dreadful confusion of Armageddon with which that expeWhether at this period the infidel dition terminates. king is, or is not, to have become, like his predecessor Charlemagne,† the last head of the beast, who shall venture now to determine? This at least is certain, that he will be a very principal actor in "the time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation.”

As I have more than once hinted at the probability of the last head of the beast, or the Gothic Patricio-Emperorship of the Romans, becoming at the time of the end attached to the horn of France, as it heretofore was in the days of Charlemagne, I shall here simply state the declarations of concurring prophecies relative to this subject, and leave the reader to draw his own conclusions.

The

Daniel predicts, that, at the time of the end or the close of the 1260 years, the infidel king shall engage in a war of extermination under the pretext of religion; that, in the prosecution of this nefarious project, he shall invade Palestine, and occupy the glorious holy mountain; but that eventually he shall perish between the two seas, namely the Dead sea and the Mediterranean sea. prophet, absorbed as it were in contemplating the vast power of this impious monster, does not notice any confederates with whom he might be leagued; but speaks merely of the king himself, as being the very life and soul of the whole expedition, as being peculiarly both its contriver and executor.

Such is the prediction of Daniel. In a similar manner, St. John declares, that, under the last vial and consequently after the close of the same 1260 years, a grand confederacy of the beast, the false prophet, and the kings of the Latin earth, shall be utterly overthrown at Megid

* I speak of course on the supposition that I am right in my date of the 1260 years. Should I be so mistaken as that they terminate earlier than I apprehended, the events of the last vial and of Daniel's time of unexampled trouble will of course happen so much

earlier.

Buonapartè affects, upon all occasions, to ape the style and dignity of Charlemagne and no moderation of character, which he has yet displayed, gives us any reason to doubt that he wishes to tread in the steps of that ambitious conqueror. It is almost superfluous to remind the reader, that the infidel king is not the individual Buonaparte nor any other individual, but the infidel kingdom or power of France.

I have already stated, that the infidel king may now be considered as identified with the Carlovingian bead of the beast. June 5, 1806.

do, which is a town situated between the two seas of Palestine; and that the wine-press of the vintage shall be trodden in a region extending 1600 furlongs, which is the exact measure of the Holy land.

Thus it appears, that, as Daniel's infidel king is to be the grand projector and manager of a religious war, and is to perish in Palestine between the two seas after the close of the 1260 years: so the apocalyptic beast, that is to say the beast under his last head, is likewise, as it appears from his union with the false prophet, to be the main promoter and manager of a religious war; which, precisely like the religious war of the infidel king, is to take place after the close of the 1260 years, and is to be decided in Palestine or the land which extends 1600 furlongs, and at Megiddo a town of that land which is situated between the seas.

So exact a correspondence both of time, place, and circumstance, evidently shews, that the war of the infidel king is the same as the war of the beast and the false prophet and, from Daniel's prediction, we can scarcely consider the king only as an inferior actor, only as one of the subordinate kings represented by St. John as leagued with the beast. The conclusion to be drawn from these premises I leave to the cautious reader.t

To return from this digression; if I be right in thinking, that the gathering together of the kings of the Latin earth to the battle of Armageddon is an expedition of a confederacy of popish infidels against the converted Jews

* Armageddon signifies the destruction of Megiddo.

†The first edition of this Work was published just as the intelligence of the fatally decisive battle of Austerlitz arrived. The rumours of a directly opposite purport, that prevailed while the last sheets were printing, had led me to conclude that the time was not yet arrived when the wilful tyrant should be identified with the Carlovingian bead of the beast; tor, though I certainly expected for the reasons assigned above that sooner or later that time would arrive, I had no warrant from prophecy to say when it would arrive. At length we received intelligence of the disastrous issue of a campaign, which has made the atrocious wretch, whom I doubt not to be an instrument of vengeance in the hand of a justly offended God, the undisputed representative of Charlemagne, the uncontrolled Emperor of the western Roman world. Till this period the chief of the bouse of Austria was the representative of Charlemagne ; but his influence is now annihilated in Germany, and he is totally driven out of every part of Italy. Dispossessed even of a considerable part of his hereditary dominions, he seems tacitly to have resigned his ancient title, now to him nothing but a title, and to have assumed instead of it that of Emperor (which in his case is virtually the same as only King of Austria. June 5, 1806.

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supported by the professors of evangelical Protestantism, the opinion, that the witnesses will not be subjected to the horrors of some future persecution, receives a most abundant confirmation*. The beast and the false prophet indeed shall surely gather their forces together, but not by the Lord for no weapon, hereafter formed against the Gospel, shall prosper; and whosoever shall gather together against it shall fall. The 1260 years of oppression will then have elapsed; and the great controversy of Jehovah with his enemies will then have commenced. Every project of the beast, the false prophet, and the congregated kings, will be baffled and sudden destruction will come upon them unawares as a thief in the night. Through the aid of the great captain of their salvation, those, who have come out of Babylon, shall be completely victorious; and the united tyranny of Popery and Atheism shall for ever be destroyed.

Having now briefly considered the three grand events comprehended under the last vial; namely the division of the great city into three parts, the full of the spiritual Babylon, and the battle of Armageddon: I shall bring together into one point of view the four prophecies of St. John, Daniel, Zechariah, and Joel, relative to the awful events with which the 1260 years will conclude; in order that, by comparing them with each other, a yet stronger light may be thrown upon this period, which is destined to witness not only the overthrow of the Antichristian faction but likewise the restoration of the Jews.

war.

I." And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he, that sat upon him, was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make And his eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies, which were in heaven, followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine

At least it receives confirmation, so far as protestant countries are confirmed; though the two witnesses, scattered through popish regions, will continue to prophesy in sackcloth to the time of the end. This distinction I have already stated very fully.

linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations : and he shall rule them with a rod of iron and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords. And I saw an angel standing in the sun and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth and all the fowls were filled with their flesh."*

2. "I beheld, till the thrones were set, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued, and came forth, from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened. I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the little horn spake : I beheld, even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame -The little horn shall wear out the saints of the Most High-and they shall be given into his hand until a time, and times, and the dividing of time. But the

judgment shall sit; and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom, and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him."

"And a king shall do according to his will :-And at the time of the end a king of the south shall butt at him; and a king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind with chariots, and with horsemen, and many ships. Yet he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow, and pass over, and shall enter into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown : but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and to devote many to utter destruction under the pretext of religion. And he shall plant the curtains of his pavilions between the seas in the glorious holy mountain: yet he shall come to his end and none shall help him. And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that same time and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book."*

3. "Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burthensome stone for all people all, that burthen themselves with it, shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gath

* Dan. vii. xi. xii.