erring prediction of the prophet." p. 96-97.

The three days and an half, the time predicted for the dead bodies of the witnesses to lie in the street of the city, is applied by the author, to the corresponding term of three years and an half, reckoning from the time of the expulsion and last massacre of the French clergy, which took place the latter end of September 1792, to the time of the decree for the toleration of all kinds of religion, which was in the latter end of March 1796. . All that is expressed after the eleventh verse of this chapter, the author considers to refer to events that have not yet taken place, and conjectures that what is contained in the 13th verse, relates to sore judgments, which will be inflicted on atheistical France.

The twelfth chapter of the Revelation comes next under consideration, in which, the Prophet resumes the general History of the Church, in which he foretels the REFORMATION. The author commences this part of his work with apprehending, that, Bishop Newton and others have altogether erred in their explication of this chapter, and expressing his full persuasion that none of the prophetic signs refer to events ANTECEDENT to the fourth century, when the church was delivered from pagan oppression, and exalted over the Heathen world and that the prophet only resumes the history of the church from that time, for which opinion the author assigns his reasons.

THE FIRST BEAST

Rose up out of the sea:
Had seven heads:

Had ten horns:'

Upon his heads the name of blasphemy:

Upon his horns ten crowns: One of its heads was as it were, wounded to death, and was healed.

The first beast is applied to the Church of Rome, the second to Revolutionary France. Some of the author's ideas we present to the consideration of our readers.

In the committees of safety, instituted by the French republic, the author perceives clearly the two horns on the head of the second beast. His

The red dragon is represented as bearing those marks which particularly denote Rome papal; and the man child, born of the church, is applied to the Gospel; the wilderness is construed to mean Mohamedan sensuality, and Papal idolatry; and the war in heaven is referred to "the great and blessed contest and war between the Protestants, a remnant of the church of Christ, and the church of Rome; in which the former emancipated herself from the ignorance and darkness of Papal idolatry by the diet at Augsburg, A. D. 1555, and by the treaty of Westphalia, A. D. 1648. The author supposes the earth into which the dragon is to be cast, and the inhabitants of it, against whom the woes are denounced, to mean Revolutionary France.

The strange countries into which the exiles and refugees from France have fled, and where they have been charitably, and hospitably received, and nourished, are denoted in the author's opinion by the wilderness into which the woman was to fly, and the earth which was to help her. Great Britain is considered to be the remnant of the seed, against which the most powerful and malicious efforts of the Dragon have been directed.

In the comments on the thirteenth chapter we find a contrast between the beast described in the second verse and that in the eleventh, intended to shew they represent different things.

and powers exercised by the republic of France, are placed in opposite columns to shew their affinity. In the fourteenth verse it is said, "He is to exercise the power of the first beast before him, or in his sight. Now, when we say, an act was done before, or in the sight of a man, it may imply that it was done to his prejudice, and that he did not take care to prevent it: this was literally the case of the pope. He saw the republic exercise the same fraudulent, coercive, and blasphemous masures, which he bad done before. He saw his wealth seized, his priests murdered or banished, and millions of his devotees converted to atheism, and lost to all faith in his infallibility and idolatry: and yet, to prevent these remarkable acts of injury to his power, he remained, as it were, an inactive stupid spectator."

"This conduct in the papal church reminds me of the heathen maxim, (for heathens who believe in God can be authors of truth) Quos deus vult 'perdere, prius dementat. To those who wantonly refuse the instructions of his revealed word, and even presume to blaspheme bis holy name, God sends a strong delusion; that is, he leaves them simply to their fallen, frantic nature, by righteously withholding from them his gracious mercies. Indeed it seems to have been the divine will, that the power of the church of Rome should be destroyed by the same kind of fraudulent policy and force, by which she had been established, and by which she had done so much mischief in the world; and moreover, that she should be made sensible of this rule of divine justice, Nec lex est justior ulla, quam necis artifices arte perire sua. Nor is there a more perfect rule of justice, than that he who contrives the means of 'destruction, should perish himself by the same means :'or, to quote a higher authority, If any man will hurt them (oppose his divine will), 'he must, in the same manner, be killedt; and he that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity; and he that killeth with the sword must be 'killed with the sword'." p. 181, 182. The interpretation of the latter part of the twelfth verse may be discerned in the following passage: "Thus, in

* 2 Thess. ii. 11. + Rev, xi. 5. † Rev. xiii. 10. VOL. I.

direct compliance with the predic tion, she has worshiped,' or paid such veneration to the policy of pagan Rome, as to revive both her civil and religious customs, after they had ceased upwards of a thousand years, and adopted them asher own." p. 185. Our author thinks the bonnet rouge,'

or

cap of liberty,' and the tri-coloured cockade, corresponds with the mark of the beast, and as to the number of his name he agrees with former commentators.

For the author's opinion respecting the vials we select the following recapitulation: "Under the first vial of the wrath of God,' the judg ments are foretold that should be poured out on revolutionary France; under the second vial, on papal Rome; under the third, upon papal Germany; under the fourth, upon the king and people of France; under the fifth, upon the republic and people of France in her atheistical state; and under the sixth, upon the Othman empire, or Mohamedan apostacy. After this we read no more of the powers of Paganism, Mohamedanisin, Papacy, Atheism, acting in their separate capacities, and of their distinct operations against the church of Christ; but, on the contrary, we find that the prophet, under the seventh vial,' begins the history of a new future power, and grand confederacy of all of them together, for the purpose of the utter destruction of the truth, and the word of God. This subject he introduces in the last verses of the sixteenth chapter." p. 284.

or

The remainder of this work is occupied by the following subjects: The imprisonment of Satan, and the first resurrection and reign of Christ. The restoration of the Jews. Satan released, and his last impious effort to destroy the kingdom of Christ. The defeat of Satan, with his eternal condemnation, and the utter destruction of Gog and MAGOG and their mighty host. The destruction of the world, the last resurrection and the last judgment, and the blessed state of the righteous in a life to come. In three separate chapters arguments are used to prove that former commentators have been mistaken in their sentiments respecting the Man of Sin, spoken of by St. Paul; the Little Horn, of which Daniel prophesied; and Antichrist; and that there is in each of them an exact representation of Ff

atheistical France. The work closes with an appendix, containing a list of the most prominent, unforeseen, and most extraordinary events which have come to pass in the course of the providence of God, within the last twenty years.

LVIII. THE ELEMENTS OF ENG

LISH COMPOSITION, containing Practical Instructions for writing the English Language with Perspicuity and Elegance; and designed, in the Progress of Education, to succeed to the Study of English Grammar, and of the Latin and Greek Classics. By ĎAVID IRVING, A. M.

O enable our readers to form an Topinion of the merits of this book, we give the author's own account of it. "In the following pages," he says, "the reader need not expect to discover any originality of observation. I desire to be regarded in no other view than that of a mere compiler. Concerning every critical subject that has fallen under my review, I have endeavoured to collect the most ra

tional opinions of writers distinguished for their learning and judgment. For any valuable instruction which this compilation may chance to exhibit, the reader is principally indebted to Blair's Lectures on Rhetoric, Kames's Elements of Criticism, Melmoth's Let ters of Fitzosborne, and Lowth's Introduction to English Grammar. To other occasional sources of information I have been careful to make the proper references; but when I availed my. self of the treasures amassed by these excellent writers, I forbore to quote their names; not that I might appropriate their labours or usurp their honours, but that I might spare a perpetual repetition by one ge'neral acknowledgment'." Preface, p. vii.

The materials used in good composition are in this work analyzed, defined, and illustrated by a number of well chosen examples under each particular head. This book is divided into thirty chapters, the first of which contains an introductory discourse, the second and third describe and exemplify purity and propriety of style; on the importance of which it is observed "an Author's meaning

ought always to be obvious, even to the most careless and inattentive reader; so that it may strike his mind, as the light of the sun strikes our eyes, though they are not directed towards it. We must study, not only that every reader may understand us, but that it shall be impossible for him not to understand us. If we are obliged to follow a writer with much care, to pause, and to read over his sentences a second time, in order to

comprehend them fully, he will never please as long as mankind are too indolent to relish so much labour. They may pretend to admire the author's depth, after they have discovered his inclined to bestow upon his work a meaning; but they will seldom be second perusal."

On the subject of purity of style is the following description: "Purity of style consists in the use of such

words and such constructions as belong to the idiom of the language, which we use in opposition to words and phrases which are imported from other languages, or that are obsolete, or new coined, or used without proper authority Propriety of style consists in the selection of such words, as the best and most established usage has appropriated to those ideas, which we employ them to express. It implies the correct and happy application of them, according to that usage, in opposition to vulgarisms, or low expressions; and to words and phrases that would be less significant of the ideas which we intend to convey." p. 6, 7.

The IVth Chapter exemplifies precision of style; and the Vth treats of synonimous words, concerning which the Author says, "As they are like different shades of the same colour, an accurate writer can employ them to great advantage, by using them so as to heighten and to finish the picture which he gives us. He supplies by the one what was wanting in the other, to the force, or to the lustre of the image which he means to exhibit. But, with a view to this end, he must be extremely attentive to the choice which he makes of them; for the generality of writers are apt to confound thein with each other, and to employ them with a promiscuous carelessness, merely for the sake of filling up a period, or of diversifying the language. By using them as if their signification were precisely the

same, they unwarily involve their ideas in a mist.

From the many examples to illus trate these remarks we select the following signification of the synonimous words, to avow, acknowledge, confess. -Each of these words signifies the affirmation of a fact, but in very different circumstances. To avow, supposes the person to glory in it; to acknowledge, supposes a small degree of delinquency, which the acknowledgment compensates; to confess, supposes a higher degree of criminality. A patriot avows his opposition to a corrupt ministry, and is applauded; a gentleman acknowledges his mistake, and is forgiven; a prisoner confesses the crime of which he stands accused, and is punished. #. 31, 32.

The five following chapters discourse on the structure of sentences, and the clearness and precision, the unity, the strength, and the harmony, to be regarded in the formation of sentences. Figurative language in general is next considered, Passing by the figures, personification, apostrophe, hyperbole, and comparison, we notice on the figure metaphor the following description:"A metaphor differs from a simile in form only, not in substance: comparison is the foundation of both. In a simile, the two subjects are kept distinct in the expression, as well as in the thoughts; in a metaphor they are kept distinct in the thought, but not in the expression. A hero resembles a lion; and upon that resemblance many similes have been founded by Homer and other poets. But let us call in the aid of the iinagination, and figure the hero to be a lion instead of only resembling one: by that variation the simile is converted into a metaphor, which is carried on by describing all the qualities of the lion which resemble those of the hero. The poet, by figuring his hero to be a lion, proceeds to describe the lion in appearance, but in reality he is all that while describing the hero; and his description becomes peculiarly beautiful, by expressing the virtues and qualities of the hero in terms which properly belong, not to him, but to the lion." p. 125.

In the directions for the use of this figure, it is remarked that figures are the dress of our sentiments. "There is a natural congruity between the

dress and the character or rank of the person who wears it. The same is the case with regard to figures and sentiments. The excessive or unseasonable employment of figures is mere foppery in writing. It gives a puerile air to composition, aud diminishes the dignity of a subject, rather than exalts it. For as, in real life, true dignity is founded on character, not on dress and parade, so the dignity of composition must arise from sentiment and thought, not from ornament." p. 127, 128.

It is also observed that "every metaphor should carry the appearance of having been led, not of having forced itself into the place of that word whose room it occupies: it should seem to have come thither of its own accord, and not by constraint. All allusions, which point to the more abstruse branches of the arts or sciences, and with which none can be supposed to be acquainted, but those who have penetrated far into the deeper studies, should be carefully avoided, not only as pedantic, but as impertinent: they pervert the use of this figure, and add neither grace nor force to the idea they would eluci date. The most pleasing metaphors, therefore, are those which are derived from the most frequent occurrences of art or nature, or the civil transactions and customs of mankind." p. 129.

From metaphor the author passes on to allegory, and then describes and exemplifies the different qualities of style in the following order: the concise and the diffuse, the nervous and the feeble, the vehement, the plain, the neat, the graceful, the flo rid, and the simple and affected styles. Then follow critical examinations of passages in the writings of Addison, Swift, Harris, and Robertson. A chap ter on the method of attaining a good style, and examples to illustrate the progressive improvement of English composition, with observations on e pistolary writing, close the work.

LIX. AN ADDRESS to Instructors

and Parents on the right Choice and Use of Books in every Branch of Education, pointing out their respective Merits, and the order in which they should be successively adopted. In.