sins; and if a man happen to wound one of his fingers in the same place where it has been wounded before, and not yet healed, the acuteness of the pain is deemed sufficient to obliterate all his transgressions.

The doctrine of the metempsychosis, or that one human soul animates several bodies in succession, being generally adopted by the Jews, renders it difficult to exhibit a clear view of their sentiments respecting the rewards and punishments to be dispensed in a future state. One eminent rabbi

endeavours to vindicate the justice of Divine Providence, in inflicting severe calamities on some men who lead virtuous lives, by suggesting a high probability that those miseries are the punishment of crimes committed by their souls in other bodies which those souls formerly occupied. Every thinking person must perceive the tendency of this doctrine to perplex and confound all ideas of personal identity and individual consciousness, and to involve the whole subject of moral agency in the greatest obscurity. The notions of the rabbies on the transmigration of souls will form one of the subjects of another chapter: I shall now lay before the reader some of their strange accounts respecting the retributions of the invisible world.

Of the transactions which take place immediately after death they have given the following description. A man is judged in this world in the same hour in which he dies: and when the 'soul leaves the body, the presence of the divine majesty is near him. If then the law and good ' works are found with him, he is happy, because

'he has cleaved to the divine majesty; and his 'soul is qualified to ascend to the holy place. But woe unto him who cleaves not to the divine majesty, and from whom the divine majesty 'withdraws. When such a man is carried to his grave, all the works he has done in this world present themselves before him and three heralds (one before him, another on his right hand, and 'the third on his left) make the following procla"mation: This N. has been averse to his Creator, 'who reigns above and below, and in the four parts of the world. He has been rebellious against the 'law and the commandments. Behold his works, ' and observe his words. It had been better for ' him, if he had never been created.' Before he 'arrives at his grave, all the dead bodies tremble ' and move from their places because of him, and < say, "Woe unto him that is buried with his evil 'works which he has done.' All his wicked actions, 'which at the time of his departure stand near him, go before him to his grave, and trample upon his body. The angel Duma likewise rises, ' attended by those under his command who are appointed for the beating of the dead, which is 'called Chibbut Hakkefer, and is performed in 'the grave. They hold in their hands three fiery 'rods, and judge at once the body and the soul. "Woe unto him on account of that judgment. 'Woe unto him by reason of his evil works.— 'How many judgments then does such a man undergo, when he leaves this world? The first is when the soul departs from the body. The 'second is when his works go before him, and

K

'exclaim against him.

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The third is when the 'body is laid in the grave. The fourth is Chibbut Hakkefer, that is, the beating in the grave. The fifth is the judgment of the worms. When his body has lain in the grave three days, he is ripped 6 open, his entrails come out; and his bowels, with 'the sordes in them, are taken and dashed in his 'face, with this address, Take what thou hast

given to thy stomach, of that which thou didst

daily eat and drink, and of which, in all thy daily feastings, thou distributedst nothing to the poor and needy: as it is said, "I will spread upon your faces the dung of your solemn feasts." 'Mal. ii. 3. After the three days, a man receives judgment on his eyes, his hands, and his feet, ' which have committed iniquities, till the thirtieth day and in all these thirty days the soul and body are judged together. Wherefore the soul during this time, remains here upon earth, and is not suffered to go to the place to which it 'belongs. The sixth is the judgment of Hell. The seventh is, that his soul wanders, and is 'driven about the world, finding no rest any 'where till the days of her punishment are ended These are the seven judgments inflicted upon men; and these are what are signified in the threatening, "Then will I walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins. sins." Lev. xxvi. 28.'*. If any person be disposed to doubt whether a dead body be capable of feeling, let him listen to

* Sepher Jarch Chattaim, cit. in Stehelin's Trad. vol. i. p. 235-238.

the language of the Talmud: Rabbi Isaac says: 'A worm in a dead body is as painful as a needle ' in a living one.'*

The Talmud says: At the day of future judg⚫ment there will be found three classes of persons.

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The first will consist of those who are perfectly

righteous; the second, of the perfectly wicked; 'the third, of the intermediate, whose iniquities ' and righteousnesses are equal. The perfectly righteous will immediately be adjudged and 'sealed to eternal life. The perfectly wicked will 'be adjudged and sealed to hell.-The interme'diate whose sins and good works are equal, shall go down into hell, where they shall peep, and 'thence they shall come up again.'+—Rabbi Bechai says: The intermediate will go down into hell, ' and there they will be punished for twelve months: ' after the twelve months shall have elapsed, their body will be consumed, and their soul burnt up, ' and the wind will scatter the ashes under the soles ' of the feet of the righteous.'-Moses Gerundensis says: Those who are obnoxious to punishment are sentenced to hell for twelve months, every 'one as he deserves; but after twelve months, his 'soul is burnt up and becomes like ashes; that is, 'loses its form and is like any thing consumed.'§

.

Maimonides says: The punishment which awaits the wicked, is, that they will have no 'share in that life, but will die and be utterly

* Shabbath, apud Bartoloc. Bib. Rab. tom. iii. p. 392.

+ Cit. in Buxtorf. Synag. Jud. c. iii. p. 32, 33.

Ibid. p. 33.

Cit. a Vorstio, in Maimon. de Fundam. Legis, p. 48.

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destroyed. Whoever has not merited life, is ' delivered over to death; for he will not live for 'ever, but on account of his iniquities will be cut 'off and perish like the brute.-For the soul to be 'cut off and deprived of the future life, is to be ' accounted a most heavy punishment. It is said, That soul shall be utterly cut off, his iniquity 'shall be upon him. This destruction is metaphorically denominated, "the pit of corruption, 'the pit of destruction, tophet, the horseleech;" and is distinguished by every appellation by ' which corruption or perdition can be denoted: 'for it is a corruption from which no resurrection 'will ever be granted, a perdition from which 'there will be no return.'*-Menasseh Ben Israel says that Maimonides understood this excision of the soul to be no other than an annihilation of 'it.'-David Kimchi says: There will be no ' resurrection for the wicked: when they die, their 'souls will perish with their bodies.'

Menasseh Ben Israel says: That souls, not 'having in them any efficient cause of corruption, ' are immortal and incorruptible; that the souls of 'the wicked also are eternal, and do not perish ' with their bodies; that the wicked and impious 'shall be punished;-and that the souls of the ' wicked shall at length be delivered from punishments and tortures, for that their torments will 'not be perpetual.'§

* Maimon. de Pœnit. a Clavering, p. 87. 90.

+ Menass. de Resur. apud Hoornbeck contra Jud. L. viii. c. 7. p. 575. In Psalm. prim. apud Buxtorf. Synag. c. iii. p. 34.

De Creat. apud Hoornbeck contra Jud. L. viii. c. 7. p. 572.