Thus do the children of Judah lament for the past, and weep over the present. Oh that they would turn to him, whose presence once made the glory of their latter temple greater than the glory of the former one! He lovingly invited their forefathers by his own voice, and now he invites them, on the same spot, by the ministers of his word. There the truth of his prediction respecting Jerusalem and her children is seen in all its terrible reality. There may the truth of his Gospel be felt in all its saving power!

ANCIENT PARABOLIC JEWISH HYMN. FEW of our young readers imagine that the origin of some of the familiar rhyming puzzles of their nursery days is to be found in a Jewish service-book, in the form of a hymn, which is sung at the feast of Passover, and is intended to commemorate some of the principal events of their history.

The original is in the Chaldee Language, and is found in the Sepher Haggadah, fol. 23.

We give both the hymn and the interpretation, not as in themselves instructive, but curious, and as illustrating the fact, that sometimes under absurd fables, a true history is hidden, and under an allegory a lesson of real instruction.

1. A kid, a kid my father bought, For two pieces of money:

A kid, a kid.

2. Then came the cat, and ate the kid,

That my father bought,

For two pieces of money:

A kid, a kid.

3. Then came the dog, and bit the cat,

That ate the kid,

That my father bought,

For two pieces of money:

A kid, a kid.

4. Then came the staff, and beat the dog,

That bit the cat,

That ate the kid,

That my father bought,

For two pieces of money:
A kid, a kid.

5. Then came the fire, and burned the staff,
That beat the dog,

That bit the cat,

That ate the kid,

That my father bought,

For two pieces of money:

A kid, a kid.

6. Then came the water, and quenched the fire,

That burned the staff,

That beat the dog,

That bit the cat,

That ate the kid,

That my father bought,

For two pieces of money:

A kid, a kid.

7. Then came the ox, and drank the water,

That quenched the fire,

That burned the staff,

That beat the dog,

That bit the cat,

That ate the kid,

That my father bought,

For two pieces of money:

A kid, a kid.

8. Then came the butcher, and slew the ox,

That drank the water,

That quenched the fire,
That burned the staff,

9. Then came the angel of death, and killed the butcher,

That slew the ox,

That drank the water,

That quenched the fire,
That burned the staff,

That beat the dog,

That bit the cat,

That ate the kid,

That my father bought,

For two pieces of money:

A kid, a kid.

10. Then came the Holy One, blessed be He!

And killed the angel of death,

That killed the butcher,

That slew the ox,

That drank the water,
That quenched the fire,
That burned the staff,
That beat the dog,
That bit the cat,

That ate the kid,

That my father bought,

For two pieces of money:

A kid, a kid.

1. The kid, which was one of the pure animals, denotes the Hebrews.

The father, by whom it was purchased, is Jehovah, who represents himself as sustaining this relation to the Hebrew nation.

The two pieces of money, signify Moses and Aaron, through whose mediation the Hebrews were brought out of Egypt.

2. The cat denotes the Assyrians, by whom the ten tribes were carried into captivity.

3. The dog is symbolical of the Babylonians. 4. The staff signifies the Persians.

5. The fire indicates the Grecian empire, under Alexander the Great.

6. The water betokens the Roman, or the fourth of the great monarchies, to whose dominion the Jews were subjected.

7. The ox is a symbol of the Saracens, who subdued Palestine and brought it under the Chaliphate. 8. The butcher that killed the ox denotes the Crusaders, by whom the holy land was wrested out of the hands of the Saracens.

9. The angel of death signifies the Turkish power, by which the land of Palestine was taken from the Franks, and to which it is still subject.

10 The commencement of the tenth stanza is designed to show that God will take signal vengance on the Turks, immediately after whose overthrow the Jews are to be restored to their own land, and live under the government of their long expected Messiah.

PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM.

FAR from the country of her birth,

An outcast and forlorn;
Israel, a wanderer on the earth,
Her chastisement hath borne.1
Her destines are glorious yet,
Though sad and exiled now;
God's seal in steadfast witness set,
Beams on her crownless brow.2

A living, though a blasted tree,
She shall again take root;
Shall stretch her branches to the sea,
And fill the earth with fruit.3

1 Leviticus xxvi. 33, 41.

2 Leviticus xxvi. 44, 45; Isaiah xlix. 14-17.
3 Romans xi. 23; Psalm 1xxx. 8—19.

And He who drove His people forth,

Shall gather them once more;

From east and west, and south and north,
His captives shall restore.

The Lord shall bless His chosen race,
And make them know His voice;
And in the brightness of His face,
They shall again rejoice.5

Again the Glory of the Lord,

On Zion's hill shall rest;

Thence shall go forth His glorious word,
And thence the world be blest.6

Though hills remove and mountains quake,
God's mercy shall not cease,

Toward Abraham's seed; nor will He break
His covenant of peace."

Though now awhile the light may seem,
In clouds of wrath concealed;

Those clouds shall pass, and light shall gleam,

To all the earth revealed.8

And Israel's Lord with mighty hand,

Shall execute His will;

And in His people and His land,
His promises fulfil.9

Shepherd of Israel! gracious Lord!

Grant that we may behold

Thy scattered flock with joy restored,
And gathered to their fold.10

Isaiah lvi. 8; xi. 11, 12; xliii. 5, 6; xlix. 12. 5 Isaiah lii. 6; lx. 19, 20; lxi. 3, 10. 6 Isaiah iv. 5; lix. 20; Zechariah viii. 3; xi. 19. Isaiah liv. 10; Jeremiah xxxi. 36, 37. 8 Isaiah liv. 8; lx. 1-3; xl. 5.

9 Isaiah xli, 20; Jeremiah xxxiii. 10-16.
10 Psalm lxxx. 1; Ezekiel xxxiv. 11-23.

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