The following article appeared in the "Correspondence" of "The Colonist," a paper published in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The remarks are very much to the point, and quite conformable to the sure prophetic word, which, now that "the time of the end" has arrived, begins to shine brightly upon the minds of believers in the kingdom of God. The fall of Turkey is inevitable; a fall which none of the Powers, singly or combined, can prevent. Though, to avoid inglorious defeat, England’s interest is neutrality, yet she neither can nor may be neutral. Neutrality or action will be equally fatal to Turkey, which cannot stand by Anglo-French assistance, much less alone. France and England must work. Ultimately France will be ruined, and England a gainer of much territory in the East, but burdened with a war such as she never waged before. But let us hear what "J.R.L." has to say to us upon this all-engrossing topic.

Mr. Editor: —At the present time, when so general and intense an interest is felt in the war which England and France are about to engage in, heart and soul, for the purpose of maintaining, if possible, the integrity of the Turkish Empire, it must surely be of the utmost importance to know whether the purposes of the Most High, as revealed in his Word, necessitate the downfall of Turkey; and whether, viewing the present war in the light of prophecy, we may expect success or defeat to attend the united arms of England, France and Turkey.

Well aware of the vox populi—the voice of the nation—upon this point, and free as I am to confess the mighty odds against which Russia, to all human appearances, will have to contend, yet the light which the sure word of prophecy sheds upon the present and the future, so clearly reveals the downfall of Turkey, and the amazing expansion of the Russian empire, that I cannot but perceive the ultimate defeat which awaits those powers that vainly endeavour to sustain a nation which God hath doomed to destruction.

The verse above quoted contains the word of the Lord against the empire of Turkey, which dooms it to perish, and assigns as a reason for its destruction, "that the way of the Kings of the East might be prepared." The 40^th verse of the 11^th chapter of Daniel shows that it is to be overthrown by "the King of the North," and the 38^th and 39^th chapters of Ezekiel afford evidence that the Autocrat of Russia is "the King of the North," "at the time of the end."

With these preliminary observations, I now proceed to adduce the belief and opinions of some most eminent writers on prophecy respecting the sixth vial, its effects and results; all that I have consulted vary but little in opinion concerning it. And surely the unanimous decision of such men as Faber, Frere, Mede, Fleming, Cunningham, Keith, and others, who devoted a great portion of their lives to the study of the prophecies, is worthy of consideration; and I should hope that when the result proves the correctness of that decision, the reader may be more ready to believe in the sure word of prophecy, and prepare for the subsequent astounding events which shall come upon the world as "a thief in the night." "Blessed," said the Lord, "is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments."

Henry and Scott, in their commentary, have the following in reference to the sixth vial: "Some think this—the sixth vial—prophesies the destruction of the Turkish monarchy, . . . and thereby a way will be made for the return of the Jews, whom they call the Princes of the East. Fleming considers that as the sixth trumpet brought the Turks from beyond the Euphrates, so the sixth vial exhausts their power." Under the head of Faber’s chronology they give his judgment concerning the time, nature and operation of the sixth vial, as follows: "Sixth vial. The downfall of the Ottoman Empire probably began with the Greek insurrection in 1821. The Kings of the East, perhaps the Jews." The same standard authorities also give Cunningham’s sentiments on this passage: "Sixth vial. The Euphrates is considered to denote the Ottoman Empire hastening to decay; the Kings of the East probably denote the Jews."

In a rare and valuable work published by a number of ministers of the Church of England, in 1826 and 1828, entitled, "Dialogues on Prophecy," I find the following in reference to the sixth vial: "There can be no reasonable doubt in the mind of any one who has well studied the subject, that we are living in the period indicated by the outpouring of the sixth vial, i.e. during the drying up of the Euphrates. This expression, Revelation 9: 14, clearly points out the letting loose of the Turkish hordes by the sixth trumpet, till that time bound up in the territory, of which the Euphrates is the chief river. The seat of the Turks being now in Europe, we must look, not for a literal Euphrates, but for that power which it represented in Europe. As the Euphrates was the defence of ancient Babylon, so has the Turkish power been for some years the great defence of the Babylonish Papal Kings, who have protected her." pp. 47, 48, vol. 2. "The way of the Kings is prepared by the angel of the Lord, who is commissioned for that end, with a vial of consumption upon the waters of Euphrates. The Lord interferes on their (the Jews’) account, to cut off a wicked power which would have hindered them. He exhausts those waters which had come up over the borders of Emmanuel’s land, which had overwhelmed the holy city, (Jerusalem,) and drowned the holy people; and this is done at a time when all the Kings of the earth and of the world are gathering to their destruction." p. 128. "Now it is manifest that these bounds (the whole extent of Emmanuel’s land) are at present possessed by the Turkish people, who therefore must be first threshed like the dust, and carried away of the wind, or consumed with evaporation before the captives (God’s nation) are brought home. And when we find this done under the sixth vial, and the cause of it assigned to be for making way for a royal company out of the East, we should at once say, that according to the Prophets, this company must be the Jewish outcasts, gathered again into one." p. 131. Once more on page 262, the authors of "Dialogues on Prophecy," after speaking of the five vials of the wrath of God, which were poured out on the Papal nations of Europe, between 1789 and 1815, proceed to remark on the sixth vial, as God’s judgment upon Mohammedanism. "And now he proceeds to the East, and there being nothing here to stay or to restrain his hand, he accomplishes his judgment in one single act, which for the last seven years has been under our eye," (this was written in 1828,) "the only thing, I may say, of a warlike kind, soliciting the attention of the world; and depend upon it, if we are right in believing that this sixth vial is poured out, and working its effects, it will not cease until it has done its work of drying up the waters of the Mohammedan Euphrates, that is, abolishing the Turkish Power, until it shall be able to offer no resistance to those kings who are about to come up from the risings of the sun."

Doctor Thomas, who has given in Elpis Israel the fullest and most interesting exposition of unfulfilled prophecy that I have seen, speaks concerning the sixth vial as follows: —"When we look into the history of our own times, it is easy to perceive that the sixth vial began in 1820. On May 29, 1453, Constantinople fell into the hands of the Turks, who have retained it to this day. The judgment of the sixth vial is to take away his (the Sultan’s) supremacy, and to wrest from him the dragon’s sceptre. This is termed ‘drying up the waters of the Euphrates,’ which occurs for the purpose of bringing about the restoration of Israel, who, by the constitution of Sinai are ‘a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation,’ and to whom belongs the adoption, through which ‘the Kings of the East’ are provided. The following events will give the reader some idea of the manner in which the sixth vial has been pouring out ‘on the great River Euphrates.’ In 1820, the Greeks rebelled against the Sultan, and after several years’ war, succeeded by aid of the Western powers in establishing the Kingdom of Greece. In 1826, the Janissaries revolted, and thousands of them were massacred by order of the Sultan. In 1827, Turkey lost 110 ships in the battle of Navarino. In 1828, war with Russia, and a general revolt throughout Albania. From 1821 to 1831, ravages of cholera and plague, and depopulation of the Eastern Provinces. From 1829 to 1848, the Algerine war, by which Algeria is annexed to France. In 1839, Egypt and Syria wrested from the Porte by Mehemet Ali. War between Egypt and Turkey, in which the Turkish fleet revolts to Egypt. In 1844, massacres by the Turks in Syria, and exterminating war between the Maronites and Druses there. And in 1848, Russia moved her forces south, and took up her position in the Turkish Principalities of the Danube, to be in readiness to avail herself of subsequent events."

Doctor Keith, also, as you would observe in the "interesting extract" from his "Land of Israel," published by you a few days ago, speaks with full assurance of faith of "the breaking up of the Ottoman Empire, against which the word of the Lord has gone forth, and on which that word must fall."

In conclusion, Mr. Editor, I will reiterate the conviction expressed in a former communication, —England’s best and wisest policy at the present crisis, no matter what the world’s wisdom may dictate, is neutrality; the maintenance of the Turkish Empire being an utter impossibility.

March 18. J. R. L.

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