But in the midst of all this they have been preserved. Kindness has not fused them, reproach has not shamed them, and persecution has not destroyed them; so that after eighteen centuries they are in the midst of us still—still scattered through the world, still remaining a separate people, still under reproach and persecution, but still moving amongst us as an active, intelligent body of men; in the midst of us, but not of us; living in England, but not Englishmen; the subjects of another dynasty, the proprietors of another land, and the scions of another home. Now I wish to put it to all thinking and observing men, Can they refer me to any other people in the world in which these five facts are found to meet? Do they know of any other people that was ever so completely removed from its home, that was ever so effectually dispersed amongst the nations, that has been kept so distinct, that has endured such reproach and persecution, and that, notwithstanding all, has been so long preserved? There have been amongst other races conquests, massacres, and migrations; but I venture to affirm, without the slightest hesitation, that you may search history from one end to the other, may ransack its pages for all that you can find respecting the nations, and I venture to affirm, without the slightest fear of contradiction, that you will not find one in which any of those facts have taken place as they have with the Jews, and still less one in whom in this most extraordinary manner they have all been found to meet. But now comes the question, How is all this to be explained? What is it that has made the Jews such an exceptional people? What is it that has made their experience so entirely different to that of all the other peoples upon the earth? I ask the infidel to tell me if he can, but I know he cannot; I ask the man of science to explain it on scientific principles, but I know he cannot. But I ask the believer to explain it, and he can do so in a moment by the simple answer, “It is the hand of God.” But some man may say, “How do you know that it is the hand of God? What proof have you that it is His doing?” A perfectly clear proof that it is impossible to deny. There is a _sixth_ fact quite as plain as the other five; _i.e._, that all the five facts were predicted in the prophecies, and that centuries before the dispersion took place it was clearly foretold in the prophecies of the Word of God. These facts were all foretold in prophecy, and therefore we are firmly persuaded that they were all brought about by God. The fulfilment of prophecy is a proof that the whole is of God. In proof of this let us refer to a few passages. I spoke of the fact of their _expatriation_, or expulsion from their own land. Now what did Moses say of it fifteen hundred years before it happened? Only mark his words: “Ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it.” (Deut. xxviii. 63.)