We have had various attempts of late years to identify the Emperor of Russia and the Gog or Magog (we forget which) of Ezekiel. If the following, which we clip from an exchange paper, be correct, it is probable that he has been studying the Scriptures himself, and recognises the fulfilment of some of the prophecies in his own person:

"THE CZAR QUOTING SCRIPTURE. —A letter received a short time since by a young man residing in this place, says the Westchester (Pa.) Republican and Democrat, from his father in Sweden, says that the English ships were then in the Baltic. The writer also says that the Czar, in striving to gain the King of Sweden to his cause, quoted the 15^th, 16^th and 17^th verses of Ezekiel, chapter 21, which read as follows: ‘I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that their heart may faint, and their ruins be multiplied: ah! it is made bright, it is wrapped up for the slaughter. Go thee one way or other, either on the right hand, or on the left, whithersoever thy face is set. I will also smite my hands together, and I will cause my fury to rest.’ This latter verse concludes with, ‘I the Lord have said it,’ but this Nicholas omits; yet the significant conclusion is, I Nicholas of all the Russias have said it. The King of Sweden replies to him by quoting verses 25, 26 and 27 of the same chapter: ‘And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, thus saith the Lord God: Remove the diadem and take off the crown; this shall not be the same; exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn it; and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.’ We suggest that Nicholas took nothing by his motion."

The concluding sentence, "I the Lord have said it," we take to be the very cream of the prophecy, and the omission spoils the whole, so far as it is sought to be applied to the Czar. He must prove a great deal which he will find it very difficult to establish, before he can claim to be the instrument predestined to effect all that is here indicated. How he will go about to compass this, we do not clearly see. We doubt, however, whether the King of Sweden, who has been his obedient vassal thus far, and who is indebted to the forbearance of his predecessor Alexander for his crown, ever made any such spirited answer, if he ever received any such communication. King Oscar would no doubt like very much to get rid of the Czar. But he knows very well that his brother Alexander first tempted his father, Bernadotte, to make war on his native country, and in return for it, promised him the imperial crown of France, and actually secured him the royal diadem of Sweden. It was a villainous business throughout; but Oscar is reaping the benefit of it, and we doubt whether he would unnecessarily irritate the Czar to the point of jogging his memory on the subject. —Richmond Penny Post.

* * *