unconverted is applicable to them equally with other unconverted nations, they have many special claims. The Old Testament Scriptures, on which the New depend, are eminently their property. The prophets, whose writings they are, were raised up amongst them; the dispensation under which they were written, was one which regarded them as the only chosen people of God; the primary object in view was their instruction. "Unto them were committed the oracles of God." Not only do we owe the Old Testament Scriptures to them, but Jesus Christ, the author of our salvation, is the Messiah promised to their fathers; he was himself a Jew, and whilst all kindreds of the earth were to be blessed in him,-unto the Jews first, God having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless them in turning away every one of them from his iniquities. Besides, the apostles, the other writers of the New Testament, and, indeed, all the first converts to the Gospel, were Jews; Christianity is grounded on Judaism; it had its origin in Judea, and was primarily not a Gentile, but a Jewish religion. If, then, the church has found the Bible to be a blessing, Christ a mighty Saviour, the Gospel the power of God unto salvation, it surely is under no small obligation to a people through whose instrumentality such unspeakable benefits have been received from heaven; and if the Gospel were meant for "the Jew first," and Christ came not merely to be a light to lighten the Gentiles, but the glory of his people Israel, surely the Jews are not the parties to be neglected in the efforts made for the diffusion of evangelical truth. What! of all others, the people neglected "to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever!" If Paul had great heaviness and continual sorrow in his heart for these his brethren, his kinsmen according to the flesh, ought not we, although not related to them as Paul was, yet inasmuch as we have been blessed through them, likewise to feel great heaviness and continual sorrow on their account? Israel is our elder brother in the house of our God, but he has become a prodigal, has left the tender Father who nourished and brought him up, has wasted his substance in riotous living, and is reduced to famine and want; and shall we, who after similar guilt have obtained mercy, shut up our bowels of compassion from him?

There is another, and a very important point of view, in which the conversion of the Jews will commend itself to the true Christian as an object of anxious solicitude: it is the grand event which is chiefly to contribute to the glory and prosperity which are to characterise the church in the last days. Salvation, indeed, through their fall, has come to the Gentiles, but it has come to them only in part. A large portion of the Gentile world is still in gross darkness; and even where

there is the light, what multitudes are there by whom it has been darkened and perverted, what multitudes by whom it has been nominally but not cordially embraced, what multitudes by whom it has been wholly rejected! The true witnesses for the faith have, in every age, been comparatively few, and for a long period have prophesied as . it were in sackcloth and ashes. The word of God, however, leads us to anticipate brigh'er days, days in which "the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it." Hence the questions cannot but be interesting, When is this great change to be effected, and by what instrumentality? Will it not be, we ask, when the Jews are converted, and will not their conversion be one most important instrument? For "if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their fulness?" "If the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead?" The conversion of the Jews will undoubtedly be one of the most striking events ever recorded in history. The remarkable difficulties in the way, and especially the inveterate enmity to be subdued, will the more gloriously manifest it to be the hand of God, and the distinctness with which it is foretold, will indubitably demonstrate the truth of prophecy. Infidels will be silenced, the attention of the world will be arrested, the church will be filled with gratitude and with praise; and whilst the event cannot but prepare the way of the Lord, Christians will be stimulated to more earnest prayer, and more self-sacrificing effort, than was ever before witnessed ; the effect of which will be the accomplishment of the Divine purposes, and thus God, who had concluded all in unbelief, will have mercy on all.

The idea has indeed been entertained, that however desirable it may be that the Jews should be led to "look on Him whom they have pierced," the obstacles are such that the event must be regarded as entirely hopeless until, by some miraculous interposition of Providence, an extraordinary change has been first produced in their circumstances, prejudices, and feelings. We admit that the obstacles are of no ordinary kind; but is not the power of God requisite for every case of conversion? Would there without it be one single instance of a saving change? But if in ordinary cases the power of God be requisite, is more than the same power wanted for extraordinary cases, or than the same power exercised in the same way? What! let it be exercised in whatever way it may, shall we, for a moment, limit its efficacy, or suppose that anything can be too hard for the Lord? Look to the past history of the church. Who would have thought that Saul of Tarsus, when they saw his inveterate enmity against Christ, and how he breathed out threatenings and slaughter against

the disciples of the Lord, would ever have become one of the most active and laborious preachers of the cross? Or, what is, perhaps, still more remarkable and still more to the point, who would previously have supposed that Gentiles, whose deep-rooted prejudices and worldly interests were so completely enlisted in favour of their own false religions, and who had learned to despise the Jews and their doctrines, would have been more ready than they to receive their Messiah and the Gospel which he came from heaven to proclaim? Indeed numberless other parts prove that when the success of the Gospel is the question, antecedent improbability is no ground for despair. We do not, indeed, assert, that prior to the conversion of the Jews there will be nothing to prepare the way-there may or there may not; but we maintain, that their conversion is possible without anything of the kind; and who knows, even should there be such a preparation before they are brought to Christ, but what the exertions of Christians on their behalf may be the instrument both for preparing the way and for producing the grand result?

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Some, perhaps, will say, that the time is not yet,—that prophecy points to a distant period. We need not remark, that though "blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in," the phrase, "the fulness of the Gentiles" is susceptible of two different interpretations, fulness of numbers and fulness of time. Without entering into the question which of these is the meaning of the apostle, it may be observed, that whether one interpretation or the other be adopted, the passage affords no proof that the time is not now if the meaning be fulness of numbers, the twelfth verse proves that it does not imply the whole multitude of the Gentiles, but merely the completion of the number designed by God to be gathered out from amongst them previously to the restoration of Israel; and who can tell how soon that number will be completed? And if the meaning be fulness of time, have we not reason to believe, that the times of the Gentiles are drawing to a close? If prophecy do really refer to some distant period, it is not so clear as to be free from liability to mistake; there are many eminent Christians characterised by learning and intelligence, of a decidedly different opinion. Besides, if the signs of the times are to be considered as any indication of the mind of God, the spirit of religious inquiry which has recently been stirred up amongst the Jews, especially in reference to their traditions, and the attention which they are now exciting in the minds of Christians, appear to foretell some speedy change. A little cloud is seen in the distant horizon, even though it be no larger than a man's hand, and the sound is at least faintly heard of abundance of rain. At the same time, "it is not for us to know the times and the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power." It is ours to work, and to leave the question to Him as to the season when he will bless,

With these views it affords us sincere pleasure to notice the works at the head of this article. The "Narrative of a Mission of Inquiry to the Jews" will be read with deep interest. A few years ago, a movement on their behalf was manifested in the church of Scotland: in consequence of this, a deputation was appointed to visit Palestine and other countries for the purpose of ascertaining the present state of the Jews. In 1839 the Rev. Dr. Black, Professor of Divinity in the Marischal College, Aberdeen, the Rev. Dr. Keith, the well-known writer on the Fulfilment of Prophecy, the Rev. A. Bonar, and the Rev. R. M. M'Cheyne, fulfilled this mission. "They had," so are their words, "only one object in view during their journey, namely, to see the real condition and character of God's ancient people, and to observe whatever might contribute to interest others in their cause." This journey led to the publication of the "Narrative" just mentioned, which is avowedly written with the same single object in view. In addition, however, to much valuable information with regard to the Jews, especially those in Palestine, there will be found an interesting description of the Holy Land, anecdotes beautifully illustrative of various passages of Scripture, and facts showing the literal fulfilment of prophecy. It appears from the inquiries of the deputation, that the number of Jews in Jerusalem was about seven thousand, and the whole Jewish population in Palestine not more than twelve thousand; that the rabbis of Palestine maintain a constant communication with their brethren all over the world, so that anything done at Jerusalem is likely to tell on the Jews in other countries, and that the Jews in Palestine are direct rabbinists, and remarkably superstitious. We also a Jewish mission in Jerusalem, one a learned young man of the name of Rabbi Joseph, and three other rabbis, who had come to the resolution of publicly avowing their belief in Christianity: from this mission other important fruits have sprung; the Jews generally have been led to distinguish between true and false Christianity, to the study of the Old Testament, and to a diminished regard for the authority of the Talmud. These effects have been produced notwithstanding peculiar and extraordinary difficulties, as we learn at page 174.

in Palestine than elsewhere. The chief of those difficulties are, 1st. That Jerusalem "The difficulties in the way of the conversion of the Jews are certainly greater is the stronghold of rabbinism. The Jews here are all strict rabbinists, and, as might be expected, superstitious in the extreme. 2nd. A missionary has fewer points of contact with the Jews here than in other countries. He cannot reach them through the press, nor address them in large assemblies; his work must be carried on entirely by personal intercourse, so that it is like wrenching out the

stones of a building

Jew is here much greater than in any other country, for it is regarded as a very awful calamity that any one should become an apostate in the Holy City. 4. All

one by one. 3rd. The opposition to an inquiring or converted

N. S. VOL.

VIII.

3 D

the Jews in the Holy Land are more or less dependent on the pecuniary supplies annually sent from Europe. But the moment any one is known to be inquiring after Christ, he is cut off from all share in this fund, and is thrown utterly destitute."

Long before the movement in the Church of Scotland, which originated this mission of inquiry, efforts were made for the conversion of God's ancient people. The London Society for promoting Christianity amongst the Jews, has done much on their behalf. As however, that society is, and has been for many years, strictly sectarian in its management, being confined to the Established Church of England, another institution was evidently required, in order that the various classes of dissenters might aid in this all-important cause. Hence has arisen, "The British Society for the Propagation of the Gospel amongst the Jews," whose first Report is now before us. This Society is catholic in its institution; it consists of evangelical Christians of different denominations; and whilst it maintains a friendly correspondence and co-operation with the society in Scotland, the immediate field of its operations is London and the larger towns of the United Kingdom. We cordially recommend it to the countenance and support of the religious public, and particularly of all classes of Dissenters. With this society originated the volume of "Lectures on the Conversion of the Jews." They were delivered by some of the most eminent ministers of the Presbyterian, Congregational, Wesleyan, and Baptist bodies, with the view of exciting more general attention to the condition and prospects of the Jewish people. They are all of them adapted to the end in view, and some are characterised by richness of imagery, beauty of description, and force of eloquence. The subjects are as follows:

1. The Destination of the Jews. 2. The National Characteristics of the Jews. 3. The Dispersion of the Jews. 4. The Present Condition of the Jews. 5. The Conversion of the Jews. 6. The Encouragements which Christians have to undertake the Conversion of the Jews. 7. The Obligations of Christians to labour for the Conversion of the Jews. 8. The Best Means for Effecting the Conversion of the Jews. 9. The Benefits which will accrue to the Church of Christ from the Conversion of the Jews. 10. The Glory which will redound to God from the Conversion of the Jews. The volume deserves, and we hope, will obtain a large circulation.

"A Gentile's Entreaty" consists of two addresses delivered by our esteemed brother, the Rev. J. J. Freeman, of Walthamstow, to the Jews in Jamaica. We are not surprised that they excited great interest on their delivery; and whilst we wish that they may be extensively distributed amongst the Jews of England, we doubt not but that the perusal would prove very profitable to many Gentiles.