The Jewish Herald. UNDER THE SUPERINTENDENCE OF THE BRITISH SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE GOSPEL AMONG THE JEWS. "PUBLISH YE, PRAISE YE, AND SAY, O LORD, SAVE THY PEOPLE, THE REMNANT OF ISRAEL." OFFICE:-No. 1, CRESCENT PLACE, BLACKFRIARS, LONDON. No. 200.] AUGUST 1, 1862. [Price ld. SPECIAL APPEAL. THE Resident Secretary will gladly forward copies of the subjoined paper to friends who will kindly undertake to distribute them, and, when practicable, follow the delivery by personal application. The Committee earnestly solicit their friends, the officers and members of local associations, to assist them by adopting this course. It is long since a Special Appeal has been made for the general object of the Society. It has now become indispensable, and while the case is urgent, the encouragements to continued prayer and renewed and generous efforts are most cheering. *營 * All expenses attending the delivery, &c., will be defrayed by the Society. EXTENSION. The following brief Special Paper, having been privately circulated among some of the Society's friends and others known as liberal supporters of evangelical Missions, is now offered for the perusal of our readers at large, who will doubtless be ready to help forward our plans of progress : The Committee of the British Society for the Propagation of the Gospel among the Jews respectfully and earnestly solicit attention to the following statement:-- It has pleased God, in His providence, during the last three years, by special openings for the Gospel, and by the raising up of eligible missionaries, to call the above Society greatly to enlarge its agencies. 1. A Medical Mission has been established in Jaffa, where Dr. Philip daily administers medical assistance to poor Jews, Mahommedans, and others, who have no other means of obtaining relief from their sufferings. He has thus been introduced to a large and interesting field of directly spiritual labour, and finds constant opportunities in his dispensary, and at the bedside of the afflicted, for directing the perishing sinner to Christ. 2. A School has been opened in an important district of Wallachia, at which the Jews permit their children to attend, and they day by day receive instruction in the New Testa VOL. XVII.-NEW SERIES, VOL. VIII. ment. The narratives concerning Jesus deeply interest their young hearts; and there is every reason to hope that in after days, at least, this seed of the Word will show itself fruitful 3. Italy has opened its doors; and since the beginning of the year 1861 the Society's esteemed missionary, Dr. Mayer, has been at work in Leghorn, amidst a population of not less than 14,000 Jews. His reception has been exceedingly cordial and encouraging. He has more than 100 Jews under his regular teaching. Some have given every evidence of a thorough change of heart, and there is a promise among these of earnest and useful evange lists. Christian friends who have recently visited the spot, and others residing in Italy, unite in testifying that Dr. Mayer has been exceedingly blessed of God in accomplishing a great work. 4. A Female Mission among the Jewesses of London has been commenced, and the results are already full of encouragement. It is proposed to support this interesting branch of the Society's work by shilling subscriptions, for which special collecting cards have been prepared. The Secretaries will have great pleasure in forwarding a supply to any friends on their application. The Society employs 25 missionaries in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Paris, Marseilles, Breslau, Frankfort on-Maine, Nuremberg, Bromberg, Konigsberg, Canstatt, Wallachia, Oran, Algiers, Leghorn, and Jaffa. Its total income scarcely exceeds £6000. All the new missions, especially that in Italy, demand enlargement to make them thoroughly effective; and in more than one direction vast populations of Jews, utterly with out the Gospel, may be at once reached by the Christian missionary. The Committee, however, are without resources for extension, and therefore lay these facts before their friends, in the hope that liberal aid will be rendered; only adding, that it will be doubly valuable if early. Donations and Subscriptions will be thankfully received by the Treasurer, Sir Culling E. Eardley; by the Hon. Secretaries-Rev. J. Stoughton, Rev. J. Hamilton, D.D., Rev. W M. Bunting; or at the office of the Society, No. 1, Crescent Place, Blackfriars, by the Resident Secretary, Mr. George Yonge, to whom it is requested that all orders may be made payable. Our Mission. JAFFA. T following letter from our afflicted friend and brother, Dr. PHILIP, commends itself to our sympathy and gratitude: MY DEAR SIR,-From my last letter you will have probably observed the great distress of my mind, and the great perplexity and trying position in which our heavenly Father has been pleased to place me by the severe stroke of affliction. However, I have much reason to be thankful to God for enabling me, in all my trials, to perform those solemn duties for which He has been pleased to call me-to seek to win souls for Christ, and especially in the sphere of His ancient Israel. Our hot season here has commenced early; and, consequently, discases are more prevalent here, and in Jerusalem, than they are usually at such an early season of the year. A few weeks ago, I had the dispensary crowded for several hours during the day, principally by Jews, both residents and strangers from Saphet and Tiberias, suffering principally from ague, rheumatism, and ophthalmia. Though the opportunities, at such occasions, are not the best to enter upon lengthened conversations with them, yet God's Word is truth; and I often feel that a few quotations from it must make a deeper impression upon the heart and mind than all the comments man is able to THE JEWISH HERALD. 309 give upon it. Some enter upon short conversations, and there is no doubt that many go away, perhaps not convinced, but certainly impressed with the truths of Christ which I set before them; and, no doubt, the result of all our missionaries' labours will be to unsettle the Jewish mind on their erroneous belief, and cause them to scek more carnest and more lasting principles and truths-those which are in Jesus, and which, as they will ultimately find, alone can satisfy the aspirations of an immortal soul, and be led to believe in Him of whom all the Jewish fathers spake, and through whom alone salvation and final happiness can be obtained. In my visits among the sick in their own houses, I have quieter opportunities for conversation; though, as I informed you in a former letter, our Jews here are, for the most part, so deeply engaged in commerce that they cannot fix their minds upon subjects of more importance than the flesh-pots of Egypt and the vain idol-gold; but their neighbours, the Gentiles, both Christians and Mahomedans, are not only not better than they are, but ten times worse. I see a good deal of them, as, though my mission is specially to the Jews, I do not refuse to visit also the sick of the Mahomedan and Christian population around us. Perhaps the only case of interest which I have to mention is an inquirer, who is now an inmate of the Farm. He was formerly in Jerusalem, where he was brought to Christ by the instrumentality of the missionaries. He has given great satisfaction in his conduct and sincerity to the friends there; but, as he had no livelihood, the Rev. Mr. Barclay, of Jerusalem, recommended him as an inmate for the Model Farm. He is now here, and, I trust, progressing in the knowledge and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that he will be prepared soon to be received into Christ's Church by the ordinance of baptism. There are four more converts at the Model Farm now, who give me much pleasure. Their conduct as converts is exemplary; and though they are in a Mission institution here, yet they gain their livelihood by cheerfully labouring the whole day. The Model Farm is certainly one of the best institutions for such men, and I wish I could prevail on friends at home for increased liberality now; for I believe this is the time when a community of converted Jews could be settled here, who would become independent farmers in a very short time, and might form the nucleus for the scattered race to re-assemble around them in this the land of promise to Israel. ALGIERS. From Mr. LowITZ we are enabled to present some interesting particulars, and we invite attention especially to those which refer to the baptised converts :— June 15.-I have received your kind note of the 26th ult., in which you wish to know whether the message of peace could not reach the many thousands of Israel who are living and dying Christless in the interior, through those who have been brought to believe in the Saviour. I dare say they might be made the means of doing some good to their friends and relatives there, but for the fact of their being obliged to leave the country after their conversion, which hinders them from exerting that influence which they might otherwise have had among their countrymen. I am, nevertheless, in hopes that the few converts I have hitherto had in this place have, in the midst of severe persecution and opposition, sustained their faith, and to avow it before their Jewish friends, who are enemies to the Gospel of Christ. The difficulties connected with the work amongst the Jews here in Africa are by far greater than in Europe: there is not only great opposition from those without, but also indifference from those within, so that the missionary and the convert are left to struggle by themselves in the best way they can; and if it was not for the promised help of God, through the influences of the Holy Spirit, they would almost despair. I have an instance in the case of J-A--, who is very shortly to be baptised; he has been subject to great privations and sufferings for these six months past, in consequence of his coming to me for instruction, and as soon as the Jews hear that he is baptised, they will deprive him of every means of subsistence. I continue to prosecute my labours, both among Jews and Gentiles, as usually, in imparting religious instruction to several Jewish inquirers, in visiting daily the Jewish shops to deliver the message of salvation, as well as to distribute tracts to such as are disposed to read them. Subsequently Mr. Lowitz writes: July 9. When last I wrote I spoke of a young inquirer who was preparing for baptism, and I am happy to say that, with God's help, he was enabled to make a good confession of his faith in Christ Jesus on the 22nd ult. Sr. J A received his first impressions of the truth from the Rev. J. Ginsburg, Jewish missionary at Constantine, who recommended the young convert to me here. I encouraged him in his inquiries, and continued daily to instruct him in the principles and doctrines of our holy religion; and, notwithstanding the sore trials and persecutions which he had to endure on account of his connection with the missionary, he nevertheless persevered to come regularly to my house to read the sacred Scriptures, and to unite with us in family worship every evening, for upwards of six months; and after he was fully convinced, and believed in the truth as it is in Jesus, he expressed to me his desire of being baptised in the following letter, which is a translation from the original Arabic: “DEAR SIR,—Allow me to address you these few lines, in order to state the reason which induces me to request of you the rite of baptism. You are aware that I am a native of this place, and my father has been a rabbi here for many years. I was, consequently, brought up after the strict principles of Judaism. I was likewise instructed in the Talmud, besides other Jewish literature; but, in the persuasion that learning is useless unless it be combined with some trade, I adopted that of a tailor, whereby I always gained a respectable livelihood amongst my own nation. Whenever work was slack in Algiers I went to Bona or Constantina, where I generally obtained it. As I was one day passing the streets in Constantina, I was accosted by a man who sold Bibles, and who wished me to buy a Hebrew New Testament. I declined to do so, for the simple reason that I always heard the Jews speaking very disparagingly against it; however, after a short conversation with this colporteur, I was induced to accompany him to the missionary's house, who endeavoured to remove my prejudices against the New Testament, directing me to the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament, and proving to me that many of them have already been accomplished in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. I then began to examine them for myself, and seriously to think about religion. After the lapse of about three months I came to Algiers to see my mother and brothers, with whom I purposed to pass some days and then to return to Constantine; but they did all they could to prevent me from leaving them, for fear that I would embrace Christianity there; they tried, alternately by kindness and threatenings, to make me desist from investigating the truth; they once tere my passport, hid my Christian clothing, and even brought a false accusation against me; they could not, however, prevent me from visiting you in order to continue my instructions, which I have done these seven months past; and now, as I am persuaded of my sinfulness and need of a Saviour, and believing that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, and that "That He is able and willing to save me, I am resolved to make a public profession of my faith in Him by being baptised in His name, that I may realise His promise, whosoever believeth and is baptised shall be saved;" and I pray God to give me grace that I may receive this holy ordinance worthily, and that He will grant me more light and knowledge of His Son Jesus Christ for my own salvation, as well as to be able to give a reason of the hope that is within me to others. On the receipt of this letter I introduced the candidate to my father-in-law, the Rev. J. Coyne, who, after having satisfied himself as to his knowledge of the principal doctrines of the Protestant religion, as well as to his motives for embracing it, he arranged that the baptism should take place on the Lord's day, 22nd of May last. On that day he accordingly administered to him the rite after Divine service, and due exhortation in the presence of a goodly assembly who met in the French Protestant Temple to witness this solemn ceremony, and who seemed interested, and I trust were edified thereby. There were likewise a number of Jews and Jewesses before the Temple; their object, I suppose, was to see him going into the church in his native costume to be baptised, and expecting to see him come out in Christian clothes. Their curiosity was not satisfied, for he came out just as he went in, without changing his dress, but happier in his mind on account of his having made a good confession and promised to be a better man. "For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly," &c. May this be the earnest of that brighter day when the promised baptism of the Holy Spirit shall be realised, not only in the experience of some here and there, but by all the descendants of Abraham, according to God's gracious promise, (Zech. xii. 10). The way in which the Pentecost feast was lately celebrated by Jews, and the various Christian denominations could not but fill my heart, and that of every Christian, to whom the Word of God alone is the canon for all his conduct, with grief and pain. The former clinging to the letter from the very beginning, the ource of pharisaical self-righteousness, nay, even of the rejection of the Lord of life, continue to do so; of course, I am alluding to the very orthodox Jews. The recital of a voluminous book (Tuken lel Schwus) during the first night, which is a compilation of the Old Testament, as well as of delusive rabbinical traditions, but to them of equal authority, as supposed to have been both delivered to Moses on Mount Sinai on the occasion of this feast, it seems now entirely to substitute the divine institutions of by-gone glorious days. The nominal Christians, under the influence and instruction of an ignorant priesthood, know little or nothing of the commemoration of the miraculous event of the descent of the sanctifying Spirit, the greatest gift, that could be bestowed upon man, considering this, as well as other feasts, as actual institutions for the practice of every Antinomian licentiousness. Nevertheless, thank God, who overrules everything for the best purposes, these very feasts, offer most favourable opportunities, for the spreading of Divine truth, as was the case lately. Things relating to eternity have reached the ear of many a Gentile, as well as of my poor benighted Jewish brethren. Mr. ——, a respectable Jewish merchant, from Galatz, to whom I have once on a previous occasion unfolded the mystery of the plan of salvation, at Ismail, married lately, and soon after called upon me with his |