Star. — London, England, 1808-04-16 00:00:00

- TO THE EDITORVF THE STAR: ari THE PROPHECIES. NUMBER V. TAE SECOND SEAL. " When he had opened the second seal f Reti. 4i. S.) there went out another horse that was red, and power wai given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth; and that they should kill one another : and there was given unto him a great sword." From this passage, compared with the subseqUebt parts of this book, we learn two factsrirsi, that the; sword of persecution should be drawn against the ad; herents of itn, who has gone forth ronqutrint and to conquer. The horse was red, the emblem of bloodshed —Second, that those, who should be agreed in op; posing the truth, should yet become the prey of dis sension, and destroy one another. How truly the first hath been verified, has been se amply detailed by almost eery commentator and ec clesiastical historian, that it is unnecessary to &ell upon it in this place. It will be sufficient to state, that no less than ten persecutions were carried on against the Christians before the overthrow of paga nitin in the Roman Empire. It may, however, be Observed, that all of these together are not to be cm . pared with the persecution afterwards carried On by men Who had the audacity to call themselves Chris tians, against the subjects of dttaisragainst all whe; considering him as the only Lord and Law-giver in his Kingdom; refused to yield obedience to the man; dates amen in matters pertaining to the conscience. Of this I shall be obliged to speak hereafter. The other fact pointed out by the opening of the second seal has been as completely verified. NO sooner tvas a period set to the pagan persecutions, and protection given by Constantine to Churchmen, than they Mewed the same lint of conduct that had been pursued by the Priests, who had been estah;- fished before them. That party, which could gain the ear of authority, never failed to call for the sworn of the civil power to destroy heretics—that is, every one who would not submit to theM ; and when the Weaker party, by a change of circumctanteS at any time, came into favour, they followed exactly the same course against their former oppressors. If we look into any Ecclesiastical History, We meet with nothing but disgusting narrations of outrages, ex cited by a lust of doniinion, carried on by deceit and fraud, and accompanied with murder; desolation and war ! The never-failing pretext for every otitrage was a zeal for the true worship, and the opprobrious ap. pellations bestowed upon those who alternately became the victims of each others malice, furnish a mass of jargon which can be compared to nothing but the Confusion Of tongues at Babel: The work of the rider on the red horse, Which has not yet ceased, began when the Jews and Romans for Med a combination against the Loan and his Cnnxsr (Psalm ii.) and slew the man child brought forth by the Church wit°, notwithstanding, shall rule all nations, hailing been raught up unto GOD and to his throne (Rev: ). The war and strife, that have prevailed :among Tfittencied Christians, only tend to 'Wily the words of Omer "He that taketh the iwsrd ihall 'tenth with the sword," (Mat. xxvi. 52.) He that leadok into eapkity ihall go into captivity 10). The Weapons of warfare" to be entployed in HIS kingdom " are not carnal, but," 41 g yht g , grate ton, to the pulling down of strong holds, elating down imaginations and every high thing that estaiteth itself against the knowledge of GOD, and bringing fat* captivity every thought to the obedience of Cilltp.r,"— (2 Cor. x. 4,) who' übdues his people by the power of truth, making them such willing subjects that they rryoice when counted worthy to seer shame for his name, (Acts v. 4.1), and teke pleasure in itereeemeione for his sake. (2 Cor. xii. 10). _ _ . By the opening of the second seal, then, ut are in . - structed, that though the mighty one, svho hath gone forth; shall subdue his enemies, 'and give the king dom and dominion under the whole heaven to the saints of the Most High, (Dan. vii. 27); yet •it was hot intended that this should take place at the first coming of TnE MrssrAti, at the expiration of certain determined weeks, (Dan. ix. 25).—For ten fangs Were fil-st to arise, (Dan. vii. 24) who yet had received no kingdom, (Rev. xvii. 12), and after them another mighty king, different from them ; not mighty by his own power (Dan. viii. 24), but by power and strength conferred on him by the ten kings, who were to unite with him in making war against TEE- Lasts (R.cv. 'mil 13, 14), casting down the truth to the round I (Dan. viii. 12), and persecuting the saints of the MOST HIGH for a time, and times, and the division of time, (Dan. vii. 24), as shall be more fully explained here after. That the saints were to reign with THA Miss,Aß had been so plainly declared, that no one covld read DANIEL without a conviction of this truth..-This was not sealed ; it was a part of the writing on the out side of the book—but the manner, in which HIS king dom was to be erected and inhabited, and the nature, of, the opposition, which it was to experience, were not fully declared, till explained by himself during his personal ministry upon tFe earth; by his apostles, after he had ascended ar.d had endued them with a " Goo is a►t Is max Act is Amid lie, gilln bit saa V . mon Mat he shod, repeat ; kali la Ica bledmall kwea It r L e t th o s e oa . tiaoswisich authorise is any way a trade In slaves ii U k of the fate 4111111kir posterity in the day of retrilsistivejusdee! '' 4 tir io, power from on higit ; and particuiariy,ity , *wil ing of the book of the prophet Daniel: '.,-../ ' . :si, tiii rtuati nada re *v Ae he Ad opend Me third rad, i SeheYA and k i i, blaci horse; and he that sat on him had a pair Of kola ft 1 . in his hand. And / heard a *via say—A ineappre e wheat for &limy, and Mree meeisurei of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the bil and the wine:" The colour' of this horse is Wad, appropriated to deceit, cunning, hypocrisy ; and the rider, by his ac companiment, is Marked out as ainercliaritof couise, not an honest one. But, what has Merchandize to do with either the advancement or the obstruction of Cti anis kingdom ? Pci tit ans*ers this questitm,‘ 4 Thire shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denyingthe M.tsrasethat bought them; .through covetousness shall thq, with feigned words) make MERCHASIDIZE of you," (2 Pet. ii. 3). Of course, the wheat, barley, wine, and oil, are here put for the word of Gob and the comforts of the gospel : nor is this the only place *here figures of the same kind are employed. Isaiah, spealcing of him who should svass/- low up death in victory, says, " THE LORD shall make Unto all people a feast of fat Mingo, a feast ojwinEs on the lea - wines es the lees, well re . finedi" (Isa. :ay: 6). CIIMST himself coMpares the word of GOD to seed, (I. e. corn) sown in the heart, (Luke.' iii.s) ; and the wise virgins are distinguied from the foolish by the oil in their lamps, (Mat. xxv. 4). Ho* different is the conduct of these merchants from that of PAUL ! The false teachers had begun to shew themselves eren in his time—They accused him of it being crafty, and having caught the Corinthians with guile." He refutes the charge by this siMple appeal, , 4 Did I make a gain of you, by any of them whom I sent untolou ?s did Taus make a gala of you P (2 Cor. xii. 17). The apos tles did not proclaim themselves to be Lords or iv ' lens, but Ctinisr Jxsys as the only Lord, and themselves but servant:, for his sake (2 Cor. iv. 5) ; and their ex hortation to the Elders, Bishops, or Presbyters of the chnrChes, which were established under their own eye, was, that they should feed the dock of Gob and oversee them, not forfilthy lucre, (1 Peter v. 2,3). The men alluded to in this seal Make merthandize of the wheat and the barley. Instead of feeding the flock, their only aim is to obtain power, and to enrich themselves, " counting gain godliness." The third seal then predicts such a famine as we find described by Amos, (viii. 11.) " Behold Me day: come, with THE LORD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine 1f bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the word of TIM LORD " —and shews to what a miserable state of ignorance and darkness mankind were to be reduced, even to believe that the favour of HEAVEN might be pm-chased with money !t Nor was this kind of men chandizing confined to the period of a man's life iri this world : a state of purgatory was contrived, froM which a person might be delivered, and obtain a safe passport to paradise, by the prevailing prayers ef these favourites of HEAVEN ; and that, sooner or lateri ac cording to the value of the bequest left, for this pious purpose for the length and number of these devotions were, in every case, weighed in the balances, and pro portioned to the price paid for the commodity. Who but these metchants could ever give so rich a return to their customers ?—the price payable after death too! when the money could be of no use to its former possessor. Is it any wonder, then, that they had an extensive trade, and became at length possessed of such large and princely domains, as to yield them reason to hope that, in process of time, their body would become the sole proprietors of the soil of those countries in which they carried on their traffic ?§— This would have been the case, had not their influ ence been limited to " an appointed time," and had not means been predetermined for their destruction, (Rev. zvii. 16). The concluding words of the opening of this seal are most remarkable, 4 , See thou hurt not the oil and the wile." Such is the restraint laid upon the bearer of the b a lances. It is the fiat of HEAVEN ! In spite of the falsehoods and impostures which he was to vend, the Scriptures were still to he preserved as the proper $ The rights and privileges of the clergy were very considerable before the end of the fifth century, and the riches they had accu mulated, immense ; and both received daily augmentations from the erowth of Superstition in the sixth. " The arts of a rapacious priesthood were practised upon the ignorant devotion of ate simple, and even the remorse of the wicked was made an instrument of increasing the ecclesiastical treasure. For an opinion was propa gated with industry among the people, that the remission of their sins was to be purchased by their liberalities to the churches and monks ; and that the prayers of departed saints, whose efficacy was victorious at the throne of God, were to be bought by offerings presented to the temples which were consecrated to these" (Ma hussinsa] " Celestiil Mediators," Maclaine's Mosheim, vol. ii. p. 114. edit. 1790, and 1806. I Can a greater instance of impeltid blindness in Elovernments be adduced, than the encouragement they hold out to incanted individuals to play upon the fanaticism, bigotry, and timidity, of the infirm and dying, to induce them to bequeath their prbperty for ►eligicrf e:es, as they call them, to the prejudice of their fami lies, and the evident injury of the public, by giving validity to such deeds It is high time that an end should be put to these practices. The remedy is obvious. § It appears by the letters of Pope Gregory (,lmmi►at. Opine. t. 4. p. 1266), who lived in the end of the sixth century, that the Church of Rome was then possessed of large estates not "lily in Italy, but abQ in Sicily, in France, rd in the most distant provinces •f } urrpe ; and he speaks of them as ancient possesdons. Indeed, before this time, we find the Clergy rating care of their acquisitions. In the Council held by Symmat hus, A. I). 503, it was decreed, that from that time for wardit•shoald not be lawful for any, to sell or alienate any lands or possesaions, large or small, that belonged to the Church—that all such contracts were null and void ; and that all should be ex communicated who sluislid consent or agree to the= ~ ' I , food and teurtsiiment of the folloWers ofthe rider on tbd surriedorze. The Old and the New Testament, his two witnesses ( Rev, ki. 3), were still to he attended to to his sineere followers, though despised by his estemies, and eiothed . as *ere with gab kaoth, &id that during the Whole of the forty and two Months that these iterchants Were to tread Jowls the sanc tuary, and pollute it with their comma---- Glasgow from St. Kitts, after a passage of 12 days On the 28th February, standing out from St. Ki tt i s, company with the Lord Cranston, Chnsolof for 1 . verpOoli and Clio, LEMON, for London, saw 35 stii of vessels off Nevis Foint, which he supposed to b e the fleet that sailed from Code in January. o n the Morning of the :id March, in lat. 22. 33. long. (4 51. fell in with the French privateer Barbary, m ount• ing twelve 12-pounders, with 160 men on 6 21 when she left Guadaloupe s the privateer imtncdi ately bore down within gun-shot of the Lord 141. vine and the I,ord Cranston, but not liking their a? pearanee, hauled her Wind to the southward, on t ut . pose to cut off the Clio, she being at that tim e h d t down astern P the Lord Melville and the Lord Cron. ston then bore atday, having all clear for action, an d prevented her from accoittplishing her purpose ; th e privateer finding them determined to prevent her froth capturing the Cho, hauled close upon a wind and left them. The Lord Melville .parted cot4aiy with the Clio on the 4th of March, in lat. 24. 49 long. 66. 28. Parted company with the Lord Cra n . ston the sth of March, in lat. 26. 3. long. 67, 36 . _ Saw a ship on the 26th March, which he supposed to be the Lord Cranston, with the loss of her main anil snizen topsail yards, in lat. 42; 18. long. 35. 14. but she not minding the signals, did not pay any atter.- tient to het. On the 30th March spoke the Huntress, From Liverpool, bound to Boston, hi lat. 45. 51.1,, ir 31. 32. all well: Admiral Dt7cww oßTH , with fire sail of the line, left St. Mitt's and went to leewa r d on the 23d February. the Hentse of CoD *den of thieves ! It is impossible to look AD the means etnployed by Etclegasties to :dente these wittesses, without admir ing that PROVIDENCE Which has preserved thenho— Their enemies were blinded by their oim power, and instead of deliberately establishing a regular plan to alter them- . =a thing wbich nothing but the power et . HEAVES could have preventedthey shift them up from the inspection of the people, who thus were de ptived of the thedns of examining into the truth of theii ptetensions. Ages of ignorance And datkness followed. In the mean time, copies of the Scriptures were still multiplied in these abodes of blindness— knOwledge at last began to Tevive, and _the art of priAting was introduced, whifh frustrated their mach!. nati ons. The third seal then being removed, shown what was alluded to by the Angel, when he told Daniel, that the link horn, through his policy, should cause craft so pron.," in. hii hand (viii. 25), and wide the land (into bishopricks, &c.)forgain 99.) BIRLICUS. r, The Latin tittle was prisited in 1465 ; in 1488 the t)k Tes tament was printed iii Hebrew in 1516 the New Testamerit in Greek, and in a few years after, translations of both intd the dif ferent languages of Europe. The Church was in danger, Church meri wete alarmed, and Monks declaimed froni their pulpit's, tha t " a new language was now diseove:red, called Greek, of which the People should beware, since it was the source of all heresies : that in this language was come forth a book, called she New rest.swent, which was now in every body's bands, and was fuU of thorns and briars—that another language had also started up, which they called Harm, and that they who learnt it were turned Hebrews." —Holy de textu p. 465. 4 , The Julia sloop of war arrived at Barbadoes, 26t1) February, from Demerara, with the Admiral Colpoys .and Good Intent, bound to London —th e George, Nile, Mari - Anti, Intrepid; and Divina, for Litetpool--the Jason. Griiiitara., for Port Glasgow ; the Hero, CARNOCHAN I for this port ; and the In dustry, for Dublin ; they were to sail on the 27th Fe. bruary, under convoy of the Julia to lat. 32. On the Ist 'February none of the A strea's co nvo y h a d b een captured and carried into Guadaloupe ; and, on the 3d, none of the same fleet had been carried into Mar. tinique. The brig Stag, LOVE, arrived at Port Glasgow, froth* Jaquetnelle, St. Domingo. On 3d March, at A. M, fell in with a fleet bound to Jamaica, all well, Aftavila beating N. W. disc: 14 - leagues; at same tithe was spoke by his Majesty's brig Moselle, who had left the fleet to thace a privateer, which she cap tured, and • with which she again joined the fleet.— j The commander of the Moselle enquired if a fleet find been seen by Captain. Lova a few days before. On the Bth March was boarded in the Mona passage by his Majesty's-ship Melampus. On the 14th, was boarded by his Majesty's brig Demerara, with dis. patches from Bermuda for the West Indies, Bermuda bearing N. W. 30 leagues." . The Vicar of Croydon, In a sermon, which. he preached at Paul's Cross about this time, expressed himself thus :—" We must root out printing, or printing will root us out."—Ftyis Acta and Mon. Vol. 1, pi 927. THE EVENING STAR. LONDON. • SATURDAY, APRIL * M. i 3 RICE OF STOCKS THIS bAY AT ONP O'CLOCK. eoisols, for money, 66{f—for account, 6614-Iftedueed est. Exchequer Bills, 4s. 51. prem. Y( s• erday letters, dated the Gth inst. were received from Heligoland, which mention sorhe particulars con tained in Hamburgh and Altona papers that have not yet reached us. Among other things, it is stated, that the Russians have defeated the Swedes in several ac tions, and obtained possession of the whole of Finland. As these Jburnals are, however, completely devoted to the enemy, little reliance can be placed on unofficial reports of this kind. The accounts from Holland state, that a Loan has been opened at Amsterdam, under the direction of the principal merchants and bankers, for fitting out small armed vessels. The first inscriptions, it is said, amoun ted to £E 600,000, and the books were to close in *the beginning of the present month. The report of the French troops having got to the Island of Zealand, which prevailed yesterday, is not mentioned in the letters from Heligoland, and we therefore hope it is unfounded. Yesterday, being Good • Friday, his Martstr, Princesses AUGUSTA, MARY, and Sorma*, the Duke of CAMBRIDGE, accompanied by the Countess of RAD. NOR, Lady A. CUMBERLAND, General Frrznov, Ma jor Paws:, and .Mr. BUCKLEY, rode to St: George's Chapel, Windsor, and heard a sermon preached by the Rev. Dr. CooKsoN, tram the 9th chapter of St. Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews, and the' oth verse ; afterwards they went to Frogmore, where they met her MAJESTY, Plincesses ELIZABETH and AMELIA.— His MAJESTY dined there. At three o'clock the Royal Family retorted to the Palace, where her MA. 'Jim, the Princessess and the Duke of CAMBIUDGE, dined at four. . • . Mr. Jott.syrn, the Member for Pctersfield, is ap- The Hopewell, Captain GOODALL (alias High Ad- pointed his Majesty's Governor of the settlement of miral of the Haytian fleet) is arrived off Falmouth, Surinam. - • Thursday the Archbishop 6tCaNTEitittnivbeld a froin Si. Domingo. . -- ; confirmation at Bow Church, of the thirteen Parishes The squadron under the command of Admiral! in the City of London which belong to his diocese. DUCKWORTH, consisting of five sail of the lint, left St. Yesterday his Royal Highness MONSIEUR, the Dec Kitt's, and went to Leeward on the 22d February. DE BERRI, and most of the other illustrious Members Yesterday we stated that the Caledonia, TUOM. of the House of Bountiox honoured the Duc on SERRET with their company to dinner, at his house sM:;, arrived at Demerara, had on the 28th of Janus ' 'N ary, in the latitude of Madeira, seen six ships of the in George-street, Portman-square. The will of the late Mr. GOLDSNIID was opened on line, Which the Captain did not believe to be English. I Thursday. It is said he has left Notwithstanding this opinion of the Captain, we ap- amount of 400,0001. which goes chiefly to his children, be prehend there can very little doubt that the squa- with a handsome annuity to his widow. H is three dron alluded to is that under Sir J. DUCKWORTH, brothers are named his executors. property to the which at the date mentioned, was on its passage from Lord STANLEY left town, on Thursday morning, for Hull, to join his regiment, the 2d Lancashire. Madeira to the West Indies. Indeed, as we now ap. pear to have. certain accounts relative to all the en- . Monday morning the division of the Royal Horse ene- G uar d s (Bl ue ), quart9d at Reading, marched to my's squadrons which haverecently left port,are .it is M a id en h ea d, w h e r e they to remain during the not possible that the vessels seen by the Caledonia summ e r mon th s . ' could be French. . The 2d battalion Of the 71st regiment, which on The Clarence, GRIEVE,. is arrived at Liverpool' Sunday arrived at Greenock from Londonderry , i s from Demerara, which place she left on th e 3d o f now at Gjasgow. March, in company with the Irmelinda, M - -AI Q UIS i The 94th regiment, or Scotch Brigade, which re - Commerce, turned in the late & Commerce, WATTs ; Belleisle l GAM:BELL ; and the ' at Gravesend, fromet from India, landed yesterday whence it will mrcls in a few St. Andrew, RITCHIE, for the Clyde; Swift, Ditturr ;1 days for, its station in the Kentish district. and Aurora, BEowN, for London:—Past Tortola on I . The quarters of tale East, Kent' Militia have been the 14th, and parted on the 19th. Th e C a l e d o - 1 changed from Gosport to Portsmouth, preparatory to the regiment being employed to do duty as Marin es, nia, THOMPSON, arrived at De merara i n company ' on board the prison ships in that harbour. with the Olive Branch, PARTRIDGE, from London, for 1 • A troop of the Royal Waggon Train marched Berbice, which she *had re-captured. His Majesty's ' from Canterbury on Wednesday morning, on its route ship Moselle, with about forty sail of vessels under ; under the fur Colchester, where it is to be st ationed ig .; orders of Lieutenant-Colonel LANGLEY, and convey, from from Cork for Jamaica, St. Domingo on the 4th of March. The Moselle had ' were all well (:)" I ployed in forming the military road in that vicinity. A troop.from Dover, commanded by. Captain TU R• that morning captured a French schooner privateer. atm, yesterday replaced it in Canterbury. We are happy to add that several other vessels have . A aletathtnent of the Surrey Militia has been or arrived in * the Clyde. The particulars are detailed duty of in the folloiving statement : derectfrom Maidstone to Chatham, to do the • marines on board file guard-ships. " GREENOCIC, *APRIL is. -;.. . . • • b e on the prison ships, in the River, are to emp loyedthis " Thelouisa, BAIRD (a running ship), arrived this • Tilt Ro y al Marines hitherto employed in guarding morning from Trinidad, after a passage of 48 days. foreign service,. and they are to be replaced on i " The Lord Melville, AuLD, has arrived" at Port be every month, -* . dutz h ilaimenu of the line or militia, who are to :ing / 6 0 3 S t a--It is i s% a late Se boated J Aresemble se Tea" • itary the writer • ever see n dt , to Di sway to A C/ 21 re • .• • The foll the 7 • minu wr of Est Old Me eshaPPY tes l Pest felon • is: • f p i vo tit • • 0 1 • HYDE invited , a favourite thrown of s•round, a us careag the huml and four visitors-- renowned • Tits C fine Stag v e ry fine, son, a nt past ten, turned of bill, and road, toi a nd was s ham, afi seven gel knocked two °die to be out His Lor, . to town. The fi tingdon eery of t The sail kauy was stated to struck, f jeant Si for the t Mrs. Bii says tha was con what is Sir (say tween y • . Lord .* Dean, 1 • The Aldern Esq. Visc4 quis at with th I'hc town, c at Oakl The fur \V i s The • the Du bey, fc The Thurso The night; as on t The vered The his se.l The sor, ai Seems worth four si An Inent .ports, .!:be C -fad 1 forta of Se assigi no le! thus leave prod for 'Yea Fair sac, at. ~.~:. .~.