perfons, court their acquaintance, offer a place in the National Inftitute, or a literary penfion. To men of letters you are always to infinuate, that penfions or places from the First Conful are only rewards for paft labours, and not any pretenfions or expectations of future fervices; that he looks on men of letters as fellow citizens of all countries, and that their talents belong to no country; neither to France nor to England, but to the Universe. "In your tranfactions with Irish patriots, or with any other per fons, or in any things not mentioned here, you are to follow the inftructions to Citizen Otto, of the 10th October, 1801; or, if you judge it neceffary, afk for new ones. "Paris, October 20, 1802. C. M. TALLETRAND." P. 119. For the genuinenefs of thefe papers, we cannot undertake tɔ vouch. They muft fpeak for themfelves. They are cer. tainly, in all respects, worthy of Talleyrand; and if not writ ten by himself, muft have been the production of fome perfon perfectly acquainted with his difpofition and intriguing views. The refl of the book, as defcribing many of the heroes of the Revolution, abounds, of courfe, with references to thofe horrors and atrocities which, for fourteen years, have infulted human nature. But the horrors of which we read, the murders of thousands of their own peaceful citizens at once, the streams of blood, and the wantonnefs of barbarity, would all be loft in a comparison with the cruelties which would here be exercifed, could they poffibly obtain the means of thus fatiating at once their hatred, their avarice, envy, and revenge. Whatever we may think of the preparations of their Conful or Emperor, let not a fingle fubject of thefe united kingdoms, from any confideration imaginable, relax for a moment his earnest efforts to avert the evil; but, above all things, let us avoid the violence of internal diffenfions and parties, the deftruction of Switzerland, the deftruction perhaps of every country that has fallen by external force, poffeffing any tolerable means of felf-defence. The title of Revolutionary Plutarch is well enough calculated to attract attention; but, though a few of the heroes of the Grecian biographer were bad enough, there is fomething whimsical in feeing them compared in the mafs to fuch a set of mifcreants. The perfons recorded here are Moreau, Sieyes, Fouché, Barras, Roederer, Volney, Pichegru, Riouffe, David, Talleyrand. Thefe occupy the firft volume. In the fecond, we find Soult, Dumas, Dufour, St. Hilaire, Loifon, Van Damme, Augereau, Lafnes, Mafféna, Andreoffy, Bruix, and the whole Bonaparte family, fourteen in number. The famous tract of Col. Titus, entitled "Killing no Murder", is evidently intended to be applied mutatis mutandis to the Corfican ufurper. At .. At the end of the Preface ftands an Erratum, which corrects two faults, and makes three or four more, It relates to a quotation from Martial, which should be printed thus: Mella jubes Hyblæa tibi, vel Hymnettia nafci, Et thyma Cecropiæ Corlica ponis api. That is, "you would have the finest honey, and you give the Attic bee nothing to produce it with but Corfican thyme", Like commanding bricks to be made without straw, to illuftrate the impoffibility of making good verfes on bad subjects. ART. XIV. Brief Commentaries upon fuch Parts of the Revelation and other Prophecies as immediately refer to the prefent Times: in which the feveral Allegorical Types and Expreffions of thofe Prophecies are tranflated into their literal Meanings, and applied to their appropriate Events: containing a fummary of the Revelation, the prophetic Hiftories of the Beast of the Bottomless Pit, the Beast of the Earth, the Grand Confederacy, or Babylon the Great, the Man of Sin, the Little Horn, and Antichrift. By Jofeph Galloway, Efq. formerly of Philadelphia in America; Author of Letters to a Nobleman, and other Tracts on the late American War. 8vo. 474 PP. 9s. Hatchard. 1802. AS they who are perfuaded in their own minds of the high authority of the Book of Revelations, must conceive that it involves matters of the first importance to every paffing generation, they will not be difpofed to abridge the liberty of all found and fincere Chriftians, to examine and expound its contents, and to apply its prophecies, to every event they may conceive to be pointed out by them. Neither will they be faftidious in their remarks on fuch interpretations as may feem too fanciful. The fymbolical mode of writing being in most cafes only to be interpreted by conjecture. In the work before us, much ingenuity is difplayed as to the explanation of fome of the apocalyptical vifions. Though in other parts folutions are offered, which appear to us to be but very weakly fupported. Mr. Galloway, in his Introduction, profeffes the highest respect for the prophetic parts of Scripture. "For my own part, I confefs, without regret, that I have again and again perufed the prophecies in general, vifionary and barbarous as they are impioufly called, with increafing admiration and delight; and and I truft, not without receiving inftruction; and, may I be per mitted to add, in the face of great authorities to the contrary, that the plan of narrative of the Apocalypfe in particular, against which the fpleen of infidelity has been for the most part directed, is critically regular and perfect, no less than grand; the chronological order of events exact, the tyle indifputably noble and sublime, replete with natural and beautiful images, and abounding with accurate and expreffive meta phors. And I fhall take the liberty of retaining this opinion of its excellency, till those who have endeavoured to bring the Apocalypfe into contempt, by their rafh and unfupported flander, fhall condefcend to point out fome of thofe "wild and vifionary allegories and barbarifms", by which they affert it is rendered trifling and unintelligible; and shall also submit their arguments to public inveftigation, and to the left of fair and found criticism." P. iv. At p. xiv. he profeffes to differ entirely from Bishop Newton and most other expofitors. This is faying more than is proved by the work itfelf; for, at p. 160, he fo fully admits Bishop Newton's interpretation of the former part of the xiiith Chapter, as to forbear to touch upon it himself. At p. 2, we have, as it were, the Argument and Perfona of the Apocalypfe, which, as it fuccinctly ftates Mr. G.'s view of his fubject, we fhall give in his own words, though there is fomething too dramatical in the ftyle. "The Apocalypfe, then, is the most important, fublime, and awful theme, that ever employed the mind of man. It contains the PRO PHETICAL HISTORY OF ALL THE PROMINENT EVENTS, IN "1. The I AM that I AM, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, which is, and which was, and which is to come"; the one, fupreme, uncreated, felf-exifting GOD; the Creator and Ruler of all things. "2. JESUS CHRIST, the ever bleffed Son of GOD, and Redeemer of a fallen world. 3. The Two WITNESSES of GOD. 4. SATAN, the fallen fpirit, and the origin of all evil, the great enemy, the tempter, and deceiver of the whole world. 66 5. The DRAGON, or the powers of paganism, the agents and minifters of Satan, and the oppofers and perfecutors of the church of Chrill. 6. The great fenfual apoftate, MOHAMED, in the East, and the great idolatrous apoftate, the Pope, in the Wett, the contemporary de itructive enemies of the church. "7. The "BEAST OF THE BOTTOMLESS PIT", or the " Beaft of the earth", or the powers of atheism, established by revolutionary France; France; another agent of Satan, and yet greater enemy of God and man. 8. BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS, AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH; a mighty power to be formed hereafter by Satan, to confift of a confederacy of all the be fore-mentioned enemies of the word of God, and church of Chrift. 9. GOG AND MAGOG, another mighty power, which is to be formed under the banners of Satan, by a combination of all the wicked and ungodly upon the earth; with defign to make one great effort to deftroy the church and kingdom of Chrift, preparatory to the laft judgment, and the confummation of all things." P. 2. The two diftinguishing features of Mr. Galloway's expofition confift in referring "the beast of the bottomless pit", Rev. xi. 7, to atheistical France, and the "two witneffes", against whom the beaft was to make war, to the Old and New Teftament*. There is no part of the work more ably handled, or more interefting to the reader, than what exprefsly relates to the proof of these two points. The language in which the abominations of atheistical France are depicted, is forcible and highly animated, yet we fear in no part too ftrongly coloured; while his application of the two witneffes to the two books of fcripture, against whom apoftate France was to war, is certainly well managed; and however contrary to the notions of former expofitors, deferving of attention. To fix the prefent fituation of the world by the terms of the Apocalypfe itself, Mr. Galloway conceives, that all the events predicted under the feven feals, the first fix trumpets, and the firft and fecond woe, are come to pafs. The feventh trumpet, or third and laft woe, a trumpet which is to introduce the feven vials, remaining to be brought to pafs: and he thinks the third and last woe is already upon the earth, and all the latter predictions about to be fulfilled. How thefe are to fucceed each other, or to take place upon the earth, is fummed up in the following account of the feven laft chapters of the Book. "In Chapter XVI. the prophet gives in detail the events of the third and last wor, under the fymbols of the feven vials, of which he had only drawn the great outlines in the laft Chapter. Having before concluded the particular events of the fecond woe, with the etablishment of the power of Atheism in France in 1791, brought down his hiftory of the church to that epoch, and told us, upon that event being fulfilled," the fecond woe fhould be paft, and behold the third woe cometh quickly"; he begins a narration of the events, which were immediately to follow, under the fymbol of the fift vial. *Not that this latter interpretation is altogether new. And And here he particularly defcribes the dreadful plagues which fell upon France, and led to the deftruction of the monarchy, the death of the King, and the establishment of Atheifm. Under the second vial, he foretels the fall of Papal Rome: under the third, the plagues and ra vages lately fuffered by Papal Germany: under the fourth, the final overthrow of the monarchy, the death of the King, the fubfequent reign of terror, and the deftruction of the terrorifts, or principal leaders, and authors of the revolution: under the fifth, the fall of the atheistical and revolutionary power of France: under the fixth, the fall of the Ottoman empire, and the Mohamedan apoftacy: and under the Seventh vial, the dreadful plagues of the wrath of a juftly offended and long forbearing God, upon a great confederacy of pagans, apoftates, and atheilts, which fhall confpire to make one great effort to destroy the word of God, and prevent the coming of Chrift; together with the utter deftruction of this confederacy and all this preparatory to the first refurrection, and the fecond coming of Chrift to reign upon the earth. 66 racy. 66 Chapter XVII. contains a minute defcription of that great confede Chapter XVIII. announces the decree for the utter deftru&tion of that grand confederacy. "Chapter XIX. contains a beautiful and fublime description of Chrift, of his coming to unite with his church, and to execute the decree paffed against the fatanical confpiracy. Chapter xx. gives an account of the binding of Satan, and his imprisonment in the bottomlefs pit a thousand years; the reign of Chrift upon earth during that period; of the nature of the first, and a hint of the fecond refurrection, and of the blessed state of those who fhall reign with Chrift. It further contains an account of the loofing of Satan, and his deceiving the nations in the four quarters of the earth; of Gog and Magog; Satan's gathering of them together in battle array, a mighty hoft, against Christ and his kingdom; the miraculous deftruction, and final condemnation, of him and his hoft; the laft refurrection, and final judgment, with Chrift's victory over death and hell. Chapter xx1. includes the deftruction of the old, and the creation of the new heavens and new earth; and a description of the new Jerufalem in it. Chapter XXII. concludes the Revelation, with the fuperlative and ineffable bleffednefs of the righteous in the new Jerufalem. 66 I have thus laid before the reader a brief view of the contents of the Apocalypfe. I have fhown, that all the events foretold under the feven feals and fix first trumpets, have come to pass, in the order they were foretold; that they bring down the predictions, with their refpective completions, to the prefent times;—and that no prophetic event remains to be fulfilled, fave thofe of the laft and third woetrumpet, or of the feven vials of the wrath of God. And I have anticipated a few curfory hints refpecting the contents of those vials. I have done this, as I conceived it would not only give the reader a general idea of the grand and awful subject, but enable him the better to examine into the probability of the explanation and application of the figurative |