usual questions, which were replied to with ability by the new pastor. The Rev. Archi

bald Jack, M.A., of North Shields, offered the ordination prayer, with the laying on of hands. After the conclusion of the morning service, the ministers and friends from the town and surrounding neighbourhood sat down to an excellent dinner, provided at the Lambton Arms inn; the Rev. Professor Stowell, of Rotherham College, efficiently and humorously discharging the duties of chairman. In the evening, the Scriptures were read and prayer offered by the Rev. R. C. Pritchett, of Darlington. The charge to the minister was given by the Rev. Professor Stowell, and the sermon to the church and congregation was preached by the Rev. James Parsons, of York. The Rev. J. B. Lister, of Northallerton, Goodall of Durham, and Henderson of North Shields, took part in the interesting services. Both morning and evening the congregations were large and respectable. The day was full of promise and of hope. May the union thus formed prove blessed and happy!

ORDINATION.

ON Wednesday, April 25th, the Rev. Walter Gill, late of Hackney College, was ordained to the pastoral office over the Congregational Church, Welford, Northamptonshire. The Rev. T. James, of Yelvertoft, opened the service by reading and prayer; the Rev. S. Ransom, of Hackney College, delivered the discourse on the principles of Congregational dissent; the Rev. H. Toller, of Harborough, read the confession of faith; the Rev. T. Toller, of Kettering, offered the ordination prayer; the Rev. R. Keynes, of Blandford, Dorsetshire, delivered the charge; the Rev. E. T. Prust, of Northampton, opened the evening service; and the Rev. J. A. James, of Birmingham, preached to the people. Other ministers assisted in the services, and the large attendance from the neighbourhood added greatly to the cheerfulness of the day.

HAMPSHIRE ASSOCIATION.

THE half-yearly meeting of the Hampshire Association will be held at Albion Chapel, Southampton, on 26th September, 1849. The Rev. H. Smith, of Brading, will preach in the morning. Subject, "The Scriptural doctrine of the Second Advent." The Rev. Jos. Fletcher, now of Christchurch, Hants, but late of Hanley, Staffordshire, will preach in the evening of the same day.

EDMONTON AND TOTTENHAM CHAPEL

having long been too small for the congregation, and much more so for the populous neigh

bourhood, and a freehold site being obtained, the foundation stone of a much larger building was laid on the 7th of August, by John Hey Puget, Esq., who strongly advocated the voluntary principle, especially in the erection of places of worship. The Rev. Dr. Leifchild then unfolded the principles of Independency in his own clear and strong but kind manner. The Rev. J. De Kewer Williams, the pastor, Dr. Hewlett, T. G. Williams, and Robert Wallace, took part in the service. After a very large company had taken tea, a public meeting was held in the present chapel, when addresses were delivered by the Rev. Messrs. Aveling, Dukes, Gallaway, Wilkinson, and the pastor; W. E. Franks, Esq., presiding, and the Rev. Messrs. D. J. East and M. Jeula engaging in prayer. The statement placed under the stone was encouraging, indicating that in the midst of changes there had been growing prosperity, and the services of the day realized and renewed the hopes of the church.

CALLS ACCEPTED.

THE Rev. Edmund Crisp, late missionary at Bangalore, has accepted the cordial and unanimous invitation to the pastorate of the Congregational Church, Grantham, and commenced his stated labours on the first Sabbath of the month.

THE Rev. G. Hoyle, of Manchester, has received and accepted a unanimous and cordial invitation from the church assembling in Haywood Chapel, Northowram, near Halifax, (late under the pastoral care of the Rev. J. White, deceased,) and intends commencing his pastoral duties there on the first Lord's day in September.

MISCELLANEOUS.

EDIE OCHILTREE.

A FARMER near Roxburgh, at whose house the old man used to be a welcome guest, has erected a plain head-stone over the grave of old Andrew Gemmels, the original of “Edie Ochiltree," in the "Antiquary," with the inscription

"The body of the gentleman-beggar, Andrew Gemmels, alias Edie Ochiltree, was interred here, who died at Roxburgh Newtown, in 1793, aged 106 years."

THE AMERICAN BOARD.

THE whole receipts of the American Board during ten months, ending May 31st, were 242,243 dollars, of which 41,070 dollars was given specially for the debt of the Board, leaving for ordinary purposes the sum of 201,173 dollars. The receipts for ten months ending May 31, 1848, were 199,849; showing an excess of ordinary receipts for 1849 of 1,324 dollars; and a gross increase of 42,394 dollars.

possessed by this tubing for the transmission of sound, he has applied it for the conveyance of messages from the parlour to the kitchen. Even a whisper at the parlour mouth-piece is distinctly heard, when the ear is applied at the other end. Instead, therefore, of the servant having to answer the bell, as formerly, and then descend to the kitchen to bring up what is wanted, the mistress calls attention by gently blowing into the tube, which sounds a whistle in the kitchen, and then makes known her wants to the servant, who is able at once to attend to them. By this means the mistress not only secures the execution of her orders in half the usual time, but the servant is saved a double journey. - Daily News, July 12, 1849.

PALESTINE.

AN ACCOUNT OF THE DIFFERENT JEWISH SECTS IN PALESTINE.

[The following interesting account of the Jewish Sects in the Holy Land is extracted from the admirable work of the Rev. W. J. Woodcock, just published, entitled : "Scripture Lands, being a Visit to the Scenes of the Bible." It is one of the most striking sketches that has seen the light.]

I HAVE been more prolix, perhaps, than travellers usually are on the subject of missions to the Jews; but this will be tedious chiefly to those for whom the subject has little interest at any time, and to those I may give my advice (probably anticipated) to omit the perusal of the last chapter altogether. I must now endeavour to state the result of the few observations I was able to make on the Jews, although in the whole of my tour occasional notices of them of course occur in the chief places of their residence.

The

The modern Jews of Syria and Palestine are divided into two great classes, severally denominated the Sephardim and the Ashcanazim; the first consisting of the descendants of the Spanish Jews, banished from Europe in the reigns of Ferdinand and Isabella, and of Charles the Fifth; the second, being chiefly from Poland and Germany. Sephardim are the most wealthy of the Syrian Jews. At Damascus their houses are adorned with great splendour, though fear compels them to present a round wall on the outside to the eyes of an unjust and avaricious Pasha. In Jerusalem there are very few wealthy Jews: of this class are the proper Jewish inhabitants of the country since the time at least of their Spanish expulsion, the Ashcanazim consisting in chief (though not entirely) of

VOL. XXVII.

persons who have come to the Holy Land from religious motives, with a view of ensuring a passage to heaven by laying their bones in the valley of Jehoshaphat. Judæo-Spanish (a mixture of Hebrew and Spanish), Spanish, and Hebrew, are the languages chiefly spoken among the Sephardim. They are a very handsome race, with black eyes and hair, and the younger women are often of great beauty. Their dress is very much like that of the Moslems, though somewhat less gay, a turban, an under-surtout or tunic with sleeves, bound round the waist with a silk or shawl girdle, and extending nearly down to the feet, a loose over-coat, lined with silk or fur, with red or yellow sleeves. This is the every-day garb. The learned, the Rabbis, and some of the students, wear a high dark-blue velvet cap, having a black and white scarf or turban wound round the lower part,- -a singular head-dress, peculiar to the Jewish people. They pretend that the whole of this dress is very ancient,-upon what foundation, I know not; but it gave an interest to their costume to imagine it might be nearly the same as that worn by our blessed Lord and his apostles.. I took, in Jerusalem, the likeness of a youth about fourteen years of age, the son of Rabbi D. S. Majahr, a lad of studious habits and considerable intelligence; and while he rested his head upon his hand, and sat down, in the Eastern fashion, on a cushion upon the floor, gazing with a curious and rather melancholy air on the progress of my operations, I could not but reflect that such might have been the appearance of " the child Jesus" when he sai in the temple in the midst of the doctors both hearing them and asking them questions The Sephardim have in most cases a separato 2 N

synagogue from the Ashcanazim, but they have only one chief Rabbi. With this class are generally associated the Jews of Tunis and of North Africa, who are mostly of the same Spanish descent.

The Ashcanazim, though poorer in general than the last-named class, are said to be more addicted to learning, and to be stricter in their ceremonial observances. When we remember that they are chiefly composed of men and women who have come to the land of their fathers at great risk and in great poverty, to lay their bones near the site of their old temple, we naturally expect that they should be a religious class. There is a sect of this party which professes more than ordinary strictness, and is called by the name of "Hassadim" (or "Chasidim"). When I was at Hebron I had an opportunity of witnessing the service of this sect in a synagogue there on the morning of a Jewish Sabbath. The behaviour of these men on that occasion was quite painful to observe in children it would have been ludicrous; in men it was distressing.

Upon the theory that their several strange actions promoted the more perfect abstraction of the mind from outward things, to the contemplation of the law of God, they swayed themselves to and fro with great violence; they groaned, they cried, they uttered the wildest and most whimsical sounds, and one old man with a white beard of great length, bent his head in seeming anguish against the door of the cupboard where the law was kept, and knocked loudly upon it with his clenched hand. In some of the younger portion of them I frequently detected a smile when they thought themselves unobserved; but there were others whose emaciated faces, flashing eyes, and deep apparent devotion, impressed upon my mind the strongest conviction of their sincerity. One of these read the portion of the law appointed for the day, swaying his head and the upper part of his body violently backwards and forwards, and chanting the words in a rapid and dismal tone, with certain inflections at the close of the sentences, and in particular passages. This species of chant is, as I was informed, accord

One of them, Joseph Schwartz by name, has published an interesting guide to Jerusalem and the neighbourhood; in which, as I understand (for it is written, of course, in Hebrew), he more than once throws away the evidence of tradition.

I have met with many of this class travelling to the Holy Land; and I remember a poor old woman, who must have been seventy years old, and who was journeying from Russia to Jerusalem all by herself. When I saw her she was in a steamvessel, crowded amongst the goods on the fore part of the deck.

Some of them sang in a squeaking voice, some tossed their hands wildly about, and others laughed in ecstacy. There were several little children going through many of these wild ceremonies with a solemuity eculiar to the youth of the Jewish people.

ing to a prescribed formula which requires considerable study before the exact accentuation is acquired; and so practised is the ear of these Jews to this sort of recitative, that the slightest mistake is immediately detected, and noticed aloud in the synagogue, by the members of the congregation. It is a curious subject of inquiry to trace the same principles operating in nearly the same manner in different ages of the world, changing only their name. In the days of our Lord the strictest and most ostentatious of the Jewish sects was that of the Pharisees: in our days this body retains little but the name, and the actual successors of the ancient Pharisees are the Hasidim.* And if a literal obedience to the rabbinical usages, a proud contempt of the uncircumcised, larger phylacteries, a greater fringe to their talith, and fasting with much appearance of austerity, were, as they deem them, a sure passport to Abraham's bosom, then should we still wonder at their evil report among their brethren, who accuse them of revellings and indulgences not very consistent with the refined spirituality which they profess.

The

The language of the Ashcanazim of course depends upon the country whence they have each emigrated; Judæo-Polish, Hebrew, and Polish German are the most common among them. In personal appearance they are, as a general rule, far below the Sephardim. countenance of the Prussian Jew is often very forbidding; but then we must bear in mind that poverty, fatigue, and the influence of a foreign climate do not present them to us in their best aspect. Their dress is less oriental and rich than that of their native brethren; but the chief difference consists in the cylindrical cap of dark brown fur which is almost universally worn over a white skull-cap, which latter, when exposed, gives them a mean and wretched appearance. Some of them even wear a black napless hat, a remarkable object in Palestine; but these are by no means common. The women of this class of Jews are some of them very handsome; yet their beauty is of a softer and less commanding nature than that of the native Jewess. All of the women, both Sephardim and Ashcanazim, have a beautiful head-dress, consisting of a turban, presenting in front over the forehead a semi-circular appearance, which, being often of a gay colour (lilac and scarlet very commonly), contrasts well with the white drapery in which they infold themselves. Those Jewesses who come from

*This is particularly true as to monastic bodies It is very interesting to observe, in the perusal of their different rules, how similar they were at first, and then to see the successive degeneracy of each body from its first principles giving birth to some new society, with nothing really new but its name.

This moon-shaped turban has been supposed to be derived from the ancient worship of Diana (or

the Austrian dominions and some particular parts of Germany, wear a strip of scarlet cloth or silk loosely folded over their forehead.

There is a third section of the Jews, which in Palestine are insignificant and few in number; but in Constantinople and the Crimea they are more numerous. These are called the Karaite Jews, and present many points of difference from their Israelitish brethren. The talith, or fringed garment, is with them entirely white, save a small head-strip of crimson, on which is embroidered, in golden letters, some sentence from the law. They have separate synagogues and Rabbis, being, in fact, excommunicated by the other Jews, a course which they are not slow to adopt in return. The most interesting point in their customs, however, is their total rejection of tradition and the Talmud for the pure Scriptures of the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms, which, were they more numerous, would furnish reasonable ground for hopes of more numerous conversions than among those who make the Word of God, "now as of old," of none effect by their tradition. At Jerusalem there are a few of these, but their number is very small.

I attended repeatedly the services of the Jewish synagogue while in different parts of the Holy Land. The chief Rabbi seems to take no part in the service, but occupies, with other great men, a place near to the cupboard where the law is kept. The earlier part of the service, which is always in Hebrew, is taken by the "Hazan," or reader, who stands before a desk placed at the east end on the floor of the synagogue; the next part was the repetition of certain prayers, to which the assembly gave their "Amen" with fine unanimity. After this, in Hebrew, there was a hymn sung (the song of Moses over the fallen Egyptians), in sonorous unison, which produced a grand and simple effect. Then the roll of the law, enclosed in a case which worked upon rollers, was taken with great ceremony out of a cupboard in the wall (generally towards the east of the synagogue), and paraded round the assembly, each pious Jew touching it with his fingers and then kissing them. The outer door was then thrown open for a moment, whereat were to be seen always a crowd of women pressing upon the threshold (which they never passed), to get a view of the precious roll.* Then this document (always in clearly written manuscript and on vellum) was taken up into

the moon). It certainly resembles in form the head-dress of that goddess, as she appears in many statues of antiquity; the Diana à la Bêche, for instance, in the Louvre. Yet this alone would, of course, be quite insufficient.

The women sit during the remainder of the service in a latticed gallery, or chamber, looking down into the assembly.

the large pulpit in the centre of the synagogue, and the portion for the day was read by some person who had studied its accentuation, his eye being directed to the words by persons appointed, who held in turn a little silver stylus, with the figure of a hand at the end of it. The persons especially called up to the pulpit for the reading of the law are ordinarily three in number, and represent severally a Cohen, a Levite, and an Israelite. In one part of the service the Cohens found in the synagogue take their stand before the door of the Law, and, covering their faces with their talith, and extending their hands towards the congregation, deliver the priestly blessing. These are denominated the sons of Aaron. Strangers are allowed to be present during the time of service, and, like the Jews themselves, keep the head covered; anything which they deem to be a smile is liable to the open and violent indignation of the assembly. During the celebration of service on the Sabbath, the talith is worn thrown over the head and shoulders, with the fringes at the corners within reach of the hands. This talith is a long white scarf of fine woollen material, having at both ends four or five black transverse stripes, and when, half concealing the faces of those proud-looking men, it is seen on the heads of the whole Israelitish assembly, its effect is in the highest degree picturesque. The length of the fringes to their talith is great, according to the height of their profession of religion. The phylactery is a small square box of black leather, divided internally into four parts, each containing a portion of the law, written beautifully on parchment, and enclosed with many ceremonies. These boxes are two in number, and one of them has the letter on one side and y on the other. Both have two long stripes of leather attached to the bottom of each, by which the one is bound upon the front of the head between the eyes, and the other round the left arm. This is done out of a literal interpretation of the eighth verse of the sixth chapter of Deuteronomy, "Thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes, and thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house and on thy gates." The latter part of this verse is also literally complied with by all the Jews in Palestine. A little hole in the door-post, with a morsel of glass in front, preserves a fragment of parchment containing certain precepts of the law. The value of the phylacteries increases with the eminence of

The ceremonies with the talith and its fringe, at certain intervals in the prayers, and with the phylacteries when they are worn, are all detailed in the interesting work of my friend and fellow-traveller, Mr. Margoliouth, on "Modern Judaism," pp. 81, 82.

These are all fully described in Margoliouth's "Modern Judaism."

their manufacturers' sanctity, and exalted and notorious piety possesses thus the means of turning its reputation for holiness into profit. These appendages are worn during the times of morning devotions, even in private, but not on the Sabbath.

The Jews have also adopted (as I suppose from the Mahommedans) the superstitious reverence for charms which characterises the votaries of most false religious systems. These are generally long strips of parch ment scribbled over with scraps of nonsense and divers mysterious triangles and geometrical enigmas, well calculated, like the horoscopes of our ancient astrologers, and the equally profound absurdities of modern almanac-makers, to produce the most extensive mental bewilderment among a people who exercise a credulous wonder more than the faculty of reason. This science (the produce whereof now, as ever, is a source of profit to the compilers of these anti-diabolical documents) has even given rise to collections of the most approved receipts for protection against the various evils to which flesh is heir, which collections have been published, and form the library of reference for the quacks and practisers of these "curious arts." The charms themselves are placed in little boxes, which are often of silver or other precious material richly carved, and worn particularly by women and children, being fastened round the neck or placed near the heart. Thus we find this wonderful people "dwelling alone," and unnumbered among "the nations," superstitious, loving tradition better than the Holy Scripture, making broad their phylacteries, enlarging the borders of their garments, loving the chief seats in the synagogues, and to be called of men Rabbi; eating still with their loins girded the Lord's passover (the type of a spotless Lamb of whose protecting blood they are yet ignorant), longing still for the coming of Messiah and the glory of his people Israel, priding themselves yet that they are "Abraham's seed," and eyeing with ill disguised "the uncircumcised" and the "Gentile." Thus it is we find and recognise by name, by profession, and by practice, the "dispersed of Judah." On their future destiny, on the withering of their deep-rooted and proud unbelief, on the surpassing glory of their final triumph, who shall speak in terms precise and measured? The world may stagger in wild convulsion, the elements of social discord may burst and overwhelm society, all that was sound in theory may tremble, yet still to me this ancient, hated, persecuted people, sifted, yet guarded by Jehovah's hand, furnish a resting place for faith in God, where, wearied

scorn

As I walked one day down the streets of Jerusalem with a Jew, the Moslem children cast stones at him, and cried "Yehud!" "Yebud!" ("Jew!" "Jew!")

CHARLEROI

in particular, is of great importance, constituting the centre of a population of two hundred thousand souls. Here two ministers would find more work to do, than they could easily perform. The present pastor has laboured round about him as much as his health would allow; exhausted by long fatigue in his Master's service, he is still supported by the delightful conviction, that he has not laboured fruitlessly; besides many souls snatched from the power of darkness during the past year, the Lord has lately given convincing proofs of the presence of his Spirit in the midst of the flock, by a most striking conversion of a numerous family in the middle sphere of life, who have publicly embraced the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

GOLLISSEAU.

The number of members of this flock is very considerable; the pastor has been unwearied in his endeavours to propagate the truth, and the flock has been increased in number, and developed in strength, and an imposing audience attends every Sunday to listen to the word of God. The village of Courcelles, where the light of the Gospel only lately penetrated, forms now an interesting portion of the Church, and augments his labours.

LIEGE

is the province in which the breathing of the Spirit of God is more particularly felt, and if Belgium is the strong-hold of Roman Catholicism, Liege is also the society's strong hold of the Gospel: it possesses three stations, viz., Liege, Nessonveaux, and Spriemont.

It is with extreme pleasure, that the committee, convinced of the sincerity of the convictions of the ex-catholic curate Vleugels, and having experienced the service, which he is fully capable of rendering, as minister of the Gospel, have resolved on augmenting that field of action, by placing Spriemont among the number of their stations. After many journeys, and much exertion, Mr. Vleugels collected funds, in Germany and Liege, to commence the building of a chapel, which has been completed and inaugurated. The