist, of Decline and Fall, Vol. viii. p. 122, 123. 140 coiK^itioii ; and, instead of aflecting the pacific virtues of tlie feeble, tlipy peevishly harassed the Romans with a repetition of claims, evasions, and inroads, which they undertook without reflection, and terminated without glory." Charlemagne had now succeeded his father Pipin, and like him assumed the character of the chi m- pivn of lilt Church. At the request of the Pope he for- ma !ly undertook his cause ; entered Italy at the head of a large army ; comjjielely eradicated the horn of Lom- bardy ; ^wd bestowed great part of its dominions upon the successors of St. Peter."* Thus were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots before an eleventh little horn, which silently arose among them, till it had supplanted the three horns, that stood in its way and prevented its full expansion.! * Mr Sharpe briefly observes, that the tfme horns, eradicated before the little )iorv, were ' the three Gothic kingdoms, " or " the three distinct national go- I'ernments of Gothic kivgSy staX^a successively in Rome itself ;" and he adds, that the three kingdoms constituted the short-lived seventh head of the beast men* tioned in the Apocalvpse : that the last of them was wounded to death by the sword of Justinian in the hand of Beilisarius ; and that the -whole peiiod of their joirt dominion amounted not to more than 70 years. (See Append. to three Tracts, p. 43 — An Inquiry into the description of Babylon, p. 8, — and Append to Inquiry, p ,3,4,5.) Jf'hat three Gothic ling dams Mr. Sl)arpe alludes to, I cannot imagine from his chronological and circumstantial description of them I am only aware of the tlit ee folio-wing Gothic kingdoms having been ever seated in Italy : that of the Ueridi ; that of th: OstrogotI s .- and that of i/ic Lotnbard^- Of these Justinian only subverted that of /Ac- Ostro' rot. s : as tor that o^ the Lombai ds, it continued many years afierthe termina- tion of his reign ; and, after overturning the government of the Greek Empe- rors in Italy it was in its turn destroyed by Charlemi.gne. So again Mr. Sharpe speaks of rArec Gothic kingdoms seated in Italy pevious to the reign of Jiistini m, and jointly continuing about 70 years. Upon adverting to histo- ry, we sliull find, that the two (ioll)ic kingdoms of the Neruli and the Ostiogoths continued something more than 7^ years ; and that the last of them was sub- dued bv Justinian : but it will prove a vain labour to look for a third, the du- ration of which jointly with that of the other two shall amount to about 70 mars The whole duration of the three kingdoms of the Hemli, the Ostrogoths, and the Lombards, comprehends a space, not merely of 70 years, but of little less than three centuries • for the kinglom of the Hrruli was erected in the year 476, and f.^i kingdom of tJie Lombards was subverted ty Charlemagne in the year 774 As for these three kingdoms, they cannot be at once both three horns and the seventh head of the sefsume beast at the scifsawe time and in tlie stlf- same capacity -• both because such an opinion is a palpable contradiction, con- founding together in a strange manner the different members of the beast ; and because '.'98^/.«r«, tlie period of their joint duration, can scarcely be called so very short a time, compa- ed with the duration of any of the otlier heads It is to be wished, that Mr. Sharpe had explicitly aaid what three Gothic kingdoms he intended. + Kp Newton's Dissert on Rev xiii. and vii— Hist, of Decline and Fall, Vol. vi.p 226— .37 Ibid Vol vii p. 11—15. 214—257, 35r!— 398— Ibid. Vol viii. p 122. 126. 127, 145, 147— Ibid. Vol. ix. p. 145—150, 156— 159— Bp. >{ewton's Dissert. Xiy. 141 It is curious to observe the gradual rise of papal dom- ination during the turbulent age, in which the thi\e horns were successively eradicated. Under the reign of Odoacer, the Bishops of Rome had acquired so much in- fluence, that even the victorious Thendoric found it pru- dent to pa3^ court to them. Though he assumed the su- premacy of the Church, he was not ignorant of the d\g- i^ity and importance of the liomcm pontiff. "The peace or thf^ revolt of Italy might depend on the character of a wealthy and popular Bishop, who claimed such ample dominion both in heaven and earth."* Accordingly we iind, that, toward the close of the Ostrogothic sovereign- ty, the Pope took a leading part in the revolution which once more brought Italy under the sway of the emperors. " The deputies of the Pope and clergy, of the senate and people, invited the lieutenant of Justinian to accept their voluntary allegiance, and to enter the city, whose gates would be thrown open for his reception. "f And after- wards, when the Ostrogothic moiiarchi; for a short time recovered itself previous to its final subjection, the em- jieror Justinian was roused from his slumber " by the Pope Figilius and the Patriciaji Cethegus, who appear- ed before his throne, and adjured him, in the name of God and the people, to resume the conquest and deliver- ance of Italy." J At this period, as Machiavel very justly remarks, the Papacy was greatly assisted in its acquisition of tempo- ral authority by the circumstance of Theodoric king of ilie Ostrogoths making Ravenna his metropolis ;^ for, *' there being no other prince left in Rome, the Romans were forced for protection to pay greater allegiance to the Poper During the struggles between the Lombards and the imperial lieutenants at Ravenna^ the power of the Popes continued gradually on the increase. Avaihng them- * Hist, of Decline and Fall, Vol. vil. p. 37. t Ibid. p. 223 ^ Ibid p. 378. §Havenna was theimetropolis likewise even of ?/ie IVtstem empire itself some yeais previous to its fall Honorious first fixed his residence there in the year 404, as a place of security against the inroads of the noithern nations. (Hist, of Decline Vol. v. p 207.) Thus was he tvho letted gradually taken out of the fi'iaify to make room for the Jpostcici/ and the full revelation of the man of sin. 14Q selves of those turbulent and unsettled times, and find- ing that their influence was sufficient to turn the scale whichever way they pleased, they began, as Machiavel observes, to treat and confederate, sometimes with the Imi^er'iaiists and sometimes with the Lombards, " not as subjects, but as equals and companions." In short, throughout a period of anarchy, when the minds of men were kept in a constant ferment by the frequency of political changes, " the want of laws among the Romans could only be supplied by the influence of religion ; and their foreign and domestic counsels were moderated by the authority of the Bishop. His alms, his sermons, his correspondence with the kings and prelates of the West, his recent services, their grati- tude, and oath, accustomed the Romans to consider him as the first magistrate or prince of the city. The C hris- tian liumility of the Popes was not offended by the name of Dominus or Lord ; and their f.ce and inscription are still apparent on the most ancient coins. Their tempo- ral dominion is now confirmed by the reverence of a thousand years ; and their noblest title is the free choice of a people whom they had redeemed from slavery."* Such was the state of the Papacy immediately before the subversion of the kingdom of the Lombards y the last of the three horns which stood in its way, and which was therefore destined to fall before it. When this horn was completely eradicated, tJie eleventh little horn attain- ed to its full 'growth in temporalities, by the acquisition of the e.varchate and a considerable part of the kingdom of L^ombardy-, and by the complete subjugation of Home. It had already become a spiritual empire-, when in the year 606 the saints were delivered into its hand. Here then we behold a little horn springing up among and behind the first ten horns, and advancing itself uj)- on the ruins of three of those horns, which were suc- cessively eradicated before it. No other power but the Papacy arose under similar circumstances, no other cor- responds in every respect with the character of the little horn : whence it is concluded, ihat the sjnnbol of the lit- •Hist. of Decline and Fall, Vol. ix p. 144. 14S tie horn is designed to typify the Papacy and nothuighut the Papacy. It is in va.n, that the Km j iiists w uld persuade us, that the little horn is Antichrist^ and that his reign is still remote. Since three of ihejirst horns, into which the Roman emjire iiraiiched out, were to (all before the little horn ; if the prophecy has not been al' ready accomplished, it is now impossible ihat it erer should be accomplished. From the various political changes which have taken place in the course of the last twelve centuries, the ten prima y horns can no longer be pointed out; consequently no three oi them can noxvhe plucked up before any little horn, which the Papi ts may fancy wall hereafter arise. By attending however to the voice of history we iind, that it has been the fate of three of the primary horns successively to quit their original settlements fo; the purpose of fixing themselves in Italy, so as to stand " before" the Papacy : and we further find, that it has been the fate of exactly these three, and no more, to be completely eradicated '* before" tlie growl- ing power oithe Bishops of Rome. None, except these three, were ever plucked up under such circumstances : that is to say, none except these three, ever fell " before" an eleventh pozver perfectly distinct and perfectly differ- ent from the ien primary kingdoms. Exactly three how- ever of the ten primary kingdoms did fall *' before" the Papacy : it is incumbent therefore upon the votaiies of the Church of Rome to shew, why we are not to conclude these three kingdoms to be the three horns of the beast and the Papacy to be the eleventh little horn, before they can expect a protestant to believe that the reign of this little horn is still remote. The preceding catalogue of the ten primary kingdomsy which is given us bylSIachiavel atid Bp l^loyd, very^ properly omits, as we have seen, the Greek province of Ravenna, and at the same time places all the ten king- doms In. the xvestern parts of the Roman empire, iiere therefore it may perhaps be asked, *• Why m\x%\ all the horns be sought for in the West ? i\lthnugb the exar- chate cannot be esteemed a horn, why may not the Con- st ant inopolita7i monarchy f " The reason is this. That empire, after the downfall of the I Vest em empire^ still 144 constituted under the government of its emperors, thi sLvth head of the beast ;* consequently it cannot be at once, and \n the self -sa}7ie capacity, both a head and a horn of the self -same beast. In this particular there is a striicing dififK^nce beiwtcnthe political character of the ancient Roman emperot^s, and that of the modern empe- rors of the JVest v\ hose dignity commenced with C har- lemagne. The title of the ancient emperors was attached to their territorial possessions; whereas X\\Sii oi the mod- ern emperors is entirely distinct : so that CharlemaiJne vni^em^^erorm one capacity, and king of France \n ano- ther ; in tlie same manner .ts the present head of the hruse of i^ustria would be king of rhingary and Bohemia, whatever family m'ght be elected to the imperial dignity. On these grounds the Emperor of Constantinople cannot be esteemed one of the ten horns, without a manifest violation of the harmony of the prophetic vision ; al- though, inasmuch as he was the sixth hend, his domin- ions must be reckoned as part of the Roman empire^ the xvhole of which is represented in the Apocalypse under the symbol of the earth : and, on the same grounds, all the ten horns of the beast must be sought lor in the ff est ; where accordingly Ma diiavel and Bp. Lloyd have found precisely that number of original Gothic kiiigdoms.\ I am aware, that both Sir Isaac Newtoji, and Bp. Newton, are of opinion, that the eastern half of the em^ pire is not to be accounted a part of the bod', of the fourth beast : but I much dojbt, whether this opinion rests upon any solid foundation : ior it neither agrees with the Revelation of St John, which predicts the for- tunes of the ejitire Roman empire as well eastern as western, and vvhich describes it as one great xvhole by the symbol of tlie earth ; nor does it even quadra' e with the scheme upon which it is founded. Sir Isaac argues, that " the nations of Chaldea and Assyria are still the first heast ; those of Media and Persia are still the second beast ; those of Macedon, Greece, Thrace, Asia Minor ^ • Rev. xvii. 10- I •' Uhinarn hi decern repes quxrcndi sunt ? Non in Oricr.lc : ncque enim Imperium (ii xcum sen Ori -iilale uiuim e tiicem cornilius nat, ut apj)aiet, quia h.xc dimidia p.rs fuii ca-niis sexli sive CssdreiUua (JooetwiUno biparuti." Excid. Antic, apud l*ol. Syiiop. iu loc. 145 Syria, and Egypty^ve still the third; and those of En- rope, on this side Greece, arc still the fourth. Seeing therefore the body of the third beast is confined to Uie nations on this side the river Evphrates-, and the body of the fourth btast is confined to the nations on this side. Greece : we are to look for all the four heads of the third beast, among the nations on this side the river Eu- phrates ; and for all the eleven horns of the fourth beast, among the nations on this side of Greece. And there- fore, at the breaking of the Greek empire mto four king- doms of tlie Greeks, we include no part of the Chalde- ans, Medes, and Persians, in those kingdoms, because they belonged to the bodies of the two first beasts. Nor do we reckon iJie Greek empire, seated at Constantino- ple, among ^Ae Ac?r;?.v of the fourth beast, because it be- longed to the body oj the third.'"^ I fully agree with Sir Isaac Newton, though for a dif- ferent reason which I liave already stated,t that the eleven horns of the fourth beast must all be sought for among the nations on this side Greece, and that the Constmitino- politan empire cannot be esteemed one of those horns ; but his scheme of excludiixg that empire from the body of the fourth beast is manifestly inconsistent with itself. Sir Isaac maintains, that the four heads of the third beast are to be looked for in the countries on this side the Eu- phrates ; namely, in those of Macedon, Greece, Thrace^ Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt : for he affirms, that these regions ioxm the proper body of the third beast, in the same manner as tlinse westward of Greece form the pro- per body of the fourth beast, and constitute his ten horns. The four heads of the third beast are undoubtedly to be sought for in the regions which he specifies, but certainly not for the reasons which he assigns -.for the countries of Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt, cannot be considered as forming an exclusive part oJ the body of the third beast, because they were originally provinces belonging to the second beast. This will necessarily follow from Sir Isaac's own scheme. If, as he supposes, Greece and its de- * Observ. on Daniel, p SI, 32, f Namely, because the Roman emperor of Constantinople was the sixth head of •.he beast, and ooneequentfy «annot be esteemed one of A/? horns liKewisp^ VOL.. I. ' 19 14G pendent provinces must not be esteemed a part of the body of Hit Rom cm beasts because they originally belong- ed to ike IMacedonian beast : then, in order that the scheme may be consistent vvitli itself, Asia Minor, Syriay ami E^i)Pt-> must not be esteemed a part of iJie body of the Mai cdonian beast-, because they previously belonged to the Medo-Persian beast. Or, to state the same argu- ment in a somewhat different form : if the body of the Medo-Persian beast is to be conflned within the strict hmits ({Media and Persia properly so called, as vSir Isaac supposes; then, in a similar manner, the body of the Ma- cedonian beast must be conlined within the limits of Ma- cedon and Greece s and the body of the Roviun beast, within those of Italy : in which case it will be a vain la- bour to look either tor the four hcads^' of the third beast, or for the ten horns of the fourth beast. The truth is, no less than two out of the four heads of the third beast, namely, the Syrian kingd'in of Seleucus and the Egyptian kivgdo7n of Ptolemy, sprung up within the limits of the Persian empire, after it had been subdued by Alexan- der : consequently, if a part of the Persian empire is to be included in tJie body of tlie third beast, forming his two mo t powerful heads; there cannot be assigned any reason, why a part of the third beast, namely Greece and the eastern provi' ces, which afterwards constituted the Momano-Constai tinopolitan einpire, should not be includ- ed '\ii tlie body of the fourth beast. Hence I am reluc- tantly constrained to assert, that the scheme of separat- ing the eastern empire from the body of the fourth beast, laid down by Sir Isaac Newton and adopted by l]p. New- ton, must necessarily be erroneous : because, if allowed to be just, it will force us, in order to preserve the con- sistency of prophecy, to separate from the body of the Macedonian beast his two eastern Iieads of Syria and •^A'ypt ; inasmuch as both those countries were pro- vinces of the Medo-Persiau emp re, before they became heads of the Macedonian empire. In preference then to Sir Isaac's scheme, I am rather * It is almoBt superfluous to remind \he reader, that t/ic four heads of the third beast in Ui vision ni the fuur gie t beasts are the same as the four liorut t>J the he-s;oat in the vision of the ram and the he-goat. ■ 147 inclined to think, that the four heasU are ike four ^reat empires-, considered as respectively extending; to their several utmost limits : so that the Medo- Persian empire comprehends not only Media and Persia, but li.'.ewise Chahiea, Assyria-, Asia Minor, Si/ria, and Egypt : the Mocedonian empire, not ojily Greece, but likewise tlie former empire of Persia : and the Roman empire, by a parity of reasoning, not only Italif and tiie West, but likewise Greece, Egypt, and Asia as far as the Euphrates.^ As for specifying what powers are now the ten horns, I cannot but consider it as absurd to attempt it. History has decidedly shewn, that the kingdoms, into which the Roman empire was divided, never continued long in the same state : nor is it at all necessary for the completion of the prophecy, that they should have done so. Two of the horns of the Macedonian he-goat were soon swal- lowed up by the m">st powerful of the other two horns : and the great Latin city, exclusive I apprehend of those protestant powers which have come out of it, will event- ually be divided into no more than three parfs:\ Still however the Roman beast is symbolically represented as having ten horns.t because such was the original num- ber into which his empire was di\'ided ; as four was the original number into which the empire of the he-goat was divided. " Though the kingdom of Alexander,'' says Bp. Newton, "was divided into four principal parts, yet only two of them have a place allotted in Daniel's last prophecy of the things noted in the Scripture of truth, Egypt and Syria. These i7Vo were b}' fur the p^reatest and most considerable : and these t7Vo at one time were in a manner the only remaining kingdoms of the four : the kingdom of Macedon having been con- quered by Lysim:chus and annexed to Thrace; and Lysimachus again having been conquered by Seleucus, * This win shew us the reason wliy the Roman beast is represented as being compounded of a lion, a bear, and a leopard. (Re . xiii. 2 ) His empire com- prehended the greatest part of the dominions of the Babuloniaii lion, the Medo- Peraian bear, dXid the Macedonian leopard ; in addition to which he had ten horns or kmg(lfi7ns in his pecuUar sovereignty in the West + See Uev. xvi. 19, Concerning this earthquake more will be said hc-eafter. ^ See Uev. xvii. 16. 148 and fJw kins^donns of Macedon and Thrnce annexed to Siiriay* Such being the fate of two out of the four honis of the he-griat, I know not why some expositors should apparently think themselves bound to labour to discover ten horns for the Roman beast at any other pe- riod except that when his empire was originallij divided.! Machiavel, as we have seen merely as a political histo- rian, and without the least intention of supporting a fa- vourite system, informs us, that the empire was broken by the northern nations into precisely fen primnry hing- doms. This circumst'ince almie therefore is sufTicient for the completion of the prophecy, th.it the ten horns of the fourth beast are ten /v;/^.? that shall arise out of his kingdom ;t just as the division of Alexander's cm}iire m- Xofvr kingdoms was alone sufficient for the completion •of the prophecy, that/b^/r kingdvis should stand up out of his nation.^ The special badge of the he-goat is his fonr horns ^ and the special badge of the Roman beast is his ten hums ; although both these numbers afterwards varied. Hence we may just as reasonably expect, that the Macedonian beast should atways have four horns during the whole period of his existence after their rise, because four horns are said to have sprung up out of him when his great horn was broken ; as that the Ro- man beast should always have ten horns during the whole period of his existence after their rise, because when his empire was divided exactly ten kings were to ari^e out of it. The two symbols are, in fact, each formed from a view of the primary division of the Macedonian and Roman empires ; nor was it designed, nor indeed was it possible, that they should be exhibited as perpetually varying with the ever varying revolutions of nations. On these grounds I think it of ver}^ little consequence to the completion of the prophecy to have discovered, that there were ten kingdoms in the year 1240 at the time of the diet of Ratisl:)on ; ten hkewise at tlie Refor- * Dissert, xvi. I Sir Tr.aac Xcwton very jusUy rcmaiks, that, " whatever was their number aft* TW urtis, thiy are still callcd't/ie fr:i kirga from their first number." Ob- cerv. on Daniel, C. vi p 78. jDan.vii. 21. § Dan. viii. 22. 149 fnation; and ien^ho in the year 1706.* The ten horns of the Roman beast are certainly the ten primary king- doms enumerated by Machiavcl ; and, since three of the first horns were to be })liicked up before the little horn-> we must seek for those three horns among the ten pri- mary kingdoms : how the empire was af tcrivards ^\\\A^^ is a matter of no great moment ; its subsequent pohtical revolutions affect not in the slightest degree the accurac}' of the prophecy. CHAPTER V. Concerning the "vision of the ram and the he-goat-, and the little horn of the he-goat. NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S dream of the image, and Daniel's vision of the four beasts and the little horti of the fourth beast, contain predictions relative to the four great empires and the domineering tyrcmny of the Papacy. These matters, so important to the Church, having been clearly set forth, the Holy Spirit, now pur- posing to describe the exploits of another great enemy to Christianity ; recalls, in the vision of the ram and the he- goaf., the attention of Daniel to the second und third em- pires, whose prophetic history had been already detailed, for the purpose of introducing another little horn, which was to come out of 07ic of the principal horns of the Macedonian beast, as the former little horn sprung up among the ten horns of the Roman beast. In Daniel's vision of the ram and the he-goat, the ram symbolizes the saine poxver as the ^e«r mentioned in the preceding vision ; and the he-goat, the sa?7ie pozter rs the leopard. The ram therefore, stand ng before the river, is the Medo r'ersian empire ; and his txco horns are the tyco kingdoms of Media and Persia : the higher one, • See Bp. Newton's Dissert. \iv. 150 which came up last, being Persia, the head of tlie em- j)ire; and tfie loxvero7ic, which came up first being Medidi united witli, though subjected to, Persia. The ram ex- tended his conquests ivestzvanU nortlizvard, and south- ward : icestzvard, as far as the extreme limits of Asia; northrvard, over Armenia and Cappadocia ; and soiith- ica d, over Egypt, and as far as the Persian gulph. East- ward he made comparatively but little progress, being stopped by the vast deserts of Tartar}^ and tlie mighty empire of Hindostan. In the plenitude of his power however, and at the very time when no other beast could stand before him, he was attacked by an unexpected enemy, the he-goat^ or the Macedonian empire. Moving with unexampled rapidity from the West, the founder of this mighty sove- reignty soon completely a\'erthrew the ram-, and broke his two horns. After this daring exploit, the he-goat *' waxed very great," extending his arms even into Hm- dostan, as well as subjugating Egypt and all the other dominions of the ram. But, notwithstanding this sudden and astonishing acquisition of power, his great horn was destined to be broken, even in the very h-'ight of his strength. Accordingly, the imperial dynasty ol tlie great horn lasted no more than fifteen years after the death of Alexander ; within which short space of time his suc- cessors, Philip Arideus, Alexander Egus, and Plercules, were all murdered. After them the empire was divided into four kingdoms, typified by the four horns of the goat, and the four heads of the leopard mentvned in the preceding vision. Cassander h( Id Macedon and G recce ; Lysimachus had TJirace ami Bithynia ; Ptolemy made himself master of Egypt ; and Seleucus obtained Syria and the Eaubd.umg Macedon and Greece: that this supposition is strengthened by the progress of the Roman conquest from Macedon ; which, like those of the little horn, extended towards the south, the east, and the pleas- ant land : and that, lastly, it is decidedly established by the circumstance of tlie little horn being represented as standing up against the Prince of princes, as ta/di/g away the daily sacrifice, and as planting the ahomniation of desolation in the sanctuary, which our Lord himself refers to the conquest oj Jerusalem by the Romans. I readily allows that these points of resemblance are very striking ; nevertheless it will be found upon exami- nation, that there are insuperable objections, principally of a chronological nature, to this exposition of the pro- phecy. 1. The first objection, that may be urged against it, is the improbability, that the same power, which in the former vision was represented under the symbol of ^ great and terr ble beast, should now be described under that of on- ly a little horn. In prophetic imagery there is to the full as exact a discrimination of ideas as in ordinar}^ lan- guage ; otherwise, as I have already sufficiently proved, there could be no deliniteness and precision in any of the symbolical predictions. Accordingly v.e shall find, thai. an universal empi'-e is never symbolized hy a horn,-\ but * See Dp. Newton's Dissert, xv. and Pol. Synop. in loc. + It may perhaps be thought, that the great horn of the he-goat is an excep- lion to this rule, inasmuch as it represents, not a kingdom springing out of the JIaC' doiiian empire, but the imperial (bmcisty of Alexander, which presided over the -rr/jo/e empire. This objection however will vanish, when we consider, tliat, if rt benst be described with oply "nchorn, that horn must neccssarilybeiden 16'^ always by a beast ; and, on the other hand, that a king- dom, springing out ol such an empire, whin it comes to be divided, is ne^ er symbolized by a beast, but always by a horn. On these grounds, I can scarcely think it possible, that the Roman empire should be represented, in one vision, as afoiirtk dstiuct beast ; and, in another, as only a little hnn of the hegnat, which typifie.^ the same pmitr as the leolmrd, or Hard beast, of the former vision. 1 know, that Sir Isaac and Bp. Newton argue, that, when the Romans conquered Macedon, they became in that capacity a liltle horn of the third or Macedonian beast ; while, in the mean time, so long as we consider them coniined to Italy and the West, they are to be ac- counted a distinct fourth beast. But, if this mode of in- terpretation be allowable, the confusion, which it mvst introduce, will be endless : for, upon the same principle, as soon as the Greeks have conquered a single Persian province, we must begin, in a similar manner, to reckon them a horn of the second, or Persian beast : whence it will necessarily follow, that the two Greek kingdoms of Syria and Egypt being originally provinces of Persia, must for that reason be accounted horns of the same se- cond beast ; not, as they are rei)resented by the j.rophet, horns oitiie third, ov Macedonian beast. 2. Another objection against it is, that it renders Dan- iel liable to the charge of unvarying repetition. In the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, the history of tlie four em- ptres is simply detailed, without the introduction, if I may use the expression, of any episodical matter. In the vision of the fovr beasts, the history of the same four empires is repeated, for the purpose of introducing the exploits of the little horn of the fourth beast. In the vi- sion of the ram and the he-goat, the history of the second and third empires is again repeated, for the similar pur- pose of noticing in its proper place the tyranny of the tified wiih the beaut itself; because, as tho circumstance of there beinpmontli.in MIL honi shews iltat the empire is ii. a divitlf cl state, so the circumsiatice of there bciiip; no more than our hom sljews that the emjjire is in an undivided Slate When rt ^frt« thereiiire has mote horn.s than o;m-, those hwus typify kingtlovts ; but, when a Uust has no more than out- liorn, it is eyidt nt, that that Aoni cannot sij^nify « kinirdom bicause In imf>ivv is yet undixided : it remains conseqiunlly, th; t Me si. gU- ho n must be identified witli the heaif, an4 signi- fy- the d.nasli/ btj ivhiih he is govtnud. 153 third beast's little horn. And, in the last of DanieVs 'vi- sions, a detciiied account is given of the wars betzveen the Greek kings of Syria and Egypt, and of tJie Roman co?i- quest, in the East, in order that we ma}? be conducted in strict chronological succession to the super-eminent wickediiess of the king, who xvas to exalt himself above every god. From this statement then it is evident, that, il the little horn of the he-goat or third beast be the Romaji empire, the vision of the ram and the he-goat is a mere repetition of the greater part of the vision of the four beasts; the only additional circumstance that is mentioned being the sacking of Jerusalem, which itself is repeated in the subsequent vision, if we adoj.t the opinion, that the abomination or transgression of desola- tion, predicted by Daniel m each of these visions, signifies i7i both cases the Roman profanation oftheJezvishtemple. 3. The last and most serious objection however against the interpretation of Sir Isaac Newton and the -Bishop is, that it cannot be reconciled zvith Daniel's chronological numbers ■ The prophet, as I have just observed, menticms the abomination or tra?isgression of desolation in tzvo successive visions ; that of the ram and the he-goat, and that of the things " noted in the Scripture of truth ;"'* and he afterwards speaks of it yet a third time in connec- tion with certain chronological numbers.! -Now our Lord declares, that the abomination of desolation, spo!:en of by Daniel, relates to the sackifig of Jerusalon : and the authority of such an expositor of prophecy who shall presume to question ? The state of the case then is, as follows : the phrase of abomination or transgression of desolation occurs three times in the book of Daniel : did our Lord mean to intimate, that, zvherever it occured in this lx)0k, it ahvays related to the sacking of Jerusa- lem ; or that it was only to be referred to that event in one or in txvo instances out of the three ? This question must be resolved by a careful comparison of these seve- ral prophecies of Daniel with each other. When Daniel speaks of arms, like those of a man, (an apt symbol of a powerful and xvarlike state,) standing up • Dan. viii. 13. and xj. 31. ;• IXtti. x4i. U, 12. VOL. r. OQ 154 after the days of the northern king of Sifria, polluting the sanctuary, taking away the daily sacrifice-, and setting up the abomination that maketh desolate :* there cannot be a doubt, but that by those nervous and mighty arms the Roman empire is symboHzed ; both because the east- ern conquests of that repubhc followed the preceding events in regular succession of time, and because the subsequent events foretold in the prophecy followed the eastern conquests of Rome with the same chronological regularity. Hence we may safely conclude, that the abomination of desolation, there mentioned, is the abomina- tion of desolation which our Lord applied to the Roynans.^ Hitherto the subject is sulliciently clear : but we must now endeavour to determine, whether the transgression of desolation, connected with the little horn of the third beast or the he-gnat, be the same as the abomination of desolation, set \J^ by the warlike arms of the Roman em- pire in the temple of Jerusalem. When Daniel mentions the abomination of desolation the third and last tiim-, he merely attaches to it certain numbers, evidently speaking of it as a thing which he had already noticed in a preceding part of his prophecies. Such being the case, this last mentioned abomination of desolation must be the same as either the abomination of desolation, connected with the little ham of the he-goat ; the abomination of desolation, set up by th.c arms oi the Roman empire ; or, lastly, as both these abominations of desolation, considered as one and the same. Sir Isaac Newton and the Bishop do conceit e them to be one and the same : for they maintain, that they both equally relate to the sacking of Jerusalem by the Romans, and their ido- latrous worship of their standards within the "cery pre- cincts of the temple. If then they be the same, the last mentioned aliomina- lion oj desolation must be the same likewise : in other words, all the three abominations of desolation, predicted by Daniel, must be equally referred to the sacking of Jerusalem by the Romans ; for we have already seen, • Dan. xi. 31. + The same Roman abovilnation of desolation is described, along with the destruction o)F Jerusalem, in yiinicis prophecy of the 70 im:ks. See Dan. i?;. 2^27. 155 tjiat the last mentioned abomination must be the same as either tlie one^ or the others or both^ of the two former abominations. But, if all the three abominations of deso- lation are to be considered as relating to one and the same event, namely, the sacking of Jerusalem by the Jiomans ; then the chronological numbers, attached to the last men- tioned abomination^ will be found peifectly to harmonize with the era of the siege of Jerusalem : for, if they do •not harmonize with that era, the abomination connected with them cannot possibly relate to that era : and, if the last mentioned abomination, connected with those num- bers, do not relate to that era, then neither can one out of the two former abominations relate to that era ; inas- much, as the last mentioned abomination must be the same as either the one, or the other, or both, of the two former abominations of desolation. These matters being premised, we will next consider how far the numbers, attached to the last inentioned abomi- nation of desolation, will harmonize with the era of the siege of Jerusalem. We are informed then by Daniel, that, at the end of a time, and times, and half a time, or 1260 years, the res- toration of the Jews will commence ; and that all the matters comprehended within the period of the wonders will be finished : that " from the time that the daily mcrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set np, there shall be 1290 years'' to some event or another, which however he does not spe- cify : and that *' blessed is he, that waiteth, and cometh to the 1335 years'' after the time when the abomination of desolation slmW be setup.* Such are the numbers, which the prophet has connect- ed with the last mentioned abomination of desolation ; numbers, which by no efforts of calculation can be made to harmonize with the era of the siege of Jerusalem ; The capital of Palestine was taken by the Romans, and one of the abominations of desolation spoken of by Daniel was set up by them in the holy place, in the year of our Lord 70.t The Jews however were certainly not begin- ning to be restored to their own country, neither were * Dan. sU. r, 11, 12. + Chronol. of Univ. liist. p. 06'^* 156 all the matters which are comprehended within tfie period of the wo>;ders linished, in the year 1330, or X'l^O years after the sacking ol Jerusalem : nor is it easy to say what particular event, to which the prophet might possi- bly allude, happened iyi the year 1360, or 1990 years alter ilie same epoch : nor yet shall we be able, without the exertion of extraordinary ingenuity, to point out the peculiar blessedness of living in the year 1405, or 1335 yanrs atter the Romans had set up the abomination of deso- lation in the temple and had taken away the daily sacrijice.^ Thus it is abundantly manifest, that the abomination (J desolation la:t inent/oned by Daniel, cannot possibly be the same as the abomination of desolation set up by the Ho '.ans-, and alluded to by our Lord: that is to say, it cannot be the same as the abomination of desolation, set vp by certain symbolical arms\, wliich were to invade the tast, after the days of Antiochus Epiphanes.f But, if it be not the same as the abomination of desolation set up by the symbolical arms of Rome, it must be the same as Ihe abomination of desolation connected with the little horn of the he-i^oat : for it is scarcely probable, that Daniel should speak of some third abomination oj desolation, en- tirely distinct from iJie two former ones ; and yet should give us no sort of intimation by whom this supposed dis- tinct third abomination should be set up. If then the last mentioned abomination of desolation be the same as ihe abomination of desolation connected with the little horn of the he-goat, (and there is no other mentioned in the whole book of Daniel, excepting this, M'ith which it can be identified) it will necessarily follow, that the little * The computation will answei' no better even if it be made from tlie year lo6, when .lerusalem was finally destroyed by Adrian. This event however certainly cannot be ulluded to by our Lord ; both because he declares that the aboimmition nf desolation spoken of by Daniel should stand in the holy place be- fore that generation had passed away, and because he warns his disciples to lice from Jerusalem when they beheld it compassed with armies. Jeiusalem accordinply was sacken before tiiat j,^eneralion did pass away ; and the Chvis- tians, profitint^ by the prediction of their master, saved their I'ves by flight. Thfse circumst:.nce3 decidedly prove, that our Lord's prophecy relates to the days <'f Titus See Matt. xxiv. 15 — .':0, 34. and Luke xxi. ;0 — .4, 3J. f Up. Newton very justly applies the three verses immedia:thi preceding the menUon oi !he sifmOoiicul Jioiiuiii ar7ns to the hisloiv r,f :n iochus Kpiph.ir.es : consequently f//f uboininai ion, set up by these arms, must of course lie poatei'ior to the days of tliat tyrant. (Sec Dissert, xvii.) " Ai]d fl/rcr hxm (Antiochus) ^nns shall &tand up." Dsm. xi. 21. 157 horns abomination of desolation must be something en- tirely distinct from the abomination of desolation set up by the symbolical arms : consequently, since the abomination of the little horn is not the same as the abomination set lip by the arms, the little horn itself must be some power totally different from the power symbolized by the arms : but the arms are allowed by every commentator to sym- bolize the Romansy and no one ever yet doubted that the abomination whicli thefj set up is the very abomination alluded to by our Lord : therefore, finally, since the little horn is 7iot the same as the symbolical arms, it certainly cannot be the same as the Roman empire in the East. On these grounds, which to myself at least appear satisfactory, I am obliged to dissent in tofo from the interpretation proposed by Sir Isaac and Bishop New- ton. The eastern conquests of the Romans are very fully predicted in the eleventh chapter of DanieVs prophe- cies ;* but they cannot, for the preceding chronological reasons, be at all alluded to in the twelfth chapter and in the history of the little horn of the he-goat. Before I dismiss this part of my subject, I cannot re- frain from observing, that the force of Daniel's chrono- logical numbers, which I have so largely insisted upon, has in a manner compelled Bp. Newton, notwithstand- ing his previous interpretation of the vision of the ram and the he-goat, to notice, among various other conjec- tures, what I am persuaded is the true exposition of the abomination of desolation connected with the little horny as contradistinguished from the Roman abomination of desolation. " The setting up,"' says he, " of tlie abomi- nation cf desolation appears to be a general phrase, and comprehensive of various events. It is applied by the writer of the first book of Maccabees to the profanation of the temple by Antiochvs-, and his setting up the i?Kage ef Jupiter Olympius upon the altar of God.j It is ap- plied by our Saviour J to the destruction of the city and . Ver. 30, 31. + 1 Mac. i. 54. \ It is more than merely applied -• our Lord cxpresshi pronounces, that the ap- proa<-hing profanation of the temple by the liomans was the evei.it intauJed by some one of the abominations of desolation mentioned by the prophet Daniel. The abomination to which our Lord alluded, is, as \ve have seen, that predicted in Dan. xi. 3L 158 iemple by the Romans, under the conduct ot Titus, in the re.gi] of Vespasian.* It may for the same reason be ap- plied to t!.e Roman Emperor Adrian s building a tem^da to Jupiter Capitolinus ,in thesame place ivhere the tem" pie of God had stood ; and to tlie misery of the Jews, and tlie desolation of Judea, that followed. It may -aith eq>'aljustce be applied to the Mohammedans inr ding a)id desolating Christ endoiUy andconverting the churches into mosques : and this latter event seemeth to ha e ueeti particularly intended in this passage.^ If this interpre- tation be true, the religion of Mohammed xviU ^'revail in the East the space of llQO years : and then, a great and glorious rexolutio7i2vill follow ; perhaps the restoration oj' the Jews, perhaps thedestructiono' Antichrist : but an- other still greater a)id more glorious xvill succeed ; and "what can this be soprobably as ihef nil conversion of the gentiles totheChurchof Christ ,andthc beginningof the Tnillcnnium or reign of the saints upon earth '^ tor, bles- sed is he, that xcaiteth andcometh tu the \S35 days'^X Mr. Kett, in his exposition of the vision ol the ram and ihehe-goat,su])YiOsesthelittlehornofthehe-goatorAIace- donian empire pi'imavWy to mean the Mohainmedan A post a- cy of tlie East,iiud ultimately the Gallic Infidelity of the IP est. Tliis opinion however he maintains, without wish- ing to invalidate the Ibrmer applications of the prophecy both to Antiochus Epiphanes, and to the Romans. In short, unless I have entirely mistaken his meaning, the little horn of the he-goat was designed by the prophet to ty pify no less than four distinct powers ; Antiochus Epi- phanes, the Ronan empire in the East, the Mohammedati superstition, and the infidel republic of France.^ Had JVIr. Kctt confined the application of this s, mbol to the false religion of Mohammed, I could have given my heart}'' assent to his scheme : but unfortunately he has mar- red his whole exposition, by involving the pn^piaccy re- specting the little horn of the he-goator third beast in the same j)erplexing confusion oi primary and secondary and ultimate accomplishments, as Jie had pre\'iously done * Matt. xxiv. 15. + Dan. xii. 11. % Dissert, xvii. $ Hist the Inter. Vol. 1. p. 346— 3o9, oQp. 159 tliat respecting the little horn of the fourth beast. So Lax a mode of interpretation as this ought ever to be v/armly protested against, because it utterly destroys all definite- iiess and precision in the sacred oracles. If the same prophecy maybe construed to relate to so many totally different periods and events^ we must bid an everlasting farewell to all certainty of exjjosition. So far as any knowledge is concerned that loe can derive from a pro- phecy of such a nature, it m.ust, so long as this world endures, remain to us a sealed book. Sir Isaac Newton and the bishop have amply refuted the opinion, that the little horn of the he-goat is Antiochiis Epiphanes : and, how far their application of it to the lioman empire be tenable, the reader must judge for himself from what has been said upon that subject. As for Mr. Kett's con- jecture, that it relates ultimately to the infidel poxver of France, it will be sufficieiit to observe respecting it, that a horn, which was to spring up in the East, can never be d-signed to typify a power, which has arisen in the. TVest. In the right interpretation of prophecy it is not enough to discover mere partial resemblances, and thence to infer that such a symbol belongs to such an event : be- fore we venture to decide, we ought to point ont a per- fect similitude between the type and its antitype, a simi- litude of such a nature as utterly to exclude all events which will not tally in every respect with the symbolical history under consideration. Thus, in the present in- stance, Antiochus Epiphanes has some features which very much resemble those ot the little horn ; but the pe- riod of his persecution cannrt be accommodated eilher to the 2300 days mentioned in the vision of the ram and Uie he-goat or to the three prophetic periods of 1260, 1290, and 1335, days, specified towards the conclusion of Daniel's last vision, even if those days, contrary to the whole method of prophecy, be computed as natural ones : therefore the little horn cannot be Atitiochus Epiphanes. So again : the Romans have many features in common with the little horn, insomuch that the grand character- istic of both is designated by tl.e very same phrase of setting up the abomination of desolation ;■ yet the era of the sacking of Jerusalem can in no wise be reconciled 160 with the periods oflQGOy 1290, and l33oy years : there* fore the little horn cannot be thelioman en:pire * Lastly, the impioKS XV retches, who conxieried France into an athe- istical democracy) have doubtless, like the little horn, waxed great against the host of lieaven, have magnified themselves even against the prince of the host, and have cast down the truth to the ground ; nevertheless, those hardened miscreants, Voltaire and his associates, did not arise in the East, but in thelVesty and the period of the French Revolution can as little be accommodated to the prophetic numbers as either of the two foregoing periods; therefore French Infidelity cannot be the little horn. I shall now endeavour to ascertain, what thai pozver is, which alone is designated by this symbol. Daniel informs us, in his account ol the vision of the ram and the he-goaty-X\i?i\ he heard a certain saint inquir- ing, " For how long a time shall the vision last, the daily sacrifice be taken away, and the transgression of deso- lation continue, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot ?" The answer made to this ques- tion was, *'Unto txvo thousand ana three hundred da is ;* or, as the Seventy read, '■^ two thousand four hundred days ;" or as certain copies mentioned by Jerome read, *' tzvo thousand two hundred days : then shall the sanc- tuary be cleansed." lip. Newton doubts, whether ihes^ prophetic days are to be calculated from 'he establisment of the Persian empire^ from the invasion of Asia by Alex- ander, or from the beginning oj the history of the little horn. Whatever U' ubt theie may be upon this point, and whatever diiHci.ity there may be in ascertaining which of the three readings is the ti ue one, 1 cannot but think it sulliciently evident, both tlial the \ 260 days -dre a certain part of the '2300 days, and that these iwo , eriods exactly terminate together in he self same year We are expressly told, thai the vision of the mm and f he //c* goat, whenever it begins, leaches to the timcuj the end:] * I have already assigned q'Ac/- reasons, besides this diroiologkal one, why it is scarcely prMbable, thai ./ 1- ,ie-goac's little horn should have been ocsigned to symbolizi- the U.ituim + •* Understand, O son of maii for the vision shall reach even unu. the time t^ the end — it shall reach evea \f) the appointed (inv of the end.'' D*n. viu. 17. 19. 161 and we are no less expressly informed, that/o the end of the peHod ofihexvonders-i there shall be three times and a half or \%<60 days ;* hence it necessarily follows, that, since ike period of ^ioCX) days, and the period of V2Q0 da-ys, botii equally re^ch to the time of the etid-,ox to theend of the pe- riod of the wonders, they both exactly terminate together. Thus it appears, that the period of I'^CyO days is in fact the latter part of the greater periodoi '^oOOdays. This opin- ion perfect!}^ harmonizes with what we are repeatedly told, both by Daniel and St. John, respecting tlie termiuafion of the 2I-300 and he l^GOdays. We are informed, for instance, that the sanctuar}^ which had been polluted by the abomi- nation of desolation connected with the little horn of the he goat, shall be cleansed at the end of the ^300, tJie ^200, or the ^2400 days,] whichever of these three be the proper reading :% that the saints are to be delivered into the hand of the little horn of the fourth beast, which has been shewn to be the Papacy, until a time, times, and the dividing of time, or 1260 days ; consequently that they are to be freed from his tyranny at the end of that period .-(S that the Jexvs shall begin to be restored e if the end of the same time, times, and a half, or 1S60 days :\\ that the king, who is to magnijy himself above every o-od, shall come to his end contemporaneously with the res- toration of the Jews ; and consequently at the end of the same 1260 days :M that the court of the temple, and the holy city, shall be trodden under foot of the gentiles dur- ing the same space of ^'^ prophetic months, or 1260 days; and consequently that they shall cease to be trodden un- der foot at the end of that period :*^' that the ten-horned beast shall practise prosperously in his revived state, dar- ing the same space ojhi'lmonthsy or IQQO days ; and coji- *" Until how long shsWhethe end of t.he ivonders^—lt shall be until a time and times and a half; and, when he sliall have finished to scatier the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. And I Jieard, but I under- stood not : then said I, O my Lord, what is the end uf thae thin^^s ? And he said. Go thy way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the thne <'Jthe end." Daniel xii. 6—9. ^ I sliall hereafter shew, that the sanc.tuanj, which was to be cleansed at the end of this prophetic period, was the spiritual sanciucv-y of the Christian Church not the literal sanctuary of the Jexvish temple. (See liev. xi. 1, 2.) 'Miis spiriinal :;anctHary will he cleansed by the ovej-throw of the tivo little horns of the third ^ndjourth 6easts. + Dan. viii. 14. § Dan. vil. 25. |) Danu xii. 7. If Dan. xi,.45. jaIA. **'I?ev. si. ? VOL. I: QJ 166 spquentl}' shall cease to practise prosperously at the end of that period :* that the witnesses shall prophesy in sackcloth during the same 1260 days ; and consequently shall cease to prophesy in sackcloth at the end of that period :t and lastly, that the symbolical xco?nan, or the spiritual church, shall be driven into the wilderness dur- ing the same space of IQ60 daysy or three prophetic years and a half ; and consequently that she shall be delivered from her thraldom at the end of that period. J We are likewise taught, that the end of these two con- termmating periods of 2300 and 1260 days will be mark- ed by a wonderful display of the power of God. At the €7id of the 9o00 days, the little horn of the he-goat will be broken without hand :^ at the endoiihe 1260 days, the judgment will sit, and the dominion oi the papal horn or the little horn of the fourth beasts will be utterly de- stroyed by the Son of man :|| at the end of the same 1260 days, the king, xcho magnified himself above every god, will undertake the expedition which will terminate in his destruction ; and at that very time the restoration of the Jexvs will commence :1[ at the end of the sam,e 1260 days, the ten-horned beast, which was to practise pros- perously in his ixvived state 42 prophetic months, and along with him his false prophet, willjbe ultimately, that is, at the end of those 42 months, defeated in a great bat- tle with the personal Word of God ;** and lastly, the man of sin w'lW finally, and therefore at the end of the same 1260 days, he consumed with the spirit of the mouth of the Lord, and destroyed with the brightness of his coming-tt From an attentive consideration of all these different • Rev. xiii. 5. + Rev. xi. 3. ^ Rev. xli. 6, 14. Throughout the whole of this statement, the reader will of course understand me to mean, not Uiat the ianctuary will he perfectly c\c:ins- cd, or that the beast and the khiff and the honu will be perfectly overthrown ; but only that Uiose great events will then begin to take place, that fjod's con- troversy with the nations will then covimencc. Matters of such moment may degin, but cannot be accojyipUshed, in a sinplc day. Accordingly wc have rea- son to believe from Daniel, that Uie whole k-nglh of God's controversy will be no less than 30 i/eara. $ Dan viii. U, 25. |) Dan. vii. 25, ?6. 1i Dan. xi. 40. xii. 1,7. •• Kcv. xix. 19, 20. •f + 2 Thess. ii. 8 The re.idcr will here again understand mc to mean, that these events will bcpn \o take place at t)ie cud of the tvo contcrminating pcj 4-iod9 t63 .dassaf^es, and from the plain declaration of the angel both in the'vision of the ram and the he-goaf, and in the last chapter of Daniel's prophecies, it must, I think, undeni- ably follow, that the ^300 days, and the 1260 days, ter- minate together : that, in the course of the memorable period wli ch commences at the termination of these days, the papal hor7i, the little horn of the he-goat, the ten horned beast or revived Roman empire, the king who magnified himself above every god, and the man of sin, (whatever powers they may severally prefigure) will all J3e overthrown, in some manner or another, natural, or supernatural, by the victorious Word of God : and that in the course of the same memorable period, the abomina- tion of desolation connected xvith thehe-goat's little korn, will be removed ; the sanctuary of the spiritual temple be cleansed ; and the Jexvs be restored to their own land. It has been shewn, that the period, whence the L^GO days ought apparently at least to be computed, is the year 606 ; because in that year the saints were given mto the hand of the papal lit'le horn. Having tlierefore ascertained this period, as far as matters of this nature can be ascertained, we shall now be able both to point out the power symbolized by the lit tie homo f the he-goat, and to determine whether 6200, 2300, or 2400 days, be the proper reading of that greater number, of which the 1260 days constitute the last part. Since the angel informs Daniel, that all the wonders «hall be finished at the end of 10.60 days ; and afterwards computes two other periods, namely 1290 and 1335 days, (the one period reaching 3o days, and the other 75 days, beyond the 1260 days,) from the setting up of the abomi- nation of desolation: it ismamiest, thai this abomination which I have shewn to be the abomination connected zvith the he-goafs little horn, was setup at tho beginning of the 1260 days ; for, since all the wonders were to be finished at the end of the 1260 days, the pollution of the ^sanctuary by the abomination connected ivHh the he-goaf' $ little horn was likewise to be finished at that period, and therefore its cleansing was to begin at that same period ; and, since Daniel dates 1290 and 1335 d'f.ys from the rtbominaiion of desolation, (the first of these numbers reaching 30, and the second 75 days, beyond the I960 days, when all //ze zvonders were to be finished, and there- fore among the other wonders the pollution of the sanc- iuary^ it is plain, that, between the setting up of the abomination and the incipient cleansing of iJie sanctua- ry, there were to be precisely 1260 days ; in other words, the date of the setting up of the abomination, and the date oithe 1360 daysy is the same. This being the case, it seems almost necessarily to fol- low, that the tyranny of the little horn df the Roman beast v^\^ continue the very same length of time as the tyranny of the desolating transgression connected with the little horn of the Macedonian beast ; for we are spe- cially informed, that //^e ^«/?2/5 should be delivered into the hand of t lie papal little horn during the space oi three times and a half or 1260 prophetic days : and, since the tyranny of each is apparently to finish at the end of the same 1260 days, the tyranny of each must in that case hegiJi at the commencement of the same 1260 days. Hence, in the very year that the already existing papal little horn was to commence its tyrannical career of 1260 days, the desolating transgression connected with the little horn of the he-goat, which was shortly to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot, was iirst to be set up. Bp. Newton accordingly very justly observes from these premises, which certainly seem to be undeniable, that, rvhatever power be meant by the last mentioned abotnlnationof desolatio7i, that power will pre- vail for the space of \9.Q0 years ; let it be Moha7nmedismr or let it be any other power.^ The 1260 days thenof thedesolaling' trans gressioji con- nected with thehe-goat's little horn arc precisely thesame period as the 1260 days during which the saints were to be given into the hand of the fourth beasfs little horn : Consequently they are the same period also as the 42 ononihs, during which the ten-horned beast was to flou- rish in his revived state. Thus it appears, that the beast * The abomination of lU-jiolation " may with equal justice be applied to tlrn. .llohanimciiaiis invading and desolating C'/iristenilom, and convertingthe churches into mosques : and this hitter event seemetli to have been particularly intend- ed in this passage. (Dan. xii. 11.) // this interpretation be true, the religion of J[o/iaiiimed ti/// fivcvail in the Ban ihc space of 1260 ij«ars." Dissert. X VU. 165 •Was to revive at the very time when the saints were giveft into the hand of his little horn. Whence we must al- most necessarily conclude, that the revival of the beost is so closely connected with the giving of the saints into the hand of the little horn, that in some sense or another he revived by committing the sin of thus giving the saints into the hand of his little horn. Here therefore it will be proper to consider the meaning of this revival. '* A beasts as it is most truly remarked by Bp. New- ton, and as I have very fully stated in a preceding chapter, *' A beast, in the prophetic style, is a tyrannical idola- trous empire : the kingdom of God and of Christ is never represented under the image of a beast." This being the case, an empire is said to continue in existence as a beast, so long as it is a tyrannicalli) idolatrous empire : when it puts away its idolatry and tyramiy, and turns to the God of heaven, the beast-, or those qualities whereby the empire ivas a beast, ceases to exist, though tlie em- pire itself may still remain as a body politic of faithful worshippers : and when it resumes its tyranny and idol- atry, though they may not perhaps bear precisely the same names as its old tyranny and idolatry, it then revives, it then once more recommences its existence in its original .character of a beast. To this description the character of the ten-horned GV Roman beast exactly answers. That empire was originally a beast by its profession of pagan- ism : it ceased to be a beast by its embracing Christianity under Constantino : and it once more became a beast by its setting up a catholic spiritual tyrant, and by its persecut- ing, at his instigation, all who refused to own his supre- macy, and to embi-ace his neiv idolatry. On these grounds, St, John informs us, that the ten-horned or Roman beast *< was, and is not, and yet is." It was, while in its ori- ginal pagan state : it is not, while in its Christian state under Constantino : it is, while supporting papal tyranny and idolatry. In this last of its three states, St. John beheld it rise from the sea of Gothic invasion : and in this last state it is to practise prosperously, as he carefully informs us, 42 months, or 1260 days. The same dura- tion is assigned to the tyrannical reign of its own little Iwrn^ or the Papacy ; and for this plain reason ; the em- 16G pire revived, or once more became a hearty hy giving up the saints into the htand oiits little horn^: and this it as- suredly did, not by encreasing the territorial possessions of the horn (for partial temporal dominion docs not confer the powrer of general persecution,) but by conferring up- on him spiritual supremacy. Precisely at the time then: when the papal Jiorn Vv'as declared to be universal bishop and supreme head of the Church, the saints were given up into his hand. He then first acquired the power of general persecution. Though he might not imm^^diately begin to exercise that power by wearing out the saints of the Most Highy it was then undoubtedly first conferred upon him. The true key then to fixing the date of the 1260 yeai^s is that furnished us by the })rophet himself We have neitiier to concern ourselves with the rise of the paiml horn abstractedly, nor yet with its attaining to the summit of its temporal power : we have simply to inquire v/hen the saints were first given up into his hand, and when the old pagan beast revived by setting up a catholic spiritual idolatrous tyrant in the Church. In the West, the year 604 beheld the death of Grego- ry the Great, Bishop of Rome. The pontificate of this good man, for I cannot but consider him as a good man, tinctured as his piety was with the gro\\ing superstition of the age,* was remarkable for his protestation against universal episcopacy by whomsoever assumed, and for his censure of the idolatrous veneration of images then creeping fast into the Church. Great as the power of the Roman archiepiscopal see then was, the sentiments of Gregory on the important question of catholic supre- macy are worthy of our particular attention, inasmuch as they differ so very essentially from those of his successors. * See the testimony born to liis virtues even by Afr. Gibbon, thoui^b he feeb- ly attempts to riilicule his piety on .iccount of the superstition with wliich it ■was undoubtedly aUoyed. i^Hist- of Dcchne and Fall, Vol. viii. p. 1G8, 169.) It may not be improper here to observe, tliat much real piity may subsist, both along with the ■wiU--ieorshifi nf suficrslition, provided it grow not to such a. height as utterly to clioka the good seed of the word ; and along with /At ec- centric reveries of enthusiasm, provided they do not exchange their harmlessly ridiculous cast of countenance for tJic Satyr's mask of avowed licentiousness and open profaneness. But the co-existence of religion an4 injitlelity 1% impos- sible } a religious infidcl is a contradiction in term^. 167 « I speak it confidently," says he, " that, whosoever call- 'eth himself universal bishops or desireth to be so called, in the pride of his heart he doth forerun Antichrists^ Accordingly, when the Bishop of Constantinople accept- ed this presumptuous title, which in his case was a mere title, never acted upon, the observation made by Gregory respecting it was, *' By this pride of his what thing else is signified, but that the time of Antichrist is now at hand ?"t Respecting the introduction of images into churches y which proved at length the fruitful source of popish demonolatry, Gregor37's conduct shews indeed, that his judgment in that particular was erroneous ; bat effectually demonstrates nevertheless, that he expressly reprobated the idolatrous "veneration of saints and angels, Serenus of Marseilles, finding that some of the people had begun to adore the images which were originally placed in the churches merely as memorials, very wisely broke them in pieces: but this laudable action of his gave so much offence to the superstitious part of his con- gregation, that many of them withdrew from his com- munion. Gregory, hearing of the unhappy dissension, wrote to Serenus, advising him to conciliate the affections of the people by permitting them to retain their images, which might (he observed) be considered as a sort of in- structive books for the illiterate ; but, at the same time, along with this permission to caution them most serious- ly against paying the least adoration to them. Events have shewn, that the Bishop of Marseilles judged more wisely than Gregory : but it is evident, that image-wor- ship had not in his time been formally established by the authority of the Roman pontiff. Gregory was succeeded by Sabinianus, whose short * Ergo fidenter dico, quod quisquis se universalem sacerdotem vocat, vel vo- cari desiderat, in elatione sua Antichristum pr^e currit. (Lib. vi. Epist. 30. cit- ed by Bp. Newton.) The accuracy of this declaration of Gregory is not un- worthy of our notice. He does not say, that the person, who assumes the ti- tle of Universal Bishop, is Antichrint himself : but only that he is the precursor of Antichrist. Gregory then conjectured, and he conjectured rightly, that the assumption of universal episcopacy was the leading badge of the eomtrLencemtnt of the tittle horn's tyranny ; but, noi attending to the prediction that this tyran- ny should continue 126U years, he fancied tliatthe i-eign of Antichrist was close at hand. Hence he both wrote, preached, and (we may add) lived, under the fii'm persuasion that the end of the world was fast approaching. f Ex hac ejussuperbia quid aliud, nisi propinqua jam esse Antichrist! tem- pera, designatur ? Lib, iv. Epist. 54. cited by Bp. NeM'ton. iG8 pontificate was remarkable only for rapine and extortion, for a systematic grinding of the faces of the })Oor, and for mean abuse of the memory of his liberal predecessor. But, though the individual Sabinianus was a wicked man, tJie saints were not as yet formally delivered into the hand of the little horn, nor was idolatry as yet opejdy establislied in the Church: consequently ^/f^- I'iQO daiijs had not then commenced, nor had the Roman beast reviv- ed by publicly relapsing into theabominations of paganism. Upon the death of Sabinianus, Boniface the third as- cended the papal throne, in the beginning of the year 606 : and one of his first acts, an act which took place in this very year 606, was to procure from the tyrannical usurper Phocas a grant of the title oi Universal Bishop and Supreme Head of the Church; the identical title, whicli Gregory only a iew years before, and that in the lifetime of Boniface himself, had stigmatized as a badge of the precursor of Antichrist.^' * Bp. Newton's Dissert. — Milner's Eccles. Hist. — Bowyer's I^ives of the Popes. —The account, which Cardinal Baronius gives of this grant, is inter- esting, because it tallies so exactly with tlie prophecy. In the spirit of a true Papist he maintains, that dejure the Pope was always the universal bishop, and that Phocas did not so much confer upon him what he did not possess al- ready, as sanction by his imperial authority the undoubted right of the Pope, thus constituting him universal bisliop de facto as well as de jure. Now what is this, but, in the language of the prophet, giving tlie saints into his hand ; that is to say, decreeing him by imperial authority to be a spiritual sovereign over all Christians, or (as they are constantly termed in the New Testament) saints ? " Anno Christi 606 to, indictione nona, decimo quinto calendas Martias, ex di- acono Pontifiex Romanus creatus est Bonifacius ejus nominis tertius — Quo tempore intercesserunt quxdam odiorum fomenta inter eumdem Phocam im- peratorem atque Cyriacum patriarcham Constantinopolitanum — Ilinc igitur in Cyriacum Phocas exacerbatus in ejus odium imperiali edicto sancivit, nomen Universalis decere Romanam tantummodo ecclesiam, tanquam quae caput es- set omnium ecclesiarum ; solique convenire Romano Pontifici, nonautem epis- copo Constantinopolitano qua sibi illud usupare praesumeret. Quod quidem liunc Bonifacium Papam tertium ab imperatore Phoca obtinuisse, cum Anas- tasius bibliothecarius, turn Paulus Diaconus (De gest. IjOngobard L 4.) tra- dunt — Sed, quod ad Phocae edictum attinet, baud eo quidem ipse (quodgarri- initnovatores) hoc tribuit privilegium ecclesix Romansc, utin catholica prima- tum ageret ; hunc enim jam ipsam babuisse, semperque exercuisse, ab ipso sui principio, non solum super omnes alios patriarchas orientales, sed et multo magis super omnium novissimum Constantinopolitanum, quam plurimis est superius locis latissimd demonstratum : nee in eo fuit aliquando cum episcopis Constantinopolitanis controversia, quippe qui numquam eumdem primatum in dubium revocarunt; sed in eo tantum, quod ipsi nuper titulum sibi il'.cumemci itsurp&ssent (quod Romanis Pontificibus cum ab aliis, turn ab ipsis a--cumini- cis synodis, jure tributum vidimus), et reclamantibus licet iisdem Romanis Pontificibus, conservfissent liactenus favore Mauritii imperatoris. Uanc igitur causam sententia sua Phocas decidens, eam adjudicavit Romano Pontifici, ut Mpse solus, non etiamConst^mtinopoUtanii?, dicerctur (EcKHicmcwi-." Duron. Annal. E^les. A. D. 0^. m From this I/ear then it seems most natural to date ihe 1%Q0 days: for, whewthe Roinan Bishop wafi appointed Supreme Head of the Churchy and when all the churches Some, I believe, have doubted whether such a grant was ever made by Pho- cas ; but, as it appears to me, without much reason. We know how severely the title of Universal Bishop was reprobated by Pope Gregory at the end of the sixth, and at the beginning of the seventh, century: we "know likewise, that tiie title was borne not long afterwards by the Roman Pontiff, and that it was formally confirmed to him by the secondcoancilof Nice in the year 787. Hence we are certain, that it cannot have been assumed very late in the seventh cen- tury. Now Baronius tells as, that it was assumed in tlie year 605, giving for Jus authorities Anastasius and Paulus Diaconns ; tlie former of whom flourish- ed in the ninth, and the latter in the eighth, century ; and I can see no reason why we should refuse to credit an assertion, which places the assumption of the title about the very time when we must unavoidably suppose it to have been assumed. In short, if the account be nothing more than a forgery, it is both one of the most unnecessary and one of the most ill-contrived forgeries that ever was executed; unnecessary.becausethe Pope had been solemnly declared Universal Bishop by tlie second council of Nice in the year 787 ; ill-contrived, because the wily defenders of the Papacy must have departed very far from their wonted subtlety to deduce falsely the grant in question from such an in- famous monster as Phocas. Had it never been made by any emperor, and had they been disposed tofor^e it for the purpose of aggrandizing the Papacy, they would surely have pitched upon a more reputable patron than Phocas ; and •ivould have ascribed it (as they did to Constantine, the original grant of St. Peter's patrimony) not to a murderous usurper, but to some emperor, whose character stood high in the christian world. On these grounds, I give credit to the assertions of Paulus Diaconus and Anastasius, neither of whom lived very lone: after the time when the grant is said to have been made ; and pro- bably on the same grounds, •' the most learned writers, and those who are most remarkable for their knowledge of antiquity," as it is observed by Mo - sheim, " are generally agreed," that the title of Universal Bishop was formally conferredby Phocas upon Boniface. Eccles. Hist Vol. U. p. 169. The general agreement of various writers on this point, and the grounds which the Romanists take, are well stated by Dr. Brett from Bp. Carlton's book of jurisdiction, regal, episcopal, and papal, cap. vi p. 82, 83. « Phocas," says he, " iixed Boniface, the third Pope of that name, in that universal pas- torship, which the Roman see claims and exercises over theothersees of Chris- tendom at this day ; and this, as Baronius and Estlus, so these follov/mg l.is- torians assert —I wiU begin with Paulus Diaconus, who saith, P'locas staluit ■sedan eocUsix Romance ut caput et omnium ecclesiamm. Abbas Usburgensis says the same ; to wit, that Phocas ordained, tflat the see of the Eoman apostolical church should be the head of all churches. Platina says, that Boniface HI. agrees With them herein, though he declares it in different words ; Bonifacius ohtinuit a P^°^^f ^i ^edes beati apostoH, quae est caput omnium eccksiarutn, ita diccretur et haberetur ab omnibus. Blondus saith, Phoeas aniistitem Rtmanum principem episcQporum ormiinm constituit. And Nauclerus saith, Phocas ad universur.i orbem, dimissa sanctions, constituit, ut Ro^name eccksia, Romanoque Pontifici, omnes ur- bes ecclesie head of the v.-hole church ; ihe Cardinal readily allowed the truth of the piemises, but denied the validityof the conclusion. See J!r:ghtman cohl. Uellarm. de Antichris. Cap. 3 Pol. 297. * ' Annus Christi 607cceptus est .ab indictione 10 ma Quo Ronifacius — ex presbytero ordinatus est, ejus nominis cjuanus, Pontifex Itomanus die 18 va Sept. — .\ Phoca Augusto inipetravil Puntluon,— Jovi vindici ronserratum, quod adliuc inlarAum renianseiat a demoli<'nti!Mis dxmonum sedes Uomaiiis Christianis ; illudcpie cx])urpatum ah aniitlua: sordibus idololatri.T, in honorem Dei-genetncis .Ma'ia; it omnivmi sanctorum niartyrum consecravit. Narrat liic Anaslasius . quorum ttiam mi-niinit H da" Haron Anual Kc^les. a. d.607, ■J- Dr Macleane, in the chronological table aflixed to Moshi im's Ecclesias- tical History, duscnbr s ihis evi iit in the following wortls , •' Mere (in the I'an- theon) Cybdc was succeeded by the Virgii Mai y, and tlu Pagan deities by (Jhrijtian martyrs. Idolatry still subsisted ; but the objects of it w«re changed " 171 ■gentiles, differing from their pagan predecessoi's in imme rather than in nature; and the wit..e'ses hcgdji io pro- phesy in sackcloth during the long period of V260 ycarsy the same period in short as that during which t/temrutl were given into the hand of t/w liVle horn.^ Not but that ^//!e Apostacy, as I have already observed, had long since individimlhj commejiced. The forhiddhiP' to viarry, the abstaining from meats, the excessive vene- ration of supposed mediatory saints and angels, began to creep into the Church even in the fourth cciitnry : but no date can be adixed to individual criminalitv.t In the strictly chronological prophecies of Daniel and St. John, periods of years are always computed from some s^^ecihc and definite action either of a community or of the head of a community ; not from Xh^ unauthorized deeds of individuals, the commission of the first of which deeds can only be known with absolute certainty by God him- self. Hence we find, that in the iinchronological pro- phecy of St. Paul:]: someof the leading features of ^/;^ Apos- tacy are marked out in general terms, the prophecy itself affecting every individwd to whom the description a{> plies : while, in the chronohgical prophecies of Daniel and St. John relative to tlie same Apostacy, since the di- vine wisdom thought proper to specify a certain term of years for the tyrannical reign of the man of sin, it was necessary to date those years not from general acts of zmlividiial criminality, but from some oveit and conspi- cuous act of i/ie head of a community, of the man of sin himself. This act is determined to be the deli-venug of the saints of God into the hand of ike little liornl the commencement of the treading of tlie holy city or tne. Cliurch underfoot by the new gent.lc mevihers of the re- vived beast, and the beginning of the faithful witnesses to prophesy in sackcloth. Now it will be difficult to pitch upon any era for the date of this sulnciently conspicuous act except the year 606: for in this and in the following year, the saints were formally given into the hand of the * Rev. xi. 2, 3, ^ t Uui^ns tills pei-iod, the liomun beast rnay be considered as craduallv ris^ lA^ owt 01 the sea, and as coming to life again. t I Tim, iv, 1; 2, 3, 7, 8- m Hide horn ; and the Jpostac^ of individuah became the embodied and established Apostacy of a spiritual catholic onpire over which the man of sin presided. When a spiritual universal tyrant then was set up in the Churchy and when idolatri) was (immediately upon his being thus set up) openly authorized and established by him ; the afflicted woman, the true Church, seems to have fled into tJie wilderness from the pollution of the holy citi) by the new gentilism of Poper)^ and the wit- nesses appear to have begun to prophesy in sackcloth. Not tliat an incessant persecution was to be carried on against them throughout the whole term of the 1260 years : but that they should continue so long to prophe- sy in sackcloth, or, in O'her words, to profess the funda- mental truths of the Gospel in a depressed and afflicted state. Accordingly, as Bp. Newton well observes, and afterwards satisfactorily proves, " there have constantly been such witnesses from the seventh century" (the cen- tury in which the Aposlacy, considered as the open act of a cotinnunity under its proper head, commenced,) " down to the Reformation, during the most flourishing period of Popery." Thus it appears, that the tyrannical reign of the fourth bcasfs little horn y and consequently the prophetic period of 1260 days, are most probably to be dated from the year 6O6, and will therefore, upon such a supposition, terminate in //ze^d-flr 18G6. Let us next turn towards the East, and see whether we cannot discover, in this same year QOG, any marks of the rise of that transgres- sion of desolation, which is so closely connected with the little horn of the he-goat, and which is to continue dur- ing the same period of l^GO days. Iniho }La?,X, theyear 6O6 beheld the crafty imposter HfJiam.-i/ed ictire to the cave of Hera to consult the spirit of fraud and enthusiasm, and to fabricate that false religion, which soon alter darkened the whole oriental world."* Having fully digested his plan in the solitude * The coincidence of The rise of Mohammtdism^ and the commenccmeut of Poptry, p)ufj,rli/ so called, is tlms stated by Mr. Wliitaker. •' Daniel stales thr r:se of JSlohammed as to take place when the trimsi^rcssors .ire come to llie full. St. Paul says, that, tlte dthuion of iln-man of sm shall be sent as a punisliment, because men believed not the U-utli, but had pleasure in unrighteousneflfi ; where 173 of the desert, he began at first only privately to preach his heterogeneous system of theology about the year 608 or 609. Mecca was the theatre of his first labours ; and his earliest converts were his wife, his servant, his pupil, and his friend. At length, by the persuasion of Abube- ker, ten of the most respectable citizens of Mecca were introduced to the private lessons of the Islam ; the r- 0- phet persevered ten years in the now more public exc; -3 of his mission ; and the religion, which has since over- spread so large a portion of the globe, advanced with a slow and painful progress Vt^ithin the walls of his native town.* Here then we behold the desolating abomination con- nected with the he-goafs little horn springing up at the very time when we were taught by prophecy to ex- pect that it would spring up, namely at the hegimiing of the 1260 days. Small as it was at first, it soon waxed exceeding great ; and, in a very short space of time suc- ceeded in completely polluting the spiritual sanctuary of the eastern church. The exact resemblance between this desolating transgression and the religion of JMoham- medy in all other respects as well as in their chronologi- cal correspondence with each other, shall presently be shewn : I shall first however try to ascertain the period, from which the 22100, 2300, or 2400, r/flj/j-, mentioned in the prophecy of the ram and the he-goat are to be dated ; and, if that can be in a measure ascertained, the proper reading of the number will be ascertained likewise. Although it certainly is a matter of doubt from what precise era this period ought to be dated, and although (as Bp. Newton justly observes) the event alone can positi'vely determine the point, it seems to me most natu- surely the same period (that in which the sins of the people call for judgment) is characterized for the rise of these tivo po-vers- Now St. John ascribes to^achoi" them the same duration, and speaks of the ti Die of their end as the same, and con- sequently in his account they must i>egin at the same time ; in exact correspon- dence with each of the separate declarations of the two former writers. Sucli coincidences in prophecy, of which the holy penmen themselves do not seem aware, pre ve, like the same in history, that the writers drew originally from ene source, with this only difference, that in the former case their information must have more than a human origin, even the operation of that self-same spirit, who divideth to every man severally as he will." General View of Proph. p. 95, 96, 97. • Prideaux's Life of Mohammed p. 16— 49— Hist, of Decline and Fall. Vol] 9.p. 282— 2S5, tal to compute it from some time or another during the staled existence of the Persian empire. The prophet TOpresenisl/ie ()i'0-/toriied 3Iedo-Persian raiiii not as m- ins^fioiii Hie seOyhnt as standing by his river : in other words, ho does not speak of the origin of the united mon- archy, v\ hich is a fixed determinate period ; but of some period, which he does not specify, in the course of its regular and settled government.* Now the Medo- Per- sian ram ro e out of the political sea of nations in the year A. C . 5SQy when the two kingdojns of Media and Persia^ thv tna hor7is of the raj?i, were united under the single government of Cyrus ; wlxence that year is termed thejirst year of Cyrus :t but he continued standing up- on ilw bank of his symbolical river, till the lie-goat " smote him, and brake his two horns, and cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him." This happened, in the year A. C. 3.S0, when the unfortunate Darius, after the last decisive battle of Gaugamela, was basely murdered by Bessus, and the Persian empire thus com})Ictely extinguished. The ram therefore con- tinued standing from the year A. C. 536 to the year A. C. 330 : but he continued standing undisturbed only till the year A. C'. 334, when ^//c Macedonian he-goat began to smite him by invading his territories, and by gaining his first victory over him at the River Granicus.J If then we ought to seek the date of the vision during the standing of the ravh or the settled existence of the Per- sian empire, it will be found somewhere between the • Tlie ram, or,*as he is termed in the former vision, the bear, is said, in the proplittic lan.e;uiif,'e, to ar/sc out of //;e sea ; to denote the rise of the Persian empire amidst wars and tumults : but, when Daniel beheld him in hit present ■viaioii, he was standing by the river ,- to denote, that the Persian empire had al. ready ctrisen, and was then standing m a tranqud, regular, and firmly establish- ed, slate. (See the prcce.ing renhn ks upon ihe iiut aijnibots of the sea, and a river, m the 2d chapter rft e present work. J To vise oxU cf the sea, and to s- and vpoii the bank- of a river, certainly denote, according to tlie analoijy and pre- cision of symbolical languajv^, two i4 and 530, he began and completed the conquest of the whole Persian empire. % It is rather a curious circumstance, that this veri/ year, to whicli I have heen led by cakitlation, is one cf tlie three years, which Bp Newton conjecturtd to alKord p.ubahle dates for tiie coiamencement of the period of 2300, 22UO, or 240U, ytiirs See Dissert, xv. 177 The sum of what has been said respecting the date of the ll-^Oyeai^s amounts then to this. Since tlie deso- lating transgression of Mohammedism is to flourish 13v)0 years, since the srints are to be delivered into the hand oi the tiapal little horn for the space of I'^GO years, since the Roman beast is to practise prosperously in his tpvived state during the same space of 4*3 prophetic months, and since the two horns and the beast are all to j)ensh together at the time of the end, wh'ch commences at the termination of the i'i60 years ; it seems necessarily to follow that the date of those years can only be an era marked by the following triple coincidence -.—-the rise of the desolating transgression of Mohammedism : — the commencement of the papal littlehorn s spiritual univer- sal empire ; — and the revival of the Roman beast by con- ferring upon his little horn that spiritual universal e7n- pire, or, in the language of prophecy, by giving the saints into his hand. If therefore we pitch u])on any era not mark- ed by this triple coincidence, we shall have reason to suspect that it cannot be the true date of the 1260 years ; because, since the 1260 years oi Mohammedism^ the l^^oO years of the papal horn, and the IQ60 years oi the revived Roman beast, all apparently terminate together at the time of the end, they must in that case all necessarily be- gin together. This however is not the only test which the prophet has given us to ascertain the true date of the IQGO years. He has checked (if I may use the expression) this peri- od by another larger period, which comprehends it, and which terminates along with it. This larger period is stated by three different readings to be 2Q00, Q3Q0, or Q400 years. Thus it appears, that, after we have discovered an era for the date of the 1Q60 years marked by the triple coin- cidence of^//e rise of Mohammedism, the giving up of the saints into the hand of 'he paml little horn, and the revival of the Roman beast by thus giving up the saints : we must next examine, whether a computation deduced from this era will make the larger period of QQOO, Q300, or 2400, years, and the smaller period of IQCO years, rightly correspond together. This must be done by first voi,. r. ' 23 1/8 computing forwards 1*2^0 ^er/r* from th*? date which wc have pitched nj)on, and afterwards by computing back- wards (2200, 23f>0, and 2400. i/ea)^s from the 'Ma to which the first com])Utatioa b?*ouglit us down: for, si (ice this era is equally the supposed termination of bo;ewton's Dissert, xxvi. 3, 180 of them will be found to answer to the tests furnished by the prophet. In none of these years, except the last, were tih" saints gi^'en into the hand of the pnpal horn ; and, as for the acknowledgment made by the council of Nice, it was only a repetition of the grant already made hy t/icsrvth head of the heast : in none of them did aiiTf abomiimtion of desolation connecied ivith the little horn of the he-goat arise : and none of them will bear to be checked by the larger number according to any one of its tiree readings. There is yet another date fixed upon by Mr. Mann, which prima facie was more probable than any of the preceding ones. About the year 533 or5o4,* the Emperor Justinian declared the Pope to be the head of all the churches : whence it seemed not un- likely, that the 1260 years ought to be dated from that era-t This opinion liowever, like that of Mr. Mede, has both been confuted by the event,t and might have * Mr. Sharpe asserts, that this h:ippenecl in the year 540. (Append, to three Tracts on the Hebrew pronunciation p. 30.) Exactly the same objec- tions apply to this year as to eitlier of tlie others. f See Bp. Newton's Dissert on Rev. xiii. % If we compute tlie 1^60 ijears from the year 533 or 534 we shall arrive at the year 1793 or 1794, when neither the series of events (Dan xi. 40 — 45. Rev. svi. 17 — 21. xviii. xix.) which terminate in the destruction of Paper;/ and JMohatn- incuisin had commenced, and when the restoration of the Jews was still future. The remarkable events, which lately took place in the year 1798, led many to suppose, that j''t)/ier^ was then overthrown, and consequently that the IZdO days must be expired. Hence Dr. Valpy and Mr King named the year o38 as the era from which that period ought to be dated. Much the same opinion was entertained by the Archdeacon of Northumberland and Archdeacon Daube- ny. I need not therefore be asiiamed to mention, tliat I also had once adopted a simihir opinion. Our error arose from not sufficiently attending to the gene- ral tenor of prophecy. The expiration of the \260years is to usher in, not on- ly the (loivnfat) of Popery, but likewise the subversion of JMohamnieclism, the over- throiu J7. Quanta fue- rit mtHium Gcrmanorun) ac llispanorvm alrocitas et violtntia Itoms, verbis txpli- cart vix potest. JVam prttCcr hormu/as Uitiienas, direptionts, libidines, devasta- tio'iet, contttntcliie ac tudibrii getius nullum in i'ontifcem Cir dinalesqui reliquum- gue turbtimpr.ctcrmissiimfuit." ^^ Preface to Zouch on Projihecy ) When Dr. Zouch wrote, Cardinal Ohiaromonte had been elected I'opc in the year 1800| 281 been confuted before the event. Mr. Mann's assertion I do not contradict, but I doubt whether he has not <*reatly mistaken the nature of 'Justinian's grant. Pho- cas declared ihe Po'')e to be at once head of all the churches-, which is a title of dignity, and sole imiversal Inshopy which is a title of authority : whereas Justinian conferred upon him only the first of these titles, styling at the very same time the patriarch of Constantinople head of all other churches.^ A comparison is accord- ingly drawn very judiciously by Brightraan between the grant of Justinian and the grant of Phocas ; in which he states, that the former only gave the Pope precedence over all other bishops, and did not, like the latter, ^'.rc/z^- sivelj/, constitute him Universal Bishop.-\ Upon examin- ing the passage in the Nwellce to which he refers, I find him perfectly accurate. The Emperor is simply laying down the precedency of the different patriarchs and prelates throughout his dominions. Of these, the patriarchs come first ; next, the archbiehops ; and last, the bishops ; and, of the patriarchs, the first place is as- signed to Rome ; and the second, to Constantinople.!!; Thus it appears, that the supposed grant of universal epis- copacy dwindles into a mere question of empty preceden- cy. Indeed had Gregory himself borne the title of Uni- versal Bishop, or had it been generally borne by his pre- decessors, he could not, in common decency, have cen- but had not yet been enthroned at Rome ; we have since beheld Popery for- mally re-established in France, and a compact entered into between the pre- sent usurper of the throne of the Bourbons and the sovereign pontiff. * " Omnium aliarum caput." This plainly shews, that in the mind of .Justinian both the titles wort mere titles Hcau of all ihe churches, and Head of all the other churches, remind one of Primate of all England, and Pri- mate of England. Tiie two first as little confer universal tpiscopacy in the Rpman empire, as the two last do in our own country. Nay, even the title of Ecumenical seems to have been borne both by the patriarch of Constantino- ple and by the other eastern patriarchs ; and consequently, when borne by more than one, was a mere title. Phocas was the first, who gave it exclusively to the Pope, and forbad all other prelates to assume it. + " Anno 606 to. — hie (Phocas) Bonifacio UI concessit, ut Romanis Uni- Tersalis Episcopus haberetur; non solum ut online ac honore reliquos antece- Aeret, uti decrevit .Tustinianus primatum sacrarum synodorum definiens, sed cuitotus orbis sua dijecesis foret " Apoc. Apoc. Fol. iU5. f'Sancimus, secundum eariim (scil sacrarum synodorum) dcfinitiones, sanctissimum senioris Uomse Papam primum esse omnium sacerdotum : bea- tissimum autem avcliiepiscopum Constantinopolcos nova: liomse secundum habere locum post sanct.im apostolicam senioris Romx sedem ; aliis autem om.nibus sedibus prarponawr." Justin. Novell. Tit. 14. Constitut cxxxi. Cap. 2. sured his Byzantine brother as the precursor of Anti- Christ for assuining it. In addition to this reason, the prophetic, tests alTord the same insurmountable objection to the date proposed by Mr. Mann as they have ah'eady alTorded to those projwsed by Mr Mede and i3p. Newton. ^oclesolrt'/ig tf'an- gressinn cornected with the little horn of the he-,qort arose in the years 533 and 5.34 ; nor will either of those years bear in be checked by any of tlic numbers which the diferent readings assign to the larg- er period. It is somewhat remarkable, that, although .Bp. Newton acknowledges that " the religion of Moham- med will prevail in tl:e East for as long a period "f time as the tijrami'.j of the littlr horn in the West," and al- thouQ[h he is struck with the wonderful ooincidence of '• Mohammed's having first contri\ed his imposture in the year 606, the very same year wherein the t} rant Phocas made a grant of the supremacy to the Pope ;" yet he is unwilling to date the IQGO years from that era, merely because the Pojh did not attain to the height of his tem- poral dominion till the eighth century.^ The saints how- ever were given into his hand, not surely by the grant of titc Erarchaie and the kingdom of Lombardvy wliich in itself cojiveys not an atom of catholic spiritual power in the Church-, but by constituting him sf/preme in ecclesi- astical matters, by making him a JBishi>p of all other Bishops : and the prophet expressly informs us, that tiie 1260 years are to be dated from the era, when the saints were thus given into his hand.f • Dissert, xvii. " A time times and a half are three prophetic yean am! m half ; and t/iree prophetic years and a half are 1260 prophetic days : and 1 j60 prophetic davn are 12(50 years The same lime therefore is prefixed for the deso- lation and oppression of the eastern church, as for tl)e tjranny of the little horn in the -.pcsfcvt church ; and it is wonderfully remarkable, tliat the doctrine of IMoliammed was fi' st forgfed at Mecca, and the supremacy of tlie Pope was established by virtue of a pranl from the wicked tyrant Phocas, in the very same year of Christ 606 " Ibid. + Mr IVicheno has proposed a scheme difTcrinp both from mine, and from those of all the preceding authors — He supposes, that tite 1'260 years are to be computed from the year y^9, when the code of .lustinian, which he styles tlu: stro If hold of clerical tyranny, was first publishetl. 'I'hey terminated conse- quently in the yi ar I'B*.), when the French re^-oiurion took place. — To the 1 ?60 7/rar* thus commcncinp he adds >^0 w(jr*, in order to complete Daniel's 1'290 war* This second operation brings us down to the yrai 1819 ; at which period he conceives that tlie nntirfn-istian po-wem (apainst whom the judgments of CJod began to g-o forth at the close nf tAe 12<'0 years in the year \Tif9) will be finally broken, and that the reuoration of the Javs will comracncc. — f roB? 185 The result of tlie whole is, that, since the year 606 is the only era which perfectly answers to the prophetic the yem' 'iSldfVihe.n the sanctuary will be completely cleansed by the over- throw of the Papacy, which he assumes to be the desolating irunnpesfsion mentioned in Dan viii. 13. and xii 11. he next computt-s backwards 2oQ(} yars, in ordf^r to arrive at the beginning of the vision of the ram aid the he-g-oat. This tliird operation bring-s us to tht year A C 431 ; at which pe. iod Xerxes set out to invade Greece, for Mr. Biclieno suppose* that the wars of tiiat prince are foretold hi Dan. viii 4, 20 — Lastly to //le \290 years, terminating in /Ae year I8l9, he adds 45 vears, in order to complete Daniel's 1335 years. This final operation brings us down to the year 1864; 'w\ie\\ tht restoration of the Jeivs (to wliich he assigns the space of 4' years) will be completed, and when the distant heathen nations will be converted to Christianity. (Signs of the times Fart 1 p. 5 — 61.) 1 feel some degree of unwillingness to urge any objections against this scheme of Mr Bichcno ; because so very short a space of time, about 13 years only, will either practically demonstrate it to be right <'at least so far as the restoration of the Jerjs is concerned.) or effectually preclude the necessity of any verbal confutation. W'ith my present views of the subject, it certainly appears to me erroneous in every point ; and it is my firm beli' f that the ra- pidly approaching year 1819 will prove it to be so. — Ifrs' objtct to the era, from which r/f the restoiatior efthe Je^s. They unanimously represent them as bcii>g < ; j. :-ed in their own Ismd, and even besiege tests, there ia at least a very high degree of probabiUty that it is the true date of the commencement of the 1260 feJtraaj : hence it is plain, that their restoration must have commenced, not c»n- temporantously with tlie overthrow of that confederacy, but some time previous to its o.e.tli-o'v ; otherwise' how can the various matters, which are predict- ed respeciinjj them, receive tiieir accomplishment ? Hoiv long indeed before this o\'cri.hrow their rpstoration will coiumence, the unclironologicai prophets nowhere tell us . but Daniel, as we have seen, amply makes up their defi- ciency by informing' us, tliat they will begin to be delivered at the time of the end or at the close oftiie \260t/ea''t, when alt the nredictions relative to the won- derful events comprehended within the th-ee times and a half shall have been fulfilled. " On these grDunds we may safely, I think, conclude, that the 1260 j-eari did not expire in the i/rar 17 ii9 because the Jew,? did not then beghi to be restored : and, even if their restoration should commence in elie year 1819, as Mr. Bichcno expects, such an event would be no demonstration of the rest of his system : on the contrary, it would confute it, because it would prove that the 1.6U years, in.stead of expiring in the year 1789, expired in the year 1819. — I third'y object ti; his comj-uting the 1290 j/ears and tlie l2o^ ytr.js from the year 529, on the gi'oiind that the abomination of desolation, mentioned in Dan viii 13 and xii. 1 1, is the Papacj. That these two periods are to be dated from the same era as t/'w V260 yeur^, cannot, T think, be reasonably doubted; in this point therefore Mr. Bxheno and I perfectly agree- We both likewise agree, that all 'he three periods are to be claied from the setting up of the aboinina- tion of desolation ■ for neither can this position be reasonably doubted. We lastly agree, that one and the same abomination of desolatiori is spoken of both iji Dan. viii 13 and in Dan xii, 11; and that this abomination c&nnot be re- ferred to the pollution of he literal temple by the Itomans as predicted (accord- ing to our Lord's own exposition) in D:tn xi 3 1, because the numbers con- nected with it render such a reference impossible Thus far we are perfectly agreed ; but here we begin to differ. Mr. Bichcno maintains, that the deso- lating transq-ression, connected with the little horn of the he-goat and with the ntimbers 1290 and 13 o, is the Papacy, which he contends was set up by the code of Justinian in the year 5i;9 ; 1, on the contrary, most explicitly deny that this desolating transgression is the J'apacy. Let rAp little horn of the he-goat be Antioehus Ep pkanes, the Hovian empire, OT any other po'Mer : it certainly can- not be the Papacy, because the Papacy never was a horn of the he-goat, or Ma- cedonian empire. Hence it is evident, that the desolating transgression connect- ed with the Macedoiticai little horn, which was to take away the daily sacrifice and to give both the sanctuary and tiie host to be trodden under foot, cannot be the Papacy, and, if it be not tlie Papac^i, we have no right to date tlie 1J60 yea> s t}ie i29i) years VintX the ISo.i years from the vffl'' 529, unless it can be shewn tiiat some desolating transgression, which afterwards became a horn of tlie he-goat and which fully answers to the prophetic description of it, arose in tfie year 529. This however Mr. Bicheno will find it no very easy matter to do ; tlierefoi e the three periods cannot be dated from the year 529. Here I might stop ; for, if Mr. Bicheno's foundation give way, his superstructure falls to the ground of course : yet 1 cannot refrain from noticing tlie strange era which he has pitclied upon as the proper date of the larger number "300, and consequently of the visi .n of the ravi and the he-goat. A computation de- duced, not from the end of the l-'60 \ears as it ought to have been, but from the end oftlw Vl'^Q years (that is to say, from whathe supposes to be the end of the 1290 years), brings him to the year A. C 481, in which Xerxes set out to invade Greece ; and this famous expedition he affirms to be specially predicted under \}Ac\mti.^CTy i)i tJie pushiiig of the ratn. Never surely was history more inju- diciously brou;;ht forward as the interpreter of prophecy. Daniel tolls us, that the pushing oj the ram was so irresistible, that no beast could stand before him, and that none could deliver out of his hand, but tliat he vMohavnnedis)ii qa\i\ be sym- bolized by a horn. I have already slicwn, that the language of symbols allows the same hieroglyphic to bear both a temporal and a spiritual signification. Thus we find, that a moun- tain is used to ty[)iiy both the temporal hiiigdomof Baby- lon, and the spiritual kingdom of Christ :* thus like- wise a beast indifferently represents a secular and an ec- clesiastical empire : and thus, arguing from analogy, a horn denotes either a temporal or a spiritual Idngdom. Now we have seen, that the little horn of the Roman beast typifies the spiritual kingdom oj the Papacy, which, small as it was at first, in process of time became a great * Jerem. li. 25. Dan. ii. 35. 137 'empire symbolized in the Apocalypse by a tivo-liorned beast. Such being the case, even if we had not been assisted by chronological computation in our inquiries, we should naturally have been led, merely by the ana- logy of symbolical language, to conclude, that the little horn of the Macedonian beast typified a spiritual kingdom likewise : for it seems by no means agreeable to the strict accuracy of that language to suppose, that the Roman lit- tle horn means a kingdom of one kind, and that the Mace- dowan little hoj^n means a kingdom quite of another kind.^' So again, with regard to local situation : since the little hor?i of the Roman beast is to be sought for in the West, we may naturally, not to say necessarily, conclude, that the little horn of the Macedonian beast is to be sought for in the East. Thus we find, that chronological computation, symbo- lical analogy, and local situation, all lead us to suppose that the religion of MoJiammed is typified by the little horn of the Macedonian beast. We must next consult history. Accordingly, as history, when viewed in connection with prophecy, has shewn us, that the little horn of ike Roman beast means the spirituaU not the temporal^ Jiiiigdom of the Pope ; so history will likewise shew us,, when viewed in connection with prophecy, that the little horn of the Macedonian beast means the spirit aal, not the temporal, kingdom of iMohammed. The desolating transgression, which Daniel identifies with the he-goat's little horn, was to rise in the year ()06, at the commencement of the 12G0 years, during which it was to flourish, and during which the Roman little horn was to reign over the saints. No power did then arise in the East except the religion of Mohatumed ; and the religion of Mohammed arose in that very year. As for i\\c secular authority of that impostor, either with- out or within the limits of the he-goafs late empire, it did not comm.ence till several years afterwards. Hence we may conclude, agreeably to the analogy of sj^mbolical language, that the horn denotes not the temporal domin- * This affords another argument to shew, that the little horn of the he-goat cannot be the Roman empire or the fourth great beast, hs Sir Isaacand 15 p. New- ton suppose. 188 ioUf but (he religion of Mohammed. This conclusion, I allow, does not quite necessarily'^ follow lrr>m ^^he p'emi- ses : but mark the sequel. The power symbolized by the horny after it had arisen in th: year o06, was to con- tinue VlQO years. Consequently, as this date, and this period of years, exclude Antiochus Epiphanes and the Romans from having any connection with the horn ; so do they equally exclude the temporal kingdom erected by Mohammed. That king iom, instead of being set up in the year 606, which the prophecy requires, d'd not commence, according to Sir Isaac Newton, till the year 637: and, alter it had commenced, it lasted no more than 300 years : or, if we date its rise somewhat ear'ier in the lile-time of Mnhammed when he became prince of Medina in the year 622, still it will not have commenced in the year 606, and still its duration will scarcely amount even to one quarter of 1260 years. On the other hand, the religion or spiritual kingdom, of Mohammed arose precisely in the year 606 ; has already continued nearly twelve centuries ; and has every appearance of continu- ing, in some one of the countries where it is professed, to the very end of tJie l^'^GO years. At its first rise it was to be little, comprehending two or at the most only three persons, namely Mohammed and his two apostate associates :t but it was not long to remain so. The prophet informs us, that, small as it originally was, it soon " waxed exceeding great toward the South, and toward the East, and toward the pleasant land " Mo- hajnmedism accordingly, though it made its first appear- ance at Mecca, soon invaded the territories of ihe Syrian horn of Ihc he goat, thus becoming (agreeably to the prediction) a horn oj the he goat ; and afterw.;rds, exclu- sive of its propagation in other regions, spread itself over * Because my first argument only piovts, that the desolating transgression must be a spiritual power, not thai tlie tittle horn must, with which it was af- terwards identified. It is almost superfluous to observe, that a power may be at once both spiritual and tt mporal. My second argument Ihtrefere goes on to prove, that the desolati-.'.g little /win must itself be a spiritual power. + The Kabbinical tales, with wldch the Koran is so larpely i mbeUished, Molianum d i.s supposed to liave learned Ironi a I'eisian Jew ; and tor those parts of his multifarious work, which touch upon (Christianity, he is thought tojiave been indebted to tiuNcstorian munk Sergius or B.dieir.a. All the rest lie himself was amply fjualified to supply. See I'rideaui's Life of Moham- med, p. 43 — 49. 189 the whole Macedonian empire^ in the same nmni^er as the li tie horn oj the ^oman beast extended its iiitlib nee over the zvhole Western empire. Thiis did the great double Apos'acy set its two feet upon ihe East and the West in the self-same year : and thus hath it ever since continued to trample upon all true religion. At the end however of the 1260 years, the judgments of God shall surely go forth against it, and the long jx)!h^ted spiritual sanctuary shall begin to be thoroughly cleansed. 21. The 'alse religion of Mohammed-, s3anbolized by the little horn of the he goat-, and stigmatized by Daniel as being a desolating transgression-, was a medley of cor- rupted Christianity lurnisiied by an apostate monk, of Talmudical Judaism contributed by a renegade Jew, and of Arabian superstition purified of its idolatiy by Mo- hammed himself: whence it may justly be termed, as it is represented by St. John,"^"' an apostacy from the pure 'faith of re'oelation, Mohammed taught, that the several prophets, Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Christ, and. himself, rose in just gradation above " each other ; and that whosoever hates or rejects any one of them is io be numbered with the infidels." For the great author of our faith especially the Mussulm.ans were required to entertain a high and mysterious veneration. " \^erily," says he, " Christ Jesus, the son of Maty, is the apostle of God, and his Word which he conveyed unto Alary, and a spirit proceeding from him : honourable in this world, and in the world to come; and one of 'hose who approach near to the presence of God."t Agreeably to these declarations, Mohammed acknowledged the divine authority of the Pentateuch, the Psalms, and the Gos- pel ;!|l but required that the Koran should be received along with them, or rather should supersede them. Such was the nature of that desolating transgression, which set itsr-lf in direct opposition to the prince of ihe host, and which stood up against the prince of princes. o. When the Arabian pseudo prophet liist retited to * Jl fallen star, when taken in a spiritual sense, is the symbol of an iipootate Christian pastor. Such a .sfar was Serg-ius, who opened the bottomless pit and let out the false religion of Mohammed. Kev. ix. 1. f Koran. C- 3 and G 4 4 Sale'5 Prelim. l}:s.;ourse, p. 100— Decline and Fall. Vol, ix. p. 261— 266. 190 the cave of Hera to fobricate the Koran, this being the first overt act of his imposture, we may consider that tra?2sgressiofi of desolationy which afterwards caused the daily sacrifice io cease, and which gave both the sanctu- ary and the host to be trodden under foot, as being then firstsetup. This sanctuary IS the spiritual sanctuary of the Christian church, woi the literal sane' uay^y of the Jezvish temple, as will sullicicntly appear from the following con- siderations. According as the temple and the sanctuary are to be taken in a literal or a figurative sense when mentioned in the prophecies of Daniel and St. John, all other things connected \\\X.\\ them must be taken in a literal or fgu- rative sense likewise. Thus, when it is said, that the Roman arms should stand up Siiiex Antiochus, that they should pollute tJte sanctuary of strength, that they should take auay the daily sacrifice, and that they should setup the abomination of desolation : the temple, which they polluted, being the literal temple oj' Jerusalem, the daily sacrifice taken aivuy by them will of couise mean the li- teral daily sacrifice, and the abomination of desolation set up by them will signify the literal abomination of desola- tion which they set up when they woi shipped their stand- ards within the precincts of the sanctuary. On the other hand, when St. John is directed by an angel to " mea- sure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that xvor- ship therein ; but to leave out, and not to measure the court xvitlioHt the temple, inasmuch as it is given to the gentiles, who are to tread the holy city under icoi forty andtxcomonths,'" or 1C>00 natural years : the temple, here mentioned, being the spiritual temple of God, or the Church ; its altar, its daily sacrifice^ its outer court, the holy city in wiiich it stands, the gentiles who are to tread it uiidei foot ViiJO years, and the icitnesses who are to^ prophesy in sackcloth during precisely the same period of time. Hi isL ail be taken in i\ figurative sense ; that is to say, they must all he referred not to the temple of Jeru- salem, but to the Church of Christ. Now we have seen, that Mohaim!icdism,ov that desolating transgressioncon- nected with the he-goat's little horn which was to take away the cai/y sacrifice and to pollute the sanctuary,\\as 191 to flourish during the very same period as tlie treadhio- underfoot of the apocalyptic holy city by the gentiles ; that is to say, during the space of 1260 years. Since then the Mohammedan transgressiony which was destined in the course of its desolating progress to lake away the daily sacrifice and to pollute the sanctuary, is to flourish IQ60 years : and since the onter court of the apocalyptic temple is to be trodden under foot during the same peri- od of 1260 years : it will necessarily follow, that the sanc- tuary mentioned by Daniel is the same as the temple men- tioned by St. John : in other words, that it is tlie Church of Christ. This supposition is decidedly established by the particular era when the desolating transgression of Mohammedism first made its appearance. The era iji question is the year in which the Roman beast revived, or the year of our Lord QOQ : at this era, the literal sanc- tuary of the Jezvish temple was no longer in existence, having been utterly destroyed by the Romans several centuries before ; consequently, the Jezt'ish temple cannot be the sanctuary which the little horn was to pollute : but, if it be not tlie literal Jewish temple, it can be noth- ing else but the Christian spiritual temple. On these grounds then I conceive, that the pollution of the sanctu- ary by the eastern little horn is the establishment of the Mohammedan Apostacy upon the, .ruins of the Greek church : and that the treading under foot of the outer court of the temple by the gentiles is the subjugation of the Latin church by the Papal Apostacy. We shall find, that the declaration of prophecy concerning these matters precisely accords w ith the event. The Latin church Vvas to be trampled under foot during the whole period of the 1260 years ; but the sanctuary and the host of the Greek church v/ere not to begin to be trodden under foot till some time after tlie rise of the Mohammedan little horn, in short, not till after it Jiad waxed exceeding great.* Compare Rev. xl. 2. with Dan. viii. 9—12. It might at first be thought \n- deed from Uan. xii. 11, that f/je o'