found in the book of Shilho, that my trangressions condemned me to Gehenna. (Hell.) In my anxiety, I fled from one place to another, tormented by my conscience and the fear of death. In bondage under the superstitions of the Talmud, I trembled at the slightest noise of my own steps-with loud lamentations I started back in terror from my own shadow, imagining to hear and to see the angel of death, who would snatch me as a reprobate from the earth, and place me at the tribunal of God. I dared not go to bed without candle-light-I wetted my couch with my tears, and my sleep was interrupted by images of the terrors of hell and despair. "Ah, Jehovah!" I cried, "have mercy upon me, a wretched sinner! who has transgressed thy law, and broken his vows." But I found, at that time no answer to my prayers.'

From place to place, he went in vain no change of scene brought him any relief: nor was it likely to do so; under the pressure of this inward suffering, and deep affliction, he might as well have attempted, by changing his position in the sunshine to have fled from his shadow. Under these circumstances, the hope of the advent of the Messiah again dawned on his mind. It is remarkable, that the signs which the Jews consider will precede the Advent of the Messiah, and those by which the Christian Church looks for warnings of the second coming of our Lord, are in many instances the same; and amongst the number is that of a preceding time of tribulation. The fatal disease which raged at Tshidnow, he began to think, might be one of the sorrows which should come; and

it therefore gave him encouragement to look for the fulfilment of his hopes. Little indeed did he know that if it were so, He would come as Judge, "revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 'I will believe in the Messiah when I see him,' said a Jew to a christian missionary; It will be too late!' was the emphatic reply. Not being able to discover from the Talmud-which denounces the attempt as having been already the cause of great error and disappointment—the precise time of the Messiah's appearing, he consulted an aged Israelite, considered to be pious, who assured him that Rabbi Israel, known under the name Baal Shem, declared that the Messiah would come seventy years after his death. Rabbi Israel appeared in Poland about the year 1740; he became the head of a sect among the Jews, called the Chasidim: To have no other will than the will of God, to do good without looking for any other reward, than that of finding new opportunities of fulfilling your duties; to fly from worldly honour, to receive insults patiently, to suffer cheerfully, obey from principles of love, and live in union with God; these are some of their tenets, which were perhaps borrowed from the Christian code; unhappily they were mixed with a great deal of wickedness, superstition and folly.* Whether

* There is a great discrepancy in the various accounts given of this sect: Mr. Lazarus, who passed some portion of his early life amongst them in Russia, says, that the great principle of their system is unity or brotherly love, and their constant aim to

Baal Shem himself pretended to any supernatural power is not known; a book published in 1817, in the Polish Jewish dialect, entitled, The Praises of Israel Baal Shem, Tov,' gives, among other things, the account of his reaching heaven during his life, and obtaining an entrance for prayers, which for fifty years had stood unheard without! Mixed with this fable, is an acknowledgment, that it was only through the help of Messiah-Righteousness, that the gate, for the

abolish self; that they are very liberal and charitable, constantly going about doing good, and visiting the fatherless and the widows.' Dr Jost, a learned reformed Jew, gives the following as some of their religious tenets: A man should have no other will than the will of God. Every man should look upon himself as the object for which the world is created. Do good, without looking to any other reward, than that of finding new opportunities of fulfilling your duties. Fly from worldly honour. Receive insults in silence. Faith and truth are inseparable. Pride is idolatry. Cheerfulness in suffering and obedience from a principle of love, unite us with God. Covetousness must be annihilated.' &c. The Chasidim, or The Righteous,' as the word signifies, far surpassed the rest of the Jews in fastings and ablutions, and other external acts of piety. They are accused of various extravagances; of excessive credulity, and superstitious veneration for their Tsaddik: of using extraordinary gestures in prayer, jumping, writhing, and howling; of drinking wine or spirits to banish melancholy. They study the Cabbala instead of the Talmud, especially the Zohar, or Sepher Zohar, book of splendour: the practical part of which seems to be little more than a system of magic, consisting of a superstitious use of the Scriptures, and especially of the Divine names, with the hope or pretence of effecting things beyond the course of nature. The Chasidim are vehemently opposed by the Rabbinists, and an account of them published in 1799 at Frankfort on the Oder, by Israel Loehel, second Rabbin from Novogroduk in Lithuania, lays to their charge the most abominable doctrines.

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entrance of the prayers was unlocked. David Goldberg does not seem to have attached much value to the prediction thus communicated to him, and once more immersed himself in his studies, with a view of discovering what other way was opened by Jehovah, for the remission of His people's sins, in the place of the sacrifices, which had so long ceased. Maimonides * teaches, that the temple and altar being taken away, there is no other expiation made for sin than repentance only' such does not however appear to be the general feeling; the Talmud looks back upon the past, and calls upon its disciples to trust for pardon to the sacrifices which were offered in the days of Jerusalem's glory and such was the consolation drawn from its pages, by David Goldberg; but like water in the broken cistern, it abided not. 'Our altar,' such is the language of the prayers for the Day of Atonement, 'our altar that removed sin, made atonement for us, and rendered us acceptable to God, exists no more; the continual morning and evening sacrifices have ceased; the burning coals on the altar are quenched in darkness, and the blood and members cease to make atonement. The anointed priest, attired with his numerous garments, faileth; and there is none that is able to make reconciliation by his abundant prayer; both presumptuous and ignorant sins have increased abundantly;

:

* A learned Jew, born at Cordova, A.D. 1131; he was physician to the Sultan Saladin, who entertained for him the greatest respect. He wrote a Commentary on the Mischna, and several other works. His learning, abilities and reputation, were of the highest class.

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our spirit is wounded, our light is quenched.' This is followed by a detail of the services performed anciently by the high priest, on the Day of Atonement, (Lev. xvi.) when, amidst the ceremonial rites, the fervent prayer and solemn confession, the goat, the type of Him who bare the iniquities of His people, was yearly loosened in the wilderness. After this sacred remembrance, the prayer is thus resumed: Thus have I particularly rehearsed the service of the day of Atonement. May the memorial of it be as acceptable as its offering in the temple. O pardon our sins, and make them as white as snow and wool, as it was aforetime, when the appointed man was sent with the kid to the wilderness. We seek for pardon, but have not wherewith to make atonement. The offerings have ceased, and they who made atonement for us are no more. 0 grant us redemption, and cleanse us, according to all that is written in the book; for on this day shall he make an atonement.' According to the word of the Lord, "For on that day shall the Priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. It shall be a Sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls; by a statute for ever:" and again, “And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year." The tenth day of the month Tisri is the time appointed for this Fast.* On that day,

* I am indebted to a learned friend, for the following information concerning the day on which the Jews now hold the Fast of the Atonement.-The Fast of the Atonement falls the present