The mission field, as time went on, became less promising and fruitful, the Jews becoming infected with the socialism and rationalism in Germany, as taught in the universities, churches, schools, and other institutions. Zeal for missions almost died out; the Jews became the subject of much Anti-Semitism. The long pent-up enmity against them burst forth with great virulence. In Leipzig, as in other places, petitions were sent to the Government urging the withdrawal of their political rights and privileges. In return, the Jews paid back hatred by hatred.
This state of things led Dr. Biesenthal to take a gloomy view of the general position. In his last report but one he said: "Hurricanes of trouble are blowing from the four quarters of the earth against the Church and against the Gospel," and added that in such circumstances his report could not be a joyous one.
Dr. Biesenthal doubtless obtained more satisfaction from his literary than from his missionary labours; although, in his case, one was the complement of the other. A scholar he was emphatically, and a brilliant one withal, as his works abundantly and substantially testify; and as such he will be principally remembered.
His published works contained the following: "Auszüge aus dem Buche Sohar, mit Deutscher Uebersetzung" (1837), a proof from Jewish sources of the doctrine of the Trinity and other Christian verities; "Hebräisches und Chaldäisches Schulwörterbuch über das A.T." (1836-7); "David Kimchi's ספר השרשים or Liber Radicum" (1838-48), in collaboration with F. S. Lebrecht; "The Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England" (1840); "The Book of Psalms," Hebrew text and Commentary (1841); "The Book of Isaiah," Hebrew Text and Commentary (1841); "Chrestomathia Rabbinica Sive Libri Quatuor, etc." (1844); "Menachem ben Serug's Hebrew Lexicon" (1847); "Theologisch-Historische Studien" (1847); "Zur Geschichte der Christlichen Kirche," etc. (1850); "Das Trostschreiben des Apostels Paulus an die Hebraer" (1878); and a Hebrew Translation of the Epistles to the "Hebrews and the Romans," with Commentary (1857-8). He also wrote Commentaries on "St. Matthew's Gospel, the Acts of the Apostles," an Essay on "The Atonement"; and the "Life of Gerson."
In 1877, the University of Giessen conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity.
In his greatest work, the "History of the Christian Church," intended for the special use of the Jews, he proved that they stood in close connexion with the early Church, by bringing prominently forward the history of Jewish believers who loved their Saviour devotedly and laboured successfully for the spread of the Gospel at the time of its first promulgation.
Dr. Isaac Jost (1793-1860), the learned Jewish historian of Frankfort, in reviewing Dr. Biesenthal's "Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews," referred to it as a masterly composition, and also to the author's extraordinary command of the Hebrew language, and said it excelled everything which had ever been written before in the endeavour to prove, not only that Christianity is to be found in the writings of almost all the ancient prophets, and that Christ's coming fulfilled the law, but that the rabbis of almost every age agree with the writers of the New Testament as to the general character of the Messiah promised, although they do not admit that Jesus was that Messiah.
Dr. Julius Fürst (1805-1873), another eminent Jewish author, referring to Biesenthal's Commentaries generally, and the extensive erudition and thorough knowledge displayed of Jewish literature before and after the Christian era, bore still higher testimony, and stated that all previous attempts to translate the New Testament, or parts of it, were exceeded by the distinguished labours of Dr. Biesenthal, not only on account of the richness and fulness of matter, extracted with much taste from the Talmud, Midrash, and Sohar, but also on account of the clearness of thought with which he penetrated and exhibited the doctrinal teaching of the Apostles.
It is a matter for deep regret that these valuable Commentaries are out of print, and consequently out of circulation.
It is an interesting circumstance that Biesenthal also wrote, 1840, under the pseudonym "Karl Ignaz Corvé," a work entitled "Ueber den Ursprung die Juden Erhobenen Beschuldigung bei der Feier Ihrer Ostern sich des Blutes zu bedienen, etc.," in which he defended the Jews from the Blood Accusation at Damascus.
Dr. Biesenthal retired from active service in 1881, and died at Berlin on June 25th, 1886, at the advanced age of 82 years.
Binion, Dr. Samuel A., son of Joshua, born in Suwalki, Poland, where he received a good Hebrew and Talmudic education, and then studied at Wilna, Breslau and Padua, under great Jewish savants. He then went to England, about 1864-5, where, like Philip, he found Jesus to be the Messiah, and he was baptized by the Rev. Dr. Ewald in Palestine Place. He then attended lectures at King's College, and, probably through the influence of Dr. Schwarz, he was sent to labour in the Protestant cause in Spain, where he became superintendent of schools in Seville and in the Balearic Islands. Thence he went to the United States, where his linguistic attainments and great learning found free scope and due acknowledgment. There he largely contributed to current encyclopædias. He was one of the revisers of the "Century Dictionary of Names," and wrote the article on the Kabbalah in "Charles Warner's Cyclopædia of the World's Best Literature." Dr. Binion's master work is "Ancient Egypt," two elaborate folio volumes on the art and archæology of Egypt. He is also the translator of "'Quo Vadis,' with Fire and Sword," Dan Michael, published in Holiday de Luxe editions, Philadelphia.
Bleibtreu, Philip Johann, born at Frankfort-on-the-Main, in the middle of the seventeenth century, died in 1702. He published a work in German, entitled "Meir Naor" (the enlightened Meir from his Jewish name Meir), Frankfort, 1787, giving an account of his conversion, notes on the Jewish festivals, and on some Jewish prayers. The last words he uttered when dying were, "Ich bleibe treu" ("I remain faithful"), in allusion to his name, which is equivalent to the English name "Faithful."
Bloch, Edward, born in 1810. While holding the office of first master in a Jewish school, was convinced of the truth of the Gospel, and then baptized by Pastor Kunze, in Breslau, in 1836.
Bloch, Julius Paul, was born April 16th, 1816 at Jutroschin, in Prussia. His parents, Simon and Zipporah, brought him up to be, like themselves, strictly orthodox. Being clever, before he was 13 years old, when he became "Bar Mitzvah," he had gained a thorough Talmudical education. He grew up a very strict pious Jew, never missing synagogue either morning or evening. In his fourteenth year he was apprenticed to a furrier. Whilst thus earning his living, two missionaries came to Jutroschin. Their advent caused a great commotion, as the city was then renowned as one of the strongholds of Judaism. The Jews determined to oppose their work, and Julius Bloch was one of the foremost to stone them. A year or two later he had to travel as a journeyman in his trade. This eventually brought him to Greifswalde, where he found employment with a Mr. Albert, who, at last, made him foreman in his factory. This man and his wife were true Christians, and often talked to him about Christ. He noticed, too, the peace they enjoyed in hours of the greatest adversity, and his faith in Judaism, as a religion of comfort, was shaken. At last he tried to turn a deaf ear to all they said, but the seeds of eternal life had been sown in his heart. He began to feel lonely and unhappy; he could no longer say the Hebrew prayers, Jewish ceremonies began to lose their hold, as having no solace for his disturbed mind. Of this time he says: "I got a Bible, and began to read it. My conscience was awakened, and I became my accuser. I put the Bible away and determined to remain a good Jew, but the wounds of my conscience and heart became putrifying sores. I tried to comfort myself that I had always lived a moral and blameless life; but it was all in vain." At last his despair nearly drove him to suicide, from which he was only saved by throwing himself on his knees in prayer. That night he was "born again," and the next day, May 16, 1839, he openly confessed his newly found faith. The change became known to the Jews. Arguments and threats, and even the offer from a brother to establish him in business – all was in vain. The next year he went to Berlin, and after preparation was received into the Church of Christ, by Pastor Kuntze, on June 6, 1841. Further trials from his family awaited him, until he fled to Amsterdam, where Mr. Pauli, the Society's missionary, asked him to assist in the mission. From that time, 1843, until May, 1900, when he died, his work was signally blessed, many Jews through his influence being baptized. He thus passed away "as a shock of corn cometh in in his season."
Bloch, Moritz (in Hungarian, Ballage Mór), born in Timova, 1816, received a Talmudic education, then studied at the University of Pesth, then Orientalia at Paris. In 1841 he sent a petition to the Hungarian Parliament, asking for the emancipation of the Jews. He translated the Pentateuch and Joshua into Hungarian, adding exegetical notes. In 1843 he was baptized in Germany in a Lutheran Church. The next year he was appointed Professor at the Lyceum in Syarvas, Hungary. He was an author of several works on educational and theological topics, and edited, in 1840, the "Protestantische Kirchen und Schulbatt."
Bock, Wilhelm Isaac, a Jewish rabbi, after embracing Christianity, taught Hebrew in Frankfort on the Oder, and published "Abraham Jugels Lekah Tob, or Catechism for Jews in German," Leipzig, 1694.
Bonaventura, Meyer, a Jewish convert, wrote "Das Judenthum in seinen Gebeten, Gebrauchen, Gesetzen und Ceremonien," Regensburg, 1843.
Bonn, first master in a school, baptized at Königsberg in 19th century, is recorded to have been very zealous in the work of the German Home Mission, and preached the Gospel.
Borg, Ernest Maximilian, a Jew who held a similar position to Bock, was baptized much earlier in Breslau (de le Roi, I. 212).
Börling, Pastor J. Jacob, born in 1802, in Slavito, Russia, five times experienced as a child God's mercy when he was in danger of being drowned. He devoted himself diligently to the study of rabbinic and Kabbalistic lore, until this whole system surfeited him with disgust when he found that its votaries were far from being the saints they pretended to be. In 1821, the missionaries Saltet and Betzner visited Berditscheff, where the family then resided. Börling received a tract from them, but his mother tore it in pieces. Later the missionary Moritz arrived there, and as a born Jew he made a great impression upon Börling, so that he began to search the Scriptures, and at length was baptized by Saltet, his first missionary acquaintance, in 1823. In 1825 he accompanied Joseph Wolff to Schuster on the Persian border. In 1828 he went alone to Persia, to rescue German subjects who were sold into slavery, in which self-denying mission he eventually succeeded. He then studied in the mission house at Basel, and in 1834 he was appointed by the Berlin Society as their missionary in that city. There he worked zealously till 1840, when he accepted the call to become pastor of a Church in Bellowesch, in the government of Tschernigoff. Börling was the son-in-law of the missionary Goldberg, the brother-in-law of Hausmeister. The latter wrote, "Leben und Wirken des Pastors J. J. Börling." (Basel, 1852).
Börne, Karl Ludwig (Loeb Baruch), German political and literary writer, born 1786 at Frankfort-on-the-Main, died in Paris, 1837. He was baptized in the Lutheran Church at Rödelheim, by Pastor Bertuah, on June 5th, 1818. In 1819 he became editor of the "Zeitung der Freien Stadt Frankfurt." Börne was a prolific writer. A complete edition of his works, in 12 vols., was published at Hamburg in 1862.
Braham, John (Abraham), born in 1774, died 1856, a well-known musician in London, where he was as a Jew leader of the choir of the Great Synagogue, and became afterwards, as a Christian, especially popular for his song, entitled "The Death of Nelson." Of his children, a daughter became Countess Waldegrave, and later she married Lord Carlingford.
Brandon, a convert, educated at St. Chrischona, Basel, was sent by the Scotch Church as missionary to Alexandria, in 1859. In 1862 he went to Khartum, and after receiving permission from King Theodore, he entered Abyssinia, and was partner with Flad and Stern in their labours and in their captivity. After the release of the captives, he was actively engaged in good work at Beyrout, Syria.
Branis, a daughter of Rabbi Kempner, was baptized in 1826, out of pure conviction. Her old father was also inclined towards Christianity, but died before he could come to a decision.
Braniss, Christlieb Julius, born in Breslau, 1792, died 1873. He became Professor of Philosophy at Breslau in 1833. He was the author of several works on philosophy and metaphysics. One only requires mentioning here, "De Notione Philosophiae Christianae."
Brenz, Victorin Christophorus, was baptized in 1601, together with his parents and the whole family. His father, Samuel Frederick Brenz, is known as the author of the "Jüdischer Abgestreifter Schlangenbalg" ("The Jewish Serpent's Skin Stripped") against which Solomon Zebi Hirsch, of Aufhausen, wrote "Der Jüdische Theriak" ("The Jewish Theriak or Antidote") Hanau, 1615. Brenz, junior, after finishing his theological studies, quietly and patiently, served in 1624 as minister at Untermichelbach, receiving a stipend of 150 thaler, with which he had to support his wife and four children. Later he had the care of two churches, and yet he had to work in the fields as a labourer to earn his living. Then he had the care of seven parishes, in which he exhausted his strength, and died at the age of 47, in 1642.
Brilliant, a convert, laboured as an Evangelist among the Jews in the service of the Free Church of Scotland at Amsterdam, in 1866.
Bromet, M. S., a Dutch Jew, baptized in 1855, was very much persecuted by his brethren. He wrote several tracts, amongst which were – "De Wederkomst en de regeering van den Heere Jesus Christus," "Kort Oversicht van eenige gelijkenissen des Heeren," "De erste opstonding in verband met de Wederkomst des Heeren," "Het National herstel en de bekeering van Israel," "Elischoa God is miyn heil," Amst. Doct., 1874-76.
Bronkhorst, S. H. convert, student and missionary of the L.J.S., in Abyssinia 1859-1862, when he and Flad laboured together in Djenda.
Brühl, John Henry, was born in 1823 at Schmiegel (Posen). He was sent to school at a very early age, and, before he was five years old, was able to translate the greater part of the Hebrew Pentateuch into German. A short account of the life of Christ about this time influenced him greatly. Later on he used, with his father, to visit a Christian family, and through looking at the pictures in it he became interested in the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, though he found the Epistles beyond his youthful grasp. When about ten years old he was studying Isaiah, and was struck by the 53rd chapter; that which hitherto had been a lurking suspicion became an absolute certainty, and the more so as he saw how the principal Jewish commentators laboured in vain to prove that this prophecy could not apply to Jesus of Nazareth. His growing convictions of the truth of Christianity prevented his becoming a rabbi, which his parents earnestly desired, so he resolved to be a schoolmaster. During his course at the seminary, owing to the words of Dr. Zahn, the director, he was convinced of the truth. Through the London Jews' Society's missionaries at Amsterdam, where he then went, he decided to be a Christian. He came to London, where he entered the Operative Jewish Converts' Institution, and eventually was baptized in 1846. Later on he passed through the Society's Missionary College, and in 1851 went to Baghdad, where he laboured successfully. In 1853 he was ordained in Jerusalem. On his way back to Baghdad he preached to Jews, Mohammedans and fire-worshippers, many of whom had never heard the Gospel before. Many missionary journeys were made by him between 1854 and 1864 through Persia and Kurdistan, leaving large numbers of believers in almost every place. After visiting England in 1856, when he received priest's orders and was married, he returned with the Rev. J. M. Eppstein to Baghdad, where they remained until 1866, when the mission was given up, but not until there were numerous converts from both Jews and Mohammedans. The following year he was appointed to Lemberg, and in 1871 to Vienna, and in spite of immense difficulties gained many faithful believers in both these cities. In 1875 he became Principal of the Operative Jewish Converts' Institution, where he remained for twelve years, when he retired from active work. During this time 160 Jews passed through the Institution, 70 of whom he baptized. By his death, in 1893, the Church and the world lost a great linguist, a good historian and mathematician, but, above all, a thorough and devoted Christian missionary.
Brunner, W., born in Brody, Galicia, in 1822. His parents were in good circumstances. After the death of his father at the age of 90, he came to England, where he was converted and baptized by the Rev. Dr. Bailey, Principal of St. Aidan's College. He was afterwards prepared for missionary work by the British Society, and laboured at Marseilles and in Switzerland. He had the privilege of bringing two brothers to the Saviour. He died in 1890.
Buzin, Rev. Paul Theodor Ludwig, born in Clecko (Posen), was baptized in Sagord (Isle of Rügen), by Pastor Ockel. He then studied at Basel, and eventually became Pastor of a Lutheran Church in the United States.
Cachet, Rev. Lion, a Dutch Jewish merchant, embraced Christianity in 1849, then studied theology and went to South Africa in 1858. He officiated as pastor in different churches at the Cape and in Natal, and founded eight new congregations. In 1876 he became pastor of the Netherland Reformed Church at Velliersdorf. He took a great interest in missionary work among the Jews, which he promoted through the newspaper, "Zuid Afrikaanische Stem voor en tot Israel."
Calman, Erasmus Scott, born in Lithuania, became a convert to Christianity early in the nineteenth century. In 1839 he assisted Nicolayson in his work in Jerusalem, travelling with him all over Palestine, and being well received by the Jews. Later in life he took up his residence in London. A friend having left him a large legacy to enable him to work independently, he availed himself of just so much of it as would meet the wants of the poorest pauper. He left the money given him for his own comforts, probably with a large increase through his savings, to trustees for the support of aged poor Hebrew Christians. Calman was a learned as well as a good man, and published a treatise entitled: "Some of the Errors of Modern Judaism contrasted with the Word of God," and another entitled, "The Morrow of the Sabbath."
Cantoni, Giuseppi (Jacob), a Jew from Trieste, won for Christ by the Rev. Lewis Way, was baptized in the Chapel of the Dutch Consul at Smyrna, before a large congregation, in 1832.
Capadose, Dr. Abraham, born at Amsterdam, 1795, of a Portuguese family, died there December 16th, 1874. Here is his autobiography, which he sent to his friend, Ridley Herschell, in London: – "I will no longer delay, dear friends, to comply with your request that I would communicate in writing the mode in which it pleased God to bring me to the knowledge of Himself, and to lead me out of darkness into His marvellous light.
"Being deeply sensible that it was not of myself I sought after God, but that my compassionate Lord came to seek me when I was lost, it would be false modesty if I were now to withhold an account which, when verbally communicated, interested and edified many dear friends, who therein traced the great love of the Saviour towards a poor sinner like me, and thus were led to ascribe all the glory to Him whose name is blessed for evermore. May this glory be the only object I shall keep in view in this account! Such is the sincere desire of my heart; and I ask of God to guide my pen in truth and sincerity, that I may be kept from all self-seeking, into which the necessity of speaking of myself might betray me.
"Although I was by birth a Portuguese Israelite, I was by no means zealous for the religion of my fathers. My education was rather moral than religious; and though taught to hate vice, and to love what the world calls virtue, I owe it entirely to the grace of God that at an after period I was preserved from open impiety.
"At an early age I was captivated by science and literature. I was fond of balls, plays, and every worldly amusement; but study afforded me still greater satisfaction. I became acquainted with the works of Voltaire and Rousseau at an early period of my life; but their false principles, and still more, the frightful consequences of their system, as exhibited before my eyes in the history of the French revolution, preserved me, by the divine mercy, from their hurtful influence. My parents having destined me for the medical profession, I considered it my duty to acquire the knowledge requisite for this calling; but I felt more inclination for the study of the theoretical sciences, and for philosophic research.
"My friends were nearly all young men who made an outward profession of Christianity; but the Lord had given me one friend among my near relatives.8 As we were both Israelites, and had been intimate from childhood, our views on all subjects were very similar. (Dr. Capadose here proceeds to state their intercourse with Bilderdyk, which is the same as the account given by Da Costa, see page 172). The religious element, if I may call it so, had not as yet entered into my soul. In my early childhood, it is true, I had often felt an undefined need of prayer; and when about nine years' old, had asked my parents to give me a book of prayers, either in the French or Dutch language, that I might understand them better.9 I strongly urged my younger brothers and sisters to the same practice; and this was the more remarkable as I had very seldom seen any one engaged in prayer in my father's house. From that time, amid all the changes of my outward life, I never omitted the performance of this duty; and until my conversion to Christianity, it constituted all my religious worship. The prayer I used ended with these remarkable words: – 'I wait for Thy salvation, O Lord!' I have preserved the book containing it, and never look upon it without adoring the goodness of that 'God of my salvation,' who has condescended to bestow upon me, at a matured age, the blessing that the child of nine years' old, hardly knowing what he asked, failed not to solicit from Him every night before he lay down to rest.
"During the period in which I was engaged in my studies, I occasionally experienced very peculiar emotions. A poor woman used to sing psalms in the street on Saturday evenings, to excite the compassion of the passengers; and more than once have I left my books to listen to her, overpowered by emotions which I could neither comprehend nor describe. At the theatre also, when Joseph in Egypt was represented, my tears flowed at the sound of the morning prayer, which was imitated from the Hebrew. At the synagogue, however, which, for the sake of decorum, I still frequented, nothing had the least power to interest me. On the contrary, the unmeaning ceremonies which appealed not to the heart, the want of reverence, the bawling noise, the discordant singing, and lastly, the employment of a language of which three-fourths of the congregation did not understand a word, disgusted me so much, that I ceased to attend it regularly, having always a great aversion to hypocrisy.
"In the mean time, as if the tempter had foreseen what was afterwards to take place, he induced my friend and myself to change our mode of life. We disliked half measures, and could not endure the modern Judaism which chooses at its pleasure to dispense with the requirements of the Mosaic law; we therefore resolved to become Israelites indeed, rigidly observing all the prescriptions of the law, and thus compelling Christians to entertain a higher respect for the Jewish religion. National pride was now our ruling motive. In this spirit, and with these views, we began assiduously to read the Bible. But, oh! the shame and wretchedness of the unconverted heart! We could not get beyond Genesis. Constant ridicule and jesting, and oftentimes even blasphemy (Lord, enter not into judgment with us!) were upon our lips instead of prayer; so that I at length told my friend it was better to abandon our reading altogether than to engage in it in such a manner.
"Thus our proposed plan vanished like smoke. My term of study was nearly completed. This was in 1818. I took my degrees in medicine, left the university, and returned to my native city Amsterdam, full of bright prospects for the future. I had an uncle there, one of the first physicians in Holland, a learned man, and highly esteemed by the principal families. Having no children, he took me into his house and adopted me as his son and successor. I was thus introduced at once to an extensive circle of acquaintance; kind and respectable, it is true, but with whom Christianity was a mere outward profession accompanied by an entirely worldly life. None of these ever spoke to me on the subject of Christianity. I have even heard some of my young friends make a boast of their infidelity, and speak without reverence of the Lord Jesus Christ. I once expressed my astonishment at this, and said, that though I did not believe in Jesus, I thought that those who worshipped Him, and did not consider Him to be God, were mere idolaters. A young physician who was of the party, who was afterwards savingly converted to God, told me some years after, how much ashamed he felt at the time, when receiving such a reproof from an Israelite.
"In the midst of constant occupation, in the diligent pursuit of scientific knowledge, I yet felt an aching void within. I had been subject from childhood to an oppression of the chest, which made me pass many sleepless nights; and in these hours of wakefulness I often thought, 'Why am I upon the earth? Why was I created a man? Should I not be a thousand times happier if I were one of the lower animals? I should not then endure what I now suffer in my body and in my soul.' Often did I cry out, 'O that this day were my last!' Yet I was not disquieted on account of my sins, else I should have shuddered at the thought of death; I was under the burden and curse of sin, without knowing it, or seeking for the remedy.
"One day I went to pay a visit to my friend who had been lately married. He had just received a letter from the celebrated professor already mentioned. 'Would you like me to read it to you,' said he, 'together with some beautiful verses he has addressed to me?' I gladly assented to the proposal. The verses, in which he described, with power and feeling, the glorious hopes of Israel, concluded with the words, 'Friend, be a Christian, and I die content.' At these words, which he pronounced in an under tone, my indignation was roused; my friend, it appeared to me, was less shocked than he ought to have been. 'Take care,' said I, 'there is a plan laid to seduce us.' I left him immediately.
"This occupied my thoughts all the rest of the day. I could not imagine how a man of such profound learning could believe the Christian religion. From that day, however, both my friend and myself began attentively to examine the Word of God; and when we walked together we conversed on those passages that had struck us most. Having begun with the Gospel of Matthew, it was striking to me to perceive, that so far from seeking to subvert the authority of the Old Testament, he made it the basis whereon to build the Gospel of Christ.
"My friend and I spent several months in this way, becoming daily more interested in our researches. At length, with thoughts and feelings very different from those which formerly possessed us, we again determined to read the Scriptures together. For this purpose we retired to a room in my father's house; and I can never think without emotion on these hallowed hours which we spent together, as in the presence of the God of our fathers. Our interest increased as we proceeded. My mind, wearied with vain speculations, now saw a new and boundless field open before it, towards which it was irresistibly attracted; and thus before I had ever heard of the electing love of God, I had experienced the power by which He draws to Christ those souls whom He designs to bless. This study of the word of God became at length the most urgent desire of my soul. Merely to know the truth did not satisfy me: I felt that I must really possess it, and live on its substance. I understood not then the work that was going on within me; but I occasionally experienced moments of delight arising from the conviction that divine assistance and protection accompanied the course I was pursuing.
"One night, when reading the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, I was so much struck with its resemblance to the account of the sufferings of Christ which I had read in the Gospels, that I was almost convinced I had got another Bible instead of my own; being scarcely able to believe that this chapter, which may be truly entitled an abstract of the Gospel, was really in the Old Testament. 'How,' thought I, 'can any Jew, after reading this chapter, doubt that Jesus Christ is the promised Messiah!' Whence could this strong conviction arise? I had often read this chapter before; but now I read it with the light of the Spirit of God. From this moment I recognized Christ as the promised Messiah, and this gave an entirely new character to our meditations on the Word of God. It was the dawn of a glorious day to our souls, the light of which increased more and more, enlightening our minds, warming our hearts, and even then bestowing upon us unspeakable consolation. Many of the enigmas of life, which had hitherto puzzled and distressed me, were now explained; everything seemed to revive around me, and the object and interest of my life were entirely changed. Happy days, thus gladdened by a sense of the Master's presence! Never can I forget them!