It is an unquestionable truth, that you all expect a Messiah and Redeemer; you daily pray for salvation through him, and you have prayed for his coming for nearly two thousand years; but when the precious cup is presented to you, you dash it from your lips; when Jesus Christ appeared to our fathers, they rejected and crucified him exactly as it was foretold by the prophets, merely because he came not in the manner in which they had imagined he would come; and you my beloved brethren continue to this day to do the same. That our forefathers thus treated Jesus of Nazareth is to me no such surprising thing as it appears to others. I mentioned in a former letter, that but few of our nation in Christ's time had an opportunity of knowing the Scriptures, being then only in manuscript, and therefore exceedingly scarce. But how different are your circumstances! You have the means of obtaining a knowledge of the Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament, none daring to disturb you. Compare then what I have written with the law, and the prophets, and the book of Psalms. If it does not agree with them, let the mistakes be publicly pointed out in the spirit of meekness and brotherly love, and I will give them all the attention in my power. But, as I have reason to fear that comparatively few of you make a point of searching the Scriptures, permit me to ask you, to what purpose do you imagine did the prophets predict so clearly and circumstantially the coming of a Messiah, and foretell every event that should happen during his existence in this world, and every circumstance of his birth, his mission and death, if not to instruct and prepare us to receive such a Messiah as God taught them to describe?

I cannot but hope that if you will candidly read and examine the prophecies that I have presented to your view, which you profess to believe implicitly, you will see that Jesus Christ is the very Messiah they speak of; he who

was in the world at the very time when the Messiah was expected to appear, and no other either at that time or since, proved to be such; he, who was born of the same family, and after the same manner, and in the same place, which the prophets foretold of the birth of the Messiah; he who taught all those truths and wrought all those miracles; he who suffered all those indignities; received all that glory, which the Messiah was to teach, perform, suffer and receive; whose doctrine was received in all nations, according to the character given to us of the Messiah; he was certainly the true Messiah; and it having been demonstrated that all these things were exactly fulfilled in Jesus Christ, and in him alone, we surely must acknowledge him to be the promised Messiah.

But if the prophets and the other sacred writings do not convince you, if you are determined to acknowledge no other Messiah but such as you have figured to yourselves, majestic and of resplendent glory, and will reject the true Messiah, the meek and lowly King of Zion, certainly nothing I can say will make a sufficient impression upon your minds so as to remove your fatal infatuation. Yet, such is my earnest desire to promote your spiritual and eternal welfare, that I would beg your attention a few moments longer. Suppose, for mere argument's sake, Jesus Christ to have been a mere man, and take his character as you find it, immaculate and replete with zeal for the service of God, and ever studying the good of mankind; who, after having taught a doctrine truly divine, was willing to confirm and seal it with his own blood; and exhibit to mankind, by his death, the brightest example of moderation, patience, charity, and many other sublime virtues; can the reason of the greatest sceptic withhold itself from believing such a man, one, too, of our own nation, not entitled to the warmest love and reverence? Surely not. We find the Grecians and many of the ancients worshiped the heroes

who, during their lives, possessed extraordinary virtues, and in the end generously sacrificed their lives for the good of the country; but when we read the sacred pages of the Old and New Testaments, and find the clearest and most evident proofs that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Creator of the universe; the object of worship of all the angelic hosts, who condescended to assume our nature, and make himself of no reputation; that he was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities; suffered himself to be led like a lamb to the slaughter; was numbered with transgressors, and poured out his soul unto death, even the ignominious and accursed death of crucifixion, to deliver us from the wrath to come, from the curse of the law, and free us from the tyranny of sin and Satan, to restore us to the image of God, and fit us for the enjoyment of eternal felicity and glory; what impressions ought such transcendent goodness to stamp upon our hearts? How greatly does it behoove us to offer up our most grateful thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for the inestimable blessing thus bestowed upon us, in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace and the hope of glory! I close, my dear brethren, with my most earnest prayer, that the God of our fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, would incline your hearts to read and examine calmly, and without prejudice, those all-important truths which I have laid before you, that you may be enabled to reflect seriously upon them, and finally be convinced, like myself and many others of our dear people; and thereby, at the coming of our blessed Savior, obtain the felicity of that kingdom promised to the believing Jews as well as Gentiles.

"Who is wise? and he shall understand these things; prudent? and he shall know them; for the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them; but the transgressors shall fall therein." Hosea, 14: 7.

3. Christian reader-You who profess to know and believe that Jesus is "the Christ, the Son of the living God," permit me to close this letter with a word of exhortation. Let me recommend to you to read carefully and prayerfully the 11th chapter of Romans. Rejoice in the prospect of the Jews being grafted again into the good olive-tree, if they continue not in unbelief. "But how then shall they call on him whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe on him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall they preach except they be sent ?" Rom. 10: 14, 15. But who shall send missionaries and the means of grace to the Jews, if Christians do not? Consider therefore the design of the rejection of my beloved people, and your adoption in their stead. "For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief; even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy." Rom. 11:30, 31. Remember also, that "salvation is of the Jews;" "who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises, whose are the fathers, and of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen." Rom. 9: 4, 5. Should it be askod in what way can we show mercy unto them? What can we do to convince them that Jesus is the true Messiah? I answer for the present, you may aid the committee appointed by the board of the Jewish Society to carry into effect their resolutions prefixed to this work; namely, to circulate it amongst the Jews in this country, and in England, and to get it translated into the German language, for the use of the Jews in Europe. For this purpose, a distinct fund has been opened, and donations are thankfully received by the treasurer of this society, Mr. E. Burrill, No. 5 Broad-street. To promote this good cause, I have offered to the Society

as many copies as they may want at cost, and should be happy once more to travel over the United States to solicit aid for this object, as I have heretofore for other objects. But I am now old and grey-headed; and with the loss of my hair I am losing my strength also, and shall have to spend the remainder of my days at home, in the publication of the Jewish Intelligencer. But I hope many will send their mite to the treasurer of the Society, which will save traveling expenses. "And now unto him who loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen."

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NOTE.-A Prospectus of which will be found prefixed to this work, the first No. of which has just been published.

END OF VOL. II.