timent that the religion of Christ has a tendency to procure love to its votaries, that in many books of sermons, written by men who are ignorant of the Gospel, it is represented among the encouragements to a Christian life, that it will recommend those who exemplify it to the esteem and approbation of their fellow-men.

CHAPTER XI.

TESTIMONY TO THE MESSIAH FROM THE PROPHECIES THAT ARE AT PRESENT FULFILLING IN THE WORLD.

BESIDES the Prophecies that immediately respect the Messiah, and the introduction of the Christian dispensation, there are others that refer to remarkable events in the history of the world which are fulfilling at this day. Of these the most considerable are the prophecy of Noah regarding Canaan; that of Ishmael and his descendants; and the predictions respecting Nineveh, Babylon, Tyre, and Egypt, and above all, the nation of Israel. In the visions of Daniel and the apostle John, we have a prophetical abstract of the most signal events that were to take place through all ages; and their accomplishment hitherto has been uniformly exact. All of these prophecies possess a very remarkable degree of clearness, and are constantly presenting additional evidence. Their fulfilment is testified by the voice of history, and presents itself as a standing miracle. All of them furnish decisive testimony to the truth of Divine revelation, and constantly remind us, that known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.

We have already considered the prophecy of Noah, as it refers to the Messiah; we shall now observe that part of it which relates to the sentence pronounced upon Canaan. On account of the sin of which Ham his second son had been guilty, Noah, not in order to gratify any feeling of resentment, but under a divine impulse, as the fulfilment of the prophecy clearly proves, delivered the following prediction, which denounced a curse upon Canaan, one of the sons of Ham, and a blessing upon Shem and Japheth.

"And he said,

"Cursed be Canaan ;

"A servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. "And he said,

"Blessed be Jehovah, God of Shem;

"And Canaan shall be their servant. "God shall enlarge Japheth;

"And shall dwell in the tents of Shem:

"And Canaan shall be their servant."

Although the above curse was not pronounced on Ham, who had been personally the transgressor, yet it was a heavy chastisement on him to hear of the evil that was to fall on his posterity. In this part of the punishment, Noah also, in consequence of his own sinful conduct, was himself in a measure involved, being employed to pronounce this malediction on a large portion of his own descendants.

* See Newton on the Prophecies respecting Canaan, Ishmael, Nineveh, Babylon, Tyre, Egypt, and the Jews.

The curse was directed particularly against the line of Canaan, which must have tended greatly to encourage the Israelites, the descendants of Shem, when sent to take possession of that land which was inhabited by the posterity of Canaan; of whom those that were not destroyed, were brought into bondage, like the Gibeonites, who became hewers of wood and drawers of water. At the same time, this punishment was to be inflicted in perfect conformity with justice. The descendants of Canaan were to suffer for their own sins, by which they identified themselves with their guilty progenitor. The Israelites were not permitted to go against them till their "iniquity was full," and till, on account of their wickedness, the land, in the emphatic language of Scripture, "spewed them out." The posterity of Canaan in Tyre and Carthage, were subdued by the descendants of Japheth.

The accomplishment of this prophecy does not appear to have been confined to the line of Canaan, but to have extended to the other children of Ham. The whole continent of Africa was peopled principally by the children of Ham, and for many ages the better parts of that country lay under the dominion of the Romans, then of the Saracens, and lastly of the Turks. Egypt is often called in Scripture the land of Ham, and for many years it was a great and flourishing kingdom. But it was subdued by the Persians, the descendants of Shem, and afterwards by the Grecians, the descendants of Japheth, and from that time to this it has been constantly in subjection to the posterity of Shem or Japheth. The inhabitants of Africa have been bought and sold for slaves from the earliest periods of history, even to the present day. Thus, in the above words of Noah, we have a remarkable predic

tion, uttered at the distance of above 4000 years, which has been in the course of literal fulfilment from that time to the present hour.

ISHMAEL.

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ANOTHER remarkable prophecy is that concerning Ishmael and his descendants. When Hagar, the servant of Abraham, fled from the face of her mistress, "The angel of the Lord found her in the wilderness, and said unto her, Return into thy mistress, and submit thyself unto her hands. And the angel of the Lord said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude. And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord hath heard thy affliction. And he will be a wild man : his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him, and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren."-" Behold I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation." All these prophecies respecting the posterity of Ishmael have been remarkably verified. Strabo frequently mentions the Arabian Phylarchs, or rulers of tribes and Melo, quoted by Eusebius, from Alexander Polyhistor, a heathen historian, relates, that twelve sons of Abraham departing into Arabia, divided the region between them, and were the first kings of the inhabitants; "whence," says he, "even to our days, the Arabians have twelve kings of the same names as the first." Ever since, the people have been governed by Phylarchs, and have lived in tribes.

And "I will make him a great nation." This is