she is foremost in possessions, wealth, and commercial activity. For this very cause, however, she is hated with the hatred of envy, and it would perhaps be too much to expect that her enemies should publicly confess the pre-eminence of England, even though to themselves they cannot deny it. Why is it that England, with a mere handful of soldiers for an army, undisturbedly retains valuable possessions all over the face of the earth when-if numbers alone could effect it-almost any one European nation possesses troops enough to sweep away her very existence as a nation; and certainly she would not be consulted in matters of general European interest if the numerical power of forces alone constituted her claim to be heard and to give an opinion regarding them. What, then, I would ask, is it to which may be ascribed the fact that England not only holds a position in Europe apparently not justifiable by her insular situation, by the extent of her European possessions, or by the numbers of her standing army? It cannot be denied as a fact. It may be said, as of old by David in the 118th Psalm, "Let "Israel now say, that His mercy endureth for ever. "The Lord is my strength and song, and is become my "salvation. I shall not die, but live, and declare the "works of the Lord. The Lord hath chastened me

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sore, but he hath not given me over unto death. I "will praise thee, for thou hast heard me, and art "become my salvation. The stone which the builders "refused is become the head stone of the corner. "This is the Lord's doing; it is marvellous in our "eyes."

These words were spoken by the psalmist concerning Israel, and they contain a record of the punishments and blessings promised to Israel in an excessively condensed form. The blessings to Israel were not to be obtained through their own might, but being bestowed by a Divine Power, were well calculated to excite wonder and surprise. It is the same with England. May there not be, then, in truth, an identity between the two?

Each step as we advance in considering this question

only seems the more fully to justify an affirmative answer to the above question. But there remains still to be reviewed the similarity between the present position of England and the promises to Israel with regard to their military supremacy.

Whilst other nations in warring with each other, have suffered tides of alternative victory and defeat, England alone can claim an unbroken chain of victories and conquests. Though she may have suffered defeat in occasional isolated battles, the tide of war has ultimately invariably turned in her favour. Since the Norman conquest, no enemy has ever dared to assail our coasts, and England has never been vanquished. There was, however, something exceptional in the case of the Normans, for they not only were not of a different race to the inhabitants of England at that time, but they had both sprung from that one great family by whom the whole of northern Europe was at that time peopled, some of whom went out and conquered Normandy whilst others directed their resistless arms to the shores of Great Britain. The advent, then, of the socalled Normans to England was but the re-uniting of a family that had been for a short time separated.

The victories won by the British armies have rarely, if ever, been capable of being attributed to superiority in numbers. Whatever cause may be assigned by people to the invincibility of British arms there remains the fact which is universally believed in, if not always admitted, that the fate of wars is decided by "the God "of Battles;" and He is that same God who declared Isiah liv. 17. to Israel of old, "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper."

The enormous possessions of the British Empire, scattered as they are all over the world, would, one would think, necessitate the maintenance of an enormous army to protect them from assault, and the evil designs of her enemies. Such, however, is not the case, as will be seen from the following list of the principal armies of the world. In this list is not

included the numbers of volunteers where reserve forces of that class are maintained:-

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It will thus be seen that in proportion to her extensive possessions, and to the liability of their being attacked by enemies, England maintains ridiculously small forces, when compared with those of other nations. For, be it remembered, not only does she claim sovereignty over vast territories in other parts of the world, but he also possesses the very gates of her "enemies," viz., Heligoland towards the Baltic, the Channel Islands off the coast of France, the Rock of Gibraltar, which commands the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea; Malta, St. Helena, and Ascension Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean; the Cape Colonies and possessions on the Gold Coast in Africa; Aden and Perim, which command the entrance to the Red Sea;

This comprises only the vessels and guns included in the "Navy List."

Hindustan off Persia, Tartary and Thibet; British Burmah, adjoining Siam; the Straits Settlements in the Malay Peninsula; Sarawak and Labuan in Borneo; Hong Kong in China; the Falkland Islands off the extreme south, and the West India Islands to the north of South America. Not only do we continue to held possession of territories on foreign soil, and forming parts of the former possessions of England's enemies, but no agitation, even of a popular nature, is ever seriously got up with a view to drive her from them. Situated as England's possessions are, in immediate contiguity to those of every other nation in the world almost, and often constituting the most advantageous positions from a military point of view, it may well be said that she has inherited what was promised to Israel, viz, the gates of her enemies. Other nations are not similarly scattered abroad; neither of any other people but the English can it be said that their flag constantly floats on land in the eyes of almost every other nation, and by sea in every ocean, port, and harbour where foreign trade is carried on.

Surely children of our race yet to be born may well liv. 1-3. take up the words of David, and exclaim, "We have "heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us "what work thou didst in their days, in the times of "old. How thou didst drive out the heathen with thy "hand, and plantedst them; how thou didst afflict the people, and cast them out. For they got not the "land in possession by their own sword, neither did "their own arm save them; but thy right hand, "and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, "because thou hadst a favour unto them."

Perhaps the most marvellous of all the British possessions is East India, which has a total area of 1,486,319 square miles, of which 897,004 square miles are immediately under British administration, and 589,315 square miles belong to feudatory states. There are in all upwards of 200 native states in India, each with its own Nazim, Maharajah, Rajah, or other titular chief, some of whom hold "sunnuds," or royal

warrants from the Queen of England and Empress of India, the right to grant which is inherited by Her Majesty from the Emperors of Delhi, to whose empire she has succeeded, and whose confirmation was always necessary to the succession of their feudatories, the Nazims of Hyderabad and others. Of these native states no less than 79 have their own armies, the numbers of which are, of course, subject to the sanction of the ruling power. These native armies amount to no less in number in the aggregate, than 324,631 men, and 3,778 guns. The forces consist of 135,948 cavalry, 186,478 infantry, and 2,205 gunners.

To maintain order throughout these vast possessions in India, aud to keep the rest of the empire in subjection, the British troops number only 62,849 men. It is true that there is, in addition, a native force of 123,862 men, but their sympathies might reasonably be supposed to be more with their own race, and with their co-religionists, than with the conquerors of their land. In the trying times of 1857, however, many of them were found to be faithful to their employers. The total British force in India is thus 186,711 all told -Europeans and natives-or 137,920 less than the numbers of troops maintained by the several native states collectively.

The maintenance of British power in India is thus clearly due to a force other than that of mere numbers.

or of the numerical superiority of military forces, Nowhere else in the world, and of no other nation besides the English can it be said that upwards of two hundred chiefs-several of them possessed of vast dominions, and of great power-continue to exist as rulers of their states at her will and pleasure, and actually hold royal warrants from her as their titles to their estates, and many of them pay tribute to the ruling power.

In this great Empire of India appear to be fulfilled more than one of the prophecies concerning Israel; or, at least, the position of England towards India might well be described in precisely similar words. Whether