Ptolemy Epiphanes, king of Egypt; but these marriages, instead of being the means of consolidating the union between those kingdoms, contributed more than any thing else to divide them, and excite the most bloody aud destructive wars. In chap. 7, 7, the prophet, having the same subject in view, says, I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it. And in chap. 8, 22, Now that being broken (the horn of the rough goat, the Grecian monarchy) whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power. These, and other declarations, point out those peculiar circumstances that distinctly mark ́ the kingdom of the Seleucidae, and that of the Lagidae, both of which rose out of the Macedonian or Grecian empire, and both terminated in that of the Romans.

"Second. Those two legs of iron became absorbed in the Roman government, which also partook of the iron nature; strong, military, and extensive in its victories; and, by its conquests, united to and amalgated with itself various nations, some strong and some weak-so as to be fitly represented in the symbolical image by feet and toes, partly of iron and partly of clay. Thus, as the Lagidae and Seleucidae arose out of the wreck of the Grecian empire, so the Roman empire arose out of their ruin. But the empire became weakened by its conquests; and although by mingling themselves with the seed of men, that is, by

strong leagues and matrimonial alliances, as mentioned above, they endeavoured to secure a perpetual sovereignty, yet they did not cleave to each other; and they also were finally swallowed up by the barbarous northern nations; and thus terminated those four most powerful monarchies."

Thus far we have attended the interpretation Daniel gave of the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, and comprehends a lapse of time from Nimrod's founding his kingdom A. M. 1771, till the Romans, the last of the four great empires, were swallowed up by the barbarous nations about the year after Christ 478-amounting in all, from Nimrod till then, to 2707 years. But the stone which Nebuchadnezzar saw smite the feet of the great image, commenced its operations 478 years before the end of the fourth empire was accomplished. If this interpretation, given by Daniel, is correct, in relation to the four great empires, as above stated, we look therefore for a fifth kingdom, which he as clearly foretold should arise in the days of the kings of the fourth empire, which was the Roman, and at the time when it was in its greatest strength and glory, did the predicted kingdom begin to make its appearance. This stone which Nebuchadnezzar saw smite the feet of the great image, was Jesus Christ, who was the king" of the fifth kingdom which he came to establish on the earth, and is the very one intended by Daniel, when he says in chap. 2, verse 44, And in the days of these kings, shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed.

Dr. Clark remarks, first, "That Jesus Christ has

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been represented by a stone," and "refers chiefly to His church, which is represented as a spiritual building, which He supports as a foundation stone, connects and strengthens as a corner stone, and finishes and adorns as a top stone. He is called a stone also, in reference to the prejudice conceived against him by his countrymen. Because He did not come in wordly pomp, they therefore refused to receive him; and to them he is represented as a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence.

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Secondly.

He is represented under another-notion, viz. that of a stone projected from a catapult, or some military engine, which smote the image on its feet; that is, it smote the then existing government at its foundation, or principles of support; and, by destroying these, brought the whole into ruin.

"Thirdly-By this stroke, the clay, the iron, the brass, the silver, and the gold, were broken to pieces, and became like chaff which the wind carried away. Now we have already seen that the Roman empire which had absorbed the kingdoms of the Lagidae and Seleucidae, was represented by the legs of iron, and feet and toes of iron and clay; but as we find that not only the iron and clay, but also the brass, silver and gold were confounded and destroyed by that stroke, it follows that there was then remaining in, and compacted with the Roman government, something of the dis tinguishing marks and principles of all the preceding empires, not only as to their territorial possessions, but also as to their distinctive characteristics. There were at the time here referred to, in the Roman empire, the

splendour of the Chaldeans, the riches of the Persians, the discipline of the Greeks, and the strength of the Egyptian and Syrian governments, mingled with the incoherence and imbecility of those empires, kingdoms and states, which the Romans had subdued. In short, with its political excellencies, it contained the principles of its own destruction, and its persecution of the church of Christ accelerated its ruin.

Fourthly. The stone represents Christ and his governing influence. It is here said to be a kingdom, that is, a state of prevailing rule and government, and was to arise in the days of those kings or kingdoms. See verse 44, chap. 2. And this is literally true; for its rise was when the Roman government partook of all the characteristics of the preceding empires, was at its zenith of imperial splendour, military glory, lėgislative authority, and literary eminence.

Fifthly. This stone, or government, was cut out of the mountain; arose in and under the Roman government―Judea being, at the time of the birth of Christ, a Roman province. It was cut out without hands; probably alluding to the miraculous birth of our Lord; but particularly to the spiritual nature of his kingdom and government, in which no worldly policy, human maxims, or military force, were employed; for it was not by might nor power, but by the spirit of the Lord of hosts."

Thus we have ascertained the commencement, continuance and present existence of the fifth kingdom which was to arise, according to the view of Daniel when he interpreted the dream of Nebuchadnezzar.

But there is one qualification foretold of this fifth king. dom, which no kingdom preceding it was ever endow.. ed with, which was, that it should stand forever, and never be destroyed, and was destined to become a great mountain, and to fill the whole earth. But this having not yet been accomplished, we naturally look for that period in futurity, which shall now claim our further attention.

Perhaps it is not possible, in order to arrive at the desired period, to follow a better guide than Dr. Clark's explanation of the prophet Daniel's visions, which is thought he had about forty years after the time of Nebuchadnezzar's extraordinary dream. The same paramount empires of the habitable globe that should succeed each other, are set forth in the vision of Daniel, which were shown to Nebuchadnezzar, though by a different kind of symbol, viz. an image composed of a variety of metallic substances. But the prophet Daniel had a prospective view of those four great empires, under the likeness of several monstrous wild beasts, such as a lion with the wings of an eagle, a bear having three ribs of an animal in its teeth, a leopard with four wings like a fowl, and a fourth beast dreadful and terrible, and exceeding strong, having great iron teeth, devouring and breaking in pieces, and stamping the residue with his feet, being diverse from all other beasts before it, having ten horns upon its head. The first was a lion, with eagle's wings: This was "the kingdom of the Babylonians, and the king of Babylon is compared to a lion by Je