them, and the whole assembly soon caught the infection."

These accounts are stated to have been taken from people of unquestionable veracity; and, we agree with the author, in his remarks on them,-that they were "rather a curse than a blessing. None were benefitted by them. They left sinners without reformation, and Christians without advantage."

The Rollers, (whom we shall name here, to save recurring again to this unpleasant subject,) were persons who fell down suddenly, as in fits, and rolled backwards and forwards, as in great agony; sometimes covered with mud and dirt. As to the Barkers, another class of these strange people, they are said to have imitated the barking of dogs, in which case we are satisfied they must either have been impostors, or insane.-[D. Benedict's Gen. History of the Baptist Denomination in America, &c. quoted Evans's Sketch, 2 (14th Edition) pp. 348—360.]

There seems this material difference between this people and the dancers, or jumpers; that the latter used the exercise as an expression of religious joy, but the others in circumstances of apparent agony and distress. They must also be distinguished from persons exhausted by fatigue, fasting, or agony of mind, since it appears, these exercises were practised with deliberation and design. Strange, however, as these things may appear to us, we have reason to believe much of this "bodily exercise" was practised anong the antient Pagans, as is still the case among the Hindoos, whose Swingers far exceed either the Shakers or the Jerkers.See Yogees.

MILLENNARIANS, or CHILIASTS; persons who believed in a period of "a thousand years" of peculiar happiness to the Christian church, as predicted (Rev. xx. 2-5.) It was never made an article of faith, though supported by Papias, Justin Martyr, and Irenæus; and when adopted by any reputed heretics, it was added to the list of their errors. Justin declares the Catholic doctrine of his time (the second century) to be,-that after the destruction of Antichrist, and the first resurrection, Jesus shall personally descend from heaven; the city and temple of Jerusalem shall be rebuilt, (as described by Ezekiel, chap. xxxvi., and by St. John, Rev. xxi.); the Jews shall be restored to their own land, and the Messiah shall reign among them for " a thousand years" prior to the general judgment. Toward

the close of the 2d century, Origen warmly opposed the doctrine, ascribing it to the heretic Cerinthus, and allegorizing all the passages on which the doctrine was founded; but in the 3d century, Napos, an Egyptian bishop, attempted to revive it. It was also supported by the Apocryphal St. Barnabas.[Mosheim's E. H. vol. i. pp. 284-5. Lardner's Cred. vols. iv. v. vii. ix. 8vo.] See Origenists.

It would be tedious and useless to trace the doctrine through all the ages of the Christian era; it will be enough to glance at the opinions of the most celebrated writers since the Reformation.

Dr. Thomas Burnet, and Mr. Whiston, concur in asserting that the earth will not be entirely consumed; but that the matter of which it consists will be purified, by the action of fire: from these materials, as from a second chaos, there will, by the power of God, arise a new creation-"new heavens and a new earth," in which there shall be no more sea. The earth, and the atmosphere, will then be so restored, as to resemble what they were in the paradisaical state; and, consequently, to render it a most delightful abode for man. In proof of this hypothesis, they urge the following texts: - Matt. xiii. 41-43. Acts iii. 21. 2 Pet. iii. 13, &c. They suppose that the earth, thus beautified and improved, shall be inhabited by those who inherit the "first resurrection;" and who shall here enjoy a very considerable degree of happiness, though not equal to that which is to succeed the general judgment, which shall open when "the thousand years" mentioned in Rev. xx. 4—6, shall be expired.-[Burnet's Theory of the Earth, p. 209. Whiston's Ditto, p. 288. Doddridge's Lectures, No. 226.]

Though Mr. Fleming does not entirely agree with the above, he interprets Rev. xx. 6, as referring to a proper resurrection, of which, he supposes, the event recorded in Matt. xxvii. 52, was a pledge. He conjectures that the most eminent saints of the Old Testament times then arose, and ascended with Christ to heaven: agreeably to this, he apprehends that the saints, who are to be subjects of the first resurrection, after appearing to some of the inhabitants of this earth, which may be the mean of reviving religion among them, will ascend to heaven in triumph. To this peculiar privilege of the martyrs, and some other eminent saints, St. Paul is by them supposed to refer, Phil. iii. 11.-[Fleming's Christology, pp. 29-38.]

Dr. Cotton Mather supposed that the conflagration will take place at Christ's second personal coming; that after this great event God will create "new heavens, and a new earth." The raised saints will inhabit the new heavens, attending on our Saviour there, and receiving immense rewards for their services and sufferings for his sake. The new earth will be a paradise, and inhabited by those who shall be caught up to meet the Lord, and be with him in safety, while they see the earth flaming under them. They shall then return to the new earth, possess it, and people it with an offspring who shall be sinless and immortal. The risen saints, who shall inhabit the new heavens, shall "neither marry nor be given in marriage," but be sent down from time to time to the new earth, to be teachers and rulers, and have power over nations; and "the will of God shall be done on earth as it is in heaven." This dispensation will continue for 1000 years.-[Cotton Mather's Life, pp. 141-143.]

The Rev. Mr. Kett has advanced a new plan, of which the following is a sketch. He supposes that the Antichrist (or several Antichrists) spoken of in the New Testament, means a power, a person, or a succession of persons, who were to arise in the world, and either arrogate to themselves the place of Christ, or exercise a direct enmity against him; of this there were to be three great forms,-Popery, Mahometanism, and Infidelity, which were to prevail a certain time for the trial and punishment of the corrupted church of Christ. At the present period, (the period when he wrote, which was soon after the French Revolution,) he thinks the Infidel form of Antichrist began, and will continue to prevail while the Papal and Mahometan decline. The rise, progress, and establishment, of this Infidel power is (according to him) predicted by the little horn of the beast, in the vision of Daniel; and the second beast and his image, in the Revelation of St. John. Mr. Kett supposes, that when the Infidel power shall have reached its summit of dominion; when the Jews are collected into their own land; when the church, purified by tribulation, shall be made ready to receive her Lord, Christ shall personally appear, and finish the reign of Antichrist in all its various forms: the just shall be raised from the dead, and a new kingdom of peace and everlasting happiness be established under the immediate government of the Redeemer, agreeably to the descrip

tions in Dan. ii. 35, in Rev. xx. 4-6, and other passages. At the expiration of the thousand years, Satan will be loosed, to deceive the nations without the city: but so soon as he shall attempt to disturb the peace of the saints within, fire will descend out of heaven, and devour the incorrigible sinners. The final judgment, the resurrection of the wicked, the destruction of the world, the everlasting punishment of Satan and his followers, and the admission of the saints into eternal felicity in the heavens, will immediately succeed.-[Kett's Hist. the Interpreter Prophecy.

Mr. J. Mede, Bishop Newton, Dr. Gill, and many other eminent divines, adopt the literal interpretation of these prophe cies, though with considerable variety; but others of equal learning and piety and more cautious, incline to a figurative interpretation of them, as will be seen in the following instances.

Dr. Whitby supposes the Millennium to refer entirely to the state prosperous the Christian church after the fall of Ant christ, and the conversion of the Jewsthat then shall begin a glorious and undisturbed reign of Christ over Jew and Gentile, to continue a thousand yearsand as John the Baptist was Elias, be cause he came in the spirit and power Elias; so shall this be the church of the martyrs, and of those "who have no received the mark of the beast," becaus the spirit and purity of the times of the primitive martyrs shall return. He argues that it would be a degradation to the gl rified saints to dwell upon earth; and tha it is contrary to the genius of the Christian religion to suppose it built on tempor promises. [Annotat. vol. ii. p. 740.]

Dr. Wm. Worthington's scheme is, that the gospel is intended to restore the ru of the Fall; and that, by a train of natur consequences, under the influence divine providence and grace, the work shall be ameliorated, and gradually stored to a paradisaical state. He cor siders all improvements in learning an arts, as well as the propagation of the gospel among the heathen nations, as the process of this scheme; but he appre hends much greater advances are to made about the year of Christ 200 when, according to him, the Millenni will commence, which shall be such glorious state as Dr. Whitby supposes but with this additional circumstance that, after some interruption from the efforts of Gog and Magog, this shi

terminate in the still nobler state of the new heaven and the new earth, spoken of in Rev. xxi. and xxii.; when he supposes, that all natural and moral evil, and death itself, shall be banished from the earth. Here good men shall continue in the highest state of rectitude, and in the greatest imaginable terrestrial felicity, till the final coming of Christ and universal judgment close this delightful scene, perhaps in A. M. 25,920; at the end of the great year, as the Platonists call it, when the equinoxes shall have completely revolved.-[Dr. Worthington on the Extent of Redemption.]

Mr. Lowman agrees with Dr. Whitby in supposing the scripture description of the Millennium to be figurative, representing the happy state of the church on its deliverance from the persecution and corruption of the third period. He supposed the Book of Revelation, after the fifth chapter, to be a prophetic representation of the most remarkable events which were to befall the Christian church from that time to the end. He divides the remainder into seven periods; of which the three first are represented by the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven vials. The fourth period he explains of the Millennium, or a state of great prosperity in the church, from about A. D. 2000 to 3000, which he considers as answering to the sabbatic year. Under the fifth period, the enemies of the church Gog and Magog) will have a short riumph; under the sixth, will occur the general resurrection and general judgment; and the last and final period will be that of a heavenly world, and an eternal tate.-[Lowman on the Book of Revel.] Dr. Bellamy (of N. America) supposes, hat the Millennium will be a glorious cene of Christ's spiritual reign on earth, vhen universal peace shall prevail; wars, amines, and all desolating judgments, be t an end; industry shall flourish; and all uxury, intemperance, and extravagance be banished. Then this globe will be ble to sustain with food and raiment a umber of inhabitants immensely greater han ever dwelt upon it at one time; and all those shall, as the scripture asserts, know the Lord, from the least to the reatest," for 1000 years together, it will aturally come to pass, that there will be hore saved in that thousand years, than ver before dwelt upon the face of the arth, from the foundation of the world.Dr. Bellamy on the Millenn. pp. 65-68.] This idea has been carried infinitely

farther. Dr. Hartley, Dr. Priestley, Mr. Thomas Reader, and some others, taking a day for a year, extend the period of the Millennium (as the scripture year contains 360 days) to 360,000 years; in which case there might possibly be millions of men saved to one which has been lost.-[ Hartley on Man, vol. ii. p. 400. Priestley's Theol. Institutes. T. Reader on the Revelation, chap. xx.]

Most of the above systems respecting the Millennium admit the eternity of future punishment: the plan of the late Mr. Winchester, terminates in the "Universal Restoration of all intelligent creatures."

This author supposes, that as an introduction to the Millennium, the power and empire of the Turks shall be weakened, to make way for the return of the Jews to their own land, (Ezek. xxxix. 25—28); that after their return, their enemies shall come against them in vast numbers, called by the names Gog and Magog, (Ezek. xxxvii. 1-7); that they shall take and plunder the city of Jerusalem, and bring the Jews to the brink of destruction; but that, at the very height of their triumph, Christ shall appear in the clouds of heaven, (according to Zech. xiv. 4); and that his appearance shall effect the conversion of the Jews—they shall look on him whom they have pierced, and mourn. (Rev. i. 7.) The dead saints shall then be raised, the living changed, and both caught up to meet the Lord in the air; and descend again with him to reign on earth, when the glorious Millennium shall commence. In that period, the Jews shall be again acknowledged as the people of God; settled in their own land, under the government of the Saviour, and Jerusalem shall be rebuilt in greater splendour than ever; and thither all nations shall yearly repair to worship the Lord. (Zech. xiv. 16-20.) At this blessed period, Satan shall be bound; the curse shall be removed from the earth; all shall be united in one religion; wars, famines, earthquakes, tempests, and pestilence, shall cease; the inhabitants of the world become more numerous than ever, and all kinds of blessings be the portion of mankind. At the end of the Millennium Satan shall be loosed to deceive the nations of the earth: a mighty army, with this great apostate at their head, shall march in a hostile manner against the saints; but fire from heaven shall immediately devour them. This army is described by the Gog and Magog of St. John, which Mr. W. supposes different from the Gog and

Magog of Ezekiel. This destruction will be immediately followed by the general resurrection, and the day of judgment. After this, the Lord, with all the redeemed, shall ascend to heaven; and the conflagration shall take place, by which the earth shall be reduced to a globe of fire, and be the final stage of punishment; where the wicked shall endure the pangs of the second death, and be tormented for ages of ages after the day of judgment. At length the renovation of the heavens and earth shall take place, according to various prophetic passages; and the Holy City (the New Jerusalem) shall descend as the residence of the saints during those ages in which the great work of redeeming lost sinners is still carried on. The saints shall reign with Christ, and be kings and priests, till all fallen intelligences are restored, sin and misery cease, and holiness and happiness be absolutely universal and complete. See Universalists. -[Winchester's Lectures on Prophecy, 2 vols. 8vo.]

Our former edition proceeded thus far; but within the last few years two authors have treated on the subject, who are too considerable to be passed by in silence; namely, Mr. And. Fuller and Dr. Bogue, both of whom seem to have had nearly the same view; namely, to render the book of Revelation a study of practical utility, rather than of religious riddles. Both take the period of a thousand years literally, and look for its commencement about the end of the present century: both interpret its nature spiritually, and expect a state of uninterrupted peace and prosperity, holiness and happiness, altogether unprecedented in our world: but they reject the notion of a personal and temporal reign of Christ upon the earth, which seems, indeed, to be now generally given up by the most judicious interpreters. [Fuller on the Apocalypse. Bogue on the Millennium.]

There is, however, (strange as it may seem), yet another system of interpretation to be mentioned. The late excellent Mr. Romaine, and, we believe, the Hutchinsonians in general, understand by the Millennium, the whole of the gospel dispensation. They consider the conversion of the Jews as already in great measure accomplished, and not intending any future in-gathering of that or any other nation as such; but only the conversion of individuals by the preaching of the gospel.

It is certainly no part of the plan of

this work, for the Editor to reconcile the discordant opinions he may record, much less the various passages of sacred scripture on which they may be grounded: on such a remarkable dissonancy as appears under this article, he may, however, be permitted to offer a hint or two, to assist the enquiries of young readers. 1. The gospel is a progressive system;-" a light shining more and more unto the perfect day-a grain of mustard seed growing to a great tree- a stone growing till it fill the whole earth." 2. The latter part o this period is described as one of universa knowledge, perpetual peace, and exe plary holiness; "Holiness to the Lord being inscribed even 66 upon the horse bells." 3. This state, however, is eternal: according to the predictions the Apocalypse, at the end of the Miller nium, Satan will be released from confinement: the reign of infidelity, a the horrors of war, shall, for a sh space, once more return; when the L Jesus shall be "revealed from heaven flaming fire :" then shall he call the word to his judgment bar, and in new heave and a new earth begin his eternal reign[See Rev. chap. xix. xx. xxi.] Finally was the secularization of the Millenni by the introduction of carnal enjoyme and the formation of an earthly paradis that brought this doctrine into disrepuz and ranked it among heresies.

MINGRELIANS, or COLCHIANS people on the borders of Circassia and the Black Sea: they profess to be a bran of the Greek church, but are deeply s in ignorance and superstition, and h little left of Christianity beside the m Their pontiff is called the Catholic, their prince Dadian, or Chief of Just Their priests are very mercenary and praved; and their whole religion cons in a few ceremonies indecently perfor They have among them monks who dre like laymen, and nuns bound by no They are a sort of demi-savages, and chiefly by the chace.-[Mosheim's E vol. iv. p. 256. Broughton's Dict.]

MINIMS, originally hermits of S Francis de Paula: they modestly ૨૬ themselves " Minimi," the least of hermits, whence they were called English Minims.

MINORS, little friars, or fratric which see.

sent

MISSIONARIES, preachers the propagation of the gospel in fore parts.-Johnson's Dict.] Home Miss aries are itinerant preachers,

sent to:

distant or obscure parts of our own country. No religion but the Christian employs Missionaries; and they are usually divided into Catholic and Protestant. [Broughton's Dict.]

MODALISTS, those who resolve the distinction between the person of the Trinity into the manner of their subsistence, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. -See Noetians and Sabellians.

MODERN QUESTION (THE). So is called the Question,-" Whether it be the duty of all, to whom the gospel is preached, to repent and believe in Christ?" and it is called Modern, because it is supposed never to have been agitated before the early part of the last century. "I believe (says the late Mr. A. Fuller) no writer of eminence can be named before the present century, (meaning the 18th,) who denied it to be the duty of men in general to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of their souls. I think Mr. Hussey was the first person, who, by the general tenor of his writings, laid the foundation for this sentiment. And yet even Mr. Hussey did not, that I recollect, expressly avow it: on the contrary, he allowed it to be the duty of those who were not effectually called, to hear spiritually, and open their hearts to Christ; though, as he justly asserted, (says Mr. Fuller,) the preaching of this as a duty would not effect a cure."-[Hussey's Operations of Grace, &c. p. 442. quoted from Morris's Life of Fuller, p. 263.]

Mr. Skepp, (author of Divine Energy,) who had been a member of Mr. Hussey's church, and, as it seems, entered the ministry against his approbation, having turned Baptist, was pastor of the church at Skinners'-hall, from 1710 to 1721. This gentleman, though he admits somehing should be said to sinners, considers t to be so difficult a task to address hem without running into Arminianism, hat few besides himself could do it; and he was so fearful of falling into the same vil, that he says nothing, or worse than nothing, on the subject. On this conduct he late Mr. Robinson shrewdly remarks, hat those ministers who will not use pplications, lest they should rob the Holy Spirit of the honour of applying the word; hould, for the same reason, not use xplications, lest they should deprive Him of the honour of illustrating it.

The following is an abstract of Dr. Ryand's History of this Controversy, which e considers to have originated in Norhamptonshire, in the churches in which

Mr. Davis, of Rothwell, preached; though it does not appear that he took an active part in it. Mr. Maurice, his successor, even strenuously opposed the negative side of the question, which had been maintained by some of Mr. Davis's admirers, particularly by Mr. Lewis Weyman, of Kimbolton; to whom Mr. Maurice wrote a reply, which, on Mr. M. dying before it was completed, was published by the celebrated Mr. Bradbury. This was between 1737 and 1739. Mr. Gutteridge, of Oundle, took also the affirmative side; and, in 1743, Mr. Brine the negative; as did also the learned Dr. Gill, though he did not write expressly on the subject. The question, thus started, was pursued by a variety of inferior writers down to the time of Mr. Fuller, who very ably supported the positive side of the question; namely, that faith is the duty of all men, although, through the depravity of human nature, men will not believe, till regenerated by the Holy Spirit. On the other side it was contended, "that faith was not a duty, but a grace;" the exercise of which was, of course, not required till it was bestowed. On this subject, Mr. Fuller published, "The Gospel worthy of all acceptation; or the Duty of all Men to believe in Jesus Christ." "The leading design of this performance (says Mr. Morris) is to prove that men are under indispensable obligations to believe whatever God says, and to do whatever he commands; and a Saviour being revealed in the gospel, the law in effect requires those to whom he is made known to believe in him, seeing it insists upon obedience to the whole will of God-that the inability of man to comply with the divine requirements is wholly of a moral nature, and consists in the prevalence of an evil disposition, which, being voluntary, is in the highest degree criminal."

On this subject, Mr. Fuller was attacked by Mr. Button, a Supralapsarian, on the one hand; and by Mr. Daniel Taylor, an Arminian, on the other; to whom he replied, by "A Defence" of his former tract. There the question seems to rest; and it appears hardly possible, in the present state of things, to throw farther light upon the subject.-[Dr. Ryland's Life of Fuller, pp. 6-11. Morris's Ditto, chap. viii. Wilson's Dissenting Churches, vol. ii. pp. 572-574. Ivimey's English Baptists, vol. iii. pp. 262-272.] MOHAMMEDANS. See Mahometans. MOLINISTS, the followers of Lewis