has laid down, and I do not, therefore, believe the miracles related in the Bible.

I. That the Lord governs the world by a certain law which he has laid down, concedo majorem, that he does not depart from that law, without a great design or purpose, concedo minorem, but that he does not depart from that certain law, even for the execution of a great design, nego minorem, ergo conclusio tua est absurda.

Dr. H. If he should be obliged to alter that law, he would not be omniscient-why did he not create all things in such a manner that he never need to suspend the law of nature?

I. You yourself must be first of all omniscient, in order that you may be able to decide what the Omniscient ought to do. Now it is in his law to alter the usual way of nature, for the execution of great purposes; but it is very presumptuous for a creature who knows so little of the usual course of nature, (for you would not make so many great voyages, if you already knew all the laws of nature,) it is very presumptuous for such a creature to ask, Why did the Creator act thus, and not thus?

Dr. H. The existence of the Supreme Being, of the Creator, is proved by the order which we observe in this universe; if such an extraordinary event as a miracle should take place, the order of nature is destroyed, but God cannot be the author of disorder!

I. We cannot call it disorder, if the Maker of the world gives an extraordinary turn to nature which we cannot conceive; we have seen many phenomena in nature which we have not yet been able to explain, and certainly nobody will therefore say, that such a phenomenon is disorder.

Dr. M. God must possess all the attributes in their highest perfections, he must be, therefore, omniscient! Do you admit this?

Dr. M. Why did he create those men, of whom he

knew that he must root them out again by means of a deluge?

1. He is omniscient, he knows therefore why he did create them; I myself, who am not omniscient, do not pretend to know the reason!

Dr. H. After your system, we are obliged to believe all the miracles which the Hindoos and Pagans relate.

I. No; we must take into consideration the tendency of these miracles. The tendency of those miracles related in the Old Testament was, that God will redeem his people Israel out of the bondage of Egypt, and that God-Jehovah alone must be adored. The tendency of the miracles related in the New Testament was, to persuade men that Jesus was the Saviour of the world, who should reconcile us again with our heavenly Father; an undertaking, a promise, worthy of proving, by extraordinary deeds, the authenticity of it-the truth of it; that he it is who takes away the sins of the world!

Dr. H. After your belief, sin cannot exist, for you admit the divine influence in every thing; and God cannot be the author of sin-Who is the author of sin?

I. Thus you see the necessity of the holy history. All men are under the government of God. Men should, therefore, be supposed to be good; but I feel in my heart a will rebelling against the divine will.-Whence does it come, O Lord, that all my imaginations are so evil every day, that I rebel against the law of God? Those who worship two principles fall into the most monstrous absurdities. Where do I find the origin of my depraved nature satisfactorily explained? Answer. I open the Book of books, and herein I meet with the following words: "God created man in his own image; in the image of God created he him; and the Lord God 'commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat, but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Eve, by the

serpent's device, " took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave unto her husband, and he did eat, and then they knew that they were naked;" and from hence came sin into the world, of which God is not the author; every "imagination of the thoughts of man's heart was only evil continually;" but thanks be unto the Lord, he left us not in despair, he promised that "the Seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head."—Christ Jesus, who reconciles us again with God, through his

death.

Dr. M. But the Hindoos have almost the same tradition. I. Which proves that this important circumstance actually took place in the world, or the tradition could not be so universal.

Dr. M. I perceive that you have studied the Hebrew tongue well (for I always recited the texts in Hebrew).

1. I should be glad if we could read together some day or other, a chapter of the prophet Isaiah; especially the liiid chapter.

Sept. 7.-I went to Dr. M. in the morning; he was just engaged with his father-in-law, in searching out the true sense of the liiid chapter of Isaiah. He explained it of the children of Israel, who suffer for other nations; with many contradictions he arrived at a part, which he confessed that he was not able to understand. When I showed him the contradictions which I met with in his explanation, he replied, "Contradictions are to be found in the Bible." I told him my explanation of this chapter, and showed him by it, that his manner of interpreting contained contradictions, but not the holy writ itself. He showed me his library, where I found Seneca, and Mendelsohn's Jerusalem. Dr. M. observed, Seneca is my daily prayer-book.'

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Sept. 4.-Mr. Salt went on horseback with me to the burial ground of my Jewish brethren. I took with me my writing-desk, which Dr. Gaisford has made me a present of, in order that I might copy the inscriptions I met

K

with upon the monument-stones. We passed the gate of Rosetti: old men sat with their pipes under the gate; one of them read the Koran. I remembered the text of Jeremiah, "The elders ceased from the gate, and the young men from their music." We arrived, after an hour's ride, with our ass-drivers, both Mahomedans, at the burialground of my ancestors. When, O Lord, shall these dry bones of Israel arise? when shall I hear that noise? behold that shaking? I was hardly able to read some few words upon the stones, for they were so very ancient. Some of my fathers have already slept there nine hundred years.

After my return from the burial-ground, I went to Dr. M., who is as dead as one of those who sleep in the burial-ground from whence I just came-perhaps, more dead. But, O Lord, it is still time that he may awake out of his spiritual death, struck by the power of thy grace.

Dr. M. I will take the liberty of writing down some questions about the Jews in Syria, and Persia, which I wish to hear answered by you some day or other.

1. Does Polygamy find place among the Jews in the East?

Dr. M. Bigamy very often.

1. Do they not respect the anathemas pronounced by Rabbi Gerson? Among those anathemas one is against bigamists.

Dr. M. The anathemas of Rabbi Gerson have not been universally accepted by the Jews in the East. The law among the Jews in Cairo is, Every husband promises, on the day of his marriage, to take only one wife, but if she should have no children after ten years, he has a right to take a second wife, without sending away the first, but she has a right to desire her divorce. He has, likewise, a right to take a second, in case that the first should not have a son. There are at Alexandria, after the calculation of all the Jews whom I have asked, only 200 Jews.

Sept. 9.-I sent the dragoman of the British Consul yesterday to J. I., born at Jerusalem, great Rabbi of Alex

andria, and primate of all the Rabbies throughout Egypt. He sent an answer by his own servant to me, stating that he should be very happy to form a personal acquaintance with me. I went to him, accompanied by the dragoman of the British Consul; the old Rabbi J. sat upon a sofa, he gave me a seat near his, a pipe, and a cup of coffee. Jeremiah's Lamentations lay before him. I asked him about the number of the Jews, about some famous Rabbies in Germany; for instance, about Ezekiel Jampli and Jonathan Eubeshiz. He knew them all by name. I read the Bible and the Commentary of Rabbi Solomon Isaac with him for a quarter of an hour. He was rejoiced to hear that I knew, when at Gibraltar, the Rabbi Israel Nahman, from Jerusalem. When I told him that Rabbi Israel Nahman was dead, he arose from his sofa, and exclaimed, "He only is a judge of truth!" He loved him very much; and he was pleased when I observed, that Rabbi Israel Nahman was more learned than Rabbi Leone at Rome. I asked him whether he would have time to read the Prophets with me? He replied, He was not master of his own time, for as he decides the judicial laws among the Jews, questions come before him every moment. He is to recommend me to other learned men, with whom I may read the Prophets and converse. Rabbi J. was already informed of the object of my mission, and he (J.) will himself often converse with me. I told him of the labours of the Rev. Lewis Way; he was surprised to hear them. I shall next time take Tracts with me, and speak with him about single passages of Scripture.

Sept. 10.-Consul Lee introduced me to the Danish Consul, who will give me letters of introduction to his friends at Jerusalem. I dined to-day with the Austrian Consul General, who will also give me letters of introduction to the Austrian Consul at Aleppo, Damiat, and Damascus. Consul Lee has introduced me to Mr. Anastasio, the Swedish Consul.

Sept. 11.-Jacob Mesicha, a blind Jew, whom the Rabbi