of the East, and abound in Europe, Africa, and America. This fact is so obvious, that I proceed to consider the predictions concerning their condition during their dispersion. "And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest." How strikingly does this refer to their numerous banishments from city to city and from country to country. Some of the most remarkable of these may be mentioned. In the latter end of the thirteenth century they were banished from England by Edward I., and were not permitted to return again and settle until the time of Cromwell. In the latter end of the fourteenth century they were banished from France (for the seventh time, says Megeray) by Charles VI. At the close of the fifteenth century they were banished from Spain by Ferdinand and Isabella, and, according to Mariana, there were a hundred and seventy thousand families who left the kingdom. These found refuge in Portugal, from which, however, they were soon expelled. No wonder, then, if, under these circumstances, they should, in the language of the prophecy, "have a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind."

In verse 29, it is declared, "ye shall be oppressed and spoiled evermore," and who that is at all acquainted with the history of this unfortunate people, knows not that this has been remarkably the fact in respect of them. In verse 32, it is declared,

"thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people." We find the accomplishment of this prediction in the fact, that in several countries their children have been taken from them to be educated in the Popish religion. The fourth council of Toledo ordered, that they should be shut up in monasteries to be educated in the Christian faith. "And when they were banished from Portugal, the king," says Mariana, "ordered all their children, under fourteen years, to be taken from them and baptized.

Again, in the 64th verse it is stated as a consequence of their dispersion, that they "should serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone." As the Jews have not generally been disposed to idolatry since the Babylonish captivity, it may be thought that this part of the prediction has failed. This is not the fact. They have been forced in many instances, to conform to the image worship of the church of Rome. The Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions, says Basnage, reduce them to the dilemma of either being hypocrites or being burnt; and the number of these dissemblers is very considerable. The same writer in another place remarks*—"The most surprising thing is, that this religion spreads from generation to generation, and still subsists in the

* Basnage, B. VII. C. xxi. Sec. 26.

persons of dissemblers in a remote posterity. In vain the great lords of Spain make alliances, change their names, and take ancient scutcheons, they are still known to be of Jewish race and Jews themselves. The convents of monks and nuns are full of them. Most of the canons, inquisitors, and bishops, proceed from this nation. This is enough to make the people and clergy of this country tremble.

In the meantime, Robio, who relates the fact, knew these dissemblers. He was one of them himself, and bent the knee before the sacrament. Moreover, he brings proof of his assertion in maintaining that there are in the synagogue of Amsterdam, brothers and sisters, and near relations to good families of Spain and Portugal; and even Franciscan Monks, Dominicans and Jesuits, who came to do penance and make amends for the crime they have committed in dissembling."

We return to the prophecy in verse 37th. "They shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations"-and, in verse 59, "their plagues shall be wonderful, even great plagues, and of long continuance." Both these statements have been remarkably fulfilled. Mohammedans, Pagans, and Christians, however widely differing on other subjects, agree in vilifying and persecuting this unhappy people-and in their desolate condition, they have now subsisted more than seventeen centuries.

We thus observe how remarkably the event has corresponded with the prediction, in regard to their being plucked from their own land-their dispersion through all nations, and their condition in that dispersion. The singular fact of their continued existence as a distinct people, is in exact accordance with what had been foretold. In Leviticus xxvi. 44, at the conclusion of passages similar to those which we have been considering, we find the following: "And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them." In regard to the fact here expressed, how striking are the observations of a writer already quoted-" What nation hath suffered so much, and yet endured so long? What nation hath subsisted as a distinct people in their own country so long as they have done in their dispersion into all countries, and what a standing miracle is thus exhibited to the view of the whole world."

Although not having any direct reference to the object had in view in this discourse, we cannot avoid here adverting to the inquiry, Why is this people so singularly preserved? Is it merely as monuments of the divine displeasure? or is it to furnish an abiding evidence of the divine legation of Moses, who has predicted all these things. Surely not. The Almighty yet has mercy in store

for them. This belief is founded upon many promises; for instance, that contained in Deut. xxx. 1-3. "And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee, and shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day-That then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee." We confidently anticipate that the fulfilment of this promise will afford another ground of faith to other and future generations.

I would now call your attention to the conclusion resulting from the discussion in which we have been engaged.

Here then is a prediction and its accurate fulfilment. The prophecy is of undoubted antiquity— the accomplishment under our own eyes-The fact of this correspondence remains to be accounted for

"Is human foresight-enthusiasm — conjecture-chance-political contrivance-adequate to the desired solution ?" "If," to use the language of a forcible writer,* "none of these are sufficient to account for the fact, then true philosophy, as well

*Key to the Prophecies, by David Simpson.