upon them for their evil works, yet when the measure of their guilt was full, and the measure of his forbearance was exhausted, he poured upon them the fierceness of his indignation, and made it manifest to the world that he was a God of judgment.

Did the Lord threaten to inflict these calamities upon this nation, and has he done so? He has likewise promised that he would remember his covenant with Jacob, and Isaac, and Abraham and not a word shall fail of all the gracious things he hath spoken concerning them.

For many ages the Jews have been scattered among nations, whither the Lord hath carried them away captive. Christians, Mahometans, and Pagans, have each, in their turn, contributed largely to fill the cup of their misery and degradation: every where they have been loaded with the most degrading epithets: every where the finger of scorn and derision has been pointed at them; every where they have been “ a byword, and astonishment, and a proverb." Stripes, bonds, and imprisonment have not satisfied the rage of their unrelenting persecutors; but how many thousands and tens of thousands have, on the slightest pretexts, been massacred, to glut the vengeance of their enemies; persecuted in one city or country, they have fled to another, only to experience fresh calamities, and again to seek their safety by flightbut in defiance of the edicts of princes, and the effects of popular odium, in the face of the most sweeping and bloody persecutions the world has ever witnessed, this wonderful nation remain a distinct people: a standing monument of the VERACITY, as well as the VENGEANCE, of the most High! And is there in the catalogue of human woes, and of the dreadful curses denounced against rebellious Israel, one which has not been inflicted on them? Have they not already drank, to the very dregs, the cup of trembling? Why may we not then conclude that the time, yea, the set time to favour them, the day of their deliverance is at hand. ?

But is it urged, that great and peculiar obstacles present themselves to the conversion of the Jews. This is acknowledged; but there is much, very much to encourage the undertaking. There were great and peculiar obstacles to be encountered in the first attempts to introduce Christianity among the heathen; but these have all been surmounted, because it was the work of the Lord; and he always furnishes means adequate to the accomplishment of all his purposes. And here let it be remarked, that in order to the conversion of the heathen, it was necessary to find faithful men, who

counted not their lives dear unto themselves; who were willing to cross tempestuous seas, and to forego the enjoyment of worldly comfort, for the love they bore to the name of Jesus. A powerful obstacle also presented itself in acquiring the various languages of the heathen. These, and many other difficulties of equal magnitude arose: but the great work was commenced, and the effects already manifest, have put to silence the voice of opposition: the names of those who commenced the glorious work are registered in the hearts of the faithful, and will be had in everlasting remembrance!

But these obstacles do not present themselves in our attempts to bring about the conversion of the Jews. They are among ourselves, and we have daily an opportunity to converse with, and to enlighten, them. No ocean intervenes between them and Christians; no difficulties arise in relation to acquiring their language. Hence every Christian may, in a limited sense, be a missionary among them; of course, the necessary pecuniary contributions to effect the object will be comparatively inconsiderable.

Will it still be objected to the work proposed, that so deeply rooted are the prejudices of the Jews against the Gospel, that they cannot be overcome? We simply answer, that the oath and promise of Jehovah is engaged to effect the work, and he will perform it.

We feel assured that the hearts of thousands of our brethren, beat in unison with what has been said on this interesting subject; and that they are only waiting to see the standard erected; to behold a rallying point; to see the great work commenced, and an association formed for the purpose; and they will join the ranks, and rejoice to lend their aid in bringing about the wonderful designs of Providence in relation to this subject.

Let then a Society of faithful men be organized, to deliberate on this weighty concern, and to seek direction from on high; and having digested a plan of operations, let them enter immediately on the work; let a correspondence be opened with the Society lately established in England for the promotion of Christianity among the Jews: let a circular be prepared and addressed to different religious Societies, or to individuals who feel interested in the cause, in various parts of our own country. What may not be hoped from such combined exertions in such a cause! Who does not feel animated with the prospect! Who does not exult in the privilege of being foremost in the blessed undertak

ing! For the Lord God, who gathereth the outcasts of Israel; saith, "the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls; for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy upon thee. Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, the joy of many generations.

ISAIAH.

APOCALYPTIC CHURCHES.

We have just received some late religious intelligence from one of our correspondents in England. We have room in this Number, only for the folfowing interesting extract of a letter from the Rev. H. Lindsay, chaplain to the embassy of Constantinople, relative to the present state of the APOCALYPTIC CHURCHES; copied from the correspondence of the Bristish and Foreign Bible Society.

Constantinople, January 10, 1816. WHEN I last wrote to you, I was on the point of setting out on a short excursion into Asia-Minor. Travelling hastily, as I was constrained to do, from the circumstances of my situation, the information I could procure was necessarily superficial and unsatisfactory. As, however, I distributed the few books of the Society, which I was able to carry with me, I think it necessary to give some account of the course I took. The regular intercourse of England with Smyrna, will enable you to procure as accurate intelligence of its present state as any I can pretend to offer.

From the conversations I had with the Greek Bishop and his Clergy, as well as various well-informed individuals, I am led to suppose, that, if the population of Smyrna be estimated at 140,000 inhabitants, there are from 15 t 20,000 Greeks, 6000 Armenians, 5000 Catholics, 140 Protestants, and 11,000 Jews.

After Smyrna, the first place I visited was Ephesus, or rather (as the site is not quite the same,) Aiasalick, which consists of about fifteen poor cottages. I found there but three Christians; two brothers who kept a small shop, and a gardener. They are all three Greeks, and their ignorance is lamentable indeed. In that place, which was blessed so long with an apostle's labours, and those of his zealous assistants, are Christians who have not so much as heard of that apostle, or seem only to recognize the name of Paul as one in the calender of their saints. One of them I found able to read a little, and left with him the New Testament in ancient and modern Greek, which he expressed a strong desire to read, and promised me he would not only study it himself, but lend it to his friends in the neighbouring villages. My next object was to see Laodicea In the road to this, is Guzel-hisar, a large town, with one Church, and about 700 Christians.

In conversing with the priests here, I found them so little acquainted with the Bible, or even the New Testament, in an entire form, that they had no distinct knowledge of the books it contained, beyond the four Gospels; but mentioned them indiscriminately, with various idle legends and lives of saints.

I have sent thither three copies of the modern Greek Testament since my return. About three miles from Laodicea is Denizli, which has been styled, but I am inclined to think erroneously, the ancient Colosse; it is a considerable town, with about 400 Christians, Greeks, and Armenians, each of whom has a Church. I regret, however, to say, that here also the most extravagant

tales of miracles, and fabulous accounts of angels, saints, and relics, had so usurped the place of the Scriptures, as to render it very difficult to separate, in their minds, divine truths from human inventions. I felt, that here that unhappy time was come, when men should "turn away their ears from the truth, and be turned unto fables."

I had with me some copies of the Gospels in ancient Greek, which I distributed here, as in some other places through which I had passed. Eski-hisar, close to which are the remains of ancient Laodicea, contains about fifty poor inhabitants, in which number are but two Christians, who live together in a small mill. Unhappily, neither could read at all. The copy, therefore, of the New Testament which I intended for this Church, I left with that of Denizli, the offspring and poor remains of Laodicea and Colosse; the prayers of the Mosque are the only prayers which are heard near the ruins of Laodicea, on which the threat seems to have been fully executed, in its utter rejection as a Church.

I left it for Philadelphia, now Alah-shehr It was gratifying to find at last some surviving fruits of early zeal; and here, at least, whatever may be lost of the spirit of Christianity, there is still the form of a Christian Church: this has been kept from the hour of temptation, which came upon all the Christian world. There are here about 1000 Christians, chiefly Greeks, who, for the most part, speak only Turkish; there are twenty-five places of public worship, five of which are large, regular Churches; to these there is a resident bishop, with twenty inferior clergy. A copy of the modern Greek Testament was received by the bishop with great thankfulness. I quitted Alah-shehr, deeply disappointed at the statement I received there of the Church of Sardis. I trusted that, in its utmost trials, it would not have been suffered to perish utterly, and I heard with surprise, that not a vestige of it remained. With what satisfaction, then, did I find, on the plains of Sardis, a small Church establishment: the few Christians who dwell around modern Sart, were anxious to settle there, and erect a Church, as they were in the habit of meeting at each other's houses, for the exercise of religion; from this design they were prohibited by Kar 'Osman Oglu, the Turkish governor of the district, and, in consequence, about five years ago, they built a Church upon the plain, within view of ancient Sardis, and there they maintain a priest. The place has gradually risen into a little village, now called Tatar-Keny; thither the few Christians of Sart, who amount to seven, and those in its immediate vicinity, resort for public worship, and form together a congregation of about. forty. There appears then still a remnant, "a few names, even in Sardis," which have been preserved. I cannot repeat the expressions of gratitude with which they received a copy of the New Testament, in a language with which they were familiar. Several crowded about the priest, to hear it on the spot; and I left them thus engaged. Ek-hisar, the ancient Thyatira, is said to contain about 30,000 inhabitants, of whom 3000 are Christians, all Greeks, except about 200 Armenians. There is, however, but one Greek Church, and one Armenian. The superior of the Greek Church, to whom I presented the Romaic Testament, esteemed it so great a treasure, that he earnestly pressed me, if possible, to spare another, that one might be secured to the Church, and free from accidents, while the other went round among the people, for their private reading. I have therefore, since my return hither, sent him four copies.

The Church of Pergamos, in respect to numbers, may be said to flourish still in Bergamo. The town is less than Ak-hisar, but the number of Christians is about as great, the proportion of Armenians to Greeks nearly the same, and each nation also has one Church. The bishop of the district, who occasionally resides there, was at that time absent, and I experienced, with deep regret, that the resident clergy were totally incapable of estimating the gift I intended them; I therefore delivered the Testament to the lay vicar of the bishop, at his urgent request, he having assured me, that the bishop would

highly prize so valuable an acquisition to the Church; he seemed much pleased that the benigthed state of his nation had excited the attention of strangers.

Thus, sir, I have left, at least, one copy of the unadulterated word of God, at each of the seven Asiatic Churches of the apocalypse, and I trust they are not utterly thrown away: but, whoever may plant, it is God only who can give the increase; and from his goodness, we may hope, they will, in due time, bring forth fruit, "some thirty, some sixty, and some a hundred fold!" Believe me, sir,

Ever your's most truly,

HENRY LINDSAY.

Quarterly Meeting of the New-York Sunday School Union Society.

[Concluded from page 127.]

The business of the meeting was conducted in an animated and interesting manner. Reports were read from the committees of fourteen schools, giving an account of their establishment and of the circumstances which had marked their progress. These reports were handsomely drawn up, and exhibited many interesting details and encouraging facts. It appeared that the above schools were conducted by thirty-six superintendents, and one hundred and forty-four teachers, and that there had been admitted into them 1800 learners; of whom nearly 200 were adults, and between 400 and 500 people of colour. In general the scholars had been punctual in their attendance at school and at places of public worship, had been diligent in their studies, cleanly in their appearance, orderly and decorous in their conduct, and thankful for the exertions and kindness of their instructors. The reports furnished the most satisfactory evidence of the utility of Sunday Schools, of the salutary effects already produced by those connected with this association, and of the promptitude and zeal of the superintendents and teachers in the discharge of their duties.

From ten other schools, comprising, it is believed, 1000 learners, owing perhaps to their recent formation, no reports were made; they are however known to be in a prosperous state.

The following are extracts from the Reports received :-The committee of a school comprising 156 scholars, say: CC The progress of the learners, in many instances, has been such as was peculiarly gratifying to the teachers. As to the effects of the school on the children and their pa rents, in a moral or religious point of view, we have to observe, that in our first visits to those places where the poorer classes reside, we frequently found the parents, and sometimes even the children, in a state of intoxication, disputing with each other, and using the most profane language; but in our subsequent visits, we are happy to say, instead of witnessing such horrid scenes of destroying vice, we found an obvious alteration in the conversation and habits of some, who were teaching the children their lessons, and who appeared to take some interest in this good work. Some, indeed, have requested Bibles for the illumination of their own minds, and for the instruction of their children; which requests have been complied with."

The committee of another school say, "We find much encouragement in the general good conduct and progress of the scholars under our care, and the great desire manifested by them to receive instruction. The improvement in the manners and personal appearance of the school is worthy of notice, as well as their cheerfulness in attending public worship at the house of God, and good deportment while there."

Another committee state, "That the adults in their school are particularly attentive to their studies, and evince a very great desire to obtain informa tion; but from their minds having been so long uncultivated, their progress, in general, is slow. The children have, in many instances, far surpassed our ex