ments drawn from the book of Revelation. The event, to commence this period, is, the giving of the saints into the hands of the little horn; and, to ascertain the date of this event, we notice, that four particulars were to precede it.

1. Four kingdoms were to arise.-(24th verse.)

2. Out of the Fourth Kingdom, ten kings were to arise. (24th verse.)

3. After ten kings had arisen from the Fourth Kingdom, one king was to arise among them.-(8th and 24th verscs.)

4. This one, was to conquer three of the first-(8th and 24th verses.)

These are all the particulars, predicted to precede the event, and, consequently, we must begin the period here, or, leave a vacuum in the chain of prophecy.

We have already noticed these particulars, and have found them tending to, and centering in, the supremacy of the Pope. To begin here, then, we say that "the saints were given into the hands” of Popery, when Justinian, having decreed the Pope "Head of all the churches," actually established him in the enjoyment of that decree, A. D. 538. From that time, the power of the Pope rapidly increased, both in spiritual and in temporal matters. He forgave sins, granted indulgences, persecuted the true church, and assumed the power of 'binding' and 'loosing,' in the eternal world. He dissolved the loyalty of subjects to their princes: he dethroned kings, and put his foot upon the necks of conquerers; and, in these matters, he was not materially and effectually restrained, until the days of the French revolution; when, by the hand of Bonaparte, Berthier, his general, his gov

ernment in Italy was abrogated, a republican form raised in its stead, and hiinself carried a captive to France, A. D. 1798.

From A. D. 538, the time that all the churches were confirmed in the hand of the Pope, to A. D. 1798, the time that the Pope's dominion was taken away, is 1260 years, showing, from the fulfilment of the prophecy, that "a time, and times and the dividing of time," is, what it has been supposed to be, a period of twelve hundred and sixty years.

6. The sixth peculiarity, in regard to the little horn, is, in the language of the prophecy," The judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion." The idea, here, is not of the final judgment, for that judgment is at the consummation, but the judgment, here spoken of, is not. (26th verse.) "But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end." This judgment was to 'take away the dominion' of the little horn, but not to destroy the little horn; for, the little horn was to continue subject to consumption and destruction, "unto the end.""They shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end,"-executing, not the final judgment, but, a particular judgment, upon the little horn.This judgment was consummated on the Papal power, February 15, 1798, by Berthier, a general of Napoleon; who then entered Rome without resistance, deposed the Pope, abrogated his government, erected a republic in its place, and took the Pope prisoner, first to Scienna, in Tuscany, from thence to Florence, afterwards to Grenoble, and then to Valence, in France, where he died, on the 19th of August, A. D. 1799; bringing to pass the

prophecy of the Revelator, xiii. 10, "He that leadeth into captivity, shall go into captivity, he that killeth with the sword, must be killed with the sword."

There arose a power in the Roman kingdom, then, whieh assumed, exercised and suffered, the nine peculiarities of the fourth beast's little horn.

V. In the fifth place, I maintain, that the fourth beast was the Roman kingdom, from the fact, that the Roman kingdom was "the fourth kingdom upon earth." Our text says, "The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth." By the world's united voice, the great kingdoms of antiquity were,—1, the Babylonian ;— 2, the Medo-Persian;-3, the Grecian;-and, by what principles, (principles, for authority is every where opposed,) by what principles it can appear, that the Roman kingdom was not that which succeeded the Grecian, and was not the fourth kingdom, is past my comprehension. And how the division of any kingdom, among its own people, into four parts, can constitute one new kingdom, and how the Holy Ghost could say, that the division of the Grecian kingdom should be the fourth kingdom, and thereby make the Roman kingdom the fifth, when the "God of heaven" had revealed to Daniel, that His kingdom should be the fifth, are equally mysterious to me.(See Disq. i. p. 30.)

These are the arguments, by which I am convinced, that the subject of our text is the Roman kingdom; and, seeing every part of the vision, and every point in the interpretation, harmonize with, and, not only so, but either directly, or indirectly, enforce this sentiment, were I to doubt its truth, and adopt any other, I might

suspect myself, not so much of deficiency of faith, as of that excess, which produces credulity, and, against evidence, believes without evidence.*

B. C. 553.

DISQUISITION III.

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 foot ?—Danl. viii. part 13th v.

This question, with the answer accompanying it, is the main pillar, with some bible students, to support the doctrine of the second advent, in A. D. 1843: whilst another class, with the light elicited by it, can see nothing beyond Antiochus Epiphanes, cir. B. C. 160. It was made, in the hearing of Daniel, immediately after the conclusion of the vision and prophetic instruction, recorded in the 3d-12th verses of this chapter. I wish to remark, in the beginning, that, in order to examine any scripture, for oneself, independently, it is necessary to lay aside all obligations to any exposition, before given, and to come directly to the naked word and be confined thereto. The truth of this remark is very obvious; for, if we start with an hypothesis, it is not the scripture, which we are examining, but, the hypothesis, which we are establishing by it.

The subjects designed by the ram and he goat, in the present scripture, are put beyond all doubt, by the plain and positive declarations of the 20th and 21st verses :but the Little Horn, being only declared to be "a king of fierce countenance," is left in a state, which has caused it to be made a subject of discussion and dispute. In