'to those that dwell on the earth,'-i. e. Papal Christendom, and also 'to every nation, kindred, and tongue, and people. This was wonderfully seen in the sudden and unexampled spread of the Truth, in the twenty years following A. D. 1517. At no other period of the world's history was there ever witnessed so sudden, so wide-spread, or so universal an enlightenment. In these few years the Gospel ran like lightning, from Finland to the Pillars of Hercules,-from the Atlantic to the frontiers of Asia; and nowhere was it preached in vain. If we simply take the volume of history, and enquire, Of what period can the Apostle be writing? the answer is clear and incontrovertible:--There is no such period visible, save that from about A. D. 1517 to 1540. Except in the apostolic days, there has been no outburst of Divine light at all resembling that of the Reformation-era; -And if we read the chapter connectedly, it is impossible to imagine that the apostle can be speaking of the days of the Primitive Church. The same angel, too, announces that 'the hour of God's judgment is come.' As the final judgment of chap. xx. cannot be here meant, we must conclude this to be the judgment spoken of by Daniel, in ch. vii. 26;-the more especially as that judgment is to consume and destroy the Little Horn?-and accordingly we next have— "2, 3. A double warning by a second and third angel,-that the power of Babylon is broken; and that all men were to be cautioned, henceforward, ' with a loud voice,' to have no fellowship with her abominations. "We have already said, that the great and wide preaching of the everlasting Gospel took place between 1517 and 1540. In these few years it penetrated every corner of Europe, and in every country it found willing converts. This was the sowing-time. The details of this wonderful diffusion of Divine truth, with which warnings to come out of Babylon were mingled, are scattered through many volumes. Let us endeavour to comprise a hasty sketch in a few lines. "In ITALY itself, the very seat of the Beast,' the Gospel began to be widely known between 1526 and 1530; for in the latter year Pope Clement writes, that he has learned with grief of heart, that in different parts of Italy the pestiferous heresy of Luther prevails in a high degree, even among ecclesiastics, and that numbers are infected.' In Ferrara the Protestants had several preachers as early as 1528. Of Modena, a cardinal writes, in 1542, 'I hear that the city is become Lutheran.' Writing to Bologna, in 1541, Bucer congratulates them on their increasing numbers. A letter was written to Luther, in 1542, in the name of the brethren of the churches of Venice, Vicenza, and Treviso. At Naples a Reformed church was established, including persons of the highest rank. In Sicily, the Gospel was preached to crowded audiences in Palermo. In Istria, before 1546, a great part of the inhabitants had embraced the Reformed faith. "In SPAIN and PORTUGAL it was rather later before the truth began to spread. In 1534 Pope Clement VII. was informed that the Reformed faith was making progress in Portugal, and he appointed an Inquisition to take measures accordingly. In Seville, about 1545, Egidius and two friends actively spread the Reformed doctrine; and soon after a Protestant church was regularly organized. In 1552, Cazalla spread the truth all around Valladolid. There were many converts in all the neighbouring towns. In Zamora, Toro, and Palencia, there were zealous preachers. In Arragon the Protestants were numerous, and also in Granada, Murcia, and Valencia. They had settlements in Sarragossa, Huesca, and many other towns. A Popish writer, Illescas, congratulates himself on the persecution which soon began, averring, that had it been delayed only a little longer, 'all Spain would have been set in a flame by this poison.' "Of FLANDERS and the RHINE, the dreadful persecutions of Alva and his coadjutors, of which we shall presently have to speak, sufficiently attest the wide diffusion of the Gospel in those parts. The same remark applies to Germany, the greater part of which, too, lay beyond the limits of the Roman 'earth.' "In FRANCE, the open diffusion of the truth was long prevented, by the cruelty of Francis and his successors. But in 1555 a Protestant church was organized in Paris; -the example was followed the same year at Meaux, at Poictiers, at Angiers, and in Saintonge. In the course of the next two years, six churches were founded in the district of Orleans. In 1558 two Princes of the Blood attended Protestant worship at Paris, and four thousand Protestants exhibited themselves in the open face of day. In 1560 the people of Normandy petitioned for freedom of public worship; and Coligny offered, if necessary, to procure, in one day, 50,000 signatures. On that occasion a Romish bishop described the Reformed Faith, as 'preached by many hundred ministers, diligent in their calling.' In 1562, as many as thirty or forty thousand Protestants were frequently assembled on the Sabbath for worship, and their congregations throughout France, were reckoned to be 2140. "In this hasty view, we omit all notice of England, or Holland, or Sweden, or Saxony; meaning to confine our view to the Roman 'earth,'-the territory of the Ten Horns. But, looking at this universal and rapid progress, by which, in a very few years, the Gospel had been carried through Italy, Spain, Portugal, Navarre, France, Flanders, and the Rhenish countries, and had everywhere gained converts by thousands, - we ask again, At what other period could it be so justly said, that 'an Angel flew through the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach to them which dwell upon the earth, and to every nation, and tongue, and kindred, and people? Probably if the whole of Europe were included in our view, it would be hardly too much to say, that, almost at once, thousands, perhaps, tens of thousands, were 'turned from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God.' "4. But now an exclamation is heard, parallel in its tone and spirit, to the expression, 'The righteous is taken away from the evil to come.' It is declared that henceforth, and with a view to the tremendous judgments which were coming on the earth, they should be reckoned happy and blessed, who escaped from earthly toils and sufferings, to rest in the Lord.' As it is always far better' for the believer, to be with Christ,'-the meaning of this exclamation, at this particular moment, must be, that scenes so dreadful were at hand, that all would be held happy, who could 'flee away and be at rest.' "5. Next appears a symbol of deep import. 'One like unto the Son of man' is seen sitting on a cloud, having a sharp sickle. It is declared to him that the harvest of the earth is ripe. He 'thrusts in his sickle, and the earth is reaped.' "We cannot take 'the earth,' here, in any other sense than as used throughout. It means, Papal Christendom:-the ten kingdoms, forming the Fourth Beast of Daniel in its second or divided form. A harvest is found on this earth, and Christ himself gathers it in. This harvest must be an harvest of saints. The vintage of wrath is another and totally distinct scene. But both the one and the other take place before the Seven Vials are poured out,-yet after the opening of the Reformation. And just so we find them in history. "The Harvest, or Ingathering which now occurs, by its extent will shew, how great must have been the Sowing which immediately preceded it. "In ITALY, it was in A. D. 1543, that Pope Paul III. was sufficiently alarmed at the progress the Reformation was making, to form a court resembling the Spanish Inquisition. Means were immediately taken, to procure edicts of persecution from the various governments of Italy. At Venice many Protestants were silently drowned at midnight. In the Milanese, by the open punishment of the auto de fé, many Protestants suffered. At Naples, in A. D. 1564, two noblemen were beheaded for heresy in the market-place. In Calabria, seventy were seized and conducted in chains to Montalto, were they were put to the torture, under which many of them died. In 1560, at the same place, 88 men were put to death by the executioner, on a single occasion. There were 1600 condemned at that time; how many of whom were actually martyred, we know not. A Neapolitan historian says, 'Some had their throats cut, others were sawn through, and others thrown from the top of a high cliff. Of those left alive, the men were sent to the galleys, the women and children sold for slaves. At Bologna 'persons of all ranks were promiscuously subjected to imprisonment, tortures, and death. Popes Paul III. and Julius III. put many to death. In 1568 a writer says, 'At Rome some are every day burnt, hanged, or beheaded; all the prisons and places of confinement are filled.' During the remainder of this century, says Dr. M'Crie, 'the prisons of the Inquisition in Italy, and especially at Rome, were filled with victims, including many of noble birth. Multitudes were condemned to penance or the galleys, and from time to time some were put to death.' "Iu SPAIN a Protestant, San Roman, was burnt in Valladolid as early as 1544. In 1557, in Seville, as many as 200 persons were apprehended in one day; in Valladolid, 80, and these numbers were greatl increased. In 1559, an auto de fé was celebrated in Valladolid, when 14 heretics were burned. In the autumn of the same year, a second took place, when 13 were executed. At Seville, in a like celebration, 21 were committed to the flames. In the next year, at Seville, 14 were executed. After this, from 1560 to 1570, one public auto de fé, at least, was celebrated annually in all the twelve cities in which tribunals of the Inquisition were then established. By the latter year, 1570, it was considered that Protestantism had been effectually suppressed. "In BELGIUM and HOLLAND, an edict of the Emperor appeared in A. D. 1540, after which persecutions were vigorously carried on. At Louvaine, there were 28 imprisoned, and four put to death in that year. In 1543, there were 28 or 30 burnt there. During several years afterwards, many Protestants suffered death in Hainault, Amsterdam, Ostend, and, in fact, in every considerable place in the Low Countries; but in A. D. 1567, the Duke of Alva was sent into the Netherlands, and a tribunal for the suppression of 'heresy,' called 'the Council of Blood,' was set up. 'Infinite numbers,' says Brandt, 'were put to death. The gallows, and even trees on the highways were loaded with carcasses. The noise of the passing bell was continually heard.' 'In a very short space of time eighteen hundred persons died by the hands of the executioner.' 'Abundance of people being utterly impoverished, abandoning house and home, chose the woods of West Flanders for their habitations.' In 1566, there were beheaded at Valenciennes, on account of their religion, fifty-seven men, in the course of three days. In "In FRANCE, the persecutions began as early as the year 1535. Francis the First in that year presided at Paris over the burning of six martyrs. In 1545, sixty men, Vaudois, were murdered in Cabrieres in cold blood. In 1549, Henry II. made a public entry into his capital, when all the prisoners for 'heresy' were put to death on four different scaffolds. In 1560, there were several victims. In 1562, the bloody Montluc slew in the South of France, thousands of Protestants, by executions, storms, and massacres. 1568, the persecution raged again at Amiens, Rouen, Auxerre, Bourges, Blois, and Orleans; and De Thou calculates 10,000 Huguenots to have perished in three months. St. Bartholomew's day, however, was especially 'the reaping.' The massacre which was commenced that day, ceased not until two months after; and so great was the slaughter, that while De Thou estimates it at 30,000, Sully deems it to have destroyed 70,000. "The reaping of the earth may be considered to have come to its close about the close of the sixteenth century; when, by the edict of Nantes, a termination was put to the sufferings of the French Protestants. A new scene now opens, and a new action is about to commence. "That great harvest of redeemed souls which had followed 'the preaching of the everlasting gospel' had now been gathered in. But the earth, deprived of the greater portion of its salt, had become corrupt and loathsome, and ready for new judgments. The Popish nations had heaped up to themselves wrath against the day of wrath, by their cruelties to those of whom God had said, 'Whosoever toucheth you, toucheth the apple of mine eye.' And the Protestant States, robbed of many who had been their life, and soul, and crown, had fallen into a condition of much declension; their profession being often little more than a party badge. Protestant captains, Protestant regiments, and even Protestant armies were actually hired (!)-in some cases, to carry on the wars of Popish sovereigns. In such a state of things, what could be expected, but that the sentence should go forth: 'Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe!' CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 149. 2 Z "Some commentators, struck with the terrible imagery of ver. 20, are ready to dislocate this whole passage; and, while they hold the next chapters, the xvth and xvith, to be already fulfilled or fulfilling, consider the seven verses now before us (verses 14-20) to relate to events yet future. But to this view we must object, that it is another of those arbitrary interpretations against which we have already protested, and must always protest. If such freedom is allcwab'e, it will be difficult ever to arrive at a fixed interpretation; inasmuch as each student will claim the same liberty, of applying to any passage of the Revelation, any event which seems to him answerable to its features. We must obediently follow the narrative, believing that events occur as they are set down, or we may as well give up all hope of ever understanding the prophecy. "But, again, is there any kind of necessity for postponing the fulfilment of these verses? The events they predict are doubtless terrible; but compare them with the last six verses of chapter vi., and do they not sink almost to insignificance in the comparison? Yet many commentators hold the terrible earthquake of chap. vi. to have been fulfilled in Constantine's gradual and legal dethronement of Paganism, and in the exultation of Christianity in its room. If such a view is at all tenable, why must the passage now before us, mean more than a desolating and bloody war? "Such a war, of a peculiar character, most bloody and most desolating, burst forth just at the time denoted in the prophecy; and also just in the place. "The great proclamation of the gospel occurring between A. D. 1517 and 1542; the harvest ripening immediately after; and the Reaping, or gathering up of Christ's saints in a rapid and comprehensive manner, occurring, visibly, in the massacres and persecutions in France, Belgium, Spain, Italy, &c. during the latter half of that century; we open the 17th century with a distinct close of the Reaping, religious toleration being legally proclaimed. Immediately after, in the text, goes forth the proclamation for the Vintage. And it was in A. D. 1618, that the Thirty Years' War, a war declaredly religious-a war between Papist and Protestant, broke out. The wine-press was to be trodden without the city. By this city, when named in chap. xi. 8, and xvi. 19, we understand, Roman Christendom-the whole territory formerly ruled over by Honorius; but now divided among the Ten Horns. It is not within these limits, but beyond them, that the winepress is to be trodden: and so precisely occurred the fact. The Thirty Years' War did not spread into France, or Spain, or Italy; it was generally carried on along the old Roman frontier, so as to be just without the city.' "But was there any such fearful character in that war, as to justify its being cited as the fact predicted in these verses? Our doubts on this point will be found to arise chiefly from our ignorance of the terrible character of that lengthened struggle. Let us see what a recent English traveller, -а wholly impartially witness, says on this point. "Mr. Howitt, in his volume on the Rural and Domestic Life of Germany, says, 'What a picture is that which the historians draw, of the horrors which this war inflicted on Germany! Some of them reckon that half, others, that two-thirds of the whole population perished in it. In Saxony alone, in two years, 900,000 men were destroyed! In Bohemia, at the time of Ferdinand's death, before the last exterminating campaign, the population had sunk to a fourth. Augsburg, which before had 80,000 inhabitants, had then only 18,000, and all Germany in proportion.' 'After thirty years of battles, burnings, murders, and diseases, Germany no longer looked like itself.' In the capture of Magdeburg, 'for four days,' says Schiller, 'a scene of carnage was carried on which history has no language, art no pencil to pourtray.' Out of 40,000 inhabitants, it is thought that scarcely 800 escaped.' 'After the war, thousands of villages lay in ashes; and a person might in many parts of Germany go fifty miles in almost any direction, without meeting a single man, a head of cattle, or a sparrow; while in another, in some ruined hamlet, you might see a single old man and a child, or a couple of old women. Whole villages were filled with dead bodies; districts which had been highly cultivated, were again grown over with wood: and it is the fixed opinion, that, to this day, Germany feels the disastrous consequences of this war." "This then, we take to be the fulfilment of this brief prophecy of the treading of the wine-press without the city." Such is the author's solution of this difficulty. Our wish, as we have already said, is to avoid committing ourselves to any decided opinion. But it will be obvious to every reader, that if the above interpretation will bear the test of a close and critical examination, it must greatly aid us in arriving at a just idea of the general purport of this important part of God's word. Hence we have contented ourselves with giving, in these two large extracts, a view of the peculiarities of the present work; considering the extracts themselves to contain such a compressed view of some important periods of history, as to render them valuable and interesting to our readers. Of the Atlas, generally, it may be enough to say, that to all students of prophecy, its maps and tables will prove of great utility, even when they cannot implicitly accept all the author's interpretations. The Nonentity of Romish Saints, and the Inanity of Romish Ordinances. By WALTER HOок, D.D. Vicar of Leeds. Murray, 1850. ABOUT that season of the year when, among other more questionable gaieties, riddles and enigmas are the order of the day; and young persons are apt to collect around a blazing fire, and perplex each other with difficult questions; two circumstances occurred to ourselves which we cannot hesitate to place on the list of these Christmas perplexities. In walking through the High Street of Oxford, we were confounded to see written up in Patagonian characters, in a shopwindow, the "Common Prayer Books at a reduced price, on account of the recent alteration in the Liturgy." What could be more overwhelming to a good churchman, than such an announcement in such a place? Where was the solution of the mystery? Had the Lords of the Privy Council, while their hand was in for the arrangement of high ecclesiastical matters, proceeded, by a summary decision, to sweep away half the Articles, or the Liturgy; and were we in future to shift as we could upon a mutilated creed, and a one-sided ceremonial? Or had those members of this learned university-those νουτικοι, as some of them have termed themselves-who seem now disposed to compensate to the Church for having hitherto believed everything, however strange, by henceforth believing nothing, however reasonable, in other words, by exchanging Tractarianism for neology-had they, in their own magisterial free-will and pleasure, or on the authority of some German critic, resolved to get rid, by a summary process, of all those parts of the Church services which are inconvenient to them? What were we to suppose or believe? There was, in fact, no end to the questions |