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bosom of the church, and intercept her approach to the infidels.

"Hence it is easy to conceive the state of anguish into which our soul is plunged day and night, as we, being charged with the superintendence of the whole fold of Jesus Christ, and the care of all the churches, must give account for his sheep to the Divine Prince of Pastors. And we have thought fit, Venerable Brethren, to recall to your minds by our present letter the causes of those troubles which are common to us and you, that you may more attentively consider how important it is to the church, that all holy priests should endeavor, with redoubled zeal, and with united labors, and with every kind of efforts, to repel the attacks of the raging foes of religion, to turn back their weapons, and to forewarn and fortify the subtle blandishments which they often use. This, as you know, we have been careful to do at every opportunity; nor shall we cease to do it; as we also are not ignorant that you have always done it hitherto, and confidently trust that you will do hereafter with still more earnest zeal.

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"Given at Rome, at St. Mary the Greater, on the 18th of the Kalends of September, of the year 1840, the tenth of our pontificate.

Gregory XVI. Pope."

You see what is to come next after the fall of the "little horn."

Now let us see whereabouts we are in the prophetic chain. Have we passed the "Lion ”—Babylon? Yes. Have we gone by the "Bear with three ribs in his mouth?" Yes. Has the sign of the "Leopard with four wings of a fowl and four heads" been passed? It has. The "dreadful and terrible beast, with ten horns,”has he been seen? Yes. Have we got past the "little horn" having 66 eyes like the eyes of a man?" among the things numbered with the past. How far beyond it are we? Forty-five years, nearly. What comes next? The Judgment, followed by the ever

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lasting kingdom of God. How far off is that? That question I shall answer, hereafter, definitely. But one thing is certain; it cannot be at a great distance. It is the next prophetic event. Awake, ye slum bering virgins! "Behold the Bridegroom cometh go ye out to meet him." No time to sleep now. The seventh angel is preparing to sound. "Awake, ye dead!" will soon thunder through the skies, Happy day to those that are waiting. Awful day to those who are saying "My Lord delayeth his coming." Awake—AWAKE!!!

Exposition of Daniel, 8th Chapter;

or,

THE VISION OF THE RAM, HE-GOAT, AND EXCEEDING GREAT HORN.

by geo. storrs.

I have already remarked, elsewhere, that our Heavenly Father employs various figures and representations, to enforce the same truths, to make the deeper impression on our minds. Thus the dream of Pharaoh, Genesis xli. 1—7, was doubled to him, thereby making the stronger impression on his spirit. In the vision of

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Peter, Acts x. 9—16, the "sheet was let down to the earth," and the voice three times calls upon him to "rise, kill and eat;" and as many times tells him, "What God has cleansed, that call not thou common." Thus God enforces important truths by a repetition. This was the case in the visions of Daniel. We have already seen that the vision of the seventh chapter was like that of the second, with, however, additional circumstances, viz., the sitting of the judgment, and the "little horn." In the last chapter, then, while the same truths are brought to light as in the second, we have some additional information: so, we may see the same principle carried forward in the chapter before us.

Verses 2—4. "And I saw in a vision; (and it came to pass, when I saw, that I was at Shushan, in the palace, which is in the province of Elam ;) and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river Ulai. Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns; and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last. I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great.'

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The angel informs Daniel, at the 20th verse, "The ram which thou sawest, having two horns, are the kings [kingdoms] of Media and Persia." Thus it exactly agrees with, or is like the "breast and arms" of the image, chapter ii., and the "bear" in the seventh chapter. Daniel sees nothing of Babylon in this vision: that was now passing away; and his attention was particularly called to the "ram pushing." It would seem that that circumstance was to mark the commencement of the vision.

Verses 5—8. "And as I was considering, behold, a he-goat came from the west, on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes. And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power. And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns; and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him; and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand. Therefore, the he-goat waxed very great; and when he was strong the great horn was broken; and for it, came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven."

The angel explains this, verses 21 and 22. "And the rough goat is the king [kingdom] of Grecia; and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first

king;" not Alexander merely, as some suppose, for Alexander was not strictly the first king; but he belonged to the kingdom in its undivided state, or to the first part of the kingdom of Grecia. The great horn, then, I consider as a representation of Grecia while it was united in one, which union continued some years after Alexander's death, say fifteen or twenty, when his brother and two sons, who succeeded him, at least nominally, were murdered, and the kingdom was divided, as indicated at verse 22.—" Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms [not kings, as some try to make us think] shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power," [not in the power of Grecia united.]

Alexander conquered a part of Europe and all Asia in the short space of about twelve years; and the kingdom under him may well be represented as running in the "fury" of its power, and "touching not the ground." With an army of not more than thirty thousand, he overthrew Darius, king of Persia, who had six hundred thousand, and thus "brake his two horns," or overthrew the Medo-Persian kingdom: then Grecia became a kingdom of universal empire. Alexander dies, and within twenty years after, four kingdoms come up in Grecia, viz., Macedonia, Thrace, Syria, and Egypt.

Thus we see, the vision is like the "leopard" of the previous vision, and the "brass" division of the image. The evidence thus far is so clear that this vision is

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like the two previous ones, that some of our opponents have admitted that the angel has clearly shown us so; but one of our opponents, when he has arrived at this point, says " Here the heavenly messenger leaves us." I do not wonder he thought so; for he then goes on to apply the horn that "waxed exceeding great" to little Antiochus. It would seem that author recorded one truth. It appears clear, to my mind, that the heavenly messenger left him, but he did not leave Daniel till he made him understand the vision. Let us now proceed to, and examine this point.

Verses 9—12. "And out of one of them came forth

a little horn, which waxed exceeding great toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land. And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them. Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. And a host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered."

The angel explains these verses thus—

Verses 23—25. "And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand."

Now, the question arises, who, or what power is here brought to view?

So far as I know, there are but three opinions. The first is, that it is Antiochus Epiphanes, one of the kings of Syria. The second is, that it is Mahomedanism; and the third, that it is Rome, Pagan and Papal. Each of these I shall examine.

I. Mahomedanism. This is the opinion of Faber, followed by some others. I conceive it cannot be Mahomedanism; first—because the "little horn stood " up against the Prince of princes, v. 25, and Mahomedanism itself did not stand up till about 600 years after Christ. If it be said, it stood up against the church, and therefore may be said to stand up against the Prince of princes, because our Lord considers that done against himself which is done unto his people—I reply, that

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