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    and must produce an effect upon the minds of men , essentially different from that of poring over rosaries and legends , whose object is to induce an unnatural mortification respecting earthly enjoyments * and views of heaven still more melancholv and

    discouraging . I was glad to observe , in page 275 of your last , a counterpoison to Mr . L . Mayer ' s advertisement upon your . cover . I further understand of this writer , that he prophesies smooth things only for England ; France is to become a province to her !

    The reason why there are so many mean and unworthy applications of the prophetical Scriptures appears to me to result from the peculiar nature of prophecy , and the facility we enjoy in publishing our opinions . None but an eagle , it is said , can look upon the sun . Perhaps it may require a peculiar disposition and capacity to enter into the spirit of the prophetic symbols . Exclusive of a devotional turn of mind , it may be

    necessary to possess an enlarged conception of the immutable attributes and character of the Deity , a certain portion of learning , and a poetical taste of no small degree . Allegorical poetry r in particular , should mark the leading propensity of the student of the prophecies . If a man have no relish for Milton or Spencer , particularly the beautiful personification of the Virtues and Vices by the latter ; or if he have no taste for the Oriental

    manner of writing in general , it would be strange indeed if ever he should enter deeply into the spirit of the prophets : and as almost all the prophetic figures have hitherto been misapplied , and ' inevitably so by the Trinitarians , much , very much remains to be discovered and explained upon the subject . But to these extensive conceptions , and these exalted sentiments , a degree of

    mathematical precision is equally indispensable ^ with an " undigressive closeness of reasoning , " and a perspicacity of design , never losing sight of first principles . This criterion of acumen and ability is by no means intended to derogate from the merits of former writers who may be supposed defective : they havcf certainly cleared the ground , overrun with thorns and briars , and have raised a considerable structure uooti the foundation

    of the prophets and apostles . We therefore owe them much : but the solidity , the beauty , the exact proportion , and the splendour of this noble edifice , are still to be ad $ ed . With your leave , in some future number I shall offer some further illustration of this hypothesis , if not prevented by some Qther correspondent . You have observed that the French Bishops apply the second Psalm to their present Emperor . Some of these pastorals aire

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    $ 46 French Application of the Prophecies , &V .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1806, page 346, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1726/page/10/