are equal, then transgression, or obedience, may turn the scale. "If a man sin one sin, he gives the preponderance for himself and for all the world to the scale of guilt, and causes destruction; but if he perform one commandment, he gives the preponderance both for himself and all the world to the scale of merit, and causes salvation and deliverance both to himself and them; as it is said, "The righteous is the foundation of the world; *which means, that righteousness gives the world a preponderance in the scale of merit, and delivers it. And on this account all the house of Israel are accustomed to abound in almsgiving, and in good deeds, and to be diligent in the commandments, in the interval between New Year's Day and the Day of Atonement more than in all the year besides."†

"In the ten days of repentance between the New Year and the Day of Atonement the merits and the sins of every man are weighed. Every one who is found righteous, whose merits exceed his sins, is sealed for life. Every one who is found wicked is sealed for death. But the judg ment of the intermediate class is suspended until the Day of Atonement. If they repent, they are sealed for life, but if not they are sealed for death." In the service for the Day of Atonement, after the declaration that on the New Year it is written, and on the Fast-day of Atonement it is sealed, who are to live and who are to die, we meet with the sentence,—

"BUT PENITENCE, PRAYER AND CHARITY AVERT THE EVIL DECREE."

*Prov. x. 25.

↑ "Old Paths," pp. 341, 342, second edition.

Hence the greater diligence in religious dutiesthe almsgiving and fasting between the New Year's Day and the Day of Atonement. Then enmities are professedly laid aside; then are injuries forgiven, and reconciliation is made that merits may abound, and the balance be in favour of the sinner on the Day of Atonement, when his life or death is to be sealed!

In the service for the New Year we read:"The memorial of every action done during the whole year is this day recited. O Thou who hast formed them, reject not their hope by the remembrance of their sins. If the decree for the chastisement of our sins is gone forth in wrath, may He, who supports all, grant pardon for his own sake and remember the merits of our ancestors." Then follows an enumeration of deeds and of saints of old, the memorial of which is pleaded as the ground of forgiveness.

The merits of many of their ancestors is pleaded, as of Abraham, of Isaac and Jacob, of Moses and Aaron, and others of the illustrious of their nation. Thus, their own personal merits arising from their own conduct, and the merits of the righteous dead, are presented before God as the ground of their hope, as the reason why the evil decree should be turned aside. Thus, the delusive imagination is fostered, that the saints of old have a superabundance of merit, were so righteous that, on their account, their children may have hope, and that their own deeds of charity, their fasting and prayers,- —even though offered by one, confessedly so much of a sinner that his evil deeds are equal to the merit of his good ones,-that these can alter the decree of the Eternal, and cause them to be written for life in the year to come. Oh sad

uncertainty, on which to rest the hopes of an immortal being! Who shall tell to the anxious Israelite the secrets which are known to God alone! Who shall read for him that awful record in which all his deeds are written, and say on which side, that of merits or of sïns, is the momentous preponderance? Tradition has destroyed hope, and left but doubt and fear, and in so frail a bark the spirit must launch forth on the ocean of eternity! O Israel, thy teachers have caused thee to err !

From these extracts from their Prayer-book we learn that they go about to establish a righteousness of their own. In the prayers in which a reference is made to the sacrifices under the law, the same error shews itself. Thus, after confessing," Because of our iniquities we have neither sanctuary, nor altar, nor offering to atone for us, there is nothing left us but the commemoration of them," they add, "O may that be our expiation, and we will render the prayers of our lips instead of offerings." Again, referring to the daily sacrifice, they pray, "May the recital be as acceptable unto Thee as if we had offered Thee continual burnt-offering in due season." Something that man can do, instead of that which God has appointed, is to be the ground of a sinner's hope. The great fact, that it is the blood which maketh atonement, that without the shedding of blood there is no remission, is altogether overlooked; and thus by the principle of self-justification, the object of the law is, in fact, set aside, and that which, " as a schoolmaster," should bring them to the true atonement, is regarded as the means of justification either, when it could be observed, by itself, or now, when it cannot, by its substitute.

How true then are the words of our text: " They being ignorant of God's righteousness, go about to establish a righteousness of their own. Thus the vail is upon their heart when Moses is read; the vail is upon their heart when they offer up prayers to God, and the sad effects are seen, in the long-continued unbelief of the nation and all its fearful consequences. The remedy for this evil is faithful preaching of the Gospel, accompanied by the influence of the Almighty Spirit. A twofold duty then is ours: to send that Gospel by every means to the Jews; and to pray earnestly, perseveringly, and believingly, that God would in tender mercy, for the sake of the true Messiah, pour out His Holy Spirit upon them, and make this moral desert bloom and bring forth abundant fruit.

PELTING THE JEWS.

THIS is still done in many places, at certain seasons, by the superstitious and ignorant Christians amongst whom they dwell. A missionary, writing from Africa, gives an example of this wicked and cruel proceedure. He says:

“During a walk in the afternoon, I was much grieved at a scene that I witnessed. Some boys were chasing some Jews, making clamorous noises, both by their shouts and with a kind of rattle. They also threw stones at them. I kept the boys off. One young Jew took refuge in a shop where I was waiting, and appeared quite alarmed. On enquiry, I found that this disgraceful practice is an annual custom, during passionweek. The scene of all this is at the Roman

Catholic Capuchin convent, where there is a church. The Jews are pelted to prevent their passing this church, which they cannot do without juvenile persecution. I am informed

that the Roman Catholic clergy have, of late, striven to put a stop to the practice, and that the Bey has sent to the Consuls to use their influence to the same end."

This throwing stones at the Jews was once general, at certain seasons of the year. How they must have hated a religion, part of whose teaching seemed to them to be, that in its most sacred seasons, its professors should heap insult and inflict cruelties on the Jews. Thank God those days are, in most countries, for ever gone. But we have much to do yet, to convince the Jews of the loving character of our holy faith and of the tender interest for their nation manifested by Him who is, though despised and rejected by them, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

QUESTIONS AND

ANSWERS.

Answer's to Questions in the "Jewish Advocate" for June.

1. To the excessive heat of the sun's rays, which is so great as frequently to cause death, in hot countries; and the injurious effect of the moon's light on those who sleep in the open air. This is very great and sometimes causes blindness.

2. Gershonites, Kohathites and Merarites. The Gershonites had charge of the tabernacle, the curtains and the hangings of the court. The Kohathites had charge of the ark, the table, the