a mission to Palestine; or, should they be frustrated in that design, to throw themselves at the feet of the sovereign Pontiff, without reservation, stipulation, or condition of any kind, offering to undertake any service which he, the Vicar of Christ, should appoint them to. This vow, the rudiments of that by which afterwards every professed' Jesuit bound himself, was taken by the founders of the Society August 15th, in the year 1534." (Taylor, pp. 92, 93.) They were all taught to believe that they were called of Heaven, in a special and peculiar manner, to carry forward a great work; and to regard the supremacy of their chief as of divine appointment. About this time Loyola found scope for his zeal in his earnest endeavours to convert the followers of Luther; many of whom, for this purpose, he delivered into the hands of the Inquisition. His health requiring a change, his physicians recommended him to try his native air; and he took the opportunity thus afforded him—or perhaps, rather, so contrived it-to transact some necessary worldly arrangements for his Spanish associates, by which they were preserved from the danger they would have incurred by contact with their families and friends. The scenes of his first exploits as a Saint, seem to have revived his slumbering fanaticism; for we again find him, in the midst of "gigantic nonsense," as Taylor expresses it, acting a "miserable farce," making "himself the hero of a performance combining much of folly, of jugglery, and of something akin to plunder." When we see him enacting extravagancies discountenanced in his Constitutions, and which he had for years laid aside, and never resumed when he was firmly seated in his chair at Rome, can we avoid the conclusion that, now as well as formerly, he was acting a part; that it was all assumed for a special object; thus embodying in himself the spirit of his system, that "the end sanctifies the means "doing evil that good might come?" There is nothing unreasonable or illiberal in this supposition. We cannot indeed approve of that dogma, or of the "spiritual wickedness" with which it is combined, and of which it forms a consistent part; but when we view his proceedings in this light, we are taking him on his own ground, and are supposing that he was giving expression to his own apprehensions of right and wrong when he enjoined such a code of morality for the guidance of his deluded followers. We do not deny that he had compunctions of conscience, and desires after salvation, and zeal for God; but it was a "zeal not according to knowledge." And in what did his convictions of sin result? Without presuming to judge of his state in the sight of God, which we are forbidden to do, we naturally look, as we are indeed commanded to do, at the fruits which are brought forth. We look in vain in the writings of Loyola for the proof that he was building his hopes of salvation on that sure stone which God Himself has laid in Zion, and which the Scriptures declare to be the only foundation; that he was conformed to the image of the meek and lowly Jesus; that he had "the Spirit of Christ, without which we are none of

His." Can anything be more opposed to the compassion, the tenderness, the love, the expansive benevolence, the simplicity, the purity of the religion of Jesus, than the subtle, tortuous, wicked, grasping, crushing, and withering system of Loyola, which reduces its votaries to the senseless condition of automatons, to be moved by an external impulse, without even the permission to discriminate whether the act they perform is a virtue or a crime, whilst it regards the whole family of man but as victims on which they are to prey? "By their fruits," says our Lord, "by their fruits ye shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles ?" The wide and desolate field of Jesuitism is thickly overspread with thorns and briars, which are its natural production. In vain do we look for grapes or figs in this dark, howling wilderness. If the appalling evils of the system are to be traced to its constitution (and who will deny it ?), we are at no loss in concluding from what source it has sprung. It cannot be from God; it must be from the enemy of souls. The "Prince of Peace" disowns it; for it is opposed to his laws. The "Prince of the power of the air, the Spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience," acknowledges it as his offspring; it bears his impress indelibly marked upon its brazen forehead, and is one of the chief instruments by which he carries on his work. "Ye are of your father, the devil," says our Lord, "for the works of your father ye do."

An hypothesis has been advanced by a writer on the principles and acts of the Jesuits, which, if it be true, will account for the construction of this the most consummate system of carnal policy which has ever been presented to the world under the garb of religion. If, he says, when Loyola was in the convent of the Dominicans at Manresa, suffering such anguish on account of his sins, some faithful guide had been at hand to direct him to the Lamb of God Whose blood cleanses from all sin, what a different career would have been that of Ignatius Loyola ! As it was, he took a totally false view of these feelings, and instead of looking upon them as compunctions mercifully sent by God to lead him to the foot of the cross, he deluded himself with the notion that they were the mere suggestions of the devil, and that all his mortifications and sacrifices were meritorious and good, and that he was to all intents and purposes a great Saint. This, he adds, appears to have been the turning point in the life of Loyola. He counted the voice of God in his conscience as the voice of the devil, and all his life after he was given over to a strong delusion to believe a lie; he was visited by a righteous retribution, and permitted to count the delusions of the devil as the voice of God.

Without adopting this opinion, which appears to us to trench upon the prerogative of the Searcher of hearts, we would pronounce no sentence on the personal state of Loyola in the sight of God; "to his own Master he standeth or falleth;" but with

regard to the system which he originated, we feel no such scruples. It has been tried; it has been carried out in its full dimensions both at home and abroad; it has been condemned by the universal execration of civilized Europe, and suppressed by the same power which first gave it authority. It has been again revived, in its integrity, for the special purposes of the Papacy, notwithstanding that its pernicious character was fully known, and its final and perpetual extinction pronounced by a solemn sentence of the Vatican; and it is now in active operation, destined, as we believe, in the hand of the enemy of all righteousness, to enact a distinguished part in the terrible convulsions which, in the apprehension of many thoughtful minds, will at no distant period agitate the world.

But our limits forbid us to enter, in the present Number, upon the subject of the constitution and workings of Jesuitism; which, however, we hope to notice in a future article, the subject being so important. Suffice it for the present to say, that when the plan of the Institution was laid before the Pope for his sanction, and by him submitted to a Committee of Cardinals, although the wily Loyola added to the three vows of poverty, chastity, and monastic obedience, a fourth, that of obedience to the Pope, binding the members of the Society to go wherever he should command them for the service of religion, and that without requiring any thing from the see of Rome for their support-he had to wait more than three years for the reluctant consent to the establishment of a Society which the Cardinals had pronounced to be unnecessary as well as dangerous: and it was not till the Pope was at length awakened to the conviction that Popery itself was trembling to its fall-Germany, England, and Switzerland having already thrown off the papal yoke, and even Italy already evincing alarming indications of the progress of the Reformation-it was not till the fears of the Pope were thus effectually aroused that with his Cardinals, he, at length consented to yield to the earnest solicitations of the founder of the Order. Hence in the Bull of Paul III. by which the Society was constituted, dated 27th September, 1540, the number of members was limited to sixty-a number no doubt regarded by Loyola as an instalment. His object was gained. Jesuitism stood forth clothed in the garb and decorated with the insignia of authority, and was abundantly sufficient to take care of itself. The point of the wedge was inserted; and speedily no obstruction remained to the full development of the system. Such vigour and zeal did the well-trained janissaries of Rome display in contending with the leaders of the Reformation, that the "Society of Jesus" soon received the fullest papal authority to carry the war wherever it would, and embrace the whole world, civilized and uncivilized, in its arms. And its influence went forth, like the cloud from the fathomless pit, to darken, perplex, mislead, and destroy the nations.

The Atlas of Prophecy; being the Prophecies of Daniel and St. John: With a simple Exposition; and a series of Maps and Charts, exhibiting their fulfilment in the History of the Church and of the World. In Quarto: London, Seeleys, 1849.

THERE are several classes of works, respecting which, as they concern not the great, fixed, and certain verities of the Christian faith, the journalist cannot be called upon to express a distinct opinion; and which are, nevertheless, as sincere and modest investigations of the "things which accompany salvation," entitled to be noticed with respect. One of these classes embraces the productions of earnest and humble enquirers into the meaning of the unfulfilled prophecies of Scripture. We feel not the slightest disposition to become active partizans of any school of prophetical interpretation: but this neutrality ought not to be carried to the extent of exclusion. One of our duties is, to keep the Christian public properly informed as to the state and progress of all biblical enquiries. Hence, whenever we meet with a writer who seems to have honestly endeavoured to advance the study of prophecy, in a useful and practical way, we feel that he is fairly entitled to a respectful notice, at least, in our pages.

The great work of our age, on these subjects, is, beyond all doubt, that of Mr. Elliott. To that extraordinary effort of learning and industry, we paid the tribute of our admiration in our Number for April, 1849. Without committing ourselves to any distinct concurrence in Mr. Elliott's views; we allude merely to the plainest and most obvious facts of the case, when we say, that the Hora Apocalyptice is one of the very few books which will do honour to the first half of the nineteenth century. Too often, in our day, even with able and industrious men, solidity is sacrificed to speed. A short time, in these days, suffices to produce a book; and then, a short time closes its career. The gourd "comes up in a night and perishes in a night." The oak, which takes a century to complete its growth, survives empires and dynasties, and leaves the men of its hoary age to surmise in what period of the world's history the date of its youth should be placed. So Mr. Elliott, highly qualified by learning, by intellect, and by a love of truth, has devoted twelve years to the formation of one book; and it will be a part of his reward, that his book, when completed, will probably live until the days of this dispensation shall have come to a close.

The present work is one among many which have been mainly formed on Mr. Elliott's model. Half a dozen volumes, confessedly borrowed from his ponderous work, now repose on our shelves. And the only reason why we select the present work for notice, is, that it not only follows Mr. Elliott's general plan, but aims, not irrationally, to carry the investigation a few steps further. If its author has not erred-a point on which we mean

to offer no opinion, he has adopted Mr. Elliott's main outline, but has, in two or three not unimportant points, considerably improved and perfected the system. And this, as we have said, is our chief reason for bringing the volume under our readers' notice.

The Atlas of Prophecy, as its name seems to import, aims, throughout, as far as possible, to make the interpretation of the prophetic books simple and intelligible, by means of an appeal to the eye. Thus, first giving the whole text of the prophecies of Daniel and St. John; the Atlas endeavours to shew their fulfilment in history, by exhibiting maps and charts of the_world's changes. These are fourteen in number; namely, 1. Daniel's Four Kingdoms: 2. Empire of Honorius and its Division: 3. The Four Empires, and the Ten Kingdoms: 4. The Ten Kingdoms during the 1260 years: 5-8. Seals i-iv. 9. Preparation for the Seven Trumpets: 10. The Trumpets: 11. The History of the Reformation: 12. Chart of the 1260 years: 13. Outline of the History of Christendom: 14. Kingdom of the Messiah. In this respect it is, we apprehend, a new work; meaning thereby, that nothing of the same kind has been produced before it. And for this reason among others, it may claim some friendly mention in a Journal like our own.

But our chief reason for bringing it under notice, is, that while generally following Mr. Elliott's system, it ventures, in two or three points of importance, to differ from him. And, as we may reasonably assume that the majority of our readers have read Mr. Elliott's great work, they will doubtless feel indebted to us for bringing before them any particulars in which a subsequent writer has, with some show of reason, attempted to modify and improve Mr. Elliott's interpretation.

The two chief points which it seems desirable to notice in this point of view, are, a different chronological arrangement of the SEALS; and a different and totally new interpretation of the HARVEST and VINTAGE of the Apocalypse. And as our business is merely to report the real state of the discussion, we shall, without further preface, proceed to give the two views; namely, Mr. Elliott's, as offered in the "Hora Apocalypticæ," and the modified view which we find in the "Atlas of Prophecy."

Mr. Elliott's view of the first four Seals in the Apocalypse was as follows:

The First Seal he interpreted to denote the golden period of the empire, under Nerva, Trajan, Adrian, and the two Antonines; extending from A. D. 96 to A. D. 192.

The Second Seal he made to commence A. D. 193, with the assassination of Commodus; and to terminate with Decius, about A. D. 249.

The Third Seal he interpreted of the oppressiveness of the Roman taxation under Caracalla, Alexander, Severus, and Aurelian.

The Fourth Seal, of a period between Philip and Gallienus, CHRIST OBSERV. No. 149. 2 Y