would cease from her Jewish friends. A hymn, expressive of confidence in God, rose to my mind, which I quoted to her with great earnestness, which seemed to affect her deeply. She then expressed her confidence in God that He would not forsake her, even if all earthly friends should. I asked her if her love to Christ proceeded from the sufferings He has borne on our account? She said that she began to love Him from reading the 53rd chapter of Isaiah, which expresses, in very strong language, how great those sufferings were that He endured for poor sinful man. After further conversation with her, which was pleasing to me, I appointed two days in the week for instructing her. During the time she was receiving instruction from me, she showed me a letter that had been sent to her by a rich Christian merchant, at Toffering her a situation as governess to his daughters, on very acceptable terms, and asked my advice as to whether she should accept it or not. I told her that I would make further inquiries respecting the family. Upon my doing so, I found they were all that I could wish, and I advised her to accept their offer, at the same time I promised to write a letter to a Protestant minister of the place, recommending her to his spiritual care. In a few days she intends to start, and I trust, with the Divine assistance, she will become a worthy member of the Church of Christ.

An intelligent Jew, of whom I have already had occasion to report, visited me yesterday, as is frequently the case, who this time informed me of the dissension among the Jewish community, occasioned by the rabbi analysing chicory, in which he found a particle of pork-grease, thereby rendering it unfit for any Jew to partake of, it being at this time in great use among them. Dr. is, by conviction, a Christian, and would have been long ago baptised, but occupying an excellent and easy situation among the Jewish community, he did not wish, at present, to lose it. We spoke of the subtilty of the rabbinical commandments, to which he assented, and named the 613 commandments to which every strict Jew must bend. He spoke of the ingenuity of the Pharisees in dividing and applying these 613 commandments, 248 to the number of the human bones, and 365 to the days of the year, so that every limb, with each coming day, might remind them of fulfilling them. I then said I had no doubt that the Pharisees seemed to have in view those commandments when asking our Saviour which was the greatest commandment? To which He replied: "Thou shalt love God with all thy heart, and thy neighbour as thyself." Dr. - said that his opinion was, that Christ placed on an equality the love of humanity with the love of God, which he could not reconcile; to which I replied, there was no such equality in the commandment. Christ wanted to inculcate in us that we cannot truly love God without having true love and sympathy towards our fellow-creatures. Even in this respect, I remarked, the Messiah himself was a pattern that we should all try to imitate; for no one ever loved and obeyed God as Christ did, and no one had ever greater sympathy and love for mankind than the rejected Messiah. In speaking of the rejection of the Messiah by the Jewish people, he opened the New Testament, and read the parable (in St. Luke xix. 12-28) of the nobleman. A very animated and interesting conversation ensued, in which he manifested such a comprehensive knowledge of the New Testament, that I could not help wishing that all Christians baptised in the name of the Lord were so acquainted with eternal truth. Before we parted, he looked through my new stock of tracts, and took several with him. I have also to remark that he was present at the baptism of the mechanic witnessed his partaking the Lord's supper for the first time.

ORAN.

and

Development of the Work.-Upon a careful survey of the field, the condition and circumstances of the Jews, and after maturely considering the difficulties and obstacles in the way, it appears that, besides the ordinary work of household visita

tion and intercourse with the people, something more may be done, though on a small scale at first. No earnest missionary, that has the cause of immortal souls seriously at heart, can be altogether indifferent to the rising generation. He must look to the future as well as the present, and while he seeks to win souls to Christ from among adults, he will feel a lively interest in the young, and will deem it a great privilege to prepare their youthful minds for the reception of the truth; if we may not, for want of adequate means, open a gratiutous school for Jewish children, there is happily a Protestant commercial school already in existence, to which such children may be sent at a small expense to the mission. The lowest fee is 2s. 6d. per month, and about 1s. 6d. for books, paper, &c. Having conferred with the schoolmaster, and come to an understanding with him on the subject, a beginning has been made by placing a Jewish boy in the school; another will probably jcin in a few days. I would suggest to those of our friends who may take an interest in this department of the work, that a special donation of £2. 8s. will cover a year's expenses of the education of a Jewish child in a Christian school. Mrs. Ben Oliel, though in a feeble state of health, desirous to be useful among the Jewesses, has decided on the formation of a small class of girls; one is already under instruction, and others wil be added soon.

A Bible class, or meeting for the reading and exposition of the Sacred Word, will be commenced on Lord's Day, the 10th inst., at 3 p.m.

In my last report I referred to the want of a colporteur and tract distributor. A young inquirer of former years, who is now under instruction as a candidate for baptism, has been engaged for that work, and I am happy and thankful to state that the British and Foreign Bible Society have made me a grant of £25 towards the support of the colporteur. Thus, by the blessing of God, we are making some progress, both in the development and organisation of the mission, and in bringing souls within the sound and under the influence of the Gospel. It has always been my fixed principle not to court the acquaintance of the wealthy and learned among the Jews, but walking in the footsteps of my adored Master, to seek the poor and the afflicted, and preach the Gospel to them. If the sick and great come of their own accord they are always welcome. A few days since two brothers, considered the richest Jewish merchants in this city, came and passed the afternoon with me in an earnest discussion of the great and distinguishing doctrines of Christianity, and with some evident effect on their hearts and minds, for on parting I expressed the hope that I might ere long number them among those who are sincerely inquiring after the way of life and eternal happiness, to which they replied, "We shall see, we shall soon come again, for we like to speak of these things, and you are so kind to take such pains with us to make us understand these things," and concluded with wishing me success! Nor is this a solitary instance; other influential Jews have solicited my acquaintance. This removes whatever restraint I might otherwise feel; they know that if they come to me or invite me to their homes it will not be to occupy the time with trivial talk, but to converse of the interests of the soul and of eternity.

N.B. On hearing of the extensive immigration of Jewish refugees from Morocco into Gibraltar and neighbouring towns, Mr. Ben Oliel expressed an earnest desire to go and preach the Gospel to them. The Committee, however, did not see the way clear to this, and their decision has been confirmed by the appointment of an agent to this service by the London Society, and also by the prospect of a portion of these suffering Jews being soon shipped to Oran and all parts of Algeria.

In reviewing my missionary work during the past month, I am constrained to thank God for the many opportunities I have had of proclaiming to my Jewish brethren the glad tidings of salvation through the blood of the Lamb. Among those whom I met and visited, I found some who were pretty well acquainted with the leading doctrines of the Gospel, others who had but a slight knowledge of the truth, and others, again, who had never heard anything of Jesus but what they had been taught, either by their parents, or at school, and that, alas, is to hate and blaspheme His holy name; but, blessed be God, that with very few exceptions, the truths of the Gospel were attentively listened to; and, as regards conversations, I had many most interesting ones; still the ancient truth remains the same: "Paul may plant, Apollos water, but God alone giveth the increase."

I am very happy to say that one young man comes daily to my house for Christian instruction, and two others whenever they can spare time, that is once, twice, and sometimes thrice in a week; of one I said something in my last report, and of the other two I will give a short account in this:—

Some little time ago I became acquainted with a Polish Jew, named and for nearly three weeks he has come daily to my house for instruction, and is making some little progress in the truths of the Gospel. When I first knew him, I found his faith in the rabbies and their writings had been shaken; but he had the strangest possible ideas about Christianity; such, in fact, as could only be formed by a rabbinical Jew, and one who all his life had had no better example of the Christian religion than the superstitions and idolatries of the Greek and Romish Churches. Though he knows something of the Talmud, he is very little acquainted with the Holy Scriptures, and often, when I point out to him some portions in the Old Testament which distinctly speak of the Messiah being God, and also that He was to suffer and die for our sins, he seems quite surprised. Unhappily, he is not the only one who has so little knowledge of the Word of God; he is but one of a very numerous class of Jews in Poland and Russia, who commence when Very young to study the Talmud, and entirely neglect the Word of Life and Peace. He seems to belong to the middle class of Jews, and told me that, in his own country, he was a merchant, and that a few years ago, when there was a famine in Poland, he and his father, during the winter, gave a meal, every day, to a large number of poor Jews; but having failed in business, he came, about three months ago, to England, and is now himself in great difficulties, and often knows not where to get a meal; he has several times said to me "Do not think, sir, that because I am badly off now, therefore I seek to inquire into Christianity; no! but it is because I find no peace in the rabbinical religion that the Jews now profess."

I was stopped the other day in the Minories by a young man named

—, who,

in 1851, was frequently at my house as an inquirer, and went, for some time, into the Operative Jewish Converts' Institution, but left it on the day he was to have been baptised, and enlisted into the English army. His regiment was sent to Lucknow, where he distinguished himself, and obtained a small pension and a decoration. While abroad, he heard an English clergyman preach, and the sermon brought back all his former impressions so vividly, that he went to him, and, after due examination, was baptised. He seemed glad to tell me he had made an open profession of his faith in the once despised and rejected Messiah.

Should not this encourage us to "cast our bread upon the waters," being assured by the faithful promise that it shall return to us, even though after many days.

ENGLAND.

WE close by an abstract from the Rev. J. Wilkinson's annual notes of proceedings, in which there are facts and suggestions well deserving the thoughtful and devout consideration of all who seek the good of Israel.

The trials of faith and patience attending the deputation work are of no ordinary kind. It is not the wear and tear of mind and body, necessary for three services on the Lord's day, and five public meetings, or lectures, during the week, for a month, or five weeks in succession, during which the deputation is constantly packing and unpacking, into and out of railway carriages, omnibuses, &c., until almost worn down by fatigue; but the chief difficulties are experienced in efforts to hold services in towns where no auxiliary association exists; or, if one really exists, the interest is so circumscribed, that the large mass of Christians, in such towns, are in ignorance, not only of the broad evangelical basis of the Society's constitution, and of the simple object it contemplates, but also ignorant of the very existence of the Society. Thus it is not to be wondered at, considering the number and force of other claims upon Christian philanthropy, and considering also the extent to which apathy, prejudice, and even hostility, have characterised the conduct of professing Christians, in reference to the conversion of the Jew, that your agents should, in many cases, be received with more than necessary caution. This state of things can only be speedily remedied by efficient and regular visitation. There are many important towns in England and Wales in which we have no association; which, judging from the wealth and number of their inhabitants, might easily raise from ten pounds to one hundred pounds a year. Our agency staff should be increased, or else existing associations visited only once in two years.

If our good friends, residing in places where auxiliaries are pretty well established, would be satisfied with a visitation once in two years, your agents would be able to break up new ground, by going, not only to places were they are most desired, but also to those where they are most needed.

My whole experience, however, in this department of labour, convinces me that, just in proportion, as the subject of Jewish conversion is brought before the Christian Church in all its Scriptural simplicity—the mind of the Church informed as to the general and special claims of the Jew, and of the constitution and object of the British Society; and the heart of the Church impressed with unadorned details of individual conversions, as the result of God's blessing upon the labours of its Missionaries-in the same proportion does apathy become earnestness, prejudice sympathy, and hostility hearty co-operation. My recent visits in Leicestershire and Derbyshire furnish me with some interesting illustrations. Not the least interesting feature in our success in Loughborough is the fact, that an interest awakened in the conversion of the Jews has been the occasion of an increased interest in the conversion of their townsmen. A daily prayer meeting was commenced at noon, on the day of our Monday's meeting, which commenced with about twenty or thirty persons, but which numbers now, I am informed, upwards of five hundred, and our friends there regard the services on behalf of the Jews as having been a great blessing to the place.

They have also held their first quarterly prayer meeting, for the conversion of the Jews. The attendance, a correspondent informs me, was large, and the influence very good. In several other towns, especially in those in which Sabbath services wero held, as preparatory to a public meeting, Godly men have remarked, "Mr. Wilkinson, your visit has been made of God a blessing to our town.”

There is, happily, a spirit of earnestness in prayer and in action, awakening all over our country, relating to spiritual and eternal things, partly produced by accounts of revival work in America, Ireland, Wales, and Scotland, and partly by a feeling

Jan. 1, 1660.]

which extensively prevails, that the Church and the world are, comparatively, on the eve of great and important spiritual and political changes and transformations. Our meeting at Bath was a very successful one. Our tried and good friend, the treasurer, is most devoted in her efforts for the Jewish cause. The leading ministers were present, and rendered good service, and afterwards offered their chapels for future services. Bocking and Braintree have done nobly again this year.

During the year just closing, I have visited the counties of Lancaster, Cumberland, Westmoreland, Cheshire, Salop, Isle of Man, Derby, Leicester, and Oxford, besides single towns in other counties, and have delivered about one hundred and sixty sermons, lectures, and addresses. During the year, I have baptised two of the seed of Abraham; one, an intelligent and godly young man-has migrated, with other Christian friends, to New Zealand, and bids fair to be of great usefulness in the Christian Church. The other-residing in a provincial town in this country-has already been useful in directing others of his brethren to the Hope of Israel. I have recently been summoned to, what was thought, the death-bed of the latter one. I hastened to comfort him, and to witness the state of his mind, in the prospect of death. It greatly refreshed my own spirit to observe the smile on his face as I entered the sick room, and to hear him say that all was well, for he had hold of Christ. His faith in Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah, and as his personal and allsufficient Saviour, did not waver for a moment. I have since heard, that his health is somewhat improved, but I fear there is little hope of his recovery. However, the friends on the spot are very kind, both to the young man and to his wife. May God still bless them with all the consolation they need!

I am now constantly visiting the sick room of a Christian Israelite, whose case is one of the most lovely instances of sanctified affliction I have ever read or heard of. His heavy losses in business, followed by deep personal affliction, the affliction of his wife, the straits to which he has been reduced, together with the timely aid brought or sent by unknown friends, when he has just been on the borders of starvation, would furnish materials for a thrillingly interesting narrative, which would redound to the glory of God's Providence and Grace.

Oh, for grace to do the Saviour's work, in the Saviour's spirit, and in the manner most acceptable to Him! Although I cherish deep and unfeigned humility before God that so much imperfection has characterised my efforts for His glory, still I have cause for devout gratitude that those efforts have been so signally blessed of God. I thank Him and take courage.

THE FIRST DAY OF THE FIRST MONTH;

OR,

A Meditation for New Year's Day.

THE end of time demands attention. It must, with all its cares, sorrows, joys, and hopes, come to an end! Judgment-Eternity-Heaven-Hell! We have just heard it announced that a year is dead, and that another is born; and we must soon hear it proclaimed, that time itself is dead, and that eternity is revealed! Are these facts soon to be realised by us? Must time, short as it is, have an Luence on all eternity? It is even so: and do we yet loiter among temptations -slumber over privileges-and only think and talk about our work? Lay almighty mercy awaken us to a right state of feeling towards God, to real love to the Church, pity for sinners, and a proper regard to the signs of the times, that we may be found abounding in the work of the Lord, and be prepared for what