of July, in the year of our Lord 71, according to Josephus, the daily sacrifice ceased, and it has never since been renewed; they have no image, ephod, or teraphim; no voluntary idolatry has prevailed among them. And though in popish countries, they have, according to prediction, served other gods which neither they nor their fathers had known, even wood and stone; yet they have always done it through constraint, and as mere hypocritical compliance with anti-christian requirements. "In the Roman captivity, the Jews were dispersed through all the regions of the east and west. For every nation of which the Roman army consisted, when they returned to their own countries, carried some of them with them into Greece, Germany, Italy, Spain, France," and many other countries. This people, thus scattered over the face of the earth, have been reproached and persecuted with the greatest virulence; carrying with them the tokens of divine reprobation. The name Jew has been a proverbial mark of detestation and contempt among the nations. Kings and subjects, Pagans, Mohammedans and Christians have united in vilifying and abusing them, and in attempting to exterminate them from the earth. "All history," says the Rev. Charles Buck, "cannot furnish a parallel to the calamities and miseries of the Jews-rapine and murder, famine and pestilence within; fire and sword, and all the terrors of war without. At Cesarea, twenty thousand of the Jews were killed by the Syrians in their mutual broils, and at Damascus, ten thousand unarmed Jews were killed, and at Bethshan, the heathen inhabitants caused their Jewish neighbors to assist them against their enemies, and then murdered thirteen thousand of these inhabitants. At Alexandria, the Jews were murdered to about fifty thousand. The Romans under Vespasian invaded the country, and took the cities of Galilee, Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, where Christ had been especially rejected, and murdered num

bers of the inhabitants. At Jerusalem the scene was most wretched of all. At the Passover, when there might have been two or three millions of people in the city, the Romans surrounded it with troops, trenches and walls, that none might escape. The three different factions within, murdered one another. The multitudes of unburied carcasses corrupted the air and produced a pestilence. The people fed on one another, and even mothers, it is said, boiled their infants and ate them. After a siege of six months, the city was taken, and except three towers and a small part of the wall, was rased to the ground; and the foundation of the temple and other places were ploughed up. At Jerusalem alone, it is said, one million and one hundred thousand perished by the sword, famine and pestilence. In other places, two hundred and fifty thousand were cut off, besides vast numbers sent into Egypt to labor as slaves. Besides what they suffered in the east by the Turkish and sacred war, it is shocking to think what multitudes of them the eight crusades murdered in Germany, Hungary, Lesser Asia, and elsewhere." Multitudes in France and England have been burnt. Many have been enslaved by the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Romans and Spaniards. They have at different times been banished from England, France, Spain, Portugal, and many other countries. It is supposed, that about five millions of Jews have been put to death since the commencement of the Christian era. And though they have been thus dispersed, degraded, and oppressed, they have never been confounded with other people. They have never been reckoned among the nations; but have dwelt alone, as aliens and exiles; and have been a distinct people, neither Christians nor idolaters, though dwelling among both. The common civil franchises granted to others have been denied to them. "They have repeatedly, but in vain, attempted to obtain a

naturalization in England and other nations among whom they are scattered." Nevertheless, this repudiated people have been preserved amidst all their calamities and miseries, for more than seventeen hundred years. Like the bush on Horeb, they have ever been burning, but are not consumed. How marvellous, that after so many wars, fires, famines and pestilences; so many rebellions, robberies and persecutions, they are not utterly destroyed from the face of the earth! What a striking monument do they exhibit of divine justice and wrath for the great crime committed at Calvary, when their fathers imbued their hands in the Saviour's blood!

Secondly, We notice the final restoration of the Jews to the land of their fathers, the time when this will take place, and their subsequent happy condition.

"Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel; according to this time it shall be said of Jacob, and of Israel, what hath God wrought!" "He will not utterly cast away his people whom he foreknew." From Moses to John, in his Revelation, the restoration of the Jews is prospectively set forth. Thus saith the Lord God, "Behold I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land." "Afterward shall the children of Israel return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter day." "I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and I will bring you into your own land." "And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God." In the vision of Ezekiel respecting the resurrection of the dry bones, the restoration of Judah and Israel from their wretched condition is prefigured and predicted. "The hand of the Lord was upon me, said

the prophet, and set me down in the midst of the valley, which was full of bones; and lo, they were very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God, Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain that they may live. So I prophesied, as he commanded me, and the breath came into them; and they lived and stood upon their feet, an exceeding great army. Then said he unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God, behold, O my people, I . . . shall put my Spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land; then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord." Thus the outcasts of Israel shall not always be scattered upon the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd; but they shall be reclaimed from their wanderings and reinstated in their own land, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

But is their restoration to be viewed in a literal or spiritual sense? The plain language of Scripture and analogy in reference to predictions concerning the Jews, favor the opinion of their literal restoration. It was predicted, that the seed of Abraham should be in bondage in Egypt, and afterwards be liberated and possess the land of Canaan. All this was literally accomplished. It was foretold that the Jews should be carried captive to Babylon, remain in captivity seventy years, and then return to their own land. All this, too, was literally fulfilled. It was also predicted that they should be dispersed and oppressed among the nations, and after a long series of years be restored to the land of their fathers. Their dispersion and oppression has been literally accomplished. And

why, consequently, shall we not suppose that their restoration also will be literal? This is at least probable. Besides, it is expressly said, that they shall be "restored to their own land," "the land of their fathers," "the land which was given to Jacob," and "the land wherein their fathers dwelt." Now this is the land of Canaan, or Palestine and that they shall return to this land and dwell in it, the Jews themselves have a strong presentiment. Hence they are constantly looking to Jerusalem in expectation of the promised Messiah. The final and literal restoration of the Jews has been believed by many, eminent for their talents, learning, and piety. Witsius, who was the glory of the church of Holland; Gill, who was the most learned champion of the Baptists; President Edwards, the elder, who was, perhaps, the greatest theologian of his age; Doddridge, who was the ornament of the English Non-conformists; Locke, who excelled as a metaphysician; and Whitby, who was the leading commentator among the Arminians;-all these embraced this opinion, and strenuously maintained it. But an inquiry here arises, when shall these things be? When shall the indignation of the Lord against his covenant people, be accomplished; when shall they return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king? From the history of this remarkable people, the signs of the times and the tenor of prophecy, it is evident that the days of their tribulation are almost numbered and finished. From their history for more than seventeen centuries, it would seem, that the vials of divine indignation, denounced against them for their impiety and rejection of the Saviour, are now nearly expended. Many things indicate their speedy restoration. The prevailing opinion among the Jews themselves, is, that their national restoration is at hand. They begin to be favorably disposed towards Christianity. Some of the dry bones move with the breath of life.