that in the few weeks of his abode there, he had obtained friendly access to more Jewish families, than during as many months he had done in London.

Of those who became earnest enquirers after truth, Mr. and Mrs. have been publicly baptized on satisfactory evidence of their conversion to God; and one very promising young man having had his mind awakened, is now receiving further instruction under one of our missionaries in London. More recently, we have been encouraged by the very interesting case of Madame ——, a highly respectable Jewish widow, by whom the following statement was made at her baptism, by the Rev. M. Bridel, minister of Taitbout chapel.

"It is to be supposed that at the age of 51 years one ought to be in earnest; and bless the Lord, I am. If any one had told me six years ago, that I one day should be a Christian, I could not have believed it. Till the death of iny beloved husband, nothing was more congenial to my taste than pleasure and amusements. Having been brought up in Paris, it is of course not wonderful that I imbibed its taste, tone, and manners. Alas! I never thought of anything less than religion; and when I reflect now upon God's mercy to me, I cannot sufficiently praise Him. Truly, whom the Lord loveth, He chastiseth. He often ordains afflictions to be the means of the recovery of His children; and such was the case with me. The death of my beloved husband unmasked this life to me, with its pleasures and real worthlessness. That which

amused me once, lost then all its attractions. I began to feel a secret yearning after something which I did not know myself; in this state I continued for a long time, until the Lord, through His infinite mercy, gave me in Christ that peace which the world never can give."

"My parents were very respectable Jews, living in a strict observance of the Jewish rites; but my religious education consisted in nothing more than in reading the Hebrew prayers, which I never understood. I was accustomed to go sometimes to the synagogue, but I cared no more for the merit of such a practice, than for the sin of its omission. At the age of twenty, I married, of course contrary to the will of my parents, because my husband was a Roman Catholic. I loved him very much, and lived with him very happily, but during the whole of that time I never thought on God. Till his death I never was in a Christian place of worship; nay, I was afraid to go in, lest I should be converted. After his death, when my spirit was quite humbled, I was persuaded by a kind friend, a member of Taitbout chapel, to go there, in order to hear the good tidings of peace and pardon, which are alone calculated to soothe the pains and troubles of this life.

"I went, and was pleased; I continued to go, and was always edified. Christianity pleased me very much, although I could not altogether understand, nor receive its doctrines. Till the time I made the acquaintance of Mr. Brunner, (the society's missionary) I knew not that I should one day love Jesus. A few weeks before I knew Mr. Brunner, I once saw in our chapel Mr. Hausmeister, from Strasburg, and having been told that he was a Jew, I called upon him the next day, and was very pleased with his exhortations; but I felt that I needed like the Ethiopian some man to guide me.' The Lord in His gracious providence sent me Mr. Brunner, to whose kind instructions, under God's blessing, I

owe the peace I now enjoy. Jesus is now precious to my soul, and I trust shall remain so till I die. One thing I regret is, that I had not been brought to love him when I was young: my reflections of the past would then have been to me as sweet as are now my prospects of the future."

In a subsequent communication Mr. Brunner writes:"One of my enquirers is Madame a Jewess, the wife of a German Protestant, and the mother of four children. The father was once more opposed to Christianity than the mother, but by the blessing of God on my instructions, he is now, not only brought into the obedience of Christ, but is assisting me in instructing his wife in the principles of Christianity. She receives with the simplicity of a child the words of the Kingdom, and hails with impatience the day when she and her two children will be baptized."

Mr. Brunner relates the following incident :

I was introduced some weeks ago, to a very respectable Jewish family of the name of L. Mr. L. is a well-informed man, of the school of modern rationalism. His religious creed appears to consist in entire self-righteousness, and in some ideas which resemble the three spellwords of the French republic. When, in the course of our conversation, we came to speak of the person of Christ, Mr. L. rose from his chair, took off his cap and said, 'Sir, I can never speak or think of the person of Jesus, without being overcome by a feeling of reverence and awe for His angelic character; and I assure you, I could almost kneel down and worship Him. Thus does the man of the world by his own words condemn the sin of unbelief, and by his hardness of heart against the truth treasure up wrath against the day of wrath."

In a note received from our misssionary on the 9th of December he says :—

Her

"I am glad to inform you, that Madame and her two eldest boys were yesterday admitted into the visible Church of Christ by baptism. I have reason to believe that Madame, is a child of grace. husband was present, and moved to tears by the solemnity of the service. My heart also made melody to the Lord, for the grace bestowed on this daughter of Abraham."

LYONS. The following memoranda are given by Mr. Frankel, in connexion with his recent Journey. (See p. 294-299. vol. vi.

"On the day of my leaving Lyons, there were prayer-meetings in two chapels, to pray especially for God's ancient people Israel; and wherever in my journey I met with two or three to pray for a blessing on our souls, we always pleaded with God on behalf of the Jews. I met with a great deal of kindness among Christians, and they did all in their power to facilitate my entrance among the Jews. There is a great work to be done by the missionary in all the parts I have visited, and especially at Marseilles, where are merchants and travelling Jews from all parts of the world; and where a missionary would meet with much sympathy from Christians, who are anxiously looking to England, in hope that she will take pity on the many hundreds of Jews residing among them. I was absent four weeks, travelled about 800 miles, visited

120 Jewish families, and had intercourse with several others; and distributed 135 tracts, and thirty-three Bibles and Testaments.

My mind was anxious lest, during my absence, Satan should have sown tares among the wheat; but the Lord has graciously watched over my inquirers. I found old Mr. C. pondering over the New Testament. I can hardly describe how my heart rejoiced in hearing from his lips the confession of his faith in the Lord Jesus. He has been reading the enlighten his understand

New Testament in faith, asking the Lord to ing; and He has graciously answered the prayer of this aged Jew. There is now no doubt upon his mind, and he can look to Jesus as the author and finisher of the faith.

I have also met with a hearty reception from the family De Roften mentioned before. Mr. F. De R- will, I believe, soon make a public profession. On conversing with the mother of the family, she frankly told me, that all her faith in Judaism was gone; "It will do, (she said) for men who look at the outward appearance, but it cannot give me inward peace; nor does it prepare me to appear in the presence of God that searcheth the hearts."

Last night I was visited by one of my inquirers, and was rejoiced to hear from his lips how the Spirit of God is "taking of the things of of Christ, and revealing them to him." His heart was melted while reading for the first time the history of our Saviour's crucifixion; and he felt convinced that His was not the history of an impostor, but of one whose heart was full of love and pity for all mankind.

SCOTTISH SOCIETY'S OPERATIONS,
FOREIGN.

I-EXTRACTS FROM A LETTER FROM REV. DR. PHILIP, DATED 3RD
SEPTEMBER.

A Rabbi's Opinions-Visits to the Synagogues-Misconceptions of Christian Doctrine-Calls from two Popish Priests-Vidimus of Labours during the past Year.

Saw Rabbi S. Was much pleased with him at our last conversations; he spake with more calmness and more like a responsible being than I had heard him do before. Our conversation was upon the sacrifices, and I pointed out to him some of those passages in which Christ is spoken of as a sacrifice for sin, as Isa. liii. 10: It pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief; when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.' 1 Cor. v. 7: Even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.' 1 John ii. 2: 'And he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.' He admitted the necessity of sacrifices under the Old Testament dispensation, but denied that God required any now. However, he believes that they shall be restored again in the third temple, which is spoken of in Ezekiel, and which he thinks will be at the time of the restoration of Israel to their own land; his opinion is also that the Messiah will come, and that then he will be the glory of the Jews. The present dispersion of the Jews he considered as a purgatorial season, and believes that God will manifest himself in a peculiar way to the Jews, at the time when they shall be restored again to his favour, and to the blessings promised to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and

to his seed for ever. I pointed out to him the folly of such expectations, as well as of his wilful delay of repentance, and sought to impress upon his mind the solemnity and importance upon the subject, by reading and explaining to him the parable of the ten virgins. He requested me to give him a New Testament, which I did, and also a tract, before parting.

Mr. B. called, and spoke about the Jewish feasts, which I endeavoured to show him had only been intended for the Jews while they were in the Holy Land, and so long as the practice of the law of Moses should continue. I pointed out to him Christ as the end of the law, and how believing in him, and obeying his gospel, were of infinitely more value than the keeping of the whole host of the feasts. I begged of him, as an enlightened man, not to dispute against things which he could not but see to be true. Mr. Monod was present, and took a lively part in our conversation. Mr. M., as well as myself, considers Mr. B., though still far from the truth as it is in Christ, a man of sincerity and of the deepest interest.

I

Of late I have several times visited the synagogues, and had always opportunities of conversing with a good number of Jews after the service, and dispersing at the same time many of my tracts. On one occasion, an old Jew came when I was standing surrounded with a number of young men, with whom I conversed. He said to them, Take care, this man will lead you away from our religion; the young men said, Very well, come you and speak with him; but he seemed reluctant to do so. However, I addressed him and said, If I preach other gods than the God of Israel, then don't listen to me, and let every one be cursed, even be he an angel, who preacheth to you another gospel; but if I speak to you and to other Jews, and exhort you to repent and to believe in God, and in the true Messiah, then you can make no objection. know, replied the old man, you will have us to believe in Christ, and we will never believe in him. And why? said I, have you ever read what Moses and the prophets said of him, and also what is said of him in God's Berith Hatasha (New Testament)? there you will find that there is no other name given, neither in heaven, nor on earth, by which men can be saved. I cited many passages respecting things evidently fulfilled; that Messiah must already have come; and showing how the character of Christ in every respect corresponded with all that was spoken of him. The young men exclaimed with one accord to the old man, Well what have you to say to that? He gave an answer, but neither to my satisfaction nor that of the assembly. They called him by different names, requesting him to defend them with his wisdom, but he chose rather to leave us than to say anything. I spoke still a good while to my assembly before the synagogue, proving to them out of Moses and the prophets that Jesus is the Christ. gave them each a tract, and requesting them to come and see me, I left them.

A Jew called upon to me, desirous to know from what source we had taken the doctrine of the three Gods; I told him we had no such doctrine, that we believed only in one God. He asked then if it was not true that we adored Christ as God? I said, before I answer this question, I would ask you what is the name of Christ, in Hebrew? Not knowing this, I told him that it was the Greek name for Messiah, and that to ascertain if we were wrong or right respecting the doctrine of Messiah's Godhead, it was necessary to search the Scriptures, in order to learn what Moses and the prophets had spoken of him, and also what he himself and his apostles had said, to throw light upon the pas

sages of the Old Testament respecting his Godhead. I quoted him such passages from the Old Testament as have reference to the subject, and then the words of Christ upon the same. Whilst he objected to several, he was astonished at others, and would hardly believe that they were in the Old Testament. I turned the conversation, and told him that the knowledge of the Messiah would avail little, if we did not feel the necessity of that Messiah in order to obtain pardon for our sins, and afterwards eternal life; and this I said we would never seek after, except we knew our sinful nature, and our sins, and our lost estate, by which alone we would feel the necessity of coming to that Messiah as penitent sinners. I gave him a tract upon repentance to read, and after many serious admonitions to repent and to believe while it was yet time, we parted, hoping to see each other soon again. Visited several Jews in their shops. By my daily intercourse with them, I find how little the Jews in Northern Africa as yet have heard of Christ and his religion. Their ideas of Christianity are sometimes absurd, and their questions astonishing. When reflecting upon other stations where missionaries have been labouring for so many years without seeing any fruit of their labours, I feel more and more that our exertions here are only a beginning, and that we require much patience, faith, and prayer. This is the season of the Jewish festivals, the new year, Day of Atonement, Feast of Tabernacles, during which time they are more at leisure, but at the same time more superstitious; I availed myself of these opportunities, and addressed a good number of them in the streets, speaking to them about Christ, and giving them tracts to read.

Two Roman Catholic priests requested permission to visit me, which I gladly granted to them. One of them took tea with us; he is a man of a liberal mind, and though imbued with the superstitions of his creed, he lays more weight upon the preaching of the plain gospel than many others of his official brethren. He requested me to give him a Bible, which I gladly did.

The other priest was introduced to me by an Englishman; he is the principal canon of the Cathedral here. He is a man of considerable talents and learning, and apparently a strict follower of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). We conversed together for more than two hours with Bibles in our hands. Hearing men like these converse, it is easy to perceive that the truth is beginning to gnaw at the roots of Popery in France; and I have no doubt that still in our days we shall see great changes in the Popish church of that country; and I am much inclined to consider the decline of Popery and the rise of Israel as two great events in the church which will not be far distant the one from the other.

Our mission in Northern Africa is but a beginning-a beginning, however, with many encouragements in the midst of varied discouragements. It is now a year since I began to labour here; and I think it will not be out of place to give you a summary view, in answer to the question, "What have I been doing here during last year in the work of God?'

1st. The Lord has enabled me to lead one soul of the house of Israel to the cross of the Redeemer (Mr. K.), whom I baptized last winter. Since that time he has given satisfactory evidence of his conversion, and walks according to his profession.

2d. I have had opportunities of conversing with many hundreds of my brethren according to the flesh, speaking with them of the true Messiah, the hope of our fathers.