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earth."-Mat. xxiii. 9. To this reverence for "names upon the earth," are to be ascribed chiefly those contests about doctrines and modes of worship, in which men sometimes wear away their lives, quoting each other, and "calling many men masters." Hence, also proceeds the hatred to names of an opposite opinion. One man writes a book to prove that he is not a Calvinist, or that his church or sect is not Calvinistic; another, that he is not Arminian, or that his church is not Arminian; and neither of them, it may be, proves that he is a Christian. But he thinks that he has done somewhat, if he has taken his rank in the human scale;-and having assumed this, he too often slumbers quietly in his place to the end of life. Whereas he ought to have known, that one week's labor in "preaching the word of life" to his flock, is more characteristic of a shepherd of the sheep, than a whole year dedicated to such volumes; in composing which, moreover, conscience too often bears witness that we are anxious and laborious architects of our own fame, and are building up ourselves, instead of the church.

To the same source also is to be ascribed an opinion very common among superficial theologians, namely, that every man, as well as themselves, must necessarily rank himself under some standard, and "call some man master;"-than which there cannot be a sentiment more unfounded. The intelligent Christian (like Paul the Apostle) acknowledges no name but that of Christ. Those ministers of Christ who are chiefly instrumental in promoting his spiritual kingdom at this day, would be ashamed of the imputation, that they had taken their theology from any man. No; they have it "not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ."-Gal. i. 1.; and to this high extraction of their doctrine they owe their success in preaching it to the people; a success which is wondered at by some, and unaccountable by them on any principles which compose their system.

But this propensity to render the religion of Christ a human system is so general, that almost every man at this day, whose labors are useful in the church, is supposed to adhere to the tenets of some "master," and most generally, of Calvin or Arminius. Nothing can so fully prove our assertion, "that in this age, as in that of the Apostle, many persons of liberal education know little of what is passing in the church of Christ," (which is confined to no particular communion) than such a supposition. CALVIN and ARMINIUS! Is it not an insult to men of intelligence and learning, humbly receiving the revelation of God, to suppose, that instead of drawing pure water from the fountainhead, they should drink from such shallow and turbid streams! CALVIN and ARMINIUS! These might possibly have been very respectable men in their day (the former, indeed, has shewn in his works more classical learning, profound knowledge of the Scriptures, splended eloquence, and exalted powers of mind, than are to be found in the united works of the principal polemical divines of the present day); but to compare the creed of Calvin or Arminius with the life-giving doctrine of Christ, as illustrated by his "chosen vessel" Paul the Apostle, would be to compare (if things so dissimilar may be brought together) a hedge-stake to Aaron's rod that budded."

DR. BUCHANAN'S SPEECH

RELATIVE TO THE STATE OF

THE JEWS IN THE EAST,

DELIVERED AT THE PUBLIC MEETING OF

THE LONDON SOCIETY,

FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIANITY

mongst the Jews.

DURING my residence in the East, my mind was much occupied with the present state and circumstances of the Jews. I visited them in different provinces, examined their books, and discoursed with them on the subject of the prophecies, and I found that no where do they despair of being restored to Jerusalem; no where do they despair of beholding their Messiah. It is with great satisfaction, then, that on my return to England, I contemplate the establishment of your society. It is, indeed, with much surprise I behold three hundred gentlemen assembled on the present occasion, under the patronage of noblemen of our country, to promote this noble design. The sudden elevation of your Institution, and the interest which it has almost instantaneously created in the public mind, are sure prognostics of its perpetuity. It is one of those institutions which, like the BIBLE SOCIETY, need only to be proposed, to recommend itself to the minds of men, by its perfect reasonableness and propriety; and I may add, by the Divine obligation it involves. I entertain a confident hope that this society, or some institution analogous to

it, will be perpetual in the Church of Christ, and that it will endure, to use an oriental expression, as long as sun and moon endure; or, at least, as long as there is a Jew in the world who is not a Christian.

There is a measure I would propose to the consideration of your society, which I think will contribute to its celebrity and success: which is to open a correspondence with the Jews in the East.

Perhaps it may not be known to some, that by the events of the late war in India, a colony of Jews have become subject to Great Britain. This is the colony of the white and black Jews of Cochin. The number is calculated to be about 16,000. Mr. Frey informs me that the number of Jews in the united kingdom is not reputed to be greater than 14,000. So that our Jewish subjects in the East are yet more numerous than those in the West; and they are equally entitled to the regard and attention of your society

I visited Cochin soon after the conquest of the province. The Jews received me hospitably, and permitted me to examine their libraries and their synagogues; and they presented to me many valuable manuscripts, which are now deposited in the library of the university of Cambridge. One of these is a roll of the Pentateuch, on goat skins dyed red; one of the most ancient perhaps which the East can produce. The white Jews live on the sea coast, and have commerce with foreign nations the black Jews live chiefly in the interior of the country. The Hindoos call them ISRAELI: they call themselves BENI-ISRAEL, and not Jews; for their ancestors did not belong to Judah, but to the kingdom of Israel. They consider themselves to be descended from those tribes who were carried away at the first captivity. In some parts of the East, the Beni-Israel never heard of the sccond temple. They never heard of the Christian account of the coming of the Messiah. Some of them possess only the Pentateuch and Psalms, and Book of Job.-Others have no portion of scripture left. But their countenance, and their observance of the sabbath and of peculiar rites, demonstrate that they are Jews. The white Jews at Cochin, despise the black Jews as being of an inferior cast, and do not approve of

intermarriages with them, because they do not belong to the second temple. Both among white and black Jews, I found that there was a general impression that there would soon be a rumour of wars, and a commotion among the PEOPLE, on their account. The white Jews expect a second Cyrus from the West, who shall build their temple the THIRD and LAST time.

You may address the Jews of Cochin with great advantage on the subject of the Christian religion, for they have the evidence of the Syrian Christians before them.

These ancient Christians live in the vicinity, and are YOUR witnesses. At one place, in the interior of the country, which I visited, there is a Jewish synagogue and a Christian church in the same Hindoo village. They stand opposite to each other: as it were the LAW and the GOSPEL: bearing testimony to the truth, in the presence of the heathen world.

I was informed that many years ago one of the Jews translated the New Testament into Hebrew, for the purpose of confuting it, and of repelling the arguments of his neighbors, the Syrian Christians. The manu

script fell into my hands, and is now in the library of the university of Cambridge. It is in his own hand writing and will be of great use in preparing a version of the New Testament in the Hebrew language. It appears to be a faithful translation, as far as it has been examined; but about the end, when he came to the epistles of St. Paul, he seems to have lost his temper, being moved perhaps by the accute argument of the learned BENJAMITE, as he calls the Apostle, and he has written a note of execration on his memory. behold the providence of God! The translator became himself a convert to Christianity. His own work subdued his unbelief. IN THE LION HE FOUND SWEETNESS; and he lived and died in the faith of Christ. And now it is a common superstition among the vulgar in that place, that if any Jew shall write the whole of the New Testament with his own hand, he will be a Christian by the influence of the evil spirit.

But

This event occurred in the south of India: but a conversion no less remarkable took place, some time

afterwards, in the north. Jacob Levi, a Jew from Smyrna, travelled over land to Calcutta, and heard the Gospel from one of the Lutheran preachers belonging to the Society for promoting Christian knowledge, and became a convert to the truth. He delivered a testimony to the Jews, Hindoos, Mahomedans, and Christians; for he was acquainted with various languages, and spoke eloquently, like Apollos. But his course was short. He was ordained (like many witnesses of the Christian faith) to shine but for a moment. These solitary instances of the power of the Gospel seem to occur in almost every nation, previous to the general illumination. This conversion of Jacob Levi is recorded in the proceedings of the Society in Bartlett's Buildings, London.

But there is another body of Jews, not a colony but a kingdom of Jews, to which this Society may also address itself; and this is the Ten Tribes. For we have reason to believe that the Ten Tribes, so long lost, if they exist in a body at all, have at length been found. It has been sufficiently ascertained, by the investigations of the learned in India, that the Affghan nation consists of the descendants of the Jewish Tribes of the first dispersion.

When I was in the south of India, I asked the black Jews, where their brethren the great body of the Ten Tribes, were to be found? They answered promptly, that they were to be found in the north, in the regions adjacent to Chaldea, the very country whither they were first carried into captivity. On my return to Calcutta I prosecuted the inquiry, under the advantages which the learned natives of the College of Fort William afforded me. Sir William Jones had recorded it as his opinion, that the Affghans were Jews, and referred to various authorities. A further investigation confirmed the judgment of that illustrious scholar. There were Affghan Jews in Calcutta at the time: one of my own servants was an Affghan. The Affghans are generally reputed by us to be Mahomedans, I asked my servant if he was a Mahomedan? “No, said he, “I am a Mahomedan Jew." I plainly discerned in his countenance the features of the London Jew. The general

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