the Assyrian empire was matter of dispute. And as the ruin of Babylon was equally complete, so the language of prophecy is equally clear and descriptive of its entire destruction, “O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thy end is come and the measure of thy covetousness. Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, _yet from_ ME _shall spoilers come unto her_, _saith the Lord_. Oh Lord, thou hast spoken against this place to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever.” {103b} Nor was the fate of these empires and cities alone foretold: the long degradation of Egypt, which has been so exactly fulfilled, was predicted: “it shall be the basest of the kingdoms, neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations: FOR I WILL DIMINISH THEM, THAT THEY SHALL NO MORE RULE OVER THE NATIONS.” {104a} The evils impending over rich and proud Tyre, whilst still in the plenitude of her power and greatness were announced by Isaiah in terms very applicable to that great emporium of commerce: “Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days? her own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn. Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth? THE LORD OF HOSTS HATH PURPOSED IT, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth. HE _stretched out His hand over the sea_; HE _shook the kingdoms_: _the_ LORD _hath given a commandment against the merchant city_, _to destroy the strong holds thereof_.” {104b} But it was reserved for Ezekiel to foretell the full extent of the fearful ruin which was to overtake this renowned city: and he has done so, in terms so brief, and yet so minutely descriptive of its present state, as to have excited the observation of all modern travellers: “_it shall __be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea_, FOR I HAVE SPOKEN IT, SAITH THE LORD GOD: and it shall become a spoil to the nations.” {105a} “I WILL MAKE _thee like the top of a rock_: thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon, thou shalt be built no more; for I the Lord have spoken it, saith the Lord God.” {105b} Thus, when Maundrell visited the ruins of Tyre, he found “its present inhabitants to be a few wretches, subsisting chiefly by fishing, who seem to be preserved in this place by Divine Providence, as a visible argument how God has fulfilled His word concerning Tyre.”