tively speaking, a scarce book, even in those countries "where the principles of the Reformation had struck "their earliest and deepest roots. Accordingly, it was "proposed that a new society should be formed, which "should add its endeavours to those of other societies "for circulating the Scriptures through the British "Dominions, and that it should, according to its ability, "extend its influence to other countries, whether Christian, Mahommedan, or Pagan. The proposal "was carried out, and the British and Foreign Bible Society was formed, its one principle and exclusive object being to promote the circulation of the Holy Scriptures without note or comment, both at home "and abroad."

66

66

This society has had a direct or indirect share in the translation, printing, or distribution of Scriptures in 210 languages or dialects, which have been distributed throughout the various countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and America, and in the islands of the Pacific. During the seventy years of its existence, the society has put into circulation more than seventy-one million Bibles, Testaments, and portions of Scripture, and its expenditure for this purpose has exceeded seven millions and a-half sterling.

Thus has England taken up the universal missionary work entrusted of old to Israel, but the work is not. yet finished, or the fields of labour fully occupied. Pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the Harvest that He will send forth more labourers into His harvest, and that He will hasten the glorious time when the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and

ever.

CHAPTER X.

FURTHER PROOFS OF IDENTIFICATION.

To enter completely and fully into an examination of every passage in the Scriptures relating to Israel, which might also be, with some show of reason, made applicable to England at the present day, would of itself occupy more space than could well be contained within the bounds of a single volume. In order to prevent the present work from extending beyond moderate limits, the proofs of identity between Israel and England have been confined to a few only; its object being more to raise up a spirit of inquiry than to exhaust the subject, and to point out how it may properly be studied, rather than to discourage further research by tracing out the theory in all its bearings. The limits prescribed for the present work have in a measure been reached in the foregoing pages; but it seems impossible to close the book without some reference to the remarkable words contained in the 58th chapter of the prophecy of Isaiah. In this chapter God rebukes His people for their insincere religion, and shows them the vanity of the ordinances observed by them; He then shows them what is the true and acceptable religion, and how He would be served; and the chapter winds up with a promise for the restoration of all good things to His people so soon as they shall turn from their errors and false sacrifices, to do Him acceptable service. The words of this chapter are as follows:

"Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a "trumpet, and show my people their transgression, "and the house of Jacob their sins.

.66

"Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook

66

"not the ordinance of their God; they ask of me the "ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God. Wherefore have we fasted, say they, "and thou seest not? Wherefore have we afflicted "our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Be"hold in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and "exact all your labours. Behold, ye fast for strife "and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness; ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your "voice to be heard on high. Is it such a fast that I "have chosen? A day for a man to afflict his soul? "Is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Wilt thou "call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord?

66

66

66

66

"Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose "the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, "and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast "out to thy house? When thou seest the naked, "that thou cover him, and that thou hide not thyself "from thine own flesh? Then shalt thy light break "forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring "forth speedily, and thy righteousness shall go before "thee, the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward. "Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou "shall cry, and He shall say, Here I am.

"If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, "the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; "and if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and "satisfy the afflicted soul, then shall thy light rise in "obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday, and "the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy "soul in drought, and make fat thy bones, and thou "shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And they that shall "be of thee shall build the old waste places; thou shalt "raise up the foundations of many generations, and "thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The "restorer of paths to dwell in.

66

"If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from "doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call the "sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; " and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor "finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own "words; then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord, " and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of "the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob, "thy father; for the mouth of the Lord hath "spoken it."

It has already been shown how that even now England does "ride upon the high places of the earth,' and that she does even now enjoy "the heritage of "Jacob," but it remains to be seen whether she has observed the fast ordained, and delighted herself in the Lord, and fulfilled otherwise the conditions laid down in the foregoing quotation for the enjoyment of those blessings.

The fast chosen by God as acceptable to himself is not one of self-affliction and personal debasement, but one showing itself in works of love and charity towards others. And, I would ask, has not England repeatedly in Europe sided with oppressed nations, and lent her armies, and spent her wealth to prevent oppression and spoliation? And although the acts of many of her early colonists into heathen lands have been those of wanton oppression, British rule, when once established, has introduced peace, and put a stop to the incessant fights and invasions of rival tribes amongst one another, and the strong arm of British power has broken the yoke under which the weaker tribes among the heathen were oppressed by their stronger neighbours. Nowhere has this been more conspicuously the case than in the East Indies. The history of India, under the conquering Arabs, Tartars, and Mahrattas respectively is but one continuous record of oppression on the part of the ruling power for the time being, whilst the country was constantly being devastated by internal wars, and the rise and fall, through violence, of different dynasties. How this has

all been altered, and a reign of peace introduced, together with the ascendancy of British power, is a matter of history, and known to all so intimately that nothing further need here be said on the subject.

Then, again, has not England taken the lead in the abolition of slavery? Before doing so it must, however, be admitted that she was herself greatly instrumental in the growth of negro slavery, and in the horrors that accompanied the trade in human beings.

Slavery was, no doubt, an institution of a very ancient character, having been in existence probably before the flood. Whether that were so or not, it is certain that some kind of slavery was early practised by the Israelites, and the buying and selling of slaves was expressly authorised by the Mosaic law, but they were to be bought only of the heathen, for if an Israelite grew poor and sold himself either to discharge a debt, or to procure the means of subsistence, he was to be treated, not as a slave, but as an hired servant, and restored to freedom at the year of jubilee. Although slaves were permitted to be bought, the law strictly prohibited their being acquired otherwise than by fair purchase, for it was declared (Ex. xxi.), "He "that stealeth a man and selleth him, shall surely be put to death." Slavery as practised under these laws was not, however, of that repulsive character that prevailed at an early date among other nations. Borrowing, probably, the practice from the Israelites, the traffic in men quickly spread from Chaldea into Egypt, Arabia, and over all the East, and by degrees found its way all over the then known world. It is supposed that both the Phoenicians and Greeks had an established commerce in slaves, and that, not satisfied with reducing to bondage their prisoners of war, they scrupled not to kidnap in cold blood persons who had never kindled their resentment, in order to supply their foreign markets. The Greeks and also the

66

Romans often behaved in a most brutal manner towards their slaves, sometimes even killing them in cold blood.