Extra offerings thereon-Num. xxviii. 11. To-morrow is New Moon, and I should not fail to sit with the King at meat-1 Sam. xx. 5. It is neither New Moon nor Sabbath-2 Kings iv. 23.

The New Moons and Sabbaths I cannot away with-Isa. i. 13.

I will also cause her mirth to cease, her feast days, her New Moons, and her Sabbaths-Hosea ii. 51.

When will the New Moon be gone, that we may sell corn—Amos viii. 5.

The Rabbies say that the New Moon is a festival particularly given to women, for their unwillingness to give their jewels to make the molten calf.

A few other fasts and festivals are to be found in the Jewish Calendar; but we omit them for the present. The people cannot now observe, as in days of old, any of their religious observances. They have no temple or tabernacle now: they have no priesthood now: they have no burntoffering, no sin-offering, no altar. The records. of the past, the present shadow of former things in the services of the synagogue tell of glory gone, of a people who have the law but cannot keep it, and whose highest attainment must therefore be, as it regards the future, the gloom of uncertainty, the looking forward fearfully to the eternity which awaits them.

Oh! that the Sun of righteousness may soon arise upon them, and put these dark shades to flight!

MISSIONS TO THE JEWS.

JERUSALEM.

House of Industry.

WE are most thankful to tell our readers that the House of Industry, at Jerusalem, has been reopened. The object which this institution is intended to effect, is to afford the means of instruction in various trades, to poor converts, in order that they may earn a livelihood by their own industry, when they have become Christians.

This event, so interesting and important to the Jerusalem mission, took place on the 21st of December (1848). The bishop and the Rev. John Nicolayson proceeded, about one o'clock, to the premises occupied as the House of Industry; where they were met by a numerous assembly, consisting of the members of the mission, the masters of trades, and others, mostly converts and enquirers. Mr. P. J. Hershon has been appointed superintendent of the establishment.

The bishop briefly stated, in German, the wish and purport of the Committee of the Society in the establishment of this institution, and pointed out to the inmates the solemn duties devolving upon them, exhorting them to obey the rules of the house, to be diligent in business, and fervent in spirit.

Mr. Nicolayson then expressed the purport of the several rules and regulations, and after an appropriate exhortation, concluded with prayer, that the blessing and spirit of God might rest on the institution, and give success to its object. The bishop then dismissed the assembly with the blessing.

Three Jews were admitted as residents in the institution at the time of its re-opening; another was admitted in January.

Sudden death of a Convert.

We mentioned, in the account of the consecration of the Church on Mount Zion, that two Israelites were baptized on the afternoon of Sunday, January 21st. On the 24th of that month Mr. Nicolayson says, "Dr. Macgowan has just called to apprize me of the death, quite sudden, this morning, of poor John Jacob, who was baptized (in his usual health) on Sunday last. His health was never good, but his sudden removal was quite unexpected.

"Is it not as if he had just been spared long enough to make his public profession, in baptism, of that faith in Christ, as the Redeemer of Israel and his Saviour, in which he has now departed?"

SCHOOLS IN POSEN.

WE always feel pleasure in referring to these Schools, which constitute a most interesting branch of the London Society's labours. Frequent testimony has been borne to their good results, by both Jews and Christians. All who have been accustomed to have intercourse with Jews, and have had to deal with such as have been brought up in these schools, bear testimony to the great difference which exists between the latter and their Jewish brethren in general, as regards their feelings towards Christianity.

And it is not only the children themselves, on whom the effect is visible, but it may be said in this case, that "the hearts of the parents were

turned to the children." The Rev. J. H. Graf, the missionary in Posen, relates an instance of this kind::

“A bricklayer, a pious Christian, on calling last year on a Jew, a shoemaker, saw at his lodgings a Bible, containing both the Old and New Testament. He asked the Jew whether he read that book, and received this answer from him: The Bible is my daily bread; one of my children received it several years ago, in the school of the missionaries, and ever since I have read in it as much as my business will permit.' This Christian called afterwards repeatedly on his Jewish friend, and conversed with him on religious subjects; and when he had gained his confidence, the Jew told him, that he believed in Jesus Christ, and intended to remove to Berlin, in order to be baptized, as he feared the enmity of the Jews here, and his relatives in particular."

"Thus our school became the instrument of bringing this son of Abraham to the knowledge of Christ."

We believe that many instances of the same kind might be adduced, if the Jews had the courage to confess the impressions made upon them in similar cases.

During the last year, 434 children attended the eight schools supported by the London Society in the Duchy of Posen. The reports received of the diligence and obedience of the children, and their progress in the knowledge of elementary subjects, is very satisfactory.

It is a remarkable fact, that teaching the children to sing, is objected to by the Jews. We are told :

"The instruction in singing meets with much

opposition, especially in the beginning; but when the children once have got a taste for it, they like it extremely. When they are, as for instance in the summer, exhausted and lazy, not fit to pay attention to other subjects, and the teacher says, 'Now, my children, we will have singing,' they cry all at once, 'Yes, let us sing,' and they become lively and full of spirits. Still, however, our schools are not to be compared, as regards singing, to schools visited by children of Christians; but we consider it as an effective means for inclining them to receive the truth or good doctrine. The Jews fear, therefore, the singing much, and do all they can to prejudice the children against it. In Storchnest, they generally stop the teacher when he has taught them for some weeks; and in Margonin, singing cannot be taught at all, as the children are forbidden to sing by the Rabbi."

The children have to learn portions of Scripture and hymns by heart; and by their repeating them at home, the truth is often carried into the houses of Jewish families, into which it would, perhaps, penetrate in no other way. We have also heard of cases, where the parents had their doubts respecting passages of Scripture, to them incomprehensible, dispelled, and their fears removed, by causing their children to inquire of the teacher the true meaning of different prophecies, when they themselves had been kept from doing it for fear of their brethren, or had no convenient opportunity to come in contact with the teacher. Respecting the progress of the children in knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, during the past year, the Report before us states:

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As to their knowledge of the Bible they gave me entire satisfaction. I found the children ac