THE FACT OF PREDICTION. 



75 



the Professor saw himself in 1898 and 1904, all these events prove 

 that we are living in very solemn times, when Clod's prophecies are 

 fulfilling literally all around us. We may, therefore, soon expect 

 the Master's Eeturn in Glory and Majesty. 



Dr. Heywood Smith said : I wish to draw attention to what has 

 been said concerning Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the image in 

 Daniel ii (p. 69), wherein the author says, " The fifth will be the 

 Kingdom of God." That is so. But we have no right to interpret 

 the fifth kingdom as applying to the Church, as is so often done l)y 

 various commentators, thereby mixing the metaphors. The image 

 is a vision of kingdoms, as is explained by Daniel under the 

 inspiration of God, and therefore we must interpret the fifth, the 

 Stone Kingdom, as also a great empire, and the greatest of all the 

 five, which was to become the dominant empire of the world. Now 

 the British Empire is this great empire, the greatest the world has 

 seen. And whereas Israel was indicated by dying Israel as the 

 Stone Kingdom (Genesis xlix, 24), it follows that the British Empire 

 is in the place of Israel. And, inasmuch as the promises and plans of 

 Jehovah are sure and unchangeable, it naturally follows that the 

 British Empire is the representative of Israel — nay, more, that we are 

 actually the literal descendants of the so-called lost tribes of Israel. 



The arguments for this position are so overwhelming, and the 

 interest in this inquiry so widely spreading through our vast 

 empire, and among our brethren in the United States, that it 

 behoves us reverently to study and see whether God is not revealing 

 to this generation the truth that we are Israel and that his promises 

 stand for ever sure. 



Mr. Maunder said : We have had a very important and 

 suggestive paper read to us this afternoon, but I should like to 

 say how thoroughly I agree with the criticism of our Chairman, 

 that two entirely different subjects have been dealt with in it. 

 For my part, I should have been glad if the whole of the 

 introductory portion, from line 10 on page 57 to line 6 on page 61, 

 had been omitted. The anecdotes which Mr. Urquhart has given 

 us in this introductory section have nothing to do with prediction in 

 its highest sense, or, as I should prefer to call it, prophecy, but 

 simply with fortune-telling, and the distinction between the two is 

 immense. Foreknowledge is the attribute of God alone, and the 

 prophecies of Holy Scripture, which form Mr. Urquhart's main 



