It being admitted, then, that the prophets often predicted what was to befal the nations in the latter times of the world, under the names of those cities and nations which existed in their own times, it appears probable, that the prophecies of Ezekiel in chapters the xxviith and xxviiith, are of this description; especially as the conclusion of these prophecies seems to render this application of them absolutely necessary. For though the destruction of insular Tyre, and of Zidon, by Alexander, might be a partial and inferior accomplishment of what the prophet predicts, yet no more, because such a restoration of Israel, and such peace and prosperity, as are promised to follow the destruction of their enemies, has certainly never been verified in the history of that people. But all the prophets unite in the strongest assurances, that it shall be so in the latter days. In these latter ages of the world, then, we must look for the Antitypical Tyre and Zidon.

Whether these prophecies point at Great Britain, France, Holland, Spain, Portugal, or what other countries, I shall not presume to say-though my fears suggest that the picture cannot be well mistaken-but leave the reader to form that conclusion which his judgment may dictate. Only observing, that by Tyrus must be intended some great maritime power and commercial people; and by Zidon, it is probable, a more inferior. And that it cannot refer to the destruction of papal Rome, as a recent author conjectures, for what is Rome as a commercial city (uness in relics and pardons, and such trumpery of superstition) or as a maritime and naval power? Nor is it at all likely to refer to the destruction of Gog and his multitude, predicted in Ezekiel, xxxviii. and xxxix. for that has no resemblance to this description.

Take a view of the prophecy. After uttering predictions (chapter xxvi.) which had their full accomplishment in the overthrow of old Tyre, by Nebuchadnezzar, the prophet proceeds (chapter xxvii.) to inform us that, the word of the Lord came unto him again, saying, Now, thou Son of Man, take up a lamentation for Tyrus, and say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord God, O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty. "The strength of my navy, and fortresses are every way complete and beautiful." Lowth. Thy borders

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* Mr. Alex. Fraser's Key to the Prophecies, page 33.

are in the midst of the seas; thy builders have perfected thy beauty. "The following verses shew, that the words are "chiefly to be understood of the builders of their ships, "wherein the chief strength of the Tyrians was placed. Idem. They have made all thy ship-boards of fir-trees of Senir: they have taken cedars from Lebanon, to make masts for thee. The prophet proceeds to the end of the twelfth verse, to represent their naval and military strength. And then, to verse the twenty-fifth, the immense and extensive commerce of Tyre is celebrated, and the countries to which she traded, and the articles of her traffic, are enumerated. Tarshish was thy merchant-with silver, iron, tin, and lead-Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy merchants, they traded (bartered) the persons of men. The Hebrew reads (says Lowth) the souls of men. This is one of the crimes alledged (Rev. xviii. 13.) against the European Babylon; the foulest crime which disgraces the laws and practices of civilized nations, and which cries aloud for vengeance against the governments which suffer it, and the nations which practise it. Observe the connection. As if men were esteemed by these avaricious, hardened Tyrians, of no greater value than pans and kettles, the prophet makes the most apposite association;-they traded the persons of men, and vessels of brass in thy market. Read the detail of Tyre's extensive commerce, down to the twenty-fifth verse. The prophet concludes, The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market. "Ships "of Tarshish, says Lowth, signify sometimes, in Scrip"ture, any trading and merchant ships." It means, "the "ships from all parts of the sea, which came to trade with "thee, boasted of thee; had their songs of praise to com"mend thy state. As mariners in ports, where they ar"rive, do usually, with mirth and songs, entertain one "another, so at Tyre. And thou wast replenished, and made very glorious in the midst of the seas.

But what is the end of all this pride, prosperity, and mirth, this flourishing commerce, mighty navy, and perfect beauty? Ver. 26. Thy rowers (thy governors and counsellors) have brought thee into great waters, (into great difficulties and dangers); the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas. The invasion and ruin of a maritime and naval people, set forth by a ship, ill-conducted, over

* Pool in Loc.

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set by the winds, and ready to sink, is apt, and sublimely beautiful. Whether the modern Tyre is to be attacked by an enemy on its Eastern side, or an enemy from the East, as ancient Tyre was, is not for any one to determine; be that as it may, the consequences will be the same. Thy riches, and thy fairs, thy merchandize, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the occupiers of thy merchandize, and all thy men of war that are in thee, and all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the midst of the seas, in the day of thy ruin. The suburbs shall shake at the sound of the cry of thy pilots. And all that handle the oar, the mariners, and all the pilots of the sea shall come down from their ships, they shall stand upon the land, and shall cause their voice to be heard AGAINST thee.-All the inhabitants of the isles shall be astonished at thee, and their kings shall be sore afraid, they shall be troubled in their countenance. The merchants among the people shall hiss at thee, thou shalt be a terror and never shalt be any more. This is the fate of this ma ritime people at large, who were so lifted up with their greatness, and thought themselves perfect in beauty; unequalled in excellence, and invincible in power. But the fate which awaits the Prince of Tyrus is thought of suffi, cient importance to merit a distinct prophecy.

Chap. xxviii. The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, Son of man, say unto the Prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord God; because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the sea; yet thou art a man and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God, &c. This Prince of Tyrus, says Dr. Gill, Mr. Fraser, and others, is the ruler of papal Rome: but surely this must be a mistake; for though the Pope pretends to sit in the seat of God, and says he is God's vicegerent, and assumes divine prerogatives, yet he is no maritime power; and seeing that secular sovereigns and governments have also seized that authority, and pretended to those rights which belong only to God, and are swelled with the pride of their own prowess, the charge is as applicable to them as to the pontiff. Those commentators who apply the prophecy to the taking of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar, say, this Prince of Tyrus was Ethbaal, or Ithobalus II. But the utter ruin of Tyre, of which, (if it be not altogether figurative) this seems a prophecy, was not till its destruction by Alexan

der the Great, more than two hundred years after the reign of Ethbaal.*

Although Tyre was sometimes governed by judges, yet at the time of its destruction it was under an absolute monarch; but, allowing Tyre to be spoken of as typical of some maritime people in the latter age of the world, who should bear a strong resemblance to them in their naval, commercial, and moral character, then the Prince of Tyrus, as the repository of the sovereign power, may stand for any sort of government, or sovereignty, whether republican, as Holland; or monarchical and despotic, as Spain and Portugal; or more mixed, as Great-Britain,

and some others.

I am a god, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas. As a god, I shall reign for ever; the waves are my ramparts, my navy is invincible, my resources are infinite; I shall never see evil. † Verse 7. Behold, therefore, I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations; and they shall draw the sword against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness. They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that art slain in the midst of the seas.-This needs no comment.-Almighty God, how awful are thy judgments! How terrible is thine anger! Seas, nor navies, nor riches, nor wisdom, can afford protection, when Thou contendest with nations for their sins!

But why all this wrath against the Prince of Tyrus? The first charge is the abuse of riches: Thus saith the Lord God, Thou sealest up the sum full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Excess of pride and luxury adds also to his store of guilt: Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering.-The workmanship of thy tabrets, and of thy pipes, was prepared in thee, in the day that thou wast created. The most choice parts of the world have been explored to gratify thy pride; and all the art of man exerted to contribute to thy plea

*Univer. Anc. Hist. Vol. II. p. 34, and subseq.

+ When Alexander, that he might attack the Tyrians to more advantage, and be able to batter their walls, was raising a mole, or causey, across the channel of the sea, which separated the little island, on which Tyre stood, from the continent, the Tyrians, at first, looked upon this undertaking as a rash and desperate attempt, which could never be attended with any success; and therefore, from their ships, they asked him, in derision, whether he believed himself to be greater than Neptune?

so.

sures.-Apostacy completes the climax of crimes: Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee Here is an allusion to the ark, and the cherubims which overshadowed it with their wings. The government of this prophetic Tyre has been, by its tolerating laws, a protecting covering to God's people and his truth; God made it so.- Thou wast perfect in thy ways, from the day thou wast created. (ver. 15.) Comparatively so; more so than most of the neighbouring governments -till iniquity was found in thee. And what iniquity, above all others, contributed to the corruption of the government of Tyre? Ver. 16. By the multitude of thy merchandize they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned. An excessive passion for trade, though it were but in iron, tin, and lead; the wine of Helbon, and white wool, † would extinguish every ennobling quality, and all public virtue; and the abuse of the wealth which this trade procured, would engender all moral and political vices; how great then must be the depravity and crimes of Tyrus, when Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, bartered in their market the persons of men, and vessels of brass! Therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God, and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty; thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness-Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities; by the iniquity of thy traffic; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, (internal discord) it shall devour thee; and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth.-Thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.

-Let us pause!-Let us compare!-Öf whom, and of what time, does the prophet speak? Look again at the portrait! Look at Great-Britain!-When there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn, of all that are round about them, that despised them, and they shall dwell safely in their own land, and with confidence, because judgments have been executed upon all those that despised them; and they shall know that Jehovah is their God, THEN shall all these things be fulfilled.

Next folloys a prophecy against Zidon, (verse 20-23.) Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of Ezek. xxvii. 12, 18,

* Exod. xxv. 20.

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