meddled, and on its changeful and suffering destiny they have ever left the deep impressions of their power. Such, then, is our theme:-"Ishmael and the Church." Such a work as this is demanded by the stirring events of our own times,-a portable volume, accessible to all, comprehending succinctly "Islamism" in its origin, uses, progress, and end. It should be examined in the light of prophecy as well as of history, and thus made to appear what it truly is, a creation of Providence, subserving its ends and illustrative of its wonders and its ways. For such a volume the way seems to be now open. It will fill a space occupied by no other. We are to bear in mind, also, the present anomalous condition of Turkey. Her disappearance from Europe and the appropriation of her soil by the Western Powers are events regarded as imminent. She is a bone of contention,—a centre on which questions of war and peace hinge,—a gateway to most momentous social, political, and religious changes. A bare glance at these facts will suggest at once that such a theme is necessarily invested with a present interest, and, if rightly treated, must prove highly acceptable to the reading public. Indeed, would we understand "the Italian question," the policies and necessities of cabinets and princes, this subject needs first to be studied and comprehended. Dark problems with respect to the future will receive by this means a probable solution, and remote and otherwise unperceived causes will be seen to have attained a controlling maturity, and helpless nations to be afloat upon a sea whose resistless surges carry them where they will not. Political questions have their religious aspects. These belong to the divine, and fall within the range of his appropriate studies. The questions that now agitate Europe are essentially religious. Religion underlies all its policies and impulses; and hence the religious sympathies of the various parties in the strifes of princes are all the more important to be understood. It is one design of this work to make these palpable. As to the range taken, it is wide. The relations of Ishmael to the church, and his influence on its destinies, from the days of the patriarch to the fall of the Ottomans, are comprehended in it. The lead of the prophets has been followed, and history is expanded just where the prophets pause and make it necessary-just where after an interval of centuries they point out some new centre of influence, that, springing up irresistibly, changes the entire course of events; or just where, the crescent crossing into the plane of the church, an adorable Providence becomes conspicuous in the use that it makes of this formidable power in compassing its ends. This has made the line of the true church, as distinguished from the false, an important object of interest and search. It has hence been care fully eliminated and traced from Asia and Africa to Europe and America. It has also made the "Testament of Mohammed," and the consequent protection of persecuted disciples by the Saracens, the subject of special inquiry and elucidation. The aggressions of the Turks in Asia,-the Crusades, and their favourable effects on the church left behind in Europe, -the fall of the Eastern capital,—the desirable results accruing from that event, and the indirect though real protection of the Reformation of the sixteenth century, arising from the military ardour and successes of Solyman the Great,-come also under review; and, throughout, the ways of Providence are made obvious, and our confidence in its integrity and wisdom becomes revived and confirmed. As to method, history has been relied on for facts, and the Divine testimony for evidence that those facts were arranged by Providence to fulfil its purposes. The work has been prepared for the Protestant world, and care has been taken not to offend against its denominational preferences. If the author has succeeded in making himself useful to the church of our common Master, it will be his sufficient reward. CONTENTS CHAP. I.-Ishmael in his Youth....... II.-Ishmael in the Wilderness. V. The Nationality of Ishmael obtaining De- velopment in Mohammed......................... 41 VI.-Ishmael and Mohammed.-Continued.... VII.-The Secret of Mohammed's Success...... 58 VIII.-Islamism a Perversion of Christianity.... 66 IX.-The Saracens-Their Fanatic Courage.... X.-Mohammed and his Successors |