"O God of Hosts! Thou who of old crated the heavens, and brought forth with great power the earth, and then that dwell therein; who by thy great goodness dost cause the ground to produce for man and every living thing; and by the abundance of its fruit dost keep alive the breath of man, and satisfy the desire of all thy creatures. We acknowledge that thy tender mercies are over all thy works: Thou art good and beneficent to all mankind, but, O Lord, with shame we confess before thee, that our transgressions have withholden good things from us-that justly hast Thou prevented the fields from yielding food sufficient to satisfy thy creatures, and caused us to dread thy righteous displeasure.

"But, O merciful Father, let thy divine attribute of mercy again open thy good hand to us, and may all the inhabitants of this realm thus receive abundantly from Thy treasures, that the land may again yield her fruits in full, and give food to all flesh; heal her breaches,' so that there may be no want nor famine in any of our cities, but may all be filled with these Thy

mercies.

"We beseech Thee, O Lord, also to make the heart of man tender, so that he may love and assist his distressed brother; that he may draw out his soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul at all times, for ever and ever. Amen."

RESTORATION OF THE JEWS.

THE attention which has lately been given to the subject of the restoration of God's ancient people to the land of their fathers, is indeed

marvellous. We rejoice in it, not on account of the speculations which have arisen as to the way in which they will be restored, but because it affords a proof that vast numbers of Christians have been led to acknowledge the truth of God's promises to his ancient people, in their plain historical meaning, and to cease to treat them as so many allegories in which one thing was said whilst another was meant. There is an interesting article on the return of the Jews in the Christian Guardian for October of the present year, from which we give the following extract, as to the productiveness of the land of Israel, when occupied again by those whose it is by an inalienable right bestowed upon them by the God of their fathers, and who says that in the days of their repentance in their enemies' countries, "I WILL REMEMBER THE LAND."

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Every attempt to colonize the Jews in other countries has failed-their eyes have steadily rested on their beloved Jerusalem, and they have said, The time will come, the

promise will be fulfilled.'

In

"The Jews are in a most favourable position to re-possess themselves of the promised land and organize a free and liberal government. Poland, Moldavia, Wallachia, on the Rhine and Danube, and wherever the illiberality of the governments has not interposed obstacles, they are practical farmers. Agriculture was once their only natural employment. The land is now desolate, according to the prediction of the Prophets; but it is full of hope and promise. The soil is rich, loamy, and every where indicates fruitfulness, and the magnificent cedars of Leba

non show the strength of the soil on the highest elevations. The climate is mild and salubrious, and double crops in the low lands may be annually anticipated. Every thing is produced in the greatest variety; wheat, barley, rye, corn, oats, and the cotton plant in great abundance. The sugar cane is cultivated with success; tobacco grows plentifully on the mountains, indigo is produced in abundance on the banks of the Jordan; olives and olive-oil are every where found, the mulberry almost grows wild, out of which the most beautiful silk is made; grapes of the largest kind flourish every where; cochineal is produced in abundance on the coasts and can be most profitably cultivated. The coffee tree grows almost spontaneously, and oranges, figs, dates, pomegranates, peaches, apples, plums, nectarines, pine-apples, and all the tropical fruits known to us, flourish every where about Syria. The several ports in the Mediterranean which formerly carried on a most valuable commerce can be advantageously re-occupied. Manufactures of wool, cotton, and silk could furnish all the Levant and the islands of the Mediterranean with useful fabrics. In a circumference within twenty days' travel of the Holy City, two millions of Jews reside. Of the two-and-a-half tribes which moved east of the trans-Jordanic cities, Judah and Benjamin and half Manasseh, I compute the number, in every part of the world, as exceeding six millions. Of the missing nine-and-a-half tribes, part of which are in Turkey, China, Hindostan, Persia, and on the Continent, it is impossible to ascertain the numerical force. Many only retain the strict observance

of the Mosaic laws, rejecting the Talmud and commentaries; others in Syria, Egypt, and Turkey are rigid observers of the ceremonies.

MISSIONS TO THE JEWS.

AMSTERDAM.

(Extracts from the Journal of the Rev. C. W. H. Pauli.)

STATE OF THE JEWS.

HERE among the 30,000 Jews in this city the spirit of reform, which has stepped over from the French and German synagogues, is casting down the strongholds of human inventions and traditions, and I see, with unspeakable delight, the walls of the dungeons of Talmudical darkness tottering to their very foundations. Division is making rapid progress here, and in the Rotterdam synagogues, and numerous families separate from them. They drift, about like a vessel that has lost her rudder, upon the uncertain waves of a self-invented natural religion.

The fact stands before our eyes, that human tradition added to the simple word of God, will, and naturally must, lead the people away from God into the miry depths of Infidelity. This we see now in our days not only among the Jews, but also in the Church of the Pope, otherwise called the "Romish Church," and among all the different parties and sects, which have now their various systems of divinity, the rule of their faith, instead of the Bible. Call that system German philosophy, or call it any thing or ism you please, instead of leading its

devotee to God, it leads him imperceptibly to everlasting destruction and misery.

But there is one particular cause of hope, when considering the low estate of infidelity into which such great masses of the Jews are sinking so fast; and this cause of hope is no other than the covenant promise God has given to his ancient people. No mass of Jews can remain for any great period of time without something positive in their creed. They are designed for the harbingers and heralds of the Gospel to the Gentile world, aud when, therefore, I look upon the turning of the wheel of prophecy, and see the manifold signs of the times heaping themselves up around me, I cannot remain standing on the watchtower upon which my Lord has placed me, with my eyes open, looking at what is coming. The state of the Jews in Holland is most deplorable; the poor Jews can neither read nor write. Their poverty is beyond all description. There are some very rich Jews here too; but, alas! they worship the God of this world, and have no feeling beyond getting money. The political liberty which the Jews in this country enjoy has brought them, if possible, further from the Christian than they stood before. They remain aliens in a country which has opened its arms to embrace them as citizens, and yet they are looked upon as foreigners. The student of the oracles of God can understand this strange anomaly. Abraham's children have but one native soil, that which was given them by God,-the land of promise. Jewish Hollanders remain in the midst of Holland the inhabitants of Palestine, in their language, in their habits, and customs, and in their association of ideas. It is true you may