what it hath never been yet, both holy and catholic. But let us proceed to consider what may give a further light, both into this, and the remaining part of the article.

St. John, as he was to close the succession of prophets, seems appointed to repeat such of the ancient predictions as were yet to receive their completion; with such further illustration as the shorter distance of their approaching periods rendered necessary. And this remarkable dispensation so far from being forgotten, is discussed by him with the greatest particularity and exactness. In a word, what glimmered in the writings of Moses and David; what we saw as through a glass darkly, in the prophets, this Apostle seems to have shown us openly, without a parable, and face to face.

After a short but clear description of such remarkable particulars as were successively to take place in order to usher in that glorious economy, "I saw," says he, "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, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled. And I saw the souls of those who were beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and who had not worshipped the beastand they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not till the thou

sand years were finished." At the end of this Millennium succeeds the second and general resurrection; and the happy interim is evidently the new heavens and the new earth of Isaiah; the latter days of the prophets; the times of restitution; the times of the refreshing of the Gospel; and the golden age of the heathens. The attendant circumstances are too plainly parallel, the likeness and conformity too strong, for us not to see that they are one and the same thingBehold here then the long promised kingdom of the son of David; behold his universal dominion in a truly catholic church. Nor can we turn our eyes on the companions of that happy reign, the noble army of those that had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God; and who had not worshipped the beast, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands, whom the Lamb shall therefore make kings and priests, and they shall reign on earth, without exclaiming, here is indeed a communion of saints-a blessed unmixed society of the just, enjoying universal harmony, and a free and uninterrupted intercourse with God, their King and Saviour, the holy angels, and each other. I think it, by no means, either impossible or improbable, that an opinion which had so long and so universally prevailed in the church; which had borne so large a share in the hopes, belief, words, and writings of so many of its members; and been patronized by apostles, apostolic men, confessors, and martyrs, should find a place in some of their confessions of faith-rather very improbable it is, that a point by them esteemed of so much

importance should be wholly neglected-not impossi ble that such an one may be this very confession before us; or at least, that this remarkable and mysterious article (which I think, according to the usual interpretation of it, hardly carries weight enough to be made a distinct article of faith) may have been transferred from such into this creed, at a time when its genuine intention was not, perhaps, thoroughly under stood. Thus far, however, I must think certain, that by the help of this hypothesis, we have a much less intricate and constrained solution of this article, than any of those which are usually given us. In which opinion I have the satisfaction of finding myself supported by the ready concurrence of some persons of distinguished characters for learning and judgment, as well as zealous attachment to the genuine doctrine of sound and orthodox Christianity."

Thus far we have the opinion of Mr. Carrington, that till the sanctuary is cleansed, or till the Millennium foretold by the Revelator commences, the church cannot be considered strictly a Holy Catholic Church. Though I disagree with his opinion, that the Millenni um is the new heaven and the new earth, promised iu the Scriptures, because this idea embraces an era which lies beyond the time in which the sanctuary is to be cleansed. We are not told by the Revelator to expect the creation of a new church at that time, but that the Lamb shall have the victory over his enemies, which is the cleansing of the sanctuary, promised by Daniel the prophet. This glorious time will be the period when hat which St. John saw shall be fulfilled. See Rev.

new.

saying, Behold the taberThis, then, is the Millen

21, 2, 3, 1. And 1 John saw the holy city, new Jeru-· salem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven, nacle of God is with men. nium; but the period for the new creation is yet future, because it is stated in the verse following, And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold I make all things And the reason why, I conclude, this new heaven and new earth is to be a real creation, and does not mean the glory of the church, is because, in verse 1st of the 21st chap. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. The last clause of this verse qualifies the whole, as not belonging to the church in the Millennium, because the Revelator says, there was no more sea; therefore it is spoken only of the new creation, which is to be created after the Millennium is passed, and also after the general judgment day.

I introduced the remarks of Mr. Carrington to show that I am not alone in the opinion, that all individuals who then compose the visible church, will absolutely be holy, else the sanctuary will not be cleansed at all; and also to show that others have held the opinion, that there will be two distinct resurrections, one of the righ teous at the beginning of the Millennium, and the other of the wicked at its end, or soon after. But I trust 1 shall not be charged with egotism when I state, that this opinion was already penned in the manuscript of my book, before I saw this opinion of Mr. Carrington,

who, I apprehend, speaks the sentiment of the English church upon that subject, and states that he had the satisfaction to find himself supported by the ready concurrence of persons of distinguished characters for learning and judgment, as well as zealous attachment to the genuine doctrines of sound and orthodox Christianity. And further, lest any might suppose that I have, in the composition of this work, followed only the beaten track of ages, will state, that when I had finished the leading positions of it, I had never seen á work upon the subject, nor conversed with any but such as generally contradicted my views.

But I proceed, and by the aid of Scripture and analogy, hope to demonstrate the true time when the Millennium, so long the subject of the highest hopes of the church militant, shall arrive.

That time has been rightly measured, or reckoned, from the beginning of the world, there are none who can successfully dispute; because the Scriptures are not only the most ancient record of chronology, but they are the most true. It is said by Adam Clark, (see his advertisement before Matthew) that Archbishop Usher has calculated, that Christ was born exactly in the year of the world 4000, to which his own account nearly agrees. See his comment on St. Matthew, 3d chapter, where he states that John the Baptist was born A. M. 3999, and that Christ was born about six months afterwards, which very probably might bring his birth in the year 4000, especially so, if the Baptist was born at any period of that year subsequent to the sixth month. Therefore, I do not hesitate to pub