on the following Tuesday. We therefore resolved to stay on shore till over the Lord's-day.

Dec. 5.-Went to church about two miles from Gosport, to hear the Bishop preach, from Rom. xi. 25, 26, and then spent the rest of the Lord's-day quietly at our inn, imploring the Lord for his blessing, which we stand so much in need of, in our most interesting and peculiar Mission to the Holy Land.

Dec. 6.-Went on board with my family. The Bishop and his family soon joined us. We arranged our cabin, which is to be our home for some weeks, and asked the guidance of the Lord. The weather being boisterous the whole of the day, we did not leave the harbour. In the evening, we had prayers in the Bishop's apartments.

Dec. 7.-About twelve o'clock, the fire of the engine was lighted; at one o'clock we left the harbour, but made only about five miles, when the anchors were cast, and we moored for the night.

Dec. 8.-About ten o'clock, we again proceeded. The sea was very boisterous and high; still we went on well till we had passed the Needles, when the motion of the vessel compelled Mrs. Ewald and myself to lie down. During the three following days we were kept in our cabin, suffering exceedingly from sea-sickness, till we had passed the Bay of Biscay. Dr. Macgowan was very attentive and kind during this time of suffering.

Dec. 11.-The weather being fine to-day, we were able to go on deck; where I learned that the Bishop and his family had also suffered very much from the

same cause.

Dec. 12.-Very fine weather; had service on deck. Mr. Williams read prayers; and his Lordship addressed the congregation from Psalm cii. It was a very elevating sight to worship God whilst floating on the deep.

Dec. 13.-About two o'clock, we cast anchor in the harbour of Lisbon, and were agreeably surprised by a visit from the Rev. T. Boys, formerly Principal of our

Society's Seminary at Palestine-place.

Under his kind and paternal care, myself and several other of my missionary brethren had been prepared for the holy work in which we are now engaged.

Mr. Boys is at present employed in translating the Bible into Portuguese.

Being in the capital of a country in which many thousands of my brethren according to the flesh had once resided; but who had been driven out by cruel laws, I was anxious to learn whether at present any Jews were here. I therefore asked Mr. Boys for information.

He told me that he had occasionally seen several persons walking about in Oriental apparel and with long beards, from which he concluded they must be Jews; but whether they did or did not reside here he could not tell.

Dec. 14.-I went on shore to-day to inquire if any Jews did live here; and, if so, to make them acquainted with the Gospel of salvation. As I was crossing the large market-place, I observed a person standing in the market, selling dates; his black turban, his black skull-cap, his dark flowing robes, were sure indications of his being a Jew from the north of Africa.

I addressed him, and found that I was not mistaken. He told me that there were twenty Jewish families resident at Lisbon, who had two synagogues, and offered to conduct us to one of them. An offer which

we thankfully accepted. At his request the doors of the synagogue were opened, Mrs. Ewald and myself entered, and were kindly received by Rabbi Abraham, the Rabbi of the place, his family, and several other Jews.

They informed us that there were many 198 secret Jews in Lisbon, as well as in the country, who were the offspring of those who had been compelled to embrace the Popish religion in past ages, but yet remained Jews in secret, and instructed their children

through all generations in the rites and ceremonies of the Jews, though outwardly they conformed to the Romish Church; but as there is now liberty of conscience in this country, they are not so much afraid of confessing their Jewish origin, and most probably will soon publicly return to the synagogue.

I gave to this little congregation a short outline of the present condition of the Jews in various parts of the world, to which they listened with great interest. After which, I asked Rabbi Abraham to tell me his opinion of the Messiah. This question astonished him not a little, " "Why," exclaimed he, "the Messiah, the Messiah, is yet to come."

"If so,” said I, "how can you explain the words of our Father Jacob, The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh come, and unto him people shall gather.' Is not the sceptre departed, in whatever sense you take this expression?"

This opened the way to an animated conversation about the Messiah and those who believe in Him, and I was then privileged to preach the Gospel of salvation in a Jewish synagogue in the capital of Portugal, where most likely for centuries no Jew had been made acquainted with the truth as it is in Jesus.

I remained on shore, as we were not to leave to-day. Dec. 15.-Went out to see if I could learn something more concerning the Jews at Lisbon. I met one in the market-place, whom I addressed; another passing by, and hearing us converse in Hebrew, stopped to listen. A third soon joined us. After several questions and answers on both sides, we entered into a more serious conversation touching our souls' salvation. After some time, two left. One, however, remained, with whom I went into another synagogue, where I met several Jews whom I made acquainted with our present mission to the Holy Land, at which they were surprised. After I had left the synagogue, a young man came after me and expressed a wish to go with

me to Jerusalem. I knew too little of him to encourage him in doing so, yet he accompanied me to the inn, where I had an opportunity of preaching Christ to him. Another young man also came, and they both expressed a wish to proceed to the Holy Land in our company. The innkeeper I thought was a secret Jewess. I could observe from many things that this was the case, although, when I asked her, she denied it, saying, "She had often been taken for a Jewess." However, she spoke of the Hebrew Bible and of Hebrew to me in a manner that a Gentile could not have done, particularly in Portugal. A curious kind of Hebrew tract fell into my hands here, of which some have been recently distributed among the Jews in this place. Its purpose is to show, that in Christ all the prophecies of the Old Testament are fulfilled. But I am sure that a paper got up in this manner can do no good whatever to the Jews, because they do not understand what it signifies. The leading points are "prophecies and fulfilments," but not stating to whom the prophecies or the fulfilments refer. It would, certainly, be better if those Christian friends who are willing to do good to Israel, would apply to our Society for useful tracts, where they would obtain such as open in a plain way to the Jews the subject of Christianity. When I went again on board, the two young men just mentioned, followed and took leave of me. If a mission to this part of the world should once be established, Lisbon might, from time to time be visited, and inquiries made after the secret Jews, who, according to the statement of Mr. Boys, are numerous here; and Jews from the coast of Africa are frequently seen in the interior. Thus some time might usefully be spent amongst the Jews in this place. I was

astonished to find less superstition here than in Italy. I saw neither images nor Madonnas which abound in Italy, few monks, and no processions. As there is freedom of the press in Portugal, there would be no difficulty in introducing the Word of God. I met at a

bookseller's shop with a great many religious books in French, which certainly would not be allowed to be exposed for sale in Italy. Mr. Boys has already circulated many numbers of portions of the holy Scriptures. There is an English chaplain, and also a German Lutheran clergyman here; but as I spent the short time of our stay at Lisbon amongst the Jews, I saw neither of them. The Bishop of Jerusalem, however, made the acquaintance of both.

Dec. 16.-About eight o'clock in the morning we left Lisbon. The weather being extremely fair, we hardly felt the motion of the vessel, and were able to remain on deck the whole day.

GIBRALTAR.

Dec. 17.-Arrived in the evening at Gibraltar; it was, however, too late to enter the harbour, and we cast anchor near the land.

Dec. 18.-The Governor sent this morning to invite his Lordship and suite to dine with him. I went with my family on shore. I saw crowds of Jews from the coast of Africa. I addressed some of them, and it being Saturday, I expressed a wish to go into one of the synagogues. A Jew went with me to show me the way. Mrs. Ewald accompanied me. After taking Mrs. E. to the place appropriated for ladies, I went into the synagogue, which is a handsome building, where I met a respectable congregation; they were just at their afternoon prayers. I witnessed here a very interesting sight. A father brought his child, which was about a year old, and had just been weaned, up to the reading-desk, to be blessed by the rabbi, which was done in a very affecting manner. The child was afterwards taken back to its mother, who presented him to Mrs. E. for her blessing also. I never saw this ceremony before; I am sure it is not performed in Europe among the Jews whom I have visited, or in Africa, but I was told that the Jews in Spain attend to it. It