were defeated. Gibraltar was besieged in vain. But in another seven years' war, the Americans, after an arduous contest, maintained their independence; the troops of Cornwallis surrendered, as prisoners of war, to the French and Americans commanded by Washington, and in 1782 the American war was ended. If a jewel fell from the crown of Britannia, it soon glittered on the brow of the best child of her hope,―her eldest daughter. * And though the benefits of war be often looked for in vain, yet the blessings of the Reformation, after which the first of the seven thunders began, may yet be seen, half a century after the conclusion of the last of them, by looking to America alone, in the striking contrast between its Northern and Southern States, and the opposite effects that have followed their respective independence. The book that was held in the angel's hand is open in the one region, and shut in the other. But lately there were only three Bibles in Lima, the capital of one of the States of South America; while in one of the States in the North three houses could scarcely be found in which a Bible is wanting.

And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth, lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time (delay) no longer: But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets,-ver. 5, 6, 7. Express reference seems here to be made to that which, in a manner exactly similar, was declared unto Daniel, as we read in the close of his prophecies. "But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, even

* A jewel fell from the crown on the coronation of George III. It has been named America.

to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river. And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the rivers, How long (shall it be) to the end of these wonders? And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, that (it shall be) for a time, times, and an half ; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. And I looked, but I understood not: then said I, what (shall be) the end of these things? And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand. And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. But go thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days,”—Dan. xii. 4-13.

In the Book of Daniel and of the Revelation it is thus apparent that events on earth were to succeed the period, concerning which the angel, in lifting up his hand to heaven, sware that time shall be no more, —or as the words may be rendered, there shall be no more delay. As declared unto Daniel, the express time is conjoined with the time, times, and half a time, the exact period, as defined in the same words, during which the saints of the Most High would be

given into the hand of the papal power,-Dan. vii. 25. In reference to these times, with which the solemn angelic asseveration is conjoined, there should then be time no more. The point in history where they were to terminate, seems in like manner to be fixed as subsequent, without a long intervening delay, to the close of the seven thunders.

Each event, in prophecy as in history, throughout a long range of time, naturally leads, as the forerunner, to that which follows it. Thus we may trace

the connexion between the Persian and Grecian empires, and the last remains of the Grecian, in Syria and Egypt, with the introduction of the Roman. The Vandals were united with the Goths in the first storm that fell upon the western empire. The Huns leagued with the Vandals, and the confederacy of Italy, which was formed where Attila fell, subverted the empire of Rome. The exaltation of the papacy on the ruins of imperial Rome, brought down the first woe on idolatrous Christendom; Mahometanism arose at the time when transgressors came to the full. And, uniting the second to the first, the caliph girded the sultan with the sword. The Reformation was the descent of an angel from heaven, and took not its rise from any earthly commotions, yet it came at the time when corruption was full, and when the rest of Europe, that was not hurt by them, would not learn repentance from woes.

The same natural sequence is marked in the history of the thunders as in that of the trumpets and woes. And in like manner, the last of the thunders was the first of the revolutionary wars, and introduced a new era into the world. Trumpets had sounded over the Roman empire; and the voice of the last was the requiem of imperial Rome. The progress of the first woe, and the preparation of the second, when that time was fully come, dissolved the eastern em

more

pire, and turned the city of Constantine into the metropolis of Mahometanism. The seven thunders successively shook the mighty fabric of Catholicism; and when these had ended-there was to be time no —the period was drawn to a close, and about to be fulfilled, when the saints should no longer be given into the hands of an idolatrous and persecuting church-but the sounding of the seventh trumpet was announced, and the time was come when the judgment was to sit, the last vials to be poured out, and the papal kingdom to be consumed and destroyed unto the end. But no definition of the length of the time is here given; that is otherwise repeatedly told. Yet the connexion, in regard to civil history, seems to be marked between the expiry of the thunders, and, when the time of papal dominancy would be no more, the outpouring of the seven last vials of the wrath of God. It is the succession of events that has here to be regarded, and the time of passing from one series of wars to another, yet more momentous and appalling. We are brought to the brink of the French revolution, and may not be far from that point of vision in the march of time where the judgments of God are manifest. In the days of the voice of the seventh angel when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God shall be finished, as he hath declared unto his servants the prophets.

And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me AGAIN, and said, go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel, which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my

belly was bitter. And he said unto me, Thou must prophecy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.-Ver. 8, &c.

The voice of the angel who commanded John to seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and to write them not, spake unto him again, and told him to take the little book. The angel who held it commanded him to eat it up. Ezekiel was enjoined by an angel to eat a roll or book, who said unto him also, All the words that I shall speak unto thee, receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ear,Ezek. iii, 1, 10. "Thy words were found," says Jeremiah, (xv. 16,) " and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart." John was commanded not to write; but it was given unto him to see and understand the vision. By his own word, recorded in scripture, we know that he was a man who had no greater joy than to hear that his children walked in truth. And it was as honey in his mouth to know, that after an age of darkness, the truths of the gospel would again be proclaimed, and the scriptures be open to the world. But the message that he had heard from the beginning was, that we should love one another. His epistles teem with Christian charity, in a manner which shows the spirit of the man, who bore the testimony of Jesus. And though, when he tasted the good word of God, and knew the meaning of the descent of the angel from heaven, it was sweet to his heart as honey in the mouth; yet, whenever he knew the ungodly rancour to which, from the wickedness of men, the Reformation would give birth, the murderous wars that would ensue, and the fierce animosity and "mutual barbarities" which even protestant historians cannot record without sorrow, grief soon succeeded to his joy; and as soon as he had eaten or understood it, his belly was bitter, his heart was afflicted. The cause of pro