But we have not yet done with Syria, for there is this peculiar interest attached to it, that it is the very country which God gave to Abraham. The boundaries are almost exactly the same. Take the map of Syria, and compare it with the promise originally given to Abraham. Look at Israel’s title deeds as recorded in Gen. xv. 18.—“Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates.” And see how this title deed was afterwards ratified through Moses; (Deut. xi. 24.) the only difference being that he draws his line from East to West, instead of from North East to South West, and so speaks of the Mediterranean as the Western boundary. “Every place whereon the soles of your foot shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost Sea shall your coast be.” That most important district is therefore the very district given by God to the seed of Abraham more than 3000 years ago. It belongs therefore to the house of Israel. It is their own, and why should they not return? People say they would not return if they could, and I have no doubt that of a great number that is perfectly true. I have no doubt that it would be with many Jews in respect of Palestine, just as it is with thousands of Gentiles in respect of eternal life. How many are there who have life and restoration offered them in Christ Jesus, but who are altogether indifferent to the offer? So doubtless it will be with multitudes of the house of Israel when the Jubilee trumpet is blown. The return may be proclaimed as that from Babylon was proclaimed in the edict of Cyrus, but none will respond but those whose spirit God will have raised. But how many are there in Russia, in Poland, in Hungary, in Roumania, in Arabia, and amongst God’s hidden ones throughout the world, who look on Palestine as the long lost home of their fathers, and who are crying and sighing for the recovery of Jerusalem! And why should not they hasten there as soon as Palestine is safe? They have all that is required, the capital and the enterprise. They hold the title deeds of Palestine, and they are only strangers amongst the people where they are scattered. What then is there to delay their return as soon as a righteous government is established? It is of no use for them to go there now. If they were to take their silver and their gold with them now the probability is that they would soon lose it through either plunder or taxation. But let England put forth her power, and establish with a strong hand a Government that may be trusted, and before many months are passed we may see the fulfilment of the prophecy recorded in Isaiah lx. 8, 9.—“Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows? Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and