as soon as his knowledge of English expanded, he became inquisitive and read with considerable pleasure. He was not above half acquainted with the Epistles and Evangelists, when he became captivated with the purity and sublimity of their doctrines. After many anxious trials he became a sincere inquirer after truth, and through God's grace and love to him he is now, I trust, a firm and decided believer in the Lord Jesus. It was only last year that Mr. G. was officiating during the celebration of the festival in a Jewish synagogue, where he acquitted himself with great honour and gained the esteem of many very respectable Jewish families, but since he has known the truth he has given up all for its sake; and though he has had nearly ever since to struggle with want and distress, and the Jews are constantly at his house, offering him every possible inducement of a worldly nature to draw him from his integrity, he yet remains firm, and nobly defends the honour of his Master against any and every assault.

Another inquirer, Mr. S-, I regret to say, has, during the past month, had to endure a great "fight of affliction." In a letter addressed to Mr. K recently, he said, "Oh, how I envy you, that you can, through the grace of God, already call yourself a Christian, that you can press the cross to your heart and say, 'Dear Saviour, thou art mine!' I am still forcibly held back from openly confessing my faith, and the greatest insults are heaped upon me. My wife stands between me and my Saviour; when she sees me on my knees she raves and rages, and when I speak to her of the love of Jesus, she only answers by violent marks of her displeasure. Pray for me, dear brother, and I will also give myself to earnest and fervent supplication: perhaps the Lord will be entreated of us and remember us for good."

I am thankful to say that I am still permitted to labour with pleasing and highly gratifying results. Though my duties often lead through rough ways and rugged paths, though I have frequently to sigh and mourn over the depravity, the wilful blindness, and determined opposition of those for whose peace and happiness I am labouring; yet amidst it all, I am enabled to discern the glimmering of that blessed and long-wished-for day, so full of life and salvation to Israel; and in the prospect of it, I am even now permitted to reap some first-fruits of the coming harvest.

In a subsequent report, Mr. J. writes:

During the past month I have consider

ably extended the circle of my Jewish acquaintances, and effected an entrance into several families which were inaccessible before. In one of them, I have reason to believe, the word preached has been accompanied with power and efficacy, and constrained the husband and father to read and investigate the claims of the Gospel for himself, and thus satisfy his own mind on that momentous and most important subject.

In another family the Israelite, after hearing me repeatedly press upon him the necessity of salvation through faith in the blood of Jesus, has at last resolved to receive Christian instruction, and be prepared for openly confessing his faith in Christ. His wife, it is true, offers the most strenuous opposition to such a step, and will undoubtedly exert her utmost to prevent the carrying of his design into effect; yet the fact that all the other members of his family have become Christians will furnish him with a powerful and overruling ples for his also deciding for the truth. A young man, his brother-in-law, who lives with them, seems likewise favourably inclined to the truth. I pray that it may be said of this family, as it once was said of one of old: "This day has salvation come to this house."

With deep gratitude to God, I am per. mitted to report that Mrs. S's long, obstinate, and bitter opposition to the truth, has, at length, through the grace and mercy of God, been turned into deep anxiety and fervent solicitude for her spiritual peace and safety. She found it a hard thing to fight against God and oppose His designs of mercy to her, and when mild and gentle measures failed to recover her from her delirium, severe and arousing ones had to be employed to humble the proud heart, and to bring down the lofty looks. "I have richly deserved all the afflictions and trials with which the Lord has been pleased to visit me," is now the tone of her voice: "I will kiss the rod, and not demur at God's wonderful dealing with me." Yes, she is full of eager desire and earnest longing to be joined to the people of God as speedily as possible, and looks forward with considerable pleasure and satisfaction to the day when, by the side of her husband, she also will be permitted to testify to all around what a precious and loving Saviour she has found. Mrs. S- has a little sister with her, between the age of seven and eight years, whom she likewise feels anxious to have trained for Christ, and she has already began, in conjunction with her husband, to lead her gradually and gently into the knowledge of the truth.

Mr. G- is also, considering the very

limited time he has to spare for religious instruction, making pleasing and satisfactory progress in Divine things. He generally comes to me on a Sunday afternoon, when we spend a few profitable and delightful hours together; and in addition to

MR. GELLERT refers to some remarkable circumstances, which, in the course of Providence, have brought a travelling Jew to think seriously of the best things. After the Missionary in London had had several interviews with him, and had made but little impression by them upon his levity and carelessness, the Jew left the metropolis, to visit, as was his custom as a hawker of jewellery, a district of the country. As he travelled along the dusty road, his heart was still unchanged-his purpose was unrenewed, and not having succeeded very well in his trade of late, he thought, perchance, that his Jewish extraction and faith were the obstacles in his way. He accordingly resolved, at the next house where he should present his wares, if the question were put to him, to say that he was a Christian; when he did so, the gentleman at whose door he stood at once invited him in, and asked him the reason of his faith and hope, which compelled the Jew, though perhaps unwillingly at first, to open the law and the prophets, and to ransack them for passages in proof of his Messiahship, whose right it is to reign, and who will reign until he has put all enemies under his feet, and further to show from

From Mr. COHEN, at MARSEILLES Among the numerous strangers to whom I have preached the blessed Gospel during the past month, there was Mr. S-, to whom I had preached Christ more than a year ago, and who was then, like most of the Jews in France, an infidel. I then persuaded him to buy a Bible, and I remember that he laughed very heartily when I told him, that if he would only read the Bible prayerfully, he might be led not only to believe in the God of his fathers, but also in His Son, who came to save his soul; and although he laughed at the message, yet it pleased the Lord to open his eyes and his heart to believe in Jesus. The following I have gathered from the conversations I have had with him during his stay here. He said: "I first was a Deist, then an Universalist, and then I became an Infidel; and, being lively and gay, my company was much sought after, and I was what is usually called a happy man; but-poor happiness without God in the world! My greatest pleasure was, as you know, to laugh at the

this, I endeavour to see him at least once a week in his business, and to speak to him in the best way I can about the things that make for peace. I hope, ere long, to see him take the decided step for Christ and His cause.

the same Scriptures, how all the services and sacrifices of the temple did but foreshadow Him of whom Moses spake. Returned to London, he presents himself before the Missionary who had faithfully striven to instruct him, and through whose teachings it was that he had been enabled so well to counterfeit a Christian, while indeed a Jew. "Pardon me," he said, "that I have told a lie, in order to improve my circumstances, and to dispose of my goods. I said I was a Christian, and under the full persuasion that I was, the gentleman caused me to remain in his house a whole day; he purchased goods of me to the amount of four pounds, and welcomed me to his own table; but his joy in welcoming me as a brother, the tenderness and sympathy of his kindness, together with his parting blessing, I desire never to forget. If such is Christianity, and such the mysterious and overwhelming love they bear one another, I am persuaded that it is of all things most excellent and true, and sincerely desire to be forgiven my sin of falsehood, that, with an eased conscience, I may learn more of the Christ and Saviour of the Christian who was my helper and my host."

Bible and religion, the thoughts of which fill me now with horror. I left Marseilles in October, 1854, for Nimes, where I remained three months. One day, my wife asked me to read the Bible; but I laughed at her; then she reasoned with me, and told me to remember your kindness, and that there could be no harm in reading it, &c.; and she would not let me rest until I read it. But I shall never forget with what feelings I opened that holy book, which I so often ridiculed; my whole body trembled, and I was as cold as ice. With faltering lips, I read a chapter in the New Testament, but what chapter it was I do not know; my wife tells me that it was in John. From that time, I commenced reading the Word of God; but I became so unhappy, that I thought that at every step I should sink into hell. I prayed much, and asked God to lead me into the truth. My wife persuaded me to call on one of the Protestant ministers, and to tell him my mind, which I did; but he told me that, some years ago, he heard that a

Jew called on a brother minister, and wished to be baptised; but it was believed that all the Jew wanted was money, and therefore he did not like to have anything at all to do with Jews, nor with Catholics, who wish to change their religion. This greatly discouraged me; and having been disappointed in a situation, I became quite wretched. I gave up reading the Bible and prayer; and while in this state of misery, I received a letter from a friend in Constantina, who told me that there was a clerk's place in the same office where he was, if I wished to accept it. I was glad of the opportunity, and we at once left Nimes for it, and we have been there ever since, and it is for the same firm that I am here on business. Two months passed without reading the Word of God and prayer; but I was unhappy, and I was obliged again to take the Bible, and devoted my evenings in considering and comparing the passages which you kindly marked for me; and the Lord shed great light upon my soul, and I felt happy in believing, and feel so still. I attend the Protestant church as a Protestant, and as such I have already several times taken the Lord's Supper." One day, be took my hand and said: "I have to thank you for all this. It is true that I have learned much from my wife, who is, as you know, a Protestant by birth; but if it had not been for you, I do not think that I should have thought of believing in Jesus." told him to thank God for it all; he said, "So I do; but I am bound to thank you too." Before he left, he asked me to let him have some tracts or books, which he wished to distribute among his brethren at Constantina; and from his conversations with me and with some friends, during his stay in this place, there is reason to believe him to be a true believer in Christ.

I

It is now several months since I made the acquaintance of a very interesting young man from the principality of Bavaria, who has been sent hither to learn the French language, with whom I have had several interesting conversations, and who, I believe, is not far from the kingdom of heaven. The other day, he told me that he received his first impressions through their shoemaker, who was a Pro

testant, and who lent him a New Testament, which he read, and that he was at once struck with the sublime character of Jesus, and it was now more than two years since he had ceased to be a Jew inwardly; but that he had no such clear views of the Gospel before he knew me; and as soon as he was out of the jurisdiction of his relatives, he hoped to take that step from which he had been hitherto prevented. Whenever I converse with him, I tell him to read his Bible diligently, and to hold on in prayer, and God would make the way clear for him.

I have met with several soldiers, whose acquaintance I made in the hospital, and it was really very encouraging to see the poor fellows still thankful for my visits, and some of them steadily pursuing the perusal of the Word of God. I do not think that one could have been more glad to see his own brother than some of them were to see me. One of them-a sergeant-who now had a wooden leg, threw his arms around my neck, and would have kissed me in the street. He said: "I am still reading the Bible, or rather the New Testament, which I understand much better. I wish I could only remain with you for one month; I should learn more during that time, than I could in six months by myself. Pray for me. It is my desire to believe in Jesus, but I find it not so easy as I thought; I feel that my sins stand between me and Christ. Pray for me; I am a poor creature. You know Jesus declares, that Except a man be born again, he shall not see the kingdom of God;'" and the soldier's eyes filled with tears. I told him to remember that "it is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, even the chief.' Believe this, and go and plead it before the throne of God." He said, "I wish I could only be with you one month. I am now on my way to join our depôt, from whence I hope to get my dismissal; but should I not return to Marseilles again, I will write to you."

·

Another told me, that it was only since he had read the Bible which I gave him, that he had been led seriously to reflect about his soul.

After my late communications of the sad state of things here, you will, no doubt, be glad to hear from me again, though I am sorry to say that no change as yet has taken place with us for the better. The cholera still continues to rage, and the people to leave the town in alarm, and among them, some of the consuls, the English and American included. Whilst they remained, they seemed to impart a certain degree of confidence to the poor people that could not get away, but their departure now is like the giving up of the last hope. My school, I regret to say, is entirely deserted, as also the whole Jewish quarter, which looks, I think, more desolate than any other part of the town. What will be the end, it is impossible to say, as there are no sanitary measures whatever adopted, not even to clearing out the open cesspools that run through the streets, the Mussulman believing that what is to be will be, and that, therefore, any effort on his part will be unavailing. I have also been obliged to leave my own house and shut it up, having several times been deserted by servants that I had hired at any price they thought proper to ask; for, unfortunately, we were in a locality that was much visited by the disease, and where the largest number of people have been carried off. I am now staying with an English gentleman, similarly situated to myself, though in times of quietude he has as many as a hundred people under his control, in a silk factory belonging to a London house; but at present there is only one remaining, who acts as servant to us, and before him we are obliged to exercise the greatest caution that we do not complain of indisposition, or he would immediately leave us to our own resources. The desertions that have taken place amongst the inhabitants since the disease broke out are almost incredible. A person whose house is very near this, and who is a member of one of the most respectable families in the country, and secretary to our own consul-general, was the first to flee and leave his family of four children, and a wife just ready to be delivered of another, and, indeed, she was so, two hours after he was gone. Another man, of similar standing in society, whose wife

was attacked, sent off his little son to call his sister, who had only a few days previously been confined, and before she could arrive to take care of her mother, the monster of a parent had fled, and it was not till some days afterwards that it was known where he was. This will give you some idea of the awful state of society here, when this is a description of the best, and I doubt not that you will agree with me, that if ever there was a people apparently ripe for the Divine judgments, it surely must be this. In addition to our present troubles, we have every prospect of a famine, not so much from the failure of the crops, as from the great draft that has been made on this country for grain of all sorts, to supply others. But hitherto, the periodical rains have failed, and it is now past the time for putting in the seed, so that provisions have risen to more than double the price, and the measure of wheat that sold for 7 piastres when I first came here, is now 43. I often admonish these poor people of the evils that are coming upon them, but, as of old, they hate the light, and cleave to their false teachers; and sometimes they tauntingly ask me, how it is that I come to be so much wiser than any one else; to which I reply, "It's because I read the Bible, and find it there written what God is about to do." And I tell them, if they would but read it, they would become wise too. I also ask them, what advantage they derive from their multiplied intercessors, in the shape of dead men and women, and their belief in the pretended miraculous power of the priests, who are evidently not able to turn aside a single judgment of God, nor even to allay the fears excited by it. When the cholera was here before, the priests, with one exception, all ran away with the people; but this time they have been shamed out of it, though they are sadly put to it, in the matter of the last office to the dead-extreme unction-which the Church can on no occasion dispense with; and I tell them they are deservedly caught in their own trap, for sending poor deluded souls into eternity, trusting in the efficacy of this lie. That I am no favourite of this people you can easily suppose, but hitherto, they have not been permitted to do me any