as that shewn to Daniel under the figure of a little horn, (chap. vii. 8, 20-26.) whose mouth spake very great

symbolically and at other times merely metaphorically, or even literally, so may the term earth. When the dragon is said to be cast out of heaven into the earth, there is evidently a distinction of place, and the term is doubtless symbolical; but, when it is said all that dwell upon the earth shall worship the beast, and all the world wondered after the beast, here there is not that opposition of heaven and earth, or any thing of the kind, which expresses distinction of place, but the phrase all that dwell upon the earth, &c. appears to be used for no other purpose than to express the great extent of that delusion into which men were betrayed by the impositions of the beast. The questions, therefore, which Mr. Faber grounds on these expressions," Did the provinces of the Roman empire alone venerate the pope? Was his authority totally disregarded in "heaven, or Italy?" are easily answered, without hazard of being convicted of inconsistency.

To make good his charge of inconsistency, Mr. Faber farther observes: "In the present prophecy (chap. xii.) "the woman is said to "have been in the same heaven with the dragon. At what period was "the church exclusively confined to Italy?" This, at first sight, appears more to the purpose, and more difficult to repel, than what goes before; but it is only at first sight that it appears thus. This vision has been called the crux criticorum, and I think Mr. Faber allows it to be so. Until, then, it be ascertained what is meant by the heaven in which John saw the woman; what by the throne of God, to which her man child was caught up, and it be proved to be the same identical heaven in which John saw the battle between Michael and the dragon, no valid objection against my interpretation can be drawn from it. Mr. Faber, indeed, says the woman was in the same heaven with the dragon, but this I conceive to be a mistake, so far, at least, as it relates to his battle with Michael. He allows that there are two symbolic heavens, the temporal and spiritual, and I maintain that there is a third mentioned in this book, and in which John was, which differs from them both; and here it was that the woman was seen. See chap. iv. passim. After this I looked, and behold a door was opened in heaven; and the first voice which I heard, was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit; and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne, and he that sat was to look upon like a jasper, and a sardine stone, &c. Now this heaven to which John was raised in spirit, or vision, was not, most certainly, that symbolical heaven which was afterwards shewn to him, whether temporal or spiritual, but the place, so to speak, to which he was raised, and where the symbolic scenery was made to pass before his eyes. When, therefore, he says, in the fifteenth chapter, I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous; and here in the twelfth chapter, And there appeared a great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun-and again, And there appeared another wonder in heaven, a great red dragon, &c. he appears to mean nothing more by heaven than that place to which he had been raised in spirit for the purpose of having these visions revealed to him. Here, in this heaven, it was that he had presented to his inspired mind the symbolical universe, and the various scenery of which it was com‐ posed, and which pictured those multifarious transactions in which the

things; and which made war with the saints, and prevailed against them, until the ancient of days came. But whereas the heads of the dragon were crowned, here, the ten horns are crowned, to shew that this beast himself is not royal, but that the supreme civil power belongs to the kings, over whose dominions (with their assistance) he has exercised his impious tyranny.

The two-horned beast (chap. xiii. 11-13.) appears to be no other than the French despotism, as perfected by Louis XIV. If a perfect and exclusive agreement can determine what tyranny this symbolic beast signified, it must, I think, be France. Every feature answers to the picture; nor can I learn that any other tyranny comes near to the likeness. The French despotism appears to be particularly noticed, on account of the great support which it has, from the first, and all along, afforded the papacy. To a French monarch the Popes are indebted for the patrimony of St. Peter, and for their elevation to the rank of temporal princes; from the French monarchs, of every age, Ecclesiastical corruptions and usurpations have found the most prompt and effectual support, and none have shed such rivers of blood, or slaughtered so many martyrs and prophets, as these. Even the bloody house of Austria cannot equal them. The argument

church of Christ was to have a special interest, from that period to the consummation of all things. Now let us place ourselves, in imagination, in this heaven to which John was raised in spirit, that he might have shewn to him what was afterwards to be, and we shall be able to understand this vision much better than we otherwise can. It is in this heaven that John sees the scenic picture of the church under the symbol of a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, &c. but it is not at all intimated, by any circumstance, that she occupies a place in the symbolical heaven, where John saw Michael and the dragon fighting. It is true, she appears clothed with the sun, &c. but this, though it displays the dignity and sublimity of her character, does not prove that she even occupies the spiritual heaven.-In this heaven, to which John was raised, is the throne of God, and up to whom, even to his throne, the man child was caught; to represent, I apprehend, the special protection which God afforded to his persecuted servants against the rage of the imperial dragon; and not, as some have supposed, to signify, either the exaltation of Constantine to the throne of the Cæsars, or that of the Christian church to the power and dominion which has been the consequence of the Roman empire embracing Christianity; for this throne in the heaven which was the scene of John's visions, and on which one sat, who was to look upon like a jasper, and a sardine stone, is as perfectly distinct from any throne which may be supposed to have been seen in the heaven politic, as the one heaven is distinct from the other.

which supports this sentiment, respecting the two-horned beast, may be seen at large in the first part of the Signs of the Times.-Let it be observed, that, though these visions of the dragon and the two beasts are placed where they are, yet, we are not, from this circumstance, to suppose they did not appear in the world till after the events prefigured in some of the former chapters. We cannot now enter into an examination of the curious machinery of this mystical Book. It must suffice to say, the visions in the twelfth and thirteenth chapters, as well as the eleventh, are to be considered as explanatory ones; or, at least, as belonging to a new set of visions, which refer more immediately to the affairs of the church of God, and which shew the occasion of some of those judgments before exhibited, and prepare the way for what follows.

We shall now go back to the ninth chapter. The fifth trumpet brought the first woe, the Saracen locusts, which proved so great a plague to the corrupted Christians, both in the Eastern and Western parts of the world. The sixth trumpet brought on the second woe, the Turks, whose empire was founded A. D. 1500 or 1302. They were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. The author, after Mr. Brightman, Dr. Lloyd, Dr. Cressener, Mr. Whiston, and others, has attempted to show that this time is to be calculated as prophetic, or mystical time, making altogether about three hundred and ninety-six years, terminating A. D. 1697, when a mortal blow was given to the power of the Turks, and a stop put to their progress, by the victorious arms of Prince Eugene, (Sept. 1st, O.S.) and which being followed up by the atchievements of Peter the Great, of Russia, an end was put to this plague, as

a woe.

This was immediately followed by the seven thunders (chap. x. 4); which, seeing that thunder is ever the proper symbol of war, appear to signify seven periods of war, in the Antichristian territory; after which, delay (Xpovos) is to be no longer, but the seventh angel sounds, and the mystery of God is finished *. These seven periods appear to be as follows: the first was from 1700 to

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Chap. x. 5-7. Daubuz, in his comment on this passage, says, Xpovos signifies two very different things, length of time, or delay and opportunity. Most interpreters and versions understand it here, of "the first, as if it did signify, there shall be no length of time, or there shall be no delay."

1721, during which long period, Europe was never freed from the ravages of war: the second from 1733 to 1735 inclusive; the third, from 1737 to 1748; the fourth, from 1756 to 1763; the fifth, from 1763 to 1773; the sixth, from 1778 to 1782; and the seventh and last, from 1788 to 1791, in which period the French Revolution began, and which we suppose to lead to the sounding of the seventh trumpet.

But, in chapter the eleventh, there is another set of visions representing in miniature, a long succession of events, chiefly relative to the affairs of the church of God. Among other things, two witnesses appear, who, for twelve hundred and sixty prophetic days, that is years, torment, with their testimony, the corrupted nations. Upon these, when finishing their testimony, or towards the end of the twelve hundred and sixty years, the beast, that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit, makes war, and overcomes and kills them; they lay dead in the street (or in one of the kingdoms, particularly, and that the chief, the platea) of the great city three days and a half, after which they rise to life; ascend to heaven; and a great earthquake follows; the tenth part of the city falls *, and

*To the number of authors who have given it as their opinion, that the fall of the tenth part of the city would be realized by a revolution in France, and whose sentiments are already stated in the Signs of the Times, may be added the name of Sayer Rudd, M. D. who, A. D. 1734, published An Essay towards a new Explication of Doctrines of the Resurrection, Millenium, &c. at page 281, note 6, he says, "That the number "of the beast is the number of a man, I apprehend it intimates, the per66 son governing in that state, in whom this number is to be completed. "It is the number of a man, not only as the way of reckoning is the 44 same as men use, but, I apprehend, as it is a number included in the name of some man. Wherefore, as the name Ludovicus (which has "been a favourite name with the French kings,) contains the numeral "letters, according to the ancient way of counting (and I think it "ought to be a Latin name, if any,) which amounts to six hundred and "sixty-six, and so agrees in the strictest sense with the text, it seems probable to me, that the number of the beast's name is to be fixed "here: I mean, that as the beast received his name, his full compli66 ment, denomination, and power in the rise of that kingdom, so a "period will be put to the reign of the beast (strictly taken) by a REVOLUTION IN FRANCE, and that under a Louis; the Holy Spirit, "seeming to decypher the person under whose government this glo"rious event should happen, by this very number.

"

"Further, to support what has been now offered, it will not be improper to put the reader in mind, that the original and primitive "Antichristian beast, no where subsists but in the kingdom of the

seven thousand names of men (as it is in the original, are slain; the remainder are affrighted, and give glory unto God, by promoting his designs, and the seventh angel sounds his trumpet, as the signal for that war which is to destroy the enemies of Christ; the nations are angry, and God's wrath falls upon them. These symbolic representations we have already explained.

In the latter part of this eleventh chapter, we read, and the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of the testament. As heaven in this mystical book, symbolically signifies the government, or ruling powers of any country; so a temple is the symbol of God's church, or of its residence; and which temple is considered as shut, during the period of twelve hundred and sixty days, or years, in which the Gentiles occupy the outward court, and tread under foot the holy city (chap. xi. 1, 2); but now, when God destroys the enemies of his church, and reforms the world, the temple is opened; that is, all the restraints of persecuting statutes are removed, conscience is set at liberty, and who will—even those in authority, as well as others-may, publicly profess the religion of Christ. The ark of the testament, being seen in the temple, appears to be a symbol not of liberty only, a mere permission to enter God's temple, but of a farther advance of the kingdom of God among men ; and bespeaks some eminent discoveries of divine truth, and superior manifestations of heavenly favour. It is the perfection of religious privilege; for the high priest only was to see the ark within the vail. Heb. xi. 7.

This passage, if well considered, and compared with what we find in chap. xv. will afford a clue to enable us to trace the connection of these visions. Here is a vision of seven angels, with seven vials, or libation-bowls, full of the wrath of God, and (ver. 5.) John sees the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven opened, and the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues called, in verse the first, the seven last plagues. This

"Franks, that being the only kingdom out of the ten that has not been yet conquered. And likewise, that the downfal of the tenth part of "the city (which tenth part can mean nothing else but France, that being in order of its rise, as well as interest; the Tò dixxтo of the Papal hierarchy) is made the immediate fore-runner, or leading event "to the universal spread of Christ's kingdom (chap. xi. 13-15.) So "that we cannot expect either the destruction of Turk or Pope till that be accomplished.”