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port, recommended moderation to both parties; requested the monks to do nothing without serious deliberation, and to wait till the people were better informed on the subject before they ventured to introduce changes, which interested the whole church, and which might go to subvert many ancient institutions, and to alter the whole system of ecclesiastical administration. The deputies, not being satisfied with this mode of procedure, sent a second remonstrance to Frederic, on the necessity of correcting the abuses of which they complained; and notwithstanding his repeated advice, not to make their proposed alterations, though he allowed them publicly to declare that some reformation was necessary, under the direction of Beyer, a member both of the senate and university, they regulated the worship of the sanctuary in a man

ner more consonant to the spirituality of its nature, put away images, abolished the elevation of the host, and made preparations for suppressing the order of mendicant friars. All the Augustines throughout Thuringia and Misnia soon after met in a chapter at Wittemberg, and gave their sanction to these important changes. Luther received these transactions with raptures of joy, and congratulated his fellow-citizens on their courage and zeal, in giving the first example of a public reformation. It was on this occasion that he composed his treatise On the Abolition of Private Masses, though it was suppressed by order of the court, and not printed till the beginning of 1523.*

Beausobre, tom ii. lib. 4. p. 185

198.
Seckend. Sec. 54. §§ 129, 130.
(To be continued.)

Religious Communications.

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miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come, as a thief. Blessed is he, that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place, called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon."

The moral and religious state of the Christian world makes it evident to every careful observer, that we are now under one or other of the latter vials.

Under

the preceding period of the the trumpets, the sensible effect of God's judgments was the increase of the various kinds of superstition and idolatry in the degenerate and apostate church; as appears from chap. ix. But under the latter vials, the effect of God's judgments is the increase of infidelity, and a consequent dissipation of morals. Men blaspheme the God of heaven, and repent not of their deeds." The rapid increase, extensive spread, and undisguised avowal of infidelity in all parts of the Christian world, not excepting our own favoured country, strongly mark the period, in which we live. At least, they show that one or other of the latter vials is now running. The circumstances and events of the times will most naturally point us to the sixth. This we will endeavour to explain, and will inquire, whether events do not correspond with it.

"The sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates, and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared."

We are to interpret this vial according to the analogy of the prophetic part of the book, which is wholly figurative, and borrows its language and allusions from the Old Testament.

As the Roman church is called Babylon, and as under the next vial, this "great Babylon comes into remembrance before God, that he may give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath;" so the judgments, coming upon her under this vial, are described by an allusion to the destruction of the

literal Babylon.
literal Babylon. We well know
how that was taken by the kings
of Media and Persia, whose
countries lay east of her, who
therefore, in relation to her,
were literally" the kings of the
east." The waters of the Eu-
phrates, which ran through that
city, and were the means of her
wealth and defence, were dried
up, or diverted from their old
channel, so that the besieging ar-
my entered and took it almost
without resistance. That Bab-
ylon should be taken in this
manner was expressly foretold
by Jeremiah. "A sword is up-
on the inhabitants of Babylon,
a drought is upon her waters,
and they shall be dried up. I
will dry up her sca, and make
her springs dry, and Babylon
shall become heaps."

By "the kings of the east"
we are to understand, not literal-
ly kings, whose territories lie
east of Rome, the mystical Baby-
Ion, but her enemies in general.
By "Euphrates," we are to un-
derstand, not the river so called,
nor any other remarkable water,
but any sources of riches and
strength, which have rendered
her formidable; and any imped-
iments, which, in time past, have
restrained her enemies from in-
vading her, or have prevented
their success. Who are the en-
emies, that shall finally destroy
her, John has told us in the 17th
chap. of this book: "Those
kings, who had once agreed to
give their kingdom to the beast,"
i. e. to the Roman power,
when God's word is fulfilled,
hate the whore, that sits on the
beast, make her desolate and
naked, and burn her with fire."

will,

The kings of the earth long felt the tyranny and oppression

of papal Rome. But the dread of her fulminations, while she was blindly adored by the ignorant and deluded multitude, restrained these kings from asserting their sovereignty and redressing their injuries. This Euphrates, for a considerable time, has been drying up. The abolition of convents and of the inquisition in many Roman Catholic countries, and the general suppression of the order of Jesuits, the extension of commerce, and the consequent diffusion of knowledge, have greatly diminished the wealth, and weakened the strength of this Babylon. But no event has been so fatal to the papal power, as the subversion of the French monarchy. The justice of this revolution in a moral view, or the wisdom of it in a political view, is not a subject of our present inquiry. Be this as it may, the consequence of it in relation to the papal power is obvious. It has almost dried up the river, which was the source of her wealth, and removed the barrier, which was the means of her defence. The French nation, which had long supported, has now annihilated the Pope's temporal dominion, and has left him but the shadow of a spiritual supremacy in the church. Thas St. John's prophecy is fulfilled; "The ten horns, or kings, which gave their power to the beast, these, or some of these, shall hate the whore, who sits on him, and make her desolate.

The present government of France, in a political view, is as absolute, as was her former government. But it is certainly much more favourable to the

freedom of religion; for it not only tolerates, but supports Protestantism, as well as Popery; so that means of reformation may now be applied with safety and without interruption. The way for the introduction of light and truth, which was shut under former monarchs, is now opened. Accordingly, in the short interval of peace between the last and the present war, Protestant missionaries visited France without danger, and preached there without molestation; and complete Bibles and many Protestant books were distributed among the people, and received with apparent gratitude and joy. The eruption of the war put a sudden stop to these pious measures; but, whenever peace shall return, it is hoped they will be renewed.

John goes on to say, "I saw three unclean spirits, like frogs, come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet." It will be necessary to ascertain the characters, intended by these names. And let us remember, they are three, and must not be confounded.

Our first inquiry will be concerning the dragon. He is described chap xii. "There appeared a sign in heaven," or in the sky, "a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven crowns.” This must intend the heathen Roman empire, as it existed in John's time. The place is designated by the seven heads, which the angel says, are seven mountains, on which the city, or seat of the dragon, was built. This circumstance points out Rome,

which, all know, was built on seven hills. The seven heads denote also seven kings, or seven successive forms of government; five of which, the angel says, were fallen, one then existed, and one was to come. The sixth, which existed in John's time, was the imperial, or the government by emperors.

divided by the incursions and conquests of the northern barbarians. This was after Christianity was established and greatly corrupted in the empire. This beast therefore can be no other than the papal Roman empire.

The dragon gives his power, throne, and authority, to the

The dragon and beast

are no longer distinct characters. They are become one. The power has passed from the former to the latter. "Men worship the dragon, which gave power to the beast, and they worship the beast, saying, Who is like to the beast?"

beast. The seventh, which was to come, was the ducal, or rather the papal government. The crowns, at the time of the vision, were on the heads of the dragon, and had not passed to the horns of the beast, mentioned afterward, i. e. the government was then seated at Rome, and was not divided among the kingdoms into which the empire was afterwards split. So that the dragon must signify the Heathen Roman government.

This dragon is indeed called the devil, verse 9th. But this must mean the pagan empire, as actuated by the devil. For, whenever the devil is introduced in this book, he appears as carrying on his designs by wicked agents. It is agreeable to the style of prophecy to call tyrants by the name of a dragon. The kings of Egypt and of Assyria are so called.

After the dragon John saw "a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns; and to him the dragon gave his power and throne, and great authority."

In the time, when this beast appears, the crowns, importing sovereign power, have passed from the heads of the dragon to the horns of the beast. The dominion, which was before confined to Rome, is now spread among the ten kingdoms, ato which the Roman empire was

By the dragon then, under the sixth vial, we cannot understand the dragon existing in his first form, or the Heathen Roman empire; for in this form he existed no longer after he had given his power to the beast. But by this name we must understand the dragon and beast united, or the papal empire, exercising the tyranny and corruption of the heathen empire.

Such a power certainly exists some where under this vial, And where shall we find it, but in the German empire? This is very extensive. In the time of Charles V. and his successor it comprehended the greater part of the western empire, and still comprises a considerable part of it. It is that empire continued. It is called the holy Roman empire. The person, crowned King of the Romans, succeeds on the demise of the emperor, to the imperial throne. Popery is the established religion of the empire. It has exercised great tyranny, and violent persecution. It has retained all the discriminating marks of the dragon, as a tyran

nical and persecuting power, until within a few years past, when it has grown more tolerant.

There can then be little doubt, but that Germany must undergo a great change in her government, before the general spread of pure Christianity. It is probable from many circumstances, that France will be an instrument of effecting this change. Perhaps a leading blow has been struck already.

(To be continued.)

SHORT REMARKS ON OUR SA

VIOUR'S MIRACLES.

THAT such events as are re corded in the gospel, as the res toration of sight to the blind, of speech to the dumb, of life to the dead, &c. are physically possible, we cannot deny, without setting bounds to the Omnipotence of God. That they are probable, we cannot, however, affirm, unless we consider the purposes which they are intended to serve. If it is possible for God to give a revelation of his will to men: if it is probable from their condition, that he will do so; and if we are informed that he has actually done so ; there is a considerable presumption that some marks of supernatural interposition will accompany the giving of this revelation.

That universal experience is contrary to the supposition of miraculous interference, is a gratuitous and unfounded assertion. The satisfactoriness of testimony does not depend on the nature of the facts attested, unless they are physically impossible; but on the credibility of the persons, who affirm that they have witnessed them.

Saviour are not physically impossible, the competency of the witnesses, their moral character, the object which they might have in view, and the circumstances in which they declared their conviction of the reality of what they saw, and the truth of what they heard, must be all taken into account, in judging of the credit to which they were entitled.

These witnesses were incapable perhaps of accurate logical discussion; but men of plain common sense, some of them undoubtedly shrewder than others, but all of them sufficiently qualified to judge of the reality of any fact, that came under their observation. They were not accused of deceit, and their moral character was never impeached by their most virulent enemies. They published their testimony to the miracles of Jesus, and invariably adhered to it, in the face of the most unexampled, cruel, and persevering opposition. They opposed all their own national and educational prejudices, by supporting a religion, which was to be established on the ruins of Judaism. Their testimony was never contradicted, even by their persecutors: thousands and tens of thousands, on its evidence, embraced the faith, which it confirmed: and multitudes sealed their adherence to it with their blood. Nor let it be forgotten, that the primitive Christians, and the apostles in particular, suffered martyrdom, not for matters of opinion, but for their attestation of facts: a circumstance unparalleled in the history of the world.

On these grounds we rest the credibility of the gospel his

If then the miracles of our tory; the certainty of our Sa

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