aud vigorous mind. Nothing that is mean or common-place appears. The language, though quaint, and sprinkled over with the hoar of antiquated terms and phrases, is full of nerve and muscle. Sometimes, indeed, it is obscured by figurative embellishments, but in general it is intelligible to all who wish to comprehend its meaning.

the Persic and the Greek empires are named by name in the prophecy of Daniel. Then, birth was so well known and decided apos with respect to place, the place of Messiah's from the prophecy, that the chief priests at once agreed upon it when asked by Hered; and every burden of Isaiah is directed, with the exactness of a letter, to the city for which it was intended, and to which doubtless, in some way or other, it was made known. But it is endless to contend with ignorance in its dark places; and it may serve a better end, to point out the evil of concealing the prophecy from the eye of the church."-p. 26 to 23.

It will readily be admitted, that Daniel understood by books, that Cyrus was mentioned by name, and that the place of the Messiah's birth was specified; but to give us an assur

bolical language are rightly interpreted, we want either the authority or the discriminating judgment of Daniel.

So far as his reasonings apply to events that have already taken place, they carry with them a strong degree of plausibility, and in numerous instances coincide with the sentiments of those writers on prophecy, who have already preceded him in tracing this arduous path. It must not, how-ance that predictions delivered in symever, be forgotten, that, by many of his predecessors, several branches of these prophecies have been associated with events widely different, and that plausibility has also been the companion of their march. Hence, nothing absolutely conclusive can be drawn from the friendly aspect of appearances. In the mean while, over those events which are lodged in futurity, to which many of the prophecies are referred, there hangs an impenetrable veil, which nothing but time can fully

remove.

Against this latter conclusion, we are not ignorant that Mr. Irving has apparently entered his protest in the following words :

"There was no difference of opinion in the primitive Church concerning the Infidel Antichrist, who was to arise in the latter days, and go into perdition, and as little concerning

the millennial kingdom of the saints. So that f there be an orthodox faith in doctrine, to which the Church payeth a high regard, I have as good a right to infer that there is an orthodox faith in the great matters of prophecy, to which the Church heretofore hath and ought still to pay a high respect; yea, and WOULD, were it not that her chief and leading men are ploughing with other oxen, and wishing to reap other harvests than appertain to the true and spiritual Church of Christ.

"And they will answer for themselves again, that the prophecies were not intended to be known till the event should reveal their applications; as if you would say, that the cask was not to be opened till the liquor was all evaporated. Which notion is contradicted by the whole testimony of Scripture. First, with respect to time. Daniel knew by books when the captivity of Babylon was to be accomplished. And he revealed by date when shall see, in the sequel of this discourse, how And we exactly the beginning and the ending of another great event is determined. Then, with respect to person, Cyrus is named by bis proper name in the prophecies of Isaiah, and both

Messiah the Prince was to come.

The commencement of the twelve hundred and sixty years, mentioned Rev. xi. verse 3. which forms the basis of his calculation, Mr. Irving supposes to have been A. D. 533, at which time the Papal power was enlarged and strengthened by the imperial code of Justinian. If, therefore, we unite these two sums, we shall be conducted to the year 1793, the period of the French revolution, to which he presumes many portions of the prophecies refer.

The "two witnesses," mentioned in Rev. xi. 3, he conceives to be the Old and New Testaments; and the Waldenses, the Albigenses, the Kathari, the Lollards, the Huguenots, the Protestants, Waldo, Wickliffe, Jerome, Huss, Luther, and a cloud of other witnesses which have borne testimony in all ages against the Papal usurpation, he observes, were only ministers of the two testimonies which God had given. Their prophesying in sackcloth, he refers to the unknown tongue in which for centuries they have been locked up by Popery; their being slain, he discovers in the establishment of infidelity in France, in 1793; and their resurrection, when freedom of religious worship was restored in 1797. For each of the Vials he also makes ample provision. The first he applies to the dissolution of principle which extends from the 10th of August, 1792, prevailed in France in 1792; the second to the execution of Robespierre; the third, to Bonaparte's invasion of Italy; the fourth, to the embodying of the

Infidel power in the person of Napo- | writ is designated Blessed. Therefore, we leon; the fifth, to the invasion of say, that in 75 years, over and beyond the France by the allied forces; the sixth, 1260, that is, from the year of our Lord 1792, to events that have already occurred, when I now write, the blessed reign of Christ or in 43 years from this time, (A. D. 1825,) to some that are now taking place, shall have commenced. (The Lord lengthen and to others that are still waiting out my life to see one of these days of the Son the movements of time; and the seventh, of man. Though in the extremest age, as of to the downfall of the Papacy, already spare me to behold his glorious coming!) Simeon, and Anna the prophetess, the Lord foredoomed of God. The "scarlet-Also, at the end of 30 years, over the 1260, or coloured beast" he considers to have into the period of judgment, we are to expect, been Infidelity, personified in Napo- not a remarkable event, but some alteration leon, and that it is destined to rein the course of judgment, some recussion or appear, either in his son, or some in- increase of it, or something worthy to be dividual, who, after wielding a mighty the course of our progress. And these two noted, which may perhaps discover itself in power, shall be finally overthrown in periods of 30 and 45 years, onward from the the great battle of Armageddon, within period of the conclusion of the Papal period, the confines of the Holy Land; sub- are all that we can learn concerning time out sequently to which, the glorious mil- of the book of Daniel, or any other part of lennium will commence. To the other with these two periods all trouble shall be acScripture. But it is sufficient to know, that branches of prophecy belonging to this complished, and the earth shall be fully blessed. class, our author in general assigns The last of the first two mentioned periods, specific appropriations; but our limits when the Jews shall be restored, must come forbid us to follow in detail the adjust-when, no man knoweth. For the four periods in somewhere before this consummation; bat ment of seals and trumpets, which are not in successive order, as some have sup minutely accommodate themselves to posed, but two distinct revelations, the one his theory. given in addition to the other, for the further satisfaction of the curious prophet. And the four periods, so remarkable as to have been chronology amounts to this: that there are deemed worthy to be given to the church. One of 1260 years, the beginning of which had been found in a former vision, and the end of it also. Another, when the infidel power shall Jews be accomplished; but when, is not given. come to his end, and the dispersion of the A third, at the end of 1290 days; but what, is not given. A fourth, at the end of 1335 days, which every one who abideth to see shall be completely blessed."-p. 173 to 175.

It is not, however, to mere arrangement and application that Mr. Irving has confined his attention. The time when events that are still unborn shall take place, is distinctly marked; and, according to his calculation, the great, the fearful, and glorious eras for which the church has long been waiting, are at hand, they are even at the door. But on this momentous point he shall speak for himself. Referring to the following expressions of Daniel, (chap. xii. 11-12.)" And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the one thousand three hundred and five and thirty days," he thus proceeds:

"That these two numbers reckon from the same beginning with the former one, of time, and times, and balf a time, there can be no doubt; for these emblems, the taking away of the daily sacrifice, and the setting up of the abomination that maketh desolation, do al ways denote the supplanting of the true religion by a false one, and is used in the vision of the ram and he-goat of Mahomedanism-in this vision, and elsewhere, of the Papacy. From the setting up of the Papacy, therefore, there shall be 1290 days, till something, which is not determined by any event; and there shall be 1335 days till the term which is pronounced BLESSED; blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to it. There can be no doubt that this is the commencement of the glorious time when all shall be blessed in Christ, and all men shall call him blessed. No other epoch in holy

Respecting the restoration of the Jews, the language of Mr. Irving is equally void of ambiguity; and for the establishment of the true worship in Jerusalem, consequent on that event, he does not hesitate to assign the specific year. Having observed, that, "For the time of this last and terrible vial, which fills up the wrath of God upon the earth, we have no data for determining when it shall begin, and no reason to allege why it should not begin this day or to-morrow," he furnishes the following paragraph:

"But with respect to its termination, there is, in the book of Daniel, a given time, the only one which remains to be mentioned, whereby we can fix a period, more near than the end of the forty-five years, within which it may be positively affirmed that this seventh vial will be accomplished. It is given in the vision of the ram and he-goat, in these terms:-' Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation,

any powerful poetry exists, hath bowed to infidelity in the two bright and potent stars of Goethe and Schiller; and our Byron is becoming the poetical idol of foreign nations; and all over Europe, from Russia to the isles of Greece, and from the isles of Greece to the rock of Lisbon, our Bentham, the apostle of expediency, hath the upper hand of the Lawgivers. And what is left I know not, but that these, the chief and sovereign influencers of the destinies of men, Religion, Morality, Philosophy, Science, Poetry, and Law, who have joined themselves to infidelity, should dispense and disseminate their proclamations to the body of the people; which now they are doing, by the wonderful extension of Education, and circulation of the Scriptures; for as Satan can convert himself into an angel of light, he will use the Scriptures also, to shew the people the monstrous superstition; and, when the people have seen it, and signify the same by any audible voice, or sensible sign, then the superstition will lay upon them its beavy hand, and lash them into madness. Oh, who, that hath an eye to behold the signs and causes of events, can fail to observe what a storm is brewing in the beavens, and is ready to burst over all the earth!"-p. 307 to 310.

In the preceding paragraph, we cannot deny that there is a considerable portion of truth; but from its sweeping clauses we must beg Mr. I.'s pardon for withholding our assent. Both literature and science have still many splendid luminaries, who advocate the cause of Christianity. Among our judges we find a Bailey, among our statesmen a Wilberforce, among our poets a Montgomery, and among our mathematicians a Gregory, with all of whom the doctrines of revelation have something more than a nominal existence. From the pulpits of the establishment, and those of the dissenting interests, we could easily select a host of illustrious men, whose talents and learning would not shrink from a comparison with the most exalted characters that infidelity can boast.

The contents of Mr. Irving's second volume are far more desultory than those of the first, and may be considered rather as confirmatory, and illustrative of what had been previously advanced, than as holding out subjects entirely detached, for discussion. Some portions of this volume are retrospective, but these appear to have been chiefly introduced from their connexion with subsequent events. Several new bearings of some branches of prophecy are placed before us; but the whole being subservient to the grand design, we shall leave without animadversion.

We have already observed, that Mr. Irving's style is bold and energetic;" and we may now add, that his comprehensive ingenuity keeps pace with the vigour of his expressions. The passages which follow will confirm both of these assertions:

"Oh! what a master is Satan of wiles! and what a battle he hath waged for this world! Very lovely it must be in his sight, as the garden of Eden before him. And what a wilderness hell must be, that he contends so strenuously for this poor fallen earth!

"For, as I pass along the stream of time which hath flowed over the head of old Rome, it amazeth my mind, to think of the diversions which he hath made in that citadel of his strength, with the fall of which he doth manifestly connect his expulsion from the earth. What a master-stroke it was, when he saw the Gothic and Scythian nations coming down upon his ancient realms like lions upon the drunken shepherds, and their scattered sheep, to wind himself into their faith, under the name of Christ, and possess them with a doctrine of devils; and so, having leavened the hardy na tions with falsehood, bring them down, in the hope of sweeping the word of truth into atter oblivion:-and all the while knowing that he was to be foiled, and that he had been cast out of his domain of flesh in the wilderness of Jor

dan, and cast out of his domain of death in the rock of the sepulchre of Christ. But yet, though having the death-wound in him, how expressly be seizeth occasions, and how stoutly he contesteth every inch of ground, and point of advantage! And how he followed up the stroke of that advantage which he had obtained over the Arian nations, by making it the occasion of seating in Rome that Arch-deception, and Mistress of all delusions, and Abomi nation of abominations, with which all the kings of the earth have committed whoredom, -the infernal device of the Papacy; that deepest conception, and mightiest achievement of Satan, into which he hath admitted the whole canon of truth, and yet contrived that it should teach only error; into which he hath admitted the whole revelation of light, and yet contrived that it should breed only foul and pestilent darkness. Oh, it is an ample net for catching men! a delusion and bondage made for the world, as the Gospel was a redemption made for the world! No partial error, like that of the Gnostics, framed out of mystic imaginations, or that of the Arians, framed out of the

proud arguments of reason, or that of the Anabaptists, framed out of the licentiousness of the will, but a stupendous deception, and universal counterfeit of truth, which hath a chamber for every natural faculty of the soul, and an occupation for every energy of the natural spirit, permitting every extreme of abstemiousness and indulgence, fast and revelry; melancholy abstraction, and burning zeal; subtle acuteness, and popular discourse; worldrenunciation, and worldly ambition; embracing the arts, and the sciences, and the stores of ancient learning; adding antiquity and misinterpretation of all monuments of better times; and covering carefully with a venerable veil, that only monument of better times which was

able to expose the false ministry of the infinite superstition, and overthrow to the ground the fabric of this mighty temple, which Satan had constructed for his own glory, out of those materials which were builded together for the glory of God and of Christ. Pagan Rome was Satan's work, constructed with his own materials of ambition, arms, policy, and knowledge; but Papal Rome is Satan's work, constructed with the materials of God revealed in his holy word; and therefore is the more to be admired as a device of knowledge and of power. For he had no longer arms in Rome, nor all-subduing conquerors, nor hardy veterans, nor wily senators, nor resistless eloquence, nor stupendous grandeur, nor enormous wealth. It was a ruin, it had been sacked and spoiled, spoiled and sacked; every barbarian had trodden on its most hallowed fane; and every fierce beast had bowled in the rains of its proudest palaces. In such a ruined habitation had Satan to work; with such scantness and poverty of all materials had he to construct that second temple of his pride, over which my mind wandereth with great admiration. But thou art destined to fall, O Lucifer, son of the morning! thou art even destined to fall, thou and all thy works. Division and falsehood are written on thy banner, thou Father of lies! thou Murderer of life! Thine empire of darkness shakes, thy last great invention is defeated, thy mystery of mysteries is discovered, and all its filthy abominations are exposed."-p. 295 to 299.

name of Mr. Irving will hereafter be added. A considerable portion of his work at present stands on an island that is inaccessible; but the lapse of twenty-five years will either stamp its reputation with immortality, or consign it to oblivion.

A spirit of inquiry is highly commendable; but we regret that Mr. Irving had not expressed himself with more caution on subjects that are confessedly obscure, and susceptible of different interpretations. On points where some of our more illustrious authors have failed, infallibility is not to be expected. Hence, while unassuming confidence adds a lustre to triumph, when enterprise is crowned with success, its influence, extending into the region of error, would remove dishonour from the misfortunes of wellmeant endeavour, and leave failure without disgrace.

REVIEW.-A Treatise on the Divine
Sovereignty. By Robert Wilson,
A.M. 8vo. and 12mo. pp. 152. Lon-
1826.
don. Hatchard & Son.

THE introductory pages of this work
contain some judicious observations
on the distinct nature of facts and
truths, the grounds on which they
stand, and the peculiar methods by
which they should be investigated.
These the author lays down as the
rules by which his conduct will be
guided, while pursuing the arduous
paths in which he intends to travel.

How far Mr. Irving may be correct or incorrect in his application of prophecies that are past, to the local occurrences with which he has associated them, we acknowledge our inability to determine, That his reasonings are specious, we readily admit; but when we reflect on the writings of Mede, Newton, Bicheno, Whittaker, Kett, Faber, and others, each having his peculiar theory, and being guaranteed by the sanction of plausibility, we scruple to place implicit confidence in his conclusions. The years that have not yet reached us on the stream of time, conceal their events from our observations. The lapse of a few more annual periods will, however, exhibiting the whole into the sovereign wisthem to the world, either connected with anticipated incidents to confirm his theory, or detached from their expected associations, to shew that he has been more sanguine than prudent in his attempts to penetrate futurity.

It has been observed, that among the numerous expounders of the prophetic writings, "scarcely one has appeared, who has not thrown a portion of light on the subject, in some form or other; and scarcely one, who has not lived to see, in some way or other, the fallibility of human reasonings and calculations." To writers of this description, it is not improbable that the

Having, in his first chapter, furnished in epitome an outline of man's primeval state, and his subsequent fall, as exhibited in the Bible, he proceeds to state the grounds of his recovery, and spiritual renovation, resolv

dom and mercy of God. The names of several divines, whose characters stand high in the theological world, are then introduced, accompanied with a brief statement of their respective creeds. These are followed by passages from their writings, from some particulars of which the author withholds his assent, and the substance of his volume exhibits his reasons for so doing, resulting from an examination of numerous scriptures which had been brought to support the doctrines that he doubts, and which he thinks had been misapplied.

The passages of scripture quoted,