the world to come, and of Leviathan and other delights. Amen.'

A very remarkable instance of the belief of the Polish Jewess in the efficacy of prayers to the dead occurred very recently. The Jewess of whom it is related has a Christian husband; but this has in no degree lessened her prejudices against Christianity, and she retains, as the following statement from one of our missionaries shews, her profession of "the Jews' religion :".

"This evening a gentleman was with me, from whom I learnt that Mrs.- is seriously thinking of bringing back her husband now in England to Judaism. Her bitter feelings against the Christian faith, have been apparent for some time; but I had hardly thought her to be so superstitious as she really is. Last week an old Jew died here, who in his former years had been rabbi, and was reported to be a great Zaddik (righteous man, i. e., pharisee). As the Jews put all their confidence in such men, she had wished to give him, before his death, a letter to her late father-in-law, that on his arrival in the other world he might deliver it to him. This letter was to contain a statement of his son, her husband, having embraced the Christian religion, and a humble petition that he, i. e., the father, would use his influence and authority to bring back his son to Judaism. One thing, however, prevented her putting this plan into execution, and that was, that the said rabbi, who was to carry the letter, and her father-in-law, had lived in great enmity with each other; she therefore feared that he would not deliver her petition to her father-in-law, and thus abstained from what she considered to be the most eligible mode of proceeding.

"But she has now another plan, which is, to go to the grave of her father-in-law, and with a great variety of superstitious ceremonies, to implore his interference on behalf of his baptized

son.

It is, however, known that her father-inlaw, before he died, ordered among other things that no female should ever tread upon his grave, except (I think) his own daughter; and as it is doubtful whether she, as a daughter-in-law, might not perhaps be included in the privilege, she will undergo particular bathings, and then go to the grave, hoping to meet a willing ear, more especially at the time of the year when the Jews go to the graves of their relations and famous rabbies.

"Mrs. -is no doubt encouraged in her plan by the circumstance of her having some time ago, when one of her children was ill, made use of similar means; for as her child was restored, she ascribes its recovery to her superstitious practices. Who can read such statements, and not pity the daughters of Israel? "In life," in many parts of the world, " they rank with slaves and children. Death is held up to them as an object of terror, and after death their utmost hope is, that the wanderings of their souls may not be protracted, and that the fires of hell may prepare them for Paradise, one of the joys of which is to feast upon salted Leviathan."

Ought we not to pray and to exert ourselves to the utmost, that light and truth may go forth and visit those dark dwellings, where error and superstition and unhappiness so fearfully reign?

Our young readers may well praise and adore the goodness of the Lord who has cast their lot in a happier land, and who has taught them the

blessed truth, that in Christ Jesus there is no difference, that male and female, bond and free, Jew and Gentile, are all one, if believers in Him. How can they give stronger proofs of a thankful heart for God's great goodness to themselves, in granting them all the mercies which flow through Christian mothers, than by seeking in all right ways to bless and save these daughters of Israel?

THE PROMISE AS SURE AS THE

THREATENING.

66

As two Rabbies were approaching Jerusalem, they observed a fox running over the hill of Zion. The one-Rabbi Joshua-wept. The otherRabbi Eliezer-laughed. "Wherefore dost thou laugh?" said he who wept. Nay, wherefore dost thou weep?" said Rabbi Eliezer. "I weep," replied Rabbi Joshua, because I see what is written in Lamentations fulfilled: "Because of Mount Zion, which is desolate, foxes walk upon it."

do

"And therefore," said Rabbi Eliezer, I laugh; for when I see with my own eyes that God has fulfilled his threatenings, I have therein a pledge that he will fulfil his promises; for he is more ready to show mercy than to execute judgment."

HAGAR.

(From the Jewish Chronicle.)
GENESIS XXI. 14-16.

SHE fled, with one reproachful look
On him who bade her go,

And scarcely could the patriarch brook
That glance of voiceless woe:

In vain her quivering lips essay'd
His mercy to implore,

Silent the mandate she obey'd,

And there was seen no more.

The burning waste and lonely wild
Received her as she went;
Hopeless, she clasped her fainting child,
With thirst and sorrow spent.
And in the wilderness so drear,
She raised her voice on high,
And sent forth that heart-stricken prayer,
"Let me not see him die!"

Her beautiful, her only boy,
Her all of hope below;

So long his father's pride and joy,
And yet-from him the blow!
Alone she must his head sustain,
And watch his sinking breath,
And on his bright brow mark the stain
Of the destroyer, Death.

"Let me not see him die," and, lo!

The messenger of peace ;-
Once more her tears forget to flow,
Once more her sorrows cease.
Life, strength, and freedom, now are given
With mighty power to one

Who from his father's roof was driven,
And he-the outcast's son.

How often we, like Hagar, mourn,
When some unlook'd-for blight
Drives us away, no more to turn
To joys we fancied bright.
Forced from our idols to retreat,
And seek the Almighty's care,
Perchance we are sent forth to meet

A desert angel there.

London: Printed at the Operative Jewish Converts' Institution, Palestine Place, Bethnal Green.