their pleasure, the laws both of God and of man, wherever these would have otherwise limited their authority, or controlled their will. They claimed supremacy and infallibility as inalienably their own. ،، The commandments of the church" were not only held of equal authority with the word of God, but the interpretation given to them by the church was held as the only rule of faith; and the bishop of Rome suppressed the propagation of the gospel. A bull, or edict of the pope, once sufficed throughout Christendom for the deposition of monarchs; and millions were released from their allegiance by a word. By dispensations from the pope, oaths lost their validity, and sin its guilt. He did according to his will, and exalted and magnified himself above every god, and spake marvellous things against the God of gods; and long did he continue to prosper. But the recent termination of his power may shew that the indignation, if not already in progress, is about to be accomplished. The prevalence of superstition, the prohibition, or discouragement of marriage, and the worship of saints, as characteristic of the same period and of the same power, are thus prophetically described :-" Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women (or matrimony), nor regard any God. i But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces -MAHUZZIM-protectors or guardians, a term so applicable to the worship of saints, and to the confidence which was reposed in them, that expressions exactly synonymous are often used by many ancient writers in honour of them; of which Mede and Sir Isaac Newton have adduced a multiplicity of instances. Mahuzzim were the tutelary saints of the Greek and Romish churches. The subserviency, which long existed, of spiritual power to temporal i Dan. xi. 37, 38. aggrandizement, is also noted in the prophecy :and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain. And that the principal teachers and propagators of the worship of Mahuzzim -"the bishops, priests and monks, and religious orders, have been honoured and reverenced, and esteemed in former ages; that their authority and jurisdiction have extended over the purses and consciences of men; that they have been enriched with noble buildings and large endowments, and have had the choicest of the lands appropriated for church-lands; are points of such notoriety that they require no proof, and will admit of no denial."l Having thus described the antichristian power, which prospered so long and prevailed so widely, the prophecy next delineates, in less obscure terms, the manner in which that power was to be humbled and overthrown, and introduces a more particular definition of the rise, extent, and fall of that kingdom which was to oppress and supplant it in the latter days. And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him." The Saracens extended their conquests over great part of Asia and of Europe: they penetrated the dominions of the Grecian empire, and partially subdued, though they could not entirely subvert it, or obtain possession of Constantinople the capital city. The prediction, however brief, significantly represents their warfare which was desultory, and their conquest which was incomplete. And Arabia is situated to the south of Palestine. The Turks, the next and the last invaders of the Grecian empire, were of Scythian extraction, and came from the North." And, while a single expression identifies the Saracen invasion, the irruption of the Turks, being of a more fatal cha k Dan. xi. 39. 1 Bishop Newton. racter and more permanent in its effects, is fully described. Every part of the description is most faithful to the facts. Their local situation, the impetuosity of their attack, the organization of their armies, and the success of their arms, form the first part of the prediction respecting them. And the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.o Although the Grecian empire withstood the predatory warfare of the Saracens, it gave way before the overwhelming forces of the Turks, whose progress was tracked with destruction, and whose coming was indeed like a whirlwind. Chariots and horsemen were to be the distinguishing marks of their armies, though armies in general contain the greatest proportion of foot soldiers. And, in describing their first invasion of the Grecian territory, Gibbon relates, that the myriads of Turkish horse overspread a frontier of six hundred miles, from Taurus to Arzeroum, and the blood of one hundred and thirty thousand Christians was a grateful sacrifice to the Arabian prophet.P The Turkish armies at first consisted so exclusively of horsemen, that the stoutest of the youths of the captive Christians were afterwards taken and trained as a band of infantry, and called janisaries, (yengi cheri) or new soldiers." In apparent contradiction to the nature of their army, they were also to possess many ships. And Gibbon again relates, that "a fleet of two hundred ships was constructed by the hands of the captive Greeks." But no direct evidence is necessary to prove, that many ships must have been re o Dan. xi. 40. P Gibbon's Hist. ch. lvii. vol. v. p. 538. I Gibbon's Hist. vol. v. p. 553. quisite for the capture of so many islands, and the destruction of the Venetian naval power, which was once the most celebrated in Europe. "The words, shall enter into the countries and overflow and pass over, give us an exact idea of their overflowing the western parts of Asia, and then passing over into Europe."s He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown. This expression, the glorious land, occurs in the previous part of this prophecy (v. 16); and in both cases it evidently means the land of Israel; and such the Syriac translation renders it. The Holy Land formed part of the earliest conquests of the Turks, before their career of conquest was suspended. And many countries shall be overthrown, or, according to the original, many shall be overthrown. The entrance of the Turks into Palestine led the way to the Crusades, which, as much as any event in the history of man, was marked by the overthrow of many. The king of the north, or the Turkish sultan, entered into the countries and overflowed them, before his conquests extended to Judea ; and after the crusades had ceased, he stretched his hand anew over the countries. In the intervening period many were overthrown." "The recovery of the Holy Land" was deemed an adequate recompence for the sacrifice of the lives of many thousands; and Europe contended with Asia for the possession of Palestine, which it could not ultimately rescue from the Turks. Yet, while Europe could not wrest from them one portion of Syria, another did escape out of their hands, though that region partially intersects the Turkish dominions, and divides one portion of them • Bishop Newton. t Dan. xi. 41. u The writer has entered more fully into the prophetical history of the Turks in a separate publication.› from another, forming a singular contrast to the general continuity of kingdoms. And while every particular prediction respecting these separate states has been fully verified, their escaping out of the hands of the Turks has been no less marvellously fulfilled. But these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.x Mede, Sir Isaac and Bishop Newton, in applying this prophecy to the Turkish empire, could only express in general terms, that the Arabs possessed these countries, and exacted tribute from the Turks for permitting their caravans to pass through them. But recent travellers, among whom Volney has to be numbered, have unconsciously given the most satisfactory information, demonstrative of the truth of all the minutia of the prediction. Volney described these countries in part-Burckhardt traversed them all-and they have since been visited by other travellers. Edom and Moab are in possession of the Bedouin (or wandering) Arabs. The Turks have often attempted, in vain, to subjugate them. The partial escape of Ammon from their dominion is not less discriminating than just. For, although that territory lies in the immediate vicinity of the Pachalic of Damascus, to which part of it is subjected, though it be extremely fertile by nature,-though its situation and its soil have thus presented, for several centuries, the strongest temptation to Turkish rapacity,-though they have often attempted to subdue it,-yet no fact could have been more explicitly detailed, or more incidentally communicated, than that the inhabitants of the greater part of that country, particularly what adjoins the ancient but now desolate çity of Ammon, "live in a state of complete independence of the Turks."y x Dan. xi. 41. y Buckingham's Travels, pp. 325, 329, 337. Burckhardt's |