Now can any thing be clearer, than that Christ and his elect shall reign and live on the earth for one thousand years? This was the belief of the early Christians, and they wisely hasted to shed their blood as martyrs, being certain of rising again, and partaking of the Millennium. The idea of those who have examined this part of Scripture is, that Christ's second coming is the end of the world, and the final judgment of all men. But surely language cannot, in plainer terms, assert the reverse. A first resurrection, and one thousand years after it, are clearly expressed, before this present globe passes away, and then the last judgment is to take place. Nor can the ingenuity of man give this prophesy any other explanation.

I shall now proceed to an enquiry as to the times of this glorious event, when the Millennium is to follow, and in doing so, it will be necessary to consider minutely the fourth kingdom mentioned in Daniel, and the subsequent events. The second chapter of that Prophet, beginning with the fortieth verse, is as follows: "And the fourth kingdom "shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh "in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron "that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces "and bruise. And whereas thou sawest the feet "and toes, part of potter's clay and part of iron, "the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be "in it of the strength of the Iron, forasmuch as

"thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.

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And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly broken. And whereas "thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they "shall mingle themselves with the seed of men; "but they shall not cleave one to another, even as "iron is not mixed with clay. And in the days of "these Kings shall the GOD of heaven set up a "kingdom, which shall never be destroyed and "the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but "it shall break in pieces and consume all these "kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch "as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the "mountain without hands, and that it brake in

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pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver and "the gold; the great God hath made known to "the King what shall come to pass hereafter: and "the dream is certain, and the interpretation "thereof sure."

In the seventh chapter of Daniel, from the seventh verse, this matter is still more fully treated of: "After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a "fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong "exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth; it "devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the "residue with the feet of it, and it was diverse "from all the beasts that were before it and it "had ten horns. I considered the horns, and,

behold, there came up among them another little

horn, before whom there were three of the first "horns plucked up by the roots, and, behold, in "in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, "and a mouth speaking great things. I beheld "till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient "of Days did sit, whose garment was white as "snow, and the hair of his head like the pure "wool; his throne was like the fiery flame, and "his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued, "and came forth from before him; thousand "thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand "times ten thousand stood before him; the judg"ment was set, and the books were opened. I "beheld then because of the voice of the great "words which the horn spake; I beheld even till "the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and "given to the burning flame. As concerning the "rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away yet their lives were prolonged for a "season and time. I saw in the night visions, " and, behold, one like the Son of Man came with "the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of

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Days, and they brought him near before him. "And there was given him dominion, and glory, "and a kingdom, that all people, nations and "languages should serve him his dominion is "an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass "away, and his kingdom that which shall not be

"destroyed. I Daniel was grieved in my spirit, "in the midst of my body, and the visions of my "head troubled me. I came near unto one of them "that stood by, and asked him the truth of all "this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things. These great beasts "which are four, are four kings, which shall arise "out of the earth. But the saints of the Most "High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever. Then

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"I would know the truth of the fourth beast, "which was diverse from all the others, exceeding "dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet; and of the "ten horns that were in his head, and of the other "which came up, and before whom three fell;

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even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth "that spake very great things, whose look was "more stout than his fellows. I beheld, and the

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same horn made war with the saints, and "prevailed against them; until the Ancient of "Days came, and judgment was given to the saints "of the Most High; and the time came that the "saints possessed the kingdom. Thus he said : "The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom "upon earth, which shall be diverse from all "kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and "shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And

:

"the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings "that shall arise and another shall rise after "them; and he shall be diverse from the first, " and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall "speak great words against the Most High, and "shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and "think to change times and laws and they shall "be given into his hand until a time and times, "and the dividing of time. But the judgment "shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, "to consume and to destroy it unto the end. “the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of "the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most “High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, " and all dominions shall serve and obey him."

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And

All commentators are agreed, that the legs of iron and the fourth beast, denote the Roman empire. But Sir Isaac Newton well observes, that it only means Italy, and those countries of Europe which never composed any part of the first three beasts; for in this very prophesy it is said-" That the lives "of the rest of the beasts were prolonged, though "their dominion was taken away." Now when the Roman empire was divided into Eastern and Western, the latter empire contained only what constituted the fourth beast, and the former was made up of the other three.

The fourth beast, or Western empire, was to break into ten kingdoms, as denoted by the toes of