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FRIEND, if you read this tract, you will be laughed at by all the light, the vain, and the trifling portion of your acquaintance. If you believe what you read, some, to whom you have been wont to look up as guides will account you mad, deluded, and led away. If you practise what you believe, you will be persecuted, despised, and your name cast out as evil; but when you are assured that it is composed chiefly of the words of the great God, which must stand when all the vain triflers of this world sink in despair, the wisdom of the wise men perish, and the understanding of the prudent be hid, perhaps these considerations will have but little weight in your mind, and you will peruse it with a desire to understand its contents. In so doing, may the blessing of the Almighty God rest on you, lead you into all truth, and prepare you for the rapidly approaching scenes of the judgment.

Our design is to give an outline of the coast of man, from Babylon head to the Roman feet; show our position on that coast, and urge a speedy prepara ion to enter the port of everlasting rest, that remains to all that love ou Lord Jesus Christ and his appearing. In carrying out this design. w shall be guided by the "sure word of prophecy," which is admitted by all evangelical denominations to be the "perfect rule of

faith and practice," and nich the apostle says is "able to make us v 1 anto salvation, through 1 th which is in Christ Jesus." We are living .a a day when "darkness covers the land, and gross darkness the people;" out while doubt and perplexity prevail among the wise of this world, as to what the present state of things will result in, we have a "sure word of prophecy, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts."

On this word we may depend, with the fullest confidence that none jot or tittle of it will fail; "for the prophecy came not, in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." Taking this word, then, as a "light to our feet and a lamp to our path," let us examine some of the great landmarks that have been set up to guide the church-ship on her course to the heavenly port.

In the second chapter of Daniel, we read that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, "dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him. Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to show the king his dreams." This they were not able to do. "For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. Among these were numbered Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah." Dan. 1: 6. “Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and he would show the king the interpretation. Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, that they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel, in a night vision," who, after expressing his gratitude to God for this great favor, went in before the king, and said, "The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, show unto the king; but there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these: As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind, upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter; and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass. But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.”

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"THIS IS THE DREAM, AND WE WILL TELL THE INTERPRETATION THEREOF BEFORE THE KING." Dan. 2: 36.

"Thou, O king, art a king of kings; for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory; and wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all.

THOU ART THIS HEAD OF GOLD."

BABYLON, then, we understand, is represented by the "head of gold.” In the seventh chapter of Daniel, it is symbolized by a beast “like a lion, and had eagle's wings." 7: 4. Gold is the most precious of metals The lion is the king of beasts, as the eagle is of birds. These similitudes were all employed to represent the power and grandeur of the Babylonian empire. It attained the supremacy about 677 B. C.

Taking the light on the golden head as our point of departure, we run down the stream of time about 139 years, when we make two lights, situated on a high bluff. Examining our chart, we ascertain that, after the Babylonian,

ANOTHER KINGDOM, INFERIOR

to that, should arise. This was the Medo Persian kingdom, which was as much inferior to the Babylonian as silver is to gold. This empire is symbolized by the “breast and arms of silver,” in the second; by a beast "like to a bear," in the seventh, and by a “ram which had two horns,” in the eighth chapter of Daniel. It succeeded the Babylonian about 538 B. C.

From this point, we pass on a distance of 206 years, when we make one single light, just back of which are four prominent hills, by which peculiarity it may be distinguished from any other light on the coast. Turning again to our chart for information, we learn that, after the Medo Persian,

ANOTHER, THIRD KINGDOM OF BRASS,

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should arise. This was the Grecian kingdom. It is symbolized by the "belly and sides of brass," in the second; by a "leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl," in the seventh, and by a he-goat," in the eighth chapter of Daniel. It succeeded the Medo Persian kingdom about 332 B. C.

Passing on from this a distance of 302 years, we make a light, placed on a little point extending out into the sea. The coast along here is low,

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dark, and iron-bound. Turning once more to our chart we are informed that

THE FOURTH KINGDOM SHALL BE STRONG AS IRON.

This is the Roman kingdom. It is symbolized by the "legs of iron; feet part of iron and part of clay," in the second; by a "beast dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly," in the seventh, and by a "king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences," in the eighth chapter of Daniel. It attained the supremacy about 30 B. C.

From this point, 387 years bring us to a very prominent light, situated on a low point or cape, extending back from which we notice a range of ten hills. By a reference to our chart, it will be seen that the fourth or Roman kingdom was to be divided, as denoted by the toes of the image. We read, "Whereas, thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potter's clay and part of iron,

THE KINGDOM SHALL BE DIVIDED,

but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men; but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay."

The Roman empire was divided into ten kingdoms, between A. D. 357 and 486. Their names, and the time when they arose, are given by Machiavel, Dr. Hales, and Bishop Lloyd, as follows:

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6 The Sueves and Allans, in Gascoigne and Spain,

407.

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483.

10 The Lombards, on the Danube, in Germany,

These kingdoms, under modern names, are in existence to-day. "And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed: and the kinglom shall not be left to

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