like scorpions, and their having stings in their tails, may refer to the tenets of their religion, which at first appear plausible, but afterwards occasion remorse. The time fixed for the duration of their successes is five months or 150 years; so from the year 612, when the Hedjra commenced, to the year 762, when Bagdad was taken, and the wars of the Arabs there terminated, is exactly 150 years. These locusts had a king whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, or the Destroyer, which name suits no one so well as Mohammed, the prophet of the sword. The prophecy goes on to speak of the four angels bound in the river Euphrates, by which are supposed to be meant the four sultans of Persia, Kerman, Syria, and Roum, who were restrained for a time by the wars of the Christians in Syria, but at the termination thereof were loosed, and thus the hordes of the Turks were let loose to carry war and bloodshed all around. The time of 391 years is then specified as the period which the Turks should prevail; and accordingly we find that the first victory obtained by the Turks was in 1281 and the last in 1672. The immense number of the horsemen intimates hosts of cavalry, which they would bring into the field; their breastplates of red, blue, and yellow, prefigured the precise colors under which the Turks fought as the banner of their faith; and the fire, smoke, and brimstone, issuing out of their mouths, may allude to the use of gunpowder, which was employed by the Turks in the siege of Constantinople. From all these things it appears, that the affairs of Mohammed, and of the Arabs and Turks are prophesied of in the word of God; insomuch that. if any one should read those prophecies with attention, and should compare them with the histories of the periods referred to, he could not fail to be filled with astonishment at the power and wisdom of God; and to conclude that the rise and progress of Mohammedanism are not the result of chance, but were foreordained of God, and permitted by him for the punishment of careless and lukewarm Christians, and for the trial of the faith of those who really fear God; which end once obtained, the system of religion thus strongly fortified, and widely spread, will be broken without hand.

The above is a general outline of the Defense of the Gospel against Mohammedan objections; the whole work in the Malayan language occupies about 150 pages. The books consulted in its composition were Maracci's preface to his refutation of the Koran, Horne's introduction to the study of the Scriptures, and Bush's life of Mohammed. Should it be read with attention, and the arguments followed out to their conclusions, it may, under the divine blessing, prove useful in combatting the prejudices which Mussulmen have conceived against our Scriptures, and in rebutting the charge so frequently brought, of their interpolation and corruption. When once the Scriptures are received as the word of God, and as the final appeal in religious differences, the battle with Mohammedan objections is half-won; and the first of John, with the second of Philippians, may be thus, brought to bear with their full force against these stout-hearted deniers of our Lord's divinity,

ART. III. Jews in China: notices of those in the east by Josephus, Peritsol, Benjamin of Tudela, Manasseh, and the Jesuits.

Were we permitted to travel through the provinces of this empire, we might, allowing what is generally believed, that there are Jews in China, very soon ascertain their character and circumstances; but as now situated we can affirm nothing concerning their present condition. A few well-attested facts, however, respecting them in former times, can be cited. Five hundred and thirty-six years before our era, and seventy years after the Jews had been driven eastward from their own country, king Cyrus published an edict throughout his empire, which then included all the kingdoms of the earth,' declaring that all the people of the God of heaven' might return to the land of their fathers. But many of the Jews preferred to continue their residence in the east, These according to Josephus amounted to many thousands in number. Cambyses, the successor of Cyrus, opposed the Jews, and disputes arose between them and the Persians. An appeal was made to their new king, and Ahasuerus commanded the edict of Cyrus to be brought from Ecbatana where it had been lodged, and to be proclaimed anew throughout all his wide dominions, from Ethiopia to India; hence Josephus, and with him Orosius and other Christian writers, have supposed that the Jews were scattered throughout the east.

Peritsol, an Italian Jew, who lived about two centuries ago, asserts that the Jews were once numerous and powerful in India and China, Some of his countrymen he places in the deserts of Chabor, where they neither dwell in houses, till the ground, nor drink wine.' To remove all suspicion from his narrative, he marks out the route which we must take to reach that country; double the Cape of Good Hope,' says he, enter the Indian ocean, make the continent of Asia, and you will find Chabor.' He also peoples Ceylon,. the Philippines, and other islands, with Jews,

The rabbi Benjamin of Tudela, a celebrated traveler of the twelfth century, visited several eastern countries for the express purpose of ascertaining the situation of the dispersed tribes. From Babylon he took a northerly direction, and after traveling twenty-one days, through a desert, he reached the kingdom of the Rechabites. Two brothers, who traced their descent from David, by records which were kept with great accuracy, governed different parts of this country. One of them ruled over a kingdom whose capital was called Thema; his subjects paid tithes to the rabbins, and supported a body of men like monks, who dressed in black and lived in caverns. Colleges were established among them. While speaking of Persia, rabbi Benjamin turns, all of a sudden,' to Samarcand, in which city he affirms there were fifty thousand Israelites; he mentions also Tibet and China.

Some writers have supposed that the ten tribes went to Tartary; this opinion they support by apparent vestiges' of Judaism which

they find in that country. Manasseh, one of the most learned Jewish doctors, adopted this opinion. He relates that a part of the ten tribes crossed the great wall, which divided China from Tartary, and settled in the former country. He believes that the Scriptures clearly refer to this emigration of the dispersed tribes, and he applies the words of Isaiah, the people shall return from the country of the Siniens (Sinim,)' to those who entered China. He observes, that it is not surprising that the ten tribes should pass from Assyria into Tartary, when the distance was so short from the former country to the latte". But, says Basnage, it can be clearly shown that the Tartars are not descended from the ten tribes,' and to support this opinion he goes into particulars, but we need not follow him in his argument. "It has been plausibly maintained," Basnage remarks in another part of his work," that the ten tribes retired to the East Indies and China. The Jews were acquainted with these countries in the time of Solemon. This prince formed an alliance with the king of Tyre and they sent their fleets to Ophir to obtain gold and ivory.”

The Romish missionaries, soon after they entered this country, found a synagogue of Jews in some of the northern provinces. "Father Ricci who made this discovery," says a writer in the Asiatic Journal, 66 was not able to draw from it those advantages which he had desired. Confined to the city of Peking, by the duties of his mission, he could not undertake a journey to Kaefung foo, the capital of Honan, which is distant therefrom about two hundred leagues. He contented himself with interrogating a young Jew of this synagogue, whom he met at Peking. He learned from him, that at Kaefung foo there were ten or twelve families of Israelites; that they had come thither to rear again their synagogue; and that they had preserved, with the greatest care, for five or six hundred years, a very ancient copy of the Pentateuch. Father Ricci immediately showed to him a Hebrew Bible. The young Jew recognised the character, but could not read it, because he had devoted himself solely to the study of Chinese books, from the time that he aspired to the degree of a scholar. The weighty occupations of father Ricci did not permit him to add to this discovery. It was not until after the lapse of three or four years that he obtained the opportunity of sending thither a Chinese Jesuit, with full instructions to investigate what he had learned from the Jewish youth. He charged him with a Chinese letter, addressed to the chief of the synagogue. In this letter, father Ricci signified to him, that besides the books of the Old Testament, he was in possession of all those of the New, which testified that Messiah whom they were expecting, was already come. As soon as the chief of the synagogue had read the part of the letter, which related to the coming of the Messiah, he made a pause, and said, it was not true, as they did not expect him in less than ten thousand years. But he intreated father Ricci, whose fame had apprised him of his great talents, to come to Kaefung foo, that he might have the pleasure of surrendering to him the care of the synagogue, provided ho would abstain from the meats forbidden to the Jews. The great age

of this chief, and the ignorance of his successor, determined him to make these offers to father Ricci. The circumstance was favorable for obtaining information of their Pentateuch; and the chief readily consented to give them the beginning and end of every section; they were found perfectly conformable to the Hebrew Bible of Plautin, except that in the Chinese copy there were no vowel points.

"In 1613, father Aleni who, on account of his profound knowledge and great wisdom, was called by the Chinese themselves, the Confucius of Europe, was commanded by his superiors to undertake a journey to Kaefung too for the purpose of ascertaining what could be gained from this discovery. He was the fittest man in the world to have succeeded in it, being well skilled in Hebrew. But times were changed. The old chief was dead. The Jews with readiness showed to father Aleni their synagogue, but he never could prevail on them to show him their books. They would not even so much as withdraw the curtains which concealed them. Such were the feeble beginnings of this discovery, which fathers Trigault and Semedo, and other missionaries, have transinitted to us. Learned men have often spoken of them, sometimes very incorrectly, and have always expressed a desire of further information.

"The residence afterwards established by the Jesuits at Kaefung foo excited fresh expectations. Nevertheless fathers Rodriguez and Figueredo wished in vain to profit by this advantage. Father Gozani was the first person who was at all successful in his endeavors. Having an easy access, he took a copy of the inscriptions in the synagogue, which are written on large tablets of marble, and sent it to his superiors at Rome. These Jews informed him, that there was a Bible at Peking, in the temple, where were kept the king, or canonical books of strangers. The French and Portuguese Jesuits obtained permission from the emperor to enter the temple and examine the books. Father Parennin was present. Nothing of the kind was found. Father Bouvet said, that they saw some Syriac letters, and had every reason to believe that the master of the pagoda gave bad information to the Jesuits in the course of their search. It would now be very difficult to obtain admission into this library; and every attempt hitherto made by father Gaubil has been unsuccessful. He never could understand what these Hebrew and Syriac books were. In the interim, a Tartar Christian, to whom he had lent his Hebrew Bible, assured him also that he had seen books written in the same character; but he could not tell him what these books were, nor what might be their antiquity. He only declared to him, that it was a thora, that is to say, a book of the law. While the Jesuits were making these fruitless researches in Peking, the Jews, less reserved than the Chinese, gave voluntary information of their different customs to father Gozani; and by the beginning of the century, he was enabled to publish an account as circumstantial as could have been expected from one who was not acquainted with the Hebrew language. This account is published in the eighteenth volume of the Lettres édifiantes et curieuses."

In a letter to a member of the society of Jesuits, dated at Kaefung foo, in Honan, Nov. 5th, 1704, J. P. Gozani thus wrote:

As to what regards those who are here called tiao-kin-kiao, (teaou kin keaou, or the sect that plucks out the sinew,') two years ago I was going to visit them, under the expectation that they were Jews, and with a view of finding among them the Old Testament. But as I have no knowledge of the Hebrew language and met with great difficulties, I abandoned this enterprise for fear I should not succeed in it. Nevertheless, as you remarked to me that I could oblige you by obtaining information concerning this people, I have obeyed your orders, and have executed them with all the care and precision of which I was capable. I immediately made them protestations of friendship, to which they readily replied, and had the civility to come to see me. I returned their visit in the li-pai-sou, (le pae sze,) that is in their synagogue, where they were all assembled, and where I held with them long conversations. I saw their inscriptions, some of which are in Chinese, and the rest in their own language. They showed me their books of religion, and permitted me to enter even into the most secret place of their synagogue, where they themselves are not permitted to enter. There is a place reserved for the chamkias, (chang keaou,) or chief of the synagogue, who never enters there unless with profound respect. They told me that their ancestors came from a kingdom of the west, called the kingdom of Juda, which Joshua conquered after having departed from Egypt and passed the Red sea and the desert; that the number of Jews who came out from Egypt was about six hundred thousand men.

"They assured me, that their alphabet had twenty-seven letters, but that they commonly made use of only twenty-two; which accords with the declaration of St. Jerome, that the Hebrew has twenty-two letters, of which five are double. When they read the Bible in their synagogue, they cover the face with a transparent veil, in memory of Moses, who descended from the mountain with his face covered, and who thus published the decalogue and the law of God to his people. They read a section every Sabbath day. Thus the Jews of China, as the Jews of Europe, read all the law in the course of the year. He who reads, places the ta king on the chair of Moses. He has his face covered with a very thin cotton veil. At his side is a prompter, and some paces below a moula, to correct the prompter should he err.-They spoke to me respecting paradise and hell in a very foolish manner. There is every appearance that what they said was drawn from the Talmud. I spoke to them of the Messiah, promised in the Scriptures. They were very much surprised at what I said to them; and when I informed them that his name was Jesus, they replied to me, that mention was made in the Bible of a holy man named Jesus, who was the son of Sirach; but they knew not the Jesus of whom I spake to them."

A few remarks concerning Jews now in China, may be found on pages 8 and 44 of our first volume. The great probability that the Karens of Burmah are a remnant of the ten tribes of Israel, wik excite new interest on this subject and lead to further research.