pool; and they have roamed with far deeper joy this vast temple of truth than any of their father's felt in the peerless structure on Moriah's brow. Let us enter the humble room in which this never-to-be-forgotten conference took place. The truths announced-the manner of the Teacher-and the lessons to be learned, should all be considered. Regeneration, redemption, responsibility, are the mighty themes on which the Great Teacher dwells. He assumes what all Scripture had previcusly taught and all history demonstrated-that man was utterly ruined and depraved; that he could not help himself; that no creature power could assist him; that his helper must be Divine; that his recovery to holiness and God came from above. He spake of a kingdom-a new state of dignity and purity, affording scope for all man's powers and a portion suited to his desires and immortality. But man must pass through a marvellous change-greater than creation itself-before he could enter on that state or belong to that kingdom. The hearer was perplexed and astonished; repelled, yet spell-bound. His reason starts up and utters incredulous questions; but still something within him said, "This is a teacher come from God"-listen to Him. "The Master in Israel," perhaps, felt conscious of his ignorance, and abashed in the presence of "THE TRUTH," even truth incarnate; so he sat and listened while Jesus spake as even He had never before spoken to His own disciplcs. He shewed the connexion between regeneration and redemption; between what the Holy Spirit would do in man, and what Himself would do for man; He taught that a work within could only grow out of a work without. But first He glances at His own dignity as the Redeemer (13); then at His work, shadowed forth by the serpent in the wilderness, in which expressive type the necessity for, the manner of, and the results from, his sacrificial death, are so exquisitely described. Then comes that text of texts which shows the very heart of God-that pitying, yearning, giving heart; that infinite heart of love; the teeming womb of redemption, with all its blessings and glories-" For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" "So loved!" God loved Israel even when clutched by the poison-fangs of fiery serpents-so loved as to find a suitable remedy; and He so loved the world, when clasped round by the old serpent, and even nestling in his killing embrace, "as to give His Son!" Oh, let it be written in characters of everlasting light. "God commendeth His love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." "God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." Surely the Saviour, by connecting these two great points of regeneration and redemption together, intended to teach that it is only by believing the truth concerning redemption that we can be born again; and most solemnly does He show the responsibility of these to whom the merciful testimony comes. "6 'Light is come," and it is a fearful thing to lose it. Truth is clearly revealed, and it is a terrible crime not to believe it. Jesus knew this; He knew the awful doom of the unbeliever-of the man who would not receive the gift, nor look to the Healer, nor beliere the testimony, nor prize the love of God. Hence His earnestness. put all compliment aside, and came at once to His subject. He repeated His assertion; illustrated His testimony; laid the heart of man bare; He contrasted it with God's heart; left the character of God without a shade, the way of saltion without a single stumbling-block, and the unbe liever without least excuse. Who teacheth like Him? We know, O Saviour, that thou art the teacher come from God; thine is the eloquence of Divine wisdom and the earnestness of Divine love. Nicodemus came to Jesus attracted by is excellency. Let all who believe on Jesus seek grace so to act that they may attract inquirers to them. This is especially necessary in those who have to do with Jews. Jesus willingly received Nicodemus. He knew his character, his prejudices, and the shame he felt to be seen coming to Him; yet how kindly did He deal with him. It was only one individual that came, yet Christ threw His whole soul into the work of instructing him, and unveiled truth more fully than He had done before. What an example of faithfulness, zeal. patience, earnestness, does Jesus present! Here we learn what we should teach and how we should teach it. Like Paul, our heart should glow with our subject, but we should be " 'gentle as a nurse cherisheth her child." The one hearer of the Great Teacher departed. Thoughtful, silent; yet undecided he went his way. And the Teacher waited and prayed. He had sown the seed, and it was not lost. Two years after it showed a little sign of vitality (John vii. 50), and a few months later it burst into vigorous life around the mangled corpse of his visitor. Was it not, as Dr. Hamilton beautifully surmises:-" that the death of Christ, which shocked and scattered the open disciples, was a spell which drew this secret disciple to Calvary. There it was, as Moses lifted up the serpent, so the Son of Man was at last lifted up. He was lifted up, and He drew Nicodemus to Him. His own mysterious prophecy is now fulfilled, and this Son of Man is withal the Son of God. The heathen centurion has just exclaimed as much, and Nicodemus feels it true. death is a miracle eclipsing all the marvels of his life, and truly this is the Son of God. To Nicodemus what a commentary was now visible on the words of that eventful evening-for "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son!" And to millions besides him has the conversation in that humble room become a glorious saving reality-a theme for continual thought—a fountain of unspeakable joy-the subject-matter for an eternal anthem. His Let us persevere in telling these great saving truths to Jew and Gentile; let us be patient with the hesitating, and hopeful of dull and prejudiced scholars. He of whom we speak "is with us always," and can make His own gracious words to be the germ of eternal life. Sow we on, then, though in tears, and we shall reap in joy. Correspondente. TO THE EDITOR OF THE " JEWISH HERALD." WILL you allow a plain man to give his reasons for adhering to the cause advocated by your "Herald? I like to view the cause, first of all, in the light of the Bible alone; and simply to ask-What have we, as Christians, to do with the Jews? Well, they are a people-sinful, immortal, responsible-like ourselves; and if saved at all, to be saved by the truths held forth in their own sacred books. These books they do not understand (according to the prediction-Isa. xxix. 10); and instead of seeking Divine illumination. they have gone to men who have ban laged their eyes and closed their ears by subtle and absurd traditions. In this state they go forward and perish, unless the truth be brought home to the conscience and the heart by the power of the Holy Spirit (according to the promise-Isa. xxix. 22; 2 Cor. iii. 16; Rom. xi. 25, 26). But He employs human agency, as it is written-Rom. x. 13, 17. They need no other Gospel than that by which we are saved; but, inasmuch as they hold the truth in misapprehension and enveloped in prejudice, they seem to need a different agency from that employed for the heathen, or for ignorant (so-called) Christians-men of God, prepared by Jewish studies to deal with Jewish minds; and best of all, Jewish Christians who by grace have themselves struggled out of the darkness of Judaism into the light and liberty of the Gospel, and who show its happy and holy influence in a consistent life. Such an agency your Society employs. The Jews are a people whom God has separated to Himself, and constituted the depositaries and witnesses of His truth among all nations. To the present day their condition attests the authenticity of those Scriptures which predict Israel's sins and Israel's woes. But there are brighter lines on the prophetic page, to be fulfilled in Israel's reception of the Christ crucified by their fathers; and in the beauty of holiness and in the joy of salvation, which are to distinguish them as the people whom God hath chosen for Himself, to show forth His praise and to be a blessing in the whole earth. To this they cannot attain except by a living faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and this can only be imparted by the life-giving Spirit, according to Zech. xii 10; Ezek. xxxvi. 25; xxxvii. 5. We must, then, lift up the cross in the midst of them, and bid them look-we must "prophesy" to them, and then plead with the Holy Spirit to breathe upon them that they may live (Ezek. xxxii. 4, 9). Here is our stand-point, and from it we ought, I think, to look back with shame and penitence on long neglect and indifference, and forward with joyful expectation, that on the meaus now called into exercise the God of Abraham will shed His abundant blessing. The Spirit of God is in the Churches, and in proportion as He awakens the Churches to prayer and holy effort, will His saving influences descend on Israel, until the promise is fulfilled to its largest extent. "Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the whole earth with fruit." I have my own views as to the restoration of Israel to Palestine, but they have nothing to do with your object, which is simply their spiritual ingathering to Christ; an object so urgent, so important, and so extensive that it may, well breathe in our constant and most earnest prayers, and inspire our holiest and most unsparing exertions. Quarterly Financial Statement. LAICUS. THE following items of account were placed before the Committee at the last meeting, and it is deemed desirable that our readers should be made acqua nted with them. Receipts and Payments of the Society, from the commencement of the Society's year to July 1st, 1857. From the above it appears that the amount received up to the July 1, has been £270 Os. 6d. ; last year the amount was £349 4s. 11d.,-shewing a deficiency this year of £79 4s. 5d. The disbursements-notwithstanding all the April payments were (with the consent of the auditors) included in the account of last year, and consequently do not appear in this— amount to £880 10s. 7d., whereas last year, when the April account was not so disposed of, the payments were up to this day £742 9s. 8d., shewing an increase this year over last year of £138 9s. 11d. The view thus presented is not so bright as we could have desired, but we perceive nothing to depress or awaken fear. The excess of expenditure has arisen from excess of action. The field over which the exertions of this Society extends is large, and the Missionary must travel. This involves journeying expenses, while his home and family must still be supported. The visits of Mr. Davidson have confirmed this view. The Missionaries at Lyons and Marseilles have visited, or are visiting, Toulon, Bayonne, Bordeaux, and other towns. A deficiency of Missionaries at home has been supplied by the temporary recall of Mr. Mombert, from Germany to Hull; and Mr. Ginsburg has gone to Liverpool The benefit of these movements is evident from the reports of the Missionaries: eg,-Mr. Cohen has already visited 150 Jewish families in Lyons, leaving tracts with all, and subsequently calling for conversation. Mr. Frankel's entrance in Bordeaux, it will be seen, is also very favourable. Mr. Gottheil has been engaged in a Missionary tour in Germany, the interesting details of which we hope to publish in our next Number. The return of Mr Manning from Beyrout for a time, on account of his health, after a sojourn of nine years, and the departure of Mr. Ben Oliel thither, have enlarged this quarter's expenses, and we have not received any donations of larger amount We only need continued effort-extended over localities where perhaps it has hitherto been confined to the principal towns-the subject kept before the minds of fellow-Christians by personal influence and at social meetings and a prompt remittance of amounts received. Our Missions. BORDEAUX MR. FRANKEL, in his first Report from Bordeaux, presents the following sketch of the Jews-their history and condition in that city : The history of the Jews of Bordeaux differs but little from that of the Jews of France in general. Down to the end of the seventeenth century, they were never properly settled; they only lived by tole ration, liable to be driven away within twenty-four hours' notice, exposed to the most cruel persecutions, to ignominious sufferings, and to the loss cf everything they possessed. They were allowed to traffic in order to accumulate wealth, and to be robbed of it whenever their rulers thought it worth their while to do so. The following article of Edward the Confessor was strictly carried into execution against the Jews here. "Let it be known that the Jews in whatever part of my kingdom they may be found, are under the gundianship of the king; he may dispose of them as he thinks fit, and that without his permission they are not allowed to remove from one city to another any part of their possession, inasmuch as the person of the Jew as well as his wealth are the property of the king." What tended to increase their misery and sufferings was, the contention and rivalry that existed between the three classes of Jews that inhabited Bordeaux, viz., the Spani-h, French, and German. In 1492 and 1496, when Ferdinand and Emanuel expelled the Jews from Spain and Portugal, many were baptised and called the "New Christians;" they obtained permission to settle at Bayonne and Bordeaux; this permission was afterwards extended to all Spanish Jews. Their prosperity was calculated to draw to this place the Avignonais (Jews of Avignon) and Germans; they lived together peaceably as long as they remained in obsc rity, but they soon began to occupy a prominent position in society, and excelled their Spanish brethren in riches and influence; they were then looked upon as enemies and rivals, and in 1760 the Spanish actually succeeded in effecting the expulsion of all strange Jews (not Spanish), which very soon extended to all Jews, except a few families who were allowed to remain. Towards the end of the eighteenth century, Jews from all countries flocked again to Bordeaux. In the beginning of the present century, their number an ounted to 2,000; and in the census of 1850, Rabbi Marx stated the Jewish population to be 3,200. It seems, however, that there has been an increase since, and they number between 4,000 and 5,000. About forty years ago they had six synagogues; 1835, they had threeSpanish, Avignon, and German but the present rabbi has united them, and they now worship in one temple. There is also a little temple where service is performed morning and evening during the week; they have five schools, three for the poor "Ecoles Mutuelles" and two Pensions. One evening we attended the service at the little temple; there we witnessed the most absurd and heart-sickening scene; there were about 200 people present, all talking at the same time, some walking up and down, and every now and then one screamed out from one corner and another, sending back a scream from another part of the building; the scene resembled more a general quarrel than the performance of Divine worship. On the Day of Pentecost we went to the "Grande Temple;" it is a very magnificent building, capable of containing above 4,000. The ark where the copies of the Law are deposited is hung with beautiful curtains embroidered with gold; a flight of stairs leads up to it, and an im mense candlestick is placed at the foot of each stair. Al out twenty boys dressed in white surplices with blue girdles, as well as blue ribbon across their shoulders, high white caps trimmed with blue, together with the same number of young men, form the choir, one of the underrabbis beating time nearly throughout the whole of the service. Psalms cxiv., cxv., cxvi., were sung most beautifully; it was a triumphal march, to imitate Israel's exit from Egypt. The boys then marched up in procession and placed themselves on the stairs; when the doors of the ark were thrown open, the music struck up in a lively yet solemn strain. After the reading of the Law, the boys led up the rabbi to the pulpit; all these ceremonies as well as the dress of the rabbi and under-rabbies, are copied from the Roman Catholic Church. The text was taken from Deut. xxvii. 9; he gave a graphic description of the giving of the Law,,and eloquently depicted to his hearers, what a glorious people they were- -"the chosen people," "God's witnesses," "the lights of the world"-in fact the whole sermon was one continuation of flattery, calculated only to feed their national pride and lull them into false security, without once raising his voice in solemn warning. The sermon served us as a subject of conversation with the Jews, to tell them that they were indeed witnesses of God's faithfulness and destined to be the lights of the world; but as Mr. Davidson remarked, they were now only the candlestick without the light, the lamp without the oil. On the whole the service was a mixture of solemnity and irreverence; people chatting, laughing, and gaping, showing that they had little sympathy with what was going on. The Portuguese ritual and their pronounciation of the Hebrew, differ so materially from the German, that some, after attending the synagogue for twenty years, can make out very little of what is going on, and are obliged to pray by themselves; at the same time, one beginning his prayers and the other, finishing, so you can imagine what |