and is carrying its light, life and health, to these very desert places, seen of Ezekiel, in the vision, and healing them of their vanities, and will eventually flow into the great sea of the Millennium, when righteousness shall cover the earth, as the waters do the great deep, and all the fishes, i. e. all the inhabitants of the earth shall be righteous.

Here, the multitudes of the deep, their different species and kinds, are used by the prophet as symbols to represent the different kinds of men, who are distinguished from each other by their stature, shape, complexion, language and manners. And as the great sea is the habitation of the former, according to their kinds, so is the dry land that of the latter, according to their kinds. Now, as an immense river, possessing salubrious qualities, of the highest possible degree, is here supposed as flowing into a vast ocean of stagnant and unhealthy waters, which is thereby healed and made more prolific, and the fishes of that ocean become better in consequence; therefore, such a supposed river is taken by the prophet as a symbol of the river of life, which he saw had begun to flow at Abraham, and from thence was enlarging, and would continue to enlarge, till its golden waves should finally dash over all the face of the globe, as once the great deluge overwhelmed it, and was, probably, a type of that event. Thus shall be healed, (agreeing with the symbol) all nations whom these waters shall finally embrace, as the ocean does its fishes. To this sense, agrees the 10th verse of the 47th Chapter of Ezekiel, latter clause. "Their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the

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fish of the great sea, exceeding many;" so that whatever description of men, with respect to stature, language, or manners, who may then exist, are eligible to the sanctifying effects of this water of salvation. So cried the Lord Jesus, when once at a feast of the Jews, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink," and again, "The water that I shall give him, shall be in him a well of water, springing up into everlasting life." Thus we argue, that if a portion of this river shall be in the soul of each saint, " a well of water springing up into everlasting life," then indeed, there will exist the integral parts of a sea of righteousness, in all such as have part in the Millennium. And as particles of water are the integral parts of an ocean, when amalgamated together, so will be each individual saint, at that day, an integral part of that sea of righteousness, which is to cover the globe, as the waters do the great deep.

"And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live; and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh."-Ez. xlvii. 9.

And thus was finished the fourth measurement of the river, which was, from the beginning of those years of darkness above noticed, and was found to be a thousand cubits, or years, from thence, to where these waters became spread into many rivers, encompassing the whole earth with their glorious flood, as once the general deluge covered the globe fifteen cubits and upwards above all hills.

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We have now followed the angel, and the prophet who saw this river measured, from the fountain to the sea, and believe it applies with great beauty and fitness to the four dispensations; namely, from Abraham to the finishing of the first temple by Solomon; from thence to the birth of Christ; from Christ to the beginning of the dark ages; and from that period to the end of the next century, when the Millennium will commence; which will exactly accomplish the four dispensations from Abraham till that time, so distinctly shown to the prophet, as comprehending four thousand cubits, or years.

Having now presented the reader with the prophet's views, which I presume to call his expectations of the universal glory and knowledge of the Messiah's kingdom, I shall next proceed to adduce other evidence, that the Jews expected such a day, found in the writings of their Rabbins, whose expectations of it seem very clear.

But before I proceed with these, I shall notice the eleventh verse of the same Chapter, where the prophet Ezekiel has given his account of the above noticed river. The verse is as follows: "But the miry places thereof, and the marshes thereof, shall not be healed, they shall be given to salt." From which it is evident that Ezekiel saw, in his vision, that there would be some places whither this great river should not flow, called marshes and miry places. This, at first sight, would seem an objection to the doctrine intended to be promulged in this work, namely, that the water of the river of gospel life shall flow over the whole earth. This difficulty we proceed to remove.

The promise is, that whithersoever the waters of this river shall come, every thing that liveth shall be healed: but where they do not flow, they will not heal. It is a well known fact, that Papal Rome is now, and has ever been, more impervious to the rays of true gospel light, than even the veriest heathen who have yet been visited. It is not contained in the promise of the healing effects of this river, that it shall at all flow over the miry and marshy places, but it shall heal only where it shall come, and is received and believed in; for faith is the only condition of salvation which is ever accompanied with works corresponding.

It is no argument that Papal Rome has at all received the Gospel, because they are numbered among Christian nations, and the reason why is, because they have perverted its truths, and turned the grace of God into lasciviousness, by the numerous idle and abominable inventions of that deluded people.

Papal Rome, then, and its vile sanctuaries, are the miry and marshy places which shall not be healed, because they do now steadfastly resist the light, by preventing the Scriptures having a free circulation among them; except in their own mutilated manner, and those in Latin.

Heathen countries are found by the Scriptures, poor, blind, naked, and ignorant; therefore, they are eligible to its teachings.

But the Roman Catholics it finds already wise in their own conceits; therefore, they remain blind and unhealed, because they say they see, and are in no need of additional light, nor of a physician.

But if this river of life is to envelope the whole earth, and to extend its influence to all the people, why then shall not these marshy places be healed ? how can this thing be, if all the people are to be righteous?

The mystery of these marshy places being given to salt, is to be explained as follows :

In all ages, or rather in ancient times, it was a custom with conquerors, when they had razed a city to the ground, to sow it with salt, as a token of total and everlasting ruin. This custom is undoubtedly alluded to by the prophet, in this place, when he saw, in vision, these miry places given to salt. Papal Rome, must therefore be destroyed by the direct power of God, before the time of the Millennium shall come, which he shall cause to be effected by the agency of fire. Papal Rome, which has ever been a sink of sin and a place of mire to all such as put their trust in her creeds and counsels, a place of stagnant marshes, diseased doctrines, and traditions of men.

The celebrated Calmet, a Roman Catholic commentator on the Scriptures, makes this same verse to point out the Protestant cause, as the miry places foreseen of Ezekiel. But this all Protestants know is false, be cause by the fruit the tree is known.

It is perfectly natural, therefore, to apply them to Papal Rome, because they suit the symbol, which is mire and marshy places, in a striking manner.

But they shall be given to salt, and never be healed, but destroyed.

What else can be the meaning of the following Seriptures, which by all protestant theologians are made to