final triumphs of Christianity.

Its advocates are not a

sect distinct from others, but their tenet prevails in a less or greater degree throughout almost every department of the religious world.

MILLENARIANS.

THE Millenarians are those who believe that Christ will reign personally on earth for a thousand years; and their name, taken from the Latin, mille, a thousand, has a direct allusion to the duration of the spiritual empire. "The doctrine of the Millennium, or a future paradisaical state of the earth, (says a monthly reviewer,) is not of Christian, but of Jewish origin. The tradition is attributed to Elijah, which fixes the duration of the world, in its present imperfect condition, to six thousand years, and announces the approach of a sabbath of a thousand years of universal peace and plenty, to be ushered in by the glorious advent of the Messiah! This idea may be traced in the epistle of Barnabas, and in the opinions of Papias, who knew of no written testimony in its behalf. It was adopted by the Author of the Revelation, by Justin Martyr, by Irenæus, and by a long succession of the Fathers. As the theory is animating and consolatory, and, when divested of cabalistic numbers and allegorical decorations, probable even in the eye of philosophy, it will no It is redoubt always retain a number of adherents." markable, that Druidism, the religion of the first inhabitants of this island, had a reference to the progressive melioration of the human species, as is amply shown in an incomparable "Essay on Druidism," prefixed to Richard's Welsh Nonconformist Memorial, or Cambro-Brit

ish Biography."

But as the Millennium has, for these few years past, attracted the attention of the public, we shall enter into a short detail of it.

Mr. Joseph Mede, Dr. Gill, Bishop Newton, and Mr. Winchester, contend for the personal reign of Christ on earth. To use that prelate's own words, in his "Dissertations on the Prophecies :-" When these great events

shall come to pass, of which we collect from the prophecies, this is to be the proper order: the Protestant witnesses shall be greatly exalted, and the 1260 years of their prophesying in sackcloth, and of the tyranny of the beast, shall end together; the conversion and restoration of the Jews succeed; then follows the ruin of the Othman empire; and then the total destruction of Rome and of Antichrtst-when these great events, I say, shall come to pass, then shall the kingdom of Christ commence or the reign of the saints upon earth. So Daniel expressly informs us, that the kingdom of Christ and the saints will be raised upon the ruins of the kingdom of Antichrist, vii. 26, 27. 'But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end: and the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and all dominions shall serve and obey him.' So likewise St. John saith, that, upon the final destruction of the beast and the false prophet, Rev. xx., 'Satan is bound for a thousand years; and I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them; and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus. Christ and for the word of God; which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image; neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands, and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again, until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection., It is, I concieve, to these great events, the fall of Antichrist, the re-establishment of the Jews, and the beginning of the glorious Millennium, that the three different dates in Daniel of 1260 years, 1290 years and 1335 years are to be referred.-And as Daniel saith, xii. 12, 'Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the 1335 years; so St. John saith, xx. 6, 'Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection.' Blessed and happy indeed will be this period; and it is very observable, that the martyrs and confessors of Jesus, in Papist

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as well as Pagan times, will be raised to partake of this felicity. Then shall all those gracious promises in the Old Testament be fulfilled-of the the amplitude and extent, of the peace and prosperity, of the glory and happiness of the church in the latter days. Then,' in the full sense of the words, Rev. xi. 15, Shall the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever.' According to tradition,* these thousand years of the reign of Christ and the saints, will be the seventh Millenary of the world for as God created the world in six days, and rested on the seventh; so the world, it is argued, will continue six thousand years, and the seventh thousand will be the great Sabbatism, or holy rest to the people of God. One day (2 Pet. iii. 8.) being with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.' According to tradition too, these thousand years of the reign of Christ and the saints, are the great day of judgment, in the morning or beginning whereof, shall be the coming of Christ in a flaming fire, and the particular judgment of Antichrist and the first resurrection; and in the evening or conclusion whereof shall be the general resurrection of the dead, small and great; and they shall be judged, every man, according to their works!'"

This is a just representation of the Millennium, according to the common opinion entertained of it, that Christ will reign personally on earth during the period of one thousand years! But Dr. Whitby, in a dissertation on the subject, Dr. Priestley, in his "Institutes of Religion," and the author of the "Illustrations of Prophecy," contend against the literal interpretation of the Millennium, both as to its nature and its duration. On such a topic, however, we cannot suggest our opinions with too great a degree of modesty.

Mr. Winchester, in his "Lectures on the prophecies," freely indulges his imaginination on this curious subject. He suggests, (as has been already mentioned) that the large rivers in America are all on the eastern side, that

* See Burnet's Theory.

the Jews may waft themselves the more easily down to the Atlantic, and then across that vast ocean to the Holy Land; that Christ will appear at the equinoxes (either March or September) when the days and nights are equal all over the globe; and finally, that the body of Christ will be luminous, and being suspended in the air over the equator for twenty-four hours, will be seen with circumstances of peculiar glory, from pole to pole, by all the inhabitants of the world!

Dr. Priestley (entertaining an exalted idea of the advantages to which our nature may be destined treats the limitation of the duration of the world to seven thousand years as a Rabbinical fable; and intimates that the thousand years may be interpreted prophetically: then every day would signify a year, and the Millennium would last for three hundred and sixty-five thousand years! Again he supposes that there will be no resurrection of any individuals till the general resurrection; and that the Millennium implies only the revival of religion. This opinion is indeed to be found in his "Institutes," published many years ago; but latterly he has inclined to the personal reign of Christ. See his "Farewell Sermon," preached at Hackney, previous to his emigration to America. The Author of the "Illustrations of Prophecy" contends, that in the period commonly called the Millennium, a melioration of the human race will take place, by natural means, throughout the world. For his reasons, we refer to the work itself, where will be found an animated sketch of that period, when an end shall be put to many of the calamities now prevalent on the globe!

The late Dr. Bogue published a "Series of Discourses" on the Millennium, well worth attention.

The Reverend Edward Irving, the celebrated Caledonian orator, has also published two small volumes on prophecy, in which he contends for a Millennium involving the personal reign of Christ on earth. Its commencement he dates in 1866-that is, thirty-nine years hence. The Younger portion of the present generation may witness the arrival of this august era-which it has been hitherto thought would be reserved to bless the eyes and

gratify the longing expectations of the saints, down to the latest posterity.

However the Millenarians may differ among themselves respecting the nature of this great event, it is agreed on all hands, that such a revolution will be affected in the latter days, by which vice and its attendant misery shall be banished from the earth; thus completely forgetting all those dissensions and animosities by which the religious world hath been agitated, and terminating the grand drama of Providence with universal felicity. We are not unmindful of the prophetic language of Isaiah, chap. xlix. 22, 23,-together with a sublime passage from the Book of the Revelations, chap. xi. 15, with which the canon of Scripture concludes-Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people. And Kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their Queens thy nursing mothers, (they shall become good themselves, and be the protectors of religion and liberty,) and thou shalt know that I am the Lord, for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me. And the seventh Angel sounded, and there were great voices in Heaven, saying,-The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever.

These are the divisions of human opinions, which characterize the more popular departments of the religious world. I have endeavoured to delineate them with accuracy and brevity. Each system boasts of admirers, and professes to have its peculiar arguments and tendencies. To a thoughtful mind they exhibit a melancholy picture of the human understanding, misguided through passion, and warped with prejudice. In drawing out the motley catalogue, several cursory reflections arose in my mind. A few only, such as may operate as a persuasive to religious moderation, shall be submitted to the reader's attention.

The execrable spirit of bigotry is indeed abating among all parties, and the professors of Jesus are becoming more intent on the great essentials of Christian