Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1827-05-16
PAINTED AIU PUBLISHED,
WEDNESDAY. MAY 10, 1927.
From n. London Literary Gazette.

q The HpocGtypse 81 ol' Jo"'' vi ioP"'~y VI '">
Rise, Progress and Fall OF the Church OF
Rome,-the Inquisition,-th French Revo-
lution,-the Universal War,-and the final
Triumph of Christianity; being new Inter
pretation BY the Rev. George Croly, AM.
H. r.. 5 l..
This volume is dedicated to the Lord Bishop
of Salisbury,a ?relate whose high character for
all thar does honour to his station, for in,elll-
gence, virtue, and literature, argues well tor
any writer 10 whose work he has, as in this IN
stance, permitted the sanction OF mis- name.
But as every work, however thus fayourably
introduced TO the public, must stand or fall on
its own grounds, We shall now proceed to state
the claims Of the present calculation OF one OF
the most important, and unquestona6ly the
least known, portions OF the Scriptures
Ii is a singular fact, tbat while the other I'll
visions of the sacred volume have been inter
preted with fulness that leaves scarcely room
for the most trivial addition of light, and with
cearness that makes scep,icism al once ab-
surd and criminal; the Apocalypse, written by
the most favoured OF the Evangelis,s, the last
great document ofthe prophetic spirit to man.
Kind. the roll Of the fates Of The Christian
Church, and, with il, of the world, should be
most stu 5born trial Of the commentators, and
converted, by the infinite failures of the plans of
calculation, inlo darkness visible. The names
OF Faber. ket,, Galloway, Woodhonse, and Iii
loch. will convey TO those who are familiar with
modern divinity the impression OF abour and
learning But il is in the authors view be-
yond all doubt, that with the Apocalypse they
have effected nothing; aad their chief value has
been that of showing, that no attempt pursued
on their principles can lead to the light. The
result of those endless discrepancies s,ot course
the inclination 10 discredit the book; the readi-
ness TO conceive tina. what has so long defed
explanation was not made to he explaned; aud
the consequent consignment oil most magDl-
fcent and illustrative woIk Of the Divine lnspl-
re,ion 10 me tIemfs ,f e-.L-~rss'n, o' 10 u'ter
,od ,cooran, neglect From both OF those cul-
mani. ahapdonments it is the object OF the pres
en-, work 20 rescue the Apocalypse, not by APP
neal merely to the ancient authorities OF theo-
LOGICAL literature, the fathers and other early
leaders OF the church, though this is not una'-
tended 10. hut by The true and sufficient way OF
sb,winb that il is capable OF an obvious and d.
rect in,erpretaiion, that all that was necessary
n. The discovery Of this Interpretation was the
adoption Of an arrangement pointed out oy the
na,ure Of the book, and overlooked by the COM
m.n,ato,s. merely from their having rashiy fol-
lowed each others track, and that the prophe-
r, contains, with a influences increasing as 1t
approaches our own time, the true evidence OF
;nsaira,jon,) all the grander features OF the his
tory of Chris,endom'
The present Interpretation is, as is stated in
the In,roduction, wholly original, having been
made without reference to any oi the preceding
writers. is new in the arrangement, the mode oil
calculation, and the nature OF ITS discoveries;
and is. according to Mr.. Croly's statement,thus
grounded
s:The Apocalypse is collection OF divine
visions seen probably Indifferent times, but all
dnrine the apostles exile Cat Patmos). 1t con-
s;.,. of six nortions:-The vision Of the Asat-
ic ncrsecu,ion. The vision of The Seals, or gen
oral view of Providence in the government OF
m. church and the world, beginning with The
neriod Of c constantine, and ending with the close
&c The final age of mankind. The vision Of the
Trumpe,s: the vision Of the Vias,-which two
are nearly identical and describe the infections
laid opon the prosecutors of the church, begin
ming from the establishment OF the lnquisilion,
and closing with the final ruin 9th popedom,
and the triumph Of Christianity. The vision
Of The Church, distinguished into the three cara
of naeap persecution, papal persecution, and
the catastrophe of her oppressors, and the vi
sion Of the triumph Of Christianity.
at will be shewn in the course OF the inter-
pre,ation, that this prophecy includes, IN the
most direct manner, all those great events
which make the framework OF history since
the FIRST age Of Christianity; that it distinc lily
nredicrs the establishment OF the church under
Constantine and his successors; the overthrow
Of the Romap empire; the erection OF the BAR
barian kingdoms on It's ruin; the rise OF the Po-
nedom: the establishment of the inquisition;,he
persecution OF the frs, reformers; the success
sive punishments laid on ltaly,SPain * France
as thr three powers by which the lnquisi'ior
was lie, loose against Professionalism, namely,th
distraction OF the Spanish armada, the clvi
war following the overthrow OF PROFESSIONALISM
in France in 1855, the wars Of Louis XIV, the
French Revolution, and the final and universal
war"
.sIt will be seen; BY comparison with any OF
the preceding commentaries, that this arrange
ment differs from them all in many importan,
features, but peculiarly in the luxtaposision Of
the Trumpets and Walls, whose extreme slml'
larity has hitherto truck our readers, yet which
have been treated, In difference to the errors o.