and fmote the ram, and brake his | two horns; neither was there power in the ram to ftand before him, but he caft him down to the ground and flamped upon him, and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.-The kings of Perfia, Darius and Xerxes, made mighty efforts to fubdue the ftates of Greece. They overran Macedonia and part of Greece, practifing great cruelty upon the inhabitants wherever they came but were finally repelled by the valor of the Greeks. The infults and injuries which they had realized, exceedingly exafperated the Grecians against the Perfians, and they refolved on a Perfian war in the way of retaliation and revenge. ; Such was the occafion of that choler and fury against the ram, which characterises the he goat. The Greeks having raised their forces, chofe Alexander generaliffimo of their army, and this part of the vifion relates immediately to the contests between Alexander, the firft Macedonian king, and Darius Codomanus, the laft Perfian emperor, by which the empire of the Macedonians was founded, and that of the Perfians deftroyed. Permit a paraphrafe including the capital events contained in this vifion by way of explanation. And as I was confidering the prowefs and conquefts of the ram, the Perfians, to my furprise I saw an he goat, the Macedonians, in deep refentment coming forth to wage war upon the Perfians, and Darius preparing to repel them. And I faw the he goat, Alexander, with his 35,000 Macedonians, come clofe to Darius, the ram, and his 180,000 Perfians, and he fmote Darius at the river Granicus. And while Darius raised another army, he divefted him of all his provinces in the leffer Afia. And when Darius returned with his 600,000 Perfians, Alexander came close to him at the ftraits of Iffus in Cilicia, and put his vaft army to flight. And while Darius, having in vain folicited for peace, exerted himfelf to repair his broken fortune, by raifing another army, Alexander curtailed his empire, and extended his conquefts, by taking from him Syria, Palestine, Phoenicia and Egypt; and then fought for Darius, and with his 50,000 men, came close to him, and fmote" his 110,000 Perfians at Arbela in the plains of Affyria, and then took from him Babylon with his royal city Ferfepolis, his palace and his treasures! So the ram, Darius, could not ftand before the he goat, Alexander, but he fmote Darius, and brake his two horns, and caft him down to the ground, and stamped upon him, by conquering and reducing his empire to the moft abject ftate of fubmiffion.-Having thus feen the ram vanquished and fmitten, perhaps a very concife account of him will not be difagreeable. The Medes, one of the horns of the ram, were the defcendants of Madai the fon of Japheth, who planted himfelf on the caft of the Tigris, over against Affyria, from whom the country was called Media, and in procefs of time became a powerful and formidable nation, experiencing the fortune of other nations, fometimes conquering, and at others being overcome, till they became a horn of the ram.-The Perfians, the other horn, originally were called Elamites, and were the pofterity of Elam the fon of Shem, who fettled himself on the eaft of the river Tigris, called in fcripture, Hiddekel, oppofite to Chaldea or Babylon. From him the country was called Elam. In the union of the two kingdoms therefore the prophet | Babylon, &c. on the east; fo, for faw the two arms of the image united in the breaft. Particularly in Cyrus and the Perfian kings, and in their conquefts, he faw the ram with two horns, pufhing weftward, and northward, and fouthward, doing his will and becoming great, till he faw the he goat Alexander, come clofe to him and smite him, and brake his two horns and stamp upon him, Darius Codomanus, 208 years after the empire was founded in Cyrus and 330 years before the glorious appearance of the Son of God, as the Saviour of the world. -Permit the paraphrafe to proceed. the great horn, there ftood up four notable ones towards the four winds of heaven, who governed their refpective dominions with regal authority or power. Thus far the fcriptures themfelves, illuftrated by historical facts, furnifh thofe aids which enable us to give a correct expla nation of the preceding vifion. But the fubfequent parts, being involved in greater obfcurity, have produced a diverfity of expofitions, and each being exhibited with a plaufibility which invites affent, renders it difficult to give one a preference to the other, and conftrains to moderation and diffi. dence in fubmitting opinions, or fuggefting what is fuppofed to be the import of the vifion. After exhibiting the expofitions most generally adopted, each will choose for himself. The great horn being broken in the death of Alexander and the extinction of the royal family; and four notable ones having come up for it, in the divifion of the empire into four kingdoms; the prophet faw, v. 9. a little hora come forth from one of them, which waxed exceeding great toward the fouth, and toward the east, and toward the pleafant land. He faw it wax great toward the hoft of heaven, caft down fome of the hoft and the fars to the ground, and flamp upon them. Yea, he faw him The ram, Darius, being thus smitten, and his two horns broken, the Perfian empire being thus diffolved, the he goat Alexander having conquered the nations of India, became very great, having extended and established the Macedonian empire from the Adriatic in Europe to the Ganges in Afia: And when he was firong, the great born between his eyes was broken. First Alexander died of a fever in Babylon, and then his brother Arideus, called Philip, being placed on the throne in the minority of his fons, was put to death; then his fon Egus, and after him his fon Hercules; and fo the royal family being extinguifhed, the great horn between his eyes was broken: And the governors of the provinces, afpiring after inde-magnify himself even to the prince of pendence and dominion, by their the hoft, take away the daily facrifice emulations, enmities and contefts and caft down the place of the fancbeing deftroyed, until they were tuary. He faw an hoft given him reduced to four, they divided the against the daily facrifice by reafon empire between them. Callander of tranfgreffion. He faw him caft had Macedon and Greece, in the the truth down to the ground, and weft; Lyfimachus had Thrace, practife and profper.-Very briefly. Bithynia, &c. on the north; Ptol- In this little horn, fome very clearemy had Palestine, Egypt, &c. ly fee Antiochus, furnamed Epion the fouth; and Seleucus, Syria, phanes, who became great with a fmall people. They fee him invading and plundering Egypt in the fouth-attacking the Jews in the pleafant land-rifling and prophaning the temple, taking away the daily facrifice, cafting down fome of the hoft and of the ftars to the ground, difplacing the public rulers, civil and religious-cafting down the truth to the ground by fuppreffing the Jewish religion, deftroying the copies of the law, and perfecuting those who would not conform to the religion of the Greeks, with mercilefs feverity, and laftly deftroyed without hand, perifhing by the righteous judgments of God. Concerning this interpretation, however, would not a perfon, not very credulous, be difpofed to inquire, why the prophet, in fuch a fummary manner, fhould comprize the great events pertaining to the Perfian and Macedonian empires, including the calamities of the Jews, contained in a term of almoft 400 years, and yet be fo particular in defcribing the perfecution of Antiochus, which continued but three years and a half ?-And how the anfwer, v. 14. that the vifion fhould be for 2300 days, taken literally more than fix years, can be accommodated to the perfecution of Antiochus ? or how this could be for many days? v. 26. And why the calamities brought upon his people by Antiochus, fhould fo exceedingly affect the prophet, as to difqualify him for public fervice and make him fick certain days, v. 27. when he had witnessed, and they were now realizing, and he fuftaining fo much greater in the deftruction of Jerufalem and the temple, the defolation of the land and the captivity of the nation by Nebuchadnezzar? -And a perfon difpofed to controvert opinions would fay, that to the application of this vifion to Antiochus there were fome obftinate objections, as 1. That it contains a real abfurdity. He would say, that the coming forth of a little horn out of one of the four, made them five, as the springing up of a little horn among the ten, made them eleven. But if this be understood of Antiochus it makes no addition to their number-that as Antiochus, or the kingdom of Syria, was one of the four, to apply this to him, would make him come forth from himfelf.-He would fay, 2. That this interpretation was not fupported by fact. That the vifion reprefents the little horn as waxing exceeding great towards the fouth. That though Antiochus feveral times invaded and plundered Egypt, yet he did not make an abfolute conqueft, fo as to poffefs any part of it,—and was finally driven from it in a manner which very much chagrined and difgraced him.-And toward the eaf, but that Antiochus, or the kingdom of Syria, included all the eastern provinces in Alexander's empire, and he was fo far from waxing exceeding great, or even extending them, in that direction, that they were rather curtailed and diminished, and that he was difgracefully repulfed and wounded in his attempt to plunder the temple in Elymais, in the east.-And toward the pleasant land: That though Antiochus harraffed, plundered and perfecuted the Jews, yet his armies were finally repulfed by the Jews with great flaughter and difgrace, the temple purified and the worship of God reftored, and even his treafures, the spoils of his armies, furnifhed the materials with which the utenfils for the performance of divine fervice were conftructed; information of which being conveyed to him in his eaftern expedition, produced that vexation and refentment which accelerated his death, and he left the kingdom in as diftracted and impoverished a ftate as he found it. That tho' in fome particulars it may agree with Antiochus, yet in general he ftands in contraft with it. Some confider this profanation of the temple and perfecution of the Jews by Antiochus, as typical of the antichriftian corruption and perfecution. Others apply it to the Romans. In the conqueft of Greece and Macedon, they fee the Romans coming forth in the kingdom of Caffander, as a little horn, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark fentences, or fkilful in ruling, as the Romans were, and this in the latter time of the kingdom of the Greeks, v. 23, when the tranfgreffions of the Jewish church were come to the full, in the degeneracy, venality and wickednefs of the nation. They fee the Romans from that western region, extending their conquefts over Syria, Paleftine and Egypt, fo waxing exceeding great toward the fouth and toward the eaft and toward the pleafant land. They fee them waxing great even to the hoft, and cafting down fome of the hoft and of the ftars to the ground, destroying the Jews and difplacing their public rulers. They fee them magnify themfelves even to the prince of the hoft, or the prince of princes, crucify the Lord of life and gloryand take away the daily facrifice, diffolve the Jewish economy, caft down the place of the fanctuary, deftroying the holy city and the temple. They fee them caft the truth down to the ground and deftroy the mighty and the holy people, firft in the Jews and then in the Chriftians, then by the emperors and now by the popes, and lat of all they fee the Romans broken and deftroyed by the ftone cut out of the mountain without hands. The queftion was propofed, How long shall be the vifion, &c.? and it was anfwered, Unto 2300 days, then fall the fanctuary be cleanfed. So extenfive is the term affixed for the continuation of this diftreffing and affecting feene, 2300 days, which prophetically computed are 2300 years. From what period to compute this term, it is very difficult to afcertain. If it will not correspond with the perfecution of the Jews by Antiochus, muft it not be referred to fome other event? If it relates to the troubles of the Jews and their restoration to their own land, and of God's pure and holy worfhip among them; and to the perfecution of the church, and its deliverance from antichriftian corruption, which is, to be expected about the fame time, and about the year 2000, it is to be computed from about the divifion of the Macedonian empire between the four fuccefsful combatants for it, Caffander, Lyfimachus, Ptolemy and Seleucus. As there are no data given, and no period fixed from which we may compute, and as it will be moft clearly ascertained from the completion of the vifion, is it not our wifdom to submit it to divine providence for a demonftrative and fatisfactory explananation? Expofitors have generally interpreted the reprefentation of thefe kingdoms by favage beafts, to fignify their ferocity, and cruelty in perfecuting the people of God. But may not the juftice of this interpretation be doubted? For, 1. The beats were diverfe. one from another. But is not the spirit of perfecution uniformly and invariably the fame fpirit, in whatever nation or individual it exifts? If it be, what need of a diverfity, to reprefent it? But if to reprefent the various genius and character of these conquering and powerful kingdoms, how apt and Atriking the types? 2. Does this interpretation agree with the reprefentation of fcripture? The bear, the Perfians, with an infatiable voracity attacked and fubdued the lion, the Babylonians; and the Macedonians with the courage and fierceness of the leopard, attacked and conquered the bear; and the Romans combining the various nature of the lion, the bear, and the leopard, broke in pieces and devoured not only the Macedonians, and fo virtually the Medes, Perfians and Babylonians, but the whole earth, as with great iron teeth. And is it not affigned as the reason why this kingdom is represented by iron, that as iron breaketh in pieces and fubdueth all things, fo as iron that fubducth all thefe fhall it break in pieces and shall bruife? Is this kingdom reprefented by iron to denote its ftrength | for perfecution or conqueft? If ftrong to break in pieces the preceding kingdoms, is not the idea of perfecution foreign from the view of the fcriptures? 3. Is this interpretation fupported from fact? The people of God, the Jews, it is true fuffered grievously from Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, but did he fubdue and distress them as a perfecutor, or as a conqueror? Did they fuffer more from him than other conquered nations? If it be faid, They did. Had they not given him peculiar and aggravated provocation? He took Jerufalem, made Jehoiakim king, and, exacting tribute of him, left the city in peace. Jehoiakim rebelled against him. He came again, took the city, and made Mattaniah king, requiring him to fwear by God that he would be true and faithful. And to remind him of this facred obligation, changed his name and called him Zedekiah, the oath of the Lord. But Zedekiah was treacherous and rebelled against him. He came again, took the city and rased it, as a bad city, which made infurrection against kings. If they, therefore, fuffered more from him than other nations, did they not procure this feverity of treatment by their perfidy and rebellion? But after this did he distress them? Did they not dwell in peace in the cities of Chaldea? Did not Daniel fit in the gate of the king, as a diftinguished favorite and were not Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego promoted to offices of authority and influence in the province of Babylon? Did not Evelmerodach exalt the throne of Jehoiachin above the throne of the kings that were with him?-and did not Belshazzar fo entirely confign the affairs of the empire to Daniel and his other officers of ftate, that he did not know him when he came before him? Did he perfecute the Jews?-Will Shadrach, Mefhach and Abednego, be produced as martyrs ? but did not the edict by which they fuffered equally extend to idolatrous nations with the Jews? This for the lion.-Cyrus liberated the Jews from captivity, and made a decree for their rebuilding the temple and reftoring the wor fhip of God. The work was embarraffed by the envy and artifices of the Samaritans, Ammonites, and Moabites, Ezra iv. but the decree of Darius, Ezra vi. removed the embarrassments |