THE EASTERN QUESTION.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5034, 2 May 1878, Page 2

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

: TO-THE EDITOR OF. THE NEW ZEALAND TIMES. Sib, —It is the: extraordinary fulfilment of bo many prophecies in the British nation that has led to their identification with the lost house of Israel: The part is taking now in-, the Eastern Question is also a fulfilment of prophecy, and the part she is likely to taka in the • immediate . future, according to English political writers, will (should it eventuate), be an incontrovertible proof that we are Israel ahd that the Bible is true. It is now beginning to be seen that the nation best fitted in every way to take the place of the Turks in one part of the Turkish Empire is none other than the nation to whom the country of Palestine rightly belongs, that is, the Jews. It has been pointed out that they would offer an impassable barrier to the encroachments of Russia, and thus protect our Egyptian interests and the road to India. It is said to be the dream of Disraeli’s life that; he should be the instrument in replacing the Jews in their own land. [ This is . touched on in the ; London Standard of December 6, 1875, out-of which the following is an extract : “There is a curious, .theory .abroad in, conncction with the : purchase of the ' Suez Canal . shares— a theory which, though > no importance may bp attached, to it, is curious «i showing the ■ direction in which people’s " thoughts have a tendency to drift. According to this, the acquisition of 'a strong influence in Egypt, towards which the purchase of these shares is a considerable step, will involve further action of a'most remarkable kind. Should the collapse q£ the Ottoman Empire come about, as! novr seems inevitable, and should Russia claim a largo share of the spoil, as seems only

too probable, the English position, so run the tale, would be strategically weak on th side of Syria and Palestine. It would then become a matter of necessity for England to acquire 'a position in these countries, if not absolutely to undertake their protection. But let England once be the paramount power in Palestine, and the signal is given for the return of the Jews to their own land. That this should come about under English auspices is said to be the hope of Mr. Disraeli himself. Whether that be so or not, it would be a most worthy ambition for any English statesman that his country should have the honor of aiding the fulfilment of the old promises, and helping to restore the chosen people to the land which is certain to be theirs again. It is, as we said,-'carious" to note how people’s thoughts are beginning to turn in that direction.” lit is evident the writer of the article from which the' above extract" is taken knew nothing -about- Israel,-and this- is-where so many have been at fault, being under the impression that all Israelites were Jews. _ This is not the case ; all Jews are Israelites, but all Israelites are not Jews. Prophecy declares that Israel and Judah shall return together, as, for instance, iu the,passage, “ In those days the house of Judah shall .walk to the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north, to the laud that I have given tor an inheritance to your fathers ; ” and also in the passage, “ I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them as at the first.” Prophecy also thus states in what manner the Jews shallgo back: “In that time shall the present be to the Lord of Hosts of a nation scattered and peeled (i.c., the Jews) from a people terrible from their beginning and onward” (i c., Israel); or, as it would now appear,‘England. The Jewish Chronicle, in a leading article on the Eastern Question, draws attention" to Mr. John S. Stuart Glennie’s book “ Modern Revelation," and says ; “ Now, Mr. Glennie is not a believer in revelation. The dust hallowed by the footsteps of phrophets has no sanctifying power for him. For him Judea is no more than a name—the top of the mast jutting out from the sea long after the vessel itself has been swallowed up by the; waves. But on political grounds he deems it likely that the .decisive battle which is to solve the Eastern Question may have to be fought on the plain of Esdraelon. Only think of Gog Magog, the chief.prince of Meahesh (Moscow) and other- northern tribes, and the terrible battle which Ezekiel foresaw .would; have to be fought in-Palestine—that Ezekiel whom Mr. Glennie, at the best, would designate as a mere visionary. And .with whom is the head of these -northern tribes, to fight the terrible ? Have not English,interests singled out England as the' predestined antagonist of Gog Magog? -And to whose share is Syria to fall ? : To whose share else but; to' that of the country.to whom Syria’s; possession is of the greatest interest, in which there lies another highway to her Eastern Empire ? Mr. Glennie, who, as stated before, hardly believes in saint, apostle, or phrophet, believes that the natural successor of the Turk on the soil of Syria will be England, whose rule would be hailed by Arab, Greek; and Jew alike;” J: , It is a curious fact, hut nevertheless perfectly true, that the Russian people are being trained to look upon Palestine and its holy places, more i especially Jerusalem, as , theirs. There; is not far from Moscow a place called “ VoskreaceUskee,” or, iu ; English, ‘‘ The New Jerusalem,” and it is ; an exact counterpart, or rather ; counterfeit, of the holy city,, the resemblance, according to the Uniycvs,, is rendered perfect by-immense artificial .works, so as to remove the illusion almost beyond .the power of discovery. -Thousands, 'of . pilgrims visit it every year, and they are encouraged to do so as a; means of impressing strongly on their minds the thought -of f Jerusalem itself. The invention of this sham; is attributed to the - father of Peter- the Great.--Among the objects found on the‘wounded- Russians at Inkerman was a Slavonic book, purporting to be ‘a guide to this aham Jerusalem,--Now; this, though apparently a trifle, is in reality deeply significant. -It is well known that soldiers" incited by religious fanaticism strike harder, and are more pitiless)-than mere met--, cenaries, and it is this religious feeling that Russia has for some generations been endeavoring, not without success, to instil into the minds of her people. In these, days, ‘when the greatest intellects ; of; the ‘ ago, arc banded together to endeavor to put science and nature in the place of the God of revelation, it would be well for, men. endowed with common sense, before, they blindly follow the lead of those whose intellectual superiority they'are forced to recognise, to carefully study Moses and the prophets, and see if they cannot find in those grand old books truths sufficient to satisfy them that the Bible is true, aud that the God of the Bible is the God of all the earth, and that this great Empire to which we‘ belong has been providentially watched over and guided, entirely unknown to herself, from (he beginning until this hour, and that the part she has played, aud is still playing, in the history of the world, was, sketched out and written down centuries before England had any historical am, &c., ' ' ' ‘ . Neutral.