The Even-Tide; or, Last Triumph of the Blessed and Only Potentate (1823)
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Scripture Lines of Time
REIGN OF THE MESSLIR.
FULL GLORY OF THE KINGDOM OF THE SINITIES OR OF ISRAEL.
1 Kiki Lunar of Mohammedan veins to branches end of Blossomess
KINGDOM OF ISRAEL. CONFLICT WITH GOG AND MAGOG.
1890 Lunar years to Estimation of Mohammadian Destination.
JRWISH KINGDOM.
BATTLE OF IRVINGDON.
London Limited series for the transactions of the Masters or consort of the Lighthouses in connection with the powers of the Holy People.
The dates of the beginning and end of the time period the commandment and formulation of the Christian legal periods.
The several particulars referred to are considered as dependent on the expiration of the various sums horizontal names.
The laws years distinguish the periods which particularly affect the Mohammedan liturgy years only being in use among the Nineteens processing that important liturgy verses declare the periods due to the Normans or Greek Empire in the Western or Middle Roman Empire during the centuries which preceded them which laws were calculated by divine will.
EVEN-TIDE; 8100.C584
Last Triumph
OF THE BLESSED AND ONLY POTENTATE. THE KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS;
MYSTERIES OF DANIEL AND ST. JOHN,
AND OF
THE PROPHECIES
RENOVATED KINGDOM OF ISRAEL;
In which the Scripture Lines of Time of the 210, 391, 1260, 1290, 1325, 2300, and 2380 Years are traced and found to terminate
A. D. 1844.—IN THE RISE OF THE JEWISH KINGDOM, AND THE DESTRUCTION OF THE PAPAL POWER.
A. D. 1873.—IN THE EMPIRE OF ISRAEL, AND THE EXTIRPATION OF MOHAMMEDIAM.
A. D. 1917.—IN THE TRANSCENDANT "GLORY OF ISRAEL," AND THE CLOSE OF THE LAST JUDGMENT.
By J. A. BROWN.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. I.
"AT EVENING TIME IT SHALL BE LIGHT."—ZECHARIAE.
LONDON:
PUBLISHED BY J OFFER, NEWGATE STREET, LONGMAN & CO., AND R. HAMILTON,
PATHERGROVE BOW, NATCHARD & BON, PICCADILLY; L. B. SHELBY, FLEET STREET,
AND MEGERTY, CASTLE STREET, ORFORD STREET.
1823.
DEDICATION.
TO THE JEWISH NATION.
Descendants of the Venerable Abruham,
The great Apostle of the Gentiles, who was a "Hebrew of the Hebrews," and whose best affections were ever exercised on the behalf of his own nation, always inculcated on the minds of the Gentile disciples, who had embraced the faith of Christ, a similar disposition towards the seed of Abraham, as an essential duty. For your sakes did he declare himself willing to relinquish any advantages which he either possessed or expected, if such sacrifices could have been the means of saving "his brethren, his kinamen according to the flesh:" and to those who "were Israelites" did he assert, when he addressed the Romans, that "pertained the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom, as concerning the flesh (is) Christ, (or the Anointed One,) who is over all, God blessed for ever." Animated by a similar regard to your nation, as was possessed by this holy Apostle, I submit to your attention many circumstances which concern your future welfare.
In enumerating these great and exalted privileges of your Nation, which will very soon be proved to appertain to you, as your real and substantial inheritance; your distinguished Countryman, who was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, one of your most celebrated Rabbies, and who was well instructed in your law, and in all the promises of Almighty God made to you as a people, and who plainly foretaw the desolations, which, according to the wise, though mysterious, dispensations of Providence, were at that time about to come upon you; that intelligent man instructed those to whom he was then writing, that the promises before mentioned did not belong to the generation of his own day, but to that of a distant age.
To those then existing was it to be said, "Ye are not my people," and they were to be cut off from their own country; but, at a future time, the voice of Mercy should be heard distinctly proclaiming to the scattered people of Israel, "I will call them my people which were not my people, and her beloved which was not beloved;" and that "it should come to pass, that IN THE PLACE where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there shall they be called the CHILDREN OF THE LIVING GOD." A more positive declaration of your ultimate recovery from your present dispersion, and of your restoration to the land of your fathers, and the favour of the Lord your God, cannot be imagined.
So anxious was this great and good Apostle, least those who had embraced the faith of the Messiah, which he preached, should consider themselves as exclusively the favoured people of God, and that the Jewish nation were wholly cast off from being a people, that he again impresses upon the minds of the believing Romans, that " blindness in part (only) is happened unto Israel," until the times of the Gentiles, or tyranny of the Romans and of the Mohammedans, as predicted by the same Messiah, should be fulfilled. In that prediction did Christ himself refer to your Prophet Daniel, declaring that all the events which he prophesied concerning the desolation of Jerusalem, and the captivity of the Jewish Nation, must come to pass, agreeably to what was recorded in your Scriptures. Then only, when " the fulness of the Gentiles is come in," or " the tyranny be overpast," does Paul state, that the " Deliverer shall come out of Zion, who shall turn away ungod- lines from Jacob; and so all Israel shall be saved."
In unison with this statement, that to your Nation belong "the promises, and the covenants, and the future glory," does the same Apostle forbid to the Gentiles to think more highly of themselves than they ought to think; and enjoins upon them to remember, that "if they boast, they bear not the root, but the root them;" reminding the Romans that they were only engrafted into the good Olive-Tree of Israel; and that though God had turned away his face from his people for a season, yet "He was able to graft them who were the natural branches in again." He is still more explicit in the declaration of his hope, and in the expression of his confidence, that, as "your fall" and your "diminishing" were made "the riches of the Gentiles," and your "casting away" the "recoquelling of the world," because the blessings of the Kingdom and the knowledge of the tree and eternal God were then made known to the Gentiles by holy man of your nation; so, in a distant age, would your future recovery and restoration to favour be to you and to a sinful world as a resurrection from a state of death; for then will your dominion be established, and the glory of the Lord of hosts be your great concern.
"Children of the stock of Abraham," When the great Messiah of the Gentiles predicted the desolation of your country, declaring that the Jewish Nation should be led captive into all nations, and that "Jerusalem should be trodden down of the Gentiles till the times of the Gentiles were fulfilled," he prophesied of no new event, but spoke only of those mysterious times, in which Daniel had before predicted that your nation should be involved. The precise period or duration of these mysterious times, that divinely inspired prophet has defined as being twelve hundred and sixty days, or a prophetical period of "time, time, and a half," or three years and a half of prophetic days, viz. twelve hundred and sixty years. Then he declares, when "God shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people," all the things written concerning you shall be finished.
That Gracious Existence, whom we claim as the Saviour of mankind, but who was rejected by the then rulers of Israel, as not being the Messiah predicted by the Prophets, did, on his first appearance, speak also of his second coming; and, as a sign of the times when he was again to appear in "the clouds of heaven," or amidst the assembled multitude of the Jewish Nation, "with power and great glory!" referred to the well-chosen type of your nation, the "FIG-TREE." When the prophet Joel predicted the desolation of Israel and of Judah, he prophesied, in the name of the Holy One of Israel, that the enemy "hath barked my vine, and laid bare my FIG-TREE; he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white," i. 7. A more perfect picture of the afflictions which have attended your Nation since the first desolation of Jerusalem, when its branches, or the provinces of the kingdom, may be said to be cast away, could not have been drawn by any more masterly hand. The same prophet represents your future prosperity by a like figure, "the tree beareth her fruit; the FIG-TREE and the vine do yield their strength." ii. 22. Then is it that all the promises of God concerning your Nation are to be verified in your experience.
To this same symbol of the Jewish kingdom did Jesus Christ refer, when he predicted his own second coming to the salvation of your Nation; and, as a sign of it, "Behold the vio-raze, and all the trees, when they now shoot forth, know ye, that the Kingdom of God is nigh at hand:" "that it is near, even at the doors." "This generation," or the Jewish Nation, "shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled."—"Heaven and earth," or the political and ecclesiastical powers of the then dispensation, "shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away."
True it is that the vio-rate of Judah, as well as the nine of Israel, has been desolated, and its branches scattered and pooled, and your Nation consequently driven by your oppressors, in verification of the prophecy, to the very ends of the earth. The time, however, of your deliverance, and of your future honour and glory amongst the nations, is now rapidly approaching. To you, is Psalid, "Behold the FIG-TREE! when it now shoots forth, then know ye that the Kingdom of Heaven," or the Jewish Kingdom, "is nigh at hand," and that your "Deliverer, who is to come out of Zion," rapidly approaches.
You are sensible, I am persuaded, that the impulse now given to the nations is favourable to you as a people, and that the prophecy of your Royal Psalmist, when God is called upon to interpose in your behalf, is now fulfilling, because "the set time is fully come." Thousands of petitions are daily presented by your Christian brethren to the throne of the Lord God of your fathers, that the Lord would shower down his blessing upon you, "like rain upon the mown grass;" for "they take pleasure in the stones of Zion, and it pitieth them to see the daughter of Jerusalem in the dust;" yet were the forefathers of those who now advocate your cause among the foremost to pull down the stones of Zion, and lay waste her dwelling-place. Can such a change have been effected in the minds of the nations without the influence of the over-ruling providence of God? It becomes you, at all events, to observe and understand the signs of the times. Many of your own people, especially in foreign parts, are now also lifting up their hearts in prayer, and presenting the language of supplication, and are inquiring of the Lord God of Israel, why he hath brought so much evil upon the nation? Such a circumstance clearly marks the epoch of your deliverance; because your ancient legislator Moses, and your glorious king Solomon, whose prophetic prayer, which be offered at the dedication of your beautiful temple, was accepted of God, have each of them declared, that, when you repent and confess your sins, even though you were cast out to the most distant parts of the earth, even in the land of your enemies, amongst those by whom you may be held captive, you shall obtain favour, and be again gathered from amongst them.
The "VIO-TREE" of Judah is then now shooting forth, and it is a positive token, that your Deliverer will speedily appear.
You are not insensible that there have arisen, in these latter days, many societies, who devote themselves to circulate through all nations the sacred records once deposited in your trust; and that they have sent forth men in every direction to rouse the attention of the world to that Holy Volume, and propagate the truths which it contains. If the "FIG-TREE" represent your Nation, then do the "other trees" spoken of by Christ equally symbolise other nations. For a proof of this, I would refer you to your own Prophet, Ezekiel, who predicts that, when the small shoot of the highest branch of the cedar of Lebanon shall be planted upon the "high mountain and eminent," even "upon the mountain of the height of Israel," and become a lofty and over-spreading tree, then "shall all the trees of the field know that the Lord has made the dry tree (of Israel) to flourish." Ezek. xvii.
23—24. Hopeful symptoms have arisen, that the nations of the earth will arise from their sinful lethargy, and no longer continue insensible to the great truths recorded in your sacred volume; and in that book, also, which holy men of your nation have written for our instruction, as to the events attending your dispersion, and as to the certainty of your restoration. The "other trees," therefore, are now shooting forth their branches; and the two signs of the "FIG-TREE," and of "all the trees," putting forth their leaves at one and the same time; manifestly prove that the "second coming" of the Messiah is drawing near.
The "times of the Gentiles," during which Jerusalem is to be trodden down of the Gentiles, as declared by Christ, and by the Apostle Paul, as well as by the Prophet John, in his vision of the two witnesses, are therefore unquestionably the "time, times, and a half," predicted by the Prophet Daniel, when your desolation is to cease; and he defines these times to be twelve hundred and sixty days or years. The kingdom of the Romans, which was the fourth kingdom predicted by Daniel, as "the feet and toes of iron and of clay" of the tyrannical image, and as the fourth beast, "dreadful and terrible and strong exceedingly," is certainly still in existence. About eighteen hundred years since, it proved itself a dreadful enemy of your Nation, and trampled your Kingdom under foot; but, had the twelve hundred and sixty or twelve hundred and ninety years of Daniel referred to that kingdpm in particular, as "the abomination which maketh desolate," then would these times have long since expired,—your dispersion would have ceased,—you would now be restored and planted again in your own land,—and the rich and abundant promises of God would have been made good to you. But you are still dispersed, still deprived of the possession of your Holy City; and, as we cannot doubt that the promises of God will be fulfilled, the Romans cannot be those enemies predicted of, "as the abomination which maketh desolate;" nor can the period of twelve hundred and sixty, or of twelve hundred and ninety, years have been fulfilled.
JERUSALEM, the great and holy city of your sacred territory, and your nation, as Jews, I believe to be the grand objects of all the prophecies, and that the continuance of the mysterious times of the Gentiles is only referable to the duration of the last period of your afflictions, or "end of the indignation:" but Jerusalem, and the Holy Land of Judea, are now in the hands of the Turks, and they are Mohammedans. The usurpation of your country has been maintained by them and by their predecessors, who were adherents of the same impostor, upwards of twelos hundred years; and, if the "HEGIRA," by which they compute their annals, is to decide the character of the prophetic years of Daniel, they are now in the twelve hundred and thirty-eighth year of their tyranny.
Such a remarkable circumstance, when we are called upon reasonably to expect the deliverance of your Nation from their present thraldom and bondage, and the restoration of your People to their ancient inheritance, is well calculated to awaken attention, and to excite, in every bosom, anxious inquiries concerning the revealed will of God.
When Mohammed arose as a Prophet, and enforced his lying imposture, imposing it as a yoke upon the necks of the nations, he commenced his desolations by the slaughter of your People, and exterminated all within his power as the "People of the Book;" because they refused to abandon their principles, and continued firm in their attachment to the sacred volume. Wherever the principles of Mohammedism prevail, there also the Jewish Nation continues to be enslaved and depressed.
It is to this enemy, therefore, that the prophetic "time, times, and a half," of desolation predicted by Daniel, and "the times of the Gentiles," as repeated by Christ, are to be referred, as "the abomination which maketh desolate." The twelve hundred and sixty years so predicted have now nearly attained their close. The voice of prophecy, therefore, as well as the signs of the times, call upon the Jewish Nation to pause, and "consider their ways," and diligently to examine their sacred records.
It is not improbable that many of the Jewish Nation may be inclined to doubt whether any connexion subsists between the prophecies which concern their future kingdoms, and those which affect the Papal apostasy, and the Mohammedan imposture of "the last days," which tyrannies have now long continued to prevail in the world.
This subject is important, and particularly deserves your attention. It is by your law, and by your testimony, as well as by the writings of those who embraced and propagated the Christian religion, that its verity must be ascertained.
If the Prophecy of Daniel, concerning the four tyrannical monarchies which were to arise and desolate the kingdom of Israel, be well considered, no Jew can disbelieve that the very same calamities were predicted by Hosea, when he threatened their nation with the ravages of "the lion, and of the bear, and of the leopard, and of the wild boar;" yet it is at the close of these afflictions that the Lord addresses them, "O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thy help. I will be thy King." xiii. 7—10. Then also, when Almighty God interposes on their behalf, does he declare—"I will ransom them from the power of Hell; I will redeem them from Death. O Death, I will be thy plagues; O Hell, I will be thy destruction;" v. 14: but affirms, "I will be as the dwent unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon." xix. 5, 6. Such are the blessings which abound to Israel upon the destruction of their symbolical enemies, Death and Hell; for then will the Lord himself be "King in Israel;" a declaration which contains the subversion of every enemy, and the fulfillment of every promise: and it is manifest that these enemies are to be destroyed at the very time when the Kingdom of Israel is to be established, and is to prosper.
The germ of the history of these destructive foes, indeed, recorded by Hosea; but the prophetic detail of their devastating career, and of their final punishment, is asserted in the writings of the New Testament. The creation of the "new heaven and the new earth" of the Kingdom of Israel, the sun of which is no more to go down, nor their moon withdraw itself, is predicted in that volume to take place when the old heaven and the old earth, usurped by the tyrannical monarchies, pass away; and when the last enemies, "Death and Hell, are cast into the lake of fire."
These memorable events are revealed by St. John, who equally describes these desolators, on their first going forth upon the fourth Roman horse, or during the times of the fourth kingdom, to commit their depredations. In a work embracing those prophecies, which affect the future welfare of the Jewish Nation, it is therefore necessary that their Papal and Mohammedan enemies, characterised by St. John, in the very same symbolical terms as by the Prophet Hosea, vis. by "Death and Hell," and whose final judgment corresponds with the times of Daniel, vis. the twelve hundred and sixty, or twelve hundred and ninety, years, should be brought under review. If the children of Israel are also desirous of the best information on this subject, and will examine for themselves, they must read the writings of St. John, and other parts of the New Testament, as well as the records of their own prophets. Without requiring them to study the Christian Scriptures in a religious point of view, it is essential to the attainment of a right understanding of their own prophecies, that they meditate on those ample and lucid revelations which have been given to the world by holy men of their own nation, although they may not be acknowledged by them as Prophets; but whom we Christians verily believe to have been divinely inspired for sacred purposes by the God of Israel; and to the accuracy of whose evidence the events of every day bear the most decided testimony.
True it is, that, as Christians, we have hitherto afforded you little occasion to think well of the principles which we profess. If past ages be referred to, the evils which unprincipled men amongst us have caused you to suffer, and the rapine and murder inflicted upon your nation, testify against us. Whilst, also, we have professed to
be guided by the dictates of your sacred volume, it has been too long the practice to interpret, as exclusively our own, the blessings which were promised to you, as your birth-right, and left you in possession only of the denunciations of wrath, and the accumulated plagues of eternity.
Better principles, however, now begin to prevail; nor is it to be doubted that you are fully entitled to the amplest fulfilment of all the promises made to you as a nation; and that, in a future day, at the second coming of the Messiah, your kingdom will be exalted above all the kingdoms of the world, like the goodly cedar of Lebanon, planted upon the "high mountain and eminent," amongst the humble trees of the field. Then will those who served themselves of you, come bowing down before you at the very soles of your feet, and acknowledge you as a people whom the Lord hath blessed. Yea, "that kingdom and that nation," as your admirable prophet Isaiah declares, "that will not serve you, shall perish." To the very same effect does our own inspired volume testify, under the figure of the "great and holy city, the NEW JERUSALEM;" into which, it is declared, "all the nations of the earth shall bring their honour and their glory."
This kingdom, which is still to be set up, and by the establishment of which "all the nations of the earth are to be blessed," is to be guided and directed by the "Son of man," "the Father of the everlasting age," "of the increase of whose government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom, to order and to establish it with judgment and with justice from thenceforth and for ever." The seal of the Lord of hosts will, doubtless, in due time, perform these glorious promises in behalf of his ancient people, and for the benefit of a ruined world. This kingdom is the subject of my present volume, and to the People of Israel I dedicate the result of my present inquiries.
To the Jewish Nation, from whose forefathers the Christian world have already received the highest blessings, I feel indissolubly bound by sentiments of the deepest gratitude. I am equally convinced that the events of the present mysterious times are rapidly hasting to a conclusion; and that, by the Jewish administration of the kingdoms of the earth, in the fullest extent of all the four tyrannical empires, from the time of Nebochadnezzar to the present day, which government is predicted by Daniel as "the Kingdom of the Saints," or "People of the Holy Onea," infinitely greater blessings will be poured out in everlasting succession on the nations. I cannot, therefore, but look forward with rapture and exultation to the day when the Lord God of Israel will remember his covenant, and again constitute you a nation; and when, as a token of returning favour, you will be again gathered by Almighty God, and planted in your own land. Such an event will be the prelude of that day of which the Prophet Isaiah has spoken, when "the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God, your glory."
That the God of Israel will shortly manifest his favour,—that, before a very few years are passed away, some decisive tokens of regard will be discovered towards you,—and that, by some mighty convulsion and revolution of states, especially in the Turkish Empire, the path will be made plain before you, in which you are to move, the insight obtained into the nature of the sacred prophecies will not permit me to doubt. That Jehovah, your all-sufficient and ever-living God, may pour out a blessing on the Jewish Nation, and speedily make you a blessing in the midst of the earth, will ever be the ardent object of my daily prayers, believing such a result to be agreeable to the Divine will.
J. A. B.
PREFACE.
TO THE CHRISTIAN READER.
The investigation of scriptural subjects is at all times seasonable; but, in a day like the present, when, to use the language of an ingenious and temperate interpreter of prophecy, "the firmament of the Roman world has been shaken, the luminaries of its ancient sovereignties obscured, the sea of nations thrown into universal tumult, and the hearts of men are moved by a general anxiety and dread of the things which are next to come upon the earth," an inquiry into matters of such infinite moment presses with increased force upon the intelligent mind. Nor can those points, which concern the future welfare of the human race, and lead to an anticipation of the early fulfilment of those great events which are spoken of in the Scriptures of Truth, by the "Wonderful Numberer," when "the sanctuary shall be cleansed," be ever deemed intrusive.
Where, however, are the men who sigh and cry for the abominations of the earth, or who joyfully hail the promised signs of the predicted second advent of the Messiah, or the establishment of his kingdom above the kingdoms of the world? The nations of the earth, and almost every individual of the human race, are acting as if they had no account to give of such matters.
It is too true, that, whilst men are crying, "Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them;" and, as in the days of Noah, whilst the multitude are eagerly pursuing the things of this life, and grasping after its varities; in the very midst of their gaiety and dissipation, "the day of the Lord will come" unexpectedly upon them, "as a thief in the night."
To thinking minds, present appearances are defusive; and though apparently calm, yet are they convinced that they portend a day which shall overtake the world "as a tempest of hail, and as a destroying storm." They look forward with impressive anxiety and awful forebodings, to that "time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation upon earth." To them, it may well be a subject of surprise, that so few persons who profess the name of Christ "think on these things." The professors of Christianity, with few exceptions, are chargeable with guilt, like that intidel tribe stigmatized by Peter, who, as if it were a matter of no concern to them, exclaims in the same impugns language, "Where is the promise of his coming? for, since the fathers fell astray, all things continue as they were from the creation of the world;" and in effect say, "List him make speed and hasten his work, that we may
see it; and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, that we may know it." They will attend to messages of lies; to men " who prophecy deceit, and sew pillows under all armholes;" and yet if they speak not according to the Scripture rule, it is because there is no light in them; but from any sober attempt to investigate truth, or the predictions of the prophets, they turn away, and in reality exclaim, " We will not have this man to reign over us."
If the subjects were not matters of revelation, upon which learned men (and particularly of late years) have presented to public attention the result of their laborious researches, indifference would admit of some apology. But if "the day of the Lord" be rapidly approaching,—if the "old heaven and old earth" are passing away,—and if we are bound to "look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness," then is it a point of wisdom, as well as of duty, to be diligent, "that we may be found of Him in peace."
In submitting any remarks on this subject, they arise from a decided conviction that "the day of the Lord draweth nigh,"—"that it is near, even at the door,"—that "as a snare it shall come on all them that dwell on the face of the earth;" but it is not has enjoined upon us to "watch and pray, that it come not upon us unawares;" and so to walk, that "we may be accounted worthy to escape all those things which shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man."
He himself has declared the signs which shall precede his coming: and "shall we," as an admired writer very justly observes, "while the world is crumbling away around us, be satisfied with drawing in our thoughts within the circuit of our own shores, and, like the blind islanders of the Pacific Ocean, contract our view, till our island becomes our world? It is not by contraction, but by expansion of thought, that we can escape the general doom which overhangs the world."
A solemn impression of the truth of prophecy, and its susceptibility of satisfactory explanation, has, during my whole life, led me to pay attention to the Sacred Records. My own mind is perfectly satisfied on the leading points; and being convinced that it is equally the duty of every Christian to examine whether these things are so, has induced me to submit to their attention some things which are important, and to leave the event of their profit and of their conviction to God.
In the subsequent pages, a more particular effort has been made to bring into view the prophetical periods, because on them depends a right estimate of many important portions of prophecy. Much attention has been likewise given to collateral prophecies; since, in ascertaining one point, the whole bearing of an important passage, otherwise obscure, may be distinctly understood. Whether in this, or
in any other respect, the object has been attained, is left to the judgment of the candid reader.
It has been considered of infinite moment, by modern commentators, to adduce proof that three of the prophetical periods terminate at one and the same point of time; but to bring strong confirmation from the other prophetic periods, in corroboration of their positions, has never been attempted. To me it appears that the grounds upon which they have endeavoured to establish their premises may be shown to be erroneous. Nor is this an opinion hastily formed, but expressed on repeated occasions, many years since. If, however, it be a confirmation of the truth of any exposition, there will be submitted to the attention of the reader four chronological periods, founded on perfectly independent data, and, by what is conceived to be an absolutely necessary combination of evidence, all terminating in the same year; as well as five other periods, all bearing on given points of time, and severally illustrating the correctness of the argument, and which are also equally essential to be considered in an enlarged view of prophetical subjects.
Many persons have objected to a definite interpretation of the terms of prophecy, and to a precise application of the prophetical periods, as tokens of presumption; vehemently maintaining the absurd proposition, that the Holy Spirit intended that nothing should be understood, till the prophecies were accomplished ; or, that it is utterly impossible to arrive at any certain conclusion respecting their eventful terminations.
Had such objectors lived in the time of Moses, they would have equally doubted whether the period of the Egyptian bondage had any positive
peopulation was founded on the prophecies gone before . Unquestionably , their anxious desire to see the Lord's Christ was excited from a consideration in chief of the prophecy of Daniel ; although they might have been uncurtain from which epoch
and determinate exit, and would probably have required, like their ancient predecessor in the school of infidelity, a miracle to convince them that the epoch of deliverance was at hand; yet " on the self-samed ay." in which the 430 years expired, " the host of Israel went up harnessed out of Egypt, and left not a hoof behind."
If the Israelites seemed on that occasion to be
commission of Nehemiah but their wards were mirred up to attend daily in the temple, in order to witness, in his own house, the presentation of him who was to be raised upon us an "horn of salvation in the house of his servant Jacob;" "A right to lighten the Gentiles, and the Glory of His People Israel."
Such instances may well encourage a diligent
insensible of their approaching deliverance, was it not to be attributed to their neglect of the traditions of their fathers,—of Joseph, for instance, than to any real uncertainty as to the perfect accomplishment of the promise? May it not also be deemed as certain, that Daniel, who lived at the close of the Babylonic captivity, derived his knowledge of the expiration of the seventy years from his attention to the prophecies before deattention to the prophetical periods remaining yet to be fulfilled; which will doubtless be accomplished with equal exactness and certainty, and do not admit of those careless, not to any infidel objections, which are constantly reported against such investigations, as if nothing could be known concerning them. If it be possible, as in former cases, to establish on probable grounds the germs of these prophetical periods, their exact and perfect
livered, rather than from any immediate inspiration, with which he was then audowed? Similar conclusions will be derived from the prophecy of the seventy weeks. The ancient Jews, who possessed the faith of their father Abraham, waited, in the days preceding the coming of Christ, for "the consolation of Israel;" but their ardent excompletion may with equal reason be expected. A recent exposition of prophecy has declared that nothing new can be advanced on the subject. To expose the futility of this assertion, it need only be said, that had the principle been acted upon some years since the world would never have been surrounded with the dissertations of the learned Faber, who has conferred an infinitely important benefit on all those who value the subject of prophecy, by the distinction he has taken between Mohammedism and Popery.
To adopt such an expression, proves, at least, clearly that the volume then submitted was not required, and might indeed have been spared, leaving to the respectable writers from whose works it has been chiefly compiled to speak for themselves; for, in fact, "nothing new" has been offered by that expositor, on the subject; and most of his deductions are erroneous, as must necessarily be the case when the premises are not well founded.
A very different estimate of the present state of prophetical exposition has been formed, by perhaps one of the most cautious and sober-minded writers that has ever appeared; and I perfectly join in the sentiment maintained by Arohdraoon Woodhouse, that we are as yet on the very threshold of sound interpretation. "From the interpretations most commonly received," he observes, "many of the learned have withholden their assent; and doubts have been expressed whether we are yet in possession of the fortunate class to be derived from human sagacity, or Divine inspiration, or of the necessary aids of learning, or of the events in history, which, at some future period, may be destined to ascertain the completion of these prophecies."
Reasons might be advanced, why success has not been attained in this department of Divine
knowledge; because the great body of commentators have, I think, made the exposition of the errors of popery, the "ne plus ultra" of sound investigation; because they have applied the prophecies of Scripture, indicative of better times, as chiefly affecting Protestant communition; and because they have disregarded the more horrible abominations of Mohammedian, and lost the Key of prophecy, which would have gone far to develop the Mysteries of Daniel and of St. John, by contemptuously despising the people of Israel, undoubtedly revealed as the grand and sublime object of the pen of inspiration.
The simple elements of the prophetic records, both of the Old and of the New Testament, may be resolved into the prophetical history of the Jewish nation. That people was originally constituted the ark of the world, and aocracy was established amongst them. They rejected the Holy One of Israel, and the predicted tyrannies were raised up to avenge his cause. In the latter day they are to confess their iniquities, and are again to be received into favour: then will the Divine presence be in the midst of them in infinite effulgence, probably more glorious than in the days of Adam before his fall, and they shall be acknowledged by the nations of the earth "as a people whom the Lord hath blessed." This seems to be the mysterious subject of all the prophecies; and the result will be, that, when the Lord is "King in Zion," and when the promise is fulfilled that He will be the "Glowy or mira People Israel," all the nations of the earth shall bring their glory and their honour into the New Jerusalem," and "come and worship the Lord of hosts" in his newly created "Glorious Holy Mountain" of Israel.
In instituting a further inquiry as to the defect of success in prophetic libre, it may be observed, that too much deference has been paid to great names; and human science and learning have been preferred to a diligent comparison of the scripture symbols. Instead of taking things for granted, because advanced by writers in other respects powerful, a simple tracing of the language of prophecy when difficulties have occurred, would, in many cases, have solved the apparent mystery.
In statements like these, I may be considered as falling under the consortial lash, which the learned Archdeacon has adjudged as their portion, who, with rich precipitancy and with enthusiastic views, enter upon a subject of such deep research. I will, however, shelter myself under that shield which he has extended to others, who with some degree of pious caution, and laborious investigation, though certainly not coming up to his standard of literary excellence, are to be encouraged in exploring the sacred recesses of revelation.
In fact, I conceive the Sacred Volume to have been given to all for instruction, without distinction of persons; nor is there any past or it excluded from the diligent student. That the apocalypses of St. John, as well as the prophecy of Daniel, have been "sealed books," it must be allowed; and that few in any measure understand them, is a fact too notorious to be denied: but this has arisen, not so much from the nature of their contents, as from a want of attention, and a deficiency of the labour requisite to acquire a knowledge of the sacred symbols. The most terrifying and alarmed publications of the day have occupied the leisure hour, and the mind, thus vitiated, has been rendered incapable of pursuing those objects essentially necessary to be attained. The world also has secured too great a share of the affections; whilst the eternal home of the Christian should have been the supreme subject of consideration. Had the minutes and hours wasted, been employed as they ought to have been, by those pretending to an immortal destiny and a blissful abode, such general ignorance on the most important points could not have existed.
Although for many years I have been delighted in anticipating a brighter and a better era than has yet visited the world, and availed myself of means and opportunities to acquire some knowledge on the subject, it may be deemed presumptuous to enter the lists in a context in which so many celebrated disputants have been foiled. My news, however, on this great subject have remained many years unaltered; and, had I followed the counsels of sensible and respected friends, should have more fully disclosed them at an earlier period.
The whole tendency of the exposition now submitted, is, in its essential parts, perfectly different from that of any former commentator; and without pretending to any other skill than what has been acquired from a careful perusal of the best works on the subject, and forming my own theses upon a diligent comparison with Scripture; yet established, as I conceive it to be, on the sacred canon, I feel confident that the interpretation is as true as the opinions expressed are different from those generally received. In penning my observations, I have laid aside almost every work in which I formerly delighted, excepting a reference to them as occasion required. Had it been desirable to have exposed what I conceive to be erroneous, or to have made extracts from them, to show their several disagreements, this work might have been greatly enlarged; but the reader would not have been profited. If I have failed in presenting any thing on this great and interesting subject worthy of attention, I shall die content to bear the loss; the sacred pleasure received in this pursuit being an ample compensation for any labour bestowed: on the other hand, my conviction is strong, that there is much to encourage the Christian mind, and, above all, the heart of the afflicted Jew; and if these obtain consolation, to God be all the glory.
It may be further observed, that although most of the expositions are "new," and the whole matter original, except in some quotations from Eton, to impress on the mind of the reader the dreadful devastations committed by that last tyrannical power, the Turkish, which is to be destroyed, and which is destined ere long to drink to the very dregs the cup of wrath; yet it is by no means desired that such circumstances should have the slightest influence on the mind of the reader. Let the hypotheses presented to his attention be sifted by the most critical acumen, and decided by Scripture testimony, and, if found to be wanting, let them be rejected.
In so much discussion, it is not improbable that there may be some cause for censure; and apology may be due to the public in this age of intelligence, for possibly a deficiency in style, as it respects the phraseology of many of its parts: I would, however, deprecate the wrath of the reader and of the critic, and excite their attention to the maxim, " Aquila non capit muscas."
Of the correctness of the general principles of interpretation, supported as they are, or at least as they appear to me to be, by numerous chronological periods, all bearing to their respective points, and mutually confirming and illustrating each other, I cannot permit myself to doubt. If "nothing new" could be advanced on this grand and interesting subject, capable indeed as it is of exhausting the intellectual powers of the highest archaely these volumes should not have been presented to the public but convinced that almost every thing remains to be said in vindication of the spirit of prophecy, I submit them respectfully; but with perfect confidence, to the candid and the wise.
The reader would probably have deemed it more convenient, bad the arrangement usually adopted by other authors been followed in the development of the mysteries of Daniel and of St. John, which is now presented to his attention. It has, however, been considered more expedient to fix the prophetical periods as the bases of the work; and, when occasion required, to enter upon the consideration of the other parts of prophecy which affect the subject, as the mysterious times come under discussion.
In pursuing a more systematic plan, disputed points might have been rendered more intelligible; but the chronological periods, which are the objects of inquiry, would not have obtained a form so tangible. In its present state, the operations of the writer's mind may be traced; and, in this mode of pursuit, he thinks that a better knowledge of the mysteries has been attained, than would otherwise have been acquired. To those desirous of information, the author recommends patiently to investigate the interesting points in the same order.
To supply, however, a more methodical arrangement, and facilitate the inquirer in the pursuit of truth, as well as to put him in possession of the leading facts embraced in the discussion, it may be useful to state, in a succinct form, what may be deemed to be the outline of the Apocalypse; from the consideration of which the author has arisen with tenfold conviction, that the propositions which he has endeavoured to elucidate are essentially true.
SEVEN GOLDEN CANDLESTICKS.
In the tripartite division of the great city, which takes place at the battle of Armaggedon, when compared with the prophecy of Rudolf xl. 6-9, it would appear that the whole symbolical earth, occupied as it has been by the four tyrannical monarchies, will be again subdivided into seven parts, or provinces, under three distinct and separate governments. The seven candlesticks referring, in the first instance, to the seven proconsular cities of Asia, are avowedly "a mystery;" are declared to relate to "the things which shall be hereafter;" and are deemed to be symbolical of these seven divisions of the universal empire. They exhibit the spiritual condition of the kingdoms during the reign of the tyrannical sovereignties; but which are, in the last days, to compose the fifth monarchy, or kingdom of the saints, under the government of the "Child born and the Son given."
The promises made to these kingdoms refer to their future state of blessingness, under the triumphant reign of the Redeemer, by the agency of his ancient people; and are,
Ephesus ----- Bubylon.
Smyrna Medo-Persla.
Sardis ---- Aeasyria.
Pergamos Macedonia.
Thyatira Rome.
Philadelphia Israel.
Laodicea Egypt.
These states, therefore, are considered as developing the state of the church in the past, and as they are to exist in future ages; each one representing that part of the earth which its territorial surface occupies.
The first opening of the heavens to St. John, which I deem to be the Jewish heaven, the object of all prophecy, introduces him to a scene in which he finds the Lord of the whole earth arrayed in symbols of judgment; and, in the latter part of the same vision, he observes the Lamb standing in the midst of the throne of triumph, the whole host of heaven, and those redeemed by his blood, bowing before him, and praising his name. Thunders, lightnings, and voices, the signs of the last judgment, proceed from the first throne, and, with other symbols, distinguish the epoch of the
vision to be the season of the "things which shall be hereafter," or "among these" churches. This scene corresponds with the judgment of Daniel's prophecy on the Roman beast.
NEVEN SEALS.
St. John then observes a sealed book, containing, as it will appear, the history of the church on earth during the reign of the tyrannical monarchies; comprehending the whole of the mysterious dispensation, from the first abandonment by God of his ancient people, to the moment of their final and everlasting triumph. The symbolic characters of the four horses and riders, which go forth on the opening of the first four seals, compared with those of the fifth horse and the rider, who is the Son or God, and goes forth to establish his empire, determine their history to be representative of
The Babylonian tyranny.
The Medo-Persian tyranny.
The Macedonian tyranny.
The Roman tyranny.
The Roman horse has two riders, which are considered to denote
DEATH.—The Papal apostasy.
HELL.—The Mohammedan imposition.
The time of slaughter, during the period of the 1260 years.
C
The destruction of the Roman and Papal tyrannies by the fifth mighty horseman, who is "King of kings and Lord of lords."
The rest, or peace of the universal church, and of the world, under the reign of the saints and of Christ, who overcomes the last enemy "Hell," in a second battle with the Mohammedan powers, or Gog and Magog; with which the description of the seventh seal closes, by a symbolic earthquake.
The seventh seal synchronises with the seventh trumpet.
SEVEN TRUMPETS.
The seven trumpets are judgments on the Roman Empire, in its Eastern and Western branches, and decide its total subversion.
The first four trumpets relate to the Western Empire, and synchronise with the Gothic invasions of the empire, and capture of the city of Rome.
1st Trumpet,— Invasion by Alaric.
WESTERN EMPIRE.
2d Subversion by Odoacer.
3d Overthrow of Odoacer, the Gothic king of Italy, by Belisarius, the Eastern general.
4th Trumpet.—Abolition of the Senate, and reduction of the ancient imperial city, subordinate to the Exarch of Havenna.
The two next trumpets relate to the subversion of the Eastern Empire, and describe,
5th Trumpet.—The Saracenic Victories.
6th The Turkish dominion, closing with the battle of Armageddon.
7th. The great trumpet, subverting the whole of the tyrannical system, and completing its desolation by the battle of Gog and Magog, and the second judgment.
This trumpet synchronises with the seventh seal.
PREPARATORY VISION.
The great angel descends, and swears by the living God, that "time," or the mysterious dispensation, "shall be no longer." His right foot is planted on the sea, his left on the earth, denoting that the substance of his solemn oath affects both the East and the West. This declaration is attended by seven thunders, accompanied by seven voices. Mention is made of the seven voices in other parts of the Apocalypse; and what they uttered seems to have been afterwards revealed.
SEVEN VOICES.
Sealing of the 144,000 of the tribes of Israel.
Angel proclaiming the everlasting Gospel, by Bible and Missionary Societies.
Desolation of Babylon.
Call to the Jews,
Command to pour out the Vials.
Gathering of the Jew.
Treading of the Roman wine-press.
SEVEN THUNDERS
Denote seven wars, but follow the looine roar of the angel, which shakes the East, which is considered to be the combined war of Russia and Austria, with Turkey.
The seven wars are connected with the shaking of the Western Roman Empire by the French Revolution. The termination of each sounding is marked by an interval of silence, or a distinct treaty of peace.
War with Austria,—Peace of Campo-Formio.
Austria,—Peace of Luneville.
England, or Hanover,—Peace of Amiens.
___ Austria, Peace of Presburgh.
Prussia,—Peace of Tilsit
Austria,—Peace of Vienna.
Russia, and all the Powers,-Peace of Paris.
(or, probably, seven Lightnings,) are poured out,
SEVEN VIALS,
On the Eastern Empire and the adherents of the Western Beast, (possibly thus plagued by the capture of Jerusalem, and the Rise of the new Jewish Kingdom).
On Europe, or the Sea of Nations.
On the armies of Europe and Asia.
On the Imperial Chief and Kings (probably instigating their ascent against the witnesses).
On the Austrian territories; or, possibly throughout the whole of the Western Empire, as the seat of the beast.
On the Turkish Empire.
On all the onemies of the Lamb in the East, and in the West.
TWO JUDGMENTS.
THE FIRST JUDOMENT synechronises with the battle of Armageddon, and with the desolation of the Roman beast of Daniel; commences at the battle of Armageddon, and reaches to the close of that prophet's 1290 years; and is to be considered as the Judgment of the Western Empire only.
THE SECOND JUDGMENT synchronises with the war of Gog and Magog, at the close of the 1290 years, and extends to the close of the 1335 years of Daniel. This is attended by the general judgment, by the resurrection of all the dead, by the descent of Christ from heaven, by the establishment of his kingdom in righteousness, and by the eternal exaltation of the kingdom of Israel, symbolised by the New Jerusalem, or Bride of the Lamb.
THE NEW JERUSALEM.
The great and holy City, the New Jerusalem, is symbolical in its descent of the rise of the kingdom, and in its full glory of the establishment of the empire of Israel, under the immediate protection of heaven; and is the symbolical bride of the Lamb, or that same empire under Christ their king and priest. It synchronises with the fall of the Papal harlot; for then the "bride hath made herself ready," and rises in glory from the time of the battle of Armageddon, to the second judgment, when the "new heaven and new earth" are created, or when the fifth universal empire of Christ or of Israel, which supersedes the tyrannical monarchies. is established in full glory.
SYNCHRONICAL PROPHECIES.
WESTERN EMPIRE.
Vision of the Woman in the Wilderness, or Great Roman Harlot.
This prophecy concerns the church of the Western Empire, tyrannised over during the 1260 years by the "Man-child," and the apostate woman of the Wilderness, or the Papal harlot; and synchronises with the fifth seal, and the first and second beasts of the Apocalypse. Her hour of judgment is the last thirty years of her existence; and synchronises with the duration of the reign of the ten kings, and of the revived scarlet-colored beast at the end of the times.
Vision of the First Beast.
This beast occupies the seat of the dragon, and refers to the dominion of the Western emperor, after the inundation of the Gothic hordes; and is symbolised by his "rising out of the sea." He erects his seven heads, or imperial dynasties, in like manner with the dragon, being in fact his representative in the Western territory; rises out of the sea of nations. or inundation of the Gothic tribes; rules by the delegated power of the dragon, and virtually occupies his Western throne; synchronises with the period of the apostate woman; and is considered in abeyance during the short-lived head, which erects a new state of empire, as depicted in the
Two-horned Beast.
This beast represents Imperial France, or the confederated German empire under the Napoleonic dynasty; erects an image of the ancient empire, in like manner as the tyrannical kingdoms erected a symbolical image of the Jewish kingdom, originally destined by Providence to govern the world; and is the instrument, in the hand of Providence, of inflicting the seven thunders or judgments on the nations.
Scarlet-coloured Beast.
The same as the first beast, but exhibited with his rider, the apostate woman of the wilderness, or scarlet whore of Babylon, in his ante-penultimate VISION OF THE SEVEN GOLDEN CANDLESTICKS.
Titles and Promises of the Hodeeiner considered ... 210
Seven Golden Candlesticks ... 218
First Candlestick ... Ephesus — Bebylon ... 294
Second ... Smyrna — Medo-Pacala ... 295
Third ... Pergamino — Macartiaea ... 298
Fourth ... Thyatira — Rome ... 298
Fifth ... Sardia — Assyria ... 263
Sixth ... Philadelphia — ISRAEL ... 255
Seventh ... Laodicea — Egypt ... 265
Concluding Observations on the Seven Churches ... 213
Symbolical Marks of the Great Governor of the Churches ... 299
THE LAMB'S BRIDE; OR, RENOVATED KINGDOM OF ISRAEL.
Introductory Observations ... 306
Symbolical view of the "Great and Holy City" ... 313
Prophecies of Isaiah concerning the Jewish Nation noticed ... 317
—— compared with those of St. John ... 361
Ezekiel's Temple considered ... 383
—— Symbolical Description of the "Great and Holy City" ... 337
—— Closing Observations ... 360
FREE PARAPHRASE of ST. JOHN, divested of its symbolical figures, and explained according to the hypotheses maintained in the preceding Summary ... 363
Notice to the Reader ... 363
Paraphrase of the Revelation of St. John ... 365
Notes on the Paraphrase (1 to 23) ... 416
EVEN-TIDE.
Duration of the Mystery,—Continuance of the Mohammedan Oppression,—and Pondage of the Holy People.
TWELVE HUNDRED AND SIXTY YEARS OF THE MOHAMMEDAN IMPOSTURE, 622-1844.
This prophetic periods have given rise to many able and voluminous dissertations. Few of the learned writers who have treated on the subject, but have made, as the celebrated Sir Isaac Newton observes, some valuable discoveries. The perusal of their excellent writings has afforded to my own mind the highest satisfaction, as manifesting, by their illustrations, the visible display of the hand of Providence in the affairs of men. The grand events of the world having occurred according to the predictions of ancient times, have proved beyond a doubt the divine agency of Him who inspired the prophets. "There has, however, been so long a suspension of the visible interpositions of Providence," observes Mr. Faber, "a suspension nevertheless foretold by Isaiah, that we are apt, in the present day, to feel a sort of hesitation in admitting that they will ever be renewed. The Jews perpetually required a sign of the Lord at the period of his first advent: we, on the contrary, can scarcely bring ourselves to interpret literally even the most express predictions relative to his miraculous and personal manifestation, at the period of his second advent."
The captivity and desolation of the Jews, since the death of Christ, have ever formed, in the eyes of men, a striking and perpetual mark of the just displeasure of Almighty God. Tbeir dispersion and bondage have now nearly filled up the era of those wrathful and mysterious times spoken of by Daniel and the Evangelists. It was predicted by the Saviour, that "Jerusalem should be trodden down by the Gentiles, till the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." Of the same period, after the treading under foot of the sanctuary and the host, does Daniel declare, "Then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." Their deliverance, therefore, will be that grand epoch which is to usher in the second glorious advent of the Messiah; when he will again appear, not as an offering for sin, but to their salvation. Then will the Son of man be seen, as he was on his departure from earth, but coming at that time in a cloud, with power and great glory.
The principal commentators, however, of the Western Empire, galled with the yoke of popery, and but newly emancipated from her bondage at the time of the Reformation, as well as others who have contemplated at a distance her enormous superstitions and degrading slavery, treading faithfully in the tracks of their predecessors, have assumed it as a fact, that the prophets Daniel and St. John had no other enemy of the Saviour in view, in those infinitely important outlines which they have given us in the prophetic pages, than the papal. It was reserved to this latter age, and to an eminent champion of the inspired records, to point out the broad and illuminated lines which distinguish popery from that more horrible abomination, the imposture of Mohammed. Deeply as the truly Christian mind will sympathise in the indignities poured on the Saviour by a church which declares itself "infallible," and whose chief potentate sitteth "as God in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God." Yet will not the true believer cease to remember that the church of Christ once existed, in all its purity and splendour, where now, and for ages past, the Arabian impostor
and his blood-thirsty successors have "trampled under foot the Son of God; have counted the blood of the covenant an unholy thing, and have done despite to the Spirit of grace:" where even now a Christian and a dog are synonymous terms; and where Christians and Jews, once the sole possessors of the Holy Land, are only "permitted," as the Firmaun expresses it, "to wear their heads for that year," by the payment of a capitation-tax.
That valuable and eminent writer, Mr. Faber, has proved to a demonstration, that the seventh chapter of Daniel prophetically records the history of the western beast and papal little horn, as the eighth chapter exclusively contains that of the Mohammedan imposture. But, by a singular fatality, although the interpreting angel, before he detailed the events recorded in the eleventh and twelfth chapters, expressly declared to Daniel that he was sent to make him understand what should befall his people, the Jews, in the latter days; this able commentator loses sight of the obvious application of the revelation made in those chapters to that despised and persecuted people, and makes all their leading particulars illustrative of the western Antichrist, and its late atheistical monarchy; and, consequently, adjudges the termination of the principal prophetic periods of the twelfth chapter to the extinction of the Antichristian bondage, in which the Western Empire has been for so many ages held. It seems incredible that such revelations were intended to set forth the records of any other people than the Jews, except as other nations became the instruments of that indignation, which it was determined by Heaven should be poured on the desolate, for their crimes of cutting off, and rejection of the Messiah, Dan. ix. 27. The professors of Christianity, as well as the nation of the Jews, have been for ages depressed and overwhelmed by that wide-spreading Mohammedan abomination. The possession of the Holy Land, still promised to the seed of Abraham, though expelled from it for their sins, has been maintained by violence, and the Mohammedan imposture propagated by fire and sword throughout TWO THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED AND TWENTY YEARS, OR DURATION OF THE FOUR TYRANNICAL EMPIRES.
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