sisting of these four constituent parts, shall be in a triumphant state during the whole millennium. Then mankind shall in a very high degree be freed from ignorance and error; shall love, study, and know the truth on every subject in which they have any concern, and especially on the subject of religion. Universal righteousness shall prevail. They shall pay that regard to the perfect and meritorious righteousness of Christ, which accords to truth, to the perfection of the divine law, to the infinitude of divine justice, to its own perfection, to their need of it, and to the gracious purpose of God in sending Christ into this world to fulfil all righteousness. They shall love and practise righteousness to God, to their brethren of mankind, to all the creatures of God with whom they have intercourse, and to themselves, in all its branches: and they shall make perpetual progress in truth and righteousness. Universal peace shall prevail on the earth. Men, as individuals, shall enjoy peace with God, and peace of conscience; as connected in society, they shall live in peace with their neighbors, whether in smaller or larger societies. Private quarrels and public wars shall cease to the ends of the earth. The brute creation, treated with gentleness by men, shall become much more gentle and harmless to them and to one another than they are now. Universal joy shall abound. That joy which is pure and exalted happiness, that joy which is congenial to a mind renewed and sanctified by the Holy Ghost. Not only shall all public affairs be conducted with prosperity and joy, but individuals also shall be happy. They shall be blessed with that joy, which is inseparable from high

attainments in truth, righteousness, and peace. Such, in a certain degree, shall be the situation of the whole world during these thousand years; and in a very high degree of every part of it, except that styled Gog and Magog."-Johnston on the Rev. vol. ii. p. 310, 311.

As our views upon the whole subject of the millennium will be given in full in the sequel, it will be unnecessary to anticipate here the remarks which we should otherwise have to offer upon these quotations. Error is more effectually subverted by the establishment of truth. The light in which we view them will disclose itself as we advance. We are now prepared to enter upon the direct consideration of the subject.

CHAPTER IIL

EXPLICATION OF THE SYMBOL OF THE DRAGON.

The Binding of Satan or the Dragon the main feature of the anticipated Millennium-Necessary to determine the Import of this Symbolical Action-This cannot be done without first fixing the import of the Dragon himself as a SymbolWith this view the Vision of the Dragon, Rev. xii., minutely considered-The sun-clad and star-crowned Woman explained—The Dragon shown to be a symbol of Paganism— The War between Michael and the Dragon explained-The remaining Circumstances of the Vision explained-Objections

answered-Reflections.

THE grand characteristic of the Millennium described by John is the binding of Satan or the Dragon. "And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the Dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years." Now as the whole book of the Apocalypse is marked by a sustained unity of character, imparting its revelations not in literal but in figurative language, this is to be regarded as a symbolical action, forming a part of the tissue of visionary scenery running through the book, every portion of which is to be interpreted in consistency with the structure of the whole. In this sense, that may be said with peculiar propriety of the Revela

tion of John which is elsewhere said of the whole Scriptures, that no prophecy is of any private interpretation; i. e. no prophecy is of an isolated interpretation; but is to be regarded as a constituent portion of a general system of prophecy, and therefore unsusceptible of a just and genuine interpretation when viewed apart from its peculiar relations and dependencies. If, then, we would establish the exposition of the scriptural doctrine of the Millennium upon its legitimate basis, it is indispensably requisite that the import of this symbolical action, the binding of Satan, should be determined in the outset. But how can this be ascertained without fixing in the first instance the hieroglyphical significancy of Satan or the Dragon himself? Here, if we mistake not, has lain the prime and radical error of nearly all commentators upon the Apocalypse, and of most of the modern advocates of a future Millennium. They have understood this title in its literal sense, as the designation of the prince of evil spirits acting exclusively in his appropriate character of spiritual agent, tempting and inciting the minds of men to sin. But as Satan in this connexion is indubitably identified with the Dragon of a former vision, and as the Dragon, from his being represented with seven heads and ten horns, and from the other peculiar attributes ascribed to him, must stand as the hieroglyphical representative of some subtantial persecuting power, it is obvious that the epithet Satan or Devil, in its prophetic bearings, must point to something else than a mere disastrous influence putting itself forth upon the sentient spirits of men.

To the task therefore of determining, according to the

principles of symbolic interpretation, the legitimate scope of this emblem, we now address ourselves; purpose in the prosecution of which it will be necessary to enter into a minute and critical analysis of other passages in the book where the mention of this ill-omened personage occurs. In this mode of conducting the enquiry we shall in fact embrace a connected history of the Dragon in his successive prophetical developments, tracing him through the three grand stages of his manifestation; in which he appears, (1.) as holding a preeminence in the Apocalyptic heaven; (2.) as cast down from thence to the earth; (3.) as degraded from the surface of the earth to a place of confinement in its subterranean abysses.

As he is first ushered to view in the twelfth chapter of the Revelation, we shall commence our investigation with a detailed exposition of that part of the book, the results of which will be subsequently applied to the elucidation of the twentieth, as it is upon the right interpretation of the twentieth that the whole doctrine of the Millennium hinges. Our enquiry may conduct us over a pretty wide field of research, but we flatter ourselves that the reader will find enough on the way of curious and rare to reward the toil of travel.

REVELATION, CHAP. XII.

1. And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: 2. And she, being with child, cried, travailing in birth, and