my wickedness in such feeble | not seem to me to be, because terms as they did.

"I have greatly longed of late, for a broken heart, and to lie low before God. And when I ask for humility of God, I cannot bear the thoughts of being no more humble than other Christians. It seems to me, that though their degrees of humility may be suitable for them, yet it would be a vile selfexaltation in me not to be the lowest in humility of all mankind.

I have so much more conviction "My wickedness, as I am in of sin than other Christians, but myself, has long appeared to me because I am so much worse, perfectly ineffable, and infinite- and have so much more wickly swallowing up all thought and edness to be convinced of. When imagination, like an infinite de- I have had these turns of weepluge, or infinite mountains over ing and crying for my sins, I my head. I know not how to thought I knew in the time of express better what my sins ap-it, that my repentance was nothpear to me to be, than by heap-ing to my sin. ing infinite upon infinite, and multiplying infinite by infinite. I go about very often, for this many years, with these expressions in my mind and in my mouth, "Infinite upon infinite -Infinite upon infinite!". When I look into my heart and take a view of my wickedness, it looks like an abyss infinitely deeper than hell. And it appears to me, that, were it not for free grace, exalted and raised up to the infinite height of all the fulness and glory of the great Jehovah, and the arm of his power and grace stretched forth in all the majesty of his power, and in all the glory of his sovereignty, I should appear sunk down in my sins infinitely below hell itself, far beyond sight of every thing, but the piercing eye of God's grace, that can pierce even down to such a depth, and to the bottom of such an abyss.

"And yet I am not in the least inclined to think, that I have a greater conviction of sin than ordinary. It seems to me, my conviction of sin is exceeding small and faint. It appears to me enough to amaze me, that I have no more sense of my sin. I know certainly, that I have very little sense of my sinfulness. That my sins appear to me so great, do VOL. I. NO. 5.

Others speak of their longing to be humbled to the dust. Though that may be a proper expression for them, I always think for myself, that I ought to be humbled down be low hell.

'Tis an expression that has long been natural for me to use in prayer to God. I ought to lie infinitely low before God.

"It is affecting to me to think how ignorant I was, when I was a young Christian, of the bottomless, infinite depths of wickedness, pride, hypocrisy, and deceit, left in my heart.

"I have a vastly greater sense of my universal; exceeding dependence on God's grace and strength, and mere good pleasure of late, than I used formerly to have, and have experienced more of an abhorrence of my own righteousness. The thought of any comfort or joy arising in me on any consideration, or re

Y

"Though it seems to me, that, in some respects, I was a far better Christian for two or three years after my first conversion, than I am now, and lived in a more constant delight

was forced to shut myself up and fasten the doors. I could not but as it were cry out, "How happy are they who do that which is right in the sight of God! They are blessed indeed, they are the happy ones!" I had at the same time a very af fecting sense how meet, and suitable it was that God should govern the world, and order all things according to his own pleasure; and I rejoiced in it, that God reigned, and that his will was done.

[To be continued.]

and pleasure, yet, of late years, Abstract of Faber on the Pro

I have had a more full and constant sense of the absolute sovereignty of God, and a delight in that sovereignty; and have

had more of a sense of the glory

of Christ, as a Mediator, as revealed in the gospel. On one Saturday-night, in particular, had a particular discovery of the excellency of the gospel of Christ above all other doctrines, so that I could not but say to myself, "This is my chosen light, my chosen doctrine :" and of Christ, "This is my chosen Prophet." It appeared to me to be sweet, beyond all expression, to follow Christ, and to be taught and enlightened, and instructed by him; to learn of him, and live to him.

"Another Saturday-night, Jan. 1738-9 had such a sense how sweet and blessed a thing it was to walk in the way of duty, to do that which was right and meet to be done, and agreeable to the holy mind of God, that it caused me to break forth into a kind of a loud weeping, which held me some time, so that I

HA

phecies.

No. III.

(Continued from p. 134.)

AVING described the four great empires and the tyranny of the Papacy under the form of an image and of four great beasts, the Spirit of inspiration, in the vision of the ram and the he-goat, recalls the attention of Daniel to the second and third empires, for the purpose of exhibiting under the symbol of another little horn, which was to spring out of one of the principal horns of the Macedonian beast, another great enemy to Christianity. The ram, which the prophet saw standing before the river, is the Medo-Persian empire, and his two horns are the two kingdoms of Media and Persia. In the height of his power he is attacked by the he-goat, or the Macedonian empire, is overthrown and his two horns broken. Whereupon the he-goat "waxed very great:" but nevertheless, his great horn was soon broken, as it stood but fifteen years from the death of Alexander the great, and, in its place, four horns,

or kingdoms arose, into which the empire was divided by Alexander's four captains, Cassander, Lysimachus, Ptolemy and Seleucus. Thus far all commentators are agreed, but they are not so, respecting the little horn of the he-goat. | That it does not mean Antiochus Epiphanes, Sir Isaac and Bp. Newton have demonstrated, and they both contend that it symbolizes the Roman empire which, they suppose became the little horn of the hegoat, by subduing Macedon and Greece, and this they gather from the direction of its conquests towards the south, the east, and the pleasant land; from its standing up against the Prince of princes, taking away the daily sacrifice, and planting the abomination of desolation in the sanctuary, which our Lord himself refers to the taking of Jerusalem by the Romans.

ly confute every opinion in opposition to it. The author's opinion is, that the little horn of the Macedonian beast symbolizes the Moham medan power in the Constantinopolitan empire: his reasons for this opinion are for substance as follows.

Daniel informs us, in his account of the vision of the ram and the hegoat that he heard a certain saint enquiring how long shall be the continuance of this vision, to wit, of the daily sacrifice (taken away by the little horn) and this transgression of desolation to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? The answer is, unto two thousand and three hundred days; or, as the Seventy read, Two thousand four hundred days; or, as certain copies mentioned by Jerome read, two thousand two hundred days, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. Whatever doubt there may have been respecting the commencement of this period, it seems clear, that the 1260 years are a part of it, and that the two periods terminate together. We are told that the vision of the ram and the

These striking points of resemblance notwithstanding, the author is constrained to dissent in toto from the opinion of those eminent commentators, on this point; and the principal ground he assumes to confute the opinion is, that the abom-he-goat reaches to the time of the ination of desolation is mentioned by Daniel in three places; in one, as set up by the symbolical arms agreed to mean the Romans: another, by the little horn of the hegoat: and in the last, as being connected with certain chronological numbers, which cannot possibly be applied to the abomination of desolation set up by the Romans, when they sacked Jerusalem. Whence he concludes, it must refer to that set up by the little horn of the he-goat, and that the latter, in point of time at least, must differ from the former.vered into the hand of the little horn We cannot detail his objections at large, nor is it necessary, for the reasons of his own opinion, if conclusive, will of themselves sufficient

end, and also that to the end of the wonders predicted by Daniel, there shall be three times and a half.Hence it follows, that both periods reach to the time of the end, or the end of the predicted wonders; therefore, they terminate together. The 1260 years, then, is the latter part of the greater period of 2300 years. In particular, we are told, that the sanctuary which had been polluted by the little horn of the he-goat shall be cleansed at the end of 2300 years; also, that the saints are to be deli

of the Roman beast, for three times and a half, or 1260 years; and, at the end of that period, to be freed from his tyranny,-that the Jews

shall begin to be restored at the end | slain when Constantine the great asscended the imperial throne; the empire then ceased to be a beast. It lay dead from thence till the year 606, when, in the reign of the Em

of the 1260 years-that the king who is to magnify himself above every god shall come to his end when the Jews begin to be restored; or, at the end of the 1260 years-peror Phocas it revived, and bethat the court of the temple and the came once more an idolatrous perholy city shall be trodden under foot secuting empire, in the very act of during 42 prophetic months; or constituting the Pope Universal 1260 years; and, at the end, Bishop, and supreme head of the cease to be so, that the witnesses church, in spirituals. By which, the shall prophesy in sackcloth, the saints were delivered into his hand, same period, and then cease to and the worship of images, the prophesy in sackloth, and that favorite object of Boniface the the woman shall be driven into third, the then reigning Pope, was the wilderness the same period, sanctioned. Indeed scarcely a year and then be delivered. To add no had elapsed from this, when idolatry further particulars, it will undenia- was publicly authorized by the bly follow from these premises, that Sovereign Pontiff. The ancient the 2300 years, and the 1260 years| Pantheon, formerly the sink of all terminate together, at this memora- | the abominations of Paganism, was ble period the papal horn, the little horn of the he-goat, the ten-horned beast, the man of sin, and the king who magnified himself above every god will all be overthrown ; and, at the same period, the abomination of desolation set up by the he-goat's little horn, will be removed; the sanctuary of the spiritual temple be cleansed; and the Jews begin to be restored to their own land. In a word, the tyranny of the papal horn, and that of the little horn of the he-goat, for instance, terminate together: and their period of existence is the same: consequently, they beThe period of 1260 years then gin together. In addition to what has been said, it is proper to remark, commenced in the year 606, of course it will end in the year 1866. that the true key for fixing the comLet us next turn towards the East, mencement of the 1260 years is continues the author, and see if we furnished by the Prophet himself. cannot discover, in this same year, It certainly commenced when the the rise of the he-goat's little horn, saints were; first given into the and the vestiges of that transgreshand of the papal horn: or,sion of desolation which was to conwhen the old Pagan beast retinue through that period. vived by setting up a catholic spiritual idolatrous tyrant in the church. The Pagan beast was

restored, though under a different name, to its original destination.The mediatory demons of corrupted Christianity occupied the vacant places of the mediatory demons of the Gentiles; and instead of Jupiter and his kindred deities, the virgin-mother of Christ, and all his martyred saints received the blind adoration of the revived ten-horned beast. At this time the apostacy, which before could be recognized only in individuals, became the embodied and established apostacy of a spiritual catholic empire, over which the man of sin presided.

In the year 606, Mohammed retired to the cave of Hera to fabricate that false religion which scon

after darkened the whole oriental [ that the year 334 is the true date of

the vision of the ram and the he-goat, and that the number 2200 is the true reading. Thus evident it is, that the year 606 is the beginning of the period of 1260 years, when the little horn of the he-goat arose; and no other era can, it is conceived, possi

by the prophet. And as Mohammed began to fabricate the imposture, this same year, which soon filled the empire, symbolized by the he-goat, with gross darkness, and has hitherto continued, and to all the whole period of 1260 years, there appearance will continue through is strong reason to conclude, that the Mohammedan power is indeed the power symbolized by the little horn in question. This, however, will be further evident by the following considerations.

work. Here then we behold the desolating abomination of the hegoat's little horn springing up, as we are taught to expect from prophecy, at the beginning of the 1260 | years, and in a short space completely polluting the spiritual sanctuary of the Eastern church. Be-bly answer to all the tests furnished fore the author proceeds to trace the resemblance between the little horn and the religion of Mohammed, he first attempts to ascertain the period from which the 2300 years before mentioned is to be dated; to settle which he observes as follows. The Medo-Persian empire arose in the year A. C.536, and it was cast down to the ground and stamped upon in the year A. C. 330, these are the two limits of the empire. In the vision, Daniel did not discover the Ram rising, but standing, by the river, in full possession of power; A horn, it has been said, symboliwhich must be sometime within zes a temporal, or, a spiritual kingthose limits, but when is left uncer- dom. The little horn of the Roman tain; the great period of 2300 years beast we have seen symbolizes the and of 1260 years terminate togeth-spiritual kingdom of the papacy. er in the year 1866, now if from Hence we should naturally conclude, hence we compute backward 2300 from the analogy of symbolical lanyears, we shall arrive at the year guage alone, that the little horn of 434; if 2400 years from the same the Macedonian beast symbolized period, as the Seventy read, and we a spiritual kingdom likewise. shall arrive at the year 534; and if 2200 years from the same period, according to the reading mentioned by Jerome, we shall arrive at the year 334. But no remarkable event happened either in the year 434, or, in the year 534, which could induce a belief that, in either of those years, the vision of the ram and the hegoat commenced. On the contrary, the year 334 is big with events highly interesting to the Persian monarchy, for in this year, the he-goat ran unto the ram in the fury of his power, and smote him upon the banks of the river Granicus, standing, as he was, in the hitherto undisputed possession of empire; and hence, there is satisfactory evidence

Again, as the little horn of the Roman beast is found in the West, so the little horn of the Macedonian beast is to be sought for in the East, and here we trust we have found it, and to this conclusion we are conducted by a chronological, analogical and local coincidence of circum

stances and events.

We learn from history that Mohammedism arcse in the East in the year 606, at the commencement of the 1960 years, during which period it must continue: but the secular power of Mohammed did not commence till several years afterwards, therefore, this little horn must symbolize not the temporal