It  should  be  noted,  as  stated  by  the  late  Bishop  Hen-
shaw,  that,  "The  opinion  of  a  spiritual  millennium  consist-
ing in  the  universal  triumph  of  the  Gospel  and  conversion
of  all  nations  for  a  thousand  years  before  the  coming  of
Christ,  is  a  novel  doctrine,  unknown  to  the  church  for  the
space  of  sixteen  hundred  years.  So  far  as  we  have  been
able  to  investigate  its  history,  it  was  first- advanced  by  the
Rev.  Dr.  Whitby,  the  commentator,  and  afterwards  ad-
vocated by  Haimnond,  Hopkins,  Scott,  Dwight,  Bougue,
and  others,  and  has  been  received  without  careful  exami-

^Spaulding's  Lectures,  Himes  Edition,  1841,  page  221.
'Dr.  West,  Premillennial  Essays,  page  376.
