"Mr. R and his friends listened seriously, and examined the portions of Scripture I pointed out, and then allowed me to speak for a long time on this great subject, regarding their salvation. Mr. R-- himself, though he at first made observations which would lead one to think him a 'Rationalist,' gave me every reason to believe that he was on the contrary, deeply concerned to ascertain the truth; and that he made these remarks from an earnest, inquiring state of mind, which may still have to struggle with many difficult insinuations of unbelief. He looks upon Christ as more than man, and is almost a Christian. This he did not conceal; for in the presence of all his friends he boldly said, 'Yes, my dear friends, if Christianity be not true, our Judaism has never fulfilled its end, but must have been a failure!'

"A confession like this, from a man in his position, speaks much in favour of his state of mind. I remained a long time at his house, and when I was about to take leave of him, he agreed to accompany me, the next day, on my journey to Marburg, which, however, he was prevented doing by indisposition.

"I left some useful tracts with him and his friends, and he also bought of me a copy of "The Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation,' with which Dr. Pinkerton supplied me on going into the country.

"I conversed with Dr. L-, a very sincere Israelite, who is anxious to ascertain the truth. He told me that he had been that morning (it being the feast of Pentecost) to the synagogue, but that he felt that his heart was not satisfied, and that he did not derive the spiritual comfort and peace which the ordinances of God ought to impart.

"I told him that this was because the Schechina of the Lord had passed from Israel since their temple was destroyed, and because their present services and worship are not according to God's apppointment. This led us to speak of the great cause of the destruction of Jerusalem, and of the subsequent spread of the gospel over the whole civilized world; and I endeavoured to show him that Christianity was the fullest extension of biblical Judaism, and referred him to several important prophecies of the Old Testament, which clearly indicate this. Gen. xlix. 10; Isa. xi. 10.

"Dr. L- listened with the utmost attention, and then said, with tears in his eyes, 'I believe, my dear friend, that Christianity must be true; and I must confess to you that I am secretly inquiring after it; but one great difficulty I cannot surmount, and that is, the Divinity of Jesus. Oh!' said he, 'I wish that some one would take me by the hand,

stand on slippery ground!' He retired for a moment into his library, and brought in the New Testament, with Luther's Commentary, and said, 'You see I am diligently studying that book, and earnestly wish that I may be able to judge rightly.'

"A young gentleman then came in, and thus our conversation was interrupted.

"I was very sorry to part with Dr. L——, but I supplied him with several tracts. I sold him also a copy of The Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation.'"

6

These extracts indicate the state of mind exhibited by multitudes of educated Jews in Germany. They also point out some of the chief difficulties with which the Missionaries have to contend. The godless lives of professed Christians, and the irrationalism of "rationalistic" criticism and interpretation, have cast a shadow upon the glory of the cross of Christ, and have kept back the Jew from considering the claims of Him "who is over all, God blessed for ever." But do not the above recorded facts encourage those who are interested in the restoration of "the lost sheep of the house of Israel?" Do they not show that the fields are white unto the harvest? And should they not lead the churches to rise and pray, that the Lord would send forth labourers into His harvest, so that the day of ingathering may soon dawn, when "all Israel shall be saved?" Rom xi. 26.

COLONIAL MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

THE importance of this institution is increasing every day. The number of British colonies, their rapidly growing population, augmented by the myriads of emigrants who annually leave our shores, the efforts made by Popery, Puseyism, and nominal Protestantism to indoctrinate the minds of the colonists with pernicious and destructive errors, are considerations which cannot fail, it is thought, to rouse the attention of all who are concerned for the progress of pure Evangelical Christianity. The slender support rendered by British churches to the Colonial Missionary Society, compared with the greatness of its object, can be the result only of a want of thought and reflection. Did our churches, with their pastors, realize the fact, that for the last three or four years more than a quarter of a million of their countrymen have annually become voluntary exiles from the land of their fathers, they would surely feel it a manifest and imperative duty to send to them that gospel which alone can cheer and sustain them under the difficulties with which they have to struggle, and become the power of God to their everlasting salvation. Emigration is still advancing. It is

not too much to suppose that it will ere long amount to half a million every year. Our efforts to provide for these rising empires the means of grace and salvation, ought to increase in at least an equal ratio. If we slumber the enemy will the more diligently sow the tares of mischief and of error. Future generations will deplore the indifference of this. We should arouse ourselves to a degree of effort more in accordance with our professions, and more worthy of our principles. We ought to send out, at the very least, ten or twelve men of sound piety, and indomitable energy, every year. They would require our aid but for a very short space of time, as they would soon gather around them faithful and devoted adherents, who would feel it a privilege to minister to their comfort, and sustain their labours. The Committee have great pleasure in announcing that three brethren have recently embarked for the Australian Colonies. The Rev. T. Waraker, late of Tooting, is destined for Maitland, New South Wales. This town contains a population of six thousand souls; whilst, within a radius of three miles there are no fewer than fourteen or fifteen thousand. The friends in Sydney have already purchased a chapel, in which Mr. Waraker will commence his labours, and have generously engaged to sustain him for the first three years, should he require their assistance so long. The Rev. T. Hamer, late of Middleton, near Manchester, has sailed for Auckland, New Zealand, where, or at the town of Wellington, in that colony, it is expected he will find friends prepared to give him a cordial welcome, and most gladly avail themselves of his ministrations. The Rev. G. Clarke, late a student at Highbury and New College, was ordained to the work of the ministry in Union Chapel, Islington, and is now on his way to Hobart Town, Van Diemen's Land. This is a good beginning. Should the friends of the Society encourage the Committee by their contributions, they are prepared to send out others to important stations, from which they have received earnest solicitations for help. The Committee feel that the time has arrived when tenfold energy must be put forth. Never were the British churches more loudly called upon to enter on a more promising field. The whole scene is "white to the harvest," and if prayers to the Lord of the harvest to send forth labourers, be sincere, it will be shown by more generous contributions, that the object professedly desired may be realized. The Committee are oppressed by the responsibility that rests upon them. They are anxious to be up and doing. God has called them to a truly noble enterprise. They earnestly desire to enter upon it. Will not the churches of Britain, as with cne voice,

say to them, "Go forward, you shall have our sympathies, our prayers, and our money." Let the more affluent members of our churches especially encourage them by a more generous scale of contributions than has hitherto been adopted. If the income of the Society could at once be quadrupled, it would not be more than the pressing necessities of the case demands. Why should it not be done?

THE CHURCH OF THE NESTORIANS; Or, the CHALDEAN CHRISTIANS.

NO. II.

IN resuming my attempt to supply some facts as to the past history, and present condition, of this interesting Christian Society, I notice:

1. The orders of their priesthood, and their mode of worship.-They profess, according to Mr. Layard, to have eight orders of clergy. Another writer I have consulted specities nine, suggesting, however,-which is really the fact that instead of Catholica and Patriarch, it should be or Patriarch; the two names representing only one office, and that, the head of the Chaldean Church. It is curious to notice these minute distinctions of their clergy, as pointing to the early origin of the existing organization of our present episcopal churches. The Church of the Nestorians, it will be remembered, as an independent society, dates back as far as about A.D. 440, and we have no reason to believe that they have modified any of their institutions since that period. Here, then, we have an eightfold multiplication of the one single scriptural office of Presbyter-or Bishop, or Pastor-as it had apparently and probably developed itself throughout all the episcopal churches, so early as the first half of the fifth century of our era. Substantially, we have here the model of our present episcopal churches,the head being represented by the sovereign or the pope.

1. The Katoleeka or Patriarka, the Supreme Head. 2. The Muhan or Metrapo leeta, the Archbishop. 3. The Khalfa or Episkopa, the Bishop. 4. The Arkidyakono, the Archdeacon. 5 The Kasha or Kesheesha, the Priest. 6. The Shammasha, the Deacon. 7. The Hoopodyakono or Subdeacon. 8. The Kardoya, the Reader.

It could be wished that Nestorius had applied the same rule to the officers, as to the doctrines of his church; as, unless the Bible of those days were widely different from our own, we might search it long enough for any of the long string of clerical titles I have given above. "It is not in the Scriptures" was his one constant sufficient objection to the doctrine of the Mother of God," "hence, it can have no place in my system." Pity that the same broom did not sweep the floor of the house which had swept its altar, and that the

unscriptural officers did not share the fate of the unscriptural doctrine.

The five lower grades of clergy are allowed to marry. "In the early ages of the church," Mr. Layard states, "the same privilege was extended to the bishop and archbishop, and even to the patriarch." Here one is glad to find Nestorius again with scripture on his side-"Let a bishop be the husband of one wife"-and to see that in his day the primitive church was still sound on this point. Clerical celibacy, in this ancient church, was then an unknown and strange doctrine. Bishops, archbishops, and patriarchs shared with the inferior clergy the privilege of marriage.

The present Nestorian clergy are all extremely poor, and most of the priests are said to derive their support from manual labour, like the peasants to whom they minister in holy things. Mr. Layard remarks: "I was much touched by the unaffected hospitality and simple manners of the two priests who entertained me. Their dress, torn and soiled, showed that they were poorer than their congregations. Yet they were treated with reverence and respect; the upper places were given to them; they were consulted on all occasions; and no one drew nigh without kissing the hand, scarred by the plough and the implements of the field."

Mr. Layard spent a Sabbath amongst these mountain Christians, and thus had an opportunity of inspecting their present mode of worship, and contrasting it with that of the Romish church. The services commenced at dawn. Two priests presided, attired simply in white surplices. A portion of Scripture was first read, in the ancient Syriac,-the dialect of all their sacred books, and then translated into Chaldee, the native tongue of the worshippers. Prayers were then chanted by the other priest, the congregation either kneeling or standing, as they preferred, and joining in the responses. There were no superstitious forms, beyond the sign of the Cross, made by each on entering the church, and the bowing of the head at each mention of the name of Christ. At the close, the Lord's Supper, or as Mr. Layard, in approved "church" phraseology, expresses it, "the Sacrament," was administered indiscriminately to all present-men, women, and children-in this, resembling the practice of the Abyssinian Christians--and in both kinds. Here there was no withholding of the cup from the laity. This error of Rome has never penetrated the Nestorian church. Ere the congregation broke up, they affectionately embraced one another with a "kiss of charity," and then departed to their mountain homes.

Mr. Layard adds, "I could not but contrast these simple and primitive rites with the senseless mummery and degrading forms of the so-called "converted" or Romanized

Chaldeans of the Plains, lying at the foot of these very Kurdish hills. And it must be confessed, that, defective and unscriptural in some respects, as the picture here given of the Nestorian worship is, by contrast, there is much to interest and refresh us in the scene which it presents. We hear nothing about the Virgin, no images, no saints, but in place of these, the reading of the Scripture, prayer, and the supper of the Lord. We have no pride nor assumption amongst their priesthood, but from the patriarch downwards, the people seem to be bound to the clergy by the law of love. Perhaps the wonder ought to be-bearing in mind the Scripture assertion, "Evil communications corrupt good manners," -not that they have fallen so low, but that they have stopped at the point at which now we find them.

2. Their places of worship.-The first peculiarity which arrests the attention of a stranger, on entering one of their places of worship, is the uncomfortably contracted limits assigned to the doorway. This rarely, if ever, exceeds two feet in height, and is narrow in proportion. The American Missionaries, in their narrative, had referred the strange construction of their doorways to the superstition of the Nestorians. "Is it not written," they report the natives to have said,

Strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth to life?" But Mr. Layard, with his closer power of observation, seems to have given the true reason. "The entrances to Christian churches in the East are generally so constructed, that horses and beasts of burden may not be lodged there by the Mohammedans," who, so far from stumbling at the sacredness of the place, would only delight in the opportunity of thus desecrating the temple of the Christian "Infidel."

Glass is a luxury as yet unknown to the inhabitants of the Kurdish mountains, and hence their churches are very dark, and resemble rather vaulted chambers, under ground. Mr. Layard found their churches destitute of all pictures and ornaments, if we except a few English prints and handkerchiefs-when or why put up, he does not say, -seen hanging on the walls. "A bottle and glass, with a tin plate for the sacrament, stood upon the table; a curtain of coarse cloth hung before the inner recess, the Holy of Holies; and these were all the ornaments and furniture of the place." It must be ob served, however, that, being in expectation of an invasion from some bloodthirsty Mohammedan chief, who had already desolated many of the neighbouring Nestorian villages, the priests had buried the greater part of the church furniture; and hence the common bottle and glass which Mr. Layard saw, might have been, and probably were, temporary substitutes, for more seemly sacramental