From what we stated at the outset, our readers will perceive that we have no sympathy with that system of wholesale spiritualising, which our commentators have pursued in treating of the future part of this Bible history. That large portion of it which has been illustrated in the past, gives us no warrant to believe—far less to assert—that its future predictions are but emblems of the changes and occurrences that will pass over the Church, and that the wars spoken of are moral, not literal. Hitherto it has been most accurately illustrated by real wars and political events, and until we have a better authority to go upon than Origen and his followers, we prefer to construe the language of the Bible in a literal manner, and, doing so, we believe that the following will be the principal coming events: —

1. The seizure of Constantinople, and overthrow of Turkey by the Emperor of Russia.

In following Daniel’s version of the prophecy, which is more detailed than John’s, we find, that the unfulfilled part begins at the first colon of the 40th verse of the 11th chapter. That verse opens with the declaration, that “the King of the South,” or Mehemet Ali, would “push” at the Sultan. This was accomplished in 1839, when that monarch wrested Egypt and Syria from him, and endeavoured to seize Constantinople itself, and probably would have done so, had not the other powers prevented him, or rather, had not God determined that he should only push, not overthrow. The next part of the verse is, however, fraught with dire calamity to the Moslem Dynasty of the dragon. “The king of the north,” or Russia, it is stated, “shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots and horsemen, and with many ships, and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overthrow and pass over.” Here, we read at once the doom of Turkey; notwithstanding the assurance of assistance from France and England, the Ottoman empire will soon be no more. It is very probable that these allies will be deceived by the professions of peace, which the autocrat is holding out, and when they are off their guard, he will suddenly invade and conquer the kingdom. Evidence of this consummation is already apparent. Notwithstanding the presence of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea, Britain has been so far deceived as to recall the only man— (Sir Stratford Canning. Since the First Edition of this work was published, he has been again appointed Ambassador to Turkey.)— who could have pursued efficient measures, in the event of an invasion. The country is thus left open to the inroad of the northern Emperor, and ere long the news will doubtless come that he is at the gates of the Sultan’s capital. We have no date by which to determine the exact time of its occurrence, but considering the number and character of the events to succeed it, and the short space allowed for their performance, it must of necessity be almost immediately.

2. War between France and Austria—Overthrow of the former, and subsequent destruction of the Papacy.

Leaving for a time the sixth vial to run its course on the Turkish Empire, we must follow the seventh in its operations on the horns. After the angel had poured it into the air, where it caused a world of dire commotions, the apostle was carried away into the wilderness to see the judgments these would cause to fall on the beast and his image—in other words, on Roman Europe. For, let it be observed, that the papal powers as well as Turkey are doomed to hard experiences before the ten toes of the image are finally smitten with the Stone.

As the Dragon had yielded to the Western Beast its secular and ecclesiastical power, so Austria, a secular imperial element of that beast, has supported this twofold authority more than any of the other powers, and therefore shall suffer a more signal punishment. Indeed, we find this dominion, which is in the prophecy styled the two-horned beast, identified with, and assimilated to, the Papacy in all its more damnatory features. The history of its rise and progress is given in the last eight verses of the 13th chapter of Revelation, as well as in the seventh of Daniel, where its fate is particularly described: “They (the saints) shall take away his dominion, to consume and destroy it unto the end.” In that dark history of cruelties and crimes perpetrated by the horns against the saints, or friends of truth and liberty, Austria occupies an unenviably prominent distinction. The blood of the two witnesses lies heavily on that country, and has long cried for vengeance from on high. Nor has it cried in vain. When these witnesses were raised, and their power exerted itself through Napoleon, the iron hand of a stern retribution was laid upon Austria, and this horn’s dominion over the imperial west was for a time taken away. The conflict was temporarily suspended by the removal of the ambitious Corsican; but though vengeance has been delayed it cannot be much longer averted. The Austrian horn’s Roman dominion was at that time only temporarily taken away, but hereafter it must be “consumed and destroyed unto the end.” And the earnest of this will doubtless be initiated by the same power that punished him before. France, though herself one of the doomed toe kingdoms, will be the scourge of this horn, and preparation is being speedily consummated for the accomplishment of the work. Already are the two powers adversely situated, and their position will not fail to ultimate in war. The result of this will be presently disastrous to the “bloody house of Austria;” but premillennially and temporarily its occultation in the shadow of the Czar. Jesus appears as a thief, and the saints are raised from the dead. The power of Russia is broken, and the obscuration ends. Then comes the fall of Babylon. The Austrian and its contemporary horns, the supporters of the False Prophet, now become confederate against the Destroyer of the Czarocracy. But Babylon must of necessity fall. The time when the ten horns “shall hate Rome, and make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh and burn her with fire,” obtains in the preadventual contest between France and the Northern Powers. The account of her overthrow is contained in the eighteenth of Revelations, and is one of the most fearful and awe-inspiring nature. It is not for us to describe in detail the events which will produce and accompany her death. These are but partially indicated in the prophecy; we are only told that the people of God will be the agents, and that the powers of Europe will be filled with fear, and wonder when they behold her desolation.

3. The occultation of the Horns or Continental Powers by the Emperor of Russia.

By the time the above occurrences have taken place, the thirteen years will have expired, and the Hour of Judgment come. The whole ten horns will be greatly weakened by the war, and in this condition will manifest “one mind, and give their power and strength to the Beast.” This power is Russo-Austrian, which is temporarily consolidated by the overthrow of many countries into the image of Nebuchadnezzar standing on its feet of iron and clay. It is necessary that the original Roman territory become subject to one majesty, bicrurally displayed, in order that the image of Nebuchadnezzar may be manifested in its latter day apparition to that king, and though we have not an exact description of their occultation by Russia, further than being informed that he would overflow and pass over, we find that Ezekiel, who gives a most minute and graphic account of the great battle introductory of the war of Armageddon, styles him “Gog, of the land of Magog, Prince of Rosh, Mosc and Tobl,” and enumerates Persia, Ethiopia, Libya, and the bands of Gomer, in those that follow him. Now, it can be satisfactorily proved that Magog and Gomer mean Germany and France. These countries he must therefore conquer; and having conquered them the whole of continental Europe is within his grasp. The metallic image will thus be joined in all its parts, the territory comprehended in the Babylonian, Grecian, Roman, and latter day Assyrian Empires, will be ruled by one majesty, and that autocratic, or a majesty ruling by its own will. Events will now hurry forward to the mighty catastrophe. The heart of the emperor will be lifted up by success, and in his pride and arrogance he will endeavour to make the world his slave. But at last the Stone rejected by the builders descends heavily on his feet; the Roman iron, and the Russian or Assyrian clay separate; the brass, the silver, and the gold are broken to pieces, and “become as the chaff of the summer threshing floors,” and the whole is scattered by the winds of heaven.

But what, it will be eagerly asked, is Britain about all this time? Surely she must have an important part to play in this direful game of war. Yes, but after an exceptionable type, so far as we have yet gone, Britain is exempted from catastrophe, though her proximity to the scene of the unequalled struggle will keep her in a state of alarm, and her rulers anxious and watchful. But yet, though beyond the eddies of the whirling vortex of the Continent, she must not, can not, will not be idle. She has a mission to fulfil, and she must feel straitened till it is accomplished—a mission of the strongest necessity, and she cannot evade it—a mission of the noblest nature, and she will not shun it. To her—to the whole Anglo-Saxon race, of which she is the head and representative—is the task assigned of carrying forward the religious, moral, and social preadventual progress of the world, and in this she may be well assisted by her children in the west and south. America may be united with her in the work, and Australia must grow in strength for the same purpose; and thus supported on each side by a strong and stalwart son, the brave old empire will be energised to the task. Talk of America and Britain going to war! the thing is incredible; nature forbids it, and the Bible forbids it, too. When they do fight it will be on one side, and against a common foe; but they have a far different battle to fight in these coming years, than the sword or cannon can accomplish. The great moral contest of spiritual freedom and social morality must be sustained, and the cause must unite them and us in a hearty bond of brotherhood. A people must be presented to the Lord, that his domain may be populated when the time to establish the kingdom shall come; and Britain with her sons is called on to cherish and protect them. But to be more definite; the next event, though not in chronological order, will be—

4. Britain extends her Eastern possessions westward, prevents the immediate occupation of Judea by Russia, and initiates its colonisation by the Jews.

The many and severe wars which our country has had to sustain, in order to preserve her Eastern territories, have by many been considered as too dear payment for their possession. We do not here, however, enter on this question, but beg to inform such, that a far higher purpose than commercial interest or extended empire is to be served by the presence of the British power in the East. So far, indeed, as she herself is concerned, this may have been the real aim; and now that she is in possession, the commercial advantages which accrue from them will be a sufficient incitement to their retention. To preserve the East India market, and keep a path open to it, Britain will strive much and do much; but while her rulers may think they are merely serving the nation, they are really accomplishing one of the grand designs of God, and evolving events, while they cause her to take measures for the preservation of this distant part of her empire, will really and only produce occurrences which will facilitate the great design of Jehovah. Both God and Britain had a special design in the annexation of the Indian territory to the lion power, but these designs were as different in nature and object as the finite is from the infinite. While Britain thought only of wealth and conquest, God thought of his ancient people, and of his covenant, and placed the British Lion in the East to prepare a way for his ransomed, and to become their protection in the infancy of their restoration. Such is God’s design, and he has enlisted the energy of the Anglo-Saxons in its accomplishment, by making it their interest to bring it to pass. The value of these lands to the nation is the inducement he has given it to retain them at all risks; and one means of their retention, which will bye-and-bye become very obvious, will be to do that which will tend to introduce the accomplishment of Jehovah’s long promised purpose—the restoration of the Jews. The idea has long been held, by those few who do believe in a restoration, that it must be preceded by a conversion. This is erroneous. The Jews, to some extent, will return to their own land as faithless in Jesus as the Christ as when they left it. They will be converted—of this we are assured; but it will be subsequent to their partial re-establishment in Palestine, and by a divine agency little suspected by “Christendom.” In the many passages of Scripture which speak of this people acknowledging the Messiah, we can never identify the agency to be employed in bringing about the change as merely human. The Lord invariably speaks of it as his own work, and to be done, as only Divinity can do it—in one day. The veil is to be taken away, the blindness is to be removed, and this after Judah is in part returned to the hill of Zion: “Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. THEN ye shall know that I am the Lord”—Ezekiel 37: 12.

It is needless, therefore, to look for the conversion of Israel as an indication of the coming of the latter days. It is the preadventual partial colonisation of Judea that becomes an evidence of this; and we can imagine with what surprise the conversion-theorists will witness the approaching colonisation of the land of Israel by its former inhabitants. But how, it is asked, will they be colonised there, and how does Britain become the principal agent in the work? In this very simple manner: When Britain sees the Emperor of Russia in possession of Turkey, and overthrowing the hosts of continental Europe, she will become alarmed for her Indian possessions, and seek to strengthen her position in the Mediterranean Sea to prevent the autocrat dominating there.

Having succeeded in dethroning the Sultan, and annexing much of the Turkish dominions to his sway, he will naturally endeavour to take possession of Palestine, as that country forms part of the Ottoman Empire. This, however, Britain will not consent to. To let him occupy this territory would be a virtual relinquishment of the Eastern market, because the road to it by the Red Sea would be shut up. What course Britain will actually adopt to prevent this we cannot learn from prophecy, but that she will for a while prevent it we are sure. Not only will her own interests demand it, but the word of Jehovah is concerned in the matter, and demands it too. These political and commercial interests are but the means employed by God to cause this great nation to perform his long expressed determination, to preserve the Holy Land for the elected, eldest born of his children. Were the Russian Emperor to succeed in taking possession of it, he would carry the land tenure of the north along with him, and thus the soil of the land of Canaan would become part and parcel of another nation, its peculiar character as an inalienable possession would be gone, and being “common,” it would no longer be called sacred or “holy.” But this final alienation of the land cannot be. Jehovah hath said, “the land shall not be sold forever, for the land is mine.” It is therefore impossible that it can ever be finally occupied by a power that would at once incorporate it with other territories. An attempt, since the expiry of the 1290 years, has already been made to do this, but, as was to be expected, it signally failed. Shortly after Mehemet Ali established himself as “king of the south,” he attacked and conquered Syria, and, as we before stated, “pushed at” the Sultan’s throne. The powers of Europe, however, interfered to prevent him from gaining his point, and in negotiating terms of peace between the two countries, ordered Mehemet to restore Palestine to Turkey. This the king of the south refused to do, and claimed the land as his forever by right of conquest. He was, however, at length compelled to yield to the demand, and the land of Israel was given back to those whose creed will not allow them to claim the soil. They have indeed “divided the land for gain,” but those pashas who occupy it hold it by no tenure, and may be, and indeed often are, deprived of their possession, without having the right to complain. According to the Mahommedan creed, the land is God’s, and though it may be occupied, cannot be owned by any mortal; and certainly, whatever doctrine of the Koran is false, this is true. The Jews cannot even sell any part of it from one to another, far less can the uncircumcised Gentiles get it for a prey.

The only way that seems likely for Britain to preserve her Eastern market open in this emergency, will be to favour the formation of a Jewish colony in Palestine; and thus, it will appear, that the Euphrates is driving up in order “that the way of the kings of the East might be prepared.” The drying up of the river, which is in part the destruction of Turkey, will render it necessary for the British power, which then extends to the Euphrates, to promote the return of the Jews to their own land, by extending its protection over it, and holding out every inducement for the sons of Abraham to repair to it. Be this, however, as it may, it is Britain that favours the return of the sons of Judah, as we learn from the eighteenth chapter of Isaiah, where the prophet is furnished with a command to “the land shadowing with wings, that sendeth ambassadors by the sea,” enjoining it to render service in the presentation to the Lord of “a nation scattered and peeled, a nation terrible from their beginning hitherto, a nation rooted out and trodden down, whose lands the rivers have spoiled.” What a powerful and graphic description is this of the present and past state of the Jews! How their former greatness and present degradation and desolation is associated and contrasted! But how, it may be asked, do we identify the “land widely overshadowing with wings?” We are told that it is from beyond to the rivers of Cush. Now, going east from Judea, across the Euphrates and Tigris, we reach to the “beyond,” that is, to Hindostan, the most important of our Indian possessions, and therefore governed by a power that “sendeth its ambassadors by the sea,” in other words, by an island state, which shows that the reference is to Britain, and to her alone. The allusion will, however, become more apparent in a short time, when our empire is greatly extended in that quarter, and when the lion-flag waves o’er many an island and country, proving as much its protector as its ruler. There can then be no doubt as to the fact that this country will open up a way for the despised and persecuted race of Abraham, to stand once more in their father-land, and raise anew the songs of David upon the holy hill of Zion, and it is probable that the event will be brought about in some such manner as we have indicated. But, first of all, this country must seize a great amount of territory adjacent to the Holy Land. In the present state of affairs, there would neither be peace nor safety for the Jews in their own country. The Sultan has “divided it for gain,” and his pachas lay it waste, and hold it waste at their pleasure. It will, therefore, be necessary to occupy Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba, besides other places, in order to make these a wall of defence for the Jewish colony, and hence the language of Jehovah to his restored people—“I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.” By possessing these she will also lay her hands upon Edom, Moab, Ammon, and other places on the Red Sea, till at length shadowing “to the rivers of Cush,” and on every side the new colony, under the wings of this great maritime power, will grow and prosper, like a cedar on their own mountain of Lebanon.

But by this time the autocrat of Russia has got the nations of continental Europe beneath his feet, and, like Alexander in ancient, and Napoleon in later times, he thirsts for universal conquest. For the history of his career from this point, onward to its close, we turn again to the regular course of the prophecy. If the reader will, before going any further, take up his Bible, and read carefully the last five verses of the eleventh of Daniel, and from the beginning of the thirty-eighth chapter of Ezekiel to the twenty-third verse of the thirty-ninth chapter, he will clearly understand the following which is but a paraphrase of it.

Turning his eyes eastward, on the wealth and prosperity of the countries under British protection, the triumphant conqueror of Europe will conceive the idea of spoiling them, and appropriating their goods and cattle. Scarcely is this idea formed than its execution is begun, and sudden and terrific as a whirlwind from the north he enters “the glorious land.” So overwhelming is the invading force, that the British armies retire before it towards the south-east, and Egypt, Ethiopia, and Libya fall into his hands. But tidings out of the East and North shall trouble him. “Sheba and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto him, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey?” How emphatically does this language identify Britain as the belligerent opponent of Gog the king of the north, and corroborate our former statements regarding the extension of her empire in the East? We would particularly point the reader’s attention to the “merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof;” what an appropriate designation is this of the Honourable East India Company, in its peculiar relation to the British Government! This constitution of things, as is well known, is both civil and military, commercial and imperial. The former is represented by the merchants, the latter by the young lions, or the officials of the imperially-controlled Company, which receives its authority from the Lion of Britain, and may therefore be fitly termed thus, even as the representatives of the Persian and Macedonian sovereignties were called young rams and young goats. Indeed, the applicability of the title is admitted by the Company itself, whose arms are a shield, the quarterings of which are filled with young lions rampant.

The Anglo-Indian government, alarmed at the inroads of the autocrat, and the loss of Egypt, will adopt vigorous measures for opposing him. Hence, “tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him.” The news that the Anglo-Saxons have resolved to oppose his despotic progress will annoy and infuriate him. It is possible he may think of a time when another man, ambitious like himself, endeavoured to possess the empire of the world, and went forth conquering till he was met by this same power, and overthrown; and no wonder that such a thought should fill him with trouble. But quickly rage takes the place of fear; he looks proudly on the heaving army that follows at his back, and is enraged at the presumption which dares to thwart a will and power like his, “therefore he goes forth with great fury to destroy and utterly to make away many.” Proceeding onward, he seizes the unwalled villages and gateless cities, till at length his huge and multifarious army pitch their tents before Jerusalem. He lays siege to the Holy City, which soon surrenders to his power, and enables him to “plant the tabernacle of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain.”

He has now reached the farthest limit of his conquering mission. The decree peals forth from the eternal throne, “Hitherto shalt thou come, but no farther;” and could he but look a little forward, as he paces with proud and haughty step along the brow of Zion, he might see that large and spacious valley, which stretches itself out before him, filled with a mangled mass of dead and dying, swimming in blood, and ready to be devoured by the myriads of birds of prey which hover over the scene. But no such vision crosses his spirit, and he passes on to his tented palace to slumber in pride.

Meanwhile Britain has been making strenuous efforts to stop the progress of this gigantic Napoleon; and every soldier that can be spared is sent away in the direction of the rising sun. But what can the British army do against such a host as the Russian autocrat has around him? Brave as the officers and men may be, what success or what renown can be gained in such an unequal conflict? In the critical emergency the parent island may send a cry across the Atlantic, “Come over and help us.” Swiftly is the sound borne over the waves, and soon an answering echo is wafted back from the shores of Columbia. The cause is common, and the struggle must be common too. “We are coming, brother John, we are coming,” is the noble reply; and almost, ere it is delivered, a fleet of gallant vessels is crossing the Pacific, with the stars and stripes gleaming on every mast. Another force is on its way from the far south, and soon the flower and strength of the Anglo-Saxon race meet on the sacred soil of Palestine. (This is possible; there is, however, no testimony in the bible to give us assurance of faith that it will be so. It is probable, but not certain. —Editor of the Herald.) The intelligence of their approach reaches the sacrilegious usurper, and he leads forth his army towards the mountains that rise in glory round about Jerusalem. The Jews within the city now arm themselves, and join the army that has come from the east and west, the north and the south, for their protection, and thus these two mighty masses meet face to face, and prepare for the greatest battle that ever was fought on this struggling earth. On the one side the motley millions of Russia, and the nations of Continental Europe are drawn up on the slopes of the hills and the sides of the valleys toward the north; while on the other are ranged the thousands of Britain and her offspring, from whose firm and regular ranks gleam forth the dark eyes of many of the sons of Abraham, determined to preserve their newly-recovered city, or perish, like their ancestors of a former age, in its ruins.

All is ready. That awful pause which ensues before the work of death begins, is broken by the clash of arms; and while yet the contending hosts, are plunging incessant fire upon battalions of bleeding and quivering flesh, a strange sound—“The voice of the Archangel and the trump of God”—outroars the din of battle. —Joel 3: 16; Isaiah 29: 5-8; 30: 30-31. The time for the visible manifestation of God’s vengeance has arrived, his fury has come up in his face, and he calls for a sword against Gog throughout all his mountains. ‘Tis this roaring voice of Jehovah that breaks forth with terror and confounds the assembled armies. The scene that follows baffles description. Amid earthquakes and showers of fire the bewildered and maddened multitude of the autocrat rush, sword in hand, against each other, while the Israelites and their Anglo-Saxon allies become unwittingly Jehovah’s sword upon the enemy. The stone cut without hands falls on the Image feet, and breaks them to pieces; after which the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, become like the chaff of the summer threshing-floor, and the wind shall carry them away. The various descriptions which we have of this battle all intimate that Jehovah of armies is the mighty foe that shall contend with the autocrat in Armageddon. John terms it “the battle of that great day of God Almighty,” and a principal instrument of their defeat will be mutual slaughter. The carnage will be dreadful. Out of all the myriads that came like a cloud upon the land of Israel, only a scattered and shattered remnant will return; the great mass will be left to rot upon the land, and fill the valley of Hamongog with graves.

We pause at this point of the prophecy, considering it unnecessary at the present time to enter into a minute examination of the nature or duration of the millennial period. We have already followed the subject beyond the limits indicated by our title page, and it would swell this pamphlet far beyond its intended size, to enter into a discussion of these points. A great obscurity rests on the events that immediately follow the battle of Armageddon, so that although we might come pretty near the reality, our remarks would be essentially conjectural. (The compiler of this pamphlet is mistaken in the supposition that the events succeeding the overthrow of the Autocrat are obscure and conjectural. They are as well defined as those already outlined. He did well, however, to pause at this point. Better to say nothing than to give utterance to what cannot be proved. —Editor of the Herald.) It is probable that Assyria, Persia and Britain will be the only three powers that will exist in the old world, besides the kingdom which the Most High will establish in Jerusalem; for it is stated by Daniel that “the rest of the beasts” lived for a “season and a time,” after the destruction of the dragon. It is very natural to suppose that Britain will continue to hold a high place among the nations, though what that position will be, or how long she will retain it, the compiler of this pamphlet cannot say. (Assyria, Persia, Britain, and all other States will become the Lord’s and his Saints’ by conquest or surrender. None of them will be left in the hands of Gentile rulers. The nations will continue variously organised, indeed, yet all subject to the Great King, and those of his immortal brethren whom he may appoint over them. —Editor of the Herald.) The Anglo-Saxon race must, from the very nature of their constitution, be a notable people; but it is evident that the Hebrews will have the chief place during that glorious era. Which these stirring changes are to usher in. They will certainly become greater than any of the nations, and that in virtue of the covenant of Jehovah with their fathers.

For the preparation of a race for such a mission as that committed to the Anglo-Saxons, it was necessary that they should burst those chains of civil and ecclesiastical despotism, which priestcraft had forged for, and fastened around the human soul; and with considerable effect have Britain and America performed this duty! Must we remind the reader of Bruce and Wallace and the Covenanters, in Scotland; of Cromwell and Milton, Hampden, and the Puritans, in England, or of Washington and the war of independence, in America? Those fierce and fiery furnaces through which this renowned people struggled in years gone by, were intended to purify and qualify them for the work of the latter days; and the result is, that at this moment they are free, and ready to assume their Heaven-appointed mission. Hence the difference between their fate and the fate of those ancient nations whom they imitated, or the modern nations who imitated them. How often have the generous and noble-hearted gazed with indignant wonder at the gallant yet abortive efforts of patriots to save their country from bondage and oppression, and as star after star of liberty was blotted out by the blood-red sun of despotism, turned a reproachful eye to heaven, as if to ask why truth and justice was denied its own! And never will this dark enigma be explained, till the light of this prophecy, of which we have all along been speaking, shine upon it; but no sooner does its mist-dispelling influence pass across the gloom, than, as sun-light from on high, the answer comes, which amply satisfies the grieved doubting heart, and vindicates the justice of the Eternal. It is only while tracing the windings and developments of Daniel’s vision and John’s Revelation, that we learn the secret of Poland’s downfall and Hungary’s degradation. Those nations stand upon the image territory, and are involved in its destruction, therefore all efforts to save them must be in vain. As powers they are doomed to fall, and though their wrongs shall one day be righted, for the present their noble-hearted patriots must resign themselves and their cause to the will of Heaven.

And here, too, in the light of this truth-diffusing prophecy, do we understand the past and learn the future of Ireland. The state of this country has long made it a puzzle to the world, and many have been the attempts, both within and without, to discover the cause and the cure of its evils. The prevalent feeling is, that its union with Britain constitutes the Alpha and Omega of its misery, and for many years it has sought to have the union repealed. Its patriots have even endeavoured to identify their cause with that struggle which America successfully maintained with the mother country, and the idea has taken root in many hearts, both in Scotland and England, which cry shame against the injustice. Now, nothing can be more erroneous than this idea. The Irish struggle can never be identified with the western colonial emancipation, neither can it, on account of the absence of the religious element, be compared to the Scotch or English wars of independence. But without going into the vexed question of the justice or injustice of forcibly perpetuating the union, we would ask the question, What would be the consequences to Ireland herself were she to become and independent nation? These, in a political and social point of view, stand clearly forth to the eyes of many of those who steadily oppose the repeal agitation; but it is only when observed through the medium of this Scripture prophecy that we can discern their full extent or awful magnitude. Passing by those moral and political evils which appear on the surface, what, we ask, would be the fate of the country, thirteen years hence? ‘Tis true, Ireland is not on the image territory, and, though not probable, it is still possible, that she might escape being conquered by one of the toes; nevertheless, she will be legitimately within the dark region of the curse. She is among those who worship the image of the beast. She has received its mark in her forehead, and if standing alone, and in these circumstances, when the hour of judgment comes, how shall she escape? We hesitate not to assert that Ireland’s union with Britain is the only thing that stands between her and utter ruin, and that while Poland and Hungary failed in their effort for freedom, because they were doomed to be rooted up by the Little Horn, Ireland has failed to regain her independence, because she is destined to a better fate with Britain. We cannot here specify the means to be employed for her regeneration. This the future will show, but regenerated by Israel’s King she will be, and by milder measures than those visited on the continentals, owing to that very union which she would so rashly sever.

In the preceding pages, we have seen that Britain’s island will be kept comparatively free from the war and strife that will soon rage of the continent, —how the late past harmonises with this decision! While nearly the whole of Europe has been convulsed, our sea-girt isle has remained in peace, and kept so far aloof from the oppressors and oppressed, that many generous but mistaken minds have charged her with coldness and pusillanimity. She has indeed given shelter to both when exiled from their own lands, but she has hitherto been kept from entangling herself with the commotions of the times, and while strife and feud have raged around peace has been in all her borders. This course she will continue steadily to pursue; though, as we before stated, the doings on the continent will keep her in continual alarm and watchfulness. This feeling of uneasiness and anxiety will, however, be greatly dispelled by a knowledge of the truth; and the author of this pamphlet hopes that, for this very purpose, it will be widely circulated. What a sublime position does that individual occupy, who can stand at a distance and gaze upon such a thrilling spectacle as Europe will soon present, with calmness and assurance, “seeing the end from the beginning.” Can anything indeed be more sublime than this? It is like one of the ancient prophets of Israel, gazing from some far-off mountain side on the fulfilment of one of his own prophecies. As he gazes on the scene—perhaps a city staggering into the bosom of an earthquake, or the progress of a battle between Israel and her enemies—is it possible to imagine the calmly glowing feelings of his soul, as, privileged beyond all mortals, he contemplates what had already been pictured to his mind, and can tell the next dwelling-place that shall go crashing down, or the next enemy that shall “lick the dust?” Still greater, if possible, is the position occupied by one who can pass the boundary of the everlasting present, and boldly map the events of the future. God-like he sits on the edge of the thick darkness, and resolves the mystic shapes that flit and gambol there into regularity and order. The dense mist which has hitherto overhung this end of the “bridge” rolls slowly upward, and the things it concealed loom forth, dimly it may be, but still visible enough in their outlines and lineaments to enable him to recognise them when the wheels of time bear him slowly past them. The very idea of superiority of position like this is enrapturing. To think that it is only a select few that are thus highly privileged, —that those whom the events so nearly concern are ignorant of them, —to witness the terror and astonishment with which they are met by those they come to destroy, and, above all, to know that he and his kindred are beyond the reach of their sweeping embrace, is to occupy a position never before reached by any, save the inspired of the Lord. Such a position may Britons and Americans occupy, if they can but speedily arrive at the knowledge of it. In a very short time the conflict will begin. The “powers that be” cannot long remain in their present relative positions, and the moment approaches when the dreadful moral volcano must burst. Already is the sound of the storm heard among the tree-tops. The Russian army is gathering on the frontiers; France has fallen back to that form of government, whose only tradition is war and conquest; the new Emperor is fast increasing his naval power; Turkey is trembling, and all Italy is in a smothered flame. The sooner then that a knowledge of the political future is obtained, the better; and while Anglo-Saxons congratulate themselves on their present advantage, and the prospect of a less sever judgment than that of other nations, let them learn their destiny, and prepare to meet it with humility and godly fear.

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