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quity seemed to be filled up, by the murder of the Prince of Life, still he manifested the same regard for this people. His parting charge to his apostles was, 'Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature, beginning at Jerusalem! St. Paul, (who followed Christ in this respect as well as others, as closely, or perhaps more closely, than any other man) though the object of his countrymen's most rancorous malice, could appeal to God: I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.' 'My heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they may be saved." But since that day, Christians seem to have entirely lost the spirit of Christ and his apostle. The Jews have been scarcely thought of, unless to be treated with contempt. Nay, often it has seemed as if the followers of Christ had conceived that they could in no way, so clearly manifest their attachment to his cause, as by retaliating upon this devoted people the cruelties which their fathers exercised upon him, his prophets, and apostles.

"But no man hath cared for their souls.' While, at different periods of the church, various plans have been formed for evangelizing the heathen; Christians have been contented to let the posterity of Abraham perish in their sin, at their very doors, without making a single effort to instruct them in the words of eternal life. Their miserable case has excited no pity; for they seem literally to have been accounted enemies as concerning the gospel.' The preva lent opinion has been that as,

"Outcasts of earth, and reprobate of heaven,'

there was no hope for them; and that it was vain, even to attempt to pluck an individual, as a brand out of the burning.'

"We may adore the unsearchable wisdom and justice of the Almighty, who has thus performed his threatenings against the people of his wrath.' Yet nevertheless, we ought to, nay we cannot but feel ashamed, when we reflect upon our insensibility and ingratitude. Thanks be to God, who hath,' at length, 'put an earnest care for them, into the hearts of his people.' The day of hope seems once more about to visit them who have so long sat in darkness and in the shadow of death.' At last Christians begin to be sensible of the debt which they owe to the Jews, and are anxious to know their duty towards them.

If misery have a claim on compassion: if a people, once a holy nation,' but now sunk into the depths of wickedness, be an object of pity: if millions of immortal souls, living without God and dying without hope, be a sight too affecting to contemplate, surely the Christian can never withhold the tear of commiseration from the Jews! There is indeed every thing to make us feel for them. We ought to regard them as a parent in danger of perishing. We have received our very existence, as the people of God, by means of them. Nay, our very privileges and advantages are in some sort the very cause and reason of their misery: As concerning the gospel,' says St. Paul, they are ene. mies for your sakes, The natural branches were broken off, that we might be grafted in.' 'Shall we then boast ourselves against the branches? Shall we think ourselves better than they? Shall we say to an unbelieving Jew, 'Stand by thyself, I am holier than thou? Who hath made us to differ? What have we that we have not received? Why then should we boast as though we had not received it? The same power which cut us out of the olive tree, which is wild by nature, and grafted us into the true, 'is able to graft them in again if they abide not in unbelief.' The same grace which caused us Gentiles to turn to God from idols, to serve the living and true God, and wait for his Son from heaven;' can soften the heart of a Jew, and cause him to look to him whom he has pierced and mourn.' And the same righteous severity which cut them off from the church, because of unbelief, will assuredly deal in like manner with us, if, with the name and profession of Christians, we have not the spirit of Christ. For, as he is not a Jew who is one outwardly,' so there is much

* Rom. ix. 1, 2. x. 1.

more in being a Christian, than merely calling Christ Lord, Lord.' In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love.' If then we can behold the Jews, in the awful state in which I have described them without pity, where is our love? where is the evidence of our faith? where is the mind, the spirit of Christ? He beheld Jerusalem and wept over it; but we are more of the mind of those who said, 'Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof." He came to 'seek the lost sheep of the house of Israel:' but we are unwilling to lend our aid in bringing them back to the Shepherd and Bishop of their souls.'

"Brethren, I can form a conception of the possibility of Christians living (as has been the case for ages) in forgetfulness of their duty in this respect; for I have been guilty of the same; but I can entertain but a very poor opinion of the state of that man's heart, who, when his duty is forced upon his attention, when the misery of those, who were once the people of God, is clearly set before him, can shut his bowels of compassion from them.' 'How dwelleth the love of God in him? But pity and compassion for their miserable estate is not all that they want, nor all that we owe them. They need our prayers, they need our money, they need our exertions; and we owe all these to them! What would England have been, if Jews had not laboured and prayed for us? What would have been the state of our souls, if Jews had not spent themselves in proclaiming the glad tidings of salvation? In exactly that state, at this moment, are the souls of all the children of Israel. We can in no way pay the debt which we owe to those Jews, who taught us the way to heaven, except by endeavouring to give back the light of life to their posterity, who are now sunk into darkness and the shadow of death. I need not dwell long on this part of my subject; every man, who will but for a moment pause to think, must be conscious, that he is bound to do all in his power, to promote the conversion of this people; who, we know, from the whole tenor of scripture prophecy, will enjoy no temporal, any more than spiritual prosperity, as a nation, till they are brought to seek the Lord their God and David their King!'

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"The value of an immortal soul and the necessity of knowing the gospel, in order to salvation, will bind us to exert ourselves for all; but the Jews have a claim prior to all others. We are debtors to the Greeks and to the barbarians; but not to them as we are to the Jews. To the one we are debtors, because they are partakers of the same nature with ourselves. To the other we are debtors, not only on this ground, but because we possess nothing that is really valuable, which, under God, we have not received from them. They opened the wells, from which we draw with joy the waters of salvation, yet they are now perishing with thirst! They broke unto us, that bread which was given for the life of the world; yet they perish with hunger! While we then have enough and to spare,' shall we stand by unconcerned and see them destroyed by the famine of the word of the Lord? If so, let us never more venture to lay claim to the name of Christians; for we have lost all that love which is the essential grace of this holy character.

“But I fear that, though none will deny the force of the obligations under which we lie to the ancient people of God; some will be ready to shrink back, from an idea that there is no hope of success in the attempt to convert them to Christianity.

"I am ready to acknowledge, brethren, that there are many circumstances, which render the instruction of the Jews a very difficult undertaking. But, though this ought to make us count our cost, it will not warrant us in declining the attempt. Had apostles and evangelists thus "conferred with flesh and blood; had they refused to go forth among the Gentiles, because of the difficulties that must be encountered in preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ;' we might still have been serving dumb idols, or offering our sacrifices to devils instead of worshipping the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

"The obstacles which we meet with in such a cause ought, instead of depressing us, to call forth our vigour. The more firmly the prince of darkness

* Psalm cxxxvii. 7.

has intrenched himself in his strong holds, the more strenuously ought the soldiers of Christ to exert themselves in attempting to destroy the works of the devil.

"While, however, we are by no means disposed to hide the difficulties of the undertaking, we have reason also to rejoice, that they are not insurmountable. Though we allow that there are many discouraging circumstances, there are also others which may afford us abundant encouragement, without delay, to unite our efforts for the salvation of Israel. Experience has already proved that, great as the obstacles are, with which we have to contend; the same means which of old rendered many of the Jewish priests obedient to the faith,' are, through the divine blessing, still sufficient to accomplish the same ends. Experience has also shown, that the God of Israel, will not withhold his blessing from the attempts which are made to bring the children of Abraham, his friend,' into the way of righteousness. Short as has been the time elapsed since the foundation of that society for which I am to plead, already great effects have been produced. Even so then, at this present time also, there is a remnant according to the election of grace."* At the first anniversary, no less than twenty-five Jews professed their faith in Christ, and were baptized in the name of that Saviour whom, from their infancy, they had been taught to blas pheme."

·

FOR THE PRESBYTERIAN MAGAZINE.

TWO QUERIES.

Mr. Editor-In perusing the scriptures of truth, I frequently meet with passages difficult to be understood, and such as commentators pass over without sufficient explanation. I am an advocate for the good and wholesome doctrine, "that Christ suffered for the sins of his people;" and likewise a believer in "the perseverance of the saints;" and would therefore request some of your reverend correspondents, through the medium of your valuable Magazine, to answer the two following queries:

First.—In the petition "forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors,” are we not taught to entreat of God pardon for our sins, without any reference to the payment of the penalty, by Christ, in our stead? If I forgive a man who owes me a debt, I do it without having received an equivalent from another; otherwise I attach a wrong idea to the term forgive: and if the word as, in the text, means in like manner, does it not teach, that the pardon is granted to the sinner freely, by our Father in heaven?

The second question is:-Whether that passage of holy writ, contained in the eighteenth chapter of Matthew's gospel, from the 23d to the 35th verse inclusive, is opposed to the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints; seeing that the king, after having pardoned his servant, revoked that forgiveness, on account of his subsequent evil conduct. I am aware that the entire passage is a comment on the text, "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us," and may be said to have no reference to the other doctrine; but it is hoped that an explanation will be given which may be satisfactory and useful.

It is solely for information I propose the above, hoping that the humble inquiries of one who seeks for truth, may meet with that attention which it is believed they merit. DISCIPULUS,

WILL OF THE HONOURABLE ELIAS BOUDINOT, L.L.D.

It is generally known that this distinguished philanthropist has appropriated a large proportion of his estate to religious and charitable uses; and as it must be acceptable to all, and particularly advantageous to those concerned, to

* Rom. xi. 5.

be correctly informed on this subject: the following summary has been obtained, and may be relied on as authentic. The testator gives,

1. The sum of $200, to be distributed by his daughter among ten poor widows.

2. He gives his daughter fifteen shares in the Aqueduct Company of Burlington, the yearly produce of which she is to distribute among " The Friendly Society of Females in Burlington."

3. He gives $200 to the New Jersey Bible Society, to be laid out in spectacles, for the use of indigent old persons, to enable them to read the scriptures. 4. A devise of 4,000 acres of land, in the county of Warren, and state of Pennsylvania, to "the Society established in the state of New York, for ameliorating the condition of the Jews," under certain conditions, for the purpose of supplying Jewish settlers with farms of fifty acres each, or at the option of the said Society, the sum of $1,000 within two years.

5. The sum of $2,000 is given to the United Brethren of Moravians, at Bethlehem, to enable them to civilize and gospelize the Indians.

6. To the Magdalen Societies of New York and Philadelphia, and to "the Institution at Cornwall, in Connecticut, for educating the Heathen," respectively the sum of $500.

7. To the trustees of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, three houses in the city of Philadelphia, the rents of which are to be laid out in the purchase of books for pastors of congregations-the first year's rent to be divided equally between the Presbyterian Church at Elizabeth Town, N. J. and the Episcopal Church at Burlington.

8. The testator's library is left, after his daughter's death, to the Theological Seminary at Princeton, N. J.

9. Four thousand acres of land, in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, the proceeds of which to be appropriated to the education of such students of divinity in the Theological Seminary at Princeton, as are not able to support themselves-each student not to receive more than $200 annually.

10. Four thousand acres of land in the said county, to the trustees of the college of New Jersey-from the profits of which, are to be appropriated $1,000 in the first instance, for the improvement of the Cabinet of Natural History, and the residue for the establishment of fellowships in said college, so that no incumbent however be allowed more than $250 per annum.

11. Four thousand five hundred and forty-two acres of land in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions in Massachusetts, for the purpose of sending the gospel to the Heathen, and particularly to the Indians of this continent.

12. Three thousand two hundred and seventy acres of land in the county of Bradford, and state of Pennsylvania, to the managers of the hospital in Philadelphia, for the use of poor and destitute foreigners, and persons from other states than Pennsylvania, to enable them to gain admittance when necessary, into this institution.

13. To Messrs. Matthew Clarkson, William Woolsey, Samuel Boyd and John Pintard, of New York, in trust for the American Bible Society, 4589 acres of land, in the county of Northumberland, and state of Pennsylvania, the profits of which are to be applied to the general purposes of the institution, but especi ally to sending the gospel to the Heathen.

14. To the mayor and corporation of Philadelphia, 13,000 acres of land, in Centre county, Pennsylvania, for the purpose of forming a fund for supplying the poor of that city with wood on the lowest terms-from this fund, a medal worth $10, is to be given to any person who will undertake the purchase and distribution of the wood gratuitously.

15. The sum of $5000 to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, one half of the interest of which sum is to be appropriated to the support of a missionary or catechist, who is to instruct the poor in the hospitals, prisons, &c. in Philadelphia, and the other half for a like purpose in the city of New York. 16. The residue of his estate, the testator gives and devises to his trustees; VOL. II.-Presb. Mag. M

and among the trusts are the following of a public nature, to be carried into effect after his daughter's death.

1. To the trustees of the college of New Jersey, the sum of $10,000, half for the use of said college, and half for that of the Theological Seminary, as directed in the devise of real estate above mentioned.

2. To the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, the sum of $5000, for like objects, as stated in the devise of real estate.

Finally, after providing very liberally for his nearest family friends and connexions, by a codicil, he gives the residue of his estate after the death of his daughter, and after satisfying his specific appropriations, to the use of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, towards the support of such of the members as are of the synod of New Jersey, and whose salaries are insufficient for their support. Or this fund may, at the discretion of the General Assembly, be applied in whole or part to missionary purposes, or to the use of the two education societies under the superintendence of the said General Assembly. The trustees and executors are

Mrs. Susan Bradford, of Burlington.

Richard Stockton, esq. counsellor at law, and Samuel Bayard, esq. of Princeton.
Lucius H. Stockton, counsellor at law, Trenton.
Elias E. Boudinot, esq. Newark, N. J.

[New Brunswick Times.

FOR THE PRESBYTERIAN MAGAZINE.

DOMESTIC MISSIONS.

[The following communication from the Missionary was laid before the board of managers of the Female Domestic Missionary Society of Philadelphia, at their last meeting; it is now presented to the members of the society.]

Beloved in the Lord-I have furnished you with some extracts from my missionary journal. These, from the nature of the case, cannot be expected to give a comprehensive view of the work in which we are engaged. They are designed to exhibit the mode of instruction pursued in visiting, together with some of the difficulties and encouragements met with in the course of the work. With this view in most of the cases mentioned in the extracts from the journal, I have endeavoured to state what appeared to be the actual condition of the persons visited, and the subjects, to the consideration of which their attention was called. A few cases thus presented to your view, are considered sufficient for the purpose. They are taken as much as possible in connexion with each other, so as to furnish a connected view of missionary labour in that period during which they occurred. Very many interesting cases have occurred during the course of the year, which must be passed over in silence, since an account of them would exceed the limits which must be prescribed to my communications to you. In relation to the instruction of those whom I have visited, it is necessary to make one more remark; I have ever felt myself under the most solemn obligation to contribute to the utmost of my power to the real welfare of my fellow creatures, and by so doing, to promote the cause of Christ among men, and not the cause of any particular sect or denomination. I have therefore confined myself to their instruction in the plain and important doctrines of the Bible-such as the depravity of man by nature-the necessity of a change of heart-the nature and evidences of repentance and faith, and the way of salvation through Jesus the Saviour. I have uniformly exhorted them to continue their attendance, if the Lord should restore them to health, at those places of worship where they formerly attended, and, if they had formerly attended no where, I exhorted them to attach themselves without delay to some place of worship where they could in future enjoy the stated means of grace.

I now proceed to give a more comprehensive view of our missionary operations. It is believed that such a view will be given, by stating the weekly routine of duties and mentioning the present state of things, and what appears to be the prospect of usefulness at each of the missionary stations. I preach in the

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