Holy Scripture, struggling all the while against my own evil heart of unbelief, and endeavouring to attain to the riches of the full assurance of the understanding, I do now, by the grace of God, take in hand to expound for the edification of the Church; in no case attempting to repeat the words spoken by the Spirit, nor the forms purely spiritual, in which the truth is given forth, which our God hath taught us would be a profanation." "So that no one will mistake or misuse these interpretations, as if they were altogether avouched by the Holy Spirit of God, placed beyond the region of doubt, and not to be questioned; whereas, though the light came from heaven direct, it hath been refracted through the prism of my own mind, and thereby assumed the form of my own understanding, as well as the utterance of my own fallible lips."*

Towards Mr. Irving personally, I have never felt any other sentiments than those of kindness-a desire to believe all that is good concerning him, and to discredit or palliate all that is imputed to him as evil. But when Mr. Irving comes before the public as an expositor of prophecy, I must, with the Apostle, say that "henceforth know we no man after the flesh." I must try every interpretation of the learned writer, even as I am commanded by the Apostle to do; who, while he warns us on the one hand, "Despise not prophesyings," forthwith adds, by way of holy caution, " Prove, or try, all things."+ All prophesyings, all voices, all tongues, all interpretations, must therefore undergo this sifting process. Proceed we now, therefore, to try the above sentiments of Mr. Irving. In the passage which has been quoted, he surrounds himself with a certain mysterious halo, informing us that the interpretations which we oppose are, in a certain sense, the result of words of heavenly utterance, made by inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Yet we are cautioned not to mistake or misuse these interpretations, as if they were ALTOGETHER avouched by the Holy Spirit. Now, by saying they are not altogether so avouched, it is plain that Mr. Irving wishes us to believe they are in the main avouched by the Spirit. But it will here be obvious to the simplest capacity, that Mr. Irving is bound to inform us

* Morning Watch, Sept. 1832, p. 18.

1 Thess. v. 20, 21.

how far they are avouched by the Spirit, and how far they are not. Not only does he omit to do this, but he refuses to communicate to us any one of the utterances of the Spirit, on which his interpretations rest, because God hath taught him that it would be a profanation.

I read in the word of the Living God, that the Lamb which is in the midst of the Throne having received from God the book of his Divine Apocalypse, counts it no profanation to communicate the whole thereof to his Church upon earth. I read also that the prophets of a former dispensation, when, rapt in the Holy Ghost, they saw the mystic visions of God, were always commanded to write them for the information of the Church. When, therefore, Mr. Irving tells us that it would be a profanation to reveal to the Church the words spoken by certain individuals in his secret chambers, he is thereby, in appearance, attributing to these words a higher honour than is in the Scripture given to the Apocalypse itself. But while he, in appearance, attributes high honour to these words, he in reality dishonours them. For it is not, as we have already seen, the character of the Revelations of the Holy Ghost to affect concealment. The Eleusinian mysteries, wherein certain deep and recondite words were hidden from the profane vulgar, belong not to the religion of Jesus Christ, but to Paganism, the religion of Satan; and as Mr. Irving, instead of obeying the words of the Lord himself to his Apostles, What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light; and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops,* appears to imitate in this matter the reserve of the Hierophant of Eleusis, I must obey the word of the Lord, and refuse credence to him.

And seeing that not only the words, which are said to have been spoken in the Spirit, are denied to us, but even the names of the individuals through whom the utterances were given, it follows that the words themselves are, to us, a nonentity. It is therefore our duty still to try all Mr. Irving's interpretations by that sure word of prophecy which the Lord has vouchsafed to us, without paying any regard to alleged utterances, of which no part hath reached our ears, and of the authenticity of which no

• Matt. x. 27.

с

evidence hath been produced to us.

Indeed, to require us to give credence to interpretations of the Scripture said to be deduced from utterances which are not revealed to us, is an extravagance of pretension similar to which, I presume, no example is to be met with even in the records of the Pythian oracles. The responses of the priestess of Apollo were, it is true, expressed with a studied ambiguity, but the words themselves were not concealed.*

In the next place, even if the alleged utterances on which Mr. Irving professes to found his interpretations were really given by the Holy Ghost, yet, as Mr. Irving tells us that his interpretations are not the very truths uttered, but are rather inferences from them, the heavenly light having been refracted through the prism of his own mind, I must on this account also wholly reject them, because I altogether disbelieve that the mind of the learned author is a perfect prism. I have great confidence in Mr. Irving's sincerity, but I place no trust whatever in the accuracy of his judgment, or the soundness of his reasoning faculties; and having already, in two Tracts against his scheme of prophetic interpretation, laid before the public, and Mr. Irving himself, my reasons for this entire distrust, I do not feel myself called upon to repeat them here.

Lastly, I shall offer a final, and, as it appears to me, a conclusive reason, for refusing to believe that an authoritative interpretation of the Apocalypse, or any part of it, has been, or will be given to the Church by the Holy Ghost during this dispensation. As the interpretation of Daniel's vision of the four beasts, which was given to him by the Angel in answer to his inquiries, was added to the original vision as a part of the prophetic record, so, were the Holy Ghost now to vouchsafe to any individual an authenticated and authoritative interpretation of the Apocalyptic visions, since the supposed interpretation would be of the same authority as the original visions, we con

*It is further observable, that by concealing the words of these prophets from the Church, Mr. Irving absolutely precludes us from putting them to the trial in the manner commanded in Deut. xviii. 22. "When a prophet speak"eth in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that "is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken “it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him."

†Dan. vii. 16-27.

clude that it must be added to them as a new revelation, and become a part of the inspired volume of the Holy Scriptures.

Now, such a supposition is in direct contradiction to the import of the description of the seven sealed book, for it has already been proved, in a former part of this Preface, that the description of that book implies, that it is a complete and a final revelation of the purposes of God to his Church in this dispensation, and that when the seven seals are opened and their contents communicated, this very act, and the mystical perfection of the number seven, negative the idea of any further or supplementary revelation. But we are not left to form this conclusion by implication only. The awful sanction of the Holy Ghost himself is added, to authenticate the completeness of this book as originally given to John: "If any one shall add unto* "these things, God shall add unto him the plagues written in "this book." In these words the Church of God is informed that there is to be no addition to the book till the Lord himself come, as is solemnly announced in the next verse; and since an authoritative interpretation would be something added to, or put upon the visions originally communicated, I, on the authority of this word of the Holy Ghost, refuse to believe that any such interpretation has been given.

Feeling it to be now necessary to relieve the reader from this long Preface, I am desirous of saying a few words upon the form in which the present edition is given to the Public. The original text of the present Work was written in the year 1812, and published in 1813. In the second edition, printed in 1817, considerable additions, as well as modifications, were introduced. When I contemplated the present edition, it became a matter of some difficulty to decide, whether the Work

Let it be observed, that our verb to add, does not appear to express the whole force of the Greek Eriting. An authoritative interpretation would be something put upon these visions, as much as a new series of visions. Let me here be permitted to add, to prevent the wilful misrepresentation of my meaning, that I have ever held that all true interpretation proceeds from the internal illumination of the Spirit. But were a book containing even a perfect interpretation, without one mistake, to come forth, it would have no authority to command our assent, although it would doubtless possess such intrinsical power and beauty, as to win the assent of persons whose senses were exercised to discern both good and evil. I also wish to add, that I give no opinion as to the nature of the utterances and tongues which are heard in Mr. Irving's church.

should be altogether remodelled, or whether the old text should be permitted to remain untouched, and the new matter added in the form of notes. Not choosing to trust my own judgment on this point, I consulted several of my Christian friends. One of them in whose Christian wisdom I placed great confidence, and who has since slept in the Lord,* answered my question in the following words, "I have no hesi tation whatever in answering your question about the Work on the Seals and Trumpets. I should deeply regret any alteration in it which would take away the strong proof there is in it, that a solid and humble student of unfulfilled prophecy may throw great light on the future. This is highly important." In the present edition, the text of the year 1817 is, therefore, preserved with few alterations; and the additional matter has been inserted, either in the text, or in notes, as I found it most convenient. I am sensible that the mode in which it has been introduced, often detracts from the finished appearance and unity of design, which belong to an original composition; but it has the advantage of exhibiting to the Reader the progress of events since the work was first written, and also the general harmony of that progress with my expectations in the year 1812, as well as the advance of the mind of the Writer in the knowledge of the subject and this without concealing his former mistakes. I feel, however, after all these explanations, that it is still necessary to throw myself on the indulgence of my Readers, by stating, that this edition has been prepared in the midst of many and laborious duties, which have not permitted me to give to it that undivided attention, which the unspeakable importance of the subject demanded. I should, indeed, have desired to keep it from the press for some months longer; but time and events are both pressing forward with giant steps. And we were, when it went to the press, surrounded on every side, with pestilence and death. It seems to me also, that the religious press is inundated with crude and ill-digested expositions of prophecy, so that I have felt myself compelled by all these considerations to send forth the volume in its present state, and without further delay.

* The late, excellent and greatly lamented, Rev. C. S. Hawtrey, of the Jewish Episcopal Chapel.