must be carried into living and demonstrative practice." "O that we might think, and act," said the lamented Evarts, "under the influence of feelings like these, till the ear shall be saluted from every continent and island with the gladdening shout-the plague is stayed-the wrath of God is averted-the world is transformedChrist is exalted, and his kingdom is universally established in the hearts of the children of men."

Appendix C.

DISSERTATION IV.

CONVERSION OF THE JEWS.

"I WILL take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people and I will be your God." This passage of Scripture is a part of a prophecy respecting the seed of Abraham. No people whatever are so interesting as the Jewish nation. From them have descended Patriarchs, Prophets, Judges, Kings, Priests, and Apostles; and of them, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever. This wonderful people have been in every condition of life; in strength and in weakness; in affluence and in penury; in splendor and in disgrace; in happiness and in misery. They are spoken of in the Scriptures under various appellations. They were at first denominated Hebrews, most probably from the circumstance, that Abraham came from the other side of the river Euphrates into Canaan, the word Heber, from which Hebrew is derived, signifying beyond. They were afterwards called Israelites, from their being the descendants of Israel, the father of the twelve patriarchs; and lastly, they were called Jews from Judah, especially after their deliverance from the Baby

lonian captivity, because the tribe of Judah was the most numerous, powerful, and distinguished of the twelve tribes. They believe in the Old Testament as inspired truth, and in a Messiah yet to come, who shall be to them a temporal Prince and Deliverer, and ultimately, rule King of all nations. They entirely reject the New Testament, and the Saviour it reveals, and depend for salvation upon their own works of righteousness. Most of the modern Jews are Pharisees.* A few only among them are Sadducees †

and Essenes.

In addition to the Old Testament, which they revere as most sacred, they possess the Talmud, which contains their written Rabbinical constitutions, and explications of the law, and a Targum, or Paraphrase upon the Old Testament in the Chaldee language. These are their principal religious books. They have also an oral tradition, or a mysterious kind of science, which they use in the interpretation of the books, both of nature and revelation. This is called Cabala. For the most part, they embrace the literal meaning of the Scriptures, and, consequently, discard their spiritual construction. Hence their religion is chiefly external, and is really no better than the religion of the Koran of the Mohammedans, or of the Vedas of the Hindoos.

*The Pharisees derive their name from a word which signifies to separate. They affect to be more strictly religious than other people, and to possess extensive knowledge of the Divine will and a peculiar interest in the favor of God. "Almost all the modern Jews are Pharisees," says Mr. Buck, "and are as much attached to tradition as their ancestors were, and assert that whoever rejects the oral law deserves death. Hence they entertain implacable hatred to the Caraites, who adhere to the text of Moses, rejecting the Rabbinical interpretation."

The Sadducees arose between two and three hundred years before Christ, and take their name from one Sadoc, a principal leader of the sect. "There are still some of the Sadducees in Africa and in several other places; but they are few in number, at least, there are but very few who declare openly for these opinions."

"The Essenes are a very ancient sect that was spread through Syria, Egypt, and the neighboring countries. They maintained that religion consisted wholly in contemplation and silence. They look upon the law of Moses as an allegorical system of spiritual and mysterious truths; and renounced in its explication all regard to the outward letter."-Buck's Theo. Dictionary.

In this dissertation, it is proposed to notice, First, the number, dispersion, degradation, and oppression of the Jews; and, Secondly, their final restoration to the land of their fathers, the time when this will take place, and their subsequent happy condition.

First, we are to notice the number, dispersion, degradation, and oppression of the Jews. The number of the Jews, at the present time, has been differently computed. A writer of considerable distinction, after much exertion to ascertain their true number, estimates them as follows:

Under the dominion of the Grand Seignor,

In the Barbary States,

In Poland, before the partition of 1772,

In Russia, comprehending Moldavia and Wallachia,

In the different States of Germany,

In Holland and Belgium,

In Sweden and Denmark,

In France,

In Great Britain and her dependences,

In the Italian States,

In the United States of America,

. 2,500,000

7,688,000

In Persia, China, Hindostan, &c. according to the

latest estimates,

Making in the whole,

Perhaps this estimate may not be exactly correct in all respects. The number of Jews in Spain, Portugal, Cochin China, and the remote parts of Persia and India, cannot be accurately ascertained. These Jews embrace all the existing descendants of the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and the remnant of the long lost ten tribes of Israel. This extraordinary people, once the favorites of Jehovah, are now scattered to the four winds of heaven, justly suffering for their rebellion and unbelief, the vials of divine wrath, which their fathers imprecated, when they crucified the Lord of life and glory, and exclaimed, "His blood be

on us and on our children." Looking down the long descent of ages, the omniscient God foretold, by the mouth of his prophets, the future wretched condition of this infatuated nation. "The children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an ephod, and without a teraphim." "And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone. And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest; but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind." "The people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations." "And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a by-word among all nations whither the Lord shall lead thee." "And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations, and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles." "There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." "Behold your house is left unto you desolate." The Jews are then represented as exclaiming, "Our holy and our beautiful house where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire; and all our pleasant things are laid waste."

These prophecies, uttered hundreds of years before the events predicted took place, are most exactly fulfilled in the Jews. Different from the Egyptians, Chaldeans, Greeks, Romans, and all other nations, they have, according to the sure word of prophecy, abode many days destitute of a civil, or religious polity. From the destruction of Jerusalem by Vespasian, the Roman emperor, they have had no sceptre, nor lawgiver; no civil government, or country, of their own; no temple-worship, or sanctuary where the high priest might offer sacrifice. On the 17th