ceeded with the baptismal service, according to our Liturgy. As soon as the baptism was over, Signor Lanzilla, a respectable Italian Roman Catholic presented himself before the whole congregation, requesting to be admitted into the Protestant Church. Mr. D. interrogated him as to the reasons why he was about to renounce the creed he hitherto professed. Having answered satisfactorily, Mr. D. admitted him as a member of his Protestant congregation. I then concluded the service and preached a sermon suitable to the occasion, both as commemorative of the birth of our Saviour, the Messiah, and also of the new birth, in Christ, of those who have this day avouched their faith publicly. I addressed myself, in conclusion, especially to our newly initiated brethren into the Christian Church, in the Hebrew language; exhorting them to be watchful in prayer, so that they may daily grow in the knowledge and fear of our Lord Jesus Christ, till they should come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure and stature of the fulness of Christ.

Now a word about those converts. They are the first in this regency since, I may safely say, the seventh century; when Christianity was extinguished in this part of the world. They are both learned men; one is a grey-headed individual, between seventy and eighty years of age, in full possession of mental vigour and strength, though there are marks of decay in his outward man. The second is about twenty-five years of age. He is a remarkably clever fellow in his way. He formerly officiated as under-Rabbi: he is full of genuine zeal. It is a satisfactory circumstance that our brethren will not be able to indulge in any discreditable reflections about the new converts. For our countrymen, in their "zeal," are not very particular in their accusations

against a brother who makes up his mind to avow his belief in Him "of whom Moses and the prophets did write."

One common statement of theirs is that only those who are ignorant of their own religion are the persons who are prevailed upon to embrace Christianity. This charge cannot be made against the persons above-mentioned. They are both remarkably well versed in the doctrines of modern Judaism, and have almost every verse in the Bible “ at their fingers' ends," using a familiar expression, and enjoy unblemished characters. The following are a few Hebrew lines from a short poem lately indited by the second of the new Christian disciples

אחבק הרגבים אשר דרכו פעמיך נעימים המה לנפש קשורה בנפשך: מה יקרו לי רעיך וגם תלמידיך אשר עזבו מולדתם ורדפו אחרך צמאים לשתות מימי נחליך בריתות אשר בם מצותיך: העם ההולכים בחשך נזהרו משמשך

נפקחו עיניהם מאור זרועך:

אם אמרתי אספרה נפלאים מעשיך יכלה הזמן ולא יכלו שבחיך: אתחנן אל צורי שמע קולי כחסדך האירה עיני בעמקי תורתך:

I suppose it would be an insult to furnish you with a

translation of the above.*

You will agree with me that a

* As all my readers are not likely to be Jewish Christian clergy men, I subjoin a translation of the above lines:

"I would embrace the clods of earth on which thy feet trod;

This would be sweet to a soul knit to Thee.

How precious are to me Thy friends, even Thy disciples,

Who forsook their kindred in order to follow Thee,

Thirsting to drink the waters of Thy rivers,

man who writes this in the sacred tongue cannot be charged with ignorance.*

There are several other candidates for the sacred ordinance, who will, no doubt, ere long, be admitted publicly into the bosom of the Christian Church. One of the candidates is no less than ninety-three years of age. He is well known to the European Orientalists; his name is Mordechai Nigjar. He instructed M. Volney, as well as the famous Baron Silvester de Sacy, &c., in the Arabic language. His intellectual energies are in full play, and you would enjoy a conversation with him very much. He speaks several European languages. The other two candidates are young men between twenty-five and thirty years Even the "Covenants," which contain Thy precepts.

The people which walked in darkness were enlightened from Thy sun;

Their eyes were opened by the light of Thy holy arm.

If I attempted to describe Thy wondrous works,

Time itself would expire, but Thy praises would not be exhausted; I can only pray to my Rock: Oh, hear my voice, according to Thy loving-kindness;

Enlighten my eyes in the mysteries of Thy law."

* See Letter to Sir Thomas Baring, from Rhodes, Vol. 11.

† A sort of Lola Montes, on a small scale-to whom the author has already alluded (p. 362)-was present at the baptism of that venerable old man, speaks thus, in a flimsy work she published, entitled, "Leaves from a Lady's Diary of her Travels in Barbary:" "At the close of the service yesterday, two Jews were baptized, one of whom was ninety years of age. When I asked who was the man, and what induced him to abjure his creed at so advanced an age, answer was made to me, 'Only wait a few days, and you will see he will go back to Judaism, for he turns Christian whenever he is in want of money. This is at least the twentieth time he has been baptized.'' Poor woman! she knows little about creeds, and less does she care for truth; she submitted to the public a most infamous falsehood.

of age. Thorough Hebrew scholars, with minds more than ordinarily cultivated, and bearing characters unimpeachable. Indeed, I begin to think that none but the well educated embrace Christianity now-a-days.

I cannot write any more, and be in time for the post. Farewell.

Yours, &c., &c.

The following communication, which was addressed to the same individual at a later period, may not be out of place here.

LETTER XXXI.

TO THE REV. S. A. L. HERBERT,

My dear Sam,

Tranmere, March 1849.

You are desirous of knowing about our Tunisian visitor, Uzan. He is none other than the young man who was baptized into the Christian Church on the Christmas of 1847, and if I remember rightly, I wrote you a long letter about him, and sent you a few Hebrew lines of his composing. The poor fellow had a narrow escape being beheaded for his faith, and as I knew him in Tunis, of course I take a great interest in him. You know Davis is in England at present, and the mission in Tunis is suspended, and poor Uzan was a prisoner, so that the latter was determined to make his escape from that land of darkness, in order that he might have free exercise of his conscientious religious convictions. I have no time to write much at present, I enclose you therefore an article which appeared in the "Liverpool Standard" soon after Davis returned to England. The writer seems to know a good deal about Tunis.

Suppose the Jews become "the powers that be," what treatment would Christianity experience at their hands?

This problem suggested itself more than once to our mind. It exercised our thoughts a few years ago when a Christian gentleman, Mr. Cribbace by name, advocated at a meeting held at Crosby Hall, London, the Utopian scheme for Englishmen to purchase Palestine, for the purpose of reinstating the Jews there, as a nation.

After Mr. C. had eloquently expounded his views to his crowded audience, a Jew, Mr. Mitchell by name, got up and coolly put the question to Mr. C., "If you reinstate us in Palestine, shall we be permitted at once to drive Bishop Alexander and his attendants out of Jerusalem ?” The above problem, then, for the first time flashed forcibly upon our minds, and exercised our ingenuity a good deal. We did not like, however, to give the solution we arrived at. The same problem has now again invaded the chambers of our thoughtfulness, and as we are very reluctant to take upon ourselves the responsibility of solving it, we propose it to our readers. Let us see what hand that intelligent body will make of it.

The reason of the above problem occurring to our minds, is the following: The Established Church of Scotland had for some time a very flourishing missionary station among the Jews of Tunis. That church established in Tunis two excellent schools-for boys and girls—which were ably managed under the superintendence of the Rev. N. Davis, and Miss M. E. Brown, and were the means of doing a great deal of good amongst the Jewish rising generation of Tunis, in every point of view. General education began to be diffused in that hitherto most be