nations in the flesh, and the Theocracy be made the channel of Heavenly influence for the happiness of the world; that this glorious dominion as established at its first epoch, shall last a thousand years, during which time Satan shall be confined, and his power to tempt and corrupt the nations be restrained ;-that although during this period death will still prevail among the nations in the flesh; yet the climates and habits of earth having undergone such a remarkable transformation, by great geological and atmospheric changes, as to be denominated a new heaven, and a new earth, death will not be so common, the age of man will be prolonged like that of a tree, and a hundred years be but the time of youth; that thus the judgment of Heaven will be prolonged upon the earth, and the righteous be made to triumph;-that at the close of this blessed period, the last act in the great work and day, or dispensation of judgment, shall take place, when Satan shall be released from his confinement, all the nations of the wicked raised from the dead, the Gog and Magog of John metaphorically or typically described by the Gog and Magog of Ezekiel, and be summoned before Christ to receive their final sentence ;-that then, in mad desperation, these hosts of hell, led on by the Devil and his angels, shall make their last and violent assault upon the holy city where Christ and his saints dwell, and think to storm the heavenly city, which shall be but the occasion for the last signal interposition of Divine justice and Almighty vengeance for their eternal destruction ;-and that doomed and hurled to the bottomless abyss by the power of Omnipotence, earth shall be for ever purged and redeemed from the dominion of Satan, placed back again amidst the heavenly worlds-restored to more than paradisiacal purity and glory-death for ever cease in it, and that state of glory and blessed

ness be confirmed in which the dominion of Heaven shall be absolutely, immutably, and eternally established in righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, and this ransomed, renovated, and recovered globe, shine resplendent in Heaven's brilliancy, never more to be invaded or polluted by the entrance of sin.

Well might the prophets, who caught a distant glimpse of these stupendous glories, be wrapt in ecstasy! Truly, "eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive the things prepared for them that love God." "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be." Loud and ecstatic shall be the shout of triumph, when earth and heaven shall mingle in full chorus, as "the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of many thunderings, saying, Alleluia, for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth!" My heart kindles at the prospect, and is ready to catch the strain of Heaven: Glory to God!

And to the Lamb, who bought us with his blood,
From every kindred, nation, people, tongue,
And washed, and sanctified, and saved our souls,
And gave us robes of linen pure, and crowns

Of life, and made us kings and priests to God!
Shout back to ancient time! Sing loud, and wave
Your palms of triumph! Sing, "Where is thy sting,
Oh death! where is thy victory, oh grave!"
Thanks be to God, eternal thanks, who gave
Us victory through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Harp, lift thy voice on high!-shout! angels, shout!
And loudest ye redeemed! glory to God,
And to the Lamb all glory and all praise!
All glory and all praise at morn and even,
That come and go eternally, and find
Us happy still, and thee for ever blest!
Glory to God and to the Lamb!-Amen!
For ever and for ever more-Amen!

Impenitent reader! will you participate in the glory and triumph of that scene? or shall you perish in the overthrow of the ungodly? Fearful and horrible shall be the doom of the wicked. Devils and damned spirits, as hell pours forth her millions to be judged, may think to storm the citadel of heaven, and compass the camp of the servants of the Most High, led on by the madness of desperation; but it will prove like the last gleam of hope that flares in the socket for an instant, and then is quenched in the blackness of darkness for ever! Methinks I see them, as they fall before God and the Lamb, repulsed and driven by the fierce blast of Almighty vengeance.

They upon the verge

Of Erebus, a moment, pausing stood,

And saw, below, the unfathomable lake,

Tossing with tides of dark, tempestuous wrath,
And would have looked behind; but greater wrath
Behind forbade, which now no respite gave
To final misery. God, in the grasp

Of his almighty strength, took them, upraised,
And threw them down unto the yawning pit
Of bottomless perdition, ruined! damned!
Fast bound in chains of darkness ever more!
And second death and the undying worm

Opening their jaws with hideous yell,
Falling, received their everlasting prey.

A groan returned! as down they sunk, and sunk,

And ever sunk, among the utter dark!

A groan returned! The righteous heard the groan

The groan of all the reprobate-when first

They felt damnation sure! and heard hell close!

And heard Jehovah and his love retire!

A groan returned! The righteous heard the groan,
As if all misery, all sorrow, grief,

All pain, all anguish, all despair, which all
Have suffered, or shall feel from first to last-
Eternity-had gathered to one pang,

And issued in one groan of boundless woe!

CHAPTER VII.

TRADITIONARY HISTORY.

OUR object in this chapter is to unfold the traditionary history of what has been called Millenarian doctrine. The term Millenarian is sometimes used as a term of contempt; but is, nevertheless, admitted by those who adopt the literal system of prophetical interpretation, to be an appropriate designation, in contradistinction from the spiritualists, who, in their turn, are denominated Anti-millenarian. It is intended by it to denote those who believe that the prophets of the Old and New Testament predict the personal visible coming of Jesus Christ with his saints before the Millenium, to raise their dead bodies, to destroy the anti-Christian nations, and to establish his glorious kingdom or dominion over all the earth, in which, by the ministry of his saints raised from the dead, and quickened at his coming, He will reign for 1,000 years and judge the world. The term Antimillenarian denotes those, who affirm that the coming of Christ to judgment will not take place till after 1,000 years' great prosperity in religion, during which He may be said spiritually, that is allegorically, to be present and to reign with his saints on the earth.

It is a matter of some interest to inquire what were the views on this subject, entertained by the successors of the prophets and the early Fathers of the Christian. church-those who lived nearest the days of the prophets and apostles, and who may be, therefore, presumed to have derived by tradition their views

relative to the meaning of the prophecies concerning the coming and kingdom of Jesus Christ. Were they Millenarians or Anti-millenarians? Did they expect the personal visible coming of Christ, before or after the Millenium? The views they entertained on this subject will enable us to decide, whether they understood the prophets and apostles to predict a literal or metaphorical coming of Christ; and also, what principles of interpretation they adopted in relation to the prophecies.

It is certainly a reasonable presumption, that those who lived nearest the apostles, would be most likely to understand the general import of their teaching and charges and exhortations about the coming of Christ, and practically to adopt their principles of interpretation.

We cordially subscribe to the remarks of Mr. Faber, on the subject of historical testimony, in reference to the doctrine of election, although he has failed to apply them to the important themes of prophecy on which he has so largely written. "In revealed religion, by the very nature and necessity of things, as Tertullian well teaches us: Whatever is first is true, whatever is later is adulterate. If a doctrine totally unknown to the primitive church, which received her theology immediately from the hands of the apostles, and which continued long to receive it from the hands of the disciples of the apostles, springs up in a subsequent age, let that age be the fifth century or let it be the tenth century, or let it be the sixteenth century, such doctrine stands, on its very front, impressed with the brand of mere human invention. Hence, in the language of Tertullian, it is adulterate: and hence, with whatever plausibility it may be fetched out of a particular interpretation of Scripture, and with what