transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him." Dan. ix. 11. Witness also the beautiful prayer and confession of sin, which ascended from the captive in the palace at Shushan, he, who preferred to pass his life amongst his poor, oppressed, ungrateful, rebellious countrymen, to spending his years in peace, luxury, and honour in the Persian palace, Neh. i; xiii. 6, 7, 11, 15, 25, like Moses, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt-No: let the children of Israel look to their own law, and they will find that the sinoffering to the Lord must be a lamb "without BLEMISH; none other can be offered in any sense or degree to bear the sins of the people.

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The Jewish Rabbi rose from prayer, confiding doubtless in the God of his fathers, and devoted himself anew to the study of the scriptures. In deep meditation on all which Moses and the prophets had testified

Vespasian. Indeed after their rejection of their Messiah, the Jews seem to have been easily persuaded to adopt any one as their deliverer, according to the Lord's prophecy concerning them; "Many shall come in my name, and shall deceive many." Some French Jews, in a transport of gratitude for Napoleon's favours to them, extended their hopes of deliverance to a Gentile prince, at least I presume it may be so imagined, from the impious nature of the flattery they offered him, and which must have been distressing in the highest degree to the conscientious among their brethren.

* See Huie's History, p. 221.

concerning the Messiah, there dawned upon him some light of spiritual redemption. The opinion of the learned of the house of Israel, concerning the time and manner of the Messiah's coming, and the nature of his kingdom, is more varied, and more contradictory, than that of the commentators upon prophecy in the christian Church as to time and manner of his second advent. It has been before observed, that the power, character, and actions attributed to the Messiah, by Jewish writers, seem totally incompatible with the idea of a merely temporal deliverance; thus He is called by them the shoot, the brightness, the comforter, Elias, Shiloh; one describing the restoration of Israel by the Messiah in metaphorical terms says, 'the Israelites shall pass through upon dry ground. They passed the first time through a sensible and material sea; but the second shall be the sea of the law, when they shall pass by the way of redemption. Alas! how many ships have been lost till he, to whom belongs the inheritance, or is its Lord, be come.' Again we find a modern Jewish writer, acknowledging as some amongst the characteristic marks of the Messiah,* that he shall command the elements, and they shall obey him, that all judgment is committed to him, that "with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked," that his knowledge will be an emanation of the spirit of the holy God. All this however, as it has been said, is only the acknowledgment of the "glory that should follow," not of the sufferings that should precede. (1 Peter i. 10, 11,) It is yet to them a sealed truth, that the

* Dissertations on the Prophecies, by D. Levi.

partakers of the glory so soon to be revealed, must be bearers of the cross: for "to whom He is the hope of future glory, unto them He is the life of present grace.' Having thus been brought to comprehend in some degree the spiritual nature of the Messiah's kingdom, there dawned upon Joshua's mind another light, from a source, that probably he greatly reverenced, the Talmud. To meet perhaps the scriptures which speak so plainly of the sufferings of Christ, it is there fabled, that there shall be two Messiahs,* and declared that one shall undergo a third of the evils that are in the world. From this, it appeared to Joshua, that the sufferings of the Messiah, however reluctantly acknowledged, could not be entirely denied. The next point of prophecy which arrested his attention was the time at which the Messiah should appear; in the town of Bethlehem; as expressly stated, Micah v. 2, during the existence of the second temple, Haggai ii. 7—10. A prophetical fact so clear, so plain, that some have even declared that the Messiah was born before the destruction of the second temple, and remains concealed; for if now to be fulfilled, the temple must have remained unchanged, the daily sacrifices still be offered, and the priests officiating in their accustomed place. Haggai ii. 7-10. The more he studied, the more perplexed, the more distressed, he became; again he prostrated himself in prayer before the God of Israel, again he implored him to compassionate His miserable, ignorant creature. O Lord God of Israel!'

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* Basnage, 369.

such was his prayer, 'thou hast been my protector, and my Redeemer in many dangers; thou hast broken the fetters of my bondage; thou hast rescued my life from the murderers; and thou hast delivered me from the jaws of death. O come thou now again also to my help, and deliver me from the tormenting doubts which beset me on every side; be thou my guide through the darkness which surrounds me, into light and truth.' With a calmer mind, and a strengthened resolution, he now went again to Dr. Rheinhard, and laid before him his feelings, with an entreaty for aid in his search after truth. The doctor thought it right to point out to him the consequences of the step he seemed inclined to take, and to induce him to weigh well his own sincerity and purity of motive. Doctor,' replied the young Rabbi, deeply affected, temporal advantages my object, then certainly I must remain a Jew; but neither my large patrimony, nor my mother, whom I love most dearly, nor the partiality of my people, nor any other worldly consideration, shall withhold me from seeking Jesus of Nazareth, whom I look upon as the only Saviour of mankind.' The doctor still advised him to consider the matter in earnest prayer before the God of Israel; and before they parted, they joined together in entreating the divine guidance and blessing.

were

Joshua returned home. In ordinary life we constantly see the fulfilment of one of those prophetic warnings, in which the Lord revealed clearly to his people, the difficulties they should have to encounter in following Him; "I am not come to send peace

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in the world ; how often does the entrance of Christianity make a divided household! Natural affection has been mercifully given as a counterpoise to the selfishness of humanity, and has been well compared to a golden chain, which, surrounding the beloved object and bearing it up on every side prevents it from being a burden or a trouble for is not service a pleasure, and does not care cease to be irksome, when it is undertaken for those we love? there is a passage in the life of the pious and excellent Mrs. Walker,* which represents her as going into her husband's study, and when he asked what she would have, making answer, Nothing, my dear, but to ask thee how thou dost, and see if thou wantest any thing,' and then adding with an endearing smile, 'Dost thou love me?' 'to which,' says her husband, when I replied, most dearly;' 'I know it abundantly,' (would she answer), 'to my comfort; but I love to hear thee tell me so.' And once, when I was adding the reasons of my love, and began, First for conscience' she stopt me ere I could proceed, as she was very quick, with, Ah! my dear, I allow conscience to be an excellent principle in all we do, but like it least in conjugal affection. I would have thee love me, not because thou must, but because thou wilt; not as a duty, but delight; we are prone to reluctate against what is imposed, but take pleasure in what we choose.' Is it not so in every relationship of life? Who in the bosom of their family, would con

The Holy Life of Mrs. Elizabeth Walker, by Anthony Walker, D.D. First published in 1690.