Ambrose Lisle Phillipps

“ The south is a rela- tive term ; what is south of one place may be north of another ; when, therefore, the Prophet talks of the King of the South, he may refer to a kin^ who should reign over lands to the south of that land where the Prophet saw his vision, or he may mean to the south of the country which he immediately afterwards characterizes as " the north" over which would reign " the King of the North" or to the south of the land over which Antichrist himself should reign. ”

“ In Africa, still further south, the French nation have wrested another large territory from the Mahometan dominion, the vast province of Algeria, and no one can doubt that the same noble power threatens the existence of the empire of Morocco. ”

“ The Alliambra in its ruins fills the Christian traveller with wonder and admiration, while the mosques of Cairo and Mecca, along with innumerable others, realise all the grandest descriptions of the Arabian Nights. In the single city of Cairo there are no fewer than seven hundred mosques, and some of them of vast dimensions. ”

“ The prophecy tells us where they will end, not until the King of the North is master of the whole Turkish empire, with all its feudal dependencies enumerated in the text. The King of the North will make himself master of all that Turkey reigns over, "save only Edom, and Moab y and the principality of the children of Amman" That portion of the Turkish empire, for some reason decreed by God, will escape the grasp of the Northern Eagle. ”

“ It is true, that that learned and interesting writer takes a totally different view from myself upon the prophecies in question ; but that the glorious and holy mountain between the seas signifies Constantinople, he entertains no doubt what- ever. Nor do I ; and sooner or later I believe the King of the North will reign in that im- perial city, and rescue the ancient churches of Oriental Christendom from the dominion of Antichrist. ”

“ Bible were correct, it appears to me that it would only still more go to express the insa- tiable lust of Mahomet and his followers; for when it says that he shall make no account of the desire of women, we are forcibly reminded of a common expression in our own language, which describes an extreme propensity to any evil habit, or complete success in any under- taking by a similar phrase. When we say that a man " makes nothing " of drinking so many bottles of wine, we do not mean to say that he is a total abstainer from such a liquor, but quite the contrary. ”

“ And much as others may deprecate the ascendancy of Russia over the Turkish provinces referred to in the prophecy, and deeply as we feel the duty that loyalty to our sovereign imposes upon us, we at least can descry no necessarily evil con- sequences for the future of our own beloved country from such a result. ”

“ In the thirty-seventh verse, the Prophet con- tinues his description of Antichrist : " And he shall make no account of the God of his fathers." This was fulfilled when Mahomet renounced the worship of the true God, the ever adorable Trinity in Unity, who was the God of his fore- fathers (however little He was known or wor- shipped by them) as He is the God of all the earth, the only true God, blessed for evermore. " And he shall follow the lust of women" Our version, in this rendering of the sacred text, follows the Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate ”

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would fain rob Jesus Christ of the glory of having subjugated idolatry, and under pretence of zeal for the unity of God, he denied the ever blessed and adorable Trinity, in whose name Christ had commanded all men to be baptized, and on the throne of the everlasting Godhead lie raised himself: for it is Satan, not the true Triune God of revelation, that Ifahometanism adores. It is Satan simulating the true God, " similis ero Altissimo" as the Prophet had foretold of him. ”

“ Mahometanism is essentially icono- clastic, and it has done great things in rooting out the gross polytheism of Pagan nations, and yet we cannot say that the words of the text, accurately as they portray this feature of Anti- christ, convey any commendation upon him for his hypocritical zeal in this matter. ”

“ But, unfortunately for Bishop Newton's in- terpretation, while it is obviously neither a literal nor a direct one, it militates quite as much against Scripture, as it does against Catholicism.
Does not Scripture inform us that God " has given His angels charge over us to keep us in all our ways?" ”

“ In these words the Prophet emphatically predicts two of the most remarkable features of Maho- metanism : the first is the personal unity of the God it worships, " he shall worship Him ;" and
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the second is the magnificence of the places in which it worships him. All travellers concur in their description of the wonderful splendour of the Mahometan temples or mosques. It is scarcely possible to conceive anything to sur- pass them in grandeur or richness of decoration. ”

“ Neither shall he regard the God of his fa- thers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any God." And Bishop Newton, with his usual hatred of Catholicity, and his dexterous inge- nuity in turning the words of Scripture against the Church of God, interpreting, as we do also, this portion of Daniel's prophecy as relating to Antichrist, applies it to what he considers to be that Antichrist, namely, the assumed cor- ruptions of the Greek and Latin Churches ”

“ Then let Bishop Newton write as he pleases about the blasphemy of the Church in accepting the declaration of her Divine Master, and in re- cognising the blessed angels and saints as the patrons and guardians of men, as the protectors ami rulers of cities and provinces, his heretical interpretations are silenced by the Gospel of Christ, and in spite of his sneers, England will still be, what she was, the dowry of Mary, the kingdom of St. ”

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Scripture justifies such expressions in reference to the angels, it also justifies them equally in reference to the blessed saints reigning with Christ in glory. Is it not our Lord Himself, who tells the faithful soul of His servant, as he welcomes it to the joys of Paradise, " Well done, thfjic good and faithful servant, became thou hast been faithful in a little, thou shall have power ten rifles' 9 ? ”