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

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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 gyhtg,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 Let those oa.
tiaoswisich authorise is any way a trade In slaves ii U k of the
fate 4111111kir posterity in the day of retrilsistivejusdee!