pendent grounds, and in an essentially different line of research, (though I cannot pretend to endorse all that he says,) has traced the migrations of the Anglo-Saxon tribes at the same epoch. And remember that Turner had nothing in his mind about "Israel." He was writing an unbiassed history of the Anglo-Saxons.

But also, it is perfectly well-established that the Normans were of the same original stock as the Anglo-Saxons, and that they all began their migration from Western Asia into Europe together.

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Again, from the ancient writers it appears that these tribes which, already before the Christian æra, were slowly moving in mass towards the European continent, were generically known as Scythians," Scuths, as if they were called by the name of a leading tribe. But Scoths is a Hebrew name (D) for tents of branches and grass, hence nomadic dwellers in tents, wanderers. (Was there ever a Scot that was not a wanderer, if he could get the chance ?) If these were the Hebrews, the tribe which gave its new name to the rest must have been the leading tribe, Ephraim, which was always the head and front of the offence of Israel; and, for that very reason, chosen as the special exemplar for the long-suffering and merciful patience of the God of Israel. Was there ever a Scot that was not stiff-necked and obdurate ?—I speak as a Scot.) Paul, writing of the common unity in Christ (Coloss. iii. 11) says "Neither Greek nor Jew; circumcision nor uncircumcision; Barbarian, Scuth; bond nor free." Here the Scuths are put in apposition with the barbarians, as the Jews with the Greeks.

For our present purpose, it would be too long a story how the first Scots came from Ireland, bringing with them the Royal Blood which has been traced to the House of David, and now rules the empire of Britain; and the Stone of Destiny which ages ago was known as "Jacob's stone," and which carried with it to Westminster Abbey the fulfilment of the ancient tradition, that where the Stone was there should the Sceptre be. And whether the Scots be the tribe of Ephraim or not, it is certain that for a long time past they have been everywhere in the front rank, in the service of the state in peace and war, in the enterprise of commerce, in the adventure of colonization, in the advances of science, in the higher order of literature. It is equally certain that, as in the days of Jephthah, the Ephraim said "Sibboleth" for Shibboleth, for they "could not frame to pronounce rightly,"-by which it came that forty and two thousand of them were slain at the fords of Jordan-so to this day the Scots have a congenital tendency to the avoidance of the thick sibilant, saying, for example, "buss" for bush, "busky" for bushy, &c.

Let us return for a moment to the "immense multitude not to be estimated in numbers" of the Ten Tribes said by Josephus to be in his time "above Euphrates." By modern researches we know that there were in the same territory, at the same epoch, the immense multitude of the Scuthic ancestors of the Anglo-Saxons, Normans, and other tribes, now forming the reunited British Folk. Now, I ask such as have the gift and training to realize in the mind the actual concrete conditions of historical events and epochs,-how is it conceivable that in that same defined territory, there could exist at the same time two such masses of peoples, as the "immense multitude" of Israel, and the Scuthic multi

tude, each nomadic, and requiring immense breadth of territory for their subsistence ? Is it not far more likely, and much more conformable with the nature of the case, that these two sets of multitudes were, in fact, not two, but one and the same, under the common, Hebrew, ethnic name of Scuths, or Scots ? *

The interpretation of the Scriptures anent Israel has by nothing been so much obscured, as by the fact that the term "Jews" has come to be applied to the whole Twelve Tribes, instead of being confined to its proper application to the House of Judah only-the Two Tribes of Judah and Levi (with whom for a time was the tribe of Benjamin). The prevalent confusion of Judah with Israel is entirely incomprehensible, in the face of the clear and systematic distinction between them on every page of the prophetic writings. But "blindness in part is happened to Israel." A Jew is a Hebrew and Israelite, as a Scotsman is a Briton. But all Israelites are not Jews, any more than all Britons are Scotsmen. Why, the distinction between Israel and Judah was already set up in the time of Saul, when "he numbered them in Bezek, and the children of Israel were 300,000, and the men of Judah 30,000." (1 Sam. xi. 8.)

Already before the formal, final separation under Rehoboam, David reigned over the House of Judah for seven and a half years, while IshBosheth reigned over Israel. (2 Sam. ii.)

Observe here, that at the final separation under Rehoboam, the tribe of Benjamin remained with Judah; as we read (1 Kings xi. 32), “He shall have one tribe (viz., of "Israel") for my servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake" (because Jerusalem was in the territory of Benjamin.) Again (xii. 21), "Rehoboam assembled all the House of Judah with the tribe of Benjamin to fight against the House of Israel."

But the tribe escaped, it appears, from Palestine before the siege of Jerusalem by Titus in A.D. 70. (See Jerem. vi. 1. "Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of Jerusalem, for evil, and great destruction, appeareth out of the north.")

The separation between Israel and Judah was final and absolute, until the restoration of both houses together in the "last days." This is manifest from all the Scriptures. For example,—

"He shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah, from the four corners of the earth." (Isaiah xi. 12.) "Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim."

"At that time, all the nations shall be gathered unto Jerusalem, to the Name of the Lord, to Jerusalem; neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart. In those days the House of Judah shall walk with the House of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north, to the land that I have given for an inheritance to your fathers." (Jerem. iv. 16, 18.) It is manifest to all men that these Scriptures have not yet been fulfilled. But, if the Scriptures be true, they must certainly come to pass. We read, further (Jerem. 1. 20), “In those days, and at that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel

*The word Scythian is a modern barbarism, which hides away the significance of the original Skuth.

shall be sought for, and there be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found; for I will pardon them whom I reserve."

And in Ezekiel (xxxvii. 19-22). "I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one in mine hand." "And I will make them one nation in the land, upon the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king to them all; and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all." Also, Hosea says (i. 11), “ Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head."

The fortunes of Israel, the Ten Tribes, are in the strongest manner contrasted throughout the prophets with what we know has been for 1800 years the lot of Judah, or the Jews. These are scattered the world over, without a head, without cohesion, shunned by every race and creed, their name an opprobrium, their physiognomy a byword; in Eastern Europe still denied the rights of citizenship, persecuted and harried. Instead of being as the dust of the earth, or as the stars of heaven, for multitude, it is doubtful if they number more than seven millions all told. True enough, "the sin of Judah," the rejection and doing to death of Messias, "is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond." (Jerem. xvii. 1.) "Jerusalem is ruined, Judah is fallen." "The shew of their countenance doth witness against them." (Isaiah iii. 8, 9.) Whilst holding fast by the Law and the Prophets, they deny the Christ who fulfilled them. "Israel's treacherous sister, Judah, hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the Lord." (Jerem. iii. 10.)

Hear the Scriptures anent Israel, and note the solemnity of the utterances. "Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day, the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar,-The Lord of Hosts in His Name,-If these ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever." (Jerem. xxxi. 35, 36.)

Israel never has ceased to be a nation. The very appointment and commission of Jeremiah was, that he was "set over the nations and the kingdoms," not only "to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down," as happened at the captivity to Babylon, but also "to build and to plant," as happened when he brought to Ireland, to the tribe, or part of the tribe of Dan, already settled there, the Stone of Destiny, the stone that the Lord has laid before Joshua (Zech. iii. 9) and the royal princess of the House of David, whose descendants have been crowned on that stone, from that day to this, at Iona, at Scone, or Westminster.

Festus cried out, "Paul, thou art beside thyself. Much learning doth make thee mad.—No, I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak forth the words of truth and soberness;" things new, yet old, things that are proven to the letter, and will presently be known to all men. words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end; but the wise shall understand.

The

Hear the Scriptures anent Israel. "Ephraim shall be like a mighty

one, their heart shall rejoice as through wine, their children shall see and be glad, their heart shall rejoice in the Lord. I will hiss for them and gather them, for I have redeemed them; and they shall increase as they have increased. I will sow them among the people; and they shall remember me in far countries, and they shall live with their children, and turn again." (Zech. xi. 7, 8, 9.)

Again, "I will sift the House of Israel among all nations, like sifting in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth." (Amos ix. 9.)

And, "The portion of Jacob is not like them." "He is the rod of His inheritance, the Lord of Hosts is His Name. Thou art my battle-axe, and weapons of war; for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms, and with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider-captains and rulers. (Jerem. li. 19-23.)

Lastly, when shall these things be? When is the time for the complete fulfilment of the sure word of prophecy, the recognition and restoration of Israel, and the then not far distant coming again of the Lord Christ, the King, to reign on the earth, and rule the nations with a rod of iron?

To Israel, the centre of the catholic church, thus writes Peter (2 Pet. iii.): "I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance, that ye be mindful of the words which were spoken of old time by the holy prophets;-knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days, scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His Coming? for since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as from the beginning of the creation. For this they are wilfully ignorant of, that by the word of God the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished; but the heavens and the earth which are now, are by the same word kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But be ye not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness." "But the day of the Lord will come, as a thief in the night." Wherefore ye are to "count that the long-suffering of the Lord is salvation."

Messias Himself before His departure warned us in specific terms of the signs of the end of the Dispensation. "Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled; and there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth." "When these things

begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads, for your redemption" (your recognition and restoration to your heritage) "draweth nigh." "When ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand." (Luke xxi. 24-81.) Do you see the signs?

Again, He saith, "Ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars (see that ye be not troubled—the end is not yet). For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be

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famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places." (Matt. xxiv. 6, 7.) Do you read the "daily papers ?" Do you see the signs? Nevertheless, 66 as in the days of Noah that were before the Flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark," so is it, and will be, now. When the Son of Man cometh, shall He find FAITH on the earth? Think ye, then, that the arm of the Lord of Hosts is shortened that He cannot save? Or is He a man, that He should lie ? For how many centuries longer, think you, is Satan to be the world's master; and the very Name of Jesus, at which every knee should bow, the butt of contumely and blasphemy?

In

As for this kingdom in general, we are, temporally and spiritually, on the very edge of an abyss ;-political controversy reduced to fanatic folly and personal abuse; commerce at a dead stand; the agricultural yield of the land sensibly decreasing;* the population so outgrown (for example, in the London district alone there are four millions packed together) that one half the people hardly know how to get bread from day to day. Do you not see that this is one of those crises in history when, in the nature of the case, a huge migration becomes a forced necessity? But, whither? Not to the colonies; their power of absorption is limited, and for the present exhausted. Then, whither ? Asia Minor, from Caucasus to Sókotra, from Euphrates to Khittim, which is Cyprus, upon the "mountains of Israel," the heritage given to our fathers, will the God of our fathers "feed us in a good pasture." "Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope; when I have bent Judah" (Benjamin of Israel) "for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Ivan (the Russ), and made thee as the sword of a mighty man; and the Lord shall be seen over them, and His arrow shall go forth as the lightning, and shall go with whirlwinds of the South, and shall save them in that day as the flock of His people, the gems of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon His land. Corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids." (Zech. ix. 12-17.)

As for this kingdom in general, we are on the very edge of an abyss also spiritually and morally. Good manners have gone their way, and good morals have gone the same gait. A rampant tide of scepticism, whose only logical outcome is pure atheism, has saturated the intellect of the country, and is invading all classes. To stem this torrent, what have we? Seemingly little more than the lithographed commonplaces of an inane and fatuous theology; which is as the apples of the Dead Sea shore, turning to dust between the lips, and choking us with their pestilent rottenness.

For near 2,000 years now the long-suffering of the Most High has borne with the nations. Think you a third thousand will open with "all things continuing as from the beginning of the creation?" No! no! no! We have a more sure word of prophecy, a light shining in a dark place. Shall we crouch in a corner, then, and go on muttering and pattering the dark sayings of This Book by the glimmer of a rushlight? Nay, come into the free air of heaven. See the bright sun already rising above

See the Times of 5th November, 1878.