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NATIONS CONVERTED BY THE SWORD.

profess his Christless religion, which was adapted to the gratification of all the corrupt propensities of human nature. The terror of arms, the carnage of the battle-field, and the numerous feats of victory and conquest, accompanied with threats of the conqueror, with his Koran in one hand and sword in the other, crying, "Submit to my religion, or feel the terror of my sword:" resulted in the conversion of kingdoms, and empires, until "The Christian churches of Asia and Africa were annihilated; and from India to the Atlantic throughout Persia, Arabia, Syria, Palestine, Asia Minor, Egypt, Northern Africa, Spain, and part of France, the religion of the False Prophet was acknowledged. Constantinople was besieged; Rome was plundered, and nothing less than the subjection of the whole Christian world was meditated on the one hand, and tremblingly expected on the other." [Encyc.] Then was fulfilled the prediction of the vision of the second "little horn," which declared that it waxed exceeding great toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land, prospering and magnifying himself in his heart.”

5. Another reason is, THE TERM OF MAHOMETAN EXISTENCE. The duration of this little horn is of important consideration. This point is settled by the inquiry and answer of the two celestial beings, whom Daniel heard in the vision. [Verses 13 and 14.] The word rendered "certain saint," is translated in the margin "THE NUMBERER OF SECRETS, OR THE WONDERFUL NUMBERER," meaning, doubtless, the Son of God, called "Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God." In the vision, Daniel heard a saint inquire of this CERTAIN SAINT, this Wonderful Numberer, "the Mighty God," and the question put to him was, "How long shall be the vision, concerning the daily sacrifice, and the

MAHOMET'S SELF-EXALTATION.

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transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the hosts to be trodden under foot?" the answer was, "Unto two thousand and three hundred days."

6. Another reason is, MAHOмMET'S SELF-EXALTATION. -In the vision, Daniel saw the little horn wax great to the host of heaven, (i. e. the church,) and it cast down of the host, (i. e. members of the church,) and of the stars, (God's ministers,) to the ground, and stamped upon them. Yea, he magnified himself even to the Prince of the host, (i. e. the little horn magnified himself, by assuming to be prince of God's worshippers, and take from them the place of their sanctuary,) and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of the sanctuary was cast down. And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground, and it practised and prospered."

In the explanation of the vision to the prophet, Gabriel affirmed, that the "king of fierce countenance," meant by the little horn, would stand up against the Prince of princes. This Mahomet has done by professing himself to be God's Prophet, and ranking Jesus Christ, (the Prince of the kings of the earth, King of kings and Lord of lords,) among all other prophets inferior to Mahomet. The sum of Gabriel's interpretation of the vision is, that the little horn, "the king of fierce countenance," would extend his conquests over the land where the daily sacrifice used to be offered every morning and evening in the Temple of the Lord. And although that Temple would have been destroyed, when the king of fierce countenance should take possession of Jerusalem, and compel its citizens to become followers of a False Prophet at the peril of their lives; yet there would be many Christian churches and devoted ministers of Jesus Christ in

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DURATION OF MAHOMETANISM.

that city and land where the Saviour died, arose, and ascended, and their churches and family altars were TEMPLES, where the daily sacrifices of prayer and thanksgiving, and humble worship were offered to the Almighty, in the manner of his appointment under the dispensation of the Gospel.

But by Mahomet those holy people were destroyed, or rooted out of all their Christian privileges. Christian people like hosts of the Lord, and Gospel ministers who were stars in God's estimation, were cast down to the ground by Mahomet's power, and were stamped upon by the contempt and oppression of the self-magnifying conqueror. The places of their sanctuary for public worship were broken down. Their daily sacrifices of Christian worship around the family altar, were broken up by this power of iniquity. And the Holy Bible, God's book, God's truth, was cast to the ground as a book of nought, to make way for the use of the Mahometan Koran-bible of fable and fiction. Thus it was foreseen and foretold to the holy prophet, by Him who knows the end from the beginning, that this power of iniquity, symbolically represented by this second little horn, would thus practise, and prosper, "Unto 2,300 days, then the sanctuary would be cleansed."

The 2,300 days signify, in prophetic style, the same number of years, as has been explained. At the end, therefore, of 2,300 years from a given period expressed, or implied in the vision, this power of iniquity foretold by the emblem of a little horn, would be totally overthrown, and the sanctuary of God would be cleansed from its power and influence, and the ordinances of pure and undefiled religon would fill the earth with the praises of God.

The 2,300 years, it is believed, are to be computed

SCRIPTURE COMPUTATIONS.

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from the date of the events seen in the vision immediately preceding, and which gave rise to the vision of the "little horn ;" and from thence, during the whole time which that power foreshown by the emblem of the little horn, would be permitted to exist, practise, and prosper, until the period when it should be exterminated from the earth, which would be the end of the whole vision. N. B. The reason for this computation is drawn from the interpretation of the vision by the Celestial instructors of the prophet.

By his Divine instructors. Daniel had understood that God's indignation would be manifested in the everthrow of that wicked power at the expiration of 2,300 days. And while the prophet anxiously sought the meaning of what he had seen and heard, the Angel Gabriel was commanded by his Creator to make the prophet understand the vision. Gabriel obeyed. And to render the whole vision intelligible, and especially the time and circumstances of its termination, which would be at the time appointed and foretold, the ARCHANGEL recapitulated and explained the whole vision, scene by scene, from the first to the last.

1. The First scene of the vision presented to Daniel, was a ram, with two horns, one higher than the other, which was interpreted to the prophet's understanding to signify the combined power of the kingdoms of Media and Persia.

2. Next, the prophet saw in the vision the power of Media and Persia subverted, which was represented by the destruction of the ram by the furious attack and superior power of a he-goat, with but one notable horn between his eyes. This was explained to the prophet by the angel, to signify, by the he-goat, the Grecian Empire, and the great horn to signify the "first king" which conquered the Medes and Persians. This great

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FOUR SCENES OF THE VISIONS.

horn-king was evidently, as it came to pass, Alexander the Great. The attention of the prophet was, of course, fixed for the time being, on the prediction of this great conqueror, who commenced his reign 336 years before the birth of Christ. The next scene of the vision referred to in the angel's explanation, was Alexander's death, by which event his kingdom was broken, 323 years before the birth of Christ.

3. Next, the prophet's attention was directed to the scene of his vision of four great notable horns, which came up in the place of the one great horn that was broken, which were explained to the prophet's understanding to signify the four great monarchies which originated from the division of Alexander's Empire, among four of his most valiant Generals, which division was settled, after much contention, 300 years before Christ was born.

4. Behold now the prophet gazing with anxiety, in his vision, on four great horns before him; when, to his farther astonishment and admiration, a "little horn!" (the principal object of the whole vision,) is seen to come forth out of one of the great horns; waxing great; casting down hosts and stars to the ground, and stamping upon them; magnifying himself; disannulling the daily sacrifice; casting down the place of the sanctuary; obtaining an host against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression; casting down the truth to the ground, and practising, and prospering; and, in addition to all this, a celestial voice, revealing the solemn, awful fact, that this "little," self-magnifying, destructive, oppressive "horn" of all evil devices and mischief, would continue his depredations on earth "Unto 2,300 days, then the sanctuary I would be cleansed." This was the last scene of the vision. And the last event described in the interpre