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owards the sea. Here is a vast chasm in the hill, opening to the sea, and paved ith stone steps extending from the summit of the hill to the sea,- -a distance of about 30 rods. At the foot of the hill our attendant pointed us to the print of Vishnu's foot, which was impressed on a rock when he clave the mountain. We were then directed to a cavity extending nearly 20 feet into a rock, opening to le sea, to a spring of fresh water, apparently springing from the rock beneath. Before our guides could approach the spring, they performed many ceremonies to the god of the place. Though but a small portion of time was afforded for religious conversation with these villagers, yet some books were left among them,

18. Spent the day at a village of bramhuns, who had not before heard any particulars of the Christian religion. They were very fond of conversation on Political subjects, and seemed by no means pleased with the change of government, which their country had recently experienced. By perpetually mentioning the privileges which they (the bramhuns) had enjoyed under the Peshwa's government, they implicitly complained of oppression, or rather of the want of favors, from the English government. They seemed reluctant to admit, that' the religion of Christ inculcated peace and kindness to all mankind. Though they appeared ready to receive books which I gave them; yet here, as in most other villages of bramhuns, great caution was manifested, lest they should do something inconsistent with their own religion.

20. Spent the day in a pleasant and populous village, five miles from Bankote. Have seldom found a stronger desire to hear instruction, and to receive books, than among this people. After spending more than two hours, in conversing with the people who came under the shade where I sat, I found myself necessitated to lie down to rest, as my lungs were quite exhausted. Here I was much pleased to see various companies of bramhunical boys collected under the shade of the trees, to read the books I had previously given them. As I was about to leave this interesting village, a young man came in haste, and inquired, whether I could give him a book which explained the doctrine of the unity of God, and proved that worship should be paid to no other than the invisible Spirit, whom he heard me speak of in the morning. I was much pleased to see a disposition of inquiry excited in the mind of this youth, but was sorry to tell him I had distributed all the books which I had brought with me.

29. Left Bankote with the design of spending ten or twelve days at Rawadunda, a town about 30 miles south of Bombay. In this town and neighborhood we have three schools. Here are no Europeans. While here, we lived almost entirely according to the style of the natives. Spent considerable time with a small village of Jews in the town. They are exceedingly ignorant of their own history and Scriptures; and, though the children of Abraham, according to the flesh, are nearly as ignorant of the true God, as the heathen around them.

Nov. 3. Visited Allabay, about 9 miles from Rawadunda. This is the capital of the kingdom of a petty native prince. Here we have one school. About 10 o'clock in the evening I received an invitation to visit the king, (or rather the regent, as the king is quite a child.) I found him a very intelligent, shrewd bramhun. He conversed on a variety of subjects, and at length requested me to give a general statement of the Christian system of religion, which I was very happy to do. He inquired definitely what my opinions were concerning the Hindoo system of idol worship. In reply to my statement he observed, (as is very frequently done among the higher class of these people,) as the minds of men could not comprehend and worship the invisible God, it was reasonable and suitable, that material objects should be selected as the representatives of God, or as the media, by which weak minds might come to a knowledge of God. In reply to this I remarked, that as God is an invisible Spirit, no material object could be rationally considered as representing him; for it would be in vain to attempt by imagery a true delineation of that which is immaterial; and that whatever images were made to represent God, would, if they had any influence, tend to produce erroneous ideas of the Invisible Spirit.

After presenting him copies of all the books I had with me, which he kindly accepted for himself and the young king, I retired to my lodgings, where I found a supply of sugar, rice, ghee, fruit, &c. sent by the regent for my use.

4. This morning, before I left Allabay, had the pleasure of seeing nearly black Jews together, who appeared much interested on finding that my account of the creation, the flood, &c. corresponded with their own history When they observed that I spoke respectfully of Abraham, Moses, and the Prophets, their applauses were quite boisterous. But alas, they know nothing of Jesus Christ; but are expecting they know not what. They were, however, very attentive to a short history of him, who, they were assured, was the true Messiah, the seed of Abraham.

5. Spent considerable time to day in viewing the ruins of Portuguese magnifcence and splendor at Rawadunda. The fort, which is nearly two miles in cir cumference, is almost filled with ruins of churches, monasteries, &c. Found a small building, much obscured by a young growth of trees and brambles, over the door of which was a Latin inscription noting the era when St. Francis Xavier left Rawadunda for Goa, which was in 1640.

6. Visited two or three villages south of Rawadunda: found a small village of Catholics. Their priest was educated at Goa. He lamented the falling state of the Catholics. He seemed by no means hostile to Protestants, and spoke favorably of the exertions of Bible Societies, &c. With him I dined-had considerable conversation on religious subjects, and cannot but hope, that he is experimentally acquainted with the Gospel, though considerably attached to the forms of his mother church,

In the villages, and in almost all the towns which I have visited on the coast, many and urgent applications have been made for schools. The fame of our charity schools is so widely spread, that I can hardly enter a village without being told, that the people are poor, and unable to furnish the means of instruction, and would deem it a great favor to have schools established among them. But I am obliged to tell them, that for want of pecuniary means we cannot comply with their requests at present. O how desirable is it, that schools should be established in every village, that children, who otherwise will probably grow up and die in ignorance, might be taught to read in their own language the word of God, which is able to make them wise unto salvation.

11. Left Rawadunda with my family for Bombay, after being absent nearly six weeks.

Dec. 7. We have this day attempted to have a religious exercise at one of our school rooms, more resembling public worship than any thing we have hitherto witnessed among the heathen. Nearly 150 natives were present, and were tolerably attentive.

The natives are peculiarly fond of singing. I can often collect people for the purpose of religious instruction by singing a hymn, when otherwise they would seem indifferent to my story.

10. Heard this day of the death of one of our native school-masters on the coast. He was a Jew, possessed considerable knowledge of the Christian relig ion, and at times has told me, that he did believe and trust in Christ for salvation. Poor man: he has gone to have his faith tried by the Searcher of hearts.

Our native school teachers have an opportunity of acquiring very considerable knowledge of Christian doctrine. They can generally repeat from memory the ten commandments, catechisms, and indeed every thing that we require the boys to learn. We hope and pray that their hearts may be opened to receive the truth.

18. Find our school rooms very advantageous places for instructing the people who do not belong to the schools. These rooms are generally situated near the public roads, and when hearing the boys read, and repeat the catechism, many, who are passing by, stop to listen. Not unfrequently have I seen 50 or 60 persons collected at a time. When we are depressed by the consideration of the general inattention of the people to our message, the mind is often cheered by the hope and prospect, that some of the rising generation are storing their minds with truth, which will hereafter make them wise unto salvation.

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From the Appendix to the Eleventh Report of the London Society.. LETTER FROM THE REV. W. JOWETT AT MALTA.

REV. AND DEAR SIR,

Malta, August 4, 1818.

I OUGHT, I am sure, to apologize for having so long delayed to address you, in reply to various queries with which you furnished me relative to the Jews. My delay has not arisen from any indifference to that great cause in which you are engaged; and which, although hitherto less popular and less patronized than the subject of Christian Missions, deserves on some accounts, to take the rank of precedence; for who have been the noblest missionaries, if not the primitive converted Jews; and who will at some future time, give modern missionaries a lecture and an example, that will shame our present, best exertions, if not the Jews? I view your Society, therefore, as entitled to the tenderest sympathy in all its difficulties, the highest veneration for its objects, and the most disinterested, self denying, unwearied co-operation in its labors. Bible and Missionary Societies should every where be tributary to you: you will one day repay them with large interest. My regret has been, that my employments, dispersed over so many subjects and countries, have given me little opportunity of concentrating my attention to any one. Will you accept then the offering of a few incidents and observations gleaned from my journals? They may interest some of your readers, and take for their motto, "Line must be upon line, line upon line; here

a litle and there a little."

When I was at Corfu, in the autumn of 1816, I was very intimate with the most learned of the Jews in those parts, rabbi Lazzaro Mordos. He is an old man, nearly blind, and quite deaf, a physician; he occupied the highest government situation that is held by natives in the Board of Health. I was introduced to him, by his Highness Baron Theotoky, President of the Senate. We frequently conversed and argued together; and our friendship is kept up by correspondence, chiefly relative to the Hebrew New Testament. His weak side is the love of books; and he has collected a very large library, in which I found many of the works of the Christian fathers, as Clemens Alexandrinus, Cyprian, Augustine, Basil, Tertullian, and others. These he procured, that he might see what Christianity is; he has also the whole Bible in several languages; but unhappily, his reading has only fixed him deeper in his prejudices. To the various arguments which I brought from the Old Testament at different times, he answered me as follows:

The title "Emmanuel, God with us," being adduced, he said, What does that matter? our friend Baron Theotoky is called Emmanuel;-nor would he allow any force to the custom of the Jews, in giving names significant of character or office. To the title, "The everlasting Father," he only objected, that many of these passages were very obscure. I opened to Daniel ix, 25, 26, and desired to know how he explained a prophecy so clearly declarative of the time, when Christ was to appear. He said that the premises of the prophecy had not yet taken place; that the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem, according to the plan laid down by Ezekiel, had not yet gone forth; that the temple of Zerubbabel was nothing to the purpose. At that time, only fifty or sixty thousand returned, while multitudes in the Assyrian empire, and in Spain, refused to accompany them: so that the nation might be considered as never having quitted its state of captivity. I then referred him to the prophecy of Haggai ii, 3, and said, You make the same objection to the second temple, as was made to it at the time of its building: "Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? And how do you see it now? Is it not in your eyes, in comparison of it, as nothing?" And yet the glory of this latter house was to be greater than that of the former, inasmuch as it was to be honored by the presence of the Messiah, the desire of all nations. He said, that this prophecy still remained to be accomplished, and the temple would be rebuilt in its former splendor. I often pressed him to say when they expected this to take place? He always answered, It was impossible for them to know. "Have the Jews then, no idea of the time when they shall be restored to Jerusalem-do they never discuss this question-do they

never consult among themselves-do they propose nothing?" "No," he said, "it is prohibited them to agitate these questions; they wait till God shall think them worthy of this favor, and by the special interposition of his providence restore them." "Then they expect some miracle?" "Yes." "Of a political, or physical nature?" He said, that as God had changed the course of nature in former times to do honor to their nation, so he might again; but that they were forbidden to agitate those questions; they must wait till God should account them worthy. I referred him to Isaiah liii, and asked to whom he thought that could relate? He said, It was difficult to tell; and that he had before said, there were many things in the prophecies, hard to be understood. But, I replied, nothing can be more easy and simple than its application to the history of Jesus Christ. He immedi ately changed the subject by saying, "the great argument in our favor, is, that the law of Moses will never change. The last of the prophets leaves us this injunction, Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments." Mal. iv, 4. He added, "Of Christians, I think the protestants the most simple." I asked him, what he thought of the worship which some pay to the Virgin Mary and the saints; whether that, according to his view, was pure Christianity? He simply shook his head, as implying that this was the kind of thing he had alluded to in his remark. It is an obvious reflection, indeed, how peculiarly ill adapted a corrupted Christianity is to propagate itself. To Christianity, even in its simplest form, the Jews and Mahometans alike object, that we destroy the doctrine of the unity of God, and worship three Gods: what must they feel then towards those who seem to worship not the Creator only, but also his creatures, &c.

I often related to him what they were doing in England with a view to the conversion of the Jews; and asked him, in what light such a fact struck him? Oh! so did the propaganda; he replied: how many books did they publish! What pains did they take!* But (with an air of confidence, he added,) it is an impossibility! And what do you think of the publication of the Hebrew Gospels? The morality of the Gospel, he said, is most excellent, all borrowed from our Scriptures; but the story is not true. He admires the style, and wonders how they came to write such pure Hebrew. The type also pleases him. He had no Hebrew books of English typography. For this part of the world, Venice formerly, but latterly Vienna, has been the chief place for Hebrew printing: and still more recently, Leghorn,

He always expressed himself much pleased with the kind and tolerant spirit displayed by the British nation towards the Jews. This they have, indeed, reason to acknowledge; for previously to our possession of the Ionian islands, they were in no little fear of the Greeks. Under the French, they had, with their usual temper for taking advantage, gained much in the way of usury, bond, and mortgage from the natives. This they could do with considerable countenance; multitudes of the officers in the French armies being Jews of various nations of the Continent, and well regarded by Buonaparte. The heart-burnings which thus grew be ween the Jews and the Ionians, generally found vent about the time of Easter, at the Christian solemnities. A proof of this is found in the strong proclamations of the British government, which found it necessary for the protection of the persons of the Jews, to confine them during the holy week to their own quarters; and to threaten heavy penalties on those who should insult or injure them. They are in number about one thousand at Corfu, and live entirely in the city.

I asked rabbi Mordos if he had any cabbalistical books? He rejected the term cabbalistical, saying, all the Jews believed in the rabbinical traditions. I quoted Basnage's opinion, that there are many Caraites in the Crimea. He reproaches the Caraites, however, with having traditions of their own, and not being literal in their interpretations. I asked if there are not also some Sadducees. He said,

I have been credibly informed, that the condition, upon which the Jews enjoyed tolera tion at Rome, was-besides payment of money-an attendance upon a weekly lecture deliv ered by some learned priest in one of the churches; in which the question between the Jews and Christians was regularly discussed. The attendance of the Jews residing at Rome was obligatory: with the exception of this circumstance, the design seems excellent. It is said, that conversions not unfrequently took place. Whether since the late troubles they have been able to set the system on foot again, I have not heard. It is needless for me to notice, how judicious a measure was the establishment of Jewish lectures by the Society in London.

Yes, in Africa, in Egypt; but I found that by these he meant a sect, that has made some innovations in the calendar and ceremonies of the Jewish church. I asked therefore if there were not some infidels and free-thinkers, admirers of Voltaire and such authors, who disbelieved Moses and the prophets? he answered, Too many, every where; and many who were infidels, from reading more ancient infidel writers!

This Rabbi, deservedly in esteem for his learning, was very well pleased when we offered to come and hear him preach; nor were we less pleased with his offer to preach. I asked him what would be his subject? This, he said, on which we are conversing,-morality the basis of faith. I do not trouble the people with much dogma, they cannot understand doctrines; I dwell chiefly on morals, particularly on this point, "To love our enemies as well as our friends." Some days after I went with Baron Theotoky to the Synagogue to hear his sermon. I was much struck in the course of the service, to hear the marked and rather forward manner, in which they prayed for his Excellency, the Lord High Commissioner, and for the president of the Senate, Baron Theotoky. This they did twice, and very loudly, as if they meant to commend their loyalty to notice: and this indeed is a virtue, the praise of which I never heard denied them. The sermon at length began. It was in Italian and lasted about twenty-five minutes. Rabbi Mordos first commented on the excellence of the institution of the Sabbath (it was our Saturday:) he then proceeded to point out the insufficiency of mere ceremonial observances, without a proper state of heart. He quoted Ísaiah i. to prove that sacrifices alone were not acceptable to God, unless the heart were offered up and given to him. "It is easy to say our regular prayers: it is easy to take money out of the purse and bestow alms: but God requires that the heart should be in a charitable state, ready to forgive an injury, to check the first risings of resentment, to forbear, and to return good for evil. Excellently does Solomon advise, If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink, &c. Some may say, they cannot suppress their passions, they cannot correct rooted habits. Ah! this is the language of low and base people; people ignorant of morals, and of the beauty of the divine law!" Such was the general outline of his discourse. At the last-mentioned passage, I own that expression instantly occurred to my memory, "This people which knoweth not the law, are cursed!" The self-righteous system of the Jew has, indeed, a very natura! tendency to foster a contempt of those, who seem inferior in religious attainments. It is a system very discouraging to a man touched with a sense of his guilt and weakness. How different is the language of the Gospel, which points out to us that true High-Priest, "who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way!"

He explains away the meaning of sacrifices after their manner. In conversation he advanced his favorite maxim, that morals are the great end of Revelation. I urged that it appeared a matter of the first consequence for sinful man to discover a mediator between him and his offended God. This, he said, is done by piety and morality. "But were not the sacrifices intended as a type of some great Atonement or Mediation?" No; they were designed to touch the heart with compunction and lead men to repentance.

Some of their Rabbins, he told me, condemn those who persecuted Jesus, and crucified him. Referring to Deuteronomy xiii, I asked how they could do otherwise than put him to death, if they believed him guilty of blasphemy in declaring himself the Son of God? He did not remove the difficulty, but said, such was the opinion many had held.

I would here observe, that besides the thousand Jews at Corfu, they are numerous in Albania, Thessaly, Venice, and northwards towards Constantinople. At Salonica they are said by some, to be more numerous even than the Turks and Christians put together. At Yannina, the metropolis of Ali Pasha, they have much influence, a Jew being the treasurer of that Pasha; liable, of course, to heavy exactions, all which however that oppressed people have too long learned to bear. In Athens, where I was lately, they informed me there are no Jews; but in the neighborhood, in Livadia and northward, they abound.

In Smyrna, the Jews and Armenians are the principal brokers to the Frank merchants, and discharge their trust in such a manner as to raise their character somewhat high. I have heard merchants speak with great respect of their fidelity, as well as diligence. The number of these brokers, however, must be small

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