"The whole world is in agitation. All kings on earth, whose words were wont to be laws, are troubled. The calm repose of ages, in which thrones and altars were held sacred, has been broken in a moment. Ancient monarchies, which seemed long to defy dissolution and to mock at time, pass away like a dream. And the question is not now of the death of a king, or even of the ceasing of one dynasty and the commencement of another; but the whole fabric of government is insecure, the whole frame of society is shaken. Every kingdom, instead of each being knit together and dreaded by surrounding states, is divided against itself, as if dissolution were the sure destiny of them all. A citizen king, the choice of the people and not a military usurper, sits on the throne of the Capets. And as if the signal had gone throughout the world quick as lightning, nations, instead of progressing slowly to regeneration, start at once into life. And from the banks of the Don to the Tagus, from the shores of the Bosphorus to Lapland, and, wide Europe being too narrow a field for the spirit of change that now ranges simultaneously throughout the world, from the new states of South America to the hitherto unchangeable China, skirting Africa and traversing Asia, to the extremity of the globe on the frozen north, there are signs of change in every country under heaven; and none can tell of what kingdom it may not be told in the news of to-morrow, that a revolution has been begun and perfected in a week. Every kingdom seems but to wait for its day of revolt or revival. And the only wonder now would be, that any nation should continue much longer what for ages it has been; or that the signs of the times should not everywhere alike be a striking contrast to those of the past."

At such a crisis, the study of prophecy becomes increasingly interesting; and while the senseless vagaries of the self-styled and mis-styled students of prophecy have, we fear, created in the minds of sober..thinking Christians a dislike to prophetical investigations, we are firmly persuaded that these things ought not to be; that the prophetic declarations, especially those regarding the latter day glory'now at hand-should at this moment have a very large measure of the attention, and study, and prayerful consideration of every genuine disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. Nay, is it not a positive duty, the neglect of which is, of course, a crime? For what is written in the Apocalypse? How readest thou? Is it not thus ? "Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep the things which are written therein, for the time is at hand."

In the exercise thus divinely recommended and enjoined, we have seldom, if ever, met with a more desirable or trustworthy help than in the work which has suggested these reflections, and whose title-page we have transcribed at the commencement of this paper. Its professed object. is io give an outline, condensed, yet complete, of the prophecies of Daniel and John, particularly those that refer to the millennial glory of the church; and we do not hesitate, though we cannot exactly accord with the expositions, given in all their minute details, to class it among the,

most useful books of the kind which have ever appeared. True, it has not the minute and elaborate investigation of many of the earlier German biblical critics, nor the learning of Mede, nor the research of Faber, yet is it, on these very accounts, the more generally useful; and after. what has been done to throw light on the various and important topics which are embraced by Lowman, and Newton, and Johnston, and Woodhouse, and Crolly, and M'Leod, and Fuller, and Culbertson, a publication of this kind was necessary, and perhaps it could not have been entrusted to safer hands. Mr. Keith's former work on the evidence that the Bible is the word of God, from the fulfilment of prophecy, was well received; and the soundness of judgment and accuracy of investigation, in connexion with an unusual felicity of application of the accredited facts of history to the elucidation of prophecy, established a wellfounded claim to a favourable hearing, when, as was naturally to be expected, he should proceed to that branch: of prophetic scripture which the present work embraces. And we can assure our readers they will not be disap-. pointed in their expectations, however high they may have been raised. True, as we said before, there are many things in which our views do not coincide with those of the author; nor is it to be wondered at, as he himself very candidly says, "of some of the interpretations contained in the following papers, he (namely the author) would only be the more suspicious, because they are new. They came unsought for while tracing, point after point, the parallel: between prophecy and history." Yet, speaking generally, his views are sound, and his application of facts to Scripture prophecy ingenious and just. We proceed to give our readers an outline of the work that they may judge for› themselves.

Mr. Keith commences with the visions of Nebuchad nezzar and Daniel, in his expositions of which there is little, if any, deviation from the ordinary tract followed by the expounders of prophecy. The destinies of the four; great monarchies; the papacy, in its origin, exaltation, decline, and extermination; the rise, triumphs, and pe culiar characters of Mahomedanism, in connexion with the Turkish and Saracenic dynasties, with its utter extermination; and the establishment, splendour, and final: glories of Messiah's spiritual empire, are all admirably sketched, and the predictions regarding them happily illustrated by a judicious application of the authenticated facts of history to the inspired, symbolical exhibitions of the "Man greatly beloved."

Connecting these prophecies with the visions of John in Patmos, the author proceeds to take a rapid view of the Apocalypse; and here there is more of novelty, while the excellent writer candidly begs of his reader to suspect and scrutinize most severely whatever shall appear new, if for no other reason, at least on that account. The novelty, however, consists not in any fanciful theories, as to the dates and times of events still future, or as to the character and mode of introduction of the millennial glory of the church. On such matters he is visibly silent; and he has set an example of moderation and sobriety of judgment, which we shall rejoice to see followed in future by the "students of prophecy."

Mr. Keith begins with the sublime vision in the fourth chapter, which might have been more minutely explained with advantage to the reader; and then proceeds to develope the seals, as successively opened: and here commence some of those original views of which we have spoken. The first, second, third, and fourth, he considers as representing Christianity, Mahomedanism, Popery, and Infidelity; and however different this view is from that generally adopted heretofore, the reader will find enough to induce him to give it calm and close consideration. Here we must remark, that the author, inconsistently with himself, having hinted before that the "living creatures" represented the heavenly hosts, seems to consider them, from the mere fact of the seals being announced by them, as symbolizing the systems represented by the seals. But this is utterly inconsistent with the place they occupy before the throne, and the employment in which they are engaged; and as the song of the living creatures and elders differs from the song of angels, (chapter v.) and as they are evidently ransomed sinners, we prefer considering the living creatures as representing Ministers of the Gospel, and the Elders as representing the whole church.

The fifth seal is considered as denoting the trials and sufferings of the servants of Jesus during the long-continued operation of this mystery of iniquity; and the sixth as referring to the final deliverance of the church and the ruin of her foes.

The seventh seal Mr. Keith views as including the seven trumpets and the seven vials, and as being of a different character; and, says he, "if we mistake not greatly, the ORDER is, not that all the seals describe events, that, according to human canons of interpretation, must necessarily follow in the same order; but that the spiritual state of the world (to use the plainest terms) was describe

previous to the political; and that, as the outline of the former is contained, as we have seen, in the first six seals, the seventh seal, under the seven trumpets, begins to open up the latter to our view, and that each has to be viewed, connectedly, in its own order."

With this view he proceeds, most felicitously, to apply the facts in history to the exposition of the trumpets and vials; employing, generally, the infidel historian, Gibbon, as the elucidator and establisher of the truth of the prophetic history of the world. In these, our limits do not permit us to follow him; but there is great industry manifest in the collection, and great discrimination in the selection of facts; and as he closes with the sixth vial, he is enabled to apply facts to the prophetic symbols, throughout. Whether it is his intention to follow up this work with one on the remaining portion-the unfulfilledof the Apocalypse, or to wait till events enable us to decide more certainly upon the mind of the Spirit, we cannot say; but we shall be glad often to meet him-and we cannot too warmly recommend his work. It will be found an admirable help to the explication of the mysteries of Daniel and John.

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NOTICES OF BOOKS,

MEMOIR of the LIFE of the REV. M. BRUEN of NEW-YORK. Edinburgh: William Oliphant. 1832. P. p. 441. See the Advertisement on the Cover of The Orthodox Presbyterian for May.

AMERICAN literature has, of late years, been productive of the choicest specimens of religious biography. With few exceptions, the very best works in this important, but most difficult, department, have issued from the Trans-Atlantic press. Who has not read the lives of Mather, Elliot and Brainerd, of the olden time; while the biographies of Mrs. Graham, Mrs. Huntingdon, Mrs. Judson, and Harriet Newel, and of Dr. Payson, Pliny Fisk, Levi Parsons, &c., stand at the head of most modern works of the kind. The question immediately suggests itself, why does America, destitute of a legalized establishment of religion, abound so richly, not only in the compilers, but in the subjects of these memoirs? We must leave the more curious of our readers, for the present, to pursue this inquiry for themselves, while we hasten to introduce to their notice another valuable addition to this class of works-the Memoirs of the Rev. Matthias Bruen, one of the

Ministers of the Presbyterian Church in the city of NewYork, suddenly cut down in the midst of his days and his usefulness! We have found it to be a delightful and instructive volume, exhibiting a beautiful specimen of the character both of a Christian man and a Minister. The charm and the value of the book principally consist in its presenting a self-drawn picture, unconsciously sketched by the hand of the lamented subject of it, during the course of a most unreserved and affectionate correspondence with a surviving friend. We are quite aware there has been too good reason to fear, that many letters have been penned, and diaries kept under the alledged seal of inviolable secrecy, that were but too plainly designed for posthumous publication. But here no such disgusting affectation is discernible, nor from the circumstances detailed, can it even be suspected. All is open-ingenuous-unaffected-we might add-transparent. The unpremeditated effusions of the heart, vented to dear friends, amid travels, dangers, labours, afflictions and pastoral duties, "written," as stated in the preface, "with amazing rapidity, often at the close of toilsome days, and with the indifference to style which confiding friendship allows”— are freely submitted to our perusal, without gloss or concealment, filling much more than half the volume; and yet no Christian, be his acquirements what they may, can rise from their perusal without being both delighted and edified! We may well ask of ourselves and our contemporaries in the pastoral office, which of us could stand such an ordeal? What materials for self-examination does this volume present to every meditative reader, and for self abasement to every right-minded Minister, who compares himself with this young, spiritual, zealous, disinterested, devoted servant of God! How privileged the church that can number even a few Bruens amid her watchmen! But we must forbear these reflections, and give our readers some account of the work before us.

It was compiled in Scotland, and first published in New-York, in the spring of last year, and has now been presented to the British public in a new and enlarged edition. It is the work of a married lady—this we glean from pages 321 and 369-resident in the south of Scotland, to whose family Mr. Bruen had been introduced, in the summer of 1817, on his first visit to Europe. His correspondence with this lady, who is styled throughout the book, the author,' forms the principal part of the work a correspondence which, it is well said, in page 32, "was sustained with confiding sincerity and undeviating