to the spread of the Gospel among the Jews, it must be in England, and in this great Metropolis, for here are Jews of all nations, and, supposing Pentecost were to come, it would be as in the time of the Passover, when men came from all parts of the world, and as they received the impulses of the Holy Spirit, they went to their own homes and preached in their own tongues the wonderful works of God. The Jew would then become the best teacher of the Jew, and in India and in Russia, in China and Holland, and elsewhere, they would speak just that language that was needed, and tell the tale of the Saviour's love. And therefore, upon the ground that we are so anxious to have native teachers, let us be anxious that God would answer our prayers, that converted Jews may go into different lands, and, in the vernacular tongue of each land, speak the wondrous works of God. As to the importance of prayer, I I would ask that there may be more prayer, not only in our pulpits, (for why should not we, the ministers of Christ, make a special appeal to Heaven for the conversion of the Jews?) but that we should have a distinctive prayermeeting for the Jew as well as the heathen. But there is another way in which we may all become intercessors, from the grey-headed sire down to the child. On the morrow, as you pass down your streets, and look upon the Rabbi, or it may be the Jewess or the little Jewish child, instead of allowing an opprobrious epithet to pass your lips, lift up your heart to God, and pray for that child of Abraham. Let it be your heart's desire and prayer that Israel may be saved, and, instead of calumniating him, he shall feel at the day of judgment, if not before, that you were his intercessor, as his father was for you. Thus there will be not one, but a mul titude of prayers, and the influences of those prayers God alone can tell. In conclusion, let us beware how we impede the spread of this cause. It was a saying of Frederick King of Prussia, that no one ever touched the Jewish nation without smarting for it, and I believe that whoever, whether individual or nation, shall persecute the Jew, will assuredly smart for it. But let us look not only to the past but to the future. We speak to-night of the pleasures of memory, as we think of the obligations under which we are laid to the forefathers, and we will think of the pleasures of hope. Through the vista of prophecy I look forward to the time when not only a flower here and there, as the first gleanings and first-fruits of the vintage, shall be seen, but Israel shall go home in large and increasing crowds. The time shall come when the Jews shall undergo this change, when they shall reverse the verdict which their forefathers passed, when they shall vindicate the character which their forefathers calumniated, when they shall crown anew the brow which their forefathers lacerated, when they shall be glad to lean on that bosom where John the disciple leaned, and when they shall embrace, aye and kiss the very feet that their forefathers nailed to the tree. THE REV. WM. BARKER moved, and the REV. EBENEZER MORLEY Seconded, a vote of thanks to the chairman; and after singing a hymn, commencing, "Send, Lord, thy servants forth," and the offering of a prayer by the Rev. David Herschell, the Benediction was pronounced, and the meeting separated. The comparative receipts and payments of the years 1857 and 1858 were thus stated: Receipts in the year ending April, 1857 £4,286 10 8-1858 £4,662 17 0 Payments in the year ending April, 1857 £4,045 3 4-1858 £4,430 9 4 The increase of disbursements was occasioned chiefly by travelling expenses incurred by the removals of Missionaries, and by their itinerant services. The Meeting was numerous, and the interest appeared to be well sustained to its close, increased probably by mention of many of the Society's friends, at home and abroad, having resolved to devote the evening to prayer for Israel. AFTER A BRIEF NOTICE OF THE MEETING, one of our religious journals states, that "addresses in favour of the Society having been delivered, the meeting, which partook entirely of a devotional character, separated.". We are not inclined to object to this statement. It had been our desire that such should be the character of our proceedings; and perhaps the feeling was deepened by the mention made, that, at the hour of our meeting, prayer was, by previous concert, arising from many a social assembly, and from many a retired closet, on behalf of Israel. Several communications have reached us that so it was, both at home and abroad. And the fact cheers us as we enter on another year, while it inspires feelings of peculiar solemnity, and gives birth to inquiries which we should rejoice to have entertained and responded to in the pages of the Jewish Herald. Our course as a Society has extended over a period of fifteen years. Has success been equivalent with the outlay of time and money? Has it been so decided as the Word of God warranted us to expect? Thankfully admitting that many instances of genuine conversion and living piety enrich our annals of the past, have we gratefully improved the mercy shown? As we retrace the path of peace and brotherly love by which we have been led, the help afforded in circumstances of peculiar difficulty and trial, and the indubitable evidences of the Divine blessing, above referred to,-have the warm emotions of gratitude awakened us to new devotedness, and bidding away the mutterings of doubt and unbelief, have we cherished the hope inspired by study of the Word of God, and gone forward more simply relying on Him in whom the promises of God are ALL yea and amen to the glory of God by us? On the other hand, have our prayers been hindered, and the blessing intercepted by error in our plans, by faults in our agencies, or by failure of cordial support? Have we imbibed the spirit, and followed in the footsteps of the Great Missionary, who came from Heaven, "not to do His own will, but the will of Him who sent Him;" "not to be ministered unto, but to minister?" We have been privileged to gather some of the lost sheep into the fold of Christ, -are they still the objects of our sympathy? Do they live in our prayers, as they did when first introduced to us? Are we ready to fulfil the offices of Christian brotherhood to them? Are our feelings as deep and poignant as once they were concerning those who are living and dying in sin, because rejecting the Son of God? Are we rekindling our love at the Cross, and studying the Word of God for guidance and for strength? But we have prayed, we have evoked a concert of prayer. Are we prepared for the answer,-expecting it,-living and acting under the influence of our prayers? Among the details of the spiritual movement in the United States, that have recently attracted attention, we find it stated that Jews have been brought within its influences. Should we not, as a society of believers, seek a like influence for ourselves, and for the objects of our solicitude? Amidst all that is good and of God in our own and other societies, is there no need of the quickening, guiding, sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit in far more copious measure than has yet been experienced? Let us seek it as men in earnest,-men of one purpose,the servants and witnesses of the Lord Christ; and, seeking it, let us expect it, and, by grace, prepare for it. "Then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord: His going forth is prepared as the morning; and He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth." "I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what He will say unto me. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the appointed time it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it: because it will surely come, it will not tarry." "Prophesy unto the wind (breath), prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon the slain, that they may live." The sacred pleasures of the anniversary were early followed by the note of sorrow, as, on the morning of the 16th of May, the spirit of our loved and revered friend, Dr. Henderson, was summoned away from the fellowship of earth, and from the labours of a long life, to join the spirits of the just in heaven, and in nobler worship to celebrate the praises of Him whose name it had been his privilege to make known amongst us and in distant lands. 66 To the cause of this society he was zealously attached from its commencement. To his pen we are indebted for our earliest publications-for an invaluable lecture on the "Conversion of the Jews," and especially for Scriptural Selections," which have been published in Hebrew, German, Dutch, and English; and which have been, we believe, in many instances, attended with the Divine blessing. As an Honorary Secretary of the Society, Dr. Henderson ever manifested a hearty interest in its constitution and progress, and attended its meetings till growing infirmities detained him from London. We shall ever cherish a grateful and affectionate remembrance of him, and prayerfully desire to follow him, who now, "through faith and patience, inherits the promises." At a meeting of the Committee held on May 19th, it was resolved, "That the following be recorded on the Minutes, and a copy of the same conveyed to Mrs. Henderson; also that a deputation attend the funeral." In recording the removal from amongst them of one who has been associated with them from the beginning, the Committee cannot forbear from expressing the love and veneration in which they hold his memory, and their sense of the eminent services to the cause of Jewish evangelisation rendered by their departed friend and father. His long acquaintance with foreign lands, his extensive knowledge of history, and the wide regards of an expansive and catholic spirit, combining with uncommon devotion to the cause of a much-loved Redeemer, enlisted his whole nature in the missionary enterprise; but notwithstanding his readiness to prosecute it in the remotest fields and on the widest basis, he never forgot that it had been the Master's command to "begin at Jerusalem;" whilst his rare familiarity with eastern languages and his mighty acquaintance with the Hebrew Scriptures carried him with a familiar attraction towards God's ancient people. On the other hand, his benevolent bearing, his fairness in argument, his love of the nation, and his enthusiasm for its literature, secured the esteem and confidence of Jewish scholars and earnest inquirers. Mainly through his zeal for the object, and his influence amongst the Churches, was this Association organised at the outset ; and in obtaining for it public attention in examining and selecting its earlier agents, and in arranging that course of lectures to which he himself so ably contributed, and which went so far to gain over the intelligent sympathy of the Christian community, the services which he rendered were invaluable, and such as to entitle him to the lasting gratitude of all his fellow-labourers. Himself "an Israelite indeed in whom was no guile," his endearing goodness drew all hearts, and, in virtue of a noble constancy and truth of character, he retained to the last the attachment which he so readily gained; and whilst they delight to recal those warm affections which a sober judgment regulated without repressing, and that broad and abounding charity which an extensive knowledge of mankind directed but did not abate, his colleagues would pray for themselves that their own proceedings may be marked by the same love to the Saviour, and the same unwearying delight in that Saviour's service, which gave to his long and blameless career its unwonted unity. And now that they tender their respectful and heartfelt sympathy to his bereaved widow and daughter, they rejoice on their behalf in the strong consolation which mingles with the present trial. To not many has it been vouchsafed, before falling asleep, to serve their generation so well, and seldom has there been gathered home to life's garner a shock of corn more fully ripe. Nor to faith can the effort be great to accompany into the better country one who shewed so plainly whilst amongst us that his citizenship was in heaven. Annual Meeting of the Bentford Auxiliary. THE Annual Meeting of the Brentford, Ealing, Isleworth, and Hounslow Auxiliary was held in the Wesleyan Chapel, Brentford, on the 21st of April. The Rev. Mr. Jackson presided. The Rev. W. C. Yonge reported the amount of Subscriptions for the year £26 14s. 1d. The meeting were interested with particulars of a local character; and allusion was gracefully made to the beneficence of the Baroness Rothschild, exercised without regard to religious distinction, having respect to the helplessness of distress, and aiming to make the needy helpful to themselves. The greater the virtue the more to be desired that Christianity, the crown of excellency, should invest it. The following references were made to articles in publications respecting Brentford : Mr. Faulkner, in his "History of Brentford," p. 125, gives a patent of 9 Edw. I. A.D. 1281. "Of certain custom duties granted for the building of a bridge at Baynford. To wit-For every cartload of building materials for sale, one halfpennythe several other items closing with-for every hundred yards of linen cloth or canvas for sale, one penny: and then it closes with:-We also grant unto you in aid aforesaid, for every Jew or Jewess on horseback, passing over the aforesaid bridge, one penny: and for every Jew or Jewess on foot, one halfpenny; and for the aid aforesaid and for the collecting and keeping in manner aforesaid, we have appointed our well-beloved Thomas de Wyk, John de Osterle, Thomas Tornegold, William de Newman, Robert Tornegold, John Sewell,-" &c. Mr. Faulkner puts this foot-note : "The poor Jew could not even pass over the bridge without being subject to a fine! With what pathos and sympathy does the poet allude to the cruel treatment and sufferings of the Hebrew nation in a barbarous and unfeeling age" "See the doom'd Hebrew of his stores bereft, See holy murder justify the theft, His ravaged gold some useless shrine shall raise, His wife, his babe, denied their little home, Stripp'd, starv'd, unfriended, and unpitied roam.' Savage to Sir Robert Walpole. "Seven years afterwards the Jews were all banished from England. 16,000 Jews were banished by Edward on one day, 8th Oct. 1288. In 1665, Rabbi Manasseh Ben Israel came to England, encouraged by Cromwell. 1666 Charles the Second restored them, for the sake of the Jew whom Monk employed to negotiate his marriage with the Infanta of Portugal." The Rev. F. E. Thompson, in his sketch of the History of Brentford, states: "In the reign of George III. the Jews wished to form themselves into a colony on this spot. Their plan was to buy all the property on both sides of the street; to take down all the buildings, to leave the river side clear for ornamental gardens, and to build on the north side houses of various classes, including, of course, many of the first class. But the king would not listen to it. Perhaps he was unlike his grandfather, George II., who delighted in viewing Old Brentford from Kew Palace, his delight arising from the fact that 'it was like dear Hanover.' I must confess," says the author, "that this opinion of his does not give us much idea about the beauty of the Electoral, now Royal, City. But his grandson would much rather gaze on an ugly town peopled by Christians, than have under his very nose the abomination of a Jewish colony. The project therefore fell to the ground." This was half-acentury ago." The Secretary of the Society attended as a deputation, and his affectionate address and interesting details were highly appreciated. It was suggested by one of the ministers that a monthly lecture, circulating through the district, might be of service, as Christians needed to be informed respecting the claims of the Jews. The meeting was addressed by the Rev. Ebenezer Morley, who also opened it by prayer. Notice. THE MONTHLY DEVOTIONAL MEETING will be held as usual at No. 1, Crescentplace, Blackfriars, on Wednesday Evening, June 16th, at 7 o'clock. The Meeting is open to all friends of Israel. Meetings of Associations, &c. Deputations:-Rev. John Reynolds-Rev. J. Wilkinson-Rev. W. BarkerMessrs. G. Yonge-Ginsburg-Kessler. |