LVII.
THE FINAL EXODUS
“AND what now is the aspect of Palestine? Still, truly, it is a land rich in the grandeur and beauties of nature’s handiwork――still, in some parts, ‘... hills, plains, and valleys, fields of wheat and barley, vineyards and olive-yards, are spread out before you as on a map’――still does the benign influence of the sun’s warmth engender in the bosom of the earth the germs of fruits and flowers, that languish for want of culture, and never arrive at perfection――still do the hills uplift their heads amid the clouds, which drop down, as though with tears of sorrow, upon their barren and exposed sides, once covered with artificial soil and by the hands of a favoured race rendered fruitful as the vale beneath. The mountains remain unshaken, but where are the countless flocks? the stones of the water-course are there, but where is the limpid stream? Alas! the promised blessing has been withdrawn from the land; the flocks no longer multiply as heretofore, neither as in former days do springs and fountains burst forth everywhere out of the valleys and the hills; and her cities are desolate and forsaken, and of many even the site is not accurately known; _literal_, indeed, has been the fulfilment of the prophetic declaration ‘the land shall be desolate.’ Solitude now reigns where once the busy hum of voices enlivened many a glad city, ay, even in the wilderness――ruins now mark the spot where once rose the sound of harp and tabret, and where heart joined with hand in mocking with merriment the threatened desolation....”
“... But more than this――Britain! rejoice! it is for you to lead back to their beautiful land the long-dispersed members of Judah’s neglected race, and by planting in their native country a colony of whose attachment to its protectors there could be no doubt,...”
“... Jerusalem shall, indeed, become again the glorious city among the nations: no longer shall her name be Jerusalem, but ‘the City of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel,’ for _there_ shall be holiness,’ and in the midst of her ‘the King of Israel, even the Lord;’ ... Her walls shall be called ‘Salvation,’ and her gates ‘Praise’; and her children shall enjoy the former and the latter rain; ‘the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them....’
“Among these there are _many_ whose wealth――... has caused the name of the Jew too often to be coupled with the idea of sordid gain...: but it will be well for the _few_, who by ... prosperity, . .. occupy now an elevated ♦position, ... prepare to head with energy every warrantable occasion for furthering the restoration of their unhappy people to Palestine. Providential is it for them, that among them are men possessing influence and wealth sufficient to become their leaders....”
♦ “postion” replaced with “position”
“Once again――Britain, beware! and hasten to exert the means which, lying at your disposal, may be made use of as a defence for your valuable possessions in the East, and for the advancement of God’s glory, by the return of His people to the land whither He has said He would bring them again ‘that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified.’”¹
¹ The Final Exodus; or, the Restoration to Palestine of the lost Tribes, the result of the present crisis; with a description of the battle of Armageddon, and the downfall of Russia, as deduced wholly from prophecy. London ... 1854.
[8º. 30 _pp._] _pp._ 4‒5, 13‒14, 27, 30.