the prophecy of its expiry will be fulfilled. It will "be broken without hand." The waters of the great Euphrates will gradually evaporate. Our country at this moment, in taking the part of the Ottoman empire, seems to me fulfilling a solemn and a sacred duty. Treaty, promise, compact, and the everlasting duty of the strong to sympathise with the weak and the oppressed, vindicate the conduct of our country. Nations have duties and responsibilities, just as individuals have. This protection does not imply that we approve of Mahometanism, or that we wish prosperity to the Crescent, or that we have forgotten the barbarities of the Saracen, and the fearful tragedies inflicted upon Europe by the Turk; but, let our worst of enemies be injured and insulted, it is the duty of a Christian to interpose and protect him. Suppose our worthy ecclesiastical "ruler," Dr. Wiseman, were insulted in the streets of London by a mob, I should feel it my duty to interpose and protect him. Because he dislikes me, and I dislike his principles, I will not forget that I am a man, and whatever is human commands my sympathies, still less, that I am a Christian, bound to sympathise with suffering as such, and heap coals of fire upon the head of those that are opposed to me.

And, in the next place, it is most remarkable, that if we turn to the prophet Ezekiel, — and for one moment I will do so, we shall find that while Russia is unconsciously hastening the end predicted in prophecy, every act of her conduct is reprobated

and condemned. In the "Hebrew Observer," written by unconverted Jews, there is a leading article, of the date of February 10, 1854, most ably written, called the "Eastern Question;" which states that Russia is the Meshech and the Tubal, or the Ross, Moscow, and Tobolsk mentioned in the Old Testament; and these Jews say, that if the Russian Autocrat should sweep away Turkey, their existence as Jews in Turkey is gone. Under the Crescent, they say, they have had freedom,— under the Autocrat they have had cruelty, tyranny, and murder; and, if he should get the upper hand, they must leave the realms of the East. And then what will be the case? From the sun-rising, as predicted in prophecy, the Jews will march homeward, or flee, like doves to their windows, and find no rest for the soles of their feet till they arrive in Palestine-theirs by everlasting right, and the decree that cannot be abolished. Now, in Ezekiel, chap. xxxviii., we have this remarkable prophecy, -so remarkable that it seems to me to refer to these days: "Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,"(How like the names Moscow and Tobolsk!)— "and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal and I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great

company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords: Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee. Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them."—(How like what is taking place!)-"After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them. Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee. Thus saith the Lord God; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought" (suppose this addressed to the Autocrat:)—" and thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, to take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land. Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of

Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil? Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord God; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it? And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army: and thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes. Thus saith the Lord God; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them? And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, that my fury shall come up in my face; for in my jealousy, and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel.”

If this, then, relate—and it relates to the last days-to Gog, and Magog, and Tubal, as the representative names of Russia and its chief cities, then we see that whilst he fulfils, as the axe in the hand of the Almighty, prophecies that relate to

the future, he is not thereby exempt from punishment, or free from guilt, because he himself is a free agent, though used in the hands of Him who has the command, and the control, and the government of all. Our views of prophecy are not to modify our duties. The Czar may fulfil prophecies, and yet be most guilty. It is not our business to fulfil prophecies, but to obey precepts. Because, for instance, it is predicted, "A Jew shall be a scoff, a by-word, and a scorn," some men think they cannot do a more Christian act than spit upon a Jew, extract his teeth, maltreat him, and call him by bad names. Leave God to fulfil the prophecies He has inspired; you fulfil the duties He has laid down —justice, mercy, sympathy, and love.

It is most interesting to see the great panorama of the future sketched in its minutest details on the sacred page, and to witness autocrats from their thrones, and armies from their barracks, rushing, in the nineteenth century, to fill up the outline that God has chalked out upwards of two thousand years ago. I know it will be said, Turkey is dying; it will soon be defunct; why should we care for it? I answer, – If a man were dying of consumption, we should not think of knocking him on the head and killing him outright; on the contrary, we should try to get him the warmest blankets and the most nourishing food, and shelter him from the winds and the biting frost and the storms, and protract his life to the latest period. And because Turkey is feeble, because it is dying of a