denly become an object of contemplation to the Statesman, the Philosopher, and the Christian. Recent political events have powerfully contributed to produce this change of feeling. The Jews are visibly rising up in remembrance before us. Their past desolations, their present position, the purposes of God respecting them; their Restoration, Conversion, and the mode and manner of these events, are now familiar topics of discussion; and there is altogether a mysterious and sublime awe and indescribable interest, as if some great crisis were at hand.

The suddenness and extent of this impression is most remarkable. It seems as if the Lord were about to confirm the divine declaration, "I the Lord will hasten it in his time.”

What a contrast does this feeling exhibit to the past neglect and treatment of the Jewish nation. For nearly eighteen hundred years it has been customary to consider them as if they were aliens from both God and man; and meriting, by common consent, to be excluded from all participation in the rights of humanity. No hand was stretched out to mitigate their wants; no voice of mercy addressed them in the soft accents of the Gospel of peace. inheritance; spoliation, stripes, bonds, and imprisonment, furnish the sad catalogue of their

Penal laws were their

sufferings, and of our guilt. The late persecutions at Rhodes and Damascus afford a melancholy evidence that this spirit still survives in the East; though the strong manifestation of public feeling throughout Europe, indicates a decided revolution of sentiment in the West.

The object of the present series of Lectures is to strengthen this favourable impression; to diffuse more just and enlarged views on the Jewish subject; to correct some prevailing misconceptions, which strike at the root of all exertion in behalf of Israel; to point out the duty of the Christian Church; and to show that all its future hopes of enlargement are inseparably connected with God's purposes of mercy to the Jewish nation. A similar course of Lectures has already been delivered, with the happiest results, in the town of Liverpool; and it is hoped that the example will be followed in other places. May the Divine blessing largely rest on this undertaking; and the spirit of power, of love, and of a sound mind be given to each of its advocates; and while the cause of Israel is the noble and inviting theme, may Israel's God have all the praise and glory!

In introducing this subject to your notice, I shall endeavour to show how Jehovah has

specially selected the Jewish nation, as the great

instrument for the display of all his glorious attributes.

In the manner and character of their origin.

The origin of nations is, for the most part, enveloped in fable, and embellished with poetic fiction; or it is the gradual result of personal enterprise and heroic achievement. The foundation of the Jewish nation was laid in the counsels of eternity, and for nobler ends than the perishable glories of this world. They were to be the subject of a mighty dispensation,—the depositories of the revealed will of God,-the channel through which he was to accomplish the purposes of his mercy, in the person of a Redeemer, and in the establishment of an everlasting kingdom. They were to be the instruments in and by whom he was to be glorified, through all the vicissitudes of their eventful history. nounced in the have I formed for myself; they shall show forth my praise" (Isaiah xliii. 21); "Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified" (xlix. 3); "The branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified." (lx. 21.)

This design is repeatedly ansacred volume. "This people

Their origin was in accordance with these declarations, and a fit commencement for such a Divine procedure. The call of Abraham is the first great link in the history of Israel. It forms

one of the most memorable eras ever recited in the annals of mankind, whether we consider the minuteness of its beginning, the extraordinary events that marked its progress, or the mighty results with which it will be ultimately crowned.

We behold this distinguished individual selected by Divine Providence as the medium through whom, and by means of whose posterity, the knowledge of the true God was to be kept alive, when the whole world was immersed in idolatry. We see also the uniform order and manner of the

Divine proceeding. "I will bless thee, and thou shalt be a blessing." (Gen. xii. 2.) Personal religion is invariably the foundation of all true exertion and future usefulness. We must first experience the power of Divine truth on our own hearts, before we can ever expect to be the honoured instruments of imparting it to others.

What a concentration of graces do we observe in the history of this eminent patriarch! What a living exemplification of the faith which is "the evidence of things not seen, and the substance of things hoped for;" going "not knowing whither he went;""sojourning in a land of promise, as in a strange country; ""hoping against hope;" the founder of a nation like the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the seashore, innumerable. What a series of signal

interpositions, splendid miracles, and remarkable events, derive their origin from this single and common source, each unfolded in its appointed time, and in their immediate or remote contingencies influencing every age, connected with the rise and fall of empires, and exhibiting God's providential dealings, as the supreme Moral Governor of the world. Kings spring from his loins; prophets lift up the veil of futurity; and how often have the songs of Zion refreshed the mourner in the house of his pilgrimage!

Blended with this eventful history, and resulting from the same original source, we behold the two covenants-the holy law delivered amidst the thunders of Mount Sinai, the transcript of the pure mind of God, the guide of the believer, the schoolmaster to bring us to Christ; and the precious and everlasting Gospel, proclaimed amidst the chaunt and acclamation of angels, the only foundation of pardon and peace, the only sure title to life and immortality. What a theme for adoration and praise, worthy of the intellect of the loftiest archangel, yet intelligible to the meek and lowly spirit!-forming altogether a combination of events, surpassing in grandeur and interest the annals of any other time or nation: displaying all the Divine attributes in their fullest perfection; affecting the hopes and fears