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nished us with several forms of prayer anciently made use of; but in transcribing them here, I should anticipate what I propose to make the subject of distinct consideration, namely, the design of sacrifices under the Mosaic law. It will be sufficient to adopt the remark of the learned author already quoted, that it is highly probable that the prayers which were wont to be uttered by the side of the victim, had reference to the same object as the victim itself.. Outram, Ljb. i. c. 15, §. 9.

Lastly, The priests ministering at the altar, were required to be free from corporal blemish, and to be purified by water and the use of various ceremonies from all uncleanness or occasional pollution.

(To be continued.)

Account of the Establishment of Presbyterianism in Manchester.

SIR,

No. V. *

April 20, 1823. SEND you farther extracts from the Register of the Presbyterian classical meeting in Manchester.

W. J. "The 33d Meetinge at Manchester, June 12th, 1649.

"2. A letter of excuse from Mr. Jones, and it was accepted.

3. Mr. Benson and Mr. Clayton appeared, theire excuse was accepted, and they promised to attend ye Classe for aftertymes.

"6. A letter to be sent unto cer

taine of the Inhabitants of the parish of Rostourne, which formerly appear ed against Mr. Adam Martindale.

"8. John Taylor and John Hilton doe undertake to bringe in sufficient witnesses (to make good the exceptions whereupon theire petition for a new election of Elders at Ouldham was grounded) the next Classe at Manchester, the seconde Tuesday in July next.

9. Whereas the Parishioners of Prestwich have presented a petition to this Classe, expresseinge theire desire

to have Mr. Isaac Allen for theire Pastor, this Classe returnes them this answeare: that untill Mr. Allen

For No. IV. see Vol. XVII. p. 732.

give satisfaction concerneinge his takeing y nationall Covenant, and doe either cleare himselfe to bee free from malignancie, or give sure satisfaction in that point as they shall thinke meete for the removeall of ye skandall hee lyes under in that respecte, and shall also testifie his readinesse to concurre in the present Church government, they cannot give way to the approveall of him as the Pastor of the Church at Prestwich.

"11. A day of thanksgiving to be on Thursday, the 21st of June instant, for the supply of corn, the seasonableness of the weather, the safe and free returne of our Ministers, the late seasonable victorie God hath given our brethren in Scotland against the malignants there, and for preserveinge these parts from the infection, and preventinge the rageinge of it in the places where it is.

"12. A letter delivered to this Classe, expressing the desires of sundry of the Inhabitants of the Parish of Rostourne to have Mr. Adam Martindale for their Vicarr."

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By the Provinciall Assemblie at
Preston, May 1, 1649.

"1. Resolved upon the Question, That intimation bee given to everie Classis, that this question is to be discussed, the next Session of the Provinciall Assembly, viz. Whether the dalous parents, so known to bee, as children of grossely ignorant and scanalsoe of Papists and excommunicates,

as alsoe bastard Children, are to be baptized.

deration of the account given in by 2. This Assemblie, upon consithe Delegates of the Classes, concerneinge the condition of theire respective Classes, accordinge to a forsolemnly admonisheth the severall mer order given out by this Assemblie, Classes within this province, that each of them within theire respective

bounds, put on, and execute with all vigor and dilligence, the discipline of the Church, and for that end that they use all meanes within the uttermost extent of theire power, to procure the settleinge of congregationall eldershipps and theire acteinge in everie congregation, and the due observation of theire Classicall meetings by the members thereof, both Ministers and Ruleing-elders, and

everie one of them, and that what obstructions they meete with, and cannot possibly remove, they make knowne by theire Delegates to this Assemblie, upon theire first opportunity.

"3. Resolved upon the question of the meeteinge of anie number of a congregation on a weeke day, whereof there hath not beene publicke notice given before to the congregation, is not a sufficient assemblie wherein the sacrament of Baptisme may regularly be administered.

"4. Resolved upon the question, that everie Classis, and other Judicatory, is admonisht to bee carefull in proceedeinge without delay after suspension of a delinquent, and upon his persistencie to excommunication.

5. Resolved upon the question, that where there is a libertie for the Church publickly to convene, private communions are not to bee allowed or practised.

"7. In consideration of the heavie judgment of God beinge upon this County by famine, and alsoe by pestilence in some parts thereof, and in regard of other troubles and dangers upon us, it is judged necessary, and accordingly ordered, that a publicke fast bee observed in every congregation within this province, with solemne and earnest seekeinge unto God for the aversion of the said judgments and evills, and this to bee on the 4th Tuesday in this instant month of May."

"The 34th Meeteinge at Manchester,

July 10th, 1649.

"4. John Hilton, one of them that did undertake to bringe in witnesses to make null the election of Elders at Ouldham, appeared and brought no witnesses; whereupon the Classe orders that the Elders elected for Ouldham come in the next Classe to bee examined.

"5. Twoe letters beinge this day received by this Classe from some gentlemen in Cheshire, one from the Baron of Kinderton, and another from some other gentlemen of the parish of Rostorne, whereby it appeared that there would bee some demurre made to Mr. Martindale's ordination, and Mr. Martindale not beinge willinge to stay so long a tyme of delay as hee apprehended would thereby bee occasioned to his settlement, did declare

himselfe unwillinge to proceed any farther in this Classe touchinge his ordination.

"8. It is ordered that a publicke course of catachiseinge bee set on foote in every congregation by every minister in this Classe, and the Assemblie's Catachisme to bee used. And that the ministers and elders of every congregation use theire indeavoure to bringe all the members of theire respective congregations to the knowledge of the Christiane faith by any way whereby they can bringe it best about, as they can agree amongst themselves.

"9. It is agreed that every notoriouse, scandalouse person within there severall congregations, though they doe not offer themselves to come to the Sacrament, shall bee dealt withall by there severall eldershipps, with the censures of admonition and suspension, in order to excommunication upon there contempte."

"The 35th Meeteinge at Manchester, August 14th, 1649.

"5. Agreed that a publicke day of humiliation bee kept at Manchester, upon Wednesday next, the 22d of August instant, in regard that the hand of God is thus fully gone out against us, in a violent fever, and the small poxe.

"7. Wee the Classe at Manchester, upon the desire of several of the Members of the Congregation at Elto Mr. George Tomson, to the end hee lingbrooke, doe give our approbation may receive the benefit and encouragement of the Sequestration."

No extracts are made from the "36th and 37th Meeteinges," as they consist of matter similar to what has been already selected; except a summons to George Grimshawe to appear before the next Classe.

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"4. The Assemblie earnestly exhorteth the Members of the severall congregationall and classicall Presbiteries to renewe theire endeavours in theire disciplinary duties within theire respective Charges, and to attend constantly theire classicall, congregationall and provinciall meeteings, and to suffer no discouragements from anie disaffected partie to weaken theire hands in that worke. The Elders of the third Classes are more particularly exhorted herein."

No extracts of sufficient interest can be made from the 38th Meeteing; but it may be observed, that the deputies from the congregational Elderships are more numerous, and from a greater number of churches than at first.

"The 39th Meetinge at Manchester,

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December 11th, 1649.

George Grimshawe declared himselfe willinge to give publicke satisfaction to the congregation for the great sin of Incest, before the next Classicall Meeteinge at Manchester, and the congregation is to have notice of it, the Sabbath before he manifest his Confession.

"The 40th Meeteinge at Manchester,

January the 8th, 1650.

"6. It is agreed that George Grimshawe give publicke satisfaction to the congregation, the next Sabbathday, in the church of Manchester, betweene neene [nine] and tenn o'clocke in the aforenoone.

"The 41st Meeteinge at Manchester, February 12th, 1650.

"3. George Grimshawe made publicke acknowledgment-accordinge to order."

Nos. 4 and 5 contain orders of summons to be sent to Mr. John Leake,

the preacher at Prestwich, and Mr. Robt. Symonds, Minister at Shawe Chappell, to attend the next Classe.

Account of the Dutch Jews; with a Hymn by Da Costa, who is said to have lately embraced Christianity.

(From "The Inquirer," No. IV.)

THE Spanish and Portuguese Jews, THEOSpanish dicta

guished of the Dutch Hebrew families are descended, were renowned among their nation for their superior talents and acquirements, and we believe maintain even to this day an almost universally admitted pre-eminence. Under the tolerant and comparatively enlightened Mahomedan conquerors of Spain, their property was protected, their toleration was encouraged, and their persons loaded with favours. Their writers boast with delight and enthusiasm of "the glory, splendour and prosperity in which they lived." Their schools in the south of the Peninsula were the channels through which the knowledge of the East was spread over western and northern Europe. Abenezra, Maimonides, and Kimki, three of the most illustrious ornaments of the synagogue, rank out the twelfth and thirteenth centuamong the Spanish Jews. Throughries, while knowledge among Christians seemed at the lowest ebb, the catalogue of Hebrew writers is most extensive and most varied. Mathematics, medicine, and natural philosophy, were all greatly advanced under their auspices; while the pursuits of poetry and oratory adorned their pages. They obtained so much consideration, that the ancestors of almost every noble family in Spain may be traced up to a Jewish head.

The fifteenth and sixteenth centuries are crowded with every calamity which could afflict a nation, pursued by all the blindness of ignorance and all the hatred of infatuated and powerful malevolence. Their sacred books were their temples razed; themselves videstroyed; their dwellings devastated; sited by imprisonment and tortures, by private assassinations and extensive massacres. When the infamous Fifth Ferdinand established or re-organized the Inquisition in Spain, the Jews were among its earliests victims.

Two hundred thousand wretches were pursued by fire, sword, famine and pestilence, and he who should offer them shelter, food, or clothing, was to be punished as a felon. Of those who fled to the mountains, many were murdered in cold blood, and others died miserably of hunger. Of those who embarked, thousands perished with their wives and children on the pitiless ocean. Some reached the more hospitable regions of the North, and preserved the language and the literature of their forefathers; yet the epoch of their glory seemed departed, and the names of the Arbabanels, of Cardozo, of Spinoza, and a few others, glimmer only amidst the general obscurity. The Jews, as a people, appeared wholly occupied in selfish worldliness, scarcely producing such a man as Mendelsohn, even in a century, and claiming for him then no renown in his Hebrew character.

The Jews seemed to have partaken of the general character of the age; and scepticism or incredulity took their stand where ignorance and superstition had existed before. Yet the changes which had been extensively in action in the religious and political world, could not but produce some effect upon their situation. They had become too important a part of society to be passed by without notice; while their wealth and their great financial operations gave them extraordinary weight. They have been courted by Kings, ennobled by Emperors. All the concerns of States have been obliged to turn upon their individual will. They have become, in a word, the very monarchs of the earth, deciding the great questions of peace or war; the arbiters, in truth, of the destinies of man,

But it is not in this point of view that we mean to consider the Jews; nor are these "lords of the ascendant" the individuals among them that interest our affections or excite our regard. The revival which we contemplate with delight is the revival of those old and holy associations which seemed buried in the abyss of worldli. ness, of that enlightened, that literary spirit which gives the promise and is the pledge of brighter and better days. We see the young tree of truth and inquiry springing up in the waste. Its roots strike deep, its branches spread

widely, it shall gather the people under its shade.

We know of nothing more touching, nothing more sublime, than the feelings with which an intelligent Hebrew must review the past and present, while he anticipates the future history of his race. That history begins, as he deems it will end, in triumph and in glory. Yet mists and chilling desolation envelop all the intermediate records. With what proud and glowing emotions must he trace the origin and the progress of that religion, which he and his fathers have professed through trials sharper than the fiery furnace, for which all of them have suffered, and millions have died! With Israel the living God condescended to covenant, and called them "his chosen, his peculiar people." Miracles and signs and wonders cover all their early wanderings with light, fair as the milky-way across the arch of heaven. For them the cloudy pillar was reared in the desert; for them the column of fire dissipated the gloom and the terrors of night, Amidst thunderings and lightnings, and the voice of the trumpet and the presence of God, their law was promulgated; the bitter waters of Marah were made sweet to them; and manna fell from heaven as the nightly dew. Well might they shout, with their triumphant leader, "The Lord is our strength, and our song, and our salvation!"

Then come the days of darkness,— and they are many. The glory of the temple is departed. They are scattered like chaff among the nations. Opprobrium and insult hunt them through the earth. Shame and suffering bend them to the very dust, till degradation drags them to the lowest depth of misery. All the cruelties that ferocity can invent; all the infatuation that furious blindness can generate; all the terrors that despotisin can prepare, are poured out upon their unsheltered heads. Warrants go forth for their extirpation; yet the race is preserved. Those who most hate and persecute one another, all unite to torture them. Exile, imprisonment, death,-these are the least of their woes. Why should the picture be drawn? the soul is lacerated with the contemplation. Those generations are gathered to their fathers.

Stilled are their sorrows and their joys.

Next, a few dim rays play across the path of time. Civilization and freedom, gathering the human race beneath their wings, and protecting them all by the generous influence of a widely-pervading benevolence, raise the race of Israel to their rank among the nations.

Then, hidden in the deeper recesses of futurity, what visions of splendour are unveiled! The gathering of the tribes, Jerusalem, the glorious temple, their own Messiah ;-but the thoughts falter, the spirit is troubled. Yet "the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."

Under the influence of thoughts like these, Da Costa must have composed the hymn of which we venture to give a translation. It breathes, it burns with all the blended emotions of pride and indignation; of recollected and anticipated triumphs; of hope deferred that sickeneth the heart; of confidence; of despair; of virtue wounded by contumely, and true nobility insulted by contempt: there is a spirit roused by a contemplation of injustice, and a sense of wrong soaring from eloquence to sublimity. Such minds as these would redeem from heavier bondage. Such compositions are a pledge of the regeneration of a people. The Hebrew harp is hung upon the willows no longer.

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The sceptre from our grasp is torn ; Our rank and glory fade before us;

Our godlike kingdom given to scorn. We, chosen erst from chosen nations, Now writhe beneath the scoffer's rod; Bare to the meanest slave's vexations, We, who were subjects once-of God! Ah! safety, comfort, all are reft us, Exil'd by God's almighty hand; Nought of the glorious Orient left us, Our true-our only father-land! Far from our sires' remains-ill-fated, The abject race of Abraham weeps ; His blood, in us degenerated,

Now thro' a crumbling ruin creeps.

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Our trust in Thee could never bow; We are the Hebrews still-tho' banish'd,

Thou art the Hebrews' God-e'en
now!-

Yes! thy Messiah, soon appearing,
Shall burst these bonds of slavery;
Thine anger-mists again are clearing,
Our day of victory is nigh.
A heavenly flame is brightly soaring
Behind the clouds of earthly woe:
Shout, Israel! shout, with joy adoring,
Your Prince's-Saviour's advent show.

Lion of Judah, roar and greet him,

Hail his majestic march once more; Come, Adam's race! with blessings meet him,

And rank again as rank'd of yore. Announce him from on high, thou thun

der!

Bend your proud heads, ye hills around!

Fall, kingdom of deceit, asunder

In ruins at our trumpet's sound!

Behold the long-expected gladness!
Salvation's morn again appears;
The meed for suffering, scorn and sad-

ness,

The citadel 'gainst foes and fears.

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