The Prophetic Times. Vol. I. JANUARY, 1863. Special Contributions. THE DAYS IN WHICH WE LIVE. OPINIONS OF DISTINGUISHED MEN. Luther, in his lifetime, said, "I am persuaded that verily the day of judgment is not far off; yea, will not be absent three hundred years longer. The voice will soon be heard, 'Behold, the Bridegroom cometh!"" (See chap. i. of his Table-Talk.) Luther died in 1546. Archdeacon Browne, of England, in 1835, said that he "was strongly impressed with the conviction that our lot has fallen under the solemn period emphatically designated in Daniel as 'the time of the end."" Dr. Duff, of Scotland, recently said, "Surely the present crisis is constraining us to arise, and that with our whole heart. Surely it looks as if-in response to the sighing of the whole creation groaning in uneasiness and pain through long by-gone ages for the times of the restitution of all things; surely in answer to the plaintive cry of the myriad martyrs from under the altar, who age after age have been uttering their longing cry, 'How long, O Lord, how long?' He who is seated on the throne on high is now indicating by no ordinary signs that he is ready to arise and assume his great power, and to manifest himself as really King and Governor among the nations. Surely, in the language of one of old, the great Messiah is about to come forth from his royal chamber,-about to put on the invisible robes of his imperial majesty, and to take up the unlimited sceptre which his Father hath bequeathed to him. Even now, in the ear of faith, and almost in the ear of sense, we may hear the distant noise of the No. 1 chariot-wheels of the mighty Savior King, coming forth conquering and to conquer, amid the shaking of the nations from pole to pole. Every nation has of late been upheaving from its ancient, settled foundations; and there will be mightier upheavings still, and that right speedily,—all preparing the way for the new heavens and the new earth, in which righteousness will forever dwell!" Macaulay, the essayist, wrote, in 1831, " Many Christians believe that the Messiah will shortly establish a kingdom on the earth, and reign visibly over all its inhabitants. Whether this doctrine be orthodox or not, we shall not inquire. The number of people who hold it is very much greater than the number of Jews residing in England. Many of those who hold it are distinguished by rank, wealth, and ability; it is preached from pulpits, both of the Scottish and of the English Church. Noblemen and members of Parliament have written in defence of it,—who expect 'that, before this generation shall pass away, all the kingdoms of the earth will be swallowed up in one Divine Empire.””Essays on the Jews. Dr. N. L. Rice says, "The world is now rapidly approaching another great epoch, the most important in the history of our world." "We live in an eventful day." "The time cannot be distant, when great changes are to take place amongst the nations. It is our wisdom, therefore, both to examine carefully and prayerfully the prophecies whose fulfilment is yet future, and to watch passing events which throw light upon these prophecies. It is a great misfortune to mistake the character of the age in which we live, and to fail to understand the signs which God gives, | advancing nearer to their completion, ten that his people may act with him their thousand significant events sweep onward in part."-Signs of the Times. the train. The convergency of all things to the point becomes more and more rapid. Meaning begins to appear in events before shrouded in mystery. An omnipotent plan, it is manifest, is in operation, and the trains laid with Divine wisdom are fast completing."—Grant's Nestorians, p. 360. Rev. Hollis Read, author of "God in History," says, "We are living in a very remarkable period of the world's history. A very general impression obtains in all reflecting minds, that we are on the confines of another of those signal crises which mark the history of our race. The signs of the times are strangely significant." "There is a feeling in the human breast that despotism, blood*shed, fraud, oppression, and unbridled lust have, in defiance of heaven, rioted long enough, and that a righteous God will soon rise in his wrath and make a short work. This prophetic yearning for deliverancethis instinctive prophecy of the human heartis not peculiar to the Christian. The Hindoo, the Mohammedan, the Papist, feels it. The world waits the coming change."-The Coming Crisis of the World. Dr. Stephen H. Tyng says, "Whatever may be the will of God, who keeps the times and seasons in his own power, in prolonging the days, of which we can know nothing, we may and must still say that all the lines of prophecy meet in this designated year, 1868, as the time of the glorious coming of the Son of Man, the manifestation of the Lord Jesus in the glory of his kingdom, according to the testimony of Scripture."-Articles on the Kingdom of God. Dr. Baird, in Rochester, 1852, remarked that "No well-informed man can look upon the world as it is, without coming to the conclusion that some great consummation is about to take place." Dr. Hitchcock, of Amherst, says, "In a very short time, far shorter than we imagine, all the scenes of futurity will be to us a thrilling reality!"-The Future Condition and Destiny of the Earth. Professor George Bush says, If we take the ground of right reason, we must believe that the present age is one expressly foretold in prophecy, and that it is just opening upon the crowning consummation of all prophetic declarations.” Dr. Bogie said, in 1839, "Reflect what mighty changes have occurred in Europe in less than thirty years; what rapid revolutions have taken place within the last six years; changes which no one ten years ago could have imagined he would live to see. The next generation will behold more wonderful things, and may see the commencement of the thousand years."—Crisis, p. 309. These are the declarations of Christians. The Jewish mind has been brought to like convictions and anticipations. Rabbi Carillon, of Jamaica Island, affirms that "There is every reason to believe that the latter days are not far off: let us, therefore, be on the watch and in continual prayer." It is said by a European writer, that “Jews, who never before thought of a Messiah, begin now to say, 'These are the days of travail which precede his coming."" Solomon Herschel, rabbi of the chief synagogue of the Jews in London, is represented as saying that his people, after close investigation of the subject, think, with him, that the Messiah's advent cannot be delayed beyond 1863. And it was announced in the public journals in 1852 that there were then thousands of Jews in Jerusalem all anxiously expecting the Messiah. Dr. G. B. Cheever writes, "It is impossible to look upon a more sublime spectacle than that which rises to the mind of a spiritual observer at the present crisis. A voice like the archangel's trumpet is crying, 'Cast up, casting of the indications of events. up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard to the people!' Event rolls on after event. As the purposes of God are And what divines have uttered as their learning of the Scriptures, statesmen and philosophers have also declared as their read Hon. Rufus Choate remarked, in 1851, "It has seemed to me as if the prerogatives of crowns, and the rights of men, and the hoarded-up resentments and revenges of a thousand years, were about to unsheathe the sword for a conflict in which blood shall flow, as in the apocalyptic vision, to the bridles of the horses, and in which a whole age of men shall pass away, in which the great bell of time shall sound out another hour, in which society itself shall be tried by fire and steel, whether it is of nature and nature's God or not." 66 Sir Robert Peel said in Parliament, in 1842, Every aspect of the present times, viewed in the light of the past, warrants the belief that we are on the eve of a universal change." Louis Kossuth, not long ago, said, "I say this prophetically. I have already read it in the book of Providence, which is made to be a revelation to mankind. The destiny of mankind has come to the turning-point of centuries. There is a cry of alarm upon the ostensible approach of universal danger. The despotic governments of Europe feel their approaching death. The decisive struggle is near. It will be the last in mankind's history." Dr. Arnold observes, "Modern history appears to be not only a step in advance of ancient history, but the last step; it appears to bear marks of the fulness of time, as if there would be no future history beyond it." "My sense of the evils of the times that are coming, and of the prospects to which I am bringing up my poor children, is overwhelming."-Modern History, p. 38. coming of the Son of God to subdue to himself all kingdoms and reign on earth a thousand years. Beyond a question, we are on the eve of great events.” The New York Evangelist, in 1848, remarked, "Had the present state of Europe been prophesied fifty years ago, would any have credited the prophecy? We believe that in this year we have seen the beginning of the end." The Christian Luminary says, "This truly. is an age of wonders, changes, and revolutions. No thi aking man can open his eyes upon the great events that are passing before us, without being impressed with the signs of the times, and constrained to admit that important scenes are about to be opened to the view of an astonished world. The seals are opening, the trumpets are sounding, the nations are shaking; signs are seen in the heavens and on earth." A writer in the Christian Review says, "I am strongly persuaded that the present generation of men stand upon the very eve of the mightiest revolution that the annals of time record." "A silent, rapid, irresistible preparation has been making,-making, perhaps, for a sudden, subversive, and universal change: what will it be?" And The Scientific Mechanic affirms, "No man now living has ever witnessed, nor has any historian recorded, so interesting a position of the world and the nations thereof, as is presented at the present time.... Men are looking upon the present convulsed state of the world as portending great political reforms; but, in view of certain facts which cannot be disputed, we think it reasonable that faithful Christians should look for something more important. The world is now just about six thousand years old. Viewing the fact in connection with the unprecedented tempests, inundations, earthquakes, and famines which have occurred within the last The Living Age says, "We stand at a great starting-point in the history of the world. Old things are about to pass away, and we know not what shall be the new. The continent of Europe, startled by the warning trumpet of 1848, has cowered into silence; all faces gather blackness, and men's hearts fail them for fear of what is coming on the earth." And the spirit of the press generally is to few years, and the present extraordinary the same effect. The Presbyterian Expositor says, "We live in a day of unprecedented excitement and agitation, and the minds of all intelligent men are looking for great events. No wonder that some are expecting the second perplexity and commotions among the nations, we cannot avoid the anticipation of events incomparably more important than any that have been prognosticated by the secular press." LETTER TO A BISHOP, "We are living in times when the Christian and the infidel, the statesman and the divine, PREACHING OF IT. November, 1862. seem to agree in the expectation that some ON THE PRE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT, AND THE great crisis is at hand. The public mind, both at home and abroad, is held in the calm of a feverish suspense. New and strange blas-Esteemed and aged Brother :phemies are coming to the birth, the foundations of the state are loosing, and the Church of God is beset and assailed on every side.... All eyes are fixed with an eager gaze upon the dark and coming future." An able English writer says, "I would earnestly entreat the unthinking world to ponder well the fact, that fulfilled and hourly fulfilling prophecy prove to demonstration, that the days of the apostate kingdoms of the earth are numbered,—that the day of the Lord's vengeance and the year of his redeemed are at hand." I have received your letter wherein you warn and entreat me not to preach the pre millennial advent of our Lord. I entertain In a matter wherein the appeal lies exclusively to the word of God, had you attempted from Scripture to show my mistake, it would have commanded my reverence, and, had you been able to prove that I am in error, would have convinced me. Instead of this, whilst accusing me of indulging in "censure," and of putting my own interpretation on the Bible, your whole letter is— bear with me-mere assertion and faultfinding. Need I remind you that, to earnest thinkers, even an episcopal dictum, without proof, is only a brutum fulmen? Dare you, as a bishop, assert that the preaching of "Christ crucified" does not include the whole scheme of redemption, but must be confined to the mere fact of the death of Christ? Is, or is not, our modern preaching like that of the apostles, as recorded in the Acts and in the Epistles? Did not Paul preach the advent? Did not Jesus preach it? Did they not give as much prominence to the doctrine of the resurrection as to that of the atonement? and does not their unvarying testimony look forward to the personal return of the Lord, as the hope of the Church? Are you a master of assemblies, -an "overseer," and do you venture to call the great doctrine of the advent a mere “dogma,” implying, in the popular sense of the word, contempt and concert? Is it not made as prominent in the Bible as repentance and faith? Or, can you distinguish which is the most important doctrine of that scripture, all of which is profitable, and all the words of |