In Micah, chap. v. we read: "But thou Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."

The historians of the New Testament, declare that the above prophecy concerning Bethlehem, the place of our Lord's birth, was in their time accomplished: the holy Jesus having actually been born in that very place. And this is confirmed by heathen and Jewish writers.

Let us now see how far the denunciation against Babylon has been fulfilled, the reader will find it in Isaiah, chap. xiii. ver. 19 and 20: "And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah: it shall

never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch his tent there: neither shall the shepherds make their fold there."

To show how completely this prophecy has been fulfilled, we must here digress for a moment. The Bedouin Arabs tend their flocks in the most gloomy and retired parts of the desert (from choice), and live in tents: they frequently have to go three or four miles before they can find water for their cattle. A most intelligent Syrian, who sometime back was secretary to the Persian Ambassador, told us, that he had passed some time with the Bedouin Arabs, and that one day when he and they were in the vicinity of the Babylonian ruins, he said to them: "You are partial to lonely situations, here then is a

place admirably suited to your taste, and by pitching your tents here, you will have water in abundance without trouble."

They replied, "they would not for all the wealth in the world, pitch their tents near the place, because it was full of evil spirits."

Thus, has the prophecy, that the Arabian should never pitch his tent there, been fulfilled to the very letter.

Isaiah further prophecied that: "The wild beasts of the desert should lie there, and their houses should be full of doleful creatures; and that owls should dwell there, and satyrs should dance there."

The above prediction is now verified, for the same Syrian told us, that though he had no fear of the evil spirits which were said to inhabit the ruins, yet, the dismal and gloomy appearance of the place,

and the howlings of the beasts of prey, quite horrified him. He assured us also, that he had visited Tyre, and saw it in exact conformity to the prophecy concerning it the whole rock was covered with fishermen's nets. Now the Scriptures of the Old Testament foretold that Tyre should become desolate, and a place for fishermen to dry their nets on.

Thus have we shown some of the more striking of the Old Testament prophecies and their fulfilment; for, upon the proof, that Jesus was the Christ, the promised of prophecy, must in a great measure depend the value of the evidence, that he was God as well as man. We will now proceed to undeniable proofs of our blessed Lord's Divinity.

CHAPTER I.

CHRIST'S OWN TESTIMONY TO HIS OWN DIVINE CHARACTER.

In order to show how very fallacious are all the arguments of the infidel, we will here relate what lately passed at a party where we were present.

The conversation happened to take a serious turn, and the character of our blessed Lord became the subject. The deistical part of the company admitted there was such a being as Jesus on the earth, that he made his appearance in the world when Rome was in the highest state of refinement,—in the Augustan age; that the Jews, who had the prophecies of