changing power, and freely claims the authority to make these changes.

Coincidence Seventh.-Times, and laws, and Christians, in Europe, were given into its hand.

These were ecclesiastical laws and times. Now, papal power claims to have its spiritual power from St. Peter; yet, what it claims in this respect, it was not allowed to make use of until the union of church and state. At that time supreme ecclesiastical power in Europe was granted to the Roman See by Constantine, and by his successors. By virtue of this authority the papacy could decide who were heretics, and hand them over to the civil authority to be punished; and by virtue of this very authority, millions of the pious suffered torture, privation, and death, on account of their religion.

The Council of Nice, which met on the 19th of June, 325, was the first great common council to which authority to change "times" was given; and in it, the legate of the Pope presided. The Roman church being the European part of this council, received its pro-rata share to change the times and laws of Christianity.

"The question relating to the observance of Easter was still undecided. It was one of the principal reasons for convoking the Council of Nice; being the most important subject to be considered after the Arian controversy. It was decreed to celebrate Easter on the same day, and the Oriental prelates promised to conform to the practice of Rome and of all the west."(Eusebius, Ec. H.)

The various canons and decisions of this most famous of all councils, have resulted in vast persecutions. In this council it "was proposed that bishops, priests, deacons, and sub-deacons, should abstain from cohabitation

with the wives they had married while laymen." This infamous proposition, together with the more infamous one of the celibacy of the clergy, was enacted by the papacy. (See History Council of Nice.)

The decisions of these councils were those of the church united to the state, and became authoritative by civil reaffirmation, and each patriarch was bound to see the decisions of the councils carried out.

Times and laws were given to the hands of the patriarchs, at the union of church and state, in general, but to each the control of them in his own district; and of course, at that time, Rome had the times and laws of the church in Europe given into its hand, for it presided over Europe.

Coincidence Eighth.-The little horn was to wear out the saints.

It is universally agreed, that "the persecution of Christians, by those of the same name, began almost as soon as the corrupt alliance of the Catholic church with the state."-(Encyc. R. K.) To compute the endless numbers of professed Christians who have been destroyed by the instrumentality of the established Roman church, is impossible: massacres, judicial murders, fires, chains, axes, rocks, gibbets, bayonets, wheels, knives, swords, guns, powder, water, prisons, dungeons, famine, wild beasts, inquisitions, wars, and crusades, have been used as general and particular agents by the Roman Christians, to wear out the professed followers of Jesus Christ, ever since church and state were united. We appeal to the page of impartial history, to confirm, and more than establish our position, that the empire church of Europe has worn out the saints of the Most High.

Coincidence Ninth.-The period of the giving the laws and times into the hand of the little horn.

If we trace the history of the ecclesiastical power of papacy, we find its authoritative power, to enforce its decrees by the civil arm, begins with the Council of Nice and the decrees of Constantine; and that they were ratified by Justinian, in his reorganization of the Roman law.

Coincidence Tenth. The little horn was to continue in power over the Christians, while church and state union continued, or for three and a half times. This was to be for 529,984 days, and for 1,243 years, and 277 days.

Now, if we date the origin of the papal power on the 19th of June, 325 A. D., the day of the session of the Council of Nice, and its opening by the emperor; and then add to it 529,984 days, and it brings us down exactly to the 4th of July, 1776. On that very day the United States declared their independence of civil and ecclesiastical monarchy, and that day was the first on which the church had been freed from the domination of civil and ecclesiastical power from the days of Constantine. If we now date the end of the other period of 1,243 years, and 277 days, at the 4th of July, 1776, we are carried back to the year 532, and the month of October. Now, it is well known, that just at this very point of time, Justinian's laws, confirming and completely establishing the papal jurisdiction over the church in Europe, were made. For explanation of these times, see discovery.

There were to be two ending epochs to the power of the little horn; the first was when a Christian nation,

called the Ancient of Days, was to rise, and the second when it was to conquer Europe. But we consider those points, which relate to the future, in their proper place; here we are simply adducing proofs of our correctness. There never was a religious persecution in the United States. Since its rise, the papal power in Europe has been almost shorn of its persecuting power, but still it possesses it to a certain extent.

Coincidence Eleventh.-The little horn was to continue in power over Christians in the west, while church and state union continued; and this was to last for three and a half times. We have already seen that there were to be two ending epochs to these times. Now, three and a half times equal 529,984 days, and 1,243 years, and 277 days, and also 1,539 years, 312 days. Dating these at the 19th of June, 325, and at 532, when church and state union began, and we are landed at the 4th of July, 1776, exactly; and carried further down to 1865. (See discovery.) Now, on the fourth day of July, 1776, the first great epoch of church and state union in the west took place, at the rise of the United States of America. On that very day, independence of church and state monarchy was proclaimed to the world. This was the first day that the church had been free from civil domination since the reign of Constantine. The fulfillment of the "times" was thus realized to a day. As to the future date of 1865, we can not be positive, for the times have four interpretations, and the last one ends in 1878. The interpretation which ends in 1865, is purely from analogy.

No coincidence of events with prophecy was ever more accurate than the one here shown to end in July,

1776. It settles the question of our accuracy with mathematical precision, and we challenge the whole world to overthrow it. It was predicted that church and state union should begin to be dissolved three and a half, or 529,984 days after it began; and just exactly this number of days from its beginning, on June 19th, 325, it began to cease, at the rise of the United States, July 4th, 1776. Can any thing be more astonishingly correct than this?

We may look for the last epoch soon.

Coincidence Twelfth. The little horn was to be confined properly to the west, or to the region generally occupied by the broken powers of the empire. This has also been true of the western church. It has claimed much beyond this diameter, but it has never enjoyed dominion out of the range of the west. It has been limited mainly to Europe.

Coincidence Thirteenth.-The little horn was to possess political dominion. The western church existed, as an ecclesiastical kingdom, from 325 to 754 or 800, when Pepin and Charlemagne conferred political power upon it as a settled country, and definite seat of empire.

We now claim that we have shown a perfect and minute coincidence between the little horn and the western, or Latin church, and that we have not failed in a single point; and as a perfect coincidence of history and prophecy is infallibly a perfect fulfillment, we claim to have shown, infallibly, that the little horn among the ten, predicted the western, or Latin, church, in Europe, as distinct from the Greek church.