Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by F. E. PITTS, In the Office of the Clerk of the District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. Sherwood & Co Prs. TO THE AMERICAN PUBLIC. THE theory of Armageddon, by the Rev. F. E. Pitts, has been in course of preparation for years. Immense research and mental labor have brought it into being. For nearly two years it has been before the public and met the favorable notice of many of the ablest journals and reviews in America. Learned theologians, civilians and statesmen have freely accredited its truthfulness, and mathematicians pronounce its chronological argument demonstration. Indeed, almost all who examine it believe it. The exceptions to this rule are generally found amongst the subjects of the British Crown, or those who imagine that England, par excellence, is the model of the nations. Having learned that Armageddon leaves the autocracy of Britain in the whirlpool too, they have become offended, and of course denounce it. Mr. Pitts believing most firmly the principles and positions of the theory to be true, and that a correct appreciation of the subject is of untold interest to the American people, he has, from motives sincerely patriotic and pious, discussed the claims of this sublime theory before thousands of our countrymen in various portions of the United States. -Mr. Pitts certainly deserves the highest praise of his countrymen. Modest and unassuming, though a giant in intellect, and richly stored with the treasures of science, he has brought out a work that must elevate and encourage our noble confederacy more effectually than any book that has appeared since the birth of the Republic. The work has now passed into the fourth edition, and will, we have no doubt, soon be issued by the hundred thousand. This book should be in the hands of every American citizen, because of the advance that it will give to true patriotism, and the enthusiasm that it has and necessarily will create for the Union. NOTICE. FROM THE NATIONAL INTELLIGENCER, February 24, 1857. SERVICES AT THE CAPITOL.-In place of the Rev. Mr. Waldo, Chaplain of the House, Rev. F. E. Pitts, of Nashville, Tennessee, appeared agreeably to previous announcement, and delivered a discourse on the fulfilment of prophecy, with reference to the United States. With no leaning to cant or fanaticism, and with no tendencies to a politico-religious sermon, the reverend speaker entered upon his task of unfolding the prophecies, both of the Old and New Testaments. The events which he detailed with reference to our own country, were made to fit with such surprising chronological accuracy to the predictions, that it was by the almost unanimous desire of a large and attentive audience that his lecture was continued in the afternoon. At the appointed time, three o'clock, P. M., it was no easy task to find a seat in the great hall of the Capitol, so deeply interested were the people to hear the sequel of the morning discourse, a brief outline of which we are herewith enabled to present to our readers: His introduction to the investigation indicated with what reverence and discretion any attempted elucidation of the meaning of prophecy should be conducted; that the prophecies touching the nations, down to the fall of Jerusalem, were but a literal history of Syria, Edom, Moab, Egypt, and Judea; but from the destruction of the Jewish capital down to a certain period called "the time of the end," a vail was on the prophets, and no interpretation of the sublime visions during that interdicted age could possibly be correct; for God had repeated the announcement to Daniel, the prophet, that "the words were closed up, and the vision was sealed till the time of the end." That this was 66 not the end of the world was evident, for in the time of the end " many should run to and fro, and knowledge be increased;" that then "the wise should understand, but the especially the theatre of these wonders, or the land of their realization, should be unknown till God was prepared for their accomplishment. That the time of the end "-an age of great intellectual energy, adventure and locomotion -was the age in which a great nationality would arise; that the United States arose at the end of 1290 symbolic days from the destruction of Jerusalem; that Daniel's 70 weeks being equal to 603 years and 129 days of solar time, according to the eclipses of the sun, gave an infallible rule to determine symbolic time; so that if 70 symbolic weeks equaled 600 years and 129 days, 1290 symbolic days reached from the burning of the temple on the 189th day of the year 68, A. D., to the 4th of July, 1776; and that, making the starting-point at the occasion of the daily sacrifice, which happened, according to astronomy, at sunrise, three minutes past five o'clock, A. M., on the day the temple was burnt, the 1290 days run out at a quarter to three o'clock, '. M., on the 4th day of July, 1776; and, from the best sources of information, the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed at that hour on the glorious Fourth. That the United States was the fifth Government represented by the stone cut out of the mountain without hands. The image of Nebuchadnezzar represented the successive kingdoms of Assyria, Medo-Persia, Macedonia, and Rome; that the iron and clay in the feet and toes of the image, symbolized the union of Church and State under Constantine, June 19, A. D. 325; that the antagonism of the stone to the image smiting it on the feet, symbolized the genius of our great nation in its opposition to the union of Church and State; that while the stone-kingdom, or government, were not Christianity, the mountain out of which the stone was cut was Christianity. That the winged woman of the wilderness was an emblem of Christianity, and her man-child, to whom was given "a rod to rule," was an emblem of our government, arising from a pure religion; that this man-child, being caught up to heaven in the clouds," showed the providential protection of our 66 |