writings, whether historical or theological. Permit me to entreat the favour of you, Sir, to cast an eye over the paragraph on the top of the following page, and you will instantly perceive how impossible it is for me to avail myself of Her Majesty's nomination to the Charter House Institution without a most shameful sacrifice of principle, such as I hope never to be guilty of; and similar sentiments pervade all my voluminous publications. It is true that I was educated with a view to the ministry in the Church of England, but when it pleased the Most High to open my understanding, and favour me with some little knowledge of the holy scriptures, and especially of the import of our Saviour's good confession concerning his kingdom, when in answer to Pilate's interrogation, he said, ' My kingdom is not of this world,' I bade adieu to all national establishments of Christianity, and took my lot among the dissenters, which after an interval of threescore years I have never seen just cause to regret, though perse cution and the offence of the cross have been my constant companions. But I have a never-failing source of consolation in the words of my Lord and Saviour (Luke xviii. 29) There is no man that hath left home, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake, who shall not receive manifold more in the present time, and in the world to come, life everlasting." I hope, Sir, you will pardon this prolixity; you know that one of the infirmities of old age is garrulity. Have the kindness to assure Her Majesty that my declining to accept her gracious offer arises from purely conscientious motives, -from deference to the authority of our Great Master in heaven, to whom we must all shortly render in our account! I hope you will be successful in prevailing on our most gracious Sovereign to put a favourable construction on my motives in this instance, and if afterwards she should feel disposed to extend her sympathy towards one that is worn down by age and its usual concomitants, she may possibly avail herself of some other plan of carrying into effect her benevolent inten

*Extract from "Lectures on the Apocalypse," by W. Jones, pp. 186, 187.

"Let no dignitary of the establishment imagine for a moment that a conscientious dissenter envies him when he contemplates that superior rank in society which is derived from being connected with an opulent hierarchy, or when he hears of the ample emoluments with which it is endowed: no man deserves the name of dissenter, at any rate, he does not understand the true principle on which he should assume such an appellation, if he does not feel a full conviction, that though the highest dignities of the church and its most extensive revenues were laid at his feet, he could not, on any account, partake of either the one or the other. His views of the kingdom of Christ must be completely altered before he could take any part in the support of a system which he believes to be derogatory to the honour of his divine Master by introducing a power into that kingdom which he expressly condemns."

tion. But should the case turn out otherwise, I shall, to my latest moments, continue to indulge an honourable pride in reflecting that I have not been thought altogether unworthy of Her Majesty's notice and regard; nor ever cease to pray that the choicest blessings which Heaven has to bestow may rest upon the royal family.

"With every sentiment of respect and gratitude, I remain, Sir,

"Your very obedient and obliged servant, (Signed) "WILLIAM JONES, 39, Frederick Street, Gray's Inn Road.” "To G. E. ANSON, Esq.,

Windsor Castle."

The Secretary of the Literary Fund to Mr. Jones.

"73, Great Russell St., 9th Nov., 1843. "DEAR SIR,-A few weeks ago I was requested by Mr. Anson, the treasurer of Prince Albert, to draw up a list of literary men whom I could recommend as worthy of some annual provision.

"Among others, I recommended you as a gentleman in every way worthy of such a mark of royal favour, and I regretted to find that, being a dissenter, you were unable to accept the poor brothership of the Charter House which Her Majesty offered you.

"The Queen, however, has been pleased, in the most gracious and condescending manner, to make another arrangement for your benefit, which will not interfere with your conscientious scruples. Her Majesty has directed Mr. Arbuthnot to place in my hands the sum of £60, from the Royal Bounty Fund, which I am commanded to pay to you in annual instalments of £20 each. I shall be glad to see you this afternoon, when I will arrange the mode in which you may receive this sum.

I think it would be of more service to you if paid quarterly; but on this and other points I shall of course be guided by your own feelings. I cannot communicate to you this announcement of the Queen's munificence, without congratulating you most cordially on receiving such a special mark of Her Majesty's favour and condescension. "I am, dear Sir,

66

Faithfully yours, (Signed) "OCTAVIAN BLEWITT." "To Mr. WILLIAM JONES."

MARRIAGES.

At the baptist chapel, Rugby, by license, on Dec. 24, 1843, by the Rev. E. Fall, Mr. ROBERT MASTERS to Mrs. MARY ANN MCKINNELL, both of the above place.

At the baptist chapel, Waltham Abbey, Essex, Dec. 25, by the Rev. Jas. Hargreaves, Mr. GEORGE WILLIAM JAMES of London, to Miss SARAH ASHTON of Waltham Abbey.

ON THE 2300 DAYS OF DANIEL. To the Editor of the Baptist Magazine. DEAR SIR,-For some months, in various parts of the country, there has been received from America, a religious periodical called "The Voice of Elijah." It is chiefly filled with explanations of prophecy, and especially the prophecy which is being now accomplished, or which is to be accomplished soon.

The design of the editor in several of the papers latterly has been to show that Christ would personally appear by the month of April, 1844. His calculations have been made in the following manner. In Daniel viii. and xiv. 2300 days are mentioned, which, according to the usual mode of explaining prophecy, are to be considered 2300 years. Regarding the division of the chapters as a modern invention, it is observed that in the ninth chapter and twenty-fourth verse, it is stated that seventy weeks were "determined," or to be "cut out," for making "an end of sin, and to make reconciliation for iniquity." These seventy weeks, or, reckoning a day for a year, 490 years, were to intervene between the going forth of the commandment to build Jerusalem, and the death of Christ; and to be subtracted, or "cut out" from the 2300 years. This leaves 1810, and on the supposition that Christ was thirty-three years of age when he was crucified, the thirty-three added to the 1810 will give 1843.

The distinctness of this calculation has led some Christians to hesitate amidst the transactions of business; and some very strangely to conclude that it was useless to contribute to religious societies; and some to spend night after night in looking for the appearance of Christ in the clouds. I therefore request permission to show your readers that the calculation is wrong, and the expectation unwarranted; that while it is a duty to be always prepared for the coming of Christ by

death, they be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter, as though the day of Christ was at hand." Let it be observed,

I. The eighth and ninth chapters of Daniel are by the editor connected together, to subtract a given number specified in one chapter, from a given number in the other, without any authority or reason for connecting them. Granting all that may be said respecting the division into chapters, here are two distinct visions; one in the third year of Belshazzar, the other in the first year of Darius: and the second vision having no reference to the first, but granted in answer to special prayer offered exclusively respecting the Jews. The two numbers, the 2300 of one chapter, and the 490 of the other, are brought together without any specified authority for bringing them together.

II. If these two numbers were properly brought together, still "The Voice of Elijah is wrong respecting the present year, because of neglecting the divisions of the seventy weeks.

The calculation is made as though the Saviour was crucified at the expiration of the seventy weeks; whereas in the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth verses it is stated that after seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks, or together, sixty-nine weeks, shall Messiah be cut off. During the seventieth week, the twentyseventh verse states, the "covenant was to be confirmed with many." Instead of subtracting 490 from the 2300, the editor should therefore have subtracted only 483, which would have left 1817: this number added to thirty-three, would point to the year 1850. Perhaps he will be grateful for this correction when April approaches. But,

III. "The Voice of Elijah" is also wrong in the event anticipated at the end of the 2300 days.

Even had the editor been right in the time, he is incorrect in the conclusion which is

writings, whether historical or theological. Permit me to entreat the favour of you, Sir, to cast an eye over the paragraph on the top of the following page, and you will instantly perceive how impossible it is for me to avail myself of Her Majesty's nomination to the Charter House Institution without a most shameful sacrifice of principle, such as I hope never to be guilty of; and similar sentiments pervade all my voluminous publications. It is true that I was educated with a view to the ministry in the Church of England, but when it pleased the Most High to open my understanding, and favour me with some little knowledge of the holy scriptures, and especially of the import of our Saviour's good confession concerning his kingdom, when in answer to Pilate's interrogation, he said, 'My kingdom is not of this world,' I bade adieu to all national establishments of Christianity, and took my lot among the dissenters, which after an interval of threescore years I have never seen just cause to regret, though persecution and the offence of the cross have been my constant companions. But I have a never-failing source of consolation in the words of my Lord and Saviour (Luke xviii. 29) There is no man that hath left home, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake, who shall not receive manifold more in the present time, and in the world to come, life everlasting." I hope, Sir, you will pardon this prolixity; you know that one of the infirmities of old is age garrulity. Have the kindness to assure Her Majesty that my declining to accept her gracious offer arises from purely conscientious motives, -from deference to the authority of our Great Master in heaven, to whom we must all shortly render in our account! I hope you will be successful in prevailing on our most gracious Sovereign to put a favourable construction on my motives in this instance, and if afterwards she should feel disposed to extend her sympathy towards one that is worn down by age and its usual concomitants, she may possibly avail herself of some other plan of carrying into effect her benevolent inten

*Extract from

"Lectures on the Apocalypse," by W. Jones, pp. 186, 187.

"Let no dignitary of the establishment imagine for a moment that a conscientious dissenter envies him when he contemplates that superior rank in society which is derived from being connected with an opulent hierarchy, or when he hears of the ample emoluments with which it is endowed no man deserves the name of dissenter, at any rate, he does not understand the true principle on which he should assume such an appellation, if he does not feel a full conviction, that though the highest dignities of the church and its most extensive revenues were laid at his feet, he could not, on any account, partake of either the one or the other. His views of the kingdom of Christ must be completely altered before he could take any part in the support of a system which he believes to be derogatory to the honour of his divine Master by introducing a power into that kingdom which he expressly condemns."

tion. But should the case turn out otherwise, I shall, to my latest moments, continue to indulge an honourable pride in reflecting that I have not been thought altogether unworthy of Her Majesty's notice and regard; nor ever cease to pray that the choicest blessings which Heaven has to bestow may rest upon the royal family.

"With every sentiment of respect and gratitude, I remain, Sir,

"Your very obedient and obliged servant, (Signed) "WILLIAM JONES, 39, Frederick Street, Gray's Inn Road,” "To G. E. ANSON, Esq.,

Windsor Castle.”

The Secretary of the Literary Fund to Mr. Jones.

"73, Great Russell St., 9th Nov., 1843. "DEAR SIR,-A few weeks ago I was requested by Mr. Anson, the treasurer of Prince Albert, to draw up a list of literary men whom I could recommend as worthy of some annual provision.

"Among others, I recommended you as a gentleman in every way worthy of such a mark of royal favour, and I regretted to find that, being a dissenter, you were unable to accept the poor brothership of the Charter House which Her Majesty offered you.

"The Queen, however, has been pleased, in the most gracious and condescending manner, to make another arrangement for your benefit, which will not interfere with your conscientious scruples. Her Majesty has directed Mr. Arbuthnot to place in my hands the sum of £60, from the Royal Bounty Fund, which I am commanded to pay to you in annual instalments of £20 each. I shall be glad to see you this afternoon, when I will arrange the mode in which you may receive this sum.

I think it would be of more service to you if paid quarterly; but on this and other points I shall of course be guided by your own feelings. I cannot communicate to you this announcement of the Queen's munificence, without congratulating you most cordially on receiving such a special mark of Her Majesty's favour and condescension. "I am, dear Sir, Faithfully yours, (Signed) "OCTAVIAN BLEWITT." "To Mr. WILLIAM JONES."

MARRIAGES.

At the baptist chapel, Rugby, by license, on Dec. 24, 1843, by the Rev. E. Fall, Mr. ROBERT MASTERS to Mrs. MARY ANN MCKINNELL, both of the above place.

At the baptist chapel, Waltham Abbey, Essex, Dec. 25, by the Rev. Jas. Hargreaves, Mr. GEORGE WILLIAM JAMES of London, to Miss SARAH ASHTON of Waltham Abbey.

ON THE 2300 DAYS OF DANIEL. To the Editor of the Baptist Magazine. DEAR SIR,-For some months, in various parts of the country, there has been received from America, a religious periodical called "The Voice of Elijah." It is chiefly filled with explanations of prophecy, and especially the prophecy which is being now accomplished, or which is to be accomplished soon.

The design of the editor in several of the papers latterly has been to show that Christ would personally appear by the month of April, 1844. His calculations have been made in the following manner. In Daniel viii. and xiv. 2300 days are mentioned, which, according to the usual mode of explaining prophecy, are to be considered 2300 years. Regarding the division of the chapters as a modern invention, it is observed that in the ninth chapter and twenty-fourth verse, it is stated that seventy weeks were "determined," or to be "cut out," for making "an end of sin, and to make reconciliation for iniquity." These seventy weeks, or, reckoning a day for a year, 490 years, were to intervene between the going forth of the commandment to build Jerusalem, and the death of Christ; and to be subtracted, or "cut out" from the 2300 years. This leaves 1810, and on the supposition that Christ was thirty-three years of age when he was crucified, the thirty-three added to the 1810 will give 1843.

The distinctness of this calculation has led some Christians to hesitate amidst the transactions of business; and some very strangely to conclude that it was useless to contribute to religious societies; and some to spend night after night in looking for the appearance of Christ in the clouds. I therefore request permission to show your readers that the calculation is wrong, and the expectation unwarranted; that while it is a duty to be always prepared for the coming of Christ by

death, "they be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter, as though the day of Christ was at hand." Let it be observed,—

I. The eighth and ninth chapters of Daniel are by the editor connected together, to subtract a given number specified in one chapter, from a given number in the other, without any authority or reason for connecting them. Granting all that may be said respecting the division into chapters, here are tiro distinct visions; one in the third year of Belshazzar, the other in the first year of Darius: and the second vision having no reference to the first, but granted in answer to special prayer offered exclusively respecting the Jews. The two numbers, the 2300 of one chapter, and the 490 of the other, are brought together without any specified authority for bringing them together.

II. If these two numbers were properly brought together, still "The Voice of Elijah" is wrong respecting the present year, because of neglecting the divisions of the seventy weeks.

The calculation is made as though the Saviour was crucified at the expiration of the seventy weeks; whereas in the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth verses it is stated that after seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks, or together, sixty-nine weeks, shall Messiah be cut off. During the seventieth week, the twentyseventh verse states, the "covenant was to be confirmed with many." Instead of subtracting 490 from the 2300, the editor should therefore have subtracted only 483, which would have left 1817: this number added to thirty-three, would point to the year 1850. Perhaps he will be grateful for this correction when April approaches. But,

III. "The Voice of Elijah" is also wrong in the event anticipated at the end of the 2300 days.

Even had the editor been right in the time, he is incorrect in the conclusion which is

announced. In the only passage where the 2300 days are specified, it is said, “then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." In the whole vision there is not one sentence respecting the second coming of Christ. The "cleansing of the sanctuary means, I conclude, the purification of the church from all that is polluting, in doctrine, in practice, and in alliance. The process for improvement, and for greatly increased success, through which dissenting communities are now passing, is probably a partial fulfilment of the prophecy. The unsought and undesired separation of the Scotch church from the state, perhaps, a partial fulfilment. The approaching separation of the good from the bad in the English establishment, a partial fulfilment and the purification of American Christianity from the defilement of slavery, perhaps, a partial fulfilment of the prophecy.

Believing that the prophecies of the scriptures have been given that they might be understood, it is to me a cause for rejoicing that they now engage the increasing attention of the church. But the great demand of the day is for active, useful Christianity: that the wise be wise for winning souls; the rich, rich in good works; the ministry a laborious

course of consecration to the work for which it was ordained; and the church a combination of power for subduing, through God's blessing, the whole world unto Christ. Wishing you growing usefulness in your department of the work of God,

I remain, Mr. Editor, your's sincerely,
JOSEPH BURton.

EDITORIAL POSTSCRIPT.

THE Rev. J. M. Cramp, M.A., of Hastings, has been invited by the committee of the Baptist Missionary Society to accept the office of theological tutor in the college at Montreal, vacant through the removal of Dr. Davies to Stepney, and has acceded to the proposal. It is with mingled feelings that we make this announcement. On the one hand, Mr. Cramp having been one of the editor's most intimate friends more than twenty years, private reasons concur with others of a public nature to occasion regret for his loss. On the other hand, we know of no one so peculiarly fitted as Mr. Cramp to occupy the post to which he is called. His extensive knowledge of Ecclesiastical History, and his thorough acquaintance with the Romish controversy in its diversified bearings, seem to render him, at the present crisis, the very man for Canada. May the blessing of Heaven attend him and his family, while crossing the ocean, and when located in that important colony !

Dr. Davies, late of Montreal, has entered on his engagements at Stepney College, where

he and his family are now residing. A special prayer-meeting was held by the committee at the college, on the 23rd of January, to commend him and the interests of the institution generally to the blessing of the Most High.

It may be convenient to many of the friends of Dr. Murch to be apprised that he has removed from Stepney, and that his address now is 11, Belgrave Street, Argyle Square, London.

Mr. Abbott of St. Ann's Bay, Jamaica, and his family, have reached home in safety. On the evening of the 16th of December, off the east end of the island, they spoke the Chilmark, on her way to Fernando Po, having on board Mr. Clarke and his companions,

an account of whose embarkation will be found in the Missionary Herald. The vessel had been out of Falmouth sixteen days, but owing to contrary winds and a strong lee current, she had made but little progress. All prevalent winds that their passage would be were well; but it appeared likely from the trying. Mr. Abbott writes that during the voyage his health has greatly improved.

Mr. and Mrs. Oughton arrived at Kingston in safety on the 16th of December, after a passage of twenty-nine days, during which they encountered a severe gale, that lasted five days and five nights. Writing on the 23rd, Mr. Oughton says, "It will give you

pleasure to hear that I found my church in a state of complete peace and harmony: during my absence the people have been most exemplary in their conduct." About 150 persons, who had been examined by Mr. Rouse, Mr. Oughton's colleague, were waiting for bap

tism.

In a very few copies of our last number, on page 4, Colchester was mentioned instead of Chichester, as a place supplied by the late Mr. Foster at the commencement of his ministry. One of them happened to go to the gentleman to whom our readers are indebted for the memoir; and, at his suggestion, we point out the error, which however had been observed, and corrected in the greater part of the impression.

One or two of our correspondents having misapprehended the purport of the article entitled "The Celestial Railroad," we beg to say that it is designed to illustrate the worthlessness of a light and fashionable Christianity, and to teach that though the inventions of modern science may in earthly things be very useful, human ingenuity and worldly wisdom can do nothing to facilitate the journey towards heaven. The piece is of transatlantic origin, and has appeared in some American periodicals; but it is due to the writer to say that in our pages it is slightly abridged.