wonder in heaven, and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns; and his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth; and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days," Rev. xii. 3, 4, 6. Hence it appears that a general falling away from Christ in the Roman empire paved the way for this son of perdition; and upon that he appeared, and the doctrines of devils soon broke loose from him, with which he drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth. These stars were ministers, who had some light in the head, but no love to Christ in the heart. The devil drew these from their standing by his own tail: "The ancient and honourable he is the head, and the prophet that teacheth lies he is the tail." And now the whole world wondered after the beast. The whole Roman empire became now, in the general, apostates from Christ; the stars fell from their orbits, and united to this universal bishop; and those that wondered after him followed him; and this mystical body of apostates, that joined themselves to this new head of the church, the pope, make up the mystical body of the beast, which is to continue for a time, times, and a half; throughout which period Daniel's eye pursued him, till he saw the end of him: "I beheld then, because of the voice of the great words which the

horn spake: I beheld till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame," Dan. vii. 11. Hence it appears that, when the title of universal bishop took place, then the man of sin was revealed; which was, as most agree, in the year 606: then Daniel's time, times, and a half, began. Then the woman saw him, bore her testimony against him, and fled from him; for it was the world that wondered after the beast, not the church, for she is not of this world, even as Christ is not of this world.

Now let us see what becomes of her and where she goes. She fled into the wilderness, just as the Israelites did from the face of Pharaoh, called a river dragon, Ezek. xxxix. 3, into obscurity. The church existed for a while in private families, and after that in different corners of the earth: and this place was prepared of God to hide her in; and since that time God hath prepared more public places for her, and hath raised up some earthly princes to be of her, and to protect her, that her ministers might feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days; that is, a thousand two hundred and threescore years, which number of years appears to be exactly the same as Daniel's time, times, and a half. So that the woman shall live in the wilderness as long as Antichrist lives on the throne; yea, she shall outlive him, and rise to reign upon his ruin.

During the above time Zion is to be fed; for

so it is written: "And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days clothed in sackcloth," Rev. xi 3. But, towards the conclusion of this 1260 years, Daniel's time of trouble is to come on; and so it follows: "And, when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them and kill them. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. And they of the people, and kindreds, and tongues, and nations, shall see their dead bodies three days and a half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put into graves," Rev. xi. 7-9. By their not being buried, it seems as if they would be banished from the seat of the church, and so become dead to those that used to be fed by them; and by their lying in the street of the great city, it looks as if they were reserved to make sport for the beast, as Samson did for the Philistines: and so it follows; "And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and send gifts one to another. And, after three days and a half, the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet, and great fear fell upon them which saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven, saying unto them, Come up hither, And they ascended up to heaven in a

cloud, and their enemies beheld them." By this we see the glorious rise of the church, which is called heaven; and the rise of the witnesses, which is said to be in a cloud: by which it seems that the number of them will be greatly increased, as Paul says, "We are compassed about with a great cloud of witnesses," and these will not be wells without water, or clouds without rain, as thousands now are; but clouds full of rain, by whom Christ will come down as rain upon the mown grass, and as showers that water the earth.

This slaughter of the witnesses is the time of trouble before us, to which we are hastening apace; and, look which way you will, it appears. The son of perdition was revealed in the year 606, according to the best accounts, and one thousand two hundred and sixty years, or forty-two months, is all the time that he is to continue; which makes it plain that the longest time that this hireling hath to accomplish his days cannot exceed 1866, or 1870. And, if the eastern way of reckoning years, which was shorter than ours, is meant, then the account may be shorter: but that I must leave to the wonderful calculator.

This is a dark and cloudy day, which Zion hath to meet with next, and the shadows of the evening are stretched out already. The Arminians, as I have shewed, are on the very basis of popery; and the outer court, which appears

to me to be the bastard Calvinists, who hold the truth in unrighteousness, (for these are the nearest of any to the church, or to the inner court,) these are going, nay are already gone, over to the Arminians; they have formerly waged war with them, and opposed their tenets, but now they have sent an ambassage, and desired conditions of peace, Luke xiv. 32. And some there are who detest this, and exclaim against it, who at the same time have drunk into the very murdering spirit of popery, and are in the same bond of iniquity with them that are now killing the protestants in Ireland; these are gone over in spirit to the whore of Babylon; and go over they must and shall, even every one but the elect of God; for so it is written: "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world," Rev. xiii. 8. But wo, wo, wo, be to all such! And so says truth itself; "And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in the forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb."

In the last number of the Evangelical Maga