den the wine press alone; and of the people there was none with me; for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drank in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth." The year of his redeemed, the time of their deliverance and peace, is to be introduced by the day of vengeance on his enemies. They are to be destroyed, not converted. The same event is thus spoken of in the 19th chapter of Revelation: "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him; for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And he saith unto me, write, blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True; and in rigteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written that no man knew but he himself: and he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood; and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white' horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; and he treadeth the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF

KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, come, and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; that ye may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered together to make war against Ilim that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire, burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth and all the fowls were filled with their flesh." Then follows, in the next chapter, the binding of Satan, and the thousand years' reign of the saints. Millennium, then, is to be introduced by this great and terrible destruction of the wicked, and not by their conversion.

The

The same events are connected together, in the 66th chapter of Isaiah. Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her all ye that mourn for her. For thus saith the Lord, behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream. As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. And

when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb; and the hand of the Lord shall be known toward his servants, and his indignation toward his enemies. For behold the Lord will come with fire, and his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh; and the slain of the Lord shall be many."

The same events also are connected together in the 24th chapter of Isaiah. "Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid,so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him. The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled; for the Lord hath spoken this word. The earth mourneth, and fadeth away; the world languisheth and fadeth away; the haughty people of the earth do languish. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof: because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left." A few are to be left, who shall be the friends of God. The prophet proceeds"When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, there shall be as the shaking of an olive tree, and as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done.

They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the Lord, they shall cry aloud from the sea. Wherefore glorify ye the Lord in the fires, even the name of the Lord God of Israel in the isles of the sea. From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous. But I said, my leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! The treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacheerous dealers have dealt very treacherously. Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth. And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare; for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake. The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage, and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall and not rise again. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited." They shall be shut up in the prison, where the souls of the wicked are, till the time appointed for the resurrection of the body, and the final judgment, when they shall be visited according to their works, with their full and final punishment.— And the prophet adds, "Then the moon shall be confounded, and the

sun ashamed, when the Lord of Hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously." Then, that is, after this general destruction of the wicked from off the earth, the Lord shall reign over his people gloriously, and the church enjoy her millennial state.

From these passages of scripture, it appears abundantly evident, that the Millennium is not to be introduced, as many expect, by the gradual increase of real religion till it fills the world, and brings all mankind under its influence. On the contrary, the great mass of mankind, at the time of its introduction, will be enemies to God, and will have reached a high pitch of wickedness, and will perhaps have nearly swallowed up the true church of Christ, and have begun their song of triumph at its anticipated speedy extinction, when the Lord will suddenly appear for the deliverance of his people and the dismay and overthrow of his enemies. "As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage; until the day that Noah entered into the ark; and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise, also, as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all; even thus shall it be when the Son of Man is revealed."

But I think it probable that some objections to this view of the subject may arise in the minds of some readers. Some will be ready to ask, is not the present an age of benevolent efforts; and are not great exertions making to

spread the gospel, both at home and abroad? And does not success attend those efforts, to such a degree, at least, as to afford a rational prospect of the ultimate spread of the gospel through the world? If any should conclude from this, that the opinion advanced in this essay cannot be true, I would ask them, what security there is for the continuance of these efforts, for any considerable period? And I would ask, also, whether we do not often read statements, in the addresses of the various benevolent institutions, which go to show, that, unless these efforts are continued, and greatly increased, they will not be sufficient to make any great and permanent impression upon the kingdom of darkness, nor even sufficient to maintain the ground which Christianity now occupies? If I mistake not, Education Societies and Theological Seminaries are frequently informing us, that the increase of ministers is not yet in such a ratio as, after deducting the dimunitions by death, to keep up with the increase of population; so that, in reality, the supply is actually diminishing. This I believe to be the fact. Bible societies are indeed increasing the supply of the word of God; but the multiplication of copies is not necessarily and certainly connected with the proper use of them. Missionaries are indeed going forth, with encouraging prospects, to preach the gospel among the various heathen nations; but their numbers bear a very small proportion to the numbers to be evangelized. I believe, indeed, that the gospel must be preached unto all nations, before the end come. But I think it is not so clear that it will ever be done by such kind of means as are now in use. It may be necessary, in order to its accomplishment, that true Christians and faithful minis

ters should be compelled by persecution to flee for their lives, from those countries where the gospel is now enjoyed, and seek refuge among those who are now heathen. Persecution had this effect in the apostolic age, when Stephen was put to death, and the members of the church at Jerusalem were all scattered abroad, except the apostles; and " they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word." It may be so again. It is predicted that the word shall be preached in every land. Mat. xxiv. 14, "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.' It is to be for a witness against them, if they reject it, as it is probable most of them will; and as appears to be more distinctly intimated in the parallel passage in the 13th chapter of Mark. And ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them. And the gospel must first be published among all nations."

It may be objected also by some, that the present is an age of revivals of religion, which are so frequent, so great, and so extensive, as forbids the idea that the church is ever likely to be reduced so low, as the opinion advanced in this essay seems to imply. Giving all possible weight to this abjection, it is a sufficient answer to remind those that make it,that the out-pourings of the Spirit of God are in his own power, and may become less frequent, and less extensive. And if they should cease entirely in any town, or state, or country, how long would it be, before the largest and most flourishing churches would become extinct? It may be objected further, that this view of the introduction of the Millennium, should it prevail, would have a tendency to discourage the

efforts which are now making for the spread of the gospel, and cause Christians to despond, and sit down in idleness and inactivity. This objection is rather directed against the promulgation of this opinion, than against its truth. What if it should have this effect? Would that prove it untrue? I think it likely that many professed Christians would be thus affected by it. It would be likely to have this effect upon such as are influenced to action merely by the prospect of great success, and the worldly glory and honour which accompanies it. But it could not have this effect upon those who act from principle and duty. Those who love God and the souls of men, have motives to action of a different kind, and unspeakably more powerful, than those which stimulate the enterprises of worldly men. It cannot be necessary that Christians should believe a lie, in order to stimulate them to duty. If this view of the introduction of the Millennium is correct, as I verily believe it is, it ought to be made known, and let the consequences be committed to God. But every truth is adapted to do good to those that cordially embrace it; and some of the good effects, which the prevalence of this truth would have, are very apparent. If there is real danger that error and wickedness will yet have a wide and extensive spread, that danger is greatly increased by its being believed by Christians that there is no danger; whereas, by being aware of it, they are put upon their guard, and stimulated to make every possible effort to preserve themselves and others against it. What has been the actual experience of Christians on this subject? Have they been most active, most humble, most prayerful, most abstracted from the world, and most devoted to God,

when they have thought every thing was going on well; or when they have been sensible of danger; have felt themselves brought into straits, and have realized that they were ready to perish if God did not appear for their help?

If the view which has been taken of the subject is a correct one, the church is now in danger; and it behooves every Christian to be awake, and at his post. The enemy is coming in like a flood; error and wickedness are prevailing; the cause of religion is sinking; and unless God shall appear for the help of his people, they will soon find themselves in an evil case. And if this view of the subject is correct, what are the prospects of the rising generation? If error and wickedness are to triumph still further, and the institutions of the gospel are to be still further despised and neglected; if our candlesticks are to be removed out of their places, if our churches are to be shut up, and our communion tables broken down; if the ground is to be occupied by the enemies of the gospel, what is to become of our children? Into whose hands will they fall, when we are laid in the dust? What can we do for them now, before God takes us away? I speak not of provisions for their bodies, which perhaps we are industriously accumulating, to be a snare to their souls. But what can we do to guard them against the seductions to which they will be exposed? What can we do to bring them to the saving knowledge of the truth, and engage for them the protection of the Almighty? And what can we do for a world that lieth in wickedness, and which is fast ripening for the day of God's wrath? What can we do to preserve the knowledge of the truth in the earth; and to keep up, here and there, a burning

and shining light, in the midst of surrounding darkness? Who can tell, but that if suitable exertions are made, there may be preserved, here and there, a little verdant spot, that shall grow and flourish under the dews of heaven, while all around is barrenness and death? Hard indeed must be our hearts, if we can look at a whole world going to destruction, and remain unaffected and inactive. G. G.

BIBLICAL CRITICISM. From the American Baptist Magazine.

ON THE SUPPLIED WORDS IN THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE.

Languages differ in their forms of expression. Some admit, and frequently use, an ellipsis, where others do not. Hence, in translating, it is necessary to supply some words; otherwise a translation would, in many instances, be unintelligible. This is true with respect to translations of the Bible. The translators of our English version have carefully distinguished the words which they have thought it necessary to supply, by causing them to be printed in Italics. It is far from my intention to advance any thing calculated to derogate from these venerable men, or from the valuable translation of the Scriptures with which they have furnished us. I would not, however, ascribe infallibility to any man or body of men.While they have performed that part of their task which respects elliptical expressions with much fidelity, judgment and skill, they have undoubtedly left some room for improvement. By having designated the words which they have supplied, they appear to have intended to allow even such as do not understand the original languages of the Bible the liberty of