and the last "perilous times," the days of the Antichrist, are approaching. The Church cannot afford to lose these privileges of her Christian birthright, or any of those spiritual gifts which God graciously vouchsafed to her, especially the greatest of them, "the manifestation of the Spirit . . . to profit withal" (1 Cor. xii. 7). It is from this revival of the gift of prophecy in the Christian Church, during the last century, that our present light and knowledge are in the first instance derived; and the author disclaims any originality or exercise of imagination in the following interpretations. Much has been written by learned and pious commentators on the literal fulfilment of the inspired prophecies of the Bible. Bishop Newton has devoted a chapter to Tyre, and to the consideration of the fulfilment of the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos, Joel, and Zechariah, concerning Tyre; but, although this study is both instructive and confirmatory to faith, it is not this literal phase that is under consideration. Whilst examining the prophecies concerning Tyre, and their primary and literal application, it must be borne in mind that there is generally a twofold fulfilment of Scriptural prophecies; and that the object of this treatise is to trace out their secondary or antitypical-their modern and spiritual applications. Surely this aspect of the double fulfilment of prophecies enhances their value; for in regarding those concerning ancient Tyre, as possessing features applicable to modern England, a new view of the truth is suggested; and one which, if reasonable and substantiated, will increase our reverence for, and interest in, the Word of God.

In The Morning Watch-a publication issued from 1829 to 1833-Tyre is frequently referred to as a type of England; as, for example, in No. 14, March, 1832— "The idolatry of commerce is chiefly found in England, the antitype of Tyre. Tyrus in the language of prophecy undoubtedly designates England." It is, however, only right to state that this interpretation and application were based on those prophetic utterances, to which reference has been made.

The idea of Tyre being a type of England is found in the volume of poems called Lyra Apostolica (first published in 1836), and is sanctioned by the well-known names of John Henry Newman and John Keble.

In Sonnet cxl, which is headed "England," Cardinal Newman utters a warning note :—

"Tyre of the West, and glorying in the name
More than in Faith's pure fame!

O trust not crafty fort nor rock renowned

Earned upon hostile ground;

Wielding Trade's Master-keys at thy proud will

To lock or loose its waters, England! trust not still.
Dread thine own power! Since haughty Babel's prime
High towers have been man's crime.

Since her hoar age, when the huge moat lay bare,
Strongholds have been man's snare.

Thy nest is in the crags; ah ! refuge frail !

Mad council in its hour, or traitors will prevail."

The next sonnet (No. cxli), written by the Rev. John Keble, author of The Christian Year, bears on this subject, and is addressed to the United States, as the "Tyre of the Farther West."

"Tyre of the farther West! be thou too warn'd,

Whose eagle wings thine own green world o'erspread,
Touching two Oceans: wherefore hast thou scorn'd
Thy fathers' God, O proud and full of bread?
Why lies the Cross unhonoured on thy ground,
While in mid-air thy stars and arrows flaunt ?
That sheaf of darts, will it not fall unbound,
Except, disrob'd of thy vain earthly vaunt,

Thou bring it to be bless'd where Saints and Angels haunt ?

These poems on Tyre were written after the year 1831, in which the original word of prophecy declaring Tyre to be a type of England was uttered, which was the first suggestion of their prophetic identity.

Eastward, this hour, perchance thou turn'st thine ear,
Listening, if haply with the surging sea,
Blend sounds of Ruin from a land once dear

To thee and Heaven. O trying hour for thee!
Tyre mock'd when Salem fell where now is Tyre?
Heaven was against her. Nations thick as waves

Burst o'er her walls, to Ocean doom'd and fire :

And now the tideless water idly laves

Her towers, and the lone sands heap her crown'd merchants' graves."

Thus, two well-known divines support the view that Tyre enshrines a typical and prophetical application to England; and a modern writer says: Phoenicia has been called 'The England of Antiquity' because of its commercial greatness."

The word of God has left certain characters, cities and countries on record, thousands of years ago: all that we, as students of the "sure word of prophecy and of modern history, have to do, is to study the Divine record, and to search for its antitypical agreement with events and facts in the present day, trusting for guidance to the manifold wisdom of God.

The inquiry as to whether true spiritual reasons can be found for the application of the type of ancient Tyre to modern England, is the purport of the following treatise.

The Illustrated Bible Treasury, p. 263. Wright, D.D. Thomas Nelson & Sons.

Edited by William London, 1897.

B

CHAPTER II.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY: AND BRIEF HISTORY OF
ANCIENT TYRE.

“The strong city of Tyre (Tzor).”—JOSH. xix. 29.
Appropriate Scripture: I KINGS V.

EFORE entering upon our actual subject, it seems desirable to say a few words on the physical features of Phoenicia, and on the history of ancient Tyre, as tending to cast light on some of the remarks which follow.

f. THE PHYSICAL FEATURES OF PHOENICIA AND OF TYRE.-Phoenicia was bounded by the Mediterranean Sea westwards, and extended eastwards to the mountain crests of Bargylus and Lebanon. It consisted of a narrow strip of rich plain on the sea-coast of Syria.

"The limits of the tract northward and southward are variously stated by ancient authorities; but modern researches seem to indicate that the actual Phoenician occupation did not extend beyond Laodicea (Latakia) on the north; and Acre, or at the farthest, Carmel, on the south. This would give a coastline of about 230 miles." But this obtained only during the height of Phoenicia's prosperity and greatest northerly expansion; after which, the extent of her territory was reduced to about 120 miles. "The width between the coast and the mountain ridges of Bargylus and Lebanon varies from eight to ten, to twenty-five to thirty miles. The area of Phoenicia proper may thus be reckoned at about 3,000 square miles. The tract included within

these limits is one of a remarkably diversified character. . . The sand is confined to a comparatively narrow strip along the sea-coast, . . . is exceedingly fine, and of excellent siliceous quality, especially in the vicinity of Sidon, and at the foot of Mount Carmel. But

THE KINGDOM OF TYRE IN THE TIME OF SENNACHERIB,
ABOUT 701 B.C.

From Prof. Maspero's The Passing of the Empires, by permission of the S.P.C.K.

the glory of Phoenicia is Lebanon. It was the western region of Lebanon which held those inexhaustible stores of forest trees that supplied Phoenicia