never had previously? Is it nothing that they have been made to know that Christians love their souls, and feel affectionately desirous' for their salvation?-that Christianity is something more than that cold, formal, false profession, which it must commonly have appeared to them? Is it nothing that hundreds have been made acquainted with their own Scriptures as they never were before; and that they have the New Testament in their hands, and are reading it, and comparing it with the writings of Moses and the prophets? No, it cannot be in vain."

The Meeting, at which this report was presented, was of so delightful a character, as to induce our dear friends, the secretaries of the association, to issue the following circular a few days after :

"Dear Sir,

"The recent anniversary of the Manchester and Salford Association, &c., has been marked by so much which is pleasing and encouraging to the friends of Israel, that it is deemed important that the interest which has been excited, should be kept alive with the Christian public, and that it should especially be an incentive to renewed and vigorous exertion upon the part of all to whom the management of the association has been entrusted.

"For this purpose it has been arranged to hold an evening meeting of both the Ladies' and Gentlemen's Committee, for united prayer and conference on the best means to be employed to invigorate and extend the operations of the Association.

"You are, therefore, earnestly requested to attend a meeting of the Committee for special business on Thursday next," &c. &c.

Referring to the meeting which was held in pursuance of the above notice, the treasurer writes:

"The work is progressing; the feeling is deepening and extending ; and I am persuaded that, by the Divine blessing, the result of the meeting will be found to be greatly advantageous to the cause of Israel's ingathering."

We have given the above details, in order to take occasion to remark to our friends generally, how important it is not to suffer newly awakened feelings on behalf of Israel to pass uselessly away. Let it be immediately embodied in exertion. Where pity is excited, there at once let the question be pressed home, "What will you do to help ?" Impression must be followed up. Pity that is truly Christian, will resolve itself into prayer and effort. May every impression made, by whatever means, touching Christian obligation to Israel, be sanctified and deepened by the Holy Spirit of God! May every such impression lead to exertion, and exertion lead to success !

BAPTISM OF ABRAHAM BEN OLIEL.

This young man, the son of Spanish Jews, was baptized at the Wesleyan chapel, Brentford, on the morning of Christmas Day. The Rev. Mr. Perks conducted the devotional services, received Mr. Ben Oliel's statement, the substance of which is to be found in the former part of this Magazine, and administered to him the sacred rite; after which, the Rev. W. C. Yonge, from whom he had received instruction for some months past, directed to him, and to several of his Israelitish brethren, who were present, a solemn address. An excellent sermon was then delivered by the Rev. Mr. Perks, and the service was closed by prayer.

NOTICE TO TREASURERS AND COLLECTORS.

The Treasurers of the Auxiliary Associations, and all who are employed in collecting for the British Society, are requested to send in the amount of their contributions to the Resident Secretary, Mr. G. YONGE, 1, Crescent Place, Blackfriars, on or before the 30th of March.

GENERAL JEWISH INTELLIGENCE.

NORWEGIAN INTOLERANCE.

It is a fundamental law in the constitution of Norway, that no Jew shall be allowed to set his foot within the country.

HEBREW PROVERBS.

Let not to-morrow's trouble torment thee, for thou knowest not what to-day may bring forth; perchance to-morrow is not thine, and thou wilt then have grieved for a world in which thou dost not participate.

Say thus to the bee, I desire neither thy honey nor thy sting.

POETRY.

ISAIAH XL.

BY MRS. MOODIE.

REJOICE, O my people! Jehovah hath spoken,
The dark chain of sin and oppression is broken:
Thy warfare is over,-thy boudage is past,-
The Lord hath look'd down on his chosen at last.
A voice from the wilderness breaks on my ear,
O Israel, rejoice! thy redemption draws near:
A path for our God the wild desert shall yield,
He comes in the light of salvation reveal'd!
His word hath declar'd it, who speaks not in vain;
He bends the high mountain, exalts the low plain;
All flesh shall behold him, far nations shall bring
Their glad songs of triumph to welcome their King.
As the grass of the field in the morning is green,
So man in his beauty and vigour is seen,-
A perishing glory, the beam of a day,

A flower that will fade with the evening away.
The breath of the Lord o'er its verdure shall pass;
Its beauty shall wither and fade like the grass;

The flower from its stem the rude whirlwind may sever;
But the word of our God is establish'd for ever.

O Zion! that bringest glad tidings of peace,
Raise thy voice in the song-thy afflictions shall cease:
Arise in thy strength--banish ev'ry base fear;—
Tell the cities of Judah redemption draws near.
He comes! and his works shall his glory confess :

He comes! his lost children to succour and bless :-
In mercy and truth to establish his throne,

That his name to the ends of the earth may be known.

The Jewish Herald.

No. XXVII.

MARCH, 1848.

VOL. III.

THE CASE OF THE JEW.

I FEEL, my fellow Christians, that if I would have a right apprehension of the case of the Jew, I must take my station beneath the shadow, or rather in the sun-light of the Cross, with the dim shores of Eternity in the distant foreground, towards which millions of the human race are constantly passing. One narrow pathway opens on the broad road, and, over its extremity, a glory rests, nowhere else to be discerned. At its entrance, some messengers of mercy have taken their stand, and ever and anon they entreat and persuade the passers by to tread that narrow way. And not in vain. Many of every nation yield to the beseeching voice, and, as they enter the gate, their countenances catch the distant light, and on they go rejoicing. But amidst the crowd, I see one and another of a peculiar race, pass by, and no one invites him. I fix my gaze upon him-there is intellect-there is vigour—there is docility written on that depressed brow; and see, he reads, and in my own Bible too; but, on its ample margin, and interlined on its broad page, there are the comments and the traditions of men; and it is on these he pores, and so he overlooks the words that would guide his feet in the way of peace, and onward he presses to the awful bourne. It is the Jew, and no man has cared for his soul! And yet there is one, an enemy, watching for it. As now and then his reason repels the absurdities that mar the page, the infidel whispers in his ear, and bids him throw the whole away. Christians, shall we leave him in the darkness of Judaism? or deliver him to the bewildering light of

D

rationalism? Look at him again, at that Jew, whose hoary locks, and snow white beard, proclaiming him the patriarch of his family, reminds me of an Abraham or an Enoch; at that youth, whose beaming eye bespeaks a mind and heart that would recal a Joseph, a David, or a Daniel, to memory. But where is the faith, the communion with God, the principle of holiness, which marked those holy men of old? "The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hand of the potter!" Shall we pass them by, and leave them alone of all the family of man unsought for? It is not an hopeless enterprise to which we invite you. In the least instructed of that once favoured race, there sleeps a conscience, that might awake and respond to the voice of truth, were it faithfully presented.

On some, light of a certain kind has beamed. They had been bound with the strong cords of Rabbinism; but their mind has been aroused, and the cords are snapped in sunder. Is the man free? No, fellow Christian. The bondage of a cold and heartless scepticism has enslaved him. The truth alone can make man free. You have that truth; and the British Society presents an agency by which it can be (and by which it has been) brought in contact with the conscience and with the heart of the Jew. "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord." And the same Lord declares that the Gospel which you bind to your own heart, is "the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek."

On the basis of this Society, we present the Gospel to the Jew, as the offering of love. In the cause of his salvation, at least, we are one. We tender him not a creed, but the Bible; we invite him not to the communion of a sect or party, but to the Cross of Christ. Oh! speed the effort by your prayers; strengthen our hands by your sympathy and co-operation.

THE FIRST PROMISE OF A MESSIAH.

ALIKE to Jew and Gentile, the promise of a Messiah is, as a ray of hope and joy in a night of gloom. For both Jew and Gentile are guilty before God, having broken the Divine law and become obnoxious to its punishment. To both, there

fore, the question is one of unutterable moment, man be just with God?"

"How can

The Old Testament plainly teaches us that it is impossible to attain justification by the works of the law. Does not David exclaim, "If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand ?" Psalm cxxx. 3; and "Enter not into judgment with thy servant, for in thy sight shall no flesh living be justified?" Psalm cxliii. 2. At the same time, the Old Testament Scriptures point us to the Messiah as the means of our justification. 'By the knowledge of Him shall my righteous servant justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities." Isa. liii. 11. Behold, the days come that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper. . . . and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS." Jer. xxiii. 6.

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Who then is this Messiah to be, and what is stated of him in ancient prophecy, by which we may identify His person and recognise His claims?

How touching are the circumstances in which the first mention of Him is made! For the first time since this fair world was created, sin had darkened it with the wrath of heaven. For the first time, the man, made in the Divine image and for the enjoyment of the Divine favour, stood, a trembling culprit, in the presence of his Maker. But immediately, the voice of mercy was heard. The storm had no sooner gathered, than the rainbow appeared. The waters of indignation are no sooner poured out, than, see! the ark of safety is yonder upon the billows, and still there is hope for man.

Thus we are plainly taught that the promise of the Messiah is meant to calm the apprehensions of a guilty conscience. To fallen man, these words of mercy are addressed. If man had not sinned, he had needed no such promise. Whatever temporal blessings were to follow in the train of the predicted deliverer, this assuredly was to be the great purport of his errand, the reconciliation of sinners to God.

The announcement made to the serpent, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel," must have been in a great degree incomprehensible to the guilty pair, in whose hearing it was delivered. Thus much, however, they could gather from it, that, sooner or later, some