Secession Synod in Scotland, to rebuild His temple; between these two events is a period of 476 years. The middle watch, being 238 years each way, is the year 1534, already referred to.

The point of Britain's lowest depression, in the year 1213, was the time of the pope's highest exaltation, and the French king was then aiding him in his subjugation of England. The time when God appears in Britain to begin to rebuild his temple, is also the time when He begins to appear among the horns of the beast, to "overturn, overturn, overturn it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him." (Ezek. xxi. 27.) The declaration of American independence, in the year 1776, gave birth to a republic, the influence of whose existence began to be felt in Europe. It was upon a question of taxation that England and America differed, and however much a citizen of the mother country may regret that disruption, the men who accomplished it were worthy of the gratitude of all nations; for while they loved liberty, they guarded against anarchy and confusion. They had among them that divine principle hich taught all to learn obedience, as the only true foundation upon which to erect a constitutional freedom: the great success which has attended the United States of America, notwithstanding their disadvantages and imperfections, is a testimony to the rectitude of the men who took the lead in that important movement. It must, however, be told the people of America, that they have gone to an opposite extreme; and did the world last long enough, to test more fully their system of government, it would be found awanting in stability and security; and they should, without infringing upon the popular element of

their republican form, introduce such a change as would give permanency to a sovereign head over the nation. England and America fused together-what is good in the English monarchy transferred to America, and what is good in the American republic transferred to England-would make either of them separately, or both conjointly, a greater, a more glorious, yea, the greatest and most glorious of any state that has ever existed. The prophecy of Daniel gives an outline of the overturnings upon the continent of Europe, which would precede the restoration of all things.

Dan. xi. 20. "Then shall stand up in his estate a raiser of taxes in the glory of the kingdom; but within few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger, nor in battle." This chapter of Daniel predicts the history of three distinct powers. The pope, "a mighty king who was to do according to his will," and whose fall is predicted in the 19th verse. The English nation, the king of the north, the prophecy concerning whom terminates in the 17th verse. The king of the south, the French king, to whom what is related in this verse applies. In his estate Louis XVI. stood up in the glory of the kingdom; the glory signifying that, at the time referred to, the French monarchy was apparently secure, and had not at least suffered any material external decay. He was to be a raiser of taxes, and in this character he appeared in the year 1787, already referred to; when his minister Calonne, being obliged to have recourse to taxation, convoked an assembly of French notables, which began its sittings at Versailles on the 22d February, 1787. He was to be destroyed within few days; that is, few years. "Neither in anger"-not by assassination-" nor in battle" with an enemy.

He was destroyed in the year 1793, by a judicial

sentence.

Ver. 21. "And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom; but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.” The vile person is Napoleon Bonaparte, and the manner in which he attained the supreme power in France is most accurately foretold. The nation did not give him voluntarily and spontaneously the honour of supreme ruler of the kingdom, when he was nearing the height of his ambition; their republican opinions being opposed to such a gift. He came in peaceably: when he became first consul he made great professions of a peaceable policy, not only towards other powers, but also towards the opposing and conflicting parties in the French nation. "He united with him, as second and third consuls, Cambaceres, a lawyer, and formerly a member of the plain in the convention, and Lebrun, formerly a coadjutor of the chancellor Maupeou. By their means he hoped to influence the revolutionists and moderate the royalists. With the same object, the ex-nobleman, Talleyrand, and the ex-mountainist, Fouché, were appointed to the posts of minister of foreign affairs, and minister of police. He said, we are forming a new epoch, we must forget all the ill of the past, and remember only the good."" (Mignet's Hist. French Revolution, p. 366.) He also made offers of peace to England, which were at first refused; but on the 25th March, 1802, the treaty of Amiens was formed, and a European peace was completed. Thus he came in peaceably, and by flatteries; by what in these days is called artful diplomacy, he obtained the kingdom, and became emperor of France,

6

rope.

1

Ver. 22. "And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown before him, and shall be broken; yea, also, the prince of the covenant.” Bonaparte, with his armies, in a bad cause, conquered the continent of EuAustria and Prussia had to accept his terms of peace. He appointed Joseph Napoleon, king of Naples; Louis Napoleon, king of Holland; Jerome Napoleon, king of Westphalia. He afterwards appointed Joseph Napoleon, king of Spain, and gave the throne of Naples to Murat in his stead. Thus were the continental nations overflown before him with the arms of a flood. "Yea, also, the prince of the covenant:" the pope had exalted and magnified himself above all that is called God, and it is he who is meant by the prince of the covenant. Bonaparte overthrew him in the years 1808-9.

Ver. 23. "And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people." The league is the peace of 1814, when on the 11th April he renounced for himself and children the thrones of France and Italy; and received in exchange for his vast sovereignty, the limits of which had extended from Cadiz to the Baltic sea, the little island of Elba.

He wrought

returned to He came up

deceitfully when he broke the treaty, and France from Elba in the following year. with few followers, but became strong, the armies sent out to obstruct him, joining his standard.

Ver. 24. "He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers: he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches: yea, and he shall forecast devices

against the strong-holds even for a time." The French king, Louis XVIII., fled, and Bonaparte again entered into the fattest places of the province. Bonaparte's army was to him what an aristocracy is to an established monarchy; on it his sole dependence was placed; and, therefore, he did what no other ruler in France had done before him; he bestowed upon his soldiers honours, and they were gainers by promotion and otherwise through his successes; so that thus he scattered among them the prey, and spoils, and riches. He began to devise new schemes, and to forecast his devices against the strong-holds of other nations, even for a time.

Ver. 25, 26. "And he shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army; but he shall not stand: for they shall forecast devices against him. Yea, they that feed of the portion of his meat shall destroy him, and his army shall overflow; and many shall fall down slain." These two verses refer to the great and decisive battle of Waterloo, in which Napoleon was defeated by the allied armies under Wellington. He did not stand; his friends forsook him; his army was thrown into disorder; and many were slain. He abdicated once more, and having given himself up to the British power, he was banished to the island of St. Helena, where he died in the year 1821.

Ver. 27. "And both these kings' hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table; but it shall not prosper: for yet the end shall be at the time appointed." The two kings are the two French dynasties which have occupied the throne of France since Napoleon's time. The elder branch, restored in 1815,