magistrates."

Satan stood at his right hand to resist him, i. e. to prevent his prosecuting the work in which he was engaged. "And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem, rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?" Jude ascribes this saying to Michael the archangel: both are right, both mean the same thing; because God never spake to men immediately, but always through some medium or instrument, for no one ever "heard his voice at any time, or saw his shape," and that instrument by which he speaks, be it what it may, is his angel or messenger. It was the Lord that stirred up the heart of Cyrus, and charged him to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah;" that he made proclamation for the return of the Jews to build the House of the Lord, and by that proclamation he spake and effectually rebuked and restrained the opposition of their adversaries.

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From the preceding investigation we learn, that the Michael of Jude is the angel of Zechariah; and that this Michael was the prince of Daniel, who was then in Babylon, and who stood up for, and was the deliverer of his people. Now no other prince but Cyrus could be Daniel's prince at that time, nor can the restoration of the Jews from their captivity in Babylon be ascribed to any other.

It may be proper to observe here, that Cyrus is the first instance which we have on record of God's raising up, anointing and sending a Heathen prince to be the deliverer of his people. See Isa. xlv. 1-4, 13. He was, therefore, in the most strict and proper sense of the term, the angel or messenger of Jehovah; and being the first or chief of the Pagan princes, the Divine Being was pleased so to employ; and being styled by Daniel, Michael, one of the chief princes," or as it is in the margin, the first of the princes, Jude, writing in Greek, naturally denominates him Michael the archangel, i, e. the first or chief messenger of God.

We learn further, that the Devil of Jude is the Satan or adversary of Zechariah. Jude refers to a contention between Michael and the Devil.

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"Michael the archangel," he says, "disputed with the Devil." In the vision of Zechariah, he is shewn Joshua, the high-priest, the representative of the Jewish people, standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan, (in the Septuagint version, the Devil,) the representative of their adversaries, standing at his right hand to resist him. Jude informs us that this dispute was about the body of Moses; the history, of which the vision in Zechariah is a prediction, informs us that the dispute was about the building of the temple and the restoration of the church and worship of God, according to the institutions of Moses, which Jude calls the body of Moses. Joshua and Satan are both said to stand before the angel: Satan, by letters of false accusation, and hired counsellers, to oppose and resist the carrying on of that work, and Joshua as the advocate and representative of the Jews and their rulers, to plead their cause, and to protect them in the zealous prosecution of the work.

Michael in Jude refers the matter to God, imploring his interposition in favour of the Jews, and his vengeance against their adversaries, saying," The Lord rebuke thee." The angel (in Zechariah's vision), or the Lord, by his angel, is represented as pronouncing the same sentence against the adversary, saying, "The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan, even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem, rebuke thee:" and we learn from the history that they were effectually rebuked and restrained from further opposition by the confirmation of the decree of Cyrus, and by a decree of Darius to carry it into effect, by which the Jews obtained a complete victory over their adversaries, and were enabled to finish the work of building the temple and of establishing the worship of God in Jerusalem.

It only remains now to point out the analogy there is between the contention of Michael and the Devil, mentioned by Jude, and Michael's war with the dragon, mentioned ch. xii. of the Revelation. In both cases the combatants were the same, for the dragon is expressly called, "The old Serpent, the Devil and Satan." In the former, the contention was, whether Judaism should be re-established in Judah and Jerusalem, or whether

they should remain under the power of the idolatry and superstition of the nations by which they had been conquered and enslaved. Michael in this contest, who espoused the cause of Judaism and fought in the defence of the Jews and of Judaism, was Cyrus, a Pagun prince, raised up of God for that very purpose. The combatants on the other side, called the Devil, were the powers who were engaged in supporting the reigning superstition and idolatry. In this contest Michael, i. e., Cyrus, obtains the victory, the adversaries of the Jews and of their religion are defeated, and Judaism is triumphant.

The other instance to which we now refer, is that of the war between Michael and the dragon. This dragon having seven heads, and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads, and who is called "The old Serpent, the Devil and Satan," we are expressly told represents the old Roman Empire under its Pagan form, and so it is generally interpreted. The matter of dispute then in this war was, whether that empire should continue in its present ecclesiastical form, or whether it should cease to be Pagan and become Christian. The Roman Empire was founded in Paganism; and to destroy that, was to overturn the empire itself. The conversion of Constantine to the Christian faith, represented by the woman clothed with the sun, bringing forth a man child who was to rule all nations; that is, all the nations which composed the Roman empire; his profession and open avowal of Christianity, would naturally rouse the Pagan princes of the empire and the interested priests of the temples of idolatry to defend the reigning superstition, the religion of their forefathers and of the empire. This produced a "war in heaven," as it is called, that is, among the higher powers of the state. In this war, Constantine, a Heathen prince, the Michael of the prophecy, the first, the chief, the head of the princes of the empire, erects the standard of the cross, to an appearance of which in the clouds he ascribed his conversion to Christianity, and under this standard he comes forward as its champion against all the Pagan powers of the empire. "There was war in heaven;

Michael and his angels fought against the dragon: and the dragon fought and his angels." The result of this war, we are told, was, that "the dragon prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven,”—cast out of the heaven of power and dominion, and cast into the earth, among the common people, where the ancient idolatry continued to prevail, till by the successors of Constantine it was finally abolished, and Christianity became firmly established, and which has continued to be the professed religion of the ten kingdoms into which the Western Roman Empire was divided, unto this day.

"And

The casting out of the dragon removed the obstacle to the appearance of the man of sin, the son of perdition, of which Paul speaks, representing an enormous corrupting power in the Church of God. This appeared to John under the figure of a beast rising out of the sea, and to shew that it means the same empire prefigured by the dragon under another form, that of Christian, it is also "described, like the dragon, as having seven heads and ten horns," and as having crowns, not upon his heads like the dragon, but upon his horns, because under the beast the empire was divided into ten kingdoms. upon his heads the name of blasphe my." The alliance between the Church and the State, formed by Constantine, led to the corruption, debasement and prostitution of Christianity to the vilest of purposes; so that her appearance is described as that of a woman sitting upon a scarlet-coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abomination and filthiness of her fornication, and upon her forehead a name written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth: and drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. *

The war between Michael and the Devil, predicted by Zechariah, and that between Michael and the dragon

* Rev. xvii. 3-6.

in the Revelation of John, form two remarkable eras in the history of the world, in which the Divine Being was pleased to interpose by open war for the destruction of idolatry, and for the establishment of a religion emanating from himself, not by the instrumentality of Jewish or Christian, but of Heathen princes. And may we not expect, from the signs of the times and the language of prophecy, that

at no very distant period, God will raise up from among the princes of this world, a Michael, who shall effectually make war with, and utterly overthrow, the existing antichristian powers, and introduce and set up his own everlasting kingdom of righteousness and peace?

SIR,

JOHN MARSOM.

Queen Street, Cheapside,
Nov. 29, 1822.

B Deputies, I send you inclosed a

Y desire of the Committee of

copy of an apology which has been inserted in the public papers, made by Charles King, George Haddon, James Pitt, and Joseph Sherlock, four of the defendants to a prosecution which the Committee had taken up under their direction, for disturbing a congregation at Totton, near Southampton, and for which the defendants suffered a conviction by default; and I am also desired to request you will make such use thereof as you may think proper.

JOHN WEBSTER,
Secretary.

DISSENTERS. Disturbance of a Place of Worship. We, the undersigned, having been indicted for disturbing the congregation of Protestant Dissenters at Totton, near Southampton, on the evening of Sunday the 1st of April, 1821, being aware that our conduct was indefensible, did suffer a conviction to go against us by default, thereby subjecting ourselves to the penalties of 40%. But the prosecutors having, on our application, consented to waive insisting on the judgment of the Court against us, on condition of our making a public apology; we, therefore, hereby desire to express our concern for having acted in a manner so im

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proper and illegal, and to return our thanks to the parties injured, for their lenity in refraining from further proceedings.

Obituary and Biographical Notices of Individual Members of the Families of Howell and Rogers.

I

Dec. 4, 1822.

T may gratify some of the best feelings, and tend to promote some highly valuable interests, if a few circumstances are recorded in the pages of the Monthly Repository, concerning the family from which the late Rev. William Howell * descended, and another to which, by affinity and worth, he was intimately allied.

His father bore the same name, and filled the same office. This gentleman was more than twelve years co-pastor with the Rev. Samuel Clark, † in the congregation of the Old MeetingHouse at Birmingham; in which character he was called to the painful task of delivering the address at the funeral of his colleague; a composition that he afterwards published, and that reflects great credit on his sensibility and judgment. Of the elder Mr. Howell's hearers, few, if any, are now living. Some of his pupils, however, survive: and they recollect with esteem and gratitude his conscientious regard to the duties of a preceptor. It was at Winson Green, in the immediate neighbourhood of Birmingham, that he conducted his very large and well-governed school. Not long before his death he retired to the enjoyment of the competency which he had most honourably earned. His last days were passed at West Bromwich, in Staffordshire, where he expired Feb. 5, 1776, at the age of 62, and in the churchyard of which parish he was interred.

Great justice has been rendered to his son's character, by an article already inserted in this work. Mr. William Howell received his academical education, in part, at Warrington.‡

Mon. Repos. XVII. 510.

For a memoir of this most excellent person, see the Mon. Repos. I. 617, &c.; he is mentioned in Dr. Priestley's Memoirs, 8vo. 1. pp. 18, 22.

Mon. Repos. IX. 203, 323.

Among his numerous good qualities, a hospitable temper was not the least engaging. Nothing could be more friendly and cordial than his reception of those visitors at Swansea, who were either previously known by him or recommended to his attentions.

A sister of this individual was the first wife of Mr. Phipson, surgeon, who resided for many years in London; himself a senior member of a family long and honourably associated with Protestant Dissenting congregations in the town of Birmingham. This lady died March 29, 1787.

Mr. Fletcher, a respectable manufacturer of that place, married another sister. He was father, by a former marriage, of the Rev. J. Fletcher,* who having been educated first at Daventry, and, after some interval, at Hackney, was suddenly removed from the world, by an apoplectic seizure, in the midst of high promise and expectations. Let a companion of the studies of this young minister be permitted to speak of his excellent talents, principles and feelings, and of his distinguished industry and ardour. His memory was uncommonly retentive; making approaches to that of Dr. Furneaux. He could recollect with admirable exactness, not merely the substance, but the arrangement and the language of any long discourse or speech, to which his attention had been particularly given. The death of Mr. John Fletcher took place June 27, 1794; that of his mother-in-law, (once Miss Sarah Howell,) Jan. 28, 1804.

Her sister, Mary Howell, was the former wife of Mr. Joseph Rogers, the second son of a very estimable family in Birmingham, in the manufactures and trade of which he was long engaged, together with some of his relations. His apprenticeship had been served at Kettering, in Northamptonshire, where he was accustomed to join in religious worship with the Independent congregation: hence, probably, he gained an attachment to the creed and discipline of that denomination of Nonconformists. He was

* Mon. Repos. XVII. 286.

+ Letters to Blackstone, Pref, to 2nd ed. vi. vii.

a leading and exemplary member of the Society Meeting in Carr's Lane, Birmingham; zealous for what he deemed the purity of Christian faith, but equally zealous for the maintenance of practical religion. At the age of 70, and on July 20, 1811, he paid the debt of nature.

Mr. Samuel Rogers, his younger brother, also married a daughter of Mr. Howell, of Winson Green. Thus the two families were cemented to each other still more closely. It is not easy to represent in adequate language the hospitality and affection which marked the characters of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Rogers. In the happiness of their numerous relatives and friends, they uniformly took the warmest interest. Their house, the abode of piety and order, was frequently visited by Dissenting ministers of their own connexion, and of other denominations in Birmingham, the vicinity, and from a distance. Like the late William Hunt, Esq.,* of the Brades, Mr. S. Rogers experienced more than usual pleasure in the company of such guests; and like that highly valuable man, he was "the Gaius + of his neighbourhood." Throughout the midland and eastern districts of the kingdom he was well known and much esteemed, as the punctual and upright tradesman. He expired June 25, 1820, within six months after the death of his consort, ‡ and little more than a month before that of his sister. §

Mrs. Mary Rogers, to whose decease a reference has just been made, maintained, through a life extended rather beyond the usual limit, a most consistent and well-proportioned, a most truly respectable and engaging character. A sound judgment, a correct taste, the purest affections and principles, aided by long experience, and adorned by perfect kindness of temper and propriety of manners, enabled her not only to be irreproachable and exemplary in her personal deportment, but to become the wise and faithful adviser of those around her; some of whom, now filling with ho

nour stations of no small importance, are fully sensible of their obligations to her disinterested, intelligent and pious counsels. For a considerable time her bodily privations and sufferings were severe for many years before her death, she had totally lost her sight; yet her presence of mind, her cheerful disposition, and her quickness of intellect, wonderfully supplied the loss. Her devout submission, during several months of lingering and acute disease, was exceedingl instructive. She delighted to think and to converse on the paternal character of God, and on his promises of pardon, of support, and of immortality in the gospel. Her humility was unfeigned and profound; but it was impossible not to perceive that her moral and religious attainments were of no ordinary rank. * As her whole life adorned her Christian principles, which were strictly Unitarian, so in the approach of her dissolution, she fully experienced the consolation and vigour that they afford.

'You should never dismiss from your memory one relative, or one friend, or one good man, who has deserved, while he lived, your affection and esteem." They who feel the force of this sentiment, will not think an apology to be requisite for the notices thus laid before the public. Friendship is soothed and gratified, and a rising race may be admonished and encouraged, by these recollections. The virtues of those who have preceded us belong, in a very interesting sense, to the generation which immediately follows: nor does it frequently happen, even where no offspring is left to weep over a parent's grave, and to imitate his excellencies, that there are not some young persons who are particularly concerned in such representations of departed worth. Upon the reader, to whatever stage of life he has reached, let one fact be impressed: all the individuals whose names have passed in review, cherished THE RELIGIOUS PRINCIPLE; while they dif.

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fered from each other, in various degrees, in respect of their theological opinions. Happy they who, like these estimable persons, have their "Witness in Heaven and their record on high :" in this persuasion, and in the state of mind and conduct which it nourishes, truly happy; inasmuch as while they, remember, they, at the same time, emulate the honoured dead

"Farewell, pure spirits! Vain the praise we give ;

The praise you sought, from lips angelic flows;

Farewell! The virtues which deserve to live,

Deserve an ampler bliss than life bestows."*

Brief Notes on the Bible. No. XXII.

N.

"Though I am rude in speech, yet I am not in knowledge." 2 Cor. xi. 6. Fragment of a second Dialogue.

RINITARIAN.--Well, I have

Tever thought of questioning that the Bible only, which you parade such a reliance on, is the rule of faith; but why set yourself, in your construction of the sacred volume, in such flat opposition to the judgment of men surpassing you in understanding, in knowledge, in ancient and modern lore, in all the acquirements requisite to a just interpretation of the Scriptures, such as you cannot assume to possess; in opposition to the collected wisdom of councils, hierarchies, theologists and divines of successive ages; in the vain presumption that your mind, forsooth, is more enlightened than theirs, and that a comparative handful of a sect

Unitarian.-You have taken heart, it seems. Bear with my interrupting you to inquire, Is it the multitudes, the genuine, abounding piety, or the superiority of intellect, within the pale of orthodoxy, which you thus build your profession upon?

T. On all combined. The greatest names, the profoundest scholars, the most conscientious seekers after truth,

*Shenstone. Elegy in Memory of a Private Family in Worcestershire.