The prophecy of the Lord is delivered to us by the three first evangelists, Matt. xxiv. Mark xiii. Luke xxi. It announces the approaching judgments of God against Jerusalem, the calamities of the Jewish nation, and the persecutions of the faithful. The gospel of St. Matthew proceeds in these words, (to us, who live long after the completion of those events, most astounding,) "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, &c., and then shall the sign of the Son of man appear in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the land mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, and he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other, &c. Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass away till all these things be fulfilled." However, some seventeen centuries have passed away since the tribulation of those days, and not one syllable of all this has come to pass. Neither in the period which followed the siege by Titus, nor in that which followed the more extensive desolation by Adrian, did any manifestation of God the Son take place, or any great and happy reunion of the faithful. Nothing occurred in those periods, or down unto this period, to which those words could be even allegorically applied. But, at the same time, I must protest, that if such a phrase as "seeing the Son of man coming in the clouds with power and glory" be capable of allegorization, it is nearly time to shut up the volume, the pulpits, and the churches, for anything may signify anything, and (among others) the words of the Nicene fathers "I believe that he shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead" may mean any thing besides what they say. Saint Mark abstained from repeating the word immediately (ev0ewe) from St. Matthew, and said "in those days, after that tribulation," by which process he rather softened down the phraseology by which the reader was surprised in his predecessor, than removed the real difficulty. The last of the three Gospels in question, which was composed in the earnest desire to rectify whatever was defective or clear up whatever seemed obscure in those which preceded, gives a very different colour to our Saviour's prophecy. It describes four successive systems of events. 1. Jerusalem besieged, and the Jews led captive into all 2. The continuing oppression of Palestine, expressed in these words, " And Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the nations, until the times of the nations be fulfilled." 3. When those times are fulfilled, there shall be great troubles, signs in the sun and moon, &c., and a general anxiety in the minds of men. 4. "And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.' It is added, in him, as in both his predecessors, "This generation shall not pass away till all be fulfilled." We thus learn that it was improperly said in the gospel of Matthew, that the signs in the heavens, which are to foreshew the coming of the Lord unto judgment, would be immediately after the capture of Jerusalem and dispersion of the Jews; and that, on the contrary, the entire times, or series of ages, during which the consequences of that catastrophe were to continue, the Jews being exiles, and the land of their fathers in the hands of strangers,

were to intervene between the said catastrophe and the said premonitory signs in the heavens. Saint Matthew had written down this discourse without duly weighing the force and position of the adverb that he made use of, and, by that inadvertency, perhaps the strongest of all arguments might have been furnished to those who regard the Lord as not the real Messiah, if the later Evangelist had not given a fuller and more intelligible report of what He said. But the very same reasons, which constitute the importance of St. Luke's chapter, prove that he speaks of old Jacob's yɛvens te kai aiμaroç, and not of any "generation of contemporary men." The Lord declared to the unbelieving Judah, "Thou shalt tarry until I come," and he is the man who wanders upon the face of the earth and must not die. If the Bishop of Armenia (who visited England* in 1228, and astonished John Bull with several extraordinary narrations) had been duly aware of this, he would not have averred his own personal acquaintance with the Wandering Jew.

There is another Scripturet often coupled with this one, but materially different. "Verily there be some standing here which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom." Had it been said, "which shall not, &c., until, &c., cometh in his kingdom," it would undoubtedly predict either the impending and shortly subsequent coming again of Christ in his glory, or the indefinite reservation of certain persons then living, like the reservation of Enoch and Elias for God's ulterior uses. The former of which would be a false prophecy, and the latter is not recommended to us by any circumstances of confirmation. But the words, “until they see, &c.," are of a very different import, as applied to those days of abundant inspiration. General opinion and tradition has applied the words of our Saviour to the right person, even while it was ignorant of the justice of that application, and believed in the erroneous opinion last above-mentioned.

Quel tanto al Redentor caro Giovanni,
Per cui il sermone tra i fratelli uscío
Che non dovea per morte finir gli anni:
Si che fu causa che'l Figliuol di Dio
A Pietro disse; "perché pur t' affanni,
S' io vo che cosí aspetti il venir mio ?”
Benché non disse, "egli non de' morire,"
Si vede pur che cosí volle dire.

Quivi fu assunto, e trovó compagnia :
Che prima Enoch il patriarca v'era,
Eravi insieme il gram profeta Elia,
Che non an visto ancor l' ultima sera:

E fuor de l'aria pestilente e ria

'Si goderan l'eterna primavera,

Fin che dian segno l' angeliche tube

Che torni Cristo in su la bianca nube.-Orl. Fur. 34. 58.

John was not in his state of nature, but "was in the Spirit," when God said to him "What thou seest, write in a book," and " he saw

See Matt. Paris, p. 297.

+ Matt. xvi. 28. Luke ix. 27.

year of

heaven opened, and behold! a white horse, and he that sitteth upon him was called Faithful and True," &c. &c. Esaias in the last King Uzziah "saw the glory of Jesus and spake of him," (John xii. 41); and in like manner St. John did not taste of death before he had seen the Kingdom of God.

There was one man who lived till he had beheld the consummation, and there is one generation of mankind, who shall neither be exterminated, nor blended down, nor disappear by any other process of national extinction, till that consummation is brought to pass.

H.

ON THE CLAPTON PROVIDENT SOCIETIES.

To the Editor of the British Magazine.

SIR,-If the following notice of a "Provident Society" at work in that part of the parish of Hackney which is under my charge, is not too long for you, or can be made not too long, I should be glad to see it in your pages. It has worked, under some local hindrances, much to our satisfaction; and might, I think, be beneficially adopted in any populous parish, where, as with us, gross improvidence in summer, and want of work in winter, leave the poor without the means of supporting themselves for a great part of the year. There is another Society on similar principles in operation in the other part of the parish; but the account here given is of that with which I am more intimately acquainted, although there is little difference between the two, except in unimportant particulars.

The principles upon which the Society was founded were these― I. That the state of distress, in which the poor are found in the winter, is owing very much to their extreme want of providence during the summer.

II. That indiscriminate charity during the winter, so far from being really serviceable to them, is injurious; as it perpetuates their improvident habits by giving them something to look forward to for support in the winter, apart from their own earnings.

And the objects of the Society, in connexion with these principles, were these

1. To repress, as far as was practicable, all indiscriminate charity (which, in almost every case, would be better designated, as 46 encouragement for the poor in improvidence and vice,") while we opened a way, at the same time, through which the benevolence of individuals might reach cases of real distress. II. To encourage the poor to lay by in the summer against the winter; and thus to teach them by degrees the possibility of their supporting themselves by their own earnings, and the comfort of it.

In pursuance of these objects, we determined upon the following plan of operations. The detail of the plan will be explained sufficiently for my present purpose in the statement given of "The VOL. III.-Jan. 1833.

I

Amount and Mode of Relief agreed upon;" and the "regulations regard. ing Deposits;" but it may be as well, first, to state generally, that we adopted the plan, with modifications, upon which District Visiting Societies act, combining with it the business of a Weekly Deposit Society. We divided the neighbourhood into a certain number of districts, and appointed visiters for each; and when every necessary arrangement for commencing operations was completed, we called the poor together, explained to them the objects of the Society, circulated this explanation among them, and then left a similar circular with all the householders in the place, containing a list of the different districts into which the neighbourhood was divided, with the names and residences of the visitors attached, requesting their cordial co-operation with us; and, in particular, begging them not to relieve the poor at their doors, but either to send them at once to their visitor for relief, or, at least, not to relieve them, till their visitor had been communicated with.

AMOUNT OF RELIEF, ETC.

(A.) The amount of relief allowed to be given in any one case is not more than two shillings a-week.

(B.) This amount is given, as much as possible, not in money, but in work, food, clothing, &c.

(C.) In summer, no relief is given, except in cases of sickness, or where the applicant's parish is quite out of reach.

(D.) In winter, relief is not given (except in cases of sickness) till the applicant has been before the Sub-Committee, [No. 3] and his case approved by them.

(E.) Blankets are lent to the poor during the winter, at the discretion of the visitor, to be returned in May.

DEPOSITS.

(F.) Deposits are taken weekly; either for money to commence in March, and last 32 weeks; or for coals to commence in May, and last 24 weeks; or for both.

(G.) Not more than 2s. a-week is received for the money deposit, nor more than 1s. for the coal deposit.

(H.) The deposits for money are returned in November, with a premium of sixpence upon every four shillings laid by; the deposits for coals in December, January, and February, by a sack of coals at a time, at the rate of a bushel for every ninepence laid by.

(I.) No person is allowed to deposit for coals, whose wages amount to more than a guinea a-week; and none for money, whose wages amount to more than twenty-five shillings a-week.

These were our regulations the first year. The benefits offered to Depositors were larger than we intended to continue, and the class of persons admitted to deposit above those whom we were most desirous to serve. But we thought it advisable rather to exceed in our offers at first than otherwise; particularly, as every new year would give us an opportunity of making any alteration in our plan that might

appear desirable,accordingly, the second year the following alterations took place :

(K.) The sum allowed to be deposited (G) was reduced one-half; one shilling a-week only being now allowed to be deposited for money, and sixpence a-week for coals.

(L.) As we were enabled to purchase coals at a much lower rate the second year than we could the first, our coal premium was reduced in proportion, although our engagement stands the same; viz., to give a bushel of coals, or its equivalent, for every ninepence.

(M.) In order to induce money-depositors to take out their money by the week during the winter, instead of receiving it all at once, we offered a double premium (H) upon money deposits taken out weekly,

This may seem a large increase, but in fact it amounted to this that, supposing the whole thirty-two shillings (F and K) to have been deposited, the depositor would receive four shillings more on the whole than before; two pounds instead of one pound sixteen shillings. And the difference in benefit to the depositor, between his receiving his money in one sum, at the end of the autumn, to be spent, in all probability, before the winter set in; and his receiving it by small sums, weekly, during the winter, while out of work, was thought sufficient reason for the change. Neither did we forget that those persons were less likely to apply to us for assistance in the winter, who, during the winter, had still money of their own to receive from us.

Having now put your readers in possession of the main principles on which the Society is conducted, I shall proceed to speak of its results, as gathered from the experience of the two years in which we have been in operation.

It will be borne in mind then, that the objects immediately before us were these→

I. To repress, as far as was practicable, all indiscriminate charity; but opening, at the same time, a way through which the benevolence of individuals might reach cases of real distress. II. To encourage the poor to lay by in the summer against the winter, and thus to teach them, by degrees, the possibility of supporting themselves by their own earnings, and the comfort of it.

With regard to the first object, before the Society was established, impositions were constantly practised upon the inhabitants by persons representing themselves as in the greatest distress, and living in the neighbourhood. It was the immediate effect of the establishment of the Society to put an end to all abuses of this kind. The parties, instead of having money given them at the door as before, were referred to the visitor of the district in which they pretended to be living; to whom, it is needless to add, they would never go. And as regards the begging from door to door by poor really living in the place, the practice has been in a very great degree diminished, though