Christian truths I had already imbibed. Sometimes he would represent himself as an angel of light, as if he were wishing my welfare; yea, Satan himself as he is, he would often have me to believe him, that it was his only desire to bring me out of darkness to everlasting light, and to turn me from Satan to God. At other times he would discourage me, through divers temptations, in carrying me to and fro with every wind of doctrine wherewith he laid in wait to deceive me. Had I been, in those moments of trials and temptations, left to myself, no doubt I should have yielded. Uniting as he did himself to the old man which was within me, he would have gained the victory over me, yet a babe in Christ Jesus; and unless the Lord of Hosts had left me always a remnant of grace, which was to sustain and to strengthen my wearied and fainting soul, I should have been just now like Sodom and Gomorrah. You see, brethren, that I had no will of my own to come to our Saviour, neither did I advance of my own accord; but there was an invisible, mighty, and benevolent Hand which drew and led me along the path of the paradise of the evangelical truth. Instinctively I followed; fighting and struggling I I went on and forward, defending every step behind me, until I triumphed, and left the field of battle crowned with victory through Jesus Christ our Lord. Men and brethren, I have just escaped from the abyss which threatened to swallow me up, and am terrified when I look back to the past, and consider that I have despised and rejected the Lord of Glory. I am full of shame and confusion of faces; and my heart is moved within me when I consider that I, who was a scoffer, a blasphemer, and injurious, have obtained mercy; but I rejoice and am glad that I was enabled, through His tender mercies, to confess Him to-day openly. In the presence of Almighty God and before you, I therefore declare that Jesus is the Son of God, coequal, coeternal with Jehovah. I further declare openly, that I am not ashamed of the cross of Christ. I cast myself wholly upon Him; I trust in Him; He is my shield, my high tower, and my only Saviour. In Him and through Him I live, and without Him I must perish. And I feel assured that, though my father and my mother forsake me, He will surely take me up. Moreover, at the same time, I know, my Christian friends, that I have not yet reached my spiritual destination. Many are the difficulties I have yet to encounter, many the dangers I have yet to pass through; the gate is still strait, the way is still narrow which leadeth to eternal life, and Satan is still lying in wait, seeking to devour the sheep. As a young Christian, I shall no doubt be more exposed to his fiery darts than any other. I therefore beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus' sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive with me in your prayers to God for me; pray for me, that I may abound in grace, and persevere in my love to Jesus until the end; pray for me, that I may be enabled to resist the devil, to try the spirits, and to become a true follower of the Lamb; and lastly, pray with me, that the cross of antichrist may soon fall, never to rise again-that the time may soon arrive when all Israel will be saved by looking upon and believing in Him their forefathers have pierced-when both Jews and Gentiles will all worship the blessed Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, in spirit and in truth, and when Emanuel's kingdom will become the kingdom of the whole earth. Amen. L. ZUCKER. The MONTHLY MEETING of Jewish and Gentile Christians, for Prayer and Scriptural Conference, will be held at the Office, No. 1, Crescent Place, New Bridge Street, Blackfriars, on WEDNESDAY EVENING, May 16th, at Seven o'Clock.-The Meeting is open to all Friends of Israel. Fourth Edition, Price 2d., or stiff cover, &c., 3d. THE YOUNG CARAITE. A TRUE NARRATIVE. London: PARTRIDGE, OAKEY, AND Co., 34, Paternoster Row, and 70, Edgware Road; W. Langford, Leadenhall Street; and at the Office of the Society, 1, Crescent Place, Blackfriars. London: Published by PARTRIDGE, OAKEY, and Co., Paternoster Row; and 70, Edgware Road. Printed by Charles Frederick Adams, of 23, Middle Street, Cloth Fair, City, and William Gee, of 48, Seward Street, St. Luke, at their Printing Office, 23, Middle Street, Cloth Fair, City. AND RECORD OF CHRISTIAN EFFORT FOR THE SPIRITUAL GOOD OF GOD'S ANCIENT PEOPLE. PUBLISH YE, PRAISE YE, AND SAY, O LORD, SAVE THY PEOPLE, THE REMNANT OF ISRAEL." PUBLISHED UNDER THE SUPERINTENDENCE OF THE BRITISH SOCIETY FOR THE Thus did the Saviour summon His disciples from the hallowed communion of the guest-chamber to the scene of His deepest woes, and of the severest test of their devotion. The words seem to fall on our ears as we slowly retire from the sacred meetings of the last month, and bid us go forth to testify our love to Him in whose name we have met, and to whom we have renewed our pledge. With feelings somewhat akin to those of devout Israelites, in returning from the festivals of the Lord in Jerusalem's happiest days, may we return to our homes and our several spheres of action. Long may we cherish the recollection that we have been where God Himself was present, and the pressure of that hallowed bond which we felt uniting us with fellow-Christians of various names, but of one faith. Let the tidings we have heard, of souls converted from Judaism and heathenism, and the scenes we have had depicted of moral wastes peopled only by souls bewildered in error, and perishing in sin, follow us to our families, our closets, and our places of social devotion; and ere the deep and warm emotion fades, and the memory crowds itself with other thoughts, let us lay it to heart what we can do for God, more than we have done-how we can bear a closer and more impressive witness for Christ, and, by His grace, save the lost, comfort the weak, and gladden the Church. "Let Jerusalem come into your mind," and before Israel's God, and by the light of divine truth, let us devise some method for strengthening the hands and encouraging the hearts of those who are seeking the recovery of Zion's children, and their salvation through the blood shed by their fathers on Calvary. We have heard that, by the straitness of its funds, this Society has been compelled to restrict its operations, and to diminish the number of its agents; and that, too, in the face of so many testimonies of the blessing of God on its past labours, and amidst indications, on every side, that Now is the time to seek more vigorously than ever, and more hopefully, the good of Israel. Will this be permitted? Will not the faithful VOL X-NEW SERIES. ministers of Christ, throughout the land, lift up a friendly and a quickening voice? Will fellow-Christians, who have already responded to our appeals, and others whose heart's desire is the salvation of sinners, suffer this effort to languish,- an effort which, without one compromise of principle, invites the co-operation of all, of every name, who love the Lord Jesus Christ? Will not the young, in our families and in our schools, testify their love and pity for the Jew by standing forward for his help? And may we not rely on increased assistance from our mothers and sisters in Christ, to whom the Society owes its deepest obligations? Much may be done in the pulpit and on the platform, and perhaps even more by individual influence and social gatherings. And first of all, and above all, let us alone, in the family, and in all our devotional meetings, plead with God the cause of Israel-as His own cause-as the cause on the prosperity of which depends the happiness of the world. Let us plead in faith, and, with the roll of promise in our hand, say, We will not let Thee go without this blessing. "The festivals of the Lord are ended," but the marriage supper of the Lamb awaits you. O pass not by the Jew on your way to the Father's home. Speak to him-send messengers-send the heaven-inspired message to him. Invite him to the cross- -bid him welcome to your company; say, "Come with us, and we will do you good, for God hath spoken good concerning Israel." "Come, and (together) let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.' Judah's Appeal to Sympathy. THE ANNIVERSARY SERMON, PREACHED IN BLOOMSBURY CHAPEL, APRIL 17, 1855, By the REV. C. M. BIRRELL, of Liverpool. LAMENTATIONS i. 12. "Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of His fierce anger." THE Jewish nation, among her numerous peculiarities, has been, and continues to be, pre-eminently the instructress of mankind. By the views which she alone held, in many a dark age, she taught men the nature of the Deity,-holding forth His unity in the midst of universal polytheism, His spirituality, in opposition to the materialism of idolatry, His purity, in contrast with the licentiousness inherent in the systems of paganism, His infinitude, and the consequent universality of His government, among deities limited to particular localities, and incompetent, by the confession of their own votaries, to rule and protect the world. By the institutions she maintained, from generation to generation, she presented to the human mind the grand prospect of a Redeemer; exhibiting, in the daily and in the annual offering, His divine appointment, His intrinsic excellence, His voluntary surrender, and His all-sufficiency as an atoning victim. By her own actual history, moreover, she has involuntarily become one of the most striking illustrations of the moral government of God, presenting, in her unparalleled woes, instructions far more pointed and impressive than could possibly have been conveyed in any other form. That those sufferings were intended for the instruction of the world is evident, from the fact of their having been so carefully recorded in the pages of inspiration, by the pen either of the historian or of the prophet. When, therefore, Jerusalem here appeals to those who witness her abject misery, and entreats them to consider whether there be not, in the woe she suffers, something which demands and which will even repay their notice, she is but acting in accordance with her appointment as the world's teacher. It would be only to act more fully in compliance with this entreaty, if instead of contemplating exclusively the afflictions of the period to which it immediately relates, we extended our view to those of the existing dispersion among the Gentile nations. That dispersion is undoubtedly the crowning sorrow of the people. In all preceding calamities of a similar kind, God fixed a time when He would break the yoke of their oppressors, and restore them to liberty. On the self-same day, when 430 years were completed, did they escape from Egypt; not an instant beyond the specified seventy years did they remain in Babylon; and for three years and ten days only did they groan beneath the yoke of Antiochus. But no prophecy tells the period of their present abasement. Terminate we know it shall, but the time and the season the Father hath kept in His own hand. Under former misfortunes they were consoled by the messages of inspired men. Ezekiel supported them in Chaldea by visions of their future glory, and Daniel and Isaiah pointed them to the coming Messiah; but since the last destruction of their city, "false Christs" only have appeared, and rendered the yoke which they aimed to break more intolerable than they found it. In preceding dispersions there were ever in one place sufficient numbers to maintain some kind of government, and in their holy places some shadow at least of the daily sacrifice. But now no victim bleeds-no temple opens its gates-no high priest presents within the holy of holies the names of their tribes, nor comes to utter to them the will of God. "Their house is left unto them desolate;" they abide" without a king, and without a prince, without a sacrifice, without an image, without an ephod, and without teraphim" (Hosca iii. 4). Permit me, therefore, to request you to turn aside for a little, to contemplate these sufferings, and, having done so, to see whether there be not concealed in them some lessons which it will be profitable for us to learn. In other words, let us yield ourselves to the appeal of this desolate widow: "Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of His fierce anger." I. In glancing at a dispersion already extending over nearly two thousand it is obvious that I must do so in the most rapid and cursory years, manner. That period properly begins with the destruction of their capital city, although before that event they were widely distributed over the immediately surrounding countries. Preceding persecutions had driven them into Asia Minor, from whence they proceeded to Greece, to Italy, and to the various islands of the adjoining seas; for in almost every city that Paul entered, he seemed, it will be remembered, to find a synagogue of his countrymen. But by the time that nearly all the inspired teachers of Christianity had been called to their rest, and the seventieth year after the birth of Christ had arrived, the cup of their national crimes began to overflow, and preparations to be made for the tragedy of their final prostration. Nothing is more striking than the evidences of their own agency in those terrible events. It was clear from the beginning, that the Romans had no intention of proceeding to the extremities which they ultimately sanctioned, and that, had the people acted with ordinary prudence, they might have warded off their bitterest calamities. They were not destitute of valour, the Romans had never met such resolute foes. They were not the defenders of an unguarded city,-never did natural position and artificial fortifications unite to present so impregnable an object. It is said by one who was in constant attendance upon him, that when Titus surveyed the city from the surrounding heights, he was overcome with awe, at once at its magnificence and its strength. But three hostile factions were within the walls, bearing towards each other the fiercest animosity, and all exasperated with a fanaticism which, while it stimulated to desperate courage, led to the renunciation of proper means of defence, and timely submission to an overpowering force. When the conqueror effected the first entrance, he issued orders that no massacre should be committed, declaring it to be his desire to save the people. But the garrison, hailing this as a sign of weakness, slew without mercy every one who uttered a word about peace, and fell furiously on the enemy. The appeal was renewed in a form less honourable to Roman virtue; but it is their own historian who records the fact. Seizing miserable Jewish fugitives, Titus had them crucified in the view of the people, so that in the morning sometimes five hundred wretched creatures writhed on crosses before the walls,-barbarism which checked farther desertion, but only exasperated the defenders of the city. Meanwhile the predicted famine was, more effectually than war, fighting against them. It will be remembered that these events occurred at the time of the passover, when, as it might be said, the whole nation was enclosed in the capital. Language would sink under the attempt to convey an idea of the horrors which followed the failure of provision. The heart sickens, and the eyes turn away from the spectacle. The terrible words of Moses, which they had preserved for centuries, were now converted from prediction into literal history: "And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee: so that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave: so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat: because he hath nothing left him in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates. The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter, and toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear for she shall cat them for want of all things secretly, in the siege and straitness, where |