opportunities for centralisation of feeling, authorised by God, as in connexion with that people? How beautifully does Paul delineate the state of Jew and Gentile under the Gospel in Ephesians ii.: "We are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints and of the household of God, and are built," &c.! That day of Pentecost, when the Christian dispensation had its formal commencement,-what a happy opportunity for the worshippers of God to gather from all parts! We look not now for miraculous effusion, but it behoves us to look for large effusions of enlightening, sanctifying, consecrating, and uniting grace; and it is hoped that this is being experienced at this conference. Now it is not that there is to be a re-creation of Judaism in uniformity; but it is that, as Judaism was a type in many things, so was it a type of the oneness of the divine family, and of the brotherhood that should exist; and if not the type, yet, as it were, the mould or model of that which is occurring.

And then the germ of that which, in itself and its consequences, is so interesting,—namely, that the claims of the Jew shall be an item in the deliberations, prayers, and schemes; and Jews will be present, and it will be with them, (because fulfilling prediction still in their scattered state) it will be with them as one people among many peoples to be represented, though but by very few of their nation, still as those who are to be found in every land. And truly it may be asked, as the Jew can present himself from every part of the world by representative in a Christian assembly, in what part of the world has not Jehovah members of His elect remnant? And where they are, they are accustomed to experience the trials of His remnant, and to evince how grace can enable them to say to the nearest of their friends, for the sake of the truth, "I know you not;" while the sword that they introduce to their families having slain in themselves the man of sin, it is hoped it will slay him in their connexions also.

Surely those have reason to hope, who ponder the fact that there are not only fruits being gathered in the Jewish field, but that numbers who have been gathered are so truly the seed of Christ's planting, as that they can preserve their character and multiply themselves, although they be but as a handful of corn in the midst of a wide field of tares.

We may afford to waive all that is private in opinion in reference to the literal or spiritual fulfilment of prophecy-the times and the seasons; these, in their place, are of great moment. Here, here is the fact in our day, and thank God for it,-Jews believing in Jesus! Jewish believers, bold, persevering, humble, tried propagators of the truth! retained, no sinecurists, but committing themselves for a pittance to that which, humanly speaking, promises no permanence, and gives no pension. God, too, is blessing their labours; and no doubt, if it be asked for at the conference now being held, there will be those present who will stimulate prayer and action by developing what God has done in them, and what He is doing by them.

The Lord grant that persons may return from this conference so embued with Divine grace, and so quickened in their sympathies and purposes, that, from improved judgments and kindled affections, they shall personally, and by their influence, pour into the treasuries of every institution that which is essential to their work.

Rebiew of Books.

Sermons. By the Rev. ABRAHAM P. MENDES, Minister of the Birmingham Hebrew Congregation. London: John Chapman.

THIS Volume of sermons deserves, and will well repay, a careful and attentive perusal. We confess that we have passed from one discourse to another with no ordinary degree of interest. The author undoubtedly possesses decided originality of thought, great command of language, and a peculiarly forcible method of stating the facts or doctrines to which he designs to call the attention of his hearers. As specimens of composition we would earnestly recommend these sermons to divinity students, presenting, as they do, a perfect contrast to the lengthy, prosy, tame, and unedifying things which sometimes are dignified with the name of sermons. The reverend gentleman whose discourses are now before us not only lets his hearers know how he means to handle his text, and what the bearing and object of his discourse are to be, but he tells them all this very soon. There is something perfectly refreshing in the prompt, clear, intelligible, and recollectable manner in which he announces the well-arranged divisions of his sermons. For example, take the first sermon. The text is, "When the camp goeth forth against thine enemies, then keep thee from every evil thing" (Deut. xxxiii. 9). The heads of discourse are:-I. The camp of Israel; II. The enemies of Israel; III. The prohibited evil;-and every hearer must have felt not only that a clear course was before the preacher, but that he kept to the text, while at the same time there was nothing in the text which he did not fairly bring out. Or, to select another instance, the seventh sermon, from Exodus xiv. 30-31, thus translated by the preacher: "The Eternal saved Israel on that day from the hand of Egypt, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea-shore. Israel saw the great power which the Eternal exercised upon Egypt; and the people feared the Eternal; and they be lieved in the Eternal, and in Moses, His servant." We cannot give a fairer specimen of the easy, natural, and yet forcible manner, in which the preacher introduces his subject, than by transcribing the brief exordium of this discourse :

"Brethren, the early promise made to Abraham is at length fulfilled; the captivity of Egypt is over. From the depths of their affliction, God has heard the groans of Israel, and His love and faithfulness direct their deliverance. Moses and Aaron have appeared before the throne of Pharaoh, and have demanded, in the name of the God of the Hebrews, that His people be sent forth to serve Him. This demand, seeming unreasonable and audacious to the despot, has elicited his scorn, while it has invoked new inflictions on the persecuted race. At last, the fierce wrath of God is poured out upon Pharaoh, his land, and his people; and when, throughout the length and breadth of Egypt, there are death and desolation, grief and despair, the Eternal leads forth His hosts with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, bearing them on eagles' wings from the darkness of slavery and error to the light of liberty and truth. The opening verses of this day's portion inform us, that Pharaoh, on recovering from the

consternation which paralysed him and his subjects on that night of terror, adopts the resolution to pursue and overtake his enfranchised bondsmen, and to wreak a fearful vengeance on them. He gives the order for pursuit, and forward go his countless hosts to brave the power which has lately prostrated him-forward, with all the pomp of war, with all the force of arms, to avenge the horrors of that mysterious death which stalked through his dominions on the memorable midnight when God made known His power to the heathen children of the land of Ham.

"It is the fate of this expedition, my brethren, which we are to review to-day-the issue of that terrific battle which was fought in the midst of the sea-channel between God and man, and where, although the clang of arms and the cry of war were never heard, there was a conquest gained which spread dismay and death around-a conquest as fearful to the vanquished as it was glorious to the Victor. In pursuing this theme, we shall have to consider Israel under three several aspects:

1. ISRAEL IN DESPAIR.

2. ISRAEL IN TRIUMPH.

3. ISRAEL IN ACKNOWLEDGMENT,"

Our space admonishes us to refrain from further quotation; but we cannot help noticing the interest which is given to many passages in the volume before us, by the adoption of such a style of composition and address as serves perpetually to identify the Hebrew preacher and his modern Hebrew congregation with the ancient Hebrews of the Biblethe children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob-the chosen of God for highest and holiest of purposes. For instance: "At the period when the great revelation of Sinai selected our race for the mission of enlightenment, a holy war was proclaimed by God himself, and Israel was then and there constituted His sacred army. By Divine command, we girded on the sword, unfurled the banner of the Lord, and went forth to fight the battle of religion." (The italics are our own). And again: "From us evidently sprang, not only the science of theology, but also the arts of poesy and music of oratory and historiography. Aided by the peculiar beauty of our language, and the extraordinary incidents of our history, it is not to be wondered that our poets occupy the high position which archæologists assign to them. Suffice it to say, that the effusions of our muse are admitted to surpass infinitely in grandeur, sublimity, beauty, and pathos, all the most celebrated productions which Greece and Rome gave to later times.'

The words with which the preceding extract closes are acknowledged to be quoted from that most invaluable compendium of information on all biblical questions, "Horne's Introduction to the Holy Scriptures,"—a proof that the author of these sermons does not confine himself, in those studies which are incident to his sacred office, merely to Jewish sources, but that he is willing to avail himself of the suggestions of Christian writers, and is liberal enough to lay stress upon their views and sentiments. We mention this, because it throws hopefulness around the prospect of realising what we are sure must be the sincere wish of every Christian reader of these pages. We took up the volume expecting to find in it no other views than those which we did discover in reference to the great points at issue between the honoured sons of Abraham and the

believers in the Messiahship of Jesus of Nazareth. We are not disappointed, therefore, because we find no hesitation nor halting, in these pages, as to the superiority of the claims of the Jewish religion, notwithstanding all that Christians allege in favour of their views. But believing as we do, that the arguments in favour of Christianity are unanswerable, and that, as time rolls on, those arguments are only increasing in their power and significance,-believing, too, that our beloved and elder brethren, the Jews, are, by the ground which they take up and maintain in reference to this all-important question, depriving themselves of true satisfaction and rich enjoyment-living on past privileges rather than on present mercies, and at the same moment indulging in hopes which can only issue in disappointment,-believing all this, we confess that, as we have read the pages before us, we have wished, and wished again, that the mind which had so charmed us by the freshness and beauty of its thoughts, might yet open to the conviction of the truth of Christianityand that the heart whose warm affections circle so fondly around all that is lovely in the Old dispensation, might have its best and holiest feelings enlisted in favour of that system which the New Testament reveals, and of which it may in truth be said, that the Jew loses nothing by embracin g it, but rather gains every way. We were, therefore, gratified to find an allusion made by the author to the writings of Mr. Horne, in which there is so much to arrest the attention and to inform the mind in reference to the claims of the New Testament; and, in a spirit far removed from mere proselytism, do we breathe the prayer that one so capable of being a powerful advocate of any opinions which he holds, as Mr. Mendes undoubtedly is, may, by the blessing of God attending a fair and full examination, be led to see rightly the case of Judaism in connexion with Christianity-to see that the religion of Jesus is not only not an innovation upon the Mosaic economy, but that it is a system in which the feelings of a Jew are respected, his wants provided for, and in which his cherished institutions meet him again, but in clearer, more glorious, more accessible forms, and in a degree of which none would form an idea who have not made the investigation for themselves.

The Mission.

NORTH AFRICA.

Ir has been matter of deep regret to the Committee that, through the failure of pecuniary resources, they could not carry out some desirable plans for diffusing Divine truth in Tunis and its vicinity. They have not, however, relinquished Northern Africa as a scene of labour. Mr. LOWITZ, who is at present in this country, will shortly return to Gibraltar, and devote himself to the spiritual good of the resident and visiting Jews there, and occasionally itinerate on the opposite shore, at Algiers, Tangier, Oran, Bona, Constantine, &c.

The following sketch, in addition to those from Mr. Ben Oliel, previously published, will, we hope, excite a livelier interest in this Mission:

The descendants of Abraham are more numerous on the coast and inland parts of North Africa than is generally supposed in

this country. I refer to that part of Africa which comprises the four Barbary States; the kingdom of Morocco, Algiers, Tunis,