tical interests, for it removes every discouragement, rebuts the odious shafts of sarcasm and of contempt, and reinstates our people in the eyes of the christian world. It will infallibly give the Jews a greater confidence among themselves, and very possibly will be the immediate incitement towards the commencement of that movement of the elect people towards their home, that land of which Jacob and Judah are the true heirs, which has been promised unto them in Holy Writ.

"And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there."-Isaiah lxv. 9.

It is not my present purpose to make many observations on what shall ensue when the Israelites do re-occupy Jerusalem; yet a few words may be added on that particular subject, which has engrossed the attention of christian prelates and divines more, perhaps, than any other of the scriptural prophecies; viz. the Millennium.

Of the nature of this Millennium I shall simply state my opinion, that it is mystical; yet it is assured by Scripture. Undoubtedly it will be a golden age, when justice, charity, and faith shall hold undivided sway, and when the Governor shall be Christ Jesus, the Messiah.

Micah iv. 6-8.—" In that day, saith the Lord,

will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted: and I will make her that halteth a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the Lord shall reign over them in mount Zion, from henceforth, even for ever. And thou, O tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem."

Certainly the disposition manifested by many Protestant communities has been praiseworthy and truly Christian in past times; they have not hesitated to spread the genuine doctrines of the New Testament, and they have gone among the heathen without the aid of any executive power to punish those whom they could not convert. But now a clearer dawn breaks upon the religious horizon; there are prognostications that the ruling power of the Almighty is in more immediate action, the kingdom of heaven is more sensibly at hand, that the Millennium may be expected with more proximate certainty than in the long centuries that have elapsed since John and the great Saviour, of whom he was the harbinger, proclaimed the "Kingdom" to the nations of the Roman empire, and to the people of the land of Judæa.

The present is possibly not a blind generation

of the Jews; they have, and I myself individually have long professed to have, a just perception of the times that are coming. The breath of heaven is in the dayspring of the East. The winds of salvation rise beneath the coming sun and the new dawn.

Do not think that Jacob, who received the blessing that by birthright belonged to Esau, will choose to yield it up to the disciples of the great preacher Paul, as the moment approaches wherein Jacob shall vindicate his inheritance. (Isaiah xlviii. 20.) "With a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob."

Who are the rivals of Jacob? The fierce Ishmaelites, and all the posterity of Agar, begin to feel that Mahomet has been an insufficient prophet in the eastern world. The Mussulman power is abridged and controlled; the Ottomans quail and turn themselves towards the Christians, lest they themselves should be submerged in the strife of political ambition; the Hebrews will not consent to be the last in the race of salvation; they already listen, and many of them read the New Testament. The fulness of the Revelation is about to be recognised, and Christians must not be lukewarm and re

miss in their high vocation. Think not that if Ishmael has failed to make good his claim to be the heir of Abraham, the Gentiles are to appear in the great day as the representatives of Isaac. The posterity of Isaac represent the elder children of the house of God; and although the Gentile shall accompany Jacob, he is not to have precedence of him.

As I have endeavoured to show that the Jews exist in a national body, although they have not yet returned to Judæa, I shall proceed to speak of the probability of their restoration, and of the comparative facility of the surrender of Jerusalem to their tribes. I have said that the descendants of the Ten Tribes are forthcoming, and are animated by a sufficient spirit; that they retain a nationality, and are possessed of great wealth. Let us then entertain a belief that the Almighty hand is again ready to reconduct them. "And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night: He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people." (Exodus xiii. 21, 22.)

As the commands of God are not to be disobeyed, and a prompt obedience is due to his parental voice, their recall will be speedy, and

their restoration sudden; whenever God shall

cry,

Go ye and occupy your city of Sion and the land of promise. Isaiah xxx. 19. "The people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more."

Jerusalem has long worn the attire of the widow; she has mourned, and ashes have covered the brow of Sion. How soon may not the song of joy be renewed, and the voice of the bridegroom be once more heard! Jerusalem herself claims Jacob in the freshness of renewed youth, as the heir; she has long been a place of motley occupants; the surrounding territory has for centuries been a waste under the Moslem and the Turk, the Saracen and the Arab, the star of whose ascendency has set; whilst a star in the East, betokening the advance of civilisation, the probability of agricultural renovation in wide-spread fields, now arid for want of cultivation-this brilliant star, as that seen by the magi who repaired to the cradle in the manger at Bethlehem, is but a figurative harbinger of the promised return of Jesus, when he shall be acknowledged as the Messiah.

I am not now addressing myself to Jews; I speak to Christians, and write in favour of the Jews. I inquire then of Christians, celebrated for candour, reason, and biblical learning, is