THE GASTERN QUESTION. VARIOUS PHASES. EGTfTIAll. miW^ RUSSIAl^. eneWAH. PPREW. AMEl^ICAH. md WESSIAHIC. J. p. WEETHEE. Author of COMING AGE, ARMAGEDDON AND OTHER PROPHETIC WRITINGS. Of WASHmC^ ^ COLUMBUS, OHIO. PRESS OF J. L. TRAUGER 1887. ENTERED ACCORDING TO THE ACT OF CONGRESS, IN THE YEAR 1887, By J. P. WEETHEE, IN THE OFFICE OF THE LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS, AT WASHINGTON. C. J. CAMPBELL, J. L, TRAUGER, 6LECTR0TYPER. PRINTER. Je 6ecl THE MAKER OF ALL THINGS, THE RULER AND DISPOSER OF. THE DESTINIES OF ALL NATIONS J Je Jesas> THE MESSIAH, THE SAVIOR, AND HEIR TO DAVID'S THRONE ,* TO STATESMEN, THEOLOGIANS, PHILOSOPHERS, AND LOVERS OF GENERAL SCIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE ; SACRED AND PROFANE; TO ALL THE SEARCHERS AFTER TRUTH, PIETY AND WISDOM, Tt)cse pages arc pai7)bl2j at)d S^Pceret^ O^dtcated^ WITH THE MOST DEVOUT PRAYER, THAT THEY MAY BE ABUNDANTLY BLESSED IN BRINGING MANY TO THE REDEEMER. J. P. WEETHEE. Contents. EGYPTIAN PHASE. CHAPTER T. From the Formation of His Empire to His Death, A. D. 632 — Land of Israel Fertilized — Arabian Dynasty of the Mohammedan Empire — The Origin of the Roman Em- pire — Mohammedan Empire— By What Means the Land of Israel is Fertilized — The Term Water, its Various Meanings — Mohammedan Empire Under the Dynasty of Caliphs — The First Caliphs and Their Mission — Their Successors — Fifth Caliph Additional Remarks — Wild Beasts as Symbols — Ottoman or Turkish Dynasty — Origin of the Turkish Dynasty — Second Saltan — Third Sultan — Prelude 27 CHAPTER II. Egypt — Description of Egypt — Its Peculiarities — How Fashioned — A Description of the People of Egypt — Egypt, Past History of its People — The Traditional Period — Monumental Period — The Labyrinth — The Lake Moiris — Pyramids — Prelude — A Step in Advance — A Terrible Hour — The Great Pyramid, Continued — Problems of Science — Time of Erection — Purpose of Erection — Hebrew Sojourn and Bondage — God's Claims over Egypt — God's Judgments of Egypt— A Look into the Future — Egyptian History, Continued— Predictions Regarding Egypt— God's Predictions — Close of Egypt's Supremacy — Explanation of Isaiah xix. 25 — Egypt under Babylon — Egypt under Persia — Egypt under Greece — Close of this Period — Egypt under Rome — Can the Moral Constitution of a People be Changed Without the Sub- version of its Political System ? — Egypt under Mohammedan Arabia, A.. D. 640 to A. D. 1250— Egypt still Degenerating 48 CHAPTER III. Egypt under the Turk, from A. D. 1517 to A. D. 1840, 323 to 328 Years— Had the Creator a Special Purpose in the Size of the Earth? — Suez and its Ship Canal — What Does the Drying up of the Euphrates Symbolize? — Second Question — Is it Necessary that the Ottoman Empire Should be Totally Annihilated Before the Coming of Christ for His People ? — Egypt in 1882— Its Present State — Its Uprising Its Results and its Bearings on the Future— Prelude — Certain Questions Con- sidered — Egypt in the Future — Prelude — Explanations — Egypt in the Future Way- Marks— Egypt's Union with Israel and Assyria— Fourth Way-Mark — Egypt in the Future— Fourth Way- Mark— The High -Way— Fifth Way- Mark— The Family of Egypt under the Joint Reign 69 BRITISH PHASE. CHAPTER IV. Propriety of the Name— Elements, Growth, and Mission of Great Britain, Stated and Outlined. British Phase — British Empire as it Now Exists— What has Christianity to do with Natural Science and Profane History? — Island of Great Britain — The British Shipping — By What Various Families and Races has the Island of Great Britain been Ruled? — The British or Saxon Empire — European Home of the Saxons 70 VI CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. Their Peculiar European Location — As Early as A. D. 141— Law of Distribution of the Human Family— Two Classes of Mankind — Distinct Migrations— Saxons in Their European Home — Its Divisions — Education on Land and Sea — Is There any Want of Harmony Between the Writings of Peter and Paul Eelative to the Future ? — A Difficulty Explained — Saxon Mode of Life in his European Home — Sea Kings? — Increase of the Anglo-Saxon — Saxon History — Geographical Location of the Sacse — Great Centre of Immigration — Saxons Traced from their Home in Southwestern Asia to their Location in Central Asia— Increase of Certain Nation- alities — The Decrease of Others — History of the Hebrews to the Captivity of the Ten Tribes — "A Light to Lighten the Gentiles and the Glory of My People Israel" — Is the Mystic Babylon of the Apocalypse an Asiatic or European City? The Ten-Tribed Kingdom, Continued — What Became of Jeremiah at the Fall of Jerusalem? — Ten-Tribed Kingdom in Captivity — Have the Throne and Kingdom of David a Continuous Existence? — Anglo-Israel — Is Jesus of Nazareth the Legal Heir to David's Throne? — Commercial Intercourse — Colonization Period 127 CHAPTER VI. Dan, the Head Tribe of Traffic and Colonization — The Sceptre of Judah — Points of Identity — Authors and their Views—Isaiah xviii. Examined, Explained, and In- terpreted — The Land here Intended 146 CHAPTER VII. The Eastern Mission of the British Empire — Eastern Policy of the British Empire Further Examined — Great Work for England — To Colonize the Jews in Palestine and Protect them 155 RUSSIAN PHASE. CHAPTER VIII. Who is Russia? — The Russian Field — Its Surface Configuration — The Tenant Adapted to the Field — Siberian or Asiatic Russia — Sons of Japheth — Who were the Scythians attacked by Darius the Mede? , 177 CHAPTER IX. The Northern or Russian Field under the Roman Empire — Tribal Russia, Continued — Russian Born 214 CHAPTER X. Russian History — The First Scandinavian Dynasty — Ruric A. D, 862-1505, 643 years — First Raid on Constantinople, A. D. 876— Second Raid, A. D. 908— Third Raid, A. D. 938— Fourth Raid, A. D. 1015— Fifth Raid, A. D. 915— Russians Converted to Christianity— Sixth Raid on Constantinople, A. D. 1043— Mogul Tartar Invasion, A. D. 1222 — Continuing Two Centuries and One Half — The Russian Monarchy under its Czars of Muscovy, A. D. 1533 to A. D. 1682, 149 years 229 CHAPTER XI. The Second or Romanoff Dynasty of the Russian Empire, A. D. 1598-1887— Russian Empire under Peter the Great— Will of Peter the Great— Death of Paul— Alex- ander L, A. D. 1801-1825— Nichola 256 CONTENTS. yH CHAPTER XII. Nicholas— Nihilism— Russian Aristocracy— Serfs— Michael Bakunin— War with Turkey Alexander II. — Birth — Death — Education — Life — Alexander III 274 CHAPTER XIII. Russian Empire from A. D. 1884 to the Close of the Millennal Age— Divine Record — Eze. xxxviii. 1-2. 4. 5. 7. 8. 9-12-13.— History in Full, of Tarshish— 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23.— Eze. xxxix. 1-8. 9. 10. 11. 17-21-25.— Zech. xii. 2-3. 4-8. xiv. 1-9— Close of Russian Phase 311 OTTOMAN PHASE. CHAPTER XIV. Origin of the Turk- Turko-Scythian Empire— Bertezena— Religion— Conquests— History 314 CHAPTER XV. Second Turkish Empire with Preliminary Families — Dynasty of Samanides, A. D. 874 to A. D. 999, 125 years— Dynasty of Gasnevides, A. D. 999 to 1183, 184 years— Mahmud — Massoud — Togrul Beg — Alp Arstan — Malek Shah — Change of Location Seljukian Empire — History 342 CHAPTER XVI. Third Turkish Empire — Ottoman Empire, (1) Othman, (2) Orchan, (3) Amurath First, (4) Bajazet, (5) Soliman, (6) Amurath II., (7) Mohammed II.— Life of Othman— Life of Orchan — Life of Amurath First — Life of Bajazet — Life of Soliman — Life of Amurath II. — Life of Mohammed II 346 CHAPTER XVII. Official Reign of the Ottoman Empire, from A. D. 1453 to A. D. 1887 — Constantinople — Bajazet II. — Selim — Solyman II. — Selim II. — Amurath — Mustapa — Othman — Amurath IV. — Mohammed IV. — Solyman II. — Ahmed II. — Mustapha II. — Ashmed III.— Mahmud I.— Othman III.— Mustapha III.— Abdul — Hamid — Selim III.— Mustapha IV. — Mahmud II. — Abdul Medjid — Abdul Azir — Review — Egypt — Ismail Pasha — Ottoman Empire as it Now is 370 HEBREW PHASE. CHAPTER VIII. Origin of the Hebrew Family — Size of the Land — Promises — Egyptian Epoch — Vast Increase — Their Bondage — Plagues Leave Egypt 391 CHAPTER XIX. Giving of the Law — Wilderness Life — Theocracy 401 CHAPTER XX. Twelve-Tribed Monarchy— Saul— David— Solomon — Ten-Tribed Monarch — Two-Tribed Monarchy — Long Captivity — 70 Years' Captivity — History of Judah to Birth of Messiah — Struggles — Remmant Build the City — Second Temple (Haggai) — Temple VIII CONTENTS. by Herod— Purim — Ptolemy Philadelphus B. C. 271 — Ptolemy Philopater — Jewish Persecutors — Seleucus Philopater, King of Syria — Antiochus Epiphanes — Eleazar and his Sons 477 CHAPTER XXI. Tenth Epoch of Hebrew History, from A. D. 1 to A. D. 70 — Birth of Christ to the Fall of Jerusalem — Christ Born — Genealogy — Life of Christ — His Teachings — His Acts — Control — Deportment — Death — Resurrection — 40 Days' Teaching — His As- cension — Comforter (Paraklete) — History of the Jews to A. D. 70 — Disciples — Siege and Fall of Jerusalem ^ 505 CHAPTER XXII. Eleventh Epoch of Hebrew History, from A. D. 70 to the Beginning of their Return — Times of the Gentiles — Christ's Predictions — Jews under Pagan Rome — Under Christian Rome — Under Papal Rome — Under Protestantism — Jews in England — Jews in Germany — In Switzerland — In Spain — In Denmark — Privileges Increasing 523 CHAPTER XXIII. Twelfth Epoch of Hebrew History, from the Present to their Return and Nationali- zation in Palestine — Have they a National Future? — Prophecies, Gen. iii. 15., Deut. xxxii. 8. 9. — Promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob — Isaiah — Jeremiah — Ezekiel — Daniel — Hosea — Amos — Zechariah — Jesus — Paul — John — Colonization Scheme , 538 AMERICAN PHASE. CHAPTER XXIV. i;^ew World — Agents — Why not Sooner Discovered ? — Its Location — Shape — Resources — Various Races — Which Shall Predominate? — First Settlement to the French and Indian War — Various States — Their Settlements — Puritans 563 CHAPTER XXV. The Birth Struggle of — Declaration — Surrender of Gen. Burgoyne — Campaigns of '76, '77, '78, '79, '80, '81 — Surrender at Yorktown — Various Nationalities — Constitution Seal of the United States — Administrations, 22, (1) George Washington, (2) Adams' Administration, (3) Jefferson's Administration, (4) Madison's Administration, (5) Monroe's Administration, (6) Adams' (J. Q.) Administration, (7) Jackson's Ad- ministration, (8) Van Buren's Administration, (9-10) Administrations of Harrison and Tyler, (11) Polk's Administration, (12-18) Administration of Taylor and Fill- more, (14) Pierce's Administration, (15) Buchanan's Administration, Preparations for a Rebellion, (16) Lincoln's Administration, War of the Rebellion, Causes of the War, (17) Johnson's Administration, (18) Grant's Administration (19) Hayes' Administration, (20-21) Administrations of Garfield and Arthur, (22) Cleveland's Administration — Presidents, of What Nationalities 601 CHAPTER XXVI. Summary — Egypt — Great Britain — Russia — Ottoman— Hebrew — American — Messianic — God's Purpose, Plans, as to the Earth — Colonization Scheme — Promises — Sons of Joseph — Messianic Enunciations — Great West — Manasseh — Conclusion — Coronation of Messiah — Restitution — Aspects of the Nations 639 PREFACE. In presenting a new work to the public it is very proper that, with its introduction, there should be a brief statement, of its nature and mission. Its name (Eastern Question in its Various Phases) is indicative of its character and of the work designed to be accomplished. The " Eastern Question " is a world-wide topic. All eyes are turned towards the Orient in anticipation of the introduction of some great National Crisis. Nations are arming and making vast preparations for the coming struggle. With their lips they cry peace, but war is in their hearts. Coming events in- dicate WAR ; such is the general feeling among the world's rulers. States- men speak of Eastern complications, and their difficulties of any peaceable solution : still they seem to assume their ability to secure (by their own inherent powers) a final settlement of affairs satisfactory to all great national interests. The earth (say they) is ours, to manage and govern as may best suit our own pride and selfishness; each nation, however, seeking her own special aggrandizement. The removal of the Ottoman Empire from Europe, is the dream of Russia, while the powers of Western Europe see, in such an event, the final overthrow of their OAvn nationalities. Russia aims at Universal Empire, as indicated in the will of Peter the Great. The western powers are not in darkness relative to the intention of the "Northern Autocrat." In all the great national movements of to-day nothing is said by the Monarchs of any other than their own claims to the diadem of the world. Jehovah's claim is ignored. The right of Messiah to the Empire of the whole earth is not once named; and I^is people are not in any of their plans. The "Eastern Question" therefore, in the estimation of human rulers and in the purpose of Jehovah, is quite a different problem. To put this question on its proper base is the intention of this work. We have traced seven families from the days of the earliest prophe- cies, and have given the Divine record as to their location and work in the coming struggle. When the diadem was taken from the head of (IX) X PREFACE. Zedekiah there was to be a continued transfer by Jehovah who possesses the right to dispose of it as He sees fit, till He (His Son) should come whose right it is, to whom it shall be given. It was to be given to Gentile monarchies till the Heir to David's throne (Jesus the Messiah) should be ready to receive it from His Father. The Diadem went from the head of Zedekiah to the head of the King of Babylon. From that power it was removed to the Medo-Persian Power; then to the Grecian, and finally to the Roman and Romano-German. In this family it remains till Jehovah claims it for His Son. The " Eastern Question," in its true construction, concerns those events predicted by God's holy seers, the record of which is in the Bible. We have aimed to give those events a full and complete examina- tion. We have followed the one great Colonization Scheme, or the outward movement from the original centre ; have sketched the progressive coloni- zation of the world, closing with the view of the Western Hemisphere, and the gradual rise of a new people and a new Empire. We have called attention to the second movement, that of the Resti- tution. Our field of investigation is the world. The reign of Messiah is sketched and fully investigated. Our work must interest all classes of intelligent readers. It is a work for the Statesman, the Theologian and Philosopher. We do not fear criticism as to our subject : it is above human thought or purpose. It deals with the Divine purpose and plans relative to the Messiah, and the future of His territory and dominion. Read^ ponder, and act. THE EASTERN QUESTION ITS VARIOUS PHASES. CHAPTER I. PRELIMINARY CHAPTER. The Eastern Question— Balance of Power— Questions— Another Form of the Eastern Question— Still Another Statement of the Problem — Points Involved in the Question — Europe and the East— Their Geographical Position — The Crescent and the Cross — The Circle Examined— Geographical Positions — Europe— Asia —Africa— The East Must be Renovated— An Outline of the Subject. Jehovah is abroad among the nations. His foot-prints are everywhere vis- ible. His voice is heard in the heavens, and the rushing of his chariot-wheels sounds along the cloud-pavements of his tempestuous highway. The elements of his wrath are gathering, soon to be discharged upon the corrupt world of mankind. His finger ia again seen writing upon the palace-walls of nobles, kings, and emperors. The masses are restless; a feverish excitement prevails. Many ai'e run- (/dng to and fro, and knowledge is increasing. Any unusual movement among the nations puts the world on tip-toe of expectation. God, as of old, is again showing his wonders in the land of Ham. He is collecting his forces to carry out his long predicted purposes. What mean these rapid developments? What bearing has this Egyptian uprising upon the Eastern Question? What location has it on the chart of prophecy? These problems we propose to investigate. THE EASTERN QUESTION. An expression quite familiar, but who can define it? It maybe presump- tion in us to make an attempt at a definition; still, it requires some knowledge of the Eastern Question in order to describe satisfactorily its Egyptian phase, for it has a phase for every nation involved in its numerous and still unfolding complications; as many phases as there are peoples to be gathered to the com- ing struggle. Among its most noted phases we may reckon its English phase, its Russian phase, its Turkish phase, its Hebrew phase, its Egyptian phase, its Mohammedan phase, and last, but not least, its Christian phase. We shall give our definition of the Eastern Question in various forms that the reader may discern its complicated elements. Our definition is the following: THE EASTERN QUESTION, BALANCE OF POWER. How can the balance of power, now existing among the Western or Euro- pean nations, relative to their intercourse with the Oriental nations, such as India, China and Japan, be so protected and maintained as not to infringe upon their individual rights, privileges and interests, political, social and religious? The great Western world and the great Eastern world must interchange their physical products, also their manufactured articles. They must have very extended commercial intercourse. To do this there must be channels of commu- nication, highways by sea and land. How shall these national highways be managed? Who shall control them? The solution of these questions must involve the Eastern Question. What highways now exist? How, and by whom are they controlled, and managed? By what laws and regulations? These are elements of the Eastern Question. This question will be more fully explained by considering the fol- lowing • QUESTIONS. 1. What national highways between Europe and the Orient now exist? 2. Who now control, or are the custodians of these great Eastern high- ways? 3. If the Sultan is deposed, who shall accomplish that task, and what nation shall fill his responsible office? 4. Shall Russia or England control those highways? 5. If neither, shall Russia manage the northern channel and England the southern? 6. Shall they be held and operated conjointly? 7. Or shall they be strictly neutral, but under the care of a new custo- dian, who shall (ofiicially) manage them? 8. Who shall be that custodian or commission nation? These problems are parts of the great Eastern Question which we propose to consider. AXOTHER FORM OP THE EASTERN QUESTION. Another form of the Eastern Question is the following: What position shall. each nation occupy in the coming struggle? What shall be its military status? Another question arises: How can there be a free commercial intercourse between the East and the West without bringing on a conflict between the Crescent and the Cross? How can either Jesus or Mohammed put on the dia- dem of the world without an entire subversion of the present order of things? Both classes of religionists are expecting their chief to establish universal dominion. Which shall conquer? What shall be the nature of the struggle? Such questions as these must claim our attention. STILL ANOTHER STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM. Allow us to give another statement of the Eastern problem. What shall be done with the Turkish empire and its territory in order to restrain the Rus- EGYPTIAN PHASE. sian bear from devouring the national flesh of Asia, and thus causing ruin to the Eastern interests of all Western Europe ? For a century the Western nations have been anticipating the dissolution of the Ottoman empire (the empire of "The sick ma.n'"— Voltaire.) How can that empire be sustained? Or, if it must fall, what disposition shall be made of its territory? The geographical position of Russia, and also of Austria favors the idea of its absorption by those two powers. How can the West prevent this catas- trophe? Or, if the Turkish empire cannot be held in being as a check to Rus- sian aggression, by what other means can Western Europe protect her own interests? The British and Russian empires, with equal areas, (8,000,000 square miles each) seem designed to head two great national confederacies, which from their geographical position maybe termed, Northern and Southern, and in pro- phetic language, " King of the South," and " King of the North." This outline will be filled out as we advance. Take notice, however, that the empire of the "False Prophet" has its location in the great conflict. Rev. xvi, 8; xix, 20— Mohammedan empire as we have taught for twenty-five years. POINTS INVOLVED IN THE QUESTION. The Eastern Question involves the entire international communications of the West with the great East. In its full extent America would not be excluded, though in its ordinary meaning Europe and Asia, with a part of Africa include all the territory particularly interested. We propose to consider the following questions, which will develop the jmncipal elements of the great Eastern Problem and fix the position which each nation is to occupy in the approaching contest. 1. We shall consider their geographical position. 2. We shall sketch the vastness and the variety of their products. 3. The immense power involved in the interchange of these products. 4. We shall examine their channels of communication— national high- ways. 5. Their limited number and contracted form require greater activity in the exchange. 6. The qualifications in the custodian and exchange-merchant to manage efficiently these channels of communication. 7. We shall show the incompetency of the present occupants, the Sultan of Turkey, and the Khedive of Egypt, his Viceroy. 8. God is educating and prej^aring one to fill this high station. 9. How and by whom are the present custodians to be removed? 10. How shall this new custodian be inducted into his office? 11. What position shall each nation occupy in the coming struggle? Such is the outline of the subjects we propose to investigate. ^ In doing so we shall strive, in as few words as practicable, to show the political, social, and religious aspects of the Eastern Question; and, more partic- ularly to point out the future of Egypt and Turkey. 4 THE EASTERN QXJBSTION, I.— EUROPE AND THE EAST— THEIR GEOGRAPH- ICAL POSITION. Under this head we shall consider their size and their reiatve position, with such other points as may illustrate our subject. Touching the great sea (Mediterranean) are the three grand divisions, Europe on the north, Africa south, and Asia on the East. An oblong basin of brine, with sides and rim composed of semi-continents. Let us examime this noted territory. THE CRESCENT AND THE CROSS. Set one foot of the compass at Jerusalem, and with the length of that sea as a radius, describe a circle. Through this centre draw two diameters, cut- ting each other at right angles. The four extremities will represent the four cardinal points, north, south, west and east. From the east point, with the same radius, describe an arch, having its extremities in the circumference of the circle. You have a circle, a crescent and a cross, symbols of the two great religions of the world. Within the circle are included the localities of the noted events of man's history; the place of his birth; the garden of Eden; the empires of Egypt and ancient Israel under Solomon; the territories of the four Gentile morarch- ies, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome; and the land of the future restored Israel. The crescent includes the empires of China and Japan (prin- cipally) and contains nearly one-half the population of the globe. With this circle and its crescent we are now concerned, as they include the territory principally involved in the Eastern Question. THE CIRCLE EXAMINED. Let us examine this circle. Europe occupies its north-west quadrant. Its north-east quadrant contains Babylonia and Persia; its south-east quadrant has Arabia; its south-west quadrant contains Egypt and Carthage. Each quadrant has had its noted empire, and its interesting historic record. In the crescent is the Mongolian family, on a territory of surpassing interest. Clustering about this mid-earth sea is the national swarm. The principal nations of the globe either occupy its coasts or navigate its waters, the high- way between the West and the East, This water highway has three princi- pal gates: 1. The channel or ocean outlet. 2. Dardanelles. 3. Through Egypt by the Suez canal. These are water outlets for ships of commerce. This water highway between Europe and the West, and the Orient, extends east and west, occupying the southern part of the northern temperate zone, extending from latitude 30:^° to latitude 42°. It is the zone of human intellect; the belt of empires, where man attains his highest development. Within the area of our circle, and about its middle belt of waters cluster those nations that are so deeply interested in the solution of the Eastern Problem; all striving to gain their full share of the immense wealth of India, China and Japan, with their adjacent islands. GEOGRAPHICAL POSITIONS EUROPE. In this circle of human action, physical, social, moral, and political, let us EGYPTIAN PHASE. 5 again take a view of the geographical positions of Europe, Asia, and Africa, with tlieir environed sea. Europe occupies her northern sea coast with all its lakes, rivers, gulfs and bays, and it is crowded with dense masses of the Cau- casian race, the most active, intellectual, and fully developed of the human family; actively occupied with all human knowledge and all industrial pur- suits. With a territory of the same extent as that of our Republic, it has a population of 302,000,000. The products ot the soil cannot feed its inhabi- tants, while its manufactories are far in advance of her home demands. Europe therefore, must have an outlet for her surplus productions. It is properly denominated the world's commercial metropolis. Its vessels are on every ocean, in every sea of both hemispheres. Europe looks eastward for a large portion of its territory. ASIA — AFRICA. Examine the map of Asia, especially that part of it within our circle and its crescent. With a population of 700,000,000, its soil cannot feed the masses. It must look to other countries for some of its provisions. If this Asiatic belt had an European population, circumstances would have quite another aspect. But with races without intelligence or industry, poverty and want must follow. Much of the Asiatic soil is uncultivated and waste. Its moral, social, and political conditions compare favorably with its physical state. They all require renovation by associating with the active and intelli- gent West. Our circle includes all of Africa that has any historical record. Take from that grand division, Egypt, and those states along the Mediterranean, once included in the empire of Carthage, Rome's rival, and nothing remains but semi-barbarous tribes. THE EAST MUST BE RENOVATED. Asia was once enlightened with the gospel, but long since its light was extinguished, and its Christian lamp-stand removed. In these Eastern move- ments God has evidently one purpose, while man's intention is actuated by other views. It is quite evident, however, that God, as of old, rules among the nations, and all that he has uttered by the prophets will certainly be accomplished. The nations will rapidly be mustered into the places to fulfil their divine commissions. Lord hasten the day. In the preceding pages we have given an outline of the subject. It will be readily seen by the readers of the "Coming Age," that the present volume will be supplementary to that extended topic. The following pages will afford abundant evidence of its nature and proximity. Though the future brings to view two ages, the reign of subjugation, (for, "He must reign till he hath jjut all enemies under his feet," during which Christ is performing the work of his regal office;) the joint reign where Father and son reign together, as on the new earth; yet, we have called it one age, since it is the age of Mes- siah, he being personally present under each reign, and their Maker. CHAPTER II. Question Stated — ISTational Eivals— England and Russia — J!^oted Powers of Approach- ing Conflict — Policy and Movements— Triple Empire— Egypt — The Turkish or Ottoman Empire— What We Must Keep in View — The Eastern Question and Its Various Complications— "The Time of the End. "—Egypt— Arabia— Geo- graphical Aspects of Arabia— The People of Arabia —Job— Indolence of Arabs — The Prophet of Arabia— Is Arabia Within the Boundaries of the Future Land of Israel?— What are the Boundaries of the Euture Land of Israel?— Moham- med's Early Life.— From His Marriage A. d. 598 to His Flight From Mecca to Medina A. D 622— From the Time of His Fight to the Conquest of Arabia A. D. 630. QUESTION STATED. We have attempted to define the "Eastern Question," We shall keep that problem before our readers, since it is the absorbing theme of the present and near future. We shall clothe it with a variety of costumes to suit the various phases. In its broadest signification it is the following: How can the West secure an extended intercourse with the East, without any hindrance from the North? In its common acceptation, and in a more restricted sense, we define it as follows: How shall the nations of Western Europe, especially England and France, and, more particularly England, deal with, control, and dispose of the Turkish Empire and its territory, as best to promote its inter- ests, political, social, and religious, and make the most effectual barrier against the advances and aggressions of Russia, with her great Northern Con- federacy of kings? How can she best keep her Eastern channels of commu- nication open and free? NATIONAL RIVALS ENGLAND AND RUSSIA. England and Russia, with equal territories (8,000,000 square miles each,) head two great national confederacies. The latter holds Northeastern Europe and Northern Asia, while the former controls the larger portion of South- ern and southeastern Asia. Between these Northern and Southern Empires is located the Ottoman, or Turkish Empire, or in a prophetic sense, the Empire of the False Prophet. The Southern, and the Turkish empires, are situ- ated in the zone of empires; the Russian Confederacy lies north of that belt, yet with her face and her cannon turned southward. The Russian bear is not EGYPTIAN PHASE. 7 content with his winter home. He dreams of, and longs for the sunny south. He anticipates the day when his banners shall wave over the proud capital of the old Greek Empire; when the golden horn shall be his, and the Dardanelles shall be guarded by his own cannon, when having annihilated the Turkish Empire or driven it beyond the ancient boundry, the Euphrates, he shall stand face to face before the southern lion; the lion and the bear; and the Babe of Bethlehem shall rule them; an event to the Christian, anticipated with exceed- ing joy. NOTED POWERS OF APPROACHING CONFLICTS. The Northern, Southern and Middle Empires, are the noted powers of approaching national conflicts. Their interests are diverse, socially, religiously and politically. The national interests of the Ottoman Empire look, rather towards England than to Russia. It is the policy of England to sustain the Turkish Empire, that of the northern confederacy to pull it down. England has no mission at Constantinople, nor in the north. Russia desires to locate her seat of empire in that ancient capital of the Caesars, and hold the territory of the Greek Empire, while England desires to hold the Ottoman as a rampart against the king of the north. The British mission lies south and east of her northern rival. The circle and the zone are the fields of her enterprises. Northern Asia is too icy for the British lion. He will find it to his national interest, thei'efore, to protect the Sultan till he fully matures his southern and eastern schemes of imperial gran- deur. POLICY AND MOVEMENTS. The Eastern problem has its solution in the policy and movements of this triple Empire. Its policy and acts we design to follow. Whatever, therefore, has a bearing upon the relative operations of England, Russia and Turkey, will form a step in the solution of the Eastern Question, which is our specialty. Have we symbols for these three powers? Let us examine the Apocalypse. In Rev. xvi, 13, 14, we have the following: "And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs (come) out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils (demons), woi'king miracles, (which) go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty." TRIPLE EMPIRE. This triple empire is an embodiment of all the nationalities arrayed against the Messiah and his kingdom. The dragon, the beast (fourth beast of Dan. vii,) and the false prophet, are satan's field-marshals, having control of his grand army in the battle of Armageddon. In that host are mustered all the votaries of false gods and false religions; the dragon being a symbol of the pagan family under the king of the north, the beast and his family, including the Western Romano-German nations, and the false prophet, the Mohammedan world. Under these three banners will be gathered all the enemies of the cross. 8 THi; EASTBEN QUESTION, The unity and perspecuity of our subject (the Eastern Question), and the clear understanding of the divine Word demand that we present this triple empire under all its phases and bearings. To do this satisfactorily to the reader, the motives which inspire the movements of these three anti-christian powers, as well as the plans of Jehovah, in thus opening the way for the be- ginning of the triumphant reign of Christ, His beloved Son, must be fully developed and critically explained. EGYPT. Egypt, is simply a subordinate element of the Turkish Empire, though pro- phecy requires in her great changes. Prime motive powers of the triple empire. Erase Japan, China, and the East Indies from Eastern and Southei'n Asia, and the kings of the north and of the South might drink their wines quietly at the same table; the objects of their jealousies being removed. The boundless wealth of the Orient excites the cupidity of England and Russia. The king of the north, as the sovereign of Northern Asia, aims to divert the immense resources of those eastern nations into more northern channels, and thus rob the southern empire of its eastern wealth. The king of the south, penetrating his designs, forecasts his devices to defeat the grasping plots of the northern foe. He handles Turkey as the Chinese wall of Western Asia. In consequence of the mutual jealousies of the northern and southern con- federacies, guided by Russia and England, the Turkish Empire has been, and still continues to be, the custodian of the channels of communication between the East and the West. Through that empire the products of the East must pass of necessity. Questions here arise whose answers are complicated: First, Is the Sultan an intelligent, and a safe custodian? Second, Could these channels be safely used without a custodian? Third, If not, what nation can supply its place? Fourth, Is God educating a nation to fill that office? In forecasting the future let us investigate the three parts (Turkey, Russia and England) of this triple empire. 1. The Ottoman Empire, its past, present and future. In doing this we shall outline her history, sacred and profane. (1.) What has God said of this empire? (2.) What has been accomplished? (3.) What part of her prophetic history is still futuKe? THE TURKISH, OE OTTOMAN EMPIRE, in its relation to prophecy may not be fully understood. We have come to such a conclusion from the terras applied to it by expositors. It is called, very generally, "The great river Euphrates." This we shall examine in our outline history of that empire. Writers follow the reigning dynasty rather than the empire. This view leads to a rather erroneous construction of the prophecies. The prophetic symbols of the four Gentile monarchies point to the monarchies themselves and not to their various dynasties, or ruling families. Each king- dom had many dynasties. Families become extinct, while the government is perpetuated. In this triple empire of the .great day what a vast variety of dynasties are included in the fourth kingdom. The same is equally true of its EGYPTIAN PHASE. 9 dragonic element. Why, then, should the empire of the false prophet, the third of the triple empire, be limited to the Turkish dynasty? WHAT WE MUST KEEP IN VIEW. We must keep in view the history of each of the four monarchies, as they existed under various ruling families. With the Babylonian and Persian em- pires we are not now to write. Still we may say that the Persian Empire was composed of two very distinct people — the Medes and the Persians; each being composed of many dynasties. This is true of the fourth monarchy. It had its pure iron, and its iron and clay mixture. The fourth beast had the Grecian brass. Since the empire had its origin in Mohammed, the prophet, we should call his empire after his name rather than after either of his dynasties, Saracenic, or Turkish. It is properly the empire of the false prophet; still in prophetic language, it is the perpetuation of the Macedonian Empire — the third kingdom of Daniel. On a certain territory a kingdom was erected. The first is called Babylon. On another distinct territory a second was erected; this we call Medo-Persia. On a third location a third kingdom grew up, called Greece, or Macedonia. This had its former and latter times. The Moham- medan Empire has occupied this territory for the last four centuries. It is not a fifth universal monarchy, but the perpetuation of the third monarchy. We use the term Turkish or Ottoman dynasty of the Mohammedan Empire, the perpetuation of the Greek Empire or empire of the false prophet — the religious element predominating, and, therefore, carrying the name. Christ said my kingdom is not of this world rov uoffjxov Mohammed's is of this world rov KOGjJLOV — a royal high priesthood; it is proper, therefore, that this should constitute a part of the triple empire. The lessons taught us in what we have here stated, is simply this: the overthrow or driving back of the Turk- ish dynasty is not of necessity, the annihilation of the domination of the false prophet, since another dynasty (Arabian or Saracenic) might arise to sustain the creesento With these as introductory, before us, we are prepared to sketch the his- tory of the empire itself. Mohammed, early in life, formed the design of giving to his nation (the Arabian), and through it to the world, a new religion. He was soon led to see that this could not be accomplished by moral suasion. He saw that the national government must first be removed. His motto was, The Koran, tribute or the sword. His own country fell before his fanatical arm; Syria was then added to his dominion. Conquests now followed with great rapidity. The caliphs, his succesors, extended his empire over nearly all the east, south, north and into the more distant west. For the benefit of those readers who have not seen the history of the em- pire of the false prophet in the "Coming Age," we subjoin the following sketch of Mohammed and his empire, since a clear understanding of this ele- ment of the triple empire of Rev. xvi, 13 is necessary to a proper comprehen- sion of our subject. THE EASTERN QUESTION ITS VARIOUS COMPLICATIONS. We have already stated that the Eastern Question is our specialty. Our 10 THE EASTERN QUESTION, reasons for so doing will appear as we progress. In attempting to solve this problem we shall be obliged to examine its principal phases, and its various complications. If, at times, we seem obscm-e, and deficient in method, the reader must overlook these weaknesses. So many thoughts press their claims to precedence, that, like recruits, it is a severe task to keep them in rank or under any proper and necessary discipline. Too numerous to count — their name is legion. A few specimens will illustrate our difficulties. We cannot take our pen to compose without such thoughts crowding for utterance as the following: "the time of the end." We are evdently living at the "Time of the end." Who ever saw the world in such a bustle as at present? No walking about. All are in haste; running to and fro, as if they had something vital to do or to communicate. No sooner is one invention legally patented than it is thrown aside by one superior. We must be down among the shadows of the last days. Time flies; who can discern the next scene in the world's great drama? Is it the advent Is it the rapture? Who, then, will be taken? Where taken? How long in the heavens? What will the nations be about during that time? Is the world in the condition predicted at Christ's return? Where is the Hebrew nation? Are not its elements still among all nations? Who will gather Judah and Israel? We know Judah by his face; but where is Israel? What is his other name? Is it Saxon? Is it Britain, or German? What is the mission of England? What the position of the United States? Position of Russia? Position of Britain in the coming contest? What will be the fate of the Otto- man dynasty? What will be the position of Germany, France, Spain, Austria and Italy? What are the three angels? The three unclean spirits? The Dragon? The Beast? The False Prophet? What shall be the fate of the Mohammedan Empire? The fate of the Dragon? Of the Beast? Where will the Russian army fall? Will it be composed of all the Eastern idolatrous nations? What is the Euphrates of Rev. xvi, 12? Who are the kings of the east? What is mystic Babylon? What three systems of false religions control the three em- pires of Satan's triple empire? What countries will be united with Palestine in Israel's restored nationality? Will Egypt be in that nationality? Will Assyria be one of its parts? Will the British lion be there? Who gathers the powers to the battle of that great day? Will Japan, China and India be gathered to the final onset in the army of the Dragon? Will the emperor of Russia command them? In what order will the false systems of religion be overthrown? Will it be inversely as their light; the great apostasy first, then the crescent, and last paganism? Do not Rev. xvii, xviii, xix, and xx, teach that order? EGYPT. Egypt is a part of the Turkish or Ottoman dynasty of the Mohammedan Empire, partaking, however, more of the Arabian or Saracenic dynasty, than ^ of the Ottoman. Her population and her religion are principally Arabian. The Mohammedan Empire is founded upon the union of church and state; the altar, however, rules the throne. What position will Egypt occupy in the ap- EGYPTIAN PHASE. 11 preaching contest? This will be examined and answered in its pi'oper order. For a new prophet, a new religion and a new Empire, it was necessary to select a new territory; one outside of the boundaries of the four Gentile mon- archies. Such a land was found in the Arabian peninsula, inhabited by a peo- ple dwelling alone and free. This country was wisely selected to be the home of this extraordinary people and religioM of this remarkable empii-e. We shall now describe the land, the people and the prophet, his religion and his empire, as it existed under himself, his caliphs constituting the Ara- bian or Saracenic dynasty; and under the Sultans which formed the Turkish or Ottoman dynasty of the Mohammedan Empire. ARABIA. 1. Arabia is a name variously derived. It is derived by some from Araba — level waste. Such is not Arabia. Others say it comes from Eber — wan- derer — same meaning and derivation as the word Hebrew. Others derive it from the Hebrew word Arab — to go down — since Arabia was towards the go- ing down of the sun to the inhabitants on the Euphrates. The Hebrew word Arabah — barren place — would suit part of Arabia. Allow us to add another derivative to the above list. The Hebrew verb ^"^^ (a-rav), He lay in wait, hid, concealed himself, entrapped, seized, rushed upon, plotted, devised evil. Deut. xix, 11; Job xxxi, 8; Jer. li, 12. Hence, also, we have ^'^5^ (a-rev) a den, lurking place. So likewise, ("^2*1^^ (areb-beh) locust, the most ravenous and destructive insect. The noun ^'^^ {a-rav a-rab) is applied to the inhabitants of Arabia because they, like wild beasts, always lie in wait to seize upon their prey. Jos. xv, 52. Arabia is the original home of the locust. It is the Arabian or Locustian peninsula. One of the Egyj:)- tian plagues originated in central Arabia. Ex. x, 13, 14. GEOGKAPHICAIi ASPECTS OP ARABIA. Arabiaa peninsula, triangular in shape, in length 1,500 miles, and half that in width, containing 1,200,000 square miles, and a population of about 4,000,- 000. An oblong basin, with two-thirds of its rim well watered, fertile, and abundant in its various productions, while the vessel itself is full 'of mountains, rocks and sands, driven by the deadly simoon. Above is the cloudless sky and the burning sun. It is like the apple of Sodom; without fair, but within, full of dust and sand; the original home of the horse, the camel and the locust, which last has given the country its name. It is the land of "the terrible wilderness." Without one navigable river, or any railway, its internal commerce is car- ried on camels, "the ships of the desert." That country composed of rocks, tempestuous sands, and a waste howling wilderness has been a theater where the God of Israel has exhibited his wondrous acts, and his immutable pur- poses. It has its Sinai, where the law was given to Moses amidst lightnings and thunders, voice of the trumpet. It has its horrible wilderness, God's school house where he instructed and disciplined his people for the space of forty years. It is the home of Mohammed, who, with the Koran in one hand, and the sword in the other, pierced and demolished the thrones of idolatry both in 12 THE EASTERN QUESTION, the heathen world, and among the nations of apostate Christianity. It is the original seat of a religion and an empire which spread over and conquered the Eastern world, has stood the shocks of more than twelve centuries; and which now has a church of 180,000,000 of most fanatical, zealous and devoted mem- bers. Who cannot trace the divine foot-steps among the nations? THE PEOPLE OF ARABIA, 2. The inhabitants of Arabia are as remarkable as the country itself. It was at first the land of Cush. They, passing away, were succeeded by the family of Shem, Ishmael being only a naturalized citizen at a later date, "Ara- bicized." It was first settled by Joktan, grandson of Shem. His family being pure Arabs; the descendants of Ishmael "are held to be only Arabicized." Joktan's thirteenth son was called Job-ab, a name compounded from Job and Ab — father. Father Job. Of Job we have a history in the Bible, and a book called after his name, the book of Job. JOB. Job was an Arabian prince; and from tradition and scraps of history it would appear that he, with his flocks, as a shepherd prince, made his way into Egypt, and under the express instructions of Jehovah, superintended the build- ing of the Great Pyramid, the sign in Egypt and wonder of the last days. Should it be established that Job is the Melchisedec, it will add much to the Arabian character since Job, in point of character is ranked with Noah and Daniel. Many Noble families in Arabia now boast of being descendants from Job, and also carry the same name. The land itself of Arabia, as well as of all other countries, has much to do in forming the character oi its inhabitants. They form two classes, the settled population, dwelling in towns and cities, and cultivators of the soil, and the Bedouins, or the roving inhabitants of the desert. INDOLENCE OF ARABS. Industry and enterprise are not Arabian attributes. An author remarks: "Arabia is the anti-industrial central point in the world." Should we make the habitable globe with its moving masses a vast circular area, revolving around one common center, the Arabian would occupy that center while the Anglo-Saxon race would rapidly revolve near its circumference. Socially and morally they have been standing still for forty centuries, or at least from the days of Abraham. The nomadic Arabs are Ishmaelites, the descendants of Keturah. They have but little resemblance to the citizen descendants of Joktan. The country of Arabia has never been fully subjugated by either of the four Gentile 'uon- archies. This has been owing partly to their independent tribal existence, but more particularly their physical ramparts. No army can subsist in the sandy wilds of the interior. Prophecy indicates vast changes in the land, and also in the people of Arabia. What changes will be shown as we advance. To the future, therefore, we postpone this division of our subject. THE PROPHET OF ARABIA. 3. Mohammed's introduction to the outer world, was sudden and very egyptiajST phase. 13 extraordinary. All the east had fallen before the armies of Chosroes, the great king (of Persia) whose power and external pomp far exceeded those of Solo- mon. In the midst of his glory, when intoxicated with his own splendor, as a denii-god, a letter was handed him from an obsure resident of Mecca, com- manding him to receive Mohammed as the prophet and apostle of God. Mohammed then uttered this prediction, (the epistle being torn into fragments and thi-owninto the Karasoo river) "It is thus that God will tear the kingdom, and reject the supplications of Chosroes." This prediction was soon accom- plished by Heraclius, the Greek emperor. Who was this prophet that dared to utter such lofty aspirations? Moham- med the Arabian. Let us glance at his early years. Mohammed (the glori- fied) surnamed Aboul Cassem, was born at Mecca, the 10th of November, A. D. 570. He was descended from the tribe of Koreisk, the noblest and the most powerful in Arabia. His parents dying in his early childhood, he Avas placed under the care of his uncle, Abu Taleb, by whom he received the kind- est attention. IS ARABIA WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF THE FUTURE LAND OP ISRAEL? Is Arabia within the bondaries of the future land of Israel? So says Keith in his "Land of Israel." Snch is also the view of Major Scott Phillips, of London, in his "Curious and Original Discoveries, Concerning the Re-settle- ment of the Seed of Abraham in Syria and Arabia, with Mathematical and Geographical Scripture Proofs." Do the prophets teach that view? If Ara- bia is a part of the land of Israel, difficulties are obviated, and great results must follow. WHAT ARE THE BOUNDARIES OP THE FUTURE LAND OP ISRAEL? To the law and to the testimony let us appeal. What extent of territory did God deed to Israel? Let us examine the language and the sj)irit of the deed. The deed was originally executed to the seed (Christ). Then Abra- ham is included; after that the names of Isaac and Jacob are written in the deed; it then includes all of Abraham's seed by faith, and the whole earth is the deeded possession. This, it is conceeded is the land promised to Christ for his Hebrew and Gentile children, but our present inquiry simply reaches the land to be allotted to the future Judah and Israel after their return. What are its boundaries? Its western limit is the Great Sea. How far does it extend north, east and south? These are disputed points, in Ezek. xlvii, lo- ss, and xlviii, 1-3.5. The northern and southern boundaries extend to the Eu- phrates and to the Red Sea as will appear from Gen. xv, 18; Ex. xxiii, 31; Deut. xi, 24 and Chro. ix, 25. The question in dispute is the eastern boun- dary; is it the Dead Sea or the Sea of Oman? When it is fully settled that the future laud of Israel extends from the Euphrates and Lebanon on the north to the Red Sea on the south, and that the Mediterranean Sea extends along its entire western limit, the Dead Sea would be a very contracted and imperfect boundary for its entire eastern limit. The Sea of Oman occupies the entire east, and is the uttermost sea of Deut. xi, 24; and the east sea of Ezek. xlvii, 18. These boundaries include the peninsula of Arabia. The land of Israel would then contain 1,230,000 square miles. One district in China 14 THE EASTERN QUESTION, containing 210,000 square miles has a population of one hundred and eighty millions (180,000,000). Let the land of Israel be as densely populated, and it would contain about one billion of inhabitants, or more than three-fourths of the present population of the globe; ample room. Mohammed's eaelt life. The reason for dwelling upon the life of Mohammed and his new system of religion, and also upon the empire which he founded, is obvious; that empire, originating with the "False Prophet," and partaking of that new relig- ious element, is one of the three empires which constitute satan's triple or trinity empire in the approaching conflict: Rev. xvi, 12-15. These elementary empires cannot be too familiar to the reader; since, under their three leaders, all the powers of satan (the Antichrist) are combined. The early years of Mohammed were occupied with that severe disciplinej which was designed to give him success in his future mission. Though of the priestly tribe, his family being exceedingly poor, was without influence. It was, however, a means of giving to the early reflections of Mohammed a pious turn. It was at an extraordinary period in the religious world. Three dis- tinct systems of theology were then being taught in Arabia, and especially at Mecca, his native city, viz: the Sabean system, the Jewish system and the Christian system. The Sabean, the religion of Arabia, was the worship of the heavenly bodies. Its power over the intelligent, outside of the priesthood, had long since become obsolete. The Jewish system, originating in God's promises to the fathers, and reduced to system under Moses, was taught in the Hebrew colonies that had settled in northern Arabia after the overthrow of their commonwealth by Titus. The unity of God was there distinctly taught. The Christian system then taught in Arabia, came from Abyssinia and the Greek Empire, and was exceedingly corrupt, it being full of images and saint worship. Pure Christianity was, to Mohammed, an utter stranger. A vast amount of religious material was placed before Mohammed out of which to form a new system. On the business of his uncle he was called to mingle with Jewish and Christian communities. He had joined himself to those of his own country- men who had renounced Sabeanism; had listened to the expositions of Moses' laws, and had acquired some knowledge of apostate Christianity. Such, how- ever, was his poverty that no innovation was attempted till after his marriage, at the age of 28 years, A. D. 598. FEOM HIS MARRIAGE (A. D. 598) TO HIS PLIGHT FROM MECCA JO MEDINA (a. D. 622). Commencement of the Hegira. — This may be called the formative or constructive period; since during this period the materials which had been pre- viously coll'^cted, were systematically arranged, a new religion, sustained by the sword, was organized. It was a period of birth-throes during which the Arabian world was struggling to give birth to a new religious empire. We say religious, for that empire is the embodiment of religion and the sword; the EGYPTIAN PHASE. 16 union of church and state; the only empire that ever originated in the mind of one calling himself a prophet. Four years were occupied in making forty con- verts. Mohammed found it a severe task to remove from the Arabian mind its old religious ideas; and still more difficult so to prepare it as to germinate and give a vigorous growth to an exotic flora, such as suited his new religious thoughts. Gi'eat opposition sprang up as the number of his disciples multi- plied. It was finally resolved that Mohammed should be put to death. To divide their guilt it was determined that one from each tribe (for each tribe was independent) should drive a dagger into the heai't of the prophet. Mo- hammed, informed of the conspiracy, fled from Mecca to a cave in its vicinity, and finally reached Medina, sixteen days' journey to the south. EEGM THE TIME OF HIS PLIGHT TO THE CONQUEST OP ARABIA (a. D. 630). By calling the period just described, formative, we do not wish to be un- derstood that it includes the time of its growth. Like the tender scion, that shoots its head above the earth, continuing to grow upward, and to expand till it attains to full maturity, so was it with the Mohammedan Empire under Mohammed and his successors. At Medina his faithful gathered around him in numbers that soon became formidable. They learned his doctrines, and partook of his indomitable spirit. They were not to dispute for their creed but by the sword. This raode of propagating his doctrines suited the Ara- bians, and for the first time in the history of that country, all the tribes sub- mitted to be gathered into an empire. His armies increased. Paradise. — He taught his followers, who were all soldiers, to look for a sensual paradise. Success or even bravery, would be rewarded with sensual felicity here and hereafter. They rushed to the charge with a supernatural impetuosity, and courted death as the passport to the climes of immortal bliss. Christ and Mohammed have often been compared, but between them and their religious systems there is no analogy. Their coirtrasts, however, are worthy of particular notice. Christ and Mohammed Contrasted. — Jesus was the prince of peace; Mo- hammed that of the sword. By Christ the smoking flax was not quenched; by Mohammed, the sword was his prime minister The gospel of the Son of God is a system of love and peace; that of Mohammed is one of pure selfishness and revenge. Contrast, if you i^lease, the Koran with Christ's sermon on the mount; the one breathes the spirit of a loving brotherhood; the other hatred; the one is of the earth, eai'thy; the other is of the Lord from heaven. Under his banner of the Cresent the Arabian tribes in A. D. 629-30 were all subju- gated and united into a religious empire of irrisistible warriors. FROM the formation OF HIS EMPIRE TO HIS DEATH, A. D. 682. The union of such independent elements as composed the Arabian tribes was a grand achievement. Their national combination under a new religion and a new standard indicated a divine agency. To breathe into this new organic structure a vitality of more than twelve centuries, proves a higher agency than that of Mohammed. The period of this national birth shows it was raised up for a special work; and that it will continue till that work is 16 THE EASTERN QUESTION", accomplished. It was at a period of gross idolatry, when Mohammed was sent forth to found his Unitarian Empire. That empire was founded upon two propositions; the one a cardinal truth (There is but one God); the other a cardinal falsehood (Mohammed is his prophet — apostle). To erect an empire upon such a foundation required the sword; and it was used freely. The em- pire of the false prophet had a universal mission; it must necessarily be aggressive. Mohammed aimed to make Jerusalem the chief seat of his altar and his throne; to that end he ordered his armies into Syria. Mohammed was a Warrior. — He fought in person at nine battles. The sword he called the "key of heaven and hell;" a drop of blood shed in the cause of God, a night spent in arms, is of more avail than two months of fasting or prayer; whosoever falls in battle, his sins are forgiven; at the day of Judgment his wounds shall be resj)lendent as vermilion, and as odoriferous as musk; and the loss of his limbs shall be supplied by the wings of angels and cherubim. Such instructions infused into his soldiers a fearless and an unconquered zeal. The holy banner was again unfurled, and three thousand faithful warriors marched under it for the conquest of Syria. At the severely contested battles of Muta, fought by the Arabs or Saracens (robbers of the desert), and the Greek Christians under the emperor Heraclius was the first contest between the Cresent and the Cross. Since, that bloody conflict how many millions have fallen under those blood-stained banners, and will fall till the victorious banner of the King of kings and Lord of lords shall wave in triumph over a subjugated world. Lord, hasten that day of triumph. In the midst of his Syrian conquests, at the age of sixty-three years, Mohammed was called to meet the angel of death (A. D. 632). Here closed the life of the great high- priest of this rapidly expanding empire of Mohammed, the prophet of Arabia, after founding a new religion, (the Mohammedan) and kingdom. LAND OP ISRAEL FERTILIZED. Prelude. — By what agencies, and in what manner shall it be accom- plished? Water, combined with some othei* power, is admitted to be the chief agent of its increased fertility; but whence the water, and how applied we propose to discuss. 1. One view brings the water from the Great Sea, through an earthquake channel: Zech. xiv, 5. That theory is, in substance, the following: The earth- quake of Zech. xiv, will open a deep, broad channel from Azal on the Mediter- ranean Sea, in a line through the Mount of Olives, towards the Dead Sea. The waters of the Dead Sea being 1312 feet below the waters of the Great Sea, these latter waters, by the law of gravitation, rushing down this open channel, fill the Dead Sea basin; these waters, held in by surrounding moun- tains, rush down and clean out the old bed of the Jordan to the Red Sea. In this manner Jerusalem would be made the great seaport for the world's com- merce, and the land of Israel be made, in this manner a new Eden. This view has thrown around it one feature of interest, that of novelty. Can it be correct? We think not. Our space will not allow us to dwell on its diflicul- ties. Three objections will be sufficient to name: EGYPTIAN PHASE. 17 1. The theory assumes too much relative to the channel, a. By making Azal, Ascalon, it opens a long channel. Azal is a common (appellative) noun rather than a proper name. Its Hebrew is >)^^ and signifies standing still, ceasing; as a noun it means to the ceasing, or end. "My mountain valley," is the Valley of Jehoshaphat — lengthened eastward by the earthquake-valley which terminated toward the east at Azal; to the ceasing or end of their dan- ger, a short space east of the eastern base of the Mount of Olives, God pro- longs the Valley of Jehoshaphat, east through the mount for sudden escape. They pass through it to a place of safety. The new valley was east of Jeru- salem, h. The waters of the Great Sea would rush downward till they had filled the basin of the Dead Sea^ submerging Engedi (Eze. xlvii, 10), 900 feet; and En-eglaim 1240 feet, a somewhat moist place for drying nets. c. By actual measurment the waters of the Mediterranean and Red Seas have exactly the same mean level. The Dead Sea basin being filled to its brim, the three seas occupying the same level; how then could the okl Jordan bed be cleaned of its drift sands by any of these waters? Would the force of gravity allow any flow in these waters? When these objections are removed we have oth- ers to present. The affimative will appear before the close of this chapter. THE ARABIAN DYNASTY OP THE MOHAMMEDAN EMPIRE. The materials for Mohammed's new religion, and his new empire were gathered, educated and closely drilled for the work of their mission by Moham- med himself; but the mission itself remained to be executed by his immediate successors — Caliphs. The dynasty that succeeded him in his empire was called by various names, such as Arabian, Saracenic, Locustian and Caliphate, as pointing out the nation or the office. The dynasty was called Arabian because the people of Arabia composed it; and as Arab means locust, it was Locustian. The Arabs were called Saracens (robbers of the desei-t) by the Greeks and Romans; a name which made tremble the nations of Christendom. We can use either of the four, since Caliphate means succession and simply denotes the office. As Caliph signifies succession, the peculiarities of the suc- cession should be noticed, in order that the reader may the better understand the mission of the Mohammedan Empire. Mohammed's Caliphs or successors were to occupy the prophet's position in the new Empire; but Mohammed was a priest and a king; a royal high priest, with the throne subservient to the altar; the Koran was a civil code as well as the ruJe of faith. The Caliphs were under the Arabian dynasty, royal high priests. Under the first dynasty there was a union of the church and state — the church the chief thought, the state its subordinate adjunct, to aid it in its conquests. Thoughts exist in groups, one chief thought with its family of associated thoughts, as adjuncts or accessories. Thoughts become visible by giving them bodies; by an embodiment. The universe is the embodiment of a series of divine thoughts. The earth is the embodiment of one in that in- finite series. This chief thought has its family of subordinate thoughts. The chief thought in the earth's creation was to furnish a habitation for a being in his image, to govern the lower orders of animated nature; and himself to be under the pure and holy government of his incarnated son. As the earth pro- 18 THE EASTERN QUESTION, gressed in its series of developments, new families of thoughts sprang into being by assuming visible forms. Thoughts are either chiefs or accessories. A few examples will illustrate our meaning. The empires of the earth are embodiments, each one, of one chief or cen- tral thought with its families of subordinates and accessories. Man thinks, these thoughts assume visible forms. 1. Babylon, for instance, is a visible embodiment of a chief thought with its family of subordinates. Some person, standing upon the site, thought that it would make a desirable abode. It was made such, and the chief, and at first invisible thought, assumed a visible form, and was made a single dwell- ing place. Its growth was by the visible embodiment of families of accesso- ries. By investigating the elements of any embodiment we learn the charac- ter of the thought itself. .This primary chief thought which, by families, afterward grew into an empire, was, at first, the thought of one man, assuming the visible form of an earthly abode. The thought had no religious element. It was purely of the earth, earthy. Each of the four Gentile monarchies belongs to this class of thought. It was so of Persia, Greece and Rome. They were the offspring of wordly thoughts, without any religious element. The religious elements of the four empires were after thoughts, belonging to the families of the secon- dary accessory thoughts. THE ORIGIN OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. The allegation, designed to be established, will find a clear illustration in the origin of the Roman Empire. Romulus, walking in the vicinity of the Tiber, is struck with the peculiar beauty of a certain spot. A thought springs to birth: this would make me a pleasant home. This thought is subsequently embodied, and a visible farm home is the result. This chief parent thought gives birth to an endless progeny of thoughts, secondary, though related to the chief parent thought. The embodiment of the accessories constituted the village of Rome; then, by their increase, the village became a city; and in the revolution of ages, the mighty all-conquering Roman Empire. A simple thought springing up in the brain of one man, grows into an empire. It will be seen here, that religion was no attribute of this chief thought. The same is true, as we have already stated, of the four Gentile monarchies. Religion was the growth of after thoughts, born simply to aid worldly schemes. Our allegation which we purpose to establish, is this, the Mohammedan Empire in its origin, and, in its constituent elements, is unlike the empires that preceded it, and well deserves the name of a new empire, composed of a new religion, and a new code of civil jurisprudence; both systems originating in the mind of Mohammed and contained in a book called the Koran. In this empire a divine truth is the chief, primary thought — "One God." Born under a system of gross idolatry in whose Kaaba (square house) were 360 images, and he himself of the tribe of priests, a thought is born in the mind of Mohammed, which, when named, was called, "There is only one God." We do not pretend that this thought originated with Mohammed. The Ara- bian prophet got the thought from the mind of Moses; and Moses received it EGYPTIAN PHASE. 19 from God, "Here, O Israel, the Lord, our Goa, is one Lord:" Mark xii, 29; Deut. vi, 14. Mohammed, however, gives this thought of the divine unity, quite another origin: "Conveyed by Al Borak (the lightning) from Mecca to Jerusalem, he there, under the guidance, of Gabriel, passes upward through the seven heavens, saluting as he passes, the various ranks of men (Adam, Noah, Abra- ham, Moses and Christ) and of angels." Beyond the seventh heaven, he was alone, having transcended the limits of all other created beings. Passing the veil of the Divine Unity, his lightning steed hurried him onward to within two bow-shots of the throne, where, amidst the icy coldness that protects the mountain throne of light, he was touched by the hand of the Deity. Such an origin of the Divine Unity was sufficient to silence all his idolatrous objectors to his vievrs. This primary thought, enthroned as chief in the mind of Mohammed, soon begets a family of accessory thoughts; individuals of which ai-e as follows: "God is not begotten, neither is he a begetter; therefore Jesus is not the Son of God." 2. I am sent (apostle) of God to proclaim this truth (the divine unity) among all nations, as the article of faith and universal obedience. 3. The sword is the only effectual agent to accomplish such a change in human belief. Such was the origin of his empire. The embodiment of the cardinal truth (one God) with its primary adjunct (Mohammed is his apostle) gave to the world a new religion. The embodiment of the power of the sword origi- nated a new empire. Their union in the person of Mohammed constituted the original Mohammedan Empire; an empire peculiar in its origin and in its history. MOHAMMEDAN EMPIRE. The Mohammedan Empire, under Mohammed its founder, was a union of church and state, the state being subordinate. Since that empire is the proper offspring of Mohammed's brain, it should have the name of its father; and not that of a foreign dynasty (Ottoman). It is an empire, in the strictest sense, of a false prophet. It is a religious empire, a church empire; composed of a body of Unitarians — the great Unitarian church of the world. Its first dynasty of rulers was composed of Unitarian high priests. Its second dynasty of chief rulers, was civil, that being the predominating power. In the four Gentile monarchies, the civil is the original predominating element, in the Mohammedan Empire the religious element is supreme. In the four universal empires the throne was supreme. In the empire of the False Prophet the altar was supreme; it resembling the Papal Empire. The Mohammedan Empire may exist, and be one of the chief empires in Satan's triple empire, though its present dynasty be driven beyond the Euphrates, its ancient extreme western boundary. Late movements in the Mohammedan world, point to the restitution of the supreme power to the Caliphs, and the re-establishment of the Arabian dynasty. Under that dynasty the Mohammedan' Empire was in its zenith of glory. The power of the Caliphs was supreme. The belt of empires except a small fraction of the Latin and Greek Empires, was under their domination. 20 THE EASTERN QUESTIOK, They were the most absolute sovereigns then in existence. Their riches and splendor exceeded the Roman, even in the days of Trajan. By those that desire to master the events of the fifth trumpet, the Arabian dynasty of the Mohammedan Empire should be fully studied. BY WHAT MEANS THE LAND OP ISRAEL IS FERTILIZED. Prelude. — The land of Israel is not made productive by the circulation through it of sea- waters. Such waters are not "living watei's;" nor are they sufficiently elevated to circulate. Living waters belong to the natural system of irrigation; to that system which God renders efficient over lands of extreme fertility. The meteorology of the land of promise must resume its ancient laws. The former and the latter rains shall be restored and so modified as to satisfy the wants of every season, and their channels of distribution so arranged as to answer all purposes of a complete and perfect irrigation. That there will be such rain and channel systems over and in the land of Israel, the Bible most emphatically teaches. 1. The rain system of the land of promise will be restored and perfected. 2. Its channels of distribution shall be made efficient, and, in kind, perfect. 3. The result will be the fertilizing of the soil to such a degree that it will sustain a dense population. Let us hear the inspired prophets: "And there shall be upon every high mountain, and every high hill, streams of water in the day of the great battle, when the towers fall." Isa. xxx, 25. Copious rains are here implied. "I open upon the hills streams, in the valleys fountains, and make the desert pools of water, and the dry land springs of water." Isa. xli, 18. Abundant rains precede. "I will pour water upon that which is thirsty, and streams upon that which is dry; I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessings upon thy offspring." Isa. xliv, 3. Here literal water is a type, typi- cal and anti-typical waters. Literal or typical waters, and spiritual or anti- typical waters, having the same location. (See Isa. xliii, 20; xliv, 8; xlviii, 21; xlix, 10; Iviii, 11.) "I give them and the environs of my hill for a blessing, and cause the rain to come down in its time." Eze. xxxiv, 26. Here the rains are promised whenever, and in the places wanted. Their results are described in Isa. xxxv, 1, 2, "The wilderness and the sol- itary places shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose." In Eze. xlvii, 1-1 3, the waters and their healing and fertilizing properties, and their abundance are fully described; they are literal and typical waters. "And it shall come to pass at that time that the mountains will drop with wine, and the hills will flow with milk, and all the brooks of Judah will flow with water, and a fountain goes forth from the house of the Lord and waters the valley of Shittim." Joel iii, 18. Great physical changes are here implied. Since Shittim is in the land of Moab, east of Jordan, Num. xxxiii, 49, how could waters from Mount Zion now water the valley of Shittim? In Zech. xiv, 8, we have the following: "And it happens in that day, living waters go forth from Jerusalem, their half to the east sea, and their half to the west sea, in the summer and in the winter (continually) shall it be." These waters flow east and west over the whole land. Physical changes must precede such a flow. EGYPTIAN PHASE. 21 (More of this hereafter.) What are these waters? The term water, in the Bible, is used to express three classes of thought: a word with a triple mean- ing:— THE TERM WATER ITS VARIOUS MEANINGS. 1. Literal water; this is its ordinary meaning. 2. Nations and people are symbolic waters. Isa. vii, 7; Rev. xvii, 15. 3. There are spiritual (typical) waters. Nu. xvii, 6; Nu. xx, 11; See ISTu. xxxiii, 36, That stream followed Israel 3*7 years, literal waters; and, at the same time typical, as explained by Paul in 1 Cor. x, 4. Christ said, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink." Jno. vii, 37, 38. I am that typical rock, whence flowed the typical river that supplied my people. This fact, however, must be noted — these three classes of waters have their literal locations. These typical and literal waters described by the prophets are located in the land of Israel, and accom- plish their so-called work in that land. The literal waters fertilize the land of Israel; the spiritual waters purify the people of the land. Zech. xiii, 1. "For sin and uncleanliness," vs. 38, 39. "He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water;" explained v. 39. ("But this he spake, of the spirit, which they that believe on him should re- ceive; for the holy ghost was not yet (given); because that Jesus was not yet glorified.") As literal water to the thirsty soil, so are the spiritual waters to the moral world. Both the literal and typical waters shall flow from Mount Zion; the one the literal waters to fertilize the land of Israel; the other to wash the people from their moral pollutions. Both fountains are located in Mount Zion. MOHAMMEDAN EMPIRE UNDER THE DYNASTY OP CALIPHS. We have given our reasons for calling this empire Mohammedan, rather than Turkish. The Mohammedan empire is the brainwork of the false prophet Mohammed alone. He is its legitimate parent, both as to its ecclesiastical and its civil elements; it should therefore take the name of its father. Through the Koran, Mohammed rules that empire with equal power while dead, as when alive. He, through that book is the living father of a living empire. His successors were called Caliphs (Caliph means successor). They adop- ted the Koran, as the only exponent of I'eligious faith; and also, as the embod- iment of their civil jurisprudence. Mohammed formed the empire out of his own countrymen, the Arabs (Locusts); and, during his life, his followers were Arabians. No foreign conquests were made. They were drilled in the Arabian "pit," ready to rush forth to their work. THE FIRST CALIPHS AND THEIR MISSION. 1. Abubeker, the first Caliph, and father-in-law to Mohammed, succeeded to the royal high priesthood A. D. 632. His first efforts were to subdue the Arabian tribes that had revolted on the death of the prophet. To keep the Arabians occupied, he marched against Babylonia, and the Greek emperor Heraclius, whose armies were in Syria. He died A. D. 635, aged 63 years. 2. Second Caliph. — Omar, the prime minister of Abubeker, succeeded 22 THE EASTERN QUESTION, him, A. D. 635. His success was truly wonderful. During his royal high-priest- hood, he conquered Pei'sia, and Syria, taking Jerusalem, where on the site of Solomon's temple, he erected the Mosque of Omar, which is now standing. In ten years, the Mohammedan power occupied the zone of empires from Khi^^a in the north of Turkestan, to the western boundary of Tripoli. He was assas- sinated by a Persian slave, A. D. 644, after a reign of 9 years. 3. Third Caliph. — Othman Ibu Aifan was born about A. D. 574 of the family of the prophet, and succeeded Omar to Dec. A. D. 644. He was des- potic; and, in consequence of his cruelty and injustice there were many revolts. The boundaries of the empire still extended. He was assassinated by Moham- med, son of Abiibeker, whom he strove to put to death. 4. Fourth Caliph. — Ali was Mohammed's cousin, son-in-law and vizier. When Mohammed, before his assembled kinsman, asked who would be his vizier, Ali, (being only 14 years of age) replied, "I will! Let bui a man advance against tliee, I will pluck out his eyes, dash in his jaws, break his legs, and tear up his belly. O prophet, I am thy vizier." This answer is Mohammedan, not Christian. It is the spirit of that empire. Ali established a sect of his own in Persia, and succeeded Othman as the fourth Caliph, A. D. 649. He was assassinated in the mosque at Cufa, A. D. 669, while contending against the claims of Moawiyah, who had assumed the title of Caliph. THEIB SUCCESSOKS. Hassan, All's oldest son, succeeded his father, but resigned; then his younger brother Hosein, who was slain by Yezid of Damascus, son of Moa- wiyah. The throne of the Arabian empire was now removed to Damascus, where Caliphs were appointed, not of Mohammed's family. Persia still adheres to Ali as Mohammed's vicar. The Persian creed reckons twelve Imaums or pontiffs, viz: Ali, Hassan, Hosein, and the descendants of Hosein to the ninth generation. The nine Imaums despised the pomp of the world and spent their lives in the study of religion, and put into practice the same principles. The twelfth Imaum, called Mahadi (guide), surpassed his predecessors in sanc- tity and in his solitude. He made a cavern near Bagdad his secret abode; the time and place of his death being unknown, his followers, therefore, pretend that he still lives, and will appear before the day of judgement to overthrow the tyranny of Dejal, or the Antichrist. We give these items of history that the reader may the better judge of the grounds of the Mohammedan faith in a coming Messiah (el Mahadi). The posterity of Mohammed and Ali stand above princes. They are reck- oned equal to the angels. They are the sheiks, sherif, and emirs of the Otto- man empire. A family of three hundred persons, the pure and orthodox branch of the Caliph Hassan, is preserved without taint or suspicion in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, and still retains, after the revolutions of twelve centuries the custody of the temple and the sovereignty of their native land. FIFTH CALIPH. Yezid, had his throne at Damascus. Mecca and Medina being abandoned, and the family of Mohammed rejected. The Koran, however still continued EGYPTIAN PHASE. 23 to be the rule of faith and the supreme tribunal of all jurisprudence. The brain of Mohammed, therefore, was the dictator. Space will not allow us to dwell at length on the history of the succeeding Caliphs of the Arabian or Sar- acenic dynasty. Conquest and discipleship were their distinctive national traits, till the founding of Bagdad, the city of peace, A. D. 762. Motassem, the last of the Abbassides (of the family of Abbas, uncle of Mohammed) was taken and put to death by the Tartars, A. D. 1269. To the 20th of February, in the 10th century, the Mohammedan Empire had their Caliph and three cap- itals Cordova, in Spain; Cairon, in Africa; and Bagdad on the Tigris. It was then of vast extent, great power, and incalculable wealth. The Caliphs were for centuries the absolute monarchs of the earth. In their persons were joined the altar, and the throne. For the space of one hundred and fifty years their temperance and frugality were remarkable. Their food and dress were very ordinary though the wealth of the globe was gathered at the feet of their thrones. Their institutions of learning at Bagdad, Cordova and Cairon became very celebrated, and the Arabian learning continued popular for five centuries. Their youth leaving their armies, entered their colleges, and the arts of peace succeeded the profession of war. This change in the Arabian dynasty paved the way for their fall, and for the introduction of a new family of rulers (the Ottoman). ADDITIONAL REMARKS. Did John, in his prophetic visions, see this Arabian, Saracenic or Locus- tian dynasty — this family of Caliphs? We affirm that he did; for, it was located within his prophetic horizon, and its miss on was against apostate Chris- tianity, as then existing in the Greek and Latin empires. If John saw this power, where in the Apocalypse, is its record? We answer, in Rev. ix, 1-1 1 inclu- sive. Read that record, and compare it with the history of that dysnasty and mark their many and very striking analogies. These analogies have been pub- lished in our "Coming Age," to which we refer the reader. No one can fol- low Mohammed from A. D. 612 to his death, and his Caliphs or successors to the founding of Bagdad (the city of peace) A. D. 762, without concluding that they were sent for a special work; and that their appearance was like armies of locusts, and that their work was similar. That they were executive agents will appear from their failure to carry out fully the intent of their conquests, viz: the subjugation of the world to the Koran. Had they not been defeated by Charles Martel in the center of France, the cross would have forever, per- haps, fallen before the crescent, and the Mohammedan Empire would have been the fifth universal monarchy. It was not the stone kingdom, and was therefore, doomed to be overthrown. WILD BEASTS AS SYMBOLS. In John's vision of Satan's triple empire. Rev. xvi, 13, the three elements of which it is composed, are 1. The dragon; 2. The wild beast; 8. The false prophet — three kingdoms in one empire. Satan's empire is, therefore, a trinity of empires. Why should the Deity use a wild beast to symbolize a body of civil rulers? Why not use a literal term? God has his reasons, which 24 THE EASTBKK QUESTION, tons, seem wise. 1. Symbolic language is more general and comprehensive. 2. Literal spoken languages are constantly changing; symbols are the same in all ages. Daniel's metallic iniage and his four wild beasts and stone convey the same thoughts now as when seen by Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel. 3. Sym- bolic language is vastly more comprehensive. It is miniature history. In the life of a wild beast, extending over a few years, you have the life of an empire reaching through as many centuries. 4. The acts of civil empires among men aud races, resemble those of wild beasts within the circles of their domination. How do we distinguish between the life of a beast and his dominion? ("As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time." Dan. vii, 12.) In the divine mind there is a distinction. What is it? On a certain territory, dis- tinctly defined, and separated by legal boundaries from all other lands, is erected a government administered by certain rulers. Within this territory that nation lives, moves, and has its being; this is the boundary of their habitation. Acts xvii, 26. All the powers exercised beyond these God-fixed limits, is their dominion. Universal empires extend their dominion over the world; this is taken away. Three of those empires, had their dominion absorbed by the fourth monarchy. The fourth monarchy wears the universal diadem till he comes whose right it is. Rev. xix. Hence the fourth monarchy is an element in Satan's triple empire, and his recuiting officer, and adjutant general is an unclean spirit like a frog. It will be seen (Rev. xvi, 13), that the frog-power is not limited to France, nor to Egypt, nor to Greece; neither are these wicked spirits, like frogs confined to any one country, but like these noisy little creatures, live in every land, Kosmopolites, citizens of the world, sent out on a special mission, it is true, yet, at home everywhere, that they may exercise a controlling influence over all classes. (More of the frog power in its proper place.) OTTOMAN OR TURKISH DYNASTY. What is it? Whence came it? Before answering these questions, it is well to notice again a remarkable distinction between the Arabian and Turkish dynasties. The Arabian dynasty was composed of two elements, civil and ecclesiastical, the ecclesiastical predominating, the throne behind the altar. Mohammed was first a priest; then a royal high-priest. Such were his Caliphs (successors) till subjugated by the Turks. Under the Turkish or Ottoman dynasty, there was, at firt*t, a partial separation of church and state; the Sultan, after many years, assuming pontifficial powers. During every period, however, the throne (civil power) has ruled the altar. Since the Mohammedan is a reli- gious empire, its present dynasty is unnatural and the tendency is to the resti- tution of the ancient order. Hence every false prophet among the Moham- medans aims at the subversion of the Ottoman dynasty, and the restitution of the supremacy of the Arabian Caliphate. This will appear as we progress in the Ottoman history. These remarks will, perhaps, answer the first question. ORIGIN OP THE TURKISH DYNASTY. A Turk! a name world-wide and proverbial. It is a family name, a name appropriated to a people once called Scythian shephards; having their origin at FGTPTIAK PHASE. 25 the foot of Alta yeen Oola (the golden mountain,) at the summit of Central Asia. Leaving the body of those wanderers, let us trace one family, and confine our remarks to one member of that single family — Seljuk, a native of Turkestan. He was a horseman from early youth, as were all his people. Who could have predicted that the grand son of this wild Scythian, would turn Mohammedan and become the proud Sultan, of that mighty empire? Seljuk, for a daring crime, fled from his country with his followers, and they became disciples of the Koran. Conquring Eastern Persia, the Turk- mans made choice, by lot, of Togrul Beg, the son of Michael, the son of Seljuk, for their king. Seljuk outlived his son Micheal, and took the care of his grand- son Togrul Beg, who, at the age of 45 years (Seljuk being 107 years old) was declared Sultan, in the royal city of Mshabur. Persia was soon conquered, Media soon fell before the Sultan's arms. Togrul's conquests extented to the Euphrates where he met the Greek forces, and demanded tribute of the empe- ror of Constantinople. The Turkish nation then embraced Mohammedanism. Togrul Beg was a zealous follower of the Koraa. So were his nephew Alp Arslan, and his nephew's son Malek Shah. He offered five prayers j)er day and fasted two days in each week, and built a mosque in every city before he erected any palace. He had also great reverence for Mohammed's successors, the Caliphs. Cayem, the Caliph of Bagdad, named Togrul Beg the Seljukian Sultan, his temporal vicegerent over the Mohammedan world; took his sister (Togrul's) into his harem, and finally gave his daughter in marriage to the Sultan. Thus were the two dynasties united. The Sultan was the head of the civil power, while the Caliph exercised supreme power in the church. SECOND SULTAN. Togrul was succeeded by his nephew Alp Arslan, whose name was pro- nounced in the Moslem prayer after their Caliph's in all the mosques. Alp Arslan crossed the Euphrates and attacked the Greek Empire with myriads of Turkish horse, extending their line 600 miles from Taurus to Arzeroum, sacri- ficing 150,000 Christians to the Arabian prophet. Passing south and west, the Sultan with his son Malek, carried the holy war toward Egypt and Constantinople. After three campaigns the Turks were driven by the Greek emperor across the Euphrates. Alp Arslan, in person, with 40,000 horse drove the enemy before hini, though numbering 100,000 men, defeated the Greeks and made their emperor i his prisoner. Western Asia sub- mitted to the Sultan; 1,200 princes or the ^ons of princes, waited before his throne, and 200,000 soldiers marched under his banners. He then turned his arms against his own country (Turkestan) and fell by the hand of an assassin. On the tomb of the Seljukian dynasty are these words, "O ye who have seen the glory of Alp Arslan exalted to the heavens, repair to Maru, and you will behold it buried in the dust." THIRD SULTAIp". Malek Shah. — The eldest son of Alp Arslan (Malek Shah) succeeded him. He was, by the Caliph, made the commander of the faithful; he being the first 26 THE EASTERN QUESTION, prince, not Arabian, that had the honor of that title. Malek Shah was the greatest monarch of his age. The Seljukian dynasty (Turkish dynasty of the Arabian empire) spread over more of the world's sm-face than the empires of Cyrus, and of the Caliphs in the zenith of their glory. His dominion extended east to China, north to Samarkand, west to Georgia and the vicinity of Con- stantinople, and south over Syria and Jerusalem, and included the spicy groves of Arabia Felix, His immense army of horse, (those employed in hunting being 47,000) were in constant motion, visiting in person, twelve times, all parts of his empire. Colleges, mosques, and other instiutions, sprang up over all his dominions. The unity of the empire ceased with Malek Shah, he dividing it among his four sons — forming as many Sultanies. Four Sultanies of the Turkish dynasty. These divisions were located as follows: 1. Persia, located east of the Euphrates. 2. Kerman, one of the eastern provinces of Persia. 3. Syria. 4. Roum, or New Rome, situated in Asia Minor. It had been the Greek em- pire of Asia, extending from the Euphrates to Constantinople, and from the Black Sea to Syria. This was, in its location, one of the most dangerous to the existence of the Greek empire in Europe. There were other Sultanies of later date, but these four were the most noted. Two were east of the Euphra- tes and two west of it. The river itself formed the axis of the Turkish empire during many cen- turies, though it originated east of the Euphrates, and, during the Roman greatness was confined principally to that side of the river, and it was also driven across the Euphrates during the Tartar invasion, and also by the Cru- saders. From the origin of the Turkish dynasty it was under the Seljukian Turksfrom A. D. 1035to the combination of all the fragments of the Seljukian sultanies under Athman or Othman the Oguzian Turk A. D. 1299. The Turkish dynasty of the Mohammedan empire, has, therefore, had two reigning families, the Seljukian and Oguzian Turks, the latter of which still reigns over the Turkish empire. The second tribal family (Oguzian) dates back to Othman the father of the Othman empire, or the present dynasty of the Mohammedan empire. Our remarks on the rise and history of the Mohammedan empire have been protracted for several reasons: 1. We aimed to identify that empire with the false prophet of Rev. xvi, 13; where it is said, "I saw three unclean spirits (come) out of the mouth of a dragon, and out of the beast, and out of the mouth of a false prophet." It is conceded that the dragon and the beast sym- bolize two empires under the control of religions hostile to pure Christianity; viz. Paganism and Apostate Christianity. These empires gather against Christ, two classes of enemies only. But Satan's empire is a triple empire, containing three classes of enemies. A single glance at the Eastern world will disclose the fact that 180,000,000 of Christ's enemies marshal under another banner, that of a false prophet, which can be no other than Mohammed. Since he lives and commands through the Koran — he being dead yet speaketh. To demonstrate this identity we have followed the history through its Arabian dynasty, into its Turkish dynasty, and have shown in what manner the second dynasty succeeded the first; that the power of the Caliphate still exists, that the Altar still rules the throne. In Satan's grand army or war EGYPTIAN PHASE. 21 empire are three divisions including the forces of the whole world, Pagan, Apostate Christian and Mohammedan. We are now prepared to introduce some thoughts relative to Egypt — its past, its present and its future. PRELUDE. Time moves swiftly upon the wings of its own inherent restlessness. The universe, with its complicated machinery, wheels within wheels revolving, is of)erated by an agent of resistless power, marshaling the empires and states into line, perparatory to the conflict of the nobleman with his Eden adversary. Ever since the fall, the star of empire has taken its course toward the west. Henceforward the star of empire will appear in the east, having described the zone of human domination. The golden beams of a new day-dawn betoken the approach of the sun of righteousness. That day, among whose shadows we are now walking, has a morning of tempest, a noon of peace, and an evening of storm; a reign of subjugation, covering Christ's ofiicial reign, succeeded by the endless joint reign of the Father and Son. The world is exceedingly worldly; "eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage." This extreme national greed must result in conflicting interests, bringing about severe contests for supremacy. Secular governments follow the laws of Mammon, rather than those of God; hence the origin of those collisions now so conspicuous in the eastern world. Nations themselves have one motive to action; God, their supreme ruler, quite another. While the nations are striving for supremacy, the Deity is over-i'uling and shaping their movements for the introduction of his Son's domination. The approaching struggle has a religious as well as civil aspect. What religion shall predominate? What ruler shall put on the universal diadem? Who shall be the King of kings, and Lord of lords? When Christ, the nobleman, having received the kingdom returns, (Dan. vii, 13,14,) he finds the territory of his inheritance occupied by his enemies, ready to dispute titles. They marshal under three standards: those of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. Hence the morning of that day will open with a subjugating war — the reign of subjugation; for he (Christ) must reign till he (Christ) hath put all enemies under his (Father's) feet. I Cor. XV, 25, 26. To Christ every knee shall bow. Isa. xlv, 23; Ph. ii, 10; Ps. ii; Rev. xi, 18; xix, 11-21 describe the morning of that day; Ps. Ixxii, its noon, and Rev. xx, 8-15 the evening of the reign of subjugation. Many questions arise which claim attention: 1. What are the chief hostile nations? 2. What position does each nation occupy in that conflict? 8. Where will be the chief battles? 4. If on the mountains of Israel, why? 5. What will be the condi- tion of that land at that time? 6. Is the land of Israel the sanctuary that is to be cleansed? 7. What is that cleasing? 8. Are not the beast and the false prophet or the Western or Latin nations first, then the Mohammedan empire, and last the dragonic nations, overthrown? Rev. xix and xx. EGYPT. A brief outline of the past history of this remarkable country and people with their present state, will aid in the investigation of their future; for, with 28 THE EASTERN QUESTION, their future we are concerned. Eajypt has had many names: 1. Land of Ham. They showed his wonders in the land of Ham. Ps. cv, 27, because it was peopled by Ham. 2.. The land of Mizraim, the son of Ham. Mirraim is a dual and is supposed to represent two parts of Egypt, Upper and Lower. 3. Arabic name of Egypt is Mizr, red, (as some say) black mud, from the color of the soil. 4. "Rahab," (symbol) the proud. Lower Egypt, Isa. li, 9. Land of Hebrew bondage. 5. The Egyptian hieroglyphics were written Kem or Kemee, "black," from the blackness of alluvial soil. 6. Northern region — Ta-Meheet. 1. Ta-res, the southern region. Each region for a time had a different crown. Under the Greeks and Romans there were three divisions. It was called the bed of the Nile, since its waters, when high, cover all the surface that is cultivated — 5,626 square miles. It was also called the child of the Nile, since that river produced it. It was the granary of the Greeks and Romans, also of the ancient world. Its supply of corn brought the Hebrews in- to Egypt. Egypt is in a valley on each side of the Nile, which has no branches for 600 miles, (as it never rains;) shut in on the west by the Lybian mountains, and on the east by the Arabian mountains. DESCRIPTION OP EGYPT. Amou, the Arabian, the lieutenant of the Caliph Omar, who conquered Egypt A. D. 640, thus describes it. "O commander of the faithful, Egypt is a compound of black earth and green plants, between a pulverized mountain of red sand. The distance from Syene to the sea is a month's journey for a horseman. Along the valley descends a river (the Nile), on which the blessings of the Most High reposes both in the evening and morning, and which rises and falls with the revolutions of the sun and moon. When the annual dispen- sation of Providence unlocks the springs and fountains that nourish the earth, the Nile rolls his swelling and sounding waters through the realm of Egypt; the fields are overspread by the salutary flood; and the villages communicate with each other in their painted barks. The retreat of the inundation deposits a fertilizing mud, (6 inches in a century) for the reception of the various seeds; the crowds of husbandmen who blacken the land may be compared to a swarm of industrious ants; and their native indolence is quickened by the lash of the task-master, and the promise of the flowers and fruits of a plentiful in- crease. Their hope is seldom deceived; but the riches which they extract from the wheat, the barley and the rice, the legumes, the fruit trees and the cattle, are unequally shared between those who labor and those who possess. Accord- ing to the vicissitudes of the seasons, the face of the country is adorned with a silver wave, a verdant emerald, and the deep yellow of a golden harvest." ITS PECULIARITIES. Omitting the things of Egypt, common to other countries, brevity requires us to narrat esimply its peculiarities. In the geological ages, Egypt was, at first, only a rock-trough, six hundred miles long from the falls of Syene to the sea, the southern end of the trough being at the falls, the lower end opening into the delta — the stone channel had no delta. At the bottom of this channel flowed the Nile; the average width of this trough was 15 miles; its sides 1,000 EGYPTIAIf PHASE. 29 feet high on the east, and 600 on the west. Such a stone channel did God make Egypt. To fit this trough for living organisms, this rock channel had to be furnished with a soil. That soil had to be brought from a distance. Far to the south were rich alluvial treasures in the lands now called Ethiopia, Sou- dan, Abyssinia, Nubia, including equatorial and central Africa. All central and northeast Africa were to contribute of their mineral and alluvial treasures to supply Egypt, and to recover from the sea her immense and magnificent delta. Particle by particle, through a series of unknown ages, has this infinitely varied African soil been wafted by one vast river-system (the Nile and its tributaries) into the valley of Egypt. The waters from Victoria Nyanza, 2° south of the equator, and at an elevation of 3,800 feet above the Mediterranean, with their tributaries; the waters of Albert Nyanza, named, between the lakes, the Victoria Nile; the waters of its tributary, Bahr-el-Gazal from the west; the waters of its second tributary, the GirafEe; the waters of the Sobat tributary from the east; the waters of many smaller tributaries that flow into it before it reaches Khartoum. The waters of Abai and the Blue Rivers, with their innumerable branches, that have their sources in Abyssinia, (the White and the Blue Niles uniting at Khartoum;) the waters of the Atbara, (called Bahr-el- As wad; the black river as it carries down it the principle portion of mud (black) and slime that manures and renders productive the valley of Egypt,) contribute their sub- stance to this remarable valley. HOW FASHIONED. Thus did God make Egypt; first fashioning its rock-structure, and, after that, through a series of years,* furnishing it with all things necessary for the home of innumerable living organisms. God has made Egypt, as a country, what it now is. Who can deny its divine origin? Volney, the infidel, saw Egypt and described it in the following sentence: "To describe Egypt in two words, let the reader imagine on one side a narrow sea and rocks, on the other immense plains of sand; and in the middle, a river flowing through a valley of a hundred and fifty leagues in length, and from three to seven wide, which, at the distance of eighty leagues from the sea separates into two arms, the branches of which wander over a country where they meet with no obstacles, and which is almost without declivity." To those who believe in the earth's creation, the hand of the Creator is visible in the location, construction, and in the peopling of Egypt. Let us consider these points. What is peculiar about its location? Place before you the connected maps of Africa and Asia. Mark the relative position of the Egyptian valley. Where can be found its similitude? Located in the extreme northeast of Africa, it forms what might be called the extreme south- west of Asia. Which continent has held supreme power over it during the most years? Ethiopia held possession of Egypt forty years. What other African state has claimed the valley of Egypt? What Asiatic empires, including northern, central and western Asia, have not, at times, been Egypt's conqurors? Shem has claimed for centuries the land of Mizraim the son of Ham. The valley of Egypt faces the 30 THE EASTERN QUESTION, great Eastern world; and, in the present state of African civilization has but little to do with her continent. Since the civilizing of Europe, and the discovery and peopling of the New World, Egypt's location has become remarkable. It is, and must continue to be, the world's inn, on the great national highway between the great west and the great east. Should Africa yield to civilization and all our modern improvements spread over that sable continent, what then would be the position of Egypt? What valley has such soil, such a river, such a system of irrigation, such suns, such winds? What valley has ever had such a peculiar construction? Located at the foot of a system of inclined plains, down which flow the waters of half a continent, wafting in their bosom that which makes rejoice the hearts of millions of our race. We have said nothing relative to its vicinity to the land of Israel. This will be noticed when we speak of the land and nation of Israel. There are three countries, which, in the future seem to be intimately associated. Egypt, Israel and Assyria, but as this has to do with the people of those lands we cannot now speak of those matters. We have noticed the country; we shall next describe the people. A DESCRIPTION OP THE PEOPLE OP EGYPT. That God (Elohim QTl >'^) created the earth, the Bible declares, "In the beginning God (Elohim) created the heavens and the earth." Gen. i, 1. That he reduced it to order and furnished it for the abode of Adam and his posterity is also stated. That he furnished a certain district in an extraordin- ary manner will appear from the following: "And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there he put the man (Adam) whom he had formed. And out of the ground (of the garden) made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted and became into four heads." An excellent river system of irrigation; this system with the "mist" rendered the garden a paradise. If God has taken pains to fit up one spot for a special purpose, why not another? May not Egypt have been one of those favored locations? God is also the Maker, Father, and disposer of the nations that have dwelt upon the earth; "God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath and all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath deter- mined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation." Acts xvii, 24-26. That he has disposed of kings and crowns, as an arbiter, we have illus- trious examples. 1. "Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, caused his army to serve a great service against Tyrus; every head (was) made bald (by the constant wear of their helmets); and every shoulder (was) peeled EGYPTIAN PHASE. 31 (by carrying baskets of earth) ; yet had he no wages (the goods of Tyre being carried away by their ships), nor his army, for Tyrus, for the service that had served against it. Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon; and he shall take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army. I have given him the land of Egypt (for) his labor where- with he served against it, because they wrought for me, saith the Lord God." xxix, 18-21. No language can convey more forcibly God's claims to the property, and absolute authority over the nations; as he would not give what did not belong to him. Nebuchadnezzar was lifted up by his great success, and said. Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty? After seven years of pasture with the beasts, Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will." Dan. iv, 30, 32. That God formed and furnished the valley of Egypt in an extraordinary manner, we have fully shown. That he has disposed of its national dynasties as their supreme arbiter, is a matter of prophetic record, that will fully appear as we progress. That he has some great plan to accomplish in his government and disposal of Egypt, cannot be questioned. What it is, we think, is, in part revealed, and can be shown. EGYPT — PAST HISTORY OP ITS PEOPLE. We have described the land of Egypt. It now remains for us to pay some attention to the past history of its people. What races have dwelt in Egypt? What is its antiquity? We cannot go beyond the flood, since there is no traditional sketch of Ante-Diluvian Egypt. It was the period ascribed to the reign of giants, who perished by the waters of the deluge. The earth that now is, was divided among the three sons of Noah; Ham, the second son, taking Africa, the second in size of the grand di- visions. Ham was not Noah's favorite. He committed an act that brought the curse of God upon a part of his posterity. He became a wanderer in the distant south, and gave birth to the race of black men, as his name (Ham) sig- nifies black; also hot, since it is the same as the Egyptian word Kem (Egypt, which means hot as well as black). His father's curse rested upon his son Canaan. The history of the family of Egypt divides itself into ten periods; 1. Tra. ditional; 2. Monumental; 3. Hebrew; 4. Babylonian; 5. Persian; (5. Gre- cian; 7. Roman; 8. Arabian; 9. Turkish or Ottomon; 10. The period of Messiah's reign. Eight periods are finished; the ninth is now in progress; the tenth is in the future. The eight completed periods will be described very briefly and only as they illustrate God's dealings with that family. On the ninth we shall be more particular. The tenth will claim special notice. THE TEADITIOJSTAL PERIOD. This period extends from the flood to the building of the first Great Pyramid, covering about one hundred and seventy-eight years. 32 THE EASTBEN QUESTION, How soon after the flood Egypt was settled, is not definitely stated. The sons of Noah with their families continued in southwestern Asia, making use of one language. "And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech. And it came to pass as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there." Gen. xi, 1, 2. While they were building a city and a tower (Babel) the Lord confounded their lan- guage, and scattered them over the face of all the earth. It was then that Ham and his people journeyed to the south and entered Africa by way of Egypt, its northeastern extremity. The valley of the Nile, so luxuriant and attractive, caused them to pitch their tents there, on which account Egypt was called the "land of Ham;" and later it had the name of Mizraim, second son of Ham, as Mizraim had Egypt for his portion. Allowing 100 years from the flood to the confusion of tongues; and the dispersion, Mizraim's settlement in Egypt would be about B. C. 2230 to 2200. Mizraim founds the Egyp- tian empire B. C. 2188. Eighteen years later would begin the monumental period. Mizraim of the Bible is Menes of history. We are safe in saying that the first periods cannot be reducted to chronological accuracy. Six- teen hundred and sixty- three years are assigned to the duration of the Egyp- tian empire, to its conquest by Cambyses, B. C. 625. This empire has many peculiarities. One in particular is worthy of notice. Mizraim originated its religious system. That most productive valley in the world, and the location of the seminary of the world, did become the first seat of debasing idolatry. Truly, "the world, by wisdom, knows not God." Mizraim's father (Ham) floated on the bosom of those waters sent expressly to destroy a race of cor- rupt rebels against the divine government. Ham was familiar with the works of his father Noah, and with the origin of the deluge. No doubt of Miz- raim's knowledge of that great catastrophe and also, of their dispersion from the tower of Babel; yet with the clear and distinct knowledge of God's dealings with offenders; even back to Cain; and, with his hatred of rivals, this son of Ham, this grandson of Noah, in a land fitted up by God as a second paradise, establishes a system of idolatry, of the most degrading form! This is Egypt's first great national sin. MONUMENTAL PERIOD. Egypt is a land of monuments. Their public structures may be divided into two classes, those that exalted the living and those that were designed to perpetuate the memory of the mighty dead. Among these may be named the following: 1. Sphinxes are symbolic representations of Egyptian monarchs. Their heads were human, their bodies those of lions, which taught the lesson that kings should be wise and strong; wise as the educated priests, their teachers and strong as the lion. 2. Obelisks were monuments of public squares and other places of pub- lic resort. They were very numerous over the valley of Egypt, erected by their kings. They combined the cube, at their bases, the prism as their shafts, and the pyramids as their summits. They were very ancient monu- ments, but not as old as the first pyramid. EGYPTIAN PHASE. 33 THE LABTKINTH. This monument was said to be more wonderful than the pyramids. It consisted of twelve palaces combined into one, with communications one with another, "1500 rooms, interspersed with terraces, were ranged round twelve thalls, and discovered no outlet to such as went to see them. There was the like number of buildings underground. These subterraneous structures were designed for the burying place of the kings, and also (who can speak of this without confusion, and without deploring the blindness of man!) for keeping he sacred crocodiles, which a nation, so wise in other respects, worshipped as Gods.' THE LAKE MOERIS. 4. We describe this lake as one of the works of man, since it is artificial, being constructed by king Moeris, to supply the irregularities of the Nile. When the Nile was too full for a prosperous season, its surplus waters were drawn off into the lake; if deficient, the waters of the lake supplied this defi- ciency. Its size was the wonder. This lake was thirty miles long aud six miles wide, and its average depth is twelve feet, in some parts twenty-eight feet deep. It is connected with the Nile by a canal called Bar-Jusuf (the river of Joseph). This lake was, when in the hands of the Pharaohs, plentifully supplied with fish. This revenue, (|>660 per day) was used to supply the queen's wardrobe and perfumes. The canal was over twelve miles long, whose great sluces to open and shut the canal and lake cost $55,000. The Egyptian kings filled the valley of the Nile with canals communicating with the Nile to supply water. PYRAMIDS. Of these monuments there were about 70 in Egypt. They were all, per- haps, in their external form, imitations of the first, which is called the Great Pyramid of Gizeh, situated on the north bank of the Nile, near the ruins of Memphis, Latitude 30° is the first; it is the original pyramid and the most perfect. It was constructed in the reign of Cheops, whose name it bears. He was the first of the Khufu monarchs (hieroglyphic form of Cheops). Who constructed this pyramid? For what purpose was it erected? These questions are not readily answered. They are usually solved as fol- lows: It was designed and constructed by Cheops. Some say that he built it to resist the enroachment of the Lybian sands, for graneries, reservoirs, for sepulchres or for astronomical purposes. The general view is that Cheops erected it for a tomb. 1. To the first question we answer, a. The plan or pattern is not the brain-work of Cheops. It is not a visible embodiment of his thoughts. The plan is further beyond Cheop's mental powers, than the tabernacle was be- yond the powers of Moses. This will appear from the structure itself, b. The pyramid itself is a monument of science. Built into its very structure is an encyclopedia of physical science. It chronicles its own age (B. C. 2170); teaches its own origin; explains the object of its construction; and explains its 34 THE EASTERN QUESTION, parts from its base upwards. To the pyramidologist it is a comprehensive and wonderful text-book. Its system of astronomy is more comprehensive and more accurate than any modern system — than that of Vince, Newton or La- Place. It is an outline of modern astronomy, and unlike any system of its own antiquity, whether Babylonian, Chinese or Indian. PEELUDB — A STEP IN ADVANCE. The Egyptian is but one phase (aspect) of the Eastern Question. It has as many phases as there will be principal nations occupied in the coming struggle. Among these the Hebrew phase (composed of Judah and Israel) will be the most prominent. But, in the revolutions that will unite the two nations, Jerusalem, their ancient seat of religion and civil law, and their fu- ture cai:)itol will be a "burdensome stone for all people; all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it." Jerusalem is God's city. He claims it for his people. No nation was ever blessed in holding Jerusalem. It has always been to its Gentile conquerors a "burdensome stone." And such it is, and will be. The Egyptians found it such (see history). Jerusalem has had sev- enteen sieges. Two or three are yet to come. Four tiines it was razed to the ground. Six times, at least, its walls have been thrown down. A city of mountains and in the midst of mountains. Of what advantage has it ever been to a Gentile monarch? Could they answer from the dust two words would express their experience, A "burdensome stone!" What gain was Jeru- salem ever to Egypt or Syria proper? How did sheeverbenefit Assyria, Persia, Greece, Rome or Arabia? What has she been, or is now to the Ottoman em- pire? "A burdensome stone!" What was she to Western Europe during the Ci'usades? To the Gentiles, she has always been, what she was of old, "A re- bellious city, and hurtful unto kings and princes;" iu other words "A burden- some stone!" Turkey now holds Jerusalem, but is it not "A burdensome stone?" A TERRIBLE HOUR. "Just one terrible hour coming for Jerusalem according to Zech. xiv 12." So speaks a very able and kind brother. Let us see. Zechariah, uttering the purjaose of Jehovah, says: "Behold the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city." In Zech. xi, xii and xiii, we have brought to view a long captivity; a siege of Jerusalem by the nations; their overthrow; the manifestation of Jesus of Nazareth to Judah and Israel; their mourning, conversion and reign during Messiah's oflicial reign of subjugation, or millenial reign. The morning of Christ's oflicial reign (I Cor. xv, 25, 26; Rev. xix. 11-21) opens with a siege of Jerusalem. Judah is victorious outside of the city. After this overthrow of the forces of the beast and false prophet, and the flight of the dragonic army, there is a pur- suit of the pagan forces, and they are overthrown, and their leader — Satan, EGYPTIAN PHASE. 85 Rev. XX — is taken prisoner. Here commences the 1000 years' peaceful (com- paratively) official reign of Messiah. During this official reign the earth, with its subjugated nations comes under the dominion of Messiah, while he fills his third office (regal). The earth passes through its preliminary change, becomes very productive, healthy and (outwardly) filled w^ith an obedient people. This state continues through a series of ages, or during 1000 (prophetic perhaps) years. These are two parts of Messiah's reign of subjugation. It has a terminus, Zech. xiv; Ezek. xxxvii and xxxviii; and Rev xx, 8, 9. Of this we shall give some thoughts in our next prelude. Let us now go down among the monuments of the Pharaohs. THE GREAT PYRAMID CONTINUED. It is impossible in our limited space to do justice to such a noble struc- ture. We can walk about it; enter and examine its secret halls; can measure its chambers, uttering a vocabulary of interjections; but when we have fully ventilated our brain, it is only an ocean drop. Man's monuments can be com- prehended, but when God plans and builds, who can understand it to perfec- tion? Let us for a moment glance at the catalogue of pyramid lessons of science and religion. Here follows a very imperfect list: — PROBLEMS OF SCIENCE. 1. Squaring of the circle. 2. Cardinal points. 3. n proportion. 4. Spherity of the earth. 5. Its movements on its axis and round the sun. 6. Its diameter. V. Its density. 8. Its poles. 9. Its latitudes. 10. Its distribu- tion of lands. 11. Its temperature. 12. Its position in the solar system. 13. Its distance from the sun. 14. The nature and length of the processional cycle. 15. Divisions of time. 16. Position of the stars wheo the Pyramid was con- structed. 17. Charts of chronology. 18. Charts of history. 19. System of weights. 20. System of measures. 21. Hebrew commonwealth — its com- mencement and duration. 22. The Christian dispensation — time of begin- ning — its features and time of its close. 23. The incorporation of the solutions of these problems, with many others, into the structure of the Pyramid. 24. Perfection of the work. 25. Variety of tools necessary for such an edifice. 26. The vastness of the machinery for the erection of the building. 27. Its peculiar location. 28. Its form and size. 29. Its teachings are without error, either in their design, or in their execution. 30. Could all these coincidences, and seventy others, be accidental — that they happened to be so quarried, dressed and laid up as to solve such an encyclopedia of scientific problems? To sup- pose this is to admit the truth of a more stupendous miracle than its claim to a Divine origin. Charles Latimer, civil engineer, says: "This structure explains itself to the million eth part of a second. There are three keys in the Great Pyramid. 1. The key of pure mathematics. 2. The key 'of applied mathematics. 3. The key of past, present and future history. It is a book of Astronomic, Metric, Messianic and Prophetic Science. It was built nearly 22 centuries (B.C. 2170) before Christ; 178 years after the flood and about 80 36 THE EASTERN QUESTION, years after Ham entered Egypt, soon after the formation of the Egyptian monarchy by Mizraim (Menes), the son of Ham. Has this first Pyramid a Hamitic, Shemitic, or a Divine origin? By this we mean to ask, who con- ceived the model? Was it the embodiment of human or Divine thought? TIME OF ERECTION. The Great Pyramid was erected in the days of Joktan and his thirteenth son Jobab (Hebrew translation, Father Job). This age of the world could not have formed such a model in any human brain, much less in an Egyptian brain. If a Shemite furnished the model, it was from one of the sons of Jok- tan (Jobab), at a time when human life was limited to about two hundred years (such was about the number of Job's years). Tradition says that a shepherd fed his flocks there during its building and that he furnished the king (Cheops) the model. Job (this shepherd) obtained this model from God God would therefore be its author. PURPOSE OP ERECTION. For what purpose was it erected? God has revealed his design to his prophet, Isaiah (Isaiah xix, 19). "In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord." It was built in that remote age, but was shut till the "time of the end" (Dan. xii, 4). With this sketch we close our notice of Egyptian monuments. Certain other events belonging to this period of Egyptian his- tory deserve attention as illustrative of this family and their country. It cov= ers the Hebrew sojourn and bondage, commencing with the building of the Great Pyramid, B, C. 2170, and closing with their settlement in tlae land of Canaan, B. C. 1443, covering ni years. HEBREW SOJOURN AND BONDAGE. This, from the second call of Abraham, in Haran, to their leaving Egypt tinder Moses, was a period of 430 years. Egyptian history, during this time^ is quite obscure. We have a divine record of the chain of events that led the family of Jacob into Egypt — a glance at the 115 years of the severe Hebrew bondage — God's great judgments executed upon Pharaoh. But, as we are tracinsr Egyptian history, we shall confine our remarks to events that belong to that land and which illustrate God's purposes towards that country. 1. We have seen that it was fitted up for, and furnished, as a second par- adise. 2. That it was made the land of intellect, of knowledge and of monuments. 3. That Jehovah had there erected his memorial pillar for future ages. 4. We shall now view that land as a divine asylum, a land of refuge, and, in those days, and since, the granary of the east. Fragments of history, only, of these early times — glance at Egypt. To. such we turn. God's special proprietorship over Egypt and over its manage- ment; over its laws and kings in ancient times, we propose to show, in order to aid us in explaining its present state and its future destiny. Abram's visit to Egypt in the time of the famine in Canaan is a striking illustration EGYPTIAN PHASE. 31 of such an ownership. The Egyptians, captivated with the beauty of Sarah, brought her into the harem of Pharaoh (Egypt was not safe for beauty and virtue). "And the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues, because of Sarah, Abram's wife." Gen. xii, 11. As if God had said to Pharaoh: "Egypt is my farm. You are my tenant. I have sent my servant, Abram, to reside with you until the famine in Canaan is over. Treat him kindly as my special friend." god's claims over EGYPT. 2. The most noted instance of God's claims over Egypt is seen in the Hebrew sojourn, bondage and deliverance. God's vision to Joseph excited the envy and hatred of his brothers. This hatred caused his sale to the spice merchants of Midian, who were going down into Egypt to supply the special perfumery of Pharaoh's harem, in consequence of which Joseph was sold into the family of Pharaoh. His position caused his imprisonment. In prison he has an opportunity of interpreting correctly two dreams. < The reputation thus acquired brought him out of prison to interpret Pharaoh's dreams. These in- terpretations elevated him to a position of acting Governor of Egypt, with the control and disposal of seven years' productions of Egypt. The severe dearth over all the east brought all Asia into Egypt for corn. Among these were Joseph's brethren; then his father with all his substance, by invitation of Pharaoh (one of the shepherd dynasty who had conquered Egypt). This chain of providence is interpreted by Joseph: "Now, there- fore, be not grieved nor angry with yourselves that you sold me hither; for God did send me here before you to preserve life. For these two years (hath) the famine (been) in the land; and yet (there are) five years, in the which (there shall be) neither earing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now (it was) not you (that) sent me hither, but God; and he has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his house and a ruler throughout all the land of the Egypt." Gen. xlv, 5-8. God gives Goshen (the Delta) to the Hebrews, where they continued until God had prepared another land for them, after the cup of the Amorites was full. Gen. xv, 16. god's judgment of EGYPT. God's judgment of Egypt shows his proprietorship. The circumstances which called the Hebrews out of Egyptian bondage are quite familiar to the reader. We shall, therefore, confine our remarks to God's dealings with Pharaoh (crocodile), his hosts and with the land. God demanded of Pharaoh implicit obedience. On his refusal he began to expose him to his terrible judgments for his people's oppression. The ten plagues followed in quick succession, and the Hebrew exodus commenced. Pharaoh gathered his forces and overtook his slaves at the Red Sea. Pursuing them into the dry channel, made by Jehovah for his people, he was overwhelmed by the returning waters. Thus ended the Egyptian bondage and with it the monumental period. G^ far Egypt had exibited the most extraordinary features. To this period in 38 THE EASTERN QUESTION, the world's history, it had been the queen of all lands. On account of its great fertility it had drawn into its valley people of the three great families, those of Shem, Ham and Japheth. Settled first by Ham and his posterity, it was conquered by Shemetic shepherds, who held it 260 years, during part of the Hebrew occupation; and, as a university, it was visited by many of the talented sons of Japheth. A peculiar land, held by a peculiar people. A LOOK INTO THE FUTURE. TJet us look for a few moments into the future and continue our sketch of Jerusalem, whose past history has been so wonderful. Two terrible hours for Jerusalem coming; two sieges and one overthrow. 1. "And there shall be gathered together against her (the present Jerusalem), all the nations of the earth." Zech. xii, 3. This is the first siege of the Millennial Jerusalem, fol- lowed by Jehovah's triumph, the conversion and union of Judah and Israel by the sight of Jesus (JesUs of Nazareth), which takes place after the rap- ture of the saints. Christ's personal reign of subjugation, his official reign, I Cor. xv, 25; Rev. xix, 21. The present Jerusalem, not being taken at the first siege, con- tinues till near the evening of the reign of subjugation, when Satan, released from his prison, gathers the nations around the beloved city (Millennial city) and takes it; but is immediately overwhelmed by the Messiah, who deals with them by earthquake and a terrible tempest. A new city (New Jerusa- lem), takes the place of the overthrown Millennial city. (Read Ezek. xxxvii and xxxviii; Rev. xx, 8, 9, and Zech. xiv.) The new heavens and the new earth follow that overthrow and the joint reign of the Father and Son com- mences. Rev. xxi and xxii. During Christ's official reign the earth is full of subjugated nations; dur- ing the joint reign there are families of one nation. In the first siege Judah fights outside of Jerusalem; in the second siege Judah fights in Jerusalem. Those who examine critically the last three chapters of Zechariah will find two cycles of events: 1. The first cycle (Zech. xii, xiii), contains an invas- ion, siege, battle, a manifestation of Messiah to Judah and Israel; their con- version; the conquest of the nations. 2. The second cycle of events (Zech. xiv). a. The gathering of all nations against Jerusalem (the Millennial or beloved city), b. Its siege and overthrow, c. The revelation of Messiah with his bride (all the holy ones), d. A terrible conflict with tempest and earthquake, e. The new order of things is introduced. In the first cycle Jerusalem is not taken and Judah fights outside of the city; in the second cy- cle Jerusalem is taken and Judah fights in Jerusalem. We can find nothing in Zech. xiv, that, when correctly translated and properly interpreted, will con- flict with these views. We have taken a step in advance since these are ele- ments of the Hebrew Phase of the Eastern Question. EGYPTIAN HISTORY CONTINUED. During its Hebrew period, from the Exodus to the close of the Hebrew commonwealth and its (Egypt's) overthrow by Nebuchadezzar, B. C. 584. It EGYPTIAN" PHASE. 39 includes the period of the greater prophets, and, therefore, contains a divine record of what was proposed relative to that land, its people and its rulers. His absolute proprietorship is clearly stated and his purposes made known to the prophets. His designs, as made known to those holy seers will now claim our attention. Egypt, next to the land of promise, seems to be God's espec- ial care. This will appear from his sayings to the prophets. The Hebrew bondage cast a dark mantle over Egypt's prosperity. The ovei'throw of Phar- aoh, (Amemophis II,) in the Red Sea was a most signal proof that Jehovah had entered into the era of Egypt's national judgment. Amemophis II was a native monarch of the reign of Ham. The Pharaoh of Joseph was a shepherd king of the 15th dynasty and consequently of the race of Shem. There were but few native kings after Amemophis II. No .country has ever had so great a variety of masters. Its great wealth, its amount of learning and its monu- mental wonders attracted the cupidity of all nations; hence its numerous in- vasions by other empires. But it is our province to follow the foot-prints of Jehovah in this ancient land of Ham and to open up God's purposes toward that valley as revealed to his prophets. Our space and time limit us to a sim pie outline. What, concerning Egypt, did Jehovah reveal to his servants, the prophets? PREDICTIONS REGARDING EGYPT. What has he accomplished? What are his future purposes relative to Egypt, as made known in his divine communications to the prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Joel, Micha and Zechariah? God's revelations to these prophets belong to the Hebrew period of Egyptian history; their accomplish- ments are scattered through all the periods of the future, as well as through th^ one that is transpiring. 1. Isaiah stands at the head of this list of Jeho- vah's prophetic servants. Let us examine the leading features of his Egyptian predictions. His prophecies were uttered in "the days of XJzziah, Jotham, AhaK and Hezekiah, kings of Judah." B. C. 760 to B. C. 698. The principal kings of Egypt against whom he utters his predictions are Pharaoh, Nechos and Pharaoh-Hophra. Jehovah's workings in Egypt are also clearly described- in Isaiah vii, 18. Jehovah calls upon Egypt to aid him in the punishment of Ms rebellious family. The prophet, (Isa. xl,) sees the land of Egypt under the Messiah's reign of subjugation, when Judah and Israel shall dwell at peace (as one nation), in their own land. To that period we assign our remarks on this most graphic delineation of the future. Isaiah xix presents a gloomy picture of Egypt passing through a severe civil war under twelve tyrants, suc- ceeded by Psammeticus, who reigned for 54 years. From verses 18 to 25 are some remarkable predictions, especially verses 19, 20, 23, 24 and 25, but as they do not belong to the period of Egyptian history now under review, we shall omit their present consideration. A national sin of his people is re- proved in Isaiah xxx. They looked to Egypt for help rather than to God. This was an insult to Jehovah. It presents a picture of Egypt's national standing in this period. The overthrow of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar is pre- dicted in Jeremiah xliii, 10-13. Egypt was not, perhaps, fully subjugated by Nebuchadnezzar. This king was a Khedive like their present governor- 40 THE EASTERN QUESTION, Jeremiah utters God's judgments against Pharaoh-Hophra, xliv, 30, and also against Pharaoh Necho in xlvi. With this, God's denunciations against Egypt by Jeremiah close. By Ezekiel, God's denunciations against Egypt are very distinct and exceedingly severe. They show God's absolute sovereignity over that land and its nationality. Let us turn to his predictions. god's predictions. From Ezekiel xx, V-IO, it appears that the Hebrews practiced the idolatry of the Egyptians. For that reason God led them out of that land to another flowing with milk and honey; a land which was the glory of all lands; cast- ing out its idolatrous inhabitants that they might not again be allured to idol- atry. Ezekiel xxiii, 19. The two great national sins for which Egypt was put under the severe judgments of Jehovah were pride and idolatry. Phar- aoh Hophra had established his throne so securely as to defy the power of any God to overthrow it. He said in the pride of his glory: "My river is mine; I have made it." (The Nile.) This boasting of Pharaoh drew upon him the anger of the Almighty, who said to Ezekiel: "Nebuchadnezzar, (my servant,) king of Babylon, caused his army to serve a. great service against Tyrus; every head (was) made bald and every shoulder was peeled; yet had he no wages, nor his army for Tyrus, for the service he had served against it. I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar: and he shall take her mul- titude and take her spoil and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army. I have given him the land of Egypt (for) his labor wherewith he served against it, because they wrought for me, saith the Lord God." Ezekiel xxix, 18-21. "I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, he and his people with him, the ter- rible of the nations shall be brought to destroy the land; and they shall draw their swords against Egypt and fill the land with the slain. And I will make the rivers dry and sell the land into the hands of the wicked; and I will make the land waste and all that is therein, by the hand of strangers. I, the Lord, have spoken (it). I will also destroy (their) idols and I will cause (their) images to cease out of Noph (Memphis); and there shall be no more a prime (supreme ruler) of the land (native) of Egypt; and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt," Ezekiel xxx, 10-14. (See the entire chapter and part of the next.) For the accomplishment of these predictions see II Kings and II Chronicles. These contests between the kings of Babylon and the kings of Egypt contin- ued till the overthrow of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar, God's special servant. CLOSE OP Egypt's supremacy. With this overthrow closed Egypt's supremacy. It became a "base" or tributary kingdom. Netanebus was the last king of Egyptian extraction, A. M. 3654, B. C 350. We are henceforward to trace the history of Egypt, either as a tributary kingdom or under a monarch of foreign birth. The philosophy of her destiny aifords us lessons of deep interest. Its history during the Hebrew period is composed of a series of effects flowing from legitimate causes. God's claims to the sovereignity of Egypt are repeatedly EGYPTIAN PHASE, 41 enunciated. He is the sovereign of the people and the proprietor of the land. He declares his right to give or hire the land, as he thinks proper. This is clearly seen in his conduct towards his servant, Nebuchadnezzar, after his thirteen years' siege of Tyre. Jehovah appears to reason as follows: "Tyre having become proud and corrupt, I resolved to destroy it. I made use of the King of Babylon for that purpose. The siege of thirteen years was exceedingly laborious and ex- pensive. There was no booty in it, for the wealthy citizens of Tyre had conveyed in ships their valuables to an island. Egypt is mine; I will there- fore give Nebuchadnezzar Egypt for his wages and for the payment of his army." But what has been the great national sin of Egypt? Pride and idol- atry. Pharaoh Hophra had said: "My river (Nile) is mine; I have made it for myself." This was false and impious. He might have constructed a few canals for a more perfect irrigation, but who made the drainage for more than a third of the African continent? Who opened the Ethiopian fountains and filled the channels of the Nile? For mortal man to utter such language is a crime of the first magnitude. Such pride demands a fall. The idolatry of Egypt was a national sin, deserving immediate punishment. Egypt, ac- cording to her light, should have known and worshipped the true God. The ten plagues were still fresh in their recollection. The fate of Amemophis II should have taught them the existence and power of the Hebrew God; yet, in the face of all the wonders in the land of Ham, they were the worshippers of animals and reptiles, among which were cats and crocodiles. By their in- telligence in human learning, they drew to their valley the great of other nations, They led the people of God, (the Jews), into their idolatry. Even Solomon, with all his wisdom, was corrupted by his Egyptian wife. So it was with other Hebrew kings. EXPLANATION OP ISAIAH XIX, 25. Relative to the future of the earth, the Bible ennunciates one central thought around which all others, as a family, revolve. Thus speaks Jeho- vah : "But (as) truly (as) I live all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord." Num. xiv, 21. During the age, or reign (ofiicial) of subju- gation shall there dwell on the earth subjugated nations, so that Messiah will then be the reigning King of reigning kings and living Lord of liv- ing lords. Rev. xix, 16. That being established, our inquiry will then be: What nations, what their territory and their rank? These questions we shall consider as they are elements of the Eastern problem. It is not sim- ply what shall be their position and agency in the coming struggle, but what shall be their subjugated positions? We desire (as far as the Bible will afford light) to follow these nations into and through the official reign; into the joint reign of the new earth. The destinies of certain distinct nations will afford us data. Three families are named in Isaiah xix, 25. Three national families are placed prominently before us. By their condition we decide the state of the world at that period. What is said of these three nations^ "A blessing on Egypt my people, Assyria, the work of my hands, and Israel, 42 THE EASTEBTSr QUESTION, mine inheritance." The nature of the blessing here pronounced is not stated. It will, however, be suited to the dignity and power of the donor. This passage will be more fully examined when we speak of Israel and Assyria. One general remark will, perhaps, be in place, viz., the relation- ship existing between these three nations. For many centuries the land of Israel was the Switzerland of the East; especially was it the bone of contention between its western and eastern neighbors. Egypt and Assyria, each conquering, claimed the land of i^romise, in its turn. Such severe chastisements were allowed by Je- hovah for Israel's transgressions. Their success filled them with national pride. "My river is mine, I have made it for myself," says Pharaoh Hophra. "Is not this great Babylon that I have made by the might of my power?" No sooner uttered than their robes were taken from them and they were driven from their thrones. Egypt became a base kingdom and Assyria ceased to be a nationality. Great national sins are expiated fey severe national judgments. For the abuse of God's family and his inheri- tance, they were first required to pay the penalty. After that it was proper that they should receive pay natioijally for any service they had rendered. What has Egypt received for the home given to the Hebrews from the elevation of Joseph to the commencement of their bondage? It is the land of which we are speaking and not the race of Ham. If the whole earth is to be full of Jehovah's brightness, Egypt, being a part, must have its portion. So, also, will the land of Assyria. EGYPT UNDER BABYLON. Of this period, but little, in addition to our previous statements, is required. During forty years after its humiliation by Nebuchadnezzar, its trials were severe; some of its inhabitants were carried into Babylon; others into the various provinces. Jehovah's proprietorship is distinctly seen. It was Nebuchadnezzar's wages for his doing God's work against Tyre. "Egypt is mine," says Jehovah, "and I will give it to the king of Babylon." This is Egypt's first period of humiliation. Her proud spirit trembled under God's sore judgments. Her lofty mountains were swift witnesses against her. EGYPT UNDER PERSIA, This period extends to the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great (B. C. 332). It begins (B. C. 525) when Egypt was taken from Babylon by Cambyses. It was a period of great oppression, exhibiting the continued judgments of God for their former pride and idolatry, fulfilling the prediction: "There shall be no more a prince (native) of Egypt." Ezek. XXX, 13. God's judgments are extended over many generations. EGYPT UNDER GREECE. This period extends from the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great to its overthrow by the Romans, B. C. 30. This period is one of EGYPTIAN PHASE. 43 very considerable interest. Its change of masters was quite favorable to the valley of the Nile. So happy were the Egyptians that they viewed Alexander as a savior rather than a conqueror. On the death of Alex- ander a new dynasty was inaugurated, the dynasty of the Ptolemies, The government, language, administration, philosophy, science, arts, liter- ature and its religion, in part, became Greek. The coui't of the Ptolemies, however, was not pagan in the common acceptation of that term. Under the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus, it became a distinguished seat of learning and refinement. Under his patronage, the museum and library were founded and the Hebrew Scriptures were translated into Greek called the Septuagint (because it was made by seventy-two persons). Man- etho, under that reign drew up his Egyptian history. Under his succes- sors the Egyptian monarchy was much extended. Their conquests ex- tended at times into Ethiopia and over southwestern Asia, including the land of Israel. After the reign of Euergetes, Philopater, Epiphanes, Philometer, Euer- getes II, Sotor II, Cleopatra (B. C. 106), Alexander (B. C. 87), Neos Dio- nysis (B. C. 61), and of Cleopatra II, following the battle of Actium (B* C. 30), it became a Roman province under a Roman governor, not of the' sentorial, but of the equestrian rank — a base kingdom. CLOSE OF THIS PERIOD. We cannot close this period of Egyptian history without calling at, tention to the visible workings of its Supreme Governor — the power be- hind the throne. Noah's three sons had, during the ages immediately suc- ceeding the flood and after the confusion of tongues, taken distant homes- Asia, Africa and Europe, but at the time of which we are now writing' their descendants had become somewhat mixed up. This was more partic, nlarly true of Egypt. As the soil of Egypt was formed of particles wafted there by the waters of the Nile from more than one-third of Africa, so did its early civilization draw the inquisitive of all races to see and learn its laws, government and its architectural wonders. Egypt, originally Hamitic, having for centuries been Shemetic, now- under Alexander and his successors, becomes Japhetic or European. Out of three races a new Egyptian is created, a new man destined to another sphere, is put into possession of this beautiful valley, this second paradise. Who cannot discern the hand of God in these three ethnological changes? Men, in their various attributes must be adapted to their work. Idolatrous Egypt, as it existed under the Pharaohs, (crocodiles,) could never have carried out the designs of Jehovah under the twelve Ptolemies, B. C. 332 to B. C. 30. These three centuries accomplished a great work in mould- ing Egyptian character for a new and more elevated position. This change had to do more with the religious thought of the nation than with its physical and political ideas. From the most debasing of nature worship, such as deifying dogs, cats and crocodiles, they were to learn the character of the one true God. Such new thoughts required a new man. This new man was a mixture of Hebrew, Macedonian and th*^ old Egyptian stock. 44 THE EASTERN QUESTION, ALEXANDER. Alexander founded a new city (Alexandria) in Epypt. To this new city of European architecture Alexander invited citizens of all nations. Among those solicited to become residents of Alexandria were Jews, who were allowed to come with their religion, given by God to Moses. Nearly 100,000 Jews were carried into Egypt. They increased to one million and a-half, had a temple and worship. This new worship changed the relig- ious character of Egypt. By the Greek (Septuagint) translation of the Hebrew Bible (the Greek language was almost universal), God's ancient revelations could be read by all nations. God was preparing a people in Egypt to teach all nations the future gospel of his beloved Son. This was, therefore, a preparatory period. During the one hundred years of the dynasty of the Ptolomies. Judea was under the domination of Egypt, such an element must have had great power in shaping religious thought. Ptolomy Philadelphus made Egypt exceedingly prosperous. He reigned over 33,339 populous cities. With a large fleet in the Mediterranean and one in the Red Sea, Egypt became the mart of all nations. This period covers that of Apocrypha, noted for the wonderful exploits of the Macca- bees. Under Ptolomy V, surnamed Epiphanes (Illustrious), the Jews of ■^gyptj as well as of Judea, suffered a severe persecuti®n. This tended to scatter the seeds of correct religious thought. EGYPT UNDER ROME. This period extends from the battle of Actium (B. C. 30), to its con- quest by Omar, the Mohammedan Caliph, A. D. 640-670 years. It is a period of very considerable interest, since it covers the first six and one- half centuries of the Christian era. We have seen that the land of Egypt, under the Macedonian dynasty, had on its soil a mixture of the three families Ham, Shem and Japheth. This mixture of the races progressed under the Roman empire. Egypt, being the half-way house, the world's hotel, the national toll-gate, the world's seminary, the land of monuments and wonders, the world's bazaar, was visited by strangers of all nationalities and of all varieties of religious thought. As a nation it was still sinking, having a Roman gov- ernor of the equestrian order. Two features in this period of Egyptian history claim attention. 1. That it became a house of refuge; after that a house of bondage. 2. God first made Egypt a house of refuge for his Son when his life was hunted by Herod. "When they [the wise men] were departed, behold the angel of the Lord appeareth unto Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt and be thou there until I bring thee word, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. When he arose he took the young child and his mother by night and departed into Egypt and was there until the death of Herod. In this was fulfilled that which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet (Hos. xi, 1), saying. Out of Egypt have I called my Son." Matt, ii, 13-15. Why flee into Egypt? Three reasons may be given. a. God claimed a special proprietorship over Egypt. FGYPTIAN PHASE. 45 b. His worship was there established and consequently a home was pro- vided for His son among his own household, c. Egypt was the most con- venient land beyond Herod's jurisdiction. Here, also, the gospel of Christ was to work a reformation in the religious ideas of the Egyptians; that the land in which idolatry had its origin should be the foster-mother of the Christian system agrees with the method of divine providence. Dur- ing the second century the gospel exerted great power over Egypt. The residence of the Jews in that country prepared the Egyptian mind to re- ceive the fundamental doctrines of Christianity, but the paganism of the Roman empire (the ruler of Egypt during this period), had so far cor- rupted the pure doctrines of Christ that the Egyptians saw but little in the Christian worship but a mixture of Judaism and Paganism. Long be- fore the birth of Mohammed, the Greek empire (whose capital was Con- stantinople), patronized a Christian worship that had but little in common with the doctrines of Christ and his apostles. Image worship had be- come very general. During this period (near its close) the bishop of Rome became the head of the apostate church. Egypt was being pre- pared for another revolution in her religious thoughts. During the Roman period of Egyptian history her political and her educational resources were on the decline, and, with them, her productions to sustain life were diminishing also. God was evidently becoming dissatisfied with his Egyptian tenants and was rearing a neighboring power to effect another great moral social and national revolution. To this extraordinary change we are now prepared to turn our thoughts. CAN .THE MORAL CONSTITUTION OF A PEOPLE BE CHANGED WITHOUT THE SUBVEKSION OP ITS POLITICAL SYSTEM. This problem has a direct bearing on Mohammedan Egypt. We pro- pose, therefore, to attempt its solution. Has man, by nature, a natural sense — the power of judging between right and wrong — or is it the crea- ture of education? Both these questions may, in a certain degree, be an- swered in the affirmative. Man, by nature, has such an element. Educa- tion is required for its development. As a nation is the aggregate of its population, its character is the sura of its individual characters. Since man is a "religious animal," (worship of some kind being his normal state,) his religion shapes his moral character and his gods shape his re- ligion, the character of every nation varying with the attributes of its divinities. A nation that has cats, dogs and crocodiles for its deities, must partake more or less of their attributes and consequently becomes morally degraded. Egypt's religious history has been exceedingly varied. Her early his- tory makes her the mother of debasing idolatry. Her monuments and her political institutions show in every age the footprints of her religion. During her monumental period Egypt was under other moral influ- ences than her nature worship. The shepherd kings and the soujourn of the Hebrews, gave birth to new religious thoughts. These new moral ele- ments tended to elevate and protect the political constitution. Jehovah 46 THE EGYPTIAN QUESTION, taught by his prophets his sovereign claim to the land of Egypt and his right fo rule monarchs. Her prosperity was in the ratio of her submis- sion to his divine government. During the Hebrew monarchy Egypt had a great increase of moral light. The intercourse between Egypt and Israel during the reigns of David, Solomon and the Py kings, each of Israel and Judah, was such as to create for the land of the Pharaohs a new moral constitution and under Alexander and his successors (the Ptolemies), the old moral constitution died out — was superseded by a new system of religious thought. Under the Roman empire Egypt was full of a mixture of moral ideas composed of Pagan, Jewish and Christian. During these changes the old political systems were on the decline and finally passed away. History has demonstrated that "Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people," Prov. xiv, 34; and that religious and po- litical ideas are so intimately associated that one cannot change or die without a corresponding in the other. This truth will further appear as we advance. EGYPT UNDEK MOHAMMEDAN ARABIA A. D. 640 TO A. D. 1250. Egypt fell under the dominion of the Mohammedan Saracens, under the Caliph Omar, who had taken Jerusalem and had erected the mosque bearing his name, now standing on the site of the old temple. This conquest introduced a new era in Egypt, a revolution in its religious and civil institutions. The Ko- ran contained a new system of religion and at the same time it had a code of jurisprudence adapted to the wants of the new religious empire. One of the first acts of the Arabian dynasty was the burning of the Alex andrian library. Amrou, the conqueror of Egypt, wrote to Omar, relative to what disposition should be made of the library. His answer was: "If these writings of the Greeks, (Greek Christians) agree with the book of God, (the Koran,) they are useless and need not be preserved; if they dis- agree they are pernicious and ought to be destroyed." "The volumes of paper or parchment was distributed to the four thouaand baths of the city and such was their incredible multitude that six months were barely suificient for the consumption of this precious fuel," says Gibbon. The size and gran- deur of Alexandria, the capital of Egypt, shows its condition at that time. Amrou thus describes it: "I have taken the great city of the West. It is impossible for me to enumerate the variety of its riches and beauty and I shall content myself with observing that it contains four thousand pal- aces, four thousand baths, four hundred theaters or places of amusement, twelve thousand shops for the sale of vegetable food and forty thousand tributary Jews." Egypt had become full of monks and idols of nominal Christianity, for we may safely affirm that Egypt has never seen pure Christianity. What changes took place under the Arabian dynasty. The changes will be described under two heads — (1.) Ecclesiastical; (2.) Civil — those of church and state. Egypt, coming under a new foreign master, must put forth a growth of new religious ideas, those contained in the Koran, which sprang from EGYPTIAN PHASE. 47 the brain of the Arabian prophet. Mohammed, in that system, takes the place of Jesus; the sword is their gospel of persuasion. At the beginning of the Arabian dynasty, the Greek population of Egypt, who were idolatrous Christians, constituted about one-tenth of its inhabitants, while the remain- ing nine-tenths were Jews and natives. It is said that scarcely any na- tive abandoned his old religious ideas. The cat, the dog and the crocodile were still his deities, and therefore he looked with sullen hatred at the Christian abuse of those sacred animals. They regarded the Arabians as their deliverers, since nothing was required but tribute. The religious sentiment was changed only by the addition of a new element. The social and political ideas passed through a more serious revolution. The morals of the Koran affected the organization of Egyptian society and its civil jurisprudence was quite unlike what they had ever experienced. Their government was a royal priesthood, the chief ruler, the Caliph, re- siding at Mecca. This subjugation of Egypt was a judicial overthrow, in- tended by Jehovah as a deadly thrust at its hated idolatry, the worship of animals by the natives, of images by the Greek Christians, and of the rejection of his Son by the Jews. These three kinds of worship were ex- ceedingly offensive to the Deity. He sent the Arabian as an executor of his wrath. EGYPT STILL DEGENERATING. Egypt, under the Arabian dynasty, was still degenerating. Nature smiled with its usual Eden beauty, but its population had no vigor of moral, political or intellectual vitality. During the 610 years of Arabian domination there were three dominant families — 1. The Tbontounides, A. D. 868; 2. The Akshidide; 3. The Fatemite, A. D. 969. Under the Fa- temites, who ruled Egypt until A. D. 1250, Cairo was built and Egypt gained some of its former prosperity, but towards the conclusion of that dynasty wealth introduced luxury, and, like Rome, slaves as domestics, (they were called Mamelukes, from memalik, slave,) were introduced by their higher officera. In A. D. 1214, there was formed from these (Geor- gian and Circassian slaves chosen for their beauty and strength) a body of cavalry. They governed Egypt 263 years. In 1291 they expelled the Christian crusaders from Palestine. They continued a military power till A. D. 1810 and in A. D. 1811 v/ere treacherously annihilated by Mohammed Ali. This body of cavalry was mounted on splendid Turkish horses, splen- didly caparisoned. They formed the most efficient body of cavalry that the world ever saw. Their recruits were Georgians, Circassians, Turks, and Tartars. About the year 1250 they became so numerous as to make one of their own number Sultan of Egypt, putting an end to the Fatemite, the last of the Arabian dynasty. The Mameluke dynasty had two subordinate dynasties, 1. The Bahar- ites, continuing till 1382; 2. The Borjites, reigning till A. D. 1517. "The Caucasian element predominated in the first dynasty, the Tartare lement in the second." The second dynasty was overthrown by Selim I, A. D. 1517, yet 24 Mameluke beys were kept, as one of the conditions of Selim's 48 THE EASTBRIf QUESTION, •conquest, to rule over the provinces. Under Selim I began the Turkish domination in Egypt. EGYPT UNDER THE TURK, FROM A. D. 1517 TO A. D. 1840 — 323 TO 328 TEARS. This period covers a few years over three centuries, a period of great interest in Egyptian history, a period peculiar in its power to recast Egyptian character and to prepare it to occupy its destined position in the approaching age. Every change is, therefore, to the student of proph- ecy, fraught with the most thrilling interest. It is not what Egypt has been, but what she will be, that attracts our attention. We have examined the forty-two centuries of her past history to obtain the key to her future destiny. What is Egypt's position in the age of subjugation and in the joint reign of the new creation? These are problems difficult of solution but involving matters of great moment. We often speak of Christ's per- sonal reign on the new earth or on this earth made new, but say very lit- tle about the preparatory work of that endless era. Paul says that "He (Christ) must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet;" "all rule, and authority and power," I Cor. xv, 24, 26. Where is there a nation now existing that is not an enemy to Christ's personal reign? Where is there a nation that forms an element in the stone increased to a moun- tain, rather than a part of the metallic image? When the whole world, with its kings, rulers and emperors, is gathered by the dragon, the beast and the false prophet into Satan's army, at the battle of the great day, what nation is not there in one of the two opposing armies? Some hold that the reign named by Paul is now in progress; that the reign of subjugation belongs to this age. Against that view there are many serious objections. We do not here intend to discuss that question. A few points, however, are pertinent to our present subject. So far, allow us to pm forward our views. 1. Christ undertook a work which divides itself into three parts. 2. He is to do the work himself and not by an agent, since it is a work that no other person can do. 3. It being necessarily a personal work it requires his per- sonal presence and since no substitute can do the work, Christ's presence (per- sonal) is absolutely required. What is that work? The work required to save one human being; the Messiah's work? What are its three divisions? (a.) The work of a prophet like unto Moses. Did this work allow any substitute? It seems not; at least Christ thought that it required his personal presence since he came in person and did the work, (b.) The work of the antitypical High Priest. Did this work require his personal presence in the most holy place (heaven) ? Christ thought so for he went there in person to do the work. So thought Paul when he said that he could not be a priest on earth. Two parts of his work have required his personal presence, (c.) The third division is the work of a king, a subjugating work and the establishment of a kingdom. Where is that work to be accomplished? All admit that the work has the earth for its location. If the work does not require the presence of the Nobleman, why does he return when he receives the kingdom from his father? This work must also EGYPTIAN PHASE. 49 require his personal presence. When Christ returns he finds the earth full of hostile nations. He subdues them and rules them and rules over them as a personal, present King of personal and present kings. "The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion; rule thou in the midst of thine enemies," Ps. ex, 2. Read the whole Psalm. His work of subjugation is, therefore a personal work. He utters his voice from Jerusalem. As Judah's lion he roars out of Zion. We seek to know the position of every nation in that conflict and every land during that age of subjugation. HAD THE CREATOR A SPECIAL PURPOSE IN THE SIZE OF THE EARTH? Had the Creator of the earth any special purpose in its magnitude and shape? If human actions are the results of purpose, how infinitely more the works of the Divine Architect. Tlie earth was created to be the abode of a countless variety of living organisms, filling its waters, its lands and its atmos- phere? But why so large? Why such a huge space of lava, rock and earth? Why such a waste of space of material? Why such a variety of zones? ^uch extremes of heat and cold? Such oceans, seas, lakes and rivers? Such mountains and deserts? If man was formed to be its resident viceroy, why such vast unoccupied regions? What purpose in elevating Africa above the ocean? Why elevate its mountains, construct its lakes, rivers and pestilential marshes? Why cover 1,500,000 square miles of its surface with a desert of torrid sands and burning rocks? Why cover its fertile districts with beasts venomous reptiles and savage races, from whose moral natures the imprint of the Deity is quite indistinct or obliterated? Follow the steps of Murray, Leyden, the Arabian Ebn Batuta, Leo Afri- canus, the German Ran wolf, the Englishmen Jobson and Thompson, Renouard the Jesuit Lobo, Thevenot, Ledyard and Lucas, the French Expedition; and in the 19th century Mungo Park, Burchard, Oudney, Clapperton, Denham and Lander; the missionaries, Moffatt and Livingstone, and a host of others whose bones are whitening on its desert sands. Trace the progress of the American explorer, H. M. Stanley from Zanzibar to the sources of the White Nile, across the watershed to the sources of the Congo and to its mouth (2500 miles), amid pestilental swamps, fighting cannibals clamoring to feast upon his flesh, down cataracts and over snow-clad mountains, suffering the extremes of a malarial climate ! Why such a continent, such a climate and such a people? Was it cre- ated to dishonor the wisdom and love of its creator for some thousand years and then suddenly be burned as a failure in the calculations of the Almighty? Who can solve this African enigma without a personal reign of the Messiah? It has often been said that Africa has had the Gospel and has rejected the Gospel. What part of Africa had it? What was the nature of that Gospel? Egypt had a spurious Gospel. So had parts of Ethiopia, but when did the glad tidings ever reach the masses of that benighted continent? When did they ever hear of Messiah's fame of see his glory? In the present construction of the globe, the temperate zones furnish pas- sable locations for human abodes, but the torrid and frigid belts are under the blighting effects of the curse. Its physical laws are not adapted to a sinless race. 50 THE EASTERN QUESTION, Why so large ? An earth one-fifth its size would have fully satisfied all past demands. If the earth in its present land and water distribution is soon to be burned, where is the wisdom in its immense magnitude and mighty wastes ? With a reign of subjugation continuing 1,000 years, or 360,000 years, when not only the creature, but the earth itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. The work of Messiah's personal official reign ! how extended ! how grand ! how glorious ! Who cannot most devoutly pray, " Thy kingdom come ; Thy will be done on earth as in heaven ?" Egypt under Turkey, A. D. 1517 to A. D. 1840-5—323-8. During this period of about three centuries, Egypt continued to decline. Though she had, nominally, a new foreign master, the Mamelukes were her real mas- ters. The 24 beys governed the provinces. But there was too great a variety of religious elements for national prosperity. The Greek Chris- tian, the Jew, the Mohammedan and the Ancient Egyptian. Views so dissimilar resulted in conflicting social and political interests. The stronger social tendency was towards the dominant religion, that of the Koran. The religion and the laws of that Mohammedan bible gave to Egypt a character which is peculiarly destructive to pure morals. But there is a more important part of this period, extending from the temporary conquest of Egypt by the French under Napoleon, August 22d, 1799, to the rebellion of Mohammed Ali and his restrictions by the Euro- pean power, A. D. 1841-5. The design of Napoleon, in his invasion of Egypt, was to rob the English of their East India possessions, by having the control of the land of the Pharaohs. Had the French armies in Europe been successful, his designs would have been accomplished ; but sad news from the continent soon recalled him. Kleber was left in possession of Egypt, which he held till 1801, when, by aid of the British, it was again restored to Turkey, who still nominally govern the country. Napoleon and Kleber attached the Egyptians to the French by doing everything in their power to ameliorate the condition of the country. There were continued conflicts between the Turks and the Mame- lukes, till that body that had really governed Egypt for four centuries were treacherously massacred by Mohammed Ali in 1811. The rule of Mohammed Ali, was far superior to that of the Mame- lukes in its order and humanity. He was nominally the Viceroy of the Turkish Sultan, though, in fact, quite independent of his power. He made great conquests, and in various battles with the Turkish forces, nearly overthrew the Ottoman Empire. His conquests were ended by a peace forced upon him by the European powers. In 1840 the Sultan hav- ing recovered from his former reverses, began hostilities again. His armies being annihilated, the European powers came to his rescue the sec- ond time ; and by treaty, July 13th, 1841, stripped Mohammed of all his Asiatic conquests, made his government in Egypt tributary to Turkey and hereditary in his descendants. Ibrahim Pasha died Sept. 1, 1848, one year EGYPTIAN PHASE. 51 before Mohammed Ali, his father. Nubia became a province of Egypt in 1820. Abbas Pasha, Mohammed's grandson, succeeded him and was re- placed by Said Pasha in 1854. Mohammed Ali introduced many improvements into Egypt. He in- creased the security of its population, improved its irrigation, and intro- duced European manners and customs, preparatory to European civiliza- tion ; yet he refused to grant the right to join by ship canal the Mediter- ranean and the Red seas. M. de Lesseps obtained the co-operation of the Egyptian government in his Suez canal enterprise under Said Pasha. In 1863 Said was succeeded to the Egyptian government by his nephew Ismail, who, by the Sultan's permission, took in 1866 the hereditary title of Khedive (from the Persian Khidiv — sovereign). The throne of Egypt was then made to descend in a direct line from father to son, and not to the eldest heir according to the Turkish law. The Khedive was also granted, in 1873, the right of maintaining armies, and of concluding treaties (withdrawn in 1879). By the co-operation of Sir Samuel Baker, and the governor of Soudan, Gordon Pasha, the Khedive made quite a successful effort to suppress the slave trade in his dominions. In 1875 the Khedive sold to Great Britain 177,000 shares in the Suez canal (completed and opened in 1869) for £4,000,000. The condition of the Egyptian finances was almost hopelessly involved, when in 1875 the revenue was put under the management of European commissioners. Prince Hassan, third son of Ismail Pasha, with 10,000 men, fought for the Crescent in the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-78. The new financial system having proved unsuccessful, another commission of inquiry was appointed; and ere long it was announced that the Khedive had absolutely accepted the European system of constitutional government, and had made Nubar Pasha head of a reformed administration. The summary dismissal of this minister in April 1879, was followed by the interference of the European governments. The Khedive, who declined voluntarily to abdicate, was, at the instance of the western powers, deposed by his suzerain (Sultan) in June, and prince Tewfik (the present Khedive), Ismail's eldest son, was proclaimed viceroy of Egypt. Ismail retired to Rome, where he now re- sides, being paid an annuity of $1,000,000. Such was the political state of Egypt when the uprising of the native population, and the slaughter of the Europeans in Alexandria (June 11) took place. The most noted enterprise of this period of Egyptian history is the completion of the Suez canal. The construction of that canal marks the commencement of a new era in the existence of that remarkable country; an event that bears directly on the future destinies of all nations. An en- terprise of so great a bearing on the world's destinies, should (within itself) have sufficient interest to excite a desire, in every one, to learn more of its history. For the benefit of many of our readers we subjoin the following items. Suez and its Ship Canal. — The Isthmus of Suez is a neck of land, in its narrowest portion, 72 miles wide from the gulf of Suez on the south, to the Meditarranean Sea on the north. It connects Africa with Asia. It 52 THE EASTERN QUESTION, has within its limits the Hebrew land of Goshen, once fertile, but now a wretched waste of sand, sandstone, and salt swamps, with scarcely any fresh water. In very ancient times, far back in the geological ages, the two seas were, probably, connected. But, by the gradual elevation of this part of the two continents, the seas retired, leaving salt lakes and salt marshes. This barren waste, has, in various ages of the world, suggested for solution, this great problem : can a water passage be made so as to con- nect these seas? Such a canal was constructed many centuries ago. According to Herodotus, one was first made by Pharaoh-Necho B. C. 600; completed, however, as some say, by the Ptolemies. It ran from one mile and a half below Suez, and in a northwest course to Bubastis, on the eastern, or Pelusiac branch of the Nile ; thence this branch connected the canal with the Mediterranean Sea. Its entire length was 92 miles, 60 miles being cut by man. It was 108 to 165 feet wide, and 20 feet deep. This was choked up with sand ; opened by Amrou the Arabian conqueror of Egypt, who named it, "Canal of the Prince of the Faithful." After one century it was filled with the sands (A. D. 762). Thus it has remained to the present time. Napoleon, when in Egypt, had the isthmus surveyed, when it was re- ported that the surface of the Mediterranean Sea was 30 feet below the sur- face of the Red Sea. In 1847 France, England and Austria, sent a com- mission to measure accurately the levels of the two seas. Their report was, " The two seas have exactly the same mean level." Another survey was made in 1853, with the same results. In 1856 M. de Lesseps obtained from the Pasha the right to construct a' ship canal from Tynch (near the ruins of the ancient Pelusium) to Suez. M. de Lesseps' plan was to make the canal in a right line from sea to sea. A joint stock company was formed, and £8,000,000 were subscribed with 400,000 shares. The Pasha took many shares. The canal was commenced, and opened for ships Nov., 1869. It was a work equal to almost any other human achievement. The canal is 85 miles long. Its piers at both seas are immense. The piers extend into the Mediterranean Sea on the west side 7,000 feet, on the east 6,000 feet; at the shore 4,600 feet apart, at the outer ends only 2,300 feet. The western pier is extended in an arc 1,100 yards, and with the eastern pier shelters the ships from the winds. The stones of the northern piers are artificial, composed of sand and hydraulic lime, moulded into 20 ton blocks. There is another harbor within this outer harbor, which is 800x500 yards, and of a uniform depth of 30 feet. The light-house is 180 feet high, having an electric light. Port Said (a town of 10,500 inhabitants) is at the north end, and Suez (with 15,000 inhabitants) at the Red Sea extremity. The canal, between these extremes runs through salt lakes, lagoons, swamps, deep sands, and rock elevations. Passing from Port Said to Suez it is divided into the following natural sections: 1. Menzaleh salt water lake, 20 miles; water from one foot to ten deep; 112 yards wide at the sur- face, 26 yards at the bottom and 26 feet deep, with stone banks on each side 15 feet high. 2. Land section from 15 feet to 30 feet deep and 11 EGYPTIAN PHASE. 53 miles long. 3. Abu Ballah lake ; small lake, work lighter. 4. Land cut 11 miles to Temsah lake, cutting through ground from 30 to 70 or 80 feet deep. 5. Temsah lake, 3 miles. 6. El Guisr; deej)est cut in the line, being 85 feet below the surface; 112 yards wide at the water-level, and at the summit 173 yards. Ismailia, on Temsah lake, the half-way point, is a town of 5,400 inhabitants. Railways run from Ismailia to Alexandria and Suez. A fresh water canal runs from the Nile to Temsah lake. This supplies fresh water to the ship canal. 7. Toussoum and the Serapeum cutting, through a plateau 46 feet above the sea. This space is about 8 miles long and was dug from 32 to 62 feet deep. The quantity of sand removed was immense. 8. The Bitter lakes; much embanking. 9. From the Bitter lakes to Suez, 13 miles. Heavy cuttings through the stony plateau of Chalouf, from 30 to 56 feet. The canal is 327 feet wide at the surface, 72 feet at the bottom and 26 feet deep. In November 16, 1869, it was opened in form, with a procession of English and foreign steamers ; the Khedive, the empress of the French, the emperor of Austria and others being present ; also the crown-prince of Prussia. " On Nov. 27 the Brazilian went through ; a ship of 1809 tons, 380 feet long, 30 feet broad, and drawing from 17^ to 20^ feet of water. Since that the canal has continued in successful operation, and passages have been made almost daily, chiefly by British vessels. The cost of construction to Dec. 1869, was estimated at £11,627,000. In 1870, 491 ships of 436,618 tons, passed through ; and in 1874, 1264 ships, of 2,424,000 tons. About 70 per cent, of the shipping and tonage belongs to Great Britain." The immense value of this canal lies in its shortening distances be- tween Europe and India. From London to Bombay by the cape is 11,220 miles, by Suez Canal, 6,332, shortening the voyage 24 days. The rate of passage through the canal is 5 to 6 knots an hour. Canal charge, 10 francs per ton, 10 francs per head for passengers. Receipts for 1876, £1,245,750. Rapidly increasing. PRELUDE. — 1. WHAT DOES THE DRYING UP OF THE EUPHRATES SYMBOLIZE? This question with the one following it, was recently sent me by our faithful and beloved brother, Newell Bond, of Washington City. These questions were suggested by the article, on that subject, by J. Cameron, in Rainbow ; published in The Restitution. We cannot, in these preludes, or introductions, give anything more than sketches, reserving their full investigation to their proper heads, when investigating the Turkish phase of the Eastern Question, should we be spared to reach that subject. Euphrates of Rev. xvi. 12. What is it? This question must first be answered. Is the Euphrates, in the passage above quoted, a symbolic, or literal river? It is usually said to be symbolic. If symbolic, what does it symbolize. Two answers are given to this question : 1. That it symbolizes the Turkish empire. 2. That it represents those Latin nations of Europe that upheld the Papacy. 3. A third answer makes it a literal river. 54 • THK EASTERN QUESTION, The Euphrates is used in the Bible 21 times. In the Old Testament 19 times; viz: Gen. ii. 14, xv. 18; Deut. i. 7, xi. 24; Josh. i. 4; 2 Sam. viii. 3; 2 Kings xxiii. 29, xxiv. 7; 1 Ch. v. 9, xviii. 3; 2 Gh. xxxv. 20; Jer. xiii. 4, 5, 6, 7, xlvi. 2, 6, 10, li. 3. In the 19 passages, the literal river is always intended. In the New Testament, the Euphrates is twice named : both being found in the Apocalypse. In Rev. ix. 14, are these words, " Loose the four angels, (messengers or agents) which are bound in (at) the great river Euphrates." The distinguished Commentator, Woodhouse says, " The great river Euphrates, a famous river, which had its rise in Paradise, (Gen. ii. 14) and runs through the frontiers of Cappadocia, Syria, Arabia, Deserta, Chaldea, and Mesopotamia, and falls into the Persian Gulf." — Calmet. All our learned expositors agree in calling the Euphra- tes, in this passage, the literal river of that name. The Ottoman empire is here a living acting agent, divided into four Sultanies, bound by some other agencies, at the Euphrates as an axis. The mystic (?) Euphrates bound at the literal Euphrates! With such an interpretation we do not agree. In 20 passages the term Euphrates is the name of the literal river. There remains but one other passage, Rev. xvi. 12. Is this the name of a symbolic river ? From this we have dissented for many years. We have not been able to reconcile that interpretation with the laws of symbols. One principle is evidently violated : When a word or object departs from the literal meaning, that departure is somewhere explained, if not it would be no part of God's revealed system. If, then, the word Euphrates is here a symbol, where is that symbol interpreted ? If the term Euphrates be the name of the literal river, it requires no explanation since it is distinctly defined in 20 passages ; but if, in this 21st passage it has a figurative (symbolic) meaning, where is that figure inter- preted ? For, to be a part of revelation, it must be explained somewhere. For an illustration of our meaning read Rev. i. 20. '' The mystery (sym- bol) of the seven stars, which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks," explained, — " The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven candlesticks that thou sawest, are the seven churches." Look at the visions of Daniel and their divine interpretations. These explanations are necessary to make them elements of God's revealed purposes. We have, then, this rule, " where a term is used out of its ordi- nary sense, it must be explained somewhere ;" but Euphrates in Rev. xvi. 12, is used out of its ordinary sense ; therefore, it must be explained, or defined somewhere. Where, then, is its interpretation ? If that interpre- tation is found anywhere in the Bible, it must be in Rev. xvii. 15. " The waters which thou sawest, where the whore (mystic Babylon) sitteth, are people, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues." But mystic Babylon was sustained by the Latin and German or Gothic kingdoms, and therefore, those kingdoms (mystic waters) have the same relationship to mystic Babylon, that the literal Euphrates had to the literal Babylon. No one pretends that mystic Babylon is the Mohammedan hierarchy; and yet the usual interpretation of Euphrates (Rev. xvi. 12), forces upon us such an interpretation. Since the Euphrates is not named, as the meaning of the EGYPTIAN PHASE. 55 waters in Rev. xvii. 15, we are obliged to say, that Euphrates of Rev. xvi. 12, is the name of the literal river, which is spoken of in the 20 passages above quoted. What then is its drying up ? And who are the kings of the east? SECOND QUESTION— IS IT NECESSARY THAT THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE SHOULD BE TOTALLY ANNIHILATED BEFORE THE COMING OF CHRIST FOR HIS PEOPLE ? The Ottoman, or Turkish empire is, simply, the present or reigning dynasty of the Mohammedan empire of the false prophet, Mohammed. That empire was equally powerful under its first or Arabian dynasty ; so it might be again. The empire of the Koran is the empire of the false prophet. If Mohammed Ali, viceroy of Egypt, had been allowed to over- throw the Ottoman dynasty, would the dominion of the false prophet have then terminated, or would it only have added a third dynasty to that em- pire ? Was not Mohammed Ali as sincere a Mohammedan as the Sultan ? The idea as we see it, is this: "The empire of the false prophet is not dependent for its existence upon the Turk. He may be driven from Con- stantinople, out of Anatolia, and beyond there, and yet, the dominion of the false prophet by means of the Koran might number its 180,000,000, and, under another dynasty or some pretender, an el Mehdi muster war- riors by the millions. The future great conflict is not simply with the Turk, but with Mohammedanism — it will be a religious war : the cross against the crescent, the wild beast and the Pagan world, or the dragon — ■ Christ is personally present in that conflict and his bride is with him. Read its history in Rev. xix. EGYPT IN 1882 — ITS PRESENT STATE. The inhabitants of any country stamp their peculiar characteristics upon its physical aspects. What a sad contrast between the land in its era of monuments, and Egypt of to-day! How fallen, since the time that Joseph sat on its throne next to Pharaoh. What shadows have cast their gloom over the land since that time ! Perpetually under the domination of foreigners : the Assyrian, the Persian, the Macedonian, the Roman, the Arabian, the Georgian and Tartar Slaves, and the indolent Turk. What is its present condition ? Of the land itself we have but few notes to append. The hand of Jehovah is open still, pouring its fertilizing waters into the many tribu- taries of the White and the Blue rivers to be wafted down and deposited by the Nile in Lower Egypt. The once fertile valley of the Pharaohs, with its 4,000 towns and cities, can yet produce as perfect a flora when properly irrigated. It is still the Eden of flowers. An author remarks, "As a commercial country, it possesses inestimable facilities. Bees are now carefully reared, honey forming an important article of trade. The verdure of Upper Egypt generally withers at the end of four or five months, and commences earlier than in Lower Egypt. In consequence of 56 THE EASTERN QUESTION, this, the Lower Egyptians collect the bees of several villages, in large boats; each hive having a mark by which the owner can recognize it. The men having charge of them, they commence the gradual ascent of the Nile, stopping whenever they come to a region of herbage and flowers. At break of day the bees issue from their cells in thousands; and busily collect the sweets of the flowers, which are spread in luxuriant pro- fusion around them, returning to their hives laden with honey, and issuing forth again in quest of more, several times during the course of a day. Thus for three or four months, they travel in a land of flowers, and are brought back to the place whence they started, with the delicious pro- duct of the sweet orange-flowers, which perfume the Said, the roses of Faioum, and the jessamines of Arabia." Nature still has its charms in the valley of Egypt. The defects are in her people; their habits, their religion, their govern- ment, and their rulers. The inhabitants are a mixture of the descendant of Ham, Shem, and Japheth. During her protracted history, the valley of the Nile has been the great magnet of the human race, as the land of natural resources. Such a mixture of races, religions and of laws, has been productive of endless discord. These strifes have produced constant wars, terminating in subjugations and changes of dynasties. These end- less wars have exhausted the resources of the country, and debased the people. The inhabitants are under the bondage of rapacious rulers. The poor of Egypt are under a deplorable servitude. Their officers rob them of the fruits of their severe labor. Their food and clothing are reduced to a scanty pittance. They are not allowed to make use of corn and rice for food, since all that they can raise is demanded by their masters. Indian millet, forming a coarse bread, water, raw onions, sometimes a little honey, cheese, dates, and sour milk, form their constant, and only food. Their clothing is still worse. "A shirt of coarse linen dyed blue, and a black cloak, a cloth bonnet, with a long red woolen handkerchief rolled around it, form their costume." Such a population, dwelling in miserable hovels, moving among the monuments of ancient grandeur, awakens in the mind of the stranger a painful interest. This is the land of the haughty Pharaohs. These are their proud structures erected to perpetuate their names through all ages. This land is the Hebrew house of bondage ; the valley claimed by Jehovah as his own, the land of the plagues, visited upon a wicked ruler, for the oppression of his own people. The land of foreign rulers, continued twenty-two centuries. The world's ancient semi- nary — the bridge of three continents. The present of Egypt is known and read of all ; but few remarks are, therefore, required of us to enable the reader to take in her present posi- tion. Let us make a brief summary preparatory to glancing at her future. HER UPRISING — ITS RESULTS AND ITS BEARINGS ON THE FUTURE. 1. Egypt has a population composed of a heterogeneous mass, at- tracted to her soil from all nations. They form (to use a chemical term) a mechanical mixture. No durable union exists among its elements. EGYPTIAN PHASE. 57 Each race partial to the members of its own family, forms a community by itself. Their interests are selfish and exclusive. Their laws are neither understood nor respected by the people at large, and, consequently, not readily obeyed. Their officers are tyrannical and exacting. They asso- ciate as masters and slaves, no sympathy existing between them. Egypt is at this time, not wisely governed, for the reason that it is not suited to the national prejudices. A national parliament in Egypt is like parlor refinement among savages. It may suit the European population, but totally unsuited to the natives. Nations, like individuals, change their constitutions, only by the dissolution of the old organic bodies ; such will be the fate of Egypt. Her foreign European population can never fuse into a nation with Oriental ideas. The religious elements of modern Egypt are still more difficult to fuse into a homogeneous mass. By what power, human or divine, can there be a union between Mohammedanism and Christianity? The Christian system allows no compromise, neither does the religion of the Koran. The Koran and the Bible can have no fellowship. European aggression caused the recent rebellion. That rebellion had a national and a religious phase. The British interests have now tri- umphed in Egypt. She is there to remain till the time of the future northern invasion. PRELUDE — CERTAIN QUESTIONS CONSIDERED. A brother propounds the following questions : 1. Does the sixth vial reach beyond the rapture of the saints ? 2, Is there not a space of time between the rapture of the saints, and His (Christ's) public appearing with his saints on Mount Zion ? How long before ? 3. Does not this time cover the time of the pouring out of the seventh vial? 4. Is it not the work of Christ and his army of immortalized holy ones first to clear the enemies out of the land, the antitype of David's reign ? 1. Does the sixth vial reach beyond the rapture of the saints ? What is the Rapture of the aints ? Some of our readers may not understand this term ; and, therefore fail to comprehend the act intended. Rapture means a removal by some force, from the Latin rapere^ raptum, to carry off by force — Webster. When applied to the saints, the act is explained in 1 Thes. iv. 17. " Then we which are alive (and) remain shall be caught up (away) together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air ; and so shall we ever be with the Lord." This is called the rapture of the saints. Will the sixth vial reach beyond this event? Beyond it, we think; not far, however. The day of God's wrath includes seven distinct periods, according to the number of vials, each vial having its own period. Five of these periods are completed ; the sixth period is now in progress, with many of its most noted events still in the future! 1. The great river Euphrates must be dried up. 2. The three unclean spirits must gather the kings of the earth, and of the whole world to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. 3. A remnant at least, of the twelve tribes, must return to Palestine, and 58 ♦ THE EASTERN QUESTION, occupy that land, and the city Jerusalem. The great conflict of Rev. xvi. 14, belongs to the sixth period. At some point previous to that battle the rapture takes place, since in that conflict Jesus of Nazareth " will open His eyes upon the house of Judah." Zech. xii. 4. The gathering at the close of the thousand years, is by another agent, Rev. xx. 7. The precise time of the coming of the son of man, and the rapture is unknown. The signs of that coming as given by the Savior, indicate its vicinity. "Watch therefore." 2. Is there not a space of time between the rapture of the saints and his (Christ's) public appearing with His saints on Mount Zion? How long is this space? We shall consider these but one question, since one answer will cover the two. We cannot fully satisfy the demands of this question, since the events are too complicated. If, in this question, the Mount of Olives be substituted for Mount Zion, we should answer : One thousand years at least, since that standing is at the close of the Millenium. In answering the question as it now stands, many conflicting interpretations are involved. Where did Christ appear with His "saints" on Mount Zion? We have failed to find such a passage. John saw a Lamb stand on the Mount Zion, and with him a hundred forty (and) four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. Rev. xiv. 1. We do not question their identity, but we question the office, and the time, Christ will reign with His saints on Mount Zion — but we question — if that reign is brought to view in Rev. xiv. 1. The coming of Christ will be in his royalty — a Nobleman, having received the kingdom ; one like the Son of man, who receives a kingdom from the Ancient of days. When he comes, he has many crowns. The order of events as enunciated in Rev. xix. 7-21 ; and Rev. xx., is the following : 1. The rapture. 2. The marriage. 3. The marriage supper. 4. The descent of the Faithful and True, to judge and make war. 5. The warrior described : His eyes as a flame of fire, and on his head many crowns ; vesture dipped in blood ; his name, the Word of God. 6. The armies of heaven, Tthe bride), on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, follow him. 7. Out of his mouth a sharp sword. 8. On his vesture, a name written. King of kings, Lord of lords. 9. The overthrow of the hostile army. 10. The binding of Satan. 11. The thousand years' reign. 12. Satan loosed. 13. The final battle. 14. Close of the official reign of subjugation. The New Heavens and New Earth and the joint reign follow. Our space will not allow a full answer. Will give it in our next number and explain. Deut. xxxiii. 1-3; Hab. iii. 1-6; and Isa. Ixiii, 1-8; also the 24th Psalm, as these are the principal texts, which are quoted to establish the view that Christ, with His saints first descends upon Mount Sinai, thence takes His line of march through the great wilderness to Palestine, invisible to the outer world till he appears on Mount Zion ; then fulfilling Psa. xxiv. 7-10. As we are now about to treat of the events to transpire in the age of subjugation, these points are appropriate, using, however, a due degree of caution, not rushing on where angels fear to tread. EGYPTIAN PHASE. 59 EGYPT IN THE FUTURE. The past is history acted out and completed ; the present is history in progress of accomplishment, a web in the loom; but the future ! what is it ? An unexplored night wilderness, without a sun, or a moon, or a star, or any natural object, or any light of nature to guide us ? Egypt's future! Who knows it? Who can write it? And, yet, it is written. Who can furnish us with a copy, or even fragments of a copy? There sits a lamp; with its light, pure white and most intensely brilliant. Hold it up and let us peer into that black and rayless wilderness. If it be possible, let us follow Egypt in her pathway through its sands, its bogs, its mountains, its dark valleys till it emerges into the glories of an endless paradise. Our lamp (Bible) : it sends its radiant particles, as swift messengers into the wilderness of the future, the terra incognita of revolving cycles. Here and there, on Egypt's pathway, is brought to view some noted beacon, a) An Altar of witness, h) An Eden garden, like an oasis in a Saharan desert, c) A highway, d) A union, e) And family, in the per- petual sunshine. These five signals disclose to us all the future of Egypt. In one group, they are described as follows : — a) In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egj^pt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord, And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors^ and He shall send them a Savior, and a great One, and He shall deliver them, b) In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians, c) A garden of Eden, an oasis in the desert. " Blessed (be) Egypt my people.'*' d) A happy union. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt, and with Assyria, (even) a blessing in the midst of the land, e) The most distant view we have of Egypt as a family group. And if the family of Egypt go not up (to keep the feast of tabernacles). Read Isa. 19; and Zech. 14., five objects in the group. These five way- marks being disclosed by the light of our divine lamp we are required to compose, in full, the history of Egypt's future. Are these sufficient data for the solution ? In mathematical science, three terms are given, to find a fourth. Here five are given, we are required to find a sixth. In the future of Egyptian history, five positions, and historical notes are given, from which we are to compose her history. The first a pillar ; the second is an oasis, an Eden spot in the midst of the wilderness; the third is a union of three countries; the fourth is a highway; the fifth is the Egyp- tian family in the perpetual sunshine. From these data, we are required to understand what the Messiah does with Egypt in His official reign of subjugation; and how, or by what means it is done. The what, and the how, we propose to investigate. To do this, we shall examine these way- marks singly, and in their order, a) The Altar of witness, or Pillar of witness. This Altar and Pillar, as translated from the Hebrew of Isaiah, by Bishop Lowth, are described as follows: — "In that day, there shall be 60 THE EASTERN QUESTION, an altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt ; and a pillar by the border thereof to Jehovah ; and it shall be for a sign, and for a witness, to Jehovah God of hosts in the land of Egypt : that, when they cried unto Jehovah because of oppressions, He sent unto them a Savior, and a Vin- dicator, and He delivered them." In that day — what day ? This expression is repeated five times from the 16th verse, to the close of the chapter : it being uttered by the prophet, six times. To what period in Egyptian history does the expression refer? From the events and the agents we are inclined to interpret that day as looking to the future. It may refer to the events of the 18th chapter. If so, those events extend into the future. "A pillar of witness." A witness is any person, place, or thing, that gives testimony. A pillar is here called a witness, because it gives testimony. Cast your eye upon a map of the valley of lower Egypt. Fix it upon a spot, on the left bank of the Nile, ten miles east of the city of Cairo ; on a rock-base of about 13 acres stands a pillar in the midst of pillars. And there it has stood for 40J centuries. Though to the eye, there can be found, in the v&Uey 70 such pillars, yet the prophet is directed to use the singular, " a pillar." In a valley of 70 witnesses (in appearance), there is only one witness. There it stands, tes- tifying. And there it will stand till its testimony is finished. A witness on the stand for 4,000 years. How many centuries it has yet to testify, is known only to its divine architect. When Joseph and Mary resided in Egypt with the Child Jesus, whose life Herod was seeking, this mighty pillar had stood nearly twenty-one centuries. Often did the parents of Jesus, (it is reasonable) while examining the wonders of this land of the Pharaohs, stand, with their child at the base of the pillar, and point out its height, its magnitude, and the immense blocks of stone composing it. And there it will stand when the empire of the living stone, as a moun- tain fills the whole earth. It shall be a witness through revolving ages ; till God's glory covers the world. A witness, capless, in the midst of monuments ! When the Hungarian chief, L. Kossuth, visited Boston, some years since, (1852) standing on a platform at the foot of Bunker Hill monument, before a vast concourse of citizens, alluding to that immense granite struc- ture, we heard him give utterance to this impressive thought, " Silent Mon- itor to tyrants, and to all tyranny." Such is the character of the great American revolutionary monument ; erected by the might of human power. And when the stranger visits that vicinity, and (in mind) sees its armies toiling in deadly strife, and hears the sound of the small arms ; and, above all, the cannons roar, he, involuntarily, lifts his eye to that "silent . monitor," exclaiming, "a sign," and "a witness." What, then, of the God-erected monument of Egypt? It has been standing, the monitor, the "silent monitor" witness of 40 centuries of human strifes, and of bloody revolutions. It has been the mute companion of all races, the Ethiopian, the Mongolian, and the Caucasian. It saw the Hebrew children under their cruel task-masters, and heard the sound of the lash, and the cry for help ; saw the ten plagues, and the overthrow of the armies of Pharaoh in EGYPTIAN PHASE. 61 the Red Sea. It was a witness to Jehovah, God of hosts in the land of Egypt ; that, when they cried unto Jehovah because of oppressors, He sent unto them a Savior, and a Vindicator, and He delivered them. It has witnessed as a " silent monitor " the struggles for supremacy, of all religions. What indignities has it suffered to its own person, pierced, blasted, and stripped of its outer raiment, like its divine architect it re- mained silent. It is now only a few years since the seal upon its lips has been broken, and it has commenced to utter its testimony. It has declared its own his- tory ; when, by whom, and for what purpose erected. It is uttering pre- dictions of the future. Let us give attention to its testimony since we are all personally interested. PRELUDE — EXPLANATIONS. A brother remarks : The Scriptures that point out the manner of Christ's second coming — please read Deut. xxxiii. 1-3; Hab. iii. 1-6; Isa. Ixiii. 1-8 — these have never had a fulfillment as we understand them. If they do not relate to His second coming, please show us our mistake, and when and where they are to be fulfilled. We believe, and so have we written, that Christ and His army of holy ones, after the marriage supper of the Lamb, will first strike " terra firma " at Mount Sinai. Thence pursue their line of march through the great wilderness to Palestine. Question : Will they be (visible) manifest to the outer world before they appear on Mount Zion ? We believe that the 24th Ps. has not been ful- filled, and will not be till Christ and His bride appear before the gates of Jerusalem. The theory is now stated in full. To us, this is now, as it always has been, a view somewhat questionable. We shall explain the four passages quoted above, as distinctly, and in as few words as our abilities will permit; hoping that the explanations will be true to the Bible and satisfactory to all. We would rather be honest than '' sharp." We shall take them in their order. 1. "And he (Moses) said, The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them ; He shined forth from Mount Paran, and He came with ten thousands of saints : from His right hand (went) a fiery law for them. Yea, He loved the people ; all His saints (are) in thy hand : and they sat down at thy feet ; (every one) shall receive of thy word." Deut. xxxiii. 2, 3. These words were uttered by Moses to the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by Jordan (near) Jericho. Num. xxxvi. 13. The law had been given from Sinai, and they had finished their forty years in the wilderness ; had come to a place where the promised land was quite near; Moses had seen the land but was not permitted to enter it. Before being taken from them he gives them a parting address. In his farewell song he makes use of the words as above. The Lord came from Sinai. — Is that coming past? Or, is it still future? As the truth or falsehood of the theory turns upon this expression, it is well to examine it critically. If this coming is past, the view is false, 62 THE EASTERN QUESTION, and the whole theory tumbles into ruins. We hold that that coming was past when Moses uttered the words. 1. He says, The Lord came from Sinai, not will come, some three or four thousand years beyond the time I (Moses) am now speaking. If then so far future, why did he not use the future tense ? He uses a past tense to express a past act. The Lord came, not will come. Moses, in narrating the wanderings of the Israelites, commences at their encampment at the foot of Mount Sinai, and notes remarkable events in God's dealings with them during the 40 years in the wilderness. The order of events is followed, Sinai, Seir and Mount Paran. '' Came from " God was their guide. Who (God) went in the way before you, to search out a place to pitch your tents (in), in fire by night, to show you by what way you should go, and in a cloud by day. Deut. i. 33 ; (see Ex. xii. 21, 22 ; Num. ix. 15, 22 ; xiv. 14), Jehovah led them toward Kadesh-barnea, by the foot of Mount Seir. There, and about Mount Seir the Israelites continued many days, not less than about 37^ years; "And the space in which we came from Kadesh-barnea, until we were come over the brook Zered, (which flows west into the Dead Sea) (was) thirty and eight years." Deut. ii. 14. Hence the propriety of the expressions. . "Rose up from Seir unto them." Deut. xxxiii. 2; and "ye have compassed this mountain long enough ; turn you northward." Deut. ii. 3, 7, 14. " He shined forth from Mount Paran." The exact position of this mountain cannot be ascer- tained. It was near to Mount Seir, and was one of those mountains on which Jehovah often shone forth in His brightness, during His long sojourn with His people in the wilderness, a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Ten thousands of saints." Holy ones. Such is its proper mean- ing: for Moses narrates but one coming (on Mount Sinai). He then con- tinues with them as their king through the wilderness. God did not descend alone. The chariots of God (are) twenty thousand, (even) thou- sands of angels : the Lord (Jehovah) (is) among them, (as in) Sinai, in the holy (place). Psa. Ixviii. 17; when the law was given. Who (Jews) have received the law (of Moses) by the disposition of angels." Acts vii. 53 ; "And it (the law) was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator (Moses)." Gal. iii. 19. "If the word (law of Moses spoken by angels was steadfast." Heb. ii. 2. Many or thousands uttered the words of the law in concert (perhaps), amid thunderings and lightnings. From his right hand (went) a fiery law for them." (Israel). "Yea, he loved the people" (Israel) or he would not hajve been to the trouble of providing for them a fiery law, and of being their sleepless guide through the wilderness. Verses 3 and 4 are parenthetical, and somewhat ambigu- ous in their use of pronouns. To whom do the pronouns "he," "his," and "thy" refer? God, or Moses or both? Vs. 4 and 5 relate to Moses as a mediator or God's vice-regent. May not vs. 3 refer to Moses? Neither explanation will effect the translation of vs. 2. They are all expressed in the past tense, except one. "(Every one) shall receive of thy words." This, with vss. 10, 12, 17, 19, 22, 25, 27 will be sufficient to convince us that Moses knew what tense to use in describing future actions and events. EGYPTIAN PHASE. 63 2. Habakkuk, in his prayer, is said to speak of Christ's second coming : "God came from Teman (the south), and (even) the Holy One, from Mount Paran." Hab. iii. 3. This coming is past, the past tense being used ; and it was the Father's advent as seen by Moses in the wilderness. "And" means "even;" God and the Holy One being one person. Hab- akkuk describes a past manifestation of the Elohim. His song was composed and sung in the congregation on the eve of the Babylonian captivity, when Jeremiah's 70 years' bondage were about to commence. Habakkuk is, in view of the impending danger, carried back to God's judgments on Egypt, His advent on Sinai, and his protection through the wilderness. If God then delivered his people from that actual bondage, why not from this impending captivity? So thought the prophet. Isa. Ixiii. 1-8; Ps. xxiv. (relating to other events) will come in No. 18. EGYPT IN THE FUTURE. It is our province, by the aid of the Bible, to trace Egypt through her future changes and to examine the agencies by which they are made, and the manner of their accomplishment. Five way-marks are given to aid us in our investigations. One, the pillar of witness, we have briefly noticed. A volume would be required to develop, fully, the purposes of its construction. A single additional question, however, must suffice for the present: Why was this pillar, sign, and witness located in Egypt? God does not act without reason. He had an object in the erection of that pyramid in the land of the Pharaohs, rather than in Palestine or in Assyria. The relative geographical location of the valley of the Lower Nile affords a reason quite sufficient. 1. No land has had such an event- ful experience. 2. It was at that time (B. C. 2170) in the front rank of knowledge and resources. 3. It is on the grand highway of western civil- ization and commerce. 4. Of the Eastern world, Egypt is the most con- venient land for scientific research; and consequently God located this sealed monument in that location where the seal would be the sooner broken. Had it been erected in any part of Asia, it would not now be delivering its testimony. Many other reasons might be suggested but these we deem sufficient. Second Way-Mark. — The oasis, or Eden garden in the wilderness of Egypt's future. The prophet's description is the following, " Blessed (be) Egypt my people." Isa. xix. 25. "Which in time past (were) not my people, but (are) now the people of God : which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy." 1 Pet. ii. 10. "And he saith also in Osce. I will call them my people which were not my people ; and her beloved which was not beloved." Rom. ix. 25. "And I will sow her unto me in the earth ; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to (them which were) not my people, thou (art) my people; and they shall say (Thou art) my God." Hos. ii. 23. "Blessed Egypt!" What a volume of associated thought is suggested by these two words: how inappropriate to Egypt under the Turk. What expression would 64 THE EASTERN QUESTION, now suit Egypt ? Turko-Mohammedan cursed people ! What terrible revolutions in that land before it can be truly said, "Blessed Egypt!" What physical, what political and what religious changes. The Libyan desert must retreat before the march of agricultural improvements. The indolent, God forsaken Asiatic must give place to a more efficient race ; one new and enterprising ; one whose political aspirations will carry it onward toward Millennial justice and purity. Its religious creed must be totally changed. Mohammedan ideas have never renovated the morals of any country. The moral standard of the Koran is low ; and in its leading thought it is licentious. There have been two remarkable prophets, who have established each a religious system : viz., the Arabian Mohammed, the author of Moham- medanism ; and Jesus of Nazareth the Messiah of the Christian. The lives of each, with their religious systems have been written; and, for many centuries, have been in circulation. One system is found in the Koran ; the other in the Bible. The leading thought of the one system is, Hate your enemies; of the other. Love your enemies. Compare the written lives of each of these noted prophets. Who cannot discern a remarkable contrast in the lives of these prophets, in their disciples, and in the nations that have adopted their religions? The crescent has de- graded Egypt. Such is the legitimate tendency of Mohammedanism. Though in its first centuries of domination it was a patron of science and literature, it lacked moral principle. It never developed a healthy moral constitution. The reason is obvious, its parents were without any. As water cannot rise above its fountain, neither can Mohammedan morals rise above their fountain contained in the Koran. Before Egypt can reach that beautiful, luxuriant and blessed garden in the wilderness, it will be renovated morally, socially, religiously and nationally. These changes will be accomplished fully, under Messiah's reign of subjugation. The incipient changes are in progress, as will soon be apparent in her on- ward movements. Third Way-mark. — Egypt's Union with Israel and Assyria. — That union is described as follows. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land." Isa. xix. 24. "In that day." What day? In the day of Messiah's regal, official, personal administration ; in that day in which Christ " puts down all rule, and all authority and power." 1 Cor. xv. 24. In that day when the stone, smiting the image, and reducing it to dust, becomes a mountain and fills the whole earth. We may affirm, with much assurance, that the past history of thope three countries gives us no record of such a union ; and, consequently, its fulfilment is in the future. It is true that those three countries are now professing the same religion (that of the Koran) ; but is there any union between those countries? It is here, union under Jehovah : " In that day, the Lord shall be known to Egypt and the Egyptians shall know the Lord." " And the Egyptians shall serve (the Lord) with the Assyrians." These distinctive characteris- tics are sufficient to fix the union in the future. The object of this triple EGYPTIAN PHASE. 65 union is not fully known. Why, under the reign of Messiah, (whose reign will be over all nations) two countries, Egypt and Assyria, should be united with Israel, may not be so clear. Under the present circumstances we may be allowed to conjecture. The geographical positions of Egypt and Assyria, relative to the land of Israel, we present as a reason. Relative to Palestine, Assyria is the gate of northern, middle, and eastern Asia ; for, in visiting the holy land, the inhabitants of those powerful kingdoms, states and empires would pass through Assyria, (all countries on the eastern side of the Euphrates and Tigris being included under that name). That country would command Asia. For the same reasons Egypt may be called the gate of Africa, and the West; Egypt, even now, by reason of the Suez canal, is the toll gate of the Great West. Their union with the land of Israel under the Messiah, would give ample room for the central kingdom or capital empire of the world. With such physical changes as are named by the prophets, this triple territory would sustain an immense population. Fourth Way-mark. — This, with the fifth will finish our Egyptian Phase of the Eastern Question. But, before we enter upon their investiga- tion, two passages, quoted by a brother, demand some notice, viz., Isa. Ixiii. 1-8; and Psa. xxiv. In Isa. Ixiii. 1-6, Bishop Lowth's translation is as follows: "Who is this, that Cometh from Edom ? With garments deeply dyed from Botsra? This, that is magnificent in His apparel ; marching on in the greatness of His strength? Messiah. I who publish righteousness, and am mighty to save. "Cho. Wherefore is Thine apparel red? And Thy garments, as one of them that treadeth the wine-vat? Mess. I have trodden the vat alone; and of the peoples there was not a man with me. And I trod them in mine anger ; and I trampled them in mine indignation. And their life- blood was sprinkled upon my garments; and I have stained all mine apparel. For the day of vengeance was in my heart; and the year of my redeemed was come. And I looked, and there was no one to help ; and I was astonished, that there was no one to uphold : Therefore mine own arm wrought salvation for me, and mine indignation sustained me. And I trod down the peoples in mine anger ; and I crushed them in my indig- nation ; and I spilled their life-blood on the ground." These events, in our view, have no connection, whatever, with Deut. xxxiii. 2-6; and.Hab. iii. 2-6. The only question to be answered, is. Are they accomplished? Or, are they still future ? We are inclined to the opinion, that their full accomplishment is in the future. It by no means follows that this will take place in Messiah's march from Sinai to Jerusalem. For He declares that in this terrible slaughter He is alone : not a man with him. Here we have the Son, in the other, the Father. This overthrow of Edom, which is finished during the age of subjugation, says nothing about Christ's advent to the earth, only his march alone through Edom. Our brother says : "Is it not the work of Christ and His army of immortalized holy ones, first to clear the enemies out of the land, the antitype of David's reign?" David's army was composed of warriors who did the most of the fighting. Christ is the warrior and does all the fighting. Christ and His 5 66 THE EASTERN QUESTION, army (His bride) have not the same uniform : neither is there but one sword. The bride does not fight : she is in her bridal suit, " Fine linen, clean and white." " The armies in heaven followed Him (Christ) upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean." Rev. xix. 14. No fighting in such a uniform. Christ subjugates His enemies without the aid of human arms. Psa. xxiv. 7-10, " Lift up your heads, ye gates; and be ye lift up ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Who (is) this King of glory ? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory ? The Lord of hosts. He (is) the King of glory." We cannot fit this Psalm to the Christ's appearing at His second advent "before the gates of Jerusa- lem," since it is wanting in Scripture proof. Where is the passage that announces such a knocking demand at the gates of any future Jerusalem ? Christ said^ " I am a King." John xviii. 37. For this confession, Pilate had it written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, and put on the cross, " Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." And, when the chief priests said to Pilate, " Write not. The King of the Jews ; but that He said, I am King of the Jews." Pilate answered, What I have written I have written. John xix. 21, 22. Christ was then King de jure, (by right), by virtue of His being the Son of God, which was declared by His resurrection from the dead. Rom. i. 4. He is King de facto, (in fact), when He receives the Kingdom, after having finished His priestly office. Dan. vii. 13, 14. The Nobleman receives his Kingdom and returns. When the Father said, "Sit Thou at my right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool " (Psa. ex. 1), it was an acknowledgement of His Sonship. This took place at Christ's ascension, with a multitude of captives. Immediately announced, " Yet have I set my King (by right) upon my holy hill of Zion." Psa. ii. 6. I accept Him as my Son and legal heir to David's throne. The following, I think, is appropriate : " We must now form to ourselves an idea of the Lord of Glory, after His resurrection from the dead, making His entry into the eternal temple in heaven, as of old, by the symbol of His presence. He took possession of that figurative and temporary structure which once stood upon the hill of Zion. We are to conceive Him gradually rising from Mount Olivet, taking the clouds (of witnesses) for His chariot, and ascend- ing up on high ; while some of His angels (like the Levites in this pro- cession), demand that those everlasting gates and doors, hitherto shut and barred against the race of Adam, should be thrown open for his admission. "Lift up your heads, ye gates!" to heaven and earth be it proclaimed aloud, by men and angels — that God our Savior, — ' He is the Lord of Hosts ; He is the King of Glory.' Amen Hallelujah." — Bishop Home. EGYPT IN THE FUTURE — FOURTH WAY-MARK — THE HIGHWAY. "In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians." Isa. xix. 23. "And a EGYPTIAN PHASE. 67 highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called, The way of holi- ness ; the unclean shall not pass over it ; but it (shall be) for those : the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err (therein). No lion shall be there, nor (any) ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk (there) : and the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." Isa. xxx. 8-10. We have quoted both passages that they may be compared the more readily. The former highway belongs, more particularly to Egypt and Assyria, necessarily passing through the land of Israel : the latter belonging to the land of Israel ; but not necessarily con- fined to that country. We shall first examine the highway out of Egypt into Assyria. Is it literal or figurative? We do not question its literal interpretation. The whole chapter seems to have that meaning. The names of Egypt, Assyria, and Israel, are literal countries : so understood by all expositors. The people are literal also. Their movements are literal, " shall come." Egyptian and Assyrian are literal terms. No attri- bute to these lands and their inhabitants, that they do not naturally pos- sess. In such cases terms must have their literal interpretation. The same is true of this highway. The servitude is literal. Of the 33 words used to express this highway, its attributes and uses, 10 are names, and 23 are only connectives, being adjectives and prepositions; except 6, which express being, or action. All express persons, places, or things, which their attributes, relationships, their being or natural actions. No figure in the verse. As literal, as our Railroads, which run from state to state ; throwing around them and through them an iron net-work. Who, in describing these numerous highways of travel, would risk his reputation for sanity, by calling them figurative or spiritual highways? This highway seems to be the chief of a system of roads leading through those countries which are on the direct line of future communica- tion between the great West, and the Eastern empires, or " Kings of the East." Egypt being the Western avenue of the world, might represent the Western commercial, civil and religious world, while Assyria holds the same relationship to the eastern world. Egypt appears to be united to Assyria in their worship of Jehovah; each going up, from year to year, to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts. It shows a great ad- vance in Christian civilization. This great national highway being shown to be literal, let us examine the one (or two) in Isa. xxxv. 8, 9, 10. Bishop Lowth's translation is the following: — "And a highway shall be there; and it shall be called the way of holiness: no unclean person shall pass through it : but He Himself (Jehovah Christ) shall be with them, walking in the way, and foolish shall not err therein. No lion shall be there ; but the redeemed shall walk in it. Yea the ransomed of Jehovah shall return: they shall come to Zion with triumph; and perpetual gladness shall crown their heads. Joy and gladness shall they obtain ; and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." The prediction more particularly belongs to the land of Israel under 68 THE EASTERN QUESTION, the reign of Messiah. To that phase of the Eastern question will belong our principal exposition : with this remark, however, that this highway is equally literal with the one already explained, only, that this passage represents a more advanced period of the reign of subjugation. The physical and moral aspects of the countr}'-, and the agencies of the changes, are clearly set forth. Springs of water, the physical agent, and Messiah Jehovah, in His personal presence, the great moral renovator. FIFTH WAY-MARK — THE FAMILY OF EGYPT UNDER THE JOINT REIGN. "And if the family of Egypt does not go forth, and come up, so will there not be rain upon them, but there shall be upon them the plague, wherewith the Lord will plague all the nations, who will not go forth to celebrate the feast of tabernacles. This will be the sin of Egypt, and the sin of all the nations who will not go up to celebrate the feast of taber- nacles." Zech. xiv. 18, 19. This is the most distant view of Egypt, in our prophetic telescope. Let us take our final look at that most interesting country and now happy people; she still bears her name; but is very significantly called " the Family." Her nationality, even subordinate, as it existed during the reign of subjugation, has run out its last sands ; and she takes her place as a family group of the redeemed, in an earth full of the glory of Jehovah. The terms and threatenings applied to Egypt in the quotation we have given from Zech. xiv. 18, 19; may cast a doubt as to the correctness of our in- terpretation. We will attempt to remove the difiiculties in the way of our application. It is said that the expression, "If the family of Egypt go not forth," implies that they will at times, refuse to go forth, and are, therefore, in their imperfect and disobedient state. This objection seems to have some weight. Let us examine the language of the text more critically. The idea is more clearly expressed by substituting the follow- ing, " Should the family of Egypt, Assyria, or any other family of that Eden earth refuse to honor the Great King by refusing to go up to Jerusa- lem to keep this commemorative feast. God would thus punish sin (only sin) of contempt. Not that there will be that one sin, the contempt of court, but, should there be, then such punishments would follow. It is to be understood as Isa. Ixv. 20. In that new earth there will be no tears ; and, consequently, no deaths; and yet it speaks of infants one hundred years old, dying; and old men under a curse. This, to harmonize with itself, would read as follows, Should there be any births or deaths, the in- fant would be called an infant should he die at the age of one hundred years, and should there be a sinner one hundred years old he should be accursed. If one of the angels (even Gabriel or Michael) should refuse to carry any message for Jehovah, he would be cast down from his lofty posi- tion. Obedience is a primary law of Christ's kingdom. Should any family of the earth, however favored, such as Egypt will be at that time, it would not escape punishment. The perpetuity of Messiah's throne; EGYPTIAN PHASE. 69 yea, its very existence would depend upon the strict and willing obedience of every family. In all these statements, it is not stated that any will refuse. Our law- givers affix penalties to the violations of law, when there are no violations, So in the restitution. In that holy state there can be no transgressions, since all are free to act, but are without any disposition or motive to vio- late the laws of that kingdom of love, peace and righteousness. Let us, for the present, bid adieu to the land and people of the valley of Egypt. The advancement of its European civilization and foreign occupation will be noticed more at large under another Phase. Some are ready to ask, as one of old, how can these things be ? How can the world be restored to its Eden state and be filled with a race of pure, immortal beings ? It would be a sufficient answer to say. He that called this earth into being and made a Paradise of it, has the power to restore it to that Eden state. And as He has authorized the prophets to declare that" to be His will: who can for a moment, have any doubt of its accom- plishment? The "Restitution!" What a world of associated thought clusters around that blessed word. He that had power to call Lazarus out of his tomb, and to still the tempest and quiet the sea, can restore all things. We do not stagger at His promise. The world is waste, and somewhat dilapitated, but when Christ shall make it His personal abode, it will be fitted up a beautiful mansion for Himself and His people. BRITISH PHASE. PROPRIETY OF THE NAME. — ELEMENTS, GROWTH, AND MISSION OP GREAT BRITAIN STATED AND OUTLINED. Prelude. — Two classes of men are highly interested in our great national movements in the Eastern Hemisphere : a) The worldly poli- tician, who sees nothing but the present age and human aggrandizement. 6) The prophetic student, who reads all their acts, revolutions, and devel- opments by the light of revelation. The one knows no agent but man ; no success nor any advancement that is not the product of his brain, and the work of his muscle ; the other sees nothing but the plans and move- ments of the Almighty. Hence we have two widely distinct classes of national expositors. Jehovah is writing the doom of empires upon the palace walls of their monarchs ; but their wise men read nothing in these characters, but ages of peace and prosperity. Hence Messiah's approach gives them no warning. Read the secular journals. What could be learned by the masses out of. those periodicals relative to Christ's return and His kingdom ? The alarm of Christ's approach may make a ripple upon the deep of human occupations, but, as the pebble upon the lake, the wave it creates soon returns to its quite waters. In our investigations we follow the nations in the light that God revealed to His prophets. British Phase. — We have this great truth distinctly shown in all the Eastern national movements, that each nation puts a new phase upon the so-called Eastern question. This is particularly true of Great Britain whose origin, growth, and future mission, and its final destiny we purpose to show. Its name. — We have selected the name British, because it is the name of the empire, it being more comprehensive than English, or Anglo Saxon. It will allow us to include her colonies : — The name British, Briton, is supposed to be Celtic from brit, painted, as the ancient Britons painted their bodies blue. The term Britannicse Insulse, was applied by Julius Caesar to the British Isles ; Albion (England and Scotland), and Hibernia (lerne), Ireland. Aristotle B. C. 384-322, knew and describes Albion and lerne. Ptolemy in the second century first called lerne Little Britain, and Albion Great Britain. Such appear to be the origin of the present name of the British empire. We shall now hasten to consider the empire itself; building our remarks upon the basis of this cardinal truth, that God is the Originator, the Governor, and the Disposer of all nationalities "ruling," as Nebuchadnezzar, after the (70) BRITISH PHASE. 71 sad experience of Jehovah's supreme power expresses himself, "All the in- habitants of the earth (are) reputed as nothing : and he doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and (among) the inhabitants of the earth : and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest Thou ? Dan. iv. 35. 1. We shall outline the British empire as it now exists. 2. We shall investigate its origin, and the race that has given it vitality. 3. We shall trace that people in their migrations and national growth. 4. The destiny or mission of the British empire will then be considered. 1. British Empire as it now Exists. — A small island (90,000 sq. m.) containing an area, less than one-third that of Texas, has given birth to an infant which, through a series of years, has grown up into a being of such gigantic proportions, that, with its arm outstretched, it has drawn into its bosom the great globe itself. Such an efifect must flow from an adequate cause. That little Island, with a fraction under 90,000 square miles (89,600 sq. m.) has now under its imperial domination eight million square miles, distributed over parts of every continent, and the ocean islands. An island that can give birth to such an empire, is worthy of the highest admiration. Let us walk about the island, and see wherein lies the secret of its power. Let us follow its coast outline, viewing its harbor system ; pass over its mountain ranges, through its valleys, tracing its lakes and rivers, noting their characteristics, view the soil as adapted to vegetable products. Having examined its surface as to its natural features, let us descend below its surface and examine its geological struc- ture, and the variety of its mineral wealth. Having outlined its physical formation and its natural resources, let us notice its monuments of human industry. Let the reader place before him an accurate map of the Island of Great Britain while he reads and investigates the following sketch. Great Britain (the island) in pre-historic times was a part of the Euro- pean, or German continent : now disjoined by a water passage (Str. of Dover), about 21 miles wide. It lies between 49 deg. 57 min. 30 sec. and 58 deg. 40 min. 24 sec. north lat. and 1 deg. 46 min. east long, and 6 deg. 13 min. west. The waters surrounding it are, the North sea, English channel, St. George's channel, Irish sea, and the Atlantic ocean. Following its coast line from the Strait of Dover toward the east and north we pass the following physical objects of note-worthy interest. The coast line from Dover to the northern extremity of Scotland is very tortuous and exhibits an infinite variety of natural scenery. Its water outlets, its bold head lands, chalk cliffs, its low sandy shores, its numerous harbors, its inlets and firths, present to the eye of the coaster a perpetual kaleidoscope. He never tires of the endless changes in the objects of his delighted vision. The first noted river opening is the Thames, the natural drainage of 6,000 sq. m. 2. The Wash, the common receptacle of five rivers. 3. The Humber, the receptacle of the Yorkshire Ouse, the Trent, and some other small streams. 4. The Tyne. 5. Firth of Forth. 6. The Tay. 7. The Dee. 8. The Don. 9. Moray Firth. 10. The Dornoch Firth. Passing 72 THE EASTERN QUESTION, along the west coast line, we find the Clyde in Scotland, and the Severn, the great river of S. W. England. On the south and east, the river system numbers about four times as many, as on the west and north. The moun- tains and hills lie principally to the north and west. The south-eastern division of the island seems to be the portion designed for agriculture. The mountains and uplands gather the waters from the clouds. From these fountains flow the streams which irrigate the low-lands. The British Island (containing England and Scotland) has one of the most perfect systems of drainage and irrigation to be found on the globe. This arises from its varied and peculiar surface configuration. When Jehovah constructs any continent or island, and furnishes it as a habitation for any part of the human family, he shapes and furnishes it for the special use of some one particular family. He certainly has the knowledge and the power to adapt the means to the end. It is safe to say that Great Britain was once a European Peninsula. But, in the revolution of ages, it was designed to be a retreat for one special people ; a quiet home. For that purpose, he cut it off from the main land, and made it into a beautiful island home, and furnished it with every necessary product and adapted it in all its attributes, to the requirements of the intended occupants. The shape, lay, and the resources of the island sustain these remarks. It has been peopled by Europeans ; and with those nations occupying north western Europe, such as France, Germany, and Denmark. It has had for centuries a large portion of its intercourse. Is there anything in the structure and in the face of the land to prove that to have been its Maker's original purpose ? With the admission that the course of the rivers and of all flowing waters of any country indicate its general slope, place before you a map of Europe with its surrounding islands. Trace the rivers as they flow from their mountain sources to the North Sea and to the English Channel; bear- ing in mind that harbors are generally made by, or are associated with the river systems. The French and German rivers flow towards the mouths of the principal British rivers, demonstrating the fact that those countries face each other. Their harbors follow the same law of intercourse. Why not admit that those countries were thus purposely constructed? The principal rivers and harbors of Ireland follow the same law. The Clyde in Scotland and the streams of North Ireland follow the law of commercial intercourse. Ireland has one large river that flows to the (Southwest) Shannon : The Island of Great Britain has one large river; also, flowing in the same direction — (the Severn). By what agency has Great Britain been made to look Europe in the face? Its geological structure will reveal the agency. The earth's crust (some 50 miles thick) is composed, principally, of layers deposited in minute particles from water where they were held in solution. The law of gravity would require the strata thus formed, originally to be horizontal. What would have been the result had they remained in their original, un- broken, horizontal position ? Would the waters have been gathered into BRITISH PHASE. 73 seas and oceans ? Would there have been any dry land or any rivers ? The sinking and upheaving of the earth's strata, were, therefore, about the first of the progressive changes of the earth to render it a living home for air-breathing animals. Breaking and tilting the strata, so as to form various angles with the horizon, was God's method of gathering the waters into "seas," and of draining the "earth." For a more definite illustration of the Divine method of draining and iij-rigation let us examine the geology of the island of Great Britain : com- mencing with its first geological period (Laurentian system the most ancient rock exposed), as it was originally deposited. It was then the bottom of the seas which are now its boundaries. Such was its position during the ages of deposits of Cambrian, Silurian, and the lower strata of the Carboniferous naeasures. (During the coal measure deposits it was, in part, alternately above and below the ocean surface. Through the periods of the Permian, Triassic, Lias, Oolite, Wealden (fresh water deposit) Cretaceous, Pliocene, and Pleistocene measures, while this part of the earth's crust (89,600 sq. m. was being prepared for air-breathing animals, and especially for man their highest type, it was covered with the ocean waters. Being furnished with all of its mineral resources, it is detached and elevated permanently above the sea: tilted up from the n. w. so as to dip toward the s. e. : facing Germany, from which country it was principally to be peopled. A vertical plain passing from the under surface of the cyrstalline gneiss of the Laurentian system to the east, south eastern coast on the North Sea, upward to the coast, will show a section in which may be seen a sample of all the geological strata. " British rocks form the tpyical series of the earth's strata." No country of equal size, can be said to equal Great Britain in mineral resources. Passing from the Hebrides n. w. of Scotland, along the western shores of Sutherland and Ross where the Laurentian rocks appear, we step on to the Cambrian rock platform in Cumberland and travel on that series through Anglesey, and North Wales ; these rocks are sandstones, gritstones, and slates. From this platform we step on to the higher platform, called the Silurian : one of great extent. It is developed mostly in South Wales, and is composed of immense layers of shales, slates, and sandstones, with limestones. The Silurian strata spread over a large portion of Scotland, except the large trough of more recent deposits in Central Scotland. This formation contains the lead mines of Wanlockhead and Leadhills. Leaving this platform, we reach, in our upward progress, the Carboniferous platform, which contains the coal strata and principal iron ores. They extend from Bristol channel to Cheviot hills, including 15 detached coal fields. Its sandstones and lime- stones are of great value. We next step on to the Permian platform of magnesian limestone, and sandstone, both valuable for building purposes. Going south eastward we rise on to the Jurassic, Lias, Oolite, Wealden, Cretaceous, Eocene, Pliocene, and Pleistocene deposits on the coasts of Norfolk, Sufiblk, Essex, and Kent. Such a geological structure has the Almighty seen fit for some wise purpose, to give to this little island. He 74 THE EASTERN QUESTION, has laid its foundation deep. " The earth (is) the Lord's, and the fulness thereof: and the world, and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon (under) the seas and established it upon the floods. Psalm xxiv. WHAT HAS CHRISTIANITY TO DO WITH NATURAL SCIENCE AND PROFANE HISTORY ? Prelude. — It is often asked by persons of some devotional ideas, "What has Christianity to do with the natural sciences? Especially with that " Infidel science," called geology. Would it not be more consistent with a high Christian profession to make use of the Bible alone? Preju- dice, in its own estimation, is a very sharp critic, and exceedingly wise; in many instances, however, its censures are the result of ignorance. What is geology? It is a near relative of geography. The one has his office and field of labor on the surface of the earth : the other beneath its surface. Geology examines the earth's rock structure, and its general configuration and build-up, while geography confines itself to the sur- face of things. Both sciences are angels of light, whose mission requires them to declare the power, goodness and wisdom of the Creator. Why fear such beneficent angels? The Bible commences with the science of geology by enunciating its fundamental truth, that the earth's materials were created by God (Elohim). It then describes God's work in shaping it, and fitting it up for the abode of living organisms ; gives the history of their creation and of man as the earth's residing governor. The facts of geology are often noticed in the Scriptures. (See Psa. xxiv. and Job.) It is urged that infidels make geology contradict Moses. True, but do they not make the Bible contradict itself? What Bible truth has not been more abused than the principles of natural science? No science should be answerable for its abuse, either through ignorance or design. It is ob- jected that geology and Moses do not agree as to the earth's age. This, we deny. Moses does not give the age of the geological materials out of which the earth was constructed ; only that, in the beginning they were created, after which they were fashioned into a globe called " Earth." How long between the creation and construction, is not stated. The objector will please tell us, from the record of Moses, what space of time elapsed between the act of creation — Gen. i. 1. — and the building of the earth out of those materials — Gen. i. 2 — to end. All admit that the crea- tion of the materials must be first. The time, how long, not being stated, does not, therefore, contradict geological time. God is as truly the author of geological science (true principles) as He is the author of the Bible. God, by human agents and by His Son, spoke His revelations, which, by man, have been collected into a single volume called the Bible; but the book of nature, containing the record of His eternal power and Godhead, he has issued from His own printing establishment. Man, as a type-setter and publisher is liable to err; God, never! The one volume is suited to "Babes and sucklings;" the other to the Christian in his manhood. Many Christians have singular prejudices relative to the utility of secular BRITISH PHASE. 75 history in explaining the fulfilment of prophecy. They hold that the Bible alone must be its interpreter. This view is correct only in part. It will not hold good in regard to those prophecies, whose accomplishment belongs to a period which extends beyond Bible history ; such as a part of the metalic image, the fourth beast of Daniel, the standing up of Michael, the return of Israel and Judah, the signs of the advent, and the Apoca- lypse, and Christ's predictions of His return, and Paul's man of sin. The Bible cannot contain any historical record of their fulfilment, since no part of the Sacred Scripture has a later date than about A. D. 96. Christ evidently enjoined upon His disciples the study of history. For He says, '' When ye see these things then know." How could they discern without close investigation ? And what could they search but the history of passing events. To show when, where, and how prophecies have been fulfilled requires close and protracted investigation of national history. Any one has knowledge enough to say that prophecy is to be ac- complished. The one is a theory of labor ; the other is the theory of indolence. To decide correctly, however, as to the prophecies yet unful- filled, requires a knowledge of all past history of those nations, in any manner associated with the people of God. A history which contains a pure and perfect record of facts as they have transpired during the Chris- tian era, are as authoritative as the historic books of the Bible : for each would be a perfect record of facts as they took place. In the Old Testa- ment we have many books of history, such as Genesis, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chron., 2 Chron., the Acts of the Apostles, and the four gospels. These are called inspired records, or records free from error in their statements of facts. Books of history, composed of the records of events that have transpired since A. D. 96, so far as they agree with the chain of facts, would be equally as authoritative as the list from the Bible. What matters the private opinion of the his- torian if his record is true ? Parts of the Bible were uttered by wicked men, and their doctrines are false, yet the record is true. Job's friends be- long to that class. Gibbon and Hume are called infidels; yet their records of facts as they transpired are truthful. It is no flight of fancy to say that God can make an infidel testify to the truth. In the days of Christ's first advent the demons gave true testimony, "Jesus, we know Thee, the holy One of God." And if a demon could speak the truth, why not an infidel? Authentic histories are sufficiently accurate to demonstrate the fulfilment of prophecy. Island of Great Britain. — We shall examine its mineral resources. We have seen that the island is furnished with all the geological strata, so that it is furnished with all the mineral wealth of each formation. The mineral wealth : 1) In this island are found salt in 1880.2i million tons, valued at $6,000,000; 2) Iron pyrites 50,000 tons, value $5o5,000; 3) Zinc, 25,000 tons of ore, producing of metalic zinc, 7,000 tons, valued at $504,000; 4) Lead and silver from the same ores of the palseozoic rocks, 82,000 tons 76 THE EASTERN QUESTION, of ore, containing 61,500 tons of metal, worth 6J million dollars ; from which were obtained 521,300 ounces of silver, valued at $521,000; 5) Cop- per from Cornwall and Devon, 105 mines, producing 85,000 tons of ore, yielding 5,100 tons of metalic copper, valued at $1,500,000; 6) 9,000 tons of tin, value $3,000,000. The tin mines of Cornwall, Devon, and Scilly Isles have been worked 2,500 years, and have been the richest tin deposits in the world. Tin was taken from these mines for Solomon's temple; 7) Iron ore is obtained from all the coal measures as well as from older formations. In 1881 the number of tons obtained from the whole island amounted to 19,000,000 tons, valued at $32,000,000. The principal ore is an impure argillaceous carbonate of iron ; 8) Coal ; in 1880, from all the mines were raised 140,324,621 tons. It is stated that the coal deposits of Great Britain would last 100 years, should "there be consumed 1,464 million tons a year. This calculation includes the entire coal for the depth of 4,000 feet. The coal and iron are called the sinews and muscle of Great Britain. The British island, though in the western counties hilly and somewhat mountainous, is called level. There is a pleasing variety in its landscapes. Its climate is one of the most even (free from extremes) in the world. Its system of irrigation and drainage very superior. It is in the possession of the first class of natural advantages. Its physical resources have aided the British nation to climb to the summit of national grandeur. The agri- cultural products have now reached, annually, to the sum of $400,000,000; reckoning live stock, more than $2,000,000,000. Her manufactures (textile) are in cotton, woolen, worsted, flax and silk, 7,000 in number; with horse-power, 540,000; hands employed, 1,000,- 000. Her imports and exports $3,872,645,271. Gold and silver bullion and specie, about $200,000,000. THE BRITISH SHIPPING. In 1875 there were 20,644 sailing vessels and 4,160 steamers registered under the merchant shipping act. In 1877, there were 12,098 miles of railway open in England and Wales; 2,776 in Scotland. Her army is vast, numbering in all parts of the world, 633,033, including regulars, army reserves, militia, yeomanry, cavalry, and volunteers. Her navy is the most powerful of any on the globe. She has 61 ironclads, about 300 steam vessels, and 110 sailing vessels. In 1879 there were in commission 255 vessels. She is mistress of the seas, and encircles the earth with her armies. Her institutions are constructed on a most magnificent scale. Her cities are noted— her London is one of the world's wonders. Her powers, physical, moral, social, religious, civil and political, are nowhere surpassed, if equaled. The British Museum is the pride of the empire. It combines the curious and the wonderful of all ages; what mind can grasp in a lifetime the mental resources of its departments ? What a variety in its contents ! 1) Its printed books; 2) Its maps; 3) Its manuscripts; 4) Its prints and drawings ; 5) Its oriental antiquities ; 6) Its Greek and Roman antiqui- BRITISH PHASE. 77 ties ; 7) Coins and medals ; 8) British and Mediaeval antiquities and eth- nography ; 9) Natural history; 10) Zoological department; 11) Botanical department; 12) Geological department; 13) And its mineral department. Such is its interest to all classes of minds that 43.000 persons have passed through the building in a single day. We close our remarks on this little Island by the following by two noted authors : "England! this other Eden; demiparadise ; this fortress built by nature for herself, against infections and the hand of war ; this happy breed of men, this little world ; this precious stone set in the silver sea, which serves it in the office of a wall, or as a moat defensive to a house, against the envy of less happier lands; this blessed plot, this earth, this England." " England, which with Wales is no larger than the state of Georgia, stretches, by an illusion, to the dimensions of an empire. The innumer- able details, the crowded succession of towns, cities, cathedrals, castles, and great and decorated estates, the number and power of the trades and guilds, the military strength and splendor, the multitudes of rich and re- markable people, the servants and equipages, — all these catching the eye, and never allowing it to pause, hide all boundaries by the impression of magnificence and endless wealth. To see England well needs a hundred years; it is stuffed full with towns, towers, churches, villas, palaces, hospitals, and charity houses. In the history of art, it is a long way from a cromlech to a York Minster ; yet all the intermediate steps may still be traced in this all-preserving island. The climate is warmer by many de- grees than that to which it is entitled by latitude. Neither hot nor cold, Charles II. said, 'it invited men abroad more days in the year and more hours in the day, than any other country.' The frequent rain keeps the many rivers full and brings agricultural productions up to the highest point. England has plenty of water, of stone, of potter's clay, of coal, of salt, and of iron. The land naturally abounds with game ; immense heaths and downs are paved with quails, grouse, and woodcock, and the shores are animated by water-fowl. The rivers and the surrounding sea spawn with fish. There is the drawback of the darkness of the sky ; the London fog sometimes justifies the epigram on the climate, ' In a fine day, looking up a chimney; in a foul day, looking down one.' England is anchored at the side of Europe, and right in the heart of the modern world. The sea, which according to Virgil, divided the poor Britons utterly from the world, proves to be the ring of marriage with all nations. As America, Europe and Asiatic, these Britons have precisely the best commercial position in the world." — Emerson. " Britain is a miniature of Europe. Shares her mountains, Snowdon in Wales, Helvellyn and Skiddaw in Cumberland, the Highlands in Scot- land. She has her lakes, the smiling meres of England, the crystal lochs that mirror Ben Nevis and Ben Lomond and their brethren. She has the picturesque dales and caves of Derbyshire, the fair plains of War- wickshire, and Surry, and Bucks, and indeed throughout the realm. In Westmoreland and Cumberl9,nd she has a pocket Switzerland. Her mines 78 THE EASTERN QUESTION, in Cornwall, Staffordshire and Northumberland soon furnish all the great ores, iron, coal, lead, tin and copper. Her quarries are abundant. Her soil yields bounteous harvests. Her manufactures bring all nations in her debt. Her commerce exceeds that of any other people, and she is the grand mart of the globe. The keels of her merchantmen furrow all seas, and the smoke of her steamers darken every maritime sky, and plying be- tween her and her colonies, invest the world." — Cottage Cyclopedia. BY WHAT VARIOUS FAMILIES, OR RACER, HAS THE ISLAND OF GREAT BRITAIN BEEN RULED ? This island, small as it is, has been the theatre of many bloody revo- lutions. Its ancient inhabitants were savages of the order of cannibals. Who were its aborigenes? That term had its origin from the exploded ideas, that man, like vegetation, sprang out of the earth ; and that, origin- ally, he grew up from many centres. The world has been peopled by one couple, and from one centre. After the flood, three families peopled the earth ; those of Ham, Shem, and Japheth ; — formerly said to be distributed as follows : Ham and his posterity settled Africa ; Shem, Asia ; and Japheth, Europe and its islands. Further researches have modified this view very materially. The most ancient British population will form an exception to the above order of all colonization, as we shall see in our in- vestigations. The most ancient Britons were Shemitic. How ancient., and what were their tribal names, shall now be considered. In the slow spread of population after the flood, Europe would not be occupied till centuries after the settlement of Asia; and then by nomadic races, rather then by a settled population. Britain, being an island, would be still later in its settlement. From its location, it would be first occu- pied by families from Europe. Does history corroborate this statement? Who were the first inhabitants of Great Britain ? And at what period did they occupy the island ? The earliest population of the British Islands were called Kimmerians and Kelts. Who were they? Whence did they come? The Irish, Gauls, Welsh, Cornish, Armoricans, Erse, and Manks, are Celtic, (pronounced Keltic). It is enough, at present, to trace the Kumri, and Kelts, to their European homes 3 after that we shall follow them further toward the sun- rising. This Nomadic race, before passing over into the British Island, was composed of various families : all exceedingly hostile to the settled class of mankind, called civilized ; whom they felt at liberty whenever an occasion offered, to attack and plunder. They were the scouts and pickets of the original army of occupation — our earliest histories found the Kimmerians the most advanced in the northwest part of the European continent; and the Kelts in the southwestern portion of Europe. They had gradually moved towards western and northern Europe till they were stopped by the ocean. After occupying for centuries the extreme west of Europe, they passed over into Britain ; and, finding it unoccupied, except by unbroken forests and denizen wild beasts, they gradually spread over the island. BRITISH PHASE. 79 The original Britons were, therefore, Kimmerian or Keltic. They spoke the Keltic, the first of the three European generic languages: — the western, and consequently, the oldest. The middle European language is the Gothic or German; the eastern is the Slavonic or Russian language. These three generic tongues form the parent stock of the European lan- guages, and mark three distinct waves of western emigration. The mem- bers of the Keltic family are the Welsh, the Gaelic, the Irish, the Cornish, the Armoric, the Manks, and the ancient Gaulish tongue. The Kelts occupied the British Island some centuries before Christ (B. C. 700). The ancient Britons were conquered by the Romans; first, under Julius Csesar; and by Agricola. It remained a Roman Province four centuries, during which domination it came under Roman civilization. It being abandoned by the Romans, it was invaded and conquered by the Angles and Saxons. During their dominion, the island was exposed to the attacks of the sea- kings (pirates), from Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Still the Anglo- Saxon reign continued till their conquest by the Normans, or North men (Dnaes and Norwegians) A. D. 1013. It continued under Danish or Norse rulers till 1042, when it reverted into the Saxon hands of Edward the Confessor. It was restored to the Norse family by William the Conqueror A. D. 1066. The Norman French was made the legal language of the realm. From this time, and onward, — the Anglo-Saxon — was the ruling power of Great Britain. A Briton of the present British Empire is a mix- ture of all the Keltic and Gothic families ; still we shall call him by the name of the governing race — Anglo-Saxon; — and still more definitely — Saxon. THE BRITISH OR SAXON EMPIRE. We shall examine that family. 1) In its European home, a) Its in- fancy. 6) During its age of sea-kings, or piracy, c) Its conquests in England and on the continent, d) We shall follow the family eastward to its exile abodes, e) Then trace it to its paternal residence. /) Then we shall trace the chronological order of its western emigrations. 1) Anglo- Saxon in his European home. Anglo-Saxon is a term compounded of Angle, and Saxon ; of the Angles, a passing notice will be sufficient. Who were the Angles ? The Angles were Goths, Scythians, or Germans (a modern name). They belonged to the family of the Suevi. They first appeared to the Romans dwelling in the woods of north Germany, between the Weser and Elbe. They moved north, they settled in Schleswig between the Jutes and the Saxons. They worshipped " Terram Matrem " — Mother Earth (Tacitus) — the wife of Odin. In the fifth century, the more daring of the tribe, joined the Saxons in their conquest of England, and gave their name to the island, (Lat. Anglia, Anglo-Saxon, Englaland). The re- mainder of the tribe mingled with the Danes. The district of Angeln is their modern home — pop. 50,000; sq. m. 330. As the Jutes were associated with the Anglo-Saxons, we append a note from the history of the Anglo-Saxons, by Sharon Turner, F. A. S., R. A. 80 THE EASTERN QUESTION, S. L., author of the " The sacred History of the World." " But those allies of the Saxons with whom the history of Britain is most connected, were the Jutes and Angles. The Jutes inhabited Jutland, or rather part of it, which was formerly called South Jutland, but which is now known as Sleswick. The little band first introduced into England by Hengist and Horsa, were Jutes. Their name has been written with all the caprices of orthography. (His note then follows.) As G-eatum, Giotae, Jutae, Gutae, Geatani, Jotuni, Jetae, Jutae, Vitae, etc. The " Vetus Chronicon Hol- satiae," p. 54, says the Danes and Jutes are Jews of the tribe of Dan! And Munster as wisely calls the Helvetii, Hill-Vitae, or Jutes of the hills! The Angles have been derived from different parts of the north of Ger- many. Engern, in Westphalia, was a favorite position, because it seemed to suit the geography of Tacitus ; Angloen, in Pomerania, had good pre- tensions from the similarity of its name ; and part of the duchies of Meck- lenburg and Lunenburg was chosen out of respect to Ptolemy ; but the assertion of Bede and Alfred, which Camden has adopted, has, from its truth, prevailed over all. In the days of Tacitus and Ptolemy, the Angli may have been in Westphalia or Mecklenburg, or elsewhere ; but at the era of the Saxon invasion, they were resident in the district of Anglen, in the duchy of Sleswick. The duchy of Sleswick from the river Leveson, north of Kiel, to To- besket, on which stands Colding; but that particular position, which an ancient Saxon author calls Old England, extends from the city of Sleswick to Flensberg. Sleswick was the capital of Anglen, and was distinguished in the eleventh century for its population and wealth. On a note he says, "The Angli might be made the parents of the Jutes. That they were kindred nations is clear from the identity of their language. Our Kentish Jutes have always talked as good English as our Mercian, and Norfolk, and Yorkshire Angles. Jutes, Angles, and Saxons, seem to have been coeval twigs of the same Teutonic branch of the great Scythian or Gothic tree. Some dialectic differences of pronunciation may be traced, but no real diversity of language." — Turner. We have said all that is necessary for a clear understanding of the relationships of the Jutes and Angles, and of their European location. We are now prepared to investigate the European history of the Saxons. EUROPEAN HOME OP THE SAXONS. As introductory remarks, we shall again quote the history of Sharon Turner : — " The Anglo-Saxons were a people who transported themselves from the Cimbric peninsula and its vicinity, in the fifth and sixth cen- turies, into England. They were branches of the great Saxon confedera- tion, which, from the Elbe, extended itself at last to the Rhine. The hostilities of this formidable people had long distressed the western regions of Europe ; and when the Gothic nations overran the most valu- able provinces of Rome, the Anglo-Saxons invaded Britain soon after the Romans quitted it. The ancient inhabitants, and the progeny of the BRITISH PHASE. 81 Roman settlers, disappeared as the new conquerors advanced, or accepted their yolse; and Saxon laws, Saxon language, Saxon manners, govern- ment, and institutions, overspread the land. This revolution, than which history presents to us none more complete, has made the fortunes of the Saxons, during every period, interesting to us. Though other invaders have appeared in the island, yet the eflFects of the Anglo-Saxon settle- ments have prevailed beyond every other. Our language, our government, and our laws, display our Gothic ancestors in every part; and they live, not merely in our annals and traditions, but in our civil institutions and perpetual discourse. The parent-tree is indeed greatly amplified, by branches engrafted on it from other regions, and by the new shoots which the accidents of time, and the improvements of society, have produced; but it discovers yet its Saxon origin, and retains its Saxon properties, though more than thirteen centuries have rolled over, with all their tem- pests and vicissitudes. Although the Saxon name became on the con- tinent, the appellation of a confederacy of nations, yet, at first, it denoted a single state. The Romans began to remark it during the second century of the Christian era; until that period, it had escaped the notice of the conquerors of the world, and the happy obscurity was rewarded by the absence of that desolation which their ambition poured profusely on mankind. THEIR PARTICULAR EUROPEAN LOCATION. — AS EARLY AS A. D. 141. Ptolemy, the Alexandrian, in his Geography, says that there was a people called Saxons, on the north side of the Elbe, on the neck of Cim- bric Chersonesus, and three small islands at the mouth of this river. The Saxons were then of but little note, since it was one of seven nations that dwelt in a small peninsula (Jutland, Sleswick, and Holstein). How long they had then dwelt in Europe, history does not state. That they resided in this northern European home, in the time of Tacitus, the Roman his- torian is quite certain, though not named. Tacitus has not given the name of all the German tribes ; but, simply those that were noted among the Romans. In the days of Tacitus the Saxons were obscure, and in such a swampy and retired spot that they had escaped the cruel arms of the world's conquerors. One thing is quite sure, however, they did not spring fortuitously from their Mother Earth, as claimed by the Athenians, under the symbol of a " golden grasshopper." Ptolemy, writing Geog- raphy, names seven nations, dwelling in the Cimbric Chersonesus; Taci- tus, writing history, names only four, such only, as had a record among the Romans. This fully accounts for the omission. Tacitus is more par- ticular than Strabo in his German Geography; and Ptolemy, being still later is more particular than Tacitus. Here let us state, in the outset that Europe has been peopled by three great stocks, differing in language, man- ners and customs. 1. The first and oldest were the Kimmerians and the Kelts. 2. The Goths, Scythians, or Germans. 3. The Slavonians and Sarmatians, occupying severally the western, the middle, and the east of Europe. Their geographical locations fixes the order of their migrations. 82 THE EASTERN QUESTION, " The second stock of the European population is peculiarly interest- ing to us, because from its branches not only our own immediate ancestors, but also those of the most celebrated nations of modern Europe, have un- questionably descended. The Anglo-Saxon, Lowland Scotch, Normans, Danes, Norwegians, Swedes, Germans, Dutch, Belgians, Lombards, and Franks, have all sprung from that great fountain of the human race, which we have distinguished by the terms Scythian, German, or Gothic." — S. Turner. LAW OF DISTRIBUTION OF THE HUMAN FAMILY. Anthropology opens into a very extended field for investigation. The two great divisions of this science are: a. Ethnography, and b. Ethnology; the one generic, the other two specific. Anthropology, gives the natural history of man. Ethnography, gives the details of the masses of human organizations, as they exist in families, tribes, and nations. Ethnology, treats of the distinct features of nations and races. A comprehensive di- vision is the following. 1. "Zoological anthropology, which treats of the relation of man to the brute creation. 2. Descriptive anthropology, or eth- nology, which classifies and describes the various divisions and subdivisions of mankind, and marks out their geographical distribution. 3. General anthropology, which M. Broca calls, 'the biology of the human race,' which says a recent writer on the subject, ' borrows and collates from all science facts and phenomena usually investigated in men as individuals, but which relate to men as groups of individuals,' and compares these with other facts relating to other groups of individuals. The study and bare description of a single negro's skull is mere human anatomy ; the study of a group of negroes' skulls belonging to other races, would be a specimen of the work done by general anthropology." — Library of Universal Knowledge. The most distinguished authors on this subje^^t are Blumenbach, Dr. Pritch- ard, Dr. Latham, Retzius, Huxley, Dr. Morton, of Philadelphia, .Darwin, and Agassiz. The great question of the science is, did man, originally, spring from one, or from many centres? Blumenbach, Drs. Pritchard and Latham hold to the unity of origin ; the other authors to the plurality of centres. The greatest power of intellect and of knowledge defend the unity. THE TWO CLASSES OF MANKIND. a. The settled, or civilized class, of which we have types in the Egyp- tians, and the Babylonians and Persians, b. The nomadic, or savage class, of which the Kelts and Goths, Scythians, or Germans were types in every community, these two classes are conspicuous, the settled and the roving. The roving are not satisfied long in any locality. They are the world's scouts ; its first inhabitants ; its pioneers. These classes we have in our own country ; those who are constantly on the look-out for new homes ; always retiring before the march of refinement. Liberty is their cry. No restraint of law. It must be admitted that this migratory class has pro- duced the world's great revolutions. Their mission is necessary to the BRITISH PHASE. »3 spread of the human family. What would the world now be without the German? It may be asked, which class first settled Europe? This ques- tion is very readily answered, — the Nomads. For the Romans and Gre- cians, at an early period, dwelt in southern Europe, it is true; yet the Kelts and Germans are the principal occupants of this grand division; hence Europe is called by historians, "The German Continent." THREE DISTINCT MIGRATIONS. There have been three distinct migrations into Europe, from the east : a. The Kimmerians and the Kelts, dwelling- in the southwest, the west and northwest of Europe — in Spain, France, and Germany, b. The Scythians, Goths, or Germans, who dwell in middle or central Europe, c. The Slavo- nians and Sarmatians, who inhabit eastern Europe. The Russians belong to the third class. These three migrations are so distinct, and so far apart in time, that they are marked by three distinct dialects — and three distinct locations. This is the key of the proper understanding of European eth- nology. SAXONS IN THEIR EUROPEAN HOME. Let us turn again to the Saxons. Their country was composed of six districts : three islands at the mouth of the Elbe, and three small provinces north of the Elbe on the CimbricChersonesus. The islands were a. North Strant, formerly torn from South Jutland by the violence of the waves ; once about 20 miles long and 7 broad. Noted, at first, for its agriculture and fish ; much damaged by the sea. The inundations of A. D. 1300, 1483, 1532, 1615, and 1634, were terrible, more particularly the last, which sub- merged the entire island, destroying 6408 persons, 1332 houses, apd 50,000 head of cattle. 6. The island of Busen ; north of the mouth of the Elbe, three miles long, by two miles in breadth ; once supposed to form a part of the main- land ; on a level with a stormy sea, it is surrounded by a strong dyke. It contains three parishes, as many villages, and is moderately fertile. c. The most noted island is " Heilig island," which means sacred (holy) land; ceded to Great Britain, by the King of Denmark, August 20, 1814. It is situated in a long recess, 9 miles from the mouth of the Elbe. It is the first island that occurs in the ocean. It is very fruitful, rich in corn, and a nurse of cattle and birds. It has one hill and no trees ; it is surrounded with the steepest rocks, with only a single entrance, where there is fresh water. It is a place venerated by all sailors, and especially by all pirates." — S. Turner. Pontanus (1630) says, "It had formerly seven parishes, and from its inhabitants and incidents we learn that it was once much larger than it is at present ; for in our times the sea receding, the soil has been worn down and carried away, on all sides by the violence of the waves. Its banner is a ship in full sail." "It has a safe and capacious harbor, very deep and open to the south. This sometimes holds 100 ships of burthen, and defends 84 THE EASTERN QUESTION, them from the north and west winds. Their food consists of their oats, and the produce of their nets. But though sacred in human estimation j the elements have not respected the island. In the year 800, a furious tempest from the northwest occasioned the greater portion to be swallowed by the waves. In 1300 and 1500, it suffered materially from the same cause; but the inundations of 1649 were so destructive, that but a small part of the island survived it. If another attack should wash away the sandy downs, scarce one-sixth of the present population could subsist. — S. Turner, It has a sea-mark, and light-house for the navigation of the Elbe. This island was a marine school for the Saxon — as all the men be- came experienced pilots. It is now on the ocean highway between Eng- land and the continent. ITS DIVISIONS. Saxon territory on the continent, is north of the Elbe, and on the western side of Cimbric peninsula, and is divided into three districts : a, Ditmarsia. b. Stormaria. c. Holsatia. As we shall have occasion to use these territories, we subjoin their description from the history of Sharon Turner, than whom no author can be more reliable, a. " Ditmarsia is separated on the north from Sleswick by the Eyder, and from Stormaria on on the south by the Stoer. It fronts the island of Heiligland and Busen, and extends in length thirty-seven miles, and in breadth twenty-three. Its general aspect is a soil, low and marshy, and strong mounds are neces- sary to keep the ocean to its natural limits. The land on the coast is favor- able to corn and cattle ; but in the interior appear sterile sands, and uncultivated marshes. Its inhabitants, like those of all unfruitful regions, have been tenacious of the right of enjoying their poverty in independence, and the nature of the country has favored their military exertions. Their habits of warfare and scanty livelihood produce a harshness of disposition which often amounted to ferocity." (Their banner was an armed soldier on a white horse). " Below Ditmarsia, and reaching to the Elbe, was Stormaria. The Stoer, which named the province, confined it on the north. The Suala, Trave, and Billa ; determined the rest of its extent. It was almost one slimy marsh. The wet and low situation of Stormaria and Ditmarsia exactly corresponds with the Roman account of the Saxons living in in- accessible marshes. (Saxones, gentem in oceani littoribus et paludibus inviis sitam). The Stoer is friendly to navigation and fishing. Stormaria is somewhat quadrangular, and its sides may be estimated at thirty-three miles. Divided from Sleswick by the Levesou on the north, bounded by Wagria on the east, and by the Trave on the south ; Holsatia stretches its numerous woods to Ditmarsia. The local appellation of the region thus confined has been by a sort of geographical catachresis, applied to denomi- nate all that country which is contained within the Eyder, the Elbe and the Trave. Their country received from the bounty of nature one peculiar characteristic: the loftier Holsatia presented a continued succession of BRITISH PHASE. 85 forests, and of plains which admitted cultivation." Such a country did God select, out of all Europe, where he might educate a people (the Saxons) to rule the seas with its navies, and belt the world with its armies and merchantmen. No destiny, for seven centuries, could be less probable than the one determined by the Almighty for the Anglo-Saxon. Planted among rocks, sands, and impenetrable swamps, exposed to tempests from land and sea — their physical surroundings required the people to put forth every possible effort to supply the necessaries of life. The Romans could not penetrate their marshes, nor had they any plunder to attract these southern con- querors. Had they been exposed like the more open tribes of Germany, they would have failed in their future mission. He that is working out his own plans among the nations, kept the Saxons under a severe private tuition till they should be able to resist the Roman corruptions, as well as to succeed against its armies. There are two particular movements, in which we can discern the Divine agency : 1. The formation of the Saxon confederacy on the continent. 2. The evacuation of the island of Great Britain by the Romans, after having subjugated and held it for four cen- turies. These were both accomplished by the increasing power of the Saxon. The Saxon Confederation, or league on the continent, prevented the entire conquest of Germany by the Romans, and brought such a pow- erful combination of German tribes against the Roman empire, that the Roman legions had to be recalled from Britain. These events had to be postponed to give the Saxons time to develop their native powers. EDUCATION ON LAND AND SEA. This preparatory Saxon training we shall now briefly describe. — What was the peculiar character of the Saxon educational drill ? They had a land, and a sea drill. In their land, or domestic education, they had to contend against land and water. Their three islands were of little natural worth. They had to contend against a barren soil, and a tempestuous sea. Their three continental districts, were similar in their physical structure, excepting Holsatia. which was well timbered. Their ocean discipline was peculiar; and, therefore, demands more special notice. The men were called early into sea-service, as pilots, or as commanders of vessels, or as private sea-men. Those seas, by which they were principally surrounded, were stormy, making their ocean life one of great danger. The Saxons, during their occupancy of their European swamps, were savages; and they lived like savages, and were occupied as savages. They were idol- atrous : a set of pagan warriors. " They were fearless, active, and success- ful pirates." They were dreadful for their courage and agility. The Emperor Julian, who had lived among barbarions, and who had fought with some Saxon tribes, says that they were distinguished amongst their neighbors for vehemence and valor. Zosimus, their contemporary, expresses the general feeling of his age when he ranks them as superior to others in energy, strength, and warlike fortitude. " Their ferocious quali- ties were nourished by the habit of indiscriminate depredation. ^^ THE EASTERN QUESTION, It was from the cruelty and destructiveness, as well as from the sud- denness of their incursions, that they were dreaded more than any other people. Like the Danes and Norwegians, their successors and assailants, they desolated when they plundered, with sword and flame. It was con- sistency in such men to be inattentive to danger. They launched their predatory vessels, and suffered the wind to blow them to any foreign coast, indifferent whether the result was a depredation unresisted, or the deathful conflict. Such was their cupidity, or their brutal hardihood, that they often preferred embarking in the tempest which might shipwreck them, because at such a season, their victims would be more unguarded. — Turner. IS THERE ANY WANT OP HARMONY BETWEEN THE WRITINGS OF PETER AND PAUL RELATIVE TO THE FUTURE? Not as we understand them. Peter distinctly declares, that, in Paul's letters on future topics, there "are some things hard to be ^understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as (they do) also the other Scriptures, unto their own destruction." 2 Peter iii. 16. Peter says that Paul in all (his) epistles spake of those things, about which he (Peter) was then writing. About what was Peter then writing? He was writing about the last days; its scoffers: the day of judgment, how it sliall come, and what it will do ; what will succeed it, and the duty of Chris- tians to look for that day and earnestly desire it. He speaks of the con- flagration of this earth, and the introduction of the new earth— as the dwelling place of the righteous. Paul's epistles were written before the second epistle of Peter, since they had all been read by him and examined, or he could not have stated their character — "difficult of understanding." Since Peter wrote, after he had examined Paul's writings, and wrote on one of the same subjects, handled by Paul ; and since each one wrote by the dictation of the same Spirit, and, since the Spirit does not contradict itself, it is quite evident that Peter wrote nothing contrary to the views expressed by Paul. A DIFFICULTY EXPLAINED. Again, since Peter regarded Paul's writings relative to the future judg- ment, difficult to be understood, it would be Peter's aim to simplify Paul's declarations. We may then regard Peter's epistle chap, iii., as supplemental to Paul's, and an exposition of Paul's meaning — we regard what Peter says as a commentary on what Paul says — and expressed in the plainest terms that an uneducated man could handle. Peter, therefore, describes the conflagration and its results in the terms of ordinary language ; and yet, not to contradict Paul. Peter's conflagration is literal, for, no attribute is ascribed to any agent or object that does not belong to it. As Peter speaks of a literal earth, and literal fire, so must Paul. Peter, speaking of the earth and its contents, makes the burning that of literal fire. " The works that are therein shall be burned" (utterly burned). Paul says, "If any man's works shall be burned, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be BRITISH PHASE. 87 saved, yet so as by fire." How can a man's moral acts be burned by literal fire ? Literal persons are built on to *' Jesus the Christ." If they are true Christians, the man that built them into the building, will have pay. Each person is a star in his crown. If, on the contrary, the man (min- ister) has built in hypocrites and unconverted persons ; they will be burned, yet, he (the minister), if he is a true Christian, will be saved; the fire burns his works, but spares him. Literal fire in both cases. SAXON MODE OP LIFE IN HIS EUROPEAN HOME. " Their warfare did not orginate from the more generous, or the more pardonable of man's evil passions. It was the offspring of the basest. Their swords were not unsheathed by ambition or resentment. The love of plunder and of cruelty was their favorite habit; and hence they at- tacked, indifferently, every coast which they could reach. Inland provinces were not protected from their invasion. From ig- norance, necessity, or policy, they traversed the ocean in boats, framed of osiers, (water willows), and covered with skins sewed together; and such was their skill or their prodigality of life, that in these they sported in the tempests of the German Ocean. It is possible that men who had seen the vessels in which the Francs had escaped from the Pontus, and who had been twice instructed by Im- perial usurpers in the naval art, might have constructed more important war ships, if their judgment had approved. Although their isles, and their maritime provinces of Ditmarsia and Stormaria, were barren of wood, yet Holsatia abounded with it; and if their defective land-carriage pre- vented the frequency of this supply, the Elbe was at hand to float down inexhaustible stores from the immense forests of Germany. They may have preferred their light skiffs from an experience of their superior utility. When their fatal incursions had incited the Romans to fortify and to garrison the frontier of Britain and Gaul, the Saxons di- rected their enmity against the inland regions. For their peculiar vessels no coast was too shallow, no river too small ; they dared to ascend the streams for eighty or an hundred miles ; and if other plunder invited, or danger pressed, they carried their vessels from one river to another, and thus escaped with facility from the most superior foe. Of the Saxons, an author of the fifth century says, " You see as many piratical leaders as you behold rowers, for they all command, obey, teach, and learn the art of pillage. Hence after your greatest caution, still greater care is requisite. This enemy is fiercer than any other; if you be unguarded they attack; if prepared they elude you. They despise the opposing, and destroy the unwary ; if they pursue they overtake ; if they fly, they escape. Shipwrecks discipline them, not deter; they do not merely know, they are familiar with all the dangers of the sea; a tempest gives them security and success, for it divests the meditated land of the apprehension of a descent. In the midst of waves and threatening rocks they rejoice at their peril, because they hope to surprise." — Sharon Turner, 88 THE EASTERN QUESTION, Zosimus, the Roman historian, thus speaks of their land expeditions, " Their land incursions were sometimes conducted with all the craft of robbers. Dispersed into many bodies, they plundered by night, and when the day appeared, they concealed themselves in the woods, feasting on the booty they had gained." Historians of the 4th and 5th centuries generally speak of the Saxons as superior to others in their achievements and courage. The habits of the Saxons caused them to resemble the dark physiognomies of Asia and Africa, rather than the fair, pleasing, and blue- eyed countenances, possessed by the Teutonic race. They had high pride of character. Twenty-nine Saxons strangled themselves to avoiij, goij nation or a collective body of people, Hebrew nation excepted. We have, in like manner, investigated the meaning and Scripture use of the term Gentile, with the following results: g^o*— nations — Gentile is used 30 times in the Hebrew Testament. In all places there is one distinct idea: that all the people of the earth form two national classes, 1. The Hebrew family forming one class by itself; 2. All other families of the earth constituting the other class. This thought is so clearly defined, that, as to the term Gentile, there can be no mistake in its Old Testament use. It is defined with equal distinctness in the 104 passages where £0vo- (ethnos) is used in the New Testament. They all illustrate the idea taught by the language of Simeon, in Luke ii. 32. "A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel." Both terms are names of two distinct BRITISH PHASE. 103 nationalities, and for that purpose the Spirit uses them. Since, then, the Holy Spirit does not speak of any ''Spiritual Gentile, nor of any Spiritual Israel," it is quite safe to say that there was none. "Thy people,'' being sufficiently distinct to designate "Israelites indeed." To call a converted Gentile a true "Israelite" annihilates national distinction designed by the use of the terms. Does conversion take ayvay any other distinct nationali- ties? Does it mix up English, French, German, Austrian, Turk or Russian? Let it be kept in mind that Israel became the name of a distinct nation- ality. HISTORY OF THE TEN-TRIBED KINGDOM CONTINUED. It is well to note our progress in tracing this eastern part of our historic chain. We began with Abram in Chaldea, his paternal home ; heard him called to be the parent of another people, and give birth to a family of nations. The promise is first made to Abraham's seed (Christ), then Abra- ham, by faith, is named in the deed. Unto thee and to thy seed. Then Isaac is named and Ishmael rejected. "In Isaac shall thy seed be called." Then Jacob is chosen and Esau rejected. We have followed the history of Jacob (Israel) through his sojourn in Egypt; noticed that severe captivity; and traced their course out of Egyptian bondage; through the Red Sea to the land of Canaan. Followed them through their tribal settlement; traced their history through the twelve-tribed kingdom of Saul, David and Solomon ; noticed the rebellion and the rending of the kingdom under Rehoboam, Solomon's son. We then started the inquiry whether the sceptre of the kingdom promised to David followed the ten-tribed kingdom or the two-tribed kingdom ? or whether the sceptre was removed till the future union under Christ? These questions are not readily answered, since expositors do not take the same view of this complicated problem. One class of interpreters say that the kingdom and the promises fol- lowed the kingdom of Israel, while others contend that the sceptre of David continued with Judah till Messiah first appeared on the earth. These expositors quote Gen. xlix. 10 in proof of their position : " The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a law-giver from between, his feet, until Shiloh come : and unto him (shall) the gathering of the people be." The meaning of this passage, says Hengstenberg, " Depends upon the meaning we give to the word Shiloh." It is objected, that Shiloh (used 20 times) is always the name of a town, and never the name of a person ; and therefore cannot mean Messiah. Some of the interpretations and readings are as follows : 1) " The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, till he shall go to Shiloh," 1 Sam. iv. 12; which means that Judah should have the primacy in war till the Promised Land was conquered and the Ark of the Covenant was solemnly deposited at Shiloh. 2) Judah shall lead the tribes till they shall find rest in Palestine. 3) "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah. . . . till rest come, and the nations obey him." 4) "One having the principality shall not be taken from the house of Judah, nor a scribe from his children's 104 THE EASTERN QUESTION, children until Messiah come, whose the kingdom is." 5) " Kings shall not fall from the house of Judah, nor skilful doctors of the law from their children's children, till the time when the King's Messiah shall come." 6) "The sceptre shall not fall from Judah nor an expounder from between his feet, till He comes, whose the sceptre is." 7) " The sceptre shall not be taken away from Judah nor a law-giver from under his rule, until He (the Pacific) shall come whose it is." 8) Until He comes whose is the domin- ion." This interpretation comes from Eze. xxi. 27. " I will overturn, overturn, overturn it : and it shall be no (more) until He come whose right it is, and I will give it (Him)." " He whose is the dominion," is a para- phrase of Shiloh regarded as a name of the Messiah. 9) '' Others have in- terpreted Shiloh as a kind of proper name of the Messiah derived from the verb nW; h® rested, was quiet, P. N., xh\a^ Shailah, peace, prosperity." Hengstenberg, who calls it Pacificator, the Author of Peace, says, "This interpretation is liable to no objection, and has everything in its favor." The following is Hengstenberg's translation of Gen. xlix. 10, "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor the law-giver, commander, from between his feet, until the Peacemaker comes, and Him shall the nations obey." The following, says Hengstenberg, we believe to be its true mean- ing: "Judah shall not cease to exist as a tribe, nor lose its superiority until it shall be exalted to higher honor and glory through the great Redeemer who shall spring from it and whom not only the Jews but all the nations of the earth shall obey." "The kingdom of the Messiah, in the Old Testament, is not placed in opposition to the theocracy, but appears as a continuation of it. Com- pare 1 Sam. vii. 12, etc. As according to Isaiah ix. 6, the Prince of peace sits upon the throne of David, and prolongs the duration of David's king- dom forever; and Amos ix. 11, the fallen tabernacle of David is to be rebuilt by him, so here the Redeemer, who shall spring from Judah, appears as the Enlarger of His dominion, hitherto limited to a single people, over all nations." — Hengstenberg. We might give other views. 10. Some interpreters seem very posi- tive that Shiloh is only the name of a town in the tribe of Ephraim. It is doubtful if Shiloh, as a town, existed in the days of Jacob. We first meet with the name in Josh, xviii. 1. It was simply a station where the army rested, and where the ark rested, like the station at Gilgal. The Lord gave the people rest. Has this passage had any fulfilment? This question is answered in two ways by two classes of expositors. Those who hold to its Messianic character, believe that Judah did have a distinct existence till the over- throw of Jerusalem by Titus. That Judah held the royal city and the temple, while the ten tribes remained lost and unknown. Trace the tribe of Judah from Egypt through the wilderness to the Hebrew conquest of Palestine. View that tribe under the judges; during the reign of Saul, of David, and of Solomon. Then after the division of the twelve tribes, during the existence of the ten-tribed and of the two-tribed kingdoms; during the 133 years transpiring between the captivity of Israel and BRITISH PHASE. 105 Judah ; during the 70 years captivity in Babylon; under the Gentile mon- arcliies to the birth of the Messiah. There is a remarkable contrast between the history of the two people, Judah and Israel of that space of time. 2, The other view, or the non-Messianic view of Gen. xlix. 10, is very zealously defended by W. H. Pool, an able expositor of Anglo-Israel. We cannot express his views better than by using his own language : "The usual interpretation given to this passage (Gen. xlix. 10) is that 'Shiloh' means Christ, and that Judah was to hold the sceptre of domin- ion, or Empire until Christ came. But who does not see the inconsistency and unreliability of such an interpretation. The word 'Shiloh' is twenty times given in the Holy Scriptures, and in every case (petitio principii— J. P. W.) it means a place, and not once does it mean a person. 'The children of Israel came to Shiloh.' 'Came to Joshua to Shiloh.' 'Cast lots for them in Shiloh.' 'Spake to them at Shiloh.' 'The house of God was at Shiloh.' 'The Lord appeared in Shiloh.' 'Make this house as Shiloh.' And many more of the same import. Then, who is it that has read history, that does not know that Judah, or the Jews, never had the sceptre of dominion for one day, since the days of Zedekiah, no not for an hour. When the sacred vessels of the holy temple were taken to Babylon, the cup of Chaldean iniquity was nearly full, and that great Empire came to its death in a ball room. They were weighed in the balance and were found wanting. The Persian kings, to the number of fourteen, swayed their sceptre over all those lands in the East. Then came Alexander the Great, and after him the Syrian conquerors, next ten or eleven (xiii. W.) of the Ptolemys, who all held the country tributary to them. The Macca- bean or Asmonean family, nine of them, claimed the kingly authority, but they were not ofJudah or Jews; then the country fell into the hands of Pompey and the twelve Csesars; and when Christ came, Herod, who was an Edomite, a creature of Rome, held nominal sway over the land, and the people of the Jews. Here were thirty-eight creatures of foreign birth and alien blood, who usurped authority and claimed to govern the land. Surely that system of things could never have been the true mean- ing of the venerable Jacob when he called his sons to him to hear what would come to pass in the latter days. The true meaning of the passage is, 'The sceptre shall not depart from Judah till rest comes,' or, 'Till he comes to rest.' The sceptre of Judah remained in the house of David; and in the family of David it was transferred from the East to the 'Isles of the West.' Where it will remain until the time of the peaceful union of the two houses so long divided, that is the rest promised in the latter days." Thus speaks Pool. IS THE MYSTIC BABYLON OF THE APOCALYPSE AN ASIATIC OR A EUROPEAN. CITY ? The literal Babylon was Asiatic. So is the literal Euphrates. But the mystic Babylon is Universally conceded to.be European in its location. 106 THE EASTERN QUESTION, Its scenery is by no means Asiatic. In one vision Babylon is situated upon many waters — Rev. xvii. 1, and in verse 9 she is said to sit upon seven mountains. That verse should read : The seven heads are seven mountains where the woman sitteth upon them (the waters). Mystic Babylon was situated on waters, surrounding seven mountains — mountain islands in the bosom of a sea or great river. Such is not the scenery of ancient Babylon. But it is the scenery of the Tiberian Rome, the seat of mystic Babylon. We answer, mystic Babylon is a European city. 2. Are the mystic waters of Rev. xvii. 1, 15, European or Asiatic ? If mystic Babylon is a European city, the waters upon which she sits must be Euro- pean also. They symbolize the nations which sustained the harlot, — mystic Babylon; but the Latin nations sustained the harlot; therefore the. mystic waters are European. There is nothing Asiatic about them, either in quality or location, 3. Where is " that great city " of Rev. xvii. 18, located? in Europe or in Asia? It is a literal cit}'-, since it is the interpretation of a symbol ("the woman"). No other than Rome, which at that time, by its mystic rider, ruled over the Latin kingdoms. Was not Rome situated on many waters? (Tiber). There is nothing Asiatic (strictly) about the vision. 4. Were these visions of mystic Babylon Asiatic or European ? We say most emphatically European? Their scenery is principally European, city, mountains, and waters; all European. This position, we presume, will not be questioned. The harlot, the beast on which she sat, the waters, mountains. These have their location in Europe. Each vial has its special location : 1. The first upon the earth (mystic earth ?) were men mystic? covered with mystic sores? 2. "Upon the sea" (mystic sea?) and every mystic soul died of mystic blood. 3. Mystic rivers and mystic fountains of mystic waters. They shed mystic blood, and thou hast given them mystic blood to drink mystically. 4. On the mystic sun, and mystic men were mystically scorched with its mystic fire. And the mystic men mystically blasphemed, because of their mystic pains and mystic sores. 5. Fifth angel (mystic?) poured out his cup upon the mj'stic seat (?) of the mystic beast (correct) kingdom (mystic?) was full of mystic darkness. And they (the mystic men) gnawed their mystic tongues for mystic pain. And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their mystic pains and their mystic sores. 6. And the sixth metaphorical angel poured out metaphorically his metaphorical vial upon the great metaphorical river Euphrates; and the metaphorical water thereof was metaphorically dried up, that the metaphorical way of the metaphorical kings of the metaphorical east might be metaphorically prepared. Such an interpretation, on its hinges turning, "Grates harsh thunder." There is something wrong about it. The Apocalypse, it is true, has in i^ many symbols, but it is not all symbols. The explanation of a symbol must be literal, or there would be an endless symbolic series. This law should never be violated if we are seeking after correct interpretation. We should never call a word figurative unless the sense forces the departure. Let this be distinctly understood, that Papal Rome is the Apocalyptic Babylon. Why, then did John call it Babylon? Because it resembled BRITISH PHASE. 107 Babylon ; and also for the reason, that, to have called it Rome, would have provoked bloody persecutions, since Rome was regarded and called, " the eternal city." Its being under the control of an apostate hierarchy does not destroy its literality. Let us, for a moment, glance at the angels with their vials and their mission work. 1. The angels are what they are called, literal messengers, since they symbolize themselves. They have in their hands vials or cups. The executive judgment work of each angel, is confined to a definite locality on the earth ; the first is confined to the land inhabited by the worshippers of the beast and his image (European) ; the second, to the sea; the third, to the rivers and fountains; the fourth, to the sun, as to scorch the wicked; the fifth, to the seat of the beast. These five vials are, in their effects, European — have nothing to do with the great East. But few will question this position .as to their location. Of these five vials and their work, the terms, "earth," "sea," "rivers and fountains," the "sun," and the " sea of the beast " are literal. The plagues act upon those physical objects, since the people, "men," "living soul," "saints" are dis- tinct. With these thoughts before the reader, let him follow the sixth angel. The command was, "go your ways." Where did this angel go? This we learn from the names of the objects stated in the description, "And the sixth angel poured out his vial (cup) upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof dried up, (for what purpose?) that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared." These eastern kings have no mission in Europe ; but they have a work in the land of Israel. This vial alone prepares the east for the universal plague of the seventh vial, which is poured into the air which all breathe. We are not aware that the " wrath " of God is a " metaphorical fluid ! " God has often shown His power over rivers, but we were not aware that His anger was a meta- phorical fluid. Habakkuk sa3^s, " Was the Lord displeased against the rivers? (metaphorical rivers?) (was) Thine anger agains't the rivers? (was) Thy wrath against the sea, that Thou didst ride upon Thy horses (and) Thy chariots of salvation? The scenes of Rev. xvi., and xvii., are very distinct in their localities. A person is called a Jew or a Turk, when he acts like a Jew or a Turk. Mystic agents act on literal territory. We repeat. If the Euphrates of Rev. xvi. 12 is symbolic, we have a symbol without any interpretation, which is a violation of symbolic laws. Rev. ix. 14 does not solve the difficulty ; for it must first be shown that it is in that passage a symbol. The four angels are active agents, the Euphrates is neutral. How can the same power be active and neutral at the same time? The one has a fixed location by nature, as an obstruction ; the other has been restrained by that obstruction. Each has an Asiatic locality; not European. Let the reader bear in mind; — 1. That the first five vials have in effect European locations. 2. If the sixth vial is not eastern, there is none to prepare the east for the terrible struggle under the seventh vial. 108 THE EASTERN QUESTION, THE TEN-TRIBED KINGDOM CONTINUED. It is admitted that the sceptre remained with Judah till the death of Solomon ; that in the revolt of the ten tribes the sceptre departed from Judah ; and consequently, the kingdom and the promises followed the ten tribes. This position is taken by Mr. Pool, and is thus expressed : — Of David it is said 2 Sam. vii. 16, "And thine (David's) house and thy king- dom shall be established for ever before thee : thy throne shall be estab- lished for ever." Of Solomon it was said, " He shall build an house for my name; and shall be my son, and I (will) be his father. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever." 1 Chron. xxii. 10. " Then the Lord said to Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have com- manded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant (.Jeroboam). Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it for David thy father's sake: (but) I will rend it ©ut of the hand of thy son. Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom ; but will give one tribe to thy son for David my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen." 1 Kings xi. 11, 12, 13. "And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee : But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand, and will give it unto thee, (even) ten tribes." On these passages Mr. Pool thus remarks, " The ten-tribed nation, therefore, is the kingdom, and Judah lost all claim to the honors and re- wards of the kingdom now transferred to other hands. I need hardly say that this remarkable transfer of the kingdom, throne and dignity to the ten tribes, secured to them all those special promises and blessings that God had previously made to Abraham and to his seed." "The sceptre of Judah remained in the house of David ; and "in the family of David it was transferred from the East to the ' Isles of the West,' where it will remain until the time of the ' peaceful' union of the two houses so long divided, that is the *rest' promised in the latter days." Again he says, "Judah, or the Jews, never had the sceptre of dominion for one day, since the days of Zedekiah, no, not for an hour." Mr. Pool's account of Jeremiah we sub- join : — " The prophet Jeremiah was specially intrusted by the Lord with a royal commission to take the daughters of king Zedekiah in charge with the king's household. The king's son had been killed, and his own eyes put out. There was a small remnant left. By an act of disobedience, the royal household was taken away to Egypt, (Jer, xliii. 6), ' so they came into the land of Egypt,' but they were commanded to leave immediately. ' For I will punish them that dwell in the land of Egypt.' They were commanded to go to the north and west to Tarshish. Isa. Ixvi. 19: — 'And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them ■unto the nations, (to) Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, (to) Tubal and Javan, (to) the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory ; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles." We quote Mr. Pool, since he is a very able writer on Anglo- BRITISH PHASE. 109 Israel ; having made that one of his principal topics of investigation for (it is said) forty years. Again, Mr. Pool says, " How long Jeremiah and the king's (Zedekiah's)' daughters, and Baruch and their attendants, or household, remained in Egypt, I don't know. It is certain they were there. How long they were in Spain (Tarshish), I don't know, there was a large colony of their people there, how long they remained there, we may not know, but we do know, that, just seven years after they left Mount Zion, we find them landing on the Irish coast. It is more than probable that some monument, or slab, or marble will be found to fill up this missing link of seven years." It would have been very satisfactory had Mr. Pool given us the source of such positive ''we do know." If that one point (Jeremiah's landing on the Irish coast just seven years after he, with Zedekiah's daughter and Baruch left Mount Zion) be an undisputed historic fact, it will not be any stretch of credulity to- admit the remaining part of the narration; viz.: 1. The chronology of their royal landing, B. C. 580 or 581. 2. Their com- ing under the ship owners of Dan.. 3. The revolutions they made in Ireland. 4. Th-e coronation stone. 5. The college of the prophets. 6. The marriage of the king of Ulster (B. C. 580) with Tephi, a daughter of Zedekiah. 7. The conversion and education of Ireland. 8. The establishment of the house of David over the ten tribes in the 'Isles of the West.' These subjects will come under review when examining the Jewish Phase of the Eastern Question. At present let us follow the developments of the British Phase. Two rival schools of prophetic interpretations have arisen out of two constructions of Jacob's last words to Judah — Gen. xlix. 10 — "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a law-giver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto Him (shall) the gathering of the people (be)." 1. One school holds the view, that David's kingdom, when rent, under Rehoboam, followed the sceptre of the ten-tribed kingdom and Jeroboam, and, consequently the Abrahamic promises ; (2) that, in the overthrow of Zedekiah, the sceptre of Judah, in the family of David, was transferred from the East to the Isles of the West, where it will remain till the union of Israel and Judah under the Messiah. 2. The other school holds that the sceptre continued with Judah at Jerusalem till the first Advent of the Messiah ; that at the fall of Jerusa- lem by the Romans, Judah's tribal nationality was taken away and remains away till Messiah its great king, whose is the sceptre, returns and rules over united Israel and Judah. No two problems are more difficult of solution, or more interesting in in their elements of proof, and yet the results of the opposite conclusions are so vital, that too much investigation to arrive at the true interpreta- tion is not possible. Allowing these interpretations to rest for the present — let us follow the history of the ten-tribed kingdom of Israel through their separate existence, till they go into captivity. This will finish our historic chain to the broken link. This we simply outline. 110 THE EASTERN QUESTION, WHAT BECAME OP JEREMIAH AFTER THE FALL OF JERUSALEM? This question can not be very readily answered. What aid do the Scriptures afford us? Jeremiah was, it seems, the prince of prophets. So wonderful a seer as Daniel was simply his pupil, since Daniel applied him- self attentively to the investigation of Jeremiah's predictions. Thus speaks Jehovah ; "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee ; and before thou camest forth from the womb I sanctified thee, (and) behold I cannot speak: for I (am) a child. But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I (am) a child, for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I (am) with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord. Then the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build and to plant." Such was the vastness of the power of Jeremiah's commission. That commission he fearlessly executed, and suffered the severe penalties of such fidelity. His messages against the Jews brought upon him the wrath of his own nation, who treated him with terrible severity. When Jerusalem fell, Jeremiah had his liberty. Nebuchadnezzar's charge concerning Jere- miah was, "Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm ; but do unto him even as he shall say unto thee." "They sent and took Jeremiah out of the court of the prison, and committed him unto Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, that he should carry him home; so he dwelt among the people." Jer. xxxix. 12. 15. The captain of the guard said to Jeremiah, "And now, behold, I loose thee this day from the chains which (were) upon thy hand. If it seem good unto thee to come with me into Babylon, come ; and I will look well ijnto thee; but if it seem ill unto thee to come with me into Babylon, for- bear ; behold, all the land is before thee ; whither it seemeth good and con- venient for thee to go, thither go." Jer. xl. 4. Jeremiah's unbounded patriotism decided him to share the disgrace of his own country, and to remain there with its distressed poor. Gedaliah, the governor appointed by the Chaldeans, under whose charge were Jeremiah, Baruch and Zede- kiah's daughters slain by Ishmael, who carried away captive the residue of the people that (were) in Mizpah, (even) the king's daughters, and all the people, (Jeremiah and Baruch his scribe included), towards the country of the Ammonites. Johanan overthrew Ishmael, and, recovering the captives, fled towards Egypt, for fear of the Chaldeans. Since Ishmael had slain their governor, God, by the mouth of Jeremiah, promised the people pro- tection, provided they remained in Judea; warned them not to enter Egypt, at the same time telling them not to fear the Chaldeans. IN EGYPT. This message was rejected by Johanan, who took men and women and children, and the king's daughters, Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the BRITISH PHASE. Ill scribe, and came into the land of Egypt, to Tahpanhes. God again uttered a terrible threat, that Nebuchadnezzar should come against them at Tah- panhes, and that they should be again scattered, because they practiced Egyptian idolatry. The people there perished by the sword, famine and by pestilence. " Yet a small number that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah." Jer. xliv. 29. God gave them a sign by which they knew their coming fate. (See vs. 29, 30). In the city of Tahpanhes the inspired record bids adieu to Jeremiah. If Jeremiah wrote Jer. lii. 31 (which is doubted), it would appear that he died in peace at an extreme old age. Christian tradition says that the Jews stoned him to death at Tahpanhes. An Alexandrian tradition says that Alexander the Great brought Jeremiah's bones to that city. Where he found them is not stated. The Jewish statement says that on the con- quest of Egypt by the Babylonian king, Jeremiah and Baruch escaped to Babylon or Judea and died there in peace. WAS HE IN SPAIN? still another tradition (for such we must call it till we find a term more appropriate) makes Jeremiah with Baruch and the king's daughters with their household, return to Mount Zion, then, in the trading ships of Dan, to Tarshish (Spain) taking with them the tables of the law, and the "Liah-fail," or coronation stone (Jacob's stone). "Which stone is now in Westminster Abbey,- upon which all the kings and queens of Great Britain for 2,300 years have been crowned. They brought the harp and other musical instruments and the grand old melodies, which to this day dissolve us into ecstacies." — Pool. DID HE VISIT lEELAND ? From Spain they passed over into Ireland where they landed just seven years after leaving Mount Zion. Tephi, Zedekiah's oldest daughter, married Echoid, king of Ulster, B. C. 580; when the royal household was transported from Zion to Tara (Ireland). "In Ireland, county Fermanagh, four miles below Enniskillen, there is a lake called Lough Erin. In this lake there is an Island, called Davenish, on which there is a round tower; connected with the tower is a very ancient cemetery. In that cemetery there are very ancient monuments, and in one corner of the cemetery there is a tomb hewn out of a solid rock. That tomb has from time immemorial been called 'Jeremiah's tomb.' A gentleman living in this city (Toronto) says, 'I have seen that tomb hundreds of times.'" — Pool. Such is a tradi- tionary account of Jeremiah's last days, and of his final resting place. The subject for the present must come to a close. TEN-TRIBED KINGDOM IN CAPTIVITY. We have now followed the two parts of broken historic chains. 1. We traced the Saxon chain from its hook securely fastened to the great centre of the British empire in the British Islands, through Europe, to its broken 112 THE EASTERN QUESTION, link in Central Asia, or to a region east and south of the Caspian Sea. We have ascertained from authentic history that the people called Saxons occupied that region about 700 years before Christ. 2. That they were not indigenous to that country, but recent immigrants from some other region, bringing with them their peculiar religious, domestic, and national thoughts. We then found another broken part of a historic chain hooked to a child of the Hebrew famil}^, first called Abram (high father), after- wards named Abraham (father of many nations) ; this hook we call the beginning of the chain. We examined this chain, link after link, Isaac, Jacob, and through .Jacob's life, who was called Israel; down through the captivity in Egypt; through the wilderness, into the land of Palestine, dur- ing the theocracy; through the reigns of Saul, David and Solomon to the rending of the kingdom ; then followed the ten-tribed kingdom, called Israel through the reigns of its nineteen kings (274 years), till the time of their captivity, by Tiglath-Pileser, completed by Shalmanezer. Followed the tribes of Israel (Beth-Kymri) 27,280 families into "Halah, Habor, Hara, and to Gozan, cities of the Medes," B. C. 720. The two broken chains have their broken link in the same territory, and at the same age of the world. Israel or the Beth-Kymri, and the Saxons were a foreign people in the same land at the same chronological era. Where did Israel finally go? Where did the Saxons originate? They went to the land at the same era, where and when we find the Saxons. Their chronological location denotes the chronological parts of the same historic chain. If the ten tribes or Beth-Kimri, (house of Kimri) and the Saxons are the same family, then they are the two parts of the same chain and the broken parts are one and the same link, and the union is complete. The ten tribes or the house of Israel disappeared to the world when and where the Saxons appeared to the world. The ten tribes entered the grave, out of which the Saxons came. History, sacred and profane establishes this position. It is difficult, therefore, to say that they are not the same people. We are now prepared to bring forward other proofs of their identity. The chain, now complete, does not depend on tradition. This we desire to impress upon the attention of the reader. Examine this chain as now united. Notice, if possible, any imperfect part, while we examine other points of interest in their identification. The testimony of the identity of Israel (ten tribes) with the Saxons that we are about to adduce is simply corroborative, and is, in part, traditional. Our historic chain Ave rely upon as our main testimony. That chain is historical and is an un- broken chain of the history of one family with two names, Israel, children of Isaac, by Jacob changed to Israel ; the other Saxon, from Isaac. The two names are from Isaac and his son Jacob. How true it is that " In Isaac shall thy seed be called; " the one name (Saxon), the modified name of Isaac himself; the other (Israel) through Jacob, his son, changed to Israel by an angel. The "New name" is the modified name of Isaac him- self, (Saxon). " In Isaac (Saxon — son of Isaac) shall thy seed be called." Here allow us to show the modifications of Isaac into Saxon. The BRITISH PHASE. 113 following we take from Sharon Turner's (F. A. S., R. A. S. L., author of "The sacred history of the world,") "History of the Anglo-Saxons;" "The Saxons were a German or Teutonic, that 7 s, a Gothic or Scythian (wandering) tribe; and of the various Scythian n.iions which have been recorded, the Sakai, or Sacse, are the people from whom the descent of the Saxons may be inferred, with the least violation of probability. Sakai- suna, or the sons of the Sakai, abbreviated into Saksun, which is the same sound as Saxon, seems a reasonable etymology of the word Saxon. The Sakai, who in Latin are called Sacse, were an important branch of the Scythian nation. They were so celebrated, that the Persians called all the Scythians by the name of Sacffi ; and Pliny, who mentions this, remarks them among the most distinguished people of Scythia. Strabo places them eastward of the Caspian, and states them to have made many incur- sions on the Kimmerians and Treres, both far and near. They seized Bactriana, and the most fertile part of Armenia, which from them, derived the name of Sakasina; they defeated Cyrus, and they reached the Cappa- doces on the Euxine. This important fact of a part of Armenia having been named Sakasina, is mentioned by Strabo in another place ; and seems to give a geographical locality to our primeval ancestors, and to account for the Persian words that occur in the Saxon language, as they must have come into Armenia from the northern regions of Persia. " That some of the divisions of this people were really called Saka- suna, is obvious from Pliny; for he sa^^s, that the Sakai, who settled in Armenia, were named Sacassani, which is but Saka-suna spelt by a person unacquainted with the meaning of combined words. And the name Sacasena, which they gave to that part of Armenia they occupied, is nearly the same sound as Saxonia. It is also important to remark that Ptolemy mentions a Scythian people, sprung from the Sakai, by the name of Saxones. If the Sakai, who reached Armenia, were called Sacassani, they may have traversed Europe with the same appellation ; which being pro- nounced by the Romans from them, and then reduced to writing from their pronunciation, may have been spelt with the x instead of the ks, and thus Saxones would not be a greater variation from Sacassani or Sak- suna, than we find between French, Francois, Franci, and their Greek name fpajyt phraggi ; or between Spain, Espagne and Hispania." Paul (Rom. ix. 7; Heb. xi. 18) quotes Gen. xxi. 12, "In Isaac shall thy seed be called." Dr. W. Holt Yates says, " Saxon is from ' sons of Isaac,' by dropping the prefix ' I ' and adding the affix ' ons.' " He gives Saac, Saak, Saax, Sach-sen, Saksen. In most of the eastern languages " sons of" is written "suna." Dr. Yates agrees with Sharon Turner. Israel is called by various names, "Hebrews," "Children of Abraham," "Sons of Jacob," "Children (sons) of Israel," finally "House (sons) of Isaac." Amos vii. 16. It is written (Isa. Ixv. 15.) "The Lord God shall slay thee (Israel) and call His servants by another name." Some say "Christian." That was given first by the enemy. God's other name is " In (from or by the name of) Isaac shall thy seed be called." 114 THE EASTERN QUESTION, HAVE THE THRONE AND KINGDOM OF DAVID HAD A CONTINUOUS EXISTENCE? Have the throne and kingdom of David had a continuous existence from the time of his personal reign in Jerusalem, B. C. 1055-1015 to A. D. 1883? If so, where, and under what name? Its continual existence is maintained by one school of expositors, and opposed by another. It is affirmed in these words, "That throne of David (Psa. Ixxxix. 32-37), and the kingdom of Israel must be in existence somewhere; and, moreover they must have had a continuous existence throughout all these centuries." As to the place where, and under what name, the same author (Pool) says, ''The sceptre of Judah remained in the house of David; and in the family of David it was transferred from the East to the 'Isles of the West,' where it will remain until the time of the 'peaceful' (Gen. xlix. 10.) union of the two houses so long divided, that is the 'rest' (Gen. xlix. 10.) promised in the latter days." That transfer was made, according to the same ex- positor, through the daughter of the captive king Zedekiah, when Jerusa- lem was taken and destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. That continuous king- dom has continued in the British Isles, till 1883, and known as the British empire, or "Anglo-Israel." While we fully believe in the British future mission, and have been at great pains to trace the ten tribes from South- western Asia, through Central Asia into Europe, and into the British Isles, we have been unfortunate in not being able to trace David's sceptre to the same locality. A rent kingdom is not David's kingdom, though it may consist of ten parts. David had twelve tribes, so will his son Messiah. The union of the two sticks will make one nation. Ezek. xxxvii. 15-28. That union is still future. We can see an intimate relationship between Genesis xlix. 10, and Ezekiel xxi. 25. "And thou, profane, wicked prince of Israel, (not of the ten tribes, for they had been in captivity since B. C. 720, one hundred and twenty-nine years previous) whose day is come, when iniquity (shall have) an end, vs. 26; thus saith the Lord God; remove the diadem and take off the crown; this shall not (be) the same; exalt (him that) is low, and abase (him that is) high. Vs. 27, 1 will overturn, overturn, overturn it; and it shall be no (more), until He comes, whose right it is ; and I will give it Him." Who, then, took the sceptre ? God, who keeps it till Messiah is ready to receive it. Dan. vii. 13, 14. The sceptre is not, therefore, per- petuated in the family of Zedekiah through his daughter, who is said to have married an Irish king. If the transfer to the " Isles of the West," was by the daughter of king Zedekiah, it did not follow the ten tribes at the rending of the kingdom of Rehoboam. The captivity of the ten tribes put an end to the ten-tribed kingdom of Israel, since they did not return, nor does the prediction intimate that they would have a continuous regal existence. "For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and (without) teraphim : and afterward shall the children of Israel return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king : and shall fear the Lord and His Goodness in the latter days." Hos. BRITISH PHASE. 115 iii. 4, 5. The Targum reads, "And they shall obey the Messiah, the Son of David, their king." This is evidently a prediction of their conversion. Such language teaches that Israel would long be wanderers, without any settled government or visible means of communication with the Deity. Some time after these years of political and religious destitution a great national change would result in their conversion. Such would seem to be its true interpretation. The sceptre of Messiah, David's Son and Heir, is retained by God till the time comes for the Nobleman (Christ) to receive the kingdom and return to reign. A continuous existence of the throne and kingdom of David is not taught in Psa. Ixxxix. 32-37, as we understand the language of this psalm; also Jer. xxxi. 35, xxxii. 33; 2 Chron. xiii. 4, also xxi. 7: Also, in all the repetitions of God's oath to David, to convey this one definite thought, that He would not exterminate his (David's) house, as He had the house of Saul, but, that the time would never come in the endless revolutions of ages, when it could be said, David's family is extinct. The idea is fully expressed in Psa. Ixxxis, 30-37. "If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments. If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments ; then will I visit their transgressions with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless my loving kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fall. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness, that I will not lie unto David. His seed (Christ) shall endure forever, and His throne as the sun before me. It shall be established for ever as the moon, and (a) as a faithful witness in heaven." ANGLO -ISRAEL. We do not use this compound, because we endorse all that many writers say, but, simply, to express the thought by a single term. We may believe that the Saxons are of the ten tribes without holding that they constitute the whole of the ten tribes; or that the ten-tribed kingdom of Israel is the British empire governed by one of the house of David. The chain of Saxon-lineage has been traced from Abram in South- western Asia, link by link to the British Isles. They reached Central Asia in families. They had heads to their families who became subordinate rulers under one chief; or, sometimes under many chiefs. They first appeared in Europe as families. In northwestern Europe, they first appeared as families, then, as tribes ; then, as a confederacy for nearly one thousand years. They passed over into the British Island in a small band under Hengist and Horsa, A. D. 449. Sharon Turner thus describes the times of their invasion : " Hitherto England had been inhabited by branches of the Kimmerian and Keltic races, apparently visited by the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, and afterwards occupied by the Roman military and colonists. From this successive population it had obtained all the benefits which 116 THE EASTERN QUESTION, each could impart. But in the fifth century, the period had arrived when ^ both England and the south of Europe were to be possessed and com- manded by a new description of people, who had been gradually amid the wars and vicissitudes of the Germanic continent ; and to be as to man- ners, laws, and institutions peculiarly their own, and adapted, as the great results have shown, to produce national and social improvements, superior to those which either Greece or Rome had attained. The Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain must therefore not be contem- plated as a barbarization of the country. Our Saxon ancestors brought with them a superior domestic and moral character, and the rudiments of new political, juridical, and intellectual blessing. An interval of slaughter and desolation unavoidably occurred before they established their new systems in the island. But when they had completed their conquest, they laid the foundations of that national constitution, of that internal polity, of those peculiar customs, of that female modesty, and of that vigor and direction of mind, to which Great Britain owes the social progress which it has eminently acquired. Some parts of the civilization which they found in the island assisted to produce this great result. Their desolations removed much of the moral degeneracy we have before alluded to." Great Britain was ruled by the Romans four ceiituries. From their departure till the Saxon conquest. The various petty sovereignties which arose, were constantly contending for the supremacy. When Hengist and Horsa, two twin brothers, and descendants from Woden, came before the " king and British chiefs, they were holding a public council, on the best means to repel their Irish and Scottish enemies, and it was agreed to em- ploy these Saxon adventurers as subsidiary soldiers." These Irish and Picts were pirates, and, therefore, they often returned. More Saxons came, and the island was finally conquered by the Saxons. This is sufficient to show the time when, and the way in which the Saxons gained possession of the British islands, which they held for five hundred years till conquered by the Normans, another tribe of Germans. It will be seen that the Saxons belonged to the second, or Gothic, German, or Scythian emigration. They were behind the Kimmerian or the first emigration. But the Saxon element is the peculiar power of the British nation. It is formed of a combination of people of various other nation- alities. Still the Saxon was its bone and sinew. Without the Saxon blood we should never have heard of a British empire. The Saxon being the vital and active element of the British empire, has demanded special notice, which we have given it. We have been particular in tracing their Asiatic origin ; giving Sharon Turner as our authority, whose authority on the origin and history of the Saxons is undisputed. We have been at great pains to obtain a copy of "Anglo-Saxon History," and esteem it very highly. When we quote Sharon Turner, his history lies open before us. We thus speak, because we see some persons ascribing to him what he does not say. The direct testimony on which we rely to prove the origin of the Anglo-Saxon, or British nation, is the historic chain following that people BRITISH PHASE. 117 from Abraham to the establishment of that empire in the British Islands. What we shall hereafter adduce, will be collateral testimony, designed to strengthen the primary chain, as strands twining about it. Corroberative evidence, 1. From B. C. 1200 to B. C. 720=480 years, the Hebrews had commercial intercourse with Spain, and the British Isles. Aside from any direct historical proof, the proposition is reasonable. It is not probable that an active, enterprising people, as the children of Israel had shown themselves to be, among the Canaanites, in their aggressive, ex- terminating wars; and with such an extended sea-coast, would confine them- selves to their own narrow tribal limits. Such is not the disposition of man. He is constantly pushing his researches into the unseen. Something new, just out of sight charms him, and he moves onward into the unknown. Other countries were to the Hebrews what Central Africa and the poles are to modern explorers. The land of Goshen was not out of traditional memory. That bondage was hard, but the living was good. They soon became quite intimate with the Phoenicians, inhabiting a district on the sea-coast north of Palestine, whose principal cities were Tyre and Sidon. The Phoenicians were the great maritime and commercial people of the ancient world, originally Canaanites. With these ancient sea-kings, the Jewish tribes that dwelt by the sea, associated with that people, Palestine being the granary of Phoenicia. The Phoenicians founded Carthage, traded in Spain and in the British Isles, when David conquerered Edom. The command of Ezion-geber, opened to the Jews the navigation of the Red Sea. In the days of Solomon the Hebrews became, by the aid of the Phoenicians, a maritime nation. But in the days of Deborah, the tribe of Dan had vessels in the Great Sea. This we learn from her song B.C. 1285. ''And why did Dan remain in ships? Asher continued on the seashore, and abode in his breaches (creeks)." Judg. v. 17. Dan was not in the battle ; neither was Asher, since their commercial relationships with the enemy kept them neutral. Under the reign of Solomon every country was tributary to his boundless researches for the wealth and productions of every clime, were transported to Jerusalem. IS JESUS OF NAZARETH THE LEGAL HEIR TO DAVID's THRONE. Why propose such a question ? Who calls it in question ? We reply. A theory may be such as to render Jesus' title rather doubtful. The Jewish nation, at Christ's first Advent, decided against His claim. If we cannot establish his genealogical title and admit that the seed-line to David's throne, was, at that very time, occupied legally, in the Isles of the West, was not Jesus of Nazareth an imposter as the Jews claimed ? how could he fill a throne that is legally occupied ? He claimed to be, when here, the legal heir to David's throne. If it was then legally filled, somewhere else, where is the validity of His claim ? It is a matter of serious doubt whether David's throne can be legally filled in any other place than in Jerusalem. Hear Jehovah speak when He is about to rend the kingdom, " Notwith- standing in thy days I will not do it (rend the kingdom) for David thy 118 THE EASTERN QUESTION, father's sake: (but) I will rend it out of the hand of thy son. Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; (but) will give one tribe (Benjamin) to thy son (who was of Judah) for David my servant's sake, and for Jeru- salem's sake which I have chosen," 1 Kings xi. 12, 13, (see Deut. xiii, 11). Ten tribes were to be rent from the twelve tribes. Two tribes and the city, its temple and worship still continued. That kingdom still held the line of the seed, and, consequently, the sceptre. For, why should God say, " For David thy father's sake," " and for Jerusalem's sake," if He did not mean this. I have promised to David, " Thy seed shall endure forever, and thy throne as the sun before me." Psa. Ixxxix. 36. Now, lest that oath should seem to fail, I will still continue two tribes, the city, and the temple my house. It is said, " That the throne of David and the kingdom of Israel must be in existence somewhere; and, moreover, they must have had a con- tinuous existence throughout all these centuries." " Who is it that has read history that does not know that Judah, or the Jews, never had the sceptre of dominion for one day, since the days of Zedekiah, no, not for an hour. — Pool. The transfer of David's throne from Mount Zion, to the British Isles, on the fall of Jerusalem, in the days of Zedekiah, is here distinctly taught. Hence, Jerusalem and the temple cease to contain David's line (royal) and his worship, as established under David and Solomon. If so, what become of the genealogies of Jesus of Nazareth as given by Matthew and Luke? Why does not the genealogy follow the house of David into the Western Isles?" — What reason can be given that Matthew and Luke should follow the line of Judah and Jerusalem, rather than in Ireland, Scotland and England? Why not trace the family of David in the British Isles, until it gives birth to the true heir, somewhere in the future, according to the expectation of the Jews. GENEALOGY OF MATTHEW. The first of the genealogy, after the captivity commenced, Matthew gives as follows : "And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Zalathiel ; and Zalathiel begat Zorobabel (Zerubbabel, (born at Babel). Of Zerubbabel Dr. Wm. Smith in his Dictionary of the Bible, says, " The head of the tribe of Judah at the time of the return from the Babylonish captivity in the first year of Cyrus. He was appointed by the Persian king to the ofiice of governor of Judsea . . . Zerubbabel was the legal successor and heir of Jechoniah's royal estate, the grandson of Neri, and the lineal descendant of Nathan the son of David." Matthew traces the house of David into Babylon, and out of Babylon to Jerusalem, after the captivity, instead of tracing it to tjae British Isles. Matthew's genealogy, after Zerubbabel, has the following order: Abind, Eliakim, Azor, Sadoc, Achim, Eliud, Eleazar, Matthan, Jacob, Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. So all the genera- tions from Abraham to David (are) fourteen generations : and from David BRITISH PHASE. 119 until the carrying away into Babylon (are) fourteen generations : and from the carrying away into Babylon until Christ (are) fourteen generations." The line comes down through Rehoboam the son of Solomon. When Christ rode into Jerusalem, " The multitudes that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed (is) He that cometh in the name of the Lord ; Hosanna in the highest." Matt. xxi. 9. The two blind men said, " Have mercy on us, O Lord (thou) Son of David." Matt. xx. 30. Paul says of Jesus, the Christ, " Declared (to be) the Son of God with power, according to Spirit of holi- ness, by His resurrection from the dead." Rom. i. 4. An unbroken genealogy from David to Christ is traced from Palestine to Babylon to Jerusalem and continues there till Christ, the heir to David's throne, is born. There the genealogy ceases because its design is accomplished. Another genealogy would make David's throne occupied by one of his sons in the West at the very time that these multitudes were crying, Hosanna in Jerusalem. The words of Jacob, Gen. xlix. 10, we think, establish the same genealogical chain. Previously this prediction has been somewhat fully considered. Some other supplementary thoughts will now be con- sidered. " Sceptre," " Lawgiver," " Shiloh," are terms that may be still further explained, sceptre and lawgiver, mean short staff, tribal (1 Sam. x. 19, 20), and long staff", or judge's staff. The idea is this, Judah shall have a tribal and judicial existence till Shiloh come : there shall be princes and gover- nors in Judah till Shiloh comes, and unto him shall be the gathering of the people. The other tribes shall be lost, but Judah (Jews) shall continue in some organized form till Shiloh comes. These verses (vs. 10, 11) contain divine predictions which have been accomplished, or will be in the future. This is readily admitted. Yet the true import of the word " Shiloh " is differently understood. It is said that Shiloh means " rest." Shiloh is used twenty times in the Bible, yet it is first used by Jacob in Gen. xlix. Suppose that in every other passage it means a " resting place," or town, does that decide its first meaning ? what God intended by this word is not stated. All proper names have some original meaning : more particularly those found in the Bible; but does this fact do away with their personality, or local identity ? Jacob's two names did not do away with his personal identity. Admit that the term Shiloh was localized, does that prove that the word, where first used, is not the name of a person, given him because of some distinctive characteristic ? Jacob's (supplanter) name is changed to Israel (prince of God) should there be a thousand of persons, tribes, places and things called Israel, the original import would remain the same. *' Shiloh come," implies an agent. So does the expression, "And unto Him (shall) the gathering of the people (be)." The same may be said of vs. 11, " Binding his (Shiloh's and Judah's) foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt (Matt. xxi. 2) unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine; and his clothes in the blood of grapes." Such expressions will suit an agent but not a town nor a quality. We do not speak of a town's coming, nor binding his foal to a vine ; nor washing its garments, etc. It is true, 120 THE EASTERN QUESTION, towns and cities are personified, but no person will presume thus to inter- pret these verses. The objection to the common interpretation seems to be founded on a certain historic mistake; viz., that Judah's sceptre of dominion ceased with Zedekiah. We affirm that Judah had his tribal existence, and his judicial power though in a state reduced from that of its former condition, from the Babylonish captivity to the close of the genealogies of Matthew and Luke, for fourteen generations, when Jesus of Nazareth was born : that Ezek. xxi. 25, 26, 27, is a clear exposition of Gen. vlix. 10, 11 (sec.) A few thoughts relative what lilzekiel says will explain Judah's position till Christ appeared. 1. It was necessary that there be an unbroken genealogy of the house of David till Christ should come, in order to prove His right to David's throne. The propriety of this position will be seen. 2. Judah's position during these fourteen generations is one of chastisement; yet it does not violate his God's oath to David. God has to chastise His people, as a parent his children. Yet, with all God's chastisement of Judah, the following is true. " The tribe of Judah shall not cease to exist as a people, and have a government of its own until the Redeemer shall appear." On this point Calvin thus speaks. Si quis excipiat aliter sonare verba Jacob, solutio in promtu est quid-quid unquam deus de externa ecclessise statu promisit, itafuisse restringendum, ut judi- cia sua interim exerceret puniendis hominum peccatis fidemque suorum probaret /' which, if liberally construed is as follows : — If any one is disposed to put another meaning on Jacob's words, this reply is at hand, his language is so to be restricted, that whatever God has promised concerning the exter- nal condition of the Church in the meantime He claims the right of pun- ishment for their sins, and rewarding for their fidelity. "The temporary cessation of the national subsistence, therefore, as for example, during the Babylonial exile — granting that the tradition of the Jews, that they still existed as a people, and had governors of their own, during that period, is not to be believed — can as little disprove the truth of this prediction, as the period of unbelief and apostacy which is passing away destroys the truth of the promise which Christ gave to his New Testament church. If we take this into consideration, we shall see that history most strikingly confirms this part of the prediction; while the ten tribes have never had a national existence, since they were carried away into captivity, the tribe of Judah returned, and continued to subsist till the appearance of the Messiah, while the other tribes, with their institu- tions and privileges, had long before passed away. If any one is disposed, with many interpreters, to go further, for which however there is properly no sufficient reason, and find in this verse a prediction, not only of the continuance of the national self-subsistence of the tribe of Judah until the coming of the Shiloh, but also of its superiority over the other tribes, his- tory will supply him with the evidence of fulfilment. Even during the journey through the wilderness, and afterwards in the times of the Judges, this tribe maintained a certain pre-eminence ; with the elevation of the house of David it obtained the regal dominion. After the division of the BRITISH PHASE. 121 kingdom, it had the advantage of possessing Jerusalem, the legal capital and the temple; after the return from the captivity, it gave the name to the whole nation ; and the high council was established within its limits, which decided in temporal and spiritual affairs. Even under the do- minion of the Romans it retained no inconsiderable power," — Hengstenherg. EARLY SETTLEMENT OF ISRAEL TOWARDS THE WEST, GREECE, ITALY, SPAIN, IRELAND, SCOTLAND AND ENGLAND. A few supplementary thoughts will still more clearly confirm the existence of these early settlements. The propositions which we aim to establish are these : !» More than 1200 years before Christ, some of the tribes of Israel began to associate with the Phoenicians in their commerce on the Great Sea. This continued to extend to the west and northwest during five centuries before the captivity of the. ten tribes B. C. 720. During these five hundred years the Hebrews must have become quite familiar with all the countries along the coasts of the Mediteranean Sea as well as those of the Atlantic ocean west of Spain, and those surrounding Ireland, Scotland and England. 2. With the view of mining, and carrying on various other occupations, such as agriculture and all others necessary to the manufacture of various articles and their preparation and shipment to their own land, and to various other parts. 3. To do this there would be required a large resident population, villages and cities would spring up, and large colonies would be a legitimate result. These colonies would keep up a constant and familiar intercourse with their mother country, the land of Israel. Their condition would also be well known to those still residing in the parent land. There could be no other results. 4. When, therefore, the ten tribes were taken captive by the Assyrians, and departed into Central Asia, the events must have been well known to these colonies, and a deep sympathy felt in their misfortunes. 5. After residing some years in Media and Persia many would have a strong desire to visit their brethren in the west. To do this many compa- nies would be formed, and together start for the far west — the ancient California of exiled Israel. Such a company is described in 2 Esdras xiii. 41-46, " Mankind," there being put for heathen. 6. In reaching those colonies they would be pushed towards the north and west to pass around the Roman empire : for their numbers and con- dition were not such as to enable them to force their way through the empireo They were afterwards driven further north by the Huns; hence they were called by the Romans North-men, Garmen, Germans. Such would seem to be a true outline of their migrations and settlement in the West, and the reason for it. There is nothing unreasonable in these six propositions. Are they true? Tradition sustains them. History also, as far as we have any. 122 THE EASTERN QUESTION, Neither does the Bible contradict them. Some believe that it fully cor- roborates history and tradition. Let us now examine into the drift of their testimony. COMMERCIAL INTERCOURSE. Very little is said about the early sea-going, and commerce of the Israelites. History has much to do with the Phoenician trade on the great waters, since, however, the people of Israel and the Phcenicians dwelt in the same quarter of the globe, and made use of the same language. Foreign historians, not knowing any distinction, would naturally call them by one name; and as Phoenicia was a name more familiar, they could give them the title of Phoenicians. When we read of the commerce of that people, we do not know what nationality is intended. Where, then, did the Phoenicians go in their ship? With the Red Sea, the Mediteranean Sea, and the Atlantic coast between Southwestern Spain and the Highlands of Scotland the Phoenicians were quite familiar. Dan's tribe-ship with about two-thirds of the other tribes, had his western border on the coast of the Great Sea. His proximity to Tyre and Sidon made his traffic with the Phoenicians very easy and lucrative. Learning the success of Dan, the enterprising of the maritime tribes associated their fortunes with his, and entered into the commercial business, and continued that occupation from about 1295 B. C. to 740 B. C. At that time the Assyrians were invading the kingdom of Israel. Some of the inhabitants escaped to Egypt by sea. Others fled to more northern and western countries. About 20 years after the captivity into Assyria took place — B. C. 720. During those 555 years the Hebrew trafiic was extending westward, and colonies were planted, and grew up under Hebrew laws, language, manners and customs. Dan seems to have been the leading tribe, since its name, in some form, is attached to so many places and objects. Before we follow these refugees of B. C. 740 to the western islands let us go with them into Egypt. Hosea says of those times Hos. ix. 3, 6, " Ephraim shall return to Egypt," " Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them." Memphis is in the vicinity of the Pyramids. After the Assyrian captivity had commenced, the Israelites (refugees) gained great influence in Egypt and were honored in their burial. Their government was changed by the choice of twelve kings, (to represent the twelve tribes) ; among whom, says Herodotus, they divided the different districts of Egypt. Egypt was divided into twelve communes during the lifetime of these refugees, which were of the twelve tribes of Israel. These twelve kings built the celebrated labyrinth near lake Moeris, composed of twelve covered courts, six towards the north, and six toward the south; three thousand apartments, fifteen hundred underground and fifteen hundred above, of incredible grandeur and beauty; but now covered with sand. They did not there remain: "He shall not return into the land of BRITISH PHASE. 123 Egypt." Hos. xi. 5. The Egyptian commonwealth being dissolved, Psammitacus, one of the twelve, obtained the supreme command; Ephraim then left Egypt for another home. Let us now follow the Hebrews westward under the lead of Dan in his ships, in the pursuit of the wealth of other lands extending their colonies towards the west. The Ionian Republic with its twelve states or tribes, resembling the Israelitish government, was formed under Israel's rule. It is said that the lonians have striking characteristics of Israel. They were personally handsome, and their situation charming. These Ionian islands were not in the far west; still they were far enough from the land of Israel to point out the direction of the colonization movements. Greece, during those 555 years, was also visited by the Israelites. Of this we have many proofs : 1. The Greek alphabet seems to have grown out of the Hebrew. From the Hebrew Aleph, we have the Greek Alpha; Heb. Beth, Gr. Beta; Heb. Gimel, Gr. Gamma, etc. These Israelitish teachers, coming from Phoenicia, would be called Phoenicians. The follow- ing testimony comes from high authority, a. " Of all the heroic families in Greece none was more heroic than that of the Dan-ans of Argos." — Dr. Wm. Smith, b. " The Dan-ans were a people of great learning and wealth ; they left Greece after a battle with the Assyrians, and went to Ireland and also to Danmark, and called it Dan-mares, Dan's country." — Keating^s His- tory of Ireland, c. " The Danans were a highly civilized people, well skilled in architecture and other arts from their long residence in Greece, and their intercourse with the Phoenicians. Their first appearance in Ire- land was 1200 B. C, 85 years after the great victory of Deborah." — Annals of Ireland. Humboldt thinks that the Greeks included the Hebrews in the term Phoenician, and holds that Ireland was, at an early day, Israelitish. The following is from Dr. Latham, the celebrated European Ethnologist. '' I think that the Eponymus of the Argive Danaia was no other than that of the Israelite tribe of Dan ; only we are so used to confine ourselves to the soil of Palestine in our considerations of the Israelites, that we treat them as if they were adscripti glebae and ignore the share they may have taken in the history of the world." This remark is very reasonable. It is by no means probable that a tribe so enterprising as that of Dan, when aided by maritime Israel, and the Phoenicians of Tyre and Sidon, with all their merchant princes could have navigated the great seas during five and one- half centuries, visiting every port, and carrying on an extended commerce with the great northwest, without leaving his name and his colonies every where within the boundaries of his extended traffic. See what has been done in the United States since the landing of the pilgrims on Plymouth Rock. Mr. Gladstone in his " Homer and the Homeric Age," remarks that the phrase Dan-oi occurs 147 times in the Iliad, and 13 times in the Odessy; that it never occurs in the singular; that Homer used it as a standing appellation as we use the word Cambrian for a Welshman, or Caledonian 124 THE EASTERN QUESTION, for a Scotchman, or Gael for a Highlander, or Son of Albion for an English- man. Passing westward along the Mediteranean Sea we find other Israelitish foot-prints. In the north-west part of Italy, there is another commonwealth of twelve states — lucumonin — Hebrew, root, the same as comte, county. Its ancient name was Tyrsenia, son of Tyre — a Tyrian colony: (Israelitish). It was afterwards called Etruria. Each tribe or division had its governor, with one king over all. These were formed by extensive emigrations from Israel, principally from the tribe of Asher, in whose tribal boundaries was Tyre. The Etruscans had two commonwealths of 12 states each ; one on the west side of the Appenines, the other on the east base, guarding both passes of the mountains. Their language was Hebrew, or Phoenician ; anciently believed in one God, whom they called Jave or Jove, Hebrew name of the God of Israel; believed in a future state. Prom the Etrurians the Romans received every thing valuable both in arts and arms. The Tarquins, the first kings of Rome, were Etruscans. " The high degree of civilization which the Etruscans had long before Rome was heard of, is testified by innumerable works of masonry and art. The Etruscans were of an eminently practical turn of mind, and domestic, like the North (Germans W). Trusting to their priests for reconciliation with gods, who always seem irate, but whose angry decrees could easily be foreseen and averted, they set to work in developing the inner resources of the country, and in making the best use of their intercourse with foreign countries. They thus became eminent in agriculture, navigation, military tactics, medicine, astronomy, and the like ; and in all these, as well as in some of the very minutiae of their dress and furniture, the Romans became their ready disciples and imitators. The division of the year into months (12) was made by the Etruscans." Who were the ancient Etruscans? They were evidently of the same race that produced the Germans. Some say they were Slavonic, others call Kelts (Celts), Semitics, Goths, Scandinavians, Basques, Assyrians, Egyptians, and Armenians. To call them Israelites of the 5J centuries before their final captivity, we think correct. God designed to leaven the world with these His ancient people. COLONIZATION PERIOD. We have already traced the Hebrew colonization and traflic, westward as far as Italy. Let us notice another channel of communication, that of the south, through the Red Sea. A fleet of merchant vessels was constructed by Solomon at Ezion-Geber, east gulf of the Red Sea. This fleet was com- posed of ships constructed of the pattern of the Phoenician vessels, used in their voyages to Tarshish, Spain. Hiram furnished the pattern and most of the men, while the vessels were built at the expense of Solomon. This fleet sailed on voyages of three years' duration ; visiting Indian, Arabian and African ports. Some authors hold that they sailed around Africa to BRITISH PHASE. 125 Spain. Why could they not have sailed directly into the Mediteranean Sea through the ancient Suez canal? It may be said, that that canal was not so ancient. This is not known. These voyages made the Hebrews a commercial people, and their colonies grew up in every quarter of the globe. It cannot be supposed, that, in these times their European colonization and traffic were suspended. The maritime tribes, with Phoenician merchants, were still extending the boundaries of their commerce. We shall now speak of the Israelites in Spain. That Tarshish was in Spain, is so generally conceded, that but little is required on that point. Tarshish became at length to be the name of any port visited by ships of Tarshish, or by those constructed after that pattern. The articles which Tarshish is stated by the prophet Ezekiel (xxvii. 12) to have supplied to Tyre are precisely as we know through classical writers to have been productions of the Spanish Peninsula. — Wm. Smith. Tin was in early times obtained from Tartessus, Spain, a small amount from Lu- sitania; but principally in Cornwall, England. The Phoenicians and Israelites visited and colonized part of Spain. That there were anciently Israelitish colonies in Spain, would appear from Paul's desire to visit Spain, those being descendants of the ancient colonies. It is reasonable, also, to suppose that Tarshish would carry its name still farther to the northwest. " To the isles of the Gentiles." On an ancient map of Ptolemy, England and Scotland are called Javan. In the Bible they are called " Isles of the West." Javan was the son of Japheth, who was given Europe. Tarshish and Kittim were sons of Javan, who settled on the western coasts of Europe, Spain, Portugal and France. Europe is called " Isles of the Gentiles." (Gen. x. v.), since it included all the surrounding islands of the seas and ocean. Including all the countries visited by the Hebrews in ships. Tarshish, proper, must there- fore have a European location. '' The ships of Tarshish " were Phoenician, of Hebrew vessels (prin- cipally of Dan* and Asher) that carried on commerce with those western countries, which afterward gave its name to the commercial fleets of Solo- mon at Ezion-Geber. Wherever they went they went by the name of " The ships of Tarshish." The following are from histories : " Tin and bright iron were brought into Gaul from the western isles, 620 years B. C." — Diodorus. "The whole of the Roman empire was supplied with metals and with tin from Britania. Also Greece as early as B. C. 907." — Pliny. " The Phoenicians took purple, scarlet, rich stuflPs, tapestry, costly fur- niture, and curious works of art to the west beyond the Straits of Hercules ; and brought back gold, silver, iron and tin." — Rollin. " Voyages to Corn- wall, England, for tin and iron, were of frequent occurrence, 620 B. C." — Von Humboldt and Lewis. " Xenophon, who wrote 100 years later than Ezekiel, describes one of those ships of Tarshish starting for Gades, now Cadez." " Some will inquire why having made so long a discourse of Lybia and Iberia, we have not spoken more fully of the outlet at the Pillars of 126 THE EASTERN QUESTION, Hercules, nor of the interior sea, nor yet indeed of the Britanic Isles, and the working of tin, nor of the gold and silver mines of Iberia." — Polybius. " Beyond the Pillars of Hercules (Straits of Gibraltar) the ocean flows round the earth. In this ocean, however, there are two islands, and those are very large, and are called Britanic, Albion, and lerne, which are larger than those before named. They lie beyond the Keltic, and there are not a few small islands around the Britannic Isles and around Iberia." — Aristotle. ^' I cannot speak with certainty nor am I acquainted with the islands called Cassisterides from which tin is brought to us." — Herodotus. An English historian says that the tin, named here by Herodotus, came from Cornwall, England. The country was known to the Phoenicians, w^ho traded for tin, which, when mixed with copper, was the ancient bronze. This "bright iron" was used in Solomon's temple. " The British tin mines mainly supplied the glorious adornment of Solomon's temple." — Sir Edward Creasy^s History of England. After the overthrow of the Persian empire God says to Israel, "Pass ye over to Tarshish. Pass through thy land as a river, daughter of Tarshish." Isa. xxiii. 6. (See Isa. Ixvi. 19). "Islands afar off,".(Yarish Islands). The Hebrew influence went along the southern coasts of the " Great Sea." It went to Carthage, RoUin says. The Carthaginians were indebted to the Tyrians, not only for their origin, but for their manners, language, customs, laws, religion, and their great application to commerce. They spoke the same language with the Tyrians, and these same with the Canaanites and Israelites, that is, the Hebrew tongue, or at least a language which was entirely derived from it. From the quotations given, no one will question the fact of the early Hebrew colonization and commercial enterprises. Nor is it a matter of any doubt, that they extended along the northern and southern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, or the Atlantic coast with its immense clusters of islands about Ireland and England. That these countries were full of Israelitish colonies from B. C. 1200 to 720 B. C, that when, as in 2 Esdras xiii., they resolved to go to the far-ofl' west they were going to their own countrymen, where they would not be molested. From Media and Persia their route would be overland in the direction of the metallic image, through those countries of the four Gentile monarchies, which, as four horns, which have scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem, Zech. i. 19. ; in the line of the mounds of Asia Minor. Their trail is still seen along the zone of mounds and empires. The land, requiring a year and a half to reach it, was called Arsareth. What land was entitled to that name "far-ofi" land?" Arsareth is said to be composed of two Hebrew words: "Ars" and "Areth." Areth, or Areths meaning land or earth, or country, giving us Ars-land, or Erse-land, or Ireland, (Yarish) far-ofl" land, "land of Espousals," see Hos. ii. 14-20. The same author traces the word Kelt, or Celt, and Gael, or Gaelic, and Kymbri, and Engli, or Angli, and Saxon, all to their original Hebrew ; and says, "All these races, then, — the Danes, Saxons, Angles, Gaels, Celts (Kelts), Cymbri ^Kymbri), and the Northmen (German W.), are the lost tribes." BRITISH PHASE. 127 Mr. Mcintosh, learned in the Hebrew, says further, "We have clearly proved that the place "Arsareth," to which the ten tribes journeyed, was no other than Ireland, a word which is nearer Erse-land in its form than is Ireland, and that all the peoples of these Islands can be identified with the lost tribes." Parkhurst says, " It seems not a little remarkable that the Northern nations should have retained the Hebrew word so nearly in its physical sense. The Saxon "Bael" signifies a fire. Bel, Bal, or Bael, was the name of the chief deity of the ancient Irish, which, according to Col. Wallaney, they derived from the Punic." " The people of South Ireland are the descendants of the Canaanites, who spoke the Phoenician language, having an alphabet of sixteen letters. The Irish language is identical with the Phoenician, containing the veritable sixteen letters. They themselves boast of this descent. There are manj^ ethnological proofs that they are so descended." — Edward Hine. As to Ireland, allow us another quotation: "I have noticed those Islands of Britain, as named in the Bible, called the 'Isles of the West.' " The Isles of Tarshish, Javan, and Earsland or Arsareth, we find other names given, at an early day. They were called " Yarish," a Hebrew word, which means the land of the sun setting, or the land afar off. This name comes very near the word Irish. The Phoenicians, or men from the country of palms, who were the first traders to these islands, called them "Bura- tanae," the land of tin, from this name comes our word Britannia. The Phoenicians also called them ''Tbernse," the farthest off land. To them Ireland was called the farthest off land. They knew nothing of America. From this name "Ibernae" came our Hibernse. In the days of Grecian conquest the names of all those places were changed ; those Islands were called " Skotee," which means the land of the sun setting ; from this name by the ordinary changes, we have Skuthes, or wanderers, — -and Scuthei, Scuthe, Scuit, Scuithan, Scythian, Scote, Scot, Scottish, Scotland. The Greeks also called those Islands " Cassisterides," from Cassisteros, the name given to tin : the tin islands. Aristotle, in his treatise of the Globe, called " De Mundo," dedicated to Alexander the Great, calls those islands "Albion," so did Festus in his account of the voyage of Hamilcar. The inhabitants in Scotland spent a long time in Albania in the east, and, as was often done, they named their country after the one from which they came ; the same people do the same thing now when they emigrate. In the account of the Argonautica, Ire- land was called " lerinda." Ptolemy called those islands '' lourna." He says, " They were peopled by the descendants of the Hebrews, and were skilled in smelting opera- tions, and excelled in working metals. The Romans called them An- glisca." — Pool. DAN, THE HEAD TRIBE OP TRAFFIC AND COLONIZATION. This will fully appear from what has been said, and from the follow- ing supplementary items. Dan's lot of land along the Mediterranean sea, 128 THE EASTERN QUESTION, was the least of the tribes. The lowlands he could not conquer. He con- quered a farm between Lebanon and the sea — pushing the inhabitants out of it. Here he found timber for ships, and being on the commercial high- way from Damascus to Tyre and Sidon, he found an excellent market for his surplus produce, selling ship timber at the same time to the chief ports of Phoenicia. Such commercial associations soon put him onto the sea with ships. In the day of Deborah's victory, Dan was missing, for sang Deborah, B. C. 1269, "Why did Dan remain in his ships?" For 5| cen- turies Dan (the tribe of) was upon the sea, as we can trace by the names of places. The Danites were not confined simply to the sea; they entered the mouths of the rivers, and scattered their tribal name all over Europe, and the western Asia. Dan-ube-Dan-iester, Dan-au, Dan-an, Dan-inn, Dan-tzig, Dan-enbury, Dan-etz, Dan-aster, Dan-dari, Dan, Dan-mark, Dan- ric Alps, and the Danish Archipelago. In Ireland we have Dan's-Lough, Dan-Sowar, Dan-Sobairse, Dan-gan Castle. " The old inhabitants of Ire- land were called Dan-onians. There was a Daniel in every house down to Dan O'Connell. There were Dan-ans in Argos, Greece. When all Israel was numbered, 1 Chron., Dan is not there ; nor is he among the tribes in Rev. vii. But he is in his place in Ezekiel xlviii. 1, 2. These facts show that in the first two periods of time, Dan was absent ; but, in the future division of the land, he would be found in his place. These facts are worthy of special attention. Eldad, an eminent Jewish writer, says, ' In Jeroboam's day, 975 B. C, Dan refused to shed his brother's blood; and, rather than go to war with Judah, he left the country, and went in a body to Greece, to Javan (our British isles) and to Danmark.' " — Pool. We have presented sufficient evidence to establish the proposition, 1. That for more than 500 years, previous to B. C. 720, the Israelites, under the leadership of the Danites, spread over Europe and the Isles of the West : this with a view of mining and colonization, etc. With these facts before us, let us pursue the sceptre of Judah. Did Jeremiah establish it in Ireland ? THE SCEPTRE OF JUDAH. In "Anglo-Israel" are the following declarations : " The ten-tribed nation, therefore, is the kingdom, and Judah lost all claim to the honors and rewards of the kingdom now transferred to other hands. So Rehoboam understood it, and he was ill disposed to allow of such a transfer ; for he resolved to make war on the children of Israel. 1 Kings xii. 24. ' Thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel : return every man to his house ; for this thing is from me. They hearkened therefore to the word of the Lord, and returned to depart according to the word of the Lord.' I need hardly say that this remarkable transfer of the kingdom, throne and dignity to the ten tribes, secured to them all those special promises and blessings that God had previously made to Abraham and to his seed. It is to the kingdom of Israel, as then constituted, and their descendants that we must look for the fulfilment of those many promises quoted, and others LiiiTISII PHASE. 129 yet to be noted. To the ten tribes to whom the kingdom was transferred, most certainly, the blessings are promised, and not to the Jews. That throne of David, Ps. Ixxxix. 31-37, and the kingdom of Israel must be in existence somewhere ; and, moreover, must have had a contin- uous existence throughout all those centuries. Pages 13 and 14. '' I will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel." Hos. i. 4, 7. " For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a prince, and with- out a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and (with- out) teraphim : Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king : and shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days." Hos. iii. 4, 5. " Who is it that has read history that does not know that Judah, or the Jews, never had the sceptre of dominion for one day, since the days of Zedekiah, no, not for an hour." Page 15, ' "Judah was the recognized leader in all their journeys, marches, and wars, and was known as the royal tribe, and the lion was the heraldy of Judah. This device was given to them by God, and by them retained until the event alluded to in Matt. xxi. 43, when the Jews killed the son and heir of the vineyard, and Jesus said unto them. The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." Anglo-Israel — page 74. " The Jews had born the royal emblems until now : but rejecting the son and the heir, they lost the honor and the glory, and even the semblance of a national existence passed away from them." Page 74. These passages we have found it impossible to harmonize. Judah lost the sceptre in Rehoboam, and holds it in some form till Jesus, the heir to David's throne, was born. How could the sceptre of Judah be in England and in Palestine at the same time ? If the kingdom was transferred to the ten tribes under Jeroboam, what had Rehoboam? Certainly not the king- dom, if Jeroboam had it. If, therefore, Rehoboam had not the kingdom of David, what had his successor? Nothing more than they inherited, since, therefore, they inherited nothing of David's throne or kingdom, they had nothing of the kingdom. Zedekiah, therefore, had nothing of David's kingdom, his daughter, inheriting all her father's rights, had nothing. What, then, did she carry to Ireland of David's throne and kingdom? Answer : All that her father inherited of that kingdom — nothing. What, then, went to the Scotch king? All that Tephi had — nothing. How much of David's kingdom has Queen Victoria received ? All that Fergus received of Tephi — all that Zedekiah had, which was all that Rehoboam had left— which was nothing of David's kingdom. Therefore Queen Vic- toria has nothing of David's kingdom. We are quite willing that the British empire should inherit the multitudinous seed of Ephraim, but not the one seed of Judah. Let her feed in the immense pastures of Ephraim : but it is quite too much that she should devour all the pastures of Judah. The way out of this dilemma is the following. 1. The kingdom of Israel was a united kingdom under David and Solomon, consisting of the 9 130 THE EASTERN QUESTION, twelve tribes. 2. Under Jeroboam the rent kingdom com'menced. 3. The rent kingdom was composed of two kingdoms, the ten-tribed kingdom under Jeroboam, and the two-tribed kingdom under Rehoboam. Hence the kingdom of David was a rent kingdom. 4. Ten parts of David's king- dom went off with Jeroboam, the son of Nebat of the tribe of Ephraim and not of Judah. Two tribes, the city, temple with itg priesthood, re- mained with Rehoboam, and that too by divine appointment. 5. These two independent parts of David's twelve-tribed kingdom continued till B. C. 720, when the ten-tribed kingdom went into captivity. From that captivity they never returned. Their service was never restored. Hos. iii. 4, 5. 6. About 133 years later the two-tribed kingdom was taken into captivity in Babylon where they continued 70 years ; after which under Zerubbabel, (the lineal descendant of Nathan, the son of David, and the legal successor and heir of Jechoniah's royal estate), Ezra, and Nehemiah, there was a partial return. There were then governors and judges, priests and temple worship till A. D. 69, when they (two tribes) were scattered among all nations, and have thus continued to the present century. There has been a constant overturning since the crown was taken from the head of Zedekiah. "The sceptre (tribe-staff) did not depart from the tribe of Judah, nor the judge's staff" from its position between his feet till Messiah come (incarnation), and unto Him shall be the gathering of the people. They did gather unto Him until the rulers put Him to death. That the kingdom of David was to be continually overturned, and not to be as it was under David and Solomon is clearly taught in Ezek. 21, 26. " This (shall) not be the same." " Had the Jews received Him, that king- dom of David would then have been established ; but, He came to His own, and His own received Him not." He was cast out of His vineyard and slain. During 18 centuries the Gentiles have been gathering to His standard. When their fulness is come in then the veil will be removed, first from Judah, to enable them to discern that Jesus of Nazareth is their Messiah; and from Israel who have been lost so many centuries under another name. Then will Judah and Israel (12 tribes) become one nation under David's Son, as formerly under David. I (God) will give it Him (the diadem, to Messiah). The many days of Hos. iii. 3-5, extend from B. C. 720 to the " latter days." Such would be the plain. Scriptural interpretation of the prophecies concerning Israel and Judah. The whole twelve tribes, so far as the kingdom of David is concerned, have been denationalized ever since the rending of the king- dom. During this long period God has held the diadem, and has allowed the four Gentile horns to chastise His people. The image is Gentile. The stone is the kingdom of David's Son. The metalic image must, therefore, cover the " many days " of Hos. iii. 4. The diadem of the world left the line of the one seed under Reho- boam, and from that time onward Judah took a subordinate rank under the Gentile monarchies. The " one seed " kingdom is future ; but the multitudinous seed — "A multitude of nations," is present. That the one BRITISH PHASE. 131 seed, Jesus of Nazareth, will rule over the two tribes and the ten tribes in a twelve-tribed kingdom, is certainly Scriptural; that He has so reigned is not true, nor has any of David's sons had such high and exclusive honor. Keeping out of view the future reign of subjugation, they apply to the past and to the present all those passages that belong to that age. The organization of the ''stone" kingdom is an event still future. Judah and Israel are the chief elements of that kingdom. Their union with the Gentiles of this age will be one of the first events after Christ's return. If, then, the world is full of hostile nations when Jesus, the Son of David, returns, the principal work, after the organization of His kingdom, is the subjugation of His enemies. His bride will then be with Him, and will assist Him in the work. Isaiah Ixv. and Ixvi. belong to that period, and not to the past or to the present. It is quite unreasonable to suppose that the most glowing descriptions of blessedness should apply to a period covered by Gentile domination ; one full of wickedness, and one in which the Great King is not personally present. What, then, do you do with the Irish question relative to a. The ad- vent of Jeremiah and Baruch, and Zedekiah's daughter in Ireland. 6. The marriage of Tephi to an Irish chief, c. Two tables, d. The line to Queen Victoria, e. Jacob's stone. /. Royal standard, g. The harp ; and many other historic facts? Are they facts of authentic history? Could we be pursuaded that they have authentic history as their basis we should believe their testi- mony. But when we learn that there are in the world enough fragments of the veritable cross of Christ to construct the largest vessel afloat in the British navy ; that there are enough seamless garments to clothe a regi- ment ; that Jerusalem itself is full of fiction relative to persons, places and things ; that every land has its legendary histories and fictions, we need not be surprised that an island colonized by Hebrews, and associated with the history of that people for 30 centuries, should have many wonderful traditions. Let us take the " coronation stone " as an instance. The his- tory of that stone, ever since it was placed under the seat of the coronation chair in Westminster Abbey, is known ; but who can trace its history, without a broken link, to the night of Jacob's vision — ladder sleep ? Who can keep his eye on that stone from the night of Jacob's wilderness sleep, to Jerusalem, then to Spain, to Ireland and Scotland till it was deposited under the chief seat of the British empire ? How simple the original nar- rative : — "And he (Jacob) lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set : and he took of the stones (not one only) of that place, and put (them) for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep." He then describes his dreams, his ladder, and his com- pany. Vs. 18. "And Jacob rose up early in the morning and took the stone that he had put (for) his pillows, and set it up (for) a pillar; and poured oil upon the top of it. And this stone, which I have set (for) a pillar, shall be God's house." Gen. xxviii. 11, 18, 22. So far we have its inspired history. B. C. 1760. Where, then, is the 132 THE EASTERN QUESTION, history of its removal to Jerusalem? "Some of the rabbins pretend that this very stone was placed under the ark of the covenant in the second temple; and the Mahometans flatter themselves that it forms the founda- tion of the temple of Mecca." — Calmet. It has grown very much since Jacob put it among the heap of stones for his pillow. But stones do grow. "Dr. Petrie points to a stone now in Ireland as being the one, which is nonsense, because the stone so shown is fourteen tons in weight." — Hine, That stone belongs to the worship of Baal. The idea that Jeremiah and Baruch took it from an eastern vessel dis- abled on the coast of Spain, is not probable. Too many links missing. Did Jacob carry the pillar with him on his journey? or was it left like other Eastern pillars? Was it ever in Jerusalem? If so, who removed it and when ? Its being iii Jerusalem rests upon the testimony of rabbinical tradition. Where is the true and authentic history of Jeremiah's life in Ireland ? The application of Ezek. xvii. 22, made by Dr. Adam Clarke, is without sufficient data, since there is not sufficient evidence that Zedekiah's daugh- ter was ever in Ireland. The idea that Israel must have the line of king David ruling over them, is by no means necessary. EZEK. XXXVII. 16-28. We shall now direct your eye to Ezek. xxxvii. 16-28. It reads as fol- lows : " Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick and write upon it, for Judah and for the children of Israel his companions ; then take an- other stick, and write upon it, for Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and (for) all the house of Israel his companions ; vs. 17, and join them one to an- other into one stick; and they shall become one in thy hands, vs. 18. And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not show us what thou (meanest) by these? Vs. 19. Say unto them. Thus saith the Lord God: Behold 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 stick, and they shall be one in mine hand. Vs. 20. And the stick whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes. Vs. 21. And say unto them, thus saith the Lord God : Behold, I will take the chil- dren of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land. Vs. 22. And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Is- rael ; 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. Vs. 23. Neither shall they deffie themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgres- sions; but I will save them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them : so they shall be my people and I will be their God. Vs. 24. And David my servant (shall) be king over them ; and they shall have one shepherd; they shall also walk in my judgments, BRITISH PHASE. 133 and observe my statutes, and do them. Vs. 25. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein (even) they, and their children, and their children's children for ever; and my servant David (shall) be their prince forever. Vs. 26. Moreover, I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore. Vs. 27. My tabernacle also shall be with them ; yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Vs. 28. And the heathen then shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them forevermore." We shall examine 1. What Ezekiel is commanded to do; 2. What God promises to do ; the symbols and the things symbolized. The first living stick with its little shoots symbolizes Judah, with the children of Israel his companions; the second stick, with its scions, symbolizes the house of Joseph or Ephraim, and all the house of Israel his companions. Ezekiel was ordered to make one stick of the two. The union of the sticks sym- bolizes the union of Judah and Ephraim with their companions of the other tribes. In that stick we have Judah and Israel joined into one nation, forming under David or His son Messiah, the twelve-tribed king- dom. The overturnings have continued till 1883, and will continue till God gives it to him whose right it is. One nation on the mountains of Israel with one king. This union will be continuous and endless. There is not a symbol, nor a symbolic act more clearly defined and ex- plained than those now under review. Search out every symbol in the Bible with its interpretation and you will admit the truth of our remark. The terms "fellow" and "companions" should be carefully noted. "Fel- low " is joined to EjDhraim, "companions" to Ephraim and Judah. After the rending of the kingdom of David under Rehoboam, some of the ten tribes continued with Judah. Some of the Jews even to this day are the companions of Ephraim. Who can pretend for a moment that this prophecy has ever been ac- complished. The return from Babylon was of a part of Judah only with a few of his companions. There were no two distinct bodies, like Ephraim with his fellow tribes and Jewish companions to unite forevermore in purity and holiness; with Judah and his companions of the other tribes who had shared his destiny through marriage or commercial relationships, under prince David, or his Messianic son. Such a national community as Ezekiel describes, composed of such a holy people has never yet occupied the mountains of Israel. No event since that return can lay any claims to its fulfilment. It is, therefore, an event to be literally accomplished in the future. Its elements now exist. Judah, with his companions exist everywhere on the face of the earth ; and we believe, also, that the stick of Joseph, in the hand of his son Ephraim, is the symbol of an existing great power of the earth, such as the house of Joseph, a stick in the hand of Ephraim was to be. Read the history (prophetic) of the house of Joseph : "Joseph (is) a fruit- 134 THE EASTERN QUESTION, ful bough, (even) a fruitful bough by a well; (whose) branches run over the wall; the archers have sorely grieved him, and shot (at him), and hated him. But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty (God) of Jacob : (from thence (is) the Shepherd, the stone of Israel :) (even) by the God of thy father, who shall help: and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts and of the womb : the blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the ever- lasting hills; they shall be on the head of Joseph and on the crown of the head of him that was separated from his brethren." Gen. xlix. 22-27. In this blessing of Joseph by his father Jacob, originated the rivalship be- tween Ephraim and Judah, and which culminated in the formation of the ten-tribed kingdom under Jeroboam, the prince of Ephraim. Those bless- ings were not bestowed personally upon Joseph, but as Joseph's stick was in the hand of Ephraim we must regard them as the inheritance of his children Ephraim and Manasseh. What volumes of the world's embryotic history slumbered within the Words of Jacob! What forecasting of coming events! Joseph, a fruitful bough by a well; with branches running beyond natural boundaries; prospering over all enemies; laying the foundation of mighty empires. A shepherd of Israel ! prospered by Jehovah in rain and dew, by being driven to lands where they are abundant ; blessings of the deep, ocean's treasures; blessings of the breasts and of the womb, numerous posterity, shoals of nations. Crowns of glory for the posterity of Jacob's favorite son; what a multitudinous seed claim Joseph, through Ephraim and Manasseh, as their parent. These blessings belong not to Joseph (for he died in Egypt) but to his sons Ephraim and Manasseh. This will appear in their personal blessings, " The angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads ; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac: and let them grow into. a multitude on the midst of the earth. Manasseh shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother (Ephraim) shall be greater than he, and his seed (multitudinous seed) shall become a multitude of nations." Gen. xlviii. 16-19. " Multitude of nations " — fulness of nations. Hence Ezekiel has the stick (nations) of Joseph in the hand of Ephraim. Judah and Ephraim stand for the two tribes and the ten tribes. Their union forms the king- dom of David or of Messiah his son. That kingdom cannot, therefore, exist till the union of Ephraim and Judah shall be consummated; the stone kingdom, which, after its organization is to break in pieces the mon- archies of the earth and stand forever. The great future Ezekiel has outlined in the persons of Ephraim and Judah. The whereabout of Judah is well known as Judah was dispersed but not lost. Where, then, is Ephraim ? If the British Empire, the ques- tion is satisfactorily answered, since no other nation can fill the conditions BRITISH PHASE. 135 of the prophecies. Let us now see if that empire will answer all pro- phetic claims. Mr. Edward Hine has enumerated some 77 specifications sustained by- over 500 Scripture proofs. We shall name those specifications which will develop the leading features of the identification of British Israel; such only as will be clearly seen and generally acknowledged. POINTS OF IDENTITY EXAMINED. 1. The historical chain in proof of identity has been fully presented; Israel went into the same grave out of which the Saxons came. They went down Israel and came up Saxon. We have observed the change and shown how the change was made. This chain has been traced link by link and all the phenomenon explained. 2. Israel was to become an island people. (See Isa. xli. 1 ; xlii. 4 ; xlix. 1, 18; Jer. xxxi. 10.) 3. In the N. W. Isa. xxiv. 15; lix. 19; Jer. iii. 18; xxiii. 8; Isa. xliii. 5. These will show that they return from the direction of the first colonies, the same country to which Israel or the Saxons emigrated. 4. Israel should, in her new home, be called by a new name. Ephraim or Israel is nowhere known by those names. See Isa. Ixv. 15; Hos. i. 9; ii. 9; Isa. Ixiii. 17; Rom. xi. 25. She was not to be known by the name "Ammi " my people, but loammi, not my people. 5. Was to use another language. Isa. xxviii. 11. With about 800 Hebrew words in it, they use the English or Anglo-Saxon language. Had they continued the use of the Hebrew language they would not have been lost. What other people have in this manner changed their language ? 6. The land or islands were to become too small. Gen. xv. 3-6; xiii. 16; XXXV. 11; xlviii. 16, 19. Great Britain during the last 800 years, has sent out 60 colonies — swarmed 60 times. This suits the prediction con- cerning Joseph's house, but will not apply to any other national house- hold. The British island contains about 89,600 square miles; and yet by colonization and conquest Great Britain is expanded into an empire of 60 colonies, or nations, with 8,000,000 square miles and a population of 236,- 000,000. China alone having a more numerous population. The question of identity might here rest, since no other nation on the globe can fill the predictions concerning Joseph and his sons Ephraim and Manasseh, as given by Jacob, Gen. xlviii. 16-19, except Great Britain. With Jacob's prophetic utterances before you, please trace Ephraim from the time of Jacob's blessing to the captivity, and Great Britain, for the last few centuries, with the fact in mind that the stick (nation) of Ephraim- Israel must be somewhere on the globe under some other name, and you will find it exceedingly difficult not to admit the identity of Anglo-Israel. That Ephraim with all the house of Israel his companions, has no national existence is to deny the truth of the most sacred predictions. This we say, Ephraim is somewhere, a company of nations having another name. But the British empire is composed of a company of nations, the only island 136 THE EASTERN QUESTION, nation of that character. Therefore the British empire is, at least very probably that empire. Before we name any other identifications we desire to call attention again to the symbolic stick of Joseph in the hand of Ephraim, with the tribes of Israel his fellows. There are two sticks, Ephraim must have a national being or the other tribes would not be spoken of as companions. And as Jacob's future history of Ephraim de- clares that he shall become a multitude of nations, Ephraim's nationality is fully established, and, as there is no other nationality except the Anglo- Saxon, that fills the conditions of the prophecies concerning Ephraim, we say again that Great Britain is the stick of Joseph in the hand of Ephraim, with all the house of Israel his companions. In further notice of the two sticks and their union (Ezek. xxxvii. 16-28), the symbols are fully interpreted, but the interpretation of a sym- bol is always literal. This s^^mbol concerns literal nations, and has noth- ing to do with churches. Spiritual Israel (if there is such) has nothing to do with this prediction. Ephraim and Judah are now two distinct people. God intends their union, that they may, through endless ages, be one people. 7. Aboriginees of Israel's colonies must die out. — This is particularly true of Jacob's seed by Joseph, whose stick is in the hand of Ephraim. Jacob's seed was to be preserved, "Though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee : but I will correct thee in measure and will not leave thee altogether un- punished." Jer. XXX. 10, 11 ; see also Jer. xlvi. 27, 28, This will be clearly understood when we examine the blessings on Joseph, Gen. xlviii. 16-19. Ephraim was to be so increased as to become a multitude of nations. As they increase, the native population decreases till, in many countries they become extinct. As John the Baptist said of Christ, "He must increase but I must decrease," so do the natives decrease before this foreign popu- lation. The Indians are decreasing before the Saxons in America. Two large tribes have disappeared in Tasmania. "At the present death-rate, twenty years will exterminate the Maorites of New Zealand, that in many of our smaller colonies they are already totally extinct." — Hine. 8. Canaanites about Israel. — The Lord commanded Israel to drive out the Canaanites. The reasons were obvious, lest they should be corrupted by their heathenish idolatry. But when they found comfortable homes they allowed the Canaanites to dwell among them. This was displeasing to the Almighty, who declared that they should be pricks in their eyes, thorns in their sides, and should vex them in the land wherein they would dwell. Num. xxxiii. 55, "They shall be snares and traps unto you, scourges in your sides." Jos. xxiii. 13. The people of South Ireland, according to the early Israelitish colonization enterprize already considered, are Phoenician or Canaanites. Since they once spoke the Phoenician lan- guage (Hebrew), had an alphabet of sixteen letters, and they also boast of their Canaanitish descent. They have decreased one million in the last twenty years, 9. Israelitish army. — Ephraim was, at an early period, powerful in BRITISH PHASE. 137 war. The inspired history of Joseph, (whose stick or nationality was in the hand of Ephraim) indicates the warrior : " But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty (God) of Jacob." Gen. xlix. 24. After their captivity (of the ten tribes) we have the following from inspired prophets: "Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee. Isa. xxv. 3. " They that war against thee shall be as nothing." Isa. xli. 12. " The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might; they shall lay (their) hand upon (their) mouth, their ears shall be deaf." Micah. vii. As the Israelites were to the heathen, so have the British been to the heathen. Vast multitudes have almost uniformly fled before an inferior force. 10. Powerful in her navy. — Her island would require a strong navy. In defending her colonies a strong navy would be necessary. " They went down to the sea in ships, and did business in great waters." Psa. cvii. 23 ; see Kings ix. 27. 11. Her power superior to any other nation. — Her mission requires this. The stick (national power) of Joseph was to be in the hand of Ephraim, including Manesseh. This nationality was to defend Judah and Israel in the first stages of their return. It is written of Israel, " God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself above all people that are on the face of the earth." Deut. vii. 6; xiv. 2. "The Lord hath avouched thee this day to be His peculiar people as he hath promised thee, to make thee above all nations." Deut. xxvi. 18, 19. " The Lord thy God will set thee on high above all (Gentile) nations of the earth." Deut. xxviii. 1. These passages may look to the coming age when Jesus their Messiah shall be their visible head ; still, it has a nearer aspect. While the remnant nation is gathering it requires a powerful, visible, national protector. Thus is Ephraim with his fellow tribes and Jewish companions, as taught in Eze. xxxvii. 16-28. The British empire is such a protector, aided by the United States. 12. Many days without a king. — " For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king and without a prince." Hos. iii. 4. This prophecy was uttered B. C. 785. From that day to their settlement in their island home they were tribes rather than kingdoms ; such is strictly true of the infancy of the British nation. 13. In their worship. — The various rites and ceremonies, their Sabbath and their various religious institutions indicate a Hebrew origin. They were not derived from the heathen. 14. Money lenders. — This will suit the British nation and no other. Deut. XV ; xxviii. 12, 13. " For Lord thy God blesseth thee as he promised thee : and thou shalt lend unto many nations but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee. The Lord shall open unto thee His good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in its season, and to bless all the work of thine hand : and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. And the Lord shall make thee the head and not the tail ; and thou shalt be 138 THE EASTERN QUESTION, above only; and thou shalt not be beneath ; if that thou barken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God which I command thee this day to observe and do (them)." Facts will prove this identity of the British nation. Let us examine a few authors on this identity : " Foreign coun- tries have, during the last thirty years added three thousand million pounds sterling to their debts, and the British people are the great lenders !" — Westminster Review. " The creation of wealth in England dur- ing the century is a main fact in modern history. The wealth of England determines prices all over the globe." — Emmerson. " The amount of in- terest paid on our enormous loans in England alone exceeds six millions sterling in a single month." — Carpenter. "And while we have lent and are lending at two and three per cent., the amount of unemployed capital is so great that borrowers cannot be found. ' Shall not borrow !' Who can tell me the time when Britain asked a loan from any Gentile nation? Why, such an idea would be laughed at all over the nation." — Pool. Who does not see that the British empire has inherited the blessing of Ephraim. ' Who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts and of the womb." Gen. xlix. 25. Ephraim hav- ing the stick of Joseph. What vast treasures has she drawn from the sea. No nation has ever equaled the British commerce, increased more rapidly, or have been more abundantly blessed with the dews and showers of heaven. Such, it was required, that Ephraim should be in order that his seed (family) should become a multitude of nations. This identity can be amplified to any extent. In noticing so many identifications, one thing should be observed : They should be considered as a whole. Where can any other nation be found with so many resemblances ? Herein is the point of proof, that England resembles Ephraim in the three great classes of blessings : 1. Those from the heavens ; 2. Those from the ocean ; 3. For increase like fishes by shoals or colonies. AUTHORS AND THEIR VIEWS. We have given but a tithe of the evidence which might be adduced to sustain the British claim to an Israelitish origin. These are stated that the reader may be awakened to an examination of the subject. To those who desire to investigate the subject more extensively, we would direct their attention to the following authors among many others that have written : 1. Elias Boudinet, LL. D., who wrote in favor of the North American Indians; 2. "Our Israelitish Origin," by J. Wilson; an able work and one that in many particulars seems to be the root of many other works; 3. Joseph Wolf, who finds the lost tribes in China; 4. Dr. Grant, who writes in favor of the Nestorian claims ; 5. Sir William Jones, a very learned author who decides in favor of the Afghans; 6. Mrs. Dixon decides in favor of the Mexicans and Peruvians; 7. Rev. J. Samuels who places the ten tribes somewhere about the Caspian Sea; 8. Dr. Claudius Buchanan BRITISH PHASE. 139 places them still in Central Asia. We have no doubt that Israelitish blood courses through the veins of nearly all Asiatic nations ; but what one can be called the stick of Joseph in the hand of Ephraim ? 9. W. H. Pool of Toronto; 10, Dr. Branow, Astronomer Royal of Ireland; 11. Edward Hine; 12. Rev. F. R. Glover; 13. Dr. W. Holt Yates; 14. Bishop Titcomb ; 15. Prof. C. Piazzi Smyth, F. R. S., S. I. E., Astronomer Royal of Scotland ; 16. Lieut. Col. Vallancey, LL. D., Sir Walter Elliott, K. C. S. L.; 17. Major H. A. Tracey, R. A. ; 18. Canon Brownrigg; 19. Dr. Latham; 20. Dr. Potter. This list might be much extended since this subject within the last half century has commanded some of the ablest minds in the British empire. God makes use of human agents to carry out his divine purposes of national government, so that events seem to transpire in a natural way, and to be under the entire control of human might, both physically and intellectually, while Almighty power lies behind the curtain managing the whole machinery. Without a clear view of the workings of this invisible Actor, prophecy would be uncertain. If human governments are not under the control of such a divine directory, how could the prophets forecast so accurately the number, character, and movements of the empires ? God must have delineated and fixed their elements before He made any revelation to His ancient seers. The monarchs of the four Gentile governments appear to revolve in the sphere of absolutism. Still, they were under a higher control as was evinced in the humiliation of Nebuchadnezzar. The Metallic Image is a picture in the book of divine symbols. It was then a picture of what should be, it is now an equally correct picture of what has been. Prophecy is history in advance. Human elements have to be shaped in the divine mold ; such as resist all higher impressions are removed, other materials, more readily fused, are substituted. Thus moves the Corliss engine that controls the universe. The stone, becoming a mountain, is also a picture in the book of symbols. Its elements are fixed and sure. The elements that will gather around the stone are in the process of preparation and are about being gathered. He that studies authentic history is simply following the footprints of the Diety. Let him go to the Bible for the key of this historic volume. God has promised the earth's diadem to His beloved Son. He shapes peoples, kingdoms and empires to that ultimate end. We cannot look upon the map of human rule, without becoming at once interested in the constantly changing boundary lines of its mighty empires. Cast your eye over the chart of eastern empires, the political chess-board of the East. The moves are for the sceptre of universal empire. The chiefs of the game are called the king of the north and the king of the south. The land of Israel being the observatory, the king occupying Syria at the appointed time and at the appointed conflict would be the king of the north; and the power occupying Egypt at that time would be the king of the south. Such is evidently the proper interpretation of those terms. The empires, whose boundaries are gradually approaching each other, 140 THE EASTERN QUESTION, are too well defined not to be known ; the Russian empire at the head of the Mongolian race and the kings of the east ; and the British empire, the powerful tribe of Ephraim, the head and protector of Israel and Judah, and God's Lieutenant under His Son, the Messiah, King of kings. The forces are now gathering and disciplining for this terrible campaign, and death struggle upon the mountains of Israel. It is with intense interest that we view the gathering elements of this coming storm : on the one side the robbers, on the other, the protectors of God's people ; while the Ottoman empire, like a Chinese wall, trembles at the hostile tread of the advancing armies. In the land of Israel, within and around Jerusalem, are quietly- returning the elements of that elect kingdom, which, under the Messiah, will fill the earth with His righteousness and glory. We propose to show, in its proper place, that Judah and Israel are now gathering to their own land. ISAIAH XVIII. EXAMINED, EXPLAINED, AND INTERPRETED. Is. xviii. Attention is invited to this chapter; It has been called obscure ; and, indeed, the translation of it and the various interpretations given to its language, have rendered the chapter exceedingly obscure. Please read. "■ This is one of the most obscure prophecies in the book of Isaiah. The subject of it, the end and design of it, the people to whom it is. addressed, the history to which it belongs, the person who sends the messengers, and the nation to whom the messengers are sent, are all obscure and doubtful." — Bishop Lowth. Bishop Lowth, however, gives it an Egyptian interpretation, and con- sequently an Egyptian translation. Since the learned prelate had no confidence in his own views, we are safe in rejecting both his opinions and the peculiar features of his translation. Bishop Horsley, another very noted Bishop, says that it refers to the Jews at the period of their restoration, and the destruction of anti-Christ. Since, howewer, his ideas of anti-Christ are quite obscure, and as he does not make any distinction between Judah and Israel, we are obliged to reject his interpretation, and rely upon the correctness of our own researches, and upon what we regard the most accurate interpretation of the text. " Wo (ho) to the land shadowing with wings, which (is) beyond the rivers of Ethiopia." " The Hebrew particle 'ho,' here used, is sometimes a note of exclamation, and at others of lamentation, according to the con- text; and is therefore differently rendered, either 'Wo, alas!' or 'Ho! come on,' which seems to be its meaning here." THE LAND HERE INTENDED. Two points of identification are given : " Shadowing with wings'" and its location "beyond the rivers of Ethiopia." Let us examine these ex- BRITISH PHASE, 141 pressions. The second is properly a key to the first, and, indeed, to the whole prophecy. The land beyond the rivers of Ethiopia. It cannot be either the land of Egypt or of Ethiopia. The prophet was in Palestine, The prophet, looking south, south-west, west and north-west, would name the countries that he knew. Eg^'-pt would come first; then Ethiopia, and, beyond Ethiopia, the country shadowing with wings. Ethiopia was often called Cush. How extended was it? It, in the days of Isaiah, included all Africa. Ethiopia had but one fixed boundary; on the north, to the south, west and north-west it seemed in early days to be unlimited. The country beyond the rivers of Ethiopia would be beyond Africa. The word in the authorized version that is rendered beyond, is translated " borders on." The Hebrew word is ^^^D mai-ai-ver, over, beyond, on the opposite side. ^)^ ^■jpjj'^"-lan-na-har Kush-the rivers of Kush. If the land of Kush, whoserivers are named, was in Africa, the order looking towards Africa, would be, 1, Egypt; 2, Kush; 3, Land beyond — not stating whether the Inda joined that of Kush, or had a sea between them. There would seem to be waters between them, from the expression, " Earth shadowing with wings." D^iDJD ^)£^)i pj^ nn Hoy erets tziltzal ke nop-phah-im. '' Ho to the earth, shady, overshadowing with wings. It is said that four countries were called Cush, after the name of the eldest son of Ham ; by what authority we know not. In Gen. ii. 13, the second river of paradise (is) Gihon : the same (is) it that composeth the whole land of Ethiopia (Heb. Kush). Cush is here an Asiatic country. In Isaiah xi. 11, it may also be called an Asiatic region. Dr. Wm. Smith, in his Dictionary of the Bible, has these remarks : " Cush as a country appears to be African in all passages except Gen. ii. 13. We may thus distinguish a primeval and a postdiluvian Cush. (Might it not read, Which in the days of Moses was called Cush? — W.) The former was en- compassed by Gihon (Araves. — W.) the second river of paradise; it would therefore seem to have been somewhere to the northward of Assyria. It is . possible that it is in this case a name of a period later than that to which the history relates ; but it seems more probable that it was of the earliest age, and that the African Cush was named from this older country. In the ancient Egyptian inscriptions, Ethiopia above Egypt is termed Keesh, or Kesh ; and this territory probably perfectly corresponds to the African Cush, of the Bible. The Cushites, however, had clearly a wider extension, like the Ethiopians of the Greek, but apparently with a more definite ethnic relation. The Cushites appear to have spread along tracts extending from the higher Nile to the Euphrates and Tigris. History affords many traces of this relation of Babylonia, Arabia, and Ethiopia. Zera the Cushite (A. V. Ethiopian), who was defeated by Asa, was most probably the king of Egypt, certainly the leader of an Egyptian army. Very soon after their arrival in Africa, the Cushites appear to have established settlements along the southern Arabian coast, on the Arabian shore of the Persian Gulf, and in Babylonia, and thence onward to the Indus, and probably northward to 142 THE EASTERN QUESTION, Nineveh; and the Mizzaites spreading along the south and east shores of the Mediterranean, on part of the north shore, and in the great islands." Here it will be seen that the expression, " Beyond the rivers of Cush," may mean beyond the rivers of the African or the Asiatic Cash. As far as our argument is concerned, it matters not which land the prophet in- tended, since the term " beyond " points westward towards another land. If the African Cush is intended, it follows the course of commerce, and Israelitish colonization ; if the Asiatic Cush is in the prophet's eye, it fol- lows the pathway of the Saxon emigration north and west. The land shadowing with wings beyond the rivers of Cush, must be northwestern Europe with its islands. It will be seen that to identify the land is to solve the problem. Jt was necessary, therefore, to dwell upon this point of identity. The land being identified, it will not be very difficult to ascer- tain the people. Bishop Lowth decided, first, that Egypt was the country, and, consequently, that the Egyptians were the people, and adapted his translation to the idea. This will appear if we compare his translation with the Hebrew text. The expression, " Beyond the rivers of Cush," with the same Hebrew text, is found in Zeph. iii. 10. " From beyond the rivers of Cush my suppliants, (even) the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering. In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against me; for then will I take away out of the midst of thee, them that rejoice in thy pride, and thou shalt no more be haughty, because of my holy mountain. I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall, trust in the name of the Lord. The remnant of . Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mOuth ; for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make (them) afraid." This prophecy is dated nearly one hundred years later than that of Isaiah. It serves to identify the people referred to by Isaiah, viz., Israel. This time, however, is not the same in each prophecy. One point relative to the land should be noticed. Its location we have examined. It is the land where the colonizing and captive Israelites meet, viz., in northwestern Europe, where they give birth to one of the most extraordinary people and nation that has ever existed. Two features relative to the land itself, are : '' Shadowing with wings," *' The rivers have spoiled." Will northwestern Europe and its islands suit these two features ? " The land shadowing with wings." One Hebrew lexicon defines the word '7V'?V tzil-tzal, as follows: Shady, overshadowing; another says, Tumult of an army or shadowing. In both the principal idea is shade ; something that, like a cloud, casts a shadow over the land. No such a thought is conveyed by the word "cymbal," as Bishop Lowth has trans- lated it, and, consequently, makes Egypt to be the land. "• Wings." This word in Hebrew is from fjj3 he removed, carried into captivity, was hid, concealed. As a noun, a wing, skirt, corner, extremity, battlement. Wings carry the idea of shadow. It would not be a forced construction to call these wings sails, especially as vessels or ships are BRITISH PHASE. 143 mentioned in the next verse. Another idea is contained in the term " wings," that of protection. The British navy, Protecting its merchant vessels, coming into and going out of all the harbors of the world, wafting like bees to the hive, the rich productions of every clime ; entering all her British harbors could not be more poetically expressed than by " Land shadowing with wings." How varied, how vast the commerce of British Israel. Born, first, in the land of Israel, banished to Central Asia, they are buried to the world, till they are seen beginning a second life amid the marshes and bulrushes of northwestern Europe, out of the "Inaccessible marshes and swamps" of Ditmarsia and Stormaria. They traverse the ocean and rivers in boats, framed of osiers, and covered with skins sewed together ; and such was their skill or prodigality of life, that in these they sported in the tempests of the German Ocean. The second birth of a people scattered and peeled, of a nation terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled. Isaiah's prophetic view as all must admit, extended beyond the present. With his far reaching telescope, took in the wanderings of Israel and Judah till their final union under Messiah, son of David. This being true, they must have been seen during their long banishment in the west; for we can- not suppose that such a mighty empire composed of Israel and his com- panions should for thousands of years have had such a noted history with- out coming within range of prophetic vision. What a sea-training has fallen to the lot of Saxons (sons of Israel) ! What other people can hold any comparison ? Americans only, who are of that race, have any claim to equality. The land and the people! Where? What? Who? Please ponder over their answers. 1. A land, located at the junction of Israel's high- ways to the setting of the sun, that of commerce and colonization along the Mediterranean and Atlantic, and the land rout through western Asia and central and northern Europe, beyond the rivers of Cush. 2. The land itself, its distinctive features: a. "Shadowing with wings," war vessels, and fleets of commerce ; b. Whose lands, rivers, and arms of the sea and ocean have grooved into thousands of fragments. 3. The people, their past history, and their future destiny; a. A nation scattered and peeled; h. Terrible from their beginning hitherto; terrible to Egypt at the Bed Sea, terrible in the waste, howling wilderness, terrible in the land of Canaan, terrible in their wanderings through Asia and Europe, terrible in north- western Europe, terrible in their island home, terrible as sea-kings on the ocean, terrible by the arm and hand that opens their way and guides them. 4, A nation (once) meted out and trodden down. 5. A people of missions and of missionaries; "Go ye swift messengers, go to my people, the scattered and down-trodden. Proclaim my salvation through the Messiah, my be- loved Son, that they as the angel through mid-heaven (Rev. xiv. 6) may at that time (vs. 7) bring a present unto me, to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, the mount Zion. "The vessels of bulrushes," is an expression that is supposed to identify 144 THE EASTERN QUESTION, that land exclusively with Egypt. To this we answer : 1. The papyrus or bulrush is not indiginous to Egypt ; is scarce there at this time ; it belongs to a more northern latitude. In northwestern Europe and in England they are abundant. 2. The Saxons navigated the ocean in vessels like those made of bulrushes, while the Romans and French had large and durable vessels. We are not willing to leave this chapter without expressing an abiding conviction that the prophet sees Israel and his companions in their western home ; sea-kings in Europe ; a nation in the British islands, expanding into an ocean and island empire, extending onward into the age of sub- jugation, when an age gospel shall be trumpeted through every land throughout the world, and all people shall see the ensign and hear the trumpet of Jehovah on the mountains of Israel. SUPPLEMENTARY ON ISAIAH XVIII. We have dwelt on the stick of Joseph in the hand of Ephraim ; that stick, however, included Joseph's two sons, Manasseh as well as Ephraim. Since each was to be great, Jacob's blessings were on both : " The angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac : and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth." Gen. xlviii. 16. Verse 19 : "And he (Manasseh) also shall be great : but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations." The blessings which Jacob pronounced upon Joseph (Gen. xlix. 22, 27) must, therefore, be divided between Ephraim and Manasseh ; giving Ephraim more than half. Since the British nation answers to Ephraim as Saxons (sons of Isaac), the Saxons are seen by Isaiah in a home still to the west — in America — and in other ocean homes. Isaiah is called the Evangelical prophet, since he describes the gospel mission, "Go ye swift messengers." Isaiah's vision landscape extended into the age of Messiah. The prophet's landscape constantly varied as he ascended into the horizons of coming ages. Every step in advance, like ascending a mountain, increased the area of his prophetic vision. Hence the prophet Isaiah had first the Babylonian horizon. As he ascended the tower of prophetic observation ; the next in view was the Medo-Persian horizon ; above this the Macedonian earth came to view ; on a higher platform of the tower the Roman world fills his vision ; from the summit of the tower the glories of Messiah's kingdom reveal the new order of ages, in succession, the Babylonian, the Medo-Persian, the Macedonian, the Roman and Hebrew horizons fill the prophet's vision. Isaiah is per- mitted to look beyond the metallic empires into the universal kingdom of the stone. The sons of Isaac are traced to their western homes ; the Saxon is followed as he extends over the wall, and encircles the globe. The thought which should be left with the reader is this : Manasseh constitutes part of the stick of Joseph, since his was to be a great nation, and was associated with Ephraim in the family relationship. Is Manasseh BRITISH PHASE. 145 the United States? Such is the view entertained by those expositors who hold to the idea of Anglo-Israel. The unity of our subject will not allow us, at present to dwell upon that phase of the Eastern Question. We may find time to illustrate that subject in the future. Our present theme is the British empire, its growth and its eastern mission. GROWTH OP THE BRITISH EMPIRE. John Baptist said of Christ, " He must increase, but I must decrease." Other nations may decrease, become few and finally expire, but the stick of Joseph in the hand of Ephraim, like Aaron's rod, has in it a living principle, which will cause it to bud, blossom, and fill the earth with its golden fruit. We shall now trace the growth of the Saxon element as seen in the British empire. The growth of the British empire is confined principally to the past one hundred and fifty years. Her oldest colonies extend further back; but her dependent nationalities are confined principally to the present century as will appear from the following dates: 1. Heligoland, taken from the Danes, 1807; ceded to Great Britain 1814; 2. Gibraltar was taken in 1704; 3. Malta in 1798; 4, Gambia 1780; 5. Sierra Leone about the same date; 6. Cape of Good Hope, 1846; 7. Natal, May 12, 1843; 8. Zululand, 1879; 9. Mauritius, 1810; 10. Aden, January 11, 1839 ; 11. Perim, 1<^57; 12. Straits settlements, 1867; 13. India, 1773; 14. Ceylon, March 2, 1815; 15. Labuan, 1846; 16. Tasmania, 1825; 17. Western Australia, 1829; 18. Southern Australia, 1834; 19. New Zealand, 1841; 20. Victoria, 1851; 21. Queensland, 1859; 22. Hong Kong and 15 Chinese ports, 1843. These constitute the eastern circle of dependent nations. The western nations and colonies are the following : 1. The 13 colo- nies became independent, 1776, (Manasseh?). 2. The following confed- eracy was formed in 1873 : 1. Canada ; 2. Manitoba ; 3. British Columbia ; 4. Vancouver's Island; 5. Fiji; 6. Other Pacific Islands; 7. New Zealand; 8. Falkland Islands; 9. St. Helena; 10. Ascension Islands; 11. British Guiana ; 12. Trinidad ; 13. Windward Islands ; 14. Granada ; 15. Barba- does ; 16. St. Lucia ; 17. St. Vincent ; 18. Tobago ; 19. Leeward Islands 20. Antigua ; 21. Montserat , 22. British Honduras ; 23. Turk's Island 24. Bahamas; 25. Bermuda; 26. Nova-Scotia; 27. Prince Edward Island 28. New Brunswick; 29. Newfoundland. This growth of the British empire is graphically expressed in Gen. xlix. 22, concerning Joseph, whose stick is in the hand of Ephraim (Ezek. xxvii. 16, 19), "Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh) (is) a fruitful bough, (even) a fruitful bough by a well; (whose) branches run over the wall." What nation can answer like Britain to the following? "Thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left, and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited." Isa. liv. 3. "Listen, Isles, unto me, and hearken ye people from afar." Isa. xlix. 1- In her Eastern circle now reckon Cyprus and Egypt. Egypt, it is true, is 10 146 THE EASTERN QUESTION, nominally a part of the Ottoman empire, still no one can say that it is not under the control of the British empire. The Khedive is a British tool with which to accomplish her eastern missions. Egypt, Palestine (all the Holy Land) and Assyria, will form her eastern national confederacy. Isa. xix. 23-25. This is necessary for the accomplishment of that prediction, "In that day shall there be a highway out of to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve (serve whom ?) the Assyrians. In that day shall Israel (Ephraim) be the third with Egypt and with Assyria (even) a blessing in the midst of the land: whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, "Blessed (be) Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine in- heritance." The British empire must, therefore, grow till her East India posses- sions and her Egyptian extension, through the land of Israel and Assyria, form a union. This empire of the south will then be prepared to meet the empire of the north on the mountains of Israel. THE EASTERN MISSION OP THE BRITISH EMPIRE. We have very briefly traced the modern growth of the British empire. We have marked her movements eastward, seen her establish an empire in the Indies, gain a strong footing in China and in Japan, holding Australia and many of the Pacific Islands, holding Egypt, and becoming the great protectorate of the Ottoman empire which now reckons Egypt, the land of Israel and Assyria as elements of her empire in Asia. What, then, is her mission in the East ? What is her special work ? This we now propose to consider as fully as our space will allow. The book which we shall consult is the prophetic Scriptures. They are replete with future history, especially of the two great powers of the last days : viz. : the king of the North and the king of the South ; or Gog, with his royal companions, opposed by the great protector of the Hebrews, the merchant princes of the great west, known by the names of "Sheba, Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof." Eze. xxxviii. 13. Great Britain is evidently in the dark as to God's purpose in making her mistress of the seas, and pushing her towards the Orient. Nations know not Jehovah till he forces their monarchs into pastures to feed upon "grass." They will say, "My kingdom," "My empire," while they ignore the power that works behind the visible throne. Queen Victoria is ignor- antly serving the purposes of the Almighty, while she is making use of vain titles of "My Empire of the Indies," "My dominions," "My sub- jects," etc. Are these the proper expressions of an humble servant of the Being that gives her life and all things? It is done in utter ignorance of God's purposes. The true object of her prosperity is still beyond her blinded vision. The Empire, as Anglo-Israel, is still "lost," and the time has not yet come when her true character and mission will be publicly made known. God opens his eyes first upon Judah, afterwards he causes BRITISH PHASE. 147 Israel (British empire) to find herself. She has been nominally serving Jesus of Nazareth, but not as Israel. They have been his followers under a new name. Victoria serves the divine purposes as did the Persian Cyrus : "For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name : I have surnamed thee though thou hast not known me." Isa. xlv. 4. The British empire is in pursuit of v/ealth and power. Beyond her own selfish purposes she sees nothing, knows nothing. The wealth of those ancient empires of India, China and Japan is a powerful magnet to draw her eastward; and she is directing her mighty energies to secure them and open up a grand highway directly to them. For selfish, com- mercial purposes she desires to establish on her highway eastward a com- mission nation composed of the Jews (Judah) as they are acquainted wdth all languages, and are familiar with every species of traffic. To guard against their great enemy of the north (Russia) it is her policy to protect for the present the Turkish and Persian empires. They serve the purpose of a wall while she is securing her eastern dominions, and her water and land communications. Such seem to be the motives of the British empire in her movements to the east. She is being wonderfully prospered in her plans. Her success in Egypt was so natural and apparently so just, that Europe and even Russia allowed it without making any very serious objec- tions. Indeed Egypt appears to have been forced upon England, while, at the same time it was necessary for the accomplishment of her purposes. This is a nation led by the great Unseen. Apparently independent, yet a national servant. We have said that England's purpose is to control the wealth of the East. To do this she must 1. Hold the sovereignty of the seas ; 2. She must command the Eastern highways ; 3. She must keep in her hands the paramount control and the protectorate of Syria, Assyria and Persia; 4. She must keep up a national barrier against the Empire of the North. These being secured she will then be able to command the commerce of the East. That England has any other object in view by her eastern movements we have no reason to believe. Pure selfishness follows all her national operations; wealth is her primary object of pursuit. Mammon is her national god. To that deity she pays her public devotions. While we thus speak we do not forget her missionary work. She is the chief patron of the great missionary enterprise of modern Christendom. Her colonies, belting the globe, fill the islands of the seas with the name of Jesus of Nazareth. The Cross and the Crown, through her mighty arm, are held up to the view and acceptance of all nations. The swift mes- senger, flying through mid-heaven with ''an everlasting Gospel, never flies beyond the shadow of her proud banner, nor lights upon any land that does not utter her anthems of divine harmony. What a nation ! The national missionary of the last days ! An oppressor ; and the asylum of the oppressed ! 148 THE EASTERN QUESTION, EASTERN POLICY OP THE BRITISH EMPIRE FURTHER EXAMINED. Any one familiar with the movements of the British empire eastward during the present century, will readily see that the fall of the Turkish empire, at this time, would be a great calamity to England. The Otto- man empire, as a nationality, is the British shield — her rampart — her Chinese wall extending from the Danube to the Euphrates ; keeping back the Northern empire. When the Turkish empire falls, it will be absorbed by the victors. The conqueror will be Russia or England. In either case it would, at present, be a great calamity to England ; for the fall of the Ottoman empire must bring on a general war. Such a consequence would be unavoidable. Should England now be forced into a conflict with Tur- key, all Europe would declare war against her at once. Such a contest she is not, at present, prepared to sustain. Russia cannot attack the Ottoman empire, without a terrible conflict with England. In either case such an event would now be premature — a terrible calamity to the returning Jews. Had England been driven out of Egypt, Jewish colonization of Palestine would have been ruined. The British empire must, therefore, sustain the Ottoman empire till she is ready for an open movement against the king of the North. This event is hastening but it is not yet. We affirm, therefore, that the fall of the Turkish empire at the present, would be a serious calamity to the Jews, as well as to their protector, the British Empire. Whatever England can do to gain power in the Turk- ish empire, and control over it, without provoking a general war, we shall expect her to accomplish. Her interest in the Orient requires it; but to absorb that empire, or to allow any other nation to overthrow and remove the Ottoman empire, would be a radical error, one that would retard if not defeat her Eastern mission. What would be the result if Russia's southern boundary took in the Turkish empire ? Palestine, in her hands, and she is the ancient, as well as modern enemy of the Jews? We cannot regard such an event, at this time, in any other light than that of an utter subversion of all hope of a near-coming Jewish nationality. We do not hesitate to affirm (what may appear strange to many) that Dan xii. 1, is now in its first period of accomplishment. That we are living at the " time of the end," there can be no doubt. The running to and fro, and the increase of knowledge, fully sustain that position. Michael is now standing up, and he is evidently at this very time the invisible guide of the British empire on her Eastern mission. If Gabriel and Michael were actors in the afiairs of Persia and Grecia, (see Dan. x. 12-21), why not more active in that nation which is the chosen national protector of Daniel's people, the Jews? Such is our deliberate conclusion. God controls nationalities through angelic agency. Though the visible powers appear to act freely, and are thus described in profane history, the Bible teaches that they are under the supervision of a higher power. It required seven years for Nebuchadnezzar to learn that Jehovah BRITISH PHASE. 149 rules in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth. God called Cyrus by name, and stated to Isaiah his mission two cen- turies before he was born; and yet profane history gives us the birth, education, and military exploits of Cyrus as one acting out freely his own personal character. He was raised up to do a special work for God's people, and the Almighty calls him his shepherd — "That saith of Cyrus, (He is) my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built ; and to the temple, Thy founda- tion shall be laid." Isaiah xliv. 28. (See Isaiah xlv. 1-5.) Cyrus ap- pears to do it all, and yet God says, '' I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight ; I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron. I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I the Lord which call (thee) by thy name (am) the God of Israel. For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name; I have surnamed thee though thou hast not known me." God's supreme control is very distinctly enunciated in vs. 1 : " Thus saith the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to sub- due nations before him ; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open be- fore him the two-leaved gates ; and the gates shall not be shut." Jeho- vah accomplishes His purposes by an invisible agency belonging to the angelic or messenger world. To this end read 2 Kings vi. 17 : "And Elisha prayed and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man ; and he saw ; and behold, the mountain (was) full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha." Here is Elisha's angelic body-guard. When Elijah went up, "a chariot of fire and horses of fire (light — W.) and parted them both asunder ; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven." 2 Kings ii. 11. One chariot was suf- ficient for Elijah. Kings, for show, must have a multitude. " The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and deliver- eth them." Psa. xxxiv. 7. " The chariots of God (are) twenty thou- sand duplicated thousands, (even) thousands of angels ; the Lord is among them, (as) in Sinai, in the holy place." Psa. Ixviii. 17. See the horsemen in Zech. i. 8, 9. Also the chariots and horses in Zech. i. 8, 9. Also in various other places. When any interpreta- tion is to be given Gabriel is sent ; if any conflict, Michael is selected. When Michael is sent forth, his angels are sent with him. Under Pagan Rome there was a terrible conflict that continued through cen- turies. " Michael and his angels fought against the dragon ; and the dragon fought and his angels." Rev. xii. 7. The most distinct enunciation of God's government of the nations by angelic agency is found in Dan. x. 13-20, " But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days ; but lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, and I remained there with the king of Persia." . . . ." Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I am come unto thee ? and now will I return to fight with the prince of 150 THE EASTERN QUESTION, Persia; and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come." Such testimony abounds in all parts of the Divine revelations. And, as the Bible teaches that God interfered with the national governments of Babylon, Persia, Grecia and Rome, Pagan, may we not conclude that he will manage the nations till his Son commences His reign ? The prophets, by the power of Jehovah, have described the future. No being can tell the future except the one that has dominion over it. All those Gentile monarchies that have had to do with the Hebrew com- monwealth have been under the special supervision of Jehovah. The metallic image symbolizes those Gentile monarchies. The stone becom- ing a mountain and filling the earth, represents the results of the di- rect agency of the Almighty. The conclusion we thus state : If God controlled the great mon- archies that held Judah and Israel, so as to accomplish His purpose in their captivities, shall He not equally control the modern nations rela- tive to their return and final union ? Such a result He has directed bis prophets to enunciate, and such it will be. What nation but Great Britain, is in a position, and is competent to that great work ? She con- trols the seas ; has her family of nations conveniently located for the work, and has the will for its accomplishment. Secular history, in sketching the rise and progress of the world's great nationalities, deifies human agency ; the Bible, however, reveals a govern- ing power behind their thrones. That power is supreme. The difference between sacred and profane history is, that the latter traces the visible agents, while the former follows the footsteps of the great Invisible. The secular historian narrates facts as seen and heard ; the sacred historian confines his history to the sayings and doings of the Supreme. Modern history carries forward the narration of those national movements found recorded by the inspired prophets. We see in these sacred records, among others, a sketch of the British empire, its rise, growth and mission. In that history we recognize a people answering to God's enunciation of the destiny of the sons of Joseph, more particularly Ephraim. We have fol- lowed that empire in its movements toward the Orient, as it gradually planted its colonies over the East, absorbing Eastern nationalities, and holding the control of 8,000,000 square miles. We are forced to enquire. What has God to do with the British nation ? Why is He pushing that mighty empire Eastward, on the belt of the ancient empires ? those empires that overthrew Judah and Israel ? Why has that power become the protector of the Mohammedan empire ? Why has Egypt been thrown into her arms for protection ? Why have the Eastern highways been placed under her control? All these problems, with many others, demand a rational solution. These we now propose to investigate. What misson or work has Jehovah for the British empire in the East ? The time has come for a remnant of Judah and Israel to return and form one nation upon the mountains of Israel. No other nation but England is able, prepared, and willing to accomplish that work. Come, and let us reason together, upon this vital and most interesting BRITISH PHASE. 151 topic. But few persons will dispute the future of Dan. xii. in its final results. The standing up of Michael, the great national troubles; the resurrection of a people ; the return of Israel and Judah, and Daniel's standing in his lot. The eleventh chapter of Daniel in the Old Testament is like the twenty-fourth of Matthew and the twenty-first of Luke in the New Testament. It contains the plain, literal history of events connected with God's people and Daniel's people, from the days of Cyrus, or Darius, to the resurrection and union of Israel and Judah after the standing up of Michael. That period is called " Time of the end." The time of the end belongs to the " latter days " (Dan. xi. 14) of Daniel's people. This great vision prophecy was sealed to the time of the end. That seal was to be broken by the increase of knowledge ; that knowledge was to be the result of mis- sionary efforts, and by lectures on all subjects, prophetic more especially. Events have brought about that wonderful period ; the day of the Lord's preparation. This is our undisputed location in the world's history. It marks the end of papal rule (civil) and brings to light that infidel agency (the French empire under the great Napoleon) selected by the " Ancient of days" (Dan. vii. 9,) to commence its execution. If that work belongs to the time of the end, then, truly that time has come. Where now is the pope's civil power? Ended. Read the following : " To Citizen Joachim Pecci, by trade or profession a pope, conducting business at the Vatican Palace, Rome." He paid his taxes and took a receipt like any other private citizen. Compare the temporal authorities of the present pope with those of the 12th and 13th centuries. GREAT WORK FOR ENGLAND — TO COLONIZE THE JEWS IN PALESTINE AND PROTECT THEM. This is Jehovah's work for the British empire. In this work she is now occupied, preparatory to other forward movements, under " Michael the Archangel" — "One of the chief princes" — "Daniel's prince" — "That standeth for the children of thy (Daniel's) people," The standing up of Michael is an event that belongs to the " Time of the End ;" and as we are now living in that period, Michael is standing up; and as the Jews are now returning, they are returning under the lead of Michael, their prince, who is the invisible guide of the British nation. We see no escape from this conclusion. Every move of British rule eastward is a lucid demon- stration of this — startling truth. As the line of her eastern progress is along the southern half of the belt of ancient empire, she was obliged to take Egypt first ; then the land of Israel (Palestine). The third in order will be Assyria, for Syria and part of Arabia, if not all, belong to the land of the Abrahamic promise. 152 THE EASTERN QUESTION, JEWISH COLONIZATION. The present progress of Jewish colonization is wonderful, only to those who do not admit that God's servant, Michael, is their invisible guide. With that archangel in view, the mystery vanishes. Allow Michael to be the prime minister of the British empire of the Orient, and the movements and success of that empire are readily understood. The colonization scheme can be fully comprehended. These colonies grow into villages; It is then " the land of unwalled villages that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them, dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates." Ezek. xxxviii. 11. Who can carry on and protect such a movement but the God of that movement? And what visible agent has He, if we except the British empire? With the Bible before him, who can doubt the ultimate success of the colonization scheme? A short work will the Lord make of this movement. England's power over Turkey will foster and push forward this great work. The former prime minister. Lord Beaconsfield, laid the foundation of that far-reaching scheme, which is so ably but blindly supported by England's present premier. If God's purpose with the British empire is to colonize the Jews in Palestine ; make of them and Israel a remnant nation, and protect them till the Messiah takes the visible command, would not that empire be com- pelled to do what she is now working out? 2. She would be obliged to control the north of Africa and the southern part of Asia. This would be necessary in order to secure and control the right of way eastward. 3. She would be required to open up and maintain great national highways to the East. This her commerce would require, for it would be necessary to give these colonies other work than simply tilling a few square miles of land; the scheme would require the Jews (many of them) to be commission merchants, since they, in their location, would be required to handle all the articles moving either eastward or to the west. Being familiar with all tongues, they could transact business with all nations. They would be required to speak the English language, and their education would then be suited to their mission. Any one can readily see that the Jews, in that position, would become immensely wealthy. This would soon be the result, should the wealthy Jews, such as the Rothschilds and the Barings, take part in the movement. They would then excite the cupidity of Gog. "Art thou come to take a spoil? Hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? t» carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?" Ezek. xxxviii. 13. 4. It would be necessary, also, to sustain one continuous northern barrier against the southern progress of the Russian empire, for Russia and England are enemies, both from position and aim. Both empires seek to control the East for political purposes. One of the powers only can be BRITISH PHASE. 153 supreme. It is very evident that England, if now exposed along her con- templated highways, would be defeated in her plans, since Turkey and Persia would be forced to take a part against her. Russia's design on the Ottoman empire is well understood ; and she seeks a plausible pretext to secure her prey. Persia is too much exposed to her northern neighbor to make any warlike movement against her till England is in a position to give her ample protection. It is evident, then, that England must sustain in her policy the Ottoman and Persian empires. 5. The British empire must gain the control, secretly, of Palestine, Syria, Assyria, Persia, and Arabia also. These points will come up under the investigation of other phases. 6. She must keep control of the seas. Should any power cause Great Britain to lose her ocean empire, her eastern empire would come suddenly to an end, as she would not be able to transport her armies to defend her eastern possessions. What would India be without protection from the home government? How could she protect Egypt and the returning Jews? We cannot view the British ocean power, (her tonnage being more than double that of Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Austria, Turkey, China, Russia ; more than double that of all Gentile nations, the United States being excepted), without the conviction that the Almighty has so ordered it, in order that that empire subserve His purposes in gathering and pro- tecting His people. If the French fleet, at Trafalgar, combined, as it was, with that of Spain, and far exceeding that of Nelson, had been victorious, the sceptre of the ocean would have changed its nationality ; but such was not God's purpose, since the time for the return of Israel and Judah was approaching, and the visible agent to protect the chosen, was Ephraim, the stick of Joseph being in his hand, under the western name of Saxon, (Son of Isaac) as " in Isaac thy seed shall be called." 7. It was required that God's executive agent in this last great work, should be a commercial people— a nation of merchants. This will appear evident if we consider that all these great results, relative to the gathering of God's ancient people, were to be accomplished by what would seem to be natural causes. British commerce requires for its protection an immense navy. Such a navy gives her the control of the seas, and makes her the natural agent to return and protect the Jews. She appears to act freely, yet she is the direct agent of the Great Unseen. God does His will in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabi- tants of the earth. While England does all to elevate her national greatness, Jehovah is causing her to work out His own purposes. 8. It is necessary that that nation should be a missionary people. Such a work as England has devised, and has been carrying forward during a century, was required to prepare the way for the proper in- struction of the people that were to constitute the ruling nation in the coming age. Many other points might be named, but these are quite sufficient for our present purpose. They identify the British empire as the visi- 154 THE EASTERN QUESTION, ble power, now under the control of Michael, the great prince of the Hebrews. England is evidently pointed out in Ezek. xxxviii. 13. " Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof." To make this clear requires a very considerable amount of thought. The eastern world has allowed its population, like swarms, to move to the West, plant nations with new names, new thoughts, man- ners and customs, but her lands could not float with her people ; hence those lands carry their first Scripture names, and consequently impart their names to their occupants, no matter of what race. Asia is noted for this peculiarity. The western and southern divisions of the globe, being principally without any ancient names now known to the civilized world, could be designated by new names. Look over the eastern belt of empires, and mark the names of the countries : Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Arabia, Assyria, Persia, Media, India, China. The same is true of the Rivers, Nile, Jordan, Euphrates, Tigris, Indus, and Ganges. The occupants of those waters, and of those countries, may change their species and races, yet their names remain. An Egyptian is an in- habitant of Egypt, whatever may have been his former name. The name does not require that they shall be native born. The same is true of all countries. We are required to know what people dwell in certain countries at the time to which certain prophecies allude. It is not what people dwelt in Tarshish, Sheba, and Dedan, when Ezekiel uttered his prediction, but what people dwelt there in the " latter days." "Young lions," "merchants of Tarshish," would indicate a rule of mer- chant princes, and descendants or colonies of a great commercial nation. Since those countries are coming under the protection of England, the prophecy looks to that people. In taking leave of this mighty empire as it moves towards the Orient, we are obliged to admit some degree of excitement. The origin of the British empire, its past history and its present position, point to some terrible movement in the near future. 1. The standing up of Michael, the great prince; 2. The time of trouble; 3. The delivery of Daniel's people; 4. The sleepers in dust awakening; 5. The division of the human family; 6. The shining forth of the righteous under the glories of the Messiah. These are themes calculated to absorb every thought. Is it possible that Michael is commander-in-chief of the Oriental movement? Are the nations now gathering towards the mountai&s of Israel, preparatory to the battle of that great day ? Michael, that great prince, that disputed with Satan over the body of Moses ; that fought with his angels against the dragon and his angels ; that contended against the Persian and Grecian empires, is now about to enter into deadly strife against the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. A world about to change its monarchs and its empires for Messiah's reign ! What terrible conflicts will precede the Messianic coronation ! No peaceful abdication! No casting of their crowns peaceably at the BRITISH PHASE. 155 feet of God's beloved Son. The beast will be taken, and with him the false prophet, and finally the dragon must surrender his power and his throne. The shadows of these events fall upon us; the hour of conflict approaches. Nations are, at the sound of the war-drum and trumpet, marshaling to the places to be occupied in the conflict. Yet the world is dreaming; yea, and an apostate church is dreaming, of peace, and centuries of peaceful repose under the banners of corrupt and doomed nations — giving no heed to the coming storm. But let us bid adieu to the British empire till we trace other powers to the same advanced position. RUSSIAN PHASE. WHO IS RUSSIA? It is said that God " Hath made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on the face of the earth, and hath determined the times be- fore appointed, and the bounds of their habitation ; that they should seek the Lord." Acts xvii. 26, 27. This national location is ordered to suit God's purposes relative to the Jews. ^' When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of Adam He set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. For the Lord's portion (is) His people : Jacob (is) the lot of His inheritance." Deut. xxxii. 8, 9. In the land of Israel (at Jerusalem) God fixed His dwelling, gave to the Jews a lot, then divided the remainder of the earth into fields for the other nations; thus had the Russian his field given him of old. All the earth, which was not to be occupied and tilled by His special family, the Hebrews, was divided out to other families. As, on special occasions, halls have seats reserved for the noted, and for the actors in the entertainment, so has Jehovah reserved a certain land for special occupants, and other fields as specially designed for distinguished guests, such as Egypt and Assyria, (Isa. xix. 25) ; at the same time He (God) lets out the other fields to more ordinary tenants. This is right. This right He exercises. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. It belongs, there- fore, to Him to parcel out the fields and to assign them their tenants. To the north He assigned those that, in process of time, gave birth to the Russian. There must have been special fitness of the family to the soil. Let us trace that fitness. Before we search into this fitness let us take a view of the field. Beyond the zone of the empires that scattered Israel and Judah, lies the Arctic belt, through whose heavens the constellation of the great bear describes its perpetual circuit round the north pole; and through whose snow and ice regions the white bear of the north wanders in quest of a scanty and precarious subsist- ence. The tenant family of such a field has appropriately selected the bear as a national symbol. This arctic (bear) field and its tenant will now, for a time, occupy our attention. THE RUSSIAN FIELD. • Beyond the zone of the four Gentile monarchies lies the Russian division of the globe. It covers all the north of Asia, and the north- east of Europe, and contains 8,000,000 square miles. It is remarkable, that, at this period, (time of the end), the empires of the north and (156) RUSSIAN PHASE. 157 the south should cover equal areas (8,000,000 sq. m.) The British em- pire, however, covers the belt of ancient empires, while the Russian dominion lies far to the north of it, outside of the ancient fields of cultivation and refinement. Let us survey this arctic great bear, or Russian field in its various aspects : its topography, its geological structure, its surface configura- tion, its soil, its climate, and its resources. We shall then be in a posi- tion to appreciate the character and national greatness of its tenant. ITS TOPOGRAPHY. Its land and water divisions are exceedingly varied. Its mountains, hills, plains and valleys are almost endless in their extent, form, and aspect. The European division of the Russian field is an extended plain, sufiiciently elevated, however, toward its centre, to afiford sluggish drainage to the Caspian, the Black, the Baltic, the White Seas, and the Arctic Ocean. Great rivers, having their sources principally in the re- gion of Moscow, its geographical centre, course their ways, as from a wheel hub, into these boundary waters. These rivers furnish passable drainage, complete irrigation, and, when not bound up in winter chains, great commercial advantages. These plains and rivers furnish food and raiment, while the Ural mountains, on the northeast, furnish abundant supply of the valuable metals, gold, iron and platinum. Immense forests of pine shade the sources of its rivers, along whose banks is dwelling an immense population. The plains or steppes resemble our prairies. The principal portion of European Russia is well adapted to grazing; the Black, the Caspian Seas, and their rivers are occupied by immense fisheries. European Russia is the heart and lungs of the great empire of the North. Such is an outline of its topography. Its geographical structure has originated its surface features. The most ancient stratified rocks are the Silurian,, along the southern shores of the gulf of Finland. As you go to the southeast the Devonian strata appear. Still further to the east and south you step upon the carboni- ferous system. Russia coal is generally quite inferior; cretaceous beds are found and the tertiary system underlies a large portion of European Russia. Mining for precious metals and gems is confined principally to the Ural mountains, which yield gold, platinum, copper, iron, emeralds, jaspers, diamonds and silver, (in Siberia). The mineral resources of European Russia are quite extended, which fits that empire to take an elevated stand among the great national actors of the Eastern Drama of the final conflict. ITS SURFACE CONFIGURATION. Supplementary to what has been stated we may observe that the field of Western (European) Russia, is an irregular, circular basin, with a mountain sea and ocean rim, traversed by rivers flowing from its centre into its rim, consisting of elevated and low hills, plains and 158 THE EASTERN QUESTION, steppes, and table-lands. " The Alaunsky heights form the great waters, and regulate the course of all the great rivers of the Russian empire. To the north they throw off the Petchora, the northern Dwina, and the Onega ; to the south, the Dniester, Bug, Dnieper, Don, Kouhan ; to the southeast, the Volga, with its great affluents the Oka and Kama. The western Dwina, and the Niemen and Vistula fall into the Baltic Sea." The lake region commences at the northwest slope of this table land (elevated 1,200 feet above the sea). The plain of European Rus- sia is divided into three tracts ; the northern belt lies between the Arctic Ocean and the Ural-Baltic table land; the middle division is be- tween the Ural-Baltic and Ural-Carpathian table land ; the southern zone is bounded by the Ural-Carpathian table land and the Black and Caspian Seas. The water courses, fixed by its geographical structure, determines its surface configuration. Its soil varies with its geological strata, that storms and frosts have disintegrated. The soil of the northern division is cold and marshy, climate severe. Facing the icy north the sun's rays have but little power to permeate and heat the earth. In the middle zone, between the rivers Onega and Mezen, and along the banks of the northern Dwina, forests of firwood and large tracts of fodder-grass occur. Along the eastern portion of this tract, the timber disappears and immense marshes, frozen the greater portion of the year, cover the face of the country. In the west are extensive hollows, covered with woods and marshes. In the middle of this belt the soil is partly heavy and covered with mold, and towards the north, sandy. " Beyond the Oka, luxuriant meadows abound ; and on the east, beyond the Volga, this tract forms an extensive valley, covered with layers of mold, abound- ing in woods, and rising into hills in the vicinity of the Ural range." The southern belt, formed of steppes, following the shores of the Black and Caspian Seas, has an unproductive soil. The steppes of the Black Sea have a moldy soil covered with grass ; in the southeast, how- ever, shifting sands and salt marshes predominate. The Caspian steppes are formed of salt marshes and salt lakes, indicating the ancient presence of the sea. These salt lakes yield an immense amount of salt. The climate of the western division of the Russian field is severe. Exposed to the northwest winds, sweeping over the Arctic snows, and the ice- winds, rushing down from the northern Urals, the cold is, at times, almost insufferable. Yet nature has provided for the severity by its fir- clad arrangements. The climate, in the summer season, is moist and unhealthy. Malarial diseases are prevalent in the southern districts. The resources of Western Russia are very extended. Her mineral wealth is large, though by no means fully developed. Its soil in many parts is very productive. Its agricultural resources can, therefore, be carried, in the southern and western districts, to a high state of perfec- tion. Its mineral resources are quite extended. So great is the mineral field, that, when fully developed, they will yield an abundance to sup- ply the wants of a dense, intelligent, and active population. RUSSIAN PHASE. 159 The eastern or Siberian field of the Russian empire will now be surveyed. This division is of vast extent. It includes all of northern Asia, covering the entire Arctic zone, and including a large part of the Asiatic north temperate zone. It is divided into eastern and western Siberia. It contains 6,000,000 square miles, population 4^ millions, there being three persons to four square miles, the population being principally composed of banished criminals. Such results in a land so near the cradle of the human race is sufficient evidence of the inhos- pitable features of the country. Its extent from northeast to southwest is 5,600 miles; and from north to south is greatest breadth is 2,170 miles. Western Siberia is an immense plain, declining towards the north ; hence exposed to an arctic winter. In the middle division are immense sand wastes ; in the east are high mountain ranges. The world itself does not afford an- other region equally inhospitable. The rivers of Siberia, the largest of which are the Lena, the Yenisei, and the Obe, flow into the Arctic Ocean, thus practically wasting their waters and rendering this immense system of drainage of little, if any practical value to the world's general commerce. Along the mouths of these mighty water courses, and along the sea coasts, are extensive tracts composed of swamp moorland and mossy flats, covered with snow and ice for One-half of the year, and even during the greatest heats of summer, released from its icy bonds only to the depth of a few inches below the surface of the soil. " The ocean, its northern boundary, is frozen for miles sea-ward during more than half the year, and during the remaining months, the numberless ice- bergs and floes which crowd the sea and continually come in collision, render the navigation so dangerous that no hydrographic survey of the coast has yet been made." From latitude 78 deg. 25 min. N., to 64 deg. and 61 deg. there is scarcely any vegetation, only forests of birch, fir, and larch. South of this frozen zone, cereals, such as barley, oats and rye appear. Some portions of southern Siberia are noted for their fer- tility. In that portion of Siberia, great empires have arisen, which, for a time, held dominion over nearly the entire zone of the southern em- pires. Yet Siberia is rich in its mineral resources. Gold, silver, copper, and lead, are found in all the mountainous regions. Platinum, iron and precious stones, diamonds, zinc, antimony, arsenic, plumbago, and nearly all the useful minerals are found. Such a field has God provided for •the Russian as the seat of the great empire of the north. THE TENANT ADAPTED TO THE FIELD. We have already examined the distinctive features of the field it- self: its physical characteristics; that it is the great field of the north, adapted to development of a hardy race, with great natural facilities, yet requiring great physical and mental powers to develop its resources ; we shall undertake to trace and describe the families God has selected 160 THE EASTERN QUESTION, to cultivate this iield from age to age, till they have grown up into the great empire of the North. To accomplish such a task requires, perhaps, more research and ability than we may be able to command. We have investigated the subject and shall venture to lay before our readers the principal re- sults of our laborious inquiries. Whence the name, Russian ? What peo- ple, have, through ages, been so far assimilated as to be formed into an em- pire ruled by one despotic head ? The people and their training are points of great interest ; and especially God's purpose in creating and developing such a nationality. We cannot fully explain the character and mission of the Russian empire without keeping constantly before the mind of the reader certain truths, both elementary and inspired : 1. God, as the Creator of the earth, had a purpose in its creation, and has the right and power to execute that purpose. 2. God created man as its subordinate ruler, He himself holding the supreme control. 3. He had the right and the power to say how the earth should be parceled out and governed. 4. He had the right and the power to select any land or spot as His special dwelling place where, by visible agents, He could give instructions relative to His divine will and purposes. 5. He had the power and the right to select and qualify any family, out of all the families, to carry out His instructions, which were to benefit all the families. 6. He had the right and the power to select Eber to give birth to that family of teachers of all the human race. 7. He had the right and the power to locate this world's university, and to appoint its president, and select its faculty. 8. Also to grant them special official privileges, and to sustain them in the exercise of such official authority. 9. Also, to clear the ground of any rubbish occupying the site of the . seminary to be erected, or on the lands allotted to the faculty of in- struction. 10. In a word, to do with the earth what a land owner has a right to do with his farm. With these points before us please allow us to read out of the word : " He (God) giveth to all life, and breath and all things j And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and* hath determined the times before appointed and the bounds of their habi- tation." Acts xvii. 25, 26. Men of all nations are brethren by blood, since they have one Father. " When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. For the Lord's portion (is) His people; Jacob (is) the lot of His inheritance. He found him in a desert land and in the waste howling wilderness; He led him about. He instructed him. He kept him as the apple of His eye. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her RUSSIAN PHASE. 161 wings ; (so) the Lord alone did lead him, and (there was) no strange God with him. He made him to ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields ; and He made him suck honey out of the rock and oil out of the flinty rock. Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat ; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape." Deut. xxxii. 8-14. Here God's purpose relative to the nations is clearly stated ; that it was according to the number of the children of Israel. He reserved a location for Israel, and his seminary, and His (God's special dwelling place where He might, through His Hebrew faculty, instruct all nations ; then divided the remainder of the earth among the other nations, according to their habits and His fixed purposes relative to the Hebrews and the future reign of His beloved Son. Dr. Boothroid thus expresses it : " That when God fixed the boundaries of other nations. He allotted also a land sufficiently large to contain the children of Israel ; and He so favored, by revealing His will to them and dwelling among them, that they may be said to be His own inheritance." What right, then, had the Canaanites to that land, ex- cept that of conquest ? God had allotted it to the Israelites, and having held it only by the right of bloody robbery it was their duty to surrender the land to its rightful owners, or pay rent. This was all that the Israelites required. They refused to surrender the land, and were, therefore, legally dispossessed. Jacob Bryant says, " The Canaanites were certain usurpers, and acted in open defiance of God's ordinance, by seizing upon the land appropriated from the beginning to the children of Israel." In the Euse- bian Chronicle of Scaliger is the following : " He (Canaan) trespassed upon the rights of his brethren and seized upon the land which had been appropriated to God's future people. When, therefore, the Israelites were brought to Canaan they came to their own inheritance, and those who usurped their property knew it, and knew by whom it had been ap- pointed." All the Canaanites, tribe by tribe, were exceedingly corrupt. Their cups were all full under the sentence of execution. God had a right to execute the sentence by any agent He might see fit to depute. In allotting the earth to the three sons of Noah after the flood, the di- visions were made according to a certain natural fitness, as well as accord- ing to the divine purpose. God moves with intelligent forethought in fix- ing human habitation. He works by a divine plan to carry out His ulti- mate purposes relative to its future government. Ham and his posterity were to people Africa ; Shem, Asia, and Japheth the islands of the sea, or Europe with the islands and all those countries which the Jews visited by sea. Now we affirm that this allottment was the act of one who had a pur- pose and a plan devised for its execution, and that He brought into being and located the nations for the special work of accomplishing that purpose. Such a plan appears in giving birth to the four horns that have scattered Judah. Babylon is God's first executive agent in the punishment of Judah. By the abuse of their executive commission, God brings Cyrus at the head of the Persian empire to execute His judgment on Babylon. To punish 162 THE EASTERN QUESTION, the Persian empire for its abuse .of delegated power, Jehovah brings the swift judgments upon that empire in the person of Alexander the Great at the head of the Greco-Macedonian empire. That empire by the abuse of their great national authority over Judah, under Alexander's successors in Egypt and Syria, a fourth empire,' the Roman was raised up by Jehovah to execute His divine wrath upon the Macedonian empire. Such have been the severe oppressions of the Roman empire, on the unfortunate Jews that they were obliged to flee out of western Europe, to find an asylum among the nations eastward. Thus has the Almighty not only allotted their special fields relative to the number of the children of Israel, but He has regulated and guided their national movements in such a manner as to grade the punishments of His own people according to the laws of justice iand divine mercy. He has not allowed their extermination, though He has often permitted their banishment. To the casual reader history is simply the record of the acts of in- dependent monarchs, carrying out the dictates of their own free volitions ; it delineates the movements of a confused multitude of sovereigns, without any central being to combine all the national systems of political, social and religious actions, into a unity of purpose. To such as see God in his- tory, a hand behind all visible thrones is discovered to be in constant mo- tion, regulating and controling all human volition and action. He learns that all national movements are parts of one great system under the guid- ance of one supreme, all-powerful agent. Human action, is therefore, in its infinite variety of phases, but parts of one great whole. They tend to the accomplishment of some great purpose. That purpose we labor to bring to the surface that all that read, may see and understand. So far our remarks have been general ; rather preliminary in their character. We have been induced to introduce such thoughts and reflec- tions relative to the Russian field and its tenant for the reason that as an ancient enemy, located beyond the belt of those empires which have been used as the executive agents of Jehovah's wrath against His own chosen, the Almighty has had no special mission for that people, or this great northern empire. Such ideas, are, perhaps, generally entertained. We hope to be able, in our sketch of this people and empire, to demonstrate that God created the Russian and his empire for a special work that, in the past, Russia has, at times, done a noble work for the children of Israel ; that she is now accomplishing a necessary act, yet for wicked purposes ; and that her future course will be overruled to the glory of God ; and that Russia forms no exception to the declaration of universal appropriateness, that all nations have their divisions allotted them, relative to the children of Israel. That He has had and still has something to do for Israel, besides that of robbery. We purpose to make visible the divine hand behind the Russian throne also, and that, on some occasions at least, that power has filled to- wards the Jews, an office similar to that of the Persian Cyrus. We shall investigate the Russian Phase of the Eastern Question under the following general divisions : 1. The early history of the Siberian or RUSSIAN PHASE. 163 Asiatic Russia. 2. European Russia — (a), the Russian of what race? (6) how formed for executive power ? (c) rise of the Russian empire ; its growth and mission. The future of Russia — her national elements, or tribes ; where located ? and how, and for what purpose combined ? What position will she occupy in the final struggle? Her position during the age of subjugation. What is her mission — at the close of the millennial era ? The Russian field during the joint reign. Its physical aspect, com- pared with its present inhospitable dreariness. SIBERIAN OR ASIATIC RUSSIA. This, the eastern and the most ancient northern division of the Russian field, has been very briefly described relative to its physical aspects. No part of the globe has less natural attractions. It would seem that a very large portion of its more northern territory is totally unfit for the abodes of civilization; yet man, in his restless hunt for objects to gratify his in- satiable curiosity, early traced his pathway through this inhospitable region. The wheel of time, in its swift revolutions, cast its human scintil- lations far beyond the limits of the centripetal force of more genial lati- tudes. God has, however, designed the entire globe to be peopled, and to that end He has made man a cosmopolitan. His purpose was indicated in the great variety of the human family as to physical organization. This is distinctly seen in the three sons of Noah. These three men were ap- pointed by the Earth's Proprietor to people the earth. To accomplish His purpose, it was necessary to adapt their constitutions severally to the fields they were to occupy. Those fields were Asia, Africa and Europe, and the islands of the sea, including America and Australia. These in- cluded three classes of zones, the torrid, the temperate, and the frigid. The names of Noah's three sons point out their intended localities. Ham (Qn Cham) warm, hot, black becomes black by heat, from OOP? Chamam, it was warm; hence HQH cham-mah, the sun. Job xxx. 28, be- cause of its burning heat. Hence, also Egypt or Africa, i. e., the hot, burning country. Ps. cvi. 22. " The Coptic or native name of Egypt is Kem or Chem, supposed to be the same word as Ham, and signifying both black and hot," or black by the sun's heated rays. In hieroglyphics, Egypt is expressed by K. M. On the Rosetta stone the word is found more than ten times, and is read by ChampoUion Chme. The name, in its signification, belongs to Ham's posterity, rather than to himself. Why this name given to this son rather than to either of the other two? Simply, that it was suggested to Noah by the same Being that named " John " and *' Cyrus," for Ham was not blacker than Shem or Japheth. It is clear that Ham's posterity were intended to be the tenants of a hot, burning field, and in that manner become sunburnt, or black. Are not the names of Shem Japheth prophetic also ? Shem (QJ^ Shem) signifies name, renown. How could Noah discern to give this son, when an infant of a day, a name that should express the features of his character in mature age, and that would apply also to his 164 THE EASTERN QUESTION, posterity ? The solution is evident. It was suggested to Noah by Him that fixed, in advance, his field, his character, and his destiny. Shem and his posterity were to inherit the site of Eden, and have renown. "Cursed be Canaan ; a servant of servants shall he be to his brethren." '' Blessed (be) the Lord God of Shem ; and Canaan shall be his sdrvant." Gen. ix. 25, 26. This prediction was given to Noah by the Supreme Ruler of all nationalities and the character of the people is adapted to their field and mission. The Hamitic and Shemitic nations, as to their physical and national traits of character, correspond with these ancient and inspired predictions. The name Japheth (rifi^ Yahpheth) the extender, or fair, has also been given by one who knows the character from the beginning, Japheth's posterity was to be fair, and spread over the world. Two derivations are given to the name. Some of the learned say that it comes from the Hebrew word pathah, to open, to stretch out, and means " widely dis- persed." Gesenius says that it comes from yaphah, to be fair or beautiful, pointing out the fair complexions of the Japhetic, Caucasian or European races. His descendants first peopled the north and west of Asia. Then they occupied " the isles of the Gentiles." The prediction of Noah is, "God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant." Gen. ix. 27. And in Gen. x. 5, it is said, (" By these, the descendants of Japheth,) were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after his families, in their nations." Calmet says, " the term comprehends all those countries to which the Hebrews were obliged to go by sea, whether in Europe or Asia Minor." It may also include all those western islands and divisions occu- pied by his descendants. America would thus be included. " God shall enlarge Japheth." Bagster has the following : " Japheth denotes enlargement ; and how wonderfully have his boundaries been en- larged! For not only Europe, but Asia Minor, part of America, Iberia, the whole of the vast regions of Asia north of Taurus, and probably America, fell to the share of his posterity. 'Dwell in the tents of Shem.' These words are ambiguous , for they may mean either that God or that Japheth shall dwell in the tents of Shem. In either sense the prophecy has been literally fulfilled." " In Judah God is known ; His name is great in Israel. In Salem also is His tabernacle, and His dwelling place in Zion." Ps. Ixxxvi. 1, 2. When the Son of God was made flesh, and dwelt among the Jews, the children of Abraham and of Shem, God did also per- suade Japheth to dwell in the tents of Shem, when the Gentiles were ad- mitted, in the Christian, to equal privileges with the Jewish church. We prefer, however, the literal construction. It is true that Shem has dwelt in Japheth, and Japheth in the tents of Shem; but Ham has not dwelt in the tents of either. Who but the Supreme Ruler could have written the unformed characters of Shem, Ham and Japheth ? God, then, made an allotment to the sons of Noah, according to certain fitness, which He Him- self originated and brought about in its own proper time. Who, then, were the first inhabitants of Siberian Russia after the EUSSIAN PHASE. 165 flood? After a careful study of the histories of the Hamitic period, such as the Cushites, the Phoenicians, and the Egyptians, we are safe in exclud- ing the descendants of Ham from the tenantry of Siberian Russia. God had no mission to the extreme north for the dark, sunburnt race of Ham. His work lies principally in the torrid zone, though his nomadic home may lie in the more temperate latitudes. They may at times have been the slaves of the Persian kings and nobles, and therefore have mixed a sprinkle of their blood with that of Shem ; and, still later, have, in a similar manner, tainted the blood of Japheth, but not sufficient to leave any national or race lines. The first tenants, therefore, of the Siberian field were, in its eastern division, Shemitic, and in its western part Japhetic. Profane history does not aid us materially in our researches after its most ancient inhabitants. The Bible alone furnishes our infor- mation. In Gen. x. is an inspired statement which it is well to follow, since it contains a list of the generations of Shem and Japheth, and the fields to which they were principally assigned. In the days of Peleg, (division) the earth was divided. Gen. x. 25. The generations of Shem were as- signed to southern and middle Asia, the finest regions of the East. So far, then, as the first settlements of the fields of northern Asia are concerned, we can exclude the early generations of Shem also. The nations of Shemitic blood had their fields further south, leaving the frigid north to the generations of Japheth, the eldest son of Noah. Of these it is said : " The sons of Japheth, Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. And the sons of Gomer : Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah. And the sons of Javan : Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands ; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their na- tions." Gen. X. 2-5. The list of Japheth's posterity, as here enumerated, is the following: 1, Gomer; 2, Magog; 3, Madai; 4, Javan; 5, Tubal; 6, Meshech; 7, Tiras; 8, Ashkenaz; 9, Riphath; 10, Togarmah; 11, Elishah; 12, Tarshish; 13, Kittim; 14, Dodanim. These, with their descendants, peopled the great north and west. In this list are found the tribal ele- ments of the present empire of the north, known as the Russian empire. Let us scrutinize this family record more in detail. Before we enter upon this difiicult and perplexing analysis, it will be better to complete the record. Ezekiel has the following additional names of tribal races, or ethnological divisions, which we append as supplementary, viz.: 15, Gog; 16, Sheba; 17, Dedan. Numbers 16 and 17 are southern tribes, and will not be noticed for the present. Number 18 we add from Gen. xlvi. 21 — Rosh, son of Benjamin, a northern family of the race of Shem. These last four will be noticed under their appropriate heads. Gog (X)^ high mountain) was a Reubenite, and grandson of Joel, B. C. 1600. He was a prince of Rosh, Meshech, Tubal, and Tiras, in ancient Scythia or Tartary. Let us now examine the list in Gen. x. 2-5 : 166 THE EASTERN QUESTION, SONS OF JAPHETH. 1, Gomer; was the eldest son of Japheth, whose posterity settled the isles of the Gentiles, every one after his tongue, family and nation. Calmet identifies the Gomerites with the Cimmerii originally inhabiting the region north and east of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azof. At an early day, penetrated into Asia Minor, and in the seventh century B. C. overran Lydia. Dr. Wm. Smith, in his Bible Dictionary, says, ''His (Gomer's) name is subsequently noticed but once (Ezek. xxxviii. 6) as an ally or subject of the Scythian king Gog. He is generally recognized as the pro- genitor of the early Cimmerians, of the later Cimbri, and the other branches of the Celtic family, and of the modern Gael and Cimry, the latter preserv- ing, with very slight deviation the original name." Another author says : " Gomer ; the Celts or Cimmerians. Under these names may probably be included the descendants of all the barbarous bands in the north of Asia." Cottage Bible: "And thou (Gog) shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army. Ezek. xxxviii. 15. Josephus understands the Galatians of northern Phrygia to be intended; and Gim- meri or Gamir, was in the language of the ancient Armenians, a usual designation for their neighbors, the Cappadocians. It is not impossible that an intimate ethnological connection between the Cappadocians of Kephalion and the Cimmerians of Homer may ultimately be established ; but meanwhile it is important to observe that the three sons of Gomer, as named in Gen. x. 2, admit of a tolerably definite localization. Ashkenaz, who has sometimes been identified with the Germans, is almost certainly the same as the Ascanians, a very ancient tribe of northern Phrygia, Riphath has nothing to do with the Riphsean mountains, with the Carpa- thians, or with Niphates, but, as Josephus has pointed out, is to be identi- fied with Paphlagonia; as Bochart has shown, the name probably survives in the designation of a river in Bythnia, and in a district situated on the Thracian Bosphorus. "Although Togarmah is by Josephus interpreted as equivalent to Phrygia, there is a considerable amount of ancient testimony in favor of its identification with Armenia. It is possible that the same root is actually at the basis of the two words ; at all events the connection is assumed in the account which the Armenians themselves give of their legendary history." — Library of Universal Knowledge. Our object in tracing these modern empires to their very distant origin in their Eastern home is to enable the reader to discern the finger of God pointing them to their origin, progress, and their work. The descendants of Gomer have been fully described since that family furnishes a key to the colonization schemes of the north. To comprehend the national localities of the Gomerites is to solve some of the most difficult problems in both sacred and profane history. Are the Germans Gomeritic in their origin ? Such seem to be the views of many learned expositors. Still that ethno- graphical position involves many serious difliculties. 1. The Cimbri be- long to the first of the three great emigrations from the East as their loca- RUSSIAN PHASE. 167 tion in the extreme west and northwest of Europe clearly demonstrates ; the Germans, Goths or Scythians are of the second emigration, they being settled in middle Europe east of the Cimmerians. That the Germans now occupy some of the countries once held by the Cimbri, is no difficulty, since they drove the first emigrants before them, occupying their lands. The Gomerites are Japhetic, the Germans are Shemitic. Their name (Ger- man) is not ancient; these of the second emigration were great warriors rushing down upon the Roman empire from the north, hence the name given them by the Romans : Northman, Garman, German, War-man. The position of the Germans, relative to the Russian empire would be an insuperable barrier against their forming an integral part of the Russian empire in the near future. The Germans are not in sympathy with the Russians, either in social, political or religious life. Germany belongs to the west, not to the east, nor to the north. The Gomerites are Asiatic and belong to the eastern or Siberian division of the northern empire. Should it be admitted that the Cimmerians (Keltoi or Kimmerians) were a colony of Gomerites from Asia Minor, it does not follow, 1. That the parent stock was removed from Asia; 2. Or that the Gomeritic nations did not spread their colonies over northern Asia ; or 3. That the Germans are Gomeritic; they might be called Kimmerians when occupying the country which they had wrested from the Kimbri, or Kimmerians, as per- sons from all nationalities, when removing to America are called Ameri- cans since it becomes their adopted country. If the Kelts (Kimmerians) are Gomerites, they are not German. As well might we call Irish and Welch, German. Here is a vital point in the principles of ethnography or anthropology. The population of Europe is composed of the families of three distinct emigrations from different regions of Asia, speaking three different languages. Let us hear the great English historian, Sharon Turner, " From the languages already remarked to have prevailed in Europe, we have clear in- dications of the three distinct and successive streams of population, to which we had alluded, because we find two separate families of languages to have pervaded the northern and western regions ; with a third, on its eastern frontier, each family being peculiar to certain states. These three languages may be classed under the general names of the Keltic, the Gothic, and the Slavonic ; and from the localities they may also be called the Kimmerian, the Scythian and the Sarmatian. Of these, the Welsh, the Gaelic, the Irish, the Cornish, the Armoric, the Manks, and the ancient Gaulish tongue, are the related languages which have proceeded from the Kimmerian or Keltic source. The Anglo-Saxon, the Francotheotisc, the Maeso-gothic, and the Islandic of former times ; and the present German, Suabian, Swiss, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Orkneyan, English and lowland Scotch, are ramifications of the great Gothic or Scythian stock. The third genus of European languages, the ancient Sarmatian, or modern Slavonic appears in the present Polish and Russian, and in their adjacent dialects The Keltic or Kimmerian is in the farthest part of the west, in the British islands and on the western shores of France. The 168 THE EASTERN QUESTION, Scythian or Gothic languages occupy the great body of the European con- tinent, from the ocean to the Vistula, and have spread into England. In the eastern parts of Europe, most contiguous to Asia, the Sarmatian oi Slavonic tongues are diffused. So that we perceive at once, that the Kim- brian or Keltic nations, to have reached the westerly position, must have first inhabited Europe; that the Scythian or Gothic tribes must have fol- lowed next, and have principally peopled it ; and that the Sarmatian, or Slavonic people were the latest colonists. Other nations have entered it at more recent periods as the Huns and the Romans ; and some others have established partial settlements, as the Lydians in Tuscany, the Greeks at Marseilles and Italy, the Phoenicians and Carthaginians in Spain. But the three stocks already noticed are clearly the main sources of the ancient population of the European continent in its northern and western por- tions." Herodotus, the father of Grecian history, says that he learned from the Scythians themselves that the Kimmerians had occupied those countries which the Scythians occupied in his days. In the time of Herodotus, the Scythians were spread over Central Europe from the Danube towards the Baltic and the north. The Kimmerians were in Europe in the days of Homer, who was cotemporary with Solomon B. C. 1000. More than seven hundred years before Christ the Kimmerians were attacked by the Scythians. Some of the Kelts fled into Asia Minor, others went farther west and north to the German Ocean. Here they lived in a dark, woody country where the sun is seldom seen, from their many lofty and spreading trees which reach into the interior as far as the Hercynian forest. The Kimmerians were a predatory and wandering nation. It is very evident, therefore, that the Kimmerians and Germans were two distinct divisions of the human family, and belonged to distinct emi- grations. The Kimmerians were Japhetic, the Germans belong to the family of Shem. They were anciently called Scythians (wanderers), the Goths, God's people; still later they were named German, north men, war men. The German empire has never been, neither will it ever be a part of the Russian empire. It is the clay of the metallic image, an element of the fourth monarchy, the Romano-German empire, and is the western division of the triple empire that makes war against the Son of God in the future conflict. Let us now take leave of Gomer and his sons till they rush down from the north in the army of Gog. Some other names in the list of Japhetic worthies will now come up for examination, in order to ascertain the anthropological elements of Asiatic Russia, and obtain a more definite knowledge of the tribal mixture of Russian character. Magog is the name of another son of Japheth. The country to which his name is given will decide the location of his posterity so far as the original stock is concerned. This name also seems partly prophetic. It appears to be a compound term, formed of Ma which desig- nates a country, and Gog the title of a class or family of monarchs, such as the Pharaohs of Egypt and the Caesars of Rome. It is located in ancient Scythia, in the northern part of Siberia. Michalis says that " Magog de- RUSSIAN PHASE. 169 notes those vast tracts of country to the north of India and China which the Greeks call Scythia and we Tartary." " Scythopolis (Scythian city) and Hieropolis which the Scythians took when they overcame Syria, were ever after by the Scythians called Magog." " The Arabs call the Chinese wall, Sud Yagog ei Magog.'" — Newcome. Scyth means wanderer. The Greeks, therefore, called all those no- madic tribes of northern Asia, Scythians, wanderers, or as we would say, tramps. Their nomadic life gave character to the people; with their flocks and herds they moved from place to place for fresh pastures. A mountain range divided Scythia into two parts called '* Scythia within Imaus (to- wards the southwest) and Scythia beyond Imaus, sometimes denominated Serica." Those northern tribes often sent out colonies to the south and west and gave their names to new countries. They settled east of the Caspian Sea and along the Chinese wall, which countries are now called Indepen- dent Tartary towards the west and Chinese Tartary next to China. They sent immense colonies to the far west, who entered Europe, driving the Kimmerians before them. Madai was the third son of Japheth. The descendents of Madai gave their name to a country called Media; hence the origin of the Medes and Persians, the second monarchy of the metallic image of Dan. ii. Madai's posterity dwell in central and northern Asia, giving variety to Russian character and a further Japhetic mixture of Russian blood. Javan was the fourth son of Japheth. He is supposed to be the father of Greeks. Some have suggested England as the country of Javan named in Isa. Ixvi. 19, " I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, (to) Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, (to) Tubal, and Javan, (to) the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory ; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles." Again, Javan is noticed in Ezek. xxvii. 13, " Javan, Tubal and Meshech, they (were) thy (Tyre) merchants : they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass in thy markets. They of the house of Togarmah traded in thy fairs with horses and horsemen and mules." From a comparison of these passages we conclude that Javan settled somewhere between the countries occupied by Meshech and Tubal, but their colonies went farther south and west, into Greece more particularly. Javan's posterity, therefore, forms another element in Russian character, and helps to make up the sum of those an- thropological mixtures so apparent in the Russian of the 19th century. Tubal is the fifth son of Japheth. It is thought that Tobolsk in Si- beria has its name from Tubal. If this be correct there is no difficulty in designating his location. His original location was probably between the Black and the Caspian Seas, not far from the country of modern Georgia. He is associated with Javan and Meshech and was in one of the original divisions of the land after the flood. His descendants form another ele- ment in Russian character. Meshech is the sixth son of Japheth as named in the table. They are among the remotest and rudest nations of the world. " Both the name 170 THE EA&TERN QUESTION, and the associations are in favor of the identification of Meshech with the Moschi ; the form of the name adopted by the LXX. and the Vul. ap- proaches most nearly to the classical designation. The position of the Moschi in the age of Ezekiel was probably the same as is described by Herodotus, iii. 94, viz., on the borders of Cholchis, and Armenia, where a mountain chain connecting Anti-Taurus and Caucasus was named after them Moschici Montes and where also a district named by Strabo (xi. 497-499) Moschice. In the Assyrian inscriptions the name appears in the Form of Muskai." — Dr. Wm. Smith's Dictionary of the Bible. Meshech is, consequently, a sixth element in Russian character. Rosh. Dr. Wm. Smith says that Rosh is a Scythian tribe. Gesenius locates the tribe on the north of Taurus, and are so-called from the neigh- borhood to the Rho or Volga, and that in this name and tribe we have the first trace of the Russ or Russian nation." These are some of the original tribes that peopled Scythia or Asiatic Russia. Gog. Having noticed the original location of the sons of Japheth, that they settled those countries now constituting a part of Scythia and Siberia, which form eastern or Asiatic Russia, we shall here name a few ideas relative to their king of the last days. Gog — "Gog (the prince) of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal." "Gog was the common name of their kings, as Pharoah was of the kings of Egypt." — Boothroyd. Michaelis compares the word Gog with Kak, or Chak, the general names of kings among the ancient Turks, Moguls, Tartars, Catanians and Chinese. Gog is evidently the royal commander of the great northern army. The prophet addresses Gog as a despotic prince ; one that has the most absolute control of his subjects. As this noted character will appear in his proper position in the approaching conflict on the mountains of Israel, we shall take leave of him till we trace the gradual increase of his power. A few thoughts relative to the occupancy of the field, now forming the territory of the great northern empire, from the time of its first settlement by the sons of Japheth and their posterity to the birth of the Russian, will be necessary to a proper appreciation of his character and the divine mis- sion of his mighty empire. How was that great field occupied from the days of Japheth to the rise and supremacy of the Pharoahs? How during the many centuries of Babylonian, Medo-Persian, and Greco-Macedonian rule? These questions involve much that is interesting, yet somewhat obscure. The history of the tenantry of this great bear-field during these four dominations is un- written. Could its seas, its lakes, marshes and rivers; its mountains, val- leys, plains and deserts pen minutely their modes of life and action through the night and day dreams of these traditional ages, no records would be perused with greater interest, since they would contain the orig- inal histories of all the nations of Europe, and the western world. Asia is called the cradle of the human race. Man, however, is sup- posed to have been formed in southwestern Asia. It is certain that Adam RUSSIAN PHASE. 171 was created out of the Garden of Eden; north of it perhaps; how far north is simply conjecture. We can reckon, however, two very remark- able national hives : the younger one in Germany, in Europe ; the other, and by many centuries the senior, in Central Asia. The one in Asia is very generally conceded to be the mother hive, though some ethnologists hold to a trinity of original centers. What now concerns us is to locate the center of the Aryan family of nations, called Indo-European or Id do-Germanic. There are now two cen- ters, an eastern and a western. Centers wide apart : the one including all the European nationalities, except the Turks, Magyars, the Fins and Lapps ; the other including the inhabitants of Armenia, of Asia. From the analogy existing between the modern Hindoo Sanscrit, Zend (the ancient Persian) the Greek, Latin, the mother of Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Wallachian, Celtic, Gothic, or Germanic or Tu- tonic, including English and Scandinavian, and the Slavonic, including Russia, and a part of Austria, we conclude that those nations have one common origin. They are sister languages. Neither one can claim to be the parent. They are the daughters of one mother. What is the mother language ? What is the mother nation ? These are problems yet to be solved. The earth's original formation can be traced in her strata. Re- moving the strata, the aquious deposits, we can say, such was the original earth. These strata are later growths, each containing its appropriate fauna and flora. We thus gain, by an examination of the fossils of each strata, a history of the earth's formation. Its fossils are the record of earth's formation. So we, by the tracing of languages gain a knowledge of man's past history. " Now languages are to the ethnologist what strata are in geology ; dead languages are its fossils, and petrifactions. By skillful interpretation of their indications, aided by the light of other available monuments, he is able to spell out, with more or less probability, the ethnical records of the past, and thus obtain a glimpse here and there into the gray cloud that rests over the dawn of the ages." These languages, having a common origin, seem to have their focus in central Asia, east of the Caspian sea, and north of the chain of mountains called Hindu Kush, and Paropamisan. Such appears to be the located home of this mother language, and, consequently of the mother nation that used it. There she dwelt alone, anterior to all European history, or before the Siberian deserts had received any human footprint. The first colony that entered Europe from that radiating center we may call Lapps, the second Kimmerians or Kelts, the third were the Scythians, Goths or Germans, the fourth and last were the Slavonians. The Lapps did not radiate from the Aryan center, but from a more northern point, perhaps the Mongolian, or Japhetian. From the Aryan center the radiations were principally east and west. At a point that dates back of authentic profane history, this mother amily broke up, part passing through Hindu Kush into the valley of the 172 THE EASTERN QUESTION, Ganges ; while the rest settled in Persia and became the Medes and Per- sians of history. Whence the name Aryan ? In the Sanscrit writings of early date, the Hindus called themselves Aryans : " and the name is preserved in the classic Arii, a tribe of ancient Persia. Aria, the modern Herat and Ariana, the name of a district comprehending the greater part of ancient Persia, and extended by some so as to embrace Bactriana, Ariana or Airyana, is evidently an old Persian word, preserved in the modern native name of Persia, Airan, or Iran. Arya, in Sanscrit, signifies "excellent," "honor- able," being allied probably to the Greek ari (stos) the best. Others con- nect it with the root ar (Lat. arari, to plough), as if to distinguish a people who were tillers (earers) of earth, from the purely nomadic Turanian or Turks. Of this assumed Aryan mother-nation Max Muller says of the undi- vided Aryan family : " It should be observed that most of the terms con- nected with chase and warfare differ in each of the Aryan dialects, while words connected with more peaceful occupation belong generally to the common heirloom of the Aryan language. The proper appreciation of this fact, in its general bearing will show how a similar remark made by Nie- buhr, with regard to Greek and Latin, requires a very different explana- tion from that which that great scholar, from his more restricted point of view, was able to give it. It will show that all the Aryan nations had led a long life of peace before they separated, and that their language acquired individuality and nationality as each colony started in search of new homes — new generations forming new terms connected with the warlike and adventurous life of their onward migrations. Hence it is that not only Greek and Latin, but all Aryan languages have their peaceful words in common, and hence it is that they all differ so strangely in their warlike expressions. Thus the domestic animals are generally known by the same name in England and in India; while the wild beasts have different names even in Greek and Latin. They were a pastoral people and cultivated their lands, made cloth, and used the various metals. The Aryan families has sent their colonies into the field of Asiatic and European Russia. They spread at an early date through the southern provinces of Asiatic Russia. The Turanian family of languages is chief of Asiatic Russia. It includes all the languages spoken in Europe and in Asia, not included in the Aryan and Shemitic families, except the Chinese and its cognate dialects. The Shemitic family of languages is the third great family of lan- guages spoken by tenants occupying the Russian field. And here let it be distinctly observed : that the character of the Russian empire is involvjed very intimately in the history of the tribal elements of this field from the days that the sons of Japheth first entered its Asiatic territory, B. C. 100, to A. D. 872, when by the drawing of the national curtain, the Russian first appeared upon the stage of human action ; since from these tribal RUSSIAN PHASE. 173 elements it derives the distinctive features of its character, moral, social and national. We shall examine those tribal elements under the following general heads : 1. Under the patriarchs, to the rise of the Babylonian empire. 2. During the Babylonian empire. 3. Under the Medo-Persian empire. 4. Under the Greco-Macedonian monarchy. 5. Under the pure Roman dynasty. 6. Under the Romano-German dynasty till the Russian himself be- came an actor on the theatre of empires. This course of investigation will allow us to trace the various families as they enter and occupy the various portions of this great field of northern Asia and Europe, till the elements that form Russian character and Rus- sian domination, are fully gathered and ready for a perfect development. It will be seen by this elementary investigation, that the Russian is an extraordinary man, in the possession of an extraordinary empire — that he is a man in whose veins flows the life-giving blood of one hundred tribal nations speaking forty different languages. 1. Russian field, its occupants from its division under the sons of Japheth to the rise of the Babylonian empire. What people occupied Russian Asia and Europe during this early and protracted age ? We might as well call this period the patriarchal age, since they occupied its middle division. For the history of this period we must look to sacred history since no profane historian whose works have come down to us lived near the days of Moses. Herodotus, of Halicarnassus, father of Grecian history, was contem- porary with Nehemiah. Herodotus wrote a sketch of ancient nations. Among these we find the Scythians. No very distinct idea of the location of Scythia can be gathered from this author, only that the Scythians described by him were dwelling in southeastern Europe, and were a people that in many particulars resembled the Israelites. Anach arsis, a Scythian philosopher, lived in the days of Ezekiel, B. C. 574, 146 years after the beginning of the captivity of the ten tribes ; hence about the close of our first historical period of the Russian field. Who were these Scythians? What part of this Russian territory did they oc- cupy? Scythian, by the Greeks, was a nomad, a tramp; one that moved from place to place, in quest of food, or for purposes of plunder. We have before us an ancient map of Asiatic Russia, or Siberia, from Siber, one of its ancient towns. On that map we find, in the southern part of Siberia, an immense tract called Scythia within Imaus, and Scythia be- yond Imaus. It includes the modern Turkestan, divided into eastern and western by Mount Imaus, or the modern Hindu Kush. The Persians call it Turan, it being north of Iran. It is remarkable that Iran and Turan should have contained the two great national hives, the Aryan and the Turanian, whose languages are so widely diffused among the northern and western nations of the earth. 174 THE EASTERN QUESTION, There were, at a more recent date, two Scythias ; the ancient Scy thia including Turkestan, and the unknown regions north of that territory now called Siberia. In after years a colony from the mother country went westward, and, for a time settled in southeastern Europe, between the Don and Danube, taking their mother name of Scythia. These were the Scy- thians described by Justin, a notice of which will appear under a more recent historic date. Following out our suggestion of a very ancient, and a more recent Scythia, we shall confine our remarks for the present to another country. Under that may be reckoned all the ancient nomadic or wandering families, that, for more liberty, or for plunder, wandered from the south- western to the more northern parts of Asia. All families, from a very early date, seem to have evolved two opposite elements of character, the fixed and the wandering. The former class cultivating the soul, erecting towns and cities, and developing the arts and sciences, and perfecting every branch of civilization and refinement ; the latter, nomadic, keeping flocks and herds, dwelling in tents, and removing from place to place as the im- mediate wants of their living property might demand. The two classes soon inherit the names of civilized and barbarous. The Scythian was the nomadic or barbarous, while the Babylonians, Medes, Persians, Grecians and Romans, the founders of empires, belonged to the class of civilization. A mixed multitude early sought new abodes in the wilds of the north. Looking with contempt upon the occupations and refinement of cities and fixed habitations, with their wives and children, flocks and herds, they took their journey northward, beyond the belt of empires, into what is now called Russian or Siberian Asia. Each family selected its own district and grew up into a tribal nation, removing from place to place as necessity required. When too numerous for the natural resources of the land, colo- nies journeyed further north or west. Such is the theory of the gradual occupation of the earth by the sons of Noah after the flood. The posterity of Japheth, as we stated, first en- tered the field of Asiatic Russia, as soon, at least, B. C. 2100. There is no intimation in history, that they ever abandoned that northern field. They gave their names to the districts where they dwelt, which severally adhere to these countries, even to the present time. We, therefore, reckon their posterity among the first tenants, and an original element of Russian character. Other families followed them into the great arctic belt, or, at least, into what now belongs to the Russian empire. Among these were families of the Hebrews. Let us now follow the sacred narrative. The line of the genealogy of the one seed continued to occupy southwestern Asia. Even during the 70 years' captivity they did not wander beyond the limits of the Babylonian empire. They continued, principally, within easy range of their beloved city. But the families, more distant from the one seed, and especially the multitudinous seed, were compelled to take a wider range. This thought began its development in the sons of Judah. The circumstances are re- corded in Gen. xxxviii. 30, "And afterward came out his brother that had RUSSIAN PHASE. 175 he scarlet thread upon his hand; and his name was called Zera." Being supplanted in his birth, he, with his whole family, (five sons) became a wanderer, or, since wanderer means Scythe, he became a Scythian. Let us trace their history. Where did they make their journey? They went eastward, gathering with them from ail the tribes such as desired to follow with their flocks, a nomadic life. "And they found fat pastures and good; and the land (was) wide, and quiet, and peaceful ; for (they) of Ham (when going south) had dwelt there of old." 1 Ch. ii. 40, The sons of Reuben went east. "And eastward he inhabited unto the entering in of the wilder- ness from the river Euphrates; because their cattle were multiplied in the land of Gilead." 1 Ch. v. 9. The captivity of the ten tribes planted them among the cities of the Medes, and beyond. These colonies, increasing, spread over the whole country north of Persia. The country taking the name of these nomadic tribes was called Scythia. Here a new family, Shemitic, grows up, and occupies the south of what, in after ages, was to be the Asiatic division of the Russian field. These nomadic colonies increased wonderfully, and, re- quiring more room for their flocks and herds, spread north, east, and to- wards the far west. It appears, hence, that these ancient tenants of the Russian field, were Japhetic and Shemitic. The mingling of these two families gave birth to a new race, which, as the blood became further mingled and crossed, pro- duced all the species that ancient history describes. The most noted events of this period, was the Shemitic colonization of the Russian field, and the captivity of the ten tribes. These Shemitic movements north and west appear to be the incipient unfoldings of the divine plan to produce the " multitudinous seed," a seed that should possess the moral elements of Shem with the intellectual elements of Japheth. It marks the beginning of that era, noted for God's blessings on Shem, and his enlargement on Japheth, by dwelling in the tents of Shem. See Gen. ix. 27. The second period of the occupation of this great northern field was occupied by the Babylonian empire. This period was distinguished by the 70 years' captivity of Judah. They were scattered through the 127 provinces of that empire. During the Babylonian supremacy we hear but little of the nomadic tribes of the north. The continued increase and spread of those tribes must have been going on as appears from their western abodes under the reign of the Per- sian empire. The two tribes mostly remained in the provinces of the Babylonian empire, after the conquest of that empire by Cyrus. Only a few accepted Cyrus' generous ofier. The masses of the twelve tribes re- mained in the countries of their captivities. Not being confined to any definite locality in the north, they continued to be wanderers (Scythians), till they are reported to be dwelling in southwestern Europe as Scythians. 3. The North under the Medo-Persian Empire. — Under that empire the tribal kingdoms of the great north begin to appear, for the purpose of finding some favorable clime in the zone of empires. During this period the Scythians had settled between the Danube and the Don. They had 176 THE EASTERN QUESTION. reached that locality long before the fall of Babylon, since they had a strong nationality, during the supremacy of the Persian empire. We have their character and manners given by Justin, a distinguished writer, who is quoted by Rollin in his ancient history, since, in those early days, little was seen of those tribal kingdoms which occupied the regions north of the imperial zone, whenever the veil was lifted, and a tribe marched forth to break through those sacred boundaries, their character and acts elicited great interest. Such were the Scythians that rushed into the Persian em- pire in the 7th century before Christ, Of the Scythian family Sharon Turner thus writes : " The next stream of barbaric tribe (after the Kimmerian and Keltic races) whose progress formed the second great influx of population into Europe, were the Scythian, German and Gothic tribes. They also entered it out of Asia, It is of importance to recollect the fact of their primeval locality, because it corresponds with this circumstance, that Herodotus, be- sides the main Scythia, which he .places in Europe, mentions also an East- ern or Asiatic Scythia, beyond the Caspian and Jaxartes. As these new comers pressed on the Kimmerians and the Kelts, their predecessors, those nations retired towards the western and southern extremities of Europe, pursued still by the Scythian invaders. This new wave of population gradually spread over the mountains, and into the vast forests and marshes of Europe, until, under the name of Germans, an appellation which Taci- tus calls a recent name, they had not only reached the Rhine, but had also crossed into France. Here Cassar found one great body firmly settled, de- scended from them, whom he calls Belgae ; though its component states had their peculiar denomination, besides a very large force of recent German invaders, under the command of Ariovistus. (Pinkerton says that the German, Scythian and Gothic nations were the same generic family). This second stock of the European population is peculiarly interesting to us, because from its branches not only our own immediate ancestors (Saxon), but also those of the most celebrated nations of modern Europe, have unquestionably descended. The Anglo-Saxons, Lowland Scotch, Nor- mans, Danes, Norwegians, Swedes, Germans, Dutch, Belgians Lombards and Franks, have all sprung from that great fountain of the human race, which we have distinguished by the terms Scythian, German or Gothic. The first appearance of the Scythian tribes in Europe may be placed, according to Strabo and Homer, about the eighth, or according to Hero- dotus, in the seventh century before the Christian era, Herodotus likewise states that the Scythians declared their nation to be more recent than any other, and that they reckoned only one thousand years between Targitaos, their first king, and the aggression of Darius, (This would extend to B. C, 1700 about the time many families of Hebrews wandered away north and founded the nation of Asiatic Scythia. — W.) The first scenes (Turner continues) of their civil existence, and of their progressive power, were in Asia, to the east of the Araxes. Here they multiplied and extended their territorial limits, for some centuries, unknown to Europe, Their general RUSSIAN PHASE. 177 appellation among themselves was Scoloti, but the Greeks called them Scythians, Scuthoi, or Nomades. Diodorus says : " The Scythians, formerly inconsiderable and few, possessed a narrow region on the Araxes ; but by degrees they became more powerful in numbers and in courage. They extended their boundaries on all sides ; till at last they raised their nation to great empire and glory. One of their kings becoming valiant and skillful in the art of war, they added to their territory the mountainous regions about Caucasus, and also the plains towards the ocean, and the Palus Mseotis, with the other regions near the Tanais (Don). Thus the nation increased, and had kings worthy of remembrance. The Sakai, the Massagetai, and the Arimaspoi, drew their origin from them." The Massagetai seem to have been the most eastern branch of the Scythian nation. Wars arising between them and the other Scythian tribes, an emigration from the latter took place, according to the account which Herodotus accepts as the most authentic, which occasioned their en- trance into Europe. Such feuds and wars have contributed, more than any other cause, to disperse through the world its uncivilized inhabitants. The emigrating Scythians crossed the Araxes, passed out of Asia, and, invading the Kimmerians, suddenly appeared in Europe, in the seventh century before the Christian era. Part of the Kimmerians flying into Asia Minor, some of the Scythian hordes pursued them ; but, turning in a di- rection different from that which the Kimmerians traversed, they missed their intended prey, and fell unintentionally upon the Medes. They de- feated the Medes, pressed on towards Egypt, and governed those parts of Asia for twenty-eight years, till Cyaxares, the king of Media, at last ex- pelled them. The Scythian tribes, however, continued to flock into Europe ; and in the reign of Darius (one hundred and twenty years later — W.) their European colonies were sufliciently numerous and celebrated to excite the ambition of the Persian Monarch, after his capture of Babylon ; but all his efforts against them failed." They spread over Europe, from the Roxolani, in the cold north, to the Getse, and Goths. They were known to the Ro- mans under the name of Germans. The Kimmerians and Kelts retired be- fore them to western Europe. WHO WERE THE SCYTHIANS ATTACKED BY DARIUS, THE MEDE ? They formed the second, the Gothic or German emigration into Europe from Central Asia. Whence came they into Central Asia? Prin- cipally from the land of the Hebrews, through very early family wander- ings for the accommodation of their flocks and herds. The lands of As- syria, Media and Persia being pre-occupied, they would be forced into the more northern fields. That these European Scythians were previously Asiatic Scythians from the nomadic elements of the tribes of Israel, who had occupied the country east and north of the Caspian Sea for a thou- sand years and had gradually spread from that Asiatic centre into eastern 12 178 THE EASTERN QUESTION, Europe, will appear not only from the historic records already given, but they will be identified as parts of that Shemitic family by an examination of their manners and customs. The sketch we take from RoUin's Ancient History of the Scythian morals, manners and customs at the time of their invasion by Darius. Babylon having been taken (B. C. 538 to 514), Darius (Cyaxares, son of Astyages, king of Media, and maternal uncle to Cyrus, Astyages being the Ahasuerus of the Bible) prepared to make war with the Scythians who dwelt between the rivers Don and the Danube. The occasion of the war was the invasion of Media by the Scythians one hundred and twenty years before. During this raid of the Scythians, which continued twenty-eight years, the Scythians' wives married their slaves. " When the husbands were on their return home these slaves went out to meet them with a numerous army and disputed their entrance into their country. After some battles fought with nearly equal loss on both sides, the masters con- sidering that it was doing too much honor to their slaves to put them upon the footing of soldiers, marched against them in the next encounter with whips in their hands to make them remember their proper condition. This stratagem had the intended effect : for not being able to bear the sight of their masters thus armed, they all ran away." — Rollin, We have intro- duced this circumstance 1. To illustrate the kind of servitude then ex- isting. 2. To show the first germs of Russian serfdom ; and 3. Also to en- able the philosophical reader to discern its analogy to the Hebrew slavery and thus demonstrate the origin of these Scythians. Being composed of families from all the tribes we should expect to find a great variety in character. While speaking of Scythian servitude, an element of the curse on Ham's posterity, should be noticed. It is said of Shem, "And Canaan shall be his servant;" and of Japheth, "And Canaan shall be his servant." Gen. ix. 26, 27. That servitude has adhered to the posterity wherever there has been any mixture of the three races. Much of the ancient slavery among earth's great monarchs was of that kind. Europeans, in this manner, became more or less tainted as to their blood, though not sufficient, perhaps, to constitute a visible admixture. Hamitic blood, in this way, has been introduced into the veins of the Russian. The manners of the European Scythians as given by Justin are as fol- lows : (the extracts are from Rollin), " The Scythians lived in great inno- cence and simplicity. They did not make any divisions of their lands amongst themselves ; it would have been in vain to do it, since they did not apply themselves to cultivate them. Horace says that some did culti- vate spots for one year. They had no houses nor settled habitation, but wandered continually with their cattle and their flocks from country to country. Their wives and children they carried along with them in wagons covered with the skins of beasts, which were all the houses they had to dwell in. Justice was observed and maintained amongst them through the natural temper and disposition of the people, and not by any compulsion of laws, with which they were wholly unacquainted. No crime was more severely punished among them than theft ; and that with good RUSSIAN PHASE. 179 reason. For their herds and flocks, in which all their riches consisted, be- ing never shut up, how could they subsist if theft had not been most rigor- ously punished ? They coveted neither silver nor gold, like the rest of mankind, and made milk and honey their principal diet. . They were strangers to the use of linen and woolen manufactures, and to defend them- selves from the violent and continual cold of their climate, they made use of nothing but the skins of beasts. I said before that these manners of the Scythians might appear to some people very wild and savage. And indeed, what can be said of a nation that has lands and yet does not cultivate them, that has herds of cattle, of which they content themselves with eating the milk and neglect the flesh ? The wool of the sheep might suppl}' them with warm and comfortable clothes, and yet they use no other raiment than the skins of animals. But that which is the greatest demonstration of their ignorance and savage- ness, according to the general opinion of mankind, is their utter neglect of gold and silver, which have always been had in such high request in all civilized nations. But this contempt of all convenience of life was attended with such an honesty and uprightness of manners as hindered them from ever covet- ing their neighbors' goods. For the desire of riches can only take place where riches can be made use of. And would to God we could see the same moderation prevail among the rest of mankind, and the like indifierence to the goods of other people ! The world would not then have seen wars per- petually succeeding one another in all ages, and in all countries : nor would the number of those that fall by the sword exceed that of those who fall by the irreversible decree and law of nature. It is a surprising thing that a happy natural disposition, without the assistance of education, should have inspired the Scythian with such a wisdom and moderation as the Grecians could not attain to, neither by the institutions of their legislatures nor the rules and precepts of all their philosophers ; and that the manners of a barbarous nation should be pre- ferable to those of a people so much improved and refined by the polite arts and sciences. So much more happy efiects were produced by the ignorance of vice in the one, than by the knowledge of virtue in the other." Thus speaks Justin a Roman historian, who flourished about the 3d century of our era. Rollin remarks : The Scythian fathers thought, with good reason, that they left their children a valuable inheritance when they left them in peace and union with one another. One of their kings, whose name was Scylurus, finding himself drawing near his end, sent for all his children, and giving to each of them one after another a bundle of arrows tied fast together desired them to break them. Each used his endeavors, but was not able to do it. Then untying the bundle and giving them the arrows one by one, they were very easily broken. Let this image, says the father, be a lesson to you of the mighty advantage that results from union and concord. In order to strengthen and enlarge these domestic advantages, the Scythians used to admit their friends into the same terms of union 180 THE EASTEEN QUESTION, with them as their relations. Friendship was considered by them as a sacred and inviolable alliance, which differed but little from that which nature has put between brethren, and which they could not infringe with- out being guilty of a heinous crime. Ancient authors seem to have vied with each other who should most extol the innocence of manners that reigned among the Scythians, by magnificent encomiums. Horace's is translated by Rollin (Francis), and is as follows: " Happier the Scythians houseless train ! Who roll their vagrant dwellings o'er the plain ; Happier the Getes, fierce and brave, Whom no fix'd laws of property enslave ; While open stands the golden grain, The free born fruitage of th' unbounded plain, Succeeding yearly to the toi), They plough with equal tasks the public soil. Not there the guiltless stepdame knows The baleful draught for orphans to compose ; No wife high-portioned rules her spouse, Or trusts her essenced lover's faithless vows; The lovers there for dowry claim The parent's virtues; and the plighted dame Dares not to break the nuptial tie, Polluted crime ! Whose portion is to die." — Francis. When we consider the manners and character of the Scythians with- out prejudice, can we possibly forbear to look upon them with esteem and admiration ? Does not their manner of living, as to the exterior part of it at least, bear a resemblance to that of the patriarchs, who had no fixed habitation ; who did not till the ground ; who had no other occupation than that of feeding their flocks and herds; and who dwelt in tents? Can we believe this people were much to be pitied for not understanding, or rather for despising, the use of gold and silver? What advantage could gold or silver be to the Scythians, who valued nothing but what the neces- sities of men actually require, and who took care to set narrow bounds to these necessities ? It is no wonder that, living as they did, without houses, they should make no account of those arts that were so highly valued in other places, as architecture, sculpture and painting, or that they should despise fine cloths and costly furniture, since they found the skins of beasts sufficient to defend them against the inclemency of the seasons. After all, can we truly say that these pretended advantages contribute to the real happiness of life ? Were those nations that had them in the greatest plenty, more healthful or robust than the Scythians? Did they live to a greater age than they? Or did they spend their lives in greater freedom and tran- quility ? or a greater exemption from cares and troubles ? Let us acknowl- edge, to the shame of ancient philosophy, that the Scythians, who did not particularly apply themselves to the study of wisdom, carried it, however, to a greater height in their practice, than either the Egyptians, Grecians, RUSSIAN PHASE. 181 or any other civilized nation. They did not give the name of goods or riches to anything but what, humanly speaking, truly deserved that title ; as health, strength, courage, the love of labor and liberty, innocence of life, sincerity, an abhorrence of all fraud and dissimulation, and, in a word, all such qualities as render a man more virtuous and more valuable. If to these happy dispositions, we could add the knowledge and love of the true God and of our Redeemer, without which the most exalted virtues are of no value, they would have been a perfect people. When we compare the manners of the Scythians with those of the present age, we are tempted to believe that the pencils which drew so beau- tiful a picture, were not free from partiality and flattery, and that both Justin and Horace have decked them with virtues that did not belong to them. But all antiquity agrees in giving the same testimony of them ; and Homer in particular, whose opinion ought to be of great weight, calls them " The most just and upright of men." — Rollin. Yet these Scythians did become corrupted by Roman luxuries, so that their manners, in the days of the apostles, had been so changed by their constant intercourse with the more refined, that they had taken a low position in heathen morals. Strabo, a Greek philosopher, geographer, and historian who wrote in the days of Augustus and Tiberius, thus writes, " One would think that the natural effect of such an intercourse (which he had described) with civilized and polite nations would only have been that of rendering them more humanized and courteous, by softening that air of savageness and ferocity, which they had before; but instead of that, it introduced a total ruin of their ancient manners and transformed them into quite different creatures. Our example has perverted almost all the nations of the world : by carrying the refinements of luxury and pleasure amongst them, we have taught them insincerity and fraud, and a thousand kinds of shameful and infamous arts to get money. It is a miserable talent, and a very unhappy distinction for a nation through its ingenuity in inventing modes, and re- fining upon everything that tends to nourish and promote luxury, to be- come the corrupter of all its neighbors and the author, as it were, of their vices and debauchery." We have now finished our sketch of Scythian manners at periods about six centuries apart. The Scythians of pure manners lived about six hundred years before Christ in the days of the Babylonian and Persian empires. That nation was corrupted by the Grecian and Roman luxuries. Where came they that they should have such pure manners when first in- troduced to the world of refinement? Those that desire to possess the key to the chronological developments of the nations of modern Europe, especially that of Russia, Germany, France and England, would do well to study the history of this Scythian family. Of these European Scythians it is sufficient for us at present to remark (1) that they had the character, manners and customs of their Asiatic mother who dwelt in what is now Turkestan, which belongs principally to the Russian empire. (2) The Asiatic Scythians of Central Asia came from southwestern Asia and were 182 THE EASTERN QUESTION, composed of Nomadic families of Hebrews. (3) These European Scyth- ians, principally of the ten tribes pushed northward, entered Scandinavia, (Norway and Sweden, W) drove back its early inhabitants, the Lapps, and took possession of that northern peninsula which they have occupied till the present time. (4) The reader, will, therefore, bear in mind that the Scandinavians were Scythians, Goths, or Germans, (North men) whose ancestral homes were (a) southeastern Europe ; (b) Central Asia; (c) south- western Asia ; (d) of the ten tribes. During the domination of the Medo- Persian empire, these nomadic tribes increase towards the northwest and south. 4. The Russian Field under the Greco-Macedonian empire. — The long night and day dawn of the great northern bear field has but little history. Now and then some unknown tribal nation rushes down from the icy north upon the imperial cordon in quest of plunder or some more genial clime, but is soon obliged to retire into its own native wilds. The period now under review is quite barren of historical incidents. The Scythians appear again under the reign of Alexander the Great, B. C. 330, about 176 years after the invasion of their European country by Darius. It is remarkable that Alexander should begin his conquests by subjugating the southern part of European Scythia, the daughter, and that some years later in the zenith of his glory he should conquer the south- eastern portion of Asiatic Scythia, the mother, with which family he was joined in marriage. The history of those extraordinary events we shall briefly narrate. On the death of Philip, those Scythian tribes that had been held in subjection by his father, rebelled. Alexander was advised " to soothe " these first glimmerings of revolt and innovation by prudent reserve, com- placency and insinuations. To these timorous counsels Alexander gave no attention, but gather- ing his forces marched against them with all possible expedition. He moved north to the banks of the Danube, which he passed over in one night. He defeated the king of the Triballi in a great battle, made the Gete fly at his approach ; subdued several barbarous nations, some by the terror of his name, and others by force of arms, and notwithstanding the arrogant answer of their ambassadors, he taught them to dread a danger still more near them than the falling of the sky and planets. Alexander imagining that his name alone had struck this people with terror asked their ambassadors what things they dreaded most ? They replied with a haughty tone of voice that they were afraid of nothing but the falling of the sky and stars. In this answer we can see a race that had been taught to fear God only. After the conquest of the Persian empire Alexander moved his army to the north and east and impelled forward by some supernatural agency, B. C. 328. Sogdiana and Bactrina were subdued three times, having re- belled twice. In these battles and sieges Alexander lost about one hundred and twenty thousand men. These two kingdoms were located between the rivers Oxus (Gihon) on the south and Jaxartes (Sihon) on the north. The RUSSIAN PHASE. 183 Jaxartes divided those provinces from Scythia. These three countries were inherited by the same race. They were all nomadic or Scythian tribes of the Hebrew family and therefore Shemitic. They wandered into those ports under the Assyrian empire. They increased and sent colonies into Europe, forming European Scythia; becoming in Europe so powerful that they drove the Kimmerians (a part of them) out of Europe. They were still marching in pursuit of them into Asia under their king, Madyes, when the Kimmerians found means to escape from the Scythians. The Scythian army advanced as far as Media ; had a great battle with Cyaxares I., and defeating him overran all southwestern Asia and advanced towards Egypt. Being diverted by presents from the land of the Pharaohs, they marched through Palestine. Some of the Scythians settled at Bethshean,a city in the tribe of Manasseh on this side of Jordan, which from them was afterwards called Scythopolis, B. C. 635. These countries they held and devastated for twenty-eight years. It was about three centuries later that Asiatic Scj'thia was invaded, but only one hundred and twenty years later that Darius invaded European Scythia, and only about four or five years previous that Alexander had subdued the southern tribes of the Scythians in Europe. We have only the Scythians to notice as occupants of the Rus- sian field along the southern limits during the Greco-Macedonian period. It now remains that we present some items further relative to Alexander's Asiatic Scythian conquests. When Persia was overthrown Alexander's divine mission came to an end. He was commissioned to liberate the HTe- brew race, not to reduce them to servitude. Hence, in that work, he lost vastly more of his army than in the overthrow of the Persian empire. In the battles of Granicus, Issus and Arbela — (Gamela W) Alexander was simply the visible agent of Jehovah. From the fall of the Persian empire till the death of Alexander his acts were those of a rash conquerer. That he was at first an agent to accomplish a certain work appears from prophetic history. "And as I was considering, behold a he goat came from the west on the whole earth and touched (none touched him in the earth) not the ground : and the goat (had) a notable horn between his eyes (of sight). And he came to the ram that had (two) horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power. And I saw him come close to the ram, and he was moved with choler against him and smote the ram, and brake his two horns : and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him : and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand, therefore, the he goat waxed very great : and when he was strong, the great horn was broken, and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven." Dan. viii. 5, 6, 7, 8. The explanation is in verses 20, 21 and 22. " The ram which thou sawest having (two) horns (are) the kings of Media and Persia. And the rough goat is the king (kingdom W) of Grecia : and the great horn that is between his eyes (is) the first king. Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power." 184 THE EASTERN QUESTION, The divine hand was seen in Alexander's visit to Jerusalem after his overthrow of Tyre. To this imminent danger, Jaddus, the high priest, who governed under the Persians, seeing himself exposed, with all the inhabi- tants, to the wrath of the conqueror, had recourse to the protection of the Almighty, gave orders that public prayers should be made to implore His assistance, and offered sacrifices. The night after God appeared to him in a dream, and bid him " To cause flowers to be scattered up and down the city; to set open all the gates, and go clothed in his pontifical robes, with all the priests dressed also in their vestments, and all the rest clothed in white, to meet Alexander, and not fear any evil from that king, inasmuch as he would protect them." This command was punctually obeyed ; and accordingly this august procession, the very day after, marched out of the city to an eminence called Sapha (to discover from afar), whence there was a view of all the plain, as well as of the temple, and city of Jerusalem. Here the whole procession waited for the arrival of Alexander. The Syrians and Phoenicians, who were in his army, were persuaded that the wrath of this prince was so great that he would certainly punish the high priest in an exemplary manner, and destroy that city in the same manner as he had done Tyre; and flushed with joy on that account, they waited in expectation of glutting their eyes with the calamities of a people to whom they bore a mortal hatred. As soon as the Jews heard of the king's approach, they set out to meet him with all the pomp before de, scribed. Alexander was struck at the sight of the high priest, in whose mitre and forehead a golden plate was fixed on which the name of God was written. The moment the king perceived the higii priest, he advanced toward him with the air of the most profound respect, bowed his body, and adored the august name upon his front, and saluted him who wore it with a religious veneration. Then the Jews surrounding Alexander raised their voices to wish him every kind of prosperity. All the specta- tors were seized with inexpressible surprise ; they could not account for a sight contrary to their expectation and so very improbable. Parmenio, who could not yet recover from his astonishment, asked the king how it came to pass that he, who was adored by every one, adored the high priest of the Jews. " I do not," replied Alexander, " adore the high priest, but the God whose minister he is; for whilst I was at Dium in Macedonia, (my mind wholly fixed on the great design of the Persian war) as I was revolving by what means I should conquer Asia, this very man, dressed in the same robes, appeared to me in a dream, exhorted me to banish every fear, bid me cross the Hellespont boldly ; and assured me that his God would march at the head of my army, and give me the victory over that of the Persians." Alexander added, " that the instant he saw this priest, he knew him by his habit, his stature, his air, his face, to be the same person whom he had seen at Dium ; that he was firmly persuaded it was by the command, and under the immediate conduct of heaven that he had undertaken this war; that he was sure he should overcome Darius hereafter and destroy the empire of the Persians; and that this was the RUSSIAN PHASE. 185 reason why he adored this God in the person of his priest." Alexander, after having thus answered Parmenio, embraced the high priest and all his brethren, then walking in the midst of them, he arrived at Jerusalem, where he offered sacrifices to God in the temple, after the manner pre- scribed to him by the high priest. The high priest, afterwards, showed him those passages in the prophecy of Daniel, which are spoken of that monarch. — Rollin. The overthrow of Tyre and the Persian empire were the limits of Alexander's divine commission. These accomplished, he should have been satisfied; but fortune first smiled, then ruined. That Alexander was in- vincible till his mission ran out, will appear from the results of the three Persian battles. At the battle of Granicus Alexander lost 85 horse and 30 men ; while the Persian loss was 20,000 foot, and 2,500 horse. At Issus, Alexander is said to have lost 300 foot and 150 horse ; the Persian loss be- ing 100,000 foot and 10,000 horse. At Arbela, Alexander's loss was about 1,200, mostly horse, while the Persian loss was about 300,000, besides prisoners. This inequality of loss clearly domonstrates divine protection. By means of Alexander's success there was secured a very great admixture of Grecian blood and language among those national tribes, who were in time to be the readers of, and believers in the gospel of the Son of God, first circulated in Greek. Alexander's conquests north and east of the Persian empire, in Bac- triana, Sogdiana, Scythia, and in India, were wasteful of human life, and without any very marked results. His occupation of Bactriana, Sogdiana and Scythia, are not without some historic interest connected with our present subject. North of Sogdiana and Bactriana, was Scythia, extend- ing far into the unknown regions of the north. The Jaxartes (Sihon) was the dividing line. Alexander prepared to cross that river in the face of a large Scythian force. Before he was prepared to pass over that rapid river, he was visited by 20 Scythian ambassadors. That visit, and the speech of its chief ambassador, reveal too much of the Scythian character not to have special notice. Some of the items as narrated by Quintus Curtius, the historian, we give below, and are as follows : They gazed upon Alexander for a long time without uttering a word. At last the chief ambassador gave vent to his thoughts in the following speech : " Had the gods given thee a body proportionate to thy ambition, the whole universe would have been too little for thee. With one hand thou wouldst touch the east, and with the other the west ; and not satisfied with this, thou wouldst follow the sun, and know where he hides himself. Such as thou art, thou yet aspirest after what it will be impossible for thee to attain. Thou Grossest over from Europe into Asia ; and when thou shalt have subdued the whole race of men, then thou wilt make war against rivers, forests, and wild beasts. Dost thou not know, that tall trees are many years in growing, but may be torn up in an hour's time ; that the lion serves sometimes for food to the smallest birds ; that iron, though so 186 THE EASTERN QUESTION, hard, is consumed by rust ; in a word, that there is nothing so strong, which may not be destroyed by the weakest thing? " What have we to do with thee ? We never set foot in thy country. May not those who inhabit woods be allowed to live, without knowing who thou art, and whence thou comest? We will neither command over, nor submit to any man. And that thou mayest be sensible what kind of people the Scythians are, know that we received from heaven, as a rich present, a yoke of oxen, a plough-share, an arrow, a javelin, and a cup. These we make use of both with our friends, and against our enemies. To our friends we give corn which we procure by the labor of our oxen ; with them we offer wine to the gods in our cup ; and with regard to our enemies, we combat them at a distance with our arrows, and near at hand with our javelins. It is with these we formerly conquered the most warlike nations, subdued the most powerful kings, laid waste all Asia, and opened ourselves a way into the heart of Egypt. " But thou, who boastest coming to extirpate robbers, thou thyself are the greatest robber on earth. Thou hast plundered all the nations thou hast overcome. Thou hast possessed thyself of Lydia, invaded Syria, Per- sia, and Bactriana ; thou art forming a design to march as far as India, and thou now comest hither to seize upon our herds of cattle. The great pos- sessions which thou hast, only make thee covet more eagerly that which thou hast not. Dost thou not see how long the Bactrians have checked thy progress ? Whilst thou art subduing these, the Sogdians revolt, and victory is to thee only the occasion of war. " Pass but the Jaxartes, and thou wilt behold the great extent of our plains. It will be in vain for thee to pursue the Scythians ; and I defy thee to overtake them. Our poverty will be more active than thy army, laden with the spoils of so many nations; and when thou shalt fancy us at a great distance, thou wilt see us rush suddenly upon thy camp ; for we pursue and fly from our enemies with equal speed. I am informed that Greeks speak jestingly of the Scythian solitudes, and that they are even become a proverb ; but we are fonder of our deserts, than of your great cities and fruitful plains. Let me observe to thee, that fortune is slip- pery ; hold her fast, therefore, for fear she should escape thee. Put a curb to thy felicity, if thou desirest to continue in possession of it. " If thou art a god, thou oughtest to do good to mortals, and not de- prive them of their possessions ; if thou art a mere man, reflect always on what thou art. They whom thou shalt not molest, will be thy true friends ; the strongest friendships being contracted between equals ; and they are esteemed equals who have not tried their strength against each other; but do not imagine that those whom thou conquered can love thee; for there is no such thing as friendship between a master and his slave, and a forced peace is soon followed by war. " To conclude, do not fancy that the Scythians will take an oath on concluding an alliance. The only oath among them is to keep their word without swearing. Such cautions as these do indeed become Greeks, who sign their treaties, and call upon the gods to witness them; but, with RUSSIAN PHASE. 187 regard to us, our religion consists in being sincere, and in keeping the promises we have made. That man who is not ashamed to break his word with men, is not afraid of deceiving the gods; and of what use could friends be to thee whom thou couldst not trust ? Consider that we will guard both Europe and Asia for thee. We extend as far as Thrace, and we are told that Thrace is contiguous to Macedonia. The river Jaxartes alone di- vides us from Bactriana. Thus we are thy neighbors on both sides. Con- sider, therefore, whether thou wilt have us for friends or enemies." — Rollin. It appears from this speech that, at that time, (B. C. 328), the Asiatic and European Scythia joined; and that the Scythian empire occupied all the territory now forming the southern part of Asiatic and European Rus- sia; and that it was north of the Macedonian empire in its whole extent east and west. The question naturally arising is, What people then dwelt north of the Scythians? or did that term cover all the north of Asia? If the term Scythian was then generic, and included all the nomadic tribes, Scythia, then, covered all the modern Siberia, and was the name of what is now Asiatic, as well as European Russia. These vast plains of Siberian Asia were then occupied by nomadic families, called Scyths (wanderers) who became known to the imperial belt of empires simply as they rushed down from this great northern empire to share with their southern neigh- bors a more genial climate, and productions more varied and luxurious. This has always been the great Scythian or nomadic field of the world ; the region in which the nomadic division of the various races could have an abundance of room for their flocks and herds, and where they could have perfect freedom from the restraints of civilization and refinement. It was the nomadic field in which the true Scythian of every nation " lived, and moved, and had his being." This, was then, (except its southern part), the great unknown, so marked on ancient maps. The Per- sian sages scanned those northern heavens and wondered why that boreal electric sun, whose streamlets shot up with such terrific majesty, never re- vealed its face like our eastern sun ? What kind of animals dwelt in those regions of night and snow, and ice and tempests? Could any human be- ings dwell there? And if so, of what race? The Greeks residing in towns and cities, cultivating the arts and sciences, and fond of every species of refinement, cast an eye of contempt upon this northern world, with its scanty productions and numerous tribal nations. All their worthless tramps they called Scyths, not once having the most distant thought that out of this savage nomadic hive, would swarm forth the future rulers of the world. Of these ancient, nomadic races are the world's present rulers. Alexander crossed the Jaxartes, and totally defeated the Scythians. He returned their prisoners and treated the nation kindly. " The Scyth- ians had always been considered as invincible; but after they were de- feated it was owned that every nation in the world ought to yield to the Macedonians. The Sacse, who were a powerful nation, sent an em- bassy to Alexander, by which they submitted themselves to him, and re- quested his friendship. The Scythians themselves made an apology by their ambassadors, throwing the blame of what had happened on some few 188 THE EASTERN QUESTION, individuals, and declaring tliat they were ready to obey all the commands of the victorious prince." Having totally subdued Sogdiana, he left for the adjoining country of the Bactrians, who had partly revolted. In his progress the elements fought against him. In our view they were the voice of the dumb ass speaking. " In the country of Gabaza (of Sogdiana) he (Alexander) was met with a terrible storm. Flashes of lightning coming thick one upon the other, dazzled the eyes of the soldiers, entirely discouraged them. It thundered almost incessantly, and the thunderbolts fell every moment at the feet of the soldiers, so that they did not dare either to stand still or ad- vance. On a sudden, a violent shower of rain, mixed with hail, came pouring down like a flood ; and so extreme was the cold in this country, that it froze the rain as soon as it fell. The sufferings of the army on this occasion were almost insupportable. The king was the only person in- vincible by these calamities, rode up and down among the soldiers, com- forting and animating them ; and pointing at smoke which issued from some distant huts, urged them to march thither with all the speed possible. Having given orders for the felling of a great number of trees, and lay- ing them in heaps up and down, he had fires made in different places, and by this means saved the army, but upwards of a thousand men lost their lives. The king made up to the officers and soldiers the several losses they had sustained during this fatal storm." — Rollin. " They fought from heaven ; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera." Judges v. 20. " When they were recovered so well as to be able to march, he went into the country of the Sacae, which he soon overran and laid waste. Soon after this Oxyartes, (one of the friendly Persian princes of Bactriana,) re- ceived him into his palace, and invited him to a sumptuous banquet, in which he displayed all the magnificence of the barbarians. He had a daughter called Roxana, whose exquisite beauty was heightened by all the charms of wit and good sense. Alexander found her charms irresistible and made her his wife." This marriage was under the specious pretence of uniting the two nations in such bands as should improve their mutual harmony, by blend- ing their interests, and throwing down all distinctions between the con- querors and the conquered. This marriage displeased the Macedonians very much, and exasperated his chief courtiers, to see him make one of his slaves his father-in-law'; "but as, after the murder of Clitus, no one dared to speak to him with freedom, they applauded what he did with their eyes and countenances, which can adapt themselves wonderfully to flattery and servile complaisance." — Rollin. In the northeast corner of Bactriana, bordering on Scythia, was the country of the Sacse the Latin of Sakai. This family became so powerful that they conquered Bactriana and Sogdiana. Spreading west and north they filled the Caspian and Aral basins. They spread over Scythia, and according to Persian historians, gave their name to that whole region. Passing southwest they entered northern Media; then swarmed west- ward and toward the north, into Armenia. Leaving colonies in Armenia RUSSIAN PHASE. 189 east of the Araxes, the most powerful families, carrying out their Scythian or nomadic spirit, crossed that river, passed out of Armenia, entered the Georgian and Caucasian wild. Moving onward into the basin of the Euxine Sea; thence through what was afterwards Asiatic Sarmatia. Pass- ing the Tanais (Don) they entered Europe. Other Scythian tribes fol' lowed them, they crossed Europe in a northwesterly direction, they reached the Kimbric peninsula, where they remained for many centuries, sending off colonies towards the four winds of heaven. Colonies under Odin, crossed over into the Scandinavian peninsula, took possession of its southern portion, driving the Lapps before them. That Odin was a Scythian from Asia, of the family of the Sakai, or Sacse, seems to be established. Of Odin, Sharon Turner says, " It is not at all improbable, but that some of these marauding tribes of Sakai, or Sacas- sani, were gradually propelled to the western coasts of Europe, on which they were found by Ptolemy, and from which they molested the Roman empire, in the third century of our era. There was a people called Saxoi, on the Euxine, according to Stephanus. We may consider these also, as a nation of the same parentage; who, in the wanderings of the Sakai, from Asia to the German Ocean, were ieft on the Euxine, as others had chosen to occupy Armenia. We may here recollect the traditional descent of Odin, preserved by Snorre in the Edda and his history. This great ancestor of the Saxon and Scandinavian chieftains, is represented to have migrated from a city on the east of the Tanais (Don), called Asgard, and a country called Asaland, which imply the city and land of the As£e or Asians. The cause of this movement was the progress of the Romans. Odin is stated to have moved first into Russia, and thence into Saxony. This is not im- probable. The wars between the Romans and Mithridates involved and shook most of the barbaric nations in these parts, and may have excited the desire, and imposed the necessity of a westerly, or European emi- gration." We have made this quotation from Sharon Turner, not for its Anglo- Saxon phase, (since that has been discussed under the British phase of the Eastern Question), but to prove that the Saxon and Scandinavian families are daughters of the same mother nation, whose first home was in south- western Asia; then, in the days of Alexander, and during many centuries previous, and who now dwell at the Aryan centre. This historic fact will, hereafter, be of great use to us, in the progressive history of the origin and growth of the Russian empire. Having traced some of the swarms of the Sakai-suna into their Scandinavian retreat, we are prepared to finish our sketch of Alexander's work among the families of Asiatic Scythia and northeastern Persia, called Bactriana and Sogdiana. The conquest of those two provinces completed the subjugation of the Persian empire by Alexander. His great mission under Jehovah comes to an end. Soon after this the great horn of the he-goat is broken. With him, we have, at the present, nothing further to do, except it be to sum up the results of his mission so far as they concern the tenantry of the northern bear-field, designed in distant centuries, to be the vast domains 190 THE EASTERN QUESTION, of the Russian empire ; an empire whose features cannot be fully under- stood without a knowledge of its original elements — its ancient tribal nations. These, by the dim light of tradition, and fragments of history, we are attempting to trace. The time had come for the removal of the second (Medo-Persian) of the Gentile horns. God raised up the third horn (Greco-Macedonian) for the further accomplishment of His will toward the family of the Hebrews, Zech. ii. 18, 19, to scatter Israel and Judah. It is here worthy of note that the third and fourth horns were located in the direction of Israel's retire- ment and were favorably situated to accomplish their appointed work. As these nomadic Hebrew families moved westward, it was necessary that the imperial cordon be extended westward to hold the emigrating host to the line of their retreat to the great northwest, to keep them from the luxuries and enervating effects of a more southern latitude. They were to dwell in the cold north, designed to develop muscle and brain. The Greco-Mace- donian empire, the third Gentile horn was raised up to continue the im- perial cordon during the days of the Scythian empire, and while new colo- nies from central Asia were moving westward. Still later, when these northern or German families were becoming numerous and powerful, a fourth kingdom was raised up to carry this imperial cordon, like the Chinese wall, through southern Europe to the western or Atlantic ocean. Shut out from these southern latitudes they were forced to develop charac- ter suited to the national work of the last days. We have already seen that the northwest of Europe and the Isles of the Sea (British Isles) formed the seminary of the British empire, the king of the south ; and we shall soon learn that, in the Scandinavian peninsula were educated those rulers which shall form and guide the great northern empire; in a word, that the kings of the north and south are imperial cousins. Alexander constructed the third division of the cordon which extended from Macedonia eastward along the southern boundary of the Scythian empire to the northeastern extremity of the Persian empire; thence south- east to the Indus. Thus did the Scythians and Grecians become neighbors, through an extent of more than four thousand miles. Two families. Hying side by side, could not fail to have more or less intercourse. The Scythians had not the power to carry their conquests south of this military cordon ; nor were the Greeks tempted to penetrate the inhospitable north. Scythia supplied Greece with precious metals. And, in time of war, furnished soldiers and an immense number of horses and cattle which were raised on their plains in such abundance. Such a constant intermingling of races so dissimilar in their habits of living, their manners and customs could not fail to produce very marked results. 1. Intermarrying must have taken place. Among masters and slaves in our country there was that intercourse which gave birth to a new race. But between the Grecians and Scythians there did not intervene a gulf so wide and so impassible. They were partly conquered, it is true, but the subjugated were not of the race of Ham ; on which rested a special curse. RUSSIAN PHASE. 191 It is said that ten thousand Grecian soldiers of Alexander's army, married barbarian wives. Alexander himself married Roxana, the daugh- ter of Oxyartes, a Bactrian prince. And as he was in the country of the Sacse, or Sakai, it is more than likely that her great beauty was of Hebrew origin. It is quite certain that the inhabitants of Bactriana, Sogdiana, and of Scythia, were more or less of Jewish, or Israelitish extract. This intermarrying with the barbarians introduced a closer and a more friendly intercourse. The children of Grecian and Scythic parents would naturally give rise to new thoughts, habits, manners and customs, and as the Grecian was the superior race, they being the conquerors, there would be a desire to make the Greek their popular tongue. From India to the extreme of European Scythia, the Grecian would be the language prin- cipally taught. This would be strictly true with the border families. Still, the traffic between the countries, would carry the Grecian language into the distant north. The interchange of the various metals for the more southern products, would cause a general desire to speak the language of the more refined Grecian. Had this intelligence ceased with Alexander the spread of the Grecian tongue would have been impeded. This, however, did not immediately take place. The spread of the Grecian language through those nations of the north under Alexander's successors was quickened. The four king- doms that grew up out of Alexander's monarchy were very powerful for centuries. The kingdoms of Thrace, Macedon, Syria, and Egypt, held the world under subjugation for centuries. The Grecian tongue continued, therefore, to be popular; so universal was that language that its knowledge became everywhere necessary. In those days Ptolemy Philadelphus (who reigned over 33,339 well- peopled cities) had the Old Testament translated into Greek; a translation which has been called Septuagint, because translated by the labors of seventy different persons. This popularity of the Grecian language con-» tinned down to the birth of Christ. The New Testament was written in Greek, and through that language was carried wherever men could be found ready to hear the Gospel. It is remarkable that the Greek empire should have a latter time of its existence which continued over a thousand years. Was it not con- tinued that its northern frontier, so extended, should give the nomadic tribes, passing westward, an opportunity of hearing and reading the Gos- pel ? Through the Greek church, all the Scythic or Gothic nations were permitted to hear the Gospel. The commission was. Go ye into the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. Though, on the day of Pentecost it was necessary to impart the gift of tongues, yet, when epistles were after- wards sent to the churches, they were written in the Greek language. And as people think in the language they speak, Grecian thought must have been the ruling thought of some fifteen centuries. Who can reflect upon these two great features of those centuries, Grecian blood aud Grecian language, without seeing the divine hand, even in those early days. God was preparing and educating a people for the 192 THE EASTERN QUESTION, great north. To accomplish His purposes He mixes races and languages, that out of this infinite mixture He might form a man and a people in every way adapted to His designs. THE NORTHERN OR RUSSIAN FIELD UNDER THE ROMAN EMPIRE. To complete the imperial cordon westward so as to hold the moving masses, from Central Asia (called Asiatic Scythia) to the grand northwest- ern highway which traced its course around the imperial zone to the west- ern ocean, a fourth empire was required, stronger in its northern defenses than either of the other universal monarchies. The reasons for its superior strength v/ere the rapidly increasing pressure toward the more southern latitudes owing to the increase of popu- lation. The Kimbri from Central Asia had reached the Atlantic coast of Europe nearly one thousand years before Christ. The Scythians, Goths or Germans, pressing on their rear, had advanced to the German Ocean, about seven hundred years B. C, while the Slavic or Sarmatians were in eastern Europe in the rear of the Scythians. Thus northern Europe being in the great emigrant highway was being filled with barbarians wholly unknown to Italy and southern Europe. If these tribal nations had been allowed a home in the south at that early date the plans of Jehovah relative to his people of Israel would have been frustrated. The empires of Britain and Russia, which now rule the south and the north, would not have been. The ten tribes would have missed their far off island, but God, the high ruler of nations, and absolute disposer of diadems, directed His servant, the prophet, to utter national history to his own purposes. Daniel saw a fourth kingdom towards the setting sun, strong as iron, and as furious as a sea monster. The facts of that fourth empire are indis- putable; the reasons of their existence we have stated. The Roman em.pire existed in its national purity for many centuries Csesar Augustus abandoning the idea of universal empire, in his last will, gave it the following limits: " I (Csesar Augustus) bequeath, as a valu- able legacy to my successors, the advice of confining the empire within those limits which nature seemed to have placed as its permanent bulwarks and boundaries : on the west, the Atlantic Ocean ; the Rhine and Danube on the north ; the Euphrates on the east ; and towards the south the sandy deserts of Arabia and Africa." In the course of one hundred and sixty years the successors of Augus- tus violated this will in two points, extending the northern boundary of the empire so as to include the British Isles (except the northern part of Scotland) which they subjugated in forty years, and held four centuries ; and Dacia, conquered by Trajan, after a five years' war. This district was north of the Danube, was thirteen hundred miles in circumference, and was a province of European Scythia, a colony from Sakaisanaic or Asiatic Scythia. These Kimbric and Gothic German or Scythian having seen and tasted the luxuries of the south and fanned by its zephyrs while occupied as RUSSIAN PHASE. 193 Roman slaves and soldiers, it was difficult to restrain their frequent raids into the heart of Italy. Long before the days of Augustus the Kimbrians of the first emigration invaded the Roman empire. In conjunction with the Tutones they first met the Romans in the eastern Alps, B. C. 113. They defeated the Romans in several battles. They were met near Verona Aug. 101 B. C. by Marius and totally defeated. They fought with their shields fastened together by long chains ; their horsemen, of whom they had fifteen thousand, were well armed with helmet, coat of mail, shield, and spear. Marius had so chosen his position that the sun and dust were in their faces, and yet they contested the victory most bravely with the Romans, who were 55,000 strong. When the battle was lost, the women, who remained in the camp formed of the wagons, killed themselves and their children ; 140,000 fell in the battle. The number of prisoners was 60,000. They having their wives and children with them, were very evi- dently designing to make Italy their future home. Sharon Turner gives us a more satisfactory account of the Kimmer- ians, an account which clearly proves that they were fully resolved to find a home in a more southern latitude. As their mother family dwelt in what now forms a part of southern Asiatic Russia, all the light which can be thrown upon their character will aid us to understand more clearly the ■ original elements of Russian character. Mr. Turner thus speaks: "But two intimations have been preserved -to us of the Kimmerians, which probably express the general outline of their history. They are stated to have often made plundering incursions, and they were considered by Posidonius, to whose geographical works Strabo was often indebted, as a predatory and wandering nation. In the century before Caesar they became known to the Romans by the harsher pronunciation of Kimbri, in that formidable irruption from which Marius rescued the Roman state. At this period a great body of them quitted their settlements on the Baltic, and, in conjunction with other tribes, entered the great Hercynian forest, which covered the largest part of ancient Germany. Repulsed by the Boioi, they descended on the Danube. Penetrating into Noricum and lUyricum, they defeated the Roman Consul Narbo; and a few years afterwards, having by their ambassadors to Rome solicited in vain the senate to assign them lands for their habitation, for which they offered to assist the Romans in their wars, they defeated four other consuls in as many successive battles, and entered Gaul. Having ravaged all the country between the Rhone and the Pyrenees, they spread into Spain, with the same spirit of desolation. Repulsed there by the Celtiberi, they returned to Prance ; and joining with the Tutones, who had also wandered from the Baltic, they burst into Italy with a force that had accumulated in every region which they had traversed. Rome was thrown into consternation by their progress, and it required all the talents and skill of Marius, Sylla and the best Roman officers to overthrow them." The great mass of the Kimbric population perished in these conflicts; nearly 250,000 in two battles. The Kimbri here provoked their own de- struction by being the aggressors. The rest of the Kimmerian nation, were 13 194 THE EASTERN QUESTION, scattered and feeble, continuing along the Baltic, and on the northwestern shore of Europe. The Kimbri were the first inhabitants of northern Europe ; spreading over its wilds from the Kimmerian Bosphorus to the Kimbric Chersonesus — from Thrace to Jutland and the German Ocean. This nomadic nation, at some early date, crossed over into the British Isles and were the ancestors of the Welsh, and Britons. " The Cymry of Britain originated from the continental Kimmerians. That a district, in the northern part of England, was inhabited by a part of the ancient British nation, and called Cumbria, whence the present Cumberland, is a fact favorable to this presumption." — S. Turner. The historical triads of the Welsh connect themselves with these sup- positions in a very striking manner. They state that the Cymry were the first inhabitants of Britain, before whose arrival it was occupied by bears and wolves, beavers, and oxen with large protuberances. They add that Hu Cadran, or Hu the Strong or Mighty, led the nation of the Kymry through the Hazy, or German Ocean, into Britain, and to Llyda, or Ar- morica in France ; and that the Kymry came from the eastern parts of Europe, or the regions where Constantinople now stands. Though we would not convert Welsh traditions into history, where they stand alone, it cannot be unreasonable to remember them, when they coincide with classi- cal authorities. In the present case the agreement is striking. The Kim- merians, according to the authorities already stated (Strabo, Claudian), pro- ceeded from the vicinity of the Kimmerian Bosphorus to the German Ocean ; and the Welsh deduce their ancestors, the Cymry, from the regions south of the Bosphorus. The Welsh indeed add the name of their chief- tain, and that a division of the same people settled in Armorica. But if the memory of Lygdamis, who led the Kimmerian emigration to Asia, and of Brennus, who marched with the Kelts against Greece, were preserved in the countries which they overran : so might the name of Hu Carctan, who conducted some part of the western emigrations be remembered in the island which he colonized. That Armorica or Bretagne, was a colony from a race of men similar to those who inhabited Britain is verified by the close re- semblance of the languages of the two countries. The Kymry, Kimmerii and the Kimbri, were of one original stock. They were too much hated, and feared for their manners to be well described. Ephorus said the Kim- merians dwelt in subterraneous habitations, which they called argillas, com- municating by trenches. It is certainly a curious analogy of language, that argel, in the language of the Cymry or British, means a covert, a place covered over. This mode of habitation seems to have been the primitive state of barbaric life. The Troglodytes of Asia are said to have lived in caves ; and Tacitus describes some of the ruder German tribes as dwelling underground. The practice of several animals which burrow in the earth may have suggested the custom ; and it suits that savage state into which even the emigrants from civilized society may lapse among woods and marshes, want and war- fare, if they lose the knowledge of the mechanic arts, or the tools which these require. Ephorus added, that they had an oracle deeper under- RUSSIAN PHASE. 195 ground. The Kimbri swore by a brazen bull, which they carried with them. In battle they appeared with helmets representing fierce beasts gap- ing, or some strange figures; and added a high floating crest to make them look taller. They used white shining shields and iron mail, and either the battle-axe or long and heavy swords. They thought it base to die of a disease, and exulted in a military death, as a glorious and happy end. — S. Turner. The Keltoi, according to the Greeks, were a branch of the Kimmerians. Kimmerian was a generic term. The people had specific names; those that invaded Asia under Lygdamis were called Trerones or Treres. The Romans called them Galli. All classical authors locate the Kelts in the western part of Europe, in France and Spain and emerging into Italy. " The Welsh, the Gaelic, the Irish, the Cornish, the Armoric, the Manks, and the ancient Gaulish tongue, are the related languages, which sprang from the Kimmerian or Keltic stock. The Anglo Saxon, the Fran- cotheotisc, the Mseso-gothic, and the Islandic of former times; and the present German, Suabian, Swiss, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Ork- neyan, English and Lowland Scotch, are ramifications of the great Gothic or Scythian stock. The third genus of European languages, the ancient Sarmatian, or modern Slavonic appears in the present Polish and Russian. Europe has therefore been peopled from Asia ; principally from central Asia, which is now in Asiatic Russia, from the Iranian and Turanian centres. These v^ere the great parent hives which sent so many swarms into the European wilds ; which in after years, swarmed again into the Roman empire. We have extended our remarks on the European history of the first or Kimmerian emigration, because their Asiatic history as that people grew and spread over what is now Asiatic Russia, is unwritten. Their ancestors are there ; and they form an important element of Russian character. The Scythians we have examined in their Asiatic homes. Their European character will come up when we examine the Russian dynasties. It will be our purpose to examine their further efforts, to break through the northern cordon of that empire, and find homes in its sunny south. These raids will be noticed, only so far as they develop the character of these tribes. The Kimmerian and Gothic, German or Scythian tribal nations made so many raids into the Roman empire during the thirteen centuries of its existence, that we shall be obliged to confine our historic narration to those that develop more or less the elements of Russia and the exceedingly com- plex nature of Russian character. In the reign of Marcus Antoninus, all the German tribes with the Sar- matians, from the mouth of the Rhine to that of the Danube, confederated against the Roman empire. Their aim was for plunder and for the wines of the south. The constant effort of the inhabitants of the German and Sarmatian wilds was to find a more southern home, though the hot climate deprived them of health, as well as of physical and mental power. God had evidently another purpose in allowing these northern barbarians to in- vade the Roman empire. There was to be born a new race, a race fitly 196 THE EASTERN QUESTION, symbolized by a mixture of iron and clay, the Roman iron with the Ger- man clay. No permanent removal of the German clay deposits no cleav- ing, but simply an admixture, giving strength of iron to the northern clay. The mighty empires of the " north " and the " south," were to have their seats far in the north of the old imperial zone, yet they were to utilize all of the religion, laws, manners, customs, and improvements of the Greeks and Romans that would aid in the formation of northern civiliza- tion, so vastly superior to that of the more southern kingdoms. Marcus Antoninus marched against this northern confederacy with the forces of his empire; and after several severe battles the spirit of the bar- barians gave way and their confederacy was dissolved. The flower of the German youth were sent into Britain, then a Roman province, where they were made servants, hostages, and soldiers. Some were carried south and mingled, as servants of the Roman nobility. Thus were the hardy Ger- mans taught in the Roman seminaries. One thing is worthy of note, that although the Roman empire was finally subdued by the northern bar- barians, their seats of empire were not allowed to go south. In the year 800, Charlemagne was crowned emperor of the Romans. Since that date, Germany under its Austrian and Prussian dynasties, has been denom- inated, " The Holy Roman Empire." The second great eruption of the barbarians into the Roman empire, was in the reign of Decius. This was under the name and control of the Goths. They were of the Indo-Tutonic, Scythian family, and identical with the Getse or European Scythians. They were so powerful as to give their name to the second great Asiatic emigration. The eruption which we are about to describe commenced about A. D. 250. This was the second migration of the Goths from the Baltic to the Euxine, The causes of this second migration is unknown except to the leaders of the movement. They were ever prone to a more southern latitude. Gibbon says, " Either a pestilence or a famine, a victory or a defeat, an oracle of the gods or the eloquence of a daring leader were sufficient to impel the Gothic arms on the milder climates of the south." The fame of this movement excited the bravest warriors from all the Vandal tribes of Germany, many of whom are seen a few years afterwards fighting under the common standard of the Goths. The Vandals were a branch of the Gothic family. The first for-; ward movement of the emigrants carried them to the Pry pec, a branch of the Borysthenes, (Dnieper), which heads near the sources of the Vistula; the Vistula flowing n. n. w. into the Baltic Sea, while the Borysthenes run- ning s. e. discharges its waters into the Euxine or Black Sea. With these hardy warriors of the north, were all their wealth, their families and their herds of cattle. Through this vast wilderness was found rich pasturage. New tribes, as they advanced, cast their destinies into this vast emi- grant train, which soon numbered its 70,000 warriors. The Venedi first joined them on the waters of the Borysthenes, then the Bastarnae north of the Carpathian mountains. The Venedi were a branch of the Scythian or German family; though by some authors, they were numbered with the Sarmatians. But, as Gibbon says, ''The confusion of blood and manners RUSSIAN PHASE. 197 on that doubtful frontier often perplexed the most accurate observers." Approaching the Euxine this emigrant army was joined in part by the purer Sarmatian families, the Jazyges, the Alani (Caucasian Tartar) and the Roxolani. In this emigrant family were joined two distinct people, belonging to the second and third emigrations which originally came from what we now call Asiatic Russia. These were the Scythians, Germans, or Goths, and the Sarmatians or as they are now denominated the Slavonians. These noted branches of the human family were distinguished by their dwellings, the fixed huts or movable tents, the close dress or flowing garments, by the marriage of one or of several wives, by a military force of infantry or cavalry; or perhaps most of all by the use of the Tutonic, or the Slavonian language. These languages were spoken by various tribes from the British Isles to the vicinity of Japan. Passing the Scythian ter- ritories as without any special attractions, they broke the imperial cordon ; entered Dacia, and faced the Roman emperor Decius. The Romans were finally defeated, and Decius and his son were slain. Numerous other German tribes followed, who brought the empire into a state of most alarming weakness. These conflicts we shall pass without any special notice since they do not particulary concern the elementary development of the Russian empire. The points of special interest in this southern raid are (1) the temporary confederation of the Tuton and the Slavonian with so many features utterly dissimilar; especially in lan- guage, (2) in habits of thought, and modes of living. The desire of plun- der, was their only bond of union. 3. It was, however, to them a school highly necessary to fit them for the exalted positions in their future north- ern nationalities. They were learning to cultivate the soil, and in a word, to make nature tributary to their wants in a much higher sphere. They robbed the Roman hive of its treasures to supply their own in the distant future. From the reign of Decius onward till the fall of the western or Latin empire the German nations were in conflict with the Latin and Greek di- visions of the fourth monarchy, they learned the Roman discipline, and mode of warfare, till they, by their superior physical powers became the first warriors of Europe. During the third, fourth, and fifth centuries and onward, the tribes of Goths and Sarmatians made frequent attacks upon the Greek empire. Those tribes, therefore, were disciplined in a military school, similar to that of the west. All those tribes, that dwell in what now constitutes European Russia were thus taught in the Grecian military academy. Among these the Alani and the Roxolani ranked among the most powerful. The Roxolani dwelt far to the north, and were the fathers of the Pcos-Ros, the Russians, whose residence (A. D. 862) about Novgorod Veliki cannot be very remote from that which the Geographer of Ravenna assigns to the Roxolani, (A. D. 886). We have now described the tribes which, emigrating from the Baltic as Goths or German emigrants, along the Vistula and down the Dnieper, (Borysthenes) were joined by the Alani and the Roxolani, and broke into 198 THE EASTERN QUESTION, the Roman empire. We have also sketched events connected with the rise of the Russian empire. Elements which enter largely into Russian character, originating in eastern Asia, and which belong to the period of the Roman empire, should now claim our attention. We have aimed to follow the synthetical pro- cess : 1. To examine the original tribes of which the Russian empire is com- posed ; (2) to view the elements that are used in constructing the empire itself; — its separate, then its united tribal nationalities; or the Russian empire synthetically, and analytically. Without viewing the empire in its elementary parts, and as a whole, the character of that great power of the north will be very imperfectly understood. The Russian empire is the union of one hundred tribal nations, speaking forty languages. These tribal nations we have been describing in their progressive history; and we shall continue on their pathway till the Russian himself, the new man, in whose veins flows the blood of all races, steps upon the theatre of human action. We have been describing tribes whose acts were aimed principally against the imperial zone, occupied by the empires of Greece and Roine. These tribes originated in Asia ; principally in what is now known as Siberia or Asiatic Russia. We have described the Scythians, both in Asia, and in Europe, and have traced them to southwestern Asia, and noticed them in their various subsequent abodes, till some wandering tribes took up their dwelling places in the far-off island, of the west. We have noticed their ceaseless efforts to find southern homes, within the imperial cordon ; but were held, in their national settlements, to the emigrant line, a few small nations only, forming in the northern part of Italy. The term, Scythian, means wanderer, a nomad ; and is therefore generic. Such were all the inhabitants of northern Asia. The first tenants of this great northern field were Scyths or nomads. They were shepherds, herdsmen, and hunters. The immense plains of Scythia (and under this head we here include the whole country to the Arctic Seas) were covered with a grass that sustained immense flocks and herds, as well as wild horses. Asia as well as Arabia, was the native country of the horse. The inhabi- tants, it is said, lived, moved and had their being on the backs of these useful animals. On these they had their hunts, and pursued the chase. They hunted the hare, the roebuck, the fallow-deer, the stag, the elk, and the antelope. "But the exploits of the hunters of Scythia are not con- fined to the destruction of timid or innoxious beasts; they boldly en- counter the angry wild boar, when he turns against his pursuers, excite the sluggish courage of the bear, and provoke the fury of the tiger as he slum- bers in the thicket. Where there is danger, there may be glory; and the mode of hunting, which opens the fairest field to the exertions of valor ; may justly be considered as the image of and as the school of war." The Scythians remained in one district only as long as the grass afforded sufficient to sustain their flocks and herds. When that was con- sumed, they changed their locality. Their camp-ground was their coun. try ; their families their community. Those families increasing, formed EUSSIAN PHASE. 199 tribes, the mere temporary union of several tribes constituted a nation. Personal liberty is the tap-root of Scythian or nomadic life. Their occupa- tion made them wanderers. These northern Scythians in their progress formed a war-camp, as well as one of peace. Their flocks and herds sup- plied them with food and clothing. They were fond also of horse flesh, and they also consumed the flesh of those animals that died of disease. These Scythians were from their mode of life, flesh-eaters, and milk- drinkers. It is often asked whether our food has the power to shape character? Does animal food impart the traits of character of the animals consumed? Are flesh eaters more savage than those that subsist on vegetable food? Among the lower animals the carnivora are more cruel and blood-thirsty than those of the graminivora. Those that subsist on flesh are less careful of taking life. The nomads of high northern latitudes are forced to this mode of life. Those tribes that inhabit central Africa, that live on fruits and vegetables, are savages notwithstanding their food. We have seen that the term Scythian is used generically and specifi- cally. Generically it means a wanderer, and in that sense includes all the families of the Nomadic zone. Specifically there were two Scythias. We shall briefly review some of the chief nomadic tribes which are combined, as original elements in the modern Russian, of the 100 tribal nations com- bined in the Russian empire. We shall notice only a few of the principal, leaving the reader to carry out the subject as his time may allow. (1) Of the Scythians we have written at considerable length. (2) Another noted family were the Tartars, or Tatars, a Mongolian race of east- ern and middle Asia. They included all the Mongolian tribe conquered by Genghis Khan. They belonged to the Turanian family as to language. Some authors have called the Tartars Scythians. As to mode of life (be- ing wanderers) they were Scythians, but, as a family, they were distinct. They form a very distinct element of Russian character, since the Russians were conquered by, and held in subjection by the Tartars of Kiptchak, whose hordes overspread the southern and eastern provinces, and the plains between the Caspian and the Volga. This subjugation continued two and one-half centuries. During such a protracted period, Russian and Tartar blood must have been very intimately blended. (3) The Sarmatians were another powerful family which contributed its elements to develop the Russian. This term is generic, including about thirty families. Dr. Latham makes the term ethnological, since it designated Slavic races, par- ticularly the northeastern portion of the great Slavic family. In this family were found commingling the blood of Esthonians, Lithuanians, the Peucini, the Bastarnse, the Jazyges, Roxolani, the Venedi, the Gythones and Avareni in Europe; and the Perierbidi, the Jaxamatse, the Asoei, the "horse-eating" (Hippophagi) Sarmatae, the ''Royal" and Hyperborean Sarmatse, and many others, besides a multitude of nations in the region of the northern Caucasus. (4) Slaves or Slavonians, from Slowo, speaking, as distinguished from other nations, whom they called niemetz, or " mutes." This term is generic, as it is the name of a group of nations belonging to 200 THE EASTERN QUESTION, the Aryan family whose tribal settlements extended from the Elbe to Kamt- chatka, and from the Frozen Sea to Ragusa on the Adriatic, the whole of eastern Europe being almost exclusively occupied by them. Their original names were Wends (Venedi) and Serbs. The latter name is applied to the whole Slavic race. Thfe earliest historical notices place the Slaves about the Carpathians, from which, as a centre, they radiated towards the four winds of heaven. They were afterwards divided into groups — the southeastern and the western; the first includes (1) Russians; (2) Bulgarians; (3) Illyrians (Serbs, Croats and Winds) ; the second, (1) Lechs (Poles, Siles- ians, Pomeranians); (2) Czechs or Bohemians, Czechs, Moravians, Slovaks; (3) Polabians, (who never became a nation) comprising the Slavic tribes of north Germany, now disappearing before the Tutonic population. Many of these have recently been incorporated with Turkey, Austria, Prussia and Saxony, the Slavonian population is estimated at upwards of 80,000,000. (5) Huns. This family came originally from Asia, dwelling in a dis- trict to the north of the great wall of China. About B. C. 200, they over- ran the Chinese empire, drove the emperor to an ignominious capitulation and treaty. After many years, the Huns were much broken, and finally divided into two camps, one going west and northwest in search of new homes ; of those that went northwest a large number established them- selves for a while on the banks of the Volga. Crossing this river, they en- tered the territories of the Alani, a pastoral people dwelling between the Volga and the Don. The Alani, who had long dwelt in these plains, re- sisted the incursions of the Huns with much bravery and some effect, until at length a bloody and decisive battle was fought on the banks of the Don, in which the Alan king was slain, and his army utterly routed ; a vast majority of the survivors joined the invaders. For further notice of the Huns, see other parts of the work. (6) Mongolians. Under this name is numbered one-half of the hu- man family. It is denominated, in color, the yellow race. The name is generic, and is now called the Turanic family, including Chinese, Indo- Chinese, Thibetans, Tartars of all kinds, Burmese, Siamese, Japanese, Esquimaux, Samoides, Finns, Lapps, Turks, and even Magyars. " Collective- ly, they are the great nomadic people of the earth, as distinguished from the Aryans, Semites and Hamites ; and are the same who, in remote an- tiquity, founded what is called the ' Median empire,' in lower Chaldea, an empire, according to Rawlinson, that flourished and fell between about 2458 and 2234 B. C; That is before Nineveh became known as a great city. Thus early did some of these nomadic tribes forsake their early mode of life. The Chinese empire is another early (2000 B. C.) and powerful branch of this family." In Greek history they were known as Scythians ; in Ro- man history they were called Huns. In the middle ages they appear as Monguls, Tartars, and Turks. Their empire (A. D. 1240-1) extended from China to Germany. In the 9th century, the Magyars, a tribe of Ugrians, also of Mongol extraction, under their leader Arpad, established themselves in Hungary, where, in process of time, they became converted to Chris- tianity and founded a kingdom famous in European history. RUSSIAN PHASE. 201 (7) Turks. The Turks originated in eastern Asia; and, though the great body of that family moved towards the south and west, forming what is now called the Ottoman family, still other parts remained in the no- madic zone and helped to form the Russian character. (8) Alani, these we have already described ; also, their conquests by the Huns, and their union with that family. (9) Roxolani was one of the most northern tribes that became an element of the Russian empire. No special notice is required. (10) Mag- yars. These have also passed under review. (11) Poles. Poland was once a powerful kingdom, but its territory and its people are intergral parts, prin- cipally of the Russian empire. The original people were a mixture of races out of Asia. (12) Livonians; (13) The Esthonians; (14) The Og- rians; (15) The Finns; (16) The Lapps; (17) The Scandinavians; (18) The Dacians; (19) The Get« ; (20) The Thracians, and (21) Igours, are lesser families whose tribal blood flows in the veins of the modern Russian. These might deserve special notice. The chief of these families have come under review in other parts of the work. It is not required that we give any special ethnological sketch of them by families. The point that is of special interest is the infinite variety of elements combined in the Russian. The European Huns to-day are quite unlike the Huns that, about three centuries before the Christian era, overthrew the Chinese empire. The Hun- garians or Magyars, have been so mingled with Turkish and Slavonian (Russian) blood as to deface the ancient, or Kalmuck Tartar features; so distinct in Attila, and his army of Huns. Some historians contend that the Huns and Finns are of the same original stock. In Gibbon, H. H. Milman has the following note : " Were the Huns Finns ? (It should be, Were the Finns Huns ? — ^W.) This obscure question has not been debated very recently, and is yet very far from being decided. We are of opinion that it will be so hereafter in the same manner as that with regard to the Scythians. We shall trace in the portrait of Attilla a dominant tribe of Mongols, or Kalmucks, with all the hereditary ugliness of that race; but in the mass of the Hunnish army and nation will be recognized the Chuni and the Ounni of the Greek geography, the Huns of the Hungarians, the European Huns, and a race in close relationship with the Finnish stock. Whoever has seen the emperor of Austria's Hungarian guard, will not readily admit their descent from the Huns described by Sidonius." We must keep in mind that Europe was peopled from Asia. The Huns from their original seats north of the Chinese wall spread rapidly, towards the four winds. " Their rustic chiefs, who assumed the appellation of Tanjou, gradually became the conquerers, and sovereigns, of a formidable empire." — Gibbon. One of the commanders of the Tanjou, in one expedition, conquered twenty-six nations. The Igours, distinguished above the race of Tartars by the use of letters, were numbered among his vassals. Their dominion spread over China and Siberia. B. C. 244. The Chinese wall, 25 feet high and 1,500 miles long, was built to protect China against the Huns. It was, however, a failure, and China was obliged to submit to a Hunnish Tanjou. During 202 THE EASTERN QUESTION, this subjugation a new race sprang up, a mixture of Huns and Chinese. China was again conquered by the Mongols. The empire of the Hunnish Tanjous continued from B. C. 1200 to A. D. 100—1300 years. The revival of Chinese power dissolved this ancient empire of the Huns. " The Sienpi, a tribe of Oriental Tartars, retaliated the injuries which they had formerly sustained; and the power of the Tanjous, after a reign of thirteen hundred years, was utterly destroyed before the end of the first century of the Chris- tian era." — Gibbon. One hundred thousand of the poorest, renouncing their name and origin, mingled with the Sienpi. Two hundred thousand settled towards the south- east under the protection of China. The most powerful tribes turned their faces towards the great West. Two great divisions moved towards the Euro- pean world, the one towards the Oxus ; the other in the direction of the Volga. The division that moved toward the southwest, entered a warmer climate, and, mixing with other people, changed in their features and com- plexion. For this reason, and from their changes in modes of living, they were called white Huns. The more northern division, which moved towards the Volga, mixed more or less with, tribes still nearer the brutes, and became still more savage. They took the name of black Huns. They spread through the Siberian wilds and through European Sarmatia. It was about three and one-half centuries that they continued lost to China, and unknown to the Roman world. During those three hundred and fifty years they v>^ere on what is now Russian territory, forming con- nexions and mixing their blood with the native tribes. The Sienpi, who extended 3,000 miles east and west, were still crowding them towards the land of the Goths. Under Attila, Hunnic and Gothic bloods were mingled. That the Huns form a very important element in Russian character will not, for a moment be questioned. 21. — Hebrews. That the Russian has flowing in his veins the blood of the Hebrew race is qnite certain. The Hebrews, in their wide and pro- tracted dispersions, have wandered over Russia, especially Judah (the Jews). This is a matter of history. But as their wanderings will come under another head, we deem it not necessary to make, in this place, any further remarks. 22. — Cossacks. The Cossacks, forming a present element of Russian character, will, at present, be noted only as to their origin. Who were Cos- sacks ? This is a question, not readily answered ; or why called by that name, is a problem not easily solved. Their name has been derived from words meaning, in radically distinct languages, " an armed man, a saber, a rover, a goat, a promontory, a coat, a cassock, and a district in Circassia." Some call them Tartars ; others consider them of Russian stock. " The most probable view is, that they are a people of very mixed origin." Others call them a triple mixture of Slavonian, Tartar and Circassian. They are superior to the Russians, in intelligence, cleanliness, refinement, and enter- terprise; — civilized, very gallant, and sober people. RUSSIAN PHASE. 203 As to their origin and name, another solution is given which will be examined under the " Jewish Phase of the Eastern Question." 23. — Samoyedes. These tribes are scattered over the extreme north of Europe and Asia. Their dwellings are under ground. " In that dreary- climate, the smoke that issues from the earth, or rather from the snow, be- trays the subterraneous dwellings of the Tongouses, and Samoyedes; the want of oxen and horses, is imperfectly supplied by the use of reindeer, and of large dogs ; and the conquerors of the earth insensibly degenerate into a race of deformed and diminutive savages, who tremble at the sound of arms." — Gibbon. They once occupied all of east Siberian Russia, but the Mongolians have mingled with them. They have resisted civilization and Christianity, and live by fishing and the rearing of reindeer. We have now completed our sketch of some of those tribal nations that occupied the great northern field, or what is now the Russian territory in Asia and Europe. These tribes were known only as they pressed upon or broke through the northern imperial cordon of the Greeks and Romans. They seemed at times, to come as swarms from the snows and tempests of the extreme north; but they were forced into those high latitudes by being obliged to pass north of the Black sea, and towards the sources of the large rivers, such as the Volga, the Don and Dnieper. Some of the more powerful nations emigrated westward along the cordon itself, and entered Europe through the southern pass; first appearing in Thrace, having crossed the Thracian Bosphorus. The Kimmerian, and Scythian, Gothic, or German emigrations took place some time before the rise of the Roman empire. These tribes were held to the more northern latitudes, by the Babylonian, by the Medo-Per- sian, and, later, by the Greco-Macedonian empires. It was evidently de- signed by Jehovah, in His national arrangements, to have all the earth peopled ; and by families adapted to the several fields they were to occupy. Such were the allurements of the zone, occupied, and to be occupied, by the four great monarchies, that were to scatter Israel and Judah, that a very strong imperial cordon had to be extended north of the empires, and west- ward, as these northern shepherds moved west, till it was finally terminated by the Western ocean. The four empires, occupying the fertile lands and mild climates east, and north of the Mediterranean sea, became so powerful, by commerce, arts, and sciences, as to be able to hold the northern she-oherd nations to their ancient fields. Here lay the emigrant route between the two great Asiatic nives east of the Caspian sea, and southeastern, eastern, and northwestern Europe. This great high- way, at times, was more or less obstructed by the imperial armies; yet the bravery of the northern shepherds soon cleared the passage, and emigration flowed westward in its usual channels, but little friendly inter- course existed between the northern shepherds and the civilized empires. During the fifteen hundred years of the duration of the Gentile mon- archies, the globe, as to its population, had three zones, the northern, the middle, and the southern ; the northern zone, including northern Asia and the northern and middle Europe; the middle zone was occupied by the three 204 THE EASTERN QUESTION, monarchies north and east of the Mediterranean sea; the south included northern Africa. From 612 to the birth of the Russian, two vast empires arose, the Mohammedan empire in Arabia; and the Turkish empire, from Turan, or Turkistan, in the northern zone. With the northern and middle zones, our present subject requires us more particularly to speak. The ten- ants of this great northern or shepherd zone, from their origin to the birth of the Russian, in the 9th century, belong to the introductory period of the Russian empire. As the great pyramid of Cheops, at Ghizeh, had its quarry- ing period, its transportation period, its dressing and fitting period; and its construction period ; through such preparatory work did the great northern empire pass, to reach its present immense proportions. Its materials were quarried in eastern Asia; transported to northeastern Europe; there dressed and fitted ; and, in process of time, erected into a political, social, and ecclesi- astical structure that fills and rules the nomadic north. We have called the readers' attention to the quarrying process, as it continued through ages ; have followed the lines of transportation to the site of the buildings, and have noted the work of dressing and fitting in its outline features, preparatory to the final construction of this immense' edifice. It is truly interesting to trace the origin and growth of simple nations, A single couple increasing to a numerous family, under the control of one head, this family increasing into several families, each family increasing as the first till a nation is formed, speaking the same language, having the same religion, manners and customs, and acknowledging one supreme ruler. But whenever any territory gives birth to a family that, by its superiority of brain and muscle, is able to combine, hold together, and govern several of such national families, our admiration is awakened ; but we look with amazement at the power of that brain that can combine, hold, and govern one hundred of such tribal nations, speaking, at least, forty difierent lan- guages. We very reasonably look for some higher power than human intellect. And, having become satisfied of the management of an overruling. Almighty power, we look for some key to unlock the secret chambers of that mind that never acts without some motive. We have been tracing the origin, and peculiarities of the original ele- ments, that, combined, form the Russian empire. We have been tracing these elements under a great variety of names, Scythians, Tartars, Sarma- tians, Slavonians, Huns, Mongolians, Turks, with the lesser divisions under the names of Alani, Roxolani, Magyars, Poles, Livonians, Esthonians, Ogrians, Finns, Lapps, Scandinavians, Dacians, Getse, Thracians, Igours, Jews, Cossacks, and Samoyedes. Each of these families are generic, con- taining many specific families : so that the number is readily increased to more than one hundred. The combination of all these tribal nations into one empire governed by the energies of one brain is, in itself, a transcendent miracle. That people speaking so many languages, of so many original families, Shemitic, Japhetic, and Hamitic, should be under the control, supreme, of one mortal brain, is truly wonderful. . RUSSIAN PHASE. 205 The northern zone, or Russian field, during those preparatory ages, of which we have been writing, seemed to afford suitable pastoral and hunt- ing grounds for the Scythian, or nomadic element of all tribes and nation- alties. It might, therefore, be called the nomadic zone. It was a world within itself; a zone, numbering eight million square miles. Its vast plains and valleys containing excellent pasturage for their immense flocks and herds, as well as hunting grounds for the numerous wild beasts of those high northern latitudes. Their rivers and lakes abounded in excel- lent varieties of fish, while the heavens yielded a supply of her active occupants. Thus furnished by nature, with a simple competency, their domestic cares were few, and usually very readily supplied. They dwelt in tents ; were, much of their wakeful moments, in the open air, attending to their flocks and herds ; or on their fleet horses pur- suing the chase. Those vast plains were the home of that noble animal equally with Arabia. The free Scythian was an equestrian of the first class, constant practice has seated the Scythians so firmly on horseback that they were supposed by strangers to perform the ordinary duties of civil life, to eat, to drink, and even to sleep, without dismounting from their steeds. They are skilful with the lance ; handle with great power the long Tartar bow ; and they discharge their weighty arrows with unerring aim and irresistible force against the harmless' animals of the desert; the hare, the goat, the roebuck, the fallow-deer, the stag, the elk, and the antelope. But the Scythian hunters boldly attack the furious wild boar, excite the sluggish courage of the bear, and provoke the anger of the tiger, slumbering in the thicket. These dangerous hunts are their military schools. They also have their hunting matches. A circular area, many miles in diameter, containing all the wild animals of said district, is sur- rounded by the cavalry of hunters. These mounted hunters move in right lines towards the area's centre. They are not allowed to deviate to the right nor to the left; consequently, are obliged to climb hills, and swim rivers. This war with wild beasts fits them to war with man. How remarkably dissimilar was this nomadic life of the Scythian zone from that of the middle, or imperial zone. In southern Asia and Europe, the proud seats of the four Gentile monarchies, he grew up into quite an- other being. His living, material, and mode of life developed a race with new thoughts, and new desires. The one man we call a savage, the other is termed a man of knowledge, of civilization and refinement. The former is simply a child of nature, without any teacher, but the wilds of nature; the other a pupil of the wise of his own species. Which school is pro- ductive of the more favorable results? the school of nature, or that of art? This problem is variously solved. Each has its peculiar advantages, and its fatal consequences. It will be readily admitted that their moral and intellectual attainments, without any supernatural instructions, are very unequally developed. As to knowledge, between Solon and Attila, the savage Hun, there was an impassable gulf; yet physically, the Hun was superior to the Greek; in other qualities and attributes, he did not seem to belong to the same race of beings. What advantage, then, had the im- 206 THE EASTERN QUESTION, perial zone over the nomadic? Let us compare them, that we may learn wherein lies the superiority ; for, in every community, we have the settled and the nomadic element, or what, by the Greeks, would be called " The civilized, and the savage." Man was born in the middle zone. His great achievements, in the ancient and middle ages, were principally confined to that belt. On this territory his empires were erected. Here was God's visible temple located ; His revelations given; His worship established; His Son manifested in the flesh. Here He taught ; healed the sick ; fed the hungry ; raised the dead ; sufiered ; died ; arose ; ascended. To this zone the church was prin- cipally confined during the Roman and latter Greek empires. It is equally true that literature and science ; and what may be termed the arts of civilization and refinement principally took root and flourished in this soil ; but the chief cause of the vast superiority is not made sufficiently prominent — the Divine Revelations. The word of God, that bread of life is essential to man's perfect development. That food is adapted to the healthy growth of every element of his nature. It is the golden chain that connects man with the Deity, Jesus said, I am that Bread of Life. His word is the balm of Gilead, His radiant emanations ; the fountain of living waters. What constituted the difierence between Zingis Khan, (Temujin), Solon, and the Hebrew Solomon ? Which occupied the front rank of human development ? Temujin was a Mongolian, who com- menced his career of conquest at the age of 13 years. In a few years Mon- golia was conquered ; then, passing the Chinese wall, he humbled China ; afterward he marched westward, with 100,000 horse. Genghis Khan (Khan of Khans — King of Kings) rushed, like an irresistible torrent, upon the empire Kharism, whose ruler, Ala-ed-din Mohammed, was, at that time, one of the chief monarchs of Asia. The whole of the southern part of the Scythian zone was devastated; and this great Mongol emperor, who could neither read nor write, became monarch of the pastoral zone, the lord of many millions of shepherds and soldiers, who felt their united strength, and were impatient to rush on the mild and wealthy climates of the south. After reaching the bank of the Indus, he returned with the spoils of Asia. " In the course of his sanguinary career, Genghis is said to have de- stroyed, by wars and massacres, no fewer than five or six millions of human beings. His conquests were generally accompanied with acts of appalling barbarity, yet we seem to trace through the dreadful history of the man some indications of a civilizing tendency." He believed in one God ; he tolerated the worship of all gods. Physicians and priests were exempted from taxation, and military service; used hospitality; pun- ished with great severity, adultery, fornication, theft, and homicide; estab- lished a postal system so perfect, that one could travel through his vast dominions (3,600 miles) without fear of molestation. This man was what the Greeks and Romans would call an untutored barbarian, as were all these northern shepherds in the eyes of the citizens of the imperial zone. Wherein could the inferiority of this nomadic prince be detected? Simply in his want of the knowledge of letters and books. As to book learning RUSSIAN PHASE. 207 he had none, since he could neither read nor write. In ordinary parlance, he would be called an uneducated savage. But, is it true that Genghis was uneducated ? Education, in its literal, primary meaning, signifies the leading out, or developing, of our natural attributes, generally divided into three classes, physical, intellectual, and moral. To develop the brain, and the body, is all that any system of education has the power to accomplish. Let us now analyze the instructions of this great nomadic prince, G-enghis Khan, — king of kings. No one can question the completeness, and efficiency of his physical education. His whole life was occupied in such exercises as tend to develop, train, and strengthen the corporeal members ; vastly superior in its results, to the most perfect system of drill in our first class military academies. His physical system of hygiene was well adapted to a full and healthy development of his body. What was his mental hygiene ? as to his intellect, and morals ? His hygienic system of the brain ? What mental attribute, as far as intellectual faculties are concerned, did not this Mongolian chief educate ? His occupation, the con- quest of so many tribes and nations, and their government, kept in active operation every mental faculty. His education was acquired, principally, in the saddle, at the head of immense armies. His moral training, how- ever, was such as to entitle him to the name of human tiger. His moral attributes were drawn out and totally perverted. The analysis of Solon's education, gives us to anticipate quite difierent results. It is necessary that we should consult brevity in sketching Solon's life, since it is read and known by all the intelligent. His physical educa- tion was thorough, for its kind ; being in-door, and in a crowded city. It was, of necessity, inferior to that of the Mongolian ; the latter being an open-air development. Their food and clothing were unlike ; Mongolian and Grecian exercises were exceedingly dissimilar; the one was a Mon- golian nomadic warrior; the other, one of the seven wise men of Greece. Their intellects, however, were educated under widely different circum- stances ; the one obtained much of his education from books ; the other from nature, and observation. The mind of the Grecian archon developed power from the experience of others. The Mongolian emperor, from his own experience. Both were legislators. The system of each was well adapted to the difierences of time, localities, and people. Solon's code for the Athenians was not superior in its workings to the postal system for the Mongolian empire. Their moral training suited their varied circumstances. They were both alike ignorant of the true God. Genghis Khan, in his birth, professed a divine incarnation; worshiped after the religion of Mo- hammed, and of the Grand Lama. He established by his laws a system of pure theism and perfect toleration. His first and only article of faith was the existence of one God, the author of all good; who fills by His presence, the heavens and earth, which He has created by His power. Solon was a devout worshiper of the heathen Gods; whose altars Paul saw, in his visit to Athens ; who thus speaks : " Men of Athens, I per- ceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and be- held your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, To the Un- 208 THE EASTERN QUESTION, KNOWN God, whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, Him I declare nnto you." Acts xvii. 22, 23. "■ Paul's spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry," vs. 16. Solon, with all his Grecian wis- dom and refinement, was an idolater; showing that the v/orld by wisdom knew not God. The Mongolian had the advantage in theory ; the Grecian in his moral life. Neither partook of that divine power that assimilates the moral at- tributes of our nature to those of Him who is not only the fountain of all intelligence, but the source of all holiness and purity. We, by no means undervalue human learning, but that system of human intelligence, that ignores the science of divine life, leaves man undeveloped as to his higher nature. The bread of life makes the man. To partake of the higher nature, we must " See it as it is." We must associate with the Messiah through His word ; be conformed to His revealed image, in order to be made like Him. The third person in our comparison is the Hebrew Solomon. His his- tory is familiar to all Bible readers. We simply compare his education with that of the Mongolian and the Grecian. As to physical development there was nothing peculiar. He was not a nomad. His life was rather sedentary than active. As to his physical. training he had no advantage over the Greek or the Scythian. His habits were rather calculated to weaken his physical constitution. In his latter years his practices were those of the Babylonian and Persian monarchs. The Mongolian had five hundred wives; Solomon, seven hundred "princesses," and three hundred " concubines " — " the greatest part of whom were recruited from nations with whom an alliance had been strictly prohibited." As to Solomon's in- tellectual education, he had a decided advantage over even the Grecian Solon. When about to succeed his father David to his vacant throne, Solomon went to Gibeon, to one of the great high places; where he offered a thousand burnt ofierings upon that altar. 1 Kin. iii. 4. '' In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a drea^i by night : and God said. Ask what I shall give thee. Give Thy servant an understanding heart to judge Thy people, that I may discern between good and bad ; for who is able to judge Thy so great a people? And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. And God said unto him. Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies ; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment ; Behold, I have done according to thy words : lo, I have given thee a wise and understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches and honor: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days." 1 Kin. iii. 5, 9-13. And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that (is) on the sea shore. And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east, and RUSSIAN PHASE. 209 all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all men ; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol : and his fame was in all nations round about. And he spake three thousand prov- erbs: and his songs were a thousand and five. And he spake of trees from the cedar tree that (is) in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall : he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes. And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solo- mon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom." 1 Kin. iv. 29-34. Jesus said, "The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it : for she came from the utter- most parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon ; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here." Matt. xii. 42. God appointed Solomon the visible ruler of his people ; and therefore, proportioned his wisdom to his charge. As the governor of God's chosen people, Solomon, in his day, had no equal among the monarchs of the earth. While he remained humble and faithful to his charge, he was abundantly prospered ; but, his wealth, and his politi-cal elevation, developed the baser elements of his nature. His moral education, at first, healthily developed in the schools of the prophets, was afterwards perverted in the school of his wives and concubines, till Solomon stood forth as the chief of sensualists. Who can read the inspired records of Solomon and Jesus, without feeling the force of Jesus' words relative to Himself: A greater than Solomon is here. The life of Christ was somewhat nomadic. In His early years. He was an active carpenter, continuing in that occupation from the age of 13 to 30. Entering upon His mission as " the great prophet, like unto Moses," He went about doing good. He taught ; He fed ; He healed the sick ; He raised the dead; constant in His journeyings, prayers, and labors. Every word breathed divine benevolence; every journey was a mission of love; every deed was a golden chain connecting man with the great life Giver, drawing him onward toward the divine fountain. He was, in form, a man ; yet, when necessary, His physical power was above the raging tempest : ''Mighty in word and deed." The dead heard His voice, and came forth. The sea lost its anger in His presence. He was educated, not by man, but by His Father in heaven. The school of Christ is, therefore, adapted to the perfect development of every attribute of our nature. Nomadic life is not properly understood; and, consequently, its mission not sufficiently appreciated. Those following such a life, are regarded by those dwelling in fixed habitations, as barbarous. God evidently intended that every country should be inhabited in the ratio of its natural resources; and as that tenantry was to proceed from the three sons of Noah a nomadic element was equally necessary as the fixed. By one the earth was to be colonized : by the other, cultivated, and its re- sources developed. The Scythian, or nomadic population, has always been the world's pioneers. As the first colonies, who were such when they left 14 210 THE EASTERN QUESTION, their mother country, their offspring, containing the two classes, the no- madic element would soon increase to a number sufficient to constitute the nucleus of a new colony. This colony, leaving the mother hive, swarmed into some new district. By this endless progression the earth has been peopled. It is true, however, that maritime countries have been usually settled by a class of what may be termed commercial nomads. Assuming, therefore, the correctness of the Bible record, interpreted in its natural, grammatical sense, that all the human family sprang from one center, we have shown the necessity of the nomadic and fixed elements, in order to occupy, cultivate and develop the fields of the earth. The idea here advanced, is illustrated in the case of Abram afterwards Abraham. God Himself called Abram to a nomadic life; first, from Chal- dean idolatry ; then, to a land of promise. He went down into Egypt to escape a famine : then returned to the land of Canaan. Abram sojourns in that land till God says, " I will make a covenant between rne and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. Thou shalt be a father of many na- tions. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, (high father — W.), but thy name shall be called Abraham; (h, for Hamon, multitude— W.) for a father of many (multitude of — W.) nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make many nations of thee ; and kings shall come out of thee." Isaac, and Jacob, inherited the same nomadic life. How honorable, were these God-made Scythians; — nomads of the promise — wandering about in " sheepskins and goatskins ; being destitute, afflicted, tormented ; (of whom the world was not worthy :) they (heirs of the promise — W.) wandered in deserts, and (in) mountains, and (in) dens and caves of the earth." Heb. xi. 37. 38. It would be very instructive, as well as entertaining, to trace the no- madic and the fixed classes of mankind from their origin through all ages and nations to the present time, that we might learn which class has been the more efficient agent in promoting the interests of mankind in the ap- proaching age of the Messiah. A few thoughts, relative to this proposition, may not be out of place. In presenting these ideas, thoughts and suggestions we shall use the terms shepherd, and herdsman; or, simply, shepherd, to denote the nomadic class ; and agriculturist to represent the fixed class. The occupation of the one is that of pasturing the land; and, consequently has a movable tent or house for his dwelling; while the other cultivates the soil through a series of years ; and must, therefore, reside in some fixed habitation. The nomad is a pioneer cosmopolite; the other is one of the earth's living fixtures. We call him an agriculturist, since, from that occupation arise all the varied pursuits of civilization and refinement. We are ready to admit that each class was designed to fill a sphere quite necessary to carry out the plans of Jehovah relative to the future of mankind; but that the nomadic element is simply a relic of barbarism, as the Greeks and Romans viewed it ; and was to cease before the advancement of civilization, is not quite so sure. What has the past history of these two classes fully developed? Let us glance at the history of the imperial zone, as compared with the RUSSIAN PHASE. 211 great northern, or nomadic zone. What would be called the zone of em- pires, includes seven ancient empires. (1) Egyptian; (2) Babylonian; (3) Medo-Persian ; (4) Greco-Macedonian ; (5) Roman ; (6) Arabian ; (7) Chinese. These we may call seven human experiments, by the settled, or fixed class; seven great efforts to advance the human race to its highest state of development. It was the protracted effort of humanism, as agri- culturists, dwelling on farms; in villages, towns, and cities; occupied with all the industrial pursuits of ancient civilization. Were they successes, or failures ? They erected great monuments of human industry ; made hon- orable advances in arts and sciences ; multiplied the sources of human life to such an extent as to enable mankind to dwell in crowded towns and in vast cities; and yet their pursuits begat luxuries; luxuries begat pride; and pride begat their ultimate overthrow. Physically, they were moderately developed ; intellectually, the masses were without learning. Some of the professional men, and a part of their philosophers, poets, orators, and states- men, as well as physicians and military officers, were highly educated as to human intellect. But, what was their moral education ? The great apostle of the Gentiles has fully comprehended the results of their systems of moral and religious culture in his very able epistle to the Romans. "Because that, when they knew God, (from His works — W.) they glorified (Him) not as God, neither were thankful ; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incor- ruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves : who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator : being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity ; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, im- placable, unmerciful : Who, knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things, are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them." Rom. i. 21-32. The morals, here de- scribed, belonged to the Roman world, which was fully equal to either of the other six. The Arabian world was, in practice, about the same, so were the other five. Heathen morals were debasing in the extreme. Their mor- als were not trained ; they were not cast in the divine mold, and, therefore were not suited to man's moral improvement. Man cannot be said to be morally developed, unless his affections are so trained as to have God as his supreme and his neighbor equal to himself. Heathen civilization culti- vated the intellect without the heart. It leaves man without any fitness to relish the moral beauties of the Messiah's reign. Crowds, luxury, and cor- ruption are sisters. The greater the mass, on a given space, and the greater the luxury, without divine teaching, the more degraded will be the morals. Man's morals are in the direct ratio of God's instructions ; and, inversely, 212 THE EASTERN QUESTION, as the mass and luxury. Corruption of the heart is contagious. Put the depraved into quarantine, perpetual, if the many are to be saved. We have already dwelt upon nomadic life in the great northern field. The mission of the nomadic class has two very distinct features : (1) To people the earth ; (2) To preserve its morals. The two great empires which now control the destinies of the world are composed of those that were originally nomadic tribes. The same is true of all the kingdoms of Europe. The old empires had no material suited to Jehovah's work of the last days. A new man had to be constructed. We have been occupied in sketching the history of the tenants of Asiatic Russia, from the time that the earth was divided between the three sons of Noah ; Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Leaving out Ham and his pos- terity, as inheriting Africa, we have confined our narrative to the de- scendants of Shem and Japheth, since they spread east, north, and west. The European race is denominated Japhetic ; not because Japheth ever resided in Europe; but, for the reason that families of his descendants, in after years, emigrated from northern, and middle Asia, to the wilderness plains of central and eastern Europe. Hence, the northern parts of Asia, and eastern Europe are principally of the Japhetic families, while western, southern, and northwestern Europe, with the British Islands, were Shem- itic ; mixed with the posterity of Ham. We have examined the tenants of the great bear field that we might fully understand the admixtures of blood flowing in the veins of the Rus- sian. We have found that he is the product of not less than one hundred tribal nationalities speaking forty different languages : That these tribal nations, in the north, are principally Japhetic, with a large admixture of Shemitic blood mingled more or less with the families. We have followed these mingling elements, under the four great empires, as they spread over the nomadic zone, situated north of the zone of empires. We have traced them as they have left their parent Asiatic hives, and, moving westward, have seen them light on the immense plains of Europe — followed them as they spread over that new country. Such discordant elements could not dwell together in peace. Hence, for some centuries, they continued their nomadic life; mingling races; contending for the possession of the fertile districts; at one time, crowding upon the latter Greek, and the Roman empires ; then pushing westward and northward they planted multitudes of colonies in all parts of Europe. European Russia was prob- ably first occupied by the Lapps and Finns ; then by the great Keltic emi- gration; after that by the Scythian, Gothic, or German emigrants, who were driven further north and west by the Slavonians. Each of these immense families married and mingled their blood, more or less, with all the others. Hence, new families were multiplying till about the middle of the 9th century, when the Russian first appears, a new man, formed to carry out a great mission in the closing up of Gentile domination. " The name of Russian was first divulged, in the ninth century, by an embassy of Theophilus, emperor of the East, to the emperor of the West, RUSSIAN PHASE. 213 Lewis, the son of Charlemagne. The Greeks were accompanied by the en- voys of the great duke, or chagan, or czar, of the Russians. In their jour- ney to Constantinople, they had traversed many hostile nations; and they hoped to escape the dangers of their return, by requesting the French monarch to transport them by sea to their native country. A closer ex- amination detected their origin ; they were the brethren of the Swedes and Normans, whose name was already odious and formidable in France; aud- it might be justly apprehended that those Russian strangers were not the messengers of peace, but the emissaries of war. They were detained, while the Greeks were dismissed; and Lewis expected a more satisfactory ac- count, that he might obey the laws of hospitality or prudence, according to the interests of both empires (A. D. 839, twenty-two years before era of Rurik. In the 10th century, Liutprand speaks of the Russians and Nor- mans as the same Aquilonares homines (north men. — W.) of a red com- plexion). This Scandinavian origin of the people, or at least the princes, of Russia, may be confirmed and illustrated by the national annals and the general history of the North. The Normans, (north men. — W.) who had so long been concealed by a veil of impenetrable darkness, suddenly burst forth in the spirit of naval and military enterprise. The vast, and, as it is said, the populous regions of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, were crowded with independent chieftains and desperate adventurers, who sighed in the laziness of peace, and smiled in the agonies of death. Piracy was the exercise, the trade, the glory, and the virtue, of the Scandinavian youth. Impatient of a bleak climate and narrow limits, they started from the banquet, grasped their arms, sounded their horn, ascended their vessels and explored every coast that promised either spoil or settlement. The Baltic was the first scene of their naval achievement ; they visited the east- ern shores, the silent residence of Fennic and Slavonic tribes, and the primitive Russians of the Lake Ladoga paid a tribute, the skins of white squirrels, to these strangers, whom they saluted with the title of Varan- gians, or Corsairs, (merchants. — W.) Their superiority in arms, discipline, and renown, commanded the fear and reverence of the natives. In their wars against the more inland savages, the Varangians condescended to serve as friends and auxiliaries, and gradually, by choice of conquest, ob- tained the dominion of a people whom they were qualified to protect. Their tyranny was expelled, their valor was again recalled, till at length Rurik, (a Varangian. — W.) a Scandinavian chief, became the father of a dynasty, which reigned above seven hundred years." — Gibbon. It is said that Rurik was invited by the Slaves of Novgorod to come and rule over them. Rurik, with his two brothers Sineous and Truvor, having a small army, took possession of the country south of the gulf of Finland, lakes Ladoga, Onega, and Beloe in 861-2, and laid the foundation of the first Russian monarchy. His brothers, leaving no issue, their prin- cipalities were joined to that of Rurik, Novgorod. Russia has had but two dynasties: (1) That of Rurik, from A. D. 861 to A. D. 1598—737 years; (2) The house of Romanoff, which is the present reigning family ; a house 214 THE EASTERN QUESTION, nearly allied to that of Rurik. It is correct to say that the Russian empire is composed of a Slavonian body and a Scandinavian brain. The Scandina- vian race has furnished the Russian dynasties. The two distinctive ele- ments will appear in Russia's progressive history of 1,023 years. Russian history naturally divides itself into the following periods : (1) the embryotic period, which describes its elements separately ; (2) the period of its infancy, including Russian power, under its various chiefs who were Russians or Slaves, and covering Russian history, from the time that the various Asiatic families arrived in Europe, to the commencement of the first Scandinavian dynasty under Rurik, A. D. 862. The first two periods have been examined in part. History is rather reticent as to the early years of Russia's infancy. Much of it is somewhat traditional. (3) Russia's childhood includes the first dynasty, to the close of the reign of the Grand-Dukes of Moscow. During this period was the Mongolian con- quest. (4) The period of Russia's youth extends from A. D. 1505 to A. D. 1682, and includes the reign of the Czars of Muscovy. (5) Russia's man- hood extends from A. D. 1682 to— the great conflict. (6) Russia during the age of Subjugation — or Messiah. (7) The Russian territory on the New Earth, physical changes. 3. The first Scandinavian Dynasty — Rurik. This period extends from A. D. 862 to A. D. 1505 — 643 years — under 50 sovereigns. It covers the periods of the Dukes of Kiew; Grand-Dukes of Waladimir; and the Grand-Dukes of Moscow. In our progressive sketch of Russian history we propose to notice those events in each period of her development that will have a tendency to illustrate her special characteristic features. Rurik was one of the Varangians who first visited the Russians. When invited by the Slavonians of Novgorod to come over and govern them, he was somewhat familiar with their country, their manners and cus- toms. He invited many other Varangians into the northwestern provinces of Russia, who aided him to subdue those that resisted his authority. "As long as the descendants of Rurik were considered as aliens and conquerors, they ruled by the sword of the Varangians, distributed estates and subjects to their faithful captains, and supplied their number with fresh streams of adventurers from the Baltic coast. But when the Scandinavian chiefs had struck a deep root into the soil, they mingled with the Russians in blood, religion, and language, and the first Waladimir had the merit of delivering his country from these foreign mercenaries. They had seated him on the throne; his riches were not sufficient to satisfy their demands; but they listened to his pleasing advice, that they should seek, not a more grateful, but a more wealthy, master; that they should embark for Greece, where, instead of the skins of squirrels, silk and gold would be the recompense of their service. At the same time, the Russian prince admonished his Byzantine ally to disperse and employ, to recompense and restrain, these impetuous children of the North. Contemporary writers have recorded the introduction, name, and character, of the Varangians; each day they rose in confidence and esteem ; the whole body was assembled at Constantin- ople to perform the duty of guards; and their strength was recruited by a EUSSIAN PHASE. 215 numerous band of their countrymen from the Island of Thule. On this occasion, the vague appellation of Thule is applied to England ; and the new Varangians were a colony of English and Danes who fled from the yoke o^ the Norman (Scandinavian Waladimir, Duke of Kiew-Russia. W.) conquerer. The habits of pilgrimage, and piracy had approximated the countries of the earth ; these exiles were entertained in the Byzantine court ; and they preserved, till the last age of the empire, the inheritance of spotless loyalty, and the use of the Danish or English tongue. With their broad and double-edged battle-axes on their shoulders, they attended the Greek emperor to the temple, the senate, and the hippodrome; he slept and feasted under their trusty guard ; and the keys of the palace, the treasury, and the capital, were held by the firm and faithful hands of the Varangians." — Gibbon, We have quoted extensively from Gibbon for the purpose of establish- ing the Scandinavian relationship to the original Russians in this early childhood of Russian power. The family of Rurik was, at that early period, the ruling dynasty ; and continued to govern Russia till A. D. 1598. The Varangian blood of Scandinavia, the cousins of the Danes and Anglo- Saxons, furnished Russia with rulers ; first called Dukes ; then Czars; and finally Emperors. Under the dynasty of Rurik, the Russian territory and power made rapid growth. As early as the 10th century the Russian monarchy covered European Scythia ; and had its western frontier, along the Baltic Sea, and the Prussian territory. In the north " above the sixtieth degree of latitude, over the Hyperborean regions, which fancy had peopled with monsters, or clouded with eternal darkness." Their southern boundaries was, at first, along the Borysthenes (Dnieper) to the Black Sea. "The tribes that dw^elt, or wandered, in this ample circuit, were obedient to the same con- queror ; and insensibly blended into the same nation." The Finnic and Slavonian languages were prevalent over all Russia ; the Finnic and Scan- dinavian in the North ; and the Slavonian principally in the South. In the Ducal age of the Russian monarchy it had three capitals, Kiew, Novgorod, and Moscow. There were Grand-Dukes also, of Vladimir, Kiew, and Novgorod, belonged to the first era of the monarchy. They were like camps, or fairs, where the native tribes congregated for the business of war, or for trade. They could not be compared to Constantinople with its three hundred churches. Between Novgorod and the Baltic trade was carried on, summer and winter; during the summer, through a gulf, a lake, and a navigable river; in the winter season, over the hard, and level surface of boundless snows. From the neighborhood of Novgorod, the Russians de- scended the streams which are tributaries of the Dnieper (Borysthenes) ; their canoes, of a single tree, were laden with slaves of every age. Furs of every species, the spoil of their beehives, and the hides of their cattle, and the whole produce of the North were collected and discharged in the maga- zines of Kiew. The month of June was the ordinary season of the de- parture of the fleet ; the timber of the canoes was framed into the oars and benches of more solid -and capacious boats; and they proceeded without 216 THE EASTERN QUESTION, obstacle down the Borysthenes, as far as the seven or thirteen (the French engineer says thirteen — W.) ridges of rocks, which traverse the bed, and precipitate the waters of the river. At the more shallow falls it was suf- ficient to lighten the vessels; but the deeper cataracts were impassable; and the mariners, who dragged their vessels and their slaves six miles over land, were exposed in this toilsome journey to the robbers of the desert. At the first island below the falls, the Russians celebrated the festival of their escape ; at a second, near the mouth of the river, they repaired their shattered vessels for the longer and more perilous voyage of the Black Sea. If they steered along the coast, the Danube was accessible; with a fair wind they could reach in thirty-six or forty hours the opposite shores of Ana- tolia (Asia Minor — W.); and Constantinople admitted the annual visit of the strangers of the North. They returned at the stated season with a rich cargo of corn, wine, and oil, the manufactures of Greece, and the spices of India. Some of their countrymen resided in the capital and provinces; and the national treaties protected the persons, efifects, and privileges, of the Russian merchant. — G. This communication was kept open, and in use for centuries. During the first two centuries the Russians made four attempts to plunder the treasures of Constantinople. The results were various, but the object and the means were the same in each of these naval expeditions. The Russian merchants had seen and tasted the southern luxuries. The city of the Csesars presented too many attractions to be resisted by these tenants of the cold and comparatively sterile regions of the North. Their own countrymen, residing in Constantinople, or in its vicinity, pic- tured their southern homes in the most fascinating colors. These hardy north men of Russia finally resolved to exchange their wild residences, in the North, for a paradise in the imperial zone. Gibbon says, " They envied the gifts of nature, which their climate denied; they coveted the works of art, which they were too lazy to imitate and too indigent to purchase ; the Varangian princes unfurled the banners of piratical adventure, and their bravest soldiers were drawn from the nations that dwelt in the northern isles of the ocean. The Greek appellation of monoxyla, or single canoes, might be justly applied to the bottom of their vessels. It was scooped out of the long stem of a beech or willow, but the slight and narrow founda- tion was raised and continued on either side with planks, till it attained the length of sixty, and the height of about twelve, feet. These boats are built without a deck, but with two rudders and a mast ; to move with sails and oars; and to contain from forty to seventy men, with their arms, and pro- visions of fresh water and salt fish." — Gibbon. (1) The first naval raid against Constantinople was made by theRussians, with two hundred boats, though their entire national strength could have furnished over one thou- sand of such primitive vessels. This fleet, but little inferior to the royal navy of Agamemnon, of ancient renown, was magnified to an immense armament by the timorous Greeks. Had the Greek emperors taken due precaution they would never have suffered these war-boats to leave the waters of the Borysthenes. The coasts of Asia Minor, after an interval of RUSSIAN PHASE. 217 six centuries, were exposed again to the ravages of these northern pirates. Passing through the Euxine Sea, and the strait of the Bosphorus, fifteen miles long, in which the fleet might easily have heen destroyed, by the larger vessels of the Greeks, they occupied without opposition, the port of Constantinople in the absence of Michael, the son of Theophilus, he, then being emperor. This first raid was under the Duke of Kiew, A. D. 878. By the aid of the garment of the Virgin Mary, which was immersed in the sea; and by a seasonable tempest the Russian fleet was induced to retire. This first effort of the Russians, though a failure, did not result in any special discouragement, relative to other attempts to plunder the city. It taught them their own weakness, as well as that of their enemy. Some 30 years passed before any other effort was made. (2) Second Raid, A. D. 908. This second Russian invasion of the Greek empire was under Oleg, said to be the guardian of the sons of Rurik (younger sons. — W). The Bosphorus was then defended by a chain of strong fortifications. To avoid these the Russians drew their vessels over the land, or isthmus. This enterprise is described in the national chron- icles as if the " Russian fleet had sailed over dry land with a brisk and favorable gale. This raid resulted also in a failure. (3) Third Raid, A. D. 938. The leader of the third expedition, was Igor, the son of Rurik. Taking advantage of the absence of the Grecian fleet against the Saracen, he prepared his armament to attack the city. Fifteen broken and decayed galleys, armed on their prows, sides and sterns, with abundant Greek fire, were boldl}'- launched against the enemy. "The engineers were dexterous ; the weather was propitious ; many thou- sand Russians, who chose rather to be drowned than burnt, leaped into the sea ; and those who escaped to the Thracian shore were inhumanly slaugh- tered by the peasants and soldiers. Yet one-third of the canoes escaped into shallow water; and the next spring Igor was again prepared to re- trieve his disgrace and claim his revenge." — G. (4) Fourth Raid, A. D. 1015. After a long peace, Jaroslaus, the great- grandson of Igor, resumed the same project of a naval invasion. A fleet, under the command of his son, was repulsed at the entrance of the Bos- phorus by the same artificial flames. But in the rashness of pursuit, the vanguard of the Greeks was encompassed by an irresistible multitude of boats and men ; their provision of fire was probably exhausted ; and twen- ty-four galleys were either taken, sunk, or destroyed. Yet the threats or calamities of a Russian war were more frequently diverted by treaty than by arms. In these naval hostilities, every disadvantage was on the side of the Greeks; their savage enemy afforded no mercy; his poverty promised no spoil ; his impenetrable retreat deprived the conqueror of the hopes of revenge; and the pride or weakness of empire indulged an opinion that no honor could be gained or lost in the intercourse with barbarians. At first their demands were high and inadmissible, three pounds of gold for each soldier or mariner of the fleet ; the Russian youth adhered to the de- sign of conquest and glory ; but the counsels of moderation were recom- mended by the hoary sages. ' Be content with the liberal offers of Caesar, 218 THE EASTERN (QUESTION, is it not far better to obtain without a combat the possession of gold, silver, silks, and all the objects of our desires ? Are we sure of victory ? Can we conclude a treaty with the Sea? We do not tread on the land; we float on the abyss of water, and a common death hangs over our heads.' The memory of these Arctic fleets that seemed to descend from the polar circle, left a deep impression of terror on the Imperial city. By the vulgar, of every rank, it was asserted and believed that an equestrian statue in the square of Taurus was secretly inscribed with a prophecy, how the Rus- sians, in the last days, should become masters of Constantinople. In our own time, a Russian armament, instead of sailing from the Borysthenes, has circumnavigated the continent of Europe ; and the Turkish capital has been threatened by a squadron of strong and lofty ships of war, each of which, with its naval science and thundering artillery, could have sunk or scattered a hundred canoes, such as those of their ancestors. Perhaps the present generation may yet behold the accomplishment of the prediction, of which the style is unambiguous and the date unquestionable." Thus speaks Gibbon. It seems, from the sketches of history, above given, that the purpose of Russia to take Constantinople, did not originate in the brain of Peter the Great ; but, that it has been a darling thought of the Russian for more than a thousand years. The first Scandinavian dynasty, that of Rurik, as early as A. D. 876, began to devise means for the occupation of that wealthy city. During the space of two hundred years they sent four armaments to plun- der Constantinople. More frequently, by immense sums of gold and silver, besides vast quantities of silk, they were bought ofiP. That idea originated in the brains of those northern barbarians who had taken up their abode in Constantinople, permanently, or who had visited that city as merchants. The route from the Baltic Sea to the head waters of the Borysthenes, and down that river to the Black Sea; and along that sea through the Bos- phorus to the city of the Grecian Caesars, had been long open for commerce. The thought that it could be used for piracy was very natural. It soon, therefore, became the highway for the northern pirates. The prophetic inscription on this equestrian statue in the square of Taurus, Constantinople, cannot as readily be traced to its origin. "This brazen statue, erected in the square of Taurus at Constantinople, was brought from Antioch, and was melted down by the Latins, was supposed to represent either Joshua, or Bellerophon." Bellerophon and Sthenobia, wife of Prsetus, King of the Argives, is supposed to have been founded on the history of Joseph and the wife of Potiphar. Joshua exterminating the Canaanites might have been designed by this brazen statue, but how, when, and by whom, the prophecy came there is somewhat diflicult to answer. It was .there, however, in the 12th century, and some time before. It is not stated that it was on the statue while it stood at Antioch. It was probably put there by one that had read and recognized the Russians as the Gog of Ezekiel. On this matter we are left in open sea. It may be a question in the minds of many persons. If Russia's efforts to take Constantinople have extended over a thousand years, how can we RUSSIAN PHASE. 219 account for her repeated failures? The Mongol Tartars and the Turks have been the chief agents in the way of her ambitious designs. Under her first Dynasty she was subjugated and held more than two hundred and fifty years by the Mongolian power. ' Before she had attained to sufficient power to undertake the siege of that city it fell into the hands of the Turks. The European powers have held her back since the beginning of the present century. Let us now continue our sketch. Russia's land efforts on the Greek empire were not as able as her naval operations. That the reader may discern Russian character and power in the tenth century during the early part of their childhood, we give a brief sketch of Swatoslaus, the son of Igor, the son of Oleg, the son of Rurik. The tribal nations from the Volga to the Danube were marshalled under his standard. This Grand-Duke was a great Russian warrior of Scandina- vian blood. His physical education partook of the cast of military life in the great northern wilds. "Wrapped in a bear-skin, Swatoslaus usually slept on the ground, his head reclining on a saddle ; his diet was coarse and frugal, and, like the heroes of Homer, his meat (it was often horse-flesh) was broiled or roasted on the coals. Exercise of war gave stability and discipline to his army; and no soldier, it may be presumed, was permitted to transcend the luxury of his chief." Nicephorus, the Greek emperor, in order to divert this Russian duke, iand warrior, from an invasion of his dominions, dis- patched an embassy (A. D. 904), with fifteen hundred pounds of gold, to induce the Russian to turn his arms against the Bulgarians. The Bulga- rians being conquered, Swatoslaus, seized with the Russian mania of plun- dering the Greek capital, instead of returning to his own country as the emperor expected, turned his face towards Constantinople. From the banks of the Danube he marched with a powerful army, composed of Patzinacites, Chozars, Russians and Turks, to Adrianople. There " A formal summons to evacuate the Roman province was dismissed with contempt ; and Swatos- laus fiercely replied that Constantinople might soon expect the presence of an enemy and a master." The Russians being totally overthrown by the imperial forces fled to Drista, a strong post on the Danube. Here the Byzantine galleys, ascend- ing the river, completed a line of circumvallation, by the aid of the legions. After a siege of sixty-five days, Swatoslaus made an unconditional surren- der. " The great duke of Russia bound himself, by solemn imprecations, to relinquish all hostile designs; a safe passage was opened for his return. After a painful voyage, they again reached the mouth of the Borysthenes ; but their provisions were exhausted; the season was unfavorable; they passed the winter on the ice ; aud, before they could prosecute their march, Swatoslaus was oppressed by the neighboring tribes with whom the Greeks entertained a perpetual and useful correspondence." — G. Thus terminated the fifth attempt of the Russians, under their first Scandinavian dynasty, to take Constantinople. Their failures were as re- markable as their untiring perseverance. Their last, and most signal over- throw, must reveal to the ordinary observer the movements of the higher Buler, and the Disposer of nationalities. If Russia had then succeeded in 220 THE EASTERN QUESTION, securing for her capital, the wealthiest and most powerful oity of the im- perial zone, with her Scandinavian brain and Slavonian body (a mixture of all races), what would now have been the European, and Asiatic nation- alities? Firmly seated in the middle or imperial zone, the Roman-German empire would soon have submitted ; and the Persian empire would soon have followed the downfall of the more western empires. (1) As Russia was, under Swatoslaus, a Pagan ; there would have been a fifth, Gentile, uni- versal monarchy, contrary to Dan. ii. 44, which makes the fifth kingdom, that of the God of heaven, symbolized by the stone becoming a mountain. (2) The northern, and middle zones, being thus united, there could have been, in the last days, no kings or empires of the "north," and the "south." CS) Russia would have failed relative to the colonization of the Jews in Palestine. God, who fixes all the national fields, has reserved a certain land for the children of Israel, according to their number. When their punishment is accomplished that land will be their dwelling place. Russia, therefore, could never, for her own selfish interests, include that land in her great northern field. God, who had taken so many nomadic tribes, of all northern races, to form, in the European wilds, a new empire with all the vigor of the higher latitudes, would not allow his plans to be thwarted by a removal of the seat of empire to the southern center of luxury and effeminacy. Such a change would have dwarfed the Russian monarchy in its childhood. The Russian has been formed for some great work. That em- pire belongs to the North. Its mission is clearly presented by the prophets Ezekiel, Daniel and Zechariah. The king of the north, of Daniel ; and the Gog of Ezekiel, are enemies to the Jewish race, and will have something to do with that people after their return. What that work is to be will come up in its proper place. For the present, we take up the progressive history of the Russian power, noticing its developments, revolutions and characteristic changes. The Russians converted to Christianity : The Russians, having failed in five attempts to plunder the Greek capital, their chiefs and nobles, who were of Scandinavian extract, meditated a change in their religion. The Russian population had always been Pagan. Those tribes that emigrated from Asia to northeastern Europe, were Pagans of every variety ; and, as is natural, they brought their gods and their worship with them. The woods of Europe were full of idols, altars, priests, and pagan ceremonies. There existed among them a spirit of universal toleration. Human sacrifices were also quite prevalent. A change of religion, however, is very difficult, since its elements, in thought, and habit, flow from the mother to the un- born infant, and flows in the living current through expanding infancy, childhood, youth, manhood, and strengthens in declining years. " As well might the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots." A mere nominal change for some selfish purposes, may be professed ; but a radical change is the result of divine agency. Of such a conversion the Russian chiefs and nobles knew nothing. They simply became converts to Greek Christianity. What that was we shall see. The western nations had long been converted to Latin Christianity. Missionaries had planted the prin- RUSSIAN PHASE. 221 ciples of Roman Catholicism through the ten western kingdoms into which the old Roman empire had been divided. Charlemagne, two centuries be- fore, had been crowned emperor of the "Holy Roman empire;" and all the German nations had professed Christianity. The Russian chiefs and nobles, being of that blood, would then be first inclined to the new religion of their brothers and cousins, after the flesh. History develops that order, first the dukes, chiefs, and nobles, then the classes next in order ; and finally, the serfs, or masses. That they were still pagan at heart, their lives will abundantly show, as we follow them in their conversion. As to their conversion to nominal Christianity, history gives the following sketches, which we take the liberty to note : "Those fierce and bloody barbarians had been persuaded, by the voice of reason and religion, to acknowledge Jesus for their God, the Christian missionaries for their teachers, and the Romans for their friends and breth- ren. His (Photius, patriarch of Constantinople. — W.) triumph was tran- sient and' premature. In the various fortunes of their piratical adventures, some Russian chiefs might allow themselves to be sprinkled with the waters of baptism ; and a Greek bishop, with the name of Metropolitan, might administer the sacraments in the church at Kiew, to a congregation of slaves and natives. But the seed of the gospel was sown on a barren soil : many were the apostates, the converts were few; and the baptism of Olga may be fixed as the era of Russian Christianity. A female, perhaps of the basest origin, who could revenge the death, and assume the sceptre, of her husband Igor, must have been endowed with those active virtues which command the fear and obedience of barbarians. In a moment of foreign and domestic peace she sailed from Kiew to Constantinople ; and the em- peror Constantino Porphyrogenitus has described, with minute diligence, the ceremonial of her recption in his capital and palace. The steps, the titles, the salutations, the banquet, the presents, were exquisitely adjusted to gratify the vanity of the stranger, with due reverence to the superior majesty of the purple. In the sacrament of baptism she received the ven- erable name of the Empress Helena ; and her conversion might be preceded or followed by her uncle, two interpreters, sixteen damsels of a higher, and eighteerTof a lower rank, twenty-two domestics, and forty-four Russian merchants, who composed the retinue of the great princess Olga. After her return to Kiew and Novgorod, she firmly persisted in her new religion ; but her labors in the propagation of the Gospel were not crowned with suc- cess; and both her family and nation adhered with obstinacy or indifference to the gods of their fathers. Her son Swatoslaus was apprehensive of the scorn and ridicule of his companions ; and her grandson Wolodomir de- voted his youthful zeal to multiply and decorate the monuments of an- cient worship. The savage deities of the North were still propitiated with human sacrifices ; in the choice of the victim, a citizen was preferred to a stranger, a Christian to an idolater ; and the father who defended his son from the sacerdotal knife, was involved in the same doom by the rage of a fanatic tumult. Yet the lessons and example of the pious Olga had made a deep, though secret, impression on the minds of the prince and people : 222 THE EASTERN QUESTION, the Greek missionaries continued to preach, to dispute, and to baptize; and the ambassadors or merchants of Russia compared the idolatry of the woods with the elegant superstition of Constantinople. They gazed with admira- tion on the dome of St. Sophia; the lively pictures of saints and martyrs, the riches of the altar, the number and vestments of the priests, the pomp and order of the ceremonies ; they were edified by the alternate succession of devout silence and harmonious song; nor was it difficult to persuade them that a choir of angels descended each day from heaven to join in the devotion of the Christians. But the conversion of Wolodomir was deter- mined, or hastened, by his desire of a Roman bride. At the same time, and in the city of Cherson, the rites of baptism and marriage were celebrated by the Christian pontiff; the city he restored to the emperor Basil, the brother of his spouse ; but the brazen gates were transported, as it is said, to Novgorod, and erected before the first church as a trophy of his victory and faith. At his despotic command, Peround, the god of thunder, whom he had so long adored, was dragged through the streets of Kiew ; and twelve sturdy barbarians battered with clubs the misshapen image, which was in- dignantly cast into the waters of the Borysthenes. The edict of Wolodomir had proclaimed that all who should refuse the rites of baptism would be treated as the enemies of God and their prince ; and the rivers were instantly filled with many thousands of obedient Rus- sians, who acquiesced in the truth and excellence of a doctrine which had been embraced by the great duke and his boyars (nobles — W). In the next generation, the relics of Paganism were finally extirpated; but as the two brothers of Wolodomir had died without baptism, their bones were taken from the grave, and sanctified by an irregular and posthumous sacra- ment. In the ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries of the Christian era, the reign of the Gospel and of the church was extended over Bulgaria, Hun- gary, Bohemia, Saxony, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Poland, and Russia. The triumphs of apostolic zeal were repeated in the iron age of Chris- tianity ; and the northern and eastern regions of Europe submitted to a religion, more different in theory than in practice, from the worship of their native idols. A laudable ambition excited the monks, both of Ger- many and Greece, to visit the tents and huts of the barbarians ; poverty, hardships, and dangers, were the lot of the first missionaries ; their courage was active and patient; their motive pure and meritorious; their present reward consisted in the testimony of their conscience and the respect of a grateful people ; but the fruitful harvest of their toils was inherited and enjoyed by the proud and wealthy prelates of succeeding times. The first conversions were free and spontaneous; a holy life and an eloquent tongue were the only arms of the missionaries; but the domestic fables of the Pagans were silenced by the miracles and visions of the strangers, and the favorable temper of the chiefs was accelerated by the dictates of vanity and interest. The leaders of nations, who were saluted with the titles of kings and saints, held it lawful and pious to impose the Catholic faith on their subjects and neighbors ; the coast of the Baltic, from Holstein to the RUSSIAN PHASE. 223 Gulf of Finland, was invaded under the standard of the Cross; and the reign of idolatry was closed by the conversion of Lithuania in the four- teenth century. Yet truth and candor must acknowledge that the conver- sion of the North imparted many temporal benefits both. to the old and the new Christians. The rage of war, inherent to the human species, could not be healed by the evangelic precepts of charity and peace ; and the ambi- tion of Catholic princes has renewed in every age the calamities of hostile contention. But the admission of the barbarians into the pale of civil and ecclesiastical society delivered Europe from the depredations, by sea and land, of the Normans, the Hungarians, and the Russians. The establishment of law and order was promised by the influence of the clergy; and the rudiments of art and science were introduced into the savage countries of the globe. The liberal piety of Russian princes en- gaged in their service the most skillful of the Greeks to decorate the cities and instruct the inhabitants; the dome and the paintings of St. Sophia were rudely copied in the churches of Kiew and Novgorod ; the writings of the fathers were translated into Slavonic idiom; and three hundred noble youths were invited, or compelled, to attend the lessons of the col- lege of Jaraslaus. It should appear that Russia might have derived an early and rapid improvement from her peculiar connection with the church and state of Constantinople, which in that age so justly despised the ignor- ance of the Latins. But the Byzantine nation was servile, solitary, and verging to a hasty decline; after the fall of Kiew, the navigation of the Borysthenes was forgotten ; and the great princes of Wolodomir (Vladimir — W.) and Moscow were from the sea (Black— W.) and Christendom ; and the divided monarchy was oppressed by the ignominy and blindness of Tartar servitude." We have been induced to make this lengthy quotation from Gibbon for various reasons ; some of which are the following : (1) He has given a very graphic delineation of the introduction, spread, and workings of Greek Christianity, among the Russians, in this early period of their nationality. We call it '* Greek Christianity," for such it was, since the Bible is not named, nor have we any reason to believe that it was translated for the people, or used by the missionaries. It was a photograph of the religion taught; audits pompous ceremonies practiced at Constantinople and throughout the East. (2) No one can accuse Gibbon of any partiality for Christianity ; and therefore, his confession is worth much ; for, if a spurious Christianity had su6h a benine and humanizing influence, what must be the effect of the pure, apostolic Christianity. (3) The Russians, in abandoning Paganism, renounced the theory of their Paganism rather than its practice. The Greek ritual, at Constantin- ople, was much more splendid than that of Paganism in Russia, names and forms, only being changed. It found them idolaters, in theory and prac- tice, and left them fully devoted to its practice. Christianity that has not its origin in that system taught by Christ and His apostles has no claims to the name of Christian. We are safe, therefore, in the conclusion that Russia, having known no other doctrines than those of the Greek Church, 224 THE EASTERN QUESTION, has never been converted to Christianity; that a spurious system, part Pagan and part formed of corrupted Christianity, spread over Russia in the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries, which aided Russia in her progress towards civilization; but, that during the Tartar subjugation, A. D. 1223 to A. D. 1483, it was effaced. Having traced the moral and religious training of Russia in her early years we are prepared to continue to sketch of her civil history. Vladimir left his kingdom to four sons. Jaroslof, prince of Novgorod, whose reign was signalized by an unsuccessful attack on Constantinople (A. D. 1043), reunited the parts for a short time. This prince did much to civilize his subjects ; building towns, erecting schools, and particularly by directing the compilation of the first Russian code of laws, the most prom- inent item of which was the limitation of the right of family feud, a liiaita- tion of which was changed into total abolition after his death in 1054. Each of these petty princes in his turn divided his portion of the territory among his sons, till the once great and united realm became an aglomera- tion of petty states quarreling with each other, undergoing absorption by a more powerful neighbor, or being re-divided, Russia was thus divided, dis- tracted, warring with each other and with the Poles for half a century. Under Vladimir, the Normans (Scandinavians — W.) and Slavonians be- came definitely amalgamated. Christianity, as it was called, was an efficient agent in accomplishing this work. Still it was not sufficiently powerful to keep peace among his numerous offspring. This state of anarchy, confusion, and petty warfare dates from the death of Jaroslaf, A. D. 1054, and continued, more or less, till 1478. Till the Tartar invasion these various divisions of the family of Rurik were in perpetual conflict with the Poles. Novgorod had become very powerful through the ex- ertions of Jaroslaf. One of the chief factories of the Hanseatic league was established in Novgorod in the 13th century. So great was its fame throughout Russia, as to give rise to the proverb, '' Who can resist God and the mighty Novgorod?" The princes of these states (Kiew, Vladi- mir, Novgorod — W.) had each his standing army, and were continually quarreling. This period was also marked by the gradual fusion of tVie various Slavic races into one, the present Russian race, a process doubtless aided by the universal dissemination of Christianity, which . assimilated their various languages, manners and customs. The Mongol Tartar invasion, A. D. 1223. The vast Mongolian wave, which, for years, had been flooding eastern Asia, was now rolling westward, and had reached, in 1222, the eastern boundaries of Europe, its track was in the direction of European Russia. The Polotzes, a nomadic tribe, who ranged over the stepps between the Black Sea and the Don, earnestly re- quested the aid of the Russians. Their prayer for aid was promptly answered by the Russian princes. But in a great battle, fought (1223) on the banks of the Kalka (a tributary of the sea of Azof), the Russians were totally routed. Twelve years later (1235) Battu Khan, at the head of half a million of Kiptchak Mongols, conquered the east of Russia, destroying Riazan, Moscow, Vladimir, and other towns. The heroic resistance of RUSSIAN PHASE. 225 prince George of Vladimir, cost the lives of himself and his whole army on the banks of the Siti. The victorious career of the Mongol conqueror, was, however, arrested by the impenetrable forests and treacherous marshes to the south of Novgorod, and he was forced to return to the Volga. In A. D. 1240, he ravaged the southwest, destroying Tchernigof, Galich, and Kiew ; swept, like a tornado, over Poland and Hungary, defeating those na- tions in two great battles. He was checked, however, in Moravia; and re- ceiving at the same time the news of the Khagan's death, he retired to Sarai on the Akhtuba (a tributary of the Volga), which became the capital of the great khanate of Kiptchak. Thither the Russians repaired to swear allegiance to the Khan, and take part in the humiliating ceremonies which the barbarous conquerer exacted from his tributa.ries. For more than two centuries and a half, Russia was held in abject subjection by the Tartars of Kiptchak, whose hordes overspread the southern and eastern provinces, and the plains between the Caspian and the Volga, on the banks of which river the Golden Horde, or the imperial residence of the Khans of the race of Battu, was fixed ; but the interior of the country was left under the rule of the native princes. The Grand-Prince of Vladimir, or White Russia, continued to be considered the head of the Russian nation, though this dignity was disputed, both by arms and by intrigues at the court of the Khans, who fomented these dissensions as favorable to the stability of their own supremacy. In 1320 the seat of government was removed from Vladi- mir to Moscow. The principality of Kiew was finally extinguished (1321) by the Duke of Lithuania, who conquered and annexed it to his own do- minions. In the meantime, Novgorod (which in 1275 had joined the Han- seatic league) had acquired very great commercial importance. But the remainder of Russia continued in bondage till the termination of the di- rect line of Battu (1361) by the death of Berdi-Bek Khan, gave rise to dis- putes for the throne of Kiptchak, and the discord of their oppressors en- couraged the Russians ,to endeavor to throw off the yoke. The struggle continued for about a century, till at last Ivan or John III. obliterated the last vestiges of dependence. With the reign of this prince, who married Sophia, the niece of the last Greek emperor, commences a new epoch in Russian history. He was honored with the surname of Great, and assumed the title of Czar, which signifies emperor, but which was more used by his successors. What were the effects of the Mongolian conquest? A subjugation by such a people as the Mongol Tartars, for two and one-half centuries, must have left its foot-prints deeply marked upon Russian character. Of its effects one author says : " The Mongolian invasion had an evil influence on the political, social, and moral life of Russia ; it totally destroyed the elements of civilization, and threw the country more than 200 years behind the other states of Europe. The principalities of Kief (Kiew — W.) and Tchernigof never recovered this crushing blow, and the seat of the metropolitan was removed to Vladimir. Their decline, however, made room for the rise of Galich to pre-eminence in Western Russia, and under the rule of a series of wise princes it pre- 15 226 THE EASTEEN QUESTION, served greater independence than any of the Russian principalities (West- ern or White Russia — W.) till, in the latter half of the 13th century, it was taken possession of by Kasimir III. of Poland ; and about the same time Volhynia was joined to the grand-duchy of Lithuania." Our principal object in tracing these great invasions, conquests, and revolutions of the Russians, is to discern, as far as possible, the intent of tl^ Divine Arbiter in His national arrangements, for the accomplishment of His ultimate purposes relative to the earth, and its future occupants. It can be readily seen what Russia would have been without the Mon- golian conquest and occupation. She had been converted to Greek Chris- tianity; had inter-married with the Greek imperial family ; stood at that time (13th century) near, if not at the head, next to Germany and Eng- land, of European civilization. Her princes and nobles were Scandina- vian ; and in a few years, even without any special contests, would have been firmly seated upon the throne of the eastern Csesars. The prophecy relative to Constantinople would have been fulfilled ; and the Russian Caesars would, henceforward, have issued their imperial edicts from the city of the " Golden Horn ; " and the Turks would never have secured a European home. Such would have been some of the forward movements of Russian childhood. Western Rome, at that time, was sunk in luxury, ignorance, and debasing superstition; the eastern empire, then occupying Constantinople, though more refined than the Latin, had been so cor- rupted by their luxuries that they were no longer in a position to resist Russian advances ; and, holding the same religious tenets, they would have yielded without a struggle. Russia, with her capital in the imperial zone; in the land of luxurious abundance, would first have become master of the East and West; and afterwards would have sunk into effeminacy; and, in her turn, have been subjugated by some other nation issuing from the nomadic zone. To accomplish His purposes God allows her to be set back 250 pears, and kept within her northern field. Russia was becoming Tutonic and Scandinavian ; God designed that her monarchy should be Turanian ; though mixed with Aryan elements. She was to have a Scan- dinavian brain ; but continue to possess a Turanian or Slavonian body. Let us not be confused by terms. Countries often change their names. Scythia, Sarmatia, Tartary, and Slavonia, (before the dawn of history) were the names of the same country. At the time of the Mongolian conquest, and from its origin, Russia was confined to northeastern and eastern Europe. There was located the furnace in which all the Asiatic tribes emigrating from Asia into northern Europe, were to be fused for the pur- pose of forming a new man called the " Russian." A due mixture of tribal nations had to be kept in the blast furnace in order to yield the proper product for the intended machinery. A mixture of Shemitic, Hamitic, and Japhetic blood was necessary to form the proper man for this northern field. There had to be continued from age to age a due proportion between the fixed and nomadic tribes ; giving the greater proportion to the nomadic races. Since the empire, which was to be formed out of the fused materials, was to. spread over, and occupy the northern, or RUSSIAN PHASE. 227 nomadic zone. When Russia, in the 13th century, was ready to seize upon Constantinople as her permanent capital and southern centre, Jehovah calls her to defend her northern possessions from an immense army of Mongol Tartars (Tatars). Before Russia could recover from their con- quests, the Turks, the chief of the Turanians, at that time (15th century) exceedingly powerful, had overthrawn the Greek empire, and had pos- session of Constantinople. The Turks made Constantinople their seat ,ef empire, which has stood as a wall against the northern empire ; and will stand till God's mission with that empire is fully accomplished. The nature of that mission will be discussed under the Ottoman, or " Turkish Phase of the Eastern Question." At present we have Russia's mission to in- vestigate. That God has a work for Russian nationality, appears in every epoch of her history ; that that work requires that she should develop her embryotic elements, her infancy, her childhood, youth, and her incipient years of imperial greatness in the nomadic zone, is evident from the fact, every effort she has made to take Constantinople (and she has made seven, at least) has been a most signal failure. She has been drawn back in a most signal manner ; she has been drawn back with a hook of six teeth (See mar. Eze. xxxix. 2.) in this century. Her mission will develop as we advance in her history. The prophecies require that, during all the eras of her development, she should be confined to the nomadic zone ; north of the great wall (Turkish empire) which God has thrown westward across Asia, and southeastern Europe. That Power that directed the utterances of the prophets will so manage the nation as to accomplish the predictions of His seers. Our faith in the accomplishment of the Divine predictions can not be too strong. We have been able to discover two purposes of Jehovah in allowing the Mongol Tartar conquest. (1) The first has been somewhat investi- gated, viz. to hold Russia to her nomadic zone, that she might in the last days accomplish her mission, which will require all the forces of the North, and East to be assembled, under one head, upon the mountains of Israel. As it is purposed that the Russian should be that empire, every southern scheme of Russia, previous to those that belong to that final struggle, must, therefore, be defeated. This conclusion is inevitable.. If the Tartar conquest had not destroyed the southern plans of Russian con- quest, Constantinople would have been the Russian, instead of the Otto- man capital; it is very evident that this conquest was designed by Jehovah for the accomplishment of His ultimate purpose. (2) A further fusion of Asiatic elements was necessary to form and temper Russian character. It is said that a seed contains a photograph, or miniature picture of the future plant; — its roots, stem, or trunk, branches, and leaves. Such a pattern was in the mind of Jehovah, of the taber- nacle, which he showed to Moses. Such a photograph of the Russian em- pire, existed in the mind of Jehovah ; and through every period of its de- velopment. All its elements of construction had to be so arranged, and fused, and put together, as to agree with the original pattern. What the Russian has been to the present time is precisely what it was 228 THE EASTERN QUESTION, designed to be in the Divine mind. This position cannot be controverted without denying God's sovereignty over the nations, A perfect history of Russia is a copy of that Divine photograph. The Tutonic, or Scandinavian elements of the Russian monarchy, forming the brain, was, at times, too vigorous and active for its Turanian or Slavonian body. The brain work was then checked, and the physical system had to obtain more nourish- ment. As in the human system, mind, and body are often antagonistic; so, in great empires, there is a formidable warfare, going on between the governors and the governed. Europe was the blast furnace; Asia furnished the ores for smelting. From Asia, the raw materials which were fused for the construction of the Russian empire, were transported. In Europe they were fused and prepared for the political edifice. When, therefore, there was a deficiency of raw material, a draw was made on the immense Asiatic resources. As Asia has furnished Russia with its precious metals, in a state of nature, so has it furnished raw national elements. The Russian being the great empire of the nomadic zone. To supply the European waste of that material by her entering into all the occupa- tions of civilization. The Russian monarchy required a constant im- portation of that element from Asia. The two hundred and fifty years of Mongolian occupation furnished a constant supply of that material. The Tartar blood supplied the Russian political system with that needed de- ficiency. (3) It is said that the Tartar conquest, threw Russia 200 years behind the rest of Europe in civilization. By this modern civilization must be intended. It is said that it had a bad influence on the political, social, and moral life of Russia ; and totally destroyed its elements of civilization. The author that takes such a view of the Mongolian con- quest takes that view as a citizen of the world ; and has as his model human civilization. In such an aspect, his remarks, made in all honesty, would seem to be true ; but in a prophetic sense, they are quite false. That government which sustains its purposed relationships to its citizens, to its God, to other nations, and to its geographical position, is the most perfect. The same is true of nations as of man. That man is perfect, who is perfect, in his intended sphere. A man may be morally, and religiously upright ; yet officially a transgressor. So a person may be nationally per- fect, yet morally a great transgressor. When Paul was serving his nation, in the sight of God he was a murderer : I verily thought I ought to many things be contrary to the name of Jesus. The Russian empire is recognized in prophecy as an evil agent; entering the land of his people for plunder and to take a spoil. What we wish to show is simply this, the course that the Russian government was taking, at the time of the Tartar invasion, was contrary to God's revealed purpose in the existence of that monarchy, and, consequently, not pleasing to Him. God disposes of nations in such a manner as will finally result in the greatest amount of good to the greatest number. That far-seeing power of God seems to man, in its fruits, un- wise, and frequently productive of evil. The setting of the Russians back two centuries or more in their civilization, was the means of extending social, political, and moral life to millions of those nomadic tribes, who, RUSSIAN PHASE. 229 otherwise, would never have been elevated in the scale of human intelli- gence. A vast amount of raw material that was cast into the Russian blast furnace reduced the temperature for a short period, but the final result was that there was a much larger amount of valuable products. This question is similar to that often discussed relative to the Crusades. Were they pro- ductive of more evil to mankind than good? Those terrible religious cyclones destroy everything in their pathway, but they purify the atmos- phere. God allows them for the purpose of punishing corruption ; but afterwards He brings order out of confusion. We shall see the results of that Tartar conquest in our progressive his- tory of the Russian monarchy. Our aim is to follow the hand of Jehovah in Russian history, being fully pursuaded His acts are full of mercy, kind- ness, and perfect wisdom. THE RUSSIAN MONARCHY UNDER ITS CZARS OF MUSCOVY. A. D. 1533 TO A. D. 1682—149 YEARS. During the subjugation to the Mongol Tartars it was the settled policy of the conquerers to foment disputes among the Russian grand-dukes and nobles ; that, by these divisions among princes, union and centralization might be prevented. Their purpose was well accomplished; for, during the space of two hundred and fifty years, Russian territory was the theatre of civil discord and bloodshed ; the various families of the royal house of Rurik disputing titles to the grand-ducal throne ; nobles disputing about their estates; opposing races contending for supremacy; in a word, Russia was full of tribal factions and disputes for the mastery. This state of affairs might have continued had not a division taken place among their Tartar enemies. A dispute among rival Khans (kings) gave the Russians hope of casting off the foreign yoke. It now required, among the births of the noble family of Rurik, some one of extraordinary intellect ; and a person that was gifted with extraordinary executive abili- ties. Such a personage was found in Ivan III., called, also, John III. With the reign of this prince, who married Sophia, the niece of the last Greek emperor (Constantine Palseologus), a new epoch commences in the history of Russia (A. D. 1462-1505). He was called " the great," and as- sumed the title of tzar, or czar (" great king " ), A. D. 1547. He used every opportunity to abolish the petty principalities which owed him allegiance as grand-duke, and managed so skillfully, that some of the princes volun- tarily surrendered their rights, others bequeathed their lands to him ; still some were reduced by the force of arms. The reduction of Novgorod cost him much labor. A. D. 1478, saw Novgorod added to his dominions. He then took advantage of the dissensions between Achmet, Khan of the Golden Horde, and Mengli-Gherai, of the Crimean Horde, to deliver his country from its state of servitude, by uniting with the latter; their com- bined forces overthrew the power of Achmet, A. D. 1480 ; and the kingdom of Astrakhan, which rose on its ruins, was not able to cope with new Russian monarchy. Through his wife, Greek civilization, was again intro- 230 THE EASTERN QUESTION, duced into Russia without the dangers which would have arisen from the occupation of Constantinople, which fell into the hands of the Turks, A. D. 1453. He sent for architects, founders, coiners, miners, and various other artizans, who scattered the monuments of their labor through the empire. He fortified many towns, introduced into his court the splendor of Byzantine, assumed the title of " Czar of all the Russias," adopted the arms of the Greek empire, and united the existing edicts into a body of laws, the Soudebnik. He defeated the Poles and Lithuanians, and reunited un- der his authority most of the Russian principalities. The embassies of Germany, Poland, Venice, the Holy Roman See, with many others, were now first seen at Moscow ; and, though the character of Ivan III. is sullied by the cruel despotism of his internal administration, he is justly entitled to rank as the founder of the Russian empire. We cannot view the events which transpired under the reign of this great prince without discovering the movements of a higher and control- ing power. No one intellect of man is able to effect such vast results with such an agency and out of such heterogeneous masses. So many tribes, under so many chiefs, each one striving for the mastery. The time had come when Russian nationality was gradually to assume the form of an imperial despotism ; for no other government could have possessed sufficient strength to hold in one body such centrifugal elements. A mixed, despotic population must be ruled by despots. No other power could have gov- erned the Russian nobles. Ivan IV., grandson of Ivan, the great, who was also called " the ter- rible," reigned from A. D. 1533 to A. D. 1584 — 51 years. During his mi- nority, till 1547, the country was distracted by the contentions of factious bojars (nobles) who strove for power. He was assisted by two prudent counselors, and his queen, Anastasia Romanoff. During the latter years of his reign, after the death of his wife, an insane rage took possession of him ; nobles were executed, or banished. Thousands of people were put to death ; and, finally, he murdered his oldest son.^ The King of Poland took Livonia from him, and the Crim-Tartar made an irruption northward, and burned Moscow. One great acquisition marked the reign of this insane prince : the conquest of Siberia. Up to this era Russia, though peopled from Asia, was confined to Europe. Siberia was first made known to the Russians by a merchant named Anika StroganoflF; afterwards by a Cossack. The account will, no doubt, be interesting to those who are investigating Russian history. It is, in sub- stance, as follows : ''A body of wandering Cossacks passed the Ural moun- tains in 1580, and found a Tartar kingdom, of which Sibir was the capital. The Khan, or ruler, having been totally defeated. Yermack, the Cossack chief, took possession of the kingdom, but was afterward surprised and cut off by an ambuscade of Tartars. The Russian power spread, and, in the course of eighty years, a few Cossacks and hunters had, by their intrepid exertions, added to Russia, a territory larger in extent than all Europe (6,000,000 square miles — W). However, in extending their conquests, they came in contact with the Chinese empire, the military force of which RUSSIAN PHASE. " 231 defeated the Russians on the banks of the Amour, where they were obliged to terminate their progress, and which river formed the line of demarkation between the two empires. The mines and furs of Siberia render it valuable to the Russians, but it is most noted as the place of banishment for those who have fallen under the displeasure of the Russian government. Many an unhappy exile has here dragged out a miserable existence, to which death would have been preferable. These wretched victims of state intrigues and ruthless des- potism, have contributed greatly toward the civilization and improvement of portions of this country. The number of exiles was augmented by the banishment to this dreary region of hundreds of the unhappy Poles, whose greatest crime was a firm attachment to an oppressed country. The exile of great officers of state has frequently been attended with all the mystery which characterized the seizures of the inquisition. Often some deserving man, unconscious of having committed any crime worthy of so severe a punishment, found himself suddenly in the hands of the officers of justice. If he asked the cause of his seizure, he was commanded to be silent; if he begged to take leave of his family, his request was refused. He sank into the stupor of despair, and awakened again to a sense of hope forever lost, as he found himself upon the fatal sledge which pursued its rapid path to the hated place of exile." — Cott. Cyc. The future regeneration of this land and its population, will be noticed under a future division of Russian history. His son, Theodore (1584-98), was a feeble prince, who intrusted his brother-in-law, Boris Godounof, with the management of aflfairs. Godou- nof was a man of rare ability and intellect, and proved himself an able administrator. The Russian dominion in Siberia was consolidated, numer- ous towns and fortresses were erected in the south as barriers against the Crim-Tartars, the Greek Church in Russia was declared independent of the patriarch of Constantinople. Theodore, who died childless, was the last reigning monarch of the house of Rurik. With Theodore ends the first Scandinavian dynasty of Russia. The male line of the house of Rurik, which had ruled under fifty-six sovereigns for 736 years, now be- came extinct. Rulers of all nations should be educated with great care, and should be most profound in every department of useful knowledge; yet education cannot impart natural abilities. There must be strong physical powers ; and a volume of brain; sound, and well balanced, as well as properly de- veloped. Various varieties of the human family are distinguished by the size and shajje of their skulls, or brain development. Blumenbacl reckons five varieties, viz : (1) the Caucasian, (2) Mongolian, (3) Ethiopian, (4) Malay, (5) and American. Dr. Prichard makes a greater number of varie- ties, dividing the Caucasian of Blumenbach into Syro- Arabian, or Semitic, and the Aryan or Indo-Germanic. In the Semitic, or Syro-Arabian, na- tions exchanged the simple habits of wandering shepherds for the splendor and luxury of Nineveh and Babylon. The Indo-Germanic, Indo-European, or Japetic nations were noted for their perfection of human dialects, 232 THE EASTERN QUESTION, destined to become, in after times and under different modifications, the mother tongue of the European nations. Dr. Latham has given another classification. Cuvier reduces the five classes of Blumenbach to three, viz., the Caucasian, Mongolian, and Ethiopian, making the Malay and Ameri- can, varieties of the Mongolian. " In northern Asia," says Dr. Prichard, "most of the inhabitants have the pyramidal and broad-faced skulls." The classification of Dr. Latham is into 1. Mongolidse; 2. Atlantidfe ; 3. Japetidse. Dr. Prichard makes but one race or original centre ; Dr. Latham has two at least. Dr. Prichard gives the Aryan or Indo-Germanic family an Asiatic origin, while Dr. Latham makes it European. Dr. Latham puts the Jews, Ethiopians, and Canaanites into the same variety of Atlantidse, which does not seem to be correct. The classification of Cuvier we think quite simple, and on the whole, as faultless as either of the other classifica- tions. Dr. Prichard's objection to the term " Caucasian," does not appear to be very serious. Caucasian does not necessarily imply that mankind originated on mountain heights. Language, as a test of origin, is by no means faultless. It is often the result of new, and later associations. Two children (a male and female) may be born of German parents, reared in infancy by French; spend their childhood among Arabs; their youth among the Turks, and give rise to a numerous family in Central Asia. Their language changes with the thought and association, but their skulls and faces are still German. The three great emigrations from Asia, viz., the Keltic, the Scythian, Gothic, or German, and Sarmatian, or Slavonic, are the most easy solution of western population. The Germans, Goths, or Scythians, were from southwestern Asia, and were evidently Shemitic. In their emigrations, to the east; then, north; afterwards to the northwest, must have mixed them more or less with Japetic families, but not sufficient to change their classification. The German we would call a Semitic (Shemitic) family. This subject has been investigated under the " British Phase of the Eastern Question," and will come up again under the Jewish or " Hebrew Phase." These remarks are sufficient to establish the fact that the Russian family or dynasty of Rurik, which continued seven hundred and thirty-six years, was German, Norman (north men), or Scandinavian, while the people, or body governed, was Slavonian ; Scandinavian brain, with a Slavonian body ; the fixed, or civilized brain, with a nomadic body. This distinctness of the Russian controling intellect, and the jDeople or ma- chinery guided by it, must be noted in our history of the Russian empire. THE SECOND, OR ROMANOFF DYNASTY OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE, A. D. 1598- 1884. We have seen the Scandinavian Rurik pass out of Scandinavia into northern Russia; and by him and his family, rule for 736 years; during which time the raw elements from Asia were fused and moulded into an empire. We have noted, also, that for the government of that empire, were required great intellect and executive abilities of the first class. RUSSIAN PHASE. 233 That, to secure such a brain and such administrative power, a member (Scandinavian) of the Germans (cousin of the British) was selected by- Jehovah ; a first class brain with first class physical powers. Is the House of Romanoff the continuation of that royal blood ? This position, that the families of Rurik and Romanoff, are of the same blood, Scandinavian, Norman, or German, we now proceed to establish. The history of the House of Romanoff will furnish us with the necessary proof. The follow- ing brief historic sketches will abundantly establish the relationship be- tween the two families. "The Rurik dynasty, which for seven centuries, had held power in Russia, ended with the childless Feodor (Theodore — W.) in .1598. His legitimate heir, Dimitri, was assassinated, and the land became the prey of anarchy, which, with the ambition of rapacious neighbors, menaced the burial of its independence. The throne was offered to the Polish mon- arch, and all but given, when a successful effort to save the nationality threw off the yoke and drove the Poles from Moscow. A convocation of deputies from the nobles, priests, and burgesses, of each province, was held in 1613, to choose a czar, and Michael Romanoff was selected. The Ro- manoffs were of the leading families of Muscovy, having their origin in an adventurer from western Europe, who settled in the land in the fourteenth century. Michael was then a youth of seventeen. His kin had suffered sorely in the previous years of lawlessness; he himself had spent many years in exile and in prison; his illustrious father, who had been am- bassador to Poland, was languishing in prison at Warsaw. Alive to the dangers and cares which hedged about the regal dignity in that troublous land and time, the young czar elect declined the honor. His scruples were overcome; he was crowned at Moscow, and he reigned for two and thirty years. The wars he waged with the Poles and with the Swedes cost him broad provinces, -but his reign was very popular, and well calculated to establish his family upon the throne. We are told that he forbade the use of tobacco as injurious to health and strength, and that he issued a sort of Maine-law ukase against ardent beverages. He obtained his father's re- lease from the Polish dungeon, and wisely admitted him to a share in the government, where his prudence and moderation were of great profit." — c. a Another sketch will establish the relationship between the Rurik and the Romanoff families. "Andrew Kobyla emigrated from Prussia to Moscow in 1341, and en- tered the service of the then grand-duke, Simeon the fierce. Andrew's descendants became bojars (nobles — W.) early in the 15th century, their possessions being located in the government of Vladimir and district of Jurief Polskoi. The bojar Roman Jurievitch, the fifth in direct line from Andrew, died in 1543, leaving a son and daughter, the latter of whom be- came czarina by her marriage with Ivan the terrible; while the former, Nikita Romanovitch Jurief, by his nuptial with the princess of Sudal (a direct descendant from a brother of St. Alexander Nevskoi), was also allied to the royal race of Rurik. Nikita was one of the regency during the 234 THE EASTERN QUESTION, minority of Feodor I. ; and his eldest son Feodor, under the name of Philarete, was elevated to the rank of archimandrite and metropolitan of Rostof during the reign of the false Dimitri. The Romanoffs supported that party who tendered the Russian crown to the Polish prince, and Philarete had gone with that view to Poland, when a sudden outburst of national sentiment put a stop to these negotiations, and the unlucky envoy was in consequence thrown into prison by the enraged Poles. The national party now proceeded to the election of a native sovereign, who should be as closely allied as possible by blood to the race of Rurik ; and after much hesitation and many rejections they chose Mikail Feodorovitch Romanoff, the son of the imprisoned metropolitan, and the representative, through his grandmother, of the royal House of Rurik, Feb. 21, 1613. This selec- tion, which had been made by the higher nobility, and the clergy, was rapturously applauded by the people; and though the new czar was not quite seventeen years of age, the general desire of all classes to conform to his ordinances rendered the cares of government comparatively light." — - L. U. K. His son, Alexei Mikailovitch 1648-76), was his successor. He carried on war against the Poles and Swedes, and became very noted as a legislator. Alexei was twice married, and left by his first wife two sons, Feodor and Ivan, and many daughters, and by his second wife, one son, Peter. His eldest son Feodor (1626-82), was a prince of great talent and foresight, and labored with success to reduce the power of the aristocracy ; but being of a very weak constitution he died at the age of twenty-five without issue, leaving the throne by his will to his half brother, Peter, as his full brother, Ivan, was an imbecile. It was seven years after this be- fore Peter obtained possession of the throne. It is worthy of note, that, till the last two czars, all the emperors of the House of Romanoff, have ascended the throne before they were twenty years of age. It is sufficient here to say that the Russian empire has had but two dynasties, and that the second, which is the House of Romanoff, and of the same race, is the present imperial family of Russia. We shall sketch Russian history from the accession of Peter, known over the world by the title of "Peter the Great." Such was the character of this extraordinary personage that many seem to think that he originated the empire. This, it is seen, is not cor- rect ; neither was he the father of the Romanoff dynasty. Still his life and acts are worthy of special notice. THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE UNDER PETER THE GREAT. It is a matter of great interest to follow the growth and developments of a man whom the Lord calls to a special work. Three such persons are very conspicuous in profane history. Many others might be named, but three claim our special notice, viz., Cyrus the Great, Alexander the Great, and Peter the Great. The first two have a place in prophecy. Cyrus is called by name 200 years before his birth. Alexander is not called by name, but his nation is called by name. Both are God's agents special RUSSIAN PHASE. 235 work ; Cyrus to overthrow Babylon, and deliver his captive people ; Alex- ander to overthrow the Persian empire. After their special work was done they were no more than ordinary men. As to Cyrus, he is not only named, but his work is definitely assigned him : " That saith of Cyrus, (He is) my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure : even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built ; and to the temple. Thy foundation shall be laid. Thus saith the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him ; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two-leaved gates ; and the gates shall not be shut ; I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight : I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron. And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call (thee) bj'- thy name, (am) the God of Israel. For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name. I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me." Is. xliv. 28, and xlv. 1-5. Please read Cyrus' decree after the fall of Babylon. " Thus saith Cyrus, King of Persia. All the kingdoms of the earth hath the Lord God of heaven given me ; and He hath charged me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah." Ez. i. 2. The work of Alexander is also clearly defined by the symbols of the ram (Persia) and he-goat (Grecia). No one can read Xenophon's history of Cyrus without seeing in his youth a person of very extraordinary abilities; a person, born and educated for some great purpose. It was the power of those great peculiarities that adapted him to the nature of his mission. He seemed among his countrymen somewhat as the Savior appeared among the Jews ; and the reason of his great superiority was that Jehovah was edu- cating him for his noble, and highly honored mission. Relative to Peter the Great the Divine hand is truly visible. It is true that the Russian Czar is not called by his name Peter, but his government, his country, and its chief, have names (see Eze. xxxix). This great power had a work to accomplish in the last days ; that work requires a certain imperial fitness for the accomplishment of that work ; it had to be educated for the work ; some person had to be raised up and educated so as to prepare the government for its work. The time had come when the Rus- sian empire was to take an elevated stand among the most powerful na- tions of the earth. Without some speedy and extraordinary development of its entire resources, such a position could not be taken nor sustained. Peter the Great was' evidently raised up and educated for that special work. The agent had to be fitted for its agency. Let us see what work he had to accomplish ; and in what manner he was fitted for the accomplishment of that work. We shall make such a summary of his life and actions as will illustrate his character and mission. He was not born to an easy quiet fortune. Between Peter and the throne were other heirs ; who were re- solved to exclude him from the vacant throne. The grand duchess Sophia, a woman of superior ability, and of great energy, but of unbounded ambi- tion, disdaining seclusion, customary among the females of the royal 236 THE EASTERN QUESTION, family, she showed herself to the Strelitz (standing army, that sometimes numbered 50,000), excited them to fury by an ingenious story of the assas- sination of her brother Ivan (who was an imbecile), and then let them loose on the supporters of Peter's claims. After a carnage of three days, during which more than sixty members of the most noble families of Rus- sia were massacred, she succeeded in obtaining the coronation (July, 1682) of Ivan and Peter as joint rulers, and her own appointment as regent. Up to Peter's coronation his education had been greatly neglected ; he could neither read nor write. Lefort, a Swiss, one of his companions, taught him not only Russian, but several other European languages. His knowledge of the military art and of mathematics came from Lieut. Franz Timmer- man, a native of Strasburg. The sciences and arts of civilization were taught him by Lefort, by showing how much, in these points, Muscovy was behind the rest of* Europe. His army was undisciplined. Lefort formed a small military company out of the young men of noble family who attended Peter, and caused Peter himself to pass, by regular steps, from the lowest (that of drummer) to the highest grade in it, rendering him all the while amenable to strict discipline. He sent abroad for tried soldiers, — thousands of Frenchmen, Scots, Germans and Swiss, — and learned the different corps. He made merit the only ground of promotion. Russia had no navy. Peter was born with such a dread of water that when he saw a river he shuddered. Of this he cured himself by a vigorous morning regi- ment of icy shower-baths. Peter made himself a practical mariner ; afterwards a ship-carpenter. A. D. 1698 he visited Holland, under an assumed name. In Holland he worked as an ordinary hand among the shipwrights in the dock-yards ; after which he went to England. In the royal dock-yard at Deptford, spurning all ceremony and attention he hewed and hammered like any other frugal, industrious carpenter. After he had become a master-work- man he returned home ; and Russia soon had a navy. There were frequent uprisings among the soldiery. These were put down by Peter, in the most resistless and daring manner, making terrible examples, till all seditions came to an end. He ruled with absolute despotism ; yet it had for its chief object, the aggrandizement of the nation, and not self. If any thing stood in the way of his grand schemes, it was crushed without remorse. The councils of the boyards and nobles was a restraint upon his will : As a cob- web, it disappeared. He hated priestcraft as an antagonistic despotism ; he crumbled the power of the church, and declared himself its patriarch and head. When he founded St. Petersburg, the clergy swelled the popu- lar dislike to its unhealthy marshes, by proclaiming that an image of the Virgin, which had been removed to the church on the Neva, shed visible tears thereat. Peter strode into the church, seized the sniveling doll, gouged its eyes, and chuckled to find a small reservoir of oil, so contrived that a little stream could trickle down its checks. He entered the circle of fashion, and decreed that the dress of his people should conform to that of western Europe. He was an enemy to beards, and by taxing them pro- moted shaven chins. One of his wisest social requisitions was that which RUSSIAN PHASE. 237 sent young Russians on foreign tours ; it helped to raise the Russian noble from a drunken, sensual, brutal boor toward a polished gentleman. Peter was drunken and sensual, in a degree that would have swamped an ordi- nary man ; but he was not an ordinary man, and he knew the worth of virtues and attainments that he did not practice. His intimate friends were principally foreigners, or Russians who had traveled abroad. Lefort, the Swiss, was his chief adviser; Menschikoff, who began life as a pastry- cook, and ended by founding a princely house still foremost in the empire was another ; and wherever Peter found useful talent, whether in a Mus- covite boyard or in a Dutch skipper, he encouraged and employed it. His domestic habits were as singular as his public life. He married young ; brutally abused his wife ; and was not overly nice about his mis- tresses. The last of these mistresses became his second wife. She was a very remarkable woman. First a Swedish peasant girl (mark the Scan- dinavian family), then the wife of a dragoon, then a Russian captive; the mistress of Gen. Bauer ; then of Prince Menschikoff, she was sold by the latter to his master, and became czarina. Martha, her original name, was changed to Catharine. Her excellent good nature proved a resistless charm for impetuous Peter, one that could calm his wildest fits of passion. She was his companion m the camp. It is said that the truce which saved his army when surrounded by the Turks on the banks of the Pruth, was en- tered into by her without even his knowledge. An author has given the fol- lowing graphic delineation of Peter the Great : " The great czar went on ; rearing an imperial city of splendid proportions and design, on the watery desert of the Neva; waging battle with Turk and Swede and Pole; build- ing up fleets of war and navies of commerce ; founding that army which has since been brought to the perfection of a machine; careering, like the car of the Hindoo idol, over life and happiness and liberty, toward the mark of his lofty aims and indomitable energy. In 1716 he journeyed with Catharine to Denmark, and thence to Holland, the scene of the hardy toil of plain Peter Timmermann. Much had been done since then ; that toil was not for naught. At last there came to Peter the Great fate which comes to all. He died of strangury, aggravated by exposure to wet and cold on a boating excursion, Jan. 28th, 1725." — C. 0. We will close this historic sketch of Peter's last years by describing his equestrian statue, and its significant meaning. "A colossal statue was erected to his memory at St. Petersburg, by the second Catharine. The huge block of granite which forms its pedestal, and which weighs upward of fifteen tons, was conveyed from a marsh at a distance of four English miles from St. Petersburg, and two from the sea. On approaching near to the rock, the simple inscription fixed on it in bronze letters, ' Petro Primo. Catherina Secunda, MDCCLXXXII,' meets the eye. The same inscription in the Russian language appears on the opposite side. The area is enclosed within a handsome railing placed between the granite pillars. The idea of Falconet, the French architect commissioned to erect an equestrian statue of this extraordinary man, at whose command a few scat- 238 THE EASTERN QUESTION, tered huts of fishermen were converted into palaces, was to represent him as conquering, by enterprise and personal courage, difficulties almost in- surmountable. This, the artist imagined, might be properly represented by placing Peter on a fiery steed, which he is supposed to have taught by skill, management, and perseverance, to rush up a steep and precipitous rock, to the very brink of a precipice, over which the animal and the im- perial rider pause without fear, and in an attitude of triumph. The horse rears with his fore feet in the air, and seems impatient of restraint, while the sovereign, turned toward the island, surveys with calm and serene countenance his capital rising out of the waters, oyer which he extends the hand of protection. This monument of bronze is said to have been cast at a single jet. The height of the figure of the emperor is eleven feet ; that of the horse seventeen feet ; the general weight of the metal in the group is equal to 36,636 English pounds. It is said that when the artist had formed his con- ception of the design, he communicated it to the empress, together with the impossibility of representing to nature so striking a position of man and animal, without having before his eyes a horse and rider in the atti- tude he had devised. Gen. Melessino, an officer having the reputation of being the most expert as well as the boldest rider of the day, to whom the difficulties of the artist were made known, offered to ride daily one of the Count Alexis Orloff 's best Arabians, to the summit of the steep artificial mound formed for the purpose ; accustoming the horse to gallop up to it, and to halt suddenly, with his fore legs raised; pawing the air over the brink of a precipice. This dangerous experiment was carried into effect by the general for some days, in the presence of several spectators and of Falconet, who sketched the various movements and parts of the group from day to day. In an equestrian statue the horse is the great point ; the rider is of little account. The merit of this group consists in the boldness with which it rests on the hind legs of the steed, assisted by an allegorical serpent of envy that the horse very judiciously spurns rather than topple over."— a C. There are many features in the life of Peter the Great that deserve more attention than we have time to bestow. The work that he accom- plished to strengthen the empire by fusing its elements and furnishing for it all the attributes of power, was beyond the province of any human being to possess by nature. He was an intellectual giant, but a dwarf in such moral sentiments as tend to elevate the human species. He was born to command. The empire demanded the most exalted executive abilities, and it found such in Peter the Great. He found his empire in a semi-barbarous state, and left it occupying an honorable station among the great mon- archies of the earth ; in the possession of great natural resources ; and pos- sessed of a disciplined army and an increasing navy — with a territory ex- tending from China to the Baltic. RUSSIAN PHASE. 239 J THE WILL OF PETER THE GREAT. Much has been said of Peter's last will. Since it is supposed to have a direct bearing on the Eastern Question, our notice of this extraordinary personage would be very unsatisfactory without investigating the contents of that singular document. We take it for granted that the will is genuine, and, consequently, that it reflects his peculiar modes of thought and lays open his far reaching plans, and his imperial policy, relative to Russia's greatness and conquests. The following is said to be the will : In the name of the Holy and Indivisible Trinity, we, Peter the First, to all our descendants and successors to the throne and government of the Russian nation : Having, by the great God of whom our existence, been also endowed with the gift of prescience, we view the Russians as called, in the course of future events, to the general dominions of Europe. This opinion is founded on the fact, that the other European nations have reached a state of old age next to caducity, toward which they are journeying with giant strides ; hence it follows, that they should easily and undoubtedly be con- quered by a people young and new, when it shall have acquired its strength and vigor. We view the invasion of the East and West coun- tries by the North as periodical movement, decreed among the arcana of that Providence that regenerated the Roman people through the invasion of the barbarians. The emigrations of the polar men are like the flood of the Nile which comes at certain periods to fertilize the exhausted lands of Egypt. We found Russia a rivulet, and leave her converted into a river; and my suc- cessors will find it a sea, destined to fertilize impoverished Europe, and its waves will break down all opposing dykes, if my descendants have but the wisdom to direct the current. To this end I leave the following instruc- tions, which are recommended to their attention, and constant observance. 1. To have the Russian nation constantly at war, that the soldiery may be always disciplined and ready for action. Allow the nation no rest, but for the replenishing of the treasury, reorganizing the armies, and choos- ing the opportune moment for attack ; making in this manner, peace serve war, and war serve peace, in the interests, aggrandizement and prosperity of Russia. 2. To attract, by all possible means, the most eflicient and celebrated military ofiicers in Europe, during war, and the highly educated, scientific men of all countries, in time of peace, that the Russians may enjoy the ad- vantages of other countries, without losing their own identity. 3. To take part, on all occasions, in the disputes and contentions among the states of Europe, especially those of Germany, in which, as the nearest, we are the most directly interested. 4. To subdue Poland ; foment their continued rivalries and disturb- ances ; gain their nobles by bribery ; influence their diets, and by intrigue, take action in the election of their kings ; form partisan cliques, and for 240 THE EASTEEN QUESTION, their protection, send them Muscovite troops, to remain in the country, un- til the moment of complete occupation. If the neighboring powers make opposition, quiet them at once, by dismembering the country, and give each a part. 5. To take what we can from Sweden, and make any attack by her a pretence of subjugation. To effect this, separate her from Denmark, and likewise Denmark from Sweden, and foment with care all animosities and rivalries between them. 6. To select wives for the Russian princes among the princesses of Germany, for the multiplying of family alliances will conciliate interests, and by them unite Germany to our cause, and increase our influence in that country. 7. To attend assidiously to forming an alliance with England for our commerce ; the assistance of that power we most need, for the building up of a maritime force, and she will be of the greatest service in supplying us with her gold, in exchange for our lumber and other productions. Con- tinual intercourse with her merchants and sailors will accustom ours to navigation and commerce. . 8. Extend ourselves unceasingly toward the North, the whole length of the Baltic, and likewise to the South by the Black Sea. 9. To take every possible means of gaining Constantinople and the Indies, (for he who rules there will be the sovereign of the world) ; excite war continually in Turkey and Persia; establish fortresses in the Black Sea; get control of the sea by degrees, and also of the Baltic, which is a double point, necessary to the realization of our project; accelerate as much as possible, the decay of Persia ; penetrate to the Persian Gulf— re-establish, if possible, by the way of Syria, the ancient commerce of the Levant ; advance to the Indies, which are the great depot of the world. Once there we can do without the gold of England. 10. Obtain and carefully cultivate the alliance of Austria ; support (apparently) her ideas of future dominion over Germany ; excite animo- sities and rivalries among her princes— thus causing each party to claim the assistance of Russia, and exercise over this country a species of pro- tection that will prepare for future dominion. 11. Interest the House of Austria in the expulsion of the Turks from Europe, and quiet their dissensions at the moment of conquest of Constan- tinople (having excited war among the old states of Europe), by giving to Austria a portion of the conquest, which afterwards will or can be reclaimed. 12. Unite within your borders all the disunited or schismatic Greeks now scattered in Hungary and Poland, making ourselves their centre, establishing beforehand an independent church by a species of autocracy and sacerdotal supremacy. 13. Sweden dismembered, Persia subdued, Poland subjected, and Tur- key conquered, our armies united, and the Black and Baltic Seas guarded by our ships of war, it will be necessary to propose separately, and with the greatest secrecy, to the coast of Versailles, and afterwards to that of Vienna, to divide with them the empire of the universe. RUSSIAN PHASE. 241 If one of the two accept this offer, so flattering to their ambition and self-love, let her serve to annihilate the other, commencing a contest, the issue of which cannot be doubtful ; and Russia may take possession of all the East and a great part of Europe. If both nations should refuse the offer made by Russia (which is not at all probable), it will be necessary to excite quarrels among them, which will engage them in a war with each other. Then Russia, improving the decisive moment, advances her troops (assembled beforehand) on France and Germany at the same time. Two squadrons proceed — one by the Sea of Azof, an4 the other by the port of Archangel — filled with Asiatic hordes, under the convoy of our armed ships in the Black Sea and the Baltic. Advance on the Mediterranean and the ocean, inundate France on one side, while Germany is inundated on the other, and these two countries con- quered, the rest of Europe will he pass under the yoke without firing a gun. Thus may and should be effected the subjugation of Europe." There are many remarkable features about this will executed by Peter the Great (its genuineness we take for granted), that deserve particular notice : Since it partakes somewhat of the nature of a prophecy, and of Russia's policy under its various unfolding phases : for Peter claimed from God "The gift of prescience." He says : "We view the Russians as called, in the course of future events, to the dominion of Europe." If Peter had said "Asia," instead of Europe, we should have had some faith in his pre- diction, since Ezekiel, God's seer, allows Russia the dominion of Asia, the mountains of Israel excepted, for, on those mountains, her military power with that of all confederated Asia, by the fierce anger of the Almighty, will be annihilated. Western Europe can never be Russian. Her single efforts in that direction have uniformly been failures. It was never designed that Russia should hold the imperial zone. . In her future contest she may hold for a time, its eastern section, the Asiatic division, but the European division ever has been out of her control, and we think that prophecy indicates that it will be in the great future; she is the empire of the north, and to that zone she will be confined till her final doom. Why Russia has never suc- ceeded in western Europe has a rational solution : (1) She attacks her own blood royalty. Russia is and has been, from the origin of the nation, under the control of Norman, Scandinavian or German intellect. In her supreme rulers, she is simply the peer of the western European nations, since they all sprang from the Gothic, Scythic, or Germanic family of the second emigration from Asia. (2) Her army is inferior in discipline, and especially in race, the soldiers are principally Slavonian, or of the third emigration. They are inferior to the Prussians, the French, and the English, and, there- fore, could not succeed against them. Equal in mental powers, though their high officers may be the inferiority of her soldiery, would insure the defeat of all her western aspirations. (3) The European policy of main- taining a balance of power will defeat all such Russian dreams. (4) Peter's will in itself is a sufficient caveat for the Western Nations. Should Russia make any attempt to move westward for conquest either by land or by sea 16 242 THE EASTERN QUESTION, the combined forces of Prussia, France, and England, would drive her from the seas, and annihilate her armies. (5) The enunciation of the prophets contains no western mission for Russia. In the future great national struggles, the nations gather under three military standards : (a) that of the dragon, which will be the standard for all nomadic and idolatrous nations ; (&) the beast (fourth beast of Daniel or the Roman-German empire); (c) the false prophet or Mohammedan empire. Satan's empire is composed of these three powers. It is not difficult to locate Russia in this contest. This will come up, however, under a future division of our subject. It is sufficient here to remark, that neither history nor prophecy gives Russia any western mission ; it is Eastern Asiatic, as we shall learn in our pro- gressive history of the Russian empire. Why, then, has Russia an original European location, and seat of empire? A close examination of what we have written, will reveal the objects of her European location and her im- portant work. Northeastern Europe was the only favorable site for the Seminary of the Shepherd, or nomadic world, where the elements that were to form the empire of the North were to be educated and drilled. The great North- western Seminary where the elements of the southern confederacy were to be educated had previously been located in Northwestern Europe and in the British Isles. The Seminary of the great northern empire was fitly located in Northeastern. Europe, both seminaries drew their teachers from the same or the Scandinavian, Norman or German family. The North- eastern University, with its imperial Capital located at St. Petersburg, amid swamps and marshes, near 60 degree of north latitude, on the east and west line of central Siberia, a few degrees north of the great line of emigration between Asia and Europe, was well chosen to be the place of the Shepherd University. Here the northern Shepherds and Nomadic tribes, from all northern and central and western Asia, were gathered by the great Supreme to be taught and drilled for the special purposes of the northern empire in the last conflict. Peter calls to his aid, in the various departments of instruction, the most learned from all the nations of western Europe, Swiss, French, English and German, those distinguished for their knowledge of the sciences of legislation, astronomy, mathe- matics, mechanics, of law, medicine, and of war. With such a corps of able professors from the most enlightened nations of the West, these tribal shepherd nations of Asia were assimilated in their manners and customs, fused, moulded, and prepared to be efficient actors in the work of this empire of the North. Where in the shepherd zone could have been selected a place more suited to the object and the work than Northeastern Europe? Why located so far North? To be far away from the tempta- tions of the South, and to secure the vigor of those cold and bracing winds and northern tempests. It is a location suited to the physical constitu- tion of those northern hordes, that are to be educated and fused and trained for active workers in the movements of the northern empire. It was necessar}'' that those Asiatic shepherds and Nomadic races should have all the advantages of European civilization and army and navy drill of EUSSIAN PHASE. 243 those western nations, whose armies they must meet on the mountains of Israel. Who cannot see the hand of God in the rise and progressive unfoldings, instructions, and military drill of the Russian empire ? Peter the Great, like Cyrus the Great, seems to have been raised up to instruct and put the Russian empire into that seminary of modern develop- ment, which would train and fit her for her future terrible conflicts. He was therefore, a man of destiny, an agent of Jehovah for this same pur- pose. His whole life was but an aggregate of wonders ; drawing into his empire the raw materials of future greatness, and then ransacking Europe for laborers, educators and artisans : not only sending agents into those countries that occupied the front rank of civilization, but visiting, himself, those lands as an ordinary laborer, working in dock-yards, and observing everything. He left England (April 1698), carrying with him English engineers, artificers, surgeons, artisans, artillery-men, and others in various trades and professions, to the number of 500. He grasped all knowledge and persons that could in any manner aid him in building up his empire. So vast was the mass of semi- Asiatic dough collected from such an im- mense variety of mixtures, that it required all the spare leaven of Western Europe to leaven the Russian lump. The emperor's statement relative to the state of the European nations has been demonstrated to be incorrect. So far from being at that time (A. D. 1725) in "a state of old age next to caducity, towards which they are journeying with giant strides," they have within those 160 years de- veloped the fact, that they had not then reached their full vigor of man- hood. The French Revolution was then sleeping in embryo. The seeds of infidelity were beginning to germinate, and its poisonous atmosphere was beginning to circulate throughout Western Europe. If Peter the Great could have seen by his pretended "gift of prescience," the sea of flames of burning Moscow, and heard the rushing sound of its fiery tem- pestuous billows; and have been told that it was to destroy the winter- quarters of a French army under a Corsican ; if he had seen the terrible battles of the western allied armies, followed by the siege of Sevastopol, followed by the loss of the free navigation of the Black Sea. If he could have seen the grandeur of Germany, (Prussia), Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, France and England of to-day, his visions of European conquests would have faded away as the idle dreams of the night. The philosophy of the Western or German failures will appear, if we reflect, that the Rus- sian imperial brain is as old as those by Germany, France and England, they being cousins, of one generic family. Peter's will contains two parts: (1) His '' prescience ; " (2) and his instructions for the guidance of his successors. The emperor's " prescience " is faulty in another particular : He says, " We found Russia a rivulet, and leave it converted into a river ;" so far we find no fault. He continues, " My successors will find it a sea, destined to fertilize impoverished Europe." This prediction has never yet been accomplished ; nor can we discern any move in that direction. What fertilizing elements has Russia wafted to European countries that has any analogy to the great river of Egypt? 244 THE EASTERN QUESTION, Russia has been Egypt to the other nations of Europe ; not the Nile. All those attributes of Russian greatness, of which that empire is proud, came from those European nations which she calls impoverished. The great Russian river flows east and north ; not to the west. With these strictures we pass to the second part of his will, viz., his instructions to his succes- sors. These are deceitful and overflowing with national selfishness. The second division of the will sets forth M^hat is properly termed Russia's na- tional policy, since it has been followed wherever the condition of the European nations would in any manner allow such a course of action. The instructions of Peter the Great have been put forth by the late em- perors as their settled policy. Alexander II. at his coronation said : "May Providence so aid us that we may be able to strengthen Russia in the higher degree of power and glory ; that by us may be accomplished the views and designs of our illustrious predecessors, Peter, Catharine, Alexander, and our august father, (Nicholas — W.), of imperishable memory." Let us examine some of these items of Peter's instructions : (1) " To have the Russian na- tion constantly at war." This item has been carried out very faithfully during these 160 years. At times, however, the results have been so disas- trous as to threaten her national existence. Her efforts westward, except in Poland, have been exceedingly unproductive. A voice seems to say, " Thus far, only." " Move thy armies eastward." The time has been when, it was supposed, Russia had her eye on America ; a more extended experience to- wards the setting sun, burst that bubble, and she disposed of her ice house to the great American Republic. (2) His second bill of particulars has also been carried out. Men of science have found a home in Russia. So have celebrated military officers. The vast influx of raw material -from her Asiatic provinces has supplied students for the constant occupation of these German, French, and English professors. The Russian drill has thus ad- vanced to a very high degree of perfection. (3) Her meddling with other nations' affairs has not been very productive of good. Russia has never gained any special advantages over Germany, though Peter's will instructs his successors, on all occasions, to take part in German disputes. The Ger- mans have exercised greater power over contiguous Russian territory than the Russians have over theirs. The reason is obvious, the German is supe- rior to the Slavonian, which is a mixture of many inferior varieties. The German race occupies the front rank of European intelligence, and is the po- litical centre of the European nationalities. (4) His fourth list of in- struction is relative to Poland. These instructions have been carried out, and have been attended with success. The Poles were of the Slavonian race, inferior to the German race. God has a distinct work for these fami- lies, as has been shown in the Anglo-Saxon family. (5) Her efforts against Sweden and Denmark may be set down as failures, since they remain in- dependent of Russian domination. (6) His sixth item of Russian policy is remarkable. The Russian princes were to marry German princesses, that, by these family alliances, the interests of the two countries might be closer. Yet this policy tended rather to Germanize Russia. Its effects were the re- verse of what Peter intended, the German having greater vitality than RUSSIAN PHASE. 245 the Scandinavian mixture. God made use of this Russian policy to keep up the vitality and power of the Romanoff family so that Russia might be under the control of a first class brain. Thus does Jehovah turn man's policy to subserve His own purposes. (7) The seventh item of instruction relates to England. They were to form alliances with England, for com- mercial purposes, and to share the benefits of her gold. No direct attempt at British conquest is named. While mistress of the sea, any such at- tempt would have been disastrous to Russia. England was to instruct Russian sailors, and thus give skill to her naval officers and mariners. (8) The eighth specialty of Russian policy refers to extending her possessions north along the Baltic Sea, and south along the Black Sea. These seas are necessary to Russia's naval operations. In this policy, it being legitimate, she has succeeded. She has long had those seas, partly in her grasp after power, the Black Sea being taken from her only for a few years. (9, 10, 11, 12, 13) The remaining five items of Russian policy refer to her conquests of the South, East, West, and finally of the whole world ; the establish- ment of a fifth universal empire. The last object she can never obtain, since it belongs to the God of heaven. It is the stone that, as a mountain, fills the earth. Peter's instructions were (a) to take Constantinople ; the Turkish empire; Persia, and the Indies. The East being subjugated ; Rus- sia is to turn her armies westward for the conquest of Austria, Prussia, France, and England. 160 years have passed since Peter the Great defined the future of Russian policy and domination. God had defined them twen- ty-three centuries previous to Peter's will. The will of Jehovah is supreme, and shall be ultimately accomplished. What Russia has accomplished to- wards universal conquest will be examined in future divisions of our sub- ject. It is sufficient here to remark that, to this time, every effort of Rus- sia to get possession of any nationality in the imperial zone has utterly failed. Her empire belongs to the great shepherd, or nomadic zone ; and God will hold Russia to that field till His purposes in the imperial zone are more fully matured. This will be discussed fully under the Ottoman and Hebrew Phases. Turkey, Persia, the Indies, Austria, Prussia, France, Den- mark, Sweden and the British empire will furnish some little work yet for the armies of the Northern Autocrat. In connexion with Peter's will, prescience, and the Russian empire in the future, one other (monumental) prediction is worthy of notice : — Peter's Equestrian Statue, the idea of Falconet, the French architect. He that wrote the destiny of Gentile domination on the mind of Nebuchadnez- zar and restamped it upon the mind of Daniel, in the form of a great metallic image ; and also exhibited the history of the same dynasties by the symbols of four beasts, could so operate upon the mind of the French artist as to construct a statue which should be a prophetic symbol of the Russian em- pire, since Peter's acts and policy were a model for the acts and policy of the Russian empire. With this pattern thought before us let us examine the statue in its intent and symbolic import. A mounted horseman, who stood for the emperor, in his career of conquest, is an appropriate symbol of an empire in its rapid career of victory. An equestrian statue is the proper 246 THE EASTERN QUESTION, symbol of a nation of cavalry. " Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog. Thus saith the Lord God : In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know (it) ? And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army." Eze. xxxviii. 13, 14. The great conquests of that empire, till it is faced by Jehovah upon the mountains of Israel, is fitly symbolized by this imperial rider (handling the empire) teaching his fiery steed to rush up a steep and precipitous rock, to the very brink of a precipice, over which the animal and the imperial rider pause without fear, and in an attitude of triumph. The horse rears with his fore feet in the air, and seems impatient of re- straint, while the sovereign, turned toward the island, surveys with calm and serene countenance his capital rising out of the waters, over which he extends the hand of protection. But we are in advance of our period of Russian history. Let us return to the point where we dropped the thread of our narrative of Russian his- tory (A. D. 1725). The seventy-five years of Russian history, from the death of Peter the Great to the coronation of Alexander I., Sept. 27, 1801, can scarcely find a parallel in the world's history. That period had the Romanoff sovereigns : Catharine I., Peter's second wife (1725-1727) ; Peter II., grandson of Peter the Great. Deposed, 1730; Anne, Duchess of Cour- land, daughter of the Czar Ivan (1730-1740) ; Ivan V., an infant, grand- nephew to Peter the Great; immured in a dungeon, 18 years; murdered in 1762. (1741) Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the Great, reigned during Ivan's captivity till A. D. 1762; Peter III., son of Anne and Charles Frederick, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp ; deposed and died soon after, supposed to have been murdered. Catharine II. (1762-1796), wife of Peter III„ Elizabeth reigned 21 years; Catharine II. reigned 34 years. Elizabeth, stung by a sarcasm on her good looks from Frederick the Great, allied with Maria Theresa (of Aiistria), and retorted with a heavy army, and thus Russia began her direct participation in the politics of Europe. It was much increased by the unscrupulous aggressions that marked the rule of Catharine II. The reign of Catharine II. was long, energetic, and corrupt. Her first war was against Poland. She offended the Poles, on the death of their king, Augustus III., by raising to their throne Stanislaus Poniatowski, her former paramour. She insisted on claiming the most of the Polish ter- ritory. The Poles having induced the Ottoman Porte to aid them in their de- fense, hostilities commenced between Turkey and Russia. In 1770 a Russian fleet first appeared in the Mediterranean for the purpose of rend- ing Greece and the Archipelago from the Ottoman empire. At length Po- land was dismembered by Russia, Austria, and Prussia, and Turkey was forced to a disadvantageous peace. Catharine seized the Crimea, and again excited the jealousy of the Turks, who declared war against Russia. Catharine desired to place her grandson, Constantine, upon the throne of an Eastern empire, raised upon the ruins of the Ottoman empire, with its RUSSIAN PHASE. 247 capital at Constantinople. Joseph II., Emperor of Germany, sent the Russians an army of 80,000 Austrians. Everything seemed to indicate the fall of the Ottoman empire. Surrounding nations, however, beheld with jealousy the designs of the empress, who threatened to destroy the equili- brium of Europe. Notwithstanding her victories and her conquests she at length perceived that a cessation of hostilities was very, desirable. Ac- cordingly, A. D. 1792, the peace of Jassy was concluded between Russia and the Porte. The bloody and expensive war was terminated by the peace of Jassy. History says that Catharine died after a "long and prosperous reign, and at a time when she hoped to drive the Turks out of Europe, and to seize on the throne of Constantinople." The reign of Catharine II. affords a distinct view of Russian morals and Russian policy and power at the close of the 18th century. The morals of nations, partake somewhat of the morals of their supreme rulers. This is particularly true of nations under despotic rulers. They are the foun- tains of civil and religious power and their manners and practices are a pattern for the people. This is strictly true where the sovereign claims to be the visible head and ruler of the Church. It was so in Pagan and Papal Rome, and Russia, in no particular, formed an exception. What, then, were Russian morals as reflected in the character of Catha- rine II, the head of the Greek Church of Russia ? Of all the members of the Romanoff family, called to bear the Russian sceptre, she stood first in real depravity of heart. Her acts will fully justify the allegation. Let us simply outline her morals. We append a brief sketch of her life from a reliable history. Her husband, Peter the III, was the grand-son of Peter the Great and Catharine I. "He was steeped in habitual excesses. He for a long time slighted his consort, Catharine (II), and openly lived with the Countess of Worontzofif, niece of the chancellor of that name. Catharine indulged in the greatest licentiousness ; and, after the dismissal of Poniat- owski, the Polish ambassador, with whom she had been too intimate, she carried on a criminal intercourse with Gregory Orloff, who became an active and zealous member of a conspiracy against the Czar. To the conspiracy of Bestuchefif, supported by his nephew, the Prince of Wolskonsky, and by Count Panin, was added another, of which the Princess Dashkoflf, a girl only eighteen years of age, was the most active and spirited member. Of all the factions, which acted without the cognizance of each other, Catharine was the animating spirit. At length a report was propagated that the emperor entertained the design of declaring Prince Ivan his successor, of disowning the young grand- duke, Paul, his son, and of immuring Catharine for life in a prison, and substituting in her place his mistress, the Countess of Worontzofif. At seven in the morning of the 9th of July, 1762, Catharine entered the City of Petersburg in the absence of the Czar; and having induced the soldiers to believe that her death, together with that of her son, had been decreed by the emperor that night, the troups took the oath of allegiance, to her. She then repaired to the Church of Casan, where the Archbishop 248 THE EASTERN QUESTION, of Novgorod placed on her head the imperial crown, and in a loud voice proclaimed her sovereign of all the Russias under the name of Catharine II. The revolution was bloodless. Her husband was solacing himself with his mistress at one of his country-houses of pleasure, when he was informed of the event which had taken place. Consternation immediately pervaded the whole company. The emperor, perplexed and confounded, ordered, countermanded, asked advice, adopted, and again rejected it, and at length set out with his mistress and aid-de-camp to meet Catharine, vainly hoping to move by submission the heart of a woman who was utterly devoid of pity or compassion. After being induced to write and sign a renunciation of the throne of Russia, he was cast into prison, where seven days after, a minion of the empress gave him poison, and made the dose sure by strangling him, after a struggle in which the poor wretch fought with desperation and agony of despair. The woman thus made mistress of Russia, was born in Stettin in Prussia, of the house of Anhalt Zerbst, May 2d, 1729. Her name was originally Sophia, but upon her marriage, she obeyed the law and custom of Russia by leaving the Lutheran faith, and was baptized into the Greek church by the name of Catharine Alexiena. History calls her Catharine the Great, an epithet that seems to belong to all robbers, murderers, and villains that have the opportunity of mould- ing their crimes in colossal dimensions. With all that accuses Napoleon, it is much to his credit that the word does not cling to his name, and it is surely out of place, in its historic acceptation, upon that wise Alfred of England. Catharine was a woman of unbounded ambition. In her reign of a third of a century, it was aided by such ministers as Panin and Potemkin, and to wage her wars she had warriors like Romantzoff and the merciless and indomitable Suwarrow. Many magnificent schemes for the advancement of Russia were promulgated in her ukases, sounding her glory far and wide : a few of these were put into operation, but most of them, like many a fine metropolis in our West, existed only on paper. Indeed, she published a list of two hundred and forty-five cities which she had founded; we may look in vain for most of them. Once Joseph II. of Austria accompanied her to lay the foundation of a new city on the Dnieper, to be called after her name, Ekaterinoslaf. In her imagination it already rivaled St. Petersburg. With imposing ceremony the empress laid the first stone, and her imperial companion another. On his return Joseph dryly remarked: The empress and I have this day achieved a great work, she has laid the first stone of a great city, and I have laid the last. Such was the fate of many of the towns she laid : they were never hatched. She made vast beginnings and mean endings. Her plans were sure to be perverted before they reached the extremities of her dominions. Diderot compared her empire to a fruit rotten before it was ripe. Joseph of Austria called it a 'colossus of brass on a pedestal of clay.' One great feature of her fame is as a law-giver. To her credit be it said, that she first lessened and finally abolished the practice of torture. But her famous code of laws, which has been so much praised, never went beyond the set RUSSIAN PHASE. 249 of instructions for its formation which she drew up, and all that was good in those she stole from Montesquieu and other sources. The luxury and waste of her life and the consequent profusion of expense, sustained by doubling and trebling the taxes, have few parallels. The nation's resources increased under her administration, but it mattered not how much, she was equal to their exhaustion. Upon her favorites she lavished diamonds by handfuls, and coin like pebbles, a harvest of wealth that sprung from starvation and beggary of thousands. Plague and famine raged in the provinces; rife rebellions were quelled only at terrible cost of life; and in one case an entire Tartar nation took flight from the cruelty and rapacity of her myrmidons, through an awful path of desert and wilderness, to the distant asylum of China. Such a ruler was naturally an accomplice in that stupendous crime, the partition of Poland ; she had smoothed the way by forcing upon the Poles as a king, one of her cast-off paramours, Stanislaus Poniatowski. We must not forget that she did much to encourage Russian literature, and that her decree allowing any one to set up a printing-office without a license from government, had an important effect in advancing the civilization of the empire. Her private character befitted a daughter rather than merely the wife of a Romanoff. Her profligacy was open, defiant, and it increased with her years. We cannot sully our pages with even a hint of its details, the record is already black enough. Yet this woman, whose political crimes were so colossal, and whose private vices so detestable, in her personal de- portment and in the circle of her court, was kind, easy, and good-humored. Her serenity of temper and composure of manner were remarkable. She was a liberal mistress to her friends, and in the midst of her despotism she sometimes displayed almost unaccountable indulgence and magnanimity. She never hesitated at any atrocity, cruelty, or injustice which could pro- mote her designs or secure her power; yet she could forgive a personal affront, and seldom punished, even when most provoked. While she was meditating the destruction of Sweden, and preparing all the resources of her realm for one more stupendous war, appoplexy smote her from life, Nov. 10th, 1796."— a a Such a. visible head had the Greek Russian Church for 34 years, and yet she is called "The greatest Sovereign of Russia after Peter I." It is said, "She made a great show of regard for the outward forms of the Greek Church, although her principles were, in reality, those of the infidelity, then prevalent among the French philosophers. She was a woman of great ability, but utterly devoid of principle. She shrunk from no crime, and sensuality and crime governed all her actions. She was shameless in vice, and always had a paramour who dwelt in her palace, and might be regarded as filling an acknowledged office of State, with large revenues and determinate privileges." Catharine was flattered by distinguished authors, and she invited some of the literati and philosophers of France to her court and became a dis- ciple of their infidel doctrines. During her reign Russian morals were severely neglected, and the whole nation drank in more or less of her loose 250 THE EASTERN QUESTION, practices. Under the reign of Catharine II. the boundaries of Russia were extended, and her material wealth increased. Still it is questioned, whether she advanced it in true greatness. If Righteousness exalteth a nation, and sin is its reproach (Prov. xiv. 34), the reign of Catharine was a period of Russian degradation. Her wars, except against Poland, were not followed with the results she anticipated. The philosophy of her failures is that with which we are more directly interested. Her want of success is ascribed to the workings of natural causes. Still nature, in all its laws and developments is under management of the Great Supreme. We hold this great principle as immutably true, that great national pur- poses, which, if carried out, would antagonize God's purposes, are uni- formly defeated, either in the act or in its results. Without such results God would not be the national ruler. He puts down one nation and builds up another, by what would appear to be human agency, working with entire freedom, still all must be under Supreme control. With these preliminary thoughts before us, let us ask why this great empress failed to conquer Turkey? Russia and the German empire were joined against the Ottoman empire. Why then was not the Turk driven out of Europe? It is answered, "The jealousy of other nations prevented it." The admission of the correctness of the answer does not change the fact of an overruling power. God turns the jealousies of the nations to aid in the accomplish- ment of His own purposes. Who prevented the success of the five previous efforts of Russia to take Constantinople ? This was the sixth attempt of Russia to capture the city of the "Golden Horn." It had been her dream for nearly a thousand years to fulfil that ancient prophecy. Yet the sixth attempt had failed under Catharine, when it seemed to be within her grasp. A voice seemed to say, Desist, spend no more treasures, shed no more blood in this vain attempt. She was about to begin a war on a large scale. She had commenced a war with Persia, was about to make war on Sweden, and cherished a scheme for the overthrow of the British power in India. In the midst of her debaucheries and her dreams of great national conquests, she is called away from her empire, neither is she succeeded by a son that is disposed to put her plans into execution. Her plans, contrary to God's purposes, as expressed by his prophets, totally fail. Paul, the son of Catharine II, succeeded his mother, A. D. 1790, at the age of forty-three years. The early part of his reign was prosperous and very popular. His father, Peter III, was put to death by his mother, while he was only a child. The neglect and want of confidence with which his mother treated him, exerted a very favorable influence over Paul's natural disposition, which led his subjects to fear that he would be stern and ca- pricious. As he was the father of Alexander I, and Nicholas and the grand- dukes Constantino and Michael, a further sketch of his life and character will be interesting. The jealous ambition of Paul's mother kept him secluded, and confined at one of her palaces at Catchina, 30 miles distant from St. Petersburg. During the earlier years with his second wife, Dorothea of Wuertemberg, the mother of Alexander I, Nicholas, and the grand-dukes, Constantine and Michael, he, with his wife, and children, was traveling in RUSSIAN PHASE. 251 Germany, France, and Italy. In the midst of his foreign travels, he was recalled by his mother and assigned to the palace at Catchina. His chil- dren were taken under the immediate care of the empress, their grand- mother, to be educated at her court. On the death of his mother (1796), Paul was called to the throne of "All the Russias." Virtually banished during the long reign of his unnatural and ambitious mother, he was with- out any practical knowledge of the mechanism of Russian government, or of the people over whom he was called to reign. " A determination to change everything that had existed under the previous reign, and to wreak vengeance on the murderers of his father, were the predominating in- fluences that controlled his official acts. What else could have been ex- pected? His earliest measures, therefore, were to disgrace his father's assassins, and to pardon all Polish prisoners. These acts were popular and gave hopes of a prosperous reign ; but the capricious violence of character and incapacity for business, which he soon betrayed, removed all hopes previously created. The frivolous interference with every department of the State, and his exceedingly arbitrary enactments, his rigid ceremonials relative to state manners when in his presence, vexed the soldiery, the nobles, and all other classes. His foreign policy partook of the same cast. He joined England to establish again the balance of power in Europe and to oppose French conquests ; and because England opposed the surrender of Malta to his capricious ambition, he turned against her, joining a French scheme, of uniting all the smaller maritime powers into one vast confederation against England, because she claimed the right of searching neutral vessels. The battle of Copenhagen under Lord Nelson put an end to the confederation. Having adopted a system of neutrality in the war between France, under her revolutionary throws, in contending against the rest of Europe, he sent an army of 50,000 under Suwaroflf into Italy. The success of his general induced him to send another army of equal strength to co-operate with the Austrians ; but, being defeated (1799), Paul recalled Suwaroff with the Russian troops ; and retired from the allied coalition, without stating any reasons for such conduct. " Paul was preparing material aid for Sweden and Denmark (with whom he had concluded a convention against England) when a conspiracy was formed at St. Petersburg to put a stop to the ca- pricious despotism under which all classes in Russia were groaning. The conspirators, whose numbers included Count Pahlen, the most influential man at Court, Gen. Beningsen, Suwarow, and many other distinguished nobles and officers, appear originally to have intended only to force Paul to abdicate, but his obstinate disposition led to a scuffle, in which the emperor was strangled, March 24, 1801." With the death of Paul commences a new era of the Russian empire. Paul's sons were far his superiors in intellect and in Imperial drill, since they were educated at the court of Catharine II, their grandmother. On their mother's side they were German, she being a native of Wuertemberg, which kingdom is third in size and fourth in population of the royal states of the German empire. Climate, cool and heathy ; soil rich ; standing high in 252 THE EASTERN QUESTION, the elements of education, there not being one person in Wuertemberg above ten years of age who cannot both read and write. It has produced great intellects such as, Schiller, Uhland, Kerner, Brentz, (Ecolampadius, Bengel, Schelling, Hegel, Baur, Strauss, Keppler, Stiefel; the botanists, Joseph and Karl Friedrich Gaertner; the chemist, Schoenbein; the painters Eberhard Waechter, Hetch, and the famed sculptor, Dannecker. The Kelts, of the first great emigration, were supposed to be its most ancient inhabitants; but when first known to the Romans it was occupied by the Suevi, a family of the second emigration, who were Goths, Scyths, or Germans. These were succeeded by the Alemanni (all men) and Franks (French) of the same Asiatic emigration ; of the same race, with Saxons, Normans, Danes, and Scandinavians, descendants of Odin, from whom were the Russian dynasties of Rurik and Romanoff. Whenever the blood of the Russian imperial houses, through marriages with inferior blood, became so much diluted as to weaken the brain vigor, they were restored to the pure German blood by marriage with a noble family of the German race. This idea is suggested in the instructions of the Will of Peter the Great ; in which he says, "select wives for the Russian princes among the princesses of Germany, for the multiplying of family alliances will conciliate interests, and by them unite Germany to our cause and increase our interest in that country." Such was the selfish view of Peter; but the great and holy Ruler of that empire had a higher purpose in permitting these national fusions — to keep the governing intellect of this vast nomadic empire in its highest state of activity and perfection — that it might be equal to the task He had assigned it in the last days. Let it be kept in mind, that this Russian empire, this shepherd empire of the no- madic zone has its active, capital location in northeastern Europe. (1) To keep up, by marriage, and by national intercourse, (a) the vigor, and (6) the drill of the German family, that family which occupies the front rank of the human race in intellect and vitality. It is the location of the Rus- sian Blast Furnace, in which the raw Asiatic ores are fused and moulded, preparatory to their use in the imperial structures, the seminary where semi-barbarians of Asia are manufactured into well-drilled Germanised Rus- sians; the kneading-tray, in which the materials gathered from one hundred Asiatic varieties, leavened with western European leaven, is kneaded and worked up into a homogeneous loaf; it is the vast Russian workshop — where Russia is educated and drilled for her future vast mission. She has her northern tenant-field to cultivate, that yields fruit in its season. Within this field of 8,000,000 square miles she is permitted freely to labor. When- ever she overleaps her God-set boundaries she is drawn back with a hook, handled by Jehovah. Let the reader keep these ideas in view as we advance in our outline of Russian history. As the surroundings of great cities, or great events, throw around them indications of proximity, so with the Russian empire, it will be more and more assimilated in its size, strength, and character to its coming contest. The character of her emperors will be suited to their battle mission. Alexander I, Paulowitsch, was emperor of "All the Russias" from A.D. RUSSIAN PHASE. 253 1801 to 1825. He was born December 23, 1777, and ascended the throne at the age of twenty-four. "His education, in which his father, Paul I, had no hand, was conducted by his grandmother, Catharine II, and Col. Laharpe and other tutors." He was much attached to his mother, Maria (Dorothea), daughter of Eugene, Duke of Wuertemberg. His dis- position was kind and humane. He was called " The northern Telemaque." Laharpe taught him the enlightened principles of the age ; the age of the early buddings of the French Revolution. Prof. Kraft was his teacher of experimental physics, and Pallas in Botany. He was married (A. D„ 1793) to Elizabeth, daughter of Karl Ludwig, Crown-Prince of Baden. He was supposed to have known the conspiracy to dethrone his father, but was not one of his murderers. He excited high expectations in the nation. He was the founder of the system of popular education in Russia; revised internal administration, and established freedom of industrial pursuits, increased Russias' commerce, and awakened among the people the spirit of unity and patriotism. He paid special attention to the language, literature, and general education of the Slavonic nations ; the language generally used by the Russians. He established or remodeled seven universities, at Charkow, Wilna, Dorpat, Moscow, Kasan,Warsaw, and St. Petersburg. Normal schools and gymnasiums, 204; and over 2000 district schools. The scientific in- stitutions of Moscow and St. Petersburg received new life. He was the most active sovereign of Europe in the Bible circulation. He was a patron of the Lutheran Church, and established a general consistory at St. Peters- burg for the whole empire. He devoted large sums to the publication of valuable works, such as Karamsin's History of Russia, Krusenstern's Travels, etc. He was a patron of the learned, at home and abroad. And in 1818 he invited two orientalists, Demange and Charmoy. from Paris to St. Peters- burg, to promote the study of the Arabic, Armenian, Persian, and Turkish languages. He bore the expenses of young tourists. By the ukase of 1816 he prepared the way for the abolition of slavery in the Baltic provinces ; he also declared that no more gifts of peasants would be made on the crown- lands. He also changed the barbarous acts of punishment, such as splitting the hands and branding, practiced with knouting. He much improved the code of civil law ; manufactures, trade and commerce of the empire ; con- structed roads and canals; made Odessa on the Black Sea a free port; and, in 1818, by a ukase, permitted all peasants in the empire to carry on manu- facture, which was before only permitted to nobles and to merchants of the first and second classes. He sent out, in the interest of Russian commerce, expeditions around the world; sent, in 1817, an embassy to Persia, in which was the Frenchman Gradanne, who was acquainted with all the plans of Napoleon respecting India and Persia; in the missions to Cochin, China and to Khiva; in the treaties with the United States, Brazil, and Spain ; in the naval and com- mercial treaties with the Porte; and in the settlement on the northwest coast of America. Alexander's foreign policy was that ef peace ; put an end to the hostilities against England, and made peace with France and Spain. He finally, in 1808, joined the coalition against France ; was present 254 THE EASTERN QUESTION, at the battle of Austerlitz, where the Austrians and the Russians were over- thrown. After the disastrous battles of Eylau and Friedland in 1817, he was forced to the peace of Tilsit. During this war with France, Alexander had also to carry on hostilities with Persia and with Turkey. Blinded by the genius and fortune of Napoleon, Alexander entirely changed the foreign policy of Russia, by joining, with his immense empire, the French con- tinental system. War was made against England and Sweden and at Lisbon the united fleets of France and Russia fell into the hands of Eng- land. In the autumn of 1808, the emperors of Russia and France, the Imperial representatives of the East and West, met in great splendor at Erfurt ; attended, however, with no good results. In 1809 he renewed the war against the Porte, which continued till the peace of Bucharest in 1812. The Alliance of Alexander with the French Emperor in his continental system, to exclude English vessels from all European ports, was so disas- trous to Russia, that Alexander awoke to his danger and joined England and Sweden against Napoleon, this change caused the invasion of Russia by the French. In these conflicts with France, and with the other western powers, the Russian empire with her armies was preparing to meet the terrible shock of the French invasion then impending. France had humbled Austria and Prussia and was about to measure arms with Eastern Europe — the great empire of the North. We have now traced the growth and develop- ment of the Russian empire under Alexander I., to the time that Napoleon entered his dominions. In that struggle Russian power was put to a severe test, since she was obliged to meet the well disciplined forces of the west, under the most able general of the age. She fought with the military skill of German blood aided by Slavonian obstinacy. Her policy proved the ruin of the French armies. She laid waste her own country as her armies retired before the mighty conqueror. Some terrible battles, however, marked his bloody path-way. Napoleon set free the Poles, and from them his army was recruited. In the mean time Russia found a remote ally in England, with whom, and with Sweden she formed treaties of friendship and reciprocal defense. The first noble stand was at the city of Smolensk, on the direct road to Moscow, and for the defense of which the Russians were posted. In the middle of night, after a severe contest, a dreadful conflagration was ob- served in the city, and the Russians abandoned Smolensk, and retreated over the Dnieper. Moscow was now the great object of strife between the opposing armies. The Russians took a strong position to cover it from the attack of Napoleon. A terrible battle followed, which was called by the Russians, Borodino; each claiming the victory. Seven days after this battle, the French entered Moscow. But, to deprive the French of their winter quarters, the governor had ordered it to be set on fire; and, no sooner had the French entered the Kremlin, than a sea of flames began to roll its fiery waves around it. The conflagration raged with fury for several days. The French commenced their retreat, closely pursued by the Rus- sians. A severe Russian winter set in early. The sufi'erings of the French RUSSIAN PHASE. 255 were extreme, and their losses were extremely great. Horses died in such numbers, that the most of their artillery had to be abandoned, and the cavalry was nearly dismounted ; whole bodies of men, disabled by cold and hunger, surrendered without resistance to the pursuers; everything was disaster and dismay. Of the half million of men composing the French troops engaged in this frantic expedition, not fifty thousand men, including the Prussian and Austrian contingents, escaped out of Russia. The remnants of this grand army were followed by the Russians through Germany, and into France ; the Prussians and Austrians joining the Rus- sians. Sweden also joined the league against France. The battle of Leip- sic, which was gained by the allies over Napoleon, secured Germany, and shook to its foundation the mighty empire of Napoleon. The pursuit con- tinued till Alexander entered Paris in triumph. Alexander's magnanimity towards France after the fall of Paris won for him great personal regard, amounting to enthusiasm. He was received with the same feeling in Lon- don, which he visited after the treaty of Paris in June, 1814. On his return to St. Petersburg, Alexander's first care was to provide for the wounded, and for the families of the soldiers that had fallen. The senate wished to give him the title of "blessed," which, from Christian humility, he declined. After a short time spent in his Capital, he attended the Con- gress at Vienna. He, in that Congress, laid claim to Poland as essential to the interests of Russia, but promised to confer on it a constitution, and, on the whole, appeared to act for the good of humanity and the freedom of nations. Alexander's appearance in Paris after the battle of Waterloo, raised less enthusiasm than previously, yet on this occasion too, France owed much to his generosity. About this time Alexander was drawn towards pietism by Madame Kriidener, who exercised a strong influence over the emperor's political views. Under this influence he founded the holy alliance, the ostensible object of which was to make the principles of Christianity recognized in the political arrangements of the world, but which became, in fact, a mere handle for political reaction. '' The Holy Alliance, was a league entered into, after the fall of Napoleon, by the Sovereigns of Russia, Prussia, and Austria, nominally to regulate the rela- tions of the states of Christendom, by the principles of Christian charity, but really to preserve the power and influence of existing dynasties. Most of the other European rulers acceded to it. It was made public, Feb. 2, 1816. In virtue of this league Austria, in 1821, crushed the revolu- tions in Naples and Piedmont, and France in 1823, restored absolutism in Spain. Subsequently, both England and France seceded, after which it became a mere shadow. A special article of the treaty excluded forever the members of the Bonaparte family from any European throne." L. U. K. Under Alexander I., her weight in European politics became powerful, her boundaries had been extended, and its industrial pursuits much in- creased. The army was remodeled after the fashion of western Europe, He corrected abuses in his own government, and alleviated the condition of the peasantry. In 1820 the Jesuits were sent out of the empire. Alex- ander's policy found much opposition among his own subjects, since he had 256 THE j;astern question, changed £he policy of the empire. The dread of an other European revolu- tion haunted him. The contact of Russian soldiers, nobles and others, during the war, with western civilization, made them dissatisfied with things in their own country. The Old-Russian party was opposed to the enlightened measures of the emperor. Fearing another revolution, the army was kept on a war-footing, numbering (in 1821) 830,000 regular troops. To maintain such an army, oppressive taxation was required. Discontent arose in all parts of the empire. To exercise the spirit of political discontent, and the phantom of a Russian revolution, the emperor adopted the same measures usually applied over the rest of Europe. The liberty of the press was attacked, a rigid guard was placed over the importation of books. Restrictions were placed on science, literature and education. All democratic movements were examined, mason-lodges and missionary societies suppressed, and gradually all plans for reform and progress given up. Over all the pro- vinces of the empire, a net of police, open and secret, was spread, which interfered with the ordinary intercourse of society. This course of policy was exceedingly unpopular. It set Alexander against his former self. The experience that, in spite of this system of oppression, public opinion could not be stifled, and that parties and individuals only express them- selves more bitterly; the difiiculties of governing the huge empire, which were now becoming more manifest and startling. All this tormented and embittered his morbid mind, and led him to complain of ingratitude and of a want of recognition of his good intentions. Sometimes he sought to forget his position in the dissipations of a splendid court in which luxury and piety were strangely blended; at other times, he plunged into the darkness of religious mysticism. The progress of revolt in Greece brought the policy of the emperor into complete opposition to public opinion and the most sacred sympathies of the nation. The Russian people, restrained from all participation in political movements, were profoundly affected by the religious element of the Greek struggle; but the emperor condemned the rising as an insurrection, disclaimed the favor he had previously shown to the Greek cause, and confined himself to exhortations of the Porte to act with humanity. The death of his only and much-loved natural daughter, the terrible inundation suffered by St. Petersburg in 1824, in which he ex- posed himself to personal danger and the alarm caused by a Russo-Polish conspiracy against all the members of the house of Romanoff, contributed not a little to break the heart of the emperor, and completely to destroy the composure of his mind. Sick in body, weary of life, and possessed by thoughts of death, he commenced in September, 1825, a journey to the Crimea, with a view to benefit the health of the empress who was ailing, and that he himself might enjoy retirement. Leaving the empress at laganrog, he continued his journey, but was suddenly seized by a fever peculiar to the country, and obliged to return to Taganrock. Here, in spite of all care, he became worse, and died Dec. 1, 1825. The rumor that he had been poisoned was altogether groundless. He is said to have learned, shortly before his death, the details of the conspiracy which RUSSIAN PHASE. 257 his brother and successor, Nicholas I, had to begin his reign by putting down." L. U. K. Thus terminated the life of Alexander I, emperor of Russia. A few thoughts relative to this period in the great Northern em- pire, seem to be demanded. Its close brings us to a point within 59 years of the close of profane history. The acts of those twenty-four years, cov- ered by the reign of Alexander I, we have very briefly stated. Its bearings on Russia's past and future are what especially interest us — the philosophy of her progressive developments. What purposes of Jehovah toward that empire, have been further shown, and illustrated? These twenty-four years constitute the introductory period between Russia and the western powers of Europe. A stormy introduction it is true, yet, to Russia a very important military school : one in which she battled with and against the best disciplined soldiers of the age, and with and against the greatest captain the world ever produced : Napoleon, the " man of destiny." No period, however long, had given Russia half the drill. It is not too much to say that it was a period in which Russia was Germanized. We use that term in its generic sense. It so far changed the character of Russia, as, in spirit and intelligence, to divide the nation. Henceforth there was a western or progressive party, that wanted Russia reconstructed after western model civilization ; and the old Russian party composed of fossils out of Asiatic mines, and from northeastern Europe. They formed the anti-progressive party. These formed the body of the nation, and con- trolled the nation's wealth. To accomplish the work assigned to Russia by the Governor of nations, high intellectual development, and a first class military education are necessary. To accomplish this God allowed the tribal nations of northern Asia to emigraiio to Europe, to reside within reach of the Gothic or German family by which they were to be educated and disciplined, and from which they were to be supplied with imperial rulers. Hence the German or Scandinavian family, a branch has given Russia two dynasties, (1) that of Rurik, from the origin of Russia to A. D. 1598 — 736 years; and (2) the Romanoff family that has continued to the present time; in all 1022 years. Another feature of these twenty-four j^ears has had a very lucid illus- tration. According to inspiration (Deut. xxxii. 8, and Acts xvii. 26) God throws around each nation its boundary. Among the nations the whole earth is divided. They are not allowed to hold for any length of time, un- less it is permitted by Jehovah as a punishment. The invasion of Russia by the French, and the repeated attempts of Russia to drive the Turks out of Europe by occupying Constantinople, are violations of God's fixed na- tional boundaries, and have therefore, been signal failures. These points should be well considered. GROWTH OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE UNDER NICHOLAS I., OR NIKOLAI PAULO- VITCH, THIRD SON OF PAUL I., BORN AT ST. PETERSBURG, JULY 7, 1796. As Nicholas I. came to the throne of Russia when it was about to be convulsed by the upheaval shocks of a long-prepared military conspiracy : 17 25S THE EASTERN QUESTION, his character and acts will not be fully comprehended without a sketch of the secret elements that had worked up this conspiracy under the reign of his brother Alexander I. To do this we must trace the origin, progressive developments, and the true nature of Nihilism and Nihilists. Nihilism is the name of a "negative" semi-philosophical system. Nihilism or Nothingism, is the reduction to nothing, or the destruction of all human organizations, whether social, political, or religious. It is a system which aims at the extinction of God, Church, and State. " It is the hyper-revolutionary programme of a Russian organization in various ranks of society," such is its European definition. The young men of the universities, and "the fair girl graduates" of Russia, are zealous Nihilists. They have adopted some of the socialistic views of western Europe. It is a negative, tear-down, pull-to-pieces system. They hold that society must be reduced to chaos, to build is no part of their work. The nihilistic or- ganizations are as yet too secret to enable any accurate history to be writ- ten. We can describe only as far as certain societies have been unearthed. It is yet Russian in its origin and work. Its master spirit is Michael Bakunin (born A. D. 1814) and Tchernyschevski, the journalist. In 1869, during the students' demonstrations, revolutionary documents were cir- culated. Sunday-schools were used as a medium of spreading their senti- ments, till they were suppressed by the government. Young men of high birth, went in disguise among the lower classes to learn the character of their burdens and complaints, and to imbibe their peculiar feelings. The Nihilistic associations began to exhibit activity, and funds were collected to carry on their work. With these remarks, which are general and ex- planatory, let us examine the origin, progressive development, and true character of the Nihilists. What events of Russian history have originate Nihilism ? When and how did it arise ? What are its features ? What has it done? What does it propose to do? These are questions we propose to consider, tracing the element through the Tartar days of Russian his- tory, up to the present period. Extremes are consecutive. " Radicals " have their origin in their op- posites. The pendulum would never oscillate without the existence of what is called gravity. Its descent from the extreme right generates velocity sufficient to carry it to the extreme left. The masses are oscillat- ing between the extremes, " Hosanna," or " Crucify." " Radicals " have arisen in a similar way. The Russian " Radicals " thus express themselves, " Nothing, in the present state of social organization, can be worth much, for the simple reason that our ancestors instituted it. If we are still obliged to confess ourselves ignorant of the exact medium between good and evil, how could our ancestors, less enlightened than we, know it ? A German philosopher has said, 'Every law is of use. It rules the conduct of individuals who feel for one another and appreciate their respective wants. Every religion, on the other hand, is useless; for ruling as it does, our relations with an incommensurable and indefinite Being, it can be the results only of a great terror, or else of a fantastic imagination.' Now, we Nihilists say, no law, no religion — Nihil ! The very men who instituted RUSSIAN PHASE. 259 these laws ruling their fellow creatures have lived and died in complete ignorance of the value of their own acts, and without knowing in the least how they had accomplished the mission traced for them by destiny at the moment of their birth. Even taking it for granted that our ancestors were competent to order the acts of their fellow creatures, does it necessarily fol- low that the requirements of their times are similar to those of to-day? Evidently not. Let us then cast off this garment of law, for it has not been made according to our measure, and it impedes our free movements. Hither with the axe, and let us demolish everything. Those who come after us will know how to rebuild an edifice quite as solid as that which we now feel trembling over our heads." This is a fair enunciation of the theory of Nihilism: viz. that, since we outgrow our social, religious, and political systems, as youth outgrow their garments, these old systems should be annihilated that new systems suited to man's growth, should be instituted. This might seem to many quite reasonable and proper; still, if closely scrutinized, it will be seen, that, under this outer garment is a body of pernicious sophistry. (1) Man's progressive development is assumed : that, because he has had a later birth in the world's history he must be greater, more developed; (2) that old systems must be demolished before their substitutes are formed and ready ; (3) it is assumed that the present generation could devise more perfect systems; (4) it is assumed that man's moral nature is becoming more perfectly developed, and that he is, therefore, more competent to construct social, religious, and political systems; (5) it assumes, that man's morals and intellectual powers are in the inverse ratio of his physical attributes, that as his physical members decay and have less vitality, the moral and intellectual faculties increase ; as the brain -weakens the mind strengthens. This is contrary to reason and anthropology. The theory of human pro- gression, especially in morals, without the aid of any divine system of ethics, is not sustained by history. Man passes out of a savage state to a certain state of advancement ; then begins to deteriorate till in his morals he completes the circle. Such is human experience, without the aid of any divine system. All systems without God as their author are like temples erected on the sand. A knowledge of Russian history will discover to us the origin and growth of Russian Nihilism. As despotism has advanced so has Nihilism. It is the child of absolutism. Let us turn back and examine the growth of Russian despotism, and see if we cannot discover the origin of Nihilism. Some of its elements can be traced far back in Russian history. The conglomeration of shepherd, nomadic families from northern Asia, into the immense plains of northeastern Europe, carried with them the first seeds of Nihilism. These families brought with them the true patriarchal government of the early Asiatic shepherds, such as existed in southwestern Asia in the days of the old patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This was the first form of government in Russia. Such was the character of their nomadic freedom, that no other restraint would have been tolerated. As the families increased in variety and power, villages, towns and cities 260 THE EASTERN QUESTION, began to spring up. Such increase and compactness occasioned conten- tions among rival families for the mastery, each one striving for the most favorable locations. The weaker tribes, being conquered, were united to their conquerors which still made them stronger, but decreased their num- bers. The quarrels of these petty states caused an invitation to be sent over into Scandinavia for a ruler. The Scandinavian Rurik, with his two brothers, went into Russia and established what might be called the second grade of Russian government, a genuine oligarchy; the rule or government of the nobles and aristocrats. These nobles — the rulers — were generally Scandinavian ; the people were of the various Slavonian families and of very recent nomadic habits. The conversion of wandering or Scythian Shepherds into a fixed population, was the work of many centuries. Their fusion into one homogeneous mass was a task that required a brain of in- domitable will and unlimited executive ability. This herculean task was undertaken by the Scandinavian dynasty Rurik, and was faithfully con- tinued for 736 years. His efforts were set back 250 years by the Mogul Tartar (Tatar) conquest, during those years of Tartar supremacy, Russia was thrown back into a period of strife among petty princes. Under Ivan III, or John III, the Russians succeeded in throwing off the Tartar yoke. The Tartar element had, however, taken deep root in Russian soil. The people were thrown back into a free semi-nomadic state. The democratic element had, at first, been brought from Asia, was the governing element among the people, who were Scythian, Sarmatian, and Slavonian. This democratic principle, the Scandinavian rulers had never been able to eradicate. It was one of the fixtures of Russian soil. And when the serfs became one of the land-fixtures, like their dwellings, democracy took up its humble abode with them, and was the animating spirit of the Russian Commune. Ivan III was honored with the surname of Great ; and, having married Sophia, the niece of the last Greek emperor, he assumed the title of Czar, (emperor). Under him were united most of the minor Russian principali- ties. History says, " Though the character of Ivan is sullied by the cruel despotism of his internal administration, he is justly entitled to rank as the founder of the Russian empire." Ivan IV, the Terrible, who succeeded in 1533, was constantly at war with the Tartars, Poles, Swedes, the Danes and Turks, and with very general success. His energy and policy raised his empire to a high degree of pros- perity ; yet he was remorseless and sanguinary. Under Ivan III. the Russian oligarchy expired. The original democratic element of the Russian tribes yielded to the first step towards centralization of power, that of dukes or oligarchs; then to the centralizing power of the Czars; after that to the true imperial despotism, as exercised by Peter the Great, and Catharine II; and, finally, under Nicholas I, to the purest state of autocracy (sole mastery), where the monarch unites in himself the legislative and the executive powers of the State, and rules according to his own unrestricted will. Through these progressive steps of the centralization of the power, have the Russians been drawn during the thousand years of their existence. RUSSIAN PHASE. 261 Such an experience was well calculated to increase the elements of Nihilism. Indeed, such a centralization of power could do no otherwise than to array against it the spirit of resistance. There seems to be something within the human breast that utterly revolts at oppression : " Crush those that crush me," is an involuntary emotion. When four-fifths of the people were re- duced to a species of slavery so as to be attached to the soil that they culti- vated as tenants, they still had a species of democratic government. The lands rented, being practically in their possession, the serfs or rentors made of these rented estates one commune, governed by a chief oflEicer of their own election, and other officers necessary to transact the business of their rentals, and pay the rents due to the landlords, and make just divisions among their fellow-rentors. The principles of democracy were, therefore, kept alive among the masses. Still, in a national sense, they were not citizens; and, as intelligence increased, their servitude and their want of citizenship became more truly oppressive. The French revolution tended to fan these smoldering elements. They learned the condition of the masses in western Europe; the liberty they possessed under constitutional mo- narchies. They saw that the power was taken from the masses and given to one irresponsible head, the emperor. The liberty which their ancestors possessed, led them to investigate the causes of their serfdom. This investi- gation served only to increase their hostility to despotism. What advantage was it to the serfs that they owned the land they cul- tivated when the nobles owned them, and could command their services, like feudal lords, whenever they thought proper ? The reign of Alexander I. was very favorable to the growth of Nihilism. He put in motion, in his own kingdom, the whole machinery of western civilization ; and, after its workings, had formed two parties, progressionists and anti-progressionists, who were composed of* the old Russian fossils, he reversed the engine and ran his nation back into its old habits of thought. Such a course could not fail to offend those that were desirous of improvement. This change of policy waked up all the Nihilistic elements of his empire ; for, having seen the fruits of intelligent freedom, they were not willing again to dwell un- der the shades of despotism. It was natural, therefore, that they should combine to destroy those institutions, political, social, and religious, that tended to perpetuate their hated servitude, as the altar and the throne were a unit under one despot, they aimed at the destruction of both; and of the social system also that grew out of this wicked compact between church and state ; for apostolic Christianity, perhaps, never dwelt in Russia. The specimens of the Gospel, professedly from Jesus and His apostles, were not calculated to win the affections of Nihilists, or to give them a very favor- able idea of the god of such systems. Had true Christian principles spread over the world, and taken root among the nations, neither Nihilism nor Socialism would ever have had a being, since there would have been no elements for their production. The despotic monarchs, Ivan, the terrible, Peter the Great, Catharine II., and Nicholas, reduced the Russian people to two classes, the nobility and aristocracy, holding one extreme ; and the Serfs, occupying the other 262 THE EASTERN QUESTION, extreme ; no '' bourgeoisiee " or middle class, which, as a means, could bind together these extremes. The emperor held despotic sway over both classes, but could bind them together with no golden chain of sympathy and fra- ternal aflfection. The mir was another peculiarity in the Russian system. This is a " co- operative association of the local peasantry, under a head elected by them- selves, who exercise parental authority in conjunction with the village par- liament, which is convened in cases of emergency. This institution is primitive in its origin, which was Slavonic, is patriarchal in discipline, and preservative of the socialistic element in rural economy. Through its means exists the veritable commune in Russia ; since the arable land and pasturage belong not to individuals, but are the collective property of the commune, which enjoys unlimited authority in making allotments and in the redistribution of the soil. These village communes contains about five- sixths of the population, and are opposed to Caesarian despotism on the one hand, and centralized bureaucracy on the other." Another peculiarity, the tendency of Russian aristocracy towards an- archy. Russian history has clearly demonstrated this last feature. Taking no part in Russian politics, that belonging to the emperor and his nobles ; and have a body of slaves to manage, each one had a miniature kingdom to manage. There were no ties to bind them together. Russian society re- ceived another peculiar disturbing element under Russia's first great despot, Ivan the terrible. He selected a body of guards, taken some times from the vilest of the people, who swore implicit obedience to the Czar, and in turn were chartered libertines, robbers, and assassins. Each of them exercised a despotism as odious in its sphere as that of the Czar, and they became the nucleus of a new kind of nobility, the nobility of function and govern- ment employ, which, for all practical purposes, nearly superceded the hereditary nobility.- The atmosphere of secret societies, which prevaded all western and southern Europe, about the time of the French invasion began to be felt in Russia. Of Russian Society, about this time, one writer thus expresses himself, " We have the monarch who rules, the courtiers who assassinate, and the serfs who obey." Mr. Gladstone, (1880) wrote of what he called, * the oligarchic, diplomatic, and military class. This class, or rather this conglomerate of classes, ever watchful for its aims, ubiquitous yet organized, standing every where between the emperor and the people, and oftentimes too strong for both, is at work day and night, to impress its own character upon Russian policy." It is thought by some, that Russian character is pre-disposed, in its original elements, to Nihilism, Socialism, etc. They say that Russians, have the savageness of the Tartars : cruel, vindictive and stubborn, and a temperament stolid and lethargic; a combination of the merciless Asiatic, and the borrish and phlegmatic Hollander. The Russians are a conglomer- ation of one hundred Asiatic tribes, speaking some forty different dialects. To fuse such into one homogeneous mass has been the work of the past ten centuries. The Russian, is somewhat Asiatic, Scythian, Nomadic, Tartar, Mongolian, Slavonian and German ; a cross between Shemitie and Japhetic RUSSIAN PHASE. 263 races, mixed with Hamitic blood. The Russian character, is thus described; ''The race is probably similar to the Irish in some characteristics; and to the French in its mercurial nature; while in strange combination it resem- bles the German in its fondness for philosophical reasoning, and the Span- iard or Italian in its sensuousness and indolence. These latter characteris- tics give it an oriental stamp, as to the psychological tendencies of the slave mind. Moritz Kaufmann writes that it is 'singularly sensitive to the seductive influence of grand misty conceptions, while at the same time inclined to indolence and melancholy dejection' — again an oriental tinge." With such traits of character, and in a country, where for centuries there has been a struggle between the educated (aristocratic) class and the em- peror ; that of his officials, of all grades, has, confessedly, been infamous ; that reforms of immense magnitude were projected into the Russian system en masse, which elsewhere would have been the work of centuries ; that these reforms while they alienated from the emperor and autocracy the favor of the upper class, did not gain that of the lower; it may appear natural that Russia needed only to be infused with an element powerful enough to become distracted into any madness. The emancipation of the serfs (23,000,000,) and the land act are unpop- ular to both classes. It deprived the serf owners (110,000) of their serfs, and 20 per cent, of their rentals. There is good reason for the displeasure of this class ; but, why should not the serfs be satisfied ? The change was too great, and too sudden. It is like the prisoner, long confined to his dungeon, pleads to return to it, so with the serfs; his new condition of freedom, combined with his land-proprietorship, prostrates him beneath an endow- ment which is a real burden. This peasant has simply changed owners — since as to his payments for land, (in 49 years), he is obliged to depend on some principal man in the village. And, meanwhile, the old commune principle is being slowly eaten away, and that of individualism instead of communism, with its necessary cares and responsibilities, — both utterly foreign to the experience and taste of the Russian peasant, takes its place. The freedom of 23,000,000 serfs cost Russia $500,000,000, paid to the land lords to settle the newly emancipated serfs upon their own holdings, com- prising farms extending over 300,000,000 acres. The agrarian and land law which followed the emancipation act, allowed the peasants of a commune to buy their holdings by a cash payment of about three years' rent, the State advancing four-fifths of the full payment, which was to be repaid, with 6 per cent, interest in 49 years. And as the peasants, from time to time, failed to meet their payments, the government advanced the amount. The serf, by paying four-fifths of his rent (the serf-holder losing one-fifth or 20 per cent.) for 49 years, becomes absolute owner of his lands. It may be doubted whether the serf is any better off under the present system than under the former village commune system. With the old system he was familiar and was secured in his rights. The system of emancipation was well intended by Alexander II, but its fruits so far are by no means satis- factory to either party. Having given an account of the origin of Nihilistic principles in Russia 264 THE EASTERN QUESTION, and advanced certain reasons for their prevalence, we are prepared to examine the nature and objects of the organization. These we shall learn from their words and deeds. We allow every association to be the exponent of its own theory and practice. Michael Bakunin, the great apostle of Modern Nihilism, was born in 1814, and died in 1876. His family was high in rank and in position, one near relative being aid-de-camp general to the late Czar, and another governor-general of eastern Siberia; he was educated in the school for cadets in St. Petersburg ; and, on graduating, was appointed an ensign in the artillery. In 1841, at Berlin, he studied Hegel. After that he went to Dresden, where he continued his studies with Arnold Ruge. Here he com- menced writing on philosophical subjects. In 1843 he was in Paris, at which time he became intimate with refugees from Poland. From Paris he went to Switzerland, where he was introduced to the societies of the Social- ists and Communists. In 1847, at Paris, Bakunin advocated the uprising of the Russians and Poles against the emperor. By the request of the Russian government, he was expelled from France. The Russian government offered a reward of 10,000 rubles ($750). He fled to Brussels, but returned to Paris after the revolution in 1848. He was a member of the Slavic Congress at Prague, and took part in the revolutionary movement that followed; was one of the organizers and leaders of the riots in Dresden. After their suppression he fled, and was apprehended on the 10th of May, at Chemnitz. He was tried, condemned to death in three countries, Russia, Austria, and Prussia; his punishment, in each case, being commuted to that of life imprisonment. For several years he was confined in the fortress at St. Petersburg; after which he became an exile to East Siberia, where he. continued, several years longer, as penal colonist, when he was allowed to settle in the Russian territory of the Amoor. Thence, in an American vessel, he went by way of Japan and California to London. In London he labored to incite the Russians and Poles to revolution, in order to form a great Slavic federal republic. In 1863 he visited Stockholm to aid the expedition against the Russian Baltic provinces. On the failure of this enterprise, he again visited Switzerland, where he united with the internationals ; but his attempt to form a secret society within their own, for the purpose of bringing about a condition of general anarchy, brought him in conflict with their leaders ; and in 1872, he, with some of his friends, was expelled from the organi- zation, after which he retired from public action. Societies have been organized in Russia to promote the sentiments of Bakunin and Hertzen. "Young Russia," "Land and Freedom," etc., and newspaper organs, were established and circulated over the empire. What were the views of these Revolutionary apostles? Some of these may be gathered from a speech delivered by Michael Bakunin, at Geneva, in 1868, who is called, " The father of Nihilism, the arch-conspirator." " ' Brethren, I come to announce to you a new gospel which must penetrate unto the very ends of the world. This gospel admits of no half measures and hesitations. The old world must be destroyed and replaced RUSSIAN PHASE. 265 by a new one. The lie must be stamped out and give way to truth. It is our mission to destroy the lie ; and to effect this we must begin at the very commencement. Now the Beginning of all those lies which have ground down this poor world in slavery is God. For many hundred years monarchs and priests have inoculated the hearts and minds of mankind with this notion of a God ruling over the world. They have also invented for the people the notion of another world, in which their God is to punish with eternal torture those who have refused to obey their degrading laws here on earth. This God is nothing but the personification of absolute tyranny, and has been invented with a view of either frightening or alluring nine- tenths of the human race into submission to the remaining tenth. If there were really a God, surely he would use that lightning which He holds in His hand to destroy those thrones to the steps of which mankind is chained. He would, assuredly, use it to overthrow those altars where the truth is hidden by clouds of lying incense. Tear out of your hearts the belief in the existence of God : for as long as an atom of that silly superstition remains in your minds, you will never know what freedom is. When you have got rid of the belief in this priest-begotten God, and when, moreover, you are convinced that your existence and that of the surrounding world are due to the conglomeration of atoms, in accordance with the laws of gravity and attraction, then, and then only you will have accomplished the first step toward liberty, and you will experience less difficulty in rid- ding your minds of that second lie which tyranny has invented. The first lie is God. The second lie is right. Might invented the fic- tion of right, in order to insure or strengthen her reign — that right which she herself does not heed, and which only serves as a barrier against any attacks which may be made by the trembling and stupid masses of mankind. Might, my friends, forms the sole groundwork of society. Might makes and unmakes laws, and that might should be in the hands of the majority. It should be in possession of those nine-tenths of the human race whose im- mense power has been rendered subservient to the remaining tenth by means of that lying fiction of right before which you are accustomed to bow your heads and to drop your arms. Once penetrated with a clear con- viction of your own might, you will be able to destroy this mere notion of right. And when you have freed your mind from the fear of a God, and from that childish respect for the fiction of right, then all the remaining chains which bind you, and which are called science, civilization, property, marriage, morality, and justice, will snap asunder like threads. Let your own happiness be your only law. But in order to get this law recognized, and to bring about the proper relations which should exist between the majority and minority of mankind, you must destroy everything which exists in the shape of state or social organization. So educate yourselves and your children that, when the great moment for constituting the new world arrives, your eyes may not be blinded by the falsehoods of the tyrants of, throne and altar. Our first work must be destruction and annihilation of everything as it now exists. You must accustom yourselves to destroy every thing, the good with the bad ; for if 266 THE EASTERN QUESTION, but an atom of this said world remains, the new will never be created. According to the priests' fables, in days of old a deluge destroyed all man- kind; but their God specially saved Noah, in order that the seeds of tyranny and falsehood might be perpetuated in the new world. When you once begin your work of destruction, and when the floods of enslaved masses of the people rise and engulf temples and palaces, then take heed that no ark be allowed to rescue any atom of the old world which we consecrate to destruction." In one Nihilistic speech tho following sentiment is found : Political assassins and incendiaries are not from hatred towards the persons and property involved, but from the necessity of rooting out from the minds of the people the habitual respect for the powers that be. The more the attacks on the Czar and his officials increased, the more would the people come to understand the absurdity of the veneration with which they have been regarded for centuries. In March, 1876, a number of Nihilistic pro- clamations, on their way to Russia, were seized by Prussian authorities. The following are extracts from these documents : " You should allow yourselves to be injfluenced (in the selection of your victims) only by the relative use which the revolution would derive from the death of any par- ticular person. In the foremost rank of such cases stand those people who are most dangerous and injurious to our organization, and whose sudden and violent death would have the effect of terrifying the government, and shaking its power by robbing it of energetic and intelligent servants." '" The only revolution which can remedy the ills of the people is that which will tear up every notion of government by its very roots, and which will upset all ranks of the Russian empire, with all their traditions. Having this object in view, the revolutionary committee does not propose to subject the people to any direct organization. The future order of things will doubtless originate with the people themselves ; but we must leave that to future generations. Our mission is only one of universal, relentless, and terror-striking destruction." "The object of our organiza- tion and of our conspiracy is to concentrate the forces of this world into an invisible and all-destroying power." Lieut. Dubrowin, hanged for com- plicity with the regicide Solowjew, says, "Our battalions are numerically so weak, and our enemies, on the other hand, are so mighty, that we are morally justified in making use of all attainable methods of proceeding which may enable us to carry on successfully active hostilities wheresoever it may become expedient." They act on the basis of the "right," whose existence they deny. What exists in the Russian government, and among its highest offi- cials which could reasonably give birth to such organization uttering such destructive sentiments? Russia has never allowed revolutionary expres- sions on her territory. She has always visited such with immediate and terrible punishment. The knout and perpetual banishment at hard labor have been the modes in which autocracy has visited its displeasure on any movement against itself. While the Czar of his own suggestion gave free- dom and actual possessions to 23,000,000 of his serfs, the poorest and most RUSSIAN PHASE. 267 degraded of his subjects, he followed the traditions of the throne of Russia by sternly refusing to the higher class anything resembling a constitution, or a national legislature. All such attempts (and there have been many) resulted in banishment to Siberia, the same punishment as was meted out to the more savage and mutinous attempts of the lower order in a similar direction. The number of state criminals sent to Siberia, has been for many years about 9,000 annually. These are principally for political offenses : many of them are educated, wealthy, and some of noble birth ; among them not a few re- fined, cultivated, and gentle ladies. This Siberian colony is Russia's Asiatic Factory, to which the raw materials are sent from Europe, to be manufactured into deadly, uncompromising, eternal enemies of Russian despotism. As enemies increase so must her despotic rule. Agtiinst Sibe- rian banishment the Russians have a most deadly antipathy : and millions say in their hearts, if not openly, Down with a power that has to resort to such measures in order to perpetuate its own existence. Another author remarks, " The light allusion which has been here made to the course pur- sued by government officials in Russia, has in no wise fully presented the enormities committed by these wretches in the 12,075, and by the authority of the emperor, who could not possibly control or even direct in such in- stances. The outrages and brutalities committed by agents of the govern- ment, in distant parts of the empire, were done in perfect security, and went unpunished. It was hardly to be wondered at that rude and illiter- ate Russian peasant, robbed of all that he held most dear, by the highest government official, in his neighborhood, should accept from the learned the proposition, that there was no God. Neither should it appear so aston- ishing that the educated and cultivated Russian, whose sister or sweetheart was subjected to the knout, for the expression of liberal opinions, or sent by imperial order into that Siberia of whose horrors he had heard, should view not unwillingly the possibility of a regeneration of society, which began with the assassination of emperors. In our brief sketch of Nihilism and Nihilists the novelist Tschernyschewsky is worthy of special notice. He edited a radical monthly, which was suppressed in 1862. He afterwards wrote a novel ("What is to be Done"). This was not allowed to be circu- lated in Russia, but it was printed in Berlin and Switzerland. Thus the Nihilistic views, disseminated, through broadsides, periodicals, newspapers, handbills, and even fiction, found many readers. Students of the universities drank greedily of the fountains of this new dispensation, on account of the evil administration of their various colleges, and because it offered them a new field for thought and specula- tion." An absurd rule, that a knowledge of Latin and Greek should be the test in university and civil-service examinations, drove many students from the universities and into Nihilism. In Russia the only field for the young man of education who is not noble, is the civil-service; commerce, the industries, and agriculture, offer them nothing; the priesthood is de- spised; there is little or no business for the lawyer, and the army positions are reserved to the nobility. Thus, to make a classical education a sine 268 THE EASTERN QUESTION, qua non for entrance to the university, was to set up an impenetrable bar- rier ; since the students, for the most part, are the sons of poor trades-peo- ple, priests, and small government officials, to whom Greek and Latin are impossible as preliminaries to a university education. Thrown out of their destined career, these young men had neither position, means of existence, nor prospects ; and in very desperation they grasped at the delusive subtle- ties of Nihilism." We have seen what the Nihilists propose to do, what they are striving to do: but, what have they really accomplished? This question we pro- pose to answer by giving a sketch of their public acts. Our purpose in so doing is to give the reader a photograph of the hostile elements that are at work in the Russian empire. He will learn this lesson, that no empire in the world requires an executive power equal to that of Russia, to hold in one body, possessing great vitality, as it must have, such a heterogeneous mass of repulsive elements. We have traced the Nihilists from their origin : have examined their declaration of principles, or platform as it would now be called : let us now briefly note how they have attempted to carry out their principles ; and, what they have accomplished. What they have attempted is now a matter of history : it is our province, therefore, to examine the record. (1) The first revolutionary attempt and political assassination was a student of the agricultural college ot Petrovski, near Moscow. The student Ivanoflf was killed by the notorious Netchaiefif, an emissary of Michael Bakunin. The assassination took place in 1873.- It caused very great excitement, since it was feared that this was simply the first act in a great political drama. In the midst of the wildest excitement the assassin fled to Switzerland. He was, however, surrendered to the Russian authorities; taken to Russia, tried in Moscow, and would have been executed, but that on account of the in- formation which he afforded, his sentence was commuted to transportation for life and penal servitude in the mines of Siberia. One hundred and eighty-three persons were implicated by his confessions. They were all apprehended on one day, May 20, 1875. Their trial lasted eighteen months. Ninety -nine persons were sentenced to penal servitude in Siberia ; thirty subjected to police supervision for a certain number of years, and the re- mainder acquitted; those accused were chiefly sons and daughters of priests, trades-people, Jews, and small officials, and were charged with seeking to propagate Nihilism among the lower class. Many of them were young girls. In 1878, the Nihilists attracted attention as a formidable association, about the time of the trial of Sassulitch, a young lady 28 years of age. She had been under the surveillance of the government, under suspicion that she was concerned with the Nihilists in the attempted assassination of General Trepoflf, one of the chief of secret police, in July, 1877. The officer in question had ordered a political prisoner to be flogged for some act of dis- respect to him personally, and Vera Sassulitch, as she averred, committed the act to force the government to take note of the fact. She was tried by a jury of educated men, eight of whom held government positions, and to the general astonishment, was acquitted, a result which the Russian press RUSSIAN PHASE. 269 and public showed themselves in full agreement. General Trepofif was re- moved from his position, but was made general of cavalry. Vera Sassulitch left the country after the trial in 1878, but her case was brought before the supreme court of revision, and the acquittal cancelled on the ground of in- formality. In August, 1878, General Mezentofif, the successor of General Trepoff, was stabbed at St. Petersburg while walking, and died the same day. This and other similar attacks were ascribed to Nihilists, who were manifesting remarkable activity in all directions. A secret association, called the " National Government," issued a circular in April, 1878, con- taining a revolutionary programme, and calling upon the people to take up arms. Assemblages of the people in public places were now prohibited by ministerial order. In a letter from Odessa to a Vienna newspaper, it was stated that there were several thousand members of the Nihilist society in that city alone; that the organization had powerful supporters in the highest ranks of society ; and that a lady who was one of the Russian fashionable leaders, had been arrested for being in correspondence with the chief of the Nihilistic committee at St. Petersburg. In September, 1878, a pamphlet, entitled " Life for Life," which was considered a manifesto of the Nihilists, was published in St. Petersburg. Among other passages, it contained the following : " We are Socialists. Our purpose is the destruction of the present economical organization and inequality which constitute^ according to our convictions, the root of all the evils of mankind. The question of the political form is entirely indifferent to us." " Our daggers will never be sheathed until our oppressors, who strangle and gag us, are ex- pelled from the country ; and a terrible vengeance will be taken if the Russian nation do not put an end to this mediaeval barbarism." This declaration of Socialism as a theory of governmental order, thus opposing the fundamental principle of Nihilism, showed the heterogeneous elements and the blind fury of the whole movement. The assassination of General Mezentoff was in fact avowed by Nihilists in their journal " Land and Liberty," in which they alleged that he deserved death because he had trampled right under foot, and had tortured his prisoners; persecuted the the innocent ; and in his official capacity, had murdered by brutal ill-treat- ment, by hunger, thirst, and the rod, a number of persons whose names were given. On February 22, 1879, Prince Krapotchkin, governor of Kharhov, was assassinated by shooting ; according to a Nihilist circular, on account of certain inhuman acts against prisoners in his charge. Hey- king, commander of gendarmerie a Kiev (Kiew. q. v.), was also among the victims of the Nihilists, and on March 25, 1879, General Dreuteln, chief of the gendarmerie or third section, was shot at, and being missed, was warned that he could not long escape. The number and character of the persons assassinated or attacked by order of the committee of the Nihilists was so great in the several towns of the empire as to cause general alarm. The period of murders was followed by one of conflagration. In the month of June alone, in 1879, 3,500» fires broke out in St. Petersburg, Orenburg, Koslow, Irkulsk, and Uralsk, destroying property to the amount of 12,000,000 rubles ($8,760,000. — W). Only 900 of these fires could be properly accounted 270 THE EASTERN QUESTION, for, and the remaining 2,600 were attributed to Nihilist incendiaries. On April 2, 1879, an attempt was made to assassinate the Emperor Alexander II., by Solovieflf, who fired four shots at him from a revolver, but missed his aim. Solovieff was taken and hanged. In November, 1879, an attempt was made to blow up the train by which the emperor was expected to arrive at Moscow ; this attempt, also failed from a change of programme by the emperor, who was not on the train that was actually blown up by a mine fired by one Hartman, who escaped. In 1867 an attempt had been made on the emperon's life while he was in Paris, riding in the Bois de Boulogne with the Emperor Napoleon III. The assassin fired at him, but missed him. The third effort was that of a man who entered the imperial depart- ment in disguise. The fourth, the terrible explosion at the Winter palace, which killed several persons. The fifth and last occurred on the afternoon of Sunday, March 13, 1881, and was a successful assassination. The em- peror was returning from a parade (no Sundays for monarchs. — W.) in the Michael manege, and when near the Winter palace, a bomb was thrown beneath the imperial carriage, and exploded, breaking through the back of the vehicle, but without injuring him (the Czar), who alighted to examine the extent of the damage. At that moment a second bomb was exploded close to his feet, shattering both his legs, and otherwise injuring him so that he died in less than two hours. The two assassins were immediately arrested, and within a few days others were apprehended for complicity in the affair. The funeral of Alexander II. took place on March 20, 1881. His son, the czarovitch, assumed the crown under the title of Alexander III. The assassination, which chilled the civilized world with horror, was openly rejoiced in at Socialist meetings in various countries. A proclamation of the executive committee of the Nihilists, drawn up shortly after the attack on the emperor by the assassin Solovieff, sums up the latest known published demands of Nihilism as follows : " A repre- sentative democratic form of government, permanent parliaments, with full powers to regulate all matters of state; extension of self-government in the provinces; complete autonomy of rural communes; the land to be put into the possession of the people ; means to be found for placing the factories in the hands of the artisan guilds; transformation of the army into a militia; liberty of the press and industrial combination." This is evidently a re- construction of Nihilism proper. What the future of Nihilism will be it is now impossible to forecast. It has made many attempts at the life of Alex- ander III., but, so far, it has failed. It is not reasonable to suppose that they will abandon their efforts while the cause of their existence remains ; and that can be removed only by the dissolution of the empire; which event is not to be accomplished in that way, nor by such an agency ; hence it must continue to be a disturbing element in the great northern empire. Its fruits must be opposite to those intended; for despotism attacked, but not overthrown, will protect itself by tightening the chains. We have given this lengthy sketch of Nihilism that the reader may fully understand the extent of the revolutionary elements that are working among the heterogeneous masses that are bound up in the iron fetters of Russian des- RUSSIAN PHASE. 271 potism. These elements should be well understood before we bid adieu to her profane, or fulfilled history, and follow her pathway into the great and undeveloped future. Nature is full of incompatibilities, so also are the moral, social, religious, and political worlds. These opposites cannot dwell together. Of these light and darkness will forcibly illustrate a future of the Russian empire. Alexander I. attempted to introduce into his despotic empire the enlightened civilization of western Europe. He put its whole educational machinery in motion, introducing schools, academies, colleges ; and founding seven great universities. Gave freedom to the press, and patronized the arts, sciences and men of letters. Alexander I. learned that a general diffusion of knowledge and despotism could not flourish in the same empire. Knowledge is power, the diffusion of knowledge is the diffu- sion of power. But despotism is centralization of power. How can power be diffused and centralized on the same territory and at the same time ? Russia must either circumscribe the knowledge of her subjects or the power of her despotism. The sun of Alexander I. reached a cloudless noon, but it went down in tempest and gloom. The throne, ascended by Nicholas I., was located upon a full-grown military revolution, ready to explode on the first pressure. Nicholas soon learned his danger and took immediate steps for his security. His death roll increased suddenly to a dangerous magni- tude. A long-prepared military conspiracy broke out immediately after his accession, which he suppressed with vigor and relentless cruelty. He revived capital punishment (abolished by the empress Elizabeth), for the purpose of inflicting it upon the conspirators. The rebels were hunted down with merciless energy, and in no case, even after the rebellion ceased to be in any manner dangerous, was their punishment commuted. The conspirators either mounted the scaffold or turned their dejected faces to- wards Siberia. Fifteen thousand perished in one day at St. Petersburg, their bodies being thrown into the Neva. His policy was the reverse of that with which Alexander I. commenced his reign, who cultivated the mind of the nation so as to base his government upon education and intel- ligence. Nicholas after a brief ebullition of reformatory zeal, reverted to the ancient policy of the czar, absolute despotism, supported by military power. Nicholas' policy separated Russia from the western nations, that his subjects might not imbibe a taste for these institutions. We consider the policy of Nicholas' reign as well calculated to shadow forth the true character of Russian despotism, and its true mission in the " Coming Age." Russia has had four monarchs, strictly eastern deposits : (1) Ivan, the terrible : (2) Peter the Great : (3) Katharine II. : (4) and Nicholas I. These aimed at the centralization of all power into one great autocratic head. All the centrifugal forces of the empire were either ban- ished to the Siberian wilds, or chained to their throne. These four monarchs made Russia what she is. Of the four, Nicholas occupies the front rank, in his despotic measures both foreign and domestic. He was, by nature, about the least gifted among the four ; yet a true Romanoff in character. History states, that Nicholas was very carefully instructed by his 272 THE EASTERN QUESTION, mother a princess of Wuertemberg. He also received a military education, was taught political economy, and some other branches, without however, giving evidence of any natural capacity for these subjects. He visited Eng- land and various parts of western Europe, in 1816, and, during that year, made the tour of his own country. On the 13th of July, 1817, he married Fred- erika, Louisa, Charlotte, Wilhelmina, eldest daughter of Frederic William in. of Prussia, and continued in private life till the death of Alexander I. (Dec. 1825), when, owing to the resignation of his elder brother Constantine, he succeeded to the imperial throne of " All the Russias." After putting down the conspiracy with relentless hate, he turned his attention to the general affairs of his own empire. He seemed at once to discern the causes of the late conspiracy, and set to work, immediately to put in motion his machinery of centralization of all power. Having severed fellowship with western Europe he proceeded to undo what Alexander I. had done in the fore part of his reign. He adopted the centralizing policy of Ivan the terrible, Peter the Great, and Katharine II. Intellectual activ- ity was, as far as practicable, restrained to things of every day use ; edu- cation was limited to necessary preparation for public service. The press was placed under the most severe censorship, and every effort made to bring the national mind under official control. He attempted to Russianize the whole empire by making it Slavonian. To understand the Panslavian movement, keep in mind, that the population of Europe is composed of three great Asiatic families, emigrating into Europe at three very distinct eras : — (1) The Keltic now occupying western Europe along the Atlantic coasts, Ireland and Wales: (2) the Gothic, Scythian, or German, who occu- py central and northwestern Europe and the principal British Islands ; (3) the Slavonian, or, as it is sometimes called, the Russian. Panslavism aims to Russianize all Europe and the eastern world : the amalgamation of all Slavonic races, into one body, having one language, one literature, and one social policy. The Slavonians of Austria have always taken occasion to show that they regarded themselves as standing apart froai German interests in times of public disturbance. Hence we do not .place the Germans in the Slavonian army under Gog. The two families are distinct and hostile, having no common interests. In 1848, the Slavonian population of Aus- trian empire, instead of taking part with their fellow citizens in the election of representatives to the German parliament at Frankfort, the leading pro- moters of Panslavism summoned a Slavonic congress at Prague, which was attended by Slavonians from Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia, and by Slavonic Poles, Croats, Servians, and Dalmatians, who appeared in their national costumes. That congress gave birth to a democratic rebellion, which was suppressed with much bloodshed. Since 1860 Panslavism has exercised an influence over Austrian affairs : both northern and southern slaves tending towards united action in opposition to the centralistic and dualistic aims of Germans and Magyars respectively. In 1867 a very nu- merous Slavonic congress was held at Moscow, but without any special results. The great change in the Balkan peninsula may be ascribed to Pan- slavism. RUSSIAN PHASE. 273' Having restored Russia to her ancient policy of imperial centraliza- tion, and put down opposing elements. Nicholas began to extend his dominions. A war with Persia was concluded (Feb. 28, 1828) by the peace of Turkmanshai, which gave considerable extent of territory to Russia. In the same year he began a war with Turkey. Victory, though at im- mense cost, followed his standard. The peace of Adrianople obtained for Russia another increase of territory, the free navigation of the Danube, with the right of free passage between the Black and Mediterranean seas. In 1830 the political movements in the west of Europe, caused a rising among the Poles, which was suppressed after a desolating contest of nine months, which called forth the entire military power of Russia. Nicholas punished the rebellion by converting Poland into a Russian province, and by extinguishing Polish nationality. In this act Nicholas lost the sym- pathies of western Europe, and of the civilized world. He interfered with religious toleration, seeking to convert Roman Catholics and Protest- ants to the Russian Greek Church, of which the Czar is the head. He next turned his face towards western Asia and Caucasus. Those moun- taineers were in the possession of too much liberty to suit this northern autocrat. He wished to conquer and hold the old Caucasian cradle, though formed of rugged mountains. It was the southern gate-way into Asia. This war was bloody and protracted, the Russian armies meeting with little success. Nicholas viewed the advance of British interests in Central Asia with alarm, and attempted to counteract it by various means. An expedition was sent for the conquest of Khiva in 1839, which utterly failed. Between 1844-46 he visited England, Austria and Italy. During the political revolution of 1848-49 he took the first opportunity to aid the Austrian empire to quell the Hungarian insurrection. This aid rendered Austria his firm ally. He drew closer the bonds of Russian and Prussian alliance, which was attended with great damage to Prussia. The re-estab- lishment of the French empire tended to confirm these alliances, and led Nicholas to believe that the moment had arrived for carrying into effect the hereditary Russian scheme for the absorption of Turkey. With the ancient prophecy in his mind and filled with the idea that Turkey would stand alone he began the conflict. July 2d, 1853, the soldiers of Nicholas crossed the Pruth. In the hostilities which followed, the Turks displayed a steady courage. The massacre of Sinope startled England and France and their fleets were sent to the Black Sea. The pretext of this war was somewhat of the nature of the Crusades. The possession of the holy places at Jerusalem had long been a bone of contention between the Greek and Latin monks. The dispute came up afresh, France deciding for the Latin and Russia for the Greek monks. In order to get possession of those places, Turkey, holding them, was first to be conquered; hence the war. It would have been better had the combined fleets entered those waters before, to save the unnamed heroes who perished at Sinope. (Nov. 30, 1853, the Turkish squadron of 13 ships suddenly attacked and destroyed the Russian fleet.) The Russian fleet retreated to the haven of Sebastopol, never to come 18 274 THE EASTERN QUESTION, forth. The war on the Danube was bravely maintained by the Turks. In the spring of 1854, France and England entered into a formal alliance with Turkey, and sent a large force to the seat of war. The allied army landed at Eupatoria, September 14th, On the 20th, the heights of Alma were taken. Conrobert succeeded the French marshal St. Arnaud, who had died. The deadly siege of Sebastopol commenced October 17th, 1854. While the combined armies beleaguered the south side of this rival of Gibraltar, pow- erful armies were sent into the Baltic. They gained only slight successes, the Russian army lying safe under shelter of the strong fortresses at Cron- stadt. The great battles of the Crimean war were Balaklava, Inkerman, and the Tchernaya, and the siege of Kars in Armenia. During this war Nicholas died (March 2, 1855) of atrophy of the lungs. His death was hastened by chagrin at the repeated defeats which his army sustained, and by the over-anxiety, and the excessive labor he underwent to repair his losses. He was remarkable for temperance, frugality, and patriotism, but equally so for vanity and ostentation. He was fanatically beloved by his Russian subjects, and was at the same time regarded by them with feelings of awe, a tribute to his lofty stature and imperial deportment, which gave him the most intense pleasure. This extreme vanity affected his mind and is said to have been the cause, in part, of his many political blunderings toward the close of his reign. Sebastopol was abandoned by the Russians on the night of September 8, 1855, after 48 hours of terrible conflict. Hos- tilities ceased February 29, 1856, and peace was proclaimed the following April. Nicholas was succeeded by his son, Alexander II. Before we enter upon the Russian history during his reign let us call attention to this another failure of Russian attacks on Turkey, and the causes of the failure. It is very evident that its success would have changed the political aspect of Europe, Asia, and of the world. The great empire of the north, forsaking its polar capital and the nomadic zone, would have made Constantinople its seat of Empire. From this stronghold in the imperial zone its conquests eastward would have been easy, certain, and without any national limit. The wall (Turkish empire) being broken down by the -Jewish enemy of old, the future Jewish nationality would have been a failure. There would have been no King of the South, nor no battle upon the mountains of Israel, and prophecy as to the future would have been a blank. Who can look upon Russias' many failures to take Constantinople and drive the Turk out of Europe, without seeing the hand extended to draw her back ? as if God was saying to Russia, in each attempt, Thus far only thy field and thy mission are in the north and east, confine thy work to thy legitimate zone till my people are returned and have their own nationality in their own God-given, God-appointed land. It may be said that these failures can be accounted for in a natural way. This we do not deny. But has not nature an all-powerful Ruler? God must control national action or His seers could not declare the future. Russia has a mission as distinct as that of Egypt, Babylon, Persia, Greece, or Rome. Who, then, can question the causes of these repeated failures? The Russian empire is northern in all its elements and resources and RUSSIAN PHASE. 275 therefore, must not be allowed to pass permanently the bounds of her proper and her appointed habitation. Alexander II was born April 29, 1818. He was carefully instructed by his father, Nicholas, who was delighted to see in him the marks of a "true Russian spirit." At 16 he was declared of age, made commandant of the guard, helman of the Cossacks, first aide-de-camp of the emperor, and sub- jected daily to a life of manoeuvring, reviewing and military parade, which at last seriously injured his health. He then traveled through Germany to recruit his energies, and during his stay in that country, was married to princess Maria, daughter of the Grand Duke of Darmstadt, in 1841. He now vigorously applied himself to his duties as chancellor of the university of Finland. By his dexterous and subtle manners, he insinuated himself into the affections of the Finns, and weaponed their love of independence. He founded a chair of the Finnish language and literature, and de- frayed the expenses of remote explorations undertaken by their savants, such as Cygnoeus, Wallin and Castren. In 1850 he visited southern Rus- sia, Nicolaiefif, Sebastopol, Tiflis, Erivan, etc. It is said that he witnessed with regret the attitude of his father towards western 'Europe, and that he altogether disapproved of the Crimean war. On his accession to the throne, March 2, 1855, he found himself in a very critical position. He had two parties to conciliate at home — the old Muscovite party, blindly zealous for war, and the more peaceable and intelligent portion of the nation, who possessed his personal sympathies. He pursued a course calculated to encourage both; spoke of adhering to the policy of his "illustrious ances- tors," and at the same time concluded peace. He took active measures to purge the internal administration ; rebuked corrupt functionaries, and severely punished some as a warning to others. By a ukase, dated May 27, 1856, he granted to all Polish exiles, who were willing to express repentance for the past, permission to return home; though he did not separate Poland from the " great Russian family." His emancipation of 23,000,000 serfs and the closing events of his life we have given under the head of Nihilism. The Polish insurrection in 1863-64 was suppressed with extreme severity ; and in 1868 the last relics of Polish independence disappeared in the thorough incorporation of the kingdom with the Russian empire. The subjugation of the Caucasus was completed in 1859. Successive expedi- tions,.the last of which were those against Khiva and Khokon, have resulted in the establishment of Russian supremacy over all the states of Turkestan. In 1876, on the death of the governor of the Baltic, their administration was merged into that of the central government. Russia in 1870 intimated that she no longer felt bound by certain conditions of the treaty of 1856, and in a conference at London, in 1871, her claims (relative to her free navi- gation of the Black Sea)-were admitted. The misgovernment of her (Rus- sias) Christian subjects by Turkey, and her cruel suppression of incipient rebellion in Bulgaria in 1876, led to a conference of the European powers at Constantinople. Turkey rejected the proposals made by the conference with a view to the better administration of the subject provinces ; and Russia, to enforce these concessions on Turkey, declared war in April, 1877. At first the 276 THE EASTERN QUESTION, ' Russian progress was rapid ; but the energy displayed by the Turks during the summer compelled the invaders largely to augment their forces, both in Bulgaria and Armenia. The chief events of the war were the desperate but unsuccessful attempts to expel the Russians from the Shipka pass in the Balkans, the fall of Kars in November, the resolute defense of Plevna by Osman pasha from July till December, and the capture of the Turkish army of the Shipka in January. The armistice signed in January, 1878, was followed in March by the treaty of San Stefano ; between Russia and England a congress of the great powers met at Berlin in June, 1878, sanc- tioned the arrangement of the Ottoman empire explained under the future Turkish phase of the Eastern Question. A cession was made to Russia of the part of Bessarabia given to Moldavia in 1856, as also of the port of Batum, of Kars and of Ardahan. On the 13th of March, 1881, Alexander II. fell by the hands of Nihil- istic assassins. On the 20th his funeral ceremonies took place ; after which his son, as Alexander III., ascended the throne, who now reigns over " all the Russias." Since 1881 nothing has transpired in Russia worthy of any special note. Nihilism is still active and seeks every opportunity to scare and to kill. The present emperor sits insecure upon his throne, which he despotically occupies, not knowing what moment may unearth a power which shall terminate his somewhat useless existence. His coronation, deferred for many months through fear of the Nihilists, at last took place at the expense of $10,000,000 of wasted money — money earned by the oppressed. How long he will be permitted to hold imperial sway is known only to the Great Invisible. As soon as the time comes in the arrangement of the Divine purposes, when Russia will be required to make a forward movement, his throne will be occupied by some despot competent to carry out the appointed mission. In bidding adieu to Russia in the past Russian profane history, a brief statement of our plan and its intent will aid the reader the better to follow us while we pursue Russia through her prophetic history. Russia's past history was necessary, in order to enable us to discern accurately her present character. Her present character will necessarily aid us to forecast her future or prophetic history. We have studied her past history for the sake of understanding her future history. Russia has a future mission. That mission requires for its accomplishment certain characteristic features in its chief agent. Assuming the Russian empire to be that chief agent, we have examined that empire in its original family elements and in their combination into one great imperial whole. We have in our first efforts described tribal nations as they emigrated from southwestern, central, and northeastern Asia into northeastern Europe; traced them in their original features, followed these tribal nations through their long fusion process (extending in the Scythians over one thousand years) till out of this heterogeneous mixture of tribal nations a new man is formed — the Russian ; have followed that new people under two dynasties to the present, searching their acts to learn their specific character. We have traced this empire of the north : (1) in its embryotic state ; RUSSIAN PHASE. 277 (2) in its infancy ; (3) through its childhood ; (4) through its youth ; (5) and into its manhood. During its centuries while it lay in embryo, it ex- isted in its primary elements, simply as families of different blood, Shem- itic, Japhetic, and Hamitic. These mingling, and thus giving rise to all shades of character, forming in northeastern Europe on its extended plains and uplands the great empire of the north. We have followed these fami- lies during the period of their fusion, seen them gradually mingling, and assuming the form of a nation, composed of one hundred tribal nations, speaking some forty different languages. After centuries of conflicts, com- ing under the control of dukes, grand-dukes of the Scandinavian family of Rurik — which continued 736 years, after which the house of Romanoff, of the Scandinavian and German race governed the empire as czars, emperors and autocrats, to the present time. Through all the various changes from em- bryo to manhood the Russian empire has exhibited a vigor that has pointed it out as the great educator of the north ; the northern university of Europe, where the northern races of Asia were to receive their European drill, the national blast furnace where the Asiatic ores were to be reduced, prepara- tory to being cast into moulds suited to the last days. We have noted her seven efforts to gain firm footing in the zone of empires, fixing her southern capital at Constantinople, but she has signally failed in each attempt. She has been pulled back by Jehovah's direct in- terference, as can be distinctly traced through the entire course of Russian history. Her field to cultivate is the north. She has been forced to locate her seat of empire in a high northern latitude (60°). And her seminaries of instruction for the shepherd zone are kept in that range of temperature, well suited to their original constitutions. God thus divides the earth into a central field, surrounding it with other fields ; then raises up tenants in every way suited to these fields. Such a fitness exists between the great field of the north and its Russian tenant. The Russian bear was made for the great bear field. In like manner God has in his education, and special drill, adapted the Russian to her field and her work. Whenever, therefore, Russia has attempted to fix her capital in a more enervating latitude, she has been drawn back, even to seven times. When she has attempted the West she has been defeated and obliged to retire. On the other hand, whenever the Gothic-Scythian of German nations has entered her legiti- mate field, she has been driven back. Not so with the eastern nations, such as the Tartars. They were to be fused with the Russians to maintain certain distinctive characteristics. That empire was to be ruled by German mind, but its body was to be Slavonian. Another Russian peculiarity has been noticed. The extremely despotic rulers have been the most popular and successful, such as Ivan the terrible, Peter the Great, Katharine II. and Nicholas. The reason is obvious, it requires extreme despotic power to hold to- » gether its heterogeneous elements, so as to centralize all power. Every emperpr that has aimed at the diffusion of general intelligence has been made quite unpopular, while the opposite policy led to popularity. These items are sufficient to point out and locate Russia's character and work. 278 THE EASTEEN QUESTION, Her mission is in the north. There she will be confined till the final struggle. The philosophy of Russian history is exceedingly entertaining as well as instructive. The reader will do well to investigate the great causes which prompt to Russian action. Pharaoh Menephthes was raised up for a certain purpose. Cyrus was educated for a certain work. So were Alexander, Aleric, Attilar, Genseric, etc. Why, then, has not the Russian empire a similar origin ? If we are allowed to conjecture relative to Russia and the remainder of Europe, we shoiild say that their interests are quite dissimilar, and, therefore, their intercourse will not be cordial. Russia is aware that the nations of western Europe fully comprehend her aim towards Turkey, and she knows also that her occupancy of Constantinople would be damaging to the commercial interests of those great powers ) she is also aware that they are sufficiently powerful to prevent her conquest of Turkey; she finds it necessary, therefore, to move with great caution. Her last two wars with Turkey taught her that lesson quite perfectly. Before she can take possession of Constantinople, she must convince the European world that it by right belongs to her. This she cannot acconaplish. She must move towards the east, and bring the entire nomadic zone under her control. With these concluding remarks on Russian profane history, we shall follow her to the close of her prophetic history. This will be no or- dinary task. KUSSIAN EMPIRE FROM A. D. 1884 TO THE CLOSE OF THE MILLENNIAL AGE, OR THE AGE OF SUBJUGATION. This is Russia's first period of her prophetic history. We call it the Millennial age from its duration, one thousand years. We denominate it the age of subjugation, for the reason that the first of the age, at least, is occupied by Christ under His regal office in subjugating His enemies. Paul says of this period, " For He (Christ — W.) must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet." i Cor. xv. 25. During this period nations exist. The thought is clearly suggested by the metallic image and the stone. The metallic image is the symbol of Gentile rule on the earth. The stone, in- creased to a mountain, represents the earth under the reign of Christ or the kingdom of the God of heaven. The work of destroying the image be- longs to Christ in His regal ofl&ce, expressed by Paul as above. When Christ returns He subdues the nations. We call the age in which Christ is thus occupied the age of subjugation. No term can be more appropriate. Our purpose is now well defined to trace Russia through that period. And we have given her past history to aid us in giving this portion of her prophetic history. We may assume at least that Russia's past character will serve as a fair sample of her future. Her field of preparatory labor is fully defined — the field of the north ; — the shepherd, or nomadic zone. Her special work will appear as we advance. It is well here to remark that the purposes of Russia and those of Jehovah are quite unlike. The plans of Russia and her policy are clearly set forth in the will of Peter the Great; God's purposes are fully set forth by the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, RUSSIAN PHASE. 279 Ezekiel, Daniel, Zechariah, and by the Revelations of St. John. We know, also, that God's will shall finally triumph. Russia aims at universal dominion for its despotic empire. The autocrat, being supreme head of church and state, would claim to be the royal high priest of the whole earth — the king of kings, and priest of priests. God has reserved that high and honorable position for His own dear Son. Hence, as wc progress in our Russian narrative we shall notice the deviations from Russian policy as Divine interpositions, aside from these overrulings of the northern despot, to bring about another class of purposes — those of Jehovah. We could write out the history of Russia's future from what we know of her past. Russia aims to possess the imperial zone, and by it to place upon her head the diadem of universal empire, with the absolute power to dic- tate all thought, social, moral, religious, and political. This power Russia proposes to secure in the following manner : (1) to get possession of Con- stantinople and drive the Turk out of Europe. (2) As she now holds Turkestan, the original home of the Turks, and having such a hold in Anatolia, the Turkish empire in Asia, would readily be absorbed. (3) Palestine, being part of the Ottoman Asiatic empire, would fall to her with all its sacred localities ; and the Russian Greek Church would rule the eastern world. (4) Persia would then be conquered; and the Russian em- pire would bound the British East Indies on the north and west. A ter- rible conflict with the British in India would ultimate in her conquest of the British East Indies, The next conflict of Russia in her pro- gress to the East would be with the French. Here the struggle would be far less severe, since the French power would be much inferior to that of England. Her next conquest would be the Chinese em- pire. She would not then find this a very difiicult task. China being con- quered Japan would submit without any severe struggle. Asia conquered Egypt would fall, the British being driven out. Africa would be virtually in her hands. With all these conquests the dominion of the seas may still belong to the British. The conquest of Europe would be the next in order. All her eastern conquests, compared with this, would be as the dust of the balance. The three families of the second, or Gothic Scythian, or German emigration, Germany, France, and England, grown up into mighty em- pires, with civilization and military drill vastly in advance of her own, would furnish Russia abundance of military and diplomatic exercise, in order to their subjugation. It would require the Russians to divide these nations by exciting quarrels among them, and raising up divisions, as in the instructions given in Peter's will. These conquests, to extend over the world, to make Russia a fifth universal monarchy, would require, perhaps, a thousand years. It is very evident that such a history of tho future of the Russian empire, though it might agree with Peter's visionary will, in all its principal features, is not quite the prophetic chart of Russia's future. God, by His direct interference with autocratic will, by His Almighty power, shapes events into the form of His own predicted purposes. We have only one source from which we are able to draw the true ele- ments of Russian history through the coming age of ages. The holy seers 280 THE EA&TERN QUESTION, of old, with their prophetic glasses, swept time's rough and tempestuous ocean ; tracing each nation in its voyage to the boundless, breezeless sea. That chart of Russian history we shall now take the liberty to follow. Eze- kiel's chart (Eze. xxxviii and xxxix) shall be our main guide, aided by the charts of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Zechariah and John in his Apocalypse. Let us now place before us Ezekiel's chart and turn to his delineations of a great northern power preparatory to, in, and after its invasion of the land of Israel. What wicked power occupies this portion of Ezekiel's chart? No expositor has excluded Russia. The features are too distinct for any mistake as to the chief royal personage. But what record has the chart ? Let us read and note carefully. Ezekiel xxxviii. vs. 1. And the word of the Lord came unto me saying: Where was Ezekiel when this " word " came to him ? In the valley where he had seen the vision of dry bones — the whole house of Israel in their dispersion and restitution. Their reunion had been illustrated by the union of two sticks. These events will be fully noticed under the Hebrew Phase of the " Eastern Question." The prophet is carried forward to a period subsequent to this Restitution, and a period of prosperity to the Hebrew nationality. Vs. 2. Son of man. Set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him. " Gog," who is he? The Divine answer is, " He is of the land of Magog, and the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal." Modern Geography calls no countries by those names. The explanation was, however, sufficient for Ezekiel, and must, therefore, have been well known to this holy seer. Magog was the second son of Japheth (Gen. x. 2). The land where he dwelt took his name, and was thus named in the days of Ezekiel. B. C. 587, and 1,861 years after Japheth's son had dwelt there. His name still adhered to the land, and, as Ezekiel knew it by no other name, it was proper so to call it, though, at the time of this invasion, it had some other name. Mes- hech was the fifth son of Japheth, and Tubal was the sixth son. Gog would appear to be a native of Magog, and the chief ruler of those other countries, that of Meshech and of Tubal. Our history of the tribal elements that were fused to make the Russian is so full that no further remarks as to the existence of these nations in the Russian empire will be required. We shall simply refer the reader to those sketches and pass on. Vs. 4. And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts (of armor), (even) a great company (with) bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords. " The turning back " " and put- ting hooks in thy jaws," are events which transpire in the earlier parts of Gog's history, and shows the perfect control which God exercised over that power. " I am against thee." The pronoun " I " shows the Divine agency. God manages that power to carry out His own purposes. When He leaves His northern field before Jehovah's time as He has done seven times ; per- haps we may say six. God drew him back when the appointed time comes RUSSIAN PHASE. 281 to execute judgment upon him, God says, "I will bring thee forth," held back, then brought forth to His execution. This supreme control of Jeho- vah demands special note. Since it demonstrates God's sovereignty over the nations. Vss. 5 and 6. Persia, Ethiopia, and Lybia with them ; all of them with shield and helmet. Gonier, and all his bands ; the house of Togar- mah of the north quarters, and all his bands. We have shown at some length that Gomer is not Germany, " Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya." How came these enrolled in the army of Gog, or Russia? When and under what circumstances were Persia, Ethiopia and Libya subjugated by the Russian empire ? Were these countries, at the time of this invasion, provinces of the Russian empire ? or were these simply mercenary soldiers ? whom the gold of Russia had hired to fight against Israel and Judah, enticed into the great northern army through hatred of the Hebrews and a desire of plunder ? These are questions which are not readily answered. There is a part of Russia's future history not down on Ezekiel's chart. Where is Russia, and how is she occupied from the present time (1884) to her appearance in her confederated armies on the mountains of Israel? We must examine this period on the other prophetic charts. We may not be left to conjecture. That the Persians were in her army presents no dif- ficulty ; for Persia has to be conquered in her eastern progress to India, ac- cording to the instructions of Peter's will, but as to Ethiopia and Libya there needs to be some further investigation. In Gen. ii. 13, describing Eden, we have this language : And the name of the second river (is) Gihon ; the same (is) it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. No one can for a moment suppose that Ethiopia, here named, is the African Ethiopia, since it would be Geographically absurd. The Hebrew and English margin — Cush. But there are four countries which, in the Bible, are called Cush, from the sons of Cush having, at different times, changed their residence. Major Wilford says this (Ethiopia) must be Balk, or Bactria. Ethiopia in the Hebrew of Eze, xxxviii. 5 is tJ^I^, Cush and Libya is tD)^, Phut ; and Persia is D*l5 Pa-ras, because divided into so many mountains, valleys and plains, and interspersed with so many salt lakes and marshes. Persia proper is here intended. It would seem that countries connected as these three are should be somewhat geographically associated. Still we shall not contend. Russia may have carried her con- quests into Africa before her forces gather on the mountains of Israel. On this point we shall consult the chart of Daniel. Dan. xi. 36-45. A king shall do according to his will ; hence he is called the " wilful king." One expositor says of the above title. "It is equally applicable to Antiochus (Epiphanes) to the Romans, to the Anti-Christ, and many others." This king is also said to be Napoleon; others say he is the Autocrat of Russia. One point is worthy of note that, according to all the views, we are at the time of the end when these events are in process of accomplishment ; for the French and Russian Autocrats are one in their elements of character — despots — aiming to deprive the Messiah of universal empire and truly presecuting His holy people. 282 THE EASTERN QUESTION, v. 7. Be thou prepared and prepare for thyself thou and all thy com- pany that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them. The chronology of the events which are involved in this command, is a point of very considerable interest to aid us to write correctly the Russian future or prophetic history. What period is covered by these preparations which the Almighty orders Gog to make ? What are these preparations? The period is anterior to the gathering and covers that space of time that extends from the present to the gathering period. It is the period of Russian drill and military preparation, a period of great activity. It is the day of God's preparation of the nations for the contest on the mountains of Israel for the diadem of the earth ; to decide whether it shall continue under the curse of human Gentile domination or come under the righteous government of the Messiah. As Russia gathers all the North and East her preparation will be on a scale of vast dimensions. " Be thou prepared." Strengthen thy government in all its departments, thyself being its despotic head. "And prepare for thyself" all thy subjects and thy tribes. Gather thy forces, mustering into service and drilling. Associate under thy banners the entire nomadic zone. Associate and fuse discordant masses, educate them for the vast invasion of thy people, Israel. Gather munitions of war. Fill and put in order thy commissaries. " Be thou a guard unto them (all thy company assembled unto thee). Make an immense camp of these tribal undisciplined hosts. Throw around them a guard of thy drilled soldiers ; enroll them, drill them and muster them into service. Swell thy forces to the utmost that they may be a fair test of the strength of thy mil- itary arm. It requires no very close scrutiny to discern such preparations now in progress. Why such a vast increase of armies and navies ? Why are they moving eastward ? Why has Russia proposed a ship canal from the Baltic east to the Caspian sea and onward toward the Celestial empire ? Why is she pushing her boundaries southward and southeast toward Persia and India. V. 8. After many days thou shalt be visited ; in the latter years thou shalt come into the land (that is) brought back from the sword, (and is) gathered out of the many people against the mountains of Israel, which have always been waste ; but it is brought forth out of the nations and they shall dwell safely, all of them. " After many days thou shalt be visited." Boothroyd, following the Chaldee, "Thou shalt number (or enroll) them," i. e. all the barbarian forces from the north, "Against," rather " upon," the mountains, which have been always "long" waste. "After many days in the latter years " thou shalt enroll the barbarians. The seer looks back over the whole period of Gog's existence to the days of old when he persecuted Judah under the name of the " Assyrian," and held him in cruel and long- protracted bondage, glances at his tyrant rule under various names, then sees him spring up as the great northern despot. He has his former and latter years. His enrollment that here attracts Ezekiel's notice is the one that is in his latter years, now about to transpire. Such a historic sketch of Gog as is recorded in this verse demands more than a mere passing notice. We have investigated the Hebrew to be fully satisfied of its true meaning. Our KUSSIAN PHASE. 283 rendering is as follows : After many days thou (Gog) shalt enroll or number (the nations of the north) ; in the latter years thou, Gog, shalt come into the land (earth) recovered from the sword ; recovered from many people (as its conquerors) upon the mountains of Israel, which have a long time been waste, but is recovered from the nations (that have conquered) and they (Israel and Judah) shall dwell safely, all of them. That land (of Israel) has been conquered, (1) by the Assyrians, (2) Persians, (3) Greco-Macedoni- ans, (4) Romans, (5) Saracens, (6) Scythians, (7) the German nations under the Crusades, (8) and by the Turks, who still hold possession. Here eight conquests by the sword. Ezekiel speaks of it at a time when its legal own- ers, the Hebrews, have quiet possession of it after being recovered from the sword. With these interpretations and explanations we, pass on. V. 9. Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou and all thy bands and many people with thee. In a season of thunder showers, about 10 o'clock a. m. small clouds (cumuli) begin to gather. The cloud soon, by its attraction of other columns "of as- cending vapor, it grows into a mountain with a dark base. It assumes such magnitude as to darken the land. A flash of lightning darts through the gathering mass and the tempest soon follows. The prophet uses this figure to represent Gog and his forces gathering on the mountains of Israel, an ap- propriate simile. The mingled nations gathering on the mountains of Is- rael seem like a gathering tempest bursting in fury over the land. V. 10. Thus saith the Lord God : It shall also come to pass (that) at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought (conceive a mischievous purpose). The prophet does not nar- rate events in the order of sequence. Nature's order is from cause to effect. Ezekiel reverses this order. The horrors of the invasion wake up his pas- sions, which for a time absorb his being. Becoming somewhat calm he runs back, in his mind, to the origin and moving causes of this invasion. It was an evil thought that arose in the mind of Gog. A fit of covetousness seized his mind and soon begat its legitimate fruits. He contrasts his power and wants with Israel's wealth and weakness. Vs. 11-12. And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of un walled vil- lages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwell- ing without walls and having neither bars nor gates, to take a spoil and to take a prey, to turn thy hand upon the desolate places, (that are now) in- habited, and Tjipon the people (that are) out of the nations which have got- ten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land. Such is the record of Gog's covetous thought. Let us pause for a mo- ment and analyze that covetous thought that occupied the mind of this great power; for though a great empire is intended by the term Gog, yet it is so perfectly under the control of one mind in its absolutism, that it is al- ways addressed as one individual, though it includes a succession of emper- ors. These two verses will come up for investigation under the Hebrew phase. We shall now confine our remarks to the thought and its author. His thought is one of robbery, plunder. He purposes to rob innocent, harmless citizens, who have no fears, and are, therefore living without any 284 THE EASTERN QUESTION, visible protection. Why he comes with such a mighty army, is not stated. Robbers are usually armed according to the perils anticipated, but, as this national robber did not look for any resistance from this people, whom he purposed to rob, his conduct in bringing such an armed multitude, can be explained only by the fact that the Hebrews were in some manner under the care of some great power well known to Gog, and with whom he looked for a sharp contest. Our second remark will be of some inter- est. The motives of Jehovah and 9f Gog in this invasion. Gog seems to act out his own covetous purposes without any restraint, and yet Jehovah declares that he himself brings him with all his hosts for the honor of his own name. "I will magnify myself, sanctify myself." Je- hovah exercises control over Gog so as to bring him with all his hosts to the judgment. God has a right to punish criminals by whatever agents, and in whatever manner He deems best suited to the honor of His own name. Vs. 13. Sheba and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee : Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil ? Four classes of men, those of Sheba, Dedan, Merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions, interrogate Gog as to the object of his extraordinary visit. Who are these classes ? Why should they interfere? Was it to rob them ? Why should they busy themselves in other men's matters ? (1) Sheba, where located ? How occupied ? In Arabia Felix, or Yemen. It is said in Gen. xxv, "And Jokshan (the son of Abraham by Keturah) begat Sheba and Dedan. They settled in Arabia Felix, and became Arabian merchants and very wealthy. Ezekiel speaks of them as merchants of Tyre." Eze. xxvii. 15. The men of Dedan (were) thy merchants. Vs. 20. Dedan was thy merchant in precious clothes for chariots. Vs. 22. The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy merchants; they occupied in thy fairs with chief of all spices and with all precious stones and gold. These mer- chants of Yemen (north of the present Yemen) were the Phoenicians of Arabia; wealthy, widely extended, and enterprising people, of fine stature and noble bearing. They were great in their traffic in gold and perfumes, spice, incense and precious stones. Yemen, however, was only productive in corn, wine and ordinary products. They, however, held the key to India, and were the intermediate factors between Egypt and Syria, which again spread the imported wares over Europe. When Ptolemy and Phila- delphus (B. C. 274) had established an Indian emporium in Egypt, they still remained the sole monopolists of the Indian trade, being the only navigators that undertook the dangerous voyage. Like the Phoenicians they kept secret the track of their ships, and pretended that these costly metals, spices and articles were the products of their own country. They sold their silks to the Romans in the 3rd century at the rate of a pound for a pound of gold. They became luxurious, effeminate and idle. The liiean- est utensils in the houses of these merchant princes were, according to Greek writers, wrought in the most cunning fashion, and were of gold and BRITISH PHASuE. 285 silver; their vases were incrusted with gems, their fire- wood was cinna- mon. Their colonies extended over immense tracts of Asia. Sheba (Ye- men) occupies the southwestern part of Arabia. Its peninsula, Aden, con- tains about 20 square miles, on which Aden (Eden paradise) the Gibraltar of Asia and Africa, is located. It is on the direct route through the Suez canal, Red sea and Indian ocean to India. In 1838 accession of Aden, by- its Sultan, was made to England. On Jan. 11,, 1839, after a few hours' con- test, it fell into the hands of the British. Its population is now about 35,000, a busy population. In 1872 its imports were £1,404,169, its exports £835,919. Yemen is the paradise of Arabia. Their past history is interest- ing, but what more especially demands our attention is the position of the men (merchants) of Sheba and Dedan in this future invasion of Gog. They appear to be nationally interested in the affairs of Israel as th'3y dwell safely in the land of un walled villages. They were, in all proba- bility, merchants of the Jews at that time, as the ancient Subseans were of Tyre. This thought opens a wide field for future investigation ; the vast improvements of Arabia in the age of subjugation. " Sheba and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish with all the young lions thereof." Sheba and Dedan were the sons of Jokshan, who was the son of Abraham by Keturah. Being brothers and sent by Abraham into the east country (Arabia) they would naturally seek the most fertile parts of that country. Sheba gave his name to the southwestern Arabia, now called Yemen, the paradise of Arabia. Dedan gave his name to the south- east Arabia, now denominated Oman, chief town, Muscat. Some of De- dan's posterity went further towards the north and east, and finally reached India. Ezekiel names two other members of this future merchant com- mercial firm. The merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof. We gave some notes on Tarshish under the " British Phase." It will now be as well, in this place, to group all the items of history relative to Tar- shish in order to fully understand the injport of this enunciation of Eze- kiel xxxviii. 13. In doing this we shall assume what have been demon- strated and believed by such able ethnologists as Blumenbach, Dr. Prichard, and Dr. Latham and Retzius : (1) The unity of the human race; (2) the fact of a deluge ; (3) the re-peopling of the earth by the three sons of Noah, (a) Shem ; (&) Ham ; (c) Japheth ; (d) and the general apportion- ment of Asia, Africa, and Europe. It is interesting to follow these men and their posterity as they grad- ually spread over the eastern world giving names to the countries they occupy ; their own proper names adhering to the lands, a custom followed through all ages, and now practiced. Such appears to be the origin of geographical names, both ancient and modern. Some times the ancient name of a country or a district comes down to us unchanged, generally, however, with names modified or entirely new. The most ancient names are from the Bible as it contains the most ancient history. Let us now turn to the Scriptures relative to the origin and history of Tarshish. Prom Gen. x. 1-4 we learn that Tarshish was the son of Javan, who 286 THE EASTERN QUESTION, was the son of Japheth ; who was the son of Noah. Vs. 5. By these (families of Japheth — W.) were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands , every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nation. "Isles of the Gentiles." "This expression comprehends all those coun- tries to which the Hebrews were obliged to go by sea, whether in Europe or in Asia Minor." — Calmet. Tarshish settled somewhere in Europe; either on the continent or on some one of its islands. His original location, or farm, was somewhere west of Palestine, to which persons went by ships on the Great Sea, which was called " Sea of Tarshish," that being its most ancient name. Mediterranean (middte of the earth) being an appellation of more recent date. Tarshish's name adhered to the land that he occu- pied ; hence the location was called Tarshish. Through centuries it was called by that name ; and so also was the sea named on which they sailed to reach that distant land. We shall, for the present, confine our investiga- tions to this original or Western Tarshish. (1) Where was it ? (2) What were its products ? (3) What people made its immense commerce? These questions, with others. We propose to examine, both from the Bible and profane history. The next notice of this western Tarshish, which we find in sacred history, is recorded in Jonah (B. C. 862) 1, 3. " But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish ; so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. Joppa was a sea-port on the Mediterranean. Consequently he had to sail on that sea to reach the western Tarshish. This voyage of Jonah was more than twelve hundred years, probably, after the first settle- ment of Tarshish. A splendid commerce had grown up between the Phoenicians and Tarshish. That commerce had done much to make Tyre a proud city of merchant princes. Isaiah says (B. C. 715) : Howl ye ships of Tarshish ; for it (Tyre — W.) is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in ; from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them. Is. xxiii. 1 vs. 6. " Pass ye over to Tarshish." Vs. 10. " Pass through thy land daughter Tarshish." " Tyre is probably called the ' daughter of Tarshish ' from the close connexion and perpetual intercourse between them, to which the former owed much of her greatness." — Bagster. What were the products of Tarshish ? Ezekiel, speaking to Tyre, says : " Tar- shish (was) thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all (kind of) riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, and traded in thy fairs." Vs. 25. " The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market ; and thou wast re- plenished and made very glorious in the midst of the seas." We have traced this western Tarshish, in its past history, as far as the Bible gives us any knowlege. We should infer that it was well towards the western ex- tremity of the Mediterranean Sea. Since the entire sea had that name ; and, therefore, the ships of Tarshish traversed the entire length of the sea to obtain their silver, iron, tin, and lead. It would have been very dif- ficult to have found those metals in paying quantities nearer to Tyre than Spain. We shall now examine the testimony of secular history relative to the location of this Western Tarshish. Javan was the father of Tarshish RUSSIAN PHASE. 287 and Kittim. On an ancient map of Ptolemy, England and Scotland are called Javan. They are called on those early maps " Isles of the West." So also in the Bible. On those ancient maps the western coast of Europe, in- cluding France, Spain and Portugal, has the name of Tarshish. '■' Tar- shish was the west coast of Europe, afterwards called Gaul, and in later times Spain and France." — Hillier. "All agree that Tarshish is Spain, sometimes called Tartessus, from two Greek words ' Thars-eis,' ' Nesas,' the Islands of Tarshish." — Bochart. So also do Aristotle, Strabo, and Pausanias Aviernus testify. Others derive it from "Tar," a border, " Shish," white, bright, shining, a name given to England from the whiteness of its chalk cliffs. We place but little worth in these derivations, since those coun- tries had their name from their first occupant, Tarshish, and we have shown the location of the country Tarshish. The Tyrians fled to Tar- shish from the arms of Alexander the Great. All the ancients seem to locate Tarshish in Spain. Dr. Wm. Smith, in his Bible Dictionary, gives Spain as its original locality. He says : "Tarshish, 1. Probably Tartessus, a city and emporium of the. Phoenicians in the south of Spain." " The identity of the two places is rendered highly probable by the following circumstances : 1st. There is a very close similarity of name between them, Tartessus being merely Tarshish in the Aramaic form. 2dly. There seems to have been a special relation be- tween Tarshish and Tyre, as there was at one time between Tartes- sus and the Phoenicians. 3dly. The articles which Tarshish is stated by the prophet Ezekiel (xxvii. 12) to have supplied to Tyre are pre- cisely such as we know, through classical writers, to have been pro- ductions of the Spanish peninsula. In regard to tin, the trade of Tarshish in this metal is peculiarly significant, and, taken in conjunc- tion with similarity of name and other circumstances already men- tioned, is reasonably conclusive as to its identity with Tartessus. For even now the countries in Europe, or on the shores of the Mediter- ranean Sea, where tin is found, are very few; and, in reference to ancient times, it would be difficult to name any such countries, except Iberia or Spain, Lusitania, which was somewhat less in extent than Portugal and Cornwall in Great Britain. In the absence of positive proof, we may ac- quiesce in the statement of Strabo, that the river Bsetis (now the Guadal- quivir) was formerly called Tartessus, that the city Tartessus was situated between the two arms by which the river flowed into the sea, and that the adjoining country was called Tartessus. This being the original location of Tarshish, the son of Javan, who dwelt in England, it can not be sup- posed that these families would, for twelve centuries, remain stationary, or that the ships of Tarshish would not take in the immense tin deposits of Cornwall. The probability is that in the process of years all that country, rich in mines of silver, iron, tin, and lead, would take the name of the ships that visited them ; and of the sea, over which the ships of Tarshish were constantly passing. For the same reason those men carry- ing on the commerce would be called the merchants of Tarshish. Such being a legitimate conclusion, we close our discussion of the location, ex- 288 THE EASTERN QUESTION, tent, and character of western Tarshish, by the remark that this commer- cial enterprise had one great centre at ancient Tyre, and that it was car- ried on principally by the merchant princes of Phoenicia. We are now prepared to examine the eastern branch of this ancient commercial enterprise. In this eastern enterprise Tyre is a partner with the Hebrews, under Solomon. Of the eastern commercial enterprise, Jeru- salem is made the chief emporium and way stations are erected. The east- ern commercial line commenced at Ezion-geber, on the ^lanitic gulf of the Red sea, passed down that sea to the Indian ocean, then coasted along the southern boundaries of Arabia, and terminated somewhere eastward in In- dia and Ceylon. We shall first examine what the Bible says relative to this eastern route to, what is understood to be, an eastern or Indian Tarshish. This eastern channel was opened for commerce by Solomon, (B. C. 1015-975). "King Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion-geber, which (is) beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom. And Hiram (King of Tyre — W.) sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowl- edge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon. And they came to Ophir and fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought (it) to King Solomon." I. Ki., ix., 26, 27, 28. " For the King's ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Hiram ; every three years came the ships of Tarshish bringing gold and silver, ivory and apes and peacocks." Michaels, a distinguished writer, thinks that the fleet of Solomon coasted along the shore of Africa, doubling the Cape of Good Hope and came toTar- tessus, in Spain, and thence back again the same way ; that this accounts for their three years' voyage out and home, and that Spain and the coasts of Africa furnish all the commodities which they brought back." — Bagster. This view is liable to some very serious objections. (1.) The voyage would not have been undertaken without some knowledge of the extent of Africa. (2.) It could not have been accomplished in three years. He could have taken the Phcenician route. (3.) All the articles could not have been found either in Spain or in Africa, or in both. The articles which Solomon's fleet brought home were "gold, silvei, ivory and peacocks." Gold and silver could have been obtained in West- ern Africa or in various localities along its coasts. Ivory also migfht have been obtained in abundance, but peacocks could not have been found either in Africa or in Europe. It is very generally agreed that the peacock is a native only of India. The Hebrew words for ivory, apes and peacocks are of Indian origin, which shows conclusively that those articles were brought by Solomon's merchant ships from India. We quote from the Hebrew text of I. Ki., X. 22, simply that part of the verse translated " ivory and apes and peacocks." D^^DiH) D^0p!l D*3»l^??^- ^® shall give each word with its defi- nition from the Hebrew lexicon : 0''^r\^t^ — Shen-hav-bim, ivory or ele- phant's teeth. (I. Ki., x. 22.) Another lexicon says elephant's tooth, ivory (the word is probably a compound of "t^ — shen, a tooth, and '2tl — hav, an ele- phant, from the Sanscrit Ibha.) D*^p1 — koph-im, apes— Sanscrit Kapi; D^^Dill — tuk-kim, peacocks. Tukki cannot be explained in Hebrew, but is RUSSIAN PHASE. 289 akin to toka in the Tamil language. By India we include the Indian islands, such as Ceylon. Now if these products had been the natural prod- ucts of Africa or Spain they would have been called in the Hebrew tongue by names which would point to such localities, and not by those names by which they were known in India. To us their names are conclusive evi- dence that they were obtained in India or in Ceylon. The peacock, itself, being a native only of India and of the countries east, would be sufficient to decide in what direction Solomon's vessels sailed. The vast numbers of those pea-fowls in India, Siam, etc., are still further proof of their eastern origin, since they were sufficiently numerous to make them an article of commerce. The accounts which Orientalists give are very interesting. Col. Williamson says : " Whole woods were covered with their beautiful plum- age, to which the rising sun imparted additional brilliancy. The small patches of plain among the long grass, most of them cultivated, and with mustard then in bloom, which induced the birds to feed, increased the beauty of the scene, and I speak within bounds when I assert that there could not be less than 1,200 or 1,500 pea-fowls of various sizes, within sight of the spot where I stood for near an hour." Sir Emerson Tennent, also, in his work on Ceylon, says that "in some of the unfrequented portions of the eastern province to which Europeans rarely resort, and where the pea-fowls are unmolested by the natives, their number is so extraordinary that, re- garded as game it ceases to be ' sport ' to destroy them, and their cries at early morning are so tumultuous and incessant as to banish sleep, amount to an actual inconvenience." The harsh cry of the peacock seems to have been imitated in its Greek name, taos, and probably has given rise also to the Latin pavo and the English peacock. Peafowls so numerous as these would make an article of commerce worthy of historic note. Why should the vessels constructed at Ezion-geber be called ships of Tarshish if they were not designed to go to Tarshish. They might take the name of those vessels after whose pattern they were constructed. They were built by Hiram's ship-carpenters and therefore built after the pattern of those vessels that sailed on the sea of Tarshish, in the commerce between Tyre and Tarshish of the West. Dr. William Smith says: ''The expres- sion, 'ships of Tarshish,' originally meant ships destined to go to Tarshish, and then probably came to signify large Phoenician ships of a particular size and description, destined for long voyages, just as in English ' East-In- diaman ' was a general name given to vessels, some of which were not in- tended to go to India at all. Hence we may infer that the word Tarshish was also used to signify any distant place, and in this case would be applied to o;ie in the Indian ocean." If anyone will examine the position of Ezion-geber he can readily see that it is not conveniently located for any western commerce. Take into consideration the fact that at that time Solomon owned much of the sea coast along the east end of the Mediterranean, (sea of Tarshish) and was on the most friendly terms with Hiram, King of Tyre, whose merchants owned the ships of Tarshish that navigated the Mediterranean sea, and could have supplied Solomon with all the products of Western Tarshish, and it will 19 290 THE EASTERN QUESTION, appear very evident that Solomon's Red-sea fleet was built for eastern com- merce. Solomon was familiar with the wealth of the Indies. Much informa- tion was obtained from the Arabian merchants residing in Sheba and De- dan who visited Jerusalem and were quite familiar with India. They were the '' Phoenicians " of the Red sea and of the Indian ocean. Solomon was a great commercial king and brought to Jerusalem the products of all lands. He had, long before the building of his fleet, established a caravan route to the Indies. To facilitate its operations Solomon built Tadmor (Palmyra — W.) in the wilderness. Mr. Porter, in his " Oriental Sketches," has the fol- lowing: "The question has been frequently asked: Why did Solomon build a city in the midst of the desert, so far from his own kingdom ? The answer is easy to anyone who knows the history of the period and the geog- raphy of Bible lands. One of his great aims was to make Palestine the cen- tre of commercial enterprise. To secure a safe and easy route for caravans that imported the treasures of India, Persia and Mesopotamia, was of the first importance. Tadmor lies half way between the Euphrates and the borders of Syria. It contains the only copious fountains in that arid des- ert. Some halting-place was necessary. Water was absolutely necessary. Consequently Palmyra was founded as a caravan station. As Solomon's wealth increased so were his desires enlarged. Many articles which he wanted were not suited to caravan transportation. Glancing over a map of those eastern countries he would readily see that the distance from Ezion- geber, on the Red sea, and the caravan route to Southern India and the Red sea were about the same. This naturally suggested the idea of a sea route, and a fleet of merchant ships is made, each one by Phoenician ship-carpen- ters, and after the pattern of those vessels which they had constructed for the sea and trade of Tarshish. They would be called from their shape and size ships of Tarshish ; the commerce would be called the commerce of the ships of Tarshish. After a time the ports and lands visited would assume the name and an eastern Tarshish would spring into existence. Such, we think, is a fair solution of the object of the Red sea fleet. Now Solomon was noted for his wisdom, but to have built a fleet in the Red sea for the commerce of Spain, France and England or western Tarshish, when he could have controlled the Mediterranean sea for that commerce, would have been extreme folly. It is a source of great pleasure, as well as of knowledge, to trace in difierent ages of the world, the changes of its great commercial centers from that of ancient Egypt at Memphis, Babylon of the Assyrian empire Athens of Greece, Rome of the Latin Empire, Constantinople, of the Greek and Ottoman empires; St. Petersburg of the Russian empire, and London of the British empire. Other smaller commercial centers existed in early ages of the world. Those of special interest in our present investiga- tion were at Tyre and Jerusalem, in the days of Solomon, King of Israel. Tyre was building up her commerce with the nations along the Mediter- ranean Sea, principally by her commerce with Tarshish, and with Sheba and Dedan towards the east. During the reign of Solomon the great com- RUSSIAN PHASE. 291 mercial center of the world was at Jerusalem ; and it was the commercial centre for all nations in the days of Solomon and during his reign. Why may it not be again, under the reign of one "greater than Solomon?" Under the Phoenicians and Hebrews there were two commercial systems and two commercial centres. (1) A western system between Tyre and Tarshish, in the ships of Tarshish, and on the Sea of Tarshish ; (2) between Jerusalem and India, with ships of Tarshish (after their model), by way of the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. These continued to be two distinct com- mercial systems for centuries. When all the commercial centres had often been changed, and the seat of empire had moved to Western Europe, or per- haps long before that time, various projects were being talked of by the nations especially interested of uniting the two S3''stems by opening a water communication between the Mediterranean and Red Seas, then separted by a strip of land 72 miles wide. In ancient times, yet centuries since the days of Solomon, a canal was made connecting (indirectly) the two seas. When it was commenced, or when it was finished, is not known. Herodo- tus dates the projection back to Pharaoh Necho (B.C. 600). Others, such as Aristotle, Strabo and Pliny, go still further back. Its completion is assigned by some to Darius, King of Persia; by others to the Ptolemies. It began at about a mile and a half from Suez, and was carried in a north-west direction through a remarkable series of natural depressions to Bubastis, on the Pelusiac or eastern branch of the Nile. Its entire length was 92 miles (of which upward of 60 were cut by human labor), its width from 108 to 165 feet, and its depth 15 (Pliny says 30) feet. How long it was used is not known, but the drifting sands filled and ruined it. It was cleared out and put in order by Trajan in the early part of the second century after Christ, but was again filled and remained filled till the conquest of Egypt by Amrou, the Arab general of the Calif Omar, who caused it to be re- opened, and named it ''Canal of the Prince of the Faithful," under which name it continued to be employed for upwards of a. century, but was finally blocked up by the unconquerable sands, A. D. 767. In this condition it has ever since remained. In modern times the attention was called to it by the invasion of Egypt, under the armies of Napoleon Bonaparte. He caused the isthmus to be surveyed by a body of engineers, who made the Mediterranean 30 feet below the Red Sea at Suez. A subsequent survey, under the joint patronage of France, England and Austria, made the two seas on exactly the same mean level. In 1858 a railway was opened from Cairo to Suez, which conveys overland all the European mails to India and Australia. The Suez Canal of M. de Lesseps extends from sea to sea, and was opened Nov. 10, 1869, and has been in successful operation to the present. Its business has so vastly increased that the building of a second canal is now being discussed. For more particular discription of this canal, see under the British Phase of the Eastern Question. "And the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof." We have been at considerable pains to trace the rise and growth of two ancient commercial systems, both of which were in operation in the days 292 THE EASTERN QUESTION, of Ezekiel. (1) the one, Western Tarshish, situated in Spain, at its com- mencement, but extending its boundaries as the demands for its products (" silver, iron, tin, and lead " ) increased till it finally took in all the western coast of Europe and the British Isles. The great mart in Ezekiel's day was Tyre; then Rome and Carthage. The Phoenicians were those mer- chants ; principally of Tyre and Sidon. The ships built for that trade were called ships of Tarshish, the sea on which they sailed, was then de- nominated '' Sea of Tarshish." (2) The other system was towards the East, between Jerusalem and Palestine, and India, with its islands — the eastern water route being on the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. In the days of Ezekiel the eastern route was held by the Arabian tribes, Sheba and Dedan, the Phoenicians of the Indian Ocean. It was opened by Solomon from Ezion-geber, on the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, to Southern India and Ceylon. We traced the union of those two commercial systems in ancient times. As western Europe verged towards modern times a route to the In- dies was opened by sailing around Africa. The Tarshish commercial sys- tem, ruined, the second time, by drifting sands, was abandoned and the route was no more a subject of thought till the conquest of Egypt by Na- poleon. The new route, originated by M. de Lesseps, connects the two seas direct. The growth of the commerce on this direct highway between the West and the East, and the chief nations in the scheme, claim special note. The chief nationalities are England, France, and Spain, with Portugal. To the British empire it is of superior worth, since it is her direct highway be- tween the two great divisions of her empire, England and India. If France gets possession of the peninsula of Farther India her commerce through the Suez canal will be vastly increased, and another ship canal would be required for the commerce of Great Britain and France. The value of this ship route through Egypt will appear in the rapid growth of its commerce, seen in the following statistics : It was opened Nov. 16, 1869. In 1870, 491 ships, of 436,618 tons, passed through ; and in 1874, 1,264 ships, of 2,424,000 tons. About 70 per cent, of this shipping and tonnage belongs to Great Britain. The great advantage of the route is, of course, the shortening of the distance between Europe and India. From London or Hamburg to Bombay is, by the Cape of Good Hope, 11,220 miles ; but by Suez only 6,332 miles. The voyage is, therefore, shortened 24 days. From Marseilles or Genoa there is a sav- ing of 30 days ; from Triest, of 37 days. The canal has yielded a fair per cent, on the cost. To Dec. 1869, the cost of the canal was £11,627,000. The canal charges are 10 francs per ton, and 10 francs per head for passengers. The receipts for 1873 amounted to 22,755,862 francs, or £911,032 ; for 1875 (when 1,494 ships passed through), to 28,879,735 francs, or £1,155,185; for 1876 (1,457 ships passed), 31,143,762 francs (£1,245,750). France with Farther India would increase the commerce beyond its present ton- nage capacity. The Cape route would be utterly abandoned as a route to India. Various systems of Railways, extending from various sea-ports on the east end of the Mediterranean Sea to India by way of Palestine, are contemplated. India and China require a constant increase of commercial RUSSIAN PHASE. 293 facilities with the West in order to supply the mutually increasing de- mands. Let us now turn to Spain, France, and England, as those coun- tries identified with the Tarshish of the past and future. The ancient Phoenicians extended their commerce as far as England, This will scarce- ly be questioned ; for England had the greatest tin mines. The ships of Tarshish traded as far north, therefore, as England. Tarshish is not now the name of those countries of western Europe, nor of any other country ; but Ezekiel could not give them any other name than that by which they were then known ; the name known in prophetic history. England, France, and Spain would still be called in prophecy by that ancient pro- phetic name, Tarshish. The prophecy contains an explanatory clause: " With all the young lions thereof (of Tarshish). The expression is this — "the merchants of Tarshish, with the young lions of Tarshish." As- suming, what we have proved, that England was the ancient Tarshish, and that Great Britain is the Tarshish of Eze. xxxviii. 13, or the chief of both the ancient and the future Tarshish, Who are " her young lions T* Tarshish of Ezekiel xxxviii. 13, has young lions. This is what Ezekiel says only in another form of expression — " with the young lions thereof" Tarshish had her " merchants," and her " young lions," her merchants and young colonies. The Tarshish, or England, has some 60 colonies, of which the East Indies is by far the most populous, though young. Who has not heard the roar of the British Lion ? Turn for a moment to the royal standard of Great Britain. The Coat of Arms affixed to every document proceeding from the supreme authorities of every British possession — an emblem commanding and obtaining respect from every British subject, and which^ displayed upon the breasts of her kings, has struck terror and dismay to her enemies on the battlefield. The Coat of Arms, when ana- lyzed, gives, among others, the following results : On the first quarter are three Lions, on the second the Scotch Lion ; on the fourth quarter, three lions ; above all a crowned Lion ; then a Lion and a Unicorn j in all nine lions. The British East India Company is an incorporation of merchants, knowing no other than commercial interests. British (or Tarshish) mer- chants, belonging to India, a young colony. In the quarters of their shield there are young lions rampant, with this motto, "Auspicio Senatus An- glise." The British empire in the East is very distinctly seen in the above symbol. It is an integral part of the British empire ; and here addresses Gog as the Plenipotentiary of the British empire, or King of the South. These, with merchant princes of Arabia, powerful at that time, constitute a commission that seem to be appointed to bring Gog to an explanation of the object of his invasion of the land of Israel. I shall not pretend to as- certain the chronology of this interview between Gog and this commission of merchant princes of Tarshish, or the British empire. We are safe, how- ever, in saying, (1) that it is an event yet future, since it is after the return and union of Israel and Judah ; (2) the commerce of the southern con- federacy of nations, of which the British empire is chief, will be vastly in advance of its present proportions as appears from the advanced positions of " Sheba and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with the young lions 294 THE EASTERN QUESTION, thereof." " Shall say unto thee " (Gog — W). Being commissioned they have an interview with Gog, the chief of the invading army, to bring him to declare the object of his visit. Their interrogatory follows : "Art thou come to take a spoil ? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey ? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil ? They ask him if he has come as a robber of this wealthy, yet apparently defenseless people? The articles about which they question Gog are those which, probably, they had furnished Israel and Judah. They feel a personal interest in those articles and desire to know their fate. The Hebrew nation is com- posed principally of commission merchants and agriculturists; as they have gold and silver, cattle and goods. Such as would abound with men in those pursuits. Vs. 14. " Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog. Thus saith the Lord God ; in that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know (it) ?" The expression, " Shalt thou not know," is peculiar, it being not only an emphatic afl&rmation, but it conveys the idea that Gog will have spies among Israel for the purpose of facilitating his intended and premeditated robbery. This is an advanced epoch in Rus- sian history. She has in carrying out the instructions in the will of Peter the Great, " To have the Russian nation constantly at war," incurred im- mense war debts ; and knowing that Israel has a vast amount of gold and silver, and cattle and goods, necessary to supply his army, and that he could rob them without a battle, resolves to do so. Vs. 15. "And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army." " Thou shalt come." It is said in vs. 16, " I (God) will bring thee." Gog has one motive (plunder) and seems to act freely as any other robber. God has another object, and brings Gog against His people as a lesson for the heathen. " From thy place out of the north parts." God had given him a field to cultivate. While in that field he was in his own field as God's tenant. There he had been held for many centuries. Whenever he attempted to leave that field Jehovah drew him back, signifying by the act that his pre- paratory mission was at home. " Out of the north parts." In the great shepherd or nomadic zone ; north of the imperial zone; the north of Asia and northeast of Europe; Siberia, and ancient Sarmatia and Scythia; the land occupied by those of all races that wandered away from civilization into the wilds of the cold north. " Many people with thee." Sub-tenants of all Shemitic and Japhetic families. The sons of Japheth all took up their abode in the north quar- ters that they might have abundance of room for pasturage. "All of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army." Vastly more numerous than those armies that, from the snows and ice of the great bear circle, swept over the imperial belt. The immense RUSSIAN PHASE. 295 plains of the north, the original home of that noble animal, the horse. The army, being composed entirely of cavalry, shows its origin, out of the Russian empire, the proper representatives of Peter the Great, on his fiery steed. Vs. 16. "And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land ; it shall be in the latter days and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me when I shall be sanctified in thee Gog, before their eyes." '' Thou shalt come against my people of Israel." " I will bring thee against my land." These are expressions full of significance. Gog cares nothing about the land, since he has not come to stay (they being horsemen), but to rob. They are after Israel's gold and silver, cattle and goods, not for their mountains. They can carry away Israel's gold, silver, and goods; they can drive away their cattle. They are after the honey, not the hive, nor the bees. God is after Gog and his hosts, and, therefore, brings them on to the mountains of Israel, the foot of His throne. God has a controversy with him ; and when the Almighty takes the field against an enemy their case is without a single ray of hope to cheer them in their unequal contest ; worms of the dust ; beings, whose breath is in their nostrils, contending against the God of the universe ! " It shall be in the latter days." The time when this invasion is to take place is here stated,— "In the latter days." This expression clearly implies that there would be many years, even a succession of years, between the publication of the prediction and its accomplishment. It is therefore supposed, with much probability, that its fulfillment will be posterior to the conversion of the Jews and their restoration to their own land." — Bagster. It is God that is here speaking, and who says that it (the invasion shall be in the latter days. It must be after the days of the scattering of Israel, and Judah have finally closed. Judah's long captivity did not commence till A. D. 71, and up to that time Israel, or the ten tribes, were still scat- tered, as appears from the Epistle of James: — "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad." Jas. i. 1. The invasion was at the time when Judah and Israel are dwelling safely in their own land. And that this invasion might not be mistaken for any past or near event, it is added, ''It shall be in the latter days." "What thought was conveyed to the mind of Ezekiel by this expression ? It, being explanatory, was understood by the seer as referring to a time quite remote. In the Hebrew for ' latter days '— D^D\'l nnflN^ Ha-ya-mim, a-cha-rith. The word a-cha-rith, translated latter, is defined as follows : The extremity, end, latter end, last time ; carrying the idea of distant time, aud the extreme of that time. In Ps. cxxxix. 9. it is translated " utter-most parts." In Deut. xi. 12. it is rendered " end," " The eyes of the Lord thy God (are always upon it, the land). From the beginning of the year even unto the end of it." In Nu. xxiii. 10. it is rendered last end. In Ps. xxxvii. 37. it is rendered end. The idea is found in Nu. xxiv. 14. Deut. iv. 30., and xxxi. 29. The united twelve tribes will have two distinct periods of nationalit}^, a former and a latter. The former under David and Solomon ; the latter under David's greater son, the Messiah. Under the 296 THE EASTERN QUESTION, official reign of the latter we place this invasion. Some time during that reign two efforts are made : the first not long after the return and union of Judah and Israel ; the other at the close of Messiah's ofiicial reign. The former is described in Rev. xix., the latter in Rev. xx. Zechariah also speaks of the two. Vs. 17. "Thus saith the Lord God : (Art) thou He of whom I have spoken in the old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days (many) years that I would bring thee against them ?" It would seem from what is here stated that Gog had had a former existence as well as Israel ; and this is the latter period of His life also. If so, by what name was He known, where and by what prophets was He described ? Zechariah had a vision that will help us in solving these difli- cult problems. To this vision let us turn. "Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and beheld four horns. And I said unto the angel (Gabriel, the interpreting angel,) that talked with me: What (be) these? And he answered me: These (are) the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem." The four great Gentile monarchies have all had a hand in that work. Assyria was the first, and Rome was the last. And the Lord showed me four carpenters, or smiths. Then said I, What come these to do ? And he spake, saying. These (are) the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head : but these are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up (their) horns over the land of Judah to scatter it." Zech. i. 18-21. These four smiths symbolize the power used by Jehovah against the destroyers of his people, angelic angels working against hostile nations (see Dan. x. 13. 20). The last three chap- ters of Zechariah describe two invasions of the land of Israel by the confeder- ated nations of the North : the first is while Judah is returning, but immedi- ately anterior to his conversion ; the other is at the close of the reign of subjugation, and is the one so graphically delineated by Ezekiel. These invasions will be more fully set forth under the Hebrew Phase of the Eastern Question. What, then, did the prophets call Gog during his former years, when he persecuted the children of Israel ? We answer, that he was called the "Assyrian," in the same sense in which John the Baptist was called Elijah : he came in the spirit and power of the Assyrian, as John the Baptist appeared in the spirit and power of Elijah (Lu. i. 17). The Assyrian was the first great oppressor of the Jewish nation. He lives again in Gog, the great oppressor of God's people. Examine the term Assyrian, as used by Isaiah and some other early prophets. Assyria, the first Gentile horn, is a wicked persecutor of God's people. Russia partakes of the same spirit and power. Some name common to both, and to all Gentile persecutors, should be used. Gog is such a name. We have had in past ages an Assyrian Gog, a Persian Gog, a Grecian, a Roman, a Mohammedan Gog, and finally, the Russian Gog. As this persecuting power will appear in our notice of other phases, we will dismiss the Gog of former years, and progress with our history of the Russian Gog of the " latter days." Vs. 18. "And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall RUSSIAN PHASE. 297 come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God: (that) my fury shall come up in my face." "My fury shall come up in my face." The provoca- tion of Jehovah had been exceedingly severe. Under assumed names of four universal Gentile nationalities he had hunted down and devoured those whom he knew to be God's covenanted people. And, aware that God had banished Israel and Judah from their own soil, from their hearths, and their dear native mountains, as a temporary chastisement, to be followed in due time by a restitution to their land and nationality : added persecution to said chastisement asif they had a full right to punish another one's servants. When God thought proper to chastise His disobedient children with whips the national usurpers took the liberty of chastising with scorpions. God regarded banishment from their homes, and the loss of nationality, and re- ligious principles, sufficient punishment; yet Gog, disguised under, and assuming the names of Assyrian, Persian, Grecian, Roman, and, lastly, Russian, has followed, with deadly hate, Israel and Judah through all lands, and in all ages, since their dispersion, sent them as paupers to their own land ; and now that they are prospered, and live quietly under Jehovah's smiles, in their own land, he has come to rob them, as if they had no pro- tector. What parent would not resent such base affrontery ? Vs. 19. " For in my jealousy, (and) in the fire of my wrath have I spoken. Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel ;" so that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that(are)upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence " (vs.20). " In jealousy, (and) in the fire of my wrath have I spoken. God's utterance should claim our special notice. "Gog," Messiah's great enemy, and ancient persecutor of His people, having collected the hosts of the Arctic, rushing onward, spreads the storm-mantle over the skies of Israel. The contest is truly for universal dominion. The " stone " and the " image " are about to- collide. Which shall fill the earth ? God is jealous for His own name, and for the honor of His Son. His wrath burns like a consuming fire as this ancient criminal, with his army of mounted warriors, draws near to the foot of His throne. In the fire of His jealous anger the Almighty utters His voice. " The Lord shall "roar out of Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem ; and the heavens and the earth shall shake." Joel iii. 16. That this throne, before which Jehovah has summoned Gog, with his robber hosts, is His throne of executive judgment, is made clear, by the narration of the prophet Joel, " For behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and I will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people, and (for) my heritage, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land." Joel iii. 1. 2. Then follows the sketch of that treatment, which was well calculated to excite God's jealous indignation. Vss. 3-9. "And they have cast lots for my people, and have given a boy for a harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink. ^ ^ ^ ys. 5. Because ye have taken my silver and my 298 THE EASTERN QUESTION, gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things. The children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their borders. Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither )"e have sold them, and will return your recompense upon your own head. And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Juda, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the Lord hath spoken (it)" Whenever God thought proper to chastise His covenant people for diso- bedience and idolatry, and saw proper to use any Gentile nation as the rod of chastisement, that people showed its low depravity by adding seven-fold to the punishment, rather than to manifest human sympathy. This course was taken, in turn, by all the great Gentile monarchies. They exulted with jealous hate when God and His people had any difficulty : since God had constituted the Hebrew family the hub of the world, arranging all other families and nationalities as spokes or part of the rim. Deut. xxxii. 8. By so doing they exhibited a desire to question the right of Jehovah to gov- ern the nations. The proof which we designed to advance begins with vs. 9. *' Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles : Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: Beat your ploughshares into swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears; let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about : thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, Lord. Let the heathen be wakened and come up to the val- ley of Jehosaphat, for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe ; come, get ye down : For the press is full; the vats overflow ; for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, mul- titudes in the valley of decision : For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision, the sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining : The Lord also shall roar out of Zion and utter His voice out of Jerusalem ; and the heavens and the earth shall shake. Vs. 9-16. V. 2L " And I will call for a sword against him" throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord God; every man's sword shall be against his brother." Composed of so many tribal nations, without any element of union existing, and held together by the iron will of their despotic chief, and a thirst for plunder as soon as they see their chances of success are di- minishing and that they are about to contend with the natural elements, they turn their swords against each other as the cause of their impending calamities. V. 22. " And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood ; and I will rain upon him and upon his bands, and upon the many people that (are) with him, an overflowing rain and great hailstones, fire and brim- stone." " With pestilence and with blood." Crowded into the narrow passes the pestilence broke out, the mountain steeps falling crushed their thousanOri, the roar of the tempest, the flashes of lightning, the concussion of the heavens by peals of thunder following in quick succession, the com- mingling of hailstones, fire and brimstone, took from Gog and his fright- RUSSIAN PHASE. 299 ened expiring hosts, the last ray of desolated hopes and covetuous expecta- tions. V. 23. " Thus will I magnify myself and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord." " Magnify," '' sanctify " and " known." It seems that the heathen understood Jehovah to be the author of the pestilence, the earthquake and the storm, and, therefore, magnified His name. They knew that these great judgments were executed for the intended robbery of a pure and holy people, and, consequently, it gave God the character of holy as well as a great Being. It also taught them the lesson that the punisher of Israel and Judah was the Lord Almighty of the nations near and more distant. Eze. xxxix., 1-8. — " Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog and say, thus saith the Lord God ; behold I (am) against thee, 0, Gog, the prince of Meshech and Tubal, and I will turn thee back and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring upon thee the mountains of Israel; and I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thy arrows to fall out of thy right hand. Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou and all thy bands, and the people that (are — W.) with thee. I will give thee to the ravenous birds of every sort and (to) the beasts of the field to be devoured. The)' shalt fall upon the open field, for I have spoken (it) saith the Lord God ; and I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles, and they shall know that I (am) the Lord. So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people, Israel, and I will not (let them) pollute my holy name any more ; and the heathen shall know that I (am) the Lord, the Holy One of Israel." This paragraph contains a message from Jehovah to Ezekiel for Gog, informing Him of his disposition towards him and of what He designs to in- flict upon him. Some expressions will be better understood if explained. *'Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal." God has taken great pains to identify this illustrious chief of the "latter days." Meshech, a son of Ja- pheth, from whom the Moschi, (Muscai, Muscovites) who occupied a mount- ain called Moschici Montes, a mountain chain joining Anti-Taurus and Caucasus, bordering upon Colchis, Iberia (in Asia) and Armenia, who in later times peopled Russia about the territory of Muscovy, of which the Em- peror of Russia is now the chief prince. Their ancient character is learned; from Eze., xxvi. 13, Ps., cxx. 5. They supplied the Tyrians copper from their mountains and slaves, such as were taken in battle. They are suffi- ciently identified as a part of the Russian empire. Tubal, a son of Japheth, his family settled in Iberia, between the Black and Caspian seas. "The Moschi and Tibareni were associated under the name of Miskai and Tup- lai, in the Assyrian inscriptions." — Dr. Wm. Smith. " I will turn thee back and leave but the sixth part of thee," of thy peo- ple. This has various interpretations : " I will strike thee with six plagues, or draw thee back with a hook of six teeth ;" I will draw thee back. " To deceive thee I will turn thee and lead thee about." We have examined the Hebrew text with the following; results: 300 THE EASTERN QUESTION ♦'^'Nn&r* n.T'^ir.^^niNani \m 'n^yj^ ^^n^'?^n'! "^'nmm ^^^n^^tJ^l — We-sho-vav-ti-ka we-shi-shai-ti-ka we-ha-al-ti-ka me-yar-ki-thai tza-phon, I will break thee in pieces, I will divide thee into six parts, I will cause thee to ascend from the sides of the north ; wa-ha-ve-o-thi-ka al ha-rai yis- ra-eil, and will cause thee to come on to the mountains of Israel." Such ap- pears to be the full import of v. 2. We infer from these words Gog's total overthrow: " I will send a fire on Magog." Some terrible judgment will de- stroy the countries whence the armies of Gog were led forth about the time the armies themselves were cut off. The depletion of those grass plains, over the immense Siberian wilds by such armies of horsemen, would allow the grass to be left so dense that, fire catching the deadened fields, would consume the whole country. Nothing would be there to resist its sea of fiery billows. Jeremiah says : " Set up a standard toward Zion ; retire, stay not, for I will bring evil from the north and great destruction." — Jer. iv. 6. " Behold, a people cometh from the north country and a great nation shall be raised from the sides of the earth." — Jer. vi. 22. " Behold, the noise of the bruit is come and a great commotion out of the north country to make the cities of Judah desolate (and) a den of dragon." — Jer. x. 22. In the north of Asia is the den of the dragonic world, one division of Gog's (Sa- tan's) triple empire. Rev. xxvi. 13. — " For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country, and they shall set themselves in array against her." — Jer. 1. 9. " Be- hold, a people shall ^come from the north and a great nation and many kings shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. They shall hold the bow and the lance. They (are) cruel and will not show mercy. Their voice shall roar like the sea and they shall ride upon horses." — Vs. 41-42. " Then the heaven and the earth and all that (is) therein shall sing for Babylon, for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith the Lord." — Jer. li. 48. "I have raised up (one) from the north (Medes) and he (Cyrus) shall come from the rising of the sun (East Persia) shall he call upon my name. (Read the history of Cyrus. — W.) And he shall come upon princes as (upon) mortar, and as the potter treadeth clay." — Is. xli. 25. The Assyr- ian is said to come from the north against Israel, then Judah, and the Medes and Persians against Babylon because she oppressed Judah and Jerusalem. The Medes and Persians were overthrown for their oppression of the same people. After that the Grecians and the Romans, and finally the Russians. All these nations drink of the same cup, and justly, since they in their pride and selfishness ill-treated God's chosen people. Since all these na- tions partook of the same spirit of the great oppressor of God's ancient peo- ple, and used that power to oppress said nation, they all deserve to be called by a name that will fully designate their common characteristics. Now Gog is such a name, since its etymological meaning expresses those common types of character. A Hebrew lexicon thus defines JliJ] — gog, " lofty, proud, haughty, insolent, undaunted, oppressive. The same author thus defines JlilD — ma-gog, the son of Japheth, of whom ail Europe was peopled (origi- nally peopled — W.). Japheth went north and west, his sons being with him EUSSIAN PHASE. 301 or in his division of the globe. They at first occupied the head waters of the Euphrates, as they would naturally wander up that valley till they met with a mountain obstruction extending from the Caspian sea west, north- west to the Black sea, about 750 miles. Here, on the slopes of these spurs and along their valleys, the soil warm and fertile, they pastured their flocks and herds. This mountain range took the name of Caucasus. As their numbers increased they spread east and west, till finally they passed the three ridges. The western passage being toward the Black sea, between the sources of the Kuban and the Terek. The eastern pass being near the Cas- pian sea, called the pass of Derbend. Many families in the course of years emigrated northward into Europe, while others wandered to the northeast and occupied Northern Asia. Thus spread or enlarged the Japhetic fami- lies. Shemitic tribes also wandered up the same Euphratean valley, and, meeting with the same lofty obstructions (from 8,000 feet to 18,000 feet) they settled among the families of Japheth. The result has been a greater variety of tribes than in any other part of the world, there being not less than one hundred different languages spoken. If we may be allowed the ex- pression we shall call these southern slopes the ancient Japhetic hive, from which came forth the ancient swarms that settled down on Northern Eu- rope and Asia, now occupied by the empire of Gog, or Russia, and consti- tuting the empire in early times, the land of Magog, so named from the sec- ond son of Japheth. A single glance at an anciant map will reveal the strong probability of the truth of such a view. After the confusion of Babel the families of the three sons of Noah were scattered. Ham's posterity moved towards Africa, Japheth's family moving in the direction of Europe, passed up the valley of the Euphrates, while the family of Shem concluded to keep the original homestead in Asia, since from that family was to spring the Hebrew race, God's peculiar people. It appears then, from what we have stated, that Europe and Northern Asia were first occupied by the sons of Japheth, and that later in the world's history great tides of emigration rolled westward from families proceeding from more eastern Asiatic centres, peopled by the families of Shem. Gog was the Pharaoh, the Csesar of the great North, and as the original hive was located along the southern slopes of a vast mountain range, that range would be called by the name of their despotic successive chiefs, Caucasus, fortress of Gog. We have enlarged on the subject of the original settlement of northeastern Europe and northwest- ern Asia, that the reader may have a distinct understanding of the Russian Empire in all its parts. Vs. 8. " Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord God, this (is) the day whereof I have spoken." Jehovah, knowing the future equally with the past, having unlimited power over it, says : It is done, though then distant not less than 24 centuries. He is in the scenes and they are accomplished. Vss. 9, 10. "And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth and set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the hand-staves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years. So that they shall take no wood out 302 THE EASTERN QUESTION, of the field, neither cut down (any) out of the forests ; for they shall burn the weapons with fire ; and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord." " Set on fire and burn," From this language it would seem that Gog's army will be overthrown by a miraculous judgment, without a battle, as were the forces of Sennacherib, which may have been a type. The " hand-staves " were clubs. " Burn them with fire seven years." This act has been made, by infidels, the sub- ject of much ridicule., Bishop Lowth thus renders Is. ix. 5. " For the greaves (leg-armor) of the armed warrior in the conflict, and the garment rolled in much blood, shall be for a burning, even fuel for the fire." This learned critic mentions that '' a medal, struck by Vespasian, on finishing his war, represents the goddess Peace, holding an olive-branch in one hand, and, with a lighted torch in the other, setting fire to a heap of armor." " When the immense number and destruction of the invaders are considered, and also the little fuel, comparatively, which is necessary in warm climates, we may easily conceive of this being literally fulfilled. Mariana, in his History of Spain, says that after the Spaniards had given that signal overthrow to the Sara- cens, A. D. 1212, they found such a vast quantity of lances, javelins, and such like, as served them for four years for fuel." — Bagster. Vs. 11. "And it shall come to pass in that day (that) I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea ; and it shall stop the (noses) of the passengers ; and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude ; and they shall call (it) The Valley of Hamon-gog (the multitude of Gog). And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying them, that they may cleanse the land. Yea, all the people of the land shall bury (them), and it shall be to them a re- nown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord God. And they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth (land — W.) to cleanse it ; after the end of seven months shall they search. And the passengers (that) pass through the land, when (any) seeth a man's bone then shall he set up a sign by it till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamon-gog. And also the name of the city (shall be) Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land." "Hamonah " — the multitude ; one of the silent cities. Vss. 17-21. "And thou, son of man, thus saith the Lord God ; speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field. Assemble your- selves and come ; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, (even) a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh and drink blood. Y.e shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan. And ye (fowls and beasts) shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. Thus ye shall be filled at my table, with horses and chariots (charioteers — W.) with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord God." RUSSIAN PHASE. 303 Table of God, the field covered with the slain, the field of the slaugh- ter of Gog of the land of Magog. Voltaire said that the Jews ate the flesh of horses, and of men. The guests at this, the Lord's table, are not Jews, but fowls and beasts. Such the construction requires. Vss. 21-25. "And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them. So the house of Israel shall know that I (am) the Lord their God, from that day and forward. And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity, because they trespassed against me, therefore, hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hands of their enemies ; so fell they all by the sword. According to their uncleanness, and according to their transgressions, have I done unto them, and hid my face from them." This prophetic history of the great conflict and overthrow of Gog and his forces on the mountains of Israel, closes with a brief statement of its effects on Israel and the heathen. The heathen learned the reason of God's chastisement of His own people, not to give them servants, but because of their transgressions against Jehovah ; and that Gog was overthrown for his attempted robbery of a people that were then dwelling at ease under the Divine favor. It now remains to identify the era of these events in Rus- sian prophetic history. Are they at the beginning of the reign of subju- gation, or near its conclusion, when the joint reign is about to commence? These questions may be answered by other prophets, who utter their pre- dictions from points of observation quite in advance of that of Ezekiel, viz., Zechariah and St. John in his Apocalypse. These prophets describe two remarkable periods of conflict. One immediately before the conver- sion and full restoration of Judah and Israel ; the other near the close of , the reign of subjugation. This fact led us to look for the two in Ezekiel's predictions, with the following results : (1) In chapter xxxv. is God's judgment on Mount Seir (Edom), which looks to the future and includes all the heathen that have held the land of Israel or oppressed God's ancient people; (2) Ezekiel xxxvi. contains a prediction concerning the restora- tion of the land itself to its fertility; (3) Chapter xxxvii. contains the resurrection of the whole house of Israel ; their union and occupancy of their ancient restored land ; (4) Chapters xxxviii. and xxxix. describe the final invasion and overthrow of Gog ; (5) Chapters xl. to xlviii. represent the new order of things. These points will appear in many particulars more fully developed in Zech. xii., xiii. and xiv.; and in Rev. xix., xx. and xxi. These we shall examine as far as they relate to the heathen. These chapters of Zechariah and of the Apocalypse refer especially to the people of God as elements of the stone kingdom, and will come under special notice when treating of the "Hebrew Phase of the Eastern Question." We shall notice the two invasions, by the heathen, of the land of Israel, and by them of two sieges of Jerusalem ; the one introductory to Christ's official reign ; the other near its conclusion, covering the last act of human and Satanic rebellion. These two sieges of Jerusalem, both in the future, claim our present notice, so far as we can trace Russian agency. We shall 304 THE EASTERN QUESTION, begin with the first cycle of events connected with the first heathen in- vasion and siege of Jerusalem, and which answers to the events of Eze- kiel's XXX vth chapter. Our first sketch of prophetic history will be taken from Zech. xii., compared with Rev. xix. 19-21. Let us now follow the in- spired records and compare with national movements. Zech. xii. 2. " Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege, both against Judah (and) against Jerusalem." "A cup of trembling." The word here translated cup is ilp — saph, from tl^D — sa-paph. He became doorkeeper, porter, sexton. Ps. Ixxxiv. 11. Saph is a noun, masculine, singular, and is a threshold, post of a door. Eze. xl. 6, and Jud. xix. 27; masculine, plural. Is. vi. 4. Amos ix. 1. Cup should be threshold. I make Jerusalem for a threshold of shaking to all nations round about. The idea seems to be this, as Jerusalem, the threshold of all the invading powers, shakes in the siege, she conveys the shaking to the invading nations ; when the threshold of a building shakes, the trembling is imparted to the whole building. So when Jerusalem shakes in the siege, her shaking is imparted first to the invading nations; then to those more distant. "And also upon Judah will it (the shaking) be." It will concern Judah also when Jerusa- lem is besieged ; Judah will be outside of Jerusalem, and, therefore, more exposed to the attacks of the enemy. It is well, here, to consider the object of this invasion. Let it be distinctly understood that the motives that actuate the nations in the two invasions are unlike. (1) The first invasion (the one we are now sketching) is for Position. (2) The second invasion of Gog (as clearly stated) is for Plunder. Palestine, or the land of Israel, whose capital is Jerusalem, at that time, is a coveted locality, it being on the highway be- tween the West and the East. The imperial and nomadic zones, with England and Russia at the head of these southern and northern confedera- cies, are striving to control the eastern commerce. The nation, therefore, that controls Palestine will be the chief in the commerce of India and China. The Hebrews, at this time, are living in colonies through the land, while Jerusalem has risen to a considerable degree of note. They are still unconverted when this invasion for position takes place. The loca- tion has been for years under the British Protectorate ; but the northern power has gradually advanced towards the south till the judgments of Jehovah are now about to commence. And the invasion now takes place by way of India and Persia. This land is, at the time of this invasion, occupied by parts of Judah and Israel, in an unconverted state. Their chastisement is terminated, and Jehovah extends protection. No person, in manner conversant with eastern afiairs, can fail to discern the prepara- tory movements of that first invasion. The result of that invasion is a matter of the prophetic history which we are now tracing. These eastern and northern hordes are permitted to enter Palestine and besiege Jerusa- lem. Let us again take up the narration of Zechariah. V. 3. " And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone RUSSIAN PHASE 305 for all people ; all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it." Some of the results of this invasion are here clearly delineated. The Hebrew text justifies the following translation: "And it shall come to pass the same day that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the nations ; all who lift it up shall bruise and cut themselves, and there shall be gathered together against her all the nations of the earth." Two facts are here stated : (1.) All the nations of the earth are gathered against Jerusalem. (2.) All who lift her up shall bruise and cut themselves ; as if God should say : Touch not my people nor my holy city lest ye be bruised and cut to pieces. Jerusalem is compared to a heavy stone, which inflicts dislocations and bruises upon those who, overrating their strength, raises it up, they not expecting any harm, sufier severely." It is very evident that in this siege God, through Judah and Jerusalem, fights against the invad- ing nations. V. 4. " In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite all horses with fright and their riders (northern cavalry) with madness, and upon the house of Judah will I open my eyes, and all horses of the nations will I smite with blindness." This is illustrated in II. Kings, vi. 18: " And when they (the enemy) came down to him Elisha prayed unto the Lord and said, I pray thee smite this people with blindness, and He smote them with blindness, ac- cording to the word of Elisha." God's punishment of His people is illus- trated by closing His eyes. His favor by opening His eyes. House of Ju- dah includes all His covenant people. V. 5. " And the princes of Judah say in their hearts, strong for me are the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the Lord, the Almighty, their God." Judah pitched his tents in the country, looks only for help from Jerusalem, strong for me. Jerusalem will aid and defend me. V. 6. " In that day will I make the princes of Judah as a fire from under wood and as a torch of fire under sheaves, and they shall devour on the right hand and on the left, all the nations round about, and Jerusalem continues to sit on her throne at Jerusalem." From this it seems that Ju- dah, by Jehovah's aid, gains a complete victory over the nations outside of Jerusalem, and by this great victory delivers Jerusalem, which is the im- port of the expression ''Jerusalem continues to sit on her throne at Jerusa- lem." (See Babylon's fate. Is. xlvii. i.) Sit in the dust. V. 7. " And the Lord will help the tents of Judah first, in order that the splendor of the house of David and the splendor of the inhabitants of Jerusalem may not exalt itself above Judah." Judah was in the country; no walls to defend him, in a state of helplessness. For two reasons, there- fore, his utter helplessness and that the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem might not eclipse and thereby discourage Judah, God first helps Judah so that all could see that the victory was from God. V. 8. " In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and he that stumbleth among them in that day shall be as David and the house of David like God, as the angel of the Lord before them." The inhab- itants of Jerusalem are divided into two classes, the weak and the strong. 20 306 THE EASTERN QUESTION, The weak shall be stronger than David in the days of the former theocracy, and the house of David like God, as the angel of the Lord among the hosts of Assyrians. " And their king shall pass before them and the Lord on the head of them." — Mic. ii. 13. Of this first invasion of Palestine and siege of Jerusalem, we have from Zech., xii. 2-9, the following particulars : (1.) Jerusalem, though besieged, will shake all the nations that come against her. (2.) Jerusalem will be a burdensome stone to all nations, bruising and cutting all that lift her up or attempt to handle her. (3.) This invasion is very extensive. " And there shall be gathered together against her all the nations of the earth." — V. 3, (4.) God will smite the horses with fright and blindness, and their riders with madness. (5.) God will first give Judah the victory, as the weaker and the more exposed, his tents being outside of Jerusalem, his army being composed of men from the colonies (un walled villages.) (6.) Jehovah does not intimate, as at the second invasion, that the nations are brought by Him to the foot of His throne for judgment, as in the second invasion, but He says: "In that day I will seek to destroy all nations that come against Jerusalem." — V. 9. In the first invasion the nations are contending for po- sition, knowing its great local value in the commercial world. It is not here stated that the nations are in one army or that they have but one great chief. There are intimations to the contrary. " All nations round about," intimating various efforts by various nationalities. " All that lift her up or attempt it shall bruise and cut themselves," — v. 3, clearly intimating that there would be many distinct and independent efforts by the rival na- tions to gain the position of Palestine. God, designing it for Judah and Is- rael and their companions, will fight against all nations that attempt to thwart His purpose. There is a remarkable distinction in the inspired lan- guage used to describe the objects and nature of the first and second inva- sions. It is very clear that robbery and plunder are not the motives for the first invasion and siege, and if not, what other national motive would cause such a universal gathering to the land of Israel, except to gain position and power? That there are two invasions and sieges, the one at the beginning of the reign of Subjugation, the other near its close, will appear by compar- ing certain features in each of the prophetic records as given in Zech. xii. 2-9, and Zech. xiv. with Rev. xix. (1.) In the first siege Jerusalem is not taken, in the second siege the city is taken. (2.) In the first invasion Judah fights outside of Jerusalem, in the second Judah fights in the city. (3.) The events that follow each are quite unlike. The first victory is followed by mourning and conversion of Judah and Jerusalem. They must have been, therefore, at the time of the first invasion, unconverted, but first see Christ in that contest, become con- vinced of His true character, and commence to mourn. Such events by no means follow the second siege. (Read Zech. xiv.) These points will be fully investigated under the " Hebrew Phase of the Eastern Question." Hav- ing examined Zechariah's record of this first invasion and siege of Jerusa- lem, let us turn to the Apocalypse. Rev. xix. 19-21 — " And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war RUSSIAN PHASE. 307 against him that sat on the horse (vs. 11-18) and against his army, and the beast was taken and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles be- fore him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast and them that had worshiped his image. These both were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone, and the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which (sword) proceeded out of his mouth, and all the fowls were filled with their flesh." Many ex- pressions of the above quotation require investigation. This will be more fully discussed under the "Hebrew Phase." We shall here attend to the three divisions of Satan's imperial forces, headed by three distinguished powers : (1.) The beast, (2,) the false prophet, (3,) the kings of the earth, which, from other passages, especially Rev. xvi. 13, would cover the pagan world. (1.) The beast here spoken of is evidently the fourth beast of Daniel, known as the Roman, Latin, and at present the Romano-German empire, described in Rev. xii., xiii., and xvii. In that political system are included the western nations of Europe. (2.) Under that of the false prophet we reckon the Ottoman empire, which holds for its capital Constantinople, the capital of the old Greek empire. This will be explained under the " Otto- man Phase of the Eastern Question." At present we shall notice the third division, the kings of the earth and their armies. Under this division will be gathered all those nations not included in the other two military departments. Who are these nations and who is their chief to gather their armies? Take the western European nations and the Ottoman empire from the military powers of the Old World and the Russian empire alone remains with sufficient military power to invade the land of Israel, for neither Great Britain or Russia would allow either Japan or China to march against Palestine, since in so doing their armies would have to pass through Russian or British territory. One point is worthy of special note. In this first invasion, vs. 19-20, there are only two of the three mil- itary systems whose armies come against the land of Israel, viz.: (1.) The beast, (2,) the kings of the earth. These have armies that invade the land of Israel. In Rev. xvi. 13, there are three powers that gather to the great day of God Almighty. Why is the empire of the false prophet here left out ? He was then alive and in some manner associated with the beast, as we learn from v. 20. In the first invasion all the nations are enrolled under two standards, that of the beast and that of the kings of the earth. Gather- ing by way of Egypt the beast, or his army, comes into Palestine as the king of the south, and the Russian empire, with the kings of the earth en- rolled in his army, would come in from the north and east. Since this in- vasion is for position (to hold the land of Israel) the empire of the false prophet being already in possession (by usurpation) of that locality, would not appear to fight for the position, (since he holds it) but would be in- volved in the punishment at an old usurper. We have now shown clearly that there are to be two invasions of the land of Israel still in the future ; one for position, the other for robbery and plunder. Let the reador study Ezekiel, commencing at chap, xlviii., then 308 THE EASTERN QUESTION, read through the prophecies of Zechariah, beginning at chap. xii. After this read carefully Rev. xix. to xxxii. The order of events is the same in each. The conversion of Judah and Jerusalem follows the first invasion, and a most triumphant reign the second. Between these invasions is locat- ed the reign of Subjugation, which continues at least one thousand years. (See Rev. xx.) The armies of the nations are overthrown, then driven back during the 1,000 years of Satan's imprisonment. During this time Christ is officiating in His regal office. We have now completed our examination of the first invasion of Israel and siege of Jerusalem. We have also described the events of the second invasion, as narrated in Ezekiel, in chapters xxxviii. and xxxix.; it now remains that we present the testimony of Zechariah and John relative to this same second invasion of the land of Israel. In our remarks we propose to confine ourselves to the acts of the heathen, or Gog, reserving other re- marks for the future. We begin this supplementary narration with this distinct special thought, that this second invasion has two distinct phases, a human and a divine phase. Gog and his hosts go up the land of un- walled villages for robbery and plunder, acting out freely their own covet- ous nature. Jehovah brings them up to the foot of His throne for His last great national executive judgment. Zechariah xiv. i. Behold the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoils shall be divided in the midst of thee. Better rendered, " A day comes to the Lord." All other days come rather to men, this belongs especially to Jehovah as His day for executing judgment on the house of God first, then upon Gog and his hosts (Eze. xxxix. 13). "A day in which God shall be glorified." Vs. 2. " For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle : I will collect all the heathen against Jerusalem to battle the Gentiles, not Judah and Israel : For they are there, living in peace and prosperty ; yet in Jerusalem are hypocrites which fact causes God's judgment to begin at the "house of God." As to this feature, we shall introduce it again under its proper head. This invasion is from Gog and his confederated nations — heathen idolaters. Their conduct in the sack of Jerusalem shows great corruption. God, Himself, gathers this multitude, *• I collect all the heathen." He gathers them to the judgment first upon Jerusalem, and then upon themselves. Eze. xxxix. 2. " The Lord brings Gog out of the extreme north, and conducts him to the mountains of Israel, there to de- stroy him." It will be seen that this second invasion is by Jehovah, and, consequently, for executive judgment. For centuries they had oppressed God's people — exiled from their own native soil. That exile had been doubled by Gentile cruelty. They are here brought to the land now occu- pied by their old servants, to be slain in their presence. How will God execute this judgment? Vs. 3. "And the Lord goes forth and fights those heathen, as in His day of conflict, in the day of battle." (See Is. xlii. 13; Hab. iii. 13. Is. xxvi. 20. 21). The judgments executed on the heathen are as follows : "And this will be the plague wherewith the Lord will plague all nations which have warred against Jerusalem ; his flesh will rot while he stands on his feet, and his RUSSIAN PHASE. 309 eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth." And so will be the plague of the horses, the mules, the camels, and the asses. "Which shall be in those camps as His plague." Vs. 15. Some of the heathen are converted. "And it comes to pass, all the remnant of all the heathen,, which come against Jerusalem, shall go up from year to year to supplicate the King, Jehovah of hosts, to celebrate the feast of taber- nacles." Vs. 16, Such is the fate of the heathen in this second invasion. A full explanation of this last chapter of Zechariah belongs to the " Hebrew Phase." It now remains that we examine Gog and Magog, of the Apocalypse ; or Gog and his field, or country. Rev. xx. 7-11. "And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle ; the number of whom (is) as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city; and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and false prophet (are), and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever (unto the ages of ages)." Such is the narration of the Apocalypse. This graphic delineation of this invasion, beyond the thou- sand years, has in it many things worthy of special note. (1) Satan is the arch-enemy of the human race; and, therefore, the great enemy of the Redeemer of mankind. No sooner is he released out of his confinement than he moves into the regions of his former success. He moves away from the hub of the national wheel towards the circumference, where he meets his ancient friends, Gog and Magog. Here he finds hearts (mansions) empty swept and garnished. He travels round the globe in quest of all similar materials; finds them every where in the rim of the wheel. Into these elements, by aid of his friend, Gog, he excites an extended rebellion throughout the kingdom of Messiah, complaining bitterly of the partiality and tyranny of Messiah's reign ; that he has poured untold wealth into the coffers of those who dwell in the land of Israel, while they were living under oppressive laws, with comparatively few comforts. Without any afiFection for the Messiah, and allured by the deceitful representations of the arch-apostate; that the people who dwelt in the land of Israel were wealthy, unwarlike, without munitions of war, walls, or any defense, would be easily robbed, and that it would not be difiicult to overthrow the king- dom. They enlist in the army of Gog, mount their chargers and move towards the land of Israel. The plains of northern Asia are alive with their advancing columns. Armies are advancing from all parts of the old dra- gonic world. They enter the land of Israel in its four quarters, and move towards the capital of the great empire. They surround the beloved city, storm its strongholds and enter upon their work of rapine and plunder. Up to this hour they have met with little resistence. Judah, remembering his victory over the same race a thousand years before, makes some show 310 THE EASTERN QUESTION, of fight. He is borne down by the hostile masses. They sack the city. A remnant, left in despair, are about to surrender, when suddenly a shout is heard above the din of battle and rapine. The eye is turned towards the Mount of Olives. " There comes the Lord my God. All holy ones with thee.'' Amazement seizes the enemy as they see this King of kings and Lord of lords. The Lord roars out of Zion and utters His voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shake. He fights against them with pestilence and with blood; He rains upon them an overflowing rain and great hailstones, fire and brimstone. Fire comes down from God out of heaven and devours them. Thus perish Gog and his multitudes. This is his last conflict with the Son of God and His holy ones. We have no lamp to light up His pathway any farther. An endless night follows and puts an end to our Russian prophetic history. As the dark curtain shuts out Russia's future political history from that battle and onward, it is well to close the "Russian Phase of the Eastern Question " by offering some thoughts relative to the associated and concluding events of her remark- able history. We have been particular, so far, to notice the Divine hand in the origin, location and developments of nationalities, whether civil- ized or savage ; and, as far as practicable, to discover His purposes in their acts, as more or less directly connected with the kingdom of His Son, the Messiah. We are fully satisfied that God has a plan which has been, and still is, carried out in the world of active intelligence, as well as in its physical structure. Such a fixed system was in the mind of the Diety when He revealed the future to His holy seers. As God had a pattern for a tabernacle, its priesthood and services, so has He for the whole earth as man's special dwelling place. He had, from the beginning of the earth's history, definitely arranged all of its families and nationalities; fixed their number, order, character, locality and mission. These are revealed to Daniel in the vision of the metallic image, a symbol of human domination ; and the stone increasing to a mountain, a symbol of Messiah's kingdom. This plan of human and Divine rule has been unfolding and in process of accomplishment for nearly twenty-five centuries, and is still in active pro- gress towards its final consummation. God selected a land for a special people, who were to be the Royal High-priesthood for all nations. Here He expounded His laws, erected His temple, established His priesthood, introduced His typical worship and its ceremonies, and taught the first or primary elements of the Stone Kingdom. Around this divinely- appointed seminary He planted families, which developed into nations. This one land and nation became the hub of earth's nationalities, while out of other families, according to a certain fitness, God made its spokes and rim. This organic national wheel is the pattern of the plan of Jehovah's earthly domination. One of the great rim nations is the Russian empire, one of the last of Gentile nations to give way to the triumphant reign of Messiah. We close our narrative of the " Russian Phase " by enunciating the following propositions, which we shall investigate under other phases and in our general conclusion : 1. The stone increased to a mountain, represents Messiah's reign. 2. The parables relating to the kingdom of RUSSIAN PHASE. 311 God, represent this growth. 3. Isaiah ix. 7. " Of the increase of (his) gov- ernment" should be, "Of the increase of (his) dominion," the " governed " increasing with his dominion. Such is here the proper meaning of the Hebrew niWf2il — ham-mis-rah, rendered "government." Such a trans- lation conveys no definite idea. 4. The overthrow of nations has an order, the beast and false prophet, are not judged and executed at the same time. 5. " Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies," distinctly represents Christ's official reign as progressing in the midst of hostile nation (see Ps. ii. and xlv. 5.). 6. " For He must reign till He hath put all enemies under His feet." 1. Cor. xv. 25. This shows the same great fact, with this addition, that this reign is limited to the subjugation. These propositions will be explained under the " Phase of Messiah's Reign." OTTOMAN PHASE. In tracing the ^' Ottoman Phase of the Eastern Question " it will be necessary to go back to the origin of the Turk and bring to our aid every event in his history that we may be able to discover God's purposes in giv- ing birth to such a family and such a nationality, and why he placed him in such a position. Our purpose will be to make the reader familiar with the origin, life, character and office of this illustrious personage, that he may read his future or prophetic history with ease, intelligence and profit. We will trace his house and lineage, his ethnology and his ethnography, that we may understand the philosophy of his appointment to his special work. Why did the Deity select the Ottoman Turk to accomplish such an important part of His great national purposes ? The reasons will appear as we advance in its history. In a beautiful location, in what is justly entitled to the name of the paradise of the Eastern world of modern times is the city of the "Golden Horn," Constantinople, the city of the Greek Caesars, for centuries the proud rival of the city of Romulus. In one of its palaces, made noted for the ex- tent and attractiveness of its seraglio, may be seen a turbaned dignitary, known the world over as the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Whence, when and for what purpose came he there ?■ are questions of great magni- tude, and as such deserve critical investigation. The Ottoman Turk — who is he? Let us examine into his origin and past history. The Turk, eth- nologically, is Mongolian according to Blumenbach, Cuvier and Dr. Prich- ard; Altaic, Mongolia, etc., of the Turanian stock one branch. The Turk is evidently of the family of Japheth. That family extended over Central, Northern and Western Asia and Europe. The Turks were swarms out of the Turanian hive, north of Iran or Persia. History first describes them as slaves, occupied in mining and making implements used principally in war. They were miners and mechanics, residing at the foot of the Alai or golden mountains, slaves of the great Khan of Geougen. Becoming very numer- ous and disliking their servitude, the thought of liberty was forged out of the armor they were making. ^' If these arms assist our masters to main- tain their assumed rights, why can they not be turned to subserve our in- terests? Why can they not secure our liberty?" All they wanted was an efficient head. Such a leader soon appeared in the person of Bertezena (gray wolf.) The Turks, Mongols and Romans have each, traditionally, a wolfish origin. As tradition says of Romulus, so the same has it that As- sena, (wolf) the first chief of the Assenian Turks of the Altai (Altun Tagh, golden mountain) was suckled by a she-wolf, who afterwards made him the father of a numerous family. In memory of this fabulous origin, these pri- mary Turks that dwelt at the foot of the Altai had inscribed upon their (312) OTTOMAN PHASE. 313 banners the image of this fierce animal. Before their immense armies of cavalry moved the standard of the golden wolf. This Turko-Scythian fam- ily, located as they were, at the foot of the Altai, Imans, Caif, or golden mountain, denominated the Girdle of the Earth, resided at the centre and summit of Asia, from which mountain range flow the great rivers of North- ern, Eastern and Southern Asia, the Obe, Yenisei, Lena, discharging their waters beneath continuous bridges of ice, into the Arctic ocean, distant 1,000 miles, the Amoor, the Hoang-Ho and the Yang-tse-Kiang towards the Eastern seas and other immense waters towards the south. Their locality is placed equally distant from the Caspian, the Icy, the Chinese and the Bengal seas, 2,000 miles. Bertezena (gray wolf) united these iron miners, forgers and masters into armies and conquered the neighboring tribes, after which he solicited in marriage the daughter of the great Khan of the Gleougen, who proudly refused his daughter to a slave and mechanic. Bertezena then formed a more noble matrimonial alliance with a princess of China. He established his empire in the heart of Tartary by a great battle in which he quite anni- hilated the nation of the Geougen. In commemoration of their national origin the Turks kept an annual ceremony, in which a piece of iron was heated to redness and a smith's hammer was successively used by the prince and his nobles. This ceremony for centuries excited the Turkish pride of their honorable yet humble origin. The royal encampment, with its standard of the golden wolf, was sel- dom out of sight of the golden mountain. While this is strictly true of the Turko-Scythian empire, still it was distinctly a nomadic empire, as we learn from the following : " One of the successors of Bertezena was tempted by the luxury and superstition of China, but his design of building cities and temples was defeated by the simple wisdom of a barbarian counselor. 'The Turks,' he said, 'are not equal in numbers to one hundredth part of the inhabitants of China. If we balance their power and elude their armies, it is because we wander without any fixed habitations, in the exercise of war and hunting. Are we strong ? we advance and conquer; are we feeble? we retire and are concealed. Should the Turks confine themselves within the walls of cities the loss of a battle would be the destruction of their em- pire. The bonzes preach only patience, humility and the renunciation of the world. Such, O King, is not the religion of heroes.' " The religion of the Turko-Scythian, or first empire of the Turks, which was in the fifth and sixth centuries of the Christian era, was the worship of fire, earth and water, and their priests continued in the practice of divina- tion. This empire had its day before the birth of Mohammed, and, conse- quently, were ignorant of that system of Unitarianism. Their written laws were severe. For theft was ten-fold restitution ; adultery, murder and trea- son were capital crimes ; cowardice was the chief of all crimes. This first em- pire of the Turks, as well as the two that succeeded it, was a nation of cav- alry. The prophetic symbol pf a Turkish warrior is a mounted horseman, and that of an army of Turks is a body of cavalry. (Rev. ix. 16-19.) As the subjugated nations marched under the Turkish standard, their 314 THE EASTERN QUESTION, cavalry were proudly computed by millions. One of their effective armies numbered four hundred thousand soldiers, and in less than fifty years they were connected in peace and war with the Romans, the Persians and the Chinese. To the north they included Kamptchatka, a people of hunters and fishermen, who traveled in sledges drawn by dogs, and who dwelt like foxes under the earth. Without cities or towns, the chief encampment of the Turks was in latitude 49°, not far from the polar circle. One of their more southern conquests was that of the Nepthalites or White Huns, a po- lite and warlike people who occupied the commercial cities of Bochara and Samarcand, who had vanquished the Persian monarch and carried their victorious arms along the banks and perhaps to the mouth of the Indus. On the west the Turkish cavalry advance to the lake Mseotis, passing the lake on the ice. Lake Mseotis is the ancient name of the sea of Azov, a trib- utary of the Black sea. They extended to the Black sea and often invaded China. Such was the vast extent of this Turkish empire that its chief mon- arch was obliged to place it under three subordinate princes of his own fam- ily, who soon forgot their gratitude and allegiance. Luxury was introduced among these Turkish conquerors, which soon became fatal. The vanquished nations, instigated by the Chinese, threw off the Turko-Scythian yoke, and the empire, after continuing two (Centuries, fell to pieces. Such was the career of the first Turkish empire. Idleness, luxury and divisions were its three fatal enemies. Prosperity had caused them to change all their early habits, and, not being an industrious people, they fell into such habitual practices as tended to reduce and destroy all those attributes which had made them a great and prosperous family. This first Turkish empire was the great nomadic empire of Central Asia. This first empire introduces us to the infancy and conducts us through the childhood of that noted family, establishes their Mongolian and Japhetic origin. No- ah's prophetic enunciations relative to the future of his three sons and their families, will aid us very materially relative to our present investi- gations. We have already introduced the thought that God has ever had a unity of plan relative to the peopling of the earth after the flood, that there was to be one and only one, central nation, occupying one central position, where He proposed especially to dwell, and which He designed to make the chief seat or empire for His son, Messiah, and that all other nations would be so arranged as to occupy chief or subordinate places in relation to that family, either as first or second-class servants. To use the illustration already introduced, we call that nation the hub of the impe- rial wheel while other nations form its spokes and rim, each nation being a spoke or part of the rim, as best suits the purposes of the Deity. What positions will be filled by each of Noah's three sons and their posterity ? With which of these sons did God design to take up His special abode? and in what land? These problems will be distinctly solved be- fore we close our various national phases. God has a purpose relative to the earth and its nations, and He has revealed sufiicient data by which to solve all its intricate national problems. Turn with us to Gen., ix. 26-29, OTTOMAN PHASE. 315 and let us read some of His national predictions: "And he (Noah) said, cursed (be) Canaan ; a servant of servants (second-class servants) shall he be unto his brethren (the children of Shem and Japheth.") — V. 25. More than forty-two centuries has this been in progress of fulfillment. V. 26. — " And he said, blessed (be) the Lord God of Shem ; and Canaan shall be his ser- vant." This has been in process of fulfillment in every age since it was uttered, (B. C. 2347.) (1.) The subjugation of the Canaanites by the child- ren of Abraham and of Shem, (2,) in the servitude of the Negroes. V. 27. — "And God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem ; and Canaan shall be his servant." The name Japheth means enlargement. See how his boundaries have been extended. Not only Europe, but Asia Minor, part of Armenia, Iberia, the whole of the vast regions of Asia north of Taurus, and probably America, fell to the share of his posterity." — Bags- ter. All of the ancient Scy thia in Asia, north of Turkestan was settled by the children of Japheth. God has especially dwelt in the tents of Shem. *' In Judah is God known. His name is great in Israel. In Salem, also, is His tabernacle, and His dwelling place in Zion." — Ps. Ixxvi. 1-2. Jesus, in human flesh, dwelt while on earth among the children of Abraham and of Shem. The idea is distinctly presented that the Lord's dwelling place is with Shem, and that the children of Ham and Japheth shall serve the fam- ily of Shem, the former in a lower, the latter in a higher position, each na- tionality in that position especially designed by Jehovah. In our present discussion of the Ottoman Phase we purpose to delineate the peculiar edu- cation of the Turk and the object of that education THE SECOND TUEKISH EMPIRE WITH PRELIMINARY FAMILIES. Two quite limited Turkish dynasties intervene between the Turko- Scythian and Seljukian empire. Our progressive history requires us to give their names, character, and their chronological eras. A brief outline will be sufficient. (2) The Dynasty of Samanides arose A. D. 874, and continued to A. D. 999 — 125 years, under ten princes, who broke, by their revolt, the bonds of political servitude to the sovereign of Transoxiana and Chorasan, who still paid a nominal allegiance to the Caliph of Bagdad, the distant succes- sor of Mohammed. The Samani and Dilemi were two dynasties which di- vided between them the kingdom of Persia, about the beginning of the 10th century. The more northern dynasty, the Samani, had obtained from the Caliph the government of Transoxiana in A. D. 874 ; and to this Ismail, the most noted prince of the family, speedily added Khaurezm, Balkh, Khorassan, Seistan, and many portions of Northern Turkestan. (3) The Dynasty of Gasnevides followed Samanides, A. D. 999-1183 — 184 years, in its duration. This Dynasty was one of power, and, in its day, had very considerable celebrity. The first after Sebectagi (the father of the dynasty) was Mahmud, of Gazna, the emporium of the Indian mer- chants. For Mahmud the title of Sultan was invented, and his kingdom was soon extended from Transoxiana to the vicinity of Ispahan, and from 316 THE EASTERN QUESTION, the shores of the Caspian to the mouth of the Indus. The principal source of his fame and wealth was the holy war which he waged against the Gen- toos of Hindostan. He made twelve expeditions into that country. His battles and sieges were endless. Over deep rivers, lofty mountains, amid drifting sands and howling tempests, during all seasons, that zealous mon- arch was in pursuit of his numerous enemies. He penetrated far beyond the conquests of Alexander, and compelled all to bow to the Mussulman standard. Many hundred temples were destroyed, and thousands of idols were demolished, of which materials (gold, silver and diamonds) his sol- diers were made rich. " The pagoda of Sumnat was endowed with a reve- nue of two thousand villages : two thousand Brahmins were consecrated to the service of the Deity, whom they washed each morning and evening in water from the distant Ganges ; the subordinate ministers consisted of three hundred musicians, three hundred barbers, and five hundred dancing girls, conspicuous for their birth or beauty. Three sides of the temple were pro- tected by the ocean, the narrow isthmus was fortified by a natural or arti- ficial precipice; and the city and adjacent country were peopled by a na- tion of fanatics. They confessed the sins and the punishment of Kinnoge and Delhi (which Mahmud had taken — W.) ; but if the impious stranger should presume to approach their holy precincts he would surely be over- whelmed by a blast of the divine vengeance. By this challenge the faith of Mahmud was animated to a personal trial of the strength of this Indian deity. Fifty thousand of his worshipers were pierced by the spear of the Moslems ; the walls were scaled ; the sanctuary was profaned ; and the con- queror aimed a blow of his iron mace at the head of the idol. The tremb- ling Brahmins are said to have offered ten millions sterling for his ransom ; and it was urged by the wisest counsellors that the destruction of a stone image would not change the hearts of the Gentoos ; and that such a sum might be dedicated to the relief of the true believers. ' Your reasons,' replied the Sultan, 'are specious and strong; but never in the eyes of pos- terity shall Mahmud appear as a merchant of idols ' (he was Mahmud, the idol breaker). He repeated his blows, and a treasure of pearls and rubies, concealed in the belly of the statue, explained, in some degree, the de- vout prodigality of the Brahmins. The fragments of the idol were dis- tributed to Gazna, Mecca, and Medina. Bagdad listened to the edifying tale, and Mahmud was saluted by the caliph with the title of guardian of the fortune and faith of Mohammed." — Gibbon. Mahmud's subjects enjoyed the blessings of peace and prosperity. His devotions covered his smaller vices, and he was celebrated for his justice and magnanimity, even where the lives of his own sons were involved. An illustrious example we give below. "As he sat in the Divan, an un- happy subject bowed before the throne to accuse the insolence of a Turkish soldier who had driven him from his house and bed. ' Suspend your clamors,' said Mahmud; ' inform me of his next visit, and ourself in per- son will judge and punish the offender.' The Sultan followed his guide, invested the house with guards, and extinguishing the torches, pronounced the death of the criminal, who had been seized in the act of rapine and OTTOMAN PHASE. 817 adultery. After the execution of the sentence, the lights were rekindled, Mahmud fell prostrate in prayer, and rising from the ground demanded some homely fare, which he devoured with the voraciousness of hunger. The poor man, whose injury he had avenged, was unable to suppress his astonishment and curiosity ; and the courteous monarch condescended to explain the motives of this singular behavior. 'I had reason to suspect that none, except one of my sons, could dare to perpetrate such an outrage ; and I extinguished the lights that my justice might be blind and inex- orable. My prayer was a thanksgiving on the discovery of the offender, and so painful was my anxiety that I had passed three days without food, since the first moment of your complaint.' " — Gibbon. Mahmud's greatest sin was avarice, and in the vast resources of the Indies it was fully gratified. Hindostan is full of precious metals and the productions of her soil have in all ages attracted the gold and silver of the world. The Mohammedan conquerors robbed Hindostan of her virgin treasures. Mahmud, in the latter days of his life, evinced the vanity of such possession, the result of such unceasing toil, so dangerously held, and so inevitably lost. Looking through the treasury chambers at Gazna, he burst into tears, and again closed the doors, without bestowing any portion of those riches which he was about to leave. The day following his military forces passed in review before him. One hundred thousand foot, fifty thousand horse, and thirteen hundred war elephants. Tears again flowed at the instability of human great- ness ; and his grief was imbittered by the hostile progress of the Turk- mans, whom he had introduced into the heart of his Persian kingdom. It will be seen that this dynasty ruled in Persia, though a scion from the ancient Turko-Scythian root. In tracing the dynasty of the Gaznevides to its final extinction, it is well to follow those events which led to such a catastrophe. Gibbon makes the following very significant remark : " In the modern depopulation of Asia, the regular operation of government and agriculture is confined to the neighborhood of cities ; and the distant country is abandoned to the pastoral tribes of Arabs, Curds, and Turkmans. With the origin and growth of the Turkmans, we are at present, more especially interested, since they are the ancient scion of the Seljukian, and finally of the Otto- man empires. With a map of Asia before him let the reader fix his eyes upon the basin of the Caspian and Aral Seas. The Turkman family has two divisions — one west ; the other east of those seas. This basin with the surroundings is now known by the names of Turkestan (east and west), Georgia and Circassia. In the midst of civilized nations, they preserve the manners of the Scythian desert, remove their encampments with the change of seasons, and feed their cattle among the ruins of palaces and temples. Their flocks and herds are their only riches ; their tents, either black or white, according to the color of their banner, are covered with felt, and of a circular form ; their winter apparel is a sheep-skin ; and a robe of cloth or cotton, their summer garment; the features of the men are harsh and ferocious; the countenance of their women is soft and pleasing. 318 THE EASTERN QUESTION, Their wandering life maintains the spirit and exercise of arms ; they fight on horseback ; and their courage is displayed in frequent contests with each other and with their neighbors. For the license of pasture they pay a slight tribute to the sovereign of the land; but the domestic jurisdiction is in the hands of the chiefs and elders. The first emigration of Eastern Turkmans, the most ancient of their race, may be ascribed to the tenth century of the Christian era. For centuries the Jaxartes was the Turkman's southern boundary to- ward Persia. But as the Persian power weakened this river was often crossed by the nomadic Turkman. Embracing the Mohammedan faith, they obtained a free encampment in the spacious plains and pleasant cli- mate of Transoxiana and Carizme. The Turkish slaves who aspired to the throne encouraged the emigrations, which recruited their armies, awed their subjects and rivals, and protected the frontier against the wilder natives of Turkestan ; and this policy was abused by Mahniud, the Gaznevide, be- yond the example of former times. He was admonished of his error by a chief of the race of Seljuk, who dwelt in the territory of Bochara. The Sultan had inquired what supply of men he could furnish for military ser- vice. 'If you send,' replied Ismael, 'one of these arrows into our camp, fifty thousand of your servants will mount on horseback.' 'And if that number,' continued Mahmud, 'should not be sufficient?' 'send this second arrow to the horde of Balik, and you will have fifty thousand more.' ' But,' said the Gaznevide, dissembling his anxiety, ' if I should stand in need of the whole force of your kindred tribes ?' ' Despatch my bow,' was the last reply of Ismael, ' and as it is circulated around, the summons will be obeyed by two hundred thousand horse.' " — Gibbon. These answers, re- vealing the multitude and strength of those various clans, so thoroughly awakened the fears of Mahmud, that he removed them far south that the families might be separated by the river Oxus, and be surrounded by obe- dient cities. The face of the country was tempting; and the Sultan being removed by death, the shepherd Turkmans became robbers ; these bands of robbers were transformed into an army of conquerers, who spread over Persia as far as Ispahan and the Tigris. The Turkmans soon became so numerous and daring, that they did not fear to measure strength with the proudest sovereigns of Asia. Massoud, the son and successor of Mahmud, had too long neglected the advice of his wisest Omrahs. " Your enemies were at first a swarm of ants; they are now little snakes; and unless they be instantly crushed, they will require the venom and magnitude of serpents." Massoud marched in person against the Turkmans and was totally defeated, and his dynasty was succeeded in Persia by the dynasty of the Shepherd Kings. Thus ended the reign of the dynasty of the Gaznevides, after a prosperous continuance of nearly two centuries. OTTOMAN PHASE. 319 \ THE SECOND EMPIRE — SELJUKIAN TURKS. The origin of the house of Seljuk may be traced as follows : — Seljuk, by our account, was the thirty-fourth in lineal descent from the great Afrasiab, Emperor of Turan. Uniting with this the Tartar history, the Seljukides descended from Mankavah, the virgin mother. For entering the harem of his prince, Seljuk was banished from East Turkestan; with a numerous tribe of his friends and vassals he crossed the Jaxartes, encamped in the neighborhood of Samarkand, embraced the religion of Mohammed, and acquired a crown of martyrdom in a war against the infidels. His age (107 years) surpassed the life of his son Michael, whose two sons, Togrul and Jaafar, he adopted. Togrul, at the age of forty-five, succeeded his grand- father, Seljuk, as Sultan at Nishapur, the royal city. The Seljuk-Turks were an ofishoot of the Hoei-Hu, a collection of Turkish tribes, who, being driven south-westward from the Chinese wall, had, in A. D. 744, over- whelmed that Turkish empire of Kiptchak (a territory extending north of the Caspian Sea, and stretching east and west from Turkestan to the Don). Seljuk was the chief of a small tribe which had gained possession of Bok- hara and the surrounding country. His sons, attracted by the beauty and fertility of Khorassan, began, about A. D. 1027, to emigrate to that country, and, after some struggles with the Gaznevide Sultans, established themselves in northern Khorassan, with Togrul Beg, the eldest grandson of Seljuk, as their chief, and Nishapur as their Capital. Before entering upon the investi- gation of the progressive development of the empire of the Seljukian Turks it is well to notice the progressive movements of the Turkish empires to- wards the south and west, and their gradual changes in religion, laws, man- ners and customs ; or their education in new ranges of thought and modes of life. The Turko-Scythian empire was formed of slaves, miners, mechanics and herdsmen ; an empire of Scythian shepherds of the Mongol Tartar and Turanian families. Their armies were composed of cavalry. They dwelt in tents, their towns and cities were movable encampments. Their semin- aries also followed them. Their great chiefs constituted their faculties of instruction. In these camps were their courts of justice, their temples of worship, their national embodiment, the homes of their families and the location of their property, real and personal. They were purely a nomadic empire, with their royal encampment in a high northern latitude, 49° north. The Capital of the second empire, that of the Seljukian Turks, was in lati- tude 36°, thirteen degrees further south and thirty-six degrees further west. Such changes in locality have a special signification. The changes of locality brought other necessary changes in mode of life, in habits of thought. This we regard their first rudimental education for, and their first movement towards, their new oSicial location, the custodians of the national and commercial interests of the East and the West; of the high- ways between Europe and Asia : Gate-keepers of the chief highways of the refined nations of the globe. This Turkish movement is not in the direc- 320 THE EASTERN QUESTION, tion of the great emigrant route from Asia to Europe, but first south and west, then west along the imperial chordon. This Turkish family, the ancestors of the Othman Turk, first exchanged the shepherd, or nomadic zone, for a location in the imperial zone ; then his religion of nature, or image worship for the Unitarianism of Mohammed. To this religion they have zealously adhered to the present time. These two forward movements in Turkish character, induced by their changes of location and religion, went far towards making a new people of that Turanian race. The follow- ing ideas and elementary facts should never be out of the mind of the reader and student of prophetic history : (1) A national chordon, formed of the northern boundaries of China, Asia, Greece and Rome, extending from the eastern Asiatic seas to the Atlantic ocean, has existed for ages, evidently designed in the divine arrangement of the great national fields to restrain the shepherd tribes within their proper nomadic zone. (2) Why did God the Jehovah select, as custodians of the national high-ways between the East and the West, which office had been filled by the refined Greek of the eastern empire for eleven centuries, the savage Sythian shepherd of the nomadic zone ? A Turanian Turk, requiring centuries of national drill to fit him for the duties of his new and responsible station, is taken out of the frozen north, instead of some southern people of intelli- gence. This is one of the great national problems of the age, and one very intricate in its solution. (3) Among the nations, and with the great men of this age, the Eastern Question involves the following thought: How can the Othman Turk be removed from his office of custodian of the great eastern high-ways, those through Egypt and Constaninople especially, without involving Europe and the world in a terrible and protracted conflict? (4) The Eastern Question, in the divine mind, is quite another thing. How can the Hebrew race, includ- ing the twelve tribes of Israel, be restored to nationality in their own land, under Jesus of Nazareth, their Messiah, in the face of hostile powers, especially the Russian empire of the North ? These four problems demand solutions. These solutions are involved in the movements of the ruling nations of the world. They involve the destinies of all nations. And the science of these present movements involves the proper solution of the des- tinies of all nations of the overshadowing future. Keeping these problems before us we shall follow the Turanian, Seljukian Turk through the drill of his second empire. Togrul Beg, the grandson of Seljuk, may be called the first Sultan of the second Turkish empire. The Persian sceptre soon passed over to the Turkish nation. The province of Aderbijan (Media) was conquered. Ap- proaching the confines of the Greek empire, the eastern division of the Roman empire, Togrul sent a herald to demand the tribute and obedience of the Emperor of Constantinople. Togrul was the father of his people; and in Persia he put an end to anarchy, and became the guardian of peace and public justice. Under Togrul Beg the Turkmans were divided into two classes : those who continued to dwell in tents and were herdsmen and shepherds, like their ancestors, who, under their native princes. OTTOMAN PHASE. 321 extended their military colonies from the Oxus to the Euphrates ; and those who dwelt in villages, towns and cities, officers and members of court, and were intelligent, refined by business, and made effeminate by pleasure. The higher and more refined class imitated the dress, language and man- ners of Persia; and the royal palaces of Nishapur and Rei displayed the order and magnificance of a powerful empire. The most worthy of the Arabians and Persians were made officers of state, and the whole body of the Turkish people embraced witli zeal the religion of Mohammed. The triumph of the Koran was great among these northern Scythian Turks. The religion of Mohammed was deficient in Pagan show, but superior in the power of the sword. The Sultans of the Seljukian Turks were, at first, noted for their faith and zeal. Each day Togrul repeated the five prayers which are required of the true believers ; of each week, the first two days were consecrated by an extraordinary fast ; and in every city a mosque was completed before he presumed to lay the foundations of a palace. Being a believer in the Koran, Togrul held the Caliph, his successor, in great reverence. He made two visits to Cayem the Caliph, residing at Bag- dad. Togrul was declared to be the temporal lieutenant of the vicar of the prophet. He was successively invested with seven robes of honor and pre- sented with seven slaves, the natives of the seven climates of the Arabian empire. His mystic veil was perfumed with musk ; two crowns were placed on his head ; two cimeters girded to his side, as the symbol of a double reign over the East and West. The Caliph took a Turkish virgin into his harem, but proudly refused his daughter, not allowing the blood of the Hashermites to mingle with the blood of a Scythian shepherd. Alp Arslan succeeded his uncle, Togrul Beg (he having no children), in A. D. 1064. He was born in Turkestan, A. D. 1029. He ascended the throne of his father David 1053. He therefore filled the thrones of his father and uncle. His first act was to unite his extended dominions into one vast monarchy. After the union of his dominion was secured he embraced Islamism, when he took the surname of Alp- Arslan (the lion heart), that not being his real name. He received from the Caliph the title of the defender of the faith (Adhad-eddin), with this extreme honor, namely, that prayers should be said in his name. He had a superior vizier (prime minister), Nisam-al-Mulk, a man of great learning, and the founder and patron of all the colleges and academies in the empire. Leav- ing the internal administration to his vizier. Alp Arslan directed his powers to the enlargement of his dominions. He moved his armies towards the Greek empire. He carried with him the Scythian valor with the fanaticism of new proselytes and the art and riches of a powerful monarch. " The myriads of Turkish horse overspread a frontier of six hundred miles from Tarus to Arzeroum, and the blood of one hundred and thirty thousand Christians was a grateful sacrifice to the Arabian prophet." His conquests rolled away from the open country without inflicting damage on the Greek empire. He crossed the Euphrates, entered Caesarea, carrying off the gates of the church of St. Basil, encrusted with gold and pearls. He conquered Armenia and Georgia in 1069, they being at that time Christian kingdoms. 21 322 THE EASTERN QUESTION, This extended frontier was taken from the Greek empire. The most remark- able incident in his conquest of Georgia and Armenia was the blockade of the convent of Mariam-Nishin, situated on an island in the middle of a lake and considered impregnable. An earthquake overthrew the walls during the seige, when it immediately surrendered. Finding his army twice driven over the Euphrates by the forces of the Greek empire, Alp Arslan marched in person against the emperor, Romanus IV. In August, 1071, a bloody battle was fought near the fortress of Malasker, between the towns of Van and Erzeroum. The Greek emperor was defeated and taken prisoner, and only obtained his liberty by a ransom of £1,000,000, and an annual tribute of £100,000. About one year after this battle he was slain by an assassin at Berzem in his own native country, Turkestan, which he had invaded during his reign. His empire made considerable progress in extent and civilization. The fairest part of Asia was subject to his laws. Much of the glory of his reign was due to his vizier. The training was that of civiliza- tion. His institutions of learning were converting Scythian shepherds into intelligent citizens, and preparing men to fill all the varied positions of civil- ized life. His great success indicated the course of providence, in prepar- ing a people for a station occupied by a race enfeebled in body and mind by luxurious excesses. Malek Shah succeeded his father, Alp Arslan, to the throne of the em- pire of Seljukian Turks. He developed extraordinary resources, both as to physical endurance and mental activity. He exhibited a vigorous mix- ture of the fixed (civilized) and nomadic elements of social and political existence. He attained to and occupied the summit of his nation's great- ness. Under his administration the empire, a unit in every particular, reached its most ample boundaries, sweeping its ample curve beyond the hordes of eastern Turkestan, along the western borders of the Celestial em- pire, to the south as far as the spicy groves of Arabia Felix ; including Jerusalem (which they held twenty years, to the first crusade), and west- ward to the vicinity of Constantinople ; through Georgia and along the southern line of Siberia. The luxury of his harem was freely exchanged, by this royal shepherd, for the activity of the camp and the battlefield. Twelve times was each province of his vast .dominions visited by its rest- less sultan, and at each repetition of this extended circuit, innumerable favors were bestowed upon the people. He was a zealous Mohammedan, and was the first to be called the " Commander of the faithful." His pil- grimage to Mecca was one of great splendor, and abounded in liberal alms- giving. His encampments and places of refreshment through Arabia, made its deserts blossom like the rose. Hunting was his favorite amusement; and his sporting train consisted of forty-seven thousand horses. His reign had periods of peace and pros- perity. During these times the cities of Asia were adorned with palaces and hospitals, with mosques and colleges, attributes of civilization. Jus- tice and judgment were the accompaniments of his throne. He was the patron of Turkish literature. His palaces were vocal with the songs of a hundred poets. He convoked all the learned astronomers of the East to OTTOMAN PHASE. 323 reform and correct the calendar. During the reign of Malek Shah, the Gelalsean era was introduced ; " and all errors, either past or future, were corrected by a computation of time which surpasses the Julian, and ap- proaches the accuracy of the Gregorian style." — Gibbon. Many of the na- tional improvements are due to the superior talents of his Persian vizier, Nizam-ul-Mulk, under whose firm, just, and wise government, the rights of all classes were maintained, religion promoted, and learning encouraged. Hospitals, caravansaries, bridges, roads, and canals attest the zeal with which the commercial interests of the empire were furthered ; while the colleges of Bassora, Ispahan, and Herat, the law college of Bagdad, and the observatory (the first in Asia) of the same city, indicate the care bestowed on the promotion of literature and science. With Malek Shah expired the unity and grandeur of this second Turkish empire. Of the many independent sultanies that sprang out of its roots, four may be regarded the principal: (1) Persia, (2) Kerman, (3) Syria, (4) Roum ; some times called " New Rome." This last sultany con- tinued for 224 years — from A. D. 1075 to 1299 ; and during that period it was engaged in numerous wars with the Byzantines, and with the crusaders, both of whom learned to dread its power. This was the great Seljukian empire of Asia Minor, and was founded by Soliman, a great-grandson of Seljuk. This sultany we shall follow, since out of its ruins sprang the present Ottoman empire. Anatolia (Asia Minor) was overrun and fully subjugated by Soliman, the valiant, and eldest son of Malek Shah. He ac- cepted the royal standard, which gave him the free conquests and heredi- tary command of the provinces of the Roman empire, from Erzeroom to Constantinople, and the unknown regions of the West. Passing the Euphrates with his four brothers, he soon pitched the Turkish camp in Phrygia ; and his fleet cavalry laid waste the country as far as the Hel- lespont and the Black Sea. At this time the Byzantine throne was in dis- pute between two rival claimants, Bryennius the European, and Botoniates the Asiatic candidates. Soliman espousing the cause of the Asiatic claim- ant, moved forward from Antioch to Nice, joining the banners of the Cres- cent and of the Cross. After his ally Botoniates was seated upon the throne at Constantinople, Soliman was honorably entertained in the Gre- cian capital ; and two thousand Turks were transported into Europe. The European capital was saved at the sacrifice of the Asiatic provinces. Thus the Turks gradually advanced ; and, by their numerous fortifications, gave satisfactory evidence that they intended to remain. River passes and mountains were secured, and Asia Minor had become the conquered and adopted land of Soliman, the Seljukian Sultan. Soliman was a devoted champion of the Moslem faith, and his empire spread over Anatolia, ex- tending to a point within sixty miles of the Byzantine capital. The Chris- tians were made tributary, paying for the privilege of worshiping God through His only begotten Son. Turkman camps were seen on the moun- tains, on the plains and in thel valleys. Many thousand Christian chil- dren were circumcised, and thousands of beautiful females became inmates of Turkish harems. The cities of the seven churches of Asia fell under 324 THE EASTERN QUESTION, the dominion of the Turk. One of the most interesting conquests of the Seljukian Turks was that of the holy city Jerusalem, which soon became (by the Crusades) the theatre of nations. With Omar the people had stipulated the assurance of their religion and property ; but the articles were interpreted by a master against whom it was dangerous to dispute ; and in the four hundred years of the reign of the caliphs, the political climate of Jerusalem was exposed to the vicissitudes of storm and sun- shine." — Gibbon. Three-fourths of the city the Mohammedans claimed for their population and proselytes. A peculiar district was set apart for the Greek patriarch and his clergy, with their congregations. Two pieces of gold were required as the price of the protection. The sepulchre of Christ, and the church of the Resurrection were left under the control of the Chris- tian residents and pilgrims. The occupancy of the city by the Moham- medan votaries, increased the number of Christian pilgrims. They poured into Jerusalem, from all the various Christian countries, Greeks, Latins, Nestorians, Jacobites, the Copts and Abyssinians, Armenians and Geor- gians, had churches in Jerusalem ; each sect maintaining its own poor, and its peculiar modes of worship. The Franks (French) held the first rank in numbers, and in the zeal of its worshipers. Charlemagne, and Harun Alrashid (Caliph), the greatest of the Abbassides, were on terms of in- timacy, and presented the emperor with the keys of the holy sepulchre. After some years the Mohammedan unitarians were highly insulted at the worship which represents the birth, death, and resurrection of Christ as God. The Turkmans insulted the clergy, and dragged the patriarch by the hair along the pavement, and cast him into a dungeon, to extort a ran- som from the sympathy of his flock. Indignities grew apace until, in the space of about 18 years, they culminated in the first crusade. We have now placed before the reader a sufficient number of historic facts, relative to the second or Seljukian empire, to enable him to discern the onward progress of the Turkman family to the place of their pre- destined official abode, as custodians of the great national highways be- tween Europe and the East. Let us now contrast the first and second empires, those of the Scythian and Seljukian Turks; one Turanian family but of two dynasties. The feature which we propose to examine is the gradual change from a purely nomadic family to one of a mixed character, having an increasing amount of fixed elements ; such as belong to a fixed and civilized people. Such a character, one composed of a proper mixture of the two modes of life, would be required in such as would make an efficient custodian or gate- keeper among enlightened nations. He should have the nomadic move- ment and physical power combined with the intelligence of the fixed, cul- tivated races — " a burning and a shining light." The proper and efficient custodian must be a cross between the nomadic and the fixed. This will distinctly appear as we progress. The Greek empire officiated in that posi- tion till, by her luxury, she became too effeminate to hold back the great empire of the north. It was necessary, therefore, to supply this important position with another custodian, with youth and sufficient vigor to dis- OTTOMAN PHASE. 325 charge the duties of the office. Such a people had to be selected, out of which such an officer might be formed. The great Ruler and Disposer of the earth and its national fields has seen fit, in His inscrutable providence, to select a Turanean Turk for that field and work. He has trained him for the office, placed him there, and has sustained him in the exercise of his official functions about 431 years. How long he will yet be kept in his position is with the Deity. Till his official work is done, a thousand Rus- sian empires could not depose him. How often has the great northern Autocrat attempted to seize his office and drive him out of Europe. Why has he not succeeded ? Simply for the reason that his term of office is not yet completed. Much is said relative to the decay of the " sick man ; " the " drying up of the Euphrates," without reflecting as to the power that holds him there, or as to the bloody results of his present removal. We have no special sympathy for the "Crescent," nor for the Ottoman em- pire, but we have a sympathy for that kingdom which claims Ottoman ter- ritory, and for the return of that people whose colonization would be im- peded, or totally obstructed by the fall of that empire; for should it now fall, Palestine would be Russian ; and if the Jews are not allowed to live in peace under the Russian government, as that empire is now constituted, what ground of hope would there be for the Jew should the land of Israel now fall into the hands of the Russian, the Gog of the last days ? We readily admit that the Turkish power, in itself, has been reduced. This, however, has been gradual, and in the ratio of the increasing British power, their friend, as well as the friend and supporter of the Hebrews. These changes have been accomplished without any general war. So that the British empire has, by the common consent of Europe, become the pro- tectorate of the Ottoman empire. What would have been the result if Rus- sia had driven the Turk out of Europe ? The wall of defense against Rus- sian aggression being removed, all Asia Minor would have fallen into her hands in less than six months, and the land of Israel would be Russian, and the Greek Church supreme in Palestine. To pray for the fall of the Ottoman empire, and, at the same time, petition for the return of the Jews, are praying for incompatibles. Where, either in history or in the Bible, has the Russian power been favored as a friend of God's people ? It has always been an enemy. The objector may claim the same relative to the Turks. Let us see if history will allow a parallel to exist between the two nations ? What territory has been conquered by the Turkmans, and is now held by them ? In Europe. European countries held by the Turkman for four centuries, were once of great renown. Macedon, whose Alexander ex- tended her power beyond the limits of the known world, within her do- minions is the Byzantine, or Eastern empire, which divided with old Rome the dominion of the earth. She possesses, as to soil and climate, the gar- den of Europe. The lands in Africa and Asia, under the Ottoman banner are still more renowned. The crescent holds the lands of the proud Pharaohs, of Moses, and of Hebrew bondage; the land of wonders executed by .Jehovah for the deliverance of His people ; the land of the pyramids, catacombs, and other 326 THE EASTERN QUESTION, noted monuments. The land of the Nile ; the paradise of the South ; the southern highway of the nations; the granary of Rome and its ancient empire. For many centuries those lands of Africa along the Nile, the Soudan, the countries bordering on the southern shores of the Mediter- ranean, Such as Tripoli and Tunis, have submitted to Turkish rule. In Asia her noted countries are still more extended. There is Syria, includ- ing Palestine, the land of Israel, the land which God has seen fit to select as the special habitation of His own people. Here was His temple with its service and priesthood, the kingdom of David and his son Solomon, the central province of the stone kingdom of Messiah. In the southeast por- tion of Asiatic Turkey lies the ancient and famous Mesopotamia. Assyria was one of the earliest and most noted monarchies of Asia. The splendor of the Assyrians has been celebrated by all ancient historians. Babylon was the sun of ancient Asia. Its glory eclipsed all other eastern lumina- ries. Its hanging gardens, in which trees of great size were supported on terraces at an elevation above the earth, constituted one of the wonders of the ancient world. Bagdad, the proud and luxurious seat of the Saracenic caliphs, to the splendor of which Haroun al Raschid greatly contributed, has lost most of its former magnificence. Bagdad was the city of peace ; in many points superior to Babylon or Rome. In the days of its greatest beauty, the Saracenic empire hung in its meridian, and cast its golden beams over the eastern world. Literature and the arts flourished under the protection of the caliphs, poetry and romance shed a fancy charm over every day life, and music and other arts received diligent cultivation and encouragement. Other reigns have distinguished the territory of Asiatic Turkey. Tadmor of the desert (Palmyra) built by Solomon the city of the unfortunate Queen Zenobia, who was compelled to grace the triumph of the emperor Aurelian, after a Roman victory had cast its dark mantle over her former well earned fame. The fatal siege of Jerusalem under Titus, the destruction of the temple, the land of the crusades, the site of Troy and Tyre, and of the seven Asiatic churches. For four centuries and over, the Crescent in the eastern world has triumphed over, and has held the former lands of the cross. Such is one of the inscrutable providences of the Deity. He has allowed the doctrines of " The False Prophet " to triumph over the religion of the cross. Mohammedanism triumphs over what goes by the name of Christianity, and the Ottoman Turk holds the land given to Abraham and his seed. The Latin and Greek Christians, the religion of the Crusades has fallen before the religion of the false prophet Mohammed. Such is the record of the eastern world for the last four centuries. Why has this triumph of the crescent over the cross been permitted? Is it a judg- ment inflicted upon a widespread apostacy? If we be allowed to express our own views in our own way, we should say, (1) Mohammedanism in the hands of the Seljukian and Othman Turks is God's sledge-hammer to break in pieces the idolatrous apostacy of the eastern nominally Christian world; (2) God has allowed the Turks to conquer and hold those countries till the British empire, the king of the south, is ready to hold and defend the land of Israel against the gradual aggressions of the northern autocrat ; (3) to OTTOMAN PHASE. 327 that end the Mohammedan power in the hands of the Turk must gradually- pass over from the Ottoman empire to the British empire ; (4) the British movements must be made through the Ottoman power, that the nations of Europe may not by any special pretext be aroused to any open opposition. These four points will be illustrated as we progress. Let us now follow the contrast between the first or Scythian, and the second or Seljukian empires of the Turanean Turks. The locations ef each shall first be in- vestigated ; then their education and modes of living, after which we shall point out the evident intent of the divine Being in said changes. CHANGE OF LOCATION. (1) The Turko-Scythian empire had its royal encampment, its only capital, in latitude 49° north far into the nomadic zone, around the base of the Altai, or golden mountain. Though its dominion spread over all northern Asia, its seat of empire never changed. As to location it was a Scythian empire. (2) Their education was limited to its primitive simplicity. They were shepherds, herdsmen, miners, and mechanics. Their military educa- tion was imparted to them as mounted horsemen. They were taught horse- manship, and instructed to handle the bow and the spear; they advanced, discharged their arrow, and retreated as they fitted a second arrow to the bow and again advanced, and discharged it at their enemies. This retreat- ing once deceived the Romans into a terrible defeat when contending with the Parthians. The Turks became the most expert of all horsemen. Hence in vision their armies are represented under the symbols of horse- men ready for battle. There were no institutions of learning. It was practical, and limited principally to their occupation. There were there- fore among them no literati. Each occupation instructed its pupils simply as apprentices. (3) The Turko-Scythian empire was, as to mode of living, in every particular nomadic, and continued its seat of empire in the shepherd zone. Their conquests extended over the larger portion of northern Asia, but these conquests were temporary. Royal shepherds were successful warriors in the open fields, but had no forces under their banners adapted to the work of holding cities and fortifications, their wandering shepherd lives revolted at such confinement. Their subjugation of kingdoms was like a storm, terrible in its tracks, but progressive ; to-day here, to-morrow, far onward. They had the gift of conquest, but not of occupation. (4) Why, then, should such a people be selected as custodians of a fixed position, as the guardians of national interests? Evidently for their superior physical stamina, and their Japhetian tendency towards conquest and enlargement : '• God shall enlarge Japheth, and he (Japheth — W.) shall dwell in the tents of Shem." Gen. ix. 27. A family (Turk) was selected from the laboring class, one that knew how, from long experience, to mine and reduce ores, forge arms, tend flocks and herds, and with immense physical power and endurance. As God raised up and educated Cyrus for 328 THE EASTERN QUESTION, the conquest of Babylon and the deliverance of His people, the Jews from their 70 years' bondage, so has He chosen, educated and inducted into office the Turanian Turk, to hold the great national highways, till the British empire, having within her vast dominions the ten tribes, is ready to super- intend the return and union of the twelve tribes on the mountains of Israel, and to keep the Russian Gog out of Palestine, until the return and estab- lishment of Israel is fully accomplished. Should we repeat the same idea in various forms, it is that the reader may become familiar with what is evidently God's purpose in the Othman Turk. (2) Let us now examine the location, education, and modes of living of the second, or Siljukian empire of the Turks, that God's purposes rela- tive to that people may more distinctly appeair. (1) Change of location. Thirteen degrees further south, and about thirty-five degrees further west, in the direction, and near the latitude of their future chief abode. The capital of the second empire is in northwestern Persia, on the southern line of emigration to the West. This we may call their isecond national en- campment; the first, however, in their journey westward. The surround- ings of this second encampment differ as materially from that of the first, as the encampment itself. They now occupy a land which necessarily re- quires other very material changes. They are in the midst of cultivated lands, villages, large towns and cities; in the midst of schools and colleges; surrounded by men of learning and wisdom ; men of other religions, social and political ideas. They have exchanged the nomadic zone for the zone of the ancient empires, and have fixed their capital on the territory of the silver of Daniel's metallic image. Here they enter their new school of re- ligious, social and military training. Their lessons are to these northern shepherds strange and severe. New ideas of the Deity arise, and they be- come Mohammedans. A change of religion induces new religious thoughts, duties and modes of worship. They become zealous advocates of their new religious tenets and carry Mohammedanism with their conquests. It places the Turkish family, as to the unity of God, in the same religious class with the Jews, and, in that particular point, they were better fitted to exercise charity towards that people, than were the Latin and Greek Christians, for in those early days when the Seljukian Turks were the commanders of the faithful, the Christian sectaries were idolatrous. The churches were full of images. It was little else than baptized heathenism, that took the name of Christianity. As Constantinople was then governed by an emperor and Patriarch of the Greek Church, and as it was the purpose of Jehovah to punish that idolatrous hierarchy, it would be accomplished only by a people that were enemies to all idol systems and practices. It was proper, therefore, that the new custodian should abandon the idea of a plurality of gods for the unity of the God-head. This prime article of faith was joined to one radically false. Mohammed is the prophet of God — a creed com- posed of a radical truth and a radical falsehood. The Mohammedan creed was false ; the creeds of the Latin and Greek churches were false and idol- atrous. Which creed had the preference with Jehovah ? He has seen fit, for the last four centuries, to allow Mohammedan unitarianism to prevail OTTOMAN PHASE. 329 in the East. Not that God approbates the Mohammedan creed ; but He has made use of one wicked nation to punish another, more wicked and corrupt, because of the abuse of greater light. The education of the second empire differed from that of the first in other particulars. The Seljukian Turks patronized the arts and sciences of civilization, and refinement. They established schools and colleges, and encouraged men of learning. They exchanged their shepherd tents for houses ; cultivated the soil, built towns and cities, connecting them with permanent highways ; established manufactories, and began a commercial intercourse with other nations. They, in their new educational drill, did not part with their nomadic con- stitutions and their desires for conquest. Their military education was such as to place their armies in the front rank of the armies of the age, so that their empire continued to advance its boundaries to the South and West. To keep up their nomadic vigor there was a constant influx of the shej)herd elements from the East and North ; a constant mixture of the nomadic and fixed elements. Two great events transpired under the empire of the Seljukian Turks which had a very marked influence upon their national character": (1) the first crusade, which armed all the western nations of Europe, to recover Jerusalem and its sacred localities from the hands of the Turks ; (2) the conquests of the Mongul Tartars, under Genghis (Zingis) Khan, who, in the beginning of the thirteenth century, spread his armies over Asia, tumbling into ruin all its ancient empires. These events have been previously noted. It now remains simply to state their effects upon the character and power of the Seljukian empire. The first crusade aimed at the total annihilation of the western divis- ion of that empire, which was established and held by Soliman, its able Sultan. For the time being it made a total wreck of his empire. The ultimate results were in favor of the Cresent. It brought vast numbers of shepherds of Turkish origin and drilled them for future conquests. (2). The invasion of Genghis Khan, in the thirteenth century, broke the Seljukian empire into fragments, from which it never recovered. Still the terrible overthrow finally resulted in the elevation and growth of Turkish character under a new dynasty. It sowed throughout Asia a vast amount of nomatic seed which produced in after ages a bountiful harvest. To the third Turkish empire we now turn to follow the progressive history of that noted race. (3). The Third Turkish Empire.— The Ottoman Empire. — We now enter upon the investigation of the third empire of the Turks; one that is known throughout the world as the Ottoman empire ; so named from 0th- man, its founder. We have described the Turko-Sythic and the Seljukian empires, that the student may have the entire history of the Turkman family ; having before him its family training, from its nomadic origin, at the foot of the " golden mountain " in Central Asia, to the present time, as the national custodian of the great high- ways of two grand divisions of the globe. We have aimed to prove the existence of God's superintending power over tbat people in carrying out His national purposes: have 330 THE EASTERN QUESTION, noticed to that end that the all-wise and powerful Ruler has given into the hands of that race all the ancient national and sacred localities in northeastern Africa, southwestern Asia and southeastern Europe, forming a vast circular area, composed of three grand divisions of the earth, and has made him, for four centuries at least, the guardian, visible, of the great Eastern interests. It now remains that we trace the progressive history of the Turanian Turk under this third and last imperial training; his inaugu- ration into his new and responsible office of custodian, and the manner in which, for four centuries, he has discharged its very onorous duties. The Ottoman was, originally, formed out of fragments of the Seljukian empire, which had been broken to pieces by the terrible Zingis Khan, the Mongul Tartar. For a view of its original location we must turn our eyes to the Caspian basin, on the northern confines of Persia. Its origin is thus described by Gibbon : — " The decline of the Monguls (Monguls — W.) gave a free scope to the rise and progress of the Ottoman empire. After the retreat of Zingis, the Sultan Gelaleddin, of Corizme, had returned from India to the possession and defense of his Persian kingdoms. In the space of eleven years that hero fought in person fourteen battles ; and such was his activity that he led his cavalry in seventeen days from Tefliis to Kerman, a march of a thousand miles. Yet he was oppressed by the jealousy of the Moslem princes, and the innumerable armies of the Moguls; and after his last defeat Gelaleddin perished ignobly in the mountains of Curdistan. His death dissolved a veteran and adventurous army, which included under the name of Carizmians or Corasmins, many Turkman hordes that had attached themselves to the Sultan's fortune. The bolder and more power- ful chiefs invaded Syria, and violated the holy sepulchre of Jerusalem ; the more humble engaged in the service of Aladin, Sultan of Iconiun ; and among these were the obscure fathers of the Ottoman line. They had formerly pitched their tents near the southern banks of the Oxus, in the plains of Mahan and near the Nesa; and it is somewhat remarkable that the same spot should have produced the first authors of the Parthian and Turkish empires. At the head, or in the rear, of a Carizmian army, Soli- man Shah was drowned in the passage of the Euphrates; his son, Ortho- grul, became the soldier and subject of Aladian, and established a Surgut on the banks of the Sangar, a camp of four hundred families or tents, whom he governed fifty-two years, both in peace and war. He was the father of Thaman, or Athman, whose Turkish name has been meted into the appel- lation of the caliph Othman ; and if we describe that pastoral chief as a shepherd and a robber, we must separate from these characters all idea of ignominy and baseness. Othman possessed, and perhaps surpassed, the ordinary virtues of a soldier; and the circumstances of time and place were propituous to his indepencence and success. The Seljukian dynasty was no more; and the distance and decline of the Mogul Khans soon enfran- chised him from the control of a superior. He was situate on the verge of the Greek empire ; the Koran sanctified his gazi, or holy war, against the infidels; and their political errors unlocked the passes of Mount Olympus, and invited him to descend into the plains of Bithynia. Till the reign of OTTOMAN PHASE. 331 Palseologus, these passes had been vigilantly guarded by militia of the country, who were repaid by their own safety and exemption from taxes. The emperor abolished their privileges and assumed their office; but the tribute was rigorously collected, the custody of the pass ;s was neglected, and the hardy mountaineers degenerated into a trembling crowd of peas- ants, without spirit or discipline. It was on the twenty-seventh of July, in the year twelve hundred and ninety-nine of the Chistian era, that Othman first invaded the territory of Nicomedia; and the singular accuracy of the date seems to disclose some foresight of the rapid and destructive growth of the monster. The annals of the twenty-seven years of his reign would ex- hibit a repetition of the same inroads ; and hereditary troops were multi- plied in each campaign by the accession of captives and volunteers. Instead of retreating to the hills, he maintained the most useful and defensive posts, fortified the towns and castles which he had first pillaged, and renounced the pastoral life for the baths and palaces of his infant capitals. But it was not till Othman was oppressed by age and infirmities that he received the welcome news of the conquest of Prusa, which had been surrendered by famine or treachery to the arms of his son Orchan. The glory of Othman is chiefly founded on that of his descendants; but the Turks have tran- scribed or composed a royal testament of his last counsels of justice and moderation. From the conquest of Prusa we may date the true sera of the Ottoman empire. In the above sketch we have the origin of the Ottoman empire very distinctly stated; also the twenty-seven years' reign of Oth- man, its first Sultan : and, what we desire the reader more especially to note, the first effort to depose from the office of custodian of the national high-ways between Europe and Asia the Greek emperor who had then held that position for many centuries, but who, by luxury, was becoming incompetent to the proper discharge of his duties. As we have stated, the first effort at deposi- tion was an attack upon the Greek territory of Nicomedia, July 27, 1299, A, D. Nice was taken A. D. 1330, and Nicomedia in 1339. These acts of deposing the Greek emperors, after continuing through a series of 123 years, to May 29, 1453, closed when Constantinople surrendered to her new custodian, who has held the position to the present time. The events of those one hundred and twenty years are most intensely interesting since they narrate the triumph of the Cresent over the Cross, or Mohammedanism over apostate Christianity, over the apostacy held and practiced by the Greek church. During this period the Sultans were: (1) Othman, (2) Orchan, (3) Amurath first, (4) Bajazet, (5) Soliman, (6) Amur- ath II., (7) Mohammed II. (1) Othman's reign of twenty-seven years has been given. It was under his reign that the first attack upon the Grecian empire of Constantinople was made. They were purely introductory, yet successful. His son Orchan succeeded to his throne, which was located in the territory of the Greek empire, which was situated during this period at Prusa. This town is the modern Broussa, or Boursa, where the kings of Bithynia usually resided, in latitude 40° north and longtitude 27° east. This city (now containing a population of 75,000 souls) was made and con- tinued to be the capital of the Ottoman empire till the fall of Constantino- ple, May 29, 1453. 332 THE EASTEKN QUESTION, The national theatre of the operations of these seven deposing Sultans was in Asia and Europe, within a circle whose centre was Constantinople, and whose diameter was, perhaps, not over three hundred miles. Their aim was well known to the Greek emperors, yet they were without any adequate means to fortify their city and empire against its change of cus- todians. Othman, with his 400 Turkman families, had, as he moved west- ward, been joined by many volunteer Turks, and by the fragments of the Seljukian or the second Turkish empire. His army was made up of Shep- herd horsemen, who followed him without pay, and rushed into battle w*ith- out any discipline. They were not drilled to occupy any fixed locality. 123 years of military and civil training were required to fit the Turkish family for their new and responsible office of gate-keepers of Europe. Dur- ing these years the Turks were t'he constant associates of the Greeks. They became familiar with their manners and customs and with their refine- ment without being corrupted by their luxuries. They could imitate that which was good and avoid the evil. Othman made some progress toward enlarging and consolidating his empire. His subjects being composed of such a variety of discordant elements it required the efforts of his life to unify his empire. His son Orchan, when succeeding to the throne, found much that re- mained to be accomplished in order to secure the efficiency of his empire. The efforts of Orchan to build up his own empire out of Grecian elements and discipline, and civilize his own people, require special notice, since they very distinctly illustrate Turkish policy. Orchan began his work on his own capital, Prusa, or Brusa, or Boursa, the ancient Capital of Bithynia, a city located about sixty miles south ot Constantinople, facing a beautiful and luxuriant plain, covered for many miles with plantations of mulberry trees. The city and suburbs are six miles in circumference. The bazaars are well supplied with European goods from Constantinople. There are many mosques, some of which are very fine buildings. This city, under the labors of Orchan (who took the •city from the Greeks, A. D. 1356), soon put on the dress of a Moham- medan capital. Instead of Christian churches and Christian institutions of learning, Mohammedan mosques, colleges and hospitals adorned the city. Such was the note of the college faculties that Persian and Arabian stu- dents were attracted from the ancient schools of Oriental learning. The office of vizier (prime minister), next to the Sultan, was instituted for his brother Aladin. The Seljukian coins had the stamp of the new empire. He instituted new habits of dress; one for the citizen, another for the peasant, also for the Moslems and for the infidels. Orchan's next attempt was the formation of a standing army. This was no ordinary task. There was no drilled infantry. A great number of volunteers was enrolled, having some pay, yet, with the privilege of living at home, except when called into active duty. The Turks themselves, owing to their former mode of living, were refractory, and their manners rude, — opposed to any strict discipline. Their want of fitness induced Orchan to educate his young Christian captives, Ashis soldiers and those of OTTOMAN PHASE. 333 the prophet; but the Turkish peasants were still allowed to mount on horse- back, and follow his standard, with the appellation and hopes of "free- booters." By these means he reformed and drilled an army of twenty-five thousand Moslems. Battering engines were fornfed for sieges, first successfully used against Nice and Nicomedia. Under the reign of Orchan the Janizaries (Yengi cheri, or new soldiers) were formed and from the following circum- stances : The vizier reminded Orchan, his sovereign, that Mohammedan laws allowed the Sultan to appropriate to his own use one-fifth of the spoils and captives; it was said by the vizier, that faithful ofiEicers, stationed at Gallipoli, might easiiy make the levy, by selecting of the passengers, the stoutest and most beautiful of the Christian youth. The suggestion pleased Orchan ; and many thousands of the European captives were educated in religion and arms; and the new militia was consecrated and named by a celebrated dervis. Standing in front of their ranks, he stretched the sleeve of his gown over the head of the foremost soldier, and his blessing was given in these words : " Let them be called Janizaries; may their counte- nance be ever bright ! their hand victorious ; their sword keen ! may their spear always hang over the heads of their enemies! and wheresoever they go, may they return with a white face." These Janizaries were a terror to the nations. The Janizaries, educated to war and in the Mohammedan creed, fought with the zeal of proselytes against their idolatrous country- men (Greek Christians) ; and in the battle of Cossova, the league and in- dependence of the Slavonian tribes was finally destroyed. Orchan's conduct towards Christians was, under all circumstances, severe. Christians, were allowed, however, to redeem their lives and property by payment of a large sum. Orchan married Theodora, the daughter of Cantacuzene, the Greek emperor ; but it was under the most solemn protestations that he would invariably fulfill the duties of a subject and a son. Theodora was allowed to hold her religion at Bursa; yet it is true that Orchan's friendship was subservient to his religion and interest, for, while he had a Christian wife, he still sold Christians into servitude to his own countrj^'men. ''A naked crowd of Christians, of both sexes and every age, of priests and monks, of matrons and virgins, was exposed in the public market; the whip was frequently used to quicken the charity of redemption ; and the indigent Greeks deplored the fate of their brethren, who were led away to the worst evils of temporal and spiritual bondage." Under the reign of Orchan the seven Churches of Asia were ruined. Ephesus fell among the first. Of these Churches Gibbon thus writes : " In the loss of Ephesus, the Christians deplored the fall of the first angel, the extinction of the first candlestick of the Revelations ; the desolation is complete, and the temple of Diana, or the Church of Mary, will equally elude the search of the curious traveler. The circus and three stately theatres of Laodicea are now peopled with wolves and foxes; Sardis is reduced to a miserable village; the God of Mahomet, without a rival or a son, is invoked in the mosques of Thyatira and Pergamus ; and the populousness of Smyrna is supported by the foreign trade of the Franks and Armenians. Philadelphia alone has been saved 334 THE EASTERN QUESTION, by prophecy or courage. At a distance from the sea, forgotten by the em- perors, encompassed on all sides by the Turks, her valiant citizens defended their religion and freedom above four-score years ; and at length capitulated with the proudest of the Ottomans. Among the Greek colonies and Churches of Asia, Philadelphia (now called Ala-Shehr — exalted city) is still erect; a column in a scene of ruins; a pleasing example that the paths of honor and safety may sometimes be the same." Soliman assisted his father Orchan in gaining a firm footing in Europe. At the head of ten thousand horse he was transported in the vessels, and entertained as the friend of the Greek emperor. He assisted the Greeks in their civil wars in Roumania; yet, not without promoting Ottoman interests to the detriment of Greek success. The peninsula of Gallipoli was filled with a Turkish colony, and the fortresses of Thrace were occupied. The restitution of these fortresses was solicited by the emperor. Their ransom was finally fixed at sixty thousand crowns ($75,000). The first payment had been made when an earthquake shook the walls and provinces ; the dismantled places were occupied by the Turks; and Gallipoli, the key of the Hellespont, was re- built and repeopled by the policy of Soliman. Cantacuzene, abdicating the Byzantine throne, the domestic alliance was dissolved. His advice to his people was, in their weakness not to contend with the number, valor, dis- cipline, and enthusiasm of the Moslems. This prudent counsel was rejected. As Soliman practised in the field the exercise of the jerid, he was killed by a fall from his horse; and the aged Orchan, in the 75th year of his age, and the 35th of his reign expired on the tomb of his valiant and beloved son. Amurath First, immediately succeeded his father and brother. Be- fore we commence the history of Amurath, it is well to pause a moment and consider the nature and bearings of Orchan's reign, and the future mission of the Ottoman empire. It is truly interesting to follow the Turkman famil}'- from their no- madic home in northeastern Asia, in the camp, in the city, and in the open plain, till we see them gathering around and occupying all the vicinities of Constantinople, preparatory to the permanent occupancy of the city of the " golden horn " in southeastern Europe. First, the capital of their nationality was a royal camp at the foot of the Altai mountains, in a high northern latitude, facing the vast Siberian wilds. Their empire was com- posed principally of wild Turko-Scythian shepherds, who revolted at every move towards fixed civilization. It is truly wonderful that God should select such a savage nomadic family to be the future custodian of the great national highways of the enlightened world; and still more remarkable that He should commit to that family, for many centuries, the exclusive guardianship of His special localities, more particularly the land of Israel. God had resolved that the land of promise, previous to its perpetual occu- pancy by Israel under His Son, should have its Sabbath. "What people are better adapted to that position ? In tilling the soil what two families could occupy wider extremes than the Turk and the German ; the former to hold dominion of the land during its sabbaths of rest ; the latter to pos- sess it under the beauties of a bride adorned for her husband. We use the OTTOMAN PHASE. 335 term German in its generic sense, including the Anglo-Saxon race as well as the principal families of western Europe. The second Turkish national centre was in northern Persia. Here they entered the school of prepara- tory training. They occupy the latitude though further south ; yet, with a climate well adapted to that of their future European residence. In their Persian capital (Nishapur, in a beautiful and fertile valley) they took their first lessons of luxury and Persian refinement. They changed their re- ligion and mode of life. They became zealous converts of Islamism which they have advocated to the present time. Why Mohammedanism should travel eastward, and Christianity towards the North and West, are ques- tions which deserve investigation. Christianity has followed the course of empires, the four horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. We do not say that Christianity and Mohammedanism did not push towards other cardinal points, but simply, that these were their prevalent courses. This we can say, Christianity has never been the religion of the Turks and Arabians, nor Mohammedanism that of the Anglo-Saxons, or the children of Isaac. When the time came that apostate Christianity was to receive the vials of divine wrath, the executioner moved westward towards the place of execution. The third capital of the Turkmans was in Anatolia, at Prusa or Brousa, the ancient chief residence of the kings of Bithynia. This pro- vince included that part of Asia adjoining Constantinople, and was evi- dently selected for the purpose of becoming familiar with Greek learning, manners and customs, preparatory to the occupancy of their capital and the discharge of the same ofl&cial functions. The Sultan Orchan married into the imperial family, being son-in-law to the emperor. He visited the emperor, received visits in return, and was on terms of great familiarity. He had every opportunity of learning the weakness of the Greek empire. His conquests in Europe became very considerable. Under Orchan the Greek empire was circumscribed by the Ottoman power; an empire within the embraces of another empire, ready to seize upon its capital and depose it from the office of custodian. Though Orchan married a Christian prin- cess, and. in the marriage contract, bound himself to allow Theodora to hold to the free exercise of her own religion in the harem, still he was a strict believer in and defender of the doctrines of the Koran. He claimed the privilege of selling captive Christians into debasing servitude. He reigned supreme over his subjects, and evidently aimed at- the subversion of the only system in the East that professed Christianity. It was the crescent striving to supplant the cross in the eastern proud capital of the Csesars. Orchan aimed to imitate, in learning and dress, the nationality that he was desiring to destroy. The Ottoman empire, under the reign of its second Sultan, drew its cordon around Constantinople, and gradually lessened its area. Still, he acted under the guise of a friend, and by mar- riage as a dutiful son. Let the reader contrast the Ottoman or the third Turkish empire under Orchan, and he will be surprised that so few centuries with a change of 336 THE EASTERN QUESTION, country have radically been made over the family that formed the first or Turko-Scythian empire. A family of shepherds without any fixed habita- tions, dwelling in movable tents, in patriarchal style now dwells in a country, rich in its agricultural products, and abounding with villages, towns and populous cities, adorned with mosques, colleges, and royal hospi- tals. The first empire refuses to erect any of the usual monuments of civi- lization, the third empire makes use of every human means to get possession of the most luxurious capital of Christendom. Who cannot discern the hand of Deity in these mighty revolutions ? May it not again be said, for this purpose have I raised thee up and brought thee around this great capital of Christian apostacy, that I may show forth in thee my great power and my retributive justice? The military operations of Amurath I. were confined to Europe ; and at Adrianople he fixed his. European capital; the chief seat of justice and religion. Amurath was mild in his temper,. modest in his apparel, and a lover of learning and virtue ; yet so inattentive to public worship that, as a punishment, one of the mufti (judges) rejected his testimony in a civil cause. These features were adapted to the time and worth of the Ottoman mission. He subjugated the province of Roumania (Thrace) from the Hel- lespont to Mount Hsemus, and vicinity of the great city. By his new capi- tal at Adrianople, and his Asiatic capital at Bursa in Bithynia, Gibbon thus speaks! "Constantinople, whose decline is almost coeval with her foundation, had often, in the lapse of a thousand years, been assaulted by the barbarians of the East and West ; but never till this fatal hour had the Greeks been surrounded, both in Asia and Europe, by the arms of the same hostile monarchy. Yet the prudence or generosity of Amurath postponed for a while this easy conquest ; and his pride was satisfied with the fre- quent and humble attendance of the emperor, John Palseologus, and his four sons, who followed at his summons the court and camp of the Otto- man prince." His military contests were with the Bulgarians, Servians, Bosnians, and Albanians ; Slavonian nations residing between the Danube and the Adriatic Sea. These lands did not abound in gold and silver; nor were they occupied with cultivated citizens of Grecian stamp; but they were peopled by a hardy race of warriors, such as would be of great service, we may say, absolutely necessary to the Turks in the office of custodian ; for, such was the rapidly growing power of Russia, that to hold such a re- sponsible station, for a series of years, required great national vigor in the immediate vicinities of Constantinople. The feebleness of the Greek em- pire and its inability to hold back the empire of the north, and confine it to its legitimate field, the frozen north, caused its removal from the office of custodian and the inauguration of another nationality competent to the the work. Henceforth, from the days of Amurath I., we shall expect to see a rapid growth and consolidation of the Ottoman power in Europe, and its concentration about Constantinople. These Slavonians, by the forma- tion of the Janizaries, were converted into the firmest and the most faith- ful supporters of the Ottoman supremacy. Let us follow this European OTTOMAN PHASE. 337 growth that we may have a clear understanding of the Divine purposes in rearing up, educating, and sustaining the Ottoman empire. ^ ^ Amurath I. reigned from A. D. 1356 to A. D. 1389, when he was suc- ceeded by liis son, Bajazet I., who was a Sultan of varied fortune. His character surnamed him Ilerim, the lightning. His fiery energy and the rapidity of his desolating pathway, made the appellation appropriate. During the fourteen years of his reign, at the head of his armies he was- constantly marching between his capitals, Brousa in Asia, and Adrianopl©- in Europe ; or from the Danube to the Euphrates. A pretended disciple of the supremacy of law he invaded, with impartial ambition, the Christian and Mohammedan princes of Europe and Asia. Bajazet reduced Anatolia, with its numerous emirs, to his authority; and after the conquest of Icon- ium, the ancient kingdom of the Seljukians again revived in the Ottoman dynasty. The conquests of Bajazet in Europe were equally rapid. The Servians and Bulgarians being subdued he passed the Danube and entered the heart of Moldavia, and took from the Greek empire the remaining frag- ments of Thrace, Macedonia, and Thessaly. He entered Greece and made conquests ; stationed a fleet of galleys at Gallipoli to keep open his com- munication between Europe and Asia, to command the Hellespont and in- tercept Latin successors of Constantinople. The Greek empire was re- duced to a corner of Thrace, between the Propontis and the Black Sea, about fifty miles in length and thirty in breadth, thecity of Constantinople representing the wealth and populousness of the kingdom. Even this fragment of a kingdom was divided between two rivals. His conflicts with Hungary were the most severe, since Sigismond, their king, was connected with the Christian kings of the West. In the battle of Nicopoli, Bajazet defeated a confederate army of a hundred thousand Christians, who had proudly boasted that if the sky should fall they could uphold it on their lances. Bajazet threatened that he could besige Buda; subdue the adjacent countries of Germany and Italy ; and that he would feed his horse with a bushel of oats on the altar of St. Peter at Rome. His course was arrested by a fit of the gout. Such is the weakness of the mightiest conquerors when about to transcend their Divine mission. Three European countries have been kept from the Mohammedan : (1) Italy, (2) France, (3) and Ger- many, (4) and also, the British Islands. Some may call it an accident that Charles Martel defeated Saracens in the middle of France. It is well to observe that this victory was gained, after seven days of hard fighting, by the aid of the Gepidae and Germans. The German race has always been too powerful for the Arabian and Mongolian races. In this conflict Europe, Asia, and Africa decided the destiny of the world, whether it was to bow to the "Crescent "or "Cross." Whenever a test battle came off the cross had the advantage, the reason is obvious; the future destinies of God's, ancient people were involved. Bajazet, after his defeat of the union army, returned and gathered his force to the siege of Constantinople. An easy conquest was anticipated. In proud thought Bajazet was already master of the city of the "Goldeu Horn," and through it, of the Greek empire; little anticipating his fate 22 338 THE EASTERN QUESTION, in the near future. He founded a cadi (judgeship) and a royal mosque in the metropolis of the Eastern or Greek Church. In the midst of the siege, Bajazet received a letter from Timour, the Mongul conqueror, de- manding, in language, very insulting, the surrender of the Sultan, to his authority, as the Supreme Lord and governor of the world. This insult was too much for the haughty Turk that had seen no superior. During the two years of Timour's delay, Bajazet was mustering and disciplining his immense forces. They met on the plains of Angola, their armies, jointly, composed of nearly one million, principally of cavalry. The troops of Bajazet failed him in the decisive moment, and he, afflicted with the gout in his hands and feet, was made a prisoner. So fell this Turkish Sultan. He was confined in an iron cage and followed the camp of the proud Tamerlane towards Samarcand. This terrible defeat of the Ottoman army delayed the fall of Constantinople half a century. The Tartar victory passed over the Ottoman empire like a devastating cyclone ; for, though Timour passed out of its territory and soon perished on his march for the conquest of China, the resources of the empire, both in men and money, were somewhat exhausted, and they were unable to hold their advanced position in the siege of the city of the Eastern Csesars. Bajazet and Timour were both the disciples of the Koran, and were simply contest- ing the empire of the world. Neither could bear a rival. Such was the haughty pride of the Turkish Sultan, that a fall was necessary to place the Ottoman power in its proper position. He was taught the lesson of Ne- buchadnezzar when he said, " Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty ?" While the word (was) in the king's mouth there fell a voice from heaven (saying), " O King Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken ; thy kingdom is departed from thee." Dan. iv. 30-32. As a servant of the Most High, Bajazet had arrogated to himself too much authority.- It was necessary, therefore, that he should be humbled, even at the expense of his throne and his life. Soliman, his son, succeeded to the Ottoman throne and reigned eight years, and was slain by his brother Mousa. " The investiture of Mousa de- graded him as the slave of the Monguls ; his tributary kingdom of Ana- tolia was confined within a narrow limit, nor could his broken militia and empty treasure contend with the hardy and veteran bands of the sovereign of Roumania. Mousa fled in disguise from the palace of Boursa ; traversed the Propontis in an open boat ; wandered over the Walachian and Servian hills ; and, after some vain attempts, ascended the throne of Adrianople, so recently stained with the blood of Soliman." — Gibbon. In a reign of 3^ years Mousa was successful against the Christians of Hungary and the Morea, but he was ruined by his timorous conduct and unseasonable clem- ency. Resigning the sovereignty of Anatolia, he fell a victim to the per- fidy of his ministers, and the superior ascendant of his brother Moham- med. Eight years was the Mohammedan Sultan over Roumania and Ana- tolia. Duri'ng these years he was occupied in restoring the unity of the Ottoman empire. He appointed two viziers to oversee the education of his OTTOMAN 'phase. 339 son, Amurath II.; one of whom (Bajazet) was slain by the impostor Mus- tapha ; the other (Ibrahim) extinguished the rebellion occasioned by the pretenders to the throne of Bajazet, and secured the unity of the empire. These conflicts were occasioned by the rivalry between their Asiatic capital, Brousa, and their European capital, Adrianople. After the fall of Bajazet his sons had separate parts of the Ottoman empire. Roumania and Anatolia had each its Sultan ; yet the most noble of the Turks con- tended for the unity of the empire. A moment's thought will make it clear that the unity of the Ottoman empire was an element necessary to enable that family to act as the custodian of the Eastern highways, since the position required the united strength of a great empire to hold back the growing power of the north. For about twelve years three sons of Bajazet governed each a separate part of the empire. It was united under his son Mohammed, A. D. 1413. Before Bajazet's captivity this youth had been placed in the government of Amasia, at a distance from Constantinople. This castle was considered impregnable; and the city of Amasia, on both banks of the river Iris, was built in the form of an amphitheatre, and was a miniature image of Bagdad on the Tigris. Timour in his terrible overthrow of Anatolia, had overlooked this obscure corner of that unfortunate country. Here Mohammed maintained his obscure independence. During the contests of his more powerful brothers, Soliman and Mousa, he remained neutral ; but on the fall of Soliman and triumph of Mousa, he came for thus the heir and avenger of the unfortunate Soli- man. He finally succeeded, in an eight years' reign, in combining the fragments of the Ottoman empire, and securely held Gallipoli, the key of Europe. The approaches to Constantinople, by sea, east and west, were in the hands of the Ottoman Turks. During the reign of Mohammed, Man- ual, the Greek emperor, was respected, who made him the guardian of his two sons. This act offended the national honor and religion of the Turks, and the divan unanimously pronounced that the royal youths should never be abandoned to the custody and education of a Christian dog (as they called the Greek emperor). Amurath II. succeeded his father, A. D. 1422. His conquests in Europe were of considerable note. He took Salonica and destroyed all its inhab- itants, invaded and subdued Servia, putting to death all before him ; entered Transylvania, ravaging the country and vanquishing the natives, and acted the same victorious parts in Wallachia. He gained the famous battle of Varnia, in which Ladislaus, King of Hungary, was slain. Amur- ath was less successful against Scanderberg, Prince of Epirus. The reign of Amurath, on the whole, was one of progression to the Othmans. The aim of the Ottomans was conquest of the Greek empire, and the occupancy of the City of Constantinople. Amurath besieged the city, but failed in his efforts. A crowd of volunteers came from Asia, desiring to share in the religious merit of subduing the City of the Cassars. Their military ardor was inflamed by the promise of rich spoils and beautiful females. After a siege of two months Amurath was recalled to Brousa by a domestic revolt, occasioned by Greek treachery, and was soon extinguished by the 340 THE EASTERN QUESTION, death of a guiltless brother. While he led his Janizaries to new con- quests in Europe and Asia, the Byzantine empire was indulged in a servile and precarious rest for thirty years. Manuel died, and John Palseologus was allowed to reign for an annual tribute of 300,000 aspers (15,000£), and the loss of almost all of his possessions beyond the suburbs of Con- stantinople. The following remarks of Gibbon deserve attention, who describes without seeing God in history. " In the establishment and restoration of the Turkish empire, the first merit must doubtless be assigned to the personal qualities of the Sultans ; since, in human life, the most important scenes will depend on the charac- ter of a single actor. By some shades of widsom and virtue, they may be discriminated from each other ; but, except in a single instance, a period of nine reigns and two hundred and sixty-five years is occupied from the elava- tion of Othman to the death of Soliman, by a rare series of warlike and active princes, who impressed their subjects with obedience and their enemies with terror. Instead of the slothful luxury of the seraglio, the heirs of royalty were educated in the council and the field; from early youth they were intrusted by their fathers with the command of provinces and armies, and this manly institution, which was often productive of civil war, must have essentially contributed to the discipline and vigor of the monarchy. The Ottomans can not style themselves, like the Arabian caliphs, the descendants or successors of the apostle of God ; and the kindred which they claim with the Tartar Khans of the house of Zingis appears to be founded in flattery rather than in truth. Their origin is obscure ; but their sacred and indefeasible right, which no time can erase, and no vio- lence can infringe, was soon and unalterably implanted in the minds of their subjects. A weak or vicious Sultan may be deposed and strangled, but his inheritance devolves to an infant or an idiot; nor has the most dar- ing rebel presumed to ascend the throne of his lawful Sovereign. While the transient dynasties of Asia have been continually subverted by a crafty vizier in the palace, or a victorious general in the camp, the Ottoman succession has been confirmed by the practice of five centuries, and is now incorporated with the vital principle of the Turkish nation. To the spirit and constitution of that nation a strong and singular influence may, however, be ascribed." The following sketch of the Turkish educa- tion and discipline comes principally from Ricaut's State of the Ottoman empire. It has too direct a bearing on our subject to allow it to be omitted: "The primitive subjects of Othman were the four hundred families of wandering Turkmans, who had followed his ancestors from the Oxus to the Sangar; and the plains of Anatolia are still covered with the white and black tents of their rustic brethren. But this original drop was dissolved in the mass of voluntary and vanquished subjects, who, under the name of Turks, are united by the common ties of religion, language and man- ners. In the cities, from Urzeroum to Belgrade, the national appellation is common to all Moslems, the first and most honorable inhabitants; but they have abandoned, at least in Roumania, the villages and the culti- vation of the land to the Christian peasants. In the vigorous age of the OTTOMAN PHASE. 341 Ottoman government the Turks were themselves excluded from all civil and military honors ; and a servile class, an artificial people, was raised by the discipline of education to obey, to conquer, and to command. From the time of Orchan and the first Amurath, the Sultans were persuaded that a government of the sword must be renewed in each generation with new soldiers; and that such soldiers must be sought, not in effeminate Asia, but among the hardy and warlike natives of Europe. The provinces of Thrace, Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria and Servia became the perpetual seminary of the Turkish army ; and when the royal fifth of the captives was diminished by conquest, an inhuman tax of the fifth child, or every fifth year, was rigorously levied on the Christian families. At the age of twelve or fourteen years the most robust youth were torn from their parents, their names were enrolled in a book, and from that moment they were clothed, taught and maintained for public service. According to the promise of their appearance they were selected for the royal schools of Boursa, Pera and Adrianople, intrusted to the care of bashaws, or dispersed in the houses of the Anatolian peasantry. It was the first care of their masters to instruct in the Turkish language ; their bodies were exercised by every labor that could fortify their strength ; they learned to wrestle, to leap, to run, to shoot with the bow, and afterwards with the musket, till they were drafted into the chambers and companies of the Janizaries, and severely trained in the military or monastic discipline of the order. The youths most conspicuous for birth, talents and beauty were admitted into the inferior class of Argia moglans, or the more liberal rank of Ichoglans, of whom the former was attached to the palace, and the latter to the person of the prince. In four successive schools, under the rod of the white eunuchs, the arts of horsemanship and of darting the javelin were their daily exer- cise, while those of a more studious cast applied themselves to the study of the Koran and the knowledge of the Arabic and Persian tongues. As they advanced in seniority and merit, they were gradually dismissed to military, civil, and even ecclesiastical employments: the longer their stay, the higher was their expectation, till, at a mature period, they were admitted into the number of the forty ages, who stood before the Sultan, and were promoted by his choice to the government of provinces and the first honors of the empire. Such a mode of institution was admirably adapted to the form and spirit of a despotic monarchy. The ministers and generals were, in the strictest sense, the slaves of the emperor, to whose bounty they were indebted for their instruction and support. When they left the Seraglio, and suffered their beards to grow as the symbol of enfranchisement, they found themselves in an important oflice, without fraction or friendship, without parents and without heirs, dependent on the hand which had raised them from the dust, and which, on the slightest displeasure, could break in pieces these statues of glass, as they were aptly termed by the Turkish prov- erb. In the slow and painful steps of education, their characters and talents were unfolded to a discerning eye : the man, naked and alone, was reduced to the standard of his personal merit; and, if the sovereign had wisdom to choose, he possessed a pure and boundless liberty of choice. The Ottoman 342 THE EASTERN QUESTION, candidates were trained by the virtue of abstinence to those efFections by the habits of submission to those of command. A similar spirit was diffused among the troops; and their science and sobriety, their patience and modesty, have extorted the reluctant praise of their Christian enemies. Nor can the victory be doubtful if we compare the discipline and exercise of the Janizaries with the pride of birth, the independence of chivalry, the ignorance of the new levies, the mutinous temper of the veterans, and the vices of intemperance and disorder which so long contaminated the armies of Europe. During the reign of Amurath II. the Otto wan empire recovered its unity and power, and had gathered its forces around Constantinople, ready to commence the siege preparatory to assuming the duties of the national custodian. The Greek empire had within its Capital a new element of great power, gun-powder. Had it made a proper use of that enemy, its life might still have been spared for some years. The secret of its compo- sition and use, though originated by Christian Europe (some give it to the Chinese), was betrayed to the Turks, who made use of it for the overthrow of the great city. Amurath II, was succeeded by his son, Mohammed 11., A. D. 1451, who was called "the greatest warrior of all the Turkish Sultans." The taking of Constantinople has rendered his name immortal. Till that work was accomplished he was simply a man of one idea: "How can I take Constantinople?" This one thought haunted him day and night. "At the dead of night, about the second watch, he started from his bed and commanded the instant presence of his prime vizier. The message, the hour, the prince, and his own situation, alarmed the guilty conscience of Calil Basha, who had possessed the confidence, and advised the restora- tion of Amurath (who had resigned to his son). On the accession of the son the vizier was confirmed in his office and the appearances of favor; but the veteran statesman was not insensible that he trod on a thin and slippery ice, which might break under his footsteps and plunge him the abyss. His friendship for Christians, which might be innocent under the late reign, had stigmatized him with the name of Gabour — Ortachi, or foster-brother of the infidels (Christians — W.); and his avarice entertained a venal and treasona- ble correspondence, which was detected after the conclusion of the war. On receiving the roj'al mandate he embraced, perhaps for the last time, his wife and children; filled a cup with pieces of gold, hastened to the palace, adored the Sultan, and offered, according to the oriental custom, the slight tribute of duty and his gratitude. ' It is not my wish,' said Mohammed, ' to resume my gifts, but rather to heap and multiply them on thy head. In my turn I ask a present far more valuable and important — Constantinople.' As soon as the vizier had recovered from his surprise, ' The same God,' said he, 'who has already given thee so large a portion of the Roman empire will not deny the remnant and the capital. His providence and thy power assure thy success ; and myself, with the rest of thy faithful slaves, will sacrifice our lives and fortunes.' ' Lala ' (or preceptor), continued the Sul- tan, ' do you see this pillow ? All the night in my agitation I have pulled OTTOMAN PHASE. 343 it on, one side and the other; I have arisen from my bed, again have I lain down; yet sleep has not visited these weary eyes. Beware of the gold and silver of the Romans; in arms we are superior; and with the aid of God and the prayers of the prophets we shall speedily become masters of Con- stantinople.' To sound the disposition of his soldiers he often wandered through the streets alone and in disguise, and it was fatal to discover the Sultan when he wanted to escape from the vulgar eye." — Gibbon. His time was occupied in drawing plans of the city, in conversing with his engineers and generals, as to the best localities and modes of at- tack ; where he should erect his batteries ; on which side assault the walls ; where spring the mines; to what place he should apply his scaling-ladders; and the exercises of the day carried out and proved the plans of his sleep- less nights. Such were the divine workings on the mind of this Ottoman Cyrus. The recent gunpowder discovery of the Latins he studied with intense interest, that he might know how to use it in the opening siege. A Dacian who had deserted to the Moslems, was asked by Mohammed if he was able to cast a cannon capable of throwing a ball or stone of sufficient size to batter the walls of Constantinople ? to which he replied : " I am not igno- rant of their strength ; but were they more solid than those of Babylon, I could oppose an engine of superior power ; the position and management of that engine must be left to your engineers." On this assurance, a foundry was erected at Adrianople; the metal was prepared, and at the end of three months Urban produced a piece of brass ordnance of stupen- dous, and almost incredible magnitude; a measure of twelve palms is as- signed to the bore ; and the stone bullet weighed about six hundred pounds. With this immense cannon the walls of Constantinople were broken. Mohammed began his work of siege in early spring (April 6) and took the city May 29, A. D. 1453. The taking of Constantinople gave to Moham- med II. the title of Bujuk (the Great). His army consisted of 258,000 men and a fleet of 320 vessels. Mohammed made Constantinople his capital. He sought to win back the inhabitants by promising them the free exercise of their religion. At this point of Ottoman history it is well to pause for the purpose of noting certain remarkable features that transpired between their royal encamp- ment, at the base of the golden mountains in distant northeastern Asia, and the inauguration into the office of Custodian of the national highways at Constantinople A. D. 1453. There exists a striking parallel between the education of the Medo-Persians under Cyrus for the overthrow of the As- syrian empire and the fall of Babylon, and that of the Turkish empire to conquer the Greek empire and Constantinople its capital. The Turkish drill was, however, vastly more extended and complicated. The Turkish training covers a space of nearly one thousand years, and includes three imperial administrations, (1) the Turko-Scythian, (2) the Seljukian, (3) the Ottoman. These, though all Turanian Turks, originally had each its distinct central locality, its distinct training and distinct national character; yet 344 THE EASTERN QUESTION, there can be seen a unity of purpose in the mind of the Great Supreme. God was evidently drilling a people for a specific mission. Foreseeing that the Greek empire through its luxurious effeminacy would not be able to hold back the great northern empire to the nomadic zone, so that the sacred locality might be kept in reserve for the future nationality of His people, He resolved to raise up a new empire, educated for and fully en- dowed with such attributes as would be required to be (a) guardian, visible of the holy land, while enjoying her sabbath; (6) a wall of defense against the southern encroachments of the North, Gog, or Russia ; (c) to be custo- dian of the great national highways between the East and West ; (d) and to execute the judgments of the Almighty on the eastern division of the great apostacy ; (e) and finally, to have such national vigor as to hold said positions till such a time as the king of the South be in such a position as to be able to aid her, and finally to release her from her national responsi- bilities. These five points must be kept constantly in view, if the divinity of Turkish character is to be understood. On the 29th of May, 433 years ago, the Ottoman empire was inducted into the office of European gate- keeper at Constantinople. That office it has executed to the present time. God took a man from Iran to overthrow the Babylonian empire, and a man from Turan to subjugate the latter Greek empire. We have traced the Turkman in his movements and nationalities till the day of his inaugura- tion. This we denominate the era of Turkman minority ; from the time of the induction into the office of custodian to the present, 1886-7, is the era of the Ottoman or Turkman's official reign. , It will be a matter of great interest to trace that empire through its official era, that we may learn the manner in which it has discharged its mission. How has that empire discharged the duties of guardian and cus- todian ? It must attain to sufficient vigor as to prevent the encroachments of the north on the free exercise of her official functions, till the British empire is ready to aid and protect her in her arduous duties. Before we examine the Ottoman official reign, it is well to trace some of the elements of Ottoman power at the time of its inauguration. By so doing we shall discover the secret of his great vitality and physical vigor. The elements of Ottoman nationality were numerous and exceedingly varied. The strength of her army was principally Slavonian. The Turks were the nobles and chief rulers ; but their trained soldiery and many civil officers were Europeans, who emigrated from Asia in the third or Slavonian migra- tion, who dwelt in Bulgaria, Servia, Bosnia, and Albania, the southern part of which was the ancient Ipirus. Those countries were formerly called Thrace, Macedon, Illyricum, Moesia. The Slavonians had long been settled in those countries, and becoming integral parts of the Greek empire, had embraced the tenets of the Greek Christians. The movements of the Turks towards southeastern Europe was gradual, occupying not less than 150 years. As the Hebrews were educated forty years in the wilderness, pre- paratory to entering upon their official duties in Palestine, in a similar naanner were the Ottomans under training for their future work in Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Assyria, Anatolia, and southeastern Europe. Their change OTTOMAN PHASE. 345 of latitude from northeastern Asia to Media and northern Persia was the first progressive lesson. Their changes in modes of life in the second em- pire were exceedingly great ; a change of religion, habits of thought, phys- ical exercise, manners and customs, in their dwellings and occupations. Under the first empire they were nationalized nomads ; under the second empire they drew the marks and outlines of national civilization ; a very important change in a people designed to hold one of the most responsible stations among the enlightened nations of Europe and of the world ; for, whatever approbrious epithets may be applied to the Turkish nation, the Supreme Governor of the destinies of all empires has seen fit, in His all- wise arrangements, to place that power during 433 years in the most re- sponsible position on the globe. Why has He done it ? Simply, that the Ottoman family has best suited His great national purposes. No other im- perial family could have done as well. Their third imperial centre was situated nearly two degrees further north, but about twenty-two degrees further west, and about 60 mile south of Constantinople. In this third capital they gathered and united the fragments of the second empire. Here they were located within the Asiatic territory of the Greek empire. Here they took their first lessons in Grecian civilization. The Sultans married into the imperial family, and visited back and forth on terms of very considerable familiarity. They difiered most in their religious creeds, the one family being strictly disci- ples of the Koran, the other idolatrous Christians. The Ottoman Turks, by family associations were gradually introduced into Europe, took posses- sion of the city approaches, and finally established a European capital at Adrianople. From that time to the conquest of Constantinople their European possessions rapidly increased, and their armies were composed of Europeans inhabiting Roumania, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Albania, and Rumelia. The Janizaries were at that time the most temperate and the best disci- plined soldiers in Europe and continued thus for a century. We give only so much of Turkish history as will enable the reader to discern its true mission. The Ottoman empire has its mission in compara- tively modern times, and, consequently, far this side of the completion of the Bible record. We do not expect to find the same minuteness as about Tyre and Babylon, still its destroying mission is very distinctly set forth in the Apocalypse, and we have reason for it, that it has been under the direct control and management of the Almighty, as perfectly as any of the great prophetic empires. What, therefore, the Ottoman empire has been officially, that God purposed it to be, and called out its elements and trained them for those specific purposes. Profane history records simply the past of peoples, tongues, families and empires, prophetic history de- scribes the same great events in advance. It describes things, agents, and actions that are not as if they were. Profane history is often very imper- fect. Prophetic never, since it is dictated by the Maker of history. In entering upon the investigation of the official history of the Otto- man empire, dating back to May 29, 1453, the day of its inauguration, we shall trace its principal acts and their bearing on its great national mis- 346 THE EASTERN QUESTION, sion. That it has a mission cannot be doubted ; what that mission is can be readily learned, as to its general features, by learning what it has ac- complished. Much has been said and written against the Turk and his empire. No opprobrious epithet has been too strong for men's (Chris- tian's!) tongues to utter. Expositors talk of the Turkman as a vile in- truder upon European territory, that he should be driven out of Europe and back to his native seat in northeastern Asia. The feeling of the cru- sades still exists among professed Christians. Expositors are eloquent when describing the pains of the " sick man," and the " drying up of the Euphrates," and seem earnestly desirous of such an event to transpire im- mediately. To such we would kindly propound the following among other questions that might be named. (1) If the Turk is driven out of Europe, what nation shall do it ? (2) What nation has a more legitimate right there than the Turk ? (3) Are not all European national families of Asiatic origin ? (4) Do they not hold their dominion by conquest ? (5) What right has Russia to Constantinople or European Turkey? What right has Austria or any other European nation ? (6) If the Turkish empire is removed, who but the Russian will do it ? (7) If Russia drives out the Turk, who but Russia will hold the land ? (8) If Russia holds her territory, would not Palestine fall to her ? (9) If Gog gets premature possession of Palestine, what will become of Jewish emigration and Jewish nationality ? (10) If the Jew cannot occupy European Russia, how can he erect a nation in the heart of the new Asiatic Russia? (11) Can Turkey fall without a previous universal war? (12) How can the Jews form a kingdom in the midst of desolating war? THE OFFICIAL REIGN OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE FROM A. D. 1453 TO 1887. This period covers four centuries and thirty-three years of national his- tory — a period full of interesting events ; such as have had much to do in shaping the nationalities of Europe into their varied complications. (1) A remark relative to God's sovereignty over the nations, explana- tory of what we have stated, may be in place. Under absolute monarchies, such as the Russian and Ottoman empires which are under the supreme control of one mind, that one will, for the time being, shapes the character of the government. God must, therefore, exercise, in some manner, a con- trolling power over that supreme ruler. We do not take the position that God makes a passive being of him ; using him as a mechanic his tools ; but that He controls him so far as not to allow him to thwart His great na- tional purposes. We have samples of His mode of government of kings in His treatment of the Pharaoh of Egypt, and Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. They act out their own wicked purposes till they collide with the resistless chariots of Jehovah. Without such overruling power and management the future would be a chaotic uncertainty. OTTOMAN PHASE. 347 (2) God makes us3 of agents to carry out His purposes. Angels are thus occupied. Men, both good and bad, are selected as His agents. Cyrus was chosen to accomplish a certain work, the overthrow of Babylon. In that mission he was under God's direct control. Nations are selected for similar purposes. God designed to scatter His people, as a punishment. He commissioned the four Gentile monarchies to accomplish the work. Persons and nations, in carrying out the instructions of their commissions, add many of their own wicked acts, for which they in turn suffer punish- ment. The nations that have scattered Judah and Israel have added cruelty and oppression instead of human sympathy. An executioner com- mits a great sin when he executes the duties of his office with feelings of delight. The Son of God "■ By wicked hands was crucified and slain." Acts ii. 23. The point which we wish here to make is simply this, modern nations, with their rulers supreme, are equally subjected to the Divine pur- poses. This is a corollary, deduced from the main proposition, of God's universal government of Earth's nationalities. In treating of the Ottoman Phase of the Eastern Question we have labored to make their mission in- telligible to the reader. We are laboring to show the special mission of each great power in the coming contest. Under the Hebrew Phase we de- sign to give the definition of the true Eastern Question, and give the Di- vine solution of the true problem. The Ottoman empire is now executing the ofiSces of Custodian and Guardian, as well as an avenger and fortress, for 433 years. Let us examine her official history that we may learn with what intelligence and fidelity she has discharged the duties of her various offices. Constantinople was made the capital of the Ottoman empire by Mo- hammed II., A. D. 1453. He reigned till 1481 ; in all about thirty-one years. He was a deadly foe to Christianity ; never conversing with Chris- tians, without he immediately purified his hands and face by the legal rites of ablution. His passions were inexorable. Having subjugated the Greek capital he continued his ruinous course through the Grecian provinces and islands till the fragments of that empire were annihilated. It was boasted that Mohammed II. was the conqueror of two empires, twelve kingdoms, and two hundred cities. In 1467, after the destruction of four Turkish armies, at the head of the fifth, Mohammed took and annexed to his em- pire Epirus. He extended the Ottoman empire in Asia, towards Persia; .carried his arms into Italy, and took Otranto; but died in 1481 at Nico- media, while on his way to join his son Bajazet, who was waging war against Persia and Egypt. His military contests were divided between Persia and Europe. It is said that Mohammed was possessed of great abilities ; he was brave, enterprising, and sagacious ; he was not deficient in learning, as he spoke four languages fluently, skilled in geography, ancient history, and the natural science, and had a practical knowledge of the fine arts. But the brilliancy of his career, and the occasional generosity and even mag- nanimity which he showed, can not obliterate the recollection of those arts of cruelty and treachery which have branded him as the most ruthless 348 THE EASTERN QUESTION, tyrant of the house of Othman. He is held in revered memory by the Turks, as the founder of Ottoman power in Europe. Under Mohammed II. the Ottoman empire was very considerably en- larged. He gave it Constantinople, which still remains as its seat of em- pire, both for its possessions in the three grand divisions, Europe, Asia, and Africa, Under this Sultan the empire was still rising; enlarging its boun- daries and growing in the splendor and vigor of its administration. The Cresent was an appropriate symbol of its growing power. (2) Bajazet II. became Sultan on the death of his father, A. D. 1481, and reigned till A. D. 1512 — 31 years. His reign, which continued nearly thirty-two years, was constantly occupied in wars ; with Egypt, in Africa ; Persia, in Asia; and Venice, Poland, and Hungary, in Europe. They were attended with no very great success. On the whole, however, the Ottoman empire was still rising ; such was required in the nature of its mission. The great northern power, which was to be held back by the Ottoman imperial chordon, was rapidly increasing, with an innate desire to possess Constantinople. The increase of Russian power and aspirations re- quired a corresponding growth of Ottoman, since, in these early days of the British empire, it could have obtained no help from that source. The care- ful reader must keep his eye on the three great powers, England, Russia, and Turkey. European national movements were too young at that early period, even to outline their present immense proportions. The Ottoman and British empires had then no political relationship ; nor had the Turks any national sympathy in Europe. The Cresent and the Cross were then implacable enemies. Such was the hostility of the Koran to the Bible. " The Turkish casuists have pronounced that no promise can bind the faithful against the interest and duty of their religion ; and that the Sul- tan may abrogate his own treaties and those of his predecessors." — Gibbon. The Ottoman empire, therefore, while it battled alone, and for the propaga- tion of a new and hostile religion, necessarily required a growth of power in the ratio of the increase of its enemies' power. Our view of the charac- ter of the Ottoman mission requires such growth. Egypt, Syria, Palestine, and Asia minor must come under Turkish dominion and guardianship. Bajazet (pronounced Bayazet) was a friend to the dervishes (Turkish monks), at the same time liberal, and fond of pomp and splendor. Many of the most beautiful mosques in Constantinople and Adrianople were built by him, and fitted up in a style of the greatest magnificence. Bajazet, exhausted with fatigue and debauchery, was anxious to place his crown upon the head of his eldest son, Ahmed. In this critical situation Selim, his youngest son, arrived in the vicinity of Constantinople under pretense of visiting his father. This young prince was soon surrounded by the whole court, who ranged themselves under his banners ; and the aged mon- arch, foreseeing what would be the event of such a visit, resigned his crown into the hands of Selim. (3) Selim I. became Sultan of the Ottoman empire at the age of forty- five years, A. D. 1512, April 25. To make himself secure upon the throne lie caused his father, brothers and nephews to be put to death, thus begin- OTTOMAN PHASE. 349 ning a policy which he followed inflexibly through the whole of his sub- sequent reign, viz., to destroy without scruple every actual or possible ob- stacle to the accomplishment of his own ends. Forced onward by a de- vouring appetite for conquest, and by the warlike fanaticism of the Jani- zaries he declared war against Persia (1514), and marched to the East with 250,000 men, putting to death, on the way, 40,000 Shiites. He defeated Shah Ismail at Calderoon with immense loss. He gained possession of Diar- bekir and Kurdistan. In the year following he conquered Armenia, and leaving his lieutenants to finish and hold the conquests, he marched against the Mameluke Sultan of Egpyt, totally defeated him, A. D. 1510. Syria was also taken. The victorious Turks then entered Cairo, without opposition, A. D. 1517. Touman-Bey and his chief supporters were put to death, and Egypt incorporated with the Ottoman empire. Selim, how- ever, as he imagined he could not insure the quiet possession of Egypt, but by the total extinction of that people, offered rewards to those who should discover any of them, and denounced the severest punishment against such as concealed them. When he thought he had them all assembled he ordered a superb throne erected for him upon the bank of the Nile, without the gates of Cairo ; and these unhappy wretches being brought into his presence he caused them all to be murdered before his eyes, and their bodies to be thrown into the river. While in Egypt, the Sultan Selim I., received from the last lineal descendant of the Abbaside Caliph, who was then resident in Egypt, the religious prestige which had devolved upon himself, by descent, and at the same time, bestowed upon him the title of " Imaum," and the standard of the prophet. (Imaum means teacher. The Sultan himself has the title of Imaum, as the spiritual chief of all the Moslems). In consequence of this gift, the Ottoman Sultan became the chief of Islam, as the representative of Mohammed, and the sacred cities of Mecca and Medina, along with the chief Arabian tribes, in consequence acknowledged his supremacy. In less than four years, Selim did more to extend the Ottoman empire than any of his most renowned predecessors during a whole reign. He laid the foundation of a regular marine, constructed the arsenal at Pera, punished the insolence of the Janizaries, and labored to ameliorate, by better insti- tutions, the condition of the various nations he had conquered. " He died Sept. 22, 1520, while planning fresh campaigns against both Persians and Christians." The reign of Selim I. was of short duration, but very prosperous to the Ottoman empire. The incorporation with the empire of Egypt and Syria, and his ecclesiastical authority were events of the first magnitude. It makes the Sultan a royal high-priest of the Mohammedan world. In him is vested the supreme authority of Church and State. Egypt and Syria complete the list of those countries where are located the toll-gates of the great Eastern and Western highways. That empire, in Syria, Armenia and Anatolia secured the land of Israel. The Ottoman empire rose very rapidly during this reign, but did not reach its Zenith. (4) Solyman II., "The Magnificent," said to be the greatest of Turkish 350 THE EASTERN QUESTION, Sultans, was born A. D. 1496, and succeeded to the throne of his father, Selim I., A. D. 1520. He was carefully instructed by his father, in the secrets of Ottoman policy. He introduced many reforms ; restored confis- cated property ; and removed from office, those that had shown themselves unworthy or incapable. He suppressed the revolt of the governor of Syria, exterminated the remnant of the Mamelukes ; and concluded a treaty with Persia. Leaving the East, he formed the design of extending his empire in Europe as his father had in Asia. The indiscreet insolence of the Hunga- rian court, drew him into that country with a powerful army, and Belgrade, its key, was taken A. D. 1521. He then directed his arms against the Chris- tians, and took Rhodes from the Knights of St. John, who had occupied the island for more than two hundred years. He afterwards turned his forces against Hungary. He gained a signal victory at Mohacz, A. D. 1526, and pushed forward to Buda, which was taken, and Pesth. At this point, he had news of a rebellion in the East. On his way to Constantinople, down the Danube, he moved upon the tide of desolation. In 1529 he re- turned into Hungary with a mighty army, taking and destroying every- thing in his pathway. He laid siege to Vienna, but failed and retreated. Two years later, (A. D. 1531) he again invaded Hungary, but was checked In his progress by Charles V. in person, who had come with the imperial army of 250,000, in aid of his brother. He retired to his own territory. In 1535 he concluded with Francis I., the famous treaty which opened the commerce of the Levant to the French flag alone. In 1540 the Turks gained entire possession of Hungary, making king John tributary. After this conquest, the alliance between the French and the Turks began to produce its fruits ; the combined fleets ravaged the Italian coasts, and, in 1542 pillaged Nice. Peace was made with Germany in 1547. The Turks were now supreme in the Mediterranean ; Gozzo and Tripoli fell in his possession. A second and third war with Persia now partly subjugated, were successful. He gained a brilliant naval victory over the Knights of Malta and their allies the Spaniards. He also took Bagdad, the whole of Assyria and Mesopotamia. In a word he extended his reputation as a warrior to both extremities of the world. Solyman died at the siege of Szeged in September 5, 1566. Solyman II. stood, in the Ottoman empire, as Trajan in the Roman empire, on the summit of its power and grandeur. It was now 267 years since Othman, the founder of that domination, entered the territory of Nicomedia, a Greek province; and 113 years after Constantinople had been made the Turkish capital. Egypt and part of northern Africa; Syria, in- cluding Palestine, Assyria, Mesopotamia; pg-rt of Persia; Armenia and nearly all Asia Minor ; all southeastern Europe, including Hungary, and a portion of Russia, north of the Black Sea; the command of the entire Mediterranean sea, with many of its islands, under this able Sultan, formed the Ottoman empire. That empire, at this period, was fully inducted into its offices, of Custodian of the great Eastern highways; guardian of the Holy Land, and its sacred localities; in a word, the great empire, to hold the land of Israel from the encroachment of the northern Gog till the em- OTTOMAN PHASE. 351 pire of the south should be able to come to its aid and release the Ottoman power from its arduous duties. We shall look for the Ottoman empire to decrease as the British empire increases towards the East. The Ottoman power, henceforward, might have used the language of one of old, "He (the British empire) must increase, but I (Ottoman empire) must decrease." That decrease has been very gradual, having already extended through more than three centuries. (5) Selim II., succeeded his father Solyman in 1566, and continued at the head of the Turkish empire till A. D. 1574. Under his reign, the ,em- pire met with two reverses. (1) The first was with the Russians. Under his reign was the first collision of the Turks with the Russians. Selim thought that the connection of the Don and Volga by a canal would, by allowing the passage of ships from the Black Sea into the Caspian, be a valuable aid to both military and commercial enterprise, and accordingly he sent 5,000 workmen to cut a canal, and an army to aid and protect them. But unluckily, the possession of Astrakhan formed part of the programme, and the attack of this town waked up the Russian hive, a people till then unknown in southern Europe, and the canal scheme came to an end. (2) The second reverse was a naval engagement at Lepanto, in Greece, October 7, 1571, between the Christian allied fleet, of 210 sail, under the command of Don John of Austria ; and the Ottoman fleet of 300 galleys, commanded by Ali Pasha. The Turkish line was broken, the admiral Ali slain, and Cervantes was dangerously wounded. The Venetian ships, at the same time, attacked the Turkish right, a terrible defeat of the Turks followed. More than 3,000 Christians were killed. The Turks lost 30,000 men in killed and wounded, and 107 galleys were taken and a large number sunk. Thousands of Christian galley slaves were liberated by this victory. In this naval engagement the whole marine force of the Turks being brought into service, their navy was almost annihilated. The latter part of his reign was occupied in petty wars with Venice, Spain, and his rebellious feudatory of Moldavia. From this time and on- ward Turkey will have frequent conflicts with her great northern foe, the Russian. Peter the Great, about one century later enunciates in his will the Russian policy, relative to Constantinople and European Turkey. (6) Amurath III. became Sultan, A. D. 1574, and reigned till A. D. 1595, 21 years. In his reign the Turks dictated to the Poles relative to the choice of a king. To keep his untractable Janizaries occupied, he made war upon Russia, Poland, Germany, and Venice, and subdued Georgia. In 1589 the English embassy to Turkey was received. The object of that embassy was to conclude an alliance against Philip II. of Spain. This was one year after the Spanish Armada had been sent to England to crush Protestant- ism. At this time England, under Elizabeth, could command only 30 small ships of the line to oppose the Armada of 130 vessels, larger than any that had yet been built. It is said of Amurath, that his first words to his courtiers at his accession were, "I am hungry; give me something to eat," these were prophetic of the famines and disasters of his reign. Queen Elizabeth gained his friendship in 1579 and entered into the above-named 352 THE EASTERN QUESTION, treaty. Amurath was of quiet disposition, a lover of justice, and very zealous in his religion. The three great powers which now fill such im- portant positions in the great East and over the world, began to form national associations. England and Russia were in these early days in- ferior to Turkey, but they were each rapidly growing while Turkey had shown symptoms of incipient decline. Turkey rendered England no aid against Spain for the reason that the destruction of the Spanish Armada rendered his interference unnecessary. * Amurath carried on an exhausting, yet successful war with Persia, had a long contest with Austria which was attended at first with brilliant suc- cess, approaching within 40 miles of Vienna, but afterward suffered such terrible defeats that they were compelled to evacuate all Hungary and Tran- sylvania, and were saved from destruction by the Poles who entered Mol- davia and drove out the Transylvanians and Hungarians, thus giving the Turks an opportunity of rallying, and even recovering some of their losses. History says, "The latter part of this war happened during the reign of Mohammed III. (1595-1604), and offered unmistakable symptoms of the decline of Turkish prowess, and showed the weakness of the central administration." (7) Mohammed III. reigned from A. D. 1595 to A. D. 1604. He began his reign by putting to death 19 brothers, took away the lives of all the late" Sultan's wives and concubines, lest there might be some Posthumous progeny. There were perpetual fightings between the Janizaries and his other soldiers. The Pashas rebelled in many provinces, and the Sultan through fear made peace with them by confirming them in their offices. Immersed in the pleasures of the Seraglio, Mohammed be- stowed no other attention on public affairs than was necessarily required. He caused his eldest son, a prince of inestimable qualities, to be put to death. The reign of such a monarch necessarily weakened the empire. (8) Ahmed became Sultan A. D. 1604 at the age of about fifteen years, and reigned till A. D. 1617. It was soon evinced that he was worthy of the sceptre. His reign was noted for the many fires in Constantinople, which were signs of a restless, discontented population. Internal dissensions marked his reign. (9) Mustapha, his brother, succeeded him in A. D. 1617. By his cruel- ties he became so odious that he was deposed, and sent to prison in the castle of the seven towers, and his nephew, son of Ahmed, was placed on the throne in 1618. (10) Othman, much displeased with his unruly Janizaries, meditated revenge against them, but, as he was not able to banish them from Con- stantinople, he formed the design of removing the seat of government into Asia. The Janizaries learning his intention, put to death his grand vizier, whom they supposed to be the author of the measure, imprisoned Othman, who was soon put to death, and reinstated Mustapha on the throne. This, however, was of no advantage to the uncle. He was treated as an idiot, led about upon an ass, exposed to the derision and insults of the populace, OTTOMAN PHASE. 353 and then carried back to prison, where he was strangled by the orders of his successor. (11) Amurath IV., brother of Othman, began to reign A. D. 1623, and was Sultan till A. D. 1640. By his courage and intrepidity he repressed the turbulence of the Janizaries. He waged a successful war with Austria for Hungary, but this Avas more than counterbalanced in Persia, where Sha Abbas the "great, conquered Mesopotamia, Kurdistan, and Armenia, and in the north where the Poles and Russians threw off his allegiance. His amuse- ment was to run about the streets in the night with a sabre in his hand, and to cut down all whom he met. No empire could prosper under such chiefs as were the last four Sultans. Had there not come a speedy change for the better the days of the Ottoman empire would long since have been numbered. God in his allwise providence had ordered it otherwise. (12) Ibrahim, the brother of Amurath IV., succeeded to the throne, A. D. 1640, and reigned till A. D. 1648, when, not being able to put down a revolt among the Janizaries, excited by the mufti (expounders of law) resigned his crown, and was, soon after, put to death. His acts were of but little service to the empire. Called from a four years' imprisonment to the throne, he was so intoxicated by the pleasures, that, resigning the administration of the government to the former ministers, he devoted him- self wholly to the luxuries of the harem. Under his reign, Mustafa, the grand vizier, a person of noted ability and integrity, stood at the helm of government ; he took from the Poles their conquests ; and in a war with the Venetians, in 1645, obtained the island of Candia, and nearly all their strongholds in the ^gean Sea, with the loss, however, of some towns in Dalmatia. (13) Mohammed IV., the eldest son of Ibrahim, became Sultan, A. D. 1648, and directed the government till A. D. 1687 — 89 years. His reign was commenced under very unfavorable circumstances. He was only seven years old when called to the throne, at which time the whole power was vested in the Janizaries and their partisans, who made use of it for their own selfish ends. Fortunately, however, for the Ottoman empire, a person of obbcure birth, Mohammed Koprili by name, supposed to be of French descent, was, at the age of 70 years, appointed vizier, and his ex- traordinary abilities were the salvation of the Turkish empire. Koprili was succeeded by his son Achmet, A. D. 1661, a man of equal ability, and under his masterly guidance the central government at Constantinople recovered its control over even the most distant provinces; a formidable war with Germany, though unsuccessfully carried on (in 1663), was con- cluded by a peace advantageous to the Turkish empire ; Crete was sub- dued, and Podolia taken from the Poles; though, soon after, much of the last acquired territor}^ was recovered by John Sobieski. Achmet's suc- cessor overran tlie Austrian territories, and laid siege to Vienna; but the siege was raised, and his army defeated by a combined army under the duke Charles of Lorraine, and John Sobieski, king of Poland. The Aus- trians, taking advantage of this victory, repossessed themselves of Hun- gary, inflicting upon the Turks a bloody defeat at Mohacz, A. D. 1687. 23 354 THE EASTERN QUESTION, He abdicated in 1687. The exploits of Mohammed IV. were glorious, and did much to re-establish the primitive greatness of the Ottoman power. His famous siege of Candia, which subjected the ancient Crete to the standard of the Crescent is one of the marked events of history. "At the beginning of the eighteenth century fathers at Vienna were accus- tomed to relate to their children the battles which they had witnessed un- der the walls of that city when great Sobieski shattered the hopes of the Mohammedans." He was distinguished for mercy, and seldom com- manded his troops in person. Because of this absence from his army the troops revolted and placed the crown on one of his brothers. His exploits would fill the pages of volumes. (13) Solymann II., his brother, succeeded to the throne A. D. 1687, and reigned till 1691. He was the means of restoring glory and fortune to the Turkish arms. He had to support a disastrous war against Germany and Venice, the misfortunes of which were attended with the most ruinous consequences. But Kiopruli Mustapha Pasha being appointed grand vizier, regenerated the empire, and putting himself at the head of the main army, besieged and took the fortress of Belgrade. Solyman died of the dropsy. One point in these Ottoman struggles deserves special note : a want of suc- cess against the German nationalities. Their subjugation to the Turkish empire was not an element in the programme of God's family arrangements. Germans are too intimately associated by blood with that people whom Je- hovah has purposed to make the central empire ; — the hub of the great na- tional wheel. When righteousness is made the world's ruling element, the family of Shem must furnish the chief and the principal subordinate rulers. (14) Ahmed II., brother to Solyman II., was Sultan of the Ottoman empire from A. D. 1691 to 1695. He was killed on the banks of the Danube when on the point of obtaining a victory. He was a man of little judg- ment and little influence in the government. (15) Mustapha II., son of Mohammed IV., was Sultan from A. D. 1695 to A. D. 1702. He imparted vitality and vigor to the empire. He commanded his troops in person ; still he met with a more disgraceful and more complete defeat than the Turks had ever experienced. He was occu- pied with wars against Austria. On the death of Koprili (or Kiopruli) for- tune deserted the Turks, and the peace of Carlowitz, in 1699, forever put an end to Turkish domination in Hungary. His troops not receiving their pay, according to stipulation, took up arms, deposed Mustapha, and invited his brother, Ahmed (or Achmet) to repair to the camp preparatory to tak- ing the command. (16) Ahmed III. (Achmet), brother to Mustapha II., became Sultan of the Ottoman empire in A. D. 1702, and reigned till A. D. 1730. In the course of five months Ahmed put to death more than 14,000 soldiers who had taken the greatest share in the rebellion ; they were carried away in the night and drowned in the Bosphorus. During his reign a war com- menced between the Ottoman empire and Russia ; the war with Germany and Venice was rekindled, and another war was carried on in Persia. These OTTOMAN PHASE. 355 military expeditions, though some times attended with success, reduced the empire to a state of general weakness, which was felt particularly in Constantinople. They tended to irritate the minds of men and prepare the people for a revolt. The war with Russia was brought on by Charles XII. of Sweden, while residing at Bender, a town in Turkey. He had been de- feated by the Russians and fled to the Turks for protection. While there Charles XII. induced the Sultan to declare war against Russia. The Czar, Peter the Great, relying on the uncertain aid of Woiwode of Moldavia, found himself in great danger, which was finally turned by the genius of his queen, afterward Catharine I. The recovery, in part, of the Morea from the Venetians, and the loss of Belgrade, and parts of Servia and Wallachia, afterwards recovered by Mahmud I., (Mohammed V.), and the beginning of a long war with Persia concluded the acts of his reign. (17) Mahmud I. ascended the Ottoman throne A. D. 1730, and reigned till A. D. 1754. Under his reign (Mahmud I., or Mohammed V.) began a new era in the Turkish empire; (1) it was the era of a change in the mode of administration. Before this time, from the days of Mohammed II., the whole administration had been usually delegated to viziers ; but since this and the preceding rebellion had originated in the overgrown power and ambition of these officers, Mahmud I. took the authority into his own hands and determined to change his viziers frequently. (2) This was the era of the commencement of active Russian aggression. The reign of Peter the Great marked the beginning of the Russian policy to take Constan- tinople and absorb the Ottoman empire. That scheme haunted him by day and in his night vision ; and so intensely did it occupy his living hours that he bequeathed the thought to the future czars of his empire to use all possible means to take Constantinople and to drive the Turks out of Europe. Not being able to accomplish this work alone Russia sought to associate with him the empire of Austria. To fully understand the ele- ments of the Eastern Question in these early times, we shall be obliged to bring upon the national theatre another power, the British empire, that, even then, ruled the ocean, and was gradually moving eastward and taking possession of the East Indies. It was the opinion of Peter the Great that the power that held India would rule the world. In our history of the British and Russian Phases we have traced their agencies in this east- ern contest. We now direct attention to the agency of the Ottoman, or middle empire ; the imperial chordon against Russian aggression ; the cus- todian of national highways to the East, the guardian of the land of Is- rael during its sabbath rest; the true and legal officer of these highways and interests till aided and released by the British, the great empire of the South ; three empires, the northern (or Russian), the southern (or British), and the middle (or Ottoman), empires. The movements of these empires must be strictly watched. They are intimately associated in the Divine plan of nationalities, and thus are they associated when the Mes- siah takes to him His great power and begins His reign of subjugation. One point, as we progress in Ottoman history, will call forth our aston- ishment, how the Turkish empire has sustained her European nationality 356 THE EASTERN QUESTION, against such fearful odds. The aid of the Almighty alone solves the problem. Russia must be held to the North till the Hebrew emigration and nationality are fully secured ; Gog must be kept out of the land of Israel until it is full of un walled villages (colonies), and the people (Hebrews) dwelling there have become wealthy. The art of printing was introduced into the Ottoman empire during this reign. (18) Othman III. became Sultan A. D. 1754, and reigned till A. D. 1757. His reign was not worthy of any special note, but is introduced to keep unbroken the chain of sultans. He was the brother of Mahmud I. and went from the prison to the throne. During the previous reign, the Austrians aiding the Russians, met with many disgraceful defeats. (19) Mustafa III. succeeded to the Turkish throne in A. D. 1757, and reigned till A. D. 1774. During his reign the empire continued in a state of profound tranquility. (20) Abdul-Hamid began to reign in A. D. 1774, and exercised the supreme power till A. D. 1789. During his reign there was a bloody war with the Russians. In violation of the treaty of Belgrade, the Russians invaded Moldavia. The war with Russia continued through his entire reign. The fortresses along the Danube were taken by the Russians, and the main army of the Turks was totally defeated at Shumla. Prince Gallitzin gained four great victories over the Turks. They overran Mol- davia and Wallachia, and gained a great naval victory off Chesme, where the whole of the Turkish fleet was destroyed. One historian thus speaks : "^The campaign (in which Shumla was taken — W.) was ended July 10, 1774, by the celebrated treaty of Kutshouk-Kainardji. In defiance of its provisions, the czarina took possession of the Crimea and the whole coun- try eastward to the Caspian. The Sultan was compelled by his indignant subjects to take up arms in 1787. In 1788 Austria made another foolish attempt to arrange with Russia a partition of Turkey ; but, as before, the Austrian forces were completely routed. The Russians, however, with their usual success, had overrun the northern provinces, taken all the prin- cipal fortresses, and captured or destro^^ed the Turkish fleet." The war was not terminated during the reign of Abdul-Hamid, though it had been ex- ceedingly disastrous to the Ottoman empire. There was vitality enough to continue the struggle. (21) Selim III. began to reign over the Ottoman empire A. D, 1789, and continued in power until A. D. 1807. He began the war against the Russians with great zeal; but the Austrians had again joined the Russians. Belgrade surrendered to the Austrians, while the Russians took Bucharest, Bender, Akerman, and Ismail; but aflairs in western Europe, putting on a critical aspect, made it advisable for Russia to terminate the war, and a treaty of peace was accordingly signed at Jassy, Jan. 9, 1792. By this treaty the provisions of Kainardji were confirmed, the Dniester was made the boundary line, the secession of the Crimea and the Kuban was con- firmed and Belgrade was restored to the Sultan. Under the reign of Selim III. political reforms were undertaken. They were supposed to be of French origin, since Selim was a great admirer of that people. His war OTTOMAN PHASE. 357 with Russia in which his army of 150,000 men was totally defeated, first by the prince of Coburg and the next by the Russian Suwarof, put a stop to his schemes of reform. He was troubled by the French expedition into Egypt under Napoleon ; still he continued a friend to the French, and fol- lowed many of the fashions of western Europe. These changes stirred up against him all the fanatic bigotry of his subjects. The priests of Islam preached revolt throughout the empire accusing their sovereign of infidelity to the Koran. A rebellion broke out and put to death those that were sent against it. The rebels marched to Constantinople, their ranks being swelled as they progressed by the bodies of disaffected Janizaries. Those that had favored the Sultan's schemes were slain, so that Selim was obliged to issue a decree to suppress the reforms, and to resign his crown to his cousin Mustapha IV, and was soon apprehended and put to death. The occupa- tion of Egypt brought on a war, which, by the aid of the British, resulted in the re-establishment of the Ottoman power over Napoleon in Egypt. (22) Mustaph IV. became Sultan in A. D. 1807, and gave way to an- other Sultan in 1808. His reign was ephemeral. (23) Mahmud II. began to reign A. D. 1808, and continued in power till A. D. 1839. He was an able and energetic sovereign. With dominion lessened by the loss of Greece, which had gained its independence in a severe and protracted struggle (1820 to 1829), aided by the enlightened Christian nations of Europe and of the country between the Dniester and the Pruth, which, by the treaty of 1812 at Bucharest, was surrendered to Russia, he instituted such reforms in every department of the government as to renovate the empire. His reforms of the army exposed him to the fury of the Janizaries, and only secured life his and throne by the destruc- tion of all the other members of the royal house of Osman. The war with Russia began and was carried on with great vigor. Russia and Turkey seemed to have no other object in this conflict than mutual destruction. After three years of severe fighting, which prostrated the strength of Tur- key, peace was concluded at Bucharest. To this peace (A. D. 1812) the Russians were inclined, because of the invasion of their country by a powerful army under Napoleon. Peace being concluded with Russia, Mahmud applied himself to the subjugation of the semi-independent pashas of the more distant provinces, and to the promotion of radical reforms in the various departments of the government. Various provin- cial rebellions were soon crushed. Greece gained its independence by the battle of Navarino 1827, and it was acknowledged by Turkey A. D. 1830. During the Greek revolution Mahmud had been secretly yet constantly maturing his plans of military reform, and in June 1826, the success of his schemes was crowned by the destruction of the Janizaries. The con- fusion in Turkey, following from their overthrow, was improved by Russia in obtaining other concessions. Mahmud, however, still continued his reforms with an iron will; such reforms as he deemed necessary to the stability of his government, and the prosperity of the empire. The un- fortunate results of the succeeding war with Russia, 1828-9, stimulated Mahmud to carry forward his reform schemes the more vigorously. The 358 THE EASTEEN QUESTION, success of the Greeks in gaining their independence and the success of the Russians, stimulated Mehemed Ali, pasha of Egypt, to make a similar effort for the independence of his own country. His success was extraor- dinary. This Viceroy was hy hirth a Macedonian ; but at an early period entered the Turkish army. In 1799 he was sent to Egypt with the com- mand of 300 troops to co-operate with the British against the French in- vaders. His superior military abilities rapidly developed, and he was made the commander of the Albanian forces in Egypt. In 1806 he was made by the Sultan Viceroy of Egypt. He was soon involved in a struggle against the Mamelukes, which resulted in their destruction as a body. Some fled, but were expelled from Egypt the following year. They were followed into Nubia and there utterly exterminated. He reorganized his army on the principles adopted in western Europe; built a fleet, erected fortresses, military workshops and arsenals. In 1827 his navy was de- stroyed in the battle of Navarino. Such was the success of Mehemed Ali (Mehemed Ali or Mohammed Ali) that the European powers interfered twice to save the Ottoman empire. Mehemet Ali, if he had been suffered to act out his own resistless purposes, would have conquered the Ottoman empire and renovated Egypt. He established a system of education, in- troduced the cultivation of cotton, indigo and sugar, and filled Syria with mulberry plantations. Mahmud's reign of 31 years was made up of stirring events. It is remarkable that a reign of so much ability and full of such untiring energy, should be attended with such national disasters. But the time had come in the history of the Ottoman empire, when a new system of national policy, the union of the western powers, such as Great Britain and Prance, to uphold the Ottoman empire against the persevering en- croachments of the northern Autocrat. Their interference with Egyptian affairs had in view the same object, the existence of the Ottoman empire, so that the Turkish imperial chordon might be sustained as a wall against Russian aggressive despotism. The balance of power among the European nationalities required the continued existence of the Turkish empire. From the period of the reign of Mahmud II. the European system of the balance of power has been steadily on the increase. From this cause rather than for any sympathy in behalf of the Turk and the Koran, the Ottoman empire still exercises the offices of Custodian of the great eastern highways, and Guardian of the land of Israel and its sacred interests. No other na- tion would be allowed to fill the position. These points deserve particular note. The weakness of the Ottoman empire in itself is no valid proof under the full exercise of the European balance of power policy, that said empire will be allowed to disappear from the world's national arena. We are fully justified in saying that the Ottoman has the strength of all the powers behind her throne, whether it be the British empire alone, or that power sustained by the purposes and power of Jehovah. (24) Abdul Medjid became Sultan of the Turkish empire A. D. 1839, and continued to reign till A. D. 1861. He carried on the reforms com- menced by his father Mahmud II., yet he had to contend with Russia. Russia still dreamed of universal empire as outlined in the " will " of Peter OTTOMAN PHASE. 359 the Great. The Czar under the delusive impression that the dissolution of the Ottoman empire was at hand, constantly tried to wring from the Sultan some acknowledgment of a right of interference with the internal affairs of the country. An attempt to obtain the exclusive protectorate of the members of the Greek Church in Turkey, originated the "Crimean war" of 1853-55, in which the Ottoman empire was triumphantly sustained by the aid of England, France, and Sardinia. " The treaty of Paris (1856) restored to Turkey the command of both sides of the lower Danube, excluded the Czar from his assumed protectorate over the Danubian principalities, and closed the Black sea against all ships of war. The porte, apparently adopted into the family of European na- tions, made proclamation of equal civil rights to all the races and creeds of the Turkish dominions." The massacre of Christians in Lebanon and at Damascus was a viola- tion of the Turkish declaration of equal rights ; consequently the nations of western Europe again interfered ; and that on this principle, that if the Turkish central government had not power sufficient to enforce her laws in favor of all races and creeds within her dominions, it was their duty to aid the Sultan in his efforts at reform and equal justice. The latter years of the reign of the Abdul Medjid were seriously tarnished by an irrational profuseness of expenditure. It will be seen that the decline of Turkish power was followed by the increase of western interference; a firm purpose existed in the policy of the western nations, not to allow Russia to become custodian in the place of the Ottoman empire, well knowing that such a conquest would totally annihilate the European system of the balance of power. From the reign of Abdul Medjid to the present time, the provinces forming European Turkey have been subject to many vicissitudes, such changes as have materially altered the boundaries of the Turkish empire. (25) Abdul-Aziz succeeded his brother to the throne of the Ottoman empire in 1861. Under his reign the people of Moldavia and Wallachia formed a union under the name of Roumania. In 1866 the empire, more and more enfeebled through its corrupt administration, was forced to see the Roumanians expel their ruler; and, in expectation of support from the western powers, chose prince Charles of Hohenzollern to be hereditary prince of the united principalities. In 1866 a rebellion broke out in Crete aided by Greece, but it was soon put down. In 1867, by demand of the Servians, the Turkish garrisons were removed from certain fortresses in their country. In the same year the Sultan granted to the Pasha of Egypt the unique title Khedive (sovereign), who, since that year, has exercised power somewhat absolute, though tributary to the Sultan. He has per- petual succession in the male line. He has a right to increase his army and navy and to borrow money, and also to conclude treaties of commerce. Still the Sultan retains in his hands the disposition of the government of Egypt, who issued a firman deposing Ismail in favor of His son (1879) prince Mohammed Tevfik. This was accomplished in the interests of England and France. The Khedive is virtually an independent sovereign. 360 THE EASTERN QUESTION, The rebellion which has recently taken place in Egypt, has added new features to Ottoman complications. Between 1854 and 1871 the debt of the Ottoman empire had been in- creased by more than £16,000,000. In 1875 the Porte was driven to partial repudiation of its debts. The beginning of a new era in Ottoman history was ushered in by an insurrection in Herzegovina, near the close of 1874. The uprising of the masses smoldered on through 1875 and a part of 1876. In this uprising nearly all of the Slavonic provinces of the Turkish empire became more or less actively enlisted. In May, 1875, a revolt which arose in Bulgaria was crushed with much bloodshed ; and the merciless savages, the bashi-bazouks (Turkish irregulars), by their bloody massacres, alienated all foreign sympathy. In May of the same year Abdul Aziz was deposed, and his nephew, Murad V., son of Abdul Medjid, succeeded him. He was compelled to make way for his brother, Abdul Hamid II., in August of the same year. In June Servia declared war, and Montenegro followed her ex- ample. Before the close of the year the Servians were utterly defeated-, though assisted by many Russian volunteers. Owing to the critical state of the Slavo-Turkish provinces, and the exposures of the Christian popula- tion, a conference of the great powers was called at Constantinople. The proposals there and then made were not accepted by Turkey. In the mean- time the Sultan bestowed a parliamentary constitution on the Ottoman em- pire. Russia assumed the task to force on Turkey the suggestions of the conference, and on April 24, 1877, declared war. The beginning of the campaign, both in Bulgaria and Armenia, was in favor of the Russians; but later in the season the Turks rallied and seriously checked the hitherto triumphant progress of the invaders. The Russian forces were augmented, .still they met with serious reverses. Kars, besieged for several months, held out till the middle of November; Erzeroum did not surrender till after the armistice had been concluded. The Ottoman empire exhibited other features of national vitality. Os- man Pasha, who took command at Plevna, in the forepart of July, repelled with brilliant success repeated and determined assaults from a besieging army of Russians and Roumanians; and had so strengthened the fortifica- tions as to stand siege till Dec. 10, when he surrendered. Continued and desperate fighting in the Shipka pass failed to expel the Russians from their position in the Balkans; and within a month of the fall of Plevna the Rus- sians captured the whole Turkish army that was guarding the Shipka pass, then overran Roumelia without any difficulty. This district is within easy range of Constantinople. The victorious Russians occupied Adrianople in January, 1878, and on the last of that month an armistice was concluded; and in March the " preliminary treaty" of San Stefano was signed. Many diplomatic difficulties arose in consequence of the clashing of British and Russian interests. A congress of the European powers assembled in Berlin, and finally agreed to the following solution of the "eastern question:" " The vassal states, Roumania and Servia, as well as Montenegro, were declared independent, and each obtained an extension of territory. Rou- mania, which had to yield up its portion of Bessarabia to Russia, re- OTTOMAN PHASE. 361 ceived in compensation the Dobrudscha, cut off by a line from Silistria to Mongalia (south of, and near the mouth of, the Danube, a peninsula between that river and the Black sea — W.). Servia was considerably ex- tended to the south. Montenegro received an additional strip of territory round almost the whole of its former frontier, including part of the Adri- atic sea-board of Antivaria. What was formerly the Turkish vila yet (province — W.) of the Danube was, with the exception of the Dobrudscha, now Roumanian, constituted a tributary but automatic principality, its southern boundary being the Balkan range. A large territory south of the Balkans was constituted into the separate province of Eastern Roumelia, and though remaining directly under the military and politicalauthority of the Sultan, secured the right of having a Christian governor-general and administration autonomy (self-legislation — W.). It was agreed that Herze- govina and Bosnia, excepting a small portion of the latter, should be occu- pied and administered by Austro-Hungary, and thus in large measure alienated from the porte; Spizza and its sea-board, immediately north of Antivaria, was incorporated with Dalmatia; Greece was to receive addi- tional territory, the congress recommending that the rectified frontiers should run up to Salambria river, from its mouth, cross the ridge dividing ancient Thessaly from Epirus, cut off the town of Janina, so as to leave it to Greece, and descend the Kalamas river to the Ionian sea. In Crete, the reformed government promised in 1868, is to be immediately and scrupulously carried out. In Asia the changes were much less con- siderable ; the port of Batum, henceforth to be essentially commercial, Kars and Ardahan, with a portion of Armenia, were ceded to Russia, and Khotour, east of Lake Van, to Persia; the porte engaging to carry out at once much needed administrative reforms in Armenia, and to see to it that henceforth religious differences shall in no part of the Ottoman empire hinder any one from the full exercise of all civil and political rights, or ex- clude from public offices or the professions." Another engagement entered into by Turkey at the same time seriously effects the standing of the em- pire, though it introduces no territorial change. By the "conditional con- vention,' made between Turkey and the United Kingdom, the English government undertakes to defend the porte's dominions in Asia, and re- ceive in return the right to occupy and administer the island of Cyprus. Such are the arrangements of the Berlin congress of 1878. Compare these boundaries with those of Turkey before the congress. The following is an estimate of the area and population of the Ottoman empire before the changes of the Berlin congress : 1. Immediate possessions. — In Europe, 139,824 square miles; population, 9,400,364. In Asia and Africa, 1,083,673 square miles; population, 18,079,172. District of Constantinople, popula- tion, 1,400,000; nomadic races, population, 2,000,000; army and police, 560,- 262 ; foreign residents in Turkey, 500,000. 2. Protectorates. — In Europe- Roumania, 46,617 square miles, 5,073,000 inhabitants; Servia, 14,549 square miles; population, 1,367,000. In Africa-Egypt, 866,012 square miles and 17,000,000 inhabitants. Tunis, 45,538 square miles, 2,000,000 inhabitants. 3. Tributary principality of Samos, 8,217 square miles; population, 35,878. 362 THE EASTERN QUESTION, Whole Ottoman empire, 2,196,425 square miles and 57,415,616 inhabitants. In the provinces. — (1) Bosnia, 300,522 Moslems, and 306,707 non-Moslems; (2) Monastir, 485,994 Moslems, 417,805 non-Moslems ; (3) Janina, 250,749 Moslems, 467,601 non-Moslems ; (4) Salonica, 124,828 Moslems, and 124,157 non-Moslems, (5) Adrianople, 235,587 Moslems, and 401,148 non-Moslems; (6) Danube, 455,767 Moslems, and 715,938 non-Moslems. Total, males, 1,861,446 Moslems, and 2,432,356 non-Moslems. This table shows the causes of the late uprising of the people in these provinces. While the Ottoman power was resistless in its European provinces, Christianity, as taught by the Latin and Greek churches, was kept under; but when the civil power be- came so weakened as not to keep down religious liberty the masses began to claim their religious rights. The law of religious toleration throughout the whole Ottoman empire introduced a new era in the official administration of this once powerful custodian and guardian. Such a change was neces- sary to the proper execution of his offices. We call special attention to this law, and its effects relative to God's national purposes in the East. The law is as follows : — " The porte agrees to see to it that henceforth religious difference shall in no part of the Ottoman empire hinder any one from the full exercise of all civil and political rights, or exclude from public offices or the professions." This law of religious liberty made a new man of the custodian. In early times of that empire, when its progress was resistless, its motto was, " the Koran or the sword." Under its domination Christi- anity had no civil, political or religious rights. It was necessary, therefore, that the Turkish empire, by adversity, should be compelled to extend re- ligious liberty to all. Its direct influence on the Jewish colonization scheme will be noticed under the Hebrew Phase of the Eastern Question. The changes of administration of Ottoman affairs in Egypt mark the open- ings of divine providence. The great advance in eastern commercial inter- course are owing to the increase of sovereign power in Egypt's chief resident officer. He was once simply a viceroy, ruling under and for the Sultan. He is now a Kedive (sovereign), and virtually independent. Who can not see in this change the hand of the Almighty opening a high-way through the land of Ham? These changes in the administration of Turkey in Egypt originated and perfected the Suez canal, and has resulted in an unex- pected event among the eastern nations, viz., British occupation of the great valley of the Nile, and of all such portions of Africa as her southern interests may induce her to conquer and colonize. It ope'ns the southern world to the British empire, and places within its reach the vast resources of Central Africa. A brief sketch of some of the recent events transpiring in Egypt will close our outline history of the Ottoman empire. We notice simply the Ottoman aspect of those events, reserving other events for our concluding remarks. The change in the Ottoman government of Egvpt began with Mehemet Ali, by birth a Macedonian, as early as 1810. He gained immense power; and, by the action of the European powers, the Sultan made a compromise OTTOMAN PHASE. 363 with Mehemet Ali, by greatly increasing his official powers. These powers descended in the male line of his family. Mehemet Ali was succeeded by his adopted son, Ibrahim Pasha. It was by Ibrahim that his great victories over the Turks were principally ob- tained. He was installed by the porte viceroy of Egypt, but died at Cairo, Nov. 9, 1848. He was succeeded by Abbas Pasha, grandson of Mehemet Ali. Abbas Pasha became viceroy of Egypt in 1848. He was a cruel and capricious ruler. He dismissed the Europeans in state service and frus- trated much of Mehemet's good work ; but he successfully resisted Turkish attempts to lower the condition and prestige of Egypt, and assisted the Sul- tan in the Crimean war. It was supposed that he fell by the hand of an assassin, A. D. 1854. Ismail Pasha, Viceroy and Khedive of Egypt, was born at Cavo, Egypt, 1830; is the second son of Abrahim Pasha, and grandson of Mehemet Ali. He was educated in Paris (hence his partiality for that nation). On his return to Egypt he was appointed by his uncle, said Pasha, to the govern- ment of the country during his uncle's absence in Europe, and in 1863 he succeeded as the fifth viceroy of Egypt. During the American war of the rebellion he acquired vast wealth by the production of cotton. Regarding the Suez canal of Count de Lesseps as conducing to the powers and re- sources of Egypt, he actively encouraged the enterprise, having in it 176,602 shares out of 400,000 (these were sold to the British government for £4,000,- 000). In 1866 he secured from the Sultan the hereditary succession in his line, and in 1867 had conferred on him the title of khedive (sovereign). Not satisfied with these privileges he demanded more, threatening to withdraw the troops he had sent against the Cretan insurgents, and to seize Crete if his demands were refused. By the advice of foreign powers he withdrew his demands. But in 1868-69, by extending his rule over the upper and White Nile, by making foreign loans for the increase of his army and navy, by proposing the neutralization of the Suez canal and inviting foreigners to be present at its opening, he made himself almost an independent sovereign. The Sultan commanded him to reduce his army, recall his orders for iron- clads and breech-loaders and the contraction of foreign loans, threatening him with deposition if he refused. Not receiving expected aid from Russia and other powers, he sub- mitted. Afterwards he received new prerogatives, giving him control of his army, and liberty to make loans and commercial treaties. In 1874 he obtained a victory over the Sultan of Darfur, Central Africa. By public roads, agriculture, and other methods, he endeavored to civilize the sur- rounding rude tribes, and introduced many and various public improve- ments. But in 1879 the governments of France and England, in view of the wretched financial condition of Egypt, and the dissatisfaction of the people with the administration, determined to interfere in behalf of good government, and united in demanding of the Porte that the Khedive should commit the portfolios of finance and public works to English and French ministers, but the Khedive resented any interference of the western powers with Egyptian affairs. The Sultan ofifered to depose Ismail Pasha, 364 THE EASTERN QUESTION, and to appoint Halim Pasha, Ismail's uncle, as his successor, but the powers advised the Khedive to abdicate, promising to support his son Tewfik. The Sultan acquiesced in the course recommended, and, June 26, he signed the firman deposing the Khedive in favor of his son, prince Mohammed Tewfik I. Ismail at once complied with the demand, and his son was proelaimed Khedive as Tewfik I. Ismail received an annual allowance of £50,000; each of his sons, Hassan and Hussein £20,000; and his mother £30,000. Total $576,000. Ismail Pasha left Egypt June 30, for Naples. He went to Rome where he makes his principal home, which gives him luxurious ease, away from the cares and perplexities of public life. What right, it may be asked, had France and England to interfere with the domestic government of Egypt? We answer. The right of power and self-interest. England and France had become the principal stock holders of the Suez Canal. Ismail, by his prodigality was doing great injustice to their commercial interests, and because they had power over the Sultan, in consequence of the aid they had rendered the Ottoman empire in the Crimean war, they took the liberty of using that power for the promotion of their Egyptian interests. The course which these two powers took with the Sultan, demonstrates the problem of Ottoman supremacy ; that it was then in the hands of France and England — for purposes which time is rapidly developing. England has long held India; and should national revolutions be such as to give France possession of Farther India, to France and England the Suez Canal, or Canals (as it may soon be) would be of vital importance. If, then, Russia is aiming at Chinese and Indian mono- poly, the east end of the Mediterranian Sea must be under the control of the western powers (England and France particularly). This cannot be if Russia be allowed to overthrow and absorb the Ottoman empire. These points will come up under other phases. We have already narrated the last struggle of the Ottoman empire with Russia, and have seen its disastrous results to the Turkish empire; yet that empire stands, and will stand as the nominal custodian of the eastern high- ways, and the guardian of the sacred localities, as long as the British empire can sustain her, England is bound to protect Turkey's Asiatic possessions. This she cannot do if she allows Russia to occupy Constantinople. It was the British fleet near the Turkish Capital, that, in the last war, prevented the Russians from moving on to Constantinople, when at Adrianople. The interests of western Europe will never allow Russia to absorb the Ottoman empire. Neither will the interests of Christianity or Mohammedanism suffer such a catastrophe. Since the Turko-Russian war and the settlement of the Ottoman "boundaries as agreed upon at the Berlin Congress in 1878, Turkey has had many difficulties with her own subjects in reconciling them to the new order of things. The principal uprising, however, has been in Otto- man Egypt. Under the administration of the Egyptian province by the Khedives and viceroys, commencing with Mehemet Ali, that chief officer first as viceroy, then as Khedive (sovereign) Egypt has had but little to do OTTOMAN PHASE. 365 with the Turkish Sultan, and, we may say that the English and French saved the life of the Ottoman empire, when so severely attacked by Me- hemet Ali. Since those days the Sultan has been careful to secure the friendship of the British, and therefore followed British instructions. The causes of the late Eg3'ptian uprising which was under the control of Arabi Pasha, may be outlined as follows : Ismail held the Soudan " by a hand of steel though gloved in velvet." He had ruled Egypt in all its dependencies with watchful energy, and had put down one base pretender in Soudan, by sending against him a regiment of three battalions with artillery and cavalry. Ismail was too watchful of Egyptian rights, and too energetic to submit to foreign interference. But England and France were the two great powers representing his bond- holders, who fearing the safety of their bonds, if Egypt should be any longer under the control of Ismail, had him deposed and exiled, and his son Tewfik I. put in his place. Not possessing the experience and power of his father, he submitted to the dictation of these foreign national bond- holders. Tewfik was restrained by England and France whenever he at- tempted to act with vigor, for fear that any vigorous action by an increased expense would absorb the interest of their bonds. The ministers of State under the Khedive Tewfik were foreigners; and the admistration was under foreign control — "Carpet-Baggers "'in the estimation of the native population. The jealousy of the Egyptians joined to their deadly hostility to Christianity, produced an uprising among the lower classes. And as the administration of Tewfik was under the entire control of the English, there commenced an active rebellion against the government, which involved more or less the whole Ottoman empire. This rebellion was under Arabi Pasha as its commanding spirit. The Egyptian government, not being able to put down the rebellion, called on the British power to aid in crush- ing the rebel forces, which was accomplished in one general engagement. Arabi Pasha was taken and banished from Egypt to Ceylon, where he still resides. A brief sketch of the Ottoman Empire, as it now is, will close our remarks for the present, on the Ottoman Phase of the Eastern Question. In the conclusion of our work we shall examine the struggles of the nations for the supremacy, both in a civil and religious aspect. We shall view them as a triple empire, resisting the Stone Kingdom or the Kingdom of Mes- siah : viz. the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet, these three, combin- ing and marshaling to battle, all the Satanic elements. THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE AS IT NOW IS. Much is said relative to the weakness and decay of the Turkish empire. We shall treat the subject under two chief divisions: (1) Its power as an independent nation ; (2) its delegated or official power. (1). Its power as an independent Gentile nation. We shall consider (a) its size ; (6) its resources; and (c) its absolute vitality. (a). Size op the Turkish Empire. — Since the Berlin Conference in 1878, its European territory has been quite limited. Turkey in Europe 366 THE EASTERN QUESTION, comprises the following : (1) the immediate possessions, including Con- stantinople, the vilayets of Monaster, Salonica, the isles, and Crete, and part of Janina and Adrianople, 64,000 square miles; population 5,350,000; (2) Autonomous province of Eastern Roumelia, 15,000 square miles and 1,000,000 inhabitants; (3) Provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, adminis- tered by Austria, 22,000 square miles ; population 1,350,000 ; (4) tributary principality of Bulgaria, 33,000 square miles; population 2,000,000. Total of Turkey in Europe 135,000 square miles; population 10,000,000. The Berlin Congress made but little change in Asiatic Turkey. Some few posi- tions were given to Russia, such as Batum, Kars, Ardahan; and parts of Turkish Armenia. These were ceded to Russia in 1878. Khotour, east of lake Van, was ceded to Persia. Late events in Egypt have demonstrated the weakness of the Ottoman empire in Africa. The internal resources of the Ottoman empire are vastly diminished since the late aggressive move- ments of Russia, though but little of that empire has fallen into the hands of the northern autocrat. Turkish industries, manufactures and trade, since the late Russian war, have dwindled to about one-third of its former dimensions. The countries which trade with Turkey are, in order of im- portance, Persia, Great Britain, France, Austria, Russia, Egypt, etc. The ports of the empire are, Constantinople, Trebizond, Smyrna. Previous to the war of 1878 the value of the Turkish imports were estimated at £18,- 500,000, ($88,000,000), and her exports £10,000,000, ($48,000,000). The mercantile marine of Turkey is quite small. In 1877 there were 230 sea- going vessels (about a dozen of them steamers) ; tonnage 34,800 tons. In 1878 there were over 780 miles of railway completed in European Turkey, and 175 in Asia. Population. — Of the races which compose the Ottoman empire, history makes the following summary : " A more heterogeneous aggregation of races than that which constitutes the population of the Turkish empire can hardly be conceived, Turks, Greeks, Slavs, Roumanians, Albanians, are largely represented, besides Armenian, Jews, Circassians, etc., and Frank residents. In European Turkey, the Turks are estimated at 2,200,- 000; the Slavs, including the Bulgarians at 1,250,000; and the Roumanians at 1,000,000. Then in Asia, there may be 450,000 Turks, not to speak of those in Africa; of the Turkomans 100,000; of Kurds 1,000,000; and of Syrians 190,000— all in Asia: 1,000,000 Greeks; 2,400,000 Armenians (partly in Europe) ; as well as Jews, Arabs (in Asia and Africa, Druses, Franks, or Western Christians, Gypsies, Tartars, Circassians and other kindred races, Copts, Nubians, Berbers, etc. Of these, the Greeks and Armenians are traders; the Slavic people and the Albanians are the chief agriculturists in Europe, and the Osmanlis, Armenians, Syrians and Druses in Asia. Of the whole population about 25,000,000 are Mohammedans, and 15,300,000 Greek and Armenian Christians. The total population of the empire (57,415,616 before the late war, now reduced to 50,300,000) makes the empire powerful as to population. The government of Turkey has always been an absolute despotism. A constitution was granted in 1876, and was revoked in 1878, it having OTTOMAN PHASE. 367 been only nominal. Still the power of the Sultan (called padishah, grand seignior, khan, and hunkiar), is limited by the Sheikh-ul-islam, the chief of the Ulemas (theological jurists in Turkey), who has the power of objecting to any of the Sultan's decrees, and often has more authority over the people than his sovereign, since he is the legal expounder of the Koran. The supreme head of the administration, and next in rank to the Sultan, is the grand vizier (sadri-azam), the prime minister, under whom are the members of the cabinet or divan, namely, the presidents of the supreme council of state and of the tanzimat, the seraskier, the high admiral, and the other heads of departments of the administration. There are governors of provinces and districts. Each district is composed of villages and hamlets. Turkey has introduced the system of tax collec- tion followed in western Europe, which has diminished extortion formerly practiced throughout the empire. The established religion of the Ottoman empire is Islamism (Moham- medanism). This, by Mohammed, was claimed to be the only orthodox creed existing from the beginning of the world and preached by all the prophets ever since Adam. It is called Islam, resignation, entire submis- sion to the will and precepts of God. All religions, however, are now tolerated. Since 1856, a Musselman has been free to change his religion at pleasure, without becoming liable to capital punishment, as was formerly the case. Education was long neglected, as they in their highest pros- perity were unwilling to follow Christian practices. In 1847 a new com- mon school system was introduced. Since that time schools have been established throughout the empire. Higher education has received atten- tion, and colleges for the teaching of medicine, agriculture, naval and mili- 'tary science, etc., have been erected. Still, instead of patronizing their own institutions, many wealthy Turks send their sons to France or Britain to be educated. The Turks, therefore, become more and more assimilated in modes of thought, in their dress, manners and customs, to the en- lightened nations of western Europe. The Ottoman Turk resembles the Caucasian race rather than their Mongolian ancestors, owing to the prac- tice of inter-marrying. Such has been the power of European associa- tions for the last four centuries, that the Ottoman is a European empire rather than Asiatic. The Ottoman empire has within itself elements of national power. (1) in her soil and climate ; (2) in her people ; (3) in her religion ; (4) and in her locality. Her religion commands the strength of the Otto- man world, including a population of 180,000,000. It seems doubtful if that empire can fall till Islamism is overthrown. It is sustained by a royal priesthood, the Sultan being a royal high priest. He is the supreme head of church and state, and can, therefore, command the power of the Islam world. Turkey, like all European nations, is laboring under the effects of an oppressive debt. In 1876 the Turkish government announced that no more interest payments would be made till the internal affairs of the empire should allow it. The enormous expenditure of the war, and the loss of valuable provinces, have only added to the utter disorgani- zation of Turkish finances. 368 THE EASTERN QUESTION, The revenue in 1878-79 could not exceed £15,000,000 ($72,000,000), while, with a proportion of the war expenses to clear off, the outlay must amount to about £50,000,000 ($240,000,000). Up to 1874, from 1854, four- teen loans had been made to meet deficiencies At that time the foreign debt of Turkey amounted to £184,981,733 ($887,212,584). The internal and floating debt is about £75,000,000 ($360,000,000). The government has issued vast quantities of paper money to the nominal value of about £90,000,000 ($405,000,000). The Ottoman navy is not large. In 1878 she had 15 armor-clad vessels, 18 smaller iron-clads (including 11 monitors a^^d Danube gun-boats), and 45 other steamers. The two largest iron-clads have a tonnage of 9,140 tons, and armor 12 inches in thickness at the water-line. The regular army (nizam) of the reserve and of irregular troops, the nizam contains 44 regiments of infantry, 27 regiments of cavalry, 7 regi- ments of field artillery, and a brigade of engineers. The irregular troops comprise 16 regiments of gensd'armes, the now notorious Bashi-Bazouks (volunteer infantry receiving from the government only arms and am- munition), and volunteer cavalry. The law of 1869 contemplated an active army of 220,000 men, with 80,000 in the first reserve, 420,000 men in the second reserve, and the hiyade or landsturm. Military service of 20 years (of which 4 are spent in the active army) is obligatory on all Moslems. By the statistics which we have given the national vigor or weakness of the Ottoman empire may be readily ascertained. The principal strength of that empire lies without itself; it is external and official. Its official location is the element of its strength. Its internal weakness may con- stitute, by its office, an element of strength. An apostle expresses the thought in these words : " When I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Cor. xii. 10. The idea is this, "I am well pleased with bodily weaknesses, with insults, with poverty, with persecutions, with distresses for Christ's sake; because, when I am most oppressed with these evils, then I am strong ; my ministry is most successful through the power of Christ dwelling upon me," "the power of Christ may dwell upon me," (vs. 9) "the original word literally signifies, ' pitch its tent over me,' cover me all over, and abide on me continually." — Macknight. A nation upheld by Jehovah for a special purpose will be kept in that office till the work is accomplished. The weaker that officer becomes the greater the Divine aid. This is evident. (2) The proposition we are about to discuss is the following : The strength of the Ottoman empire lies in its official position. While it con- tinues to be Custodian, Guardian, and Avenger, in the purposes of the Al- mighty, it will be upheld, both by direct and indirect agencies. This posi- tion it is useless to attempt to controvert. We have many examples in the Bible illustrative of such Divine interposition to carry out certain fixed purposes. Two of these will be sufficient for illustration. (1) Menephthes, the Amenophis of Manetho, and the Pharaoh of the Exodus, is an example. "And in very deed for this (cause) have I raised thee up, for to shew (in) thee my power; and that my name may be de- clared thoughtout all the earth." Ex. ix. 16. God had placed before him OTTOMAN PHASE. 369 elements which developed his wicked heart, during the plagues, and al- lowed him to follow the Hebrews, that His judgments might be executed in the sea. (2) Abraham's seed served in a strange land while the Amorites were filling their cup. When that cup was full, in the fourth generation, Egypt was judged and the Hebrew bondage was terminated. (3) Cyrus was an illustrious example of God's official work. Follow the history of Cyrus through the two great divisions of his life, (a) from his birth to the fall of Babylon; (6) from the fall of Babylon to his death. During the first period Cyrus was God's pupil and prime minister in the overthrow of the Jews' oppressor. In the latter division he was Cyrus in his own proper person; Cyrus in retirement. A nation is om- nipotent till the expiration of his term of office;' he then retires into his own private shell and soon turns to a fossil. The four horns that scattered Israel and Judah were resistless till their missions were accomplished. No person reads history to any profit that does not follow these Divine footsteps. God in history is a true, a noble thought. Who can read :>! great national movements, conflicts, and overthrows without searching into their philosophy. To Him there is no chance accident, or simple for- tune. Every national movement is under the shaping control of the Su- preme Ruler. Every event shapes afiairs into Divine forms. They are then arranged into systems which tend to a unity of plan in Jehovah's ar- rangements to control the movements. It is not God's usual method to interfere directly with human aflairs. He uses one nation to carry out one division of his plans, another nation is raised up for another purpose. Still all have their spheres, and, as the heavenly bodies are held in their orbits by certain forces while they move on in their celestial mission, in like manner nations are held to the fields of their legitimate and purposed work. All nations have their work and their appointed fields. Out of these fixed orbits their agency is human and feeble. Who can doubt this position ? Who can doubt the location of Russia's field and work ? Whence comes that power to the mountains of Israel? Is it not from the north? But if that empire is allowed to absorb the Ottoman empire before the Hebrews are erected into a nation, will it own the land of Israel? And if the Russian once holds the land what nation can drive out the northern bear ? The Otto- man empire was raised up to hold back the north so soon as the Greek empire became too feeble, till the King of the South should be prepared to aid and defend that middle empire, against the King of the North, till the Hebrews, by colonization and union of these un walled villages, become rich and powerful. This central nation, this hub of the great national wheel remains to be examined. In that examination Turkey will again claim our attention. We shall close the Ottoman Phase by a few gen- eral remarks which are designed further to illustrate the Turk's official position. (1) Following up the idea that each nation has its specific location 24 370 . THE EASTERN QUESTION, and work, and that God designs to hold them to their location and work, we say (a) that Russia was held back to the north (1) by the Grecian chordon, (6) When their power became too feeble a new people (Ottoman Turks) was placed in that responsible station, has held it for four centuries, (c) When that power became too weak in itself to defend the chordon a new thought (balance of power) combined the western European nations to aid in sustaining the Ottoman empire and keep back the north, (d) That congress will sustain the Ottoman empire against annihilation till the British empire acquires sufl&cient strength in the East to sustain the Turkish empire in Asia, and protect the Hebrews fully in their coloniza- tion scheme. These colonies are composed of Jews, having a few of the ten tribes as companions, (e) That the British empire will soon hold that advanced position, will appear from the following : " By the ' conditional convention ' made between Turkey and the United Kingdom, the English government undertakes to defend the porte's dominions in Asia, and re- ceives in return the right to occupy and administer the island of Cyprus." This conditional agreement evidently points out the line of the British eastern policy towards the Ottoman empire. We now have before us three empires, the Russian, the British, and the Ottoman ; the northern, the southern, and the middle ; the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. Paganism will exist as long as there are na- tions to defend those idolatrous systems; apostate Christianity will continue while there are nations of the Latin and Greek families to uphold it; and Islamism will continue as long as there is an Ottoman empire, or Moham- medan nations to sustain it; and this triple empire will array all the Satanic elements against Messiah and His kingdom. While we admit that the Ottoman empire is declining in its individual internal strength, in its official position, it has all the strength of the powers that defend it. When Moses was commanded to extend his rod over the sea, his arm was sustained. So will God sustain the Ottoman empire in its official work till His mission shall be accomplished, With- out that middle empire the Jewish colonization scheme would evidently be a failure. How can the return of Israel and Judah be reconciled with Rus- sian occupancy of the land of Palestine ? HEBREW PHASE. The origin, early history, character, and destiny of the Hebrew family are developed in sacred and profane history. To these fountains of light we shall resort to enable us to furnish a full expose of the Hebrew Phase of the Eastern Question. God has presented the history of that people in plain narrations, and in a great variety of figures and symbolic representa- tions. We shall, therefore, draw liberally from these divine sources. Je- hovah was pleased to reveal to Isaiah, Jeremiah Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, and Zechariah, a very full history of the Hebrew family. In order, therefore, to understand their future, we must learn from the Bible their family and national relations to Jehovah and to the other divisions of the human race. The earth was made for man's special dwelling place. Whether he is always to be confined exclusively to this globe, or have a wider range through the universe, is not so readily determined. It is our opinion, however, that the redeemed, in their mortal state, will be fully occupied with the fixtures, the beauties and the glories of their habitation. Christ went away to make ready a place. Celestial systems, sun, moon, and stars, have their orbits, in which they move, and from which they could not deviate without con- fusion. Man was made with such a clay system as did not allow him to leave home on visits to other planets. God has seen fit to. commit his mes- sages of a more extended nature to a higher order of beings. We presume that the man, in his highest type, will remain at home. He will constitute a pure and happy family, a holy nation. We are now about to trace the origin, location, character, and destiny of the central family of the nation, the hub of the national wheel, while the Gentile farnilies form its spokes and rim, God's immutable purpose being its axle. That God had a right to locate the nations, according to His will, will be admitted ; that He did so fix their special habitations, is positively de- clared, " When (after the flood — W.) the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance. When lie separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. For the Lord's portion (is) His people; Jacob (is) the lot of his inherit- ance. With this we will associate a similar passage from the New Testa- ment: — "God, that made the world and all things therein, seeing He is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is worshiped with men's hands as though He needed anything, seeing He giveth to all life and breath, and all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation." Deut. xxxii. 8. 9, and Acts xvii. 24-26. After the flood the earth was divided to the three sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. To Shem (from whom Messiah, the true seed or heir, was to descend), was (371) 372 THE EASTERN QUESTION, divided southwestern Asia. Out of this division God reserves sufficient territory for the children of Israel. This He made the lot of His inherit- ance. Dr. Boothroyd thus expresses the meaning: "When God fixed the boundaries of other nations, He allotted also aland sufficiently large to con- tain the children of Israel; and He so favored them by revealing His will to them and dwelling among them that they may be said to be His own in- heritance." The Canaauites, therefore, were there by right of conquest, in reserved seats, to be surrendered to Israel the h^gal owners. This land, in its full extent, contained about 300,000 square miles. This was their home, and God's visible dwelling place on earth. On this territory was erected, first, a Theocracy, which continued about four centuries. God ruled that family under a succession of judges. This form of government being re- jected they chose a regal government, after the pattern of the Gentiles. Under three kings, Saul, David, and Solomon, the twelve tribes, like con- federate states, formed one nation.- Under Solomon's son Rehoboam, ten tribes formed a new nation under Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. The ten tribes went into idolatry, and after continuing as a nation about 250 years, they were removed from their land into a captivity which still continues. The kingdom of Judah continued as a nation about 133 years longer when it was overthrown and removed into a 70 year's captivity. At the close of that period there was a return of a remnant of the two tribes, and the establish- ment of a remnant nation under Joshua and Zerubbabel, which continued mostly tributary and weak till its utter overthrow by the Romans, A. D. 70. Those that were not slain were carried into slavery. Since that time they have been sifted among the nations, a hissing and a curse (Jer. xxv. 18.), unto the present century. Have the Hebrews any national future? Each side of this question has its advocates. We affirm that they have a na- tional future, and that it is the chief and central figure of the world's future distinguished group of eastern nationalities. Hence we have a Hebrew Phase of the Eastern Question. This question will be discussed by the light of Revelation and of history. We affirm that the history of the He- brew family is given by Jehovah to men inspired to make a faithful his- torical record, and that such a record is found in the word of God. In tracing that history we shall find it necessary to demonstrate the difference between their past and their prophetic histories. We shall find it quite a laborious task to collect from the prophecies God's immutable purpose to- ward the Hebrew race. To do this it will be necessary to examine, more or less, into the divine object of the earth's formation, and dwelling place for man in his most perfect type of existence. The fall involved the earth as well as its invisible governor. " Cursed (is) the ground for thy sake. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee." Gen. iii. 17. 18. The ruin of the fall was universal. It involved the entire globe, including its atmosphere, with every species of organic life: the whole "creation" The first intimation, of the result of the terrible struggle now commencing be- tween the two seeds, that of the woman and of the serpent, has God for its author, in these words : " And enmity I will put between thee and between the woman,! and between thy seed and between her seed: it shall bruise HEBREW PHASE. 373 thy head; and thou shalt bruise him the heel." Gen. iii. 15. So barrne were the first sixteen and one-half centuries of man's existence on the earth, as to fruits of righteousness, that they did not average one in three centuries. Abel, Seth, Enoch, and Noah are its only examples on record. So totally estranged were they from their Creator that three centuries had nearly expired before a prayer was uttered or Jehovah called upon. To the time of the flood human life may be regarded a failure. Even upon the waters of the fatal deluge, where floated a single family of eight persons, with a righteous father, the seed of the serpent was coiled securely in the heart of the depraved Ham ; nor have we any special reasons to count but one out of eight as in the seed of the family of the holy. The old world, — being beyond the power of the Angel of Mercy, sank beneath the death- angel. Satan's influence over the human affections, during man's first era in his new abode, had but little opposition, the rays of light from the Sun of Righteousness had such an immense distance to travel, before reaching man in his utter degradation, that they were like the sun's rays on Uranus. So terrible was the fall that centuries passed before a single ray of hope could reach him. As we advance towards Messiah's triumphant reign light increases, though rejected and avoided by the masses. Since the deluge the old hatred between the seeds has resulted in an endless variety of conflicts, Satan usually claiming the victory. The grand Satanic combinations, which date back with the origin of the Hebrew family, are clearly symbolized by the metallic image of Dan. ii. 31-44. The triumph of the Messiah is represented by a stone dashing the image to dust, and as a mountain filling the whole earth. To the four great monarchies of this image add the early Egyptian empire, and we have the first Gentile enemies of the Hebrew family. Our great object in delineating the Hebrew Phase is to place that people in their true position in the world's history. We shall aim to discover their office and work: God's intent in bringing them into being, and in locating them in Palestine. Why He allotted to the nations their fields, relative to the number of the children of Israel; why He will make an end of all nations, but not an end of Israel. We shall aim to make clear their entire mission, past and future. What relationship they bear to God and to the Gentile familes. We pur- pose also to examine into the causes and results of their various expatria- tions. The Gentile, in his selfishness, is ready to complain of the course which the Almighty has seen fit to pursue relative to the formation, settlement, and government of the earth. Why has He made such a vast difference in soil, climate, and people? Why has He reserved a country for the He- brews? Why has He allotted to other nations countries according to the number of that people ? Why such partiality? Should we not allow Je- hovah the privilege granted to ordinary mechanics ? The right to select at pleasure ? To construct and to guide? A mechanist forms a purpose to accomplish a certain work. He selects his material, constructs his machin- ery, and places it under his own or under delegated power. God had a 374 THE EASTERN QUESTION, purpose in His construction and peopling of the earth, and in its gov- ernment. And in carrying out His purpose He has a right to form and locate each member of His living machinery. Such attributes belong to Him as the Maker and Governor. As introductory thoughts, the following suggest themselves : (1) After the flood God divided the earth to the nations, according to some fixed purpose over which He had entire control. (2) That division was made according to the number of the children of Israel, allowing them space for increase. (3) The land had a specific location and boundary. (4) The promise to Abraham was a seed for a land. (5) Their occupation of the land was to be endless. It was to be an everlasting, or age (Messiah's) possession. (6) The past occupation of the land has been partial and tem- porary. (7) A temporary removal from that land, for punishment and for other purposes, does not invalidate their heirship. (8) Being banished from their own land to the territories of other nations, as intruders upon a foreign soil, they would there be liable to ill-treatment and to a final banish- ment. Yet they would still be heirs after the close of their chastisement. (9) The metallic image symbolizes the Gentile domination. (10) The stone symbolizes Messiah and His kingdom. (11) We have, therefore, in this one symbolic representation the history of the world from the days of Daniel to the final consummation of all prophetic events. (12) The Hebrew nation, restored, will be the central figure of the righteous families that con- stitute the universal kingdom of Messiah, the hub of Messiah's national wheel, or the sphere within the sphere. The investigation of the Scriptures will prove all these propositions, and will clearly demonstrate the character of the Hebrew Phase of the Eastern Question. The Hebrew family, in its progress towards universal empire, has de- veloped a very remarkable history. Its pathway from birth to endless dominion we propose to follow. Noting, as we progress, the peculiar care of its divine Guide and Instructor. Its history contains the following epochs: (1) Its sojourn in Egypt; (2) Its Wilderness life; (3) Its Theo- cracy ; (4) Its twelve-tribed Monarchy; (5) Its two nationalities; (B) Israel in its protracted captivity; (7) Judah from the captivity of Israel (B. C. 720) to the Babylonian captivity; (8) Judah during the 70 years' captivity; (9) Judah from the close of the Babylonian captivity to the birth of Christ; (10) Judah from the birth of Christ to the fall of Jerusalem by Titus ; (11) Judah under her long banishment; (12) The return of Israel and Judah to Palestine, their union and universal empire under Jesus the Messiah. Under these twelve epochs we propose to describe the Hebrew family with a spirit of devout prayer that God would enable us to present their true history, and the divine purpose in their choice out of all the families of the earth. We claim equal attention to the following narration. (1) Its Egyptian epoch. That the sojourn of the children of Israel in the land of Egypt may appear in its true light, and their servitude shaded in its darkest colorings of disappointed hopes, we subjoin a list of the promises of God to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, relative to their seed, and the land where they were to be accomplished. We shall examine the HEBREW PHASE. 375 original generic promise of a land to a seed, for an everlasting (age) pos- session. (1) And Abram passed through the land (Canaan, W.) unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite (was) then in the land. And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, "Unto thy seed will I give this land ; and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him." Gen. xii. 6. 7. This is the original generic promise, It is well to say : (1) That it was first made to Abram's seed. Paul said (Gal. iii. 16) that seed was Christ. It is very proper that Christ's name should head the list in this deed of the great Donor, as He is the Heir-in- Chief : Abram, Isaac and Jacob, whose names are inserted in the deed, are simply joint heirs. Their titles are worthless, without their interests in the merits of the Messiah. Christ the One Seed and royal heir. This will appear from other Scriptures: "Ask of me, and I shall give (thee) the heathen (for) thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth (for) thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron, thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." Ps. ii. 8. 9. " Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands which smote the image upon his feet, (that were) of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces, then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind car- ried them away, that no place was found for them, and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth;" inter- preted as follows: "And in the days of these kings (Kingdoms — W.) shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, (but) it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever." Dan. ii. 34. 35. and 44. " I saw in the night visions, and, behold, (one) like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought Him near before Him, and there was given Him dominion and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve Him : His dominion (is) an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom (that) which shall not be destroyed." Dan. vii. 13. 14. These are samples of the nature and dignity of the Chief heir. In Deut. xxxii. 8. 9., where the Most High divided to the nations their in- heritance, the land is not specified ; but in the deed, given to the seed and the joint heirs the land is named. Other elements come to light as the promise is repeated. (2) "And the Lord said unto Abram, after that lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, north- ward, and southward, and eastward, and westward; for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever." Gen, xiii. 14. 15. By substitution the promise enunciated in Gen. xii. and xiii. will read as follows: "Unto Christ will I give this land: Unto Abram and Christ will I give it (the land — W.) for ever." The land is a donation to Messiah and Abram for ever. That the fulfilment of this promise is still future, is clear from the fact that neither the heir nor the joint heir has ever pos- 376 THE EASTERN QUESTION, sessed that land according to the conditions of the grant. It was said of Christ: "The foxes have holes, and the Birds of the birds of the air (have) nests ; but the Son of man hath not where to lay (His) head." Matt. viii. 20. He was put for three days in a borrowed tomb. Of Abraham, Stephen said. "And he gave him none inheritance in it (the land deeded to him — W.), no, not (so much as) to set his foot on : yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when (as yet) he had no child." Acts vii. 5. Paul said : "And these all (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc. — W.), having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise." Heb. xi. 39. Paul taught the promise contained a resur- rection. "And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers. Unto which (promise) our twelve tribes, instantly serving (God) day and night, hope to come. For which hope's sake. King Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews. Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise the dead?" Acts xxvi. 6. 7. 8. Irenoeus, a disciple of Polycarp, a disciple of John, and also other fathers of the Christian Church, taught the following, relative to the Abra- hamic promise: God promised to Abraham and his seed, the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession ; but since they did not thus possess it during their natural life, they must be raised from the dead, to have the land as promised ; hence, the promise contains a resurrection. The second enunciation is to Abraham and his seed, for ever; or, for the age (evidently Messiah's age — W.). These elements of the promise must be carefully noted. (3) Third enunciation. "And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou (Abraham — W.) art a stranger, all the land of Canaan for an everlasting (age) possession ; and I will be their God." Gen. xvii. 8. The land is defined. Canaan. It is the age (Messiah's) pos- session. Abram's name is changed to Abraham, Father of many nations. The covenant of circumcision is instituted. The elements are, deed of a land, a seed, an everlasting possession. This last element requires a resur- rection. (4) Fourth enunciation. Made to Isaac. "Go not down into Egypt (on account of the famine — W.) ; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee ; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will per- form the oath which I swore unto Abraham thy father ; and I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." Gen. xxvi. 3. 4. Ishmael is excluded from the line of heirship. "I will perform the oath, which I swore unto Abraham thy father." His father is now dead; and, as Stephen said, died without having enough "to set his foot on." Abraham must have the land in Messiah's age, beyond his resurrection. As Abraham and Isaac are joint heirs with Messiah, they will have that land under Messiah, the one Seed and Chief heir, and not before Him, as joint heirs will not precede the Chief heir. (5) Fifth enunciation. To Jacob. "And behold, the Lord stood above HEBKEW PHASE. 377 it (the ladder — W.) and said I (am) the Lord God of Abraham, thy father, and the God of Isaac ; the land, whereon thou liest to thee will I give it, and to thy seed. And tljy seed shall be as the dust of the earth ; and thou shalt spread abroa'd to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south, and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And behold, I (am) with thee, and will keep thee in all (places) whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done (that) which I have spoken to thee of." Gen. xxviii. 13. 14. 15. Here Esau is rejected, and Jacob is in the line of the seed. In the famine of B. C. 2081, Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there. Gen. xii. 10. During this famine, which was 177 years later, Isaac is commanded not to go down into Egypt. God foresees that such a resi- dence would interfere with his purposes, relative to the sojourn of Jacob and his posterity in the land of Egypt. The partiality of Jacob for his son Joseph marked the beginning of that chain of special providences that resulted in the removal of Jacob into the land of Ham. It is said that Israel (Jacob under his new name — W.) loved Joseph- more than all his children, because he (was) the son of his old age; and he made him a coat of many colors. And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him. Gen. xxxvii. 3. 4. God makes use of human frailties to carry out His own purposes. The parti- ality of Jacob excited the jealousy of his other sons, which begat an un- governable hatred towards their brother. Here commences the peculiar developments and extraordinary life and character of Joseph. The posi- tion God designed for Joseph is clearly set forth in Jacob's final blessing : " Joseph is a fruitful bough, (even) a fruitful bough by a well ; (whose) branches run over the wall; the archers have sorely grieved him, and shot (at him), and hated him ; but his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty (God) of Jacob; (from thence (is) the shepherd, the stone of Israel;) (even) by the God of thy Father, who shall help thee, and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts and of the womb ; the blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills; they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separated from his brethren. These blessings belong to Joseph and his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh. The second cause of jealous hate came from God and was a develop- ment in His providence to preserve Israel, His seed, from a protracted famine. " Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told (it) his brethren ; and they hated him yet the more. Joseph was not at fault in dreaming (since that was from God), but he might have kept it to himself. Such, however, was not God's purpose, since it was a link in the chain. The dream was readily understood by his brethren, for they answer : shalt thou indeed reign over us? Shalt thou have dominion over us? Joseph had another dream, yet nearly of the same import. ' The sun, moon and stars made 378 THE EASTERN QUESTION, obeisance to me.' This was also understood. Jacob rebuked him. Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee on the earth ?" Another provocation was soon added, which shows how little the envy and the passions of men avail with God to divert Him from His undeviat- ing line of purpose. Jacob, desiring to know how his older sons succeeded in finding pasture for the sheep (as they were shepherds), sent his son Joseph to look after them, and bring him word of their success. Joseph, after some considerable hunt, found them in Dotham, in the vicinity of Shechem. Seeing him afar off, having on him that many colored coat of Joseph's vanity and his father's imprudence, they cried out, There comes the dreamer, let us put him to death ; then what will become of his dreams? How powerless is man when contending with his Maker! little did those wicked men think that those dreams were for their salvation, and that Joseph had left his tender and indulgent parent on that divine mission. Reuben said. Let us not kill the lad but cast him into this pit, hoping thereby to save him alive. Having stripped off his coat, they cast Joseph into this wilderness pit. Having accomplished the work of hate, they sat down to their food. What hard-heartedness ! ! that they could calmly eat bread under the agon- izing cries of their brother, as he entreated them not to leave him there to die. At this critical moment a company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead, with their camels bearing spicery, and balm, and myrrh, going to carry (it) down to Egypt. Judah, why should we slay our brother and conceal his blood ? Let us sell him to these spice merchants. Between these countries Midianites were also passing. Joseph was drawn out of the pit and sold to the Ishmaelites and taken into Egypt. An angel of mercy sold into servi- tude by his own brethren for twenty (pieces) of silver ! How singular are the ways of Providence. How severe are God's dealings with the human family to shape their acts and desires into His own purposes. Joseph, sent by his father to look after his older sons, is now on his way, as an Ishma- elite's slave, into the land of Ham. The sons of Jacob, in attempting to carry out their own wicked purposes, are accomplishing a vast scheme of mercy. " Thy way (is) in the sea, and Thy path in the great waters, and Thy footsteps are not known. Thou leddest Thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron." Ps. Ixxvii. 19. 20. The deception they practiced on their father relative to the fate of Joseph was artful and exceedingly wicked. That unfortunate coat of many colors stained with blood is presented to their father. That coat which he had taken so much pride in making for his favorite son is now covered with what is represented as the blood of Joseph devoured by wild beasts. In deep sorrow " Jacob rent his clothes and put sack-cloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his daugh- ters rose up to comfort him ; but he refused to be comforted, saying, I will go down into the grave (sheol) unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him. And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, (and) captain of the guard." Gen. xxxvii. 33-36. HEBREW PHASE. 379 We leave Jacob in deep affliction and follow Joseph as he makes his pathway to the right hand of Pharaoh, the acting governor of all Egypt. Joseph was peculiarly a man of destiny. From a lad of seventeen years dwelling with his father in Hebron till he was made known to his brethren in Egypt (21 years). He was about 39 years old when Jacob came into Egypt. About 20 years did Joseph serve. This was the second division of his life, that of servitude. This period was a remarkable era. Every act of Joseph during this time showed divine guidance. Joseph went up to a throne along a stormy path beset with " archers " grieving him, hating him, and shooting him. In the house of Potiphar by his fidelity he was made overseer; and all things were controlled by him. Potiphar's wife was the occasion of bringing Joseph into disrepute with his master ; but this was overruled in an extraordinary manner. The dreams of Pharaoh, chief of the fifteenth dynasty of shepherd kings, brought Joseph out of prison where he had been confined for two years. The dreams of any persons lower than a Pharaoh could not have released him from confinement. By divine ap- pointment Pharaoh dreamed ; and by the same power Joseph is made the interpreter, developing an event which requires special preparations to avert its fatal consequences. The dreams were a double symbol of the same events and time. The kine and ears (symbolized years), the fat kine and full ears represented seven years of plenty, the lean kine and blasted ears symbolized seven years of famine, which would consume the years of plenty. Pharaoh discerned at once the truth of Joseph's interpretation, and was convinced that this Hebrew was in favor with God, and that he (Joseph) would be the only suitable agent to see to this matter. Joseph was, therefore, appointed to this high office of executive trust. Where can there now be found such a monarch as this Pharaoh? Having implicit faith in the dreams and their interpretation, he puts himself directly to the work. "And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find (such a one) as this (is), a man in whom the Spirit of God (is)? And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath showed thee all this, (there is) none so discreet and wise as thou (art) : thou shall be over my house, and accord- ing to thy word shall all my people be ruled ; only in the throne will I be greater than thou. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I. have set thee over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck, and he made him to ride in the second chariot that he had, and they cried before, Bow the knee; and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I (am) Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnath- pamneath (revealer of secrets) ; and he gave him to wife Asenath, the daughter of Poti-pherah, priest of On ; and Joseph went over all the land of Egypt." And Joseph (was) 30 years old when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. In the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls, which Joseph had laid up in immense store houses throughout 380 THE EASTERN QUESTION, the kingdom. And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine. The name of the first born he called Manasseh ; (forgetting) for God hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house ; and the name of the second called he Ephraim (fruitful), for God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction. Gen. xli. 38-51. The seven years of plenty being closed, the seven years of dearth be- gan to cast its mantel of pinching want over all the East. Yet in Egypt by the provident care of God by Joseph, there was bread. And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for the purchase of corn, for the famine was severe in all lands. The news of plenty in Egypt reached Hebron the home of Jacob, who prepared his sons to go down into that land for the purchase of necessary provision. That trip was somewhat tragic in its closing results. The governor of Egypt was unknown to the Hebrews. Being a lad of only 17 years when sold united with the thought that Joseph, if alive, was only a slave, put him beyond the power of their recognition, though they were immediately recognized by Joseph. Joseph addressed them with severity ; called them spies come to see the nakedness of the land. We are all one man's sons, come to purchase food. Thy servants (are) twelve brethren, the sons of one .man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is with our father, and one (is) not. The following circumstance which took place in the presence of Joseph, as also the dialogue, was never read without the deepest emotion Here were eleven brothers, ten of whom had neither seen nor heard of the eleventh, (now the governor of Egypt) since they sold him to the Midian- ites, the governor addressing them by an interpreter. Here follows the dialogue. "And they said one to another: We (are) verily guilty concern- ing our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, and he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us. And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, do not sin against the child ; and ye would not hear ? therefore, behold, also his blood is required. And they knew not that Joseph understood (them), for he spake to them by an interpreter. And he turned himself about from them and wept; and returned to them again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon (as a hostage — W.) and bound him before their eyes." When these provisions were consumed, the famine continuing, another journey was undertaken, Benjamin being obliged, by the agreement, to form one of the sad party. The second interview with the governor was in its commencement painful and somewhat tragic. Their invitation to dine with the governor excited suspicion. The cup found in the sack of Benjamin, their return, and Joseph's making himself known to his brethren, are circumstances too familiar to require repetition. Joseph's dreams were fulfilled. Joseph's remarks to his brethren are so clear on the divine purpose relative to the Hebrew sojourn in Egypt, that we cannot omit them without our obscuring Hebrew narration. The Hebrews were God's peculiar people, His special family under His parental control. We HEBREW PHASE. 381 look for that guiding hand in every movement. "And Joseph said unto his brethren, come near to me, I pray you; and they came near; and he said, I (am) Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither; for God did send me before you to preserve life. For these two years (hath) the famine (been) in the land ; and yet (there are) five years, in the which (there shall) neither (be) earing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now (it was) not you (that) sent me hither, but God ; and He hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. Haste ye, and go up to my father and say unto him. Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt; come down unto me, tarry not. And thou shalt dwell in the land, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou and thy children, and thy children's children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast; and there will I nourish thee (for yet'(there are) five years of famine), lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty. And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen." After Jacob's death, Joseph said, "As for you ye thought evil against me, (but) God meant it unto good to bring to pass to save so much people." Jacob goes down into Egypt. The joy of Jacob at the news of Joseph's life and glory in Egypt, now the land of plenty, was like that of a happy resurrection. The invitation of his son to remove to that land added to the pleasure of the news that Joseph was still alive. Five years of famine yet to come, thought Jacob, will reduce me to extreme penury. I will accept of my son's very kind offers, and remove into Egypt. Prepara- tions are at once made and Jacob begins his journey. "Joseph my son (is) alive: I will go and see him before I die." Jacob's reflections on his journey from the land of promise to Egypt must have been somewhat peculiar. His vision of the ladder let down from heaven, the Lord stand- ing above it, angels of God ascending and descending upon it, and the voice of God saying, "The land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed," these all were fresh in his memory. A protracted famine and the glory of his son in Egypt, and the invitation of Pharaoh with wagons and provisions, have induced him to leave that land, for a time at least, perhaps for the remainder of his life. These providences seemed to conflict with that made to Abraham and Isaac, and repeated to him in the ladder wilderness. These things troubled Jacob so as to disturb his sleep. A new revelation is necessary. This the Almighty gives him. "And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob ! And he said. Here (am) I. And He said, I (am) God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation : I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up (again) : and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes." Gen. xlvi., 2. 3. 4. Joseph shall be with thee to close thine eyes in death. Jacob now understands what God had said to Abram, "Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land (that is) not theirs, and shall 382 THE EASTERN QUESTION, serve them and they shall afflict them four hundred years ; and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge : and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And thou shall go to thy fathers in peace ; thou (Abram — W.) shall be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth genera- tion they shall come hither again : for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full." Gen. xv., 13-16. Abram is told of a servitude and its duration, and the cause of the delay in the occupancy of Canaan, but what land is not here stated. Jacob learns what before had been obscure, that Egypt was the land, and that he was now following the chain of fulfilment. How remarkably do these prophecies unfold ! What a change in Jacob's family has been required to keep it on the high way to the birth of the one seed! The promise is of aland to the one seed — Christ; then to Abram and the one seed. That Abram, a joint heir, might not think that he was to inherit that land before the chief heir, he was informed that he should die in good old age, and that his immediate posterity was to perform 400 years of servitude, as no nation of the Canaanites was to be driven out until its cup was full. Let us now follow Jacob into Egypt. Pharaoh had said, "I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land." God had said, "Fear not to go down into Egypt : for I will there make of thee a great nation, I will go down with thee into Egypt." See, with what parental care God goes before, watches over and follows the family of the seed. It is His own family for the rea- son that the one seed, His Son, Messiah is to be born of that family and to gather out of it, especially with a multitude from all Gentile nations, a people which shall have universal and endless dominion over the earth. The workings of that Almighty power begin this early to loom up, a work- ing that will continue till the earth is full of God's glory. One other point, it is well here to notice the power that the Almighty possesses to shape kings and empires into such instruments as will be suited to accom- pl:'sh his own purposes. When he wants a home for his family he prints visions on the mind of its supreme ruler, and by a series of the most extra- ordinary events opens his heart to allow his people to settle and occupy the most productive part of his kingdom, but when the time comes for them to leave that country for a national home in their own land, a Pharaoh is raised up that knew not Joseph, and who by a series of terrible judgments, is obliged to thrust the Hebrews out of his land. Jacob being fully persuaded of his duty, left Canaan with his sons, and his sons' sons, his daughters and his sons' daughters, in all three score and six, with their cattle and their goods which they had gotten in the land of Canaan. Out of this family of 66 sou's God had promised to construct a great nation. That this pledge was redeemed will be fully seen the close of this epoch. Pharaoh's address and charge to Joseph are affectionate and liberal. " Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee ; the land of Egypt (is) before thee: in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell, and if thou knowest (any) men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle." HEBREW PHASE. , 383 Gen. xlvii., 5. 6. The hand of Providence is seen in their location — "Goshen," "in the best of the land." To make a great nation, a produc- tive soil is a very essential element. Soil, climate, and geographical posi- tion being favorable, an industrious, economical, and healthy people as was the family of Jacob, increase and prosperity are legitimate results. The land of Goshen was the garden of Egypt. Who can doubt the prime source of this kind arrangement? God, who had taken special charge of the Hebrew family, has brought them out of the severe famine of Canaan, and provided for them a home in this Eden of the Nile. Is not this a very noted providence ? They were removed to preserve life, and to raise up a great nation, in both of which particulars the land of promise was the very deficient. It may be of some moment to discover a reason for God's blessing the land of Egypt, and making it the home of his special family rather than Canaan, the land of the promise? The cup of the Amorites was not then full ; and till that was accomplished, the Canaan- ites could not be properly dispossessed, and as long as it remained under their domination it was liable to the curses, which are the legitimate fruits of wickedness. God made Egypt, at that time, the world's asylum, to furnish a home for Israel. To prepare that home, Joseph had been sent in advance. In this sense Joseph was "the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel." Gen. xlix., 24. Since he was the shepherd of Jacob's family, and the foundation of the nation of Israel, and in this manner an eminent type of Christ. Jacob's introduction and answer to Pharaoh are exceedingly interest- ing, since they illustrate patriarchal thought and manners. " The days of the years of my pilgrimago (are) a hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh." Gen. xlvii., 9. 10. Joseph settled his father and brethren in the land of Rameses (Goshen), the most fertile portion of Egypt. Joseph supplied them with necessary provisions. Joseph bought up for Pharaoh, in exchange for food, all the land of Egypt, except the land of the priests. "And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen ; and they had possessions therein, and grew and multiplied exceedingly." Gen. xlvii., 27. "And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly and multiplied and waxed exceedingly mighty, and the land was filled with them." Ex. i., 7. "Thy fathers went down into Egypt with three score and ten persons : and now the Lord thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude." Deut. x., 22. God had prom- ised to make of them a great nation, and here we have the record of its full accomplishment. How readily can the Almighty, the Father of life, bring to pass His own promises. This great famine, so terrible to the heathen, was turned to the advantage of his own Hebrew common wealth. It planted them in the richest garden of the earth, which caused them to multiply into a mighty nation. This embryotic Hebrew home was pro- 384 , THE EASTEEN QUESTION, vided by God with a view to their remarkable future. No other family- has ever had parental care equal to that of the Hebrews. Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen years — in all 147 years. The request of Jacob shows his unbroken love for the soil of promise. "And he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, if now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand upon my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me : bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt. But I will lie with my fathers, and thou shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burying-place. And he said, I will do as thou hast said. And he said, Swear unto me : and he swore unto him. And Israel bowed him- self upon the bed's head." Gen. xlvii., 24, 30. 31. The blessings of Jacob upon the sons of Joseph, as well as upon his own sons are truly prophetic. The elements of these special blessings will be noticed under their proper heads. One feature deserves present notice. Joseph's two sons which Jacob adopts as his own are (1) Manasseh, Joseph's first-born, and (2) Ephraim, God's first-born. Jer. xxxi., 9. In Ex. iv., 22. Thou (Moses, W.) shalt say unto Pharaoh. Thus saith the Lord, Israel (is) my son, (even) my first-born. Jacob crossing his arms in blessing Manasseh and Ephraim, clearly indicates a divine hand. "And Israel stretched out his right hand, and placed it upon Ephraim's head, who (was) the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh (was) the first-born. After Jacob had said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day. The angel (xxxii., 28) which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. Joseph, discovering what seemed to be a mistake, attempted to correct his father. But his father refused to change, saying, I know it, my son, he also (Manasseh) shall become a people, and he also shall be great, but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations. This point will be fully discussed under the American phase. God evi- dently guided Jacob in his prophetic blessings, as has been distinctly developed in the histories of Ephraim and Manasseh. Israel and Ephraim stand often for the same. It is said in Matt, ii., 15, "Out of EgyT:)t have I called my son." Hosea (Hos. xi., 1) is the prophet intended. "When Israel (was) a child then I loved him and called my son (Hebrew nation) out of Egypt." Since God calls himself the Father of the Hebrew family, collectively, that nation would be His first-born son, and His only begotten Son. And as Jacob was a joint heir, by Metonomy, the one can be substituted for the other. Ephraim often stands for Israel. Why Ephraim is called by God His first born instead of Manasseh will ap})ear in the sequel of their his- tory. In the death of Jacob, Joseph's brothers felt much alarm lest the "dreamer" should require of them an expiation for their unkind treat- ment ; but he showed them much affection, treating them as brothers. "And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his father's house ; and Joseph HEBREW PHASE. 385 lived one hundred and ten years." 93 years was he a resident of Egypt. And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third (generation) ; the chil- dren also of Manasseh were his tender care. "And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die; and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land, unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence. So Joseph died^ (being) one hundred and ten years ; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a cofhn in Egypt." Gen. 1. 23-26. It has been suggested that thig coffin came out of the great pyramid erected by Joseph and remained in the king's chamber from Joseph's death to the time of the Exodus, from B. C. 1635 to B. C. 1491 — 134 years. Yet the date of the erection of the pyramid is B. C. 2170, which is 425 years before the birth of Joseph. This is the chronology of the erection of the Great Pyramid according to Prof. Piazzi Smyth, as shown by the pole-star date. The theory of Mr. J. W. Redfield is faulty in many of its essential elements, which we can not now turn aside to discuss. One other element in the life of Jacob when about to die in Egypt, his faith relative to the land of promise. He made Joseph swear, saying, " Lo, I die; in my grave which I have digged for me in the land of Canaan, there thou shalt bury me." Gen. 1. 5. Jacob's blessings on his own sons, and on the two sons of Joseph whom he had adopted, clearly demon- strate his faith in God's purpose to fulfill His promise to Abraham, Isaac and himself; and since it was not accomplished in their natural lives, it being a possession belonging to Messiah's age, it would be fulfilled in the future, or age-life state. The resurrection of the true seed of Abraham was distinctly taught in the generic promise to the one seed, Christ, and to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, joint heirs. The same faith appears in Joseph's request, to have his bones taken with them out of Egypt. They were in Egypt merely sojourners. Jacob and his family were not removed to Egypt to make that land their national home, but simply a protective and pre- paratory land ; a land where they could be saved from the famine, and which would sustain a dense population. Egypt was the home of the Hebrew nation in embryo. For further notice of the Hebrew sojourn in Egypt see Acts vii. (Stephen's defined, and Paul on the ancient worthies. Heb. xi). From the death of Joseph, B. C. 1635, to the year of their Exodus, B. C. 1491, history furnishes but few items relative to the Hebrews, but from circumstances we have reason to believe that they had for a time a career of great prosperity, and that, through their servitude, their women were ex- ceedingly prolific. They multiplied as fishes. It seems that God had their immense increase in His mind when he went down with them into Egypt. As fishes are conducted by unerring instinct (Divine power) out of the great waters into lesser streams, to multiply in places of security, in like manner were the Hebrews taken away from the idolatrous Canaanites to a land where, apart from otherpeople, they might rapidly grow into a power- ful nation. So soon as they had increased and arrived at the time of par- 25 386 THE EASTERN QUESTION, turition Jehovah, their Almighty Chief, calls for their return to the land of promise. The events associated with their deliverance, briefly noticed, will conclude the Hebrew-Egyptian epoch. Their condition and direct cause of removal first claim special atten- tion, since they bring to view the watch-care of Jehovah. The occupation of the Hebrews (they were shepherds) was such as to make them a distinct people while in Egypt. The land of Goshen being assigned them they could there increase and were at liberty to follow their family calling and carry out the practices of their own peculiar institutions. Their increase and great national power seemed to excite the jealousy of the Egyptians. They had long been laborers for the Egyptians. They began to oppress the Hebrews, increasing their daily tasks, and adopted a policy to prevent their national increase by destroying the male ofifspring. This policy alienated the Hebrews from their Egyptian homes and caused them to sigh again for the freedom of their own native hills. Such treat- ment was necessary to alienate them from the pleasures of Egypt, and pre- pare them for the Exodus. While their oppression was becoming exceed- ingly painful, God was preparing them a deliverer. God accomplishes His purposes relative to mankind by visible human agencies. By such a visi- ble leader were the Hebrews to be conducted out of the land of bondage. The Egyptians were not willing to give up this nation of faithful slaves. They had to be made willing by a series of terrible judgments. That nation (the Egyptians) God judged, and that sore judgment was executed in a series of plagues. The name of the Hebrew deliverer was Moses (drawn out), because he was drawn out from the rushes on the banks of the Nile, where he had been secreted by his mother. Moses, as the adopted son of Pharaoh's daughter, was taught all the learning and wisdom of Egypt. Moses was not ignorant, however, of his nationality. He was a Hebrew of the house of Levi, called by Jehovah to conduct His people out of the house of bondage, unto a good land, and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey ; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittiles, and the Amorites, and Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Je- busites. Moses and Cyrus were remarkable types of Christ. Moses, the deliverer of the Hebrews from Egyptian bondage ; Cyrus, God's shepherd to lead Judah out of the oppression of Babylon ; and Jesus to deliver His people out of the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. It is not, perhaps, necessary to trace Moses through the years of private life. Having slain an Egyptian, he fled to the land of Midian, where he kept the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, a Midian priest. In his occupation of a shepherd he sees a bush burning without being consumed. What a wonder is here ! — a bush in flames, yet not consumed, Moses draws near to the bush. A voice out of the bush says, Moses, Moses ! Moses says here (am) I. He was told to draw near in his bare feet, as the ground surrounding the bush was holy. Moses hid his face, when the voice said, I (am) the God of thy fathers, the God of Abra- ham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. God said that he had seen the affliction of His people in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of HEBREW PHASE. 387 their task-masters. I am come down to deliver them from their Egyptian masters. Come, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh that thon mayest bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt. Many lessons are taught : (1) Here is a nation of slaves which the God of angels and of kings ; the God of the universe is not ashamed to call " My people." (2) God hears the cries of oppression, though they be so distant from His throne as this earth, even in Egypt. (3) God makes the executive judg- ments on one people to be the delivering angels of another people, though slaves. (4) God loves a righteous slave, far more than a tyrant mon- arch, though he be lord of empires. (5) What unbounded affection has the Almighty for the Hebrew family. It is His own peculiar people, joint heirs with His Son, under whom will commence the reign of righteous- ness. Moses uses various arguments with God to induce Him to release him from such an arduous task. The dialogue, protracted and interesting, re- sulted in Moses' accepting the commission, God promising to be with him, having his brother Aaron as his speaker. "And thou shalt speak words unto him, and put words in his mouth ; and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do. And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people ; and he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God." Ex. iv. 15-16. Vs. 17. "And thou shalt take this rod (Moses' cane, vs. 2 — W.) in thy hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs. Moses took leave of Jethro, and with his wife, sons, and Aaron, turned his face towards Egypt. Aaron and Moses, with his rod, were walking beside the ass that carried his wife and chil- dren ; a lone pedestrian, sent to deliver a nation of slaves from the iron grasp of task-masters, backed by the power of a mighty empire ; a weak thing to overcome the mighty. What a visible contrast ! a man in mid- dle age, with a cane, sent to manage and overcome an empire ! (1) to convince his own people of the divinity of his mission; (2) to overthrow the power of what was then the giant monarchy of the earth. The world has had its mighty chiefs and resistless conquerors, its Cyrus, Alexander, Tamerlane, and its Napoleon ; but in their conquests there was always a due ratio between the work and the visible instrument; but what ratio between this company leaving Midian for Egypt and the work assigned its pedestrian leader? What confidence, supreme, had Moses that the Almighty was with him I Talk of moral sublimity ! Where else can be found its equal ? It was not Moses, but God in Moses that •worked the wonders. Moses' cane had more power in it than Pharaoh with his warrior hosts. The weakness of the visible agency made the Almighty the more distin-ctly seen, and fully appreciated by Moses. The instructions of the commission was minute and distinct in every particular. Moses was instructed what to say and what to do; and was in- formed what would be the results. Pharaoh when afflicted would resist till God had inflicted upon him His executive judgments for the oppression of the Hebrews; after which they would be thrust out; then be followed and delivered by the waters of the sea. With what parental familiarity does 388 THE EASTERN QUESTION, God speak to Moses, and how affectionate the terms applied to His Hebrew family : " When thou goest to return into Egypt see (that) thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in thy hand ; but I will harden his heart that he shall not let the people go. And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, thus saith the Lord, Israel (is) my son, (even) my first-born, And I say unto thee, let my son go, that he may serve me ; and if thou re- fuse to let him go, behold I will slay thy son, (even) thy first-born." Ex. iv. 21-24. Moses went from the wilderness with Aaron (he having there joined him by the command of Jehovah) to visit his people in Goshen. All the elders of Israel were assembled, bofore whom the commission was explained, and the wonders performed before the people. The result was the conver- sion of the Hebrews to the Mission of Moses. Moses and Aaron then appear before Pharaoh, saying, "Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my people go that they may hold a feast unto Me in the wilderness." They put the request in the mildest form possible. Pharaoh develops his heart in his answer : Who (is) the Lord that I (Monarch of Egypt — W.) should obey His voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go." x. v. 2. 3. God is said to have hardened Pharaoh's heart, and again that Pharaoh hardened his own heart. So the rays of the sun, after a shower, are said to soften one soil and harden another, still the property is in the soil and not in the sun's rays, for their qualities are the same in all kinds of soil. Pharaoh hardened his own heart by resisting God's orders. The immediate result of Moses' mis- sion was to double the Hebrew oppression. This caused the people to com- plain bitterly against Moses, " You have made our Savor to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us." Moses presents the case to God, " For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Thy name he hath done evil to the people, neither hast Thou delivered Thy people at all." Ex. v. 22. 23. Moses is in too great a hurry. He seems to forget that they are to be delivered by execu- tive judgments on Pharaoh. God's instruments are double-edged. Their angels of mercy will be Pharaoh's messenger of death. God's answer to Moses is very clear and emphatic, " Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh ; for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land. I (am) the Lord (Ye-ho-wah), and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by (the name of) God Almighty (*T^'?N3) but by my name Jeho- vah (mn*) I was not known." The name Jehovah was heard even as early as the days of Eve; but that name is made known in terrible judg- ments. In that sense it is here used. Pharaoh did not then know Jeho- vah, since his judgments were then future, but the plagues made that name known to Pharaoh ; also to the Hebrews. This interpretation solves a difficult problem, "And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. And I have also heard the groaning of the children of HEBREW PHASE. 389 Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered my covenant. Wherefore, say unto the children of Israel, I (am) the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and T will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched-out arm and with a real judgment, and will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God; and ye shall know that I (am) the Lord your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you into the land concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it to you for a herit- age. I (am) the Lord." This message the Hebrews did not receive on ac- count of their cruel bondage. God commands Moses and Aaron to say to Pharaoh, King of Egypt, that he let the children go out of his land; not simply for three days to sacrifice in the wilderness, but to leave his coun- try. This was giving the command in its most offensive form. God is re- solved to deliver His people. A charge is now given to Moses and Aaron to bring the Hebrew out of Egypt. Moses says, "I (am) of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me ?" And the Lord said unto Moses, " See, I have made thee a god unto Pharaoh ; and Aaron, thy brother, shall be thy prophet. Thou shalt speak all that I command thee ; and Aaron, thy brother, shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel out of his land. And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies (and), my people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. And the Egyptians shall know (by these judg- ments. — W.) that I (am) the Lord (Jehovah) when I stretch forth my hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them." Moses is now 80 years old, and Aaron 83 years. (1) God said, when Pharaoh demands a miracle. Throw down thy rod and it shall become a serpent. This miracle was imitated by Pharaoh's magicians. This hardened Pharaoh's heart. (2) By the rod of Moses the waters became blood. This second miracle is imitated by Egyptian enchantments. (3) By the command of Jehovah Moses stretched forth his hand with his rod over the rivers and ponds of water, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. This was also imitated by magical en- chantments. Pharaoh now asks Moses to remove the frogs, since these plagues began to be rather serious throughout Egypt, for though these three miracles had been imitated, the imitations were on so small a scale as to leave Pharaoh in doubt as to whether Moses' Jehovah was not more powerful than all the Egyptian deities. So soon as the frogs were removed Pharaoh forgot his promise. (5) Swarms of flies filled Egypt, while Goshen had none. Pharaoh commanded Moses to go and sacrifice, but not to go far off. Moses entreated, and the flies were removed. Pharaoh again refused to allow the people to go. The flies were the fifth miracle. The fourth (4) miracle was that of lice, which the magicians said. This is the finger of God, as they had no imitation. 390 THE EASTERN QUESTION, (6) God sent in the sixth plague murrain upon all the cattle of Egypt, the cattle in Goshen escaping. Still Pharaoh hardened his heart, and re- fused to give up Israel. God still is executing His judgments. (7) At the command of Jehovah Moses pointed his rod towards the heavens, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground ; and the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt, all that (was) in the field, both man and beast, and the hail smote every herb of the field, and break every tree of the field. Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel (were) was there no hail. This terrible hail-storm was a great terror to Pharaoh, who commanded the children of Israel to remain no longer. Still when, by the entreaty of Moses, the storm was removed, Pharaoh refused to let the children of Israel depart. His heart was again hardened. God had hardened Pharaoh's heart that He might execute upon him all His executive judgments. (8) Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all (that) night, and (when) it was morning the east wind brought the locusts. And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt, very grie.vous (were they) ; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such. For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened ; and they did eat every herb of the land and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left ; and there re- mained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field through all the land of Egypt." Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste, " I have sinned against the Lord your God and you ; forgive me only this once. Entreat the Lord to take away this death." By a strong wind Jehovah removed the locusts. Pharaoh's heart was hardened, as the vials of Jehovah's wrath were not all poured out. (9) By Jehovah's command Moses stretches out his rod towards heaven, and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days ; and they saw not one another, neither any rose from his place for three days; but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. Pharaoh, calling Moses, said, Go ye, serve the Lord ; only let your flocks and your herds be stayed ; let your little ones go also with you. Moses said, Thou must give us also sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice unto the Lord our God. Our cattle, also, shall go with us; there shall not a hoof be left behind, for thereof must we take to serve the Lord our God; and we know not with what we must serve the Lord until we come thither. Pharaoh's heart being hardened, answered Moses, Get thee from me, take heed to thy- self, see my face no more ; for in (that) day thou seest my face thou shalt die. And Moses said. Thou hast spoken well. I will see thy face again no more." Ex. x. 25-29. How feeble and helpless are earth's proudest mon- archs when contending with the Almighty ! Moses, as a private man, was HEBREW PHASE. 391 but a worm of the dust. Officially, he was to Pharaoh the visible Jehovah. What power had Pharaoh to kill Moses when acting as Jehovah's vice gerent ? Pharaoh has now but a few days to live. The waters of the sea are being made ready to ingulf him and his hosts. Pharaoh seems to be insensible of the nature of his enemy. God is resolved to deliver His first-born from Egyptian bondage. No power in the universe can suc- cessfully resist His will, sustained by His oath. (10) "And the Lord said unto Moses, Yet will I bring one plague (more) upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt ; afterwards he will let you go hence ; when he shall let (you) go he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether. Speak now in the ears of the people, and let every man borrow (ask, demand '7J