THE  
COMING STRUGGLE  
AMONG THE  
NATIONS OF THE EARTH:  
* Oil TUB  
POLITICAL EVENTS OF THE NEXT FIFTEEN YEARS  
PROPHECIES IN EZEKIEL, DANIEL,  
AND THE APOCALYPSE.  
Press of Damrell & Moore, 10 Devonshire Street.


THE  
COMING STRUGGLE  
AMONG THE  
NATIONS OF THE EARTH:  
OR THE  
POLITICAL EVENTS OF THE NEXT FIFTEEN YEARS  
DESCRIBED IN ACCORDANCE WITH  
PROPHECIES IN EZEKIEL, DANIEL,  
AND THE APOCALYPSE.  
REPRINTED FROM THE SIXTIETH THOUSAND,  
LONDON EDITION.  
BOSTON:  
FETR-IDGE AND COMPANY,  
3 & 5 STATE, AND 72 & 74 WASHINGTON STKEETS,  
/  
i R a .


THE  
COMING STRUGGLE  
AMONG THE  
NATIONS OF THE EARTH.  
NEVER was there a time, in the past history of the world,  
when such a terrible and universal excitement prevailed re- 
garding political affairs as at this moment exists in the  social  
mind. Wherever we turn, or into whatever society we enter,  
the same restless anxiety is apparent, the same question  
passes from circle to circle, and from friend to friend, but  
no reply comes forth to cheer or satisfy the alarmed inter- 
rogators. « What is about to happen ? » is murmured in all  
the assemblies of men; and whether the sound floats along  
the noble halls of the great, vibrates among the rafters of the  
straw-roofed cottage, or wanders through mazes of tobacco  
smoke in a village alehouse, echo only answers, What.  
Conjectures, indeed, are made, and opinions delivered, but  
as these rest solely on the shifting sand of political appear- 
ances, and assume the various aspects with which faction  
and party spirit invest them, they are uttered only to be  
rejected; the same question is again asked by the same in- 
dividual on the morrow, and with like success.  
That such an excitement should prevail at the present  
time is not at all wonderful. The position in which the  
(3)


powers of Europe and Asia are placed render it evident to 
every thinking mind —and in this age of boasted intelligence 
all should be thinkers — that we are on the very eve of a crisis,  
and a crisis unparalleled in the annals of the past. It is not 
at one part merely, or in one or two nations, that we dis- 
cern the signs of an approaching storm; but from one end 
of Europe to the other the ominous cloud has gathered, and 
when it bursts, as soon it must, the deluge will be not only  
overwhelming, but universal. Such a prospect as this is  
entirely new. The shadows which preceded the advent even 
of the most devastating hurricanes that swept over the world  
in the ages that are gone, were not so gloomy or portentous  
as those which now hover above our whole horizon; and  
as the image must resemble the reality, that reality must bo 
awful indeed. We are in the midst of that oppressive calm  
which reigns when the elements are fully charged with  
all the ingredients of a storm, and, like the mariner, we  
long for its inevitable outbreak, in order that we may escape  
from our suspense, and learn at once how we are likely to 
cope with it.  
But while  the painful anxiety every where visible is, in the  
circumstances, extremely natural, it is not at all necessary  
that the equally manifest uncertainty and ignorance regard-
ing the extent and duration of the coming struggle should  
remain; and were the prophetic declarations of the Bible  
properly understood, the inhabitants of Britain would com- 
prehend all that is about to take place. In that book — 
a book which some despise,  many neglect, and nearly all  
misunderstand —is to be found a series of visions and  
prophecies under which is symbolized the political history 
of the world from the Babylonian empire down to the mil-
lennium—that happy era to which  the human family have  
long looked forward with delight. Unfortunately, however,  
as we have said, these prophecies have been, and are, sadly  
misunderstood. The authorized interpreters of God's revela- 
tions have hitherto failed in finding a key to unlock their  
mysteries; but of this we do not  complain, as we are told  
that the vision was to be sealed until the time of the end.  
What we regret, however, is, that, in the face of this decla- 

ration, our divines should have attempted an explanation of  
these mysteries before God's time for their solution was  
come. They have done this, and the result is, that, by their  
erroneous interpretations, a mass of obscurity, contradiction,  
absurdity, and error has been heaped upon them, which  
serves completely to mystify both its authors and the world.  
Had Fleming and others contented themselves with tracing  
those parts  of the prophecy which were fulfilled in their day,  
and left those sublime consummations mentioned in the  
Apocalypse to be disclosed at "the time of the end," the  
present generation would not now be under the necessity of  
throwing off a host of commentaries and opinions which  
from early childhood they have considered unerring. This,  
however, must be done. The position of the world clearly  
intimates that the end has come, and events now furnish an  
explanation of the hitherto dark visions of Daniel and John,  
and, by a careful examination of these and other prophets, 
the 'political history of the next fifteen years is spread out  
before us, nay, we are enabled to pass beyond that period,  
and trace almost accurately the regular course of events  
down to the beginning of the thousand years. Dr. Thomas,  
of America, was the first to find the key, and they who have 
read his book will at once be able to understand the follow- 
ing description of the period mentioned. For the sake, how- 
ever, of those who have not seen Dr. Thomas's work, —and 
we believe this applies to the majority of general readers,—  
it will be necessary to give a rapid and connected sketch of  
the prophecy on which the whole hangs, and point out the  
errors into which former interpreters have fallen.  
The first intimation we have of the prophecy is in the  
second chapter of Daniel, where we are told that one morn- 
ing, during the palmy days of the Babylonian empire, Nebu- 
chadnezzar, its head, awoke from a troubled sleep, in which  
he had a strange and unaccountable dream. Being fully  
awake, he endeavored to call to mind the particulars of the  
vision which had passed across his sleeping spirit; but the  
"thing had gone from him," and do what he could, he was 
unable to recall it. Nevertheless his "-spirit was troubled  
to know the dream," and this he demanded of his magicians,


who, being of course unable to comply, Daniel, a young He- 
brew captive, volunteered to make it known and interpret it 
Having "desired the mercies of the God of heaven concern- 
ing the secret," Daniel had it revealed to him in a vision,  
and with a joyful countenance went with it to the king' 
He informed the monarch that in his sleep he had seen a  
great image standing before him. The head was of gold  
the breast and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of brass'  
the legs of iron, and the feet partly iron and partly clay. Af- 
ter the king had gazed on this giant of metal for some time 
he beheld a stone poised in the air, unsupported by hands  
slowly descending to the earth. Falling at length with J  
heavy crash upon the feet of the image, it "brake them to  
pieces," and the whole superstructure was hurled to the  
ground, where the wind carried it entirely away. The stone  
which smote it, however, grew into a great mountain, and  
filled the earth.  
The interpretation given by Daniel to the king was to the  
effect that the golden head, silver arms, brazen thighs, and  
iron legs denoted a succession of four dynasties in the 
Babylonian empire. The iron kingdom, which was the last  
was at first to be divided into  two  parts, and latterly into ten  
and these were finally to be destroyed by the establishment  
of a kingdom of God upon the earth, a kingdom which  
should never be destroyed. This was a dim yet true out- 
ine of the future history of the great empire which was at  
that time aptly termed the whole earth; but it was only a  
rough sketch, and the purpose God had in view in disclosing  
it required that a more detailed representation should be  
given; accordingly, after the death of Nebuchadnezzar, Dan- 
iel Vas favored with a more extended view. In this second 
vision, the four dynasties were symbolized by four beasts  
and an outline of the history of each given. The fourth  
power which in the first vision was described as iron, and  
divided into ten parts, is in the second shadowed forth by<a 
beast with ten horns. The causes of the destruction of these  
ten powers by the God of heaven is in this vision also ac  
counted for, and the time of their duration determined. They  
were to be destroyed on  account of their civil and spiritual  

7  
despotism —crimes which can never in the moral govern- 
ment of Jehovah pass unpunished. After the ten horns had  
been for some time established, a little horn came up among 
them, in which were the "eyes of a man, and a mouth speak- 
ing great things." After making room for itself by plucking  
up three of the large horns,  this little horn waxed insolent  
and domineering, and continued so " till the beast was slain,  
and his body given to the burning flame." Daniel was ex- 
tremely anxious to find out the meaning of this, and having  
asked " one of them that stood by," he was informed that 
the ten horns were ten kings that should arise out of the  
fourth or last dynasty; that another should rise after them,  
diverse from all the others; that he would " subdue three of  
the first kings, speak great words against the Most High,  
wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change 
the times and laws; " but after continuing thus for "ft time  
and times, and the dividing of time," his dominion would be  
taken away, and he would be utterly destroyed.  
In future visions, a still more detailed representation of  
certain portions of this first vision was given to Daniel, and  
many of the prophecies of Ezekiel contain important devel- 
opments of the same history; but God's determined measure 
of revelation was not yet full. Indeed, the chief part re- 
mained behind, and consisted of an ample view of the op- 
erations of the fourth beast and his ten horns, especially of 
that little horn which subsequently sprung up and became  
so prominent. Many hundred years after Daniel's time,  
when the gold, silver, and brass of Nebuchadnezzar's image 
had given place to the iron power, there lived an aged man  
on one of the desert islands that dot the bosom of the ^Egean  
Sea. To this place he had been banished for adhering to,  
and promulgating the doctrines of, a new religion that had  
sprung up in the land of Judea, now called Christianity. In 
this lonely spot, and to this persecuted follower of the de- 
spised Nazarene, God gave his concluding revelation to man,  
and wound up the whole by shadowing forth the history of  
the beast, and the horn, under the emblems of seals, trum- 
pets, and vials. The iron power of Nebuchadnezzar, or 
fourth beast of Daniel, is here represented by a dragon with


8  
seven crowned heads and ten crownless horns; and the little  
horn is at first called a beast, with seven uncrowned heads  
and ten crowned horns,-the one being thus exactly the  
reverse of the other,-and afterwards a two-horned beast.  
I he same distinguishing features are apparent here as in  
Daniel's vision. The horn, or the beast, waxes great; the  
dragon gives him his power, and his seat, and great author- 
ity; he changes times and laws, and makes war against the  
saints for a time, and times, and half a time, till the judg- 
ment sits, and his dominion is taken away, and both himself  
and the dragon is cast into a pit of destruction.  
Such, then, is a brief outline of this important prophecy—  
a prophecy which has  occupied the attention, and engaged  
the interest, of Bible readers for many generations. The  
language in which it is couched has hitherto rendered it im- 
possible for interpreters to agree concerning its fulfilment*  
and, indeed, in past times, the occurrence of the events it  
foretells was the only guide to its course. Fleming was the 
only one who succeeded in describing any part that was as  
yet unfulfilled, and his mighty mind almost wrenched the 
secret from the grasp of the future; but it was only a partial  
idea he obtained of the truth; the elements that were to be  
engaged in the final conflict had not, at the time he wrote  
assumed the position by which the  time of the end could be'  
recognized, and this, together with his adherence to the  
stereotyped but false theories of commentators, led him far  
astray. All, however, are agreed as to the general meaning  
of the prophecy. The gold, silver, brass, and iron powers of  
the image, and the four beasts of the vision, are the Baby- 
lonian, Persian, Grecian, and Roman empires. The seven  
heads and ten horns are the various forms of government  
and kingdoms of this latter power. The first beast of John  
is Romanism, and the second, or two-horned beast, is the  
Austro-Papacy. Thus far the history of the past has ena- 
bled our divines to expound and agree; but with regard to 
the time of the end, and the nature of the events which must  
take place previous to it, there exists an almost endless diver- 
sity of opinion, the greatest union lying in a universal mis- 
apprehension of both, particularly of the latter.  

11  
The great cause of misapprehension, besides that to which  
we formerly alluded,—viz., a premature interpretation, — is  
owing to the fondness of theologians for the allegorizing  
method of Origen. Following this early father, they assert  
that the events to take place at the time of the end are less  
physical than moral, and will consist of a series of spiritual  
changes, which will usher in the universal triumph of the 
church and the regeneration of the world. They do not  
understand, or rather they refuse to believe, that the Jews  
will be restored to their own land, and that the kingdom of  
Israel will once more be established, though not after its  
ancient model or with its former splendor. With a very 
restricted partiality, they have construed all those glorious  
promises of a physical restoration, which have lighted up  
with hope the heart of the wandering Jew, into nothing  
more and nothing else than a spiritual conversion, and they  
claim for the church all the glory of the latter day. This, we  
apprehend, is a fatal mistake. The restoration of the Jews 
to Palestine forms the very keystone to the whole political  
structure of the world, and is the principal object to be  
accomplished by the awful events of the coming years. It  
is the grand consummation of which Hebrew prophets spake  
and Jewish bards sung; it is emphatically " the hope of  
Israel;" and the word of Judah's God is pledged to its 
accomplishment.  
Having done away with a literal restoration, our inter- 
preters have necessarily erred in deciding regarding the many  
minor parts of the prophecy. Hence the locality of the final  
conflict has been a matter of much dispute. The general  
notion is, that Italy will be the scene of the great battle of  
Armageddon ; and one individual has actually measured  
a large valley in that country to see if it answer the inspired  
description. Another class, in the extremity of their fond-
ness for spiritualism, say that at the moral destruction of  
Popery, wherever Protestantism encounters and overcomes 
Romanism, there will Armageddon be. In the sequel of this  
pamphlet, we shall show how erroneous are both of these  
conjectures.  
Another great error, and one which has led to s* host ol  
2


10  
misconceptions, is the belief that Britain is one of the ten 
horns, and that consequently she will be involved in the  de- 
struction that overtakes the toes of the great metallic image.  
This is a complete mistake. Though once a part  of the  
Roman dominion, she is not within the boundary of the  
image territory; and none of the countries beyond that ter- 
ritory will be overthrown with Papacy, except those who  
have continued to worship the beast, such as Austria and 
others. And this is just an evidence of the evil effects of a  
premature interpretation of the prophecy. At the period  
when many of our commentators wrote, it was actually  
necessary to include Britain in the toe kingdoms, in order to  
make up the number required. Up to the year 1820, there  
were only eight independent powers within the Roman 
empire; but in that year the Greeks rebelled against the  
sultan, and, after several years' war, succeeded in establish- 
ing a new kingdom, which became the ninth horn. Still  
another was wanted to complete the prophetic symbol, and  
it did not come up till 1830, when  the revolution of Paris  
divided the kingdom of the Netherlands into two, and Bel- 
gium became a separate power, to defeat the calculations of 
divines, and pluck Britain from the  anomalous position in  
which they had placed her. We say anomalous ; for how is,  
it possible to reconcile the past history of Anglo-Saxon pro-
gression—of which she has been the mover and sustainer  
—with sudden and complete destruction ? The very thought  
is a libel on the eternal law of development and the wisdom  
of the moral government; but it is false; and we will  by  
and by show how different is the destiny of this country,  
and what a noble part has been assigned her in the last act  
of the mighty drama. The  powers which really answer to  
the toes of Nebuchadnezzar's image are Bavaria, Lombardy,  
Hungary, Greece, Sardinia, Naples, Portugal, Spain, France',  
and Belgium; and if we understand the prophecy aright,  
these kingdoms will be wholly destroyed, or at least com-
pletely shattered, within the next fifteen years.  
The next great error of our interpreters, and the last to  
which we will particularly advert, is in regard to the "time,  
and times, and half a time," or the duration of the beast.  

11  
They clearly understand that it means a period of 1260 lunar  
years, but they have failed to find the true commencement  
of this epoch. The general theory dates it from the year  
606, when  Phocas proclaimed the universal supremacy of  
the Bishop of Rome. This fixes the termination of the  
1260 years in 1866, from which eighteen years must be sub- 
tracted, being the difference between solar and lunar time, 
thus making the true ending in 1848. But the " time, and 
times, and half a time" began earlier than this. The year  
606 is the period of the ecclesiastical constitution of the 
beast, or the time when the dragon gave him his authority.  
His civil constitution dates 75 years earlier, or from 531,  
when the Justinian code was published; and this was the 
real beginning of the 1260 years. The reign of the beast  
ought, then, to have terminated about the year 1791, or two  
years earlier or later — and so it did! The  resurrection of  
the two witnesses, (or civil and religious democracy,) which  
were slain by Louis the Fourteenth, took place in 1789, or at 
the period of the first French revolution; and this was the  
first time any successful opposition was made to the Papal  
power. Then the judgment began to sit, and the civil do- 
minion of the pope was taken away, to be " consumed and  
destroyed unto the end." And as 75 years elapsed between 
the establishment of the imperial and Papal power of the  
beast, so 75 years must elapse between his civil and ecclesi-
astical destruction. This period is represented by the seven 
vials, the mission of which is to pour chastisement on the  
beast and his followers, till at the end the whole will meet  
with sudden and signal destruction. It is a mistake to sup- 
pose that the 1260 years limits the existence of the beast — 
it merely limits his power. The full term of his political and  
ecclesiastical existence is 1335 years; and this terminates in  
1866, or about fifteen years from this period. But what a  
number of awful events must  take place in that short time!  
what revolutions, and strife, and bloodshed must be witnessed  
on the continent, and in many parts of Asia! No wonder  
that the political sky is black and lowering, charged as it is 
with the elements of a storm, which, for tremendous force  
and severity, has never been equalled. The people of the


13 11  
present age have come to the very border of a thrilling epoch, 
and they know it not. The newspaper press laughs at the  
cry of war which has risen on every hand. It points to the  
progress of railways and electric telegraphs, and asks if these 
are signs  of war. Railways and telegraphs, steam engines,  
and copper wire, can these overturn the purpose of God, or  
falsify his word? A few hours of strife will suffice to tear 
up every vestige of these so called pledges of peace, and their 
component parts may yet form efficient instruments to carry  
on the conflict. In these days of scepticism and intellectual  
supremacy, it  may be a hard matter to get such Bible truths  
borne home to the hearts of men; but in a very short time  
they will be compelled to acknowledge the reality and  genu- 
ineness of that  revelation they now despise or neglect Amid  
the terror and confusion of the approaching hurricane, when 
men's hearts are failing them for fear, they will  be glad to  
turn to its long-forsaken pages, to learn the nature and extent 
of the fearful calamity. If the people of Britain and America 
are wise, they will make themselves acquainted with this  
beforehand, and thus enjoy  that tranquillity which the  
knowledge will impart. It is, even on other grounds than  
personal comfort and mental peace, extremely necessary that  
they should do so. Though for the present they will, by 
caution and prudence, keep free from the struggle,  they have  
a high and holy mission to fulfil, and are as yet ignorant  
of it. To them has been committed the task of conducting  
the moral progression of the world, and preparing it for the  
coming millennium. While other nations are murdering 
and devouring each other, and gnawing their tongues and  
blaspheming under the iron rod of Jehovah, the Anglo-Saxon  
race will be opening up the pathway for the entrance into  
this sin-cursed and strife-torn world  of the reign of peace  
and love. Blessed, indeed, are they that wait and come to  
the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.  
But it is now time that we enter on the principal part of  
our present work, to which the foregoing forms a necessary  
introduction. And before speaking of what is about to  
occur, let us see the exact portion of the prophecy that has  
been fulfilled. By going back along the history of the past,  

we could clearly trace the course of the prophecy, from its 
first beginning to the present time; but this is unnecessary.  
It will suffice if we make the reader understand where we  
are at present. .We are, then, under the sixth vial. The  
gold, silver, and brass of Nebuchadnezzar's image have  
passed away; three of Daniel's beasts have departed; and  
John's seals have been opened,  his trumpets have been  
sounded, and five of his  vials have been poured. By turn- 
ing to the 12th verse of the 16th chapter of Revelation, the 
reader will find a description of the present, or sixth vial.  
It was to be poured out on the Euphrates, — or the Turkish  
empire, —and began in 1820, when the  Greeks rebelled  
against the sultan, and established a new  kingdom. From  
that time Turkey has been subjected to incessant warfare  
with neighboring powers, distraction and strife from civil  
rebellions, and ravaging pestilences from the hand of God.  
Six years after the successful revolt of the Greeks, the jani- 
zaries attempted to follow their example; but their insurrec- 
tion was repressed, and by the despot's command thousands  
of them were butchered. The next year she lost 110 ships 
in the battle of Navarino, and in the following season had 
to sustain a double conflict in a Russian war  and an Alba- 
nian insurrection. Then followed a ten years' war with  
France, respecting Algeria, which resulted in the loss of that  
province, and its annexation to the latter kingdom. In 1839,  
Egypt and Syria were taken by Mehemet Ali, and this led  
to sanguinary and bloody strife in that direction. Besides  
these reverses at the hand of man, the country was scourged  
with cholera and plague for eleven years; and thus wasted  
and weakened, she is in daily fear of being totally over-
thrown by a foreign power. But why, it may be asked, is  
such a vial of wrath poured upon the Turkish empire?  
Ah! God had a long and heavy account to settle with  
this nation. When under the title of the Eastern Roman  
empire, what iniquity and injustice did it not perpetrate  
against the Jews, God's own peculiar people; and though  
permitted to succeed in its cruelty for the express purpose of  
punishing the Jewish nation for their transgressions against  
the MostHigh, yet such is God's  
MISSIONARY COLLEGE  
LIBRARY


14  
race which he has chosen, that even the instruments with  
which he chastises them are made the objects of his fiercest  
vengeance. It was so with the Babylonian nation who  
carried them into captivity; and it is so with the Ottoman  
empire, which has now the seat of the dragon, and in former  
days dispersed them among the Gentiles. For this and  
other crimes, enumerated in the 11th chapter of Daniel, the  
Lord had a bitter controversy with Turkey, which will  never  
cease till it is destroyed unto the end.  
The seventh vial began in 1830, when the whole political  
atmosphere, as if charged with democratic electricity, gave  
forth flashes, and appeared to be "on the eve of an explosion.  
These two vials are therefore both going on at this time, and  
will end together, at the beginning of the thousand years.  
It is at this critical period that the vision is to be unsealed. 
In other words, the Roman powers are to be  placed in a cer- 
tain position, and to  be actuated by a certain agency, which,  
we are told, is to indicate the time of the end, and warn the  
inhabitants of the  earth to prepare for the coming of the  
kingdom. This important information is given in the fol- 
lowing words: " And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs 
come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth 
of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet..  
They are spirits of devils working miracles, which go forth  
unto the kings of the earth and the whole world, to gather  
them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty." The 
powers that represent the dragon, the beast, and the false 
prophet, are the sultan, the Emperor of Austria, and the  
pope; and the frogs, or frog power, is France —frogs  
being the original heraldic symbol of that nation. When,  
therefore, we perceive the influence of France causing " un- 
clean spirits," or evil policy, to actuate  these three powers,  
then are we to recognize the immediate approach of the end; 
for this, says the prophecy, will cause the kings of the earth 
to be gathered together to " the battle of that great day of  
God Almighty." This period, has now come. France has at  
this moment the pope and the emperor in a very critical posi-
tion. By occupying Rome and protecting the pope, it  has  
obtained a certain right to dictate the policy of his holiness,—  

15  
now,  alas! robbed of his imperial dignity, and reduced to  
the position of a "false prophet," — and is causing him to  
involve the other nations in war. By this move, it has also  
placed itself in antagonism to Austria, and brought forth an 
unclean spirit from thence, which in a little time will create  
an open war between the powers, involving many other king- 
doms in the strife, and ultimately producing consequences of  
a fatal nature to the whole ten kingdoms. France is also 
causing an unclean spirit to proceed from the sultan, by  
promising him help in case of a Russian invasion, and incit- 
ing him to a war with that mighty power, when he would  
otherwise quietly yield to it. Thus we see in full operation 
that agency which is to indicate the time of the end, and  
produce the terrible events which must precede and accom-
plish that period. Let us now, by the light of the prophecy,  
try to discover the nature  of these, and thus be able to read  
the political history of the next fifteen years, and learn some- 
thing of the events which will take place from that time till  
the millennium.  
From what we stated at the outset, our readers will per- 
ceive that we have no sympathy with that system of whole- 
sale spiritualizing which our commentators have pursued in  
treating of the future  part of this Bible history. That large  
portion of it which has been illustrated in the past gives us  
no warrant to believe —far less to assert —that its future  
predictions are but emblems of the changes and occurrences 
that wiU pass over the church, and that the wars spoken of  
are moral, not physical. Hitherto it has been most accu-
rately illustrated by physical events, and until we have a  
better authority to go upon than Origen and his followers,  
we prefer to construe the language of the Bible in a natural  
manner; and, doing so, we imagine that the following will 
be the principal coming events: —  
I. The Seizure of Constantinople and Overthrow of Turkey  
by the Emperor of Russia.  
In following Daniel's version of the prophecy, which is  
more detailed than John's, we find that the unfulfilled part  
begins in the middle of the 40th verse of the 11th chapter.


14  
That verse opens with the declaration, that the king  of the  
south, or Mehemet Ali, would  « push " at the sultan. This  
was accomplished in 1839, when that monarch wrested  
Egypt and Syria from him, and endeavored to seize Con- 
stantinople itself, and probably would have done so, had not  
the other powers prevented him, or rather had not God  
determined that he should only push, not overthrow. The 
next part of the verse is, however, fraught with dire calamity  
to this, the representative of the dragon. " The king of  
the north," or Russia, it is stated, « shall come against him  
like a whirlwind, with chariots and horsemen, and with many 
ships, and he shall enter into the countries, and shall over- 
throw and pass over." Here We read at once the doom of  
Turkey; notwithstanding the assurance of assistance from  
France and England, the Ottoman empire will soon be no  
more. It is very probable that these allies will be deceived  
by the professions of peace which the autocrat is holding  
out, and when they are off their guard, he will suddenly in- 
vade and conquer the kingdom. Evidence of  this consum- 
mation is already apparent. Notwithstanding the presence 
of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea, Britain has been so far  
deceived as to recall the only man* who could have pursued  
efficient measures in the event of an invasion. The country  
is thus left open  to the inroad of the northern emperor, and  
very soon the news will come that he is in possession of the 
sultan's capital. We have no date by which to determine  
the exact time of its occurrence, but considering the number  
and character of the events to succeed it, and the short space  
allowed for their performance,  it must of necessity be almost  
immediately.  
II. War between France and Austria. —  Overthrow of the  
latter, and consequent Destruction of the Papacy.  
Leaving for  a time the sixth vial to run its course on the  
Turkish empire, we must follow the seventh in its operations  
on the horns. After the angel had poured it into the air,  
where it caused a world of dire commotions, the apostle was  
* Sir Stratford Canning. Since the first edition of this work was published,  
he has been again appointed ambassador to Turkey.  

17  
carried away into the wilderness to see the judgments these  
would cause to fall on the beast and his image —in other  
words, on Austria and Rome. For let it be observed, that  
Austria, as well as Turkey and Rome, is doomed to perdition  
before the  ten toes of the image are smitten with the stone.  
As Turkey had yielded to the Papacy its secular and ecclesias- 
tical power, so Austria has supported this twofold authority 
more than any other of the powers, and therefore shall  suffer  
a more signal punishment. Indeed, we find this kingdom,  
which is in the prophecy styled the two-horned beast, identi- 
fied with, and assimilated to, the Papacy in all its more dam- 
natory features. The history of its rise and progress is given  
in the last eight verses of the 13th chapter of Revelation, as 
well as in the seventh of Daniel, where its fate is particu-
larly described. « They (the saints) shall take away his do- 
minion, to consume and destroy it unto the end." In that  
dark history of cruelties and crimes perpetrated by the horns 
against the saints, or friends of liberty, Austria occupies  
an unenviably prominent distinction. The blood of the two 
witnesses lies heavily on that country, and has long cried for  
vengeance from on high. Nor has it cried in vain. When  
these witnesses were raised, and appeared in the person of  
Napoleon, the iron hand of a stern retribution was laid upon 
Austria, and his dominion was for a time taken away. The  
judgment was temporarily suspended by the removal of the  
ambitious Corsican; but though vengeance has been de- 
layed, it cannot be much longer averted. His dominion was 
at that time only temporarily taken away, but now it 
must be "consumed and destroyed unto the end." And  
this will doubtless be accomplished by the same power that 
punished him before. France, though herself one of the 
doomed toe kingdoms, will be the  scourge and destroyer  
of the two-horned beast; and preparation is being rapidly 
made for the accomplishment of the work. Already are the  
two powers placed in hostile relations, and a speedy war  
must ensue. The result of this will be the final overthrow  
of the « bloody house of Austria," and the annexation of its  
territory to France. Then comes the fall of 3abylon. Aus-
tria, her supporter, and now only real prop, having been  
3


19 11  
destroyed, she must of necessity perish. The time will then  
have come when the  ten horns " shall hate her, and make  
her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her  
with fire." The account of her overthrow is contained in 
the eighteenth of Revelation, and is of the most fearful  
and awe-inspiring nature. It is not for us to describe in  
detail the events which will produce and accompany her  
death. These are not indicated fully in the prophecy; we  
are only told that the powers of Europe will be the agents, 
and that even they themselves will be filled with fear, and 
wonder when they behold her desolation.  
III. The Conquest of the Horns or Continental Powers by  
the Emperor of Russia.  
By the time the above occurrences have taken place, the  
fifteen years will have nearly expired. The whole ten horns 
will be shattered and weakened by the war, and in this con-
dition will form an easy conquest to a foreign power. This  
power is Russia, who, having settled himself in Turkey, will  
" ejiter into the countries, and overflow and pass over." It  
is almost necessary that the original Roman empire become  
subject to one power, in order that the image of Nebuchad- 
nezzar may be reconstructed; and though we have not an 
exact description of their subjugation by Russia, further than 
being informed that he would overflow and pass over, we 
find that Ezekiel, who gives a most minute and graphic ac- 
count of  the great battle of Armageddon, styles him Gog,  
the land of Magog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and  
enumerates Persia, Ethiopia, Libya, and the bands of Gomer 
in those that follow  him. Now, it can be satisfactorily  
proved that Magog and Gomer mean Germany and France.  
These countries he must therefore conquer; and having con- 
quered them, the whole of continental Europe is within his 
grasp. The metallic image will thus be joined in  all its  
parts ;*the territory comprehended in the Babylonian, Per- 
sian, Grecian, and Roman empires will be ruled by one man, 
and that man an autocrat, or one who ruleth by his own will.  
Events will now hurry forward to the mighty catastrophe.  
The heart of the emperor will be lifted up by success, and in  

his pride and arrogance he will endeavor to make the world  
his slave. But at last the aerial stone descends suddenly on 
his feet; the iron and the clay separate ; the brass, the silver, 
and the gold are broken to pieces, become as chaff in the  
summer threshing floor, and the whole is scattered to the  
winds of heaven.  
But what, it will be eagerly asked, is Britain about all  
this time ? Surely she must have an important part to play  
in this direful game of  war. No such thing — so far as we  
have yet gone Britain is exempted from the affray, though 
her proximity to the scene of the unequalled struggle will  
keep her in a continual state of alarm, and her rulers anxious  
and watchful. But yet, though beyond the eddies of the  
whirling vortex, she must not, cannot, will not be idle. She 
has a mission to fulfil, and she must feel straitened till it is  
accomplished — a mission of the strongest necessity, and 
she cannot evade it — a mission of the noblest nature, and  
she will not shun it. To her — to the whole Anglo-Saxon  
race, of which she is the head and representative — is the 
task assigned of carrying forward the religious, moral, and  
social progress of the world, and in this she must be well  
assisted by her children in the west and south. America is  
to be united with her in the noble work, and Australia must  
grow in strength for the same purpose; and thus supported 
on each side by a strong and stalwart son, the brave old em- 
pire will feel equal to the task. Talk of America and Britain  
going to war! the thing is impossible ; nature forbids it, and  
the Bible forbids it too. "When they do fight it will be on  
one side, and against a common foe; but they have a far  
different battle to fight and win, in these coming years, than  
the sword or cannon can accomplish. The great moral con-
test of spiritual freedom and social morality must be sustained,  
and the cause must unite them and us in an eternal bond of  
brotherhood. A people must be  prepared for the Lord, that  
his kingdom may be populated when it is established, and 
Britain with her sons is called on to rear, cherish, and protect  
them. But to be more definite; the next event, though not  
in chronological order, will be,—


20  
IV. Britain rapidly extends her Eastern Possessions, pre- 
vents the Occupation of Judea, and completes the first Stage of 
the Restoration of the Jews.  
The many and severe wars which our country has had to  
sustain, in order to preserve her Eastern territories, have by  
many been considered as too dear payment for their posses- 
sion. We do not, here, however, enter on this question, but  
beg to inform such that a far higher purpose than commer- 
cial interest or extended empire. is to be served by the pres-
ence of the British power in the East. So far, indeed, as  
she herself is concerned, this may have been the real aim; 
and now that she is in possession, the physical advantages  
which accrue from them will be a sufficient incitement to  
their retention. To preserve the East Indian market, and  
keep a path open to it, Britain will strive much and do much; 
but while her rulers may think they are merely serving the 
nation, they are really accomplishing one of the grand designs  
of God ; and evolving events, while they cause her to take 
measures for the preservation of this distant part of her em- 
pire, will really and only produce occurrences which will fa-
cilitate the great design of Jehovah. Both God and Britain 
had a special design in the annexation of the Indian territory  
to the lion power; but these designs were as different in na- 
ture and object as the finite is from the infinite. While Brit- 
ain thought only of wealth and conquest, God thought of 
his ancient people, and of his covenant, and placed the Brit- 
ish lion in the East to prepare a way for his ransomed, and  
to become their protection in the infancy  of their restoration  
Such is God's design, and he has enlisted the energy of the  
Anglo-Saxons in its accomplishment, by making it their in- 
terest to bring it to pass. The value of these lands to the 
nation is the inducement he has given it to retain them at all  
risks; and one means of their retention, which will by and 
by become very obvious, will be to do that which will tend  
immediately to the accomplishment of Jehovah's long-prom-
ised purpose — the restoration of the Jews. The idea has  
long been held, by those few who do believe in a restoration,  
that it must be preceded by a conversion. This is erroneous.  

11  
The Jews will return to their own land in as great ignorance  
regarding Christ as when they left it. They will be convert- 
ed — of this we are assured; but it will be subsequent to  
their reestablishment in Palestine, and by the immediate oper- 
ation of the divine Being. In the many passages of Scrip- 
ture which speak of this people acknowledging the Messiah,  
we can never identify the agency to be employed in bringing  
about the change as human. The Lord invariably speaks of  
it as his own work, and to be done, as only Divinity can do 
it, all at once. The veil is to be taken away, the blindness  
is to be removed, and this after they are brought back to the  
hill of Zion.. " Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, O my peo- 
ple, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out 
of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. THEN  
ye shall know that I am the Lord." (Eze. xxxvii. 12.)  
It is needless, therefore, to look for the conversion of Israel  
as an indication of the coming of the latter days. It is their  
restoration that becomes an evidence of this; and we can  
imagine with what surprise the conversion theorists will wit- 
ness the approaching colonization of the land of Israel by its  
former inhabitants. But how, is it asked, will they be re-
stored ? and how does Britain become the agent ? In this 
very simple manner: When Britain sees the Emperor of  
Russia in possession of Turkey, and preparing to conquer  
continental Europe, she will become alarmed for her darling  
Indian possessions, and strengthen her position in the Medi- 
terranean Sea, to prevent the autocrat  dominating there.  
Having succeeded in dethroning the sultan, and annexing  
the Turkish dominions to his sway, he will naturally endeav- 
or to take  possession of Palestine, as that country forms a  
part of the. Ottoman empire. This, however, Britain cannot 
permit. To let him occupy this territory would be a virtual  
relinquishment of the Eastern market, because the road to it 
by the Red Sea would be shut up. What course Britain 
will actually adopt, to prevent this we cannot learn from the  
prophecy, but that she will prevent it we are sure. Not only  
will her own interests demand it, but the word of Jehovah is 
concerned in the matter, and demands it too. These political  
and commercial interests are but the means employed by


God to cause this great nation to perform his long-expressed  
determination to preserve the Holy Land for the elected, eldest  
born of his children. Were the Russian emperor allowed to  
take possession of it, he would carry the land tenure of  
the north along with him, and thus the soil of the land of  
Canaan would become part and parcel of another nation, its  
peculiar character as an inalienable possession would be  
gone, and, being  "common," it could no longer be called  
sacred or " holy." But this cannot be. Jehovah hath said,  
" The land shall not be sold forever; for the land is mine" It  
is, therefore,  impossible that it can ever be occupied by a  
power that would at once incorporate it with other territories. 
The attempt has already been made to do this, but, as was  
to be expected, it signally failed. Shortly  after Mehemet Ali  
established himself as "king of the south," he attacked and  
conquered Syria, and, as we before stated, " pushed at" the 
sultan's throne. The powers of Europe, however, interfered 
to prevent him from gaining his point, and in negotiating  
terms of peace between the two countries, ordered Mehemet  
to restore Palestine to Turkey. This the king of the south  
refused to do, and claimed the land as his forever by right of 
conquest. He was, however, at length compelled to yield to  
the demand, and the land of Israel was given back to those 
whose creed will not allow them to claim the soil. They  
have, indeed, " divided  the land for gain," but those pachas  
who occupy it hold it by no tenure, and may be, and indeed  
often are, deprived of their possession, without having the  
right to complain. According to the Mahometan creed, the  
land is God's, and, though it may be occupied, cannot be 
owned by any mortal; and certainly, whatever doctrine of  
the Koran is false, this is true. The Jews cannot even sell 
any part of it from one to another; far less can the uncircum-
cised Gentiles get it for a prey.  
The only way that seems likely for Britain to preserve her  
Eastern market open in this emergency, will be to place a  
Jewish colony in Palestine; and thus, it will appear, that the 
river was dried up in order " that  the way of the kings of the  
East might be prepared."  The drying up of the river, or  
the destruction of Turkey, will render it necessary for the  

23  
" kings of the East," or the British power which rules there,  
to promote the return of the Jews to their own land, by  
placing its mighty banner of guardianship over it, and holding  
out every inducement for the sons of Abraham to repair to  
it. Be this, however, as it may, it is Britian that restores 
the portion of the Jews, as we learn from the eighteenth  
chapter of Isaiah, where the prophet is furnished with a com- 
mand to "the land shadowing with wings, that sendeth  
ambassadors by the sea," enjoining it to put forth its power  
for the protection of " a nation scattered and peeled, a nation  
terrible from their beginning hitherto, a nation rooted out  
and trodden down, whose lands the rivers have spoiled."  
What a powerful and graphic description is this of the pres- 
ent and past state of the Jews! How their former greatness  
and present degradation and desolation is associated and 
contrasted!  But how, it may be asked, do  we identify  
the " land shadowing with wings " ? We are told that it  is  
beyond the rivers of Ethiopia. Now, going east from Judea,  
across the Euphrates and Tigris, we reach Hindostan, the 
most important of our Indian possessions, and, therefore,  
governed by a power that " sendeth its ambassadors by the  
sea;" in other words, by an island state, which shows that the  
reference is to Britain, and to her alone. The allusion will,  
however, become more apparent in a short time, when our  
empire is greatly extended  in that quarter, and  when the  
lion flag waves over many an island and country, proving  
as much its protector as its ruler. There can then be no  
doubt as to the fact that this country will open up a way for  
the despised and persecuted race of Abraham, to stand once  
' more in their fatherland, and raise anew the songs of David  
upon the holy hill of Zion ; and it is probable that the event 
will be brought about in some such manner as we have indi- 
cated. But, first of all, this country must seize a great  
amount of territory adjacent to the Holy Land. In the pres- 
ent state of affairs, there would neither be peace nor safety 
for the Jews in their own country. The sultan has » divided  
it for gain," and his pachas lay it waste and hold it waste  
at their pleasure. It  will, therefore, be necessary to occupy  
Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba, besides other places, in order  to


24  
make these a wall of defence for the Jewish colony, and hence 
the language of Jehovah to his restored people —" I gave  
Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee." By pos- 
sessing these, she will also lay her hands upon Edom, Moab,  
Ammon, and other places on the Red Sea, till at length,  
being shadowed on every side by the wings of this mighty  
power, the new commonwealth will grow and prosper, like a 
cedar on their own mountain of Lebanon.  
But by this time the autocrat of Russia has got the nations  
of continental Europe beneath his feet; and, like Alexander  
in ancient, and Napoleon in later times, he thirsts for univer- 
sal conquest. For the history of his career from this point, 
onward to its close, we turn again to the regular course of  
the prophecy. If the reader will, before going any farther, 
take up his Bible, and  read carefully the last five verses of  
the eleventh of Daniel, and from the beginning of the thirty-
eighth chapter of Ezekiel to the twenty-third verse of the  
thirty-ninth chapter, he will clearly understand the following,  
which is but a paraphrase of it.  
Turning his eyes eastward, on the wealth and prosperity  
of the countries under British protection, the triumphant  
conqueror of Europe will conceive the idea of spoiling them, 
and appropriating their goods and cattle. Scarcely is this  
idea formed than its execution is begun,  and sudden and  
terrific as a whirlwind he enters "the glorious land." So  
sudden and unexpected is his  onslaught, that the British  
power is unprepared, and Egypt, Ethiopia, and Libya fall  
into his hands. But tidings out of the East and North shall  
trouble him. "Sheba and Dedan, and the merchants of  
Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto  
him, Art thou come to take a spoil ? hast thou gathered thy  
company to take a prey?" How emphatically does this  
language identify Britain as the noble and single-handed 
opponent of Gog, the king of the north, and corroborate our 
former statements regarding the extension of her empire  in  
the East? We would particularly point the reader's atten- 
tion to the "merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions  
thereof:" what a beautiful description is this of the Hon-
orable East India Company, and the peculiar constitution  
t  

11  
of the Anglo-Indian Government! This constitution, as  
is well known, is both civil and military, commercial and  
imperial. The former is  represented by the merchants, the  
latter by the young lions, or the officials of the company,  
who receive their authority from the lion of Britain, and  
may therefore be fitly termed thus, even as the representatives  
of the Persian and Macedonian sovereignties were called  
young rams and young goats. Indeed, the applicability of 
the title is admitted by the company itself, whose arms are a  
shield, the quarterings of which are filled with young lions  
rampant.  
The East India Company will, in alarm, notify the inroad  
of the autocrat, and the loss of Egypt, and receive instruc- 
tions from the home government to adopt measures for op- 
posing him, with an accompanying assurance of immediate 
support. Hence " tidings out  of the east and out of the  
north shall trouble him." The news that the Anglo-Saxon  
race have resolved to oppose his despotic progress will reach  
his ears, and the intelligence will annoy him. The mighty  
doings of this race in days that are past will come into his  
mind, and cause a feeling somewhat akin to fear to move 
him. It is possible he may think of  a time when another  
man, ambitious like himself, endeavored to possess the em- 
pire of the World, and went forth conquering till he was met  
by this same power and overthrown; and no wonder that  
such a thought should fill him with trouble. But quickly rage  
takes the place of fear: he looks proudly on the heaving  
army that follows at his back, and is enraged at the presump- 
tion which dares to thwart a will and power like his; "there- 
fore he goes forth with great fury to destroy and utterly to 
make away many." Proceeding onward, he seizes the un-
walled villages and gateless cities, till at length his huge and  
multifarious army pitch their tents before Jerusalem. He lays 
siege to the Holy City, which soon surrenders to his power,  
and enables him to " plant the tabernacle of his palace be-
tween the seas in the glorious holy mountain."  
He has now reached the farthest limit of his conquering  
mission. The decree peals forth from the eternal throne,  
" Hitherto shalt thou come,  but no farther;" and could he  
4


27  
but look a little forward, as he paces with proud and haughty-
step along the brow of Zion, he might see that large and  
spacious valley, which stretches itself out before him, filled  
with a mangled mass of dead and dying, swimming in blood, 
and ready to be devoured by the myriads of birds of prey  
which hover over the scene. But no such vision crosses his  
spirit, and he passes on to his tented palace to slumber in pride.  
Meanwhile Britain has been making strenuous efforts to  
stop the progress of this gigantic Napoleon; and every soldier  
that can be spared is sent away in the direction of the rising 
sun. But what can the British army do against such a host  
as the Russian autocrat has around him ? Brave as the officers 
and men  may be, what success or what renown can be gained  
in such an unequal conflict? In the critical emergency the 
parent island sends a cry across the Atlantic, " Come over and  
help us." Swiftly is the sound borne over the waves, and  
soon an answering echo is wafted back from the  shores of  
Columbia. The cause is common, and the struggle must be  
common too. " We are coming, brother John, we are com- 
ing," is the noble reply ; and, almost ere it is delivered, a fleet 
of gallant vessels is crossing the Pacific, with the stars and  
stripes gleaming on every mast. Another force is orbits way  
from the far south, and soon the flower  and strength of the  
Anglo-Saxon race meet on the sacred soil of Palestine. The  
intelligence of their approach reaches the sacrilegious usurper,  
and he leads forth his army towards the mountains that rise  
in glory round about Jerusalem. The Jews within the city  
now arm themselves, and join the army that has come from  
the east and west, the north and south, for their protection;  
and thus these two mighty masses meet face to'face, and pre- 
pare for the greatest physical battle that ever was fought on  
this struggling earth. On the one side, the motley millions of  
Russia and the  nations of continental Europe are drawn  
up on the slopes of the hills and the sides of the valleys to- 
wards the north ; while on the other are ranged the thousands  
of Britain and her offspring, from whose firm and regular  
ranks gleam forth the dark eyes of many of the sons of  
Abraham, determined to preserve their newly-recovered city,  
or perish, like their ancestors of a former age, in its ruins.  

11  
All is ready. That awful pause which takes place before  
the shock of battle reigns around; but ere it is broken by the 
clash of meeting arms, and while yet the contending parties  
are at a little distance from each other, a strange sound is  
heard overhead. The time for the visible manifestation of  
God's vengeance has^  arrived, his fury has come up in his  
face, and he calls  for a sword against Gog throughout all the  
mountains. 'Tis this voice of the Lord that breaks the 
solemn stillness and startles the assembled hosts. The scene  
that follows baffles description. Amid  earthquakes and  
showers of fire the bewildered and maddened armies of the  
autocrat rush, sword in hand, against each other, while the  
Israelites and their Anglo-Saxon friends gaze on the spectacle  
with amazement and consternation. It does not appear that 
they will even lift their hand against that foe which they had 
come so far to meet. Their aid is not necessary to accom-
plish the destruction of the image. The stone cut without 
hands shall fall on its feet, and break them to pieces; and then  
shall the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold  
become like the chaff of the summer threshing floor, and the 
wind shall carry them away. The various descriptions which  
we have of this battle all intimate that God is the only foe  
that shall contend with the autocrat at Armageddon. John  
terms it " the battle of that great day of God Almighty," and  
we believe the principal instrument of their defeat will be.  
mutual slaughter. The carnage will be dreadful. Out of all  
the millions that came like a cloud upon the land of Israel,  
only a scattered and shattered remnant will return y the great  
mass will be left to " cleanse the land " and  fill the valley of  
Hamongog with graves.  
We pause at this point of the prophecy, considering it un- 
necessary at the present time to enter into a minute exami- 
nation of the nature or duration of the millennial period. We  
have already followed the subject beyond the limits indicated  
by our titlepage, and it would swell this pamphlet far beyond 
its intended size to enter into a discussion of these points.  
A great obscurity rests on the events that immediately follow  
the battle of Armageddon, so that, although we might come  
prettv near the reality, our remarks would be essentially con- 
EMMANUEL  
MISSIONARY COLLEGE  
LIBRARY


29  
jectural. It is probable that Assyria, Persia, and Britain will  
be the only thr^e powers that will exist in the old world, be- 
sides the kingdom which the Most High will establish in  
Jerusalem; for it is stated by Daniel, that " the rest of the 
beasts " lived for a " season and a time " after the destruction  
of the dragon. It is very natural to suppose that Britain  
will continue to hold a high place among the nations, on  
account of the noble and important mission she will have  
fulfilled; though what that position will be, or how long she 
will retain it, it is impossible to say. The Anglo-Saxon race 
must, from the very nature of their constitution, be a leading 
people, and will probably continue unrivalled in intellectual 
greatness; but it is evident that the Hebrews will have the 
chief place during that  glorious era which these stirring  
changes are to usher in. They will become officially greater  
than any of the other nations, and that in virtue of their 
covenant agreementwith Jehovah  ; but this appears to be the  
extent of their privilege. In point of intellectual attainments, 
the Jewish race can never soar above the Saxon mind, and  
therefore they can never become morally greater than Britain 
or America. These two countries, especially the latter, will  
continue to move foYward the chariot wheels of the world's 
progression, and carry the human soul through endless stages 
of development, till the highest point of its earthly compass 
is reached, and the wider sphere and nobler pursuits of eternity 
shall unfold themselves.  
For the preparation of a race for such a destiny as this, it  
was necessary that they should burst those chains of civil and  
ecclesiastical despotism which priestcraft had forged for and  
fastened around the human soul; and how emphatically and 
nobly have Britain and America performed this duty! Must  
we remind the reader of Bruce and Wallace, and the Cove- 
nanters, in Scotland; of Cromwell and Milton, Hampden,  
and the Puritans, in England; or of Washington and the war 
of independence, in America ? Those fierce and fiery furnaces  
through which this selected race struggled in years gone by 
were intended to purify and qualify them for the work of the  
latter days; and the result is, that at this moment they are  
free, and ready to assume their Heaven-appointed office.  

11  
Hence the difference between their fate and the fate of those  
ancient nations whom they imitated, or the modern nations  
who imitated them. How often have the generous and noble- 
hearted gazed with indignant wonder at the gallant yet abor- 
tive efforts of patriots to save their country from bondage and  
oppression; and as star after star of liberty was blotted out by  
the blood-red sun of despotism, turned a reproachful eye to 
heaven, as if to ask why truth and justice was denied its own!  
And never will this dark enigma be explained, till the light of  
this prophecy, of which we have all along been speaking, 
shine upon it; but no sooner does its mist-dispelling influence 
pass across the gloom, than, as sunlight from on high, the  
answer comes, which amply satisfies the grieved, doubting 
heart, and vindicates the justice of the Eternal. It is only  
while tracing the windings and developments of Daniel's  
vision and John's Revelation that we learn the secret of  
Poland's downfall and Hungary's degradation. Those na- 
tions stand upon the image territory, and are involved in its  
destruction; therefore all efforts to save them must be vain.  
As powers, they are doomed  to fall; and though their wrongs  
shall one day be righted, for the present their noble-hearted  
patriots must resign themselves and their cause to the will of  
Heaven.  
And here, too, in the light of this  truth-diffusing prophecy,  
do we understand the past and learn the future of IRELAND.  
The state of this country has long made it a puzzle to the  
world; and many have been the attempts, both within and  
without, to  discover the cause and the cure of its evils. The  
prevalent feeling is, that its union with Britain constitutes 
the Alpha and Omega of its misery; and for many years it  
has sought to have the union repealed. Its patriots have even  
endeavored to identify their cause with that struggle which  
America successfully sustained with the mother country; and  
the idea has taken root in many hearts, both in Scotland and  
England, which cry shame against the injustice. Now, noth-
ing can be more erroneous than this idea. The Irish struggle 
can never be identified with the western colonial emancipa- 
tion ; neither can it, on  account of the absence of the religious  
element, be compared to the Scotch or English wars of


31  
independence. But without going into the vexed question of  
the justice or injustice of forcibly perpetuating the union, we  
would ask the question, What would be the consequences to  
Ireland herself, were she to become an independent nation t  
These, in a political and social point of view, stand clearly  
forth to the eyes of many of those who steadily oppose the  
repeal agitation; but it is only \^hen observed through the  
medium of this Scripture prophecy that we can discern their  
full extent or awful magnitude. Passing by those moral and 
political evils which appear on the surface, what, we ask,  
would be the fate of the country fifteen years hence ? 'Tis 
true, Ireland is not on the image territory, and though not  
probable, it is still possible, that she might escape being con- 
quered by one of the toes; nevertheless, she will  be legiti- 
mately within the dark region of the curse. She is among 
those who worship the beast and its image. She has received 
its mark in her forehead; and if standing alone, and in these 
circumstances, when the hour of judgment comes, how shall 
she escape ? We hesitate not to assert that Ireland's union  
with Britain is the only thing that stands between her and 
utter ruin ; and that while Poland and Hungary failed in their  
effort for freedom, because they were doomed to destruction,  
Ireland has failed to regain her independence, because she is  
destined to be saved. We cannot here specify the means  
which Britain will use for her regeneration. This the future  
will show; but regenerated, purified, and elevated she will be,  
and by that very union which she would so rashly sever.  
In the preceding pages, we have seen that Britain will be  
kept comparatively free from the war and strife that will  
soon rage on the continent. How the late past harmonizes  
with this decision! While nearly the whole of Europe has  
been convulsed, our sea-girt isle has remained in peace, and 
kept so far aloof from the oppressors and the oppressed, that 
many generous but mistaken minds have charged her with 
coldness and pusillanimity. She has, indeed, given shelter to 
both when exiled from their own lands, but she has hitherto 
been kept from entangling herself with the commotions of  
the times; and while strife and feud have raged around, peace  
has been in all her borders. This course she will continue  

11  
steadily to pursue; though, as we before stated, the doings 
on the continent will keep  her in continual alarm and watch- 
fulness. This feeling of uneasiness and anxiety will, how- 
ever, be greatly dispelled by a knowledge of the truth; and  
the author of this pamphlet hopes that, for this very purpose, 
it will be widely circulated. What a sublime position does 
that individual occupy, who can stand at a distance and gaze 
upon such a thrilling spectacle as Europe will soon present  
with calmness and assurance, " seeing the end from the be-
ginning"! Can any thing, indeed, be more sublime than  
this ? It is like one of the ancient prophets of Israel gazing 
from some far-off mountain side on the fulfilment of one of  
his own prophecies. As he gazes on the scene, — perhaps a  
city staggering into the bosom of an earthquake, or the  
progress of a battle between Israel and her enemies, — is it 
possible to imagine the calmly-glowing feelings of his soul, 
as, privileged beyond all mortals, he contemplates what had  
already been pictured to his  mind, and can tell the next  
dwelling-place that shall go crashing down, or the next en-
emy that shall "lick the dust" ? Still greater, if possible, is  
the position occupied by one who can pass the boundary of 
the everlasting present, and boldly map the events of the fu- 
ture. Godlike he sits on the edge of the thick darkness, and 
resolves the mystic shapes that flit and gambol there into 
regularity and order. The dense mist which has hitherto  
overhung this end of the " bridge " rolls slowly upward, and  
the things it concealed loom forth, dimly it may be, but still  
visible enough in their outlines and lineaments to enable him  
to recognize them when the wheels of time bear him slowly  
past them. The very idea of superiority of position like this  
is enrapturing. To think that it is only a select few that  
are thus highly privileged; that  those whom the events so  
nearly concern are ignorant of them; to witness the terror  
and astonishment with which they are met by those they  
come to destroy; and, above all, to know that he and his kin-
dred are beyond the reach of their sweeping embrace, is to 
occupy a position never before reached by any save the in- 
spired of the Lord. Such a position may Britain and Amer- 
ica occupy, if they can but speedily arrive at the knowledge


32  
of it. In a very short time the conflict will begin. The  
« powers that  be" cannot long remain in their present rela- 
tions, and the moment approaches when the dreadful moral  
volcano must burst. Already is the sound of the storm  
heard among the tree tops. The Russian army is gathering  
on the frontiers ; France has fallen back to that form of gov- 
ernment whose only tradition is war and conquest; the new  
emperor is fast increasing his naval power; Turkey is trem-
bling, and all Italy is in a smothered flame. The sooner,  
then, that a knowledge of the political future is obtained, the  
better; and while the Anglo-Saxon race rejoice in their ex- 
emption from the doom of other nations, let them learn their  
destiny, and prepare to fulfil it.