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A BRIEF EXPLICATION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PRINCIPAL PROPHECIES 
 
 OP 
 
 DANIEL AND JOHN, 
 
 AS THEY REGARD THE CHURCH OF GOD. 
 
 TO WHICH IS ADDED, 
 
 AN APPENDIX, CONTAINING AN INaUIRY INTO THE 
 
 PROPRIETY OP USING AN EVANGELICAL PSALMODY 
 
 IN THE WORSHIP OF GOD. 
 
 BY 
 
 SAMUEL* RALSTON, D. D. 
 
 PITTSBURGH: 
 
 Published for the author by Luke Loomis, Agent. 
 
 1842. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1841, by 
 SAMUEL RALSTON, D. D. 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the Western District of Pennsylvania 
 
 Printed by A. Jaynes,— Franklin Head,...Pittsburgh. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Symbols, - - - . - page 7 
 The Seals, 14 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 The Trumpets, 25 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 The Beasts, - 43 
 
 The Woman, 52 
 
 The Witnesses, - - - - - - 54 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 The Vials, - - 65 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Miscellaneous Observations, . ... 89 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 Prophecies of Daniel, - - - . - 111 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 The Millennium yet to come, - - - 135 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 The Millennium, 147 
 
IV CONTENTS. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Human Inventions and Human Composure, - 183 
 
 CHAP. n. 
 Songs of Praise in the Revelation of John, - 195 
 
 CHAP. HI. 
 
 Great part of the New Testament written in 
 
 verse, 215 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 As it is the duty of preachers of the gospel and minis- 
 ters of the word, to furnish their minds as far as they can, 
 with the wliole scheme of divine revelation — the propheti- 
 cal, as well as the doctrinal and preceptive parts — we 
 have accordingly made the prophecies an occasional part 
 of our reading and studies, for a number of years. In 
 order to this, we have read and compared not only the 
 ancient writers on this subject, as Mede, Lowman, New- 
 town, &c. but the modern writers to which we had ac- 
 cess. And not one of them but fully satisfied our mind in 
 regard to the fulfibnent of some of the prophecies, and 
 thereby furnishing an additional proof, that the Old and 
 New Testaments are a divine revelation; yet we saw, or 
 thouo-ht we saw, some defect in their several schemes of 
 interpretation. And to encourage young ministers to an 
 occasional study of this highly interesting subject, we 
 would remark, that what appeared dark, defective, or in- 
 conclusive in one writer, was elucidated and made satis- 
 factory by another. As will be seen in the sequel, we put 
 together the interpretations of different important prophe- 
 cies by different writers, which were deemed clear and 
 correct, and found that, if not altogether, they nearly 
 agreed. And not only so, but they quadrated with the 
 prophetic numbers of both Daniel and John; and thus a 
 new scheme of interpretation in some instances was form- 
 ed, and which the reader will find in the following pages, 
 with some new interpretations of our own. 
 
 We are far from supposing that our views on this sub- 
 ject are certainly correct, or beyond the reach of objec- 
 tion or criticism; but we thought that they are less liable 
 to objection than any system which we have perused, else, 
 we would not have obtruded them on the public. They 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 were published in numbers in the Christian Herald, in 
 Pittsburgh, in 1831; and as the events of divine Provi- 
 dence since that time have not contradicted, but rather 
 strengthened those views, we have come to the conclu- 
 sion to re-publish them at present, with some considerable 
 additions. 
 
 The principal difficulty of studying and understand in o- 
 the prophecies, arises from the symbolical or figurative 
 language in which they are written; and to read or study 
 them without a key to those symbols, is labor in vain. 
 To obtain this key, we have carefully considered those 
 symbols in the Old and New Testaments,— and from the 
 contexts, and the drift and design of the writers, we have 
 at length arrived at what we think is their literal meanino-; 
 and they are now presented to the reader in alphabetical 
 order, with a reference to those passages where we think 
 they are to be so understood. This may assist the young 
 student, and somewhat facilitate his inquiries. Mr. Faber 
 has indeed given us a definition of the principal symbols 
 occurring in the prophecies; but we have enlarged the 
 list; and to understand all the prophecies, it will be neces- 
 sary to enlarge it still farther. We commit this little 
 book to the guidance of the great Head of the church, 
 for the promotion of whose declarative glory it was writ- 
 ten, praying, that he will graciously forgive whatever in 
 It IS wrong or amiss, and guide the reader and writer into 
 all necessary truth. 
 
A BRIEF EXPLICATION 
 
 OP THE PRINCIPAL 
 
 PROPHECIES OF DANIEL AND JOHN. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 That the Apocalypse, or "Revelation" 
 by John, usually styled the "Divine," is a part 
 of the canon of the scriptures, is now^, for any 
 thing we know to the contrary, universally ad- 
 mitted. That it contains a series of prophe- 
 cies respecting the church of God, from the 
 time the Revelation was given, to the end of 
 time, is also generally admitted. That it is the 
 duty of christians to read, and to use the best 
 means for understanding those prophecies, is 
 announced in the introduction to the book: — 
 "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear 
 the words of this prophecy." And in the 13th 
 chapter, men of understanding are invited to 
 count the number of the Beast mentioned in 
 that chapter, — "and which came out of the 
 earth, having two horns like a lamb, but spake 
 as a dragon," Hence, then, this book has en- 
 gaged the attention and occupied the study of 
 men of knowledge and literature in every age 
 2 
 
8 THE SYMBOLS. 
 
 of the church ; all of whom have shed light, 
 more or less, on this ahstruse part of the New 
 Testament — abstruse, because, like other scrip- 
 ture-prophecies, it is wrapt up in symbols diffi- 
 cult to be understood ; and perhaps, because it 
 was designed that it should not be fully under- 
 stood, until facts, or the events of divine provi- 
 dence, would render the completion evident. 
 
 Tiie latest writers on this subject which w^e 
 have seen, are Scott, Faber, Croly, and Keith, 
 of Great Britain, and Reid of this country, and 
 minister of the gospel at Erie. To give the 
 reader as extensive a view of the principal 
 prophecies of Jolm, as will comport with our 
 plan, we will review their respective systems, 
 or interpretations; show wherein they agree 
 and disagree, and we agree with any of them ; 
 and in some instances, humbly submit an in- 
 terpretation differing from them all. And as 
 our object is to consider the principal prophe- 
 des as they regard the church in the seven 
 seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven vials, 
 we will pass over the first five chapters as being 
 preparatory only, and not prophetical of the 
 fortunes of the church at large, and come im- 
 mediately to the consideration of the seven 
 seals in the sixth chapter. But before we do 
 this, w^e will present the reader wath our pro- 
 mised definition of the different symbols that 
 will occur; for, as observed in the preface, 
 without some definite and correct knowledge 
 of these, writing and reading on this subject 
 will be labor in vain. And it may be also ne- 
 
THE SYMBOLS. 9 
 
 cessary previously to observe, that according 
 to Mr. Faber, "one thing or person may be re- 
 presented by different symbols, yet a symbol is 
 never used to represent two persons or things, 
 except analogically," or where there is a strik- 
 ing analogy between those persons or things. 
 Thus, for instance, the church and state con- 
 sist of rulers and the ruled; or, in other words, 
 neither of them can exist w-ithout officers to 
 direct dieir affairs; and accordingly, as we shall 
 find, the same symbol is sometimes used to de- 
 note the chief ruler in both, the context will 
 generally indicate to wliich of tiiem it refers. 
 This is true as a general rule; but we think 
 that in the course of our examination of the 
 prophetic symbols, we have met with some ex- 
 ceptions. 
 
 Before we proceed to the definition of the 
 symbols, it may be farther necessary (o ob- 
 serve, that writers on the prophecies generally 
 use the words symbol., emblem., and type^ as 
 synonymous words, or as importing the same 
 idea. If this is not altogether, it is nearly so; 
 and they may be thus defined, signs, or repre- 
 sentations of some moral or spiritual things, by 
 some natural things, founded on a likeness of 
 some property or properties of the latter to 
 those of the former. We had the privilege, in 
 common with others, of using those words in- 
 terchangeably, and which would not have been 
 so grating to the reader as the frequent recur- 
 rence of the same word in the same paragraph, 
 and sometimes in the same sentence. But, as 
 
10 THE SYMBOLS. 
 
 we wish to be understood, and the introduction 
 of a different word for the same idea might 
 produce confusion and obscurity to some read- 
 ers, we have most generally used the words 
 symbol^ symbolical^ and symbolize^ at the risk 
 of being condemned by some critical readers.^ 
 
 DEFINITIONS OF PROPHETICAL SYMBOLS. 
 
 1. A Beast^ is the symbol of an idolatrous 
 and persecuting empire, or power. — Daniel 7: 
 2—11. 
 
 2. Beast ^ with 7 heads and 10 horns, sym- 
 bolizes the Roman empire, — Papal. The 7 
 heads denote the 7 hills on which Rome is 
 built; and the JO horns the 10 kingdoms into 
 which it was divided. — Rev. 13:1 — 7, 11, 14; 
 and 19:8, 11. 
 
 3. City — 'The holy city' symbolizes the true 
 church. — Isaiah 52:1. Rev. 11:2. And ana- 
 logically, ''''The great city of Babylon''' sym- 
 bolizes the Papal church, including Rome, the 
 metropolis of that ecclesiastical empire. — Rev. 
 16:19; and 17:5. 
 
 4. Days — 1260 days symbolizes 1260 years, 
 a day for a year. — Ezekiel 4:4 — 7. "Latter 
 
 * We remember to have seen several years ago, in a religious 
 magazine, a distinction made between an emblem and a symbol. 
 According to the writer, an emblem is the sign or representation of 
 some spiritual thing by some natural thing, which has a real exist, 
 ence, as when the true church is compared to a woman in Song 1:8. 
 But a symbol is the same representation by some thing that has 
 no real existence, as "a Beast with seven heads and ten horns;'* 
 or, "a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet» 
 and upon her head a crown of twelve stars." But as we have never 
 seen the distinction but once, and the writers on the prophecies 
 which we have perused, use the words symbol and emblem as con- 
 Tertible terms, we have adopted their practice. 
 
THE SYMBOLS. H 
 
 days or times" denote the reign of Popery and 
 Superstition. — 1 Tim. 4:1 — 3. "Last days," 
 the reigns of Atheism and InfideHty. — 2 Tim. 
 3:1. 1 John 2:18. 
 
 5. Dragon, symboHzes the devil — Rev. 12: 
 3, 9; and analogically, the Roman empire in 
 its pagan state, prompted by the devil to per- 
 secute the church of God. The 7 heads, 
 and crowns on those lieads, denote the 7 dif- 
 ferent forms of government which that empire 
 assumed; and the 10 horns, the 10 kingdoms 
 into which it was finally divided. — Rev. 12:3. 
 
 6. Earth, is the symbol of an universal em- 
 pire; the Babylonian empire — Jer. 51:7, 35; 
 the Roman empire. — Rev. 14:3, and 16:1, 2. 
 
 7. Earthquake, symbolizes an empire or 
 kingdom in a state of anarchy and revolution. 
 Psalm 46:2. Rev. 6:12, and 16:18. 
 
 8. Grass, is the symbol of children. — Job 
 5:25. "Green grass," of little children. — Rev. 
 9:4. 
 
 9. Hail, mingled with fire and blood, sym- 
 bolizes a great destruction of human beings. — 
 Rev. 8:7. 
 
 10. Heaven, is the symbol of the visible 
 church. — Matthew 11:11, and 25:1. Analogi- 
 cally, it symbolizes a state or empire. — Isaiah 
 14:12. 
 
 11. Horn, is the symbol of power, strength, 
 an empire. — Dan, 7:8, and 8:5. 
 
 **^ 12. ^ horse with his rider, symbolizes a 
 conqueror, and conquest. The appearance of 
 the rider, and the color of the hprse, denote 
 2* 
 
I2f THE SYMBOLS. 
 
 the nature and kind of the conquest. — Rev. 6: 
 2—8. 
 
 13. ^ Lamb, is the symbol of humbleness^ 
 and meekness. — Isaiah 53:7. "A Lamb as it 
 had been slain," symbolizes atonement by sac- 
 rifice.— Rev. 5:6. 1 Pet. 1:19. 
 
 14. A Lion., is the symbol of strength. — 
 Prov. 30:30. "The Lion of the tribe of Ju- 
 dah," symbolizes Christ as able to save. — Rev. 
 5:5. 
 
 15. Locusts, are the symbol of the teachers 
 of false doctrines. — Rev. 9:3. 
 
 16. Months — 42 prophetic months, 30 days 
 to a month, and a day for a year, denote 1260 
 years. — Rev. 11:2, and 13:5. 
 
 17. Moon, is the symbol of the Jewish dis- 
 pensation. — Col. 2:16. 
 
 18. Ni^ht, is the symbol of moral darkness. 
 Rom. 13:12. 
 
 19. Pit — "Bottomless pit," the symbol of 
 hell itself— Rev. 20:1. 
 
 20. Rivers and fountains of water, sym- 
 bolize nations — Rev. 17:15. And nations in a 
 state of peace and tranquillity. — Isaiah 41 :18, 
 and 66:12. 
 
 21. Scorpions, symbolize those who reject 
 the divine word and government, and instil 
 those venomous and wicked principles into 
 others. — Ezek. 2:6. Rev. 9:5. 
 
 22. — Sea, is the symbol of a nation in a state 
 of agitation and confusion. — Isaiah 52:20, 21. 
 Dan. 7:2. Jer. 71:42. 
 
 23. Serpents, symbolize crafty and mali- 
 
THE SYMBOLS. 13 
 
 cious men, who infuse poisonous principles in- 
 to the simple and unwary. — Matt. 23:33, 
 
 24. Smoke, is the symbol of moral dark- 
 ness. — Rev. 9:3. 
 
 25. Sore, symbolizes the punishment of 
 apostacy and moral evil.— 2 Chron. 6:29. Isa. 
 1:6. 
 
 26. Star, symbolizes a chief ruler. — Isa. 14: 
 12. And a star falhng from heaven denotes the 
 declension of a chief ruler in the church — Jude, 
 13 V. Rev. 9:1. And analogically, an apos- 
 tate or deposed ruler in the state. — isa. 14:2. 
 
 27. Sun, is the symbol of God as the foun- 
 tain of natural, and especially of moral light 
 and life.— Psalm 84:11. Mai. 4:2. 
 
 28. Sun and Moon, when conjoined, would 
 seem to symbolize a greater and lesser degree 
 of moral light.— Isaiah 60:19. Song 6:10. 
 
 29. Sun, Moon, and Stars, when conjoin- 
 ed, analogically symbolize a chief ruler in the 
 state, with his subjects, and subordinate magis- 
 trates. And for these to be blackened or dark- 
 ened denotes their deposition. — Joel 2:10. Rev. 
 6:12. They also analogically symbolize a fa- 
 ther, mother, and their children. — Gen. 37:9. 
 
 30. Time, in prophetical language, is the 
 symbol of a year; times, of two years; and the 
 dividing of time, half of a year, and amount 
 to 1260 years.— Dan. 7:25, and 12:7. 
 
 31. lime of the end, the termination of the 
 1260 years, the dominant reign of the Man of 
 sin, and also of Mahometanism.— Dan. 8:19. 
 
 32. Trees, symbolize men. — Psalm 1:3. — 
 Matt. 3:10. 
 
14 THE SEALS. 
 
 33. Wilderness, denotes a place of safety 
 provided for the persecuted. — Psalm 55:6, 7. 
 Rev. 12:14. 
 
 34. Witnesses, symbolize the testifiers dur- 
 ing the dominant reign of Papal Rome against 
 her idolatry and wickedness. — Rev. 21:3 — 12. 
 
 35. Woman, symbolizes the true church, or 
 the spiritual spouse of Christ. — Song 1:8. Rev. 
 12:1. Woman also analogically symbolizes 
 the apostate church. — Rev. 17:4—6. The con- 
 text indicates the difference. 
 
 36. Wormwood, is the symbol of heretical 
 doctrine. Deut. 29:18. Heb. 12:15. 
 
 37. Zion, symbolizes the church under both 
 the Jewish and christian dispensations of grace. 
 Psalm 65:1. Heb. 12:22. 
 
 Keeping these definitions and explanations 
 in view, we will now examine the seals, trum- 
 pets, and vials, in tlieir consecutive order, as 
 furnishing us with a prophetical and chrono- 
 logical history of the church, from the days of 
 the apostles to the present time. 
 
 THE SEALS. 
 
 "And I saw when the Lamb opened one of 
 the seals, and I heard, as it were the voice of 
 thunder, one of the four beasts (or living crea- 
 tures zo-on) saying, Come and see. And I saw, 
 and behold, a white horse; and he that sat on 
 him had a bow; and a crown was given unto 
 him; and he went forth conquering, and to con- 
 quer." — Chap. 6, verses 1, 2. 
 
 Faber passes over this and the other seals, as 
 not connected with the remarks he designed to 
 
THE SEALS. 15 
 
 make on the Apocalypse; his principal object 
 being to ascertain the character and agency of 
 the beasts mentioned in the following chapters. 
 Croly explains it as having reference to the 
 spiritual conquests of Christianity, from the time 
 of John lo the reign of Constantino, the first 
 christian emperor. This, we think, is too ex- 
 tensive; but it was required by his system, as 
 will be seen in our future observations. Scott 
 applies it to the progress of the gospel in the 
 apostolic age, and for a century after. Keith 
 and Reid give it the same application. And 
 indeed the symbol of a white horse, — white, 
 the emblem of righteousness and purity, — is a 
 proof that he that sat on him, was Christ him- 
 self, and that his conquests were of a mild, 
 merciful and spiritual kind. And that they 
 were very extensive during that period, may be 
 gathered from what the apostle Paul says in 
 his episde to the Colossians, that in his day, 
 "the gospel was preached to every creature 
 which is under heaven," This is to be under- 
 stood of the world as then known: and Brown, 
 in his "Dictionary of the Bible," has evinced 
 that the assertion of the aposde was founded on 
 fact. It is evident from that useful work that 
 he was deeply versed in ancient ecclesiastical 
 history; and under the word church, he in- 
 forms us, that in the first century "churches 
 were planted in Arabia, Egypt, Ethiopia, and 
 Barbary, to the South and West; in Chaldea, 
 Mesopotamia, Armenia, Assyria, and Persia, 
 to the East; in Phenecia, Syria, Lesser Asia, 
 
16 THE SEALS. 
 
 Thrace, Macedonia, Greece, Illjricum, Italy, 
 and Spain, to the North." 
 
 The second seal is thus introduced: "And 
 when he had opened the second seal, I heard 
 the second living creature say, Come and see. 
 And there went out another horse that was red ; 
 and power was given to him that sat thereon 
 to take peace from the earth, and that they 
 should kill one another; and there was given 
 to him a great sword." 
 
 The color of this horse, (the color of blood,) 
 denotes a time and scene of slaughter and de- 
 vastation. Croly applies this seal to the slaugh- 
 ter and devastation committed bv the Goths 
 under Alaric, when th.ey burst into the Ro- 
 man empire, symbolized by the "c^r///," after 
 the death of the emperor Theodosius, who 
 died in the year 395. This, we also think, 
 is a premature application, forced upon him 
 by the other parts of his system. Dr. Scott, 
 more properly, applies this seal to the ter- 
 rible massacres committed by the Romans on 
 the Jews, and by the Jews on the Romans, 
 from the year 100 to 138. Those common 
 enemies of the christians seem to have been 
 permitted to avenge on each other the blood of 
 the defenceless christians, which they wantonly 
 shed on every occasion which was in their 
 power. "Five hundred and eighty thousand 
 Jews," says Scott, "are computed to have been 
 slaughtered by the Romans during that period; 
 and even a larger number of the Greeks and 
 Romans seem to have been butchered by them 
 
THE SEALS. 17 
 
 in the most barbarous manner imaginable." 
 Keith applies this seal to Mahomet and his re- 
 ligion, and for this reason only, that his religion 
 is the opposite of the religion of Christ. But 
 besides the insufficiency of the reason, of itself, 
 it is a violation of the prophetic chronology, as 
 Mahomet did not appear until the 7th century; 
 and as we will show, many events highly inte- 
 resting to the church were to take place be- 
 tween the time of the first seal and that period. 
 
 Verses 5, 6: "And when he had opened the 
 third seal, I heard the third living creature say. 
 Come and see. And I beheld, and lo, a black 
 horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of 
 balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in 
 the midst of the four living creatures say, A 
 measure of wheat for a penny, and three meas- 
 ures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt 
 not the oil and the wine." 
 
 Compelled, as it would seem, by his general 
 system of interpretation, Croly interprets the 
 black horse as the symbol of mental darkness^ 
 or ignorance; and because the Greek word, 
 zeugos^ signifies a yoke, as well as a pair of 
 balances, he applies this seal to the rites and 
 ceremonies with which Pope Gregory the first, 
 loaded the church after the year 533; from 
 which time, he thinks, we are to date the rise 
 of the beast mentioned, and described in the 
 13th chapter. Now, although we think, for 
 reasons to be mentioned hereafter, that that 
 year was the year in which the Bishop of 
 Rome becjuTie the '''Man of sin ^^"^ yet, from the 
 
18 THE SEALS. 
 
 symbol of the black horse, and the price of 
 wheat and barley, we accede to the opinion of 
 Dr. Scott, that this seal had reference to the 
 famine which historians tell us pervaded the 
 Roman empire from the year 158 to 193, and 
 some say much longer. Some may think that 
 if a measure of wheat and three measures of 
 barley were sold for a penny, it was rather a 
 period of plenty, than of want. But that it was 
 a time of distressing want will be evident when 
 it is considered, that the ^^measure''' alluded to 
 was the Roman chcuriix^ the usual daily allow- 
 ance of a slave, and the Roman penny (dena- 
 rius) amounted to eight or nine of our cents, 
 and was the usual wages of a laboring man. 
 The introduction of a pair of balances, the in- 
 struments for weighing things of value, confirm 
 the application of this seal by Dr. Scott; and 
 the judgment was doubtless sent upon the Ro- 
 man people on account of their cruel persecu- 
 tion of the defenceless christians, prior to this 
 period. iMr. Keith gives nearly the same ap- 
 plication to this seal, as is given by Mr. Croly, 
 But what is called the ^^dark ages,^^ was dis- 
 tant some centuries from this period; nor was 
 the word of God prohibited to the people at 
 this time, the prohibition of which produced 
 the ''dark ages,''^ 
 
 Verses 7, 8: "And when he had opened the 
 fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth liv- 
 ing creature say. Come and see. And behold 
 a pale horse; and his name that sat on him was 
 Death, and hell followed with him; and power 
 
THE SEALS. 19 
 
 was given unto them over the fourth part of 
 the earth, to kill with the sword, and with hun- 
 ger, and with death, and with the beasts of the 
 earth," 
 
 Strange as it may appear, Croly applie& this 
 seal to the revolution in France in 1789. He 
 understands the death mentioned in this seal 
 in a figurative sense, as symbolizing the moral 
 corruption of the French revolutionists, who 
 declared "that death was an eternal sleep ; that 
 Christianity was an imposture; and that there 
 was no God." And yet, contrary to a sound 
 rule of interpretation, laid down by Faber, of 
 hot understanding the same word figuratively 
 and literally in the same passage, and refer- 
 ring to the same thing, he explains death in 
 this seal as importing not only moral corrup- 
 tion, but the loss of life by the terrible massa- 
 cres that took place during that revolution. 
 Keith applies this seal to the prevalence of in- 
 fidelity in the 18th century. But besides the 
 palpable violation of the prophet's chronology, 
 we wonder that both writers did not see the 
 unhkeness of the comment to the text. 
 
 Dr. Scott more properly applies this seal to 
 the unheard of calamities which befel the Ro- 
 man empire, from wars, mutinies, massacres, 
 pestilence, and famine, for upwards of fifty 
 years before the reign of Dioclesian, or from 
 the year 153 to 270. During that period there 
 were upwards of twenty emperors, and as 
 many usurpers in different parts of the empire. 
 The loss of human life in their wars with each 
 3 
 
20 THE SEALS. 
 
 Other, is almost incalculable. To this was ad- 
 ded the pestilence, the usual attendant on fam- 
 ine; and hence the fitness of the expression, 
 that death and the grave (Jiades) followed him 
 that rode on the pale horse. Indeed, the de- 
 struction must have been great, when the wild 
 beasts, as it seems, took possession of the hous- 
 es, and the survivors were under the necessity 
 of waging war against them. And yet, it ap- 
 pears from the following seal, that the perse- 
 cution against the christians was as cruel and 
 unrelenting as ever. 
 
 Fifth seal, verses 9, 10, 11: "And when he 
 had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the al- 
 tar the souls of them that were slain for the 
 word of God, and for the testimony which they 
 held: and they cried with a loud voice, saying. 
 How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not 
 judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell 
 on the earth? And white robes were given 
 unto every one of them ; and it was said unto 
 them, that they should rest yet for a little sea- 
 son, until their fellow-servants also and their 
 brethren, that should be killed as they were, 
 should be fulfilled." 
 
 As was to be expected, from the interpreta- 
 tion which he has given to the preceding seals. 
 Croly applies this seal to the present day, and 
 the rest mentioned, as having reference to the 
 peace which has been enjoyed in Europe for 
 some years past, for facilitating the spread of 
 the gospel. Keith understands this seal as a 
 warning, that the church will be persecuted 
 
THE SEALS. 21 
 
 after the reign of infidelity. Dr. Scott more 
 justly applies it to the persecution which the 
 christians experienced under the reign of the 
 emperor Dioclesian, which lasted ten years, 
 and was justly and emphatically called, "the 
 era of martyrs." It may not he amiss to ob- 
 serve here, that the vengeance called for, im- 
 ports only retribution, or the exercise of just 
 judgment on those who had wantonly shed the 
 blood of the saints of God. The white robes 
 given unto them, denote a state of perfect purity 
 and felicity; and their crying to God for the ex- 
 ercise of righteous judgment on their implaca- 
 ble persecutors, is utterly inconsistent with the 
 opinion of those who suppose a state of insen- 
 sibility of the souls of the dead, until the re- 
 surrection ;^ or rather, their opinion is utterly in- 
 consistent with this passage. 
 
 Sixth seal, verses 12 — 17: "And I beheld 
 when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, 
 there was a great earthquake ; and the sun be- 
 came black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon 
 became as blood: and the stars of heaven fell 
 unto the earth, even as a fig-tree casteth her 
 untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty 
 wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll 
 when it is rolled together; and every moun- 
 tain and island were moved out of their places. 
 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, 
 and the rich men, and the chief captains, and 
 the mighty men, and every bondman, and ev- 
 ery freeman, hid themselves in the dens and in 
 the rocks of the mountains; and said to the 
 mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us 
 
22 
 
 THE SEALS. 
 
 from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, 
 and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great 
 day of his wrath is come ; and who shall be 
 able to stand?" 
 
 An earthquake is the symbol of a nation in 
 a state of convulsion and revolution ; the sun, 
 of the prince, or potentate; the moon, of his 
 subjects, and the stars, of subordinate rulers or 
 governors. The sun becoming black as sack- 
 cloth of hair, and the moon being turned into 
 blood ; the stars falling from heaven to earth ; 
 the heaven, or the system of government, de- 
 parting as a rolled up scroll ; the mountains and 
 islands, or the established authorities in differ- 
 ent and distant places, being moved out of 
 their places; the great, the rich, and the mighty^ 
 the bond and the free, calling upon the rocks 
 to fall upon them, and hide them from the com- 
 ing wrath ; all these strong and appalling met- 
 aphors, conspire to denote a revolution and 
 subversion of things of no common diaracter. 
 
 As was to be expected also, Croly applies 
 this seal to the revolution that shall take place 
 at the overturning of pagan idolatry, Mahom- 
 etan delusions, anti-christian infidelity, with the 
 superstition of the "man of sin," at the com- 
 mencement of the millennium, when the king- 
 doms of this world shall become the kingdoms 
 of the Lord Jesus Christ. And here it may 
 be necessary to observe, in explanation of Mr. 
 Croly's system, that he considers the seven 
 seals as including, in epitome, the whole of 
 John's visions respecting the church, until the 
 
THE SEALS. 23 
 
 commencement of the millennium; and the 
 7 trumpets and 7 vials, as corresponding pro- 
 phecies, included in the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 
 7th seals. As already intimated, although we 
 think that he has shed some important light on 
 some particular prophecies, yet we cannot ac- 
 cede to his general system, nor to his particu- 
 lar explanation of this prophecy; and would 
 therefore observe, that we agree with Scott, 
 who applies it to the revolution which took 
 place in the fourth century, when Constantine 
 the Great deposed the heathen magistrates, 
 overturned the heathen temples, altars, and 
 idols, and established the christian religion as 
 the rehgion of the Roman empire. Whether 
 Christianity gained or suffered by this establish- 
 ment, is not our business here to inquire; but 
 when the nature and extent of the revolution 
 is considered, it will justify the number and 
 boldness of the symbols used in describing this 
 seal. Keith classes the fifth and sixth seals to- 
 gether, and gives them the same explanation. 
 
 As it is not our design to give an interpreta- 
 tion of all the chapters in the revelation, 
 but only to make a few remarks on the inter- 
 pretation given by Croly, Faber, Scott, Keith, 
 and Reid, (and the latter occasionally only,) 
 to the seven seals, trumpets, and vials, we will 
 pass over the 7th chapter, by just observing, 
 that it seems to have reference to the tranquil 
 state of the church, from the time of Constan- 
 tine to the death of Theodosius. Four angels 
 are accordingly represented as standing on the 
 3* 
 
THE SEALS. 
 
 four corners of the earth, holding the four 
 winds, that they should not blow on the earth, 
 nor on the sea, nor on any tree, until the ser- 
 vants of God were sealed on their foreheads^ 
 and until one hundred and forty-four thousand, 
 probably a definite for an indefinite number, 
 were thus sealed. Mr. Reid thinks (p. 99) 
 that this sealing "did not refer to baptism, nor 
 confirmation, nor the sign of the cross." But 
 why should it not refer to baptism? Does not 
 the apostle say, (Gal. 3:27,) that "as many as 
 were baptized into Christ, have put on Christ;" 
 and is not a being baptized into Christ, that 
 which distinguishes Christians from Pagans, 
 Jews and Mahometans? We admit, with Mr. 
 Reid, that it had reference to the renewal of 
 the heart by the Holy Spirit, whereby true be- 
 lievers are 'sealed unto the day of redemption;' 
 but that it had also reference to the baptism of 
 water, in the name of the Father, Son, and 
 Holy Ghost, is evident to ourselves, not only 
 from the passage in the Episde to the Gala- 
 tians, but also from what Christ says in John 
 3:5 — "Except a man be born of water, and of 
 the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of 
 God" — of water as the means, and the Spirit 
 as the agent in this new birth. And the cir- 
 cumstance, that it is said that that seal was put 
 upon their foreheads^ is to ourselves no incon- 
 siderable argument that the water is to be ap- 
 plied to the forehead of the subject in the ad- 
 ministration of the ordinance. This leads us 
 to the consideration of the seventh and last 
 seal ; but this we will defer to the next chapter. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE TRUMPETS. 
 
 In the last chapter we reviewed Scott's, 
 Keith's, and Reid's interpretation of the first 
 six seals, and showed which of these interpre- 
 tations are, in our opinion, most consentaneous 
 to historical facts. The seventh and last seal 
 now claims our attention. It has been remark- 
 ed by writers on the Apocalypse, (what indeed 
 every attentive reader of these prophecies must 
 have observed,) that the seventh seal contains 
 the seven trumpets, and the seventh trumpet 
 the seven vials. Hence then we are told. 
 
 Chap. 8:1-5, "That when the seventh seal 
 was opened, there was silence in heaven about 
 the space of half an hour; that seven trumpets 
 were given to seven angels, to each angel a 
 trumpet; that before they sounded their trum- 
 pets, another angel came and stood at the altar, 
 having a golden censer, in which was much in- 
 cense, that he should offer it up with the pray- 
 ers of all saints upon the golden altar which 
 is before the throne; and that the angel took 
 the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, 
 and cast it into the earth: and there were 
 voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and 
 an earthquake." 
 
 We have seen in our definition of the sym- 
 bols, that heaven is the symbol of the church; 
 and analogically, of the state; and in which of 
 
'26 THE TRUMPETS. 
 
 these senses we are to understand the symbol, 
 when we meet with it in the prophetical writ- 
 ings, is to be gathered from the context, and 
 the drift and design of the writer. It would 
 seem that the church was meant by this sym- 
 bol in this place, because the saints, or all true 
 believers, are represented as praying on the 
 occasion; and because an angel is introduced 
 as standing by the altar, the golden altar, with 
 much incense, that he might offer it up with 
 the prayers of the saints. It will, we think, be 
 admitted, that this angel was no other than Je- 
 sus, 'nhe angel of the covenant;" and that by 
 the incense, we are to understand the interces- 
 sory merit of his own blood. We are not ex- 
 pressly told what those christians prayed for; 
 but there is scarcely a doubt that they had re- 
 ference to the calamities then hanging over the 
 Roman empire, from the threatened invasion 
 of the barbarous nations of the North. But 
 the cup of the iniquity of that nation was then 
 full; and accordingly the angel took the cen- 
 ser and filled it with fire of the altar-fire, the 
 symbol of conflagration and destruction, and 
 cast it upon the earth, the Apocalyptic symbol 
 of that empire. Upon this, (v. 7,) ''The first 
 angel sounded, and there followed hail and 
 fire, mingled with blood, and they were cast 
 upon the earth, and the third part of trees was 
 burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up." 
 
 Mr. Croly understands the silence mention- 
 ed at the opening of the 7th seal, as having 
 reference to the millennial state of the church. 
 
THE TRUMPETS. 27 
 
 to be consummated in heavenly rest^nd glory ; 
 and that all that follows in regard to the trum- 
 pets and vials, is only a repetition and enlarge- 
 ment of the events predicted in the fourth, fifth, 
 sixth, and seventh seals. He also thinks that 
 the trumpets and vials refer to the same period 
 of time, with this difference, that the trumpets 
 have reference to the political, and the vials to 
 the ecclesiastical events of those periods. As 
 already observed, although we think that he 
 has shed some important light on some partic- 
 ular prophecies, yet we cannot subscribe to 
 the above interpretation of this trumpet, but 
 rather accede to the opinion of Scott and Keith, 
 that it has reference to the havoc and confla- 
 grations committed by the Goths, under their 
 leader Alaric, after the death of the emperor 
 Theodosius, in 395. As those barbarians came 
 from the north of Europe, and passed over a 
 great part of the Western empire with uncom- 
 mon rapidity and violence, took and plunder- 
 ed, and burned part of Rome itself, they were 
 fitly symbolized by "hail and fire mingled with 
 blood." Historians of that period say, that 
 they spared neither sex nor age. Hence, then, 
 the third part of the trees^ the emblem of men, 
 and the green grass, the emblem of little chil- 
 dren, are said to have been burnt up. After 
 describing their ravages in the Eastern empire, 
 Gibbon says, "Alaric again stretched his hand 
 over Italy. During four years, the Goths rav- 
 aged and reigned over it without control. And 
 in the pillage and fire of Rome, the streets 
 
28 
 
 THE TRUMPETS. 
 
 were filled with dead bodies; the flames con- 
 sumed many puhhc and private buildings; and 
 the ruins of a palace remained, after a century 
 and a half, a stately monument of Gothic con- 
 flagration." Faber applies this trumpet not 
 only to the invasions of Alaric, but to those of 
 Attila; but for reasons to be mentioned hereaf- 
 ter, we think that it is to be confined to the ra- 
 vages of Alaric alone; and we have seen that 
 there was enough in his character and ravages 
 to justify the symbols and language of this 
 trumpet. 
 
 Second trumpet, v. 8: "The second trum- 
 pet sounded, and as it were a great mountain 
 burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the 
 third part of the sea became blood ; and the 
 third part of the creatures which were in the 
 sea, and had life, died ; and the third part of 
 the ships were destroyed." 
 
 Croly applies this trumpet to the destruction 
 of the Spanish Armada^ in the reign of Eliza- 
 beth of England, fitted up for the purpose of 
 subjugating the nation, and destroying the Pro- 
 testant church. Faber and Keith apply it to 
 the state of Rome, which they think is sym- 
 bolized by a burning mountain, when assault- 
 ed and captured by Genseric, the king of the 
 Vandals, in 455. But, as Scott has justly ob- 
 served, it is the destroyer, and not the destroy- 
 ed, that is compared to a burning mountain; 
 and he accordingly applies it to Attila, the king 
 of the Huns, who, in the year 44.1, attacked 
 both the Eastern and Western empires, fitly 
 
THE TRUMPETS. 29 
 
 compared to the sea^ on account of the confu- 
 sion and agitation into which it had been 
 thrown by the ravages of Alaric. Attila called 
 himself, "the scourge of God and the terror of 
 mankind ;" and perhaps no man ever deserved 
 the title better. The extent and character of 
 his ravages may be conceived from a boast 
 which is recorded of him, ''that the grass never 
 grew where his horse had trod." And Gibbon 
 says that he slew in one battle 160,000 men, 
 according to some historians; and 300,000, 
 according to others. 
 
 Third trumpet, — v. 10, 11: "And the third 
 angel sounded, and there fell a great star from 
 heaven, burning as it wet*e a lamp, and it fell 
 upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the 
 fountains of waters; and the name of the star 
 is called Wormwood: and the third part of the 
 waters became wormwood; and many men 
 died of the waters, because they were made 
 bitter," 
 
 Croly applies this trumpet, and its alleged 
 corresponding vial, to the revocation of the 
 edict of Nantes by Lewis XIV. in 1585, and 
 the war that ensued from that cruel and wick- 
 ed measure. Faber applies it to the overturn- 
 ing of the Western empire under Momyllus, 
 called in derision Augustulus, by Odoacer, the 
 king of the Heruli. This, we think, falls more 
 properly under the following trumpet; and we 
 agree with Scott and some others, that this 
 trumpet has reference to Geisseric, the king of 
 the Vandals and Moors in Africa, who, in the 
 
30 THE TRUMPETS. 
 
 year 455, like a shooting star, suddenly and 
 unexpectedly arrived in the mouth of the Ti- 
 ber, with an army of 300,000 men, attacked, 
 carried, and for 14 days pillaged Rome itself. 
 This, with the devastations committed by the 
 Goths and Huns, under the preceding trum- 
 pets, so weakened the Western empire, that it 
 was easily overturned, as will be seen under 
 the following trumpet. 
 
 This conqueror and ravager is called Worm- 
 wood^ not so much because he assaulted the 
 "'rivers and fountains of water," or the Roman 
 empire while in a state of peace and tranquil- 
 lity, as his being a bigoted Arian, and he and 
 his followers poisoning the doctrines and ordi- 
 nances of the church by his baneful heresy; 
 as the opinions and practices of potentates, and 
 persons in power, always have a strong influence 
 on the common people, for good or for evil. 
 Hence then it is said, that those "who drank of 
 the waters died," — died morally; for to deny 
 the divinity of Christ, is virtually to deny his 
 divine religion. And hence, also, it is said of 
 Genseric that he shone, not as a lamp, "but as 
 it we7*e a lamp, and that he fell from heaven, or 
 the church." If it is objected, that a star is the 
 symbol of a minister of the church, and a fall- 
 ing star, of a heretical minister; but Genseric 
 was a king, and not a minister; we reply, that 
 kings and princes are also compared to stars, 
 (Isa. 14:12,) and although nominally christian, 
 are yet deeply heretical, they may be fitly 
 compared to stars falling from heaven, or the 
 
THE TRUMPETS. 31 
 
 church. Keith applies this trumpet to the rav- 
 ages of Attila; but that would be contrary to 
 the best chronology. 
 
 Fourth trumpet, — v. 12. — "And the fourth 
 angel sounded, and the third part of the sun 
 was smitten, and the third part of the moon, 
 and the third part of the stars; so as the third 
 part of th<3m was darkened, and the day shone 
 not for a third part of it, and the night likewise." 
 
 Croly applies this trumpet to the wars of 
 Xewis XIV. of France, which commenced in 
 1689, and continued 22 years, during which 
 great changes took place in the neighboring 
 nations afflicted by those wars. He observes, 
 that Lewis assumed the sun as the emblem of 
 his monarchy, and as a burning sun, scorch- 
 ed the contiguous nations and states. The 
 reverse, however, was finally the fact, and 
 France was almost ruined by those wars, as 
 Mr. Croly confesses in his compendious his- 
 tory of that period, appended to his book. Be- 
 sides, the text says, that this sun, instead of 
 smiting others, was himself smitten and dark- 
 ened. / 
 
 Faber thinks that this trumpet has reference 
 to the depressed state of Rome, and of the 
 Western empire, after the deposition of the 
 last of her emperors, and the eclipsed state of 
 her stars, or inferior magistrates. But he did 
 not reflect, that a potentate deposed, exists no 
 longer as a potentate; and that magistrates re- 
 moved, are no longer magistrates; and that, 
 therefore, there is no propriety in saying that 
 4 
 
32 THE TRUMPETS. 
 
 they were eclipsed, a word that denotes only 
 a diminution of political power and splendor. 
 We agree with Scott, which is also the in- 
 terpretation of Keith, and say, that this trum- 
 pet has reference to the actual deposition of 
 Momyllus, and the consequent subversion of 
 the VVestern empire by Odoacer, the king of 
 the Heruli, in the year 476. As the Roman 
 empire was accounted the third part of the 
 world, hence, then, the expression, "that the 
 third part of the sun, and of the moon, and of 
 the stars, was darkened." If it is said that the 
 Eastern part of that empire still existed, it was, 
 however, reduced to feebleness by the incur- 
 sions and ravages of the barbarous nations of 
 the North, and existed by the aid of the West- 
 ern, the original of that colossal government; 
 for in fact there were not two empires, but one, 
 administered sometimes by one, and at other 
 times by two or more emperors in different 
 parts of the empire. 
 
 The reader will have observed, that al- 
 though the same symbols, "the sun, moon and 
 stars, smitten and darkened," are used in de- 
 scribing the overturning of the empire, by 
 Constantino and Odoacer, yet the many appal- 
 ling circumstances mentioned in the overturn- 
 ing of it by the one are not adduced, as attend- 
 ing the overturning of it by the other. At the 
 first overthrow, paganism had been establish- 
 ed in the empire for upwards of 600 years. 
 Her chief rulers, and the inferior magistrates, 
 with the mass of the people, were pagans, a 
 
THE TRUMPETS. 33 
 
 few defenceless and persecuted christians ex- 
 cepted. Besides, there was a numerous, weal- 
 thy and powerful priesthood, who had an al- 
 most unlimited influence over the people. The 
 consternation, confusion and distraction pro- 
 duced by the removal of these from office, is 
 almost inconceivable, and, as has been observ- 
 ed, justified the strong and appalling figures 
 employed in describing that revolution and 
 overthrow. But, at the last revolution and 
 overthrow, the empire had been weakened and 
 reduced to great feebleness and decrepitude 
 by the incursions and ravages of the barba- 
 rians from the North, and the Vandals from 
 Africa; and, therefore, it is only said "that the 
 third part of the sun was smitten, and the third 
 part of the moon, and the third part of the 
 stars;" or, the whole frame of the government 
 was unhinged and overthrown ; so appropriate 
 and concise is the language of the pages of 
 inspiration, whether literal or figurative. And 
 here it may not be unnecessary to observe, that 
 although Bishop Newton, Scott, Faber, and 
 some others, differ somewhat in their applica- 
 tion of the four preceding trumpets to the 
 events from the days of Constantine, to the 
 time of Odoacer, yet they all agree, that those 
 trumpets have reference to the subversion of 
 the Western empire, as a necessary preparation 
 for the rise and development of the person, or 
 power, styled by Paul, "the man of sin and 
 the son of perdition." 2 Thess. 2:3-12. 
 But woful as the preceding trumpets v^erc 
 
34 THE TRUMPETS, 
 
 to the inhabitants of the now dissolved West- 
 ern empire, they were comparatively mild to 
 the woes to be inflicted by the three remaining 
 trumpets. Accordingly, before the fifth angel 
 sounded, an angel is introduced in the close of 
 this chapter, as "flying through the midst of 
 heaven," or the church, "saying with a loud 
 voice, Wo, wo, wo, to the inhabiters of the 
 earth, by reason of the voices of the trumpets 
 of the three angels, which are yet to sound." 
 
 Fifth trumpet, ch. 9, v. 1-1]. --"And the fifth 
 angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heav- 
 en unto the earth: and to him was given the 
 key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the 
 bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of 
 the pit, as the smoke out of a great furnace ; 
 and the sun and the air were darkened by rea- 
 son of the smoke of the pit. And there came 
 out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and 
 unto them was given power, as the scorpions of 
 the earth have power. And it was command- 
 ed them that they should not hurt the grass of 
 the earth, neither any green thing, nor any 
 tree; but only those men which have not the 
 seal of God in their foreheads. And to them 
 was given that they should not kill them, but 
 that they should be tormented five months: 
 and their torment was as a scorpion, when he 
 striketh a man," Slc. 
 
 Croly applies this trumpet to the French 
 revolution, and its corresponding vial, to the 
 seizure of the Roman empire during that revo- 
 lution, Keith and Reid apply it to the rise 
 
THE TRUMPETS. 35 
 
 and progress of Mahometanism ; and Reid 
 supposes that the star which fell from heaven 
 to the earth when this trumpet sounded, was 
 the impostor Mahomet. But this is ineonsist- 
 ent with the Apocalyptic symbols; for Ma- 
 homet, at his rise, was not a star in either 
 church or state. Faber thinks that this star 
 symbolized the apostate monk Sergius, who 
 assisted Mahomet in framing his imposture. 
 Scott justly observes, on this trumpet, "that it 
 may be doubted whether so important a part, 
 according to the general style and manner of 
 prophecy, would be assigned to so obscure an 
 individual, whose name few, except those who 
 have studied Mahomet's history, have so much 
 as heard of" Hence, then, he is inclined to 
 apply the fallen star to the Bishop of Rome, 
 whose mystery of iniquity had been long work- 
 ing, but burst forth at almost the same time 
 with the imposture of Mahomet, about the 
 year 606. Had Dr. Scott fixed upon the year 
 533 as the time when the Bishop of Rome be- 
 came "the Man of sin," as we hope to make 
 appear, instead of the year 606, when Maho- 
 met retired to his cave for the purpose of fram- 
 ing his imposture, he might, with greater pro- 
 priety, have fixed upon him as the star that fell 
 from heaven under this trumpet. In that year, 
 as we shall show by a document to which Cath- 
 olics themselves cannot object, Justinian, the 
 Emperor of the East, conferred, and John, 
 Bishop of Rome, accepted the tide of " Head 
 
 of the Church^'*^ and "Head over all the holy 
 
 4* 
 
36 THE TRUMPETS. 
 
 churches." The headship of the Western 
 churches, had indeed been conferred on the 
 incumbent Bishop of Rome by the Emperors 
 Gratiam and Valentinian, previous to this; but 
 the grant of Justinian, now sole Emperor, 
 made him head over all tiie churches in the 
 world. The acceptance of this blasphemous 
 title was a daring usurpation of the preroga- 
 tive of Christ, made him a fallen star, and " the 
 Man of sin;'''' and as the apostle says, in re- 
 ference to this subject, 2 Thess. 2:11, pro-voked 
 God to send him and the churches over which 
 he presided, "strong delusions, that they should 
 believe a lie." The church was indeed in a 
 declining state at this time, but still her creed 
 was comparatively sound, and her worship 
 simple. But ecclesiastical historians tell us, 
 that from this period, the reigning Bishops or 
 Popes introduced such a multitude of supersti- 
 tious rites, one after another, as diverted the 
 minds of the people from scriptural knowledge 
 and vital religion. This, and this alone, can 
 account for the ready reception which the im- 
 posture of Mahomet met with 70 or 80 years 
 after this period. Had the church been left to 
 collect her creed from the word of God alone, 
 this could not have happened; and had Maho- 
 met, and "the Man of sin," arisen at the same 
 time, this would not have taken place, as every 
 effect must have an adequate cause, and the 
 process of mental and moral debasement is 
 always gradual. The mind that was not en- 
 feebled and debased by the belief that religion 
 
THE TRUMPETS. 37 
 
 consisted in the observance of superstitious 
 rites and ceremonies, would have revolted at 
 the gross absurdities and monstrous lies of Ma- 
 hometanism, when proposed for reception ; but 
 the reverse was the melancholy fact ; and the 
 reigning Popes, by their debasing the public 
 mind, opened the bottomless pit whence issued 
 the Saracenic locusts that swept the Eastern 
 churches, and vexed the earth, wherever they 
 went. We cannot conceive of any means 
 more unhappily calculated to produce this state 
 of mind; for observation and experience have 
 shown that in proportion as rites and ceremo- 
 nies have increased in the church, scriptural 
 knowledge and true rehgion have decreased.. 
 And hence the disuse of the scriptures after 
 this time, and the worship of saints and angels 
 in the following century. The pure word of 
 God, laid up in the mind, could alone have dis- 
 sipated "the smoke," or the deleterious mental 
 and moral darkness that prepared the way for 
 the promulgation and reception of the Mahom- 
 etan imposture.* 
 
 *Dr. Claudius Buchanan, in his ^'■Christian Researches in, Asia,^'' 
 p. 104, mentions another circumstance which doubtless had con- 
 siderable effect in producing that ready reception which Mahomet- 
 anism met with in the Eastern churches. Speaking of that delu- 
 sion he observes, "that it is aptly compared in the prophecy con- 
 cerning it, ' to a smoke issuing from the bottomless pit,' and its 
 great extent is expressed by its darkening the sun and the air. And 
 since this defection was to be produced by a corruption of revealed 
 truth, it wa& necessary that tlie seriptaires should be first, corrupted; 
 for where the genuine scriptures are in the hands of men, there is 
 little Infidelity. Accordingly this great preparative for the impos. 
 ture took place in the fifth and sixth centuries. During that period, 
 corrupt and Apocryphal gospels prevailed so generally in Arabia 
 and in the neighboring regions, that it is even doubtful whether 
 Mahomet himself ever saw a genuine copy of the New Testament." 
 
38 THE TRUiMPETS. 
 
 Perhaps it may be said that our views on this 
 subject wouid seem to be not in accordance 
 with the character of Gregory ] st, successor of 
 John in 590, and who strongly condemned the 
 Bishop of Constantinople for assuming the tide 
 of "the Head of the Church," and pronounced 
 it " the badge of Antichrist." But Milner in 
 his Church History, although a great admirer 
 of Gregory, yet acknowledges more than once, 
 that, notwithstanding his condemnation of the 
 Bishop of Constantinople, he was in the habit 
 of speaking of the See of Rome, or " the See 
 of St. Peter," as he called it, as superior to and 
 entitled to precedency above any other See in 
 the church; and, although Gregory may not 
 have assumed the title as conferred by Justin- 
 ian, it is well known that his successors have 
 both claimed and assumed it down to the pre- 
 sent day. And, although he seems to have 
 been a pious man, as far as a superstitious man 
 can be pious, he is yet justly condemned by 
 ecclesiastical historians for inventing and im- 
 posing a number of superstitions on the church, 
 and thus aided in opening the bottomless pit 
 for the eruption of the Saracenic or Arabian 
 locusts and scorpions, the effect of whose reli- 
 gion was as deadly to the soul as the sting of a 
 scorpion to the body. 
 
 But whether the monk Sergius or the Bishop 
 of Rome was the fallen star, there is no doubt, 
 but that this and the following trumpet have 
 reference to the rise and progress of Mahomet- 
 anism, and the miseries, temporal and moral, 
 
THE TRUMPETS. 39 
 
 which it inflicted on a corrupted church. Mr. 
 Croly indeed excludes it altogether from his 
 scheme of interpretation, and this was one rea- 
 son why we rejected it as a general system, as 
 soon as we read it, for it is not to be supposed 
 that an imposture that had such a baleful influ- 
 ence on the church of God would not be a sub- 
 ject of prophecy by John, as well as Daniel, as 
 we will hereafter show. Besides, the descrip- 
 tion given of the armies of this Apollyon, or 
 destroyer; their number as locusts; the heads 
 of their horses resembhng the heads of locusts; 
 their riders having on their heads, as it were, 
 crowns of gold; — an allusion to the turbans 
 which they wore on their heads ; — their faces as 
 the faces of men, but their hair as the hair of 
 women; an allusion also to their wearing their 
 hair long as women do — all these circumstan- 
 ces have been shown by several writers to agree 
 exactly with the appearance of the Saracenic 
 armies under Mahomet and his successors. To 
 this may be added, that their ravages and suc- 
 cess were to be confined to 5 prophetic months, 
 or 150 years, and this was literally the fact, 
 They began their incursions in 612, and settled 
 down on their conquests by the building of 
 Bagdad in 762 ; so exactly did the event cor- 
 respond wath the prediction. 
 
 Sixth trumpet, — v. 13 — 19: "And the sixth 
 angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the 
 horns of the altar which is before God, saying 
 to the sixth angel which had the trumpet. Loose 
 the four angels which are bound in the great 
 
40 THE TRUMPETS. 
 
 river Euphrates. And the four angels were 
 loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a 
 day, and a month, and a year, for to slay die 
 third part of men." 
 
 Croly appUes the predictions of this trumpet 
 to the overthrow of the infidel republic of 
 France by the combined armies of England, 
 Austria, and Prussia. His bringing these ar- 
 mies from the Euphrates, is very obscure, per- 
 plexed and unsatisfactory, as might be expected. 
 Besides, it was not the republic but the empire 
 of France which was then nominally Christian, 
 and not infidel, that those combined armies 
 overthrew. Newton, Scott, Faber and others 
 which we have read, apply this trumpet to the 
 irruption of the Ottoman Turks into the Eastern 
 empire in 1281, and which they finally totally 
 subverted by the capture of Constantinople, 
 which they hold until this day. They consist- 
 ed originally of four sultanies or tribes inhabit- 
 ing the banks of the Euphrates, and were con- 
 fined there by the European crusades which 
 began in 1297, and lasted nearly 200 years. 
 But when the crusades to recover Jerusalem 
 and Palestine ceased, they burst forth, saith the 
 trumpet, with an army of 200,000 horsemen — 
 a definite for a very large indefinite number — 
 swept over the greatest part of the Eastern, and 
 part of the Western empire. In the 19th verse, 
 their horses are depicted as having "the heads 
 of lions," strong and courageous, and that "out 
 of their mouths issued fire, and smoke, and 
 brimstone,^^ This is usually explained as hav- 
 
THE TRUMPETS. 41 
 
 ing reference to their using artillery in their 
 battles and sieges, which, with the use of gun- 
 powder, was invented about that time; and it 
 is said that in their last siege of Constantino- 
 ple, they had a cannon that received a stone 
 ball w^eighing 300 lbs. Like their predeces- 
 sors, the Saracens, they were and are bigoted 
 Mahometans, and poisoned by their doctrine 
 the churches of Asia, Africa and Europe; in 
 consequence of which they are compared in 
 the 19th verse to "serpents who have poison in 
 their mouths, and stings in their tails." The 
 ravages and success of the Saracens were to 
 continue for 5 prophetic months, or 150 years, 
 when they sat down in quiet possession of their 
 conquests, until dispossessed by their more 
 powerful invaders, the Turks. The success of 
 these was to continue for " an hour, a day, a 
 month and a year," or 391 years, with a frac- 
 tion, when they were to decline, until their gov- 
 ernment and imposture would come to an end. 
 Newton, Scott, Keith and Faber, have shown 
 that the fi)rmer part of the prediction has been 
 exactly fulfilled, and we trust that we will show 
 that the latter part of it is a fulfilling at this 
 day. The first conquest of the Turks over the 
 Christians was, their taking the city of Cuta- 
 hi in 1281, and their last conquest was their 
 taking the city of Cameniec in 1672, the inter- 
 val between which dates is 391. Since that 
 time they have been rather unsuccessful in all 
 their wars, and, from present appearances, their 
 empire is not far from dissolution. 
 
42 * THE TRUMPETS. 
 
 To this we would just add, that the predic- 
 tion in the close of the chapter respecting the 
 Christians in the Western empire, who had es- 
 caped the murders and ravages of the Turks, 
 has been lamentably fulfilled — "that they have 
 not repented of the works of their hands; that 
 they should not worship devils, [daemons, or 
 dead men,] and idols of gold, and silver, and 
 brass, and stone, and of wood, which can 
 neither see, nor hear, nor speak." There are 
 other events of high importance, in regard to 
 the church of God, which were to take place, 
 and which we trust we will show have taken 
 place under this trumpet; but this we will defer 
 to another chapter. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE BEASTS THE WOMAN THE WITNESSES. 
 
 We closed the last chapter by observing, 
 that besides the rise, progress, and prevalence 
 of Mahometanism, some other events highly in- 
 teresting to the church of God, are clearly pre- 
 dicted under the sixth trumpet, and to point out 
 and explain these is our design in this chapter. 
 For this purpose, it will be necessary to inquire 
 into the character of the symbohcal beasts 
 mentioned in the 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th 
 chapters; because, as will be seen, they had a 
 mighty agency in producing those events. 
 
 The first of these agents is the Dragon, a 
 bold, fierce and cruel serpent, and which is 
 called the devil, or is a symbol of the devil and 
 of cruel idolaters, Ezek. 29:3; and is, more- 
 over, the unrelenting enemy of the symbolical 
 woman, the church. He is first mentioned in 
 ihe 12th chapter, 3d verse, and characterized 
 as "having 7 heads and 10 horns, and having 
 7 crowns upon those heads;" and in the 13th 
 chapter, to have given to a beast, with 7 heads 
 and 10 horns also, but crowns upon those horns, 
 "his power and seat, and great authority." 
 Scott, Croly, and Newton understand by the 
 first of these monsters, the Roman empire 
 while Pagan, instigated by the devil to perse- 
 cute " the woman," and was consequently a 
 5 
 
44 THE BEASTS. 
 
 fit symbol of that empire. This, however, is 
 strongly denied by Faber, who says that by the 
 dragon we are to understand the devil only, as 
 the instigator of others to persecute the church. 
 But it is asked, with some degree of wonder, 
 why is the devil described in this passage as 
 having 7 heads and 10 horns, and 7 crowns on 
 those heads? There is nothing like this in any 
 other passage in the Bible, where the devil is 
 mentioned or introduced, nor do we remember 
 any thing said of him in the scriptures that 
 would justify the propriety of such a descrip- 
 tion. But this description is properly and per- 
 fectly suited to the Roman empire which had 
 7 different forms of government, symbolized by 
 the 7 heads, and crowns on those heads, and 
 which was divided into 10 kingdoms symbol- 
 ized by 10 horns. For these, and some other 
 reasons which might be mentioned, we also 
 consider the dragon in this passage as not only 
 the symbol of the devil, the father of idolatry, 
 but as analogically the symbol of the Roman 
 empire, noted for its idolatry in both its Pagan 
 and Papal form. It is said of the R( mans 
 that they had no less than 30,000 gods. Why 
 Mr. Faber has given the above interpretation 
 to this passage, may appear hereafter. 
 
 In the 13th chapter, v. 1 — 8, John also tells 
 us, "that he saw a beast, (therion^) or a wild 
 beast, rising up out of the sea, having also 7 
 heads and 10 horns, and upon his horns 10 
 crowns, and upon his heads the name, or 
 names of blasphemy." That there was given 
 to him a mouth speaking great things and bias- 
 
THE BEASTS. 45 
 
 phernics, and power to continue 4'2 prophetic 
 months, or TiGO years; liiat to him was given 
 to make war with the saints, and to overcome 
 them; that power was given unto him over 
 kindreds, tongues and people ; and that ail who 
 dwell upon the earth should worship him, 
 whose names are nol written in the book of 
 life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of 
 the world." 
 
 We agree with Newton and Scott that this 
 blasphemous and persecuting beast, or power, 
 can be no other than the Roman empire when 
 divided into 10 kingdoms, and when those 
 kingdoms or their "kings gave their power and 
 strength" to the Bishop of Rome, who ruled 
 them with a tyranny so emphatically described 
 in the verses quoted. 
 
 On the contrary, Mr. Faber understands by 
 this beast what he calls "the secular Roman 
 empire," and repudiates the idea, that it as- 
 sumed or could assume an ecclesiastical form 
 of government. He admits, however, that 
 "f/ie little liorn^'' mentioned in Daniel's pro- 
 phecy, chap. 7:8, ihat sprung up among the 10 
 horns of a beast, mentioned in the 7th verse, is 
 the papacy, and the same as the beast with 
 "two horns like a lamb," mentioned bv John in 
 this 13th chapter. Now, if the same moral 
 character and doings constitute identity in this 
 case, then, the little horn, mentioned by Dan- 
 iel, and the beast with 7 heads and 10 horns 
 mentioned by John, are beyond all peradven- 
 lure the same. In Dan. 7:20, it is said of "the 
 
46 THE BEASTS. 
 
 little horn," "that he had a mouth that spoke 
 great things;" and in verse 25th, "that he 
 would speak great words against the Most 
 High;" and of John's beast it is said, "that 
 there was given to him a mouth speaking great 
 things and blasphemies, and that he opened his 
 mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme 
 his name, and his tabernacle, and them that 
 dwell in heaven." It is said of the Htde horn, 
 in verse 21st, " that he made war with the 
 saints, and prevailed against them;" and of 
 John's beast, "that to him was given to make 
 war with the saints, and to overcome them." 
 And it is said of the little horn, "that the saints 
 would be given into his hands for a lime, times, 
 and the dividing of time," or, as we will here- 
 after show, for 1260 yeai*s; and of John's 
 beast, "that he should continue for 42 pro- 
 phetic months," which, we will also show, 
 amounts to the same length of time. It is also 
 said of the little horn in verse 8th, that three 
 of the 10 horns or kingdoms, among which he 
 sprung up, would be "plucked up by the roots" 
 by him. Now, as history is said to be the best 
 interpreter of prophecy, no historical fact is 
 better known, than that the papacy has possess- 
 ed for centuries three of the original kingdoms 
 into which the Roman empire was divided. 
 And to this may be added, that, in describing 
 his beast, John evidently borrowed the lan- 
 guage and description of Daniel; nor is there 
 a word or feature of character employed by 
 Daniel in describing "the little horn," that 
 
THE BEASTS. 47 
 
 would seem to have been used by John in de- 
 scribing " the beast with two horns Hke a lamb." 
 From these facts and considerations, we are 
 also constrained to understand John's beast 
 with 7 heads and 10 horns, and crowns on 
 those horns, to be the Roman empire when di- 
 vided into 10 kingdoms, and that the papacy is 
 one of those heads. That empire is compared 
 to a wild beast on account of its persecuting 
 character and idolatry; and who does not 
 know that Rome papal has shed far more blood 
 of the saints than Rome pagan ever shed. 
 And who does not also know that the former 
 has been as idolatrous in worshipping saints 
 and angels, as the latter has ever been. This, 
 in a few words, is our view of the symbolical 
 dragon and beast. The dragon symbolized 
 the Roman empire in its pagan state, and the 
 beast with 7 heads and 10 horns symbolized 
 the same empire, when those kingdoms gave 
 "their power and strength to the beast," — Rev. 
 17:13, If lie had their power and strength 
 he was surely one of the heads of the empire ; 
 but we may meet with this subject again. 
 
 In this same chapter the prophet also tells us 
 "that he saw a beast which came up out of the 
 earth ; that he had two horns like a lamb, but 
 spake like a dragon; that he exercised all the 
 power of the first beast before him, and caused 
 the earth and all that dwell therein to worship 
 the first beast whose deadly wound was healed ; 
 that he did great wonders, so that he caused 
 
 firegto come down from heaven in the sight of 
 
 4# 
 
48 THE BEASTS. 
 
 men ; that he deceiveth them that dwell on the 
 earth, by means of those miracles which he did 
 in the sight of the beast, saying unto them that 
 they should make an image to the beast which 
 had the wound by the sword and did live; that 
 he had power to give life to the image of the 
 beast; that the image of the beast should both 
 speak, and cause that as many as would not 
 worship the image should be killed, and that 
 his number is 606." 
 
 Newton, Scott, and, as was to be expected, 
 Faber, understand by this beast the clergy of 
 the church of Rome, regular and secular. — 
 We confess that we have never been satisfied 
 with this interpretation. For, are not the cler- 
 gy of every church the most efficient part of 
 the church, and can there be a visible church 
 without officers to administer her ordinances? 
 To say,"^hen, that the clergy of the papal 
 church are this beast, is something like saying 
 that the papal church is the papal church. As 
 already intimated, Mr. Croly, however mistaken 
 on other points, has, we think, shed light on 
 this subject. He thinks that the inquisition of 
 the church of Rome is this beast. It is com- 
 posed of two kinds of officers or agents, the 
 inquisitors or judges, and their familiars, whose 
 office it is to hunt for heretics and heresy, and 
 to deliver them up to the othei's for trial and 
 condemnation. And it is said that noblemen 
 m Portugal have been ambitious of filling this 
 office, of which the meanest miscreant might 
 be ashamed. True, the inquisitors are cleri- 
 
THE BEASTS. 49 
 
 cal persons, but they are a select few, and are 
 vested with power above all the other clergy 
 of the Romish church ; and not only so, but 
 over the highest potentates of popish king- 
 doms. Whoever has read the history of that 
 infernal tribunal, must have been struck with 
 the resemblance which it bears to this last 
 beast, which, although it has "two horns like a 
 lamb," or a pretence to meekness and inno- 
 cence, yet "speaks like a dragon." In the 
 name of "heaven," or by the authority of the 
 church, it burns publicly to death those who 
 may differ from the creed of the church of 
 Rome; alluded to, we think, in the words, "he 
 maketh fire to come down from heaven in the 
 sight of men;" and this is called "an act of 
 faith." Interpreters are not agreed respecting 
 the image of the first beast, which this beast 
 caused others to make to themselves ; but a dif- 
 ference of opinion on this point affects not the 
 general interpretation. Some understand by 
 this image the pope himself, made such by the 
 election of cardinals; but as the cardinals are 
 a select few, this would seem not to corres- 
 pond with the language in the 14th verse, 
 which represents this beast as "saying to them 
 that dwell upon the earth, or the papal Roman 
 empire, that they should make an image to the 
 beast which had a wound by a sword and did 
 live." Now, as the inquisition was erected by 
 the pope for the suppression of supposed heresy, 
 and compelling submission to the See of 
 Rom«; what if the inquisition itself is this 
 
50 ^ THE BEASTS. 
 
 image, and their prevailing upon the kings of 
 the Latin earth, to allow the tribunal to be 
 erected in their dominions, a making the image 
 of the first or papal beast. They once threat- 
 ened and frightened Charles V, the emperor of 
 Germany, and his son Philip, two of the most 
 powerful potentates of their day: — "And he 
 causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, 
 free and bond, to receive a mark in their right 
 hand, or on their forehead. And that no man 
 might buy or sell, save he that had the mark or 
 the name of the beast, or the number of his 
 name." The sign of the cross which papists 
 have in their churches and houses, and which 
 they are in the habit of making with their right 
 hands on their foreheads, would seem to be 
 this sign or mark. And whether any false mi- 
 racles were resorted to, to induce the kings of 
 the Latin earth to establish the inquisition in 
 their dominions, and thus make to themselves 
 and their subjects an image of the first beast, 
 we are not at present prepared positively to as- 
 sert; but when it is recollected that it was en- 
 trusted to the Dominican friars, the thing is 
 highly probable. All who have read in Buck's 
 Theological Dictionary, under the word Do- 
 minicans, the wicked farce which they acted 
 in the case of the simpleton Tetzer, will not be 
 slow to believe that they would resort to some 
 such means for establishing a tribunal, that put 
 the souls, and bodies, and property of the peo- 
 ple into their hands. 
 
 As to the number 666, the number of this 
 
THE BEASTS. " 51 
 
 beast, which has perplexed interpreters, ancient 
 and modern, Mr. Croly has a solution which 
 is simple, and at the same time agrees with au- 
 thentic historical fact. This number is said in 
 our translation to be "the number of a man;"^ 
 and interpreters have, accordingly, endeavored 
 to find out a man's name, which, according to 
 the manner of computation with the Greeks, 
 by the letters of their alphabet, will amount to 
 666. The Greek word Lateinos contains this 
 number, and seems to be fixed upon by some 
 as the solution of this mystical question. But, 
 as Mr. Croly has observed, the Greek words 
 ''''aritJiinos anthropoii^'' do not signify "the 
 number of a man," but a "number of man, 
 such as is in human use, or simply a number;" 
 and that this number has reference to the year 
 in which this beast came up out of the earth, 
 or Roman empire, under papal tyranny. In 
 page 114, this writer has shown that in the 
 year 533, the emperor Justinian did, by a 
 document still extant, appoint John, Bishop of 
 Rome, "the head of the church," and "head 
 over all the churches, and subjected and united 
 to his highness all the priests of the East."^ 
 Now if we will add ^^^ to 533, it will bring us 
 down to the year 1199, the very year in which 
 
 *Tliis edict is recorded in the annals of Baronius, a cardinal of 
 the church of Rome. Mr. Croly has quoted only that part of it 
 that confers the title and power — ^^Ideoque omnes sacerdotes uni- 
 versi orientalis tr actus subjicore et unire vestrcB sanctitati proper- 
 avimus^'' — Therefore we have hastened to subject and unite to 
 your holiness all the churches of the whole East. And near the 
 end of the edict or letter, he calls John "caput omniu7n sanctarum 
 ecclesiarum^^'' — the head of all the holy churches. 
 
52 THE WOMAN. 
 
 Pope Innocent III. established the inquisition. 
 But whether this beast symbohzed the clergy, 
 regular and secular of the church of Rome, or 
 the infernal tribunal of the inquisition, affects 
 not our views of the principal prophecies yet 
 to be examined. 
 
 There is also another symbolical beast men- 
 tioned in 7th verse of 11th chapter, and which 
 is said to have ascended out of "the bottomless 
 pit," or hell itself Scott, Faber and Reid 
 have considered this beast as the same that 
 "arose out of the sea," or the convulsed state 
 of the Roman empire. But that he is in some 
 respects a distinct beast, and has had a distinct 
 agency in the great drama of "the Revelation." 
 we hope to make appear in the proper place. 
 
 That what we have yet to offer on these 
 prophecies may be the more clearly under- 
 stood, it may be necessary to observe farther, 
 that although it was given to the beast that 
 arose out of the sea to make war with the 
 saints, and to overcome them, yet there was a 
 remnant preserved in the most troublous times, 
 and in the midst of the thickest moral dark- 
 ness. These are held out to our view in 12th 
 chapter, under the symbol of a "woman cloth- 
 ed with the sun," or with the righteousness of 
 Jesus, "the sun of righteousness," having "the 
 moon" or Jewish ritual "under her feet," and 
 "upon her head a crown of twelve stars," or 
 adorned with the doctrine and discipline of the 
 12 apostles; "that she fled into the wilderness, 
 where she had a place prepared of God, that 
 
THE WOIVIAN. 53 
 
 they sliouki feed her there 1260 prophetical 
 days, or years." Such, in an especial manner, 
 were the Waldenses in the valleys of Pied- 
 mont, in the eleventh, and the Albigenses 
 about Toulouse in France, in the thirteenth 
 century, and which all the power and rage of 
 the Inquisition could not destroy until the era 
 of the Reformation in 1519. And that that 
 auspicious era was foretold by John in 14th 
 chapter, is the opinion of the most judicious 
 commentators and interpreters. "And I saw," 
 saith the prophet, "another angel flying through 
 the midst of heaven, or the church, having the 
 everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell 
 on the earth, and to every nation and kindred, 
 and tongue and people." "And another an- 
 gel followed, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fal- 
 len, that great city, because she made all na- 
 tions drunk of the wine of the wrath of her 
 fornication." 
 
 Having given the preceding explanations for 
 the reasons assigned, we will now return to the 
 thread and series of the prophecies in 1 1th 
 chapter. And here it may he necessary to ob- 
 serve, that the 12th, 12ih, and 14th chapters 
 are not a continued series of the general pro- 
 phecy, but a kind of episode, or "little book," 
 as it is called in 10th chapter, in which "the 
 woman clothed with the sun," or the uncor- 
 rupted church, and her enemy and persecutor, 
 "the beast with 7 heads and 10 horns," are de- 
 lineated more fully and vividly than they had 
 been in the preceding general propliecy. In 
 
54 THE WITNESSES. 
 
 examining the predictions of the sixth trumpet, 
 we have seen the Euphratean horsemen, or the 
 Ottoman Turks, overturning the Eastern em- 
 pire, and wasting the church in that region; 
 while the Pope of Rome, or "the man of sin," 
 as the apostle Paul calls him, "sat in the tem- 
 ple of God, showing himself that he is God." 
 We have also seen "the woman clothed with 
 the sun," retiring into the wilderness, or a place 
 of safety, where she would be fed for 1260 
 years. But we are told in 11th chapter, that 
 two witnesses for Christ and truth should pro- 
 phesy in sackcloth during this period; "that 
 when they should finish their testimony, the 
 beast that ascended out of the bottomless pit 
 would make war against them and kill them ; 
 that their dead bodies would lie in tlie street 
 of the great city, which is spiritually called So- 
 dom and Egypt, where our Lord also was cru- 
 cified; and that after three days and a half, or 
 three years and a half, the spirit of life from God 
 would enter into them, and they would stand 
 upon their feet, and great fear would fall upon 
 those who would see them:" and the inquiry 
 now is, who those witnesses were, or are. 
 
 If the opinions of interpreters respecting the 
 beast with two horns like a lamb have been 
 discordant, this has also been the case in re- 
 gard to those witnesses. Dr. Scott, in his com- 
 ment on the passage, is of the opinion that they 
 have reference to all who, during the reign of 
 Popery, have testified against its corruptions; 
 but thinks that the time of slaying them is no 
 
THE WITNESSES. 55 
 
 come. He thinks, moreover, that it is not far 
 off; and that the public profession of religion 
 will be suppressed for three years and a half 
 in the bounds of the ancient Roman empire. 
 This, however, is not probable, from the pre- 
 sent aspect of affairs in the christian world, and 
 on the continent of Europe. 
 
 Mr. Reid is also of opinion, that the wit- 
 nesses mean pious and intelligent men, "but 
 generally, ministers of the gospel who testified 
 during the reign of 'the Man of sin,' not only 
 against the errors in doctrine and worship of 
 the church of Rome, but of the Protestant 
 churches, many of whom he considers as bad, 
 if not worse than Popery itself; that it is a mo- 
 ral, and not a literal slaying of the witnesses 
 that is meant; that they have been slain by the 
 multiplicity of human inventions in the wor- 
 ship of God ; that the street, or as he translates 
 it, the breadth of the great city where they are 
 slain, means every where throughout Christen- 
 dom ; applies the revolution in Spain in 1808, 
 to the great earthquake that was to accompany 
 the slaying of the witnesses; that Spain was 
 the tenth part of the great city that was to fall 
 on the occasion ; and that the destruction of the 
 most eminent Spanish patriots was the slaying 
 of the seven thousand men of name, as it is in 
 the original." We agree with Mr. Reid that 
 the slaying of the witnesses was moral, and 
 not literal; but we think that he has altogether 
 mistaken their character, and also the charac- 
 ter and designs of the Spanish patriots. 
 6 
 
56 THE WITNESSES. 
 
 Mr. Faber understands by the two witnesses, 
 the Jewish and christian churches; because, as 
 he says, they are compared to two ohve trees 
 in the 4th chapter of Zechariah. But it is 
 Joshua and Zerubabel that are compared to 
 two ohve trees in that chapter. Besides, the 
 churcli of God is one^ and indivisible, and 
 akhough compared to an ohve tree in the 
 scriptures, we do not know that it is compared 
 to two olive trees. Mr. Keith says that the 
 Waldenses and Albigenses were those wit- 
 nesses; but this w^e will pass over at present, as 
 we propose to examine it hereafter. 
 
 That by the "witnesses," we are to under- 
 stand the Old and New Testaments, has been 
 our own opinion for upwards of thirty years, 
 and which wc have declared from the pulpit 
 more than once. Tiiis is also the opinion of 
 Mr. Croly, and as Mr. Faber informs us, of a 
 Mr. Galloway of England. They are called 
 witnesses, because they witness for God and his 
 Son: ''Search the scriptures," said Christ, "for 
 they are they which testify of me." They are 
 compared to two olive trees, and two candle- 
 sticks, because they furnish the church with all 
 needful divine light and unction. They are 
 said to prophesy; and if by prophecy we are 
 here to understand foretelling future events* 
 what invaluable predictions do they contain, 
 the fulfilment of many of which is an unan- 
 swerable argument for their divine origin ; for 
 supporting the faith of the weak believer, and 
 for stopping the mouths of infidels and gain- 
 
THE WITNESSES. 57 
 
 sayers. And if by prophecy, we are to under- 
 stand preaching or proclaiming, what precious 
 doctrines and precepts do they proclaim for our 
 instruction and edification. But they were to 
 prophesy in sackcloth during 1260 years, or 
 the dominant reign of the "Man of sin;" and 
 who does not know that the church of Rome 
 has forbidden the laity to read the scriptures, 
 except in their own coriupted version of the 
 vulgate, which few of them can read. This was 
 truly clothing them with sackcloth. ''If any 
 man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their 
 mouth and devoureth their enemies." This is 
 sufficiently explained in the sacred volume. — 
 •'If any man will add to these things, God will 
 add to him the plagues written in this book." 
 "They have power to shut heaven that it rain 
 not in the days of their prophecy." This, 
 doubtless, has reference to God's withholding 
 the fructifying influences of his Spirit from 
 those churches which cover his precious word 
 as it were with sackcloth, or which deny any 
 cai'dinal doctrine of his precious word, — Isa. 
 5:6. Heb. 6:7,8. But, what comes more im- 
 mediately to the point and proof, — "And when 
 they have finished their testimony, the beast 
 that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit, shall 
 make war against them, and kill them ; and their 
 dead bodies sJiall lie in the street of the great 
 eity, which is spiritually called Sodom and 
 Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified." 
 
 There is no part of his exposition of the 
 Apocalypse, in which Mr. Faber has failed so 
 
58 THE WITNESSES. 
 
 much as in his opinion of the time when, 
 where, and by whom the witnesses were slain. 
 He thinks their death had reference to the Pro- 
 testants being defeated by the emperor of Ger- 
 many, a bigoted Papist, in the battle of Mul- 
 burgh, in 1549; and that they arose from the 
 dead three years and a half afterwards, when 
 they gained the battle of Magdeburgh,in 1550, 
 and were taken up into the symbolical heaven 
 by the peace of Passau, whereby they were 
 allowed the free exercise of their religion. 
 But, besides being too narrow and circum- 
 scribed for the scope of John's visions, this 
 will not quadrate with his other dates, and 
 other parts of his system or scheme. He dates 
 the rise of the "Man of sin" in 606, when the 
 emperor and usurper Phocas conferred the 
 headship of the churches on the Bishop of 
 Rome. But the beast was to continue in his 
 dominant state for 1260 years; and as the wit- 
 nesses were to prophesy during that time, then 
 they were slain 219 years before the date of 
 their death assigned by John. But, admitting 
 that the beast arose in the year 533, when the 
 emperor Justinian appointed the Bishop of 
 Rome to be ^'head over all the holy churches," 
 and which was confirmed by Phocas in 6i}6; 
 and, admitting that the Old and New Testa- 
 ments are the witnesses, then adding J260 to 
 533, will bring us down to the year 1793, and 
 the question then will be — was there any event 
 that took place within the bounds of the an- 
 cient Roman empire in that year, that would 
 
THE WITNESSES. 59 
 
 amount to the slaying of the Old and New 
 Testaments, as svmbohcal witnesses? 
 
 In that year, says Mr. Croly, and all the his- 
 torians of the French revolution, — "the chris- 
 tian religion was abolished in France; Sunday 
 was to be observed no more; the sections of 
 Paris demanded at the bar of the convention 
 the total suppression of all religious worship. 
 Gobert, the vicar general of Paris, attended by 
 a body of his priesthood, abjured his functions 
 and Christianity, uttering the fearful words, all 
 religion is an imposture!^'' p. 99. On page 
 J 19, Mr. Croly farther observes, "that by the 
 decree of the government declaring that the 
 nation acknowledged tiiat there was no God, 
 the Old and New Testaments were slain 
 throughout republican France." "Contume- 
 lies," he adds, "to the sacred books would not 
 be wanting in the general plunder:" and we 
 remember reading in the public papers at the 
 time, that in Lyons, the second city in France, 
 they were dragged in derision through the 
 streets at the tail of an ass, and then burned 
 by the public executioner. If this was not 
 slaying the scriptures as the standing witnesses 
 for God and his Christ, we know not that we 
 have any evidence that any of the prophecies 
 have been fulfilled. And let it be remembered 
 that this was done in France, the principal 
 street of the great symbolical city — the Papal 
 empire. Mr. Croly further observes, that after 
 this time, "the capital and all the republican 
 towns were the scenes of civic feasts and 
 6* 
 
60 THE WITNESSES. 
 
 shows of the most extravagant kinds;" a ful- 
 filment of the prophecy — "And they that dwell 
 on the earth shall rejoice over them, and 
 make merry, and send gifts to one another, be- 
 cause these two prophets tormented them thai 
 dwelt on the earth.'''' When these facts are 
 duly considered, we may see the propriety and 
 truth of the picture drawn of France at that 
 time, as "the street of the great city which is 
 spiritually called Sodom and Egypt," on ac- 
 count of unnatural wickedness and cruelty, and 
 where Christ and his word were treated with 
 more contumely than when he was actually 
 crucified. 
 
 Perhaps it may be objected that Faber, Scott 
 and other writers on the Apocalypse say, that 
 the witnesses were to be slain by the beast that 
 ascended out of the bottomless pit, and which 
 they also say is the same as the beast with 7 
 heads and 10 horns; but what we have related 
 was done by the infidel and atheistic national 
 convention of France. We confess that we 
 were surprised when we saw this in Mr. Fa- 
 ber's book. In the 6th chapter, vol. 1, he has 
 proved, we think unanswerably, that the king 
 or power mentioned in tfie 11th chapter of 
 Daniel, "who should magnify himself above 
 every god, and speak marvellous things against 
 the God of gods, nor regard any god^'' was 
 a power distinct from "the Man of sin;" — 
 that he was to appear after the Reformation; 
 be atheistical in his creed ; — in fine, that he 
 was republican France, and the long predicted 
 
THE WITNESSES. 61 
 
 Antichrist. Why Mr. Faber did not see that 
 this God-denying and God-defying power was 
 the only pro{3er instrument for slaying the wit- 
 nesses, has indeed surprised us. For the "Man 
 of sin," although crimsoned with the blood of 
 the saints, would not destroy himself; but this 
 power endeavored to sweep tlie Romish as 
 well as other churches from the face of the 
 earth. In a word, the description and origin of 
 this beast is different from the "Man of sin," 
 or the beast with 7 heads and 10 horns. This 
 last beast arose otit of the sea, or the convulsed 
 state of the Roman empire; but the other 
 arose out of the bottomless pit, or hell itself; 
 for so hell is called in Rev. 20:1 — the brood 
 it would seem of the dragon and of the mother 
 of harlots, which had previously committed 
 spiritual fornication with the kings of the Latin 
 earth. Mr. Faber's dating the rise of the 
 "Man of sin," in the year 606, and supposing 
 that the Protestants of Germany were the wit- 
 nesses, is what obscured his acute intellect on 
 this point.^ 
 
 *We have seen in the beginning of this chapter, that the beast 
 described by Jolni in chap. 13, with 7 heads and 10 horns, was the 
 Roman empire in its Papal form or head. And that he is the same 
 as the beast " that ascended out of the bottomless pit," chap. 11:7, 
 and 17:8, is indeed the fact; but then it was the Papacy under such 
 circumstances, and with such a change of aspect and action, that 
 when exhibited again by John in those chapters, he appears as if 
 another beast altogether, and in one sense this was the fact. At his 
 first appearance, or when "he arose out of the sea," or the con- 
 vulsed state of the empire in the sixth century, it was to assume 
 his 7th head, and persecute the saints under the color of religion; 
 but when he ascended out of the bottomless pit, in 1793, it was to 
 slay the witnesses, and assume the eighth, or as Mr. Faber terms 
 it, the septimo-octave head, as we think he did in revolutionary and 
 
62 THE WITNESSES. 
 
 But the witnesses were to lie dead three pro- 
 phetical days, or three years and a half, after 
 which "the Spirit of life from God would enter 
 into them, and they should stand on their feet, 
 and great fear fall on them that saw them." — 
 "And they heard a great voice from heaven, or 
 the church, saying, come up hither. And they 
 ascended up into heaven in a cloud — the sym- 
 bol of a multitude, or of drops of rain in a 
 cloud, Heb. 12:1 — and their enemies beheld 
 them." Now, as Mr. Croly has shown in page 
 123, in June, 1797, exactly three years and a 
 half after the passing of the above atheistical 
 decree, it was repealed for political reasons. 
 From that time they stood on their feet firm 
 and unmolested until 1805, when they heard a 
 great voice from the London Bible Society, 
 saying unto them, "Come up hither, into 
 heaven," or the church; and they have "as- 
 cended in a cloud," or in such numbers that 
 all the power of Rome and hell cannot sup- 
 press them. England has the imperishable 
 honor of forming the first Bible society of this 
 century; and when we reflect on that and her 
 other gigantic and untiring efforts in behalf of 
 Christianity, we cannot but say with one of her 
 most pious and feeling poets, — 
 
 " England, with all thy faults, I love thee still." 
 
 We have only to remark on this trumpet, 
 
 atheistical France. And, indeed, tlie beast that ascended out of the 
 bottomless pit, as expressly said in chap. 17:11, "is to be the eighth, 
 and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition." But we may meet 
 with this point hereafter. 
 
THE WITNESSES. 63 
 
 that at the time (ekeine hora) the witnesses 
 were to be slain, there was a great "earthquake, 
 and a tenth part of the city fell," or renounc- 
 ed its allegiance to Papal Rome, "and in the 
 earthquake there were slain of men 7000, and 
 the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to 
 God." In the original it is names of men, or 
 tides of nobility; and they who wish to know 
 those names or titles will find them in Faber, 
 chap. 10, sect. 1. It is true, an attack on those 
 names was made the preceding year, but they 
 could not be strictly said to be slain, while the 
 king, the supposed fountain of honor, was 
 alive, but he was not decapitated until the 21st 
 of January, 1793. This ended the second 
 wo-trumpet; and the seventh angol sounded 
 his trumpet, and what ensued, will be the sub- 
 ject of the next chapter. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE VIALS. 
 
 In examining the 11th chapter of the Apoc- 
 alypse, we have seen that the Old and New 
 Testaments were the witnesses, and that they 
 were slain by the infidel convention of France, 
 symbolized by the beast that arose out of the 
 bottomless pit. We have also seen that, after 
 lying three and a half years in a state of moral 
 death, they arose from the dead by the repeal 
 of the blasphemous decree that slew them ; and 
 that not long after, they ascended into the sym- 
 bolical heaven, or the church, by the organiza- 
 tion of the London Bible Society, and other 
 societies that sprung from it, and in a cloud, or 
 in such numbers, that all the powers of hell and 
 Rome cannot now suppress them. Until that 
 time the church of Christ was to be in a suf- 
 fering state, wasted and worn out by pagan and 
 papal Rome. The scene was now to be chang- 
 ed by the sounding of the seventh trumpet, and 
 the unrelenting enemies of the people of God 
 were to be wasted in their turn, until they 
 shall be swept from the face of the earth. 
 
 Verse 15: "And the seventh angel sounded, 
 and there were great voices in heaven, saying, 
 The kingdoms of this world are become the 
 
66 THE VIALS. 
 
 kingdoms of our Lord and of his Clirist; and 
 he shall reign for ever and ever." Some have 
 inferred from these words that the millennial 
 state of the church was to commence at the 
 resurrection of the witnesses; and we are per- 
 suaded that this opinion has led to much error 
 in the interpretation. But much was then to 
 be done, and much is yet to do before that pe- 
 riod, and consequently those words can only 
 import, that the dominant reign of "the Man of 
 sin" was then at an end, and he would not be 
 permitted to waste the vineyard of the Lord 
 as he had formerly done. The seven vials 
 %yere to be poured out for this purpose, or as 
 it is expressed by the four and twenty elders 
 or representatives of the church, "to destroy 
 them that had destroyed the earth." 
 
 We have already remarked that the 12th, 
 13th, and 14th chapters are a species of epi- 
 sode, in which the prophet breaks off from the 
 regular series of his predictions, for the purpose 
 of presenting to our vievv' the principal charac- 
 ters or agents in his prophecy — the dragon, 
 the beast with 7 heads and 10 horns, and the 
 beast with two horns hke a lamb, and the agen- 
 cy which they had in endeavouring to destroy 
 '•''the woman^'' or the uncorrupted church. Mr. 
 Faber begins this episode with the 11 th chap- 
 ter, but we have followed the arrangement of 
 Dr. Scott, for this obvious reason, that the se- 
 ries of the prophecies are evidently continued 
 to the end of the 11th chapter, when they are 
 discontinued for a while, for the purpose just 
 
THE VIALS. 67 
 
 mentioned. We have already made our re- 
 marks on those chapters, and the characters 
 introduced therein: we will ther€fore pass on 
 to the 15th chapter, where the series of the 
 prophecies is taken up again. The 15th chap- 
 ter only informs us that the seven angels who 
 were appointed to pour out the vials of the 
 wrath of God on the impenitent and irreclaim- 
 able enemies of his church, prepared them- 
 selves to execute their awful but righteous 
 commission. 
 
 First vial, — chapter 16:2: "And the first 
 angel went and poured out his vial on the 
 earth, and there fell a noisome and grievous 
 sore on the men which had the mark of the 
 beast, and upon them that worshipp d his 
 name." 
 
 We have already seen Mr. Croly's interpre- 
 tation of this vial, and as we think that he was 
 mistaken both in respect to its nature, and the 
 time it was poured out, we will not repeat it. 
 As Dr. Scott is rather of opinion that all the 
 vials are yet to be poured out, he declines giv- 
 ing any opinion respecting the nature of this 
 vial. Mr. Reid is also of the opinion that all 
 the vials are yet to be poured out; but when 
 this vial is poured out, it will be upon earthly- 
 minded men over the whole earth: page 260. 
 Mr. Faber, with whom we so far a^gree, under- 
 stands "the earth" in its symbohcal sense, as 
 denoting the bounds of the ancient Roman 
 empire, and "the noisome and grievous 5ore," 
 as a sore of the mind. We agree with him 
 7 
 
68 THE VIALS. 
 
 also, that the dreadful irruption of Deism and 
 Atheism which pervaded almost every country 
 in the bounds of that empire, and France es- 
 pecially, was this sore; but we disagree with 
 him as to the time this vial was poured out, as 
 its designed and righteous punishment. He 
 thinks it was poured out in August, 1792, by 
 the massacres in the prisons of Paris in that 
 month. Those massacres were rather a sore 
 of the body than of the mind ; and consequent- 
 ly belonged to the woes of the second wo-trum- 
 pet. We have seen that the seventh, or third 
 wo-trumpet did not sound until the witnesses 
 were slain; but they were not slain until the 
 following year, when by the decree of the na- 
 tional convention all religion was proscribed, 
 which involved in it the slaughter of the wit- 
 nesses. There is no incongruity in this; or 
 that God should so order it in his moral gov- 
 ernment, that an act which was equal in atro- 
 city to the crucifying of Christ, should involve 
 in it its own punishment, by judicially blinding 
 the mind, and corrupting and hardening the 
 heart more and more. Hence then the blas- 
 phemous denial of God by some; the denial of 
 the scriptures as a divine revelation by others; 
 and the bursting of all the bonds of moral obli- 
 gation by the many. Fornication was legaliz- 
 ed by that -assembly, and the immortality of 
 the soul denied by the declaration, "that death 
 was an eternal sleep." It may be said of 
 France in that day, what the prophet Isaiah 
 said of the political and religious state of Jeru- 
 
THE VIALS. 69 
 
 salem in his day; "The whole head was sick; 
 and the whole heart faint; from the sole of the 
 foot even unto the crown of the head, there 
 was no soundness in it, but wounds, bruises 
 and putrefying sores:' This moral sore had 
 indeed been long concocting by the writings of 
 Voltaire, Rosseau, and others, but it did not 
 burst forth in a public manner, and with all its 
 pestiferous effects, until the national convention 
 issued the foregoing horrible decree; the only 
 instance of a nation, by its representatives, de- 
 nying the being of a God, and proscribing all 
 religion of whatever kind and character. What 
 horrible effect the preceding decrees had on 
 the public mind, and especially on the youth, 
 may be seen in a note in the lOth chapter of 
 Mr. Faber's book. In 1793, "the hopeful pu- 
 pils of the new republican school appeared be- 
 fore the bar of the convention, when one of 
 them set forth that all religious worship had 
 been suppressed in his section, even to the very 
 idea of religion. He added, that he and his 
 school-fellows detested God; and that instead 
 of learning scripture, they learned the declara- 
 tion of rights. The convention, delighted with 
 the progress of these young atheists, ordered, 
 with the most enthusiastic applause, that they 
 should be admitted to the honors of the sit- 
 ting." 
 
 And here it may not be unnecessary to ob- 
 serve, that the language of the vial would seem 
 to import, that it would be poured out on the 
 Popish clergy in an especial manner, as desig- 
 
70 THE VIALS. 
 
 iiated by those who, in a peculiar sense, had 
 "the mark of the beast," and worshipped his 
 image, by erecting and upholding the horrible 
 tribunal of the Inquisition. And this was ac- 
 tually the case, inasmuch as it swept away 
 their riches and honors, by the greatest part of 
 the laity renouncing all religion, and conse- 
 quently their allegiance to them, and enlisting 
 under the banners of infidelity; and frequently 
 sweeping themselves from the face of the earth 
 by the axe of ihe guillotine. The Pope trem- 
 bled on his throne, and good reason he had, as 
 will be hereafter seen. In a word, this vial, or 
 the flood of infidelity in France, had a two- fold 
 effect. First, by corrupting and demoralizing 
 the mass of the laity, and thereby preparing, 
 and then pushing them on to inflict the calam- 
 ities which history tells us they inflicted with a 
 ruthless hand on their former pastors. We 
 will only add, on this vial, that Mr. Keith un- 
 derstands this vial as we do, as having refer- 
 ence to the prevalence of infidelity on the con- 
 tinent of Europe, and especially in France, 
 but is undetermined as to the precise year in 
 which it was poured out. 
 
 Second vial, — verse 3: "And the second 
 angel poured out his vial on the sea, and it be- 
 came as the blood of a dead man, and every 
 living soul died in the sea." 
 
 It is unnecessary to mention the interpreta- 
 tion of this vial given by Mr. Croly, for the 
 reasons already assigned. Dr. Scott is doubt- 
 ful if this vial has been poured out. Mr. Reid 
 
THE VIALS. 
 
 71 
 
 says that the sea here is symbohcal of men of 
 unsteady and wavering minds, and that when 
 this vial is poured out, it will be poured out on 
 such. This is also as indefinite as his inter- 
 pretation of the first vial. Mr. Keith applies 
 it to the naval victories which England obtain- 
 ed over France from 1793 to 1799. This is 
 surely a loose and indeterminate way of expli- 
 cation ; to understand and explain one vial sym- 
 bolically, and the next literally. No satisfac- 
 tory result can ever ensue from such a mode of 
 explication. Mr. Faber justly observes, that 
 "the sea," when used in a symbolical sense, 
 denotes a nation in a state of dreadful anar- 
 chy and confusion, and its being "turned into 
 blood," that massacre and bloodshed are pre- 
 dominant in that nation. Hence then he ap- 
 plies, and we think jusdy, this vial to the mas- 
 sacre and bloodshed that prevailed in France 
 after she became an atheistical republic. We 
 think, however, that he begins the date of this 
 vial too soon, in 1792. As already observed, 
 all the tumults and massacres that happened 
 before 1793, or the slaying of the witnesses, if 
 the subjects of prophecy, belong to the second 
 wo-trumpet, and not to the third; and on re- 
 flection he appears sensible of it, and acknowl- 
 edges it in page 201. And there is enough 
 after that time to justify the application of this 
 vial to that unhappy period. At that time, or 
 during the years 1794, '95, France was one 
 vast aceldama, or field of blood. Besides the 
 untold and uncounted thousands that perished 
 
72 THE VIALS. 
 
 by the guillotine in Paris, the city of Lyons, 
 that had treated the scriptures with such in- 
 dignity as we have related in the last chapter, 
 suffered according to her deserts, A writer of 
 that period says of that city--" An undistinguish- 
 ed butchery of all the rich commenced. Hun- 
 dreds of persons, men and women, were taken 
 out of the city at a time, tied to trees, shot to 
 death, stabbed, or knocked on the head. In 
 the city the guillotine never ceased for a mo- 
 ment; it was shifted three times; holes were 
 dug in the earth to receive the blood, and yet 
 it ran into the gutters." And Sir Walter Scott, 
 in his life of Napoleon Bonaparte, says — "The 
 murders committed at Lyons, though hundreds 
 were swept away by vollies of musket shot, 
 fell far short of the horrors perpetrated by 
 Carrier at Nantes, who, in avenging the re- 
 public on the obstinate defence of La Vendee, 
 misht have summoned hell to match his cru- 
 elty, without a demon venturing to answer his 
 challenge. Hundreds, men and women, and 
 children, were forced aboard vessels, which 
 were scuttled, and sunk in the Loire, and this 
 was called republican baptism. Men and wo- 
 men were stripped, bound together, and thrown 
 into the river, and this was called republican 
 marriage." And in the country of Vendee, 
 this historian tells us "that upwards of '200 bat- 
 tles and skirmishes were fought;" "and at Pil- 
 lau, such was the more than savage cruelty 
 and brutality of the republican soldiers, that 
 they roasted the women and children in a heat-' 
 
THE VIALS^. 73 
 
 ed oven." But not only was this the fate of 
 those who were rich, and of those who would 
 not eulogize the regenerated republic, as the 
 convention blasphemously called it, that con- 
 vention slaughtered and punished each other 
 in their turn. "In the course of two years," 
 says Mr. Faber, "of 693 that composed that 
 convention that slew the witnesses, 7 were as- 
 sassinated, 8 committed suicide, 34 were pro- 
 scribed, 92 were imprisoned, and 65 were guil- 
 lotined." It is not necessary to go into a far- 
 ther detail of these unparalleled butcheries, the 
 very recital of which is almost sufficient to 
 stagnate the blood in the veins, and justifies the 
 language of the vial, "that the sea became as 
 the blood of a dead man." They are yet fresh 
 and vivid in the memories of many yet alive. 
 If it is asked, is not the pouring out of these 2 
 vials too near each other, we reply that we are 
 expressly told that they would be poured out 
 in rapid succession; for it is said in the 14th 
 verse of the 11th chapter, "The second wo is 
 past, and behold the third wo cometh quickly." 
 Besides, it is the opinion of the most eminent 
 commentators and interpreters, that one vial 
 was not completely emptied before the next 
 would be poured out. 
 
 Third vial, — verses 4 — 6: "The third an- 
 gel poured out his vial on the rivers, and 
 fountains of water, and they became blood. 
 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou 
 art righteous, O Lord, which wast, and art, 
 and shall be, because thou hast judged thus. 
 
74 THE VIALS. 
 
 For they have shed the blood of saints, and of 
 prophets, and thou hast given them blood to 
 drink; for they are worthy." 
 
 Dr. Scott is still undetermined with respect 
 to the application of this vial. Mr. Reid un- 
 derstands by "the rivers and fountains of wa- 
 ter, the ordinances of the gospel ; but whether 
 the vial will be poured out on the ordinances 
 so as to corrupt them or the corrupters, we do 
 not pretend to understand; but he speaks more 
 than once of men "spiritually drinking blood." 
 Mr. Keith applies this vial to the blood shed by 
 Bonaparte, in Italy, during the French revolu- 
 tion, because Italy abounds with rivers flowing 
 from the Alps and the Appenines. This is 
 dropping the symbolical language of the pro- 
 phet again. We admit that part of this vial 
 was poured out on Italy at that time; not as a 
 country abounding with rivers, and fountains of 
 water, but as a country which has shed the 
 blood of the saints. We perfectly accord with 
 Faber's interpretation of the symbols of this 
 vial — "that as the sea denotes a nation in a 
 violent state of revolutionary tumult and mis- 
 rule, so rivers and fountains symbolize king- 
 doms and states in the opposite state of peace- 
 ful, regular and settled government." We 
 agree with him also, that "the rivers and foun- 
 tains of water," in this vial, signify the differ- 
 ent nations of the Latin earth, who formerly 
 shed the blood of the martyrs of Jesus, and, as 
 a just punishment, had themselves "blood to 
 drink." This was effected by the numerous 
 
THE VIALS. 75 
 
 armies of the terrible republic issuing forth 
 and devastating those countries, and slaughter- 
 ing their inhabitants. Spain, Portugal, Aus- 
 tria, Savoy, Piedmont, Papal Rome and other 
 countries, distinguished in history for their 
 cruelty to those who would not receive "the 
 mark of the beast, nor worship his name," 
 were the principal sufferers. "Future histori- 
 ans," as Mr. Faber remarks, "will speak of this 
 unparalleled war with astonishment. They 
 will describe Europe as bleeding at every pore, 
 and trembling for the fate of every civilized 
 government. They will detail battle after bat- 
 tle, massacre after mjissacre, campaign after 
 campaign. They will represent fertile prov- 
 inces as wasted with fire and sword ; and they 
 will speak with horror of rapes and murders, 
 of pillage and extortion." And, as this writer 
 further remarks, "Protestant states, that have 
 in any measure preserved the faith of their an- 
 cestors, have in a manner been exempt." 
 
 We will only further observe, that, as the 
 field of this vial was more extensive than that 
 which preceded it, it consequently required a 
 longer time before it was emptied; perhaps 
 from 1796 to 1804. 
 
 Fourth vial, — verses 8, 9: "And the fourth 
 angel poured out his vial on the sun, and 
 power w^as given unto him to scorch men with 
 fire. And men were scorched with great heat, 
 and blasphemed the name of God, who hath 
 power over these plagues; and they repented 
 ^ot to give him glory." 
 
76 THE VIALS. 
 
 That the sun is the symbol of a kingdom, or 
 civil government, we have already shown. 
 This vial was to be poured out on some of the 
 kingdoms into which the Roman empire was 
 divided ; not to ''darken or blacken it as sack- 
 cloth," but to give it more intense heat, that it 
 might scorch and wither others. It is implied 
 that it would be one of the most powerful of 
 those kingdoms. We need scarcely say that 
 France answers this character; and, as was 
 observed in a former chapter, the sun has been 
 long the emblem of that kingdom. In 1804, 
 that nation changed its form of government 
 from republican to monarchical, under Napo- 
 leon Bonaparte; for his calling himself 6m- 
 peroi\ did not alter the nature, nor change the 
 character of her ancient government. And 
 who does not know and remember the tyranny 
 which he, as the head of that government, ex- 
 ercised over France itself by his military re- 
 quisitions and demand of conscripts— half a 
 million of whom are said to have perished in 
 his Russian campaign. With his numerous 
 conscripts he overran and devastated Austria, 
 and captured Vienna; overran Prussia, and 
 captured Berlin; and forcibly made his brothers 
 kings; Joseph of Spain, Louis of Holland, and 
 Jerome of Westphalia. Nor did he fail in a 
 single enterprise while he continued in the 
 bounds of the ancient Roman empire; but when 
 he ventured into Russia, which was never with- 
 in its pale, then the permissive commission was 
 at an end, and he was shorn of his beams and 
 
THE VIALS. 77 
 
 Strength as a tormentor of others. From these 
 considerations, and others which might be 
 mentioned, it is evident to ourselves that this 
 vial had reference to the tyrannical power of 
 France under the emperor Napoleon. "Revo- 
 lution," says Scott, in his life of Napoleon, "is 
 like a conflagration. Bonaparte had destroyed 
 the proper scale of government in France, and 
 assumed an almost unlimited authority over 
 the fairest part of Europe. Over foreign coun- 
 tries, the military renown of France streamed 
 like a comet, inspiring universal dread and 
 distrust. And while it rendered indispensable 
 similar preparations for resistance, it seemed 
 as if peace had departed from the earth for- 
 ever, and that its destinies were hereafter to 
 be disposed of according to the laws of brutal 
 force." Faber and Keith understand and 
 apply this vial as we have done; but to which. 
 Dr. Scott neither agrees nor disagrees. Mr. 
 Reid says that this vial will be poured out for 
 unhinging all the governments in the world; 
 but he does not tell us what kind of govern- 
 ments will be established in their stead. 
 
 Fifth vial, — verses 10, 11: "And the fifth 
 angel poured out his vial on the seat of the 
 beast, and his kingdom was full of darkness, 
 and they gnawed their tongues for pain, and 
 blasphemed the God of heaven, because of 
 their pains and sores, and repented not of their 
 deeds." 
 
 It is the general opinion of interpreters and 
 commentators, that this vial will be poured out 
 
"78 THE VIALS. 
 
 on Rome and its dependencies, as the seat of 
 the beast, and, as Dr. Scott says, "so as to 
 darken the whole Antichristian empire." The 
 following rapid sketch and extract, from Croly, 
 may cast some light on this subject; although, 
 as the reader will see, it is the last event only 
 that can be applied to this vial, the others be- 
 ing only precursors, or preparatives for that 
 event. "In 1797, the second year of his Ital- 
 ian campaigns, Bonaparte advanced towards 
 Rome, and was prevented from the seizure of 
 the Papal throne only by the treaty of Tolen- 
 tino, in February, 1797, which the Pope pur- 
 chased at the bitter price of three of his lega- 
 tions — Ferrara, Bologna and Romania; money 
 to the amount of a million and a half sterhng, 
 and the plunder of the chefs d'oeuvre of the 
 Vatican. 
 
 "Yet this was but a respite. On the 10th of 
 February, 1798, the French army under Ber- 
 thier, entered Rome, took possession of the 
 city, and the Pope and Cardinals prisoners. 
 Within a week, Pius VI. was deposed ; Rome 
 was declared a republic; the tree of liberty 
 was planted ; and the city and states delivered 
 up to a long series of the deepest insults, re- 
 quisitions, military murders, and the general 
 injury, and degradation of the feelings and pro- 
 perty of all the people. Pius VI. died in cap- 
 tivity. Pius VII. was dragged across the 
 Alps to crown Napoleon; was held in du- 
 resse^ and was finally restored only on the 
 fall of the French empire. The Palpal in- 
 
THE VIALS. "79 
 
 dependence was abolished by Franc4^ and 
 the son of Napoleon declared king of Rome ^'' 
 This took place in 1812. 
 
 Mr. Keith applies this vial to the mental 
 darkness that prevails at Rome, and in Popish 
 countries, and adduces instances of it that are 
 at the same time ludicrous and deplorable. We 
 do not doubt the truth and accuracy of his 
 statements; but when was it otherwise, as a 
 general rule, since Popish influence prevailed 
 at Rome, or any where else. And intellectual- 
 ly dark and ignorant as they are, they may be 
 said to be light itself in comparison of what 
 are called "the dark ages," when Popery ruled 
 without opposition, from the ninth century to 
 the auspicious era of the reformation. And 
 that it is not mental darkness that is meant in 
 this vial, is evident from the circumstance that 
 it gave them great pain — "And they gnawed 
 their tongues with pain ;" for in that case they 
 could have soon relieved themselves by using 
 the means of information which are now ac- 
 cessible to all ranks. The pain which they 
 suffered arose from their not knowing how to 
 relieve themselves, when Bonaparte plundered 
 them of all he could lay his hands upon ; de- 
 prived them of their independence; kept their 
 Pope in duresse; assumed to himself the crown 
 of Italy, and declared and proclaimed his son 
 king of Rome. 
 
 But notwithstanding all this, it is said "that 
 they repented not of their evil deeds, but blas- 
 phemed God." A little reflection, however, 
 8 
 
80 THE VIALS. 
 
 might have led them to deep repentance, as 
 their ^^pains and sores" came from infidels and 
 atheists, or men made such by themselves. Be- 
 sides, the open profligacy of tfieir ecclesiastics, 
 their superstition, and worshiping images, and 
 praying to saints and angels, were so gross as 
 led men of penetrating minds to despise their 
 rehgious system; and as the Bible was to them 
 next to a prohibited book, and being conse- 
 quently ignorant of what true Christianity is, 
 the mass of them plunged into deism, and not 
 a few into blank atheism. And thus it was 
 that the French nation, whose kings were styl- 
 ed by the Pope, "the eldest sons of the church," 
 and one of the 10 horns of the Papal beast^ 
 was one of the first to fulfil the prophecy, at 
 least in part, "to hate the whore, and make 
 her desolate, and eat her flesh, and burn her 
 with fire." It will be admitted that Rome had 
 a loud call to repentance at the time we are 
 speaking of, but instead of repenting, no sooner 
 was Pius VIT. restored to his seat again, than 
 he re-established the horrid tribunal of the in- 
 quisition, and recalled and restored the nefa- 
 rious order of the Jesuits. It may be the last 
 call; and that the next call directed to Rome 
 will be that of a gracious God to his people 
 who may be within her, as Lot was in Sodom, 
 "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not 
 partakers of her sins, and tiiat ye receive not 
 of her plagues ;" for it is expressly said in chap- 
 ter 18:8, "That she shall be utterly burned 
 with fire; for strong is the Lord God that 
 
THE VIALS. 81 
 
 judgeth her." Whether she will be burned by 
 fire bursting from the bowels of tlie eartii, as 
 the region round about her is volcanic, or by 
 the fire of besiegers, we will not venture to say. 
 But her fate will be different from some other 
 large cities that have been nearly consumed by 
 fire. London and Moscow both experienced 
 this fate, but arose more splendid from their 
 ashes. Not so will it be with Rome; for it is 
 said in the 21st verse of the chapter now quo- 
 ted, "That a mighty angel took up a stone like 
 a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, say- 
 ing. Thus with violence shall that great city 
 Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found 
 no more at all." The reader need not be told 
 that Babylon of old was a type of Rome, on 
 account of the idolatry and wickedness of 
 both. 
 
 We will only add, that Faber is uncertain 
 whether this vial will be poured out on the 
 beast with seven heads and 10 horns, or on the 
 two-horned beast. But we think that it is im- 
 material whether it will be poured out on the 
 one or the other, or on both, as they are con- 
 stituent parts of the same monster. Mr. Reid 
 thinks that this vial will be poured out on those 
 who have introduced "human inventions into 
 the worship of God." But as it would be de- 
 viating from the point in hand to notice and 
 discuss this subject here, we will defer it to a 
 separate inquiry. 
 
 Sixth vial, — verse 12: "And the sixth angel 
 poured out his vial on the great river Euphra- 
 
82 THE VIALS. 
 
 tes, and the water thereof was dried up, that 
 the way of the Kings of the East might be 
 prepared." 
 
 In explaining the sixth trumpet, Mr. Reid 
 admits that the river Euphrates is symboJical 
 of the Turkish empire; but in explaining this 
 vial, (page 282,) he exhorts his readers "to di- 
 vest their minds of all thoughts that the coun- 
 tries bordering on the Euphrates are the parts 
 of the earth where this judgment is to be exe- 
 cuted. Such opinions, although held forth un- 
 der respectabe names, are plainly destitute of 
 all foundation of truth." This is adhering to 
 the meaning of a symbol with a witness, and a 
 compendious way of settling a disputed point. 
 And what is the meaning which he attaches 
 to the "water of the Euphrates?" Churches 
 which have introduced human inventions into 
 the worship of God. And in page 288, he 
 tells us, "that if these things are not intended by 
 the river Euphrates, it will be hard to find the 
 true meaning of the symbol." As for the kings 
 of the East, he tells us in the following page, 
 "that they are the emblem of a power, or ope- 
 rating powers, that now exist in the world, and 
 are now preparing their forces to overturn the 
 mystical Babylon." He has not told us, how- 
 ever, who they are, or what they are; and 
 strange to tell, he says, that although some of 
 them are good men, yet some of them are bad 
 men, and hypocrites. 
 
 Dr. Scott is uncertain whether the Euphrates 
 symboHzes some Eastern nation that will here- 
 
THE VIALS. 83 
 
 after invade the kingdom of the beast; or the 
 drying up of its water may have reference to 
 such deductions from the power of Rome, as 
 shall embolden and excite other nations to at- 
 tack her. For ourselves, we have no doubt 
 from the aspects of divine Providence, but that 
 this viai has reference to the overturning of the 
 Turkish empire, as requisite to prepare the way 
 for the restoration of the Jews, symbolized by 
 the "kings of the East," to the land of Pales- 
 tine: this is also the opinion of Mr. Faber, and 
 of Mr. Keith. We have two reasons for this 
 opinion. One is, the symbols — ''the kings of 
 the East," and the "river Euphrates," whence 
 the Turks who now inhabit the Ottoman em- 
 pire came, require this interpretation; and an- 
 other, that Mahometanism is as much the ene- 
 my of Christianity as popery, and must be over- 
 turned before the kingdoms of this world shall 
 become the kinadoms of God and of his Christ. 
 As the baleful effect of that wicked imposture 
 is described in the sixth trumpet, so its gradual 
 decline and final destruction is predicted in 
 the sixth vial by the drying up, or evaporation 
 of the waters of the Euphrates. And that the 
 Jews, Jehovah's '•''kingdom of Priests.^'' shall 
 be restored to the land of Palestine, is predict- 
 ed by almost all the prophets. They who wisli 
 for particular information on that subject, will 
 find it in "Frazer ox the Prophecies,'- — 
 whose book is confined almost to that subject. " 
 And who is there, who is acquainted with 
 the present state of the Turkish empire, but 
 
84 THE ViALSV 
 
 has seen the predictions of this vial fulfilled^ 
 and fuIfiUing in such a striking point of light 
 as to convince the most incredulous, even Mr. 
 Reid liimself! Greece, with her islands, per- 
 haps the most valuable part of that empire, 
 have been lopped off, and, we believe, forever. 
 The mighty king of the North has, not many 
 vears ago, erected his standard almost under 
 the walls of Constantinople, to enter which no 
 obstacle, which the Turks could offer, stood in 
 the way. In point of military resources, she 
 is one of the feeblest and most abject states in 
 Asia or Europe. Her existence depends on 
 the political caprice and nod of the autocrat of 
 Russia; and how soon he may give that nody 
 no one can tell. 
 
 To this we would add, that Bishop Newton, 
 Faber, and others, have remarked, that as soon 
 as the predictions of the sixth vial were fulfilled, 
 or evidently fulfilling, they would lead to a more 
 clear understanding of all the preceding- pro- 
 phecies of the Apocalypse. We thought we 
 saw the predictions of that vial fulfilled in the 
 present state of the Ottoman empire. This led 
 us to compare the other vials with the events 
 in the great revolution in France, and the 
 reader has the result. We may have been 
 mistaken in some of our applications; but we 
 think we may say, that they are more accord- 
 ant with the predictions on the vials than any 
 which have lately appeared among us, or that 
 we have seen. 
 
 The seventh vial, verses 18 — 21, will com- 
 
THE VIALS. 85 
 
 plete the righteous judgments of God on his 
 implacable enemies. It will be poured out on 
 the "air," or the whole kingdom of Satan, "the 
 prince of the power of the air," whether Pa- 
 gan, Papal or Mahometan. But previous to 
 this, "three unclean spirits, like frogs, will 
 come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out 
 of the mouth of the beast, and out of the 
 mouth of the false prophet, and go to the 
 kings of the earth, and of the whole worlds to 
 gather them together to a place called Arma- 
 geddon^ and where they will be destroyed 
 with such a destruction, that it is said, by a 
 bold hyperbole, "that the blood will reach to 
 the horses' bridles." As not only the kings of 
 the Latin earth, but "of the whole world," will 
 be gathered together on this occasion; then, 
 by the dragon, we are to understand Paganism; 
 by the kings of the earth, Popery, for the 
 earth is here distinguished from "the whole 
 world ;" and by the false prophet, Mahometan- 
 ism. We know, ihat by "the false prophet," 
 some interpreters understand the Romish cler- 
 gy; because it is said in 19th chapter, "that he 
 will work miracles in the sight of the beast." 
 We are certainly not to understand by those 
 words, real miracles, or such as were wrought 
 by the finger of Omnipotence, through the in- 
 strumentality of the prophets and apostles, but 
 what are called by Paul, "lying wonders." And 
 if we are to credit travellers of reputation, the 
 Mahometan jugglers, or Faquirs^ as they are 
 called, are as expert at trick and imposture as 
 
86 THE VIALS. 
 
 any of the Romish clergy have been or can 
 be. Besides, in chap. 19:20, and 20:10, and 
 in the passage which we are now examining, 
 "the false prophet" is spoken of as a person or 
 power distinct from the beast, or Popery; but 
 the Romish clergy are not only a part, but the 
 most efficient part of Popery, or "the Man of 
 sin." Mahomet called himself "the prophet of 
 God," and is so designated by his followers 
 until this day; and who has not heard of that 
 frequent saying in the mouth of every Mussul- 
 man, — "There is one God, and Mahomet is 
 his prophet." John had described the rise 
 and progress of Mahometanism in the 5th and 
 6th trumpets, but does not there tell us of the 
 future conduct and final end of that impos- 
 ture. This, we apprehend, v/as his design in 
 the passage now under consideration. That, 
 as there is the same enmity and opposition to 
 the church in Mahometanism, as there is in 
 Popery, "the false prophet," as he designates 
 Mahometanism, will enter into an alliance with 
 the dragon and the beast, for the purpose of 
 destroying it, but will themselves be destroyed, 
 the church saved, and the millennium com.- 
 mence. 
 
 We will add only, that the pouring out of 
 the vials seems to be also alluded to in the fif- 
 teenth chapter, under the general symbols of 
 reaping the harvest, and treading out the vint- 
 age. As there is a cessation of labor, or 
 breathing time, between the labors of the har- 
 vest and the vintage, so it seems it was to be in 
 
THE VIALS. 87 
 
 the pouring out of the vials. Mr. Faber hmits 
 the vials of the harvest to the first three, be- 
 cause peace was made between the infidel re- 
 public and the remaining powers of the beast, 
 in 1801, when, as he thinks, the first three 
 were poured out. }3ut that peace was very 
 short, and would seem scarcely to comport 
 with the considerable space of time between 
 the harvest and the vintage. We would rather 
 think that the harvest comprehends the first 
 five vials, as having one great object in view — 
 the infliction of the righteous judgments of 
 God on Papal Rome; and that the drying up 
 of the waters of the Euphrates, was the breath- 
 ing time for the Latin earth, for the purpose of 
 allowing them space for repentance; and that 
 the vintage is to be confined to the seventh and 
 last vial, and which will be poured out on the 
 kings of the Latin earth, and of the whole 
 world, because they "repented not;" but waged, 
 war against God and "his anointed." 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 The reader is not to expect that any new to- 
 pic of importance will be introduced and dis- 
 cussed in this chapter. Our object is, to ex- 
 plain some things more fully; to obviate some 
 objections that have been made; and to give 
 our opinion on some subordinate questions that 
 may be asked relative to the beasts, or powers, 
 whose character and agency we have noticed 
 and discussed in the two last chapters. To 
 have given a full explanation of such things 
 when under discussion, would rather have ob- 
 scured than shed light on the different points; 
 and we, therefore, thought it better to defer, 
 and take them up again in a separate chapter. 
 
 It will be remembered, that while delineating 
 the character and doings of th^ "Man of sin," 
 we dated his birth, or rise, in the year 533, 
 founded on the edict of the emperor Justinian, 
 appointing him "head over all the holy church- 
 es." Mr. Faber dates his rise, or birth, in 
 606, on tfie edict of the Emperor Phocas, ap- 
 pointing him "universal Bishop, and head over 
 all other churches." Mr. Faber was not igno- 
 rant of the edict or grant of Justinian, but 
 thinks that it was not so full and extensive, as 
 
^0 MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 ^that of Phocas. But we can see little or no 
 difference between the words— "head over all 
 the holy churches," and "universal Bishop, and 
 head over all other churches." The word 
 "a7/," in the one grant, is surely as extensive as 
 the word "universal," in the other. The grant 
 of Phocas was only a confirmation of that of 
 Justinian. 
 
 It will be also remembered, that we further 
 differed from the above respectable writer in 
 regard to the Apocalyptic witnesses, and the 
 beast who was to slay them, and the time they 
 would be slain. As already remarked in the 
 third chapter, he understands, by the witnesses, 
 the Jewish and christian churches, but spirit- 
 ually, "the mystic children of the universal 
 church." That they were slain in the persons 
 of the Protestant reformers, when they were 
 defeated in the batde of Mulburgh, in 1547, 
 and arose from the dead in ] 550, when they 
 gained the battle of Magdeburgh, whereby the 
 free exercise of their religion was secured to 
 them by treaty. 
 
 To this it was objected, that as the witnesses 
 were to prophesy in sackcloth during the 12(50 
 years, the allotted reign of the "Man of sin," 
 and were not to be slain until his reign, as a 
 persecutor, was to expire; then, according to 
 Mr. Faber's sheme, they were slain 219 years 
 before the time of their death designated by 
 John. Besides, such an interpretation in re- 
 spect to the witnesses, is too indefinite; but the 
 prophecies are definite and precise, that when 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 91 
 
 they are fulfilled the fact may be seen and as- 
 certained. For although there have been per- 
 sons during the whole dominant reign of the 
 ^'Man of sin," who did not comply with his er- 
 rors, superstition and idolatiy, and who consti- 
 tuted the uncorrupted church; yet they were 
 not visible, but hid in the wilderness; and no 
 two visible churches, composed of such, have 
 been or can be traced during those 1260 years, 
 whether we will date their beginning in 533 or 
 606. Mr. Keith and some others have adduc- 
 ed the Albigenses and Waldenses, as those two 
 witnesses. But the Albigenses were not known 
 until the 11th and the Waldenses until the 14th 
 century ; whereas, the witnesses were to pro- 
 phesy during the 1260 years, or tho dominant 
 reign of the "Man of sin."* 
 
 Mr. Faber's position, that the Jewish and 
 Christian churches as witnesses, were symbol- 
 ized by two olive trees, and two candlesticks 
 in Rev. 2:2, and Zech. 4: 14, is, we think, as 
 untenable as what he has said respecting the 
 Protestant Reformers. The external structure 
 and ordinances of the church of God, from 
 
 * In defence of Ms scheme, that the witnesses were slain in 
 1547, Mr. Fabexifbserves, that the Greek word telesosif in our trans- 
 lation, "when they shall have finished," generally bears a kind of 
 future significalion, and he accordingly translates the beginning of 
 the 7th verse thus: — "When they shall draw near to the close of 
 their testimony." Admitting the translation to be correct, still 219 
 years is too long a period for the finishing of the event. It is near- 
 ly a fifth part of the whole period of 1260 years. Besides, such a 
 loose and indefinite manner of interpretation is contrary to a cor- 
 rect rule laid down by himself — that where a precise time is men- 
 tioned for the completion of a prediction, every application of an 
 event to that prediction, that does not quadrate with the very year, 
 ie necessarily unsound and false. 
 
 9 
 
92 MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 Abraham to Christ, expired with the death 
 of Christ, and therefore cannot be one of the 
 witnesses. In Coloss. 2:14, the Apostle Paul, 
 speaking of the ordinances of that church, or 
 the church under the Jewish dispensation, 
 calls them ''a hand-writing of ordinances that 
 was against us, and contrary to us;" and then 
 affirms ^'that Christ blotted it out, and took it 
 out of the way, naihng it to his cross." And 
 although the seven churches in Asia were com- 
 pared to seven candlesticks, and the church, as 
 a collective body, is compared by Jeremiah 
 and Paul to an '-olive tree," — we do not know 
 that it is compared to two olive trees and two 
 candlesticks. Besides, it is Joshua and Zeru- 
 habel, the one a priest and the other a magis- 
 trate, who are compared to two olive trees and 
 two candlesticks by the prophet Zechariah. 
 
 And here we would remark by the way, that 
 we have seen and heard '-ministry and magis- 
 tracy," as intended by the two Apocalyptic wit- 
 nesses, and the passage from Zechariah, which 
 we are now considering, adduced as a proof 
 It may be sufficient to say to this scheme of in- 
 terpretation, that its advocates will not pretend 
 to find a ministry and magistracy which they 
 would admit to be pure and scriptural during 
 the reign of "the Man of sin;" for let it be re- 
 membered, that the witnesses, whoever they 
 were or are, were to prophesy in sackcloth the 
 whole time of the 1260 years. 
 
 And to this it may be sufficient to add, that 
 the character given to the Apocalyptic witness- 
 es, — "their being two olive trees and two can- 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 93 
 
 diesticks, or symbolically furnishing the church 
 with holy unction and light; their prophesying, 
 in whatever sense you may nnderstand the 
 word ; their having one mouth, or teaching the 
 same things; and fire proceeding out of their 
 mouth; their having power to shut heaven, that 
 it rain not in the days of the prophecy; their 
 having power over the waters to turn them to 
 blood, and to smite the earth witii all plagues 
 as often as they will;" — these acts, although 
 figurative, cannot with propriety be applied to 
 any men however good; to any churches how- 
 ever pure; or to any officers civil or ecclesias- 
 tic, however upright; but are properly applica- 
 ble to the Old and New Testaments, as contain- 
 ing a revelation of the character and will of 
 God to man, containing divine warnings and 
 threatenings, and denouncing the wrath of God 
 on die impenitent, incorrigible and persecuting 
 enemies of his church. The preceding obser- 
 vations, we think, obviate Mr. Faber's objec- 
 tions in the 10th chapter of his book, to the 
 scriptures being the two Apocalyptic witnesses 
 for Christ and his truth. 
 
 It will be also remembered, that we differ 
 from our author respecting the beast, or power 
 that was to slay, and we think has slain the 
 symbolical witnesses. This beast is character- 
 ized in llth chapter of the Revelation as ris- 
 ing out of "the bottomless pit," and which Mr. 
 Faber identifies with the beast ''having seven 
 heads and ten horns, and on his heads the 
 names of blasphemy;" or in other words. 
 
94 MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 Popery, or "the Man of sin," because it is said in 
 the 17th chapter, that this beast ascended out of 
 the bottomless pit also. But this, we think, is 
 said of him in reference to the wickedness of 
 his character only ; whereas the distinctive fea- 
 ture of his character as described in the 13th 
 chapter is, "that he arose out of the sea," or 
 the convulsed state of the Roman empire; and 
 the distinctive feature of the character of the 
 beast that was to slay the witnesses, is simply, 
 that he ascended out of "the bottomless pit," 
 having the quintessence not of some peculiar 
 kind of wickedness, but of all wickedness, in 
 and of himself. This infernal monster, we 
 have siiovvn from Mr. Faber's own exposition 
 of the illh chapter of Daniel's prophecies, was 
 the real Antichrist, or the power that denied 
 both the Father and the Son, 1 John 2:22; but 
 which Popery, bad as it is, never has done, 
 and was alone fitted to slay the witnesses, and 
 slew them in France, when its atheistical and 
 deistical convention in 1793 abolished all reli- 
 gion, the Popish religion included; and that 
 too, 1260 years after Justinian appointed the 
 Bishop of Rome "Head over all the Holy 
 churches.^ This was the end for which he 
 
 * And yet there is a sense in which an identity of the beast that 
 slew the witnesses, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns, 
 may be predicated, inasmuch as the one sprung from the other. 
 That it is the ancient Roman empire in its Papal form tliat Dan- 
 iel alludes to in chapter 11:36, will be evident we think to any one 
 who will closely inspect the several features of his character. He 
 is first described in that verse "as exalting himself, and magnify, 
 ing himself above every god, and speaking marvellous things 
 against the God of gods." This perfectly coincides with the char- 
 acter given of the same power by Paul in 2 Thess. 2:4, under the 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS, 95 
 
 was permitted to appear in the world; and 
 whether he will be pertiiitted to appear and act 
 again, we will not positively say; but probably 
 he will again appear and act under his father, 
 
 symbol of "the Man of sin, and son of perdition," "who opposeth 
 and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or is worshipped; 
 so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that 
 he is God:" and indeed it would seem that Paul has borrowed his 
 description and diction from Daniel. But this was only his charac- 
 ter in what may be called his manhood; and bad and blasphemous 
 as it is, Daniel exhibits in the 37th verse an additional feature 
 which appeared in his old age, and M^hich made him "the Man of 
 sin, and son of perdition" indeed: — "Neither shall he regard the 
 God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god, 
 for he shall magnify himself above all." The reader need not be 
 told that this feature of his character, of not regarding any god; 
 is .perfectly atheistical, and cannot be predicated of any power 
 that has been, or is, but the national convention of France in 1793; 
 and let it be remembered that that convention sprung from the 
 church of Rome, or were born and educated in its pale. 
 
 As for the isolated expression, "the desire of women," Mr. Faber 
 thinks that it has reference to the rejection of Christ by that con- 
 vention; but may it not have reference to their abolishing the mar- 
 riage relation and connection, which women as the weaker vessels 
 properly desire, that they may have a friend and protector through 
 life, — "and thy desire shall be to thy husband." — Gen. 3:16. 
 
 And may not what is said of this king or power in the 38th verse, 
 of his "honoring the God of forces," refer to the warlike charac- 
 ter of the atheistical republic, and the disposition which they man- 
 ifested, and the efforts which tliey made to subjugate ali the sur- 
 rounding nations. And may not what is said of his "honoring a 
 God which his fathers knew not," also refer to the convention wor- 
 shipping, in the Champ de Mars of Paris, "the goddess of Reason," 
 in the person of an infamous woman, seated on an altar, and deck- 
 ed with "gold and silver, and precious stones." The circumstance 
 of the French people returning again to Popery, furnishes no argu- 
 ment against our views and interpretation of this passage. For as 
 we are told in chapter 7:12, that tlie lives of the Babylonian, Per- 
 sian, and Macedonian beasts were prolonged after their power to 
 persecute was taken away; so was it to be with the Roman beast. 
 And as to what is said in the 40th verse, of the king of the South 
 pushing at him, and the king of the North coming against him like 
 a whirlwind, with chariots and Ijorscmen, &c. — we think it is fu- 
 ture, and will be accomplished some short time prior to tfie battle 
 of Armageddon, when, it is said in the close of the chapter, "lie 
 will come to his end, and none shall help him." 
 
 9* 
 
96 MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 the devil, or the Old Dragon in the battle of 
 Armageddon, in conjunction with the beast 
 that arose "out of the sea," and "the false pro- 
 phet," or Mahometanism, and be finally de- 
 stroyed with them. As we are now to dismiss 
 this point, and not to resume it particularly, we 
 would remark, that it is not proper to call the 
 Pope antichrist, or Popery antichristian. Pa- 
 pists complain of it, and not unjustly; for as 
 John says, "He is Antichrist who denieth the 
 Father and the Son." The proper name of 
 Popery as given by Paul is, "the Man of sin," 
 and "the wicked one, whom God shall con- 
 sume with the Spirit of his mouth, and shall 
 destroy with the brightness of his coming." — 
 2Thess. 2:3— 1-2. 
 
 Althougli we agree with Faber, that the sev- 
 enth trumpet has sounded, and that some of the 
 vials have been poured out, and are now pour- 
 ino^ out on the irreclaimable enemies of Christ's 
 church and people, yet he thinks that the dom- 
 inant or persecuting reign of the "Man of sin," 
 will not end until the year 1866. This was 
 forced upon him by what we believe to be a 
 false date of his rise, and shows the necessity 
 and importance of correct first principles; as 
 one error, in every science, necessarily leads to 
 another. We have thought, however, that the 
 dominant reign of the "Man of sin" ceased in 
 1793, as the vials were to be poured out 
 "quickly," when that event should take place; 
 that the first five have been poured out on the 
 Popish nations in Europe in an especial man- 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 97 
 
 ner, during the French revolution, which com- 
 menced in 1789; and that the sixth is now 
 pouring out on the Ottoman empire. If they 
 have not been poured out at that time, it is cer- 
 tain that none of them have been poured out 
 as yet; as no events, since that time, can justify 
 such an apphcation. But who is there, who 
 has reflected on that tremendous explosion, or 
 revolution, — the changes which it has produced 
 in all the Popish countries in Europe, — the 
 calamities which it brought on all the surround- 
 ing nations, — the unheard of blasphemy, wick- 
 edness and anarchy which attended it in its 
 various stages, — the torrents of blood which ac- 
 companied it, — the length of its duration, and 
 the effect which it had and has produced on 
 the church of God; — who is there, we say, 
 who reflects on those events, but will be con- 
 strained to say, that it was undoubtedly a prom- 
 inent part of John's visions, and an especial 
 subject of prophecy. As all the vials were to 
 be poured out on the enemies of Christ and of 
 his church, in applying the events of that revolu- 
 tion to the predictions in the vials, or the pre- 
 dictions to the events, we were fully satisfied 
 in our mind with respect to the applications, 
 the fifth vial excepted. That vial was to be 
 poured out on Rome and its dependencies, as 
 "the seat of the beast," not to destroy it, for its 
 final destruction is the subject of another pro- 
 phecy in the 18th chapter, but to lessen its in- 
 fluence so, as Dr. Scott expresses it, "as to 
 darken the whole antichristian empire." As 
 
98 MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 the prophecies follow each other in regular 
 chronological order, we saw no event in the 
 course of the French revolution that could be 
 applied to this prediction, but the circumstance 
 of Bonaparte's compelling Pope Pius Vll. to 
 cross the Alps in the depth of winter, for the 
 purpose of crowning him the Emperor of the 
 French; and afterwards disannulling the pow- 
 er and independence of the See of Rome in 
 France and Italy, and declaring his son ''the 
 King of Rome." As that act was rescinded 
 at the restoration of Louis XVIII. and the 
 catholic rehgion re-estabhshed as the religion 
 of France, it may have been thought that the 
 above act of Bonaparte was not a fulfilment of 
 the prediction, and as observed, we had some 
 doubts on the point. But let it be remember- 
 ed, that although the Popisli religion was re- 
 established in France by Louis XVIII. yet all 
 other religious sects w^ere tolerated, which had 
 not been the case since the revocation of the 
 edict of Nantes by Louis XIV. The power of 
 the Pope was therefore not restored as former- 
 ly, but remained under an eclipse. And not 
 only was this the case, but the results of the 
 last revolution in France have strengthened, if 
 not confirmed our exposition of the fifth vial. 
 By the present charter, or constitution of that 
 nation, the re-establishment of the catholic re- 
 ligion has been revoked, the Pope's nuncio or 
 ambassador dismissed, and the free exercise 
 of religion is a fundamental principle of the 
 charter. And to this may be added, that Spain 
 
3IISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 99 
 
 and Portugal, where Popery has reigned for 
 ages past without opposition, have virtually re- 
 nounced their allegiance to the See of Rome. 
 The abave act of Bonaparte was the incipient 
 step that led to this unexpected consummation, 
 in a nation whose former sovereigns, Pepin 
 and Charlemagne, relieved the Pope more than 
 once, when reduced to the last extremity by 
 the Goths, and bestowed upon him his Ilalian 
 dominions. May not all these events be the 
 commencement of the fulfilling of the prophe- 
 cy in the 18th chapter, ''that the iO horns," or 
 kingdoms into which the Roman empire was 
 divided, "shall hate the whore, and make her 
 desolate and naked, and eat her flesh, and 
 burn her with fire." The intelligent reader 
 need not be told that France is the prmcipal of 
 those kingdoms that gave their power to the 
 Papal beast, that remains in its original state; 
 whereas some of the other kingdoms have dis- 
 appeared, and some have renounced their alle- 
 giance to Rome. But here it may be asked,— 
 I. What are we to understand by the seven 
 heads and ten horns of this beast, as he is de- 
 scribed in the 13th chapter, and what are the 
 names of blasphemy which are said to be on 
 those heads? In chap. 17:9, 10, an interpret-, 
 ing angel informed John that the 7 heads de- 
 noted "seven mountains on which the ivoman 
 sitteth;" another symbol of this empire in its 
 Papal form; but "a woman drunken with the 
 blood of the saints." And who does not know 
 that Rome, the metropolis of this empire, is 
 
iOO MISCJELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 built on 7 hills. And as Rome was the seat 
 of government of that empire in both its Pagan 
 and Papal state; then, analogically, the seven 
 heads denoted also the seven different forms of 
 government which that empire would assume. 
 These may be thus specified: ist. Kings; 
 2d. Consuls; 3d. Dictators; 4th. Decemvirs; 
 5th. Military Tribunes; 6th. Emperors; 7th. 
 Popes, or Papal. 'I'his last head is not admit- 
 ted by Mr. Faber; but in no other sense can 
 we understand what is said in chapter 13:2, 
 that the dragon gave the beast with 7 heads 
 and 10 horns, '4iis power and his seat, and 
 great authority." If these words do not im- 
 port supreme rule, we do not know that words 
 could be selected to convey the idea. And as 
 if to silence every doubt on this point, in chap- 
 ter 17:13, it is said of the ten kings, "These 
 have one mind, and shall give their power and 
 strength to the beast." Besides, in the nature 
 of things, and that the empire might have an 
 existence, it was necessary that it should have 
 a visible head, and directing controling power; 
 but there was no visible head, the Popes ex- 
 cepted, for near 400 years, until Charlemagne, 
 in the ninth century, erected what is called the 
 Carlovingian empire, which looked more hke 
 the sixth head than a separate head, which Mr 
 Faber says it was: both were imperial. 
 
 But it is said in chapter 17:11, that this 
 beast had "an eighth head, which was of the 
 seven," and called by some a septimo-octave 
 head ; and it may be asked, what was this eighth 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 101 
 
 head? This is a difficult point, and as was to 
 be expected, there is a diversity of opinion 
 among interpreters and commentators. Mr. 
 Faber says, "that it was the Patriciate of Rome, 
 merged in the Carlovingian Emperorsliip;" or, 
 that whileCharlemagne was Patrician of Rome,, 
 he was the 7th head; but when he became em- 
 peror, he was the 8th head, the 7th and 8th 
 heads being amalgamated in his person. We 
 confess that we are slow to conceive how a 
 man's being a Patrician of Rome, could make 
 him the 7th head of the Roman empire, or that 
 the whole Patriciate could be that head. It 
 was too inconsiderable in itself; and besides, 
 was nominally at least, subject to the Eastern 
 empire until the year 800. 
 
 Bishop Newton and some others say, that it 
 was the Pope of Rome in his two-fold charac- 
 ter of head of the church and a temporal prince. 
 But this scheme has also its difficulties, inas- 
 much as the spiritual power of the Pope, the 
 7th head, instead of "continuing a short space," 
 (Rev. 17:10,) continued for 1260 years. But 
 as already remarked, this, although a difficult 
 point, stands not in the way of our understand- 
 ing the general and material prophecies of the 
 Revelation; and to point out the fulfilment of 
 these, as far as we think they have been fulfil- 
 led, is our main object and design. We have 
 the evidence of facts, and we think of the word 
 itself, that the Papacy is the 7th head of the 
 beast, and that may be sufficient for understand- 
 ing the principal prophecies, although we may 
 
10:2 MISCELLAJXEOUS OBSERVATIOJSS. 
 
 not be able to ascertain satisfactorily what 
 power constituted ''the eighth head, and which 
 was of" the seven."* 
 
 * All the information which we have, relative to the 8th head of 
 the Roman beast, is to be found in Rev. 17th eh. 10th and 11th v. 
 "And there are seven kings," or heads of government; "five are 
 fallen; one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh 
 he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is 
 not, he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdi- 
 tion." 
 
 The form, or head of government that existed when these words 
 were written, was imperial, or that of emperors. The difficulty of 
 ascertaining who the eighth head of government was, lies in what 
 is apparently said of the 7th head, as it is pointed in our transla- 
 tion — "that when he cometh, he must continue a short space." We 
 have assigned reasons why we think that the 8th head cannot be 
 predicated of the Carlovingian empire, nor yet of the temporal 
 power of the Pope of Rome. But if the words of the 10th verse, 
 "And when he cometh, he must continue a short space," can be 
 fairly applied to the 8th, and not to the 7th head; and if not only a 
 resemblance, but an identity of component parts and actors in the 
 7th and 8th heads, is evidence of the existence of the 8th head; 
 then Revolutionary France, from 1789 to the deposition of Bona- 
 parte, has all the characteristics of the 8th head of the Roman 
 beast. The first supposition will be realized by putting a period or 
 full-stop after the words in the 10th verse — "tAe other is not yet 
 come" as is the case in the oldest editions of the Greek Testament, 
 as R. Stephens' in 1630, and Leusden's in 1698; and reading the 
 remainder of the verse, with the 11th verse, thus: "And when he 
 cometh, (he must continue a short space,) even {kai) the beast that 
 was, and is not, and he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth 
 into perdition," If this criticism be just, then, as said, the 8th 
 head may be predicated of Revolutionary France. She became a 
 republic, and while a republic, she had her Consuls^ and thus re- 
 sembled the consular form of government. She became imperial, 
 and while imperial, was the head and protector of what was called 
 "The Confederation of the Rhine," and which embraced, if not the 
 whole, yet the greatest part of the Cailovingian empire; and thus 
 resembled the imperial form of government. And as to an identity 
 of component parts and actors, as implied in the words, "and he is 
 of the seven," — who does not know that the French revolutionists 
 sprung from the Papacy, or the church of Rome. And who does not 
 also know^ that many of the firmest supporters of the Papacy, as 
 Talleyrand, Bishop of Autun, and Gobert, Vicar General of Paris, 
 &c. became violent Revolutionists, and Deists, or Atheists. *^^And 
 he continued a short space;" or, the whole "vanished as the baseless 
 fabric of a vision," when Bonaparte was deposed. And as a neces- 
 sary preparative for the appearance of this head, in the course of 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 103 
 
 As for the names of blasphemy upon these 
 heads, besides what might be collected from 
 epithets gi\^en to Elome in its Pagan state, as 
 Hhe eternal city," &c. the following may suf- 
 fice as given to the Pope who has his seat there, 
 l)y Popish writers; and it is evident that it is to 
 the empire under its Papal head, that John re- 
 fers: Infallibility, — His Holiness, — Vicar of 
 Christ, — God upon earth,-:-and our Lord God 
 the Pope. And if this is not blasphemy, and 
 most awtlii blasphemy, we do not know what 
 blasphemy is. 
 
 the revolution an end was put to the Papal head of government by 
 Bonaparte, in iinpiisoningf the Pope, abolishing the Papal power in 
 France and Italy, assuming to himself the crown of Italy, and de- 
 claring his son to be king "of Rome. Thus, ''the beast that tca«," 
 or existed under an imperial and Papal form of government, and in 
 'both persecuted the true religion, assumed a new form in Revolu- 
 tionary France, that persecuted all religion, "and is not, and went 
 into perdition,^'' by France returning to her former state, renouncing 
 persecution, and proclaiming in her last political charter or consti- 
 tution, the free exercise of religion to all men. 
 
 It will be recollected that in support of the opinion that Revolu- 
 tionary France may have been the 8th head of the Roman beast, 
 we proposed putting a period, or full-stop, after the words in the 
 10th verse — "the other is not yet come," and reading the remain- 
 der of the verse with the 11th, as is the punctuation in Stephens' 
 and Leusden's Greek Testaments. To this it may be objected, that 
 the Greek point (•) is used only where we use the colon in English 
 punctuation. It is admitted that it is most frequently the case; but 
 instances can be produced from the most correct Greek writers, and 
 from the Greek Testament, which show that they use it also where 
 we use the period. It may be also objected, that Dr. Campbell, in 
 the 12th preliminary dissertation to his translation of the four Gos- 
 pels, atfirms, "that in the most ancient manuscripts there were 
 neither points nor accents, and hardly a division in the words;" and 
 that ecclesiastical historians say that the Greek point was not in- 
 troduced until the fifth century, or perhaps later. All this is ad- 
 mitted; and as it respects the subject in hand, the question is, what 
 did it designate when introduced? This, we think, will appear 
 manifest to all who will carefully observe the places where it is 
 used — that it was designed to advertise the reader, that the mean- 
 
 10 
 
104 MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 In chap. 17:12, the same interpreting angel 
 informed John, that the ten horns denoted ten 
 kings, or kingdoms, into which the Roman em- 
 pire was divided after the year 476. In his 
 comment on Dan. 7:6, Dr. Scott has given us 
 a list of those kingdoms, as they existed in the 
 8th century. In vol. 2d, page 128, Mr. Faber 
 has given us another list, with a small but not 
 material variation. J. The kingdom of the 
 Huns. 2. The kingdom of the Ostrogoths. 
 3. The kingdom of the Tisigoths. 4. The 
 kingdom of the Franks. 5. The kingdom of 
 the Vandals. 6. The kingdom -of the Sueves, 
 and Alans. 7. The kingdom of the Burgun- 
 dians. 8. The kingdom of the Heruli, Rugii, 
 
 ing of the clause or clauses preceding it, is complete in itself, and 
 that what follows is a distinct proposition, although connected with 
 the main subject, and perliaps necessary to illustrate it further, or 
 to enforce it. Now, as the first editors of the Greek Testament 
 have placed this point in the verse alluded to, and where we have 
 mentioned, the presumption is fair, that they found it in the manu- 
 scripts from which they printed; and this is a proof that they who 
 first introduced it, thought that the words — "And when he cometh," 
 had reference to a new and distinct subject, although connected 
 with what went before. And if reading it so does not obscure 
 that which precedes it, as it certainly does not; and if it will solve 
 a difficult question respecting the 8th head of the Roman beastj 
 then, we think, that it ought to be preferred, the omission of it, 
 by some modern editors of the Greek Testament, to the contrary 
 notwithstanding. It is left with the reader to decide this question 
 for himself; for, after all, the propriety and fitness of punctuation, 
 in any language, must depend on its not obscuring, but presenting 
 the subject discussed in a clear point of light. The reader will 
 have observed that we have not proposed any alteration in the 
 words of the sacred text, nor affixed any meaning to them that is 
 not sanctioned by prescriptive consent and usage. The words of 
 the text aie sacred, and ought not to be questioned where there is no 
 various reading; but which is not the case in the verses which we 
 have been examining; but not so is the punctuatioUj whether ancient 
 or modern. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 105 
 
 Scyrri, and other tribes that composed the 
 ItaHan kingdom of Odoacer. 9. The kingdom 
 of the Saxons. 10. The kingdom of the Lom- 
 bards. 
 
 2. It may be asked, — in what sense this 
 "beast was, and is not, and yet is?" chap. 17:8. 
 A beast is the symbol of an idolatrous and per- 
 secuting power. He was an idolatrous and 
 persecuting power in his Pagan state; ceased 
 to be such under Constantino and the Christian 
 emperors; and again became idolatrous and 
 persecuting in his Papal form. 
 
 3. It may be asked, — what was the deadly 
 wound which this beast received by a sword, 
 and how was it healed? as stated in chap. 13:8. 
 
 Some understand this wound as having re- 
 ference to the subversion of the Western part 
 of the empire in 476, and healed by Charle- 
 magne, who revived it in the year 800; and 
 which continued in the German empire until 
 that empire was dissolved by Napoleon Bona- 
 parte during the French revolution. But others, 
 with whom we rather accord, understand it 
 as having reference to what we have just 
 now stated: the beast, as a persecuting power, 
 received "a deadly wound'' by the accession of 
 Constantino to Christianity and the imperial 
 throne, and healed as soon as "the Man of sin" 
 arrived at age and strength to persecute the 
 church of God again. 
 
 4. It may be further asked, — who was the 
 "Man-child" mentioned in ch. 12:3, and whom 
 the "woman." or the church, brought forth in 
 
106 MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS* 
 
 distressed circumstances, and "the great red 
 dragon waited to devour as soon as it should 
 be born?'^ Mr. Faber confesses that he has 
 not seen, and cannot give any interpretation of 
 this passage that is satisfactory to himself; and 
 accordingly he calls it '•'•crux criticorum^'' or 
 the cross of critics. But we have not seen any 
 solid reason why it may not be applied to Con- 
 stantino, the first christian emperor. To this 
 Mr. Faber objects, that "the little book,'^ 
 of which this passage is a part, has special re- 
 ference to the 1260 years, or the reign of the 
 Papacy; and to apply it to Constantine, would 
 be travelling out of the record. That "the 
 little book" has special reference to the 1260 
 years, the dominant reign of "the Man of sin," 
 is admitted; but that it has an occasional or 
 incidental reference to the rescue of the church 
 from Pagan persecution in the days of Con- 
 stantine and his christian successors, there is 
 intrinsic evidence to ourselves in the passage 
 to which we have alluded. The monster, 
 which is said to wait to devour the Man-child, 
 as soon as he would be born, is called "a great 
 red dragon." If the dragon symbolized the 
 devil only, according to Mr. Faber, why is he 
 said to be red? Dr. Scott, in his comment on 
 the place, has observed, that purple or scarlet 
 were the distinguishing colors of the garments 
 of the Roman Emperors, Consuls and Gen- 
 erals; and this, we think, is the reason why the 
 dragon is depicted as ret?, rather than that of 
 any other color. Besides, as observed in the 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 107 
 
 beginning of the third chapter, the dragon is 
 described as having 7 heads and 10 horns, and 
 crowns upon those heads, but not upon his 
 horns, and is a proof that the empire was not 
 divided into ten kingdoms, at the time alluded 
 to by the prophet. These circumstances, with 
 others mentioned in the chapter alluded to, 
 constrain us to interpret the dragon, as not only 
 a symbol of the devil, but analogically of the 
 Roman empire in its Pagan state, instigated by 
 the devil to destroy the Man-child; and that 
 Mr. Faber's objections to Constantine's being 
 that Man-child, are not valid. 
 
 But it has been objected by others, that Con- 
 stantino can hardly be accounted a christian5 
 inasmuch as he was not baptized until a short 
 time before his death. This, probably, arose 
 from his being influenced by the opinion of 
 Tertullian, a popular father and writer of the 
 preceding century, and which pervaded the 
 church for some time — "that sins committed 
 after baptism, if not altogether, were next to 
 unpardonable." But that he not only res- 
 cued the church from a persecution that threat- 
 ened her existence, but aided her in every exi- 
 gency, is well known to all who are acquainted 
 with the history of that day. 
 
 It has been further objected, that the words, 
 "who will rule the nations with a rod of iron," 
 are predicated of Christ in the 2d Psalm, and 
 are not to be predicated of any man, however 
 great or good. But these very words, with an 
 addition in that Psalm, are applied to a stead- 
 10* 
 
108 MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIOXS. 
 
 fast believer in chap. 2, v. 26, 27; — "He that 
 overcometh, and keepeth my words unto the 
 end, to him will I give power over the nations, 
 and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as 
 the vessels of a potter, shall they he dashed in 
 shivers." But it may be said, this victory is to 
 be achieved under Christ, and by his strength. 
 True, — hut it is nevertheless ascribed to the 
 overcoming believer, and, though acted upon 
 by the spirit of Christ, those acts are properly 
 his acts; and why may not such acts be pre- 
 dicated of Constantino, who, it is confessed, 
 used the power providentially committed to 
 him, by the Head of the church, in subverting 
 Pagan idolatry, and in building up Christianity 
 upon its ruins. 
 
 But, as remarked more than once, the fore- 
 going and other passages of a similar character 
 are subordinate points, and to be ignorant of, 
 or mistaken respecting their true meaning, will 
 not stand in the way of attaining a satisfactory 
 knowledge of the principal prophecies of the 
 Revelation, if the key which we have pre- 
 sented to the reader, and presented to our- 
 selves, by Mr. Croly, is properly applied. — 
 Every pei^on who is in the habit of reading 
 the books which have been published on the 
 Revelation of John, from time to time, will, 
 we think, see that the errors and failures of 
 different authors, as to the main points, arose 
 from their not being in possession of this mas- 
 ter-key, or the knowledge of the precise year 
 in which the Bishop of Rome became ''Hhe 
 
MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 109 
 
 Man of sin ;^^ or, if he knew of it, of not using 
 it ariglit. And we think that every person 
 of good common sense, who understands the 
 meaning of the symbols, and has a general 
 knowledge of civil and ecclesiastical history, 
 with this key in his hand, can unlock every 
 material passage that is mysterious in this last 
 revelation of a gracious God, to undeserving 
 man. 
 
 We will close our observations on the vials 
 by remarking, that since we published our in- 
 terpretations, eight years ago, Algiers, the 
 strong hold of Maiiometanism in Africa, has 
 been wrested from the Ottoman Porte bv 
 France; that Egypt, its great granary, is lost, 
 and Syria in all probability; — that insurrec- 
 tions are starting up, from time to time, in that 
 wom-out and tottering empire, so long the ene- 
 my of the church of Christ in the East; and 
 the day is not far distant, when, as Daniel ex- 
 presses it, '*it will be broken without hand," or 
 fall by its own intrinsic feebleness and decrep- 
 itude. This strengthens, if not confirms, our 
 exposition of the seventh vial. 
 
 But, after all, it may be objected, that the 
 prophecies of John and Daniel are parallels, as 
 they respect the church of God, and that what- 
 ever interpretation is given to the one, that is 
 not accordant with the other, is not to be relied 
 on; but we have not done this, and until this is 
 done, our interpretations, however plausible, 
 and our dates, however coincident with re- 
 markable events that have a striking aspect to 
 
110 MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 those prophecies and dates, are not to be ad- 
 mitted. We confess that we had not particu- 
 larly examined the prophecies of Daniel, when 
 we wrote our expositions of some parts of the 
 Revelation ; for to explain the prophecies was 
 not the principal object which we had in view 
 at the time, — it was what the reader will find 
 in the three last chapters. We have, however, 
 more particularly examined the prophecies of 
 Daniel since that time, and the reader will ^nd 
 the results in the next chapter. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 PROPHECIES OF DANIEL. 
 
 We have remarked in the last chapter, that 
 the prophecies of John and Daniel are paral- 
 lels; or that in some instances they prophesy 
 concerning the same persons, or powers, and 
 events; and consequently, that whatever inter- 
 pretation is given to the prophecies of the one, 
 that is not accordant with the prophecies of the 
 other, is erroneous, and not to be admitted. 
 In the preceding chapters we have humbly 
 submitted to the public an interpretation of the 
 principal prophecies of John; and our design 
 in this is to show how far that interpretation is 
 accordant with, and supported by the prophe- 
 cies of Daniel. 
 
 In pursuance of this we would observe, that 
 there have been only four universal monarch- 
 ies or empires, with all of which the church of 
 God has been connected or concerned, and 
 affected by them more or less: The Babylon- 
 ian, the Medo-Persian, the Macedonian, and 
 the Roman; — nor will there be any other. 
 These are first introduced to our notice in the 
 second chapter of Daniel's prophecies, under 
 the symbol of an image which Nebuchadnez- 
 zar, king of Babylon, saw in a dream, "the 
 head of which was composed of fine gold, the 
 
112 DANIEL^S PROPHECIES. 
 
 breast and arms of silver, the belly and thighs 
 of brass, the legs of iron, the feet partly of iron 
 and clay." The golden head, as interpreted 
 by Daniel, symbohzed the Babylonian empire; 
 the silver breast and arms, the* Medo-Persian, 
 w^hich succeeded it; the brazen belly and 
 thighs, the Macedonian, or as some call it, the 
 Grecian; and the iron and clay legs and feet, 
 the Roman, which destroyed all the others. 
 To these 'Hhe kingdom of the mountain," as it is 
 called by some, was to succeed, or the spiritual 
 kingdom of 3IessiaJi, which was to overturn 
 all the others, and itself to continue until time 
 shall be no more. "Thou sawest," said the 
 prophet to Nebuchadnezzar, "till a stone cut 
 out without hands smote the image on his feet^ 
 became a great mountain, and filled the earth." 
 There is nothing intimated in this vision 
 when this would be accomplished. But Dan- 
 iel tells us in the 7th chapter, that he had a 
 vision of the same empires under the symbols 
 of a lion, of a bear, of a leopard, and of a fourth 
 beast to which he gives no name, because it 
 was "diverse" from all the others, "was dread- 
 ful, and terrible, and exceedingly strong, hav- 
 ing great iron teeth with which it devoured, 
 and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue 
 under its feet." The lion was a fit symbol of 
 the Babylonian empire, on account of its great 
 strength ; the bear, of the Medo-Persian, be- 
 cause its founders were fierce and rapacious; 
 tlie leopard, of the Macedonian, because, as a 
 leopard seizes his prey by a sudden spring or 
 
Daniel's prophecies. 113 
 
 bound; so, Alexander the Great, who over- 
 turned the Medo-Persian empire, overturned 
 it, colossal as it was, in two or three years. 
 But there is a circumstance added in the 7th 
 and 8th verses of this chapter, respecting the 
 fourth anomalous beast, that demands our par- 
 ticular attention. He had ten horns, and among 
 them came up another httle horn, before which 
 lliree of the first horns were plucked up by the 
 roots; and behold in this horn were eyes like 
 the eyes of a man, the symbol of intelligence, 
 and a mouth speaking great things." It is also 
 said in the 21st verse, that this little horn would 
 ''make war with the saints, or the church of 
 God, and prevail against them;" and in the 
 25th verse, that he would speak great things 
 against the most high, and think to change 
 laws and times. Now, as we have already 
 shown in chapter 3d, the description given of 
 this beast by Daniel, perfectly corresponds with 
 the character of the beast described by John in 
 the 13lh chapter of Revelation, — or the Ro- 
 man empire, when divided into ten kingdoms; 
 and the little horn described by Daniel corres- 
 ponds also with the Pope of Rome, wiien those 
 kingdoms "gave him their strength and power:" 
 Rev. 17:13. Then, as John expresses it, "a 
 mouth was given him speaking great things 
 and blasphemies; and that he would open his 
 mouth in blasphemy against God to blaspheme 
 his name, and them that dwell in heaven; and 
 to whom also it was given to make war with 
 the saints, and to overcome them." — Rev. 13: 
 5—7. All who reflect upon the blasphemous 
 
114 daisiel's prophecies. 
 
 titles given to and assumed by the Pope of 
 Rome, mentioned in the last chapter; and the 
 many cruel persecutions carried on against 
 those who would not submit to his spiritual 
 tyranny, cannot but see that the above charac- 
 ter, drawn by both Daniel and John, suits the 
 Pope of Rom.e, and no one else. And to this 
 may be subjoined what is said of this little 
 horn in the 8th verse, ^^that before him three 
 of tlie iirst horns or kingdoms were plucked 
 up by the roots;" and in the 24th verse, that 
 he would '-subdiie thre<3 kings." Now history, 
 civil and ecclesiastic, informs us that three of 
 the original horns or kingdoms came in pro- 
 cess of time under tlse civil jurisdiction of the 
 Pope of Rome. According to Dr. Scott, in his 
 comment on this chapter, these w^ere, "the ex- 
 archate of Ravenna, the kingdom of the Lom- 
 bards, and the state of Rome, and denoted by 
 his wearing the triple crown." 
 
 We would here only remark on this point, 
 that although neitlier of these prophets mention 
 the year when this blasphemous power would 
 arise, they yet agree as to the length of his 
 dominant reign. Daniel says in chapter 7:25, 
 "a time, times, and the dividing of time;" and 
 in chapter 12t7, "a time, times, and a half," or 
 a year, two years, and half of a year; and John 
 says in Rev. 13:5, "forty and two months. Now 
 as the Jewish month consisted of 30 days, the 
 reader will see that the days in three years and 
 a half, and in forty-two months, amount to the 
 same length of time — 1260 days. But in pro- 
 phetic language, a day denotes a year. Thus, 
 
Daniel's prophecies. 115 
 
 in Ezek. 4:4, 5, God said to the prophet, "Lie 
 thou on thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the 
 house of Israel upon it: according to the num- 
 ber of days that thou shalt He upon it, thou 
 shalt bear their iniquity; for I have laid upon 
 thee the years of their iniquity, according to 
 the number of the daysy Hence then it ap- 
 pears, that the dominant reign of this wicked 
 power, when he would arise, was to continue 
 for 1260 years; and which is corroborated by 
 what is said of the witnesses which were to ex- 
 ist during the whole of his reign — "that they 
 should prophesy a thousand two hundred and 
 three-score days in sackcloth." These pro- 
 phetical days or years are, however, to be con- 
 sidered as solar or natural years. And wheth- 
 er the Jews added the remaining five days and 
 odd minutes to their last month, to complete 
 the solar year, or had a thirteenth month ev- 
 ery sixth year, is a point not agreed upon by 
 the learned. But they must have had recourse 
 to some such device, to prevent that error and 
 mistake which would in a short time take place 
 in their computation of time, and the regular 
 observance of their several feasts. 
 
 In the 8th chapter of his prophecy, Daniel 
 ^ells us farther, that he had a vision of "a ram 
 with horns that pushed westward, and north- 
 ward, and southward, so that no beast could 
 stand before him; that he saw at the same time 
 a he-goat that came from the West, and touch- 
 ed not the ground, and had a notable horn be- 
 tween his eyes; that he ran upon the ram in 
 11 
 
116 Daniel's prophecies; 
 
 the fury of his power, smote him, and cast him 
 down to the ground, and trampled upon him; 
 that the he-goat waxed very great; that the 
 great horn was broken, and for it came up four 
 notable horns toward the four winds of heaven; 
 that out of one of them came a httle horn which 
 waxed very great, toward the South, toward 
 the East, and toward the pleasant land ; that he 
 magnified himself even to the prince of the 
 host; and that by him the daily sacrifice was 
 taken aw^ay, and the place of the sanctuary 
 cast down; and it practised and prospered." 
 
 This vision was explained to Daniel thus: 
 The ram with the two horns symbolized the 
 kingdoms of Media and Persia, or the Medo- 
 Persian empire. The he-goat, the Macedo- 
 nian empire erected by Alexander the Great, 
 But what power was meant by "the Httle horn" 
 that came up out of one of the horns or king- 
 doms, into whicji that empire was broken after 
 Alexander's death, is a matter of dispute among 
 interpreters and commentators. Some consider 
 this htde horn as a double representation of the 
 litde horn mentioned in the seventh chapter. 
 But besides a marked difference of features in 
 some parts of their characters as drawn by the 
 prophet, the little horn mentioned in the 7th 
 chapter sprung up acnong the ten horns into 
 which the Western Roman-empire was broken. 
 But this little horn sprung up in the East, and 
 out of one of the four horns into which the 
 empire of Alexander was divided. Hence 
 then, for these and other reasons which we 
 
Daniel's prophecies. 117 
 
 deem unanswerable, we accord with Mr. Faber, 
 that by this Htde horn we are to understand 
 the Mahometan empire or power, the wasting 
 enemy of the churcli in the East, as Popery 
 has been in the West, and which was introduc- 
 ed by John in the Revelation under the sym- 
 bols of the Euphratean horsemen, and the 
 
 FALSE PROPHET. 
 
 The reason why we have noticed this little 
 horn was, not only to show the perfect corres- 
 pondency between the prophecies of Daniel 
 and John, in regard to those beasts which were 
 to waste and wear out the saints, but that there 
 is a number connected with it, the beginning 
 of which, if we can ascertain, will go far in de- 
 termining the rise and final destruction of those 
 enemies of the church of Christ. In the 13th 
 verse of this 8th chapter, Daniel tells us that he 
 heard one saint say to another, — "How long 
 shall this vision be;" and the answer, as it is 
 in our Bibles, was, "until 2300 days," or years. 
 In the Septuagint translation, it is 2100 days; 
 and Mr. Faber tells us from Jerome, that some 
 very ancient copies read 2200. That is, the 
 events of the vision were to commence when 
 the Macedonian he-goat should attack and 
 overcome the Medo-Persian ram; and end, 
 "or the sanctuary," or church of Christ, "be 
 cleansed," at the end of these numbers, which- 
 ever of them is the true reading, or original 
 text. This attack, says Mr. Faber, happened 
 in the year 334 before the birth of Christ, when 
 Alexander the Great attacked and overcame 
 
118 Daniel's prophecies. 
 
 Darius, the emperor of Medo-Persia, in the 
 battle of the Granicus. He has apphed the 
 numbers 2300, and 2400, to that year, and 
 shown that neither of them will at all agree 
 with what history informs us respecting the 
 rise of Mahomet, the one by 100, and the otjier 
 by 200 years; nor , yet with what the inspired 
 prophets tell us in regard to the duration of the 
 dominant reign of his cotemporary, "the Ma^ 
 OF SIN.'' For at whatever time Popery and 
 Mahometanism may have arisen, Jolm tells us 
 that they shall perish together. Hut, as 
 Mr. Faber has shown, if we will add 334 
 606 years since the birth of Christ, 606 
 when, as he supposes, Popery and Ma- 1260 
 
 hometanism arose together, to 334 yrs. 
 
 before his birth; and to these add 1260 2200 
 years, the duration of the dominant 
 reign of the "Man of sin," they will exactly 
 amount to 2200 years, which would seem to 
 be the true reading, and will bring us down to 
 the year 1866, when, as he thinks, both Popery 
 and Mahometanism will be destroyed,— Rev. 
 16:21. 
 
 We think that he is not far wrong in regard 
 to the final destruction of Popery and Mahom- 
 etanism; although we must object to one of his 
 dates, and yet it is not very material. Instead 
 of dating the commencement of the vision of 
 the Mahometan "little horn," in the year 334 
 B. C. he ought, we think, to have dated it in 
 the year 332, when Alexander finally over- 
 threw Darius, the Medo-Persian king, in the 
 
Daniel's prophecies. 119 
 
 battle of Arbela, and put an end to the Persian 
 empire. The dates of events, so long ago, are 
 indeed somewhat uncertain. We accordinglv 
 find some chronologists placing that battle in 
 
 331 B. C. but the current language of histori- 
 ans, that Alexander conquered the Persian 
 empire in less than three years, would seem to 
 place it in 332. The battle of Issus, the sec- 
 ond battle between Alexander and Darius, is 
 said to have been fought in 333 B. C. and from 
 the fiery temper and general character of Alex- 
 ander, it is not probable that he would allow 
 Darius two years at least to recruit his forces. 
 From these considerations, it appears more pro- 
 bable, that the battle of Arbela was fought in 
 
 332 than in 331 B, C. The difference betw^een 
 some chronologists and ourselves is only a year. 
 Then assuming that the year 332 B. C. was the 
 year in which the battle of Arbela was fought, 
 and the Macedonian he-goat ''trampled the 
 Medo-Persian ram under his feet," our own 
 numbers and dates will stand thus: If to 332 
 B. C. we add 533 years, A. D. when 
 
 the Emperor Justinian made the Bishop 332 
 of Rome "head over all the holy church- 533 
 es;" and to these add 1260, the dom- 1260 
 inant reign of "the Man of sin;" and tg 75 
 
 these the 75 years which Daniel men- 
 
 tions in the 12th chapter, as the period 2200 
 between the ceasing of the persecuting 
 reign of "the Man of sin," and the commence- 
 ment of the Millennium — these numbers, when 
 put together, will also exactly amount to 2200 
 11* 
 
120 Daniel's prophecies. 
 
 years; but they bring us down to the year 1868\ 
 as the commencement of tlie Millennial state of 
 the church. 
 
 We have said, in the close of the last chap- 
 ter, that we had not particularly examined the 
 prophecies of Daniel, nor the very material 
 number 2200, when we wrote our remarks on 
 "the Revelation of John;" and were agreeably 
 surprised to find how very nearly, if not ex- 
 actly, that number coincides with the other 
 numbers and dates which we submitted in re- 
 gard to the rise, dominancy, and final fail af 
 '^the Man of sin." The reader will have ob- 
 served, that the difference between Mr. Faber 
 and ourselves, in regard to the above numbers 
 and dates, is this: — That excellent writer, who 
 has shed light on the prophecies, and to whom 
 we are much indebted for whatever knowledge 
 we possess on the subject, places the 75 years, 
 mentioned in the last chapter of Daniel, be- 
 yond, or after the destruction of the combined 
 powers of the dragon, of the beast, and of the 
 false prophet, in the batde of Armageddon, and 
 consequently the Millennium cannot commence 
 until the year 1941, according to his scheme: 
 but we place them between the years 1793 and 
 1868, when, according to our views and scheme, 
 the Millennium will commence. The reason 
 why 75 years were added to the life of the Pa- 
 pal beast, after his power to persecute should 
 be taken away, was, to allow sufficient time for 
 repentance to his adherents, and an opportu- 
 nity to the thoughtful among them to come out 
 
Daniel's PRorHECiEs. 121 
 
 of the mystical Babylon, and flee from the 
 coming wrath. Hence the gracious command, 
 or warning, in Rev. 18:4: "Come out of her, 
 my people, that ye be not partakers in her sins, 
 and that ye receive not of her plagues." But 
 this cannot be said after the battle of Arma- 
 geddon; for the Papal beast will be destroyed 
 at that time. This was also the divine pro- 
 cedure to the Babylonian, Persian, and Mace- 
 donian beasts, after their power to persecute 
 the church of God was taken away. Dan. 
 7:12 — "As for die rest of the beasts, they had 
 their dominion taken away: yet their lives were 
 prolonged for a season and a time." 
 
 A remark here, in regard to the actual rise 
 of the Mahometan "little horn," may be neces- 
 sary to a full view of our scheme of interpreta- 
 tion, and also that the reader may precisely see 
 wherein we differ from Mr. Faber's scheme on 
 that point, and why. Mr. Faber and others 
 date the rise of Mahometanism in 606, be- 
 cause, in that year, Mahomet retired into the 
 cave of Hera, for the purpose, it is supposed, 
 of framing his imposture; and because in that 
 year the Emperor Phocas appointed the Bishop 
 of Rome "universal Bishop." Hence, then, 
 as a part of their scheme of interpretation, 
 Mahometanism and the Papacy were to rise 
 together, to continue the same precise length 
 of time, and to perish together. They were 
 boxh to persecute the church of God for 1260 
 years ; and that they are to perish together, we 
 are expressly told in the 16th chapter of the 
 
122 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. 
 
 Revelation. But it does not follow from that 
 circumstance that they were to continue in their 
 dominant state as persecutors, the same pre- 
 cise length of time; nor is there, we believe, 
 any data in either Daniel or John, whence 
 such an inference can be legitimately drawn — 
 at least we have not seen any such data ad- 
 vanced by those who advocate this scheme of 
 interpretation. 
 
 With respect to Mahomet's retiring into the 
 cave of Hera, it was a private and not a pubhc 
 act. His first public or overt act, as an im- 
 postor, or enemy to the church of Christ, was 
 in the year 608, when he began to preach or 
 publish his imposture, as is acknowledged by 
 Mr. Faber himself. Now if w^e will date Dan- 
 iel's vision of the Mahometan 'little horn,' 
 as commencing in 332 B. C. as we 332 
 think we ought, and add its actual rise 608 
 in 608, and to these add the 1260 years, 1260 
 
 during the greatest part of which he 
 
 was to persecute the church, with "the 2200 
 
 Man of sin," and perish with him, — 
 
 these numbers when put together will also 
 
 amount to Daniel's 2200. And not 
 
 only so, but the year 608 added to the 608 
 
 year 1260, will bring us down to the 1260 
 
 year 1868, the year in which, according 
 
 to our dates and calculations, Mahom- 1868 
 etanism and Popery will perish together, 
 and the Millennium commence. And it is 
 w-orthy of furdier remark, that from the rise of 
 the Papal beast in 533, to the rise of Mahom- 
 
Daniel's prophecies. 123 
 
 etanism in 608, was exactly 75 years, during 
 which time, as ecclesiastical historians tell us, 
 the church became much corrupted by the in- 
 troduction of images, and by a number of su- 
 perstitious ceremonies introduced by the reign- 
 ing Popes. As observed in a former chapter, 
 these things darkened and debased the public 
 mind, and prepared it for the reception of Ma- 
 hometanism, and Mahomet availed himself of 
 the general superstition and corruption, by pub- 
 lishing that his pretended commission from 
 heaven, was to bring men from the worship of 
 images and daemons, or dead me/n, to the wor- 
 ship of one God. These years, however, were 
 doubtless designed by a long-suffering God, as 
 a space for repentance and reformation to the 
 Eastern churches, and that by returning to pure 
 Christianity, as taught in the Scriptures, they 
 might be armed against the approaching im- 
 posture of Mahomet. But, as we are told in 
 Rev. 9:20, which describes the ravages of that 
 imposture, *Hhcy repented not of the works of 
 their hands, that they should not worship dse- 
 mons, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, 
 and stone, and of wood ;" and thus they pre- 
 pared themselves for being led captive by that 
 soul-ruining delusion and desolating scourge. 
 
 The preceding observations prepare the way 
 for a more particular consideration of the 75 
 years mentioned by Daniel in chap. 12:12, and 
 to which we have already alluded. The verse 
 r^ads thus: "Blessed is he that waiteth, and 
 Cometh to the thousand three hundred and 
 
124 Daniel's prophecies. 
 
 five and thirty days," or years. In the 7th 
 verse, the dominant reign of the Papacy is de- 
 declared by a heavenly interpreter, to be "a 
 time, times, and a half;" and which we have 
 shown, more than once, denote 1260 years. 
 The reader will here observe, that the number 
 1335 contains 75 years more than the above 
 number 1260. In the 8th verse, Daniel is re- 
 presented as saying to the heavenly interpreter, 
 "O my Lord, what shall be the end of these 
 things?" From the answer given, and from 
 the circumstance that he had seen in vision, 
 that a "little horn" in the East would persecute 
 the church of God, as well as a ''little horn" 
 in the West, it is plain that he wished to know 
 when the persecution in the East would come 
 to an end, as well as the persecution in the 
 West. The answer is in the 11th verse: — 
 "And from the time that the daily sacrifice 
 shall he taken away, and the abomination that 
 maketh desolate is set up, there shall be a 
 thousand two hundred and ninety days." By 
 recurring to chapter 8:13, the reader will see 
 from the pliraseology — ''the daily sacrifice 
 being taken aivay''^ — that the reference in this 
 verse is to Mahometanism, and not to Popery. 
 He will also see that in this number, 1290, 
 there are 30 years more than in the number 
 1260; or that in 30 years after the persecuting 
 power of Popery is taken away, the persecu- 
 ting power of ]\Iahometanism will be taken 
 away also. And let it be observed, that this 
 divides^^ the 75 years in the number 1335, into 
 
Daniel's prophecies. 125 
 
 two epochs of 30 and 45 years — the 30, when 
 the persecuting power of Mahometanism will 
 end, and the 45, when the blessedness of the 
 Millennium will commence. And now, has 
 any event taken place in the bounds of the an- 
 cient Roman empire, that would justify us in 
 saying that the persecuting power of Mahom- 
 etanism is at an end, and which must have 
 taken place in 1823, or 30 years after the ceas- 
 ing of the persecuting power of ''the Man of 
 sin," in 1793? In that year, says a history of 
 the Greek Revolution which we have read — 
 the author, we think, did not give his name — 
 "the states of Greece, in general congress at 
 Astross, declared themselves independent of 
 the Ottoman Porte, and in their Constitution 
 proclaimed the free exercise of religion to all 
 men." Perhaps it may be said, that that Con- 
 stitution was drawn up and published by the 
 congress that met at Epidaurus in 1822: but 
 that was not a full congress of all the states 
 of Greece: and according to the history re- 
 ferred to, p. 211, the Constitution of Epidau- 
 rus was only "provisional," and not binding, 
 until it received the amendments and ratifica- 
 tion of the congress at Astross. One of the 
 acts of this congress accordingly runs thus: 
 "The Constitution thus revised and ratified^ 
 by the universal consent, shall be immediately 
 promulgated throughout the Confederation." 
 And here it may be necessary to observe, that 
 the Greek revolution, and their declaring them- 
 selves independent of the Ottoman Porte, 
 
126 Daniel's prophecies. 
 
 viewed merely as the effort of a long oppressed 
 nation, to burst the chains of their oppressors, 
 is, of itself, not to be considered of such im- 
 portance, as to occupy a place in the prophe- 
 cies of either Daniel or John. In this respect, 
 it is of no more importance than the many 
 political revolutions that have taken place from 
 time to time, in the bounds of the ancient 
 Roman empire. But it assumes a vastly high 
 importance when viewed as the ordamed mean 
 for rescuing the church of God, in the Greek 
 nation, from the power and persecutions of the 
 Mahometan ''little horn.^' The other great 
 portion of the Greek church, in the Russian 
 dominions, has not been persecuted; nor is it 
 probable that it will, as it is the established re- 
 ligion of the empire. These views and inter- 
 pretations may be deemed fanciful by some, 
 because new, or not adduced heretofore; but 
 they may not be unworthy of serious consid- 
 eration. Indeed, had not the Greek revolution 
 taken place, or if taking place, not taken place 
 the very year it did, we would have consid- 
 ered our scheme of interpretation, however 
 right in some things, defective and wrong; 
 inasmuch as it did not show, nor prove by 
 undisputed historical facts, the fulfilment of the 
 prediction respecting the deliverance of the 
 Greek church from Mahometan persecution^ 
 as recorded in Dan. 12:11. 
 
 True, that church has fallen into much error 
 and superstition; but still she is far from being 
 as corrupt and degenerated as the church of 
 
Daniel's prophecies. 127 
 
 Rome; nor is she like Rome, crimsoned with 
 the blood of the saints ; and it would seem from 
 the report of the missionaries sent to her, that 
 God designs to regenerate her before many 
 years are past. And here we would further 
 observe, that it is the opinion of many learned 
 men, that Mahometanism is not a religious sys- 
 tem radically distinct from Christianity, like the 
 religious systems of Hindostan, China and 
 Japan, but a degenerated Christianity, and not 
 worse, if so bad as Popery.^ If so, may not the 
 -Greek revolution, in 1823, be also the appointed 
 mean, through the instrumentality of Protestant 
 missions, the way being now open, for bring- 
 ing the IMahometans to renounce "the false 
 prophet," and accept of Christ as their prophet, 
 priest, and king. It is not improbable, that 
 some of our readers may not feel prepared to 
 admit the foregoing views and interpretations, 
 because of their novelty; but this, we think, 
 will be admitted — that the coincidence of pro- 
 phetic numbers and dates, with the extraordi- 
 nary events adduced, which have much af- 
 fected the church in the Eastern and Western 
 parts of the ancient empire of Rome, and 
 which have a strong retrospect to those num- 
 bers and dates, is more than usually remarkable. 
 From the whole, this, in brief, is our view of 
 those interesting subjects: The "Man of sin," 
 or Popery, was, by divine permission, to perse- 
 cute the church in the Western part of the 
 
 * The reader will find this subject well discussed in a note of 
 Faber's book, vol. 2, p. 269. 
 
 12 
 
128 Daniel's prophecies. 
 
 Roman empire for 1260 years, when liis per- 
 secuting power should be taken away, but 
 his hfe spared for 75 years longer, for the pur- 
 poses already mentioned; and that the Gospel 
 might be preached to the Gentile nations, as 
 a preparative for the Millennium. The Ma- 
 hometan "little horn" was also, by divine per- 
 mission, to persecute the church in the Eastern 
 part of that empire, for the greatest portion of 
 that period, when his power to persecute would 
 be likewise taken away, but his life prolonged 
 for some final good, for 45 years further, when 
 both shall be finally destroyed in the battle 
 of Armageddon. Whether the interpretation 
 which we have given to the passages in Dan- 
 iel and John, that mention those interesting 
 events, be cor reel ; and whether our applica- 
 tion of past events, to the several predictions, 
 be correct also, is not for us, but for the reader 
 to say. 
 
 But, as 45 of the 75 years alluded to, have 
 expired, it may be asked — what events have 
 taken place during those years, that justify the 
 belief that we are living under their influence, 
 and which are calculated to prepare the way 
 for the Millennial state of the church? We 
 answer — the righteous wrath of God has been 
 poured out on the unrelenting enemies of his 
 church, in the East, and in the West; so as to 
 incapacitate them for persecuting his people for 
 the time to come. The Bible has been sent, 
 and the Gospel preached lo almost every Gen- 
 tile nation under heaven, even to those whom 
 
Daniel's prophecies. J 29 
 
 the prophets call "the Isles of the sea." And 
 with the increasing spirit and efforts of the 
 church, and the blessing of God on those 
 efforts, there is time enough in the next 30 
 years to send the word of truth and of life to 
 the remainder, and to remove every obstacle 
 out of the way for the introduction of the Mil- 
 lenniumc 
 
 As ah'eady observed in the fourth chapter, we 
 have met with some who suppose that the 
 world must be really converted to the christian 
 faith, before the Millennium can commence. 
 This, we think, is a mistake, and leads to wrong 
 views and interpretations of the prophecies re- 
 specting it. As "the Man of sin" had his 
 birth, youth, manhood, old age, and decline, 
 and then death; so, we think, will it be with 
 the Millennium. It will have its birth, youth, 
 manhood, old age, and, we are told in Rev. 
 chap. 20, V. 7 — 9, its decline and end. The 
 Gospel is indeed to be "preached to every 
 creature," or every nation, previous to its com- 
 mencement; but we apprehend that its com- 
 mencement consists in the removal of every 
 earthly power, and of every erroneous religious 
 system, that stands in the way of the reception 
 of the truth in the love of it; and this, we 
 think, will be done by the battle of Armaged- 
 don, mentioned and described in Rev. 16th ch. 
 v. 16 — 21. And when this is done, then, ac- 
 cording to the prophecies, the Spirit's influ- 
 ences will accompany the preached word so 
 powerfully and effectually, that, according to a 
 
130 Daniel's prophecies. 
 
 prophet, "a nation may be said to be born in a 
 day:" — Isa. 66:8. As for Jehovah's ancient 
 people, the Jews, it would seem from the first 
 verse of the last chapter of Daniel, and from 
 other prophecies, that they will not be con- 
 verted "to the faith in Christ," in a body, until 
 about, or after the battle of Armageddon; and 
 that their unparalleled distress at the time, and 
 the divine interposition in their favor, will be 
 one special m^an of their conversion. For it 
 would also seem, that it will be against them^ 
 and probably an army from the Protestant na- 
 tions, that that battle will be fought by the com- 
 bined powers of the dragon, "the Man of sin," 
 and false prophet, and fought in Judea; for 
 Megiddo is a district in Judea, and Armaged- 
 don signifies "the destruction of Megiddo." 
 
 John tells us, in the 16th chapter of the 
 Revelation, that, previous to that battle, "three 
 unclean spirits, like frogs, will come out of the 
 mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of 
 the beast, and out of the mouth of the false 
 prophet, to gather the kings of the Latin earth" 
 to that tremenduous conflict; and it may be 
 asked, who those unclean spirits are, and have 
 they gone forth? To say positively who those 
 unclean spirits are, would be inexcusable rash- 
 ness, as those kings have not been gathered to- 
 gether as yet. But might not those public lec- 
 turers; such as Robert Owen, and Frances 
 Wright, be a part of those filthy, noisy, and 
 loathsome animals, who were to issue from the 
 mouth of the dragon, — the symbol of atheism 
 
Daniel's prophecies. 131 
 
 and infidelity, or deism, as it is politely called 
 by some. Bad as the world has hitherto been, 
 we have not heard nor read of any going fi*om 
 place to place preaching up blank atheism, and 
 the dissolution of highly important moral obli- 
 gations, until within these few years past. — 
 Atheists and deists there were heretofore, but 
 they were restrained, either by a sense of pro- 
 priety, or public opinion, from proclaiming and 
 recommending their monstrously wicked prin- 
 ciples: but as those wholesome restraints are 
 now burst asunder, it would seem that the pro- 
 phecy, of which we are speaking, was now ful- 
 filling. The nefarious order of the Jesuits had 
 been abolished in most of the Catholic coun- 
 tries of Europe, on account of their impious 
 principles and practices; but they have been 
 re-established by Pope Pius VII. and are now- 
 spreading themselves over Europe, and our 
 own country, teaching and inculcating their 
 demoralizing tenets. Mit>ht not these be the 
 frogs that were to issue from the mouth of the 
 beast? What the fanatical followers of the 
 false prophet, Mahomet, are doing, we do not 
 know; but the decrees of the late vSultan to 
 his subjects, not to treat the christians, in his 
 empire, so contemptuously as they have for- 
 merly done, by calling them "Christian dogs," 
 &.C. and his granting to the christians the free 
 exercise of their religion, indicate not only that 
 his power, as a persecutor, was taken away, 
 b«t that a coalition between the false prophet 
 and the beast, is preparing, if not begun. 
 12* 
 
132 Daniel's prophecies. 
 
 Bbt it may be asked, if it is possible for 
 Popery, bad as it is, to form a coalition with 
 atheism, infidelity and Mahometanism ? It has 
 been called "a/z incurable evll,'^ which God 
 purposes to destroy, and not to amend, on ac- 
 count of its idolatry, and the torrents of right- 
 eous blood which it has shed ; and we know 
 not what it will do when it sees its very exist- 
 ence in danger. Whether it will form a league 
 with any of the Pagan nations of the earth — 
 if such will then be — time alone will deter- 
 mine; but it has a sufficient number of atheists 
 and infidels within its pale, and of its own pro- 
 per brood, as will justify the prophecy, and 
 prove its accomplishment. If we are to be- 
 lieve Dr. Priestly, and Blanco White, once a 
 Spanish priest, there is scarcely an ecclesiastic 
 in the church of Rome, and especially its dig- 
 nitaries, but are atheists or infidels at heart. 
 As there is an inveterate "enmity in the seed 
 of the serpent to the seed of the woman;" 
 these, with the Pantheists of Germany, and 
 elsewhere, together with the secret societies of 
 the Illuminati^ Carbonari, (fee. will rush to her 
 standard when unfurled, as the warfare will be 
 against the church of God, which they hate, 
 and his ancient people, the Jews, whom he 
 will then deliver with a high hand and uplifted 
 arm. But all these enemies of Christ, and of 
 his people, will not only be defeated, but utterly 
 destroyed ; and one can scarcely read the ac- 
 count of that dreadful carnage, as depicted in 
 the 14th and 16th chapters of the Revela- 
 
DANIEL^S PROPHECIES. 133 
 
 tiojV, without feeling the blood run cold in his 
 veins: but it will be the execution of righteous 
 judgment. In view of these events, and from 
 "the signs of the times," what should the peo- 
 ple of God do at present? This surely; to do 
 more, and to give more, according to their 
 ability, for the spread of the Gospel by Bible, 
 Missionary, and Sabbath-school societies; and 
 while they do more, and freely give, to pray 
 more frequently, ardently, and believingly, — 
 "Come, Lord Jesus; come quickly." Perhaps 
 we cannot close these expositions more appro- 
 priately, than in the words of Dr. Watts, in his 
 version of part of the 65th Psalm: 
 
 "Let Babel fear, when Zion prays: 
 
 Babel, prepare for long distress, 
 When Zion's God himself arrays 
 
 In terror and in righteousness. 
 
 "With dreadful glory God fulfils, 
 What his afflicted saints request; 
 
 And, with almighty wrath, reveals 
 His love, to give his churches rest. 
 
 "Then shall the flocking nations run 
 To Zion's hill, and own their Lord: 
 
 The rising and the setting sun. 
 
 Shall see the Saviour's name adored." 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE MILLENNIUM, YET TO COME. 
 
 That there is an era of unprecedented pros- 
 perity awaiting the church, is, we think, clearly 
 foretold by the prophets. It will be a time of 
 universal righteousness, purity, and peace. — 
 Then, as predicted by the enraptured Isaiah, 
 "As the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as 
 the garden causeth the things that are sown in 
 it to spring forth, so the Lord God will cause 
 righteousness and praise to spring forth before 
 all nations." Then "shall they go out with joy, 
 and be led forth with peace: the mountains 
 and the hills shall break forth before them into 
 singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap 
 theirhands." And then, "the wolf and the 
 lamb shall feed together; and the lion shall eat 
 straw like the bullock; and dust sliall be the 
 serpent's meat: they shall not hurt nor destroy 
 in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord." — 
 True, the above description is strongly figura- 
 tive; but then it must be admitted that it de- 
 notes an era of unexampled purity, peace and 
 prosperity. 
 
 This era is usually termed the millennium, 
 or a period of 1000 years, because foretold and 
 alluded to by John in Rev. 20:1, 2, as that 
 passage is understood and explained by many: 
 
136 THE MILLENNIUM, ^ 
 
 W 
 
 "And I saw a mighty angel come down from 
 heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, 
 and a great chain in his hand. And he laid 
 hold ON THE DRAGON, that old serpent, which 
 is called the devil and satan, and bound him a 
 thousand years^ and cast him into the bot- 
 tomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal 
 upon him, that he should deceive the nations 
 no more, till the thousand years be expired ; 
 and then he must be loosed a little season." 
 
 We have said that we think that this era is 
 yet to come; but in opposition to this, we have 
 seen "a treatise on the millennium," by 
 the Rev. George Bush, A. M. of New- York, 
 the object of which is, to prove that this era is 
 past; and a few remarks on tliis treatise is the 
 object of this chapter. On page 132, he says, 
 "that though the precise epoch of the com- 
 mencement of that period be difficult to be de- 
 termined, yet we cannot err very widely in 
 fixing it between the years 450 and 600; 
 and in a matter of this nature, to come within 
 a century of the truth may be considered a 
 sufficient approximation for all important pur- 
 poses." And indeed, numbers and dates are 
 but unimportant matters, in Mr. B's. estimation, 
 for explaining the prophecies of "the Reve- 
 lation," and might as well have been omitted. 
 For, on page 254, when speaking of the termi- 
 nation of the Millennium, he says, "it perhaps 
 may be one, two, or three centuries, before the 
 complete consummation of the Millennial pe- 
 riod, that he (satan) began to set his projects 
 
YET TO COME. 137 
 
 on foot." But, passing this by, the question is, 
 what took place in the bounds of the Roman 
 empire — the platform of John's visions — that 
 induced Mr. B. to date the commencement of 
 the Millennium in those years, or in some inter- 
 mediate year? The termination of the "war 
 in heaven," or the church, between Michael 
 and his angels, and the dragon and his angels," 
 or between Christianity and Paganism, men- 
 tioned by John in Rev. 12:7 — 9; the result of 
 which was, "that the dragon was cast out into 
 the earth, and his angels with him." And 
 where did the dragon go, when cast out of the 
 christian part of the Roman empire? Mr. B. 
 tells us, on page 159, '-Ho those hoiindless re- 
 gions ichich stretched away beyond the liin- 
 its of the Koman empire^ particularly to the 
 North and East^ where satan had long estab- 
 lished his throne; ichere he ruled with un- 
 divided sway; and ivhere idolatry^ in its 
 most frightful and horrid forms ^ has ever 
 held a disastrous dominion.'^'' This region, 
 he says, was symbolized by "the bottomless pit," 
 in Rev. 20 ;1 — 3, or, tjiat this passage has refer- 
 ence to the war in heaven, and its conse- 
 quences. But there is a manifest difference 
 between the language and symbols of the two 
 passages. In Rev. 12:7 — 9, it is said that satan 
 and his angels were only "cast out" of Chris- 
 tendom; and, according to Mr. B's own state- 
 ment, permitted to roam, "and rule withfundi- 
 vided sway," among the Pagan nations of the 
 North and East; but, in Rev. 20:1 — 3, he is 
 
138 THE MILLENNIUM!, 
 
 represented as "bound with a chain, shut up in 
 the bottomless pit, and a seal set upon him, 
 that he should deceive the nations no more till 
 the thousand years should be fulfilled.'' And 
 notwithstanding ?dr. B's philological criticisms 
 in p. 156-'59, he has not convinced us that the 
 bottomless pit, or abyss, and the Pagan nations 
 to the North and East of the Roman empire, 
 denote the same place. We believe that "the 
 bottomless pit" is the place which Christ called 
 Hiell^ prepared for the devil and his angels, and 
 where the fire is everlasting:" Mat. 25:41. We 
 believe also, that the two passages relate to two 
 diflferent epochs and eras; the one to the ex- 
 pulsion of Paganism from the Roman empire, 
 and the other, to what shall take place after 
 the battle of Armageddon, mentioned in Rev. 
 16:1G — 21, where the combined forces of the 
 dragon, of the beast, and of the false prophet, 
 will be destroyed, so as not to disturb the 
 church until a thousand years are fulfilled. — 
 And here we would remark , that we under- 
 stand those years as literal, and not prophetic 
 years. For the manner of both Daniel and 
 John, when they wished to tell us that "the 
 Man of sin" would persecute the church for 
 1260 years, was, not to say 1260 years, but 
 1260 prophetic days, or 42 prophetic months, 
 or, "a time, times, and the dividing of time." 
 
 But Mr. Bush tells us, in page 148, that they 
 who contend for a Millennium yet to come, 
 will find "a textual difiiculty of no trifling char- 
 acter," in Rev. 12:12: "Wo to the inhabiters 
 
YET TO COME. - 139 
 
 of the earth, and of the sea! for the devil is 
 come down unto you, having great wrath, be- 
 cause he knoweth that he hath but a short 
 time." He asks, "if the binding of satan was 
 not to take place until near two thousand years 
 after that event, (his being cast out of Christen- 
 dom,) with what propriety could it be said that 
 he knew his "time to be short?" We have al- 
 ready observed, that satan's being "cast out," 
 and his being "bound," have reference to two 
 distinct epochs; the one in the fifth century, 
 and the other after the battle of Armageddon, 
 yet to come. It is to the first of these that the 
 above words refer, and a quotation on ]\Ir. B's. 
 next page, from Gibbon's history of "the de- 
 cline and fall of the Roman empire," might 
 have solved the difficulty to himself Gibbon 
 says, "that so rapid, yet so gentle was the fall 
 of Paganism, that only twenty-eight years after 
 the death of Theodosius, the faint and minute 
 vestiges of Paganism were no longer visible to 
 the eye of the legislator." According to Mr. 
 B's. own dates, "the war in heaven" began in 
 the year 320, and Theodosius died in the year 
 395; and the diflference between these two 
 epochs is only about seventy-five years; a short 
 time surely when compared with the remaining 
 centuries of the christian era. 
 
 We will observe only further on this point, 
 that as Mr. B. commences his Millennium be- 
 tween the years 450 and 600, and as, accord- 
 ing to his scheme, satan was to be bound and 
 shut up in the bottomless pit during that period, 
 13 
 
140 THE MILLEi\AIU3I, 
 
 that he might not deceive the nations as for- 
 merly; then, one would eilpeet that from that 
 time until the middle of the fifteenth century, 
 when it would end, would be a period of su- 
 perior spiritual light and life, and of peace and 
 prosperity in both church and state. But who 
 does not know that the reverse was the fact. 
 It embraced what was justly called '"-the dark 
 ages!!'' during which there was scarcely a vest- 
 ige of civil liberty; and as for religious liberty, 
 "the Man of sin, who opposeth and exalteth 
 himself above all that is called God, as God 
 sat in the temple of God, showing himself that 
 he is God." 2d Thess. 2:3,4. 
 
 And to this may be added, that during that 
 period the Mahometan imposture and delu- 
 sion swept over and desolated the Eastern 
 churches of the Roman empire, and where 
 they prevail until this day, with tiie exception 
 of Greece and her Islands. This, surely, was 
 a state of things very different from that prcr 
 dieted by Isaiah, and which we believe to be 
 the only Scriptural Millennium, and we need 
 scarcely say, yet to come. Indeed, if we were 
 to select an era in wliich satan was permitted 
 "to deceive the nations," with litde or no re- 
 straint, it would be that which Mr. B. has se- 
 lected for his Millennium. But here it may be 
 necessary to observe, in justice to Mr. B. that 
 he a<]miis of a progressive state of purity and 
 prosperity in the church, without interruption, 
 until the end of time; but as to a Millennium, 
 except that which we have been noticing, it is 
 
YET TO COME. 141 
 
 the design of his book to decry and disprove; 
 with what success, the reader will judge. 
 
 A few remarks on the Gog and Magog, 
 mentioned by both Ezekiel and John, will close 
 this chapter. Mr. B. spends a great portion of 
 his fifth chapter in proving that tiie Gog and 
 Magog, mentioned by Ezekiel in the 38th and 
 39th chapters of his prophecies, were the an- 
 cient Scythians or Mogul Tartars, now called 
 the Ottoman Turks, and who invaded and sub- 
 dued the Eastern part of the Roman empire. 
 We admit this as an historical fact, — but what 
 then? As the people or powers who are said 
 m Rev. 20:9, "to compass the camp of the 
 saints, and the beloved city," are called Gog 
 and Magog, Mr, Bush draws the conclusion 
 that the invasions mentioned in Ezekiel &. John, 
 are one and the same, and have reference to 
 the Turkish invasion of the Eastern part of the 
 Roman empire in the twelfth century, and con- 
 sequently that the Millennium is past, and not 
 to come. But there are some circumstances 
 mentioned by both prophets, which convince 
 us, that the invasions of which they speak, was 
 not the invasion of the Ottoman Turks, on the 
 Eastern part of the Roman empire, but an in- 
 vasion yet to come, and alluded to by John in 
 Rev. 16:17—21. 
 
 1st. The land invaded is described by Eze- 
 kiel, 38:8, as a "land brought back from the 
 sword," and expressly called "the mountains 
 of Israel ;" and the people are represented as 
 "a people gathered out of many people." We 
 
142 THE MILLENNIU3I, 
 
 need scarcely say that this description is utterly 
 inapplicable to the Jews in the twelfth century; 
 but applicable to them when they shall be col- 
 lected from the nations where they are now 
 dispersed, and restored to their own land, as is 
 predicted by Isaiah in chap. 49:22; 60:8 — 11; 
 66:20 — 24, and in various other places. And 
 not only is this the case, but the people inva- 
 ded by Gog and Magog are expressly called in 
 Ezek. 38:16, ''Jehovah's people of Israel." — 
 Mr. B's. attempt in page 232 to prove, that by 
 God's "people of Israel" in this place, we are 
 to understand the Eastern christians of tlie Ro- 
 man empire, is somewhat surprising; for the 
 Mahometan mosque had taken the place of the 
 christian church, under the Saracens, for five 
 or six centuries prior to the Turkish invasion. 
 And to this may be added, that the Turkish in- 
 vasion was completely successful. They not 
 only subjugated the Eastern part of the Ro- 
 man empire, but they hold possession of it 
 until this day; whereas Gog and Magog, or the 
 prince and the host, are represented by Eze- 
 kiel, chap. 39:9 — 16, as utterly cut off and de- 
 stroyed by the invaded, or rather by the hand 
 of Jehovah himself. It is said that their 
 weapons of war will supply "the cities of Is- 
 rael with fuel for seven years, and that it will 
 take them seven months to bury the slain." 
 Now, no event has taken place in Christendom, 
 nor is there any prophecy in the New Testa- 
 ment to which the above can be applied, but 
 the 16th chapter of the Rjevelatjon, where 
 
YET TO COME. 143 
 
 we are told of a similar destruction of the com- 
 bined forces of the dragon, of the beast, and of 
 the false prophet — or oflnfidehty, Popery, and 
 Mahometanism, in the battle of Armageddon, 
 and which, it would seem, is to be fought 
 against the restored Jews in the land of Judea, 
 As the "false prophet," or the Mahometan 
 Turks, are to be a party, and perhaps the insti- 
 gators and leaders in this invasion, it may 
 therefore have been called that of Gog and 
 Magog. And as the Tartars have ever been a 
 restless and warlike people, it may also be that 
 the insurrection against the church, at the end 
 of the Millennium, may begin with that people, 
 and hence the whole confederacy be called 
 Gog and Magog. Rev. 20:7—9. 
 
 2d. The manner in which the invading ar- 
 mies of the two Gogs, the one before and the 
 other after the Millennium, are to be destroyed, 
 shows that they did not symbolize the Turks, 
 who subjugated the Eastern part of the Ro- 
 man empire, and erected the Turkish empire 
 on its ruins. That it is to this last empire that 
 Daniel alludes, in chap. 8:25, of his Prophecy, 
 we have shown in the 6th chapter of this book. 
 And, as it regards its final dissolution, the pro- 
 phet tells us "that it will be broken without 
 hand," or not subverted by any external force 
 or foe, but fall to pieces by its own internal fee- 
 bleness. And on page 242, Mr. B. says, that 
 "the doom of the i^Ioslem dominion is not to be 
 executed by a sudden blow, but by a gradual 
 process, like the drying up of the mystical 
 13* 
 
144 THE MILLENNIUM^y. 
 
 Euphrates,'''' We presume that in this he al- 
 ludes to the pouring out of the sixth vial, in 
 Rev. 16:12, and which many apply to the dis- 
 solution of the Turkish empire; and who does 
 not know that this is its present aspect and 
 state, evaporating like water under the beams 
 of the sun. But how now are the Gogs and 
 Magogs of Ezekiel and John to be destroyed? 
 By fire, the symbol of sudden and complete 
 destruction; and by fire sent down by God 
 from heaven. In chap. 38:'22, Ezekiel intro- 
 duces Jehovah as saying — ^'I will rain upon 
 him, (Gog,) and upon his bands, great hail- 
 stones, and fire and brimstone." The reader 
 will see the perfect correspondence between 
 this threatening and what is said in Revelation 
 16:18 — 21, respecting the destruction of the 
 combined forces of the dragon, of the beast, 
 and of the false propliet: "And there were 
 voices, and thunderings, and lightnings; and 
 there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, 
 every stone about the weight of a talent." 
 And as to the Gog and Maooor mentioned in 
 chapter 20:9, John says — "And fire came 
 down from God out of heaven, and destroyed 
 them." And yet, notwithstanding this, Mr. B. 
 says on page 340, '*that the import of the above 
 declarations is, that the besieging power should 
 be wasted away in the progress of time by a 
 succession of calamitous events." He might 
 as well have said that the fire which came 
 down from heaven, as recorded in 2d Kings, 
 1:10, and which consumed the two captains 
 
YET TO COME. 145 
 
 and their fifty men, sent to apprehend the pro- 
 phet Ehjah, imported only that they died by a 
 slow, lingering disease. And he might as well 
 have said that the shower of fire and brim- 
 stone, which the Lord rained out of heaven on 
 the very guilty inhabitants of Sodom and Go- 
 morrah, imported only that they died by a 
 slow, gradual consumption. We think that it 
 may be said at least, that the scheme of inter- 
 preting the prophecies is to be suspected, that 
 compels a man to disregard all prophetic num- 
 bers and dates, and to give the same meaning 
 to symbols of an opposite character. 
 
 There are two or three other arguments ad- 
 vanced by Mr. Bush, in support of his scheme 
 of the Millennium, which we designed to have 
 noticed, if space admitted; but as they are of 
 minor importance, and but in a small degree 
 connected with the preceding inquiry, we will 
 therefore pass them by at present; and from 
 what has been advanced on both sides, the 
 reader may perhaps be prepared to decide for 
 himself, whether the Millennial era, predicted 
 by the prophets, is past, or yet to come. 
 
^ 
 
 CHAPTER VIIL 
 
 THE MILLENNIUM. 
 
 Having proved, as we tliink, in the last 
 chapter, that the Millennium foretold by the 
 Old Testament prophets is yet to come, our 
 object in this is, to inquire if it is foretold by 
 the New Testament prophets also, and if so, 
 where? There have been divines of no incon- 
 siderable eminence, who have understood the 
 21st, and the five first verses of the 22d chap- 
 ter of the Revelation, as referring to, and de- 
 scriptive of, that blessed event; while others, of 
 no less eminence, are of the opinion that those 
 chapters refer to the kingdom of glory only; 
 and among these we find Dr. Scott and Dr. 
 Guyse. 
 
 Dr. Scott's opinion is founded, in the first 
 place, on the circumstance, that those chapters 
 follow an account of the general judgment; 
 and therefore, that all that follows, must have 
 reference to a future state. He observes, that 
 the Prophecies of Daniel and John follow each 
 other in a regular chronological order; "and 
 that we can never attain to a satisfactory un- 
 derstanding of prophecy, if imagination or con- 
 jecture be allowed to carry us backward or 
 forward, without any fixed principles," Dr. 
 
148 THE MILLENNIUM. 
 
 Scott's argument on this point will prove too 
 much; for Daniel in his Prophecies, 7:9, 10, 
 introduces the general judgment, and yet after- 
 wards he introduced and described the bold 
 and impious doings of " the little honi,^^ men- 
 tioned in the 8th verse. The Prophecies of 
 Daniel and John do indeed follow each other 
 in regular chronological order; but there is no 
 violation of that order, should a prophet, after 
 describing a series of prophetical agents, go 
 back for the purpose of introducing and de- 
 scribing other agents or events connected with 
 them, and which he had but barely mentioned 
 before; and this John certainly did at the 12th 
 chapter, as is admitted by Dr. Scott. This, it 
 would seem to us, was the design of both pro- 
 phets in introducing the general judgment in 
 the places alluded to; the one in Dan. 7:9, 10, 
 and the other in Rev. 20:11 — 14. They had 
 both previously introduced and described the 
 four great universal monarchies, under appro- 
 priate symbols, and then to inform us, that no 
 other earthly universal monarchy would be 
 erected in our world, Daniel tells us in chap. 
 7:18, " that the saints of the Most High would 
 take the kingdom," and, as John says, reign for 
 a thousand years, when this world would come 
 to an end, and the general judgment ensue. 
 Hence then, as it would seem, Daniel, after his 
 account of the general judgment, proceeds to 
 develope the character and conduct of " the 
 little horn,^^ and which he had but barely 
 mentioned in the 8th verse of the 7th chapter. 
 
THE MILLENNIUM. 149 
 
 And hence John also, after an account of the 
 general judgment, proceeds to describe the 
 Millennial church under the symbol of "the 
 Lamb's wife," and which he had but just men- 
 tioned in the 7th and 8th verses of the 19th 
 chapter. But be that as it may, Daniel neu- 
 tralizes the argument founded on the supposed 
 chronolosical order of John. 
 
 But the respectable expositors alluded to, 
 with some others, defend their scheme of inter- 
 pretation, not only by the above argument, but 
 also from tlie contents of those chapters: — 
 these we will now examine with as much mi- 
 nuteness as our intended brevity will admit. 
 
 The !2ist chapter is thus introduced: — "And 
 I saw a new heaven, and a new earth; for the 
 first heaven and the. first earth were passed 
 away; and there was no more sea. And I 
 John saw New Jerusalem coming down from 
 God, out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorn- 
 ed for her husband. And I heard a great voice 
 out of heaven, saying. Behold, the tabernacle 
 of God is with men, and he will dwell with 
 them, and tliey shall be his people, and God 
 himself will be with tliem, and be their God. 
 And God will wipe away all tears from their 
 eyes, and there shall be no more deaths neither 
 sorrow nor crying; neither shall there be any 
 more pain; for the former things are passed 
 away:" verses 1 — 4. 
 
 As has been already observed, the respecta- 
 ble expositors which we have mentioned, un- 
 derstand this chapter as descriptive of the king- 
 
150 
 
 THE MILLENNIUM. 
 
 dom of heaven, or of glory, and accordingly 
 they understand the words heaven, earth, sea, 
 and death, in a Hteral sense. But others, in 
 accordance with the diction of the prophetical 
 chapters, view these words as symholical, and 
 by heaven, they accordingly understand the 
 church; by er/H/f, an universal monarchy; by 
 sea, a nation in a state of revolution; and by 
 death, not natural, but moral death, or "a 
 death in trespasses and sins:" Eph. 2:1. And 
 we have shown, in the beginning of the first 
 chapter, that tliese words are to be so under- 
 stood in various parts of the Scriptures, and 
 especially in the writings of the prophets. 
 
 But to come to the point and proof of what we 
 have in view: The prophet Isaiah, 65:17,18, 
 introduces Jehovah as saying — ^-Behold, I cre- 
 ate a new heaven, and a new earth, and the 
 former shall not be remembered, nor come into 
 mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that 
 which I create; for behold I create Jerusalem 
 a rejoicing, and her people a joy." It will be 
 admitted that these words of Isaiah are as 
 strong as those of John; and it is moreover 
 manifest, that John borrowed his diction, or 
 mode of expression, from Isaiah. Dr. Scott 
 admits, in his comment on Isaiah's description 
 of the new heaven and the now earth, that they 
 belong to the church here below; and we think 
 to that state of it called the 31ilifnniym,and of 
 which, more hereafter. His interpretation is 
 this: "By the new-creating power of God, the 
 circumstances of the church, and the charac- 
 
THE MILLENNIUM. 151 
 
 ter of men, will be so altered, that it will ap- 
 pear a new world ; so that the former confu- 
 sions, iniquities and miseries of the human 
 race shall be no more remembered or renewed. 
 The servants of God are therefore command- 
 ed to rejoice in this new state of things; for he 
 would make Jerusalem and her inhabitants 
 joyful, and a joy to all around them. Jerusa- 
 lem was a symbol or type of the church, and 
 why it is ci .led "New Jerusalem," is sufficiently 
 obvious from the above comment of Dr. Scott. 
 So far then as we have conducted our inquiry, 
 nothing has appeared decisive, that the 21st 
 chapter of the Revelation is a description of 
 the kingdom of glory; but something, we think, 
 that is a description of the church militant in 
 a state yet to come. See also Isa. 66:22. 
 
 Again: The above excellent divines, and 
 others, allege that the description of the New 
 Jerusalem, from the 9th to the 24th verse, is so 
 magnificent and glorious, as cannot comport 
 with any glory appertaining to the church mil- 
 itant even in her millennial state, and is there- 
 fore only applicable to the church triumphant 
 in heaven. For instance, this city is described 
 in verses 11, 12, "as having the glory of God; 
 and her light like a stone most precious, even 
 like a jasper stone, clear as crystal ; and a wall 
 great and high." But the prophet Zechariah, 
 2 : 5, introduces Jehovah as saying to his 
 church, — "I will be unto her a wall of fire 
 round about, and a glory in the midst of her." 
 And in Isa. 60:18, Jehovah also says, "Vio- 
 14 
 
152 THE MILLENNIUM. 
 
 lence shall no more be heard in thj land, nor 
 destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt 
 call thy walls salvation, and thy gates praise." — 
 '^The walls of this city had twelve foundations, 
 and in them the names of the twelve Apostles 
 of the Lamb." But this is equalled, if not ex- 
 ceeded, in the description given of the churcli 
 militant by Paul, in Eph. 2; 19— 22: "Now, 
 therefore, ye are no more strangers and for- 
 eigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and 
 of the household of God; and are built upon 
 the foundation of the apostles and prophets, 
 Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner- 
 stone; in whom all the building filly framed to- 
 gether, groweth unto an holy temple in the 
 Lord." — "The foundations of the walls of this 
 city were garnished with all manner of pre- 
 cious stones, — jasper, chalcedony, sapphire, 
 emerald, sardonyx, sardius," <fec. Now, what- 
 ever these precious stones symbolized, the pro- 
 phet Isaiah, in chap. 54:11, 12, represents the 
 church here as no less garnished, even in her 
 greatest afflictions: "O thou afflicted, tossed 
 with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I 
 will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy 
 foundations with sapphires. And I will make 
 thy windows of agates, and thy gates of car- 
 buncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones." 
 These stones were of different colors; and it 
 would seem, from 1 Pet. 2:5, symbolized the 
 gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit, and which 
 Paul tells us in Rom. 12:6, "were different, ac- 
 cording to the grace given unto us."— "Ye also, 
 
THE MILLENNIUM. 153 
 
 as lively (or living) stones, are built up a spi- 
 ritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up 
 spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus 
 Christ."* — The wall of this city had twelve 
 gates, and the twelve gates w^ere twelve pearls: 
 every several gate was one pearl." Now, al- 
 though Isaiah does not say how many gates 
 are in the church militant, yet he says, in the 
 passage lately quoted, that her gates are "car- 
 buncles," and which Brown, in his Dictionary 
 of the Bible, describes as ''a very elegant jewel, 
 of a deep red, mingled with scarlet, and second 
 in value to the diamond." It is not our object 
 or design, to point out what we suppose to be 
 the literal meaning of all the symbols in this 
 chapter; but we would here observe, that 
 doubtless these gates symbolized the Lord Je- 
 sus Christ, in his different offices and relations 
 to his church, and through whom there is ac- 
 cess, from East, West, North and South, to the 
 Father here, and to glory and bliss hereafter." 
 
 * We present the curious reader with a note of the judicious Dr. 
 Guyse, on this place, respecting the color of the different stones 
 mentioned by Johrii "I cannot pretend to determine what, or 
 whether any thing particularly, was signified by the variety of these 
 precious stones. But as far as I can learn, from the best accounts 
 I have met with, of these stones themselves, the jasper is a stone of 
 several colors, the most excellent of which is green, spotted with 
 red or purple; the sapphire is of a sky-colored blue, transparent, 
 and very hard; the chalcedony is of a shining grey, clouded with 
 yellow, or purple, or blue; the emerald is of an exceeding fine 
 green; the sardonyx is of pale red; the sardius is like, if not the 
 same, as the cornelian stone, of a blood color; the chrysolite is green, 
 with a shade of yellow; the beryl is a pale green; the topaz is of 
 a gold color, transparent and hard; the chrysophrastus is of a yel- 
 lowish green; the jacinth is of a violet or purple color; the ame- 
 thyst is of a color resembling the jacinth; and the pearl is a round, 
 white, shining substance, and is eoraraonly bred in a shelLiish," 
 
151 THE MILLEIVNIUM. 
 
 ^'Twelve angels were at the twelve gates, and 
 names written thereon, which are the names of 
 the twelve tribes of the children of Israel." 
 The word angel signifies a messenger, and is 
 frequently used in the Scriptures, to denote 
 those pure and exalted spirits who surround the 
 throne of God on high, "and sent forth to be 
 ministers for them who shall be the heirs of 
 salvation." The interpreters, who understand 
 the passage which we are now examining, as 
 descriptive of the kingdom of glory, understand 
 the word in this sense, and that the angels are 
 stationed at the gates of the New Jerusalem,- 
 for the purpose of receiving those who have a 
 right to enter therein. But the word is used 
 seven times in the 2d and 3d chapters of the 
 Revelation, to denote the pastors of particu- 
 lar churches, part of whose office it is to admit 
 to the privileges of "the city of God," or of the 
 church, all who apply for admission, and are 
 deemed worthy of those privileges. And the 
 Psalmist, in the 19th verse of the 118th Psalm, 
 tells us that righteousness, or an interest in the 
 Redeemer's righteousness, received by faith, 
 and a righteous or renewed heart, is the gate 
 of entrance, as it regards ourselves, or the qual- 
 ification for admission; but then, this ultimately 
 leads up to Christ as "the author and finisher 
 of faith," and "the pearl of great price." — 
 "Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will 
 go in to them: this is the gate of the Lord, into 
 which the righteous shall Winter." As for its 
 being said that there are twelve angels at the 
 
THE MILLENNIUM. 155 
 
 gates of the New Jerusalem, we are told, in 
 the 14th verse, that this has reference to the 
 twelve apostles, as the instrumental founders of 
 the christian church. And as for its being also 
 said, that the names of the twelve tribes of Is- 
 rael were written on these gates;" this, we 
 think, has reference to the future conversion of 
 the Jews to the faith of Christ, foretold by 
 many of the prophets, and by Isaiah particu- 
 larly, in the 35th chapter of his Prophecy, and 
 10th verse: "And the ransomed of the Lord 
 shall return, and come to Zion with songs, and 
 everlasting joy on their heads; they shall obtain 
 joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall 
 flee away." This promise is not applicable to 
 the return of the Jews from the captivity at 
 Babylon; for they returned in distressing cir- 
 cumstances, and have seen many sorrowful 
 days and years since that time. It is now left 
 with the reader to say which of the two inter- 
 pretations, respecting the twelve angels which 
 were stationed at the gates of the New Jeru- 
 salem, is most accordant with the other parts 
 of the chapter, and which is admitted on both 
 sides to be highly symbolical, with an exception, 
 which will be noticed in the proper place. — 
 "The gates of the New Jerusalem were not 
 &hut at all by day." So it is said of the gates 
 of the church militant; and we think, with a 
 special reference to the Millennium. "Thy 
 gates shall be open continually; they shall not 
 be shut day nor night; that men may bring 
 unto thee tjie forces of the Gentiles, and that 
 14* 
 
l56 THE MILLENNIU]«f, 
 
 kings may be brought:" Isa. 60:11. — "Was an 
 angel employed to measure this city, for the 
 purpose of showing its dimensions and com- 
 plete proportions — -a cube of 1200 furlongs, or 
 1500 miles on each side— so was the church 
 militant measured in Ezekiel's visions, as we 
 are told in the 40th chapter; and so was the 
 true church measured in John's visions, as 
 he tells us in Rev. 11:1. — "The city itself was 
 of pure gold, like unto clear glass." We have 
 already observed that the true church, or the 
 believing portion of it, is called the city of God, 
 "There is a river, the streams whereof shall 
 make glad the city of God, the holy place of 
 the tabernacle of the Most High:" Psalm 46:4. 
 In the preceding Psalm, 1st verse, Christ is ex- 
 hibited as a King; and in the 19th verse, the 
 true church is introduced as his Queen, stand- 
 ing at his right hand, "dressed in gold of 
 Ophir;" and the apostle Peter, in 1st Eph. 1:7, 
 tells us what this gold symbolized r "That the 
 trial of your faith being much more precious 
 than that of gold that perisheth, though it be 
 tried with the fire, might be found unto praise 
 and honor and glory at the appearing of Christ." 
 A faith in Christ then, that withstands trials 
 and temptations, is this gold ; and this accords 
 with what Jehovah himself says of his ancient 
 people, the Jews, who will constitute a promi- 
 nent part of the Millennial church, in Zech. 
 13:9: "And I will bring the third part through 
 the fire, and refine them as silver is refined, 
 and try them as gold is tried: they will call on 
 
THE MILLENNIUM. 157 
 
 my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is 
 my people; and they shall say, The Lord is my 
 God." And here we would observe, that this 
 faith is peculiar to the church militant, and not 
 to the church triumphant, where faith is merged 
 in vision, and love in fruition. 
 
 Thus, as we have seen, there is not any 
 thing, however grand or glorious, that is said 
 of the New Jerusalem, that is not applicable, 
 and applied to the church militant, cither in 
 her former, or present, or future Millennial 
 state. But it may be said, that John tells us 
 in the 22d verse, " that he saw no temple in 
 the New Jerusalem; for the Lord God Al- 
 mighty, and the Lamb, are the temple of it." 
 And Dr. Scott remarks on this verse, "that the 
 temple was essential to the literal Jerusalem, 
 as its greatest ornament and honor; and it 
 made a prominent part of Ezekiel's vision of 
 the church during the Millennium, under the 
 emblem of the holy city." There is not, in 
 our apprehension, any irreconcilable difference 
 between Ezekiel and Jolm. Ezekiel's object 
 was, to present to our view the perfect order of 
 the Millennial church, and the pure worship 
 that would be rendered to God during that 
 period, under symbols which cannot be clearly 
 deciphered now, but doubtless will be clearly 
 understood in that dispensation of superior 
 light and holiness. And John's object, we 
 think, was to inform us, that no literal temple 
 will be erected by the converted Jews for the 
 worship of Jehovah; but, as Christ told the 
 
158 THE MILLENNIUM. 
 
 woman of Samaria, "the true worshipers will 
 worship the Father in spirit and in truth," in 
 all regions of the earth. Thus the Lord God 
 
 CD 
 
 Almighty and the Lamb are the temple, or the 
 immediate objects of worship; or, in other 
 words, the Father will be approached imme- 
 diately through the Son as the Mediator, and 
 not through the intervention of Jewish sacri- 
 fices, and without any reference to the circum- 
 stance that Jehovah once dwelt by what was 
 called the Shekinah^ in the holy of holies of 
 the temple built by the wnse King of Israel. 
 Perhaps the above words were designed to in- 
 form us, that there will be no worship of saints 
 or angels in tiie Millennial church. 
 
 But it is said in the 23d verse, "that this 
 city had no need of the sun, nor of the moon 
 to shine in it; for the glory of God enlightens, 
 it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." There 
 is a similar passage in Isa. 60:19; and as the 
 reader will see, John has again borrowed the 
 language and imagery of Isaiah: "The sun 
 shall be no more thy light by day; neither for 
 brightness shall the moon give light unto thee; 
 but the Lord shall be unto diee an everlasting 
 light, and thy God thy glory." It is evident 
 from the two next verses, that Isaiah has 
 reference to the church in this world; and 
 from the similarity of both passages, it would 
 seem that they refer to the same time and state 
 of the church; and the question now is, what 
 is that time and state? We know of no other 
 answer, than that they refer to her Millennial 
 
THE MILLENNIUM. 159 
 
 state, when, as foretold by Isaiah , 30:26, "the 
 light of the moon shall be as the light of the 
 sun, and the light of the sun sevenfold, as the 
 light of seven days, in the day that the Lord 
 bindeth up the breach of his people, and heal- 
 eth the stroke of their wound." Not that any 
 new revelation of the will and mind of God to 
 men, will be given to the Millennial church, for 
 we have all that God designed to give; but the 
 Spirit of light will then so shine into the un- 
 derstandings and hearts of men, that many 
 passages of that revelation, which are but dimly 
 seen at present, will be clearly seen in their 
 true meaning, and the divine force of the 
 whole, felt in such a manner as has not yet 
 been felt. Jehovah's revealing and bestowing 
 enlightening and purifying grace on guilty and 
 undeserving man, is his greatest glory; and 
 from his bestowing such a degree of grace on 
 the Millennial church, as is mentioned in the 
 passage last quoted, it may and will be said that 
 the glory of God enlightens her, and that the 
 Lamb, through whom this grace is conveyed, 
 "is the light thereof." 
 
 As for Isaiah's saying that the sun should 
 no more enlighten, nor the moon, for bright- 
 ness, give light to the church, we understand 
 him as alluding to the moral or spiritual light 
 of the christian and Jewish dispensations of 
 grace, symbolized by the sun and moon, to be 
 exceeded "sevenfold" by that of the Millen- 
 nium. Nor is this the only place where these 
 dispensations are so symbolized. It is the 
 
160 THE MILLENNIUM. 
 
 church, we think, that is thus addressed in 
 Song 6:10: "Who is she that looketh forth as 
 the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, 
 and terrible as an army with banners?" Look- 
 ing fortli as the dawning morning, in the patri- 
 archal age; fair and resplendent as the moon, 
 in the Mosaic economy; clear as the sun in the 
 present dispensation and day; and terrible as an 
 army with banners, in respect to the greatness 
 and extent of her spiritual conquests, in her 
 Millennial state; ''destroying the works of the 
 devil," and sweetly constraining the nations to 
 bow to the sceptre of grace, and "the obe- 
 dience of fiiith." If this is not the meaning of 
 the above passages, we cannot conceive of any 
 other. Isaiah could not have reference to the 
 literal sun and moon of our world; for they 
 will continue not only during the Millennium^ 
 but to the end of time. 
 
 From not being aware that in the prophet- 
 ical writings, the sun and moon symbolized the 
 christian and Jewish dispensations of grace, 
 for some years we considered Rev. !2I:'23, as 
 a decisive proof that the chapter, of which it 
 is a part, was descriptive of the glory and hap- 
 piness of heaven. But a more close examina- 
 tion of the purport and meaning of the pro« 
 phetical symbols; the explanation given to the 
 verses which immediately follow, by Scott, 
 Guyse, and some other commentators and ex- 
 positors, led us to doubt, and finally to prefer 
 the opinion of those who think them descrip- 
 tive of the Millennial era of the church. The 
 
THE MILLENNIUM. 161 
 
 verses alluded to are these: "And the nations 
 of them that are saved^ shall walk in the light 
 of it, and the kings of the earth do hring their 
 glory into it. And the gates of it shall not be 
 shut by day; for there is no night there. And 
 they shall bring the glory and honor of the na- 
 tions into it." That portion of these verses that 
 relate to the nations and kings of the earth, is in 
 our opinion literal, and the remainder symbol- 
 ical; and to introduce something literal, in the 
 midst of what is symbolical, for the purpose of 
 shedding light on what went before, is not un- 
 common in the prophetical writings: see Rev. 
 6:0, and the verse immediately following those 
 now adduced. Dr. i^cott interprets these verses 
 thus: ''The inhabitants of this city will not 
 only be numerous above those of other cities, 
 but nations, many nations of those whom Je- 
 sus hath saved, will dwell in it, and walk in the 
 light of God and the Lamb, perpetually and 
 eternally. If all the kings of the earth had 
 concurred to bring the whole of their wealth, 
 magnificence and glory into one place, it could 
 not have borne any comparison with this holy 
 city." The exposition of Dr. Guyse is to the 
 same purport and amount. How these exposi- 
 tions may appear to others, we do not know, 
 but to ourselves they are not satisfactory; for 
 there is no comparison in the above verses be- 
 tween the population of one city and another, nor 
 of the wealth and glory of one king or kingdom 
 with another; but a plain, positive affirmation, 
 that the kings and nations which shall be saved 
 
162 THE MILLENNIUM. 
 
 from the slaughter at Armageddon, as we think, 
 and which will immediately precede the Mil- 
 lennium, — that these nations, and their kings, 
 will see the dawn of that happy era, and bring 
 their wealth and influence into the New Jeru- 
 salem; and will be a fulfilment of the prophecy 
 and promise, in Isa. 49:23, "that kings will be 
 nursing fathers, and their queens nursing moth- 
 ers to the church." And, as is not unusual with 
 the prophets, John represents it, though future, 
 as then present, for the purpose of impressing 
 the certainty of the fulfilment more deeply on 
 the mind of the reader. As for the expression 
 in the 25th verse, that there will be no night in 
 the New Jerusalem, we consider it the symbol 
 of moral darkness, as it is in Rom. 13:12: 
 "TAe night is far spent; the day is at hand ; let 
 us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and 
 let us put on the armor of light." 
 
 But, besides this, the manner in which the 
 holy city appeared to John, as recorded in the 
 2d and 3d verses of this chapter, implies, in our 
 apprehension, that it was to reside here below, 
 and was coiisequently not the symbol of the 
 habitation of the blessed in heaven. He saw 
 it coming down from God out of heaven; and 
 at the same time heard a great voice out of 
 heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God 
 is with meny Now, this is not a stronger, but 
 an expression similar to that of Solomon at the 
 dedication of the temple: "But will God in very 
 deed dwell with men on the earth?" and refers 
 io the same place, this world, and to the same 
 
THE MILLENNIUM. 163 
 
 manner of divine residence, by the enlightening 
 influences of the Holy Spirit. When John 
 had a vision of those who had "washed their 
 robes and made them white in the blood of the 
 Lamb," as recorded in the 7th chapter, the 
 scene is laid in heaven, or the habitations of 
 the just, where are "the Lamb, and the angels, 
 and the elders, and the four living creatures:" 
 but he saw the New Jerusalem descending from 
 heaven to earth, and as it would seem, for the 
 purpose of abiding there. And it is expressly 
 called a tabernacle, in allusion to Jehovah's re- 
 siding, in a certain sense and manner, in the 
 tabernacle of the Jewish church in the wilder- 
 ness. And we do not know that the church 
 triumphant is any where, in the Scriptures, 
 held out to our view under the symbol of a 
 tabernacle; but the church militant is repeat- 
 edly so exhibited, as in the 15th, 46th and 61st 
 Psalms. Besides, the dwellers or worshipers 
 in this tabernacle, are represented in the 6th 
 verse, as in an imperfect state of sanctification: 
 "And I will give unto him that is athirst^ of the 
 fountain of the water of life freely." But those 
 whom John saw before the throne, and before 
 the Lamb, "neither hunger any more, nor thirst 
 any more; for the Lamb shall feed them, and 
 lead them unto living fountains of water," 
 where they drink so, as not to thirst, as they did 
 in this world. 
 
 And yet this is not all: The vision and 
 scene of the New Jerusalem is continued to 
 the 6th verse of the 22d, and last chapter of 
 15 
 
164 THE MILLENNIUM. 
 
 the Revelation. In the 1st and 2d verses of 
 the chapter, John says "that he saw a pure 
 river of the water of life proceeding out of the 
 throne of God, and of the Lamb. In the midst 
 of the street of it, and on either side of the 
 river, was there the tree of life, which bare 
 twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit 
 every month ; and the leaves of the tree were 
 for the healhig of the nations." That this 
 river of the water of life is the same, and ha^ 
 reference to the same time and state of the 
 church, with that which Ezekiel saw, recorded 
 in the 47th chapter of his Prophecies, and 
 which issued from the sanctuary of the house 
 or temple which he had been describing, is 
 evident from the circumstances, that in Eze- 
 kiel's vision, " trees were also on either side 
 of the river, and bare their fruits every month." 
 It is equally evident, that John also borrowed 
 his diction from Ezekiel; and let it be remem- 
 bered, that it is admitted on both sides that 
 EzekiePs vision had reference to the church 
 militant, and not to the church triumphant. It 
 is also admitted, that the water of life, in both 
 John-s and EzekiePs visions, was symbolical 
 of the vivifying and purifying influences of the 
 Holy Spirit. These waters, in respect to their 
 different depths, at different distances, doubt- 
 less symbolized something which, if ascer- 
 tained, might shed some light on the subject 
 which we are discussing. At the distance of a 
 thousand cubits from where they issued, Eze- 
 kiel tells US, that as he passed through them. 
 
THE MILLENNIU3I. 165 
 
 "the waters were to the ankles:" verse 3d. 
 Now may there not be, in this circumstance, a 
 symbolical allusion to the very limited degree 
 of spiritual life and light in the Patriarchal age 
 of the church? At the distance of a thousand 
 cubits from this, " the waters reached to the 
 knees:" verse 4. And may there not be in this 
 an allusion to the greater degree of spiritual 
 life in the Mosaic economy of grace? At the 
 distance of a thousand cubits more, "the wa- 
 ters reached to his loins:" and may there not 
 be, in this circumstance, an allusion also to the 
 greater diffusion of spiritual life and light in the 
 present dispensation? and therefore styled "the 
 ministration of the Spirit." And at the dis- 
 tance of a thousand cubits farther, "the waters 
 became a river; waters to swim in; a river 
 that could not be passed over." And may there 
 not be in this circumstance, an allusion also to 
 the extraordinary outpouring of the Spirit's in- 
 fluences in the Millennial age of the church, 
 when, as we are told, "all shall be taught of 
 God," and "all shall be righteous?" Some ex- 
 positors do indeed apply the different and in- 
 creasing depth of these waters to the gradual 
 spread and increase of the gospel from a small 
 beginning. But a consideration of what are 
 usually called '-'-the dark ages^'^ when Chris- 
 tendom, for some centuries, went morally and 
 mentallv backward instead of forward, stand 
 much in the way of such an exposition. But 
 what we wish the reader to attend to particu- 
 larly, is, that these waters are said, in the 8th 
 
166 THE MILLENNIUM. 
 
 and 9th verses, to be of an healing quaHty, 
 and "healed wherever they went, and that 
 every thing shall live whither the river com- 
 eth." And not only was that the case, but it 
 is said in the 12th verse, that the leaves of the 
 trees mentioned by Ezekiel, were for "medi- 
 cine," and the leaves of the tree mentioned by 
 John, "were for the healing of the nations." 
 Now, all these circumstances also clearly imply 
 an imperfect state of sanctification in the in- 
 habitants of the New Jerusalem, and cannot 
 be applied to the church triumphant in heaven, 
 but are applicable to the church in even her 
 Millennial state; for infants will then come into 
 the world as now, with depraved hearts, and 
 will then need regenerating and sanctifying 
 grace, as they do now. 
 
 It is indeed said in Rev. 22:5, "that there 
 will be no night" in the New Jerusalem, "nor 
 need of a candle, or of the light of the sun ;" but 
 what th«se symbols import, we have already 
 seen. It is also said, that the inhabitants of 
 this city "shall reign for ever and ever;" but 
 these words are indefinite in their meaning. 
 Sometimes they are used to signify the end of 
 a dispensation of grace, or the end of the 
 world, as in Jer. 7:7: "Then will I cause you 
 to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to 
 your fathers for ever and ever." And some- 
 times, that the honor of the righteous will not 
 be temporal, but eternal, as in Dan. 12:3: 
 "And they that be wise shall shine as the 
 brightness of the firmament; and they that turn 
 
THE milIennium. IG'T 
 
 many to righteousness as the stars for ever and 
 ever." And in this place, the words may im- 
 port, that the joys and honor of the inhabitants 
 of this city will not end with the end of the 
 Millennium, but be consummated in eternal 
 glory. 
 
 And here we would remark, that although 
 we consider, and think we have proved, that 
 the 21st and 22d chapters of the Revela- 
 tion were designed to give us a view of the 
 church of Christ in her Millennial glory; yet 
 we will not say that they may not have been 
 also intended as a figurative description of the 
 glories and happiness of the church triumphant 
 in heaven. We do not know that there would 
 be any incongruity in viewing them in this 
 point of light, for it is not uncommon in the 
 Scriptures, for a figurative description of one 
 event to be designed as descriptive of another 
 event that is future, when there is an analogy 
 in the manner and means by which the two 
 events are produced. Thus Christ, in Matt. 
 24:29 — 31, foretells and describes in strong 
 symbolical language the dissolution of the Jew- 
 ish church and state; and at the same time in- 
 tersperses it with such expressions as shows that 
 he designed it should be understood as having 
 reference also to the dissolution of this world 
 at the day of judgment. Drs. Guyse and Scott 
 both understand that passage so. And had 
 they admitted that the 21st and 22d chapters 
 of the Revelation had primarily reference to 
 the Millennium, and ultimately to the glories 
 15.^ 
 
168 THE MILLENNIUM. 
 
 and happiness of heaven, we would not have 
 disagreed with them. And indeed, in a note 
 on the first verse of the 22d chapter, Dn 
 Guyse seems not much averse to such an ex- 
 position of those chapters. Speaking of the 
 New Jerusalem, he says in the close of that 
 note, "If it is supposed to have any relation to 
 the Millennium, it is only to what will then he 
 fulfilled in part, as a lively figure of what wall 
 be more gloriously completed in the heavenly 
 state." 
 
 And here, an objection of a general charac-^ 
 ter presents itself It amounts to this, that it 
 is not to be supposed that the canon of divine 
 revelation would be closed without giving us 
 some particular and extended account of the 
 abode and blessedness of the righteous: but if 
 not in these chapters, there is no such account 
 in the scriptures. This is admitted, and the 
 Apostle Paul assigns the reason why it is so. 
 In 2 Cor. 12:4, he tells us that he was caught 
 up into Paradise, ''and there heard unspeak- 
 able words, which it is not lawful for man to 
 utter." And elsewhere he says, "that eye hath 
 not seen, nor ear heard, neitlier have entered 
 into the heart of man, the things which God 
 hath prepared for them that love him." This, 
 with what John has said in the 7th chapter, 
 and other inspired writers have said occasion- 
 ally, though briefly, should suffice, and should 
 silence the objection. 
 
 As intimately connected with this subject, it 
 may be necessary, to a full view of our scheme 
 
THE MILLEINNIUM. 169 
 
 of interpreting the prophecies of John, to make 
 a few observations on the resurrections men- 
 tioned in Rev. 20:4 — 6: "And I saw thrones, 
 and they sat upon them, and judgment was 
 given unto them; and I saw the souls of them 
 that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, 
 and for the word of God, and which had not 
 worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither 
 had received his mark on their foreheads, or in 
 their hands, and they lived and reigned with 
 Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the 
 dead Hved not again until the thousand years 
 were fulfilled. This is the first resurrection. 
 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the 
 first resurrection: on such the second death 
 hath no power, but they shall be priests of God 
 and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thou- 
 sand years." 
 
 From these verses some have inferred that 
 there will be a resurrection of the martyrs for 
 the testimony of Jesus at the commencement 
 of the Millennium, and that Christ will descend 
 from heaven to earth, and that they shall reign 
 with him a thousand years. It may be sufficient 
 for us to say, that on this subject we fully accord 
 with the views and interpretations of Drs. 
 Guvse and Scott, and to which we refer the 
 reader. That it is a symbolical, and not a lit- 
 eral resurrection, that is here meant; or, that 
 as John the Baptist came "in the spirit and 
 power of the prophet Elijah," so, a great num- 
 ber of men will then appear with the spirit and 
 cJiaracter of the martyrs of old, and be sue- 
 
170 THE MILLENNIUM. 
 
 ceeded by men of a like spirit until the end of 
 time. Our intended brevity will not allow us 
 to adduce the arguments which support this in- 
 terpretation, and we will again refer the reader 
 to the comments of the above worthy divines 
 on this point; for although we have differed 
 from them respecting their interpretation of 
 some of the Prophecies of John, yet we know 
 not any commentators^ or expositors, whom we 
 would sooner recommend, as to their opinions 
 and interpretations of the doctrinal and precep- 
 tive parts of the word of God. A mistake in 
 regard to the meaning of some of the prophe- 
 cies, is no criterion of any man's intellect, or of 
 soundness or unsoundness in the faith; for on 
 this subject the great Sir Isaac Newton himself 
 ^vas mistaken, as undoubted history has fully 
 proved. We will close this chapter with a few 
 observations on the character of the Millennial 
 age, not drawn from imagination or conjecture, 
 as we have sometimes seen, but from the un- 
 erring word of God itself 
 
 1st. The knowledge of God and divine things 
 will then be universally diffused. — Isa. 11:9: 
 ''The earth shall be full of the knowledge of 
 the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." And 
 in chapter 54:19, is this promise to the church: 
 "All thy children shall be taught of the Lord, 
 and great shall be the peace of thy children." 
 And again, Jer. 31:34: "And they shall teach 
 no more every man his neighbor, and every 
 man his brother, saying, know the lord; for 
 they shall all know me, from the least of thenx 
 
THE MILLENNIUM. 171 
 
 even unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord; 
 for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember 
 their sin no more," These, with other prophe- 
 cies of a similar cimracter, must refer to the 
 Millennial era of the church; for three-fourths 
 of the human race are now, in the nineteenth 
 century, lying in thick moral and mental dark- 
 ness and idolatry, or in Mahometan delusion, 
 or in Jewish unbelief 
 
 2d. It will be a period of universal holiness 
 and righteousness, produced by an extraordi- 
 nary outpouring of the Spirit's influences, as a 
 Spirit of sanctification. The influences of the 
 Spirit in the church have been, hitherto, as the 
 softening and refreshing dew: "I will be as the 
 dew unto Israel;" or, "as rain upon the mown 
 grass, and showers that water the earth." But 
 in that period, they are compared to floods of 
 salvation, poured out on persons of every age. 
 Isa. 44:34, "I will pour water on him that is 
 thirsty, and floods on the dry ground ; I will 
 pour out my Spirit on tiiy seed, and my bless- 
 ing on thy oftspring, and they shall grow up as 
 among the grass, and as willows by the water- 
 courses." This will account for what is said 
 in Isa. 66:8: "Who hath heard such a thing? 
 who hath seen such a thing? Shall the earth 
 be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a 
 nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion 
 travailed, she brought forth her children." And 
 to this we add Isa. 35:7,8 — "And the parched 
 ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land 
 springs of water; in th^ habitation of dragons. 
 
172 
 
 THE MILLENNIUM. 
 
 where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and 
 rushes. And a highway shall be there, and it 
 shall be called the way of holifiess; the un- 
 clean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for 
 those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall 
 not err therein." True, these promises have 
 reference to the Jews ; but it is to them as con- 
 stituting a prominent part of the Millennial 
 church, as we will hereafter show. And that 
 the holiness of those days will be of an ardent 
 and high-toned character, descending into every 
 concern and common act of life, is implied in 
 what Zechariah says, 14:20,21: "In that day 
 there shall be upon the bells of the horses, 
 HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in 
 the Lord's house shall be as the bowls before 
 the altar; yea, every pot in Jerusalem and 
 Judah shall be holiness to the Lord of hosts." 
 We need scarcely say that ther^ has not been 
 any period, in either the Jewish or christian 
 churches, to which the preceding predictions 
 can be applied. 
 
 3d. It will be a period of universal peace, 
 and undisturbed tranquillity. Then, "shall men 
 beat their swords into ploughshares, and their 
 spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift 
 up the sword against nation, neither shall they 
 learn war any more:" Isa. 2:4. And in chap. 
 11:6 — 9, the same prophet says — "The wolf 
 shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard lie 
 down with the kid; and the calf and the young 
 lion, and the fatling together; and a little child 
 shall lead them. And the cow and the bear 
 
THE MILLENNIUM. 173 
 
 shall feed; their young shall lie down together; 
 and the lion shall eat straw like the ox; and 
 the sucking child shall play on the hole of the 
 asp; and the weaned child shall put his hand 
 on the cockatrice-den: they shall not hurt nor 
 destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the 
 Lord." See also Isa. 65:25. 
 
 Whether these prophecies and promises are 
 to be understood as importing that the savage 
 beasts will then be divested of their savage 
 nature, and the poisonous reptiles of their poi- 
 soning qualities, as some suppose; or only that 
 divine grace will so subdue the malignant pas- 
 sions of the human heart, that there will be no 
 ill-will of one towards another, but mutual be- 
 nevolence and beneficence, as is the more pro- 
 bable opinion of others: we may boldly say, 
 that no such period has passed in our world, 
 and that these and similar passages must refer 
 to the Millennial age of the church and of the 
 world. The figures are indeed bold and strong; 
 but reduce them as w^e may, without taking 
 away all meaning, they denote a time of unpre- 
 cedented and unexampled love and peace. 
 
 4th. It will be a time of plenty, or of great 
 abundance of the necessaries and comforts of 
 life. The following passages from different 
 prophets will, we presume, be sufficient on this 
 point. Isa. 55:12,13: ''For ye shall go out 
 with joy, and be led forth with peace; the 
 mountains and the hills shall break forth be- 
 fore you into singing, and all the trees of the 
 field shall clap their hands. Instead of the 
 
174 THE MILLENNIUM. 
 
 thorn shall come up the fir-tree, and instead of 
 the brier shall come up the myrtle-tree; and it 
 shall be unto the Lord for a name, for an ever- 
 lasting sign that shall not be cut off." Jer. 3:12: 
 "Therefore shalt thou come and sing in the 
 height of Zion, and flow together to the good- 
 ness of the Lord, for wheat, for wine, and for 
 corn, and for the young of the flock; and their 
 soul shall be as a watered garden; and they 
 shall not sorrow any more at all." Ezekiel 
 34:26: "And I will make them, and the place 
 round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause 
 the shower to come down in his season, and 
 there shall be showers of blessings. And the 
 tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the 
 earth shall yield her increase." Amos 9:13: 
 "Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that 
 the ploughman shall overtake the reaper, and 
 the treader of grapes him that soweth the 
 seed, and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, 
 and the hills melt." Zech. 8:12: "The seed 
 shall be prosperous, the vine shall give her 
 fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, 
 and the heavens shall give their dew, and I 
 will cause the remnant of this people to pos- 
 sess all things." To which we add, Mai. 3:10, 
 which includes both temporal and spiritual 
 blessings: "I will open the windows of heaven, 
 and pour out a blessing, that there will not be 
 room to receive it." And here we cannot but 
 consider the nuriierous and almost daily dis- 
 coveries in the present century, in the useful 
 arts and sciences, especially in the application 
 
THE MILLENNIUM. 175 
 
 of the almost irresistible power of steam, as so 
 many preparative steps in the providence of 
 God, for bestowing that temporal, as well as 
 spiritual happiness, which he hath promised in 
 his word to the Millennial age of the church, 
 and of the world. 
 
 5th. Jehovah's ancient people, the Jews, long 
 "shut up in unbelief," and trampled upon by 
 the nations of the earth, will be converted to 
 "the faith in Christ," and form a very promi- 
 nent and distinguished part of the Millennial 
 church. That they will be converted, and pro- 
 bably at the beginning of the Millennium, is 
 clearly and distinctly foretold by Jer. 31 :3l-34: 
 "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I 
 will make a new covenant with the house of 
 Israel, and with the house of Judah: not ac- 
 cording to the covenant which I made with 
 their fathers, when I took them by the hand to 
 lead them out of the land of Egypt; (which 
 my covenant they brake, although I was a hus- 
 band to them, saith the Lord.) But this shall be 
 the covenant which I shall make with the 
 h©use of Israel: After those days, saith the 
 Lord, T will put my law in their inward parts, 
 and write it in their hearts; and will be their 
 God, and they shall be my people." We 
 would here remark, that as this covenant is to 
 be made with the house of Israel, as well as with 
 the house of Judah, and as it is not yet clearly 
 ascertained where the Israehtes are, it must 
 therefore be future. And that the Jews will be 
 highly esteemed in those days, on account of 
 16 
 
176 THE MILLENNIUM. 
 
 their piety and distinguished favor with God, 
 is evident from what Zechariah savs, 8:23: 
 ''Thus saith the Lord of hosts, In those days it 
 shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold 
 of ail languages of the nations, even shall take 
 hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, 
 We will go with you; for we have heard that 
 the Lord is with you." And it is to the Mil- 
 lennial church, especially the Jewish portion of 
 it, that the prophet Isa. 62:1 — 4 speaks, eitlier 
 in the name, or as a type of Christ: "For Zion's 
 sake I will not hold my peace, and for Jeru- 
 salem's sake I will not rest, until the righteous- 
 ness thereof go forth as hrightness, and the 
 salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. — 
 And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, 
 and all kings thy glory; and thou shall be 
 called by a new name, which the mouth of the 
 Lord shall name. Thou shalt also be a crown 
 of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal 
 diadem in the hand of thy God. Thou shalt 
 no more ho termed foj^saken; neither shall thy 
 land be any more desolaie; but thou shalt be 
 called Hephzihah^ and thy land Bciilah: for 
 the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall 
 be married." It is scarcely necessary to ob- 
 serve, that these prophecies and promises have 
 not been fulfilled, and that they can only be 
 fulfilled at the era of the Millennium. 
 
 To this may be added, that it would seem 
 from sundry declarations of the prophets, that 
 Jerusalem will be rebuilt in a style and manner 
 far exceeding her ancient splendor. The pro- 
 
THE MILLENNIUM. 177 
 
 pliet Isaiah, in cha}). 60:8 — 12, imroduces Je- 
 hovah as speaking thus to his ancient people, 
 the Jews: **Who are these tliat fly as a cloud, 
 and as doves to their windows? Surely the 
 isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tar- 
 shish first, to bring thy sons from far, their sil- 
 ver and their gold with them, unto the name 
 of the Lord thy God, and to the Holy One 
 of Israel; for he haih gloritied thee. And the 
 sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and 
 their kinos shall minister unto thee. For in 
 my wrath I smote thee, but in my favor have I 
 had mercy on thee. Therefore thy gates shall 
 be open continually; they shall not be shut day 
 nor night, that men may bring unto thee the 
 forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may 
 be brought." To the same purport it is said 
 in chap. (51 :4 — 7, "And they shall build the 
 old wastes, the desolations of many genera- 
 tions. And stranf]jers shall stand and feed thv 
 flocks, and the sons of the alien shall bo your 
 ploughmen and vine-dressers. But ye shall be 
 named the Priests of the Lord ; and men shall 
 call you the Ministers of our God ; for ye 
 shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their 
 glory shall ye boast yourselves." 
 
 From a prospective view of this blessed and 
 fast approaching era, a reflection arises that 
 must be very pleasing to every philanthropic 
 and christian heart. It is this; that at the 
 winding up of the great drama of this world, 
 it will be found that thousands, if not millions 
 of the human family will be saved, for one that 
 
178 THE MILLENNIUM. 
 
 is lost. This will be evident when it is consid- 
 ered that the population of this world began 
 from a single pair, Adam and Eve; and from 
 the days of Noah, from three pairs of parents 
 only: Gen. 9:19. And although coundess num- 
 bers have come into the world during those 
 two periods, and the far greatest number of 
 them probably lost, it is yet utterly inconceiv- 
 able how many will come into it during the 
 Millennium — a period of a thousand years — 
 and which will commence with a population of 
 eight or nine hundred millions, and two or 
 three hundred millions of these will be parents. 
 And it was perhaps in a prospective view of 
 this that John, when speaking of the inhabit- 
 ants of heaven, in Rev. 7:9, says — "I beheld, 
 and lo a great multitude, ivJiich no man could 
 number, standing before the throne.'^ And 
 that the ratio of the increase of the human 
 family will then be very great, will be evident 
 when it is considered that wars, and luxury, 
 and intemperance,^ the fruitful parents of dis- 
 ease and death, will then have ceased, and the 
 life of man prolonged to an hundred years at 
 least. It is to this last circumstance that Isaiah 
 refers in chap. 65:20: "There shall bene more 
 thence an infant of days, nor an old man that 
 hath not filled his days; for the child shall die 
 an hundred years old; but the sinner, being an 
 
 * Does not the present and extraordinary, and unexpected- move- 
 ment in our land and elsewhere, in regard to temperance, and total 
 abstinence from all intoxicating liquors, indicate that, under the 
 providence of God, some great moral revolution is about to take 
 place in our wretched world? 
 
THE 3IILLEIVNIU3I. 179 
 
 hundred years old, shall be accursed." We 
 confess that we do not well understand the last 
 clause of this verse. To understand it lite- 
 rally, or that there will be some sinners in the 
 Millennial church, will not comport with what 
 the prophet says elsewhere, that ''all shall be 
 righteous," if the word all is to be understood 
 in its unlimited sense. It may mean that, as a 
 general truth, a man an hundred years old, dy- 
 ing a sinner, will be accursed. And if it refers to 
 the Millennial period, it may mean, as Dr. Scott 
 suggests, "that he that shall die at the age of 
 an hundred years, shall be considered as dying 
 in his youth, as a punishment for his sins." 
 And this will comport with his being saved; for 
 although all will be righteous, yet some will 
 be less righteous than others. But let the 
 meaning of that clause be what it may, we 
 have prediction upon prediction, and promise 
 upon promise, that very gracious and glorious 
 days await the church, long despised and tram- 
 pled upon by an ungodly world. And in view 
 of those days, what should the church do now? 
 We repeat it — to give liberally, and do cheer- 
 fully, whatever may prepare the way for that 
 blessed era, and fervently and unceasingly pray 
 that the time may soon come when "the moun- 
 tain of the Lord's house shall be established in 
 the tops of the mountains, and exalted above 
 the hills, and all nations flow unto it. — "Even 
 so come, Lord Jesus." 
 16* 
 
APPENDIX, 
 
 CONTAINING AN 
 
 INQUIRY INTO THE PROPRIETY OF USING 
 
 AN EVANGELICAL PSALMODY 
 
 IN THE WORSHIP OF GOD. 
 
 W 
 
 "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; 
 teaching- and admonishing one another in psalms, and hymns, and 
 spiritual songs." — Col. 3:16. 
 
 BY 
 
 SAMUEL RALSTON, D. D. 
 
 Published for the author by Luke Loomis, Agent, — Pittsburgh. 
 
 1841. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 HUMAN INVENTIONS AND HU3IAN COMPOSURE. 
 
 The reader will remember, that in the pre- 
 ceding observations on the prophecies of Dan- 
 iel and John, we occasionally made a few 
 strictures on Mr. Reid's book, entided, ^''The 
 Seven Last Plagues^'''' and that we intimated 
 we would examine some charges which he 
 has brought in that book against the Protestant 
 churches of the present day, especially those 
 whom he calls the "large and popular sects." 
 Some of these charges are altogether gratuit- 
 ous, and some of them made in support of the 
 expositions which he has given of different pass- 
 ages of the Apocalypse, and especially of the 
 seven vials. To have noticed and discussed 
 them as they occured, would have broken the 
 thread of our own expositions; and we thought 
 it best to defer them to a distinct and separate 
 examination. To have noticed them all, would 
 liave been to transcribe a great part of his book. 
 The following may suffice: 
 
 In page 21 he says, "that the christian world 
 is, at this moment, a mass of corruption; that 
 
184 
 
 APPENDIX, 
 
 what is called the church of God, is no other 
 than the great city, which is spirituailv called 
 Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was 
 crucified." In page 132 he says— "The wit- 
 nesses have always contended for the supre- 
 macy of the Redeemer; and this is the object 
 against which the enemy has directed his ar- 
 tillery in all ages. But, in this age, the wit- 
 nesses have been put down by the multiplicity 
 of human forms and inventions of men, which 
 they have brought into the worship of God. It 
 was comparatively easy for them to contend for 
 the faith of the gospel, and the purity of wor- 
 ship, against the palpable errors and impurities 
 of the lloman church; but they could not con- 
 tend successfully against ten thousand inno- 
 vations, of almost every sect, and some of them 
 so much resembling the truth, that few could 
 discern the difference." 
 
 In page 19, speaking of the dominant reign of 
 Popery, he says^"Every man who loved the 
 world so much as to sacrifice his sense of duty 
 to his regard for temporal things, always re- 
 ceived the mark of the beast. But the very 
 same principle operates, at this time, through 
 the whole christian world, and under every 
 form of civil government." 
 
 This, we presume, is enough to satisfy the 
 reader in regard to his opinions of the whole 
 christian world, the sect with which he is con- 
 nected, no doubt excepted. And indeed, when 
 speaking of the witnesses, he frequently throws 
 out no obscure hints, that himself and religious 
 
APPENDIX. 185 
 
 friends, if not the whole, yet compose a promi- 
 nent part of those religious worthies. We are 
 not now inquiring whether his views of the 
 Apocalyptic witnesses be right or wrong: we 
 are only presenting his views of the whole 
 christian world, with the exceptions mentioned. 
 Some of our readers may be ready to say, — 
 if all the christian churches are such "a mass 
 of corruption," as Mr. Reid says they are, can 
 we suppose that God would pour out his Spirit 
 so plentifully as he has done in years past, on 
 various branches, and as flir as man can judge, 
 turned many from darkness to light, and bro't 
 many of the vilest sinners from under the reign- 
 ing influence of sin,satan, and the world, to the 
 knowledge and enjoyment of the glorious lib- 
 erty of the children of God! And they may be 
 ready to say further, — surely Mr. Reid has not 
 heard of those revivals of religion; for if he 
 had, he could not possibly speak of the whole 
 christian world as he has done, those churches 
 not excepted. But he has heard and read of 
 them, reader; and in page 37 he says, "that 
 convert-making," as he calls it, "has become a 
 mere mechanical business, — a work of art, in 
 which the convert-makers arc exceedingly suc- 
 successful; that while they trumpet forth their 
 praises, and exhibit the evidences of their vic- 
 tory over the kingdom of Satan, tliere is much 
 reason to fear ^ that like the converts of the 
 Pharisees, they are two-fold more the children 
 of hell." — "That the numerous proclamations 
 of religious revivals, — the immense success of 
 
386 APPENDIX. 
 
 missionary labors; the great good that has been 
 done, and is doing by Tract societies, &,c. are 
 the great words which the horn [the Papal 
 horn] speaks in this part of the christian world." 
 In a word, he says in page 39 — ''they are pious 
 frauds;" "and the way in which that horn now 
 makes war against the saints, and prevails 
 against them." 
 
 That there is, sometimes, something wrong 
 in managing revivals of religion, is not improb- 
 able; and that some of those who have been 
 deeply affected, and reclaimed from their evil 
 ways, have lost their serious impressions, and 
 returned to those ways, is what is to be expect- 
 ed from what Christ tells us in the parable of 
 the sower. But that all who have been thus 
 affected, are designing hypocrites, or fanatical 
 enthusiasts, is left with the" reader who has wit- 
 nessed those revivals to say. We are persuad- 
 ed that 3Ir. Reid does not speak, as he does, 
 from his own personal knowledge; and if his 
 report and representations are not correct, it is 
 left with himself to say if he has not been blas- 
 pheming, or speaking injuriously of the works 
 and ways of the Holy Ghost.^ 
 
 But admitting that these things are pious 
 frauds, gross hypocrisy, or fanatical delusion, 
 
 * That Ihere were religious excitemenls in the Northern part 
 of the state of New York, about the time that Mr. Reid wrote, 
 and that those excitements were accompanied with much error, 
 disorder and delusion, we are not disposed to conceal, nor yet to 
 condemn Mr. Reid for condemning- such things. But there wag, 
 about the same time, an extensive religious excitement in the 
 bounds of the Synod of PJiiladelphia, not accompanied with such 
 things, and which was inslrumentally produced by the preaching 
 
APPENDIX, 187 
 
 the reader may be ready to ask, will not the 
 numerous Bible societies of the Protestant 
 churches redeem them from the above char- 
 ges; and are they not an evidence that they 
 are not as corrupted as the church of Rome? 
 No, reader; for he tells us in page 133, that 
 ahhough the Bibles sent to the heathen, may 
 be of use to them in a few generations, "they 
 can be of no use to them at present." Why? 
 Because ihey have sent them without note or 
 comment, and without a living interpreter. — 
 And in defence of his opinion, he has virtu- 
 ally adopted and defended the doctrine of the 
 church of Rome — "that the Scriptures are of 
 little benefit, unless they are accompanied with 
 the testimony of the church:" page 134. But 
 it may be rephed, have not missionaries, or liv- 
 ing interpreters, been sent to the heathen with 
 the word of God? But Mr. Reid tells us that 
 they are all corrupt, "and it is impossible that 
 they should establish a purer religion than they 
 have themselves;" "and a corrupted Gospel is 
 generally circulated through the world, instead 
 of the Gospel of Christ." The christian who 
 is daily praying, "that the heathen may be 
 speedily given to Christ for an inheritance, and 
 the uttermost parts of the earth for a posses- 
 sion," may be ready to say, Alas, for the poor 
 
 of the doctrines contained in tlie Westminster Confession of Faith. 
 It is presumed that Mr. Reid has heard of this; but he makes no 
 discrimination, but passed the sentence of condemnation and repro- 
 bation equally on both. Tliis, we think, was at tlie same time 
 rash, unjust and dangerous, as it regarded himself. We hope that 
 he has seen his error; and if not, that he will live to see and ac- 
 knowledge it. 
 
 17 
 
188 APPENDIX. 
 
 heathen! and is there no hope for them, ''for 
 some generations to come," notwithstanding 
 the miglity efforts that have been made to send 
 them the word of truth and of life? None, 
 christian, if the above things are true, unless 
 Mr. Reid, and those who may be hke-minded 
 with himself on this subject, will go and explain 
 the word to them. We do not know, at least 
 we have not heard, that they intend to do so; 
 but as it seems that they, and they alone, un- 
 derstand the mind of the Spirit in his word, 
 compassion for the perishing heathen should 
 induce them to go to them, forthwith, and not 
 suffer the Scriptures to be a dead letter for 
 some generations. To be serious, it is painful 
 and deplorable, to hear a minister of a church 
 that claims the highest grade of reformation, 
 objecting to, and trying to pour contempt on all 
 the efforts of the day, to send the Gospel to the 
 heathen world, and to hold out all tlie Protest- 
 ant churches as, in some respects, worse than 
 the church of Rome. And what is still worse, 
 and more to be deplored, representing as delu- 
 sion, or fraudful hypocrisy, what thousands have 
 felt, and do feel, as the sanctifying Spirit of 
 Christ on their hearts. 
 
 But as there always is a cause of corruption, 
 when a church or churches become corrupt, 
 what cause does Mr. Reid assign for such a 
 general corruption in all Protestant churches, 
 his own, doubtless, excepted — "Human inven- 
 tions in the worship of God." And there is 
 scarcely a page in his book where he does not 
 
APPENDIX. 189 
 
 harp upon this string. We do not blame, but 
 rather commend him for doing so, provided the 
 charge is well founded: and the churcli cannot 
 be pure, nor expect that the dews of divine 
 grace will descend upon her, while she wor- 
 ships God in any other way than that appointed 
 in his word. But what are those inventions? 
 The one which we purpose to inquire into at 
 present, and the one which he mentions with 
 most frequency, is, singing what are called 
 hymns, and spiritual songs, in the public wor- 
 ship of God. And indeed, from the particular 
 mark of reprobation with which he mentions 
 it, one would think that he considers it as more 
 criminal than any, or. all the errors, of the 
 church of Rome. The reader will remember, 
 that according to Mr. Reid's interpretation of 
 the seven vials, the sixth vial is to be poured 
 out on those who use those inventions; and 
 doubtless the singers of hymns and spu-itual 
 songs will have the largest share. 
 
 In order to ascertain w^hether singing hymns 
 and spiritual songs^in divine worship, "is a hu- 
 man invention," it will be necessary to inquire 
 into the precise and real meaning of the w^ords; 
 for many impose upon themselves by attaching 
 a meaning to w^ords, which, upon strict inquiry, 
 they find does not belong to those words. This 
 arises from various causes. Sometimes, from 
 the prejudice of education, and an implicit re- 
 liance on the opinions of those whom we may 
 respect for their learning and knowledge; and 
 sometimes, from a culpable indolence of mind, 
 
190 APPENDIX. 
 
 that will not be at the trouble of inquh'ing into 
 the real meaning of those very words that may 
 be the signs and symbols of our religious creed. 
 We confess that we have been thus culpable; 
 and it was not until we happened to ask our- 
 selves, what is the real meaning of those two 
 words — '4iuman inventions," — which are so 
 much used in the controversy on Psalmody, 
 that we were led to change our opinion and 
 practice on this subject. And it may be that 
 some who may read this page, have been as 
 blameable, in this respect, as we have been. 
 To apply the above observations to the point 
 in hand, we would observe, that when any 
 thing good or praiseworthy takes place among 
 men, or when any very useful discovery is 
 made in the arts or sciences, it is not unusual 
 to celebrate such things, with their authors or 
 inventors, in hymns or songs,. a&-well as in prose. 
 Such hymns or songs are, strictly and literally, 
 human; because human concerns, and human 
 inventions, is their subject matter. But let di- 
 vine things, or the character and perfections of 
 God, as developed in the Scriptures, in the 
 works of creation. Providence or grace, be the 
 subject matter; then, there cannot be a grosser 
 perversion of the established meaning of words, 
 than to call such hymns or songs, "human in- 
 ventions." We are not now inquiring if it be 
 lawful to use hymns in the public worship of 
 God, but into the real meaning of the hack- 
 neyed and perverted words^ — "human inven- 
 tions." We have deemed this the more neces- 
 
APPENDIX. 191 
 
 sary, because a darkening, terrifying, and dele- 
 terious atmosphere has been thrown around the 
 subject of Psalmody by Mr. Reid and others, 
 by those sophistical words; and because many 
 serious and well-meaning persons have been 
 estranged from others, as serious and well- 
 meaning as themselves, but who suig hymns in 
 the worship of God, by being told by their pas- 
 tors that such use '*human inventions" in the 
 worship of God. But it does not require acute 
 logical powers, nor any complex logical pro- 
 cess, but the mere exercise of plain common 
 sense, to detect this miserable, and we must 
 add, wicked and injurious sophistry. It is but 
 to ask themselves if the plan of redemption, 
 through Christ, was a human or divine inven- 
 tion. As the invention and application of that 
 glorious and gracious plan was altogether di- 
 vine, then, we repeat it, nothing can be more 
 preposterous, than to call hymns, which cele- 
 brate the wisdom, love, mercy and grace of 
 that plan, human inventions; and nothing can 
 be more uncandid and unjust, than to charge 
 those who sing such hymns, "with using human 
 inventions in the worship of God." 
 
 There are two other words — ''human com- 
 posure" — which are often used in connection 
 with "human inventions," on the subject of 
 Psalmody, the real meaning of which it may be 
 also necessary to ascertain, in order to think and 
 reason understandingly on the subject. "Hu- 
 man composure," properly speaking, is some- 
 thing, whether in prose or verse, composed by 
 17^ 
 
192 APPENDIX. 
 
 men, the subject matter of which is, human 
 views, wishes, concerns, or interests. For the 
 reasons already assigned, it is not proper to call 
 a poem, the ground and substance of which is 
 some doctrine, precept, promise, &.c. in the 
 word of God, "a human composure," as it is 
 usually expressed. As already observed, it is 
 the subject matter of any composition, in prose 
 or in verse, that gives it its distinctive character. 
 If the subject matter relates only to human 
 views, interests, and concerns, it is merely and 
 properly human; but, as just now said, if it is 
 founded upon some of the glorious and gra- 
 cious truths contained in the word of God, it 
 is divine; for, let me repeat it, it is not the cir- 
 cumstance of its being at'ranged and written 
 by a man, that makes it a human or divine com- 
 position, but what it contains. And if it is un- 
 lawful to use in the public worship of God, a 
 hymn or song written by man, provided it is 
 founded upon, and agreeable to his word, then, 
 Mr. Reid's lectures, sermons and prayers, are 
 all unlawful; for although they may be agree- 
 able to, and founded on the word of God, yet 
 the language and arrangement are his own. 
 
 And not only is this the case, but every 
 translation of the scriptures is ''human compo- 
 sure," and consequently it is unlawful to use or 
 read them in the public worship of God ; for 
 there is no language, the idiom of which ex- 
 actly corresponds with the idiom of the Old 
 and New Testaments. The paraphrase must 
 therefore be resorted to, to render the meaning 
 
APPENDIX. 193 
 
 of some words or passages more clear and 
 full, and hence the number o^ italic characters 
 in our own translation, as every reader must 
 have observed. The principal object of all who 
 versify any portion of the scriptures, ought 
 to be, to preserve the meaning of the Holy 
 Ghost speaking in the scriptures; and although 
 adhering to the literal exprCvSsions, as far as 
 possible, is always safest and best, yet if the 
 meaning is preserved, it is not correct to call 
 such a poem "human composure," although it 
 may partake of the paraphrases. 
 
 But further: If Mr. Ileid explains the psalms 
 to his congregation, before they sing them, as 
 has been the case in the Associate Reformed 
 Church; and where he meets with a typical 
 expression, tells them, that to "sing with the 
 understanding," they must not use that word 
 in its literal, but spiritual meaning; do not he 
 and they virtually use what he calls "human 
 composure," in the worship of God? We will 
 state a case, which doubtless has often occur- 
 red to Mr. Reid and his brethren. Suppose 
 Mr. Reid selects the 66th Psalm, and when he 
 comes to that verse, — "I will offer unto thee 
 (God) burnt sacrifices of failings, with the 
 incense of rams; I will offer bullocks with 
 goats;" he will doubtless tell them, that al- 
 though it was the duty of the Jews to do so, 
 as the way in which Jehovah himself required 
 to be worshiped under that dispensation; yet 
 as the blood of those animals, when shed in 
 sacrifice, was typical of the blood of Christ, 
 
194 APPENDIX. 
 
 which alone can remove the guilt of sin, they 
 must look through the type to that blood for 
 acceptance with God. We repeat it, is not 
 this virtually singing what he calls "human 
 composure," in the worship of the sanctuary? 
 xA.nd suppose, that in proof of his doctrine, and 
 for their direction, he quotes, or refers them to 
 the following passage in the Epistle to the He- 
 brews, 10:19 — 22: "Having therefore, breth- 
 ren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the 
 blood of Jesiis^ by a new and living way, 
 whicli he hath consecrated for us through the 
 vail, that is to say, his flesh ; and having an 
 high priest over the house of God; let us draw 
 near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, 
 having our hearts sprinkled from an evil con- 
 science, and our bodies washed with pure wa- 
 ter." We ask again, if he and they do not 
 virtually sing this passage; and if it would not 
 tend as much, if not more to their edification, 
 to sing this passage correctly versified, as the 
 66th, or any similar Psalm? 
 
 But Mr. Reid tells us, that we have no au- 
 thority to use, in the praises of God, any part 
 of scripture but the book of Psalms. If this is- 
 indeed the case, it renders the preceding obser- 
 vations nugatory: we will, however, examine 
 that hypothesis m the next chapter. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 SOXGS OF PRAISE IN THE REVELATION OF 
 
 JOHN. 
 
 We intimated in the last chapter, that we 
 would, in this, inquire if the church under the 
 present dispensation is warranted to draw her 
 songs of praise to God, from the New, as well 
 as from the Old Testament. Mr. Reid affirms 
 that we are to use the book of Psalms only; 
 and in page 202 he says, "that it is sinful to 
 versify other portions of the scriptures, to be 
 sung in the churches, because they were not 
 designed for this use." We think, however, 
 that we have both precept and precedent for 
 doing so, and that our songs of praise are to 
 be drawm from the New Testament in an es- 
 pecial manner. In Coloss. 3:16, 17, we have 
 the following precept or command: "Let the 
 word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wis- 
 dom; teaching and admonishing one another 
 in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, sing- 
 ing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 
 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all 
 in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks 
 to God and the Father by him." No precept 
 can be clearer, or fuller to the point thari this ; 
 or that we are to draw our songs of praise to 
 
i96 APPENDIX. 
 
 God from "the word of Christ," or the New 
 Testament scriptures. But it is said that "the 
 word of Christ" means the same thing as "the 
 word of God," or the whole of the scriptures. 
 Be it so — ^and it proves all that we desire to 
 prove. And yet we hesitate not to say, that 
 there is not a man, whose mind can rise above 
 the prejudice of education, and think and judge 
 for himself, or who has not in view the support 
 of a sinking cause, would give these words that 
 interpretation, but understand by them, the New 
 Testament exclusively. But as the precept or 
 command for a gospel psalmody has been suc- 
 cessfully argued, from the foregoing passage, 
 by Latta, Baird, and others, we will pass on to 
 the precedents, or examples. 
 
 In the first chapter of Luke, we have two 
 songs of praise to God, one by Mary, the mo- 
 ther of Jesus, and the other by Zacharias, the 
 father of John the Baptist, but which are not 
 in the book of Psalms. If it is objected, that 
 these songs were sung by individuals only, and 
 not by the church, the objection will cut off the 
 greatest number of David's psalms, as unfit for 
 general use; for they were composed with re- 
 ference to his own individual situation, whe- 
 ther in trouble or in joy. 
 
 But there are, in the book of the Revela- 
 tion, (that book which, it is to be presumed, 
 Mr. Reid has examined with particular care,) 
 three songs of praise to God, the first of which 
 has been sung by the church; the second, 
 most probably ; and the third will certainly be 
 
APPENDIX. 197 
 
 sung; and which, he will not pretend to say, 
 are in tlie book of Psalms. We have shown, 
 in the 3d chapter, that the dragon mentioned 
 in the 12th chapter of the Revelation, was a 
 symbol of the Roman empire in its pagan state, 
 and which wasted the church by ten severe 
 persecutions, the last of which, under the Em- 
 peror Dioclesian, continued for ten years, — 
 When CoNSTANTiNE THE Great mouutcd the 
 imperial tlirone, in the beginning of the fourth 
 century, the wasted and worn-out christians 
 were not only rescued from their implacable 
 enemies, but paganism was put down, and 
 Christianity established by law, as the religion 
 of the empire. It was to be expected, tliat the 
 remaining christians would express their grati- 
 tude to the Head of the church, for their great 
 and gracious deliverance, in a song of praise 
 suited to the occasion, and to the character of 
 their deliverer. And they did so; and we have 
 the burden, or substance of the song, in the 
 10th, 11th and 12th verses: — "And I heard a 
 loud voice saying in heaven, (or the church,) 
 Now is come salvation, and strength, and the 
 kingdom of our God, and the power of his 
 Christ; for the accuser of our brethren is cast 
 down, which accused them before our God day 
 and night. And they overcame him hy the 
 blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their 
 testimony; and they loved not their lives unto 
 the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and 
 ve that dwell in them. Wo to the inhabiters 
 of the earth, and of the sea! for the devil is 
 
198 
 
 APPEIVDIX. 
 
 come down unto you, having great wrath, be- 
 cause he knoweth that he hath but a short 
 time." 
 
 Let it here be observed, that it is not Jeho- 
 vah, as the God of IsraeJ, or the Head of the 
 church under that dispensation, who is here 
 praised, — and as is the case in the book of 
 Psalms,— but Christ, "the Lamb of God, who 
 taketh away the sins of the world," and by 
 whose '-blood;'' the christians of those days 
 overcame their unrelenting enemies. Mr. Baird 
 has proved, from undoubted ecclesiastical au- 
 tliority, that hymns to the honor of Christ, 
 ^yere generally used in the church at that pe- 
 riod. This, Mr. Reid considers as a matter 
 not worthy of notice, and of no weight in this 
 discussion. Not so, however, with ourselves. 
 It is a confirmation that the prediction in the 
 above passage has been Hterally fulfilled ; and 
 is, moreover, a proof that we are authorized to 
 draw our songs of praise to Christ, from those 
 passages in the New Testament which exhibit 
 the Redeemer as "the La?iib of God," and re- 
 deeming his people by his blood. There is no 
 passage in all the book of Psalms, that speaks 
 of him as such. 
 
 Again: we are told in the L5th chapter, that 
 when the seven vials of the wrath of God 
 were about to be poured out on papal Rome, 
 which had wasted the saints for one thousand' 
 two hundred and sixty years, the people of 
 God sung a song, and a new song of praise to 
 iheir almighty and gracious deliverer: "I saw," 
 
APPENDIX. 199 
 
 says the prophet, "a sea of glass mingled with 
 fire, and them that had gotten the victory over 
 the beast, and over his image, and over the 
 number of his name, standing on the sea of 
 glass, having the harps of God, and they sung 
 the song of Moses, the servant of God, and of 
 the Lamb, saying. Great and marvellous are 
 thy works. Lord God Almighty; just and true 
 are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall 
 not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? 
 For thou art holy; for all nations shall come 
 and worship before thee; for thy judgments are 
 made manifest." 
 
 Mr. Reid thinks, that these vials have not 
 been poured as yet, and consequently the song 
 has not been sung. The reader need not be 
 told that we think that five of these vials have 
 been poured out on the Popish countries, and 
 that the sixth is now pouring out on the Turk- 
 ish empire, or on Mahometanism, the unrelent- 
 ing enemy of the church of God in the East, 
 as Popery has been in the West. But whether 
 his interpretation, or ours, is the true one, 
 affects not our present argument; for if none 
 of these vials have been poured out, the above 
 song, however, will be sung when those facts 
 take place. * 
 
 Mr. Reid says, in page 206, "that this new 
 song is the old song which God made for the 
 church, as he made the commandments: in one 
 sense it is old, and in another it is new." Well, 
 if it is one of the songs in the book of Psalms, 
 it will not be difficult to find it there; but, as 
 18 
 
200 APPENDIX. 
 
 already observed, the object of worship is no 
 where designated in that book, as the "Lamb," 
 and "the Lamb of God." Besides, the com- 
 mandments, as a transcript of the moral char- 
 acter of Jehovali, were, and are invariably the 
 same, although enforced by new motives and 
 arguments, under the present dispensation of 
 grace, but in this song, the object of worship 
 as "the Lamb," is new, and the occasion of 
 worship new — the deliverance of his church 
 from a persecution of twelve hundred and 
 sixty years. 
 
 But, it may be asked, what are we to under- 
 stand by the "harps of God," which accom- 
 panied the singing of this song? The harp 
 produces a sweet and melodious music; was 
 the symbol of holy joy and gratitude. Psalm 
 33:L/2; and as used in the service of the Jew- 
 ish temple, was expressive of the melody of 
 grace in the heart. This we deduce from 
 what the Apostle says on this subject in Ephe- 
 sians 5:19, and Colossians 3:16. In the first 
 of these passages he says — "speaking to your- 
 selves in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, 
 singing and making melody in your hearts to 
 the Lord." And in the second he tells us what 
 this melody consisted in: "Let the word of 
 Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teach- 
 ing and admonishing one another in psalms, 
 and hymns, and spiritual songs; singing with 
 grace in your hearts to the Lord." 
 
 "The harps of God," then, denoted gracious 
 affections in singing this song, and not the kind 
 
APPENDIX. 201 
 
 of the song itself, as Mr. Reid affirms; for its 
 being called "the song of Moses and the Lamb," 
 is what determines its kind and character. — 
 But why is it called the song of Moses and the 
 Lamb? A consideration of the occasion on 
 which it was sung, will, we think, answer the 
 question. As already observed, it was sung on 
 occasion of the most notable deliverance which 
 the church of God had as yet experienced, and 
 was prefigured by another notable deliverance 
 of the church also, in the days, and by the in- 
 strumentality of Moses, and which was cele- 
 brated by a similar song of praise and grati- 
 tude. The song composed by Moses, and sung 
 by him and the children of Israel at the Red 
 sea, is undoubtedly the very song alluded to, 
 and not the song recorded in the 23d chapter 
 of Deuteronomy, as Mr. Reid says was the 
 fact. For in this last song there is no allusion 
 to any particular deliverance, but an account 
 of Jehovah's kindness to the Israehtes, and 
 their base ingratitude. But when we compare 
 the song sung at the Red sea, and which is re- 
 corded in the 15th chapter of Exodus, and the 
 song recorded in the 15th chapter of the Rev- 
 elation, the analogy is so obvious and striking, 
 in regard to the greatness of the deliverance, 
 that we see the reason why that song was call- 
 ed the song of Moses, and of the Lamb, In 
 the one, Jehovah not only delivered his church 
 and people from the persecuting power of Pha- 
 raoh and his Egyptians, but destroyed their 
 implacable enemies; and in the other, he has 
 
202 APPENDIX. 
 
 not only delivered his church from that power 
 that had wasted her for one thousand two hun- 
 dred and sixty years, but has poured out, and 
 will pour out, the vials of his wrath upon it, 
 until it is utterly destroyed. In the one, the 
 delivered sung the praises of their great deliv- 
 erer, saying, "Thy right hand, O Lord, is be- 
 conrje glorious in power; thy right hand, O 
 Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy:" and 
 in the other, the delivered are represented as 
 singing — "Great and marvellous are thy works, 
 Lord God Almighty ; just and true are thy 
 ways, thou King of saints." And yet, Mr. 
 Reid tells us in page 252, "that these words 
 are only an exclamation, and not part of a song 
 of praise." Is the 66th Psalm a song of praise? 
 And if so, as he must acknowledge, what are 
 these words in that psalm? — "Say unto God, 
 how terrible art thou in thy works! through 
 the greatness of thy power shall thy enemies 
 submit unto thee." And, what the following 
 words, in the 31st Psalm? — "O, how great is 
 thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them 
 that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for 
 them that trust in thee before the sons of men!" 
 These passages are surely very much alike; 
 and if the words, in Rev. 15:3, are only an 
 exclamation, so are the others. Perhaps a 
 stronger evidence of the deleterious effects of 
 prepossession, and attachment to a sect, can 
 scarcely be produced, than Mr. Reid's objec- 
 tion to Rev. 15:3, being a song of praise to 
 God. He saw, that to admit that the words, 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 203 
 
 "Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord 
 God Almighty," were a part of the song of 
 Moses, and of the Lamb, would establish the 
 position, as it does, that the church either has, 
 or will sing songs of praise to God that are not 
 in the book of Psalms. Hence then, as the 
 only resource, he boldly denies that they are 
 part of that song at all, but some sudden ex- 
 clamation unconnected with praise and thanks 
 giving, which they wished to render to their 
 great and gracious Deliverer. 
 
 We will add only on this point, that had the 
 churches of the reformation used the book 
 of Psalms only, until this day, we would not 
 have had any evidence that they are delivered 
 from the dominant power of the man of sin, 
 as there is no Psalm in that collection that can 
 be called "the song of Moses, and of the 
 Lamb." Mr. Reid laments that hymns, or ver- 
 sified portions of the Scriptures, have been gen- 
 erally used in the Protestant churches, within 
 the last hundred years, and assigns it as the 
 principal cause why they are such a mass of 
 moral corruption, as he says they are. To 
 ourselves, however, it is a matter of joy and 
 thanksgiving, as we have thereby evidence, 
 that the predictions connected with the pouring 
 out of the vials, have been fulfilled. Many of 
 the hymns of Dr. Watts, especially the 65th 
 hymn of the 1st book, are express to the point, 
 and have been sung, and will be sung, by all 
 who have scriptural views of "the signs of the 
 times." True, he has been held out by Mr. 
 1.8* 
 
*204 APPENDIX. 
 
 Reid, and others, as a vile heretic, and people 
 cautioned from the pulpit, and from the press, 
 not even to read, much less to sing them, on 
 account of the errors which they contain ; and 
 yet we do not remember to have seen one sin- 
 gle error of any consequence, that has been 
 established. Had such sentiments as the fol- 
 lowing, in Mr. Reid's book, page 279, dropped 
 from the pen of Dr. Watts, what "a hue and 
 cry" of heresy would we have had ; and what 
 denunciations against the Presbyterian church 
 for using what are called his psalms and hymns. 
 "God has given us the faculty of conscience, 
 or the moral sense, by which we are enabled to 
 discern between good and evil. By the culti- 
 vation and improvement of this faculty, we 
 niigJit he able to discern the slightest shade 
 of moral darkness^ which the god of this 
 world might attempt to bring over our minds. 
 We should know the spiritual meaning of 
 God's holy law, and be able to perceive the 
 least degree of any evil disposition^ as soon as 
 it was introduced to our minds." 
 
 As there is not the least reference in this 
 passage, nor yet in the context, to the necessity 
 of the illuminating influences of the Holy 
 Spirit, for the purification and direction of the 
 conscience, the intelligent reader will see that 
 it is Arminianism of the rankest kind. Not- 
 withstanding the Apostle says, "the natural 
 man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of 
 God; neither can he know them, because they 
 are spiritually discerned ;" and notwithstanding 
 
APPENDIX. 205 
 
 he says further, that to "the defiled and unbe- 
 lieving is nothing pure, but even their mind and 
 conscience is defiled ;" yet Mr. Reid says, "that 
 by the cuhivation and improvement of con- 
 science, we may be able to discern the slightest 
 shade of moral darkness, and the spiritual 
 meaning of God's holy law, and the least de- 
 gree of any evil disposition, as soon as it is in- 
 troduced to our minds." We hope that after 
 this, we will not hear any thing more from Mr. 
 Reid of the heterodoxy of Dr. Watts, and of 
 the Presbyterian church, because they use his 
 psalms and hymns. Indeed, if Mr. Reid's ex- 
 planations of the Psalms are in unison with the 
 doctrines taught in the above quotation, we 
 cannot but pity those who are contented to sing 
 those explanations. 
 
 But again: In the 19th chapter we have an- 
 other song of praise, which shall be sung by 
 the church, when its Head shall have emptied 
 the last vial on all his and her enemies: "And 
 after these things I heard a great noise of much 
 peoj)le in heaven, (or the church,) saying, Al- 
 leluia: salvation, and glory, and honor, and 
 power, uiito the Lord our God ; for true and 
 righteous are his judgments; for he hath judged 
 the great mhore^ which did corrupt the earth 
 with lier fornication, and hath avenged the 
 blood of his servants at her hand. And again 
 they said. Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for 
 ever and ever. And a voice came out of the 
 throne, saying. Praise our God, all ye his ser- 
 vants, and ye that fear him, both small and 
 
206 APPENDIX. 
 
 great. And I heard, as it were, the voice of a 
 great multitude, and as the voice of many wa- 
 ters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, 
 saying. Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent 
 reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give 
 honor to him ; for the marriage of the Lamb is 
 come, and his wife hath made herself ready." 
 
 Although there is some narrative in the 
 above passage, yet Mr. Reid himself must ac- 
 knowledge, that there is in it a song of praise 
 which is not in the book of Psalms; for the 
 Lamb, with his marriage with the Millennial 
 church, is its burden or substance. The 45th 
 Psalm cannot, with any propriety, be applied to 
 this period; for Christ is celebrated in that 
 Psalm as a King, but not as the Lamb, Be- 
 sides, it is evident from the drift of the Psalm, 
 that the spiritual conquests alluded to, were to 
 commence with the preaching of the Gospel to 
 the Gentiles, as well as to the Jews ; but in the 
 song which we are. examining, they are cele- 
 brated as consummated, when he should es- 
 pouse the Millennial church, as a chaste bride, 
 to himself 
 
 But this is not all. As the praises of the 
 church militant on earth, and of the church tri- 
 umphant in heaven, are t!ie same in substance, 
 as is acknowledged by Mr. Reid; then, the 
 scene which John saw in heaven, or the habit- 
 ation of God, as recorded in the 5th chapter^ 
 is another proof that we are to take the sub- 
 stance of our songs of praise from the New, as 
 well as from the Old Testament. In that chap-- 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 207 
 
 ter the prophet tells us, that when the Lamb, 
 who was in the midst of the throne, took the 
 book sealed with seven seals out of the hand 
 of him that sat upon the throne, that the four 
 living creatures, and the four and twenty elders, 
 fell down before the Lamb, having every one 
 of them harps, and golden vials full of odors, 
 which are the prayers of saints. "And they 
 sang a new song^ saying, Thou art worthy to 
 take the book and toopen the seals thereof ; for 
 thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God 
 by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, 
 and people, and nation ; and hast made us to 
 our God kings and priests; and we shall reign 
 on the earth," — reign in a succession of people 
 of a similar character. "And I beheld, and I 
 heard the voice of many angels round about 
 the throne, and the living creatures, and the 
 elders; and the number of them was ten thou- 
 sand times ten thousand, and thousands of 
 thousands, saying with a loud voice. Worthy 
 is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, 
 and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and 
 honor, and glory, and blessing. And every 
 creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, 
 and such as are in the sea, and all that are in 
 them, heard I saying. Blessing, and honor, and 
 glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth on 
 the throne, and to the Lamb for ever and ever." 
 A question naturally |)resents itself here, the 
 correct answer to which goes far, we think, in 
 deciding the disputed point,— whence we are 
 to draw our songs of praise to God. The 
 
208 APPExXDIX. 
 
 question is, Where did the church mihtant on 
 earth, and the church triumphant in heaven, 
 get the subject matter of the preceding songs? 
 Assuredly, not from the book of Psalms; for 
 Christ is no where in that book represented as 
 "a Lamb slain, and redeeming his people by 
 his blood;" but from such expressions in the 
 New Testament as these: — "We have redemp- 
 tion through his blood ; even the forgiveness of 
 sins, according to the riches of his grace." — 
 "Feed the church of God, which he hath 
 bought with his own blood." "And we are re- 
 deemed not with corruptible things, as silver 
 and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, 
 as of a Lamb without blemish, and without 
 spot." And so full was John of this all-im- 
 portant subject, as it would seem, for our direc- 
 tion on the point, that when about to pen the 
 Revelation, he, in the name of the church, 
 bursts forth into a similar song of praise to 
 Christ, as the Redeemer: "Unto him w^ho 
 loved us, and washed us from our sins in his 
 own blood, and hath made us kings and priests 
 unto God and his Father, to him be glory and 
 dominion, for ever and ever." The truth is, 
 the true church, under the Old Testament dis- 
 pensation, praised God for a promised Re- 
 deemer, and were saved by faith in the pro- 
 mise; but we have seen that the true church 
 on earth, and the redeemed church in heaven, 
 praise him for a Redeemer who has come, and 
 shed "his blood for the remission of sins;" and 
 shall we not follow their example? Or, in or- 
 
APPENDIX. 209 
 
 der to find acceptance with God, shall we say 
 with the Psalmist, in the 66th Psalm, '^I will 
 offer unto thee hiirnt sacrifices of fatlings, with 
 the incense of rams; I will offer bullocks with 
 goats;" or, as the Apostle exhorts — "Having 
 boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood 
 of Jesus^ by a new and living way, which he 
 hath consecrated for us, through the vail, that 
 is to say, his flesh ; and having an high priest 
 over the house of God; let us draw near with 
 a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having 
 our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, 
 and our bodies washed with pure water:" Heb. 
 10:19—22. 
 
 We will close this chapter by obviating a 
 few objections brought against an evangelical 
 Psalmody, by Mr. Reid, and others. 
 
 1st. "The book of Psalms contains inspired 
 songs; but hymns are the production of unin- 
 spired men." This objection, as stated, is 
 plausible, and by its plausibility has done more 
 to unhinge the minds of well-meaning but weak 
 persons, and to enlist them under the standard 
 of a Judaizing Christianity, than any thing else 
 that has been said or written upon the subject. 
 But, although plausible, it is highly sophistical. 
 For, if we are warranted to draw our songs of 
 praise to God from the New, as well as from 
 the Old Testament, as we trust we have proved 
 by both precept and precedent, then, what is 
 usually called a hymn, or a portion of the Old 
 or New Testament correctly versified, is as in- 
 spired a song as any of the Psalms of David, 
 
210 APPENDIX. 
 
 if the other penmen of the Bible were in- 
 spired, as well as the king of Israel; but this 
 our opponents do not deny. It is the senti- 
 ments contained in the portion versified that 
 makes it an inspired song; and the circum- 
 stance of its being translated into prose or 
 verse, alters not its character, provided the 
 translation is just and correct. 
 
 2d. The preceding observations also contain 
 in them a sufficient answer to what Mr. Reid 
 says in page 250 — "that it is at least bordering 
 on hlasphemif^ when a man, without any au- 
 thority from God, and merely from his own 
 hearty composes a religious song, calls it the 
 song of the Lamb, and gives it to the churches 
 to sing in the praises of God." It is indeed 
 bordering on blasphemy, if it is the effusions of 
 his own heart; for nothing good can proceed 
 from the heart of man ; but as just now ob- 
 served, if it is founded upon^ and agreeable 
 to the word of God, the sentiments are divine, 
 and divinely inspired, although the order and 
 arrangement are human, as are all Mr. Reid's 
 prayers, sermons, and explanations of the 
 Psalms, for the benefit of the congregation be- 
 fore they sing them, that they may "sing with 
 the understanding" those parts that are typi- 
 cal and obscure. And if any of those expla- 
 nations are akin to his doctrines respecting 
 "conscience," and they sing those explanations, 
 we forbear giving it a name — we leave that to 
 himself Mr. Reid surely knows that the Pres- 
 byterian church has her system of Psalmody, 
 
APPENDIX. 211 
 
 and which has been strictly examined by her 
 highest Judicatory, before it was recommended 
 to the people, and does not allow the use of 
 any hymns in public worship, which have not 
 been thus examined and sanctioned; and if 
 any of her ministers act otherwise in this re- 
 spect, so far they act irregularly, and impede 
 the progress and reception of a sound evangel- 
 ical Psalmody. 
 
 3d. Mr. Reid says, in page 77, 'Uhat the 
 Psalms of David, which contain the very sub- 
 stance and marrow of the gospel, are cast out 
 of the church under the false notion that they 
 are not properly fitted for gospel worship." 
 
 That the Psalms of David contain the very 
 substance and marrow of the gospel, has been 
 asserted by others, before Mr. Reid; but we 
 deny the correctness and truth of the assertion. 
 But when we do so, we protest against being 
 called "an enemy of the book of Psalms," or 
 that we wish to degrade them in the smallest 
 degree. On the contrary, we prize them as a 
 precious part of divine revelation. But that 
 they contain as clear, and as full a view of the 
 important and fundamental doctrines of the 
 gospel, as the New Testament, we are aston- 
 ished any man should assert in the present day. 
 In the following page, Mr. Reid very properly 
 says, "that the doctrine of salvation, through 
 the free and sovereign grace of God, accord- 
 ing to his eternal purposes; the doctrine of the 
 atonement; of the Trinity in Unity, &.c. are 
 fundamental doctrines." But where will he 
 19 
 
212 APPENDIX. 
 
 find the first of these doctrines clearly exhib- 
 ited and stated in the book of Psalms? At 
 least, is there any thing on this doctrine equal 
 to the 1st chapter of the Epistle to the Ephe- 
 sians, and various other places? As to the 
 doctrine of the atonement, it was indeed typi- 
 fied by the shedding of the blood of bulls and 
 of goats in sacrifice; but will any man say that 
 this is as well calculated to appease the awak- 
 ened conscience, and to induce the guilty sin- 
 ner to exercise faith in Jehovah, as a sin-par- 
 doning God through Christ, as the passages 
 in the New Testament, to which we have al- 
 ready adverted, and others of a similar charac- 
 ter: "We have redemption through his blood, 
 even the forgiveness of sins, according to the 
 riches of his grace." "And the blood of Jesus 
 Christ his Son, cleanseth us from all sin." A 
 Trinity of persons, in the divine essence, is in^ 
 deed mentioned in the Psalms; but is a Trinity 
 in Unity mentioned even once? or any thing 
 calculated to give such views of the cardinal 
 doctrine, as 1st John 5:7: "There are three 
 that bear record in heaven; the Father, the 
 Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three 
 are one." We have no doubt respecting the 
 genuineness of the passage. 
 
 In a word, it is something like an insult to 
 the human understanding, in this age of the 
 w odd, to say that those parts of the book of 
 Psalms which are typical, are as well suited 
 for praising God, as various portions of the 
 New Testament. It is saying that the type is 
 
APPENDIX. 213 
 
 as clear as the thing typified; and Mr. Reicl 
 surely knows tliat every thing typical, under 
 the Jewish dispensation, is called "the shadow 
 of good things to coine." In the 12th chapter 
 of the Apocalypse, the church, under the pre- 
 sent dispensation, is symbohzed by "a woman 
 clothed with the sun," or with the glories of 
 Jesus, "the sun of righteousness," and having 
 "the moon," or the Jewish ritual, under her 
 feet. But, according to Mr. Reid's views and 
 system of Psalmody, she ought to have been 
 exhibited as clothed with the borrowed beams 
 of the moon, and having the clear Ught of the 
 gospel dispensation, and of the New Testa- 
 ment, under her feet. But when we say, that 
 all that is typical and local in the Psalms is not 
 suited to gospel worship and praise, we yet 
 cheerfully and unhesitatingly say, that what- 
 ever is devotional and preceptive, is highly 
 suited to the praises of God, and has accord- 
 ingly been used in all ages of the church, and 
 we are persuaded, will be used and relished to 
 the end of time. 
 
 There is only another objection to an evan- 
 gelical Psalmody remaining, and which we 
 think worthy of notice. It is this: That the 
 Psalms were written in verse, but the New 
 Testament was written in prose; a proof, say 
 the objectors, that it was not designed for 
 Psalmody or praise. But this we must defer to 
 the next and last chapter. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 GREAT PART OF THC NEW TESTAMENT 
 WRITTEN IN VERSE. 
 
 We have said, in the preceding chapter, 
 that we would in this obviate an objection 
 against an evangeUcal Psalmody, deduced from 
 the circumstance that the New Testament was 
 written in prose, and consequently not designed 
 for praise, as were the Psalms, which were 
 written in verse. This objection, or argument — 
 for it partakes of both — like many others, 
 proves too much; for according to it,- the ob- 
 jectors should use, in the praises of God, the 
 Song of Solomon—- the book of Proverbs — the 
 greatest part of the book of Job — of the Pro- 
 phecies of Isaiah, and the Lamentations of 
 Jeremiah, Slc, for they were written in verse, as 
 well as the book of Psalms. If it is replied, 
 that we have evidence, from the titles of some 
 of the Psalms, that they were used in the Jew- 
 ish sanctuary, but not so with the other parts 
 of the Old' Testament, then the objectors 
 should confine themselves to those Psalms; for 
 there is no evidence that the one-half of the 
 book of Psalms was sung in the Jewish sanc- 
 tuary. As the objectors are in the habit of 
 using the whole of the Psalms, the argument 
 19^ 
 
216 APPENDIX. 
 
 drawn from the title of some of them, for using 
 the whole book, and the book alone, in the ex- 
 ercise of praise, falls to the ground. 
 
 But, that the New Testament was written 
 altogether in prose, is an assumption and not a 
 fact, as we trust to make appear: then the con- 
 sequence will be that those parts, at least, that 
 were written in verse, should be used in the 
 praises of God, as well as those Psalms, re- 
 specting which there is no evidence that they 
 were used either in the service of the temple, 
 or of the synagogue. Our proof that a great 
 part of the New Testament was written in 
 verse, the reader will find in the 2d vol. of 
 Home's "Introduction to the Critical Study and 
 Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures," part 2d, 
 chap. 10. And here it may not be unneces- 
 sary to observe, that the author before us had 
 no design in drawing the consequences which 
 we have drawn from his observations and 
 proofs, but merely to point out the nature and 
 laws of Hebrew poetry, and illustrate them 
 by appropriate examples; and consequently 
 must be unsuspected testimony in the eyes of 
 those who are opposed to an evangelical Psalm- 
 ody. Besides, he is a minister of the church 
 of England, and uses only Tate and Brady's 
 version of the book of Psalms, in the public 
 worship of God. 
 
 Mr. Home has shown from Bishops Lowth 
 and Jebb, and especially from the latter, who 
 has investigated that subject more fully than 
 any who went before him, that the poetry of 
 
APPENDIX. 217 
 
 the Hebrews was not regulated, like that of the 
 Greeks and Romans, by what is called rhythm^ 
 or a certain number of feet in each verse or 
 line, but by what they call parallelisms^ "or a 
 certain equality, resemblance, or relationship 
 between the members of each period, so that 
 in two lines or members of the same period, 
 things shall answer to things, and words to 
 words, as if fitted to each other by a kind of 
 rule or measure." The following example, 
 from Luke 1 :.5*2,53, part of the song of Mary, 
 the mother of Jesus, will illustrate this: 
 
 "He hath put down the mighty from their seats, 
 And exalted them of low degree." 
 "He hath filled the hungry with good things, 
 And the rich he hath sent empty away." 
 
 In this passage, it will be observed, that 
 words answer to words; characters are con- 
 trasted with characters; and, under the divine 
 government, consequences with consequences. 
 The mighty are contrasted with those of low 
 degree; the hungry or poor, with those that 
 are rich; and the one exalted, while the others 
 are debased. Why our author selected an ex- 
 ample from the New Testament only, as an 
 illustration of the parallelism of the Hebrew 
 poetry, we do not know; but he might have 
 found abundance in the poetic parts of the 
 Old; for instance, in Psalm 107:40,41: and let 
 it be kept in mind, that the length or shortness 
 of the lines or verses, forms no part of the laws 
 of Hebrew poetry. 
 
218 APPENDIX. 
 
 "He poureth contempt upon princes; 
 
 And causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is 
 
 no way." 
 "Yet he setteth the poor on high from affliction; 
 And maketh him families like a flock." 
 
 Our author divides the paralleHsm of the 
 Hebrew poetry into parallel hnes gradatlonnl., 
 parallel Hnes antithetic^ parallel lines construe- 
 tive^ and parallel lines introverted; and at the 
 same time adduces passages from the New 
 Testament, as well as from the Old, as exam- 
 ples and illustrations. The plan which we 
 have laid down for ourselves will not admit of 
 more than an example or two at most, of these 
 different kinds of parallelisms; and they who 
 wish for further information on the subject, 
 would do well to consult the book itself. In- 
 deed, we wouldjiot have obtruded the proof 
 and illustration of this point on the public, was 
 it not that the book is scarce, being seldom 
 bought but by students of Theology, for whom 
 it was principally written. 
 
 1st. "Parallel lines gradational are those in 
 which the sound, or responsive clause, so di- 
 versifies the preceding clause, as generally to 
 rise above it, sometimes by a descending scale 
 in the value of the related terms or periods, but 
 in all cases with a marked distinction of mean- 
 ing." This, he observes, is the most frequent 
 of all the poetic parallelisms, and he accord- 
 ingly gives six examples of it; three from the 
 book of Psalms, and three from the New Tes- 
 tament. It may be sufficient to transcribe an 
 
APPENDIX. 219 
 
 example from the Psalms, and a corresponding 
 one from the New Testament. The example 
 from the Psahns, is the first Psalm, and as 
 translated by Bishop Jebb, reads thus: 
 
 " O the blessedness of the man 
 Who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, 
 And hath not stood in the way of sinners, 
 And not sat in the seat of the scornful! " 
 
 The descending gradation, or the downward 
 way of vice, is here very obvious and striking. 
 The ungodly — the sinner — the scornful. But 
 there is also, in our opinion, an ascending 
 gradation in the way of virtue or holiness, in 
 the words — not sitting — not standing — and not 
 walking. But be that as it may, the corres- 
 ponding example, from 2d Thess. 2:8, is no 
 less obvious and striking: 
 
 "Whom the Lord Jesus will waste away with the breath of his 
 
 mouth; 
 And will utterly destroy with the brightness of his coming." 
 
 Here the descending parallel lies in wasting 
 away, and then utterly consuming ; the one 
 by the breath of his mouth, and the other, by 
 the bright appearance of his coming. But 
 although both of these parallelisms are suffi- 
 ciently obvious and striking, they are equalled, 
 if not excelled, by that in Jas. 1:15, although 
 not adduced by our author.^ 
 
 * Since we wrote the above, eight years ago, we have since 
 found it in Bishop Jebb's book, entitled, "Sacred LiTKaATURE:" 
 page 389. 
 
220 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 "Then when lust hath conceived, it bringfeth forth sinj 
 And sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." 
 
 Our author's second example of the grada- 
 tional parallehsm is taken from the 24th Psalm, 
 3d and 4th verses, and is of the ascendino' 
 character. The translation is that of Bishop 
 Jebb, as all his examples are, and which are, 
 in our opinion, both elegant and correct: 
 
 "Who shall ascend the mountain of Jehovah, 
 And who shall stand in his holy place? 
 The clean of hands, and the pure in heart." 
 
 Here the gradation is very obvious. The clean 
 of hands — the pure in heart — ascending— stand- 
 ing — the mountain of Jehovah— his holy place. 
 The first corresponding parallel from the New 
 Testament, which our author adduces, is Mat- 
 thew 10:5,6: 
 
 "To the way of the Gentiles go not off, 
 
 And to any of the Samaritans go not in; 
 
 But proceed rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." 
 
 Although the ascending climax is sufficiently 
 obvious in this example, yet in our opinion, it 
 is neither so obvious nor so striking, as in 
 Rom. 8:29,30; and which we also found in 
 Bishop Jebb's book, since we wrote first, and 
 which we will give, in his simple and beautiful 
 translation, page 389: 
 
 "Whom he foreknew, he also foreordained; 
 And whom he foreordained, them he also called; 
 And whom he called, them he also justified; 
 And whom he justified, them he also glorified." 
 
APPENDIX. 221 
 
 What a striking, gracious, and glorious climax 
 is here! Predestinating — calling — justifying — 
 glorifying. There is nothing in all the poetic 
 gradations of the Old Testament, superior, if 
 equal, to this. Indeed, before we met with 
 our author, we had been long persuaded, from 
 the grandeur and sublimity of the sentiment, 
 and the peculiar force of the diction of this 
 chapter, that it was written in verse of some 
 kind or other; but being then not well ac- 
 quainted with the laws of Hebrew poetry, we 
 were unable to prove it. And it may not be 
 amiss to observe here, that although the New 
 Testament was written in Greek, the writers 
 were Hebrews or Jews; and as was to be ex- 
 pected, were governed by the laws and idioms 
 of the Hebrew language, and their rules in 
 writing poetry. 
 
 In page 465, Mr. Home has adduced from 
 Bishop J ebb. Matt. 7f24 — 27, as a specimen of 
 stanzas, consisting of a number of lines, and 
 which are at the same time striking examples 
 of both the ascending and descending paral- 
 lelisms: 
 
 "Whosoever, therefore, heareth my words, and doeth them, 
 I will liken him to a prudent man, 
 Who built his house upon the rock; 
 And the rain descended, 
 And the floods came, 
 And the winds blew. 
 And fell upon that house; 
 And it fell not; for it was founded on a rock." 
 
2*22 APPENDIX. 
 
 "And every one hearing these my words, and doeth them not, 
 Shall be likened to a foolish man, 
 Who built his house on the sand; 
 
 And the rain descended. 
 
 And the floods came, 
 
 And the winds blew. 
 
 And struck upon that house; 
 And it fell, and the fall thereof was great." 
 
 These are indeed beautiful and striking ex- 
 amples of the ascending and descending paral- 
 lehsms of Hebrew poetry; but they are, in our 
 opinion equalled, if not excelled, by a similar 
 ascending parallehsm in the concluding verses 
 of the 8th chapter of the Epistle to the Ro- 
 mans, although not adduced by Bishop Jebb: 
 
 "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors, 
 Through him that loved us: 
 For I am persuaded, 
 That neither death, 
 
 Nor life, 
 
 Nor angels, 
 
 Nor principalities, 
 
 Nor powers, 
 Nor things present, 
 Nor things lo come, 
 
 Nor height, 
 
 Nor depth. 
 Nor any creature, 
 
 Shall separate us from the love of God, 
 Which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." 
 
 We will only add on this point: That as 
 ihis species of parallelism is the most frequent 
 in the poetic writings of the Old Testament, it 
 was therefore to be expected that it w^ould fre- 
 
APPEiXDIX, 223 
 
 quently occur in the poetic parts of the New. 
 And this is the case; and our author has ac- 
 cordingly marked down the following passages 
 where it occurs, and the attentive reader of 
 the New Testament can supply many more: 
 Matt. 5:45—7:1,2—20:26,27—24:17,18; Mark 
 4:24; Luke 6:38; Rom. 5:7; James 1:17— 
 4:8—5:6; Rev. 9:6—22:14. 
 
 2d. The second kind of parallelism which 
 distinguishes the poetry of the Hebrews, is 
 what our author calls "-parallel lines anti- 
 t/ietic,'^'' "and consists in two lines correspond- 
 ing, the one to the other, so that the second is 
 contrasted with the first; sometimes in expres- 
 sion, and sometimes in sense only." The il- 
 lustrating example is taken from Prov. 10:1. 
 
 "A wise son rejoiceth his father; 
 
 But a foolish son is the grief of his mother." 
 
 Although our author has not furnished us 
 with an example of this kind of parallelism, 
 from the New Testament, the following pas- 
 sage from Mark 16:16, is, we think, as strik- 
 ingly antithetic as the one adduced: 
 
 "He that believeth^ and is baptized, shall be saved; 
 But he that believeth not shall be damned." 
 
 In Prov. 10:1, a wise son and a foolish son; 
 and the one being a joy to his father, and the 
 other a grief to his mother, are opposed each 
 to the other; and, in Mark 16:16, believing 
 and not believing, and salvation and damna- 
 tion, are as obviously antithetical. 
 20 
 
224 APPENDIX, 
 
 3d. "Parallel lines constructive, are when the 
 parallelism consists in the similar form of con- 
 struction; in which word does not answer to 
 word, and sentence to sentence, as equivalent, 
 or opposite; but there is a correspondence and 
 equality between the different propositions, in 
 respect to the shape and turn of the whole sen- 
 tence, and of the constructive parts; such as 
 noun answering to noun, verb to verb, negative 
 to negative, and interrogative to interrogative." 
 The example of this parallelism, adduced by 
 our author, is Psalm 19:8 — 11, in Bishop 
 Jebb's beautiful translation: 
 
 "The law of Jehovah is perfect, restoring; 
 
 The testimony of Jehovah is sure, making wise the simple; 
 
 The precepts of Jehovah are right, rejoicing the heart; 
 
 The commandment of Jehovah is clear, enlightening the eyes; 
 
 The fear of Jehovah is pure, enduring for ever; 
 
 The judgments of Jehovah arc truth; they are just altogether, 
 
 More desirable than gold, or than much fine gold; 
 
 And sweeter than honey, or the dropping of honey combs," 
 
 We would here again observe, that although 
 our author has not adduced under the proper 
 head, a passage from the New Testament, as 
 corresponding with this species of parallelism; 
 he has, however, adduced a passage for the 
 purpose of showing that the writers of the 
 New Testament took fragments from the Old 
 and combined them into one, and which, we 
 think, is a striking example of the foregoing 
 constructive parallelism. The passage alluded 
 to is Rom. 1 1 :33 — 35, in Bishop Jebb's trans- 
 lation, where he has also given us the passage 
 
APPENDIX. 225 
 
 arranged in Greek, according to the Jaws of 
 Hebrew verse, and which he has done in all his 
 quotations from the New Testament, but which 
 we have omitted as not necessary to our pre- 
 sent design: 
 
 *'0 the depth of the riches, and the wisdom and knowledge of God 1 
 How inscrutable are his judgments, 
 And untraceable are his ways; 
 For who hath known the -mind of the Lord- 
 , Or who hath been his counsellor? 
 Or who hath first given unto him, 
 And it shall be repaid to him again?" 
 
 Here let it be observed, that the design of 
 both of the inspired poets was alike, and their 
 poems alike, with this difference, that the lan- 
 guage of the latter is more grand and majestic, 
 because the theme was so. In the one, the 
 law of God is celebrated as perfect, sure, right, 
 clear, pure, true, more desirable than gold, and 
 sweeter than honey dropping from the comb; 
 and in the other, the wisdom and knowledge 
 of God are celebrated as inscrutable, untrace- 
 able ; that no one, man or angel, hath known 
 the mind of the Lord; no one hath been his 
 counsellor, and no one hath first given unto 
 him, that it might be repaid to himself again. 
 
 4th. The last kind of parallelism by which 
 the poetry of the Hebrews was characterized, 
 is what our author calls "parallel lines intro- 
 verted; or stanzas so constructed, that what- 
 ever be the number of lines, the first line shall 
 be parallel with the last; the second with the 
 penultimate, or last but one, and so throughout, 
 
^26 APPENDIX. 
 
 in an order that looks inward ; or to borrow a 
 military phrase, from flanks to centre." The 
 following quotation from Bishop Jebb, from 
 Prov. 23:15,16, will illustrate this parallelism: 
 
 "My son, if thy heart be wise, 
 My heart also will rejoice; 
 Yea, my reins will rejoice, 
 When thy lips speak right things!" 
 
 The corresponding examples from the New 
 Testament, arc taken from Matt. 7:6, and 
 2 Cor. 15:16. We shall transfer the former 
 only: 
 
 "Give not that which is holy to the d6gs; 
 Neither cast your pearls before the swine, 
 Lest they trample them under their feet; 
 Lest they turn about and rend you." 
 
 The reader will have a clear idea of this spe- 
 cies of parallelism by reading both examples 
 in the following manner, and which he will see 
 is the order of construction: 
 
 "My son, if thy heart be wise. 
 When thy lips speak right things, 
 My heart also will rejoice; 
 Yea, my reins will rejoice." 
 
 "Give not that which is holy to the dogs. 
 Lest they turn eibout and rend you; 
 Neither cast ydur pearls before the swine. 
 Lest they trample them under their feet." 
 
 Bishop Jebb also adduces another parallel- 
 ism of this introverted kind, ''in which the 
 third line forms a continuous sense with the 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 227 
 
 first, and the fourth with the second." The 
 example is from Eph. 4:18: 
 
 "Being darkened in the understanding; 
 Being alienated from the life of God, 
 Through the ignorance which is in them, 
 Through the blindness of their hearts." 
 
 The reader will see that the order of interpret 
 tation is as follows; and also that a knowledge 
 of these parallelisms, if not indispensably ne- 
 cessary, is yet of great use for understanding 
 and explaining correctly, a number of passages 
 in both the Old and New Testaments: 
 
 "Being darkened in the understanding, 
 Through the ignorance which is in them; 
 Being alienated from the life of God, 
 Through the blindness of their hearts." 
 
 But, not only has Mr. Home produced from 
 Bishops Lowth and Jebb, examples from the 
 New Testament of all the different parallelisms 
 that characterize the Old Testament inspired 
 poets: he has also produced examples from the 
 New Testament of the different kinds of stan- 
 zas used by them — as couplets, quatrains, and 
 stanzas of five, six, or more lines. iVnd al- 
 though there are parts of the New Testament 
 that were written in prose, as well as of the 
 Old, we have no doubt but that if the subject 
 was thoroughly examined, there would be 
 found as much of the New Testament written 
 
228 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 in verse, as of the Old, according to the com^ 
 parative size of the volumes.'^ 
 
 From the whole then, the argument for sing- 
 ing the whole book of Psalms in the worship 
 of God, and nothing else, because it was writ- 
 ten in verse, is invalid; and the objection 
 against an evangelical psalmody, based on the 
 assumption that the whole of the New Testa- 
 ment was written in prose, is invahd also. 
 And yet had that been the case, it would not 
 have lessened to ourselves, in the smallest de- 
 gree, the arguments for an evangelical psalm- 
 ody, obviously deducible from 2 Tim. 3:16; 
 Eph. 5:19,20; Col. 13:16,17; and as we have 
 shown, from Rev. 5:9,10; 15:2 — 4, and 19: 
 1 — 7. It is now left with the moderate and 
 discriminating of the different Protestant sects: 
 it is left with Mr. Reid himself, and his warm- 
 est friends to say, if his interpretation of the 
 seven vials, in the 16th chapter of the Reve- 
 lation, some of which he tells us are to be 
 
 * The reader may be able to form a tolerably correct judgment 
 on this point, from the following' table of chapters, and portions 
 of chapters, adduced by Bishop Jebb, as examples of the different 
 kinds of Hebrew poetry. 
 
 Matthew. — The 
 
 whole of the 
 
 Ephesians, parts of 
 
 chapter 3 
 
 sermon on the 
 
 mount, 
 
 and 
 
 Colossians, 
 
 do. 2 
 
 parts of chapt 
 
 3r 
 
 16 
 
 1 Thessalonians, 
 
 do. 1 
 
 Mark, parts of c 
 
 hapter 
 
 6 
 
 2 Thessalonians, 
 
 do. 1 
 
 Luke, 
 
 do. 
 
 19 
 
 Philemon, 
 
 do. 1 
 
 John, 
 
 do. 
 
 6 
 
 Hebrews, 
 
 do. 7 
 
 Acts, 
 
 do. 
 
 7 
 
 James, 
 
 do. 5 
 
 Romans, 
 
 do. 
 
 6 
 
 Peter, 
 
 do. 1 
 
 1 Corinthians, 
 
 do. 
 
 8 
 
 John, 
 
 do. 3 
 
 2 Corinthiaxs, 
 
 do. 
 
 3 
 
 Revelation, whole of do. 9 
 
 Galatians, 
 
 do. 
 
 1 
 
 and chapter 
 
 18 
 
APPEXDIX. 229 
 
 poured out on the advocates of an evangelical 
 psalmody, and of Bible, Missionary, Tract, and 
 Sabbath School Societies, is not at the same 
 time, impious and ridiculous. Of all the sects 
 who use an evangelical psalmody, and are en- 
 gaged in the present day in extending the bor- 
 ders of the Redeemer's kingdom, and in sup- 
 pressing prevailing immorality, there is none 
 against whom the advocates of a Jewish 
 psalmody have directed their arrows more 
 steadily, and with a more virulent aim, than 
 "the Presbyterian church in the United States." 
 By some we have been represented as not only 
 semi-socinians, but semi-infidels, and by others, 
 "virulent enemies of the book of Psalms;" but 
 it remained for Mr. Reid to discover, that 
 some of the vials of the wrath of God are to 
 be poured out upon us without mixture, be- 
 cause we use an evangelical psalmody in the 
 public worship of God. "As far as it is pos- 
 sible," we have endeavored "to live in peace" 
 with our brethren who differ from us on this 
 point. But hitherto we have found it not pos- 
 sible: nothing therefore remains, but in the 
 spirit of meekness to defend ourselves as well 
 as we can. This was our design in writing 
 the three preceding chapters; but as to the va- 
 lidity of the defence, and the spirit with which 
 they are written, it does not become us to say: 
 the reader will judge on those points for him- 
 self 
 
 We conclude by just observing, that we 
 never had the most distant idea of writing or 
 publishing any thing on the prophecies until 
 
230 APPENDIX. 
 
 after we had prepared a reply to Mr. Reid's 
 views on psalmody. As we designed to draw 
 our principal arguments for an evangelical 
 psalmody from a new source — the spiritual 
 songs recorded in the book of the Revela- 
 tion — a cursory view of the general prophe- 
 cies in that book, appeared necessary, for ex- 
 hibiting those arguments in their full force. In 
 taking this view, the investigation of one pro- 
 pliecy led to the investigation of another, as 
 necessarily connected with it, until finally it 
 assumed the size of this litde book. As eight 
 or nine years have elapsed since we published 
 our views of the general prophecies of Daniel 
 and John, in "The Christian Herald," and 
 as the providence of God, exercised over the 
 nations and the church since that time, seemed 
 rather to countenance 'an run counter to 
 those views, we thought we would republish 
 them, with some additions; with the hope that 
 it might excite others to shed more light on the 
 important subject, and rectify our errors and 
 remedy our defects. For although we firmly 
 believe that our general views respecting the 
 church of God, and her implacable enemy, 
 Hlie Man of sin^^^ are correct, yet we are far 
 from supposing that we may not have erred in 
 details, or in applying some prophecies to past 
 and passing events. Should any then be ex- 
 cited to point out our errors or defects, and 
 shed additional light on the interesting subject^ 
 we will rejoice, and consider our labors in 
 writing more than compensated. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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 DATE DUE 
 
 HIGHSMITH # 45220