there is in the example of vital Christianity, and in a practical realization of all the graces and virtues of which it is the fountain, and by which its very enemies are forced to confess that those in whom these are visible are the children of God; while on the other hand, how awful are the effects, not only of an open infidelity, but of a cold formalism and a mere outward profession-a kind of spectral fire that gives neither wormth nor comfort; having a name to live, yet being dead. And with regard to the missionary, his difficulties will be greatly enhanced, when he finds himself placed in the midst of a church in which he can find no sympathy for himself or his work; placed among those who feel no anxiety to make their peace with God, and who do not care whether others enjoy that peace; where his ardour is damped by the chill of death that is hovering over the professing church, and he feels himself as if placed alone in the midst of a wilderness: while, on the contrary, his labours will be lightened and sweetened, when he perceives the spirit of love animating the professing church, and fanning on his own zeal in the work of faith; the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace, uniting him with the people of God around him. In this respect the Jews and the missionary are favourably placed in this country. In the church there are many faithful witnesses to the truth, many shining lights to recommend the gospel of Christ; much manifestation of the love of God, dwelling in the heart. There is much of the spirit of devotion, and much of the sweet and hallowed communion of saints. There are many who pray as well as labour for the extension of the kingdom of God among the Jews and Gentiles, pray not only in public, but in their families and in their closets. There are not a few who take every opportunity of testifying to the Jews with whom they meet, that Jesus is the Christ, to the glory of God. I need not say that the missionary is a welcome visitor and brother amongst them, and that he is thankful to the Lord for such love and encouragement. Prayer-meetings for supplicating the divine blessing on the labours of the missionary, and for calling forth the sympathies of the people of God, are held statedly in many churches, and the missionary is frequently invited to preside over them. The inquiring Jew will no doubt enjoy the love and encouragement of many Christians. Of these latter many have their faces turned Zionward, in hopeful expectation of the great and marvellous things which are to come to pass there. I believe I need scarcely observe, that there is also much enmity against the Lord and his people in this land; for this is never known to fail where the Lord is faithfully served. But their enmity is overborne by the faithfulness of the children of God, who boldly maintain the Lord's cause. In conclusion, I may state, that the Government of the land is a Protestant one, and not likely to interfere with the work of the missionary if carried on with proper caution, and a due regard to the existing laws of the country. THE ANCIENT JEWISH CONGREGATION OF WORMS. WORMS, situated on the Rhine, has become interesting to every Christian, from the fact of Dr. Martin Luther's cause having been publicly heard at a diet held there in 1521; on which occasion he solemnly declared, that unless he could be convinced by the Word of God, or the dictates of reason, that the opinions he entertained were erroneous, and his conduct unlawful, he could neither abandon the former nor change the latter. To the Jews, also, Worms is interesting, on the ground of the Jewish congregation of that city being supposed to be the oldest in Germany. Many legends, as well as apparently authentic historical records relative to their ancestors, are treasured up by them; the principal data bearing on the subject may be summed up as follows: Wagenseil informs us, that the Jews of Worms proved, before the emperor and the high authorities of the realm assembled at the diet, that their ancestors had been residing at Worms long before the birth of Jesus, and had consequently taken no part in his crucifixion. That even as far back as 1559, this congregation was looked upon as the oldest in Germany, is shewn by Dr. Ottensoser (History of the Jews, part iii. pp. 89, 90), from the fact that the Emperor Ferdinand I. granted permission to the Jews in Germany to have a chief over all the synagogues, and invested the Chief Rabbi of Worms, Rabbi Jacob, with that honour. Some even entertain the opinion that Jews resided at Worms during the time of the first temple; but this is generally looked upon as legendary, and rejected as untenable. Dr. Fange, Professor at the Gymnasium of Worms, has written a history of the town, in which he says (p. 162), that, in accordance with his request, the Rabbi at Worms had put him in possession of a notice which he (the Rabbi) had found in a Hebrew manuscript, to the effect, that during the outrages against the Jews in the year 1615, a tomb-stone in the Jewish burial-ground of that town had been demolished, which, according to its inscription, was above 1500 years old, and that this stone was held in such reverence, that pieces thereof had been forwarded to various places far and near, as something highly remarkable. Dr. Fange considers this statement authentic, because the author of the MS. (Rabbi Lob Kirchheim) was one of the learned men of the town, and lived at the time given as that of the occurrence. From this fact Dr. F. argues, that at any rate Jews must have been residing at Worms prior to the destruction of the second temple. As further testimony in favour of this supposition, it may be mentioned, that from a Jewish book, called "Maase Nissim," it appears that the Jews at Worms have had their own jurisdiction in matters of life and death, and that capital punishments have been actually executed by them. According to Sanhedrin (p. 14), the Jewish nation had been divested of this right for forty years previous to the destruction of the second temple, and it would therefore follow that Jews must have been residing at Worms prior to that period. The age of the synagogue is a disputed point. Some suppose it to be 808, others 818 years old; but a distinguished modern artist, judging from its original style of building, is of opinion that its age must be between 1100 and 1200 years. In one of the external walls of this ancient edifice there is a recess, respecting which the legend goes, that it was miraculously formed for the purpose of preserving the mother of the famous Rabbi Jehuda Hachasid, on an occasion of imminent danger. The wall is called to this day, "Rabbi Jehuda Hachasid's wall." Worms was also for a considerable time the sphere of labour of the Jewish commentator Rashi (who lived from 1040 to 1105). A little place, of very ancient appearance, is pointed out, on the right hand side of the yard of the synagogue, in the centre of which there is an elevated seat, which bears the name of "Rashi's chair." In this place the learned rabbi delivered his lectures, during many years, to a considerable number of students thirsting after Talmudical knowledge. Opposite to this place the letter N (A) is hewn into the wall, to which, it is said, the severe rabbi referred those of his students whom he had cause to reprimand, alluding to the necessity of their beginning their studies again at the first letter of the alphabet. "Rashi's chair" is still held in much reverence, and the devout Jew will not venture to take his seat there, even for a moment, as it is said in Shulcan Aruch, "Thou shalt not sit on thy teacher's chair." The interior of the synagogue is somewhat modernised. But two lights are to this day kept continually burning, day and These are called the night, memorials of an age long past. One day a grand Roman Catholic procession was passing through all the streets of Worms, when suddenly, while moving through the Jewish street, the cry was raised, that the crucifix had been defiled and desecrated. The enraged populace demanded revenge, and the Jews were called upon to give up the delinquent, that the desecration might be atoned for with his blood. Seven days were allowed to them for executing the order, at the expiration of which period, unless the criminals were delivered into the hands of executioners, it was threatened that the destruction of the whole congregation should wipe out the sacrilege. The seventh day of the allotted period had come round; it was also the seventh day of the feast of Passover. When about to go into the synagogue, the beadle heard a loud knocking at the gates of the Jewish street; for they were always kept locked on Jewish or Christian festivals. Two men were found standing without, who stated that they were Jews, and requested admission. The beadle communicated to them the great calamity that had befallen the congregation, and that this was the last day of the time allowed them. The strangers, however, replied that they knew all, and were come to deliver their brethren; upon which the gates were opened to them. They refused, however, to disclose either their names or the places whence they came. Soon after, the infuriated populace came rushing towards the street, to satiate their revengeful feelings in the slaughter of the Jews. But the two strangers stepped forward, exclaiming, "Stain not your hands with innocent blood, for we have committed the crime !" They then suffered a most painful death. It is in memory of these two strangers that the two lights are kept burning, and such is the attention bestowed on them that it is asserted that they have not for one moment ceased to burn. Among the rolls of the law kept in the synagogue, there is one written by Rabbi Meyer bar Baruch of Rothenburg, a celebrated author of various works. He was made a prisoner by the Count Mainhard, of Görz, when he was on the point of proceeding to Jerusalem, to spend the remainder of his days in the city of his fathers. The Jews were willing to pay the large ransom demanded by the count, and which indeed was what the count speculated upon, in depriving the Rabbi of his liberty. But the latter could not be prevailed upon to have his liberation purchased at so great a sacrifice, and pre ferred remaining the count's prisoner for seven years, when death set him at liberty, in 1292. Out of this roll of the law the lessons are read in the synagogue on the eighth day of Passover, the second of Pentecost, and the eighth and ninth days of the feast of Tabernacles. A legend is connected with it, to the effect that the roll was thrown by the rabbi out of his prison window into the Rhine, and picked up by some Jews of Worms, after others had in vain tried to get possession of the mysterious box floating in the river. From the manner in which the synagogue has been built, viz., divided completely into two parts, one for the men, and the other for the women, it is supposed that the women in former times had their own female reader. Close to this synagogue there is a small place, called (Rashi's Synagogue), in which on certain days the service is performed. In the year 1096, the Jews of Worms suffered much from the Crusaders. In the thirteenth century the Flagellantes, or whippers, succeeded in stirring up a persecution of the Jews, by asserting that the pestilence raging in the year 1349 (the "black death") had been occasioned by the Jews poisoning the springs. The magistrate of the town, in consequence, pronounced sentence of death upon all the Jewish inhabitants, and they were massacred by hundreds. The injustice of such a barbarous sentence was, however, felt by many of the better thinking and more intelligent Christians in the place, who hid whole Jewish families in their houses, to protect them from the fury of the enraged populace. A foolish legend tells how these secret hiding-places were betrayed by means of a goose flying about and descending on every such building, until the artifice of a Jew put a stop to the revelations of the sagacious bird. In the year 1315, King Ludwig IV. (the Bavarian) rewarded the Christian inhabitants of Worms for their valuable assistance in his quarrel with Frederick, Duke of Austria, by permitting them to take from the Jews annually £300; this sum was, in the following year, increased to £700. Charles IV. went still further. He granted to the community the right of doing with the Jews and their property whatever they chose. Thus rulers were changed, but with every succeeding one the injuries done to the poor oppressed Jews were renewed. In the year 1500, Maximilian I. renewed the gratuity of his ancestors, by making a present of the Jews, their goods and |