Mahometans, the east by the Jews. From the Sheik's house, where I stayed, to the Jewish quarter, was a walk of more than two miles. I was never allowed to walk without an escort, which was anything but convenient, since the language spoken by the Jews was Arabic, which of course my guards understood; and if ever I were contradicted, they would beat the poor Jews, which was a great hindrance to my work. In order to avoid this, I spoke Hebrew whenever I found they could understand it. These Jews maintained that their forefathers were of the first captivity, and had never returned to Palestine. One Saturday I asked the Rabbi's permission to say a few words to his people. As he did not distinctly forbid my doing so, I mounted the reading desk and began addressing them, when to my great astonish to help me to escape. We got away in the darkness, but in the last village, where we made a short halt for the night, a robber chief arrived with his band of twelve men. When I agreed to pay him a certain sum he promised to accompany us, and bring us safely across Mesopotamia to Tikrit on the Tigris. We started early in the morning, travelled the whole day and part of the next night, till I could no longer sit on my horse, and was obliged to beg them to allow me to lie down for a short rest. On remounting our horses in the early morning and marching a few paces, we discovered in the sand footprints of horses' hoofs to and from our night's halting place, but it was not until late in the afternoon, as we were descending into a little valley, that we found ourselves surrounded by three hundred Arabs, mounted on most beautiful ment, they all walked out quietly, leaving me alone in the synagogne. When the Agails found it out, they were very angry, and promised to guard the doors on the next Saturday, and compel the Jews to hear me. I explained to these poor wild sons of the desert that this was not our way of preaching the Gospel; we did not force our religion upon people, as we hated oppression and wrong. I therefore invited those Jews who were interested to come to me, and I thus spent whole nights teaching and instructing some in the truth as it is in Jesus. Twenty days were thus spent in Anah, and I was longing to get away, but it was impossible; I was watched by two powerful tribes on each side of the river. At last one daring Sheik offered his services steeds. After several challenges and a skirmish, my guide was recognised, and we were safe. I was introduced to the chief as Queen Victoria's brother, uncle to the Emperor of Austria, &c. &c. The Arabs accompanied me some distance, and then left me; in a few hours I was in Tikrit, thanking God for His merciful preservation. The late Rev. J. H. Brühl, my colleague in Bagdad, visited Persia, his special district, several times during the nine years of my residence at that station. His reports, both of the work done and the places of interest visited by him, published in the Intelligence between 1857 and 1866, are most interesting. He visited Kermanshah, the rock sculptures of Bisutun, Hamadan, Ispahan, the ruins of Persepolis, Shiraz, and Shushan, now called Shush, where the Jews and Mahometans believe the prophet Daniel was buried, as is indeed very likely the case. The reputed tomb of the prophet Daniel," says Loftus,* "is an oblong edifice forming one side of a large walled court, through which the pilgrim enters to reach the sacred threshold. Seen from across the little river Sháour, which flows at its foot, enshrouded in a dense mass of date trees, konars, and jungle, its conical white spire rising above all, is a picturesque object, and is the more interesting from the associations so inseparably connected with its origin." Pilgrimages to the tombs of saints are common (Ziarelt) and must have existed in olden times. Nehemiah's excuse to King Artaxerxes for his sadness, and its acceptance by the king as an adequate reason, "Why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres lies waste," clearly shows that the burial places of ancestors were much revered, and almost held sacred. So impressed was the king with Nehemiah's reason, that he consented to dispense with his services, and appointed him Tershath, or civil governor of Judæa J. M. EPPSTEIN. The Jews are the sole survivors of antiquity. With the calm, meditative gaze of a tent-dwelling people, they watched the dawn of human history. They knew and gave a name to that mysterious first race, which went off into the darkness as the shadows liftedthat unknown elder son of the night, for traces of whom we now blindly grope-the "Canaan of Scripture, the Turanian of modern hypothesis. The Jews saw Chaldea, Assyria, Babylon, Media, Egypt, Phoenicia, Greece, Carthage rise, flourish, and fall. They saw Rome tower up in the West; expend the greatest effort of its vast power in smashing and levelling Jerusalem, and then go down itself. They saw one by one the Byzantine, the Gothic, and the Frankish Empires soar skyward, darken the heavens with the wings of dominion, and tumble to earth again. They saw Spain withered up by the flames she herself had lighted in the auto da fe of the Inquisition. Persecuted by all, cursed, feared, quarantined, fettered by all, the Jews have survived all. One need not look alone in Asia Minor for peoples whose practical extinction they have witnessed.-The New Exodus. Travels and Researches in Chaldæa and Susiana," from which our illustration is taken, by kind permission of the publishers, Messrs. James Nishet and Co, THE JEWISH MISSION IN RUSSIAN POLAND. (Continued from page 60.) NOTHER cause of estrangement was explained to me by the Governor of a Province which I visited during a Missionary journey. He told me that there was no Nihilistic movement or conspiracy in which Jews were not involved. Can we wonder, then, at measures being levelled against them? Some are unnecessary, such as the pressure put upon them to enter the Greek Church, obliging them to serve in the army without the slightest hope of promotion, closing almost every avenue to place or distinctionuniversities, schools, professions-and driving them from their homes with but very short notice. The recent laws, however, forbidding Jews to acquire landed property-probably to be followed, so it appears, by other enactments compelling them to sell what they already possess, and excluding them from the right to purchase houses-such laws as these seem but natural enough, considering their conduct. I have not minced the matter with Jews; I have told them, whenever I had the opportunity, that they are, on account of their continued rejection of the true Messiah Jesus Christ, strangers in strange lands; that they ought to be careful to behave accordingly; that they are closely watched by the authorities; that from all their transactions with Christians, usury, which is forbidden in their law, should be banished, and that their plain duty is to avoid speaking or writing against Christ and His Holy Religion, which they unfortunately do continually This is known to the authorities, for a strict censorship of all publications prevails, and be it said to the MAY, 1893.] JEWISH MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE. honour and credit of the Russian Government, any- God, however, who is rich in mercy, and moves in 69 settled; the Word of God has been preached to them, copies of the Holy Scriptures and tracts have been distributed, refugees arriving in Palestine have received a hearty welcome, and every effort has been made to meet their case spiritually and temporally. And what has occurred in Russian Poland, about which I am able to speak from actual experience and observation? Since the beginning of the persecutions in 1881, a steady influx of Jews has taken place, thousands having been driven by successive edicts (forbidding them to continue their residence in certain portions of the Empire) into what is called the Pale of Settlement," of which Poland forms a part. To some this meant utter ruin, to others serious loss, to others, again, great inconvenience. A large number applied to me for instruction, having resolved, long before the persecutions, to join the Protestant Church, but having been prevented from doing so by various adverse circumstances, such as the difficulties placed in their way by the local authorities or by their friends and relations. What was I to do? Reject them? Why? Because they Yet it were persecuted? Strange reason indeed! was actually suggested to me in Warsaw as a proper But I scorned the suggestion and sufficient reason! I as one that ought not to be listened to for one acquainted with the New Testament, better, indeed, than many Christians; they expressed their firm faith in Jesus Christ as the true Messiah and Saviour. They earnestly desired baptism. Amongst them were parents who had for a long time previously instructed their children. Was it my duty as a Missionary to give these earnest Jews the cold shoulder? I think not. I was obliged, much to my regret, to reject some who did not come up to the conditions demanded by the Government. Others failed to satisfy me as to their sincerity; others again withdrew of their own accord. I baptised 97 out of the whole number instructed by me in 1891, and 78 in 1892. Now, what were the motives which actuated these Jews, as far as I could detect them, to come forward and desire baptism? I found, after a most rigorous examination, that they had gradually become dissatisfied with Judaism, that they longed for a better system of religion, that a growing conviction of the Messiah having already appeared, and of Jesus Christ being the only true Messiah and Saviour had taken possession of their souls. I do not mean to say that I do not mean to say that no worldly motives whatever animated them; such a statement would be absurd, as every experienced Missionary must know. But I believe that those I have mentioned were dominant. What right have we to expect that Jews should be entirely free from worldly motives? When we Christians are able to answer the question satisfactorily as regards ourselves, it will be time for us to cast the stone at Jews, whose responsibility is not so great as ours, since our privileges are far superior to theirs. I say to my candidates before admitting them to baptism, and after they have received full instruction: "I cannot read your thoughts, God alone can do so; if you are not satisfied that the religion of Christ is the only true one and the natural development of the Law of Moses, if you have no real repentance, no sincere faith, refrain from baptism, remain as you are, until you have obtained through prayer these necessary things; be sincere, be upright and entirely above board." My difficulties, as I have already stated, are not due, as far as I know at present, to any hostility to my work on the part of the Russian authorities; on the contrary, they have always been most polite and cordial towards me, smoothing away any obstacle I mentioned to them, even going out of their way to help me. Our duty is to trust in the power and goodness of God. He alone can bring mighty things to pass, and overrule all obstacles and difficulties to the ultimate good of our Mission. O. J. ELLIS. WORK AMONG JEWESSES IN SAFED. AM sure that all who are interested in the Society will rejoice to hear that we have such good opportunities for promoting Christianity among the Jewesses in Safed. The miserable condition of the women struck me forcibly when we were first stationed here, and I resolved, by God's help, to try my utmost to benefit them. The first way was by having a Dorcas Meeting twice a month to make baby-clothes; but our community being so small, and the applicants so many, it was difficult to keep it up; so we tried a small Bazaar, which answered so well that we repeated it, and now it has become a regular institution, and the principal supporters are the Jews themselves. For the girls we have a School, and for the sick a doctor and medicine free; but there was no means of influencing the women specially, except by Missionary addresses in the Dispensary. They are so lamentably ignorant of the Scriptures that it is impossible for them to understand or to take in the arguments. By the kind help of the Bishop and Mrs. Kelk, I began a Sewing Class for women, providing them materials to make up for themselves. At first I told only two or three to come, who, we knew, would not be afraid to venture, but the report of it soon spread, and many applied to be taken in. Most of them were so poor as to be in a constant state of semi-starvation, and every time one or more fainted from sheer hunger, so we made an effort, and gave them all some tea and bread before they began their work. The bread is like leather, it is so tough and indigestible for Europeans, but they enjoy it with tea, which is so weak that it is hardly coloured; they have sugar, but no milk in it. After the work is finished, Mr. Friedmann closes the meeting with reading a few verses, often from the New Testament, and with prayer. At first we had only seven women, and the classes were every fortnight; but when in England last year several kind friends gave us help for this special work, and now I have sixteen coming every Tuesday afternoon. If means were only forthcoming, I could have fifty and more, for so many come and beg to be taken in. It is hard to be compelled to refuse their tearful entreaties. But the encouraging part of it is that we can now give definite Bible instruction in the Old Testament, and, as opportunity occurs, draw their attention to the teaching of the Gospel. With the help of our servant, Rachel Bevas, who is herself a converted Jewess, and was baptised here, and who is devoted to Mission work amongst her own people, we are, in God's providence, able at least to sow some seed, which we pray God will graciously cause to spring up and bear good fruit. During the sewing, also, there are many opportunities for giving indirect Christian teaching. Poor and ignorant as these women are, I must say nothing can be nicer than their behaviour, and their gratitude is most touching, which I really believe is in many cases as much for their spiritual as for their temporal help, for most of them are very pious, and bear their hard lot with great patience and faith in God. Our last lesson was a most interesting one. The subject was the Deluge, and one woman from Roumania gave us a thrilling account of what she herself had witnessed during a flood there, and said, awful as it was, it could have been nothing in comparison to the Flood, and how fearful it must have been when the people found themselves completely shut out of the Ark. Of course it was easy after this to draw their attention to the need of a Sure Refuge. Hitherto I have carried on the work only during the summer months, but now, as it is really a Bible Class as well as for sewing, we are most anxious to keep it up regularly, especially as the women themselves wish to have it going on all through the year. A few regular contributions would enable us to do this, and may God see fit to put in the hearts of our friends the desire to add just a little more to benefit Jewish women for the sake of Him Who was born of a Jewish mother, and Who, while on earth, counted many Jewesses as His faithful and loving disciples. Contributions of needles, cotton, &c., which are here very dear and bad, would be a great help to our weekly Dorcas Meeting, as well as to the Sewing Class. M. FRIEDMANN. PRE-ISRAELITE PALESTINE. N the tenth chapter of the book of Joshua it is narrated that when Adoni-Zedec, King of Jerusalem, heard of the conquests of Joshua, and that Gibeon, which was a great city, "as one of the cities of the Kingdom," had made peace with Israel, he formed a league with four other kings of the Amorites, and went up and encamped against Gibeon, and made war against it; and that when Joshua received intelligence of this, he made a hasty night march from Gilgal, discomfited the Amorite host, chased them to Azekah and Makkedah, and subsequently captured and slew the five kings allied against him. After this Adoni-Zedec is not again heard of in history: he became a name and nothing more. But in those early days people in Palestine were accustomed to write their letters upon tablets of moist clay, which, when burned or baked, formed a permanent record, capable of resisting the ravages of time, and indestructible save by the application of mechanical force. Five or six years ago a peasant woman in Egypt found some tablets of this kind, inscribed with "cuneiform" characters, and, divining that money might be made out of them, took them for sale to a dealer. Their value soon came to be discovered, further search was made, and eventually some 320 were found, which are now part in Cairo, part in Berlin, and part in the British Museum. Carefully made copies of their inscriptions have been published by Dr. Winckler, of Berlin, and Dr. Bezold, of the British Museum, and after two years' study of these "texts," Major Conder, R.E., the well-known Palestine explorer and author, has put forth a translation of them in a little work called "The Tell Amarna Tablets," published by the Palestine Exploration Fund. The difficulty of accurately translating these ancient documents is of course very great, and Major Conder does not hide from himself that some portions, at least, of his renderings may be called in question by other scholars. But it appears certain that these tablets, thus accidentally (as it were) brought again to light after the lapse of 3,300 years, are a series of letters or reports addressed by rulers and governors of districts in Palestine, and by other persons, to the Egyptian "King or his officers. Some which were written from Jerusalem, Major Conder thinks there is reason to believe came from Adoni-Zedec, although the name appears under a different form. Very touching are these letters. We have long been familiar with the Bible account of the Hebrew invasion, but never before has a narrative from the other side been presented to us, and we are perhaps accustomed to think too little of the sufferings of the invaded country, and the solemn lesson which those sufferings are designed to teach us. ་་ It appears from the letters that when the progress of the Hebrews became serious, the "princesses" were sent for safety into Egypt, and that Adoni-Zedee himself meditated flight, before, in an evil hour for his own security, he formed the confederacy with his neighbour kings, which led to his own, and to their, destruction. In pitiful words he appeals to the King of Egypt, who was then the Suzerain of the Palestine Kingdoms, for aid. They have prevailed," he writes, "they have taken the fortress of Jericho, they have gathered against the King of Kings. Behold, as to me, my father is not and my army is not." "I say to the resident' of the King my Lord, why is the land in slavery to the chief of the Abiri (Hebrews), and the rulers fear the end?'.. Behold, I say that the land of the King my Lord is ruined." And again: "The lands are failing to the King my Lord. The Hebrew chiefs plunder all the King's lands. Since the chiefs of the Egyptian soldiers have gone away, quitting the lands this year ... there is ruin to the lands of the King my Lord." This passage clearly indicates a withdrawal of the Egyptian troops, who had previously held the country, shortly before the appearance of the Hebrews, and shows how, in the Providence of God, the people of the land had thus been left a comparatively easy prey to the invading host. In another letter Adoni-Zedec (if it be really he) states that he has sent away twenty-three princesses under escort; that twenty chiefs remained faithful, and he had sent them to "the King my Lord," but that the whole of the country is "seized from him" and ruined. He asks for help by way of the sea, and points out by what route troops, when landed, might best march up to his assistance. He fears for Jerusalem (Uru-sa-lim). They are gathering," he writes. "The chief says he will attack me to besiege." This letter is written to the "Scribe" of "the King my Lord," whom the writer, "thy servant, the afflicted," begs to "translate the messages well to the King my Lord." "O Scribe of the King my Lord," he continues, "I am efflicted, greatly am I afflicted." 46 In another letter it is related that Jerusalem WAS faithful to the king, and that the city of Gaza remained to the king, which corresponds exactly with the sacred narrative. Major Conder thinks this letter was written after the defeat of Ajalon, perhaps from Makkedah, where the kings had taken refuge before the final catastrophe. A great number of names of places which occur in the Hebrew Scriptures are mentioned, as Megiddo, Gaza, Dothan, Damascus, Laish, Hazor, Shunem, Joppa, Lod, Ono, Ajalon, Gezer, Jerusalem, &c. Truly wonderful is it that in this age, when the faith of so many in the written Word seems to be decaying, and the Bible, even by devout persons, is spoken of as "not true, but containing the truth," these old world documents should be discovered by a poor Mohammedan woman, and be regarded by a scholar like Major Conder as affording confirmation, even in minute details, of the conquest of Canaan, which had ages ago been described by "the pen of the Holy Ghost! |