was 666; which, beginning 158 years B. C., would end the beast's reign A. D. 508, having reigned but a short time, (one hour, says John,) with the ten kings. We have now gone through with the angel Gabriel's second part of the history, as we promised.

I shall now go on with the illustration of the third part of his prophetic history, which is the history of the image beast, the deadly wound healed, or what Daniel calls "the abomination that maketh desolate." This beast would rule over the kings of the earth, and tread the church of God under foot forty-two months, or time, times, and a half, which is twelve hundred and sixty years, in common time, or, as the angel tells us in Daniel xii. 11, from the taking away the daily abomination to set up the abomination that maketh desolate, should be a thousand two hundred and ninety days, showing a difference of thirty years from the statement of the actual reign of the image beast and the other, which includes all the time from taking away down through the setting up or reign of the image beast. Therefore, to reconcile these two statements, we must conclude there were 30 years from A. D. 508, when Paganism ceased, before the image beast, or Papal Rome, would begin her reign. If this is correct, then the 1290 began 508, and would end us in 1798. But the reign of Papacy would not be set up until A. D. 538, and would end us in the same year, A. D. 1798, being 1260. This, then, is the history the angel will give us next. 32, "And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall be corrupted by flatterers; but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits." The ecclesiastical historians tell us that in the beginning of the sixth century, about A. D. 538, a number of writers in that day undertook to prove that the Papal chair, together with councils of his approval, were infallible, and their laws were binding on the whole church. These writers were highly honored and flattered with promotion by the reigning powers; while on the other hand there were many who opposed this power of the Pope and clergy, who were denounced as schismatics and Arians, and driven out of the kingdoms under the control of the Romish

church. 33, "And they that understand among the people shall instruct many; yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil many days." Those who instructed the common people, and opposed the worshipping of images, the infallibility of the Pope and councils, the canonizing of departed saints, were persecuted by the civil power, (the sword,) were burned by order of the ecclesiastical courts established by the laws of Justinian, emperor of Constantinople, whose code of laws, published about A. D. 534, gave unto the bishop of Rome power to establish courts for this purpose, and many in the sixth century and subsequent down to a late period, "many days," suffered death, imprisonment, and confiscation of goods, in consequence of a difference of opinion in matters of religion, by the tyranny of this abomination, "the bloody city which has reigned over the kings of the earth." 34, "Now, when they shall fall, they shall be helped with a little help; but many shall cleave to them with flatteries." This text agrees with one in Revelation xii. 16, "And the earth helped the woman." "But many shall cleave to them;" that is, many men of the world would cleave to them, and professedly would flatter the true people of God that they were friendly at least to them, and by these means Satan carried on his wars against the children of God. 35, " And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge and to make them white, even to the time of the end, because it is yet for a time appointed." This verse shows us that even Christians would be led into some of the errors of Papacy, and would be tried and purged, even to the end of this image beast's reign, which time is appointed, as I have already shown, to be "time, times, and a half,” 1260 years, ending A. D. 1798. 36, "And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished, for that that is determined shall be done." The king here spoken of is the same as Daniel's little horn, which came up among the ten horns. It it the same that blasphemed the God of

heaven. It is mystical Babylon. Isa. xiv. 12-15; Rev. xiii. 5, 6. The same Paul has described in his Epistle, 2 Thess. ii. 1--9; the same image beast which we have been examining the history of; and one thing is evident, that this beast will continue until the day that God pours out his indignation upon a guilty world in some form or other. 37," Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall magnify himself above all." In this passage we have a plain description of Papacy; they do not worship the same gods the Pagans did "their fathers." And their clergy are forbidden to marry; the Pope calls himself the vicegerent of God, or God on earth, having the keys of heaven, &c. 38, "But in his estate shall he honor the god of forces; and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honor with gold, and silver, and precious stones, and pleasant things." It is true that the Pope, for ages past, has had large armies at his command, and always a body-guard to attend him in his capital; also, that they adorn their pictures with gold, and silver, and precious stones, and pleasant things, and that the gods they worship, such as the images of Christ, apostles, and Virgin Mary, and canonized saints, were not known to Pagan worshippers. 39,"Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory; and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain."

These patron saints, which the Pope divided among the several nations of the earth, and in almost every family, each one having their patron saint to rule over them, by the appointment of the Pope, were strange gods indeed; and rational beings might truly wonder when they beheld the power of this last abomination over the minds and judgments of mankind. And then, again, to see the number of kingdoms, provinces, states, and territories, which the Pope has sold to enrich his coffers, without any more right or title to them than we have to the land in the moon, must convince every one that the description given must apply to the church of Rome or

the Pope, who claims to exercise this great authority by his crazy title to St. Peter's chair.

We have now arrived to the end of the third division of the angel's history; for the next verse tells us, “and at the time of the end," meaning the end of his power, to tread on the church by his civil authority, or reign over the kings of the earth, and to dispose of lands for gain. I have brought you down, my kind hearer, through a long prophetic history of more than 2200 years, and landed you to the year A. D. 1798, when the Pope of Rome lost his civil power. In the beginning of the year 1798, on the 15th of February, a French general, Berthier, entered Rome with a French army without resistance, deposed the Pope, abolished the Papal_government, and erected the republic of Italy. The Pope, being taken prisoner, was carried a prisoner by them first to Sienna in Tuscany, from thence to Florence, afterwards to Grenoble, and then to Valence, in France, where he died on the 19th of August, 1799, since which time the Pope of Rome has exercised no more of his former power over any of the kings in Europe, or the Protestant church. We shall now close our lecture on this history for the present, reserving the remainder of Gabriel's interesting history for another lecture.

LECTURE VII.

DANIEL xii. 8.

And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?

PREVIOUS to Daniel's asking the question contained in our text, he had been taught, as we have seen in our former lecture, not only the history of future events as they would succeed each other down to the end of the world, but he had the regular order of time specified in the duration of the little horn, "time, times, and a half," as in Daniel vii. 25, and xii. 7. But he had been informed of many events which should transpire after his "time, times, and a half" should be finished, and not having the length of the Pagan beast, or daily abomination, given to him at all, he could not tell or understand whereabouts in his grand number of 2300 days, the end of the civil power of the little horn, or Papal Rome, carried him: there was no rule given Daniel yet by which he could tell when or how long after the crucifixion of the Messiah before the daily sacrifice abomination would be taken out of the way, and the power of the little horn be established, and the abomination of desolation set up. Be sure, Daniel had heard the whole history down to the resurrection, and had the whole vision specified in his 2300 days. But as he saw there were evidently three divisions of the time after the crucifixion or cutting off of the Messiah at the fulfilment of his 490 years, or 70 weeks, down to the end of his 1810 years, which would be the remainder of his total number of 2300 years, after his 70 weeks should be fulfilled;