science will not permit me to become a Christian.' I replied, 'How is it that my conscience, and that of thousands of my brethren, did not permit us to remain faithful to rabbinical precepts?' But be again reiterated, 'I never could become a Christian.' "On another occasion, What think ye of Christ?' was the theme. One Jew said, 'He was a good man; another, 'A clever man'; a third, 'A dead man,' and so forth; whilst to all I testified that 'Jesus Christ, God and Man, liveth

for evermore.'

"X. remarked that the New Testament contained many beautiful things

busy life, has cheerfully given hours of his time to help in the work of getting things ready, and is especially entitled to this acknowledgment. Much of his advice was such as only he could give me.... Having not yet succeeded in finding a suitable dispenser, I am not undertaking regular visiting in the patients' houses at present.... I have, however, visited some very poor patients connected with Mrs. Segall's Mothers' Working Meeting. Probably by the New Year I shall be able

the,בין אדם לחברו touching

relations of one man to another. 'Not only between man and man,' I replied, 'but, what is better still, between man and God; for it does not merely teach, but exhibits the reconciliation of man with God. He had read the 'Old Paths,' and objected to the attacks on the rabbis which he found therein. I told him that these attacks proceeded from love.

"It is sad to observe how the gracious offer of salvation, instead of drawing some Jews nearer to the cross, seems to drive them, farther away from it. A Jew, knowing my usual solicitations to come to the Saviour, anticipated them with a word of mockery for each, but 1 again repeated, 'Come, for all things are ready.""

DAMASCUS.

to develop this important side of the work.... The

Dr. Masterman :

"December 16.

"In getting the Medical Mission started I have to thank many friends here for their kind and sympathetic assistance and advice, but very especially the Rev. J. Segall and Dr. Mackinnon, who have both rendered me most essential service. Dr. Mackinnon being unconnected with our Society, in the midst of a most

Jewish quarter-as much in the midst of the Jews as one could desire. This will, I think, absolutely guarantee that all the patients attending there will be Jews. The house is an ordinary Damascus house, with an open court-yard, a fountain of running water in the centre, and several lemon and citron trees as well as vines around. The whole house has been thoroughly cleaned and done up."

SAFED.

E have much pleasure in giving our readers two good views of Safed, from photographs sent by the Rev. Ben Zion Friedmann. The first is a view of the Jewish portion of the town. The Society's Depôt, Dispensary and temporary Hospital are towards the left centre of the picture; Dr. Anderson's house is close to the Hospital, but is not seen. The Mission ground is hidden, but is situated at the top right hand corner. The second view is from near Ain Zeitun, shewing

Depôt, they used to help me to speak to him. They said to one, We are astonished that you who are so learned, and say you know so much, do not want to understand what Moses and the prophets have spoken in the Old Testament concerning Christ. We are young and not learned, and yet we now understand, and also believe in Him whom we have so long rejected.'

"We are having great difficulties with the Jews just now, for they are trying to hinder our work very much. The representatives of the Jews in Safed assembled several times to consult as to what

The Depot-keeper at Safed makes the following report for the past quarter :

"From the commencement of this quarter, I have had five enquirers coming regularly to the Depôt for Christian instruction; they remained nearly the whole day with me. They also come to the NightSchool, where they are taught to read and write English. Three of these enquirers asked to be baptized in Safed, and confessed themselves Christians openly before the Jews. When a rabbi came to the

They are also trying to gather money to prevent any young man from coming to us. The rabbis hurled threats and excommunications against any man who ventured to come to the Mission, but found that this does not help, and that the young men still continued to come. The Jews then sent some learned men to speak to them, and to try and change their minds. They asked the enquirers, 'Why do you want to become Christians, and lose your honour and the honour of your families?' and so on. The enquirers then answered them, By faith Abraham left his

JERUSALEM NOTES.

MISS E. G. Birks reports that she kept up her meetings and classes in the summer months, but whilst not able to visit much during the heat, she paid 88 visits in the two months to proselytes, enquirers, and others. She says:

"There are two women whom I call enquirers, though they have as yet expressed no wish for baptism, but they are willing

to have God's Word read and explained to them regularly, and I endeavour to visit them once or twice a week. The two women, baptized in June, are also still taking regular instruction once a week. An Ashkenazi woman from Safed, who has been some time in the Hospital, has been very ready to listen, and I have read a great part of St. Luke's Gospel with her, but I fear her interest was rather the desire for something to pass the time, than anything deeper. One boy who reads the New Testament with me regularly every week, not being allowed to read it at home, is, I am sure, a secret believer, but will not face baptism here in Jerusalem, and wants to get away. I have heard this month of the baptism at Constantinople of a hoy who left us a year ago; he had been a short time in the Enquirers' Home, but his friends enticed him away. I had been teaching him for three years.

I had a good night-school in June and July, but it fell off in August, when I closed it till after the Feasts. Six men and three boys have attended pretty regularly from May till the beginning of August, and could read the Bible in English, though Inost had to begin from the alphabet. One was Spanish and I had to give him a separate time, and at first I had the men and boys separately.

The Arabic Mothers' Meeting for the mothers of our dayscholars, was open ten weeks, from June 17, when we commenced, to August 19. The attendance varied from 8 to 12. I closed it with the day-school, as I depend on our teacher to give the address, and she needed a holiday. The other two meetings close this week (Sep. 11); the attendance of German women has varied from 10 to 18, and the Spanish from 26 to 30. There has been a great deal of sickness amongst the women or their children, preventing them from coming. The Day School closed August 22, with 50 children on the books. 45 were present the last day, but a great many attended irregularly towards the end, owing to fever and sore eyes. More than two thirds of the children now are Arabic speaking, the rest are Spanish. The Sunday School kept up much better this summer; we had 16 or 17 each week.

From the Rev. J. Jamal's journal we take the following conversation which he had with Yemenite Jews in their synagogue:

"The Yemenite community in Jerusalem is on the increase. As a rule they keep together, and seldom mix with Jews of other sects. They now have their own synagogues and schools. It is very singular, however, that, although they are in the habit of keeping together in their respective quarters, they are yet split into small congregations. At the colony of Shebit Tsedik,' on the Jaffa road (commonly called the Box Colony,' on account of the houses there being mostly made of old boxes, covered with petroleum tins beaten out flat), there is a community of Yemenites, consisting of about 30 families. When they first settled, they met in one synagogue under one Rabbi, but they soon disagreed and separated into three congregations. At the original synagogue I am received as a good friend, and often allowed by the Rabbi, who is an old acquaintance of mine, to hold a conversation on matters of religion. During one of my visits I had an opportunity of reading with about ten people the whole of the tract, Proofs from the Ancient Prophecies.' Whenever a passage of Scripture was quoted, it was compared with the Bible, word for word, as some suspected that the quotations were not correct. In speaking of the blessing of Abraham, I pointed out the undeniable fact of the literal fulfilment of Jacob's prophecy, and that through the Messiah, who is of the seed of Abraham, God's name has become great among the Gentiles, and by means of His Gospel, numberless souls in all parts of the world were turned from darkness into light, and from the power of Satan unto God. They all listened with close attention, and admitted that Jesus of Nazareth was a holy man, but they objected to His Divine character. When I referred them to several passages relating to the Messiah's Divine character, such as, His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace'; and this is His name whereby He shall be called Jehovah our Righteousness,' and others, they said one to another, How can we deny facts, is it not God's Word?' The Rabbi then brought in a large volume of the Talmud. to see what comment the Rabbis gave on these important passages. While thus engaged in discussing the question among themselves, I left with them a few tracts about the claims of Christianity."

JEWS AND MEDICAL MISSIONS.

་

THE following translation of an article published in the Hebrew Jerusalem Periodical, Hazewi, No. 6, dated Friday, 24th Heshwan (Nov. 1st, 1895), will shew how Jews value Medical Work, and know its power :

"To our pious and upright brethren the children of Israel, headed by the great Rabbis and leaders of the holy congregations of America.

"Your brethren, the Ashkenaz community of Tiberias, send you greetings and enquire of your welfare, and constantly pray for you from the beginning to the end of the year. "Brethren and men of our redemption !

66

The founding of a Hospital and a gratuitous physician and medicines to the sick Israelites is a great thing, very important to humanity, and to the Jewish world, and is a pressing want in all the Holy Land as well as in our Holy City (Tiberias).

"The great poverty and want of our holy city gives strength to the Mission, who knew how to take advantage of the time and place, and have established here a great Hospital in order to catch simple-minded souls from our brethren, the children of Israel, by means of their gratuitous medical advice.

"It is a holy duty on our generous brethren and the lovers of Zion to stand and to destroy and pluck out the horns of the Mission.

"And wherewith?

"Only by the establishment of a Hospital and free medical advice to the poor of our holy city. The founding of such a Hospital in our city is a great need, not only to our brethren, the inhabitants, but to all who come from the Holy Land and from other countries to the Tiberian baths to be cured from their infirmities,"

VISIT TO JEWISH COLONIES NEAR CESAREA.

HE Rev. J. E. Hanauer's report contains the following:

"During the absence of Mr. Weinberg, I made it a point to spend my forenoons

in the Book-shop which was often visited by Jews. I had a great many most interesting conversations there. In the afternoons I held school in my study -first, for two hours in English for our people's (Hebrew-Christian) children; and secondly, when the children had left, I gave an hour three times a week to an Arab-speaking (Sephardi) Jew. Later on in the evening I held an English-German Class.

"The Sunday Services, morning and evening, have been held regularly. The lowest attendance, (not counting my own family) was nineteen at the morning and seven in the evening. The Children's Sunday Afternoon Service had to be stopped during the months of

July and
August on

account of great sickness from malarial fever. All my children were ill and many other

besides, and

I was obliged

to visit Cæsarea. We travelled northwards by the Plain of Sharon, where fellahin were ploughing with their oxen, and past the villages of Miskeh, Et Tirel, Kalansaweh and Kakon. It was a long and dreary ride, but fortunately, the weather was very cool, and the first rain this season came down soon after we had crossed the bridge over the Anjeh (the Me-jarkon of Josh. xix. 46), at Hadrah, where the dammed up water was covered with large yellow water-lilies. Our destination was reached soon after sunset. We had been eleven hours on the road. The settlement consists of a large one-storied and flat-roofed Arab building, forming four sides of an oblong yard, fiftythree paces long, and thirty broad, into which the doors of rows of rooms open. Two arched gates in the middle of the opposite shorter sides of the parallelogram lead into the open country. The building was, as we were informed by the settlers, already on

to take my family up to Jerusalem for a change of air. We were away from August 5 till September 6th.

"Since our return the work has been carried on in the usual way by conversations in the Book-Depôt and by visits to Jews in their shops, houses and synagogues. During Mr. Weinberg's absence it was not possible to visit any of the more distant outlying Jewish colonies, but I several times visited Rishon-le-Zion and once Mikveh Israel, and, since then I have been, several times visited by a Jew to whom I had given tracts when I called at the former place.

the estate (which comprises 30,000 donmins of land, and is occupied by thirty Jewish

families of Ashkenazim from Russia) when it was purchased by them. It had been erected by a former

owner for the use of his fellahin, and none of the cell-like rooms had had any windows till the Jewish immigrants made them by breaking holes in the back walls. At the back of the building and resting against it is a row of cattle-sheds with doors opening into the fields. As the hotel' which we had been told existed, and to which we were taken, consisted only of a filthy and evil smelling room, we were obliged to hire a small apartment from one of the day labourers. We had scarcely lit our spirit-lamps, in order to make some tea, before half a dozen men came in to see and speak to us. No Missionary had ever visited this settlement before, and, in scarcely a quarter of an hour after we had secured the room, Mr. Weinberg and I were in the thick of an animated discussion, and had given away many tracts, New Testaments and other books, Discussion is,