land only, for it cannot be fulfilled in any other; therefore, through the dispersion of our nation, we are in the position of a people who have a law given to them by God which they cannot obey. From what we know of the divine government we are sure that it cannot consist with the wisdom and character of God, that this shall still be the law by which we are governed.

"And is not our destitution of a sacrifice bewailed in our service as a great calamity? In one of the prayers that are offered on the Day of Atonement, is this expression: 'Woe unto us, for we have no Mediator !' And to make up for this want of a sacrifice we have transgressed the law by our invention of rites and observances; a course expressly forbidden.

"Then, my dear father, in the absurdities of the Mishna and Gemara. the Talmud- see the consequences of man's attempting to supply the place of God's law. O! I do think that in every sense that book is a terrible insult to the divine wisdom, and, therefore, how sinful! If it had been desired to hold up the religion of the Jews to universal contempt, and outrage propriety, delicacy, and common sense, a more fitting book than the Talmud could scarcely have been devised. Moses gave no intimation of this traditionary or oral law-of this interpretation of God's written law. The law which was written and laid up in the ark, was the only law of which he spoke, and that only was commanded to be read in the ears of all the people.

"You, my dear father, are, doubtless, as well acquainted with the Mishna as I am, and, therefore, I need not point out to you-need not quote its impurities, nor its follies. Indeed, I must beg you will let

me recall a part of what I have just said; for some of them I could not write-you would not love me if I could. But how impious, to stigmatize God as the author of such a book!

"The Jews declare that the Mishna contains God's interpretation of his law; yet this interpretation is so obscurely given, that it requires an interpretation from

man.

"And you know that this belief in the childish follies and foolish observances of the Talmud has caused an almost total neglect of Moses and the Prophets; or, when they are read, it is so carelessly and cursorily in spirit, that we never understand their meaning. Hence we are involved in a fearful darkness. We acknowledge, and honour, the Scriptures of the Old Testament as divine-so do the Christians: and during many centuries, the deep, rational study of the Old Testament Scriptures has been confined to them solely, or very nearly solely. Now, my dear father, this forms to us a powerful presumptive proof that the Scriptures of the New Testament are also divine; for, as the Christians, who are so deeply acquainted with the Old Testament, believe in them as divine, it clearly follows that they cannot be hostile books. Indeed, I might say further than this-that the Scriptures of the New Testament have led them to study those of the Old Testament; and the result is, that they acknowledge both as the written word of God, for they are agreed together. Can we say as much of our inane, debasing Talmud, and the books of Moses and the Prophets? Beside, what man knows much of the enormous Talmud? and he that does know much of it, knows this likewise, that

no mortal can ever fulfil the law set forth in it. Who then is safe? Hence it is that the Jew looks beyond the present life with terror and alarm; hence his dread of death, and his fear that in the grave he will be beaten by the Evil One, and suffer other terrors too numerous to mention. Hence he cannot die with holy confidence and composure, for he cannot be certain whether he shall be taken to heaven or not. R. Inani, on his death-bed, confessed and said, 'that he did not know whether he should be happy or miserable.' Once, too, my dear father, like the rest of our nation, I was unhappy and in doubt, and knew not where to turn for comfort; but now, through my Redeemer, I am very happy, for I have found the place of rest and calm repose; and this can be found in no other way but by resting the soul upon the atonement of Jesus.

"Before this I might have said that unquestionably the law of Moses is not perfect, inasmuch as it leaves some sins without an atonement; but this is to teach us to look forward beyond the type to the great Antitype-even the Messiah.

"All our nation and all Christians believe that the Old Testament writings give promise of a Redeemer, who will save his people from their sins. The prophecies in reference to this are most explicit, so that if we will diligently study them, with a prayerful dependence upon divine aid, I do not see that we can be easily mistaken as to his person. A history of the promised Deliverer's life is given the manner of his death, his empire, the time and circumstances of his birth, and other particulars are clearly written. Let us see, my dear father, if Jesus of Nazareth be not the Messiah; and if we can

prove it from the books of the Old Testament, will you not then believe? O! you must; I must be sure you will; and then you and your child will glorify God together. I pray that the Lord Jesus will grant me the aid of his Holy Spirit, and graciously answer my petitions for the salvation of my beloved father.

"The Jews admit that they have no certain, definite knowledge of the time of the Messiah's appearing. 'Hope deferred maketh the heart sick.'. Our eyes fail while we wait for our God,' was anciently the language of our people. The hope of Israel, the Saviour thereof in time of trouble, they know not. Hence they have ever been liable to deception, and again and again they have been bitterly disappointed. That there was a general and strong expectation of the Messiah at the time that Jesus of Nazareth appeared, is evident by the numbers of well-informed and learned men who received him; and who were so convinced of the truth of what they saw and heard, that they willingly suffered the most cruel martyrdom for his sake.

"But the Jews themselves likewise expected him at this period. This is especially testified by the heathen writers, Suetonius and Tacitus; and a reference to Josephus, our own historian, proves that from their hope of deliverance by the Messiah proceeded their desperate resistance of the Roman power. Under every misfortune of their country, they still clung to this hope, and more and more earnestly as its calamities increased. They were buoyed up by it during the miseries of the most dreadful siege which history recordsthat of Jerusalem. And we are told by Josephus, that on the day upon which the city was taken, the poor,

infatuated people were persuaded by a false prophet to ascend the battlements of the temple with the expectation that they would there receive miraculous signs of their deliverance.

"And that Jesus was the Messiah is confirmed by the sufferings of the early Christians. Their belief in Jesus was not a mere matter of opinion, it related to matter of fact. We certainly know whether we see a person, or do not see him; we certainly know whether we see anything wonderful, or do not see it. The first Christians united to assert a series of miraculous and astonishing facts; they were convinced of what they saw, and rather than compromise or deny the truth, they submitted to the most horrible sufferings, and the most cruel oppressions. These they endured, not for a short time merely, but through a long course of years. But they had seen the miracles of Jesus, and had, also, seen him after his resurrection from the dead; for he was seen,' says St. Paul, of Cephas, then of the twelve [apostles], after that he was seen of above five hundred brethern at once, of whom the greater part remain unto this present.' Now, supposing the story were false, would St. Paul have dared to make such an assertion, and mention in connection with it a host of witnesses, who, as he declares, still lived, and might, therefore, have come forward and contradicted this statement?

"Then the accounts of the Christians by heathen writers agree as to their sufferings and numbers with those accounts we have in the Scriptures. I extract the following passage from Murphy's Tacitus: 'In order if possible to remove the imputation [of ordering Rome to be set on fire], Nero determinded to transfer the guilt to