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Sweden and the Russian commanders have also given largely to this object. But if we were called to select the circumstances which appear to have been chiefly operative in alleviating the miseries of Germany, we should say it was the bright example of British liberality. The valuable suggestions, also, of the London Committee, combined with the pecuniary aid they have afforded, have given a powerful impulse to the charitable exertions of those in all parts of Germany who have any thing left to share with their destitute and perishing neighbours. Associations are forming in all quarters for the purpose of collecting money, visiting the poor and the sick in their own dwellings, and administering relief in the most economical and effectual manner; and it has appeared to us, that the arrangements they have adopted for these purposes exhibit a degree of prudence and judg

tants. During the bombardment, 138 houses were burnt: the French prevented the citizens from checking the conflagration, spoiled even the engines, and pulled down 72 houses more which had remained in that part of the town. On the 20th of December, when already the convention was concluded, that the town should be surrendered to the Prussians on the 6th of January, the governor demanded 68,000 dollars from the town; and when the citizens made remonstrances, 30 of the most respectable were taken by night out of their beds, and dragged to the fortress till the last farthing was paid. He had paper-money to the amount of 27,000 dollars made, and compelled the people to take it, though he himself would never take any part of it in return. None of the requisitions whatever have been paid for. You would no longer know Erfurt :-our beautiful cathedral is a stable for horses, and the churches are turned into block-ment which afford the best pledge to houses. We are quite impoverished."

But what has been done, it will be asked, to alleviate this mass of wretchedness? For a full answer to this question, we must refer to the Reports already mentioned. Suffice it now to say, that near 70,000l. have been collected in this country; almost the whole of which has been remitted to different parts of Germany, and placed under the management of Committees composed of persons distinguished by their active philanthropy as well as general respectability, and who are exerting themselves unweariedly not only in the careful application of this bounty, but in raising additional funds for the same benevolent purpose. The wealthy Hamburghers, who have escaped from the hands of Davoust, and taken refuge in Altona, Bremen, Lubeck, &c. have made great exertions for the relief of their exiled townsmen, and they have been nobly seconded by the inhabitants of these towns of every rank. The Crown Prince of

those who may contribute to this object, that their bounty will not be misapplied. We have been particularly struck with the conduct of the ladies of Berlin. "Besides voluntary contributions," we are told," they formed different associations; some making fine works, which they sold for the benefit of the hospitals,-others preparing large quantities of lint and bandages, and also the most nourishing soups and food for the convalescents. Another association, at the head of which was the Countess of Winzingerode, assisted by the ladies Buescher and Berner, devoted their whole time to a personal attendance at the hospitals. They inspected the cleaning and fumigating the rooms, provided the sick with clean linen; washing their wounds, giving them the medicines; and from the donations they collected, providing more suitable nourishment than the means of the hospitals could afford. They encouraged those poor sufferers who were obliged to undergo amputation, attended them to the

surgery, and after the operations conveyed them to the rooms they had themselves fitted up for the reception of those whose dangerous situation required the most unremitting care and attention. Thus, by their almost unexampled benevolence and unwearied assiduity, have thousands been preserved to the state who would otherwise have perished, but who are now under the banners of the great Blucher, fighting to avenge their own and their country's wrongs. But not even here did the humanity of those ladies stop, but was even extended to the widows and children of those who died in the hospitals, for the most distressed of whom they made collections. The principles upon which those ladies act have induced her Royal Highness the Princess William of Prussia to join them, and to assist in visiting and personally attending the hospitals." In short, the spirit of charity seems to be awake, and will doubt less do much to mitigate the severity of suffering. But so sweeping and extensive has been the desolation, that without much larger aid from this country, than has yet been afforded, it is only its partial mitigation that can be hoped for. We have rejoiced, therefore, to perceive that the exertions of the German Committee in the City, so truly honourable to them and to the country at large, are about to be aided by another Committee, formed in the west end of the town, and supported by the Prince Regent and other Princes of the Blood, the Archbishops and Bishops, and many distinguished individuals in both Houses of Parliament; and which, therefore, promises to command stilt more extensive means of relief. We trust, especially, that the example of the dignitaries of the church will influence the great body of the clergy; and that the deep interest they have manifested on the subject will lead to collections in every church and chapel in the kingdom, where this suggestion has not been

anticipated. This were indeed a conduct worthy of our church and nation; and, in the hope of contributing to its adoption, we are anxious to press, by a few additional considerations, on all our readers, but especially on our clerical readers, the duty to which we have been pointing their attention. We only fear lest we should rather weaken than strengthen the impressions which the above details must have already produced.

It is an obvious remark, that the events of the last twenty years have united us in interest with almost every civilized nation of the earth; many of which have claims on our gratitude, and more on our compassion. Whatever difference of opinion may prevail as to political measures, we all know that the ravages of war have seldom been more disastrous than in the awful struggle to which we have looked with so much anxiety and so many apprehensions; and that the independence of Europe has been achieved, as we doubt not it has been achieved, by a sacrifice most painful and tremendous. It is sufficient to excite the sympathy of good men, if a deluge, an earthquake, or a pestilence have destroyed the beauty of the fields, and saddened the hearts of the people. How strong, then, is the appeal when we know that the armies which have carried desolation through a large portion of the Continent breathed no common vengeance to ourselves; and that the men who now solicit our aid in the day of their extremity, have borne the whole fury of that storm which, under other circumstances, would have swept with all its violence over this smiling and peaceful land.Happy is it for us that we see nothing of the visitations of war!Happy is it for us that the only domestic miseries which we are called to witness arise from the common visitations of Providence, and the ordinary vicissitudes of human things! How different would be the scene, if, like our brethren in Germany, we were compelled to behold thou

sands of the inhabitants of the villages and hamlets around us stripped of their possessions, destitute of a home, and their families perishing with hunger! How melancholy would be our situation, if, instead of the cheerful prospects which rise on every side, we should contemplate nothing but an awful and solitary waste; the implements of husbandry and domestic use, the gardens, plantations, and fruit-trees all destroyed; the fields without cattle, the granaries without corn; the sick and the wounded destitute of all the aid required to assuage their pain, or support their languor, without even fuel to mitigate the severity of winter, and with no hope but from the bounty of others. We should imagine that miseries like these would speak with irresistible force to every heart. Thousands in this land have been raising the shout of triumph: every face has beamed with exultation; the night has been lighted up with the splendour of day; and we have repeatedly listened to the welcome thunder of warlike exultation. But how many are weeping, while we rejoice! In Saxony alone, the scene of these triumphs, which have carried gladness to every cottage in Great Britain, "not less than a million of persons are reduced to the most abject condition, and are now shedding the bitterest tears of wretchedness and want." Even without the afflicting details which we have inserted above, this one fact is surely enough to rouse the feelings and the exertions of benevolence: Numbers, who were lately in ease and comfort, have now no prospect, with out liberal aid, but to die of hunger. Most earnestly do we hope that we may never again be called to dwell on such a tale of horrors. And yet the task is not wholly unattended with gratifying reflections. To whom have these miserable men looked for succour in their affliction? They turned to the land where the narrative of distress has seldom been related in vain. The generosity of this island, as our own pages will

abundantly testify, has been experienced and acknowledged by them on former occasions; and we want no better evidence of the feelings which it has excited abroad, than the simultaneous and universal impulse which again directs the nations in the hour of their deep distress to our shores. Where is the British bosom which does not beat high on observing this immediate and general testimony to the land that gave him birth? Where is the Christian who does not, with all the humility of gratitude, thank God for that diffusion of light and truth, which is the parent of this extended charity? And to whom, under the providence of Heaven, are we indebted for the blessing? These poor Germans, who are now soliciting our bounty, tell of no favours conferred by themselves, and remind us of no obligation. But we ought never to forget, that if the battle of national liberty and independence has been fought upon German ground, there also was maintained the more arduous and more important conflict for the Scriptures of inspiration and for the Protestant cause. In advancing to that part of the Continent, where the fetters of a deadly superstition were broken, never to be reunited, we seem to tread on the confines of a sacred soil. While the rest of Europe was buried in the deep shades of papistical delusion; while a tyrannical prince, and an ignorant and profligate priesthood, concurred to trample, in this island, on the consciences of men; to deepen the general gloom; and to bury the light of Divine Truth under a mass of the grossest corruptions; then it was that those rays of Hea ven, which were destined to pierce through that night of ignorance and vice, shot up in the plains of Saxony. Who can forget that the country, which is now like a desolate wilderness, was the country of Fre derick the Wise, that great friend and patron of the Reformation; and that Luther, the champion of Truth; under the protection of this, good

prince, sounded from that land the sacred trumpet which arrested the attention of Europe, and made Babylon, the Mother of Abominations, turn pale upon her throne, and tremble in all her palaces! It was in Saxony that he planted his foot, while, with one hand, he shook the towers of degenerate Rome, and, with the other, unfolded to the longing eyes of mankind the Revelation of God. It was at the call of Luther and his associates that England arose from the dust. It was at the holy flame, which was kindled by them, that our martyrs and confessors lighted their lamps. It was on the foundation which they laid that the glorious temple of our National Church has been built up and established; and while that consecrated flame shall burn upon our altars, and the song of Zion shall ascend from our courts, and mix with the melodies of Heaven, let the blessings of a grateful people be poured, not in words, but in deeds, and in full measure upon those who preserved, for our benefit, the hallowed fire, and taught us to join in the everlasting strain.

And let us esteem it as a cause of thankfulness to God, that he has given us the opportunity of making some return for these incalculable blessings which Germany conferred on us in the day of our necessity. If from her, as an instrument, we have received the Bread that cometh down from Heaven, shall we refuse her the meat which perisheth? If she have instructed us how to obtain the garments of salvation, and to enter into the building of God when the bouse of this our tabernacle shall be dissolved, shall we now leave her shivering and destitute? If we have reaped her spiritual things, is it much to dispense to her the things of this life? We ask not that those who are in want should become rich through our poverty, (though we read of One who was rich, who, for our sakes, became poor), but that they should be rescued from misery by our kindness. We solicit not.

any to contribute beyond their power (though such was the conduct of some in former times), but we call upon them to give liberally out of the abundance which they possess. Let us not lose the prayers of the destitute, and the blessings of those. that are ready to perish. Many are the supplications, which, by reason of the liberality of this country, has been offered for our peace and secu rity, even in lands professedly hos tile. And who can tell how largely we are indebted even to that intercession for the national prosperity which we now enjoy? Let the same incense still ascend. Let the same sacrifice still be offered. And let our petitions rise up to the God and Father of us all, mingled and united with theirs, whose sorrows we have alleviated, and whose hearts we have caused to sing for joy.

To the Editor of the Christian Observer.

THE learned and truly pious Mr. Penn has recently published an exposition of Ezekiel's prophecy, relative to Gog of the land of Magog: in which he supposes Gog to be Buonaparte, and the land of Magog that large portion of western Europe which, until lately, constituted the French Empire. The ground of the opinion is this:

Western Europe was originally peopled by the Celts or Gauls, who were the descendants of Gomer: but, at a subsequent period, it was conquered and occupied by the Scythians or Goths, who were the descendants of Magog. Hence, what was once the land of Gomer, became the land of Magog; yet the remains of Gomer and Togarmah were mingled with Magog in the country: and accordingly the Prophet describes Gog as being at the head of an army composed of Gomer and Togarmah, as well as of Magog; though, from the decided predominance of the last, the whole empire is accurately denominated the land of Magog.

Now, it is obvious that this whole superstructure rests on the position, that the Scythians, or Goths, are the descendants of Magog; for, if they be not the descendants of that Patriarch, then, of course, Western Europe, or the late French Empire, cannot be the land of Magog; and if Western Europe be not the land of Magog, then Bonaparte cannot be the Gog who is described as the sovereign of that land.

Hence we may reasonably expect that the position, that the Scythians or Goths are the descendants of Magog, should be established by most incontrovertible evidence; because, without such establishment, the whole superstructure is plainly built on the sand.

- But, when I looked for demonstration of this vital position, I found myself completely disappointed. No thing is adduced to prove the Magogian descent of the Scythians, except a mere random assertion of Josephus, which can be rated no higher than as the conjecture of that historian: a conjecture, which must be thoroughly discussed before it can be admitted to be true. Yet, upon this conjecture, unsupported by a single corroborative fact, does Mr. Penn rear a most stupendous superstructure. Wishing for further information, I turned to Bochart and Wells, but still without any emolument. They both, indeed, pronounce the Scythians the descendants of Magog: but this they assert on the sole authority of the conjecture of Josephus, which has been echoed by Eustathius, and various other writers, both ancient and modern.

Thus it appears, so far as I have been able to collect, that the Magogian descent of the Scythians rests solely upon the conjecture of Josephus and for this conjecture it is not very difficult to account. Uuderstanding the prophecy of Gog, in the manner in which it has always been understood, previous to the interpretation of Mr. Penn, he not unnaturally looked for Magog to the north of Judea; but, in that quar. CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 148.

ter, he knew not any nation more northerly than the Scythians; for, when he wrote, the civilized world was scarcely acquainted with the very existence of the great Sclavonic or Tartar house. Hence he pronounced the Scythians to be Magogians; adding, that by the Greeks they were denominated Scythians. The turn of his expression may per haps be thought to imply, that this people were by themselves called Magogim, though styled Scythians by the Greeks. It, however, this be his intended assertion, I can find no evidence for the truth of it. We are plainly told by Syncellus, that, when the Scythians became better known to the Greeks and Romans, it was found that they called themselves, in their native dialect, not Magogim, but Goths: and I think it clear enough, that Scytha, or South, was but a faulty way of pronouncing Cuth, or Goth. Exubai, xai Torbol λεγομενοι επιχωρίως.

As the prophecy of Gog, according to the view which Mr. Penn has taken of it, is of the last importance to the Christian world, I should feel myself greatly obliged to him, if, through the medium of your publication, or through any other channel most agreeable to him, he would prove the descent of the Scythians from Magog: for, without such proof, I must consider the whole of his exposition as gratuitous. I will likewise thank Mr. Penn to inform us, on what grounds he asserts the Scythians to have been originally a nation of Europe, which thence partially emigrated into Asia, rather than the reverse; namely, that the Scythians were originally a nation of Asia, which thence partially emigrated into Europe. When we attempt to expound a prophecy relative to nations, it is absolutely necessary that the genealogy of those nations should be first clearly ascertained. I am greatly inclined to suspect, though very possibly I may be quite in the wrong, that the children of Magog never once set foot within the

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