there is a lapse OF FIFTEEN YEARS between the supplications of chap. ix., and the vision of chap. viii. The dates are fixed in the text itself beyond the possibility of much error, the vision in "the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar," i.e. B.C. 553, and the supplications "in the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus," i.e. B.C. 538, they are two different things, in two different reigns, fifteen years asunder! and as Gabriel does not mean to say that he had been fifteen years on his road to Daniel, we cannot with any shadow of reason regard him in verse 23, as referring to the version in chap. viii., but as detailing the purport of the vision then vouchsafed. This I regard as decisive.

2. That the beginning of the period of 2300 years is wrongly fixed, will appear also from a very slight attention to the internal evidence in chap. viii. The date for the commencement of this period arrived at by the above erroneous connection of the two chapters, is that of Ezra's commission, B.C. 457, and the period itself is that through which the desolation of the sanctuary is to continue, as is stated in your paper. Now this desolation is caused by the "little horn" as you will perceive in verse 9-14, and the "little horn" is said in verse 21-24, to be a power which rises up out of the Four Monarchies into which the conquests of Alexander the Great were broken up at his death. The desolation of the sanctuary by the "little horn," must therefore begin after the death of Alexander, and the division of his empire-must begin therefore after the year B.C. 323 the date of that event-must begin therefore at least 134 years later than B.C. 457, and the conclusion of the 2300 years in 1844, is therefore altogether incorrect. I say at

least by 134 years, but in truth it must be far more, for you will see in verse 23, that it is not on the first establishment of the Four Monarchies in the year B.C. 323, but "in the latter time" of these kingdoms, that the power designated by the "little horn" arises. This again is perfectly decisive.

3. The explanation of the vision in Dan. viii. is not to be looked for in Dan. ix., simply because it is given in Dan viii. so far as we are authorized to look into it, for which see verses 16, 26., "shut thou up the vision." Had the vision been left without any explanation, there might have been an excuse for going to Dan. ix. to search for one, though even then it would have been unpardonable to overlook the broad fingerposts of chronology set up at the beginning of each chapter: but when an explanation is expressly given, "Gabriel make this man to understand the vision," and when it is further added, "shut thou up the vision," importing that all had been said about it that we are to know till its accomplishment, I am lost in astonishment at the hasty and incautious manner in which texts are caught up, and applied to the support of favourite views, without reading their context and connection, while the press is allowed to fix the error, however glaring, beyond all recal.

Opposers of prophetical study lay hold of errors, such as the above, to justify them in representing the whole subject of unfulfilled prophecy as one too full of error to deserve attention: it is well therefore, that your readers should be aware of any erroneous statement or unsound argument used in the solution of predictions yet to be accomplished, and thus learn to "separate the precious from the

vile," to "prove all things and to hold fast that which is good."

We are on the verge of awful events: to the world we may address the words of the poet-" incedis per ignes suppositos cineri doloso," when you least expect its fountains of fire may burst forth beneath your feet. This crumbling crust of earth on which we walk may rend in all directions upheaved by the fiery flood below, which is reserved for those that forget God, the storm of vengeance will descend in "horrible tempest," Psalm xi. 6. when men are saying "Peace and safety: do not let yourself be frightened by these people who tell you the end of all things is approaching, be comfortable and avoid fanatics." Is it ours then to assist somnolent opposers of prophetic enquiry, in making it a chaos of uncertainty, by statements in opposition to the text of Scripture? Is it ours to furnish error to stuff withal and make soft the pillows that they are sewing to all armholes? I feel assured your object is directly contrary to this. But there is a subject yet more important than the sudden coming of the Lord, and that is-Am I prepared Now for it? And that we may judge ourselves so as to answer the question, let us ask, 1. Am I born again? otherwise I cannot enter into the kingdom of God: You are doubtful, you hesitate to answer; this doubt is a bad sign, they that are born again, know it. 2. Have I the witness of the Spirit? it is an essential part of the kingdom of grace. Rom. viii. 16: 1 John v. 10. If God does not witness that we are His, how can we feel prepared to meet Him? everything else may deceive us, God alone cannot, will not. With this I can lift up my head with confidence and joy to look forward to his

coming. 3. Am I in possession of the mind of Christ? Is the image of God restored to me, which was taken away by sin and the fall? The whole work of the Gospel is to repair the loss in paradise, that is, to deliver us from the curse and recover the likeness of God to our souls, and if this be not done, I am not meet for the kingdom provided for redeemed and recovered sinners. If these things are not ours NOW, can we say when they will be, and therefore if they will be ours at all? tremendous uncertainty ! let it not abide one day longer, abundant are the means in the Gospel for bringing it to a decisive end! All these things, and greater things than these, await simple faith in God's word, for now is the accepted time, now in the day of salvation. May God grant us to know the things that are freely given us of Him.

Your servant

for Christ's sake, CLERICUS.

[We believe that on referring to the article in question, our Rev. Correspondent will find we entered a caveat against the system of fixing a distant period for the occurrence of events which we firmly believe to be now nigh, even at the door. He seems inclined to pospone the great event to the year 1977, and thereby rather to contradict his own theory. We insert the letter, hoping that discussion may elicit truth; and heartily concurring in his practical application of the subject.-ED.]

FEMALE BIOGRAPHY OF SCRIPTURE.

THE WISE WOMAN OF TEKOAH.

WHEN We compare the physical structure of man with that of the creatures of his sovereignty, is it not a marvel? How all this brute force is restrained, subjected, and directed, by one in himself so feeble! How could we explain so striking a phenomenon, had we never read of that tenure, granted by the Maker of both, in the day when He entered into covenant with the second representative of the whole human race, and through him, with all the irrational orders of creation. Gen. ix. 12-17. Since that hour, "The fear and the dread" of man, has been " upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air." Where he dwells, they are either subdued or extirpated. "Every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind." Man's lordship over the creatures, whose strength, fleetness, beauty, or utility, he makes to minister to his pride and pomp, as well as to his necessity, is (revelation apart) indeed a marvel. A force which is sufficient to annihilate him, bears him aloft through the perils of the battle-field, and conveys him to the confines of the earth; or again, nourishes his households, and gives them raiment for a covering. "Did