fifth, the awakening or resurrection of some of them to everlasting life, and of others to shame and everlasting contempt. The fall of Turkey will, therefore, be the first of a series of events of transcendental interest. This we might almost naturally anticipate without the aid of prophecy. The long-established policy of nearly all the great powers of the civilized world, renders it highly probable that such will be the issue. If England and France would exhaust their supplies of men and money to prevent the Court of St. Petersburgh from infringing on the limits of the Sultan, not through any respect which they have for the rights of man not on account of their sympathy for the Turks-not because they expect thereby to augment their own resources, but merely to preserve the balance of power among the nations of Europe, by holding in check the ambition and avarice of Russia, what sacrifice would not they and other rival powers make to prevent Russia and Persia, or any other two kingdoms, from taking and appropriating to themselves the wealth of a fallen empire? If it is still a sound maxim, that "wherever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together," what a tremendous conflict of nations may we anticipate in any attempt to divide and appropriate the spoils of Turkey! England, France, Germany, Austria, Prussia, Russia, Greece, Persia, Egypt, and the scattered tribes of Israel, will all be there to urge their claims and to act as umpires in the great controversy. But at that time, Michael will again stand up in behalf of Israel. For many generations he was their prince and national guardian. (Dan. x. 21.) Under Jehovah, he seems to have been employed to lead them out of the land of Egypt and out of the house of bondage; to conduct them through the Red Sea and the dreary deserts of Arabia; to lead their armies to victory in Canaan, and to comfort them in their afflictions in Babylon; to move Darius, to promote Daniel, and to stir up Cyrus, to rebuild the temple; to accompany their emancipated hosts in their return from captivity, and for many years to preside over their interests in Palestine. But the cup of their iniquity was at length filled to overflowing; the Spirit of God was grieved by their obstinacy and repeated acts of rebellion; Jerusalem was encompassed with armies; and if their own great national historian is worthy of credit, a voice--it may have been of this same guardian angel-was heard in the temple, saying, "Let us remove hence." From that hour Jerusalem has been trodden down of the Romans, the Persians, the Saracens, the Seljukians, the Mamelukes and the Ottomans; and the Jews themselves have wandered as sheep without a shepherd. The predictions of Moses concerning this remarkable people have been literally fulfilled. They have been scattered among all people, from one end of the earth even to the other; they have found no ease or rest; they have been oppressed and crushed always, since the ruin of their temple and the destruction of their city; they have been left few in number among the heathen; they have pined away in their iniquity in their enemies' land; and they have become an astonishment, a proverb, and a bye-word among all nations. Since the commencement of the present century, the condition of the Jews has been greatly ameliorated, especially in European countries. Some symptoms of returning life have recently appeared in the valley of dry bones. But in most nations, their lot is still very deplorable. In England, many Jews are distinguished for their learning and wealth; but all the possessions of a Rothschild have not yet procured for him a seat in Parliament. While England," says Mr. Milford, in his Appeal in behalf of the Jewish Nation, 66 66 waves her protecting banner over the. helpless and the oppressed, both at home and abroad, there yet remains one nation-one remarkable race of people, the Jews-towards whom the exercise of philanthropy would seem to be a crime; whom no eye pities, and whose wretched condition is a stain upon the present age of the world, worthy only of the darkness, blindness, and inhumanity of the dark ages." In Austria, a Jew can rise no higher than a common soldier-he is excluded from all the learned professions; and in the capital of the empire he cannot purchase ground enough on which to erect his frail tabernacle. In most of the German States they enjoy many legal privi leges; but even there they have not church, and these are in a very low risen above the degrading influence of state of civilization. In Modena they a vitiated public opinion. The follow- are wealthy, though they are not allowing extract from a Jewish paper, publish-ed to study any science but medicine. ed in Leipsic, 1840, shows how little the Israelites could then boast of German liberality. "After endless petitioning, some few privileges, curtailed on every side, are thrown to us out of compassion or greedy speculation. And to whose favor at last do we owe these niggardly gifts? The people who have never tolerated us as neighbors, but with a malicious eye? By the people and their leaders we are as much hated as ever. Look at the states where the democratic element preponderates; hatred and contempt, but no kindness! As strangers we are tolerated, but no where sought after, nowhere loved. The distinction between the Schemetic Southern stock, and the fair children of the North, is too indelibly marked on both body and mind to render an amalgamation possible. We are neither Germans nor Sclavonians, nor yet Italians nor Greeks; we are the children of Israel, kindred of the Arabs, who carried their glorious arms from the Caucasus to the pillars of Hercules. Unspeakable misfortunes compelled us to claim the rights of hospitality from foreign nations, but not for ever will we be trampled under their feet, deprived of the sacred name of fatherland." The Russian government has frequently interfered with the rights and comforts of its Hebrew subjects. In 1824, the Emperor Alexander decreed that all the Jews living in Poland should remove hence, except such as should become physicians or devote themselves to solid mercantile business. The late Emperor Nicholas, soon after the beginning of his reign, published a ukase, in which he forbade them to traffic in the interior governments of the empire; and in a series of subsequent edicts, the same autocrat subjected them to various other oppressive regulations. According to our latest authentic information, the Jews are still legally excluded from Spain and Norway, though their residence in these countries is sometimes tolerated; and in Italy they are oppressed by Popish bulls, and trodden down by a vain, proud, and supercilious priesthood. But few reside in the States of the In Naples they are not recognized by the laws; they live as strangers, and enjoy no civil privileges. Such is the condition of the Jews in civilized and Christianized Europe; how degrading, then, must it be in Mohammedan and Pagan nations! "In Morocco," says Mr. Birk, a converted Jew, "the Moors despise and detest them; there is no ignominy, no extortion which they are not subject to. They are prohibited reading or writing Arabic, under the pretence of their not being worthy to understand the Koran-they are not allowed to mount a horse, because it is too noble an animal for them-they must take off their shoes on passing mosques, holy places, and the dwellings of the great-they are not allowed to come near a well while a Mohammedan is drinking out of it-nor to sit down in the presence of a Mohammedan-they are compelled to be dressed in black, (this color being considered mean,) and to fill the offices of executioner and grave-digger. The children are at liberty to insult them-and the lowest of the people may strike them: but if a Jew lifts his hand to a Mohammedan, he is punished with death. In many places, they must even pay enormous taxes for being permitted to wear shoes, and to use asses and mules." Equally oppressed and despised are the Jews of Persia. The Rev. Joseph Wolff, who in 1825 and 1826 visited them as a missionary, says, "Every house at Shiraz, with a low, narrow entrance, is a Jew's. Every man, with a dirty woollen or a dirty camel-hair turban, is a Jew. Every coat much torn and mended about the back, with worn sleeves, is a Jew's. Every one picking up old broken glass, is a Jew. Every one searching for dirty robes, and asking for old shoes and sandals, is a Jew. That house, into which no quadruped but a goat will enter, is a Jew's. One of the Rabbis remarked to me, None of the Jews scattered in the world expect, and have no reason to expect the Messiah with more anxiety, than the Jews scattered throughout Persia; for the Gentiles in Persia do not only compel us to pay heavy tribute, but they have likewise set over us taskmasters, to afflict us with their burdens. Every Persian is a Haman to us. They make us serve with rigor; we must work for them without being paid; and like Pharaoh of old, they make our lives bitter with hard bondage." We shall conclude this brief sketch of the present condition of this unfortunate and degraded people, with the following short extract from Wilder's Travels in Palestine: "This extraordinary people, the favored of the Lord, the descendants of the patriarchs and prophets, and the aristocracy of the earth, are to be seen in Jerusalem to greater advantage, and under an aspect, and in a character totally different from that which they present in any other place on the face of the globe. In other countries, the very name of Jew has associated with it cunning, deceit, usury, traffic, and often wealth. But here, in addition to the usual degradation and purchased suffering of a despised, stricken, outcast race, they bend under extreme poverty, and wear the aspect of a weeping and a mourning people; lamenting over their fallen greatness as a nation, and over the prostrate grandeur of their once proud city. Here the usurer is turned into the pilgrim, the merchant into the priest, and the inexorable creditor into the weeping suppliant. Without wealth, without traffic, they are supported solely by the voluntury contributions of their brethren throughout the world." Such is the degraded, wretched, and fallen condition of the Jews, and of But their once glorious metropolis. the times of the Gentiles will soon be fulfilled. The Ottoman sceptre is about to be broken. Michael will again stand up in behalf of Israel; and at that time shall be delivered every one that shall be found written in the book. Every Israelite on earth, wherever found, who can, like his fathers in the time of Ezra, trace his lineage to the stock of Abraham, will then be emancipated; and whatever disposition may be made of the other provinces of the fallen Sultan, Palestine will certainly be again restored to the dispersed Israelites for an everlasting possession. "Daughter of Zion, awake from thy sadness; Awake, for thy foes shall oppress thee no NATIONAL DUTY OF CHRISTIAN STATES. Ir is not only in the mother country that discussion on ecclesiastical affairs is searching and animating, for the observation applies with equal truth to the colonies, where the pressure of a state church is comparatively light. In a letter received from Sydney, dated August 8th, 1856, Brother Barton has forwarded an address of Mr. W. Marks, on the principle of state aid granted to support the gospel. The address is a very able refutation of the arguments adduced by Dr. Fullerton in support of state aid, and meets with the approval of the Nonconformists of the colony generally. We have space for only a brief extract or two :-- No duty is more clearly taught in the Scriptures than that of opposing the perverters of God's truth, whatever be their office, position, or pretensions. phets of Israel who prophecy out of "Son of man, prophecy against the protheir own hearts a lying divination, saying the Lord saith,' albeit I have not spoken. O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes of the desert" (Ezekiel xiii.) "I wrote unto you that you should contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints" (Jude 3.) "Now when Paul and Barnabas had no little dissension and disputation with them" &c. (Acts xv. 1-2.) No error in judgment is harmless. either the kingdom of God. There may be no as regards the affairs of life, or those of blame incurred in respect to the former, but for the latter there is no excuse. In the one case there is no perfect standard by which to judge; in the other there is. When God speaks we can understand Him, generally, if we wish. 66 His word cannot mislead an honest in- | Dr. as soldiers, who undergo dangers, quirer, or sanction opposite conclusions. privations, and sufferings," &c. Yes, The danger and the guilt of perverting my dear Sir, if we so regard them, truly it appear all the greater when we reflect we ought to honor and support them that by it the world is to be converted, but unfortunately we cannot so regard and believers are to be purified, com- them. They are commonly soldiers who forted, and established. Every error have never been at drill, nor measured believed deducts so much from its effi- bayonets with the enemy-soldiers who cacy-obscures the lustre of its gems endure a great deal of ease, comfort, dilutes the true elixir of life, and dif- and security-soldiers who, if wounded, fuses throughout the mental atmos- are seldom touched in the breast, but phere malaria and disease. The na- often in the back-soldiers, who are tional establishments of caricatured courageous in the pulpit among friends Christianity have their condemnation expounding a favorite creed, but if chalbranded on their foreheads. The trees lenged, slink away like a thief. There are known by their fruits. The spirit- is a law of honor among soldiers, but ual ignorance, formality, pretence, and no such law obtains among the Dr.'s moral impotence which characterize the soldiery, though they vow when ordainmajority of the members of the estab-ed to defend their flag to the last. lishments, are proofs, "strong as holy "Or, if we look on them as laborers." writ," that their guides are "blind Every sinew of the laborer is stretched leaders of the blind," and that the sys-like the shrouds of a ship, and the pertem which produces such results must spiration flows from every pore; but I be the very opposite of Bible Chris- confess I can see very little correspondtianity. Dr. Fullerton is a man whom ing to this in the toils of many of the I respect, but if he were my brother, I parsons. They compose sermons which, would not spare him when teaching I fear, will not secure them immortal untruths in the name of the Lord. It fame, and neither the composition nor is time that this question was settled the delivery exhibit one pang of the for ever. I have no doubt that it will birth of genius. A laborer cuts the soon be. The common sense of man- roots, tumbles the trees, and makes the kind, aided by New Testament instruc- forest resound with his sturdy blows; tion, will soon bury this mass of putrid- but the clerical laborer sits in his chair, ity in the grave. The days of estab- pays and receives visits, copies his serlishments are numbered. They have mon, and reads or recites it with the been weighed in the "balances of the delightful drawlings of a spelling reader. sanctuary," and of experience, and are Let us have laborers in the Lord's vinealways found "wanting." yard worthy of the name, and we will soon convince the Dr. that we do not require his goad nor yet a national establishment. The Dr. says that "he does not desire to apologize for corruptions in existing establishments." This is an admission that corruption exists in them. Would it not be better for the Dr. to point out these corruptions, that they might be removed, and then seek for the endowment of the establishments thus purified? How can he ask us to support corruptions? The Dr. occupies a large part of the first leaf in maintaining that the preachers of the gospel have a right to an adequate maintenance. What has this to do with national endowments? Could we get a better example of irrelevancy than this? Suppose I asserted that the field laborer is worthy of his hire, therefore the state should provlde liberally for laborers-would not all men laugh at me? "If we regard ministers," says the The Dr. says, "The gospel cannot be preached to all without a national provision." Very true, if such hirelings as covet the loaves and fishes on the government table are to be the only preachers-if we can get no other than Oxford, Cambridge, Trinity, or Edinburgh usually manufacture-if "filthy lucre and not a "ready mind" shall continue to be the prompter-if you and your peers will perpetuate your illegal dictatorship in the kingdom of Christ. Gather your legions, Dr. stand to your arms; I have a battery which will tell upon your batallions worse than the artillery of the allies upon the ranks of Russia! You think that because the gospel is not spreading with the present instrumentality, it cannot do so till government and people pay more liberally. Now Dr. let me show you, and the multitudes who think with you, what your college spectacles and their ignorant credulity never will enable you to discover-God never appointed the means which are in operation, and He has appointed means which the clergy and others decry. If this is true, we need not wonder that the gospel does not spread with rapidity, nor that the churches are in a decaying state. The Head of the church can only honor what honors Him-that which He has instituted. Will He disregard His own laws and institutions to sanction the inanities and superstitions of Pharisees and Scribes? Let this sentence tingle in the ears of this generation"In vain do ye worship me, teaching for doctrines the cominandments of men.' We must never confound the exhibitions of Christianity with itself, as it is pourtrayed in the Bible. They are sometimes wide as the poles assunder. Anti-Christian usurpers teach that none but men in office can preach and administer the ordinances; and the people are thoroughly impregnated with the imposition. The doctrine I combat is as repugnant to common sense as to Scripture. That which a man understands to his salvation, he dare not preach to a room full to save them from perdition! I read of the whole church in Jerusalem preaching the gospel, and that the Lord confirmed the work. I read of the Christians assembling for mutual edification, but such a plan would compromise the dignity of the clergy, and raise up far too many eloquent men and mighty in the Scriptures. We hope to return to this pamphlet. CORRESPONDENCE. THE PENITENT THIEF. To the Editor of the Millennial Harbinger. Mr. Editor,-If you think proper to insert the following remarks, I shall take it as a favor. I feel persuaded that you do not, any more than myself, see good ground for the premises taken by Christianus," page 555 of last volume. Let us read the passage again. "And one of the malefactors railed on him, saying, if thou be the Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation, and we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest iuto thy kingdom! And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, to-day shalt thou be with me in paradise." We may notice the faith and prayer of this man, and the answer given him. Those of the bystanders who said to Jesus, "If thou be the Christ, save thyself, and come down from the cross," were not in earnest, and what they said was in mockery and hatred. The other malefactor seems to have been of the same mind, joining in the railings of the mob, and re-echoing their sentiments. There was an absence of sincerity in their requests, and an utter want of sympathy with the sufferings of the Redeemer. But the prayer of the penitent malefactor was sincere, and it was the prayer of faith. He did not say, if you be the Christ, and if you are to have a kingdom, remember me; but, without doubt or hesitation, so far as we are informed, he thus earnestly presented his petition," Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom!" In this request he ascribed divine honors to Jesus, for he acknowledged that Jesus was a king - that he was God's anointed, and that he would certainly have a kingdom, but whether in this world or not, he did not say. We have no intimation given us that the dying man saw any other appearances about Jesus than those which indicated his speedy death, yet from some cause or other, he evidently believed that Jesus would have a kingdom, and that he had power on earth to forgive sins, or at least to give him a place in his kingdom when it was established. Let no one be deceived, however, in this matter. This case, like several others in which the Saviour showed merey to the guilty, was the exception, and not the rule, and in such an aspect it should be regarded by us. The faith of the dying penitent could not be exhibited to us by his works, but only by his language. Nor can any individual be again placed in similar circumstances. The last request of the dying man was immediately and favorably responded to, This day shalt thou be with me in paradise." This declaration of Jesus, soberly and truthfully viewed, and as interpreted by Jews and Christians, implies a promise of future happiness to the dying man. This is, I think, undeniable. Your correspondent appears to me to make assertions without proof. Because he does not know where or when the dying malefactor obtained his knowledge, he tries to make it appear that he possessed none, which seems to me very improbable. Never |