мн PREFACE. THE following Treatise was written before the author had perused any commentary on the Apocalypse more recent than that of Archdeacon Woodhouse, with the exception of Mr. Clarke's ingenious work on the Dragon and the Beast; nor was he aware that the subject had since employed so many able writers. But instead of their works rendering superfluous the publication of his own, they have rather furnished additional motives for it; as none of them has pursued the same plan, or taken the same view of the subject. This peculiarity consists in regarding the Apocalypse as altogether a spiritual, and not a political prophecy; that is, as relating exclusively to the progress of true religion, and not to the history of the Roman Empire. This general principle is derived from the excellent work of Archdeacon Woodhouse, which the writer has adopted as his guide; whose translation he has for the most part preferred; and from whose erudition he has received assistance at almost every step of his progress. If, as he proceeded, he has found himself obliged to deviate from the path of his excellent conductor more frequently than he expected at the outset, he trusts it will be found, that those deviations regard the letter only, and not the spirit of the work in question. The reasons for adopting the view of the subject a |