disease-think how many a mourning family you might clothe in the garment of praise, by giving them, instead of grievous uncertainty, the assurance of hope, concerning departed relatives. And, above all, remember, that the mercy which has been accorded to you, of bright hopes and heavenly prospects, has been given you for the very purpose that you should communicate it, not only to those around you generally, but to these, the victims of a sad and extended delusion,-in order that they, through your mercy, may obtain mercy." B. D. JEWISH CHILDREN. JEWISH children do not hear of the Saviour's love unmoved. Their young minds, devoid of prejudice, and pliant as the tender sapling, are easily impressed by the force of simple truth. A tract distributor in Berlin relates that, a few days ago, after a long conversation which he had held in the house of a Jew, in which the Jew had demurred to his exposition of the Old Testament Scripture, a lad of about fifteen years of age, who had been present, exclaimed, Father, if Christianity is not allowed to be true, what is to become of all these passages? we must tear them out of the Bible." 66 A lady at Berlin, on visiting a poor sick Jewish family, which she had for some time befriended, was welcomed by a little boy, who held an open book in his hands, and who, with his face glowing with delight, pointed to the name of Jesus Christ, and kissed it, saying, "It is because of this name that you are so kind to us; he has made you come and help us." The book was a New Testament, which had been given him at school. Not less interesting, is a case which has occurred in London. Dr. Cunningham, of the Scotch Presbyterian Church, in the shop of a Jew, met with a little girl, his daughter, who told him she had been reading not only the Old Testament, but the New. "The New Testament," said she, "is a good book; very different from what the Jews say that it is. My father has it, but he will not read it. And my brother would rather read the History of England, or any other book, than the Bible and Testament which he has. I was very anxious, for a length of time, lately, to read the New Testament myself, yet neither my father nor mother would willingly let me have theirs. There is a good woman, however, a neighbour of ours, who has allowed me to read with her in the Gospel of John. . It was most cruel of the Jews to put him to death, whoever he was, for he did no wrong. He always went about doing good. I am a Jewess, but I will say what I think. It was most eruel for them to put the crown of thorns upon his head, and to crucify him." 46 ... Oh! may that Saviour, who once took up Jewish Children in his arms and blessed them, saying, Of such is the kingdom of heaven," forbid that these little ones should perish! REVIEW. Ancient Jerusalem. 18mo. pp. 192. Religious Tract Society. JERUSALEM! No word is more suggestive. No name has so mighty a spell, summoning at once the past, the present, the future-the deepest thought and the liveliest emotion. We cannot utter it, but a thousand associations spring up at its bidding. We think of the holy place, where, when the rest of the world was buried in the night of idolatry, priests and Levites waited in direct attendance on the Most High, where the heaven-enkindled fire burned upon the altar, and where the morning and evening sacrifice taught to sinful man the great doctrines of pardon by a substitute, and pardon by the shedding of blood. We think of the happy tribes of Judah and Israel, who, from all parts of the land of their inheritance, congregated there, to present themselves before the Lord their God. We think of the alternate light and darkness that rested on that favoured spot,-one while, desecrated by the exulting foe, and stripped of its treasures,another while, echoing with the voice of thanksgiving and of melody, when the piety of the repentant kings of Judah was blessed by the returning favour of their God. We think of the courts and streets, where He, who was "God with us,” wrought His miracles of mercy,-of the temple, where He taught as one having authority,—of the garden, where He wept and prayed, of the judgment hall, where He endured cruel mockings and scourgings,-of the Cross, on which He died. Is there another thought to crown these rich and hallowed associations? It is supplied by the anticipation of all that is most longed for and most glorious, that is yet to come in the world's history; for the Jerusalem that is past, is made the type of the city of God that is yet to be. holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God." Jerusalem, of all the names that indicate the various localities of this habitable globe, is that which God has made choice of, by which to designate the church of His redeemed. Therefore does the Christian sing, with a meaning and an emphasis unknown even to the Jew;— 'I John saw the "Jerusalem, my happy home, Then shall my labours have an end, When I thy joys shall see." A book, therefore, on the ancient city of Jerusalem, brings with it its own interest. We love to read of the city of David, and of the once goodly land, of which it was the metropolis and the crown. We take pleasure in its stones, and we favour the dust thereof. We should like to go and mingle our tears with those Jews, who assemble weekly beside the fragment of old wall which remains from Solomon's temple, to mourn over the desolation of Zion; and there to pray, "Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people ?”- -"remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self:" ay, and there to record afresh our solemn vow, that, long as life shall last, we will love Jerusalem and her children. We would invite our readers, especially our young readers, to avail themselves of the information contained in the little volume which heads our article. It comes from the pen of а well-known and highly esteemed author, whose ability for the elucidation of the geography and topography of Scripture is perhaps unequalled by any living man, and it is published in so cheap a form as to place it within the reach of every one. The book begins with a sketch of the earliest history of Jerusalem. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in their journeys, frequently passed to and fro, north and south, over a district, in the centre of which the site of Jerusalem stood, and by routes which must have led them through it, or close by it. But not once in their histories, do we find the name of the place recorded, unless Salem, where Melchizedek was king, be understood to signify it. An expression in Psalm lxxvi. 2, "In Salem also is his tabernacle," would seem to justify this opinion. But the word there may be simply a poetical contraction of Jerusalem, and may have no reference to the Salem of Melchizedek. Had there been such a town in the time of Abraham, lying immediately in the route of the patriarchs, its mention could hardly have been omitted. Another consideration renders the supposition yet more improbable. The spot on which Abraham offered up his son Isaac on Mount Moriah, is universally agreed to have been Mount Moriah was, at that the site of Solomon's temple. time, a solitary place; a large town, therefore, cannot be supposed to have lain beside it. During the absence of the Hebrews in Egypt, Jerusalem probably arose. For the first time we meet with its mention in the beginning of Josh. x. But even here the name must have been given it by anticipation, for it was called Jebus by the natives, who were Jebusites, and is, in succeeding chapters, spoken of under that name; Josh. xv. 8; xviii. 28; Judges xix. 10. Jebus was not easily subdued before Israel. The victory over the confederacy headed by the king of Jerusalem, recorded Josh. x., did not put that city into the possession of the victors. It is remarkable that, in the list of towns belonging to the defeated allies, and which immediately after fell to the portion of Israel, the name of Jerusalem does not occur. Probably the Hebrew soldiers had not sufficient faith to attempt the reduction of a town so well fortified by nature as well as art. Indeed, it is uncertain to which of the tribes it was allotted at the division of the land. In one passage it is said, "As for the Jebusites the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem unto this day," Josh. xv. 63. Exactly the same thing is said of the children of Benjamin in Judges i. 21. It is reasonable to infer that, as the town stood on the border-line which separated these two tribes, the northern part of it belonged to Benjamin, and the south, that is, Mount Zion, to Judah. We may easily conceive that it may even have been left to become the portion of whichever tribe would, by its faith and courage, take it first. Years rolled on, and the children of Israel were slack to go up and possess the land of their inheritance. One effort was made by Judah to gain possession of Jerusalem, which was attended with success, Judg. i. 8. But this success must have been confined to the unfortified part of the city, for the strong-hold of Zion still defied their assault. And that the number of Hebrew residents must have been much less than that of the original inhabitants who still remained, is evident from the words of the Levite, who passed by, and would not tarry there for the night, saying, "We will not turn aside hither into the city of a stranger, that is not of the children of Israel; we will pass over to Gibeah," Judg. xix. 12. Three hundred and fifty years after this, David, "the man after God's own heart," wrested the fortress of Mount Zion from the Jebusites, rebuilt its citade!, enlarged the lower city, enclosed the whole within one continuous wall, and thus, it may be said, formed the city, distinguished above every other by the determination of Jehovah "to put his name there." The derivation and exact meaning of the word Jerusalem, are a subject of debate. Salem means peace; but whence the prefix Jeru? Some derive it from the Hebrew Jarah, foundation, house, or habitation, and understand by it "the mansion of peace." Some consider it as a corruption of Jebus. Others conjecture that it is derived from the latter part of the name "Jehovah Jireh," which Abraham gave to that very place. This latter is the Rabbinical opinion. Amongst these various explanations, the first is certainly etymologically the most sound. 66 We cannot here follow the author in the interesting track which he marks out for us, in the progress of the history of Jerusalem from the time of David, through the various scenes in which we meet with the names of Solomon, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, Ezra, Nehemiah, Antiochus Epiphanes, Judas Maccabeus, Herod the Great, till its destruction by the Roman army under Titus. Passing over much that is well worth dwelling upon, we would stay for a moment on two localities of ancient Jerusalem, the places of which are yet definitely marked in the modern city. One of these is the valley of Jehoshaphat. And here we will borrow the words of our author. Along this valley, tombs hewn in the rock arrest the eye, and awaken the thought of the modern traveller. These were the last resting-place of ancient Jews; and below them appear the slabs which mark the graves of their descendants. It has been, even to this day, the master passion of the Jews to lay their bones in this valley, not only because Jerusalem is their historical home, to which the hearts of the least worldly among them continually turn, but because it is their firm belief that in this valley God shall plead for Israel, and judge the nations which have afflicted her, in that day when it shall please him to turn again the captivity of Zion. Hence it is that we see here the tombs of unbroken generations of the seed of Abraham; and it is an affecting thought that, while long ages have rolled on, and the city has been successively possessed by pagans, Christians, and |