lemnly framed. We read that oath, and have never since, for one instant, entertained the smallest hope of the Spanish cause. There were soine most vague and insignificant expressions in that oath, about taking care of the interests of the nation; but its absolute sum and substance was, popery and Ferdinand. The first of these, avowed in its utmost extent and

grossness, we considered, as we have already attempted to explain, as enough to ensure the fate of the whole design, ou account of its aspect relatively to the divine government; and the latter, as furnishing far too insignificant a motive to animate a nation to battle. The Junta began by declaring they had no power to assemble the Cortez, in other words, that they could do nothing for the people; they went on to restrict the freedom of the press, and now,-the world is ceasing to inquire what they are doing.

No room remains for remarks on the measures of our government, relating to the vast preparations and armies professedly intended for the assistance of Spain; what is worse, we have no room for adding many remarks on the book which has given occasion to this article.

The Cid (i.e. Lord) Rodrigo Diaz was a most renowned hero, of the eleventh century, who was sometimes in the service of the Christian monarch of Spain, and sometimes maintained -himself independent in his conquests from the Moorish part of the country. There are several ancient records, and an epic poem, concerning him, in the Spanish language; Mr. Southey has formed the present work, by combining and harmonising the several relations together, faithfully translating, as he assures us, what he has selected from each, and noting, in the margin of each paragraph, the work, and the part of the work from which it is taken. The translation is in the antiquated English dialect, which appears to us to be, in general, pretty successfully supported.

The story is something between a history and a romance; and Mr. Southey has not attempted to distinguish what is true from what is fabulous; the Spanish literature evidently supplied no means for doing this, nor would it have been worth while, had it been practicable, as the fabulous parts are probably quite as amusing as the true, and give as striking a picture of the times. In this view the work is very interesting. We are transported into an age and country, where the gentlemen go out to work in the morning, with their steeds and lances, as regularly as the farmers with their team and plough, and indeed a good deal more so. The Cid surpasses all his contemporaries for diligence and success in such laudable occupation. His course of enterprise is so rapid, so uniformly successful, and so much of a piece in other respects, that in Vol. V. R

some parts of the book the mind is quite tired of following him. In many other parts, however, the narrative is eminently striking, especially in describing some of the single combats, and, most of all, in the long account of an extraordinary court of justice, held on two young princes or noblemen, who had abused their wives, the daughters of the Cid. Nothing in the whole library of romantic history can exceed this narrative. The Cid appears a humane warrior, according to the standard of those times, and yet he could calmly be guilty of the most infernal cruelties; for instance, burning alive many Moors, in the siege of Valencia. The destruction of infidels,' indeed, in any and every manner, seems to have been regarded as one of the noblest exercises of Christian virtue. Three or four of his constant companions in arms display such magnanimous bravery, and such an affectionate fidelity to him, as to excite the reader's interest and partiality in no small degree. A prominent feature of the story throughout, is the frequent recurrence of religious and superstitious ideas, in the discourse of the warriors, in all situations. There are many things of

the same character as the following:

• And the Cid assembled his chief captains, and knights, and people, and said unto them,-Kinsmen, and friends, and vassals, hear me. to-day has been a good day, and to-morrow shall be a better. Be ye all armed and ready in the dark of the morning; mass shall be said, and the bishop, Don Hieronymo, will give us absolution, and then we will to horse, and out and smite them, (the Moorish army) in the name of the Creator, and of the apostle Santiago. It is fitter that we should live, than that they should gather in the fruits of this land. But let us take counsel in what manner we may go forth, so as to receive least hurt, for they are a mighty power, and we can only defeat them by great mastery in war. When Alvar Fanez Minaya heard this, he answered and said, praised be God, and your good fortune, you have atchieved greater things than this, and I trust in God's mercy that you will atchieve this also. Give me three hundred horse, and we will go out when the first cock crows, and put ourselves in ambush in the valley of Albuhera; and when you have joined battle, we will issue out and fall upon them on the other side, and on the one side or the other God will help us. Well, was the Cid pleased with this counsel, and he said, it should be so; and he bade them feed their horses in time, and sup early, and as soon as it was cockcrow, come to the church of St. Pedro, and hear mass, and shrive themselves, and communicate, and then take horse, in the name of the Trinity, that the soul of him who should die in the business, might go, without let, to God.' p. 231.

In an introduction, Mr. Southey has given a brief history of the conquests and sovereigns of the Moors in Spain, down to the time of the Cid.

Art. II. A General and Connected View of the Prophecies, relative to the Conversion, Restoration, Union, and future Glory, of the Houses of Judah and Israel; the Progress, and final Overthrow, of the Antichristian Confederacy in the Land of Palestine; and the ultimate general Diffusion of Christianity. By the Rev. George Stanley Faber, B. D. Vicar of Stockton-upon-Tees. 2 vols. 8vo. pp. xxvii. 322. 323. Price 18s. bds. Rivingtons. 1808.

THE

Prophecies of Scripture, illustrated by the events which fulfil them, can not be too frequently presented to the public attention. Their accomplishment has been so remarkable in a long train of events which form the great features of the annals of past ages, that to read them in connection with history so fixes the attention, and so impresses the mind, that we can no more dispute the truth of the prophecy than the reality of the facts. Let any man, accustomed to reflect on the rise and fall of empires, look through some good history of the former and present state of Babylon, Niniveh, Tyre, and Jerusalem, and then read the predictions relative to these celebrated polities recorded in Scripture, and the infidelity of his heart will tremble.. Such however is the scepticism of the public mind, and such the influence of an infidel witticism, the study of the prophecies either finds a man mad or leaves him so,'-that it requires considerable. courage for a gentleman of learning, an associate of cultivated men, and a votary for literary fame, to make the Prophecies the subject of his studious researches and public works. A writer, therefore, who belongs like Dr. Faber to this rank of society, and who nevertheless has sufficient resolution dispassionately and minutely to enter into these investigations, is intitled to the esteem and gratitude of all classes of Christians.

The Jews are a people so universally known, their history embraces such a vast extent of time, their character and circumstances differ so widely from those of any other people on the face of the globe, their dispersion has been so accurately foretold, their sufferings have been so great and protracted, and they have been so eminently honoured of God as the instruments of communicating the revelation of his Truth to the world, that no man who receives that revelation as authentic can fail to take considerable interest in its descriptions of their future destiny. That the prophecies do speak of their restoration is agreed by all; but there is a considerable diversity of opinion among divines, concerning the nature of that restoration, the means by which it will be effected, and the period of its accomplishment. To some it appears probable, from the nature of the Redeemer's Kingdom, the analogy of his past conduct, and the express

language adopted by himself and his apostles, that their restoration, like the calling of the Gentiles, is purely of a spiritual nature. Their return to Judea as an united people supposes that they will form a body politic, and consequently that Christ will be the head of a temporal kingdom; for nothing is more clear from the prophecies, than that he is to be their Ruler, Prince, or King. This opinion implies, that the laws and ceremonies of Judaism must be still observed, in order to keep them distinct and separate from the converted Gentiles. And this supposition perpetuates circumcision, the interdiction of marriage with any but the seed of Abraham, and the civil and criminal code of the Mosaic institutions; all which, according to persons of this sentiment, are abrogated by the Christian dispensation. The same language, they further observe, that is applied to the calling of the Jews, is used to describe the calling of the Gentiles, and must therefore be interpreted in the same manner. The language in which the Jewish Scriptures mention the reception of the Gentiles into the church, is as highly figurative, as local in its descriptions, and as political in its representations, as that which has been used to predict the future restoration of the Jews; and the latter may therefore be presumed, as the former has appeared from the evidence of facts, to have been used only in conformity to Jewish habits and modes of thinking. The New Testament, on the other hand, speaks of the restoration of the Jews in the same simple and spiritual language that it applies to the universal calling of the Gentile nations; the description has nothing local, political, or miraculous connected with it, but intimates that the work is to be effected, under the special influence of Heaven, by the same ordinary means that have. destroyed Polytheism, that have maintained and diffused Christianity in opposition to all the power of the Roman empire, the sophistry of Infidelity, and the blasphemy of Atheism, and that are destined to convert all the heathen nations on the globe, without any new miracles but such as are displayed every day in the conversion of sinners. It is worthy of remark, they think, that the prophecies which speak of the restoration of this singular people, are by most writers on the subject sought principally from the Old Testament, who do not sufficiently attend, at the same time, to the peculiarity of the style then used. The figures employed to predict the first advent of Christ and the nature of Messiah's reign were so local and political, that the Jews almost universally misunderstood the nature of his kingdom; they expected one that was temporal, and if not totally prescriptive, yet such as

would make the Christians tributary to the seed of Abraham. And we must confess that some writers have fallen into the same mistakes as the ancient and modern Jews; and have understood the prophecies too literally, to accord with the simple, spiritual, and universal nature of the Kingdom of Christ.

While we state these sentiments, it is due to our readers to mention it, as the opinion of the greatest number of writers on this subject, that some of the Jews will be restored to their own land; though few of the expositors agree as to the manner, the means, or the time. Some are of opinion that they will be converted while among the Gentiles, and then be restored to the land of Judea; others, that they will return first, and then embrace Christianity. As to the motives of their return, some think they will be religious, others that they will be political; some think the means will be ordinary, others foretel supernatural signs and miraculous operations. But that our readers may be apprised what are the opinions of Dr. Faber, we will give them, as nearly as our limits will admit, in his own words.

Either before or about the expiration of the 1260 years of the duration of Antichrist, one great division of the scattered Jews will embrace Christianity; and some mighty maritime nation of the faithful worshippers will aid their return to Judea. At this period the Ottoman empire will have been overthrown, and the great, confederacy of Antichrist will have been completed, which will be conducted by the ruler of the French nation. While the maritime power is engaged in converting one great division of the Jews with a view to their restoration, the Antichristian confederacy will take under its protection another great division of the Jews, and will direct its arms against Palestine in order to restore them in an unconverted state. This expedition will be conducted by land. In this attempt Antichrist will meet with opposition from a king of the south-(but who this may intend is not conjectured,) and with a still more formidable resistance from Russia, who is considered as Daniel's King of the North,' and will bring into the contest chariots and horsemen and many ships; but Antichrist will overcome all opposition, place the unconverted Jews in Jerusalem, and then go toward Egypt. But Edom, Moab, and the children of Ammon, shall escape out of his hands. At this time the maritime nation will bring the converted Jews to Palestine, where much blood will be shed by the two divisions. At length, the unconverted part will receive Christianity and join their brethren. Antichrist will then return from Egypt and Libya, besiege and take Jerusalem, and commit the