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we know; and since (as we think we have in part shown) there are strong probabilities against Mr. C.'s theory, it is his business to show that there are strong probabilities for it and in this light every conjectural argument to which he is obliged to have recourse, is a symptom of the unsoundness of his cause.

We are far from denying, indeed we have already allowed, that there are events in the history of Napoleon which, to a certain extent, correspond with particular passages in the prophecy. Still we see no reason to think that the coincidences are more striking than those which the lives of several other conquerors would supply. There is scarcely a fact or trait of character brought forward in Mr. C.'s work relative to Napoleon, which might not be found in the history of Saladin: and, though this be an instance taken almost at random, we might, on Mr. C.'s. principles of interpretation, make out a very plausible case for that hero of the crusades. Napoleon did according to his will; so did Saladin.-He spoke marvellous things against the God of gods; so did Saladin.-He did not regard the God of his fathers; nor did Saladin ;-for though belonging to a nation* heretical in creed, and enemies to the Moslem name, he became an orthodox and rigid Mohammedan.-Napoleon honoured the god of forces; so did the warlike Saladin.-He was not emperor at the time of his expedition to Egypt; nor was Saladin sultan, when he marched into the same country.-Napoleon "had power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt;" and so also had Saladin.-Tidings from the east and north (Damascus and Constantinople) brought Napoleon from Egypt to Palestine; and Saladin was brought from Egypt by the troubles at Damascus, occasioned by the minority of the son of his master Noureddin. And then more exactly than Napoleon, he fulfilled the prophetic description, by "going forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly making away many." He made himself successively master of Hems, Hamah, Baalbec, and afterwards of Amida, Aleppo, and other cities. Next, marching into Palestine, against the crusaders, he defeated them in a most bloody battle; and, among other places, captured Tiberias, Acre, Neapolis, Cæsarea, Jaffa, Ascalon, and afterwards Jerusalem. And so savage had been the war, that in many of these cities only women and children were found on their capture, the men having been already all killed or taken prisoners. While he was in the neighbourhood of Antioch, the Christians, with fresh succours from Europe, recommenced the attack from Tyre;

* Vide Gibbon and Herbelot concerning the Curds,

and two years after, Richard Cœur de Lion arrived in Palestine:-events in which may be discovered the predicted hostilities of the Kings of the south and north, quite as well as in the resistance of Spain and England to Napoleon's power.

Lastly, If Napoleon "came to his end, and none did help him," may not the same be said of Saladin, who died neither on a glorious field of battle, nor by natural consequence of age, but by premature disease? It is admitted that there are one or two coincidences between Napoleon's history and the description in Daniel, which do not exist in Saladin; but, on the other hand, in spite of the superior fulness and minuteness which the recent date of the events in question gives to Napoleon's life, there are points in which Saladin's outweighs the later conqueror. If Napoleon more strikingly "exalted himself above every god," the austere and ascetic Saladin more literally "regarded not the desire of women." And if Saladin's grand defeat by Richard, with the loss of 40,000 men, be not alluded to, neither is Napoleon's Russian campaign, nor the battle of Waterloo. Indeed, we are only concerned to show that Saladin answers to the prediction as far as Napoleon: nay, we should strenuously maintain that, in reality, neither fulfilled it. The prophecy is not loose or indeterminate: it contains a number of definite criteria; and, easy as it may be to amuse the imagination with partial resemblances, the character that really fulfils it, must answer to them all.

And now having considered Mr. Cooper's treatise, we trust, with the candour and seriousness to which the subject lays claim, we think we may in turn make some demands on his attention, while we proceed to state our great regret that so rash and unsound an hypothesis should ever have been given to the public. We hope we have followed him, through his inquiry, in the spirit which in his preface he so wisely recommends to every reader; and we entreat him to believe the pain it gives us to speak harshly of any work which has proceeded from so very respectable and pious a pen. The task indeed is more ungracious, because the latter part of the publication before us contains many interesting remarks, and much animated and useful exhortation*: and it is nothing but the sense of a paramount duty which induces us to express our feelings on the subject. We have not, then, entered on the task for the mere pleasure of detecting error, or the petty gratification of exposing it: but as jealous for the honour of that sacred cause which Mr. C. ad

* Does it become a Clergyman, however, or a Christian, to be so virulent în bis censure of the monarchs of the Holy Alliance, as Mr. Cooper is throughout his work?

vocates, "zealously indeed, but not well." In spite of the incidental good contained in his work, its tendency on the whole is doubtless to prejudice the unbeliever against the argument from prophecy; to confirm him in his idea of the breadth of meaning and accommodating nature of the Scripture predictions, and to make him believe that all who credit them must be of weak minds and enthusiastic tempers. In a day like this, when infidelity is prepared to take any advantage, fair or unfair, against revealed truth, we cannot but think that they incur a great responsibility, who afford so plausible a ground for attack. Our author professes, and we doubt not sincerely professes, his desire of arriving at the truth. "It is truth," he says in his preface," and not the support of any favourite opinion of his own, which is the object of his pursuit." But in his work itself he has played the part of an advocate, rather than an unbiassed investigator. To be candid, he should have stated the arguments on both sides, fairly admitted those which were adverse to his hypothesis, and accurately marked how far his explanation went in solving the phenomena of the prophetic description. But he has done nothing of the kind. He seems to have worked himself into an almost irrational conviction of the truth of his interpretation, and allows nothing to interfere with it; while he appears always on the alert to catch at any the least circumstance which seems even dubiously and distantly to favour his views *. Instead of working out with patience and caution the ground-work of prophetical interpretation, viz. the chronology, he for the most part busies himself, and not even there successfully, in settling subordinate points; and thus, if sometimes he succeed in his efforts, his very ingenuity becomes mischievous, from seeming, as we have just noticed, to fix the imputation of vagueness and looseness on the prophecy itself.

In making these remarks on Mr. C.'s publication we do not. wish to decide upon the main question under consideration; how far, namely, the events of the present day may be known to be the subject of Scripture prediction. That there have been times when the interpretation of prophecy has even preceded the event is undeniable; that these are such times, is a much more hazardous position. At least Mr. C. has not proved it; and we cannot but think it has been from considering the events of the present day, that he has been led antecedently to conclude that they must be predicted in Scripture; and has thus rather brought the prophecy to the history, than made the history subservient to the prophecy. But our limits warn us to

* Vide especially ch. xiii.

desist; and in bidding Mr. C. farewell, we once more intreat him to bear with us, and take our animadversions in the spirit in which they are offered. We have not censured his attempt to explain prophecy: we think highly of the spirit in which he has engaged in it; but we deeply lament the want of judgment which he seems to us to have displayed in its interpretation. H&M.

Reflections on the four principal Religions which have obtained in the World; Paganism, Mohammedism, Judaism, and Christianity; also on the Church of England, and other Denominations of Protestants: and on Evangelical Religion. By the late Rev. DAVID WILLIAMSON, Minister of the Gospel, Whitehaven. 2 vols. 11. 1s. Richardson, 1824.

FROM a short sketch of the life of the author, prefixed to these volumes, we learn that Mr. Williamson was, for upwards of thirty years, minister, at Whitehaven, of the seceders from the Church of Scotland-though he had in early life manifested some dissatisfaction with the tenets or conduct of the Secession Church; and" was for several years previous to his death evidently attached to the Church of England, and seldom omitted an opportunity of attending Divine Service in her sanctuary, when the duties of his own chapel did not require his presence." In the year 1792 he published "Lectures on Civil and Religious Liberty," which excited some interest, and occasioned an incident in his life which reflected honour on his character—his rejection of a living which was offered him, for fear his acceptance of it should be considered as a dereliction of his principles. A disagreement between Mr. Williamson and the trustees of the meeting-house, relative to the arrears of his salary, which was finally determined in his favour, induced him to relinquish his appointment, and retire to America; but a severe cold, caught during the voyage, fastened on his lungs, and occasioned his death, a few weeks after his arrival, in 1821.

From a publication sent forth under such circumstances, it would be unreasonable to expect that uniform accuracy, which otherwise the public have a right to demand in a work of this nature; and no one would too severely censure the partiality of friends, in giving to the world that which had occupied the last thoughts of an individual, whose integrity and moderation had strong claims to respect, and who had already met with a fa

vourable reception as an author. It is, however, certain, that Mr. Williamson was not the person best qualified for such an undertaking as that before us. Few subjects, perhaps, are more fitted to call forth the powers, and try the strength, even of a man of first-rate talents, thoroughly trained to theological discussion, than the attempt to exhibit a clear view of "the religious world." We are indeed aware, that there is no subject in which greater facilities for book-making are afforded, and that a mere extract-stitching drudge may, without much difficulty, patch up some sort of a sketch or view of religious opinions; but he who is capable of feeling the importance of the theme, and whose motives are of a higher cast than the necessity of providing for the morrow, will find that there is hardly any subject in which it is more difficult for an author to please either himself or others.

The difficulty of presenting a perspicuous, and yet condensed, statement of the tenets of any one sect, is not slight; it is not easy to generalize correctly, to select what are to mankind at large the most interesting and important topics, to decide as to the relative proportion they should retain, and the degree of prominence in which they should be exhibited. An advocate usually wearies the patience of his readers, an adversary rarely gratifies their curiosity; and both are liable to the effect of prejudice. But if the painter find it difficult to convey the character of a single figure, and so to dispose the lights and shadows, and adopt his colouring to the subject, as at once to strike the eye of the unobservant, rivet the attention of the careless, and conciliate the fastidious; how much greater becomes the labour, and how much slighter the chance of success, when he proceeds to group objects in themselves dissimilar, and to concentrate interest, at the very time that he enlarges the field of observation. It indeed requires a master in the art, so to view, with the mind's eye, the subject in all its points and bearings, so to select and arrange the materials, and so to discriminate between the essential and the adventitious, the important and the trivial, as to form a whole which shall at once awaken the imagination, and satisfy the judgment.

It is in subjects like these that the rare union of genius with judgment, of real learning with originality of thinking, of correctness with warmth, is necessary. It requires not merely the eagle's eye, but the eagle's elevation also, to view the vast extent of religious opinion as it really exists. The temptation to enlarge upon what we are best acquainted with, to deem that most important which ourselves best understand, and to regard that as most interesting, which is most connected with our own

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