IN endeavouring to make good this hypothesis, that the signs of the times indicate the speedy downfal of all that spiritual and civil tyranny, which for so many ages, has prevailed in opposition to the principles of the kingdom of Christ, the Prince of Peace, there are three Inquiries which claim our attention.

The first respects the dragon and the beasts, which John saw in his visions. Rev. xi. 7. xii. and xiii.

The second respects the witnesses, Rev. xi. and the third Inqui­ry is, Whether all the numbers of Daniel and John, which refer to the latter days, will agree with the present times? Let us, with that reverence and devout candor which become us when we ap­ply to the word of God for instruction, attend to these several Inquiries.

The grand scene of the prophetic vision of John opens in the fourth chapter of the Revelations, and is continued to the end of the book. The whole may be considered as a number of scenic pic­tures. Chapter the eleventh is a miniature picture of the history of the church from the earliest times to the downfal of all antichris­tian usurpations. The following visions are the same picture vari­egated, for our instruction, on a larger scale.

Let us consider the visions in the twelfth and thirteenth chap­ters, and especially the vision of the second beast, chap. xiii. and 11. for, if these be understood, we shall have a key to unlock, not only the mysteries of the eleventh chapter, but of many oth­ers which follow. Chapter xii. 3. "And there appeared another wonder in heaven, and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth," &c. Most of the authors whom I have consulted, though they allow this chapter to contain a representation of the persecutions of Pa­gan Rome, yet have strangely spiritualized this dragon, so that whilst we are cautioned of our danger from invisible spirits, the true object is forgotten, and we beat the air.

There can be no doubt, but the devil is a principal agent in all tyrannies, ecclesiastical and civil; but what is here represented by the most terrifie imagery appears to be no other than that cruel ci­vil tyranny of the Romans, which cast down all the powers, and swept away all the remains of liberty in Europe, the then supposed third part of the world; and which, while the imperial head remained in full power, persecuted with unrelenting cruelty, the church of Christ in its infancy; and under all the despotims [Page 6]which have arisen from it, has more or less, continued to oppose the kingdom of Christ. This dragon, therefore, represents the civil tyranny exercised by the Roman Emperors, and by their suc­cessors in the several kingdoms which have arisen out of the ruins of that empire; and specially by those who are now called the Em­perors of Germany, who profess, more immediately, to succeed the despots of ancient Rome. While the first beast, in the next chap­ter, is the representation of ecclesiastical or spiritual tyranny, this dragon represents civil tyranny. They have the same origin, and their jurisdiction is alike extensive, and hence they both appear with seven heads and ten horns. This dragon, we shall find, gave to the beast his power and his seat, and great authority; but he still continued, and although wounded, remains to this day, nor has he ever ceased to practise destruction. All the world have wor­shipped him that gave power unto the beast; yea, so base and ser­vile have men been, that they have paid divine homage and passive obedience to their destroyer, and have said, in the fulness of their folly, not only of spiritual tyranny, Who is like unto the beast! but of civil despotism, Who is like unto the dragon!

Chap. the thirteenth, verse the first. "I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the s [...]a, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his head the name of blasphemy." All Protestants are agreed, that by this beast, the papal power, as exercised by the Bishop of Rome, supported by his clergy, and by those princes who have acknowledged his jurisdiction, is intended. Ver. 11. "And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all ^* the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth, and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast," &c. Dr. Doddr [...]dge, in his notes on this passage observe, ‘As I look upon the former to be the papal power, I am ready, with the best critics I know, to inte [...]ret this of the religious orders of the church of Rome. This beast is said to ascend from the earth, whereas the other ascended from the sea, to make the distinction between them the more re­markable: but what other mystery may be suggested, I cannot conjecture.’ Dr. Goodwin understands by the first beast the tem­poral power which the Pope has received from the kings of the ten an­tichristian kingdoms; and by the second beast the spiritual power which the Pope and his clergy claim of binding and loosing, of par­doning sin, and of cursing men to hell. Mr. Lowman supposes it to represent the ecclesiastical princes of Germany, who have been such great supporters of the power of the first beast. Most agree that although he is thus represented as a distinct beast, yet he ri [...]es [Page 7]out of the empire of the first, and is subordinate to him.^* But very inferior as I am to these learned men, I beg leave to propose a conjecture which I think has more weight than at first view we may be willing to admit.

May we not understand it of Lewis XIV. or at least of that ty­ranny which the family of the Capets have exercised to the great op­prestion of the Christian church; and to the destruction of man­kind? Why might not Lewis XIV. or the Capets and their tyranny be the objects of John's vision, as well as Alexander or Antiochus, or any other tyrant, that of Daniel's? Read their political history and private memoirs. If pre-eminence in vice, oppression, and mur­der, enitle to this distinction, who so abhorrent and vile? Who such enemies to the truth of God, and the happiness of mankind? Their tyranny has been the scourge of France, of Europe, and the world.^† What crue [...]ties did Lewis XIV. especially perpetrate to­wards his Protestant subjects; and what devastation and woe did he spread over Europe in his c [...]uel wars! Examine the description.— "And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns, like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon." John saw the other beast, the papal tyranny, (which is the usurpation of a foreigner,) advance, plunging through the waves of that sea of civil commo­tions, and religious contentions, which at the time of his rising agi­tated the Roman empire, and what was called the Christian church but this comes up out of the earth,^‡ it rises at home, and from cir­cumstances somewhat more settled, and in times not so agitated by commotions. If this be the beast in chapter xi. 7. which was to overcome and slay the witnesses, (as I am thoroughly persuaded it is) there we have a more descriptive account of his origin.

The second beast is said to come up out of the earth, but this from [Page 8]what our translators render the bottomless pit; from the abyss, or pit, bog, or wirlpool of infinite depth. And from what a bog of vice, treachery and cruelty on the one hand, and of superstition, servi­lity and baseness on the other, did the French tyranny arise! Or if you please so to express it, from a wirlpool which draws into its vor­tex, and swallows up every thing, the most precious to man.

Historians have represented Lewis XIV. as raising the French monarchy to the pinnacle of its glory. And if pride and ambition, persecution and bloodshed constitute supreme glory, it did so. But "the wisdom of the world is foolishness with God." O the folly and cru­elty of men! they create devourers, as if for the pleasure of wit­nessing and celebrating their exploits of blood; and even think it impiety to complain when their own rurn arrives to be devoured!

How perfectly do these two descriptions of the second beast agree! The angel describes him as ascending out of the abyss; John sees him arising out of the earth. And what sort of a spot may we sup­pose the theatre of his rising to be? The choicest spot which na­ture can furnish? Rather, where Behemoth^* makes his bed, in [...]he coverts of the reeds and sens, from whence he drags his muddy [...]imbs to the mountains of slaughter, where all the beasts of the field play.

"And he had two horns like a lamb." Here we may observe that [...] Bo [...]rbo [...]s, formerly kings of Na [...]ar [...]e only; on the extinction of [...]e family of Valois in 1589, which reigned over France; were be­ [...]ome possessed of both kingdoms, and Henry IV. grandfather of Lewis XIV. in whom the kingdoms were united, took the titles of King of France and Nacarre. These were his two horns like a lamb.

"And he spake as a dragon." His profession of that religion which [...]eaches to be meek and harmless, presents an appearance of inno­cence, but when he opens his mouth, the accents are those of a dragon, which bespeak him formed for mischief, and not for the benefit of mankind. All this agrees perfectly with the French ty­ranny, and particularly with Lewis the XIV. who was at once a su­perstitious devotee and a cruel despot; who though stiled the Most Christian King, practised the enormities of the dragon, who made war with them, who kept the commandments of God, and had the testimony of Jesus. Witness the persecutions with which he har­rassed the Protestants, and his attempts to extirpate the reformed by the revocation of the Edict of Nants; a persecution more cruel than [...]ny since the days of persecution commenced. See Claude's Com­plaints of the Protestants. The Edict of Nants, issued in 1598, grant­ [...]d to the Protestants the free exercise of their religion; many [...]hurches in every part of France, and judges of their own persua­ [...]ion; a free access to all places of honor and dignity, an hundred [...]laces as pledges of their future security, and funds to maintain both^† [Page 9]their ministers and garrisons. But no sooner was Lewis. XIV. ar­rived to the years of manhood, than he formed the resolution of destroying the Protestants. Did we not know him to have been a beast, we could hardly give credit to the report of the motive which pushed this resolution into practice. "Soon after he came to the crown," says Mr. Claude, page 43. ‘there arose in the kingdom a civil war, which proved so sharp and desperate, as brought the state within a hair's breadth of utter ruin. Those of the reform­ed religion still kept their loyalty so inviolable, and accompanied it with such a zeal, and with a fervour s [...] extraordinary, and so successful, that the king found himself obliged to give public marks of it by a declaration made at St. Germains in the year 1652. Then, as well at court as in the armies, each strove to proclaim loudest the merits of the reformed.’ But, can you be­lieve that there is so much depravity in human nature? Their enemies said, ‘If on this occasion this party could preserve the state, this shows likewise that they could have overthrown it; this party must therefore by all means, be crushed.’ Lewis and the abettors of his tyranny, instantly set about it. A thousand dread­ful blows," says Mr. Saurin, ‘were struck at our afflicted church es, before that which destoyed them: for our enemies, if I m [...] use such an expression, not content with seeing our ruin, ende [...] ­voured to taste it.’ As soon as the kingdom was settled in pea [...] they fell upon them, and persecuted them in every imaginable way. They were excluded from the king's household,—from all employ­ments of honor and profit,—all the courts of justice, erected by virtue of the Edict of Nants, were abolished, so that in all trials their enemies only were their judges, and in all the courts of justice the cry was,^* I plead against a heretic; I have to do with a man of a religion odious to the state; and which the king is resolved to extirpate. Orders were printed at Paris, and sent from thence to all the cities and parishes of the kingdom, which empowered the parochial priests, churchwardens, and others to make an exact in­quiry into whatever any of the reformed might have done or said for twenty years past, as well on the subject of religion as otherwise; to make information of this before the justices of the peace, and punish them to the utmost extremity. Thus, the prisons and dun­geons were every where filled with these pretended criminals; orders were issued, which deprived them in general of all sorts of offices and employments, from the greatest to the smallest, in the farms, and revenues; they were declared incapable of exercising any em­ploy in the custom-houses, guards, treasury, or post-office, or even to be messengers, stage-coachmen, or waggoners. Now a college was suppressed, and then a church shut up, and at length they were forbid to worship God in public at all, by the revocation of the [Page 10] Edict of Nants in 1685. ‘Now says Saurin, we were banished, then we were forbidden to quit the kingdom. on pain of death. Here we saw the glorious rewards of those who betrayed their re­ligion; and there we beheld those who had the courage to confess it haled to a dungeoon, a scaffold, or a galley. H [...], we saw our persecutors drawning on a sledge the dead bodies of those who had expired on the rack, there we beheld a false friar tormenting a dy­ing man, who was terrified on the one hand with the fear of hell if he apostatized; and on the other, with the fear of leaving his children without bread, if he should continue in the faith.’ When the arguments of priests, and every other mean failed, cru­el soldiers were quartered in their houses to exert their skill in tor­ments, to compel them to become Catholics. "They cast some," say Mr. Claude, ‘into large fires, and took them out when they were half roasted; they ranged others with ropes under their arm­pits, and plunged them several times into wells, till they promi­sed to renounce their religion; they tied them like criminals on the rack, and poured wine with a fannel into their mouths, till being intoxicated, they promised to turn Catholics. Some they slashed and cut with pen-knives; some they took by the nose, with red-hot tongs, and led them up and down the rooms till they promised to turn Catholics. These cruel proceedings made eight hundred thousand persons quit the kingdom.’ And let us re­member this same system of despotism and persecution remained till overthrown in 1789. None of these cruel laws against the Protes­tants were repealed, nor a particle of arbitrary pow [...]r surrendered.

In that country, from whence the light of reformation first issu­ed, and where there were more faithful witnesses against the pa­pal apostacy than in any other nation of the world; and from whose number and influence, and the laws in their favour, the old persecuting power was greatly reduced; there, the uncontroled reign of antichrist was restored.

"And he commanded that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword and did live," i. e. This tyrant cau­sed a system of dominion to be over conscience, a system of per­secution to be established, which was the image of the first papal beast; for although it was not so extensive a tyranny, as that exer­cised by the Pope being confined to one kingdom; yet it was the similitude of it. "And he had power in 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 of the beast should be killed." He gave new vigour to the dying papacy in France, and power to the popish party to issue their mandates and command apostacy, on pain of death. As to the juggling tricks, and impious frauds men­tioned in the thirteenth and fourteenth verses, they are as applicable to the impostures of this tyranny as to those of any other.

[Page 11] Thus far, I think, the likeness is perfect; and allowing Lewis XIV. or the French tyranny, brought to perfection by him, to be the object of the vision, it appears easy to be understood; but on every other hypothesis, which I have seen, it is encumbered with inexplicable difficulties. Dr. Doddridge says, ‘What the image of the beast is, distinct from the beast itself, I confess I know not.’

This part of our Inquiry upon which matters of no small im­portance are suspended, will I hope be attentively considered; as likewise whatsoever concerns this second beast and the confor­mity of the tyrannic proceedings of Lewis to the character and conduct here predicted. The fact here contended for being pro­ved, we have a master key to unlock the greater part of the pro­phecies before us, particularly that in the eleventh chapter from ver. 7. And even such lesser mysteries as those contained in chapter xvi. and 2. where the first vial is poured out upon two des­criptions of men; upon them who have the mark of the beast, papisis; and upon those who only worship or serve his image, those Protestants who yield assistance to the antichristian party in France.

"And he caused all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their forehead, and that no man might buy or sell save he that had the mark, ^* or the num­ber of his name." There is, we deny not, a difficulty in so under­standing this part of the description, as to give a perspicuous ex­planation. It is the pleasure of Heaven, that it should be enveloped in considerable obscurity. I make no pretensions to critical acu­men, but it appears to me that here are two conditions represent­ed of enjoying the lowest rights of citizens, unlimited submission to the authority of the church, the Pope and his clergy; and pas­sive obedience to the despotism of this second beast. Where these were refused no man might buy or sell. With this description the^† cruel laws of Lewis the fourteenth, respecting the freedom of companies and handicraft trades, by which the Protestants were hindered from earning bread for their families, perfectly agree.

To exclude mankind from any of their civil rights, for their ad­herence to matters of conscience, and to gratify a party, that that party, in return, may support the views of ambitious men, is of the dragon and the beast; but that to please the priesthood, and strength­en despotism, a man for being a Protestant should be excluded from acting as a custom-house officer, a stage-coachman, or a wag­goner, [Page 12]was a most wanton exercise of antichristian power indeed; and this was the exact case in the matter under consideration, for not only Lewis, but Mazarine, his minister, and the other petty despots about the throne, found their account in these proceedings. In this manner did they get rid of a body of men who were dan­gerous enemies to their schemes of ambition. The court gratifi­ed the priests, and in return, the priests supported court measures, and helped Lewis, not only to get rid of these friends to liberty and justice, but also to crush the Parliaments, which till now possessed considerable power.

But how shall we count the number of the name of the beast? No man might buy or sell save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom, let him that hath un­derstanding count the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. Not to specify particularly what others have said about this num­ber, there are two ways of calculating it which agree with Lewis the fourteenth, as the person in whom the French monarchy be­came a perfect beast. And the text suggests that there should be two, the number of the beast, and the number of his name. The nu­meral letters in the name of Lewis, as written in Latin give 666. Thus,

It was to be the number of the name of the beast, and the number of a man, or of a man's name.

Although so much stress is not, perhaps, to be laid upon the following way of calculating this number of the second beast, yet it is worth taking notice of; and possibly the Holy Spirit might point out that, by a remarkable providence, a twofold way of counting this number should be afforded, that thus the identity of the person and tyranny, might be ascertained with the greater evi­dence. Of this I shall say nothing, but leave every one to his own judgment. The first way of calculating ascertains the name of the man who should bring the tyranny to perfection, the follow­ing, [Page 13]the length of time it should be in perfecting; since the ances­tors of that man began it. And on examination we find, that from the time when Hugh Capet seized the throne of France, to the time, when the French, under Lewis XIV. began that career of blood, which, for many years, proved so calamitous to Europe, and especially to the Protestants, was exactly 666 years. Hugh Capet seized the throne in 987, Lewis XIV. came to the throne, on the death of his father Lewis XIII. in 1643, came to his majo­rity in 1652, and in the following year war was made upon Spain. Here he begins to rise above the surface of that bog in which his tyranny had been gendering for 666 years.

Thus, if I am not deceived, there is every proof which can be expected, proof, which amounts much nearer to a demonstration than is usual on such subjects, that the French monarchy, was the second beast which came up out of the earth. And though I would guard against rash confidence, I feel a persuasion which I cannot overcome, that this is the truth. And if it be, the conse­quences which are united with it are to the last degree interesting, both to the church and to mankind at large.

HAVING endeavoured to prove that Lewis the fourteenth, or the tyranny of the Capets, as perfected by that unequalled despot, was represented to John in his vision of the second beast; the second inquiry respects the two witnesses in Rev. xi.

This inquiry involves in it four questions.

• 1. Who are the wit­nesses?
• 2. Who is to slay them, and where are their dead bodies to lie unburied?
• 3. What length of time is intended by the three days and a half, during which their dead bodies are to lie in the street of the great city?
• 4. What will be the consequences attending their re­surrection?

1. Who are these two witnesses? ^* "I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophecy a thousand two hundred and threescore days clothed in sackcloth." The most prevailing opinion is, that the faith­ful ministers of the gospel, and all those who bear testimony against the errors and usurpations of antichrist, are intended; and that the number two is mentioned in allusion to the law of Moses which re­quired two witnesses, at least, to make a testimony valid. Bishop Lloyd supposes them to be the Waldenses and Albigenses, the early wit­nesses in France and its vicinity, against the corruptions of popery. Dr. More explains it of unpolluted priests and faithful magistrates. But I have long thought that, by these witnesses, the spirit of pro­phecy intended the witnesses for gospel truth against the spiritual domi­nations and corrupt errors of the papal apostacy; and all those who bear witness for civil liberty against the tyrannies and oppressions of those princes and governors, whose passions have enslaved mankind and desolated the earth. The number of these witnesses has in ge­neral been but small, yet, though they have prophesied in sackcloth, God in his good providence, has always preserved to mankind a succession of both descriptions. Even wise and good men have not, perhaps, sufficiently considered the worth and importance of the witnesses of the latter description, in fulfilling the great designs of God's goodness towards men; and hence they have almost always interpreted this prophecy as relating to the state of religion only; as if the civil and political state of men, were held in little consideration by the Lord of the whole earth.

If we candidly consider the matter, the f [...]urth verse seems to con­firm the foregoing ideas. And although what is said in the fifth and sixth verses is more obscure, yet as far as I can understand them, they are not inapplicable to either of these characters. "These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks, standing before the God of the [Page 15]while earth." ^* We have [...]ng been used to affix to these two beau­tiful tropes, olive trees and candlesticks, the idea of saints; but this is by no means essential, for they necessarily imply no more than ex­cellence in that character which is sustained, whether religious or civil. Allusion is here made to the emblems under which J [...]s [...]ua and Zerubbabel, were represented to the prophet Zechariah^†; one of whom was employed in re-establishing, (after the captivity, and in a time of religious and civil persecution) the religious, and the oth­er the civil polity, of the Jews. And what have the champions, in all ages and in all countries, who have combated tyrants in the cause of liberty and justice; as well as the advocates for the un­corrupted truth of Jesus been, but golden candlesticks whose lights have illuminated this dark world, and which have at once made conspicuous, the rights of men and the enormities of op­pressors —the truth of Jesus and the impieties of antichrist! And but for the zeal of both these, in their different characters, being kept burning, by that oil of benevolence towards man, and love to the truth of God's word, which the olive trees represent; the earth had been involved in universal darkness, and the triumphs of oppression and error had been compleat.

What follows is still more highly figurative. "And if any man will hurt them, fi [...]e proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their ene­mies. ^‡ And if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be kil­led. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to sinne the earth with all plagues as often as they will." ^§ What is here affirmed, has never been literally fulfilled, nor is it likely that it ever will. There is some similarity between these plagues and those to be inflicted under the first four vials. "There." on the pouring out of the first vi [...]l, "there s [...]ll a grievous s [...]re upon the men who had the mark of the beast, and upon them who wo [...]shipped his image. ^‖ here, the witnesses smite the earth with all plagues."—There, on the pouring out of the second and third vials, the sea and the rivers be­came blood; here, the witnesses turn the waters into blood, and re­strain the rain of heaven. There, on pouring out the fourth vial upon the sun, men were scorched with great heat; here, fire pro­ceeds out of the mouths of the witnesses to devour their enemies. —May not this highly figurative description, be made more intel­ligible thus? The witnesses for religious truth and civil liberty, al­though they shall defend their cause under great oppressions; yet such, under the providence of God, shall be the effect of their zeal, eloquence, and exertions, in the cause of God and man, that they shall occasion great vexations to their enemies, and kin­dle a fire, which in the end, shall consume their oppressors, and [Page 16]their systems together. And such advantages shall they have, from the spirit of their attacks, and the succeeding providence of God, that, from the mode of war which will then prevail, sire will seem to issue from their mouths, and destroy their opposers.^* Such shall be the effects of their arguments and exertions on the minds of men, that the political heavens shall refuse to yield that rain which used to swell those rivers that fed the great sea of oppression. "And all the rivers shall be dry." Such shall be the effects of their unexampled efforts in the cause of truth and justice,—in the cause of injured man; that in the end, avenging justice shall turn upon their enemies, and render to them according to their deeds.—If something of this kind be not meant by these powers which are gi­ven to the witnesses, I own, I am at an utter loss to conceive what the Holy Spirit intended.

And "when they had finished their testimony," i. e. when the thou­sand two hundred and threescore days are about to draw to a con­clusion, "the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit, shall make war against them and kill them." Here our second question presents itself. Who, or what is it, that is set forth by this beast?

If the position respecting the second beast in the thirteenth chapter be made good, I answer, the French tyranny under Lewis the fourteenth, who came up out of the bottomless quagmire. For as the abyss does not necessarily mean what is commonly understood by the bottomless pit, [...]ell, (though in a sense from thence he came,) there appears a peculiar propriety in thus explaining it: for taken altogether, and considering that some particular part of the anti­christian city, is to be the scene of the sufferings, death and resur­rection of the witnesses, the beast described in this eleventh chapter, agrees better with the second beast in the thirteenth chapter, than with the fi [...]st. And let us remember it must be one of them, or we create a third beast which was not shewn to John in any of the following explanatory visions; and it is not probable that so interesting an object would be presented in this miniature picture, which is not to be found in any of those which are on a larger [Page 17]scale. With Lewis it perfectly agrees.^* We have heard how [Page 18]he made war, both upon the witnesses for the pure religion of Je­sus Christ, and upon those for civil liberty too, and slew them. By his continued and multiplied persecutions and usurpations, and particularly by the revocation of the Edict of Nants, he slew the for­mer especially, but with them the greater part of those of the lat­ter description; for the true friends of religion and of religious li­berty, if they know any thing of their principles, are the firmest friends of civil liberty also; as that which is most intimately connect­ed with the designs of Christ, and the triumphs of that uncorrup­ted truth wherewith Christ hath made us free.

But does not this perfect his beastly character? He it was also, who gave the death-wound to the civil liberties of France, by ta­king from the parliaments all their remaining power, and from France every shadow of freedom. Their ancient constitution had been long impairing. It was undermined by the crafty Levis the XI. and had been nearly swept away by the daring and sangui­nary councils of Richelieu under Lewis the XIII. The assembly of the states had been disused ever since the beginning of this mo­narch's reign. The last time of its meeting was in the year 1614. But all civil liberty did not then expire. Its compleat extinction was left for this tyrant. "For heretofore" (says Puffendorf, in the style of a court sycophant) ‘the parliament of Paris used to op­pose the king's designs, under a pretence that they had such a right.’ That the king could not do any thing of moment without its consent; but the king has taught it only to intermed­dle [Page 19]with judicial business, and some other concerns, which the king now and then, is ple [...]sed to leave to its decision.^*

Thus perished liberty, thus perished the renowned resormers of France, whose faithfulness will be had in everlasting remembrance, and whose sufferings will be avenged in the downs [...] of that ty­ranny which inflicted them. For though "their dead bodies shall [...]e in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified;" and though the "people and kindreds and tongues, and nations see their dead bodies, three days and a half, and shall not suffer them to be put into graves," though few or none of the nations will, comparatively^† have any pity on them, to yield them assistance, or do for them any office of humanity, but may even rejoice over them (many of them at least) and make merry, and send gifts one to another because these two proph [...]ts who tormented them, are slain, though instead of assisting them, they may wish their everlasting extinction, or exert themselves ever so much against them—when the days are fulfilled, they shall awake in their chil­dren and successors, and shake and overturn from its de [...]pest foun­dations [Page 20]the tyranny which slew them. "And after three days and a half, the spirit of life from God entered into them."

Here the third question presents itself. What duration of time are we to understand by these three days and a half?

Before I offer my interpretation of this number, there is one consideration which claims a previous attention. On a careful examination, we shall find in all the predictions of the prophets, that although they give us assurance of the facts, yet the time of their accomplishment is left in a state of uncertainty. And even where dates are fixed, as in the predictions respecting the return of the Jews from Babylon, after 70 years captivity; and the ap­pearance of the Messiah after 70 weeks, or 490 years; yet the commencement of these periods is involved in obscurity, till light is thrown upon them by the event. It never was intended that men should know with certainty when any future event is to take place, and this for an obvious reason. The prophecies, we should remember, were designed not to gratify our curiosity, but so confirm our faith in the truth of the divine word, by their ac­complishment. And hence the necessity that these three days and a half should have a different meaning from the common prophetic days, that thus the time might not so easily be ascertained till the accomplishment should lead me [...] to their true intention. Were the prophecies so clear that every one could precisely know the circumstances and the time to which they refer, hindrances, if we may speak thus, would be thrown in the way of God's designs, and, in many cases, a check would be given to the necessary ex­ertions and pursuits of men. All the latter part of the last cen­tury, thinking people of all countries, were expecting the ac­complishment of the 1260 years, (the time of the beast's power.) On the revocation of the Edict of Nants, the whole Protestant world, and especially the poor^* afflicted French, were of opi­nion that the unequalled persecutions which were then endured were the slaying of the witnesses, and they were on tiptoe, look­ing for the end of the three days and a half.^† What is here laid down, particularly, that the days here should have a different meaning from those other days in this book, being granted; (as I think it must) let us proceed to seek an answer to this very interesting question. What length of time is intended by th [...]se three days and a half?

My answer is, that days in this 11th ver. are the same with months in the 2d. ver. or if you please, lunar days, reckoning as [Page 21]the Jews did, thirty days to a month, and as is the method in cal­culating the above forty-two months, to make them agree with the 1260 days in ver. 3.^*

Thirty multiplied by three, adding fifteen for the half day, makes 105. When this way of reckoning first occurred to my mind, I had no idea of the events which this number connected; for I did not recollect the year when the Edict of Nants was revoked. But looking over Quick's Synodicon, I found it to be October 18th, 1685, to which if 105 be added, it brings us to 1790. Take off a few months, (if that should be thought necessary,) for the event taking place before the half day is quite expired, and it brings us to 1789, when the witnesses were to be quickened. Whether this may strike others as it struck me, when I first observed the coincidence, I can­not tell; but, from this agreement of the number 105, with the time which elapsed between one of the greatest persecutions that was ever experienced by Christians, and this wonderful revolution which has taken place, a thousand ideas rushed upon my mind. Is it probable, is it possible, that this can be the quickening of the witnesses? What! the olive-trees! the candlesticks! I have al­ways supposed these to be saints!^† And can that zeal which hath fired Frenchmen, to combat for civil and religious liberty, be the spirit of life from God! Is this resurrection, in the vision, the rising to this civil and religious liberty previous to better days! I will do all that I can to discover the truth.

We have long been praying, thy kingdom come, and is there any probability that the preludes to it are arrived, the^‡ earthquakes, which shake the kingdoms of the world, the signs in heaven [...]ove, and on the earth beneath: the darkening of the sun and moon [Page 22]and the falling of the stars from heaven? And shall we be uncon­cerned about the signs of the times? It is deserving the most seri­ous examination whether the revolution in France, be the begin­ning of the fulfilment of this prophecy. I say beginning, for ac­cording to the prophecies, if this be the event pointed out by the resurrection of the witnesses, we have as yet seen but the dawn of what is to come, nor shall we perhaps for some time. Black and conflicting clouds will darken the hemisphere and obscure our prospect; but they will spend themselves and vanish. But were we sure that this event is what we conjecture, yet no man could say, how long it would be before the spirit of life from God would, in that larger degree, which we look for, enter into the witnesses for gospel truth; for they may be quickened with political life and yet remain some time with a small share of spiritual life. But,

Here the fourth question, which this Inquiry about the witnesses suggests, arises, What are to be the consequences of their resur­rection? Although a general idea may be formed of that which is to take place, yet it does not appear possible to mark out with certainty, what relates to future events, wrapt up in figures like those which follow in this book. But we may conjecture; our part is to compare those events which have taken place with the predictions, and judge how far the prophecies are fulfilled, and not pry into futurity with an over-anxious curiosity. Verse 11. "And after three days and a half the spirit of life from God entered in­to them." When their enemies thought them perished for ever, then, as under an impulse from^* God, an unexampled zeal, for liberty and^† truth, suddenly actuated them. "And they stood upon their feet, and gr [...] fear fell upon them that saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, come up hither." The su­preme power, by abolishing the laws under which they suffered political death, invited them to quit their state of bondage, and [Page 23]assume equal liberty with their fellows—"And they ascended up to hea­ven." To a more dignified state—"And their enemies beheld them." Their old oppressors, and their abettors, contemplated the change which was taking place, both with astonishment and malice— "And the same hoar there was a great earthquake, and a tenth part of the city fe [...]l." Instantly, on these witnesses for civil and religious liber­ty, being stirred up, as by a supernatural impulse on their minds, to claim and vindicate their imprescriptible rights, this monarchy, which is one of the ten horns of the papal beast, or one of the ten streets of the antichristian city,^* was so agitated by the con­flict between the witnesses for liberty, and the supporters of des­potism; that it fell, and its abominable oppressions issued in its ut­ter ruin; and that as in one hour. The progress of liberty, in the destruction of established tyrannies, is generally slow; and that which was ages in erecting, is ages also in pulling down; but, the change of things here, is not according to the common course of events; the witnesses awake, the conflict commences, and the ty­ranny falls, as in one hour.

"And in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand." Thus it is in our translation; but in the original it is, "There were slain ^† se­ven thousand names of men." The violence of war used to be direct­ed against the p [...]sons of men, but now against their names.—Those titles and privileges, under the shield or which, they have been wont to commit, with impunity, so many cruel oppressions.—"A [...] the remnant [...] glory to the God of heaven." After a violent conflic for some time, between the witnesses and their opposers, the form or prevailed, and those who had been rather spectators of the contest than actors in it, united themselves to their cause; and thus though, at least, many of them, might not be actuated with these view, they glorified God in promoting his grand and good designs in this change of things which he was now effecting, in the over­throw of antichristian despotism and persecution.— "Ye can dis­corn the face of the sky, but can ye not discern the signs of the times?" ^‡ — "Why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right?" ^§— Ah! the an­swer to this question is too obvious.—The Lord forgive them, who, to promote their own designs, have blinded your eyes and pervert­ed your judgment!—In doing this they have—But, "the Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice"—Clouds and darkness are round about him; but rightousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne." ^‖

"The second woe is past, and behold the third woe cometh quickly." ^¶— The two former woes respecting the Saracens and Turks; which [Page 24]are denominated woes, on account of the terrible calamities which they occasioned to mankind; being now passed by, and this internal commotion, in the country where the witnesses first begin to arise, pretty well settled; behold a state of things follows, which introdu­ces a scene replete with woe!

Ver. 15. "Behold the third woe cometh quickly. And the seventh an­gel sounded, and there were great voices in heaven, saying, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of the Lord, and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever." ^* We are not to understand by this, that, on the sounding of the seventh trumpet, the kingdom of righ­teousness, peace and universal happiness is instantly to commence; but that that great scene now opens, which is to prepare the way for it. The eighteenth verse obliges us to interpret it thus: The nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead that they should be judged. The time when thou wilt avenge the blood which ty­rants have shed—and destroy them which have destroyed the earth. The nations will be enraged at this change of things, and unite to oppose it, and great woes are to follow. Woes, which all descriptions of men, it is likely, will feel, that they may be brought to repentance; but which will, in their issue, fall chiefly upon the heads of anti­christian oppressors, the upholders of the papacy. Now the angels begin to pour out the vials of the wrath of God; for, as we have already observed, this chapter contains a complicated vision of a [...]ong course of events, in miniature, which is afterwards illustrated by several distinct visions on a larger scale.

But before we enter upon the consideration of the vials, permit me to adduce some authorities, which especially if we consider the time when they were written, more than a hundred years ago, tend very much to strengthen the argument in favour of my hypothesis, respecting the witnesses; their slaying and resurrection. The first I shall mention is Peter Jurieu, a French Protestant minister, whose works were published in English in 1687. He says, "The tenth part of the city which here fell, will, at some future time, appear to be the kingdom of France, where a revolution will take place about the year 1785, and a separation from the papacy follow, when the names of Monks and Nuns, of Carmelites and Augus­tines, Dominicans, &c. shall perish for ever, and all those vain ti­tles and armorial bearings, which serve for ornament and pride, shall vanish; and brotherly love make all men equal. Not that there shall be no distinctions, for it is not a kingdom of anarchy; but go­vernment shall then be without bride and insolence; without ty­ranny and violence, and subjects shall obey their governors with an humble spirit." The time required, according to this author, after the quickening of the witnesses, (i. e. from the time of the re­volution) to destroy antichrist, will be twenty or twenty-sive years; [Page 25]and that it will take about seventy years more for the abolishing of sects and parties among Christians, and for the conversion of the Jews and Heathens. "And all this," he says, "cannot be brought about without confusion and tumult. The popish empire cannot fall, but it must cause blood and a mighty noise." Thus far Jurieu.

Dr. Goodwin, who wrote a hundred and fifty years since, in his Exposition upon the Revelations, Part I. Chap. 7. has a great deal which is as astonishing as it is apposite to the present argument. He says, (sect. 6.) "The saints and churches of France, God has made a wonder to me in all his proceedings towards them, first and last; and there would seem some great and special honour reserved for them, yet at the last; for it is certain, that the first light of the gospel, by that first and second angels preaching in chapter the fourteenth (which laid the foundation of antichrist's ruin) was out from among them, and they bore and underwent the great heat of that morming of per­secution, which was as great, if not greater than any since.—And so, as that kingdom had the first great stroke, so now it should have the honour of having the last great stroke in the ruin of Rome."

Sect. 5th, he says, on Rev. xi. "By the earthquake here is meant a great concussion or shaking of states politics, or ecclesiastical.— The effect of this earthquake and fall of this tenth part of the city, is killing seven thousand of the names of men.—Now, by men of name, in scripture is meant men of title, office and dignity.—As in the case of Corah's conspiracy, so here a civil punishment falls upon these. For having killed these witnesses, themselves are to be killed (haply) by being berest of their names and titles, which are to be rooted out for ever, and condemned to perpetual forgetfulness."

The singular agreement of present events with what these authors foretold, from the prophecies, so many years ago, is a circumstance which merits the serious attention of all wise and considerate men; for it certainly adds great weight to the conjecture, that what has taken place in France, is the beginning of the final downfal of the papal usurpations and tyrannies. And if it should be so—woe be to them, who attempt to uphold what God has willed to fall! In the ordinary wars which nations have waged, they have, perhaps, lost one or two hundred thousand lives, and slaughtered as many of their enemies; countries have been laid waste, and taxes incurred to the oppression of the industrious; but in other respects they may have sat down much as they were; but, if the present contest be what there is reason to suspect it; not merely a war of man against man; but of God against antickristian usurpations and oppressions, the issue to those who oppose his designs, must be different. Though, as was the case with the Assyrians and with Cyrus, ^* the instruments which he uses, may not know him, nor mean to fulfil^† his will, yet they may be the rod of his anger to accomplish his councils.

[Page 26] Let us now revert to the question, What are to be the consequen­ces of the resurrection of the witnesses? Soon after it, the seventh trumper is to sound, which is the signal for the seven angels to pour out their vials of God's wrath upon the antichristian kingdom.— Has this seventh trumpet been blown? Is it sounding? Or is it about to sound for the angels to prepare to ex [...]ate the vengeance of God, on the mother of harlots and all abominations? My heart trembles at the idea of those calamities which are to sweep the earth, and of those convulsons which will shake kingdoms and nations! "Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it apper­tain!^* At thy wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide thine indignation!"

As to the gathering of the vintage in the fourteenth chapter, it appears to me, that it properly falls under one or more of the vials, and as Dr. Goodwin has well explained it, seems to be a vision of the vengeance which is to be executed upon the Protestant party; for the wine-press is said be trodden without the city, i. e. without the ju­risdiction or reach of the city of Rome; and is represented in a se­parate vision, on purpose to shew that vengeance will fall even up­on such kingdoms and nations as had cast off the Pope's suprema­cy. Dr. Gill and others have supposed, that the Protestant nations will again return to Popery, and persecute with great violence. But Dr. Goodwin's idea is more probable. He says, in his Exposition, Part II. Chap. I. "Whether the wine-press will be brought into this country, he only knows who is the Lord both of the harvest and the vintage; only this may be more confidently affirmed, that those carnal Protestants in England and other places, who like the outward court have been joined to the people of God, shall yet before the expiration of the beast's kingdom^† and number, be more or less given up to the Papists, and be made to vail to them, if not all of them, by bloody wars, and conquests, yet by some base and unworthy yielding to them, as a just punishment of their carnal profession of the gospel." "And the wine-press was trodden without the city, and the blood came out of the wine-press, even unto the hor­ses bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs." The Lord avert from this country such a judgment!

How incompetent is man to judge of the ways of God!—While the trumpet is blowing, and the angels are preparing to pour the divine vengeance on the heads of tyrants and their supporters, and to spread desolation and woe for the sins of men; the great army of saints and martyrs in heaven sing, "Great and marvellous are thy work, [Page 27]Lord God A [...]hty; ^* just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints! — All nations shall come and worship b [...]fore thee, for thy judgments are made m [...]i."

"And I heard a great voice out of the temple, ^† saying to the seven angels, Go your ways and pour the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth."— It app [...]ars to me, that although we must suppose a conformity to the order of the vision, in inflicting the plagues of these seven vials, yet, perhaps, it will not be such a formal one, as to exclude all mixture. It strikes me, that although the vial which is to be poured out upon the earth, will commence first, and that on the s [...]a follow, yet their falling streams will mingle; and although the full torrent of the latter vials may not commence, yet some small portion of them may be dashed upon the rivers, the sun, or the throne of the beast, while the first are pouring out; and although the plagues of th [...] latter vials will commence last, as in the vision, yet the streams of the f [...]rmer may still be running. The angels saying of this woe, that it cometh quickly, and the circumstance of the seven angels with their vials all appearing, and being sent out at the same time, supposes that they will all be employed to­gether, to execute their missions on the several objects of the di­vine displeasure. And we may hope that these judgments will soon be over.

Were I to retail half the opinions of authors on the following objects of the divine vengean [...]e, adding to them my own conjec­tures, this pamphlet would swell into a folio; but as I apprehend that the events which are here represented have not yet taken place, or at most, are but now commencing, my reflections shall be short. "And the first went and po [...]red out his vial upon the earth, and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which wo [...]hipped his image." ^§ The pouring out of this vial upon the earth may possibly refer to some particular country on the main, where the judgments of God are to commence; or perhaps, we may be taught by this emblem, that the downfal of the antichris­tian kingdom shall begin with terrible wars on land; in which God's wrath shall be manifested against those armies of land forces which have for so many ages been the basis of tyrannic power, and who, at the nod of despots have slaughtered their fellow creatures with­out either thinking or caring about the justice or injustice of the cause; who have been the base instruments, without a motive, of desolating nations and of carrying unnumbered woes from one end of the earth to the other. But the time of judging the cause of the dead is come, and both they who have the mark of the beast, i. e. who are the subjects and slaves of the papacy, and they who worship, or only serve and endeavour to support the image of the beast, (which according to what appears from chapter XIII, is the [Page 28]tyranny of the antichristian party in France, all such as serve this image of the beast, though not papists and slaves to Rome) shall experience such chastisements and disappointments in their at­tempts to support what God has determined to overthrow, and such violent and successful attacks on their power, that they shall be deeply wounded and greviously vexed; or, a noisome disease shall get into their camp, and cover the earth with their dead; that thus men may see the hand which smites them, and give glory to God. "^* Ye can discorn the face of the shy, but can ye not discern the signs of the t [...]s."

"And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea, and it became as the blood of a dead man, and every living soul died in the sea." As in Isa. lx. 5. "the abundance of the sea shall be converted un­to thee," means the "inhabitants of islands," and as "woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea," chap. xii. 12. means woe to the inhabitants of continents and of islands, all mankind, so the pouring out of this second vial on the sea may indicate those calamities which God will bring upon his enemies, the supporters of papal tyrannies, in such situations; or, if this be not the mean­ing of the pouring out of this second vial of wrath, (but which I think is most likely) it may probably refer to the destruction of na­val armaments, whether in battle, or by God's more immediate judgments. And so great will be the destruction that the sea will not only be stained with blood, but become as the blood of a dead man.

"And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of water, and they became blood," &c. This may be a representation of those judgments which are to sall on the inhabitants of inland countries and where rivers abound and have their sources; or, as it has been generally explained, of that just vengeance which is to be inflicted upon those orders of men, who by the abuse of pow­er, both civil and ecclesiastical, have been the chief sources of hu­man misery and the great feeders of the sea of oppression. The calamities which are to attend this vial are to be peculiarly grie­vous. This may be concluded from the following circumstance, I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou a [...] righteous O Lord!—thou [...]ast given them blood to drink, for they are worthy. The former judg­ments pass in silent solemnity, as though the objects of them were less conspicuous in guilt, but no sooner is this vial poured out than it excites acclamations of praise. If this refer to the inland coun­tries of Europe, more especially where the people are held in vas­salage, and where, both the priests and nobles, above most others, rule the people with a rod of iron, there appears a peculiar fitness in these acclamations.

"And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun" This ap­pears [Page 29]to be either a representation of God's awful vengeance in vi­siting the nations with a drought or excessive wet, that thus they may at once be humbled under his mighty hand, and be more dis­posed to forward his designs in the overthrow of antichristian sys­tems of error and oppression. Or is it a prediction of the display of God's wrath against those systems of pride and despotism which by their splendor have been dazzling and by their violence consuming mankind. Mr. Mede supposes this sun to be some splendid potentate of Europe, as the emperor or the king of Spain. But if it be not the emblem of drought or wet, I should rather suppose it to represent the extinction of despotism in general, than of an individual monarch or monarchy.^*

"And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast." ^† This must be considered, as referring to those calamities which God intends to bring upon the Pope, and upon that city and country where the throne of the beast stands. And we may expect soon to see heavy judgments fall upon the Roman Pontificate; and that city to be sacked and burnt which has been the source of so many corruptions, and which has tyrannized for so many ages, with spi­ritual despotism over those kingdoms that have given their pow­er to the beast.

"And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphra­tes ^‡, and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings [...] the east might be prepared." The Turkish empire also shall exper­ence the wrath of God for their abominable oppressions, and thu [...] a way be prepared for the return of the Jews to their own land previous to their conversion to Christianity. But the beast does not yet expire. "And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come o [...] of the mouth of the ^§ dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and o [...] of the mouth of the false prophet; for they are the spirits of devils working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty."

[Page 30] Great efforts will be made to engage all the kings of the earth, [...]nd of the whole world, in support of the old antichristian system, against every attempt which will be made for its destruction. But all these efforts will be in vain—the wrath of man shall praise God. It is his battle, and he will overthrow his enemies and the enemies of mankind, with all their hosts.

"Behold I come as a thief! Blessed is he that watcheth." ^* This will take place at a time when men in general will have no expectation of it, but will say in their heart,^† "Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning." They will calculate events on common principles, and deceive themselves into ruin. Blested is he that watcheth. "And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon," ^‡ or the mountain of Megiddo, thus called because it shall be a place more remarkable for slaughter than Megiddo ever was. Judges v. 19.2. Kings ix. 27. and Zech. xii. 11. May our country, in that day, whether it be near or afar off, if not engaged on the side of the King of kings, be far from the mountain of slaughter! In this country, above most others, the rights of conscience, and the civil rights of mankind have been protected. Let us hope therefore, that when the Judge of all the earth shall make inquisition for blood, that we shall ind mercy; or, if with the rest of the nations, who are to be pu­ [...]ified by affliction, we must share in the cup of trembling, here [...]s ground for confidence in prayer that mercy may be mixed with judgment. For the judgment of God will be a judgment of pro­portion. Where there has been most oppression, where sin has been most triumphant, and especially where there has been most persecution of conscience, there will the heaviest woes fall. Let us therefore repent and seek God; this is at all seasons necessary, but an additional motive enforces it, when the signs of the times suggest some very signal crisis to be at hand. For whether men will see it or not, all things do not continue as they were from [Page 31]the beginning.^* "For the oppression of the poor, for the sig­ing of the needy, now will I arise saith the Lord."

"And the seventh ^† angel poured his vial into the air, and there cam a great voice out of the temple of heaven from the throne, saying—It is done—And there were voices and thunderings, and lightnings, ^‡ and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, ^§ and the cities of the nations fell, and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath, and every island fled away, and the mountains were not found," ^‖ &c. Either God, in his providence, will cause the state of the air to be such that nature shall be thrown into terrible com­motions, plagues shall be gendered, and famines occasioned, that thus blind and obdurate men, who would not see his judgments in war, may behold his hand in those more conspicuous tokens of his wrath which will affect the rich as well as the poor, and may be brought to repentance; or it may mean that the kingdom of satan, who is called the prince of the power of the air, shall now fall.

Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations [...] the earth, the source of oppressions and all tyrannies, falls; an not only the mother, but all her children; all the cities of th [...] nations; all the tyrannic polities which have despised and oppresse the servants of God, and all mankind; and no place is found f [...] them. The beast and the false prophet are taken,^¶ and cast it a lake of fire, and now^** that oeconomy of righteousness and pea [...] [Page 32]which Jesus the Prince of peace hath in charge, from his Father, [...]o bestow on men, shall be established on immovable foundations, till the consummation of all things; for not only human tyrannies shall perish, but the witnesses for the pure religion of Jesus, shall be so increased and quickened by an energy from above, and such an influence from God attend his gospel, while all nature shall conspire to prepare men for repentance, that satan's empire shall be overturned; the earth be filled with the knowledge or the Lord; and they shall learn war no more. EVEN SO, COME LORD JESUS!

WE are now come to the third Inquiry, Will all the num­bers of Daniel and John, which refer to the state of things that we are looking for, agree with the present times? Let us exam­ine. In discussing the numbers of Daniel, I shall not take up much time in examining questions and in endeavouring to solve difficulties which might be started; nor in enquiring whether any of these numbers terminated in Antiochus Epiphanes. I think, and I have very respectable authorities on my side, that they refer to the overthrow of the papal apostacy; and all those systems of tyranny which have been so much at enmity with the kingdom of Christ; to the purification of the Gentile church, and to the restoration and conversion of the Jews. To save time, and to spare the reader's patience, I shall take some things for granted, which may be seen argued at length, in more voluminous writ­ings.

In the first place, let us consider Daniel's vision in chap. viii It opens with the appearance of a ram, having two horns, push­ing west-ward, and north-ward, and south-ward.^* This the ang [...] interprets to be the kings of Media and Persia.^† The next object i [...] the vision is an he-goat, ^‡ which came from the west, with a notab horn between his eyes. This the angel says,^§ is the king Grecia, the Grecian empire; and the great horn, between h [...] eyes, the first king, Alexander. This horn was broken, and after it came up four others; the four empires^‖ which sprung up o [...] of the conquests of Alexander. "And out of one of them came little horn, ^¶ which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, ^{{left †}} and to ward the cast, and toward the pleasant land, and by him the place of the daily sacrifice was taken away, ^* and the place of his sanctuary was cast down, &c. Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, ^* How long shall be the vision concern­ing the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under scot? And he said unto me, ^* Unto two thousand and three hundred days, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed."

It seems natural to reckon these 2300^** days (or years) either [Page 34]from the first part of the vision, the pushing of the ram, or the latter [...], the violences of the little horn; or from the time when Daniel [...]w the vision. If we calculate from the time when Daniel saw the vision, the termination of the 2300 years is past 40 or 50 years: and the sanctuary is not cleansed. If from the latter part of the vision (as understood of Antiochus) it will carry us to about the year A. D. 2130, which appears too far; for, supposing the 1260 years power of the beast, predicted in the Apocalypse, were to be calculated from the time when the Pope became a temporal prince from the exarchate of Ruvenna being given to him by Pepin A. D. 755, (some thinking that he was not a perfect beast till then) this would fall short of Daniel's number by more than a hundred years; but seeing that the power, idolatry, corruptions and usurpations of the papacy were such, at least, in the sixth century, as appear sufficient to denominate it a beast, and it is certain, that he began to rise much earlier; the most probable time for the fixing the commencement of Daniel's 2300 years, and that which will altogether agree best with the other numbers of Daniel, and the predictions in the Apocalypse, is the beginning of the vision, the pushing of the ram, by which is intended some distinguished exertions of the Persian empire for conquests. And to what period of that empire does this so well agree as to the times of Xerxes, and that particular push which he made when he invaded^* Greece with an army of 2,641,610 fighting men, [...]eckoning 517,610 on board his fleet, which consisted of 1,207 [...]hips of the line of battle, 3,000 gallies, transports, victuallers, &c. beside the 220 ships, which the nations on this side the Hellespont added, on board of which were 24,000 men. Of his land forces 80,000 were horse. And besides this multitude as many more are [...]eckoned to have followed the camp, servants and eunuchs, &c. So that the whole number of people engaged in this expedition was, at least, 5,000,000. What a push was this for conquest! And (though he had been pushing for three or four years before, yet) nothing else forbidding it, what period could be more proper for the angel to begin his reckoning from? He passed the Helles­pont B. C. 480: four years before this he pushed at Egypt and re­duced it; the next year he prepared for this invasion; the follow­ing he entered into a league with the Carthaginians against the Greeks, and in the year 481 B. C. marches as far as Sardis, on his way towards Greece, where he winters, and in the spring passes the Hellespont.

[Page 35] Suppose we fix the year 481 B. C. for the commencement of Danie [...]s 8 2,300 years (allowing our chronology to be correct) this carries us to the year of Christ 1819, when the sanctuary and host are no longer to be trodden under foot, i. e. the land of Pa­lestine is no longer to be in the possession of the enemies of the Jews, but they are to be restored, and the church freed from an­tichristian abominations.

In Dan. XII. we have three different numbers. (The first agrees with that in chap. vii. 25.) Ver 7. "I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever, that it shall be for a time, times, and an half time." Three years and a half, or forty two months of years, viz. 1260, "and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished." Again, Ver. 11. "And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days." Ver. 12. "Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the thousand and three hundred and five and thirty days." As the first number agrees with the predictions, in the revelation of John, respecting the continuance of the power of the antichristian beast: and as the numbers appear to contradict each other if they are confined to the tyranny of Antiochus (though he might be pointed at a the type of Antichrist) I consider them as harmonizing with th [...] New Testament predictions. According to Rev. xi. 2. the holy city is to be trodden under foot of the Gentiles forty and two months; and in ver. 3. the two witnesses are to prophecy twelve hun­dred and sixty days clothed in sackcloth. Chap. xii. and 7. w [...] have the same number, and in ver. 14. we learn that the woman was to be nourished in the wilderness for a time and times and half a time, chap. xiii. 5. Power is given unto the beast (the first beast remember, not the second) to continue forty and two months. The same time, 1260 years, is intended by all these numbers.

But how can we reconcile those three different numbers of Da­niel, with the seven (two in Daniel and five in the Apocalypse) which agree?

In the first place let it be allowed that the predicted final over­throw of Antichrist began with the revolution in France in 1789, and then reckon thus:

Daniel's time, times and half a time (1260 years) begin and end with the five numbers in the Apocalypse, and as they are 1260 years and supposed to end at the French revolution, they must be­gin A. D. 529, and end in 1789. Daniel's 2300 years begin 481 years before Christ, and end in 1819, when some other great event, or events, will take place. The beast and the false prophet (Rev. xix. 20.) i. e. the papacy and the French tyranny, having [Page 36]previously been brought to an end, then, perhaps, the dragon, ci­vil despotism, will be bound (Rev. xx. 2.) and the Jews, the dry bones in the valley of vision, be raised to political li [...]e,^* and re­stored to their own land.—Dan [...]el's 1290 years begin with his time, times and half a time and with the former five, numbers of John in the Apocal [...]se, i. e. at the commencement of the reign of the beast, A. D. 529, and end with the former number, (2300) in 1819. His 1335 years (the end of which according to him will eminently be a blessed time) begin in the same year of Christ 529, and terminate in 1864. When perhaps the Jews are to be con­verted by that remarkable appearance of the Lord in their favour, which is predicted in Ezek. xxxviii. and xxxix. and in Zech. xii. and xiv. Thus the final attack on the beast, commences in 1789. Thirty years are employed in the overthrow of the papacy, the Turks and other tyrannies: a season, it is likely of great calamities, but especially to the enemies of Christ's kingdom. The next forty-five years, to 1864, to which time Daniel's 1335 years extend, may be spent in gathering the Jews, (who according to Jer. xvi. 16. will be unwilling to return to their own land) and in purify­ [...]ng them by those trials, which, according to the^† prophets, are [...]o take place on their first return: as well as in purifying, and in [...]ringing to an end all the sects and parties of the Gentile Chris­ [...]ans: and which may be affected by that greater light which is to [...]ine upon the Christian church in the latter days, previous to [...]at greater glory and superior state of felicity which is to com­mence, perhaps (as we have conjectured from Daniel's number [...]f 1335) about the year 1864, on the conversion of the Jews and [...]f those heathen nations, not before gathered to Christ.

But, perhaps, it may be asked, What arguments are there which favour the conjecture of the 529th year of Christ being that from which the power of the beast is to be dated? I own I have put this year down by accident, as the measurement back from 1789. To demonstrate, that in this year, he came to such a state of maturity (for he was in embryo in the apostles days, and continued to grow for ages) as to constitute him a beast, is not essential to the making good our hypothesis. But though no man, from the history of past times, can determine the exact year from which God dates the kingdom of antichrist, yet there are good reasons from which a probable conjecture may be for­med that it was as early as the sixth century. Some of our most able critics, as Bishop Newton and Mr. Lowman, are of opinion, that by the wound which the first beast received, chap. xiii. 3. we are to understand the blow which was given to the majesty and [Page 37]power of Rome, by subjecting it to the exarchate of Revenna, and that by its being healed, is intended, its restoration to its for­mer dignity by this exarchate being given to the Pope, by which he became a temporal prince. Now, this wounding took place A. D. 568, and continued 206 years. If this be well consider­ed, it tends much to strengthen our argument. But farther to confirm our hypothesis, consider the state of society, and parti­cularly the state of what was called the church, in this sixth cen­tury. Magistrates were tyrants, and priests were wicked, super­stitious and intolerant beyond any former age. Now, numberless laws and regulations were obtruded upon the church by human authority, which at once violated the authority of Christ, defa­ced Christianity, and robbed Christians of their dearest liberties. And in this very year 529, which we are looking for, the Justini­an code was first published, by which those powers, privileges and immunities were secured to the clergy; that union perfected be­tween things civil and ecclesiastical, and those law, imposed on the church, which have proved so injurious to Christianity, and so calamitous to mankind. And which code, through the zeal of the clergy, has been received, more or less, as the foundation of the jurisprudence of almost every state in Christendom; and that not only in things civil, but ecclesiastical; and by this means, as some author has observed, the old fancy of the Romans, about the eternity of their command, is thus far verified.

That this pamphlet, which is already larger than intended, ma [...] not be swelled into a volume, permit me to refer to Mosh [...]im's Ec­cle. Hist. Cont. VI. and especially Part II. chap. 2d, 3d, and 4th All sorts of absurdities were imposed, the grossest ignorance an [...] wickedness prevailed among the clergy; the Bishop of Rom [...] grasped at absolute authority over conscience, and unlimited su­premacy over the whole Christian church; and though he did no [...] altogether succeed in the east. in this western part of the worl [...] (where the seene of John's visions chiefly lay) his dominion wa [...] acknowledged, and paras [...]al panegyrists, among other blasphe­mous assertions maintained, that the Roman pontiff was constitu­ted Judge in the piece of God, which he filled as the vicegeren [...] of the Most High; so that now was fulfilled that prediction of the Apostle. 2 Thess. xi. 3, 4. "As God he sitteth in the temple of God, [...]ing himself that he is God." Now the wicked were taught that remission of sins was to be purchased by their liberalities to the church and its ministers; now those doctrines which taught men the worship of saints and images; the efficacy of observing hu­man rites and institutions towards the attainment of salvation; the power of relics, and a thousand more errors and absurdities were brought to perfection. Now did monkery over-run the world, [Page 38]and marriage was forbidden as unworthy of those who aspired to the saints.—And in this very year 529 also, a new order of monks, which in a manner absorbed all the others established in the west, was instituted by Benedict of Nursia. In process of time, this or­der having acquired immense riches, they sunk into luxury, in­temperance and sloth; abandoned themselves to all sorts of vices; extended their zeal and attention to worldly affairs; insinuated themselves into the cabinets of princes, took part in political ca­bals and court factions, made a vast augmentation of superstitious rites; and, among other meritorious enterprizes, laboured most ardently to swell the arrogance by enlarging the power and autho­rity of the Roman pontiff. This and the other monastic orders, (sinks of ignorance, indolence and vice!) were the fountains from whence issued all sorts of abominations, and the rivers which married superstition, oppression, and violence, to all parts of the earth. They taught princes to tyrannize, and the people to cringe.

Was not the time of the publishing of the formentioned code of Justinian, and of the rising of this order of monks, a period, in the history of the apostacy, in which we may suppose the Al­mighty, with distinguished propriety, to begin to reckon the 1260 [...]ears of the beast's power, and the treading down of the holy [...]ity? The conjecture is probable a prior [...]: but, if present events, [...]nd these compared with other events, agree to recommend this [...]ate (529), the probability is much increased.

To say no more of this concurrence of several numbers, thus [...]uing from different periods, and these the most interesting in the history of nations, and of the Church, and yet harmonizing [...]n their termination so conformable to what the prophets seem to [...]oint out, respecting the events of the last days, gives great pro­ [...]ability to the hypothesis, that the time is arrived for the downfal of the antichristian tyranny, when God will rebuke the nations, and they shall learn war no more; ^* when he will consume the idolatrous and persecuting man of sin with the spirit of his mouth, and utterly destroy him with the brightness of his coming. ^†

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