of Egypt by a mere message of the Romans, and afterward routed and baffled by the Jews. The Horn was mighty by another's power, Antiochus by his own. The Horn stood up against the Prince of the host of heaven, the Prince of princes; and this is the character, not of Antiochus, but of Antichrist. The Horn cast down the sanctuary to the ground; and so did not Antiochus he left it standing. The sanctuary and host were trampled under foot two thousand three hundred days; and, in Daniel's prophecies, days are put for years. But the profanation of the temple, in the reign of Antiochus, did not last so many natural days. These were to last till the time of the end, till the indignation against the Jews; nation is not yet at an end.

till the sanctuary, which had

last end of the and this indig

They were to last

been cast down,

should be cleansed; and the sanctuary is not

yet cleansed *.”

* Observ.

p. 123.

AN

ATTEMPT TO ILLUSTRATE

SOME OF THE

PROPHECIES

OF THE

OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT.

He that giveth his mind to the Law of the Most High, and is occupied in the meditation thereof, will seek out the wisdom of all the ancient, and be occupied in prophecies." (Eccles. xxxix. i.)

ORIGINALLY DEDICATED TO THE RIGHT REVEREND WILLIAM (CLEAVER) BISHOP OF BANGOR.

(Wakefield, 1800.)

PREFACE.

MUCH praise is due to that eminent Prelate, who in 1768 founded a lecture for the purpose of "proving "the truth of revealed religion in general, and of the "Christian in particular, from the completion of pro"phecies which relate to the Christian Church, espe"cially to the apostasy of papal Rome." The painful attention of learned men, when attached to one subject, must obviously contribute to elucidate that subject, by uniting all the aids of human erudition to remove uncertainty and doubt. St. Peter, in his second Epistle, considers prophecy as "a light shining in a dark place." But the day has already dawned, and that light has burst forth with seven-fold splendor. The diffusion of knowledge predicted in these words, many shall go to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased," has in a great measure dispelled the obscurity, in which the communication of the divine will was originally involved.

66

A nice and elaborate calculation of prophecies not yet fulfilled, a bold reduction of remote events to fixed periods of time, can serve no good purpose; tending only to subject the study of the prophetic writings to derision and contempt, and thus weakening the belief due to those sacred compositions. It is sufficient to observe the great outlines of prophecy, and patiently to await the dispensations of God, in the scenes which are yet to be exhibited to the world. "This only remains for protestants, that they compute the approach