the power of death, and, as the first fruits of his conquest, did cast him out of his heavenly place, and deprived him of his ancient privilege of bringing railing accusations against the sons of God.

"And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man-child. And to the woman were given the wings of a great eagle, that she might flee into the wilderness into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth waters as a flood, after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ." The dragon taking his form of seven heads and ten horns, that is, inspiriting the Roman empire, did commence a most savage warfare with the woman, from the moment he was cast out into the earth; which took effect, as we see in the Acts of the Apostles, by imprisonments, bloodsheddings, stonings, banishments, and every form of destructiveness; and thereafter, through the space of two centuries, in ten regular persecutions appointed by imperial edicts over the wide empire. "The earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth." Which being rendered, according to the meaning of the emblems, is, that when the woman had made her retreat to the fastnesses of her faith, the serpent poured out of his mouth peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues, in order to sweep her from her place, or destroy the refuge of her faith. Whereupon the empire encountered these nations, and destroyed that whereby Satan had hoped to prevail, and left the church in her secure place. The event therefore is the encounter of the empire with these nations whom Satan directed against the strong hold of the church; which is one of the most conspicuous events in the history of christendom." So says a late interpreter of prophecy.

The dragon is here called the old serpent, the Devil and Satan; because, no doubt, the spirit which actuated Pagan Rome was this evil spirit, which has always opposed Jesus and his people by whatever agents or means he could control.

THE TEN HORNED BEAST.

"And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a savage beast ascending out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns; and upon. his horns were ten diadems; and on his heads there were names of defamation. And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and its feet were like those of a bear, and its mouth like the mouth of a lion; and the dragon gave him his power, and his throne, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads wounded, as it were to death; and yet its mortal wound was healed. And the whole earth wondered and followed after the wild beast. And they worshipped the dragon, who gave authority to the wild beast, saying, 'Who is like unto the beast? who

can war against him?' And there was given to it a mouth speaking great things, and defamation: and there was given to it power to make war forty-two months. And he opened his mouth to utter defamation against God, to defame his name, and his tubernacle, and those that dwell in heaven. And it was given to him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and there was given to him power over every tribe, and tongue, and nation.

"And all the inhabitants of the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb, who was slain from the foundation of the world. If any one hath an ear to hear, let him hear. If any one lead them into captivity, he shall be led into captivity: if any one slay with the sword, he shall himself be slain with the sword. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints."

Daniel's non-descript fourth beast appears emerging from the seafrom amid the commotions of the people. "The waters which thou sawest are peoples and multitudes." He combines in himself the

attributes of the three former beasts-the lion, the bear, and the leopard; but he appears to have seven heads as well as ten horns. This more ample description presents him in more decisive characters. The identity of these two beasts, that of Daniel, and this of John, both Romanists and Protestants alike admit." In the 17th chapter this savage beast is further characterized and explained, "The seven heads are seven hills" "and there are seven kings." "Kings," in prophecy, is frequently put for kingdoms and forms of government. Of these kings or governments five were fallen, one was when John saw the vision, and the beast itself, of the spirit of the seven, was the eighth. Whether we regard the "five fallen kings," &c. as many commentators have done, as the different forms of government which had obtained among the Roman people before this beast arose; viz. Kings, Consuls, Dictators, Decemvirs, Military Tribunes with consular authority, and the sixth, then existing, Emperors-and that afterwards to arise the semi-imperial; or whether we regard them as some more modern interpreters do, viz. as Assyria, Greece, Egypt, Syria, fallen, Imperial Rome then existing, the seventh the empire of Charlemagne and his German successors, it materially affects not the character of this savage wild beast. Rome was built on seven hills. It was called the City of Seven Mountains, (Septem Dominos Montes,) by a Roman classic writer of good taste. The seven heads are kingdoms or governments existing anterior to the era of the ten horns or kingdoms into which Pagan Rome was divided. The ten kingdoms into which this empire was originally divided before the birth of the little horn, were, Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Naples, Tuscany, Lombardy, Ravenna, and Rome. These lay within the bounds of the Western Roman Empire, the ground occupied in this prophecy. "The ten horns are ten kings which have not yet received their kingdom; but they shall receive authority from the beast as kings for one hour," (contemporaneously.)

*Oros, in the New Testament, signifies both a hill and a mountain. Matth. v. 1. Vide Parkhurst. Martial Ep. 64, 1. 4.

The seven heads were successive. The ten kings were all to appear together-not rising at the same instant of time, but appearing at one and the same time upon the stage; for the words mian horan mean "in the same era. To put these symbols together the beast having seven heads and ten horns is the Pagan Roman Empire which rose out of the ruins of the Grecian. It had seven successive forms of government-Kings, Consuls, Decemvirs, Military Tribunes with consular authority, Triumvirs, Emperors reigning in succession and Emperors reigning at the same time. These were all Pagan.

After the irruptions of the northern nations, it was subdivided into ten kingdoms. These were professedly christian, but so much in reality Pagan, that it was old Pagan Rome arisen in a new form, and having its throne of empire upon the same seven hills. It finally became Papal. But let it be observed that it is the custom of these historical prophets to give a full representation of an object in all its various characters, though these do not all appear at one and the same time. Thus this beast had not always the same ten horns, either in number or kind; but it once, nay, several times, appeared in this form.

THE TWO HORNED BEAST.

"And I saw another beast ascending out of the earth, and it had two horns like a lamb; but it spake like a dragon. And it exerciseth all the power of the first beast, in its presence; and it maketh the earth, and those that dwell in it, to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great miracles, so as to make fire come down from heaven to earth before men: and he deceiveth the inhabitants of the earth by the signs which it is given him to do before the beast; commanding the inhabitants of the earth to make an image of the beast that had the wound of the sword and lived. And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast might speak, and cause as many as will not worship the image of the beast to be put to death. And he causeth all both small and great, rich and poor, freemen and slaves, to receive the mark on their right hand, or their foreheads. And that no one should be able to buy or sell, but one who has the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom: let him who has understanding compute the number of the beast; for it is the number of a man, and his number is six hundred and sixty-six."

Joseph Mede, who wrote 200 years ago, and Craddock and Durham, of 1660, and a host as powerful and as numerous as that which concur in calling the ten horned beast the secular beast, agree in calling this the ecclesiastical beast, Rome secular and Rome ecclesiastical are described by these two beasts. This rose not from the four winds striving upon the sea, nor did it come out of the political cabals of peoples and nations, but out of the earth; the corrupted antichristian part of mankind. This arose in a time of tranquility, and appeared like a lamb, emblem of the Christian King, but it spoke like a savage, like a dragon. The two horns are emblematical of the power of the corrupted priesthood, whether Papal or Protestant,

Claiming both secular and spiritual power; for it exercised all the power of the first beast. It brought fire down from heaven in the sight of men, emblem of its raging persecutions. It constrained the meaner or secular government to execute its bloody decrées; and by its great power deceived the ten nations. In establishing the Inquisition the secular beast granted the ecclesiastical beast an image of itself-full power to make and execute decrees involving all the rights of men-taking away life, liberty, property, and all that is

dear to man.

This two horned beast is described by John in another part of the prophecy under the character of the pseudo-teacher, or false prophet. The beast and the false prophet are three times mentioned by John, and in such connexion as to show that he stands for this two horned beast. Rev. xvi. 13. xix. 30. and xx. 10. He is represented as working signs before the beast, deceiving mankind to receive the mark of the beast, and to worship his image; and they are both partakers of the same dire fortunes. The corrupt teachers of christianity are described as bringing mankind into the most passive obedience to the ten horned beast. By their ecclesiastical decrees they permitted no man to buy or sell, to trade in their merchandize save he that had the mark, either the name of the beast, or the number of his name. He must either be enrolled as a professed admirer of the Papacy, or have what is equivalent to it, a veneration for the same sort of ecclesiastic authority. According to some this antichristian power did not attain to mankind until 666 years after the papacy was born; and they, dating the papacy in the time of Justinian, A. D. 533, and adding to this the number 666, bring the consummation of this power to the year 1199 or 1198, the year in which the Inquisition was established. But however this may be, it is certain that this two horned beast had power to give life to the image of the beast, and to cause the great mass of mankind to fall down and worship the beast and to succumb to its authority.

Such are the most current views of these prophetic symbols found in the learned labors of the interpreters. To every particular item of which it is not necessary for us to accede to understand this promiment group of emblematical personages. We, however, feel authorized, from all the premises, to express a concurrence so far as this: Rome, in its Pagan form, as respects its aspect to christianity, stands before us portrayed in the symbol of the Red Dragon with seven crowned heads and ten horns. Rome, in its Papal form, stands before us in bold relief, in the symbol of the Savage Beast which arose out of the sea, having seven heads and ten crowned horns. The Papacy itself and all the clerical dynasties, Protestant and Papistical, are pictured out under the symbol of the two horned beast which arose out of the earth. The church, in its Christian character, is beautifully depicted by the woman in heaven clothed with the sun, having the moon under her feet, and a diadem on her head, decorated with twelve stars. Concerning other prominent symbols in the historic prophecies, and concerning other attributes of these, more will appear in the sequel. EDITOR.

DIALOGUE ON RE-IMMERSION.

It is

"IN the dialogue between Alexander and Rufus, Alexander says to Rufus, "One thing I wish you to reflect upon till next we meet. this: "Baptism cannot be repeated unless in its full sense;" but Alexander did not say what he considered its full sense to be.

Allow Matthias, in the absence of Rufus to call Alexander's attention to the only case of re-baptism, recorded Acts xix. Paul came to Ephesus and found certain disciples (not sinners,) therefore they were not re-baptized to make them disciples, nor for the remission of their sins, (for John's baptism was for remission of sins, and they had previously received that.) He said unto them, Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed? They answered, We have not so much as learned whether there be any Holy Spirit.

For what purpose, then, were you baptized? (This knowledge you ought to have been in possession of at that time.)

We were baptized with John's baptism. The Holy Spirit was not given in John's day; but under the reign of Jesus Christ the believers receive it after they have been baptized in his name. When they heard this they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus; after which they received the Holy Spirit (by the imposition of the Apostle's hands.) Here, then, is a case of re-baptism for the Holy Spirit separately, and the subjects of it were disciples; and the necessity for repeating baptism was their want of knowledge relative to the Holy Spirit at the time of their first baptism."

Alexander.-IN the absence of Rufus, I will, with pleasure, consider any thing you have to advance on that proposition. The case you have adduced is a very interesting one on more accounts than that in your eye.

Matthias.-I think it is the only unequivocal case of re-immersion in the apostolic writings; and certainly every thing connected with it ought to be fully understood.

A. The perversity of system has even questioned the certainty of this case of re-immersion. The learned Dr. Gill, and some others of reputation amongst the Baptists, have attempted, in defiance of all grammatical and logical rules, to explain away this part of Luke's narrative: for I need not tell you that it is Luke who reports that "when they heard Paul say this, they were immersed into the name of the Lord Jesus."

M. You, I believe, have always contended that these men were rebaptized.

A. I took that view of the narrative in my debate with Mr. M'Calla, and have never seen any reason to question its propriety. But let me ask you, have you ever reflected upon the period of time which transpired between their receiving John's immersion and Christian immersion?

M. No: I have never regarded that as a matter of any consequence. Of what importance is it to our purpose?