portion of time, which I have dedicated to the fludy of prophecy; when I contrast the imperfection of the execution with the extent of my defign and the importance of my fubje&t; I feel happy, that I have in fome degree the power of fhielding myself from the charge of prefumption, as I have been able truly to affert, that the present work derived not its origin from a confciousness of my being competent to the performance, but that it has been the refult of different accidental circumftances, and has been fwelled, by little and little, to a fize, which was very far from my primary intention. 1. At a time when three hundred pages of it were printed, much of the remaining part was yet unwritten. Had it been otherwife, fome advan tageous alterations might have been made in the arrangement of the work. But I know not, that I should have been able to have introduced any very material improvement in this respect; and, indeed, were I not apprehensive, that the preface may be chargeable with too minute a detail of particulars, I fhould now, perhaps, proceed to vindicate and unfold the order21, in which the fe veral topics are arranged. But, omitting this, I conclude, with affuring the reader, that had not a very large proportion of my time, fince the com 31 The Order of Time is in a great measure obferved; and it has been my endeavour to arrange, near to each other, those predictions, which, though they proceed from different prophets, relate to the fame events. mencement mencement of the work, been occupied by other pursuits and by a variety of engagements, and, had I not been convinced, that to delay 22 it would be in a great degree to counteract any efficacy it may be supposed to have, I should have retrenched its redundancies, and fhould have rendered it, in all refpects, lefs unworthy of his perusal. 22 No motive, indeed, but this fhould have prompted me to fo hafty a publication of the present work; impreffed as I am with the affertion of Vitringa, when speaking of the apocalypse, abfque intenfiffima mentis exercitatione neminem ad arcanos ejus fenfus pervenire poffe; and with the caution which he gives, ut ad interpretationem ejus nemo nifi timide et lente abfque nimia feftinatione accedat, poft cogitationes omnes diligenter fuba&tas digeftasque. Præfat. That a great part of the prefent work, with respect to style, is written haftily and with too little care, is alfo admitted. Yet, it is hoped, that it may almoft every where lay claim to the praise of perfpicuity. Inftances of inelegance and incorrectnefs are alfo to be found, in confequence of the work having been printed more than a hundred miles from the place where I refide, and of my not having received the revise of a fingle fheet. LONDON, 19th Dec. 1795. ADVERTISEMENT. ADVERTISEMENT. THE 'HE author of the prefent work, fome time fince, intended to have fubjoined at the end of it a feries of chapters, ON THE FUTURE IMPROVED STATE OF MANKIND. Had he not been led by accident to elucidate Mr. Fleming, and in confequence to investigate the nature of the millennium, they would never have been written. But, though much of his time has been exclufively employed in the compofition of them, and though thefe chapters are now almost in a finished State, yet he has been induced to omit them; partly becaufe what is now printed is, of itself, of a very large fize, and may not improbably exhauft the reader's patience; and partly because the fubjects of the two divifions of his work are materially different, although the one would, indeed, be naturally fupplemental to the other. In compofing the prefent performance, the writings of commentators and theologues have been principally confulted, and principally quoted. In that which remains unprinted, where authors are appealed to, appeal appeal has been ordinarily made by him to thofe of a very different defcription, and particularly to naturalifts, philofophers, and phyficians, to politicians, hiftorians, and the writers of travels. Whilft the first part of the work, or, as he ought rather to express himself, the subject of it, is best calculated to pleafe fome claffes of readers; others would probably be more interested by the fecond and remaining portion, which is founded, not on the interpretation of fcripture and prophecy, but on the deductions of reafon and experience. Should a favourable fentence be pronounced with respect to the prefent volumes, by fuch as are competent judges; and should thofe multiplied engagements, which have long occupied the greater part of his time, permit him to prepare the fubfequent work for the prefs; it is his intention, at fome future time, to fubmit it to the judgment of the public. LIST OF AUTHORS. THAT dates and titles of books, I fhall here enumerate those writers on the subject of prophecy, from which citations have most frequently been made. The following authors have written exprefsly on the book of Revelation, and therefore their titles need not be enumerated. They have given a regular commentary, chapter by chapter, and therefore, when I refer to their explanation of any particular chapter or verfe, it will scarcely ever be neceffary to cite the page, as by confulting them it will be easy to find the paragraph quoted. Tranflated from the High Dutch, and fold by Mofes Pitt, at is almost entirely on the apocalypfe. Dr. Bryce Johnson 2 vols. 8vo. In my citations from the fubfequent commentators on the apocalypfe, I have quoted the page, as they do not illuftrate it in the order of the chapters, Jofeph Mede, in his Works, 2 vols. Fol. Lond. 1663 Dr. Tho, 1758 Edinb. 1794. |
