apparent connexion between the 1260, assigned as the period of the little horn of the fourth beast, referred to in the words of the oath; and concerning which Daniel had asked for some further explanation, and seemed satisfied with his answer. The supposition now entertained by almost all expositors is, that the "taking away of the daily offering, and placing the abomination of desolation," denotes in this passage the same thing as "giving the saints," or, "the times and laws, into the hand" of the little horn of the fourth beast; - that the interruption of the temple service, and desolation of the holy city, is to be considered as a type of the triumph of the papal idolatry over the institutions of primitive Christianity. If this be correct, as there is strong reason to assume it is, then we perceive immediately the connexion between the second answer to Daniel and the words of the oath, and the reason why the prophet appears satisfied with this further answer. The words of the oath had said there shall be this period of 1260 years, which was known to the prophet to be the period of the triumph of the little hornthere shall be this period-and all the wonders just revealed would be finished after that, with the finishing of Israel's dispersion. Now, in further explanation, the prophet is told there are two other periods which you are to date from the same time as the 1260 years; namely, 1290 years, and 1335 years: that is to say, thirty years after the close of the little horn's triumphant reign, the errors of the church of Rome, ruptions of Rome, at Prague, in Bohemia."-Events too unimportant, and the last more than the first. will be a remarkable era. What will happen, is not said. But, forty-five years after that, comes the happy era for which you long-the end of all these wonders, which thou, O Daniel, shall rise from the dead to see, and to enjoy, for you have an allotted portion here: and this, indeed, might well satisfy the prophet, and would stay all further inquiry; for he would know that the career of the power symbolized by the "little horn," was an event of years far remote in futurity; the prophecy then must of necessity be closed, and sealed for many years. But now, to us, who have fallen on times sufficiently late to see what was symbolized by this little horn of the fourth beast plainly developed; and to see him in the actual possession of his powers, as described in prophecy; -to us, who have, indeed, strong grounds to believe that we are somewhere about the termination of this period — are near approaching it, or have perhaps actually passed it, amid the important changes of the tumultuous age in which we have lived; - to us, thus circumstanced, these mysterious numbers must and ought to awaken every inquiry, if we belong to the waiting family of Christ; for the children of the light are not to be in darkness, that that day should overtake them as a thief in the night. Surely then in the vigils of the servants of Christ, which they are directed to observe in their watch, these numbers must often exercise their meditations; and will often employ their tongues, while they "talk one to another." The vital question is, as I have observed before, When, in the history of the corruptions of the church, and in the history of the rise of the papal power, did that event take place, which the Spirit has designated by the giving of the saints," or the giving of the times and laws," into the hand of this power? Could we fix with certainty on this, of all epochas most important, then could we say with confidence: date from that epocha 1260 years, and you will see the papacy cease to have "the saints," or, "the times and laws," in its hand or power; date 30 years from that era, and you will witness another remarkable occurrence and if you have but the happiness to reach, in your prolonged earthly pilgrimage, five-and-forty years beyond the expiration of that thirty, you will see the advent of Messiah's kingdom, and the end of all these wonders. The difficulty, of course, is to fix upon that event in history which marks this giving of "the saints," or of "the times and laws," into the hand of the papacy. Various dates have been assigned by different authors. Mr. Mede hesitates between A. D. 365, 410, and 455, or 456. Mr. Bicheno names 529; Mr. Cuninghame, and Mr. Frere, 533: Mr. Man, that or 534; Mr. Sharp, 540; Mr. Piere, and Mr. Faber, 606; Mr. Milner, 727; so Bishop Newton, who mentions beside 755, 774, and 787. All these epochas mark some memorable increase, or supposed increase, of power and authority in papacy. 1 1 Mr. Hallam thus marks the remarkable epochas of the advancing power of the papacy: "The foundations of the Roman primacy are indicated by Valentinian III. in a novel of the year 455. This prince, 'influenced by Leo the Great, one of the most ambitious of pontiffs, established almost an absolute judicial supremacy in the holy see' but, upon the whole, the papal authority had made no decisive progress in France; or, perhaps, any where beyond Italy, till the pontificate of Gregory I.' His pontificate, from 509 to 604, is accordingly marked as another era in the rise of the papacy. Mr. Hallam observes, "It cannot, I think, be said that any material acquisitions of ecclesiastical power were obtained by the successors of Gregory, for nearly one hundred and fifty years." This brings us in the history of the papacy to the pontificate of Zachary. Mr. Hal But what date, or event, it is that has been fixed upon by the Spirit of prophecy, to be the epocha of the eras in question, seems involved in the same obscurity, as from what command to build Jerusalem, the seventy weeks of a former prophecy were to be dated. The accomplishment of the period, as we have seen in the former case, only explained the mystery. So, probably, the expiration of this period of 1260 years will alone show when it began; or, perhaps, not that, but the expiration of the 1290 years and this seems to be now the impression upon the minds of most expositors. The dates suggested by Mr. Mede have already proved premature; we may say the same of Mr. Bicheno's. The next date, 533, which has some very probable circumstances about it, will almost immediately be put to the proof. This hypothesis supposes an edict of the emperor Justinian, publicly and legislatively acknowledging the pope as the head and judge of all priests and churches, to have been the epocha of giving the times and laws into the hand of the little horn. Mr. Cuninghame takes the ides of March 533, as the date of this decree; 1260 years dated from this, brings us to the spring of 1793; and before the expiration of the last of these years, (which is according to the usual mode of counting by current time,) viz. on the 10th of August, 1792, the French Revolution lam particularly points to a synod of the French and German bishops, held at Frankfort, in 742, by Boniface, his legate. "It was here enacted, that as a token of their willing subjection to the see of Rome, all metropolitans should request the pallium at the hands of the pope, and obey his lawful commands."- "The council of Frankfort claims a leading place, as an epoch in the history of the рарасу. Several events ensued, chiefly of a political nature, which rapidly elevated that usurpation almost to its greatest height." had taken place; an event, which, besides its immediate effects on the power of the papacy, may well be suspected to have marked that change in the sentiments and policy of the Roman Catholic nations, which will no more permit the bishop of Rome to be the arbiter of times and laws, or to employ the civil powers of their respective states, to wreck his vengeance on those that will not submit to his idolatrous superstition. Should this hypothesis be correct, we must date from the same ides of March, A. D. 533, 1290 years for the occurrence of some other remarkable event. This will bring us to the spring of 1823. This, then, will be the proof of this hypothesis. If within this period an event should take place of that character or importance, that we must suppose it to be that which the Spirit had in view, then we shall know the times of the last troubles are near at hand indeed; `and in forty-five years from that epocha, that is, in the year of our Lord 1868, the hope of Israel, and of all the ends of the earth, appears. But what remarkable event is it, which we are to expect at the end of the 1290 years? This, we should be careful to remember, we are no where expressly taught in prophecy. It has been supposed by some to be "the cleansing or vindicating of the sanctuary," foretold in a former prophecy, and dated 2300 years from an epocha, like that in the present prophecy, not clearly ascertained. We shall remember, however, that one hypothesis, for the adjustment of that era, gave for its close 1821, 1830, or 1836-dating the 2300 years from the failure of the expedition of Xerxes against Greece, from the end of the war, or from the death of that prince. Nor can we say that even the autumn of 1821-though it must have antedated the unknown epocha; and we ought, it is clear, to include |