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of the well known Lady Hester Stanhope, which had taken place a few days before at her own residence in the mountains near to Sidon. He had attended her funeral, and read the service over the grave in her own garden. No Christian was near her when she died, and not a para of money was found in the house.

One evening we went with Mr. Kilbee to see the ancient columns that are sunk in the harbour, and the remains of old Mosaic pavement along the shore. These are the relics of Roman days, when Berytus was renowned for its school of jurisprudence, and frequented by the learned from various countries. An old caravansera also attracted our attention, once the resort of merchants with their camels, but now fallen into disuse. It was a large square, with buildings round the four sides, the lower part affording accommodation for the animals; the upper, furnished with a gallery all round, intended for the travellers themselves. On the eastern side of the town there is a Moslem burying-ground, with a solitary cypress rising over the tombs. It was pleasant to wander there and look out upon the calm glassy sea and Lebanon. Nothing can surpass the softness of the Syrian sky at evening. At such an hour we used to see many of the citizens with their children on the roofs of their houses, enjoying the cool evening air. Some even sleep upon the roof at this season of the year. Beyrout is one of the hottest towns in all Syria. The thermometer stood generally at 85° or 90° F. during the day, but often rose to 96° during the night. The reason of this seems to be, that there is little or no land breeze, owing to the proximity of the mountains, so that there is perfect stillness in the air till morning, when the sea breeze commences.

There are about 200 Jews in Beyrout. We visited them and their synagogue on Friday evening at the commencement of the Jewish Sabbath. We found them generally ignorant men, with little of peculiar interest in their character.

From Mr. Pieritz, the missionary mentioned above, we received much important information. Speaking of the best STATIONS for the labours of a Jewish missionary, he mentioned the Grand Dutchy of Posen as one of the most promising fields in the whole world. There are nearly 100,000 Jews there, among whom the London Society have sent three labourers; but there is room for thirty. The Jews there have been enlightened so far as to be loosened from the Talmud, and yet they are not Rationalists. This may be accounted for by their situa

MISSIONARY STATIONS-TRACTS FOR THE JEWS. 243

tion among Protestant Christians. Nearly one-half of all the Jewish converts are from that country, among whom are three of the Jerusalem labourers.

In Moldavia and Wallachia there is another great field, hitherto untried. The cheapness of living there is extraordinary, and the resources of commerce are great and unoccupied, so that Jewish inquirers and converts could easily support themselves independently of their brethren. Judeo-Polish and Judeo-German are the languages they speak.

From personal observation, he also mentioned Gibraltar as a desirable missionary station. On one side lies the coast of Barbary, all lined with Jews, each of its towns having several thousands, and these men of singular industry. On the other side are Spain and Portugal, where are many called "New Christians," who are all baptized Jews, to whom a prudent missionary might find access. In Gibraltar itself are about 2000 Jews, speaking Hebrew and Spanish; many of whom at present allow their children to attend Christian schools there. A knowledge of the Arabic language is required by a labourer on the Barbary coast, and Judeo-Spanish on the European side.

Mr. Pieritz spoke further upon the subject of TRACTS FOR THE JEWS. The most useful tract for a Jew is a plain Christian tract, such as one would give to a careless professing Christian, setting before him the simple truth of his lost condition, and the death and atonement of Christ. This is much better than a deficient controversial tract. If it is controversial, it ought to be complete, for otherwise a Jew, accustomed as he is, by studying the Talmud, to acute reasoning, will soon see its deficiency and throw it aside. The tract "Helps to Self-examination" is good, because it sets before them the law that convinces of sin, and closes with prayer for light. "The City of Refuge" is another that Mr. Nicolayson considered useful.

Some of Mr. Pieritz's anecdotes regarding the Jews in Palestine were very interesting. In Jerusalem, a Jew named Munsternetze, when pressed much to read the Bible for himself, replied, But I am afraid." "Why?" "Because (said he) I have a wife and children." He meant, that if he were to study the Bible, he would be convinced of the truth, and would, through the enmity of the Jews, reduce his family to poverty. Six weeks after Mr. Pieritz came there, a learned Jew, named Joseph, visited his house to converse with him, and remained from ten in the morning till five at night, and the result was, that he would not read his rabbinical books

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any more. Not long after, he came secretly every day and they read over together most of Isaiah, and all Mat thew critically. One day he said that it had occurred tc him that, as Messiah should have come just at the time when Christ appeared, it might be the case that Christ, knowing this, had taken advantage of it, and by the force of great genius, had brought all the prophecies to meet in himself. Mr. Pieritz gave him Isa. liii. Dan. ix. and Zech. xii. to compare and meditate upon. When he had read the first of these chapters, he returned, saying that he understood it; at the same time, he applied it partly to the Jews, and partly to the Messiah as one of the Jews. Mr. Pieritz set him to read all the three chapters. He sat very thoughtfully for a while; then burst out into the exclamation, "How to understand is easy enough, but how not to understand is the difficulty!" From that time, he became really anxious about spiritual things. One Friday evening, talking of veracity toward God and man, reference was made to one of the Talmudical prayers, which says, I thank thee for commanding" such and such things, although no command has been given for it in the Bible. He felt the force of this at once, and on going home, finding the table spread to usher in the Sabbath, declined the service. His friends became suspicious of him; but his change became public in an unexpected way. A Mahometan was in the room one day, to whom Mr. Pieritz said, "that the unbelief of the Jews was no objection to Christianity, as many of them did believe," appealing to Joseph, who boldly assented. The Mahometan told this to the Jews, and Jerusalem was turned upside down. An excommunication was pronounced upon Joseph, so awful that the whole synagogue were in tears. They then forced him to divorce his wife, and, by repeated solicitations, to leave Jerusalem for Constantinople, whither he went, seeking Christian baptism.

On another occasion, a public controversy was held, in which Rabbi Benjamin was spokesman in favour of the Talmud. It did not last long, but three months after, he came to Mr. Pieritz to say, that though convinced at the time that himself had the best of the argument, yet, on going home, he had been led to reflect and inquire. Another day, he and Rabbi Eleazar came both together with a list of questions written, but went away without proposing them, after hearing Mr. Pieritz's statement of the truth. They began to read the New Testament together. One evening, while thus engaged in one of heir houses, Rabbi Abraham came in unexpectedly:

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they tried to hide their books, but he insisted on seeing them. Upon a vow of secrecy, they showed their New Testaments. He was very angry, but agreed to go with them to visit Mr. Pieritz. He came full of fire against Christianity. He began by showing the inaccuracy of the quotation about Bethlehem-Ephratah in Matt. ii, and said many acute things; but Mr. Pieritz kept to the statement of the gospel. Rabbi Abraham soon became the most earnest of the three in his love for Christianity, and all determined to make an open profession.* Two of them belong to the best Jewish families in Russia. Chaii or Hyman Paul, a young man, became convinced of the truth and was baptized. He used to go to the convent and argue with Roman Catholics, telling them that they could not be true Christians, because they did not care for the Jews, but hated them. On one occasion they ordered him out.

On the subject of PROPHECY, Mr. Pieritz agreed in the sentiments of Mr. Nicolayson that it is quite necessary for a missionary to hold the literal interpretation of prophecy. He mentioned that some Jews in Poland condemn parts of Abarbinel for spiritualizing. The Jews feel their dispersion to be literal; and therefore if you explain unfulfilled prophecy by saying it is spiritual, they reckon you a kind of infidel. If you say that "a wolf" does not mean a wolf but a bad man, that "Zion" means the church, and "redeeming Israel" not redeeming Israel but something else, and yet try to convince them of the truth of Christianity from the Bible, they think that you yourself do not believe the Bible. In arguing with the Jews, it is sometimes of importance to show the similarity between Rabbinism and Popery, and that they have the same author. One day a Jew referred to the follies transacted at the Holy Sepulchre, and said, "that religion cannot be true." The missionary replied, “They do just as you do; they add to the New Testament, and you add to the Old." Like the Papists, the Jews do not approve of a man reading much of the Bible, because it leads him to speculate, and they say the Rabbinical commentaries contain as much as it is proper to know. The parts of scripture read in the synagogue, are generally passages that do not directly instruct in doctrine. For example, they read the 52d and 54th chapters of Isaiah, but omit the 53d.

*The Jewish Intelligence for April 1840, gives the last accounts of these three. All were remaining steadfast in their adherence to the truth, but Abraham had gone to Constantinople, and had not returned. ↑ See Appendix. No. VII.

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In speaking of the Holy Land as a Missionary field, Mr. Pieritz gave us the smallest estimate we had yet heard of the numbers of the Jews. He reckoned that in Jerusalem there are only 3000 Jews, in Saphet 2000, in Tiberias 1000, in Hebron 700, and in other towns and villages 1300, making in the whole land only 8000 Jews. During the last year he thought there had been a decrease in the Jewish population; for the plague carried away more than those born during the year, and the Jewish emigrants who came to settle at Jerusalem during that time were not more than twenty. As to their means of support, the Ashkenazim depend wholly on the contributions from Europe, except in isolated cases. The Sephardim are not so entirely dependent on this source, as they have a little trade. If the contributions were withheld, they would all be forced to seek support by their own industry, and this would be infinitely better for them. Every intelligent friend of Israel we met agreed in this opinion. There are no Rabbis properly speaking among the Ashkenazim, that is, the Rabbi is supported in no other way than as a member of the congregation; but among the Sephardim there are "Hachamim" (O'Dɔn) or "Wise," for they do not call them Rabbis. These are all who are raised above the lower class, and have reached a certain standard of learning. Above this is the class of the "Hacham Morenu" (1) or "Teacher." Him they regard with unqualified respect, and submit to him as a kind of Pope. He is well supported by them, and often lives in affluence. The Ashkenazim do not pay any such respect to their Rabbis. The Polish and German Jews are generally better scholars than the native Sephardim; but, on the other hand, the latter have more knowledge of the Bible. On the Barbary coast, it is not uncommon to meet with very unlearned Jews who are well acquainted with their Bible. There is a mixture of the customs of different countries among the Jews of Palestine; but a general inclination prevails to yield to the manners and laws of the Sephardim; as, for example, in the rites of burial. There is much more of Pharisaism among the Sephardim than among foreign Jews, and much less morality. Polygamy is not unfrequent among them, but is not allowed among the Ashkenazim. There are several in Jerusalem at present who have two wives, and some who have even four. Divorce occurs every day. Mr. Pieritz mentioned one case of a Jewess in Jerusalem, not above thirty years old, who was then mar