BRITAIN FOR THE SAKE OF THE JEWS. 47

preached also to the Britons; "for he carried," says the latter, "the same doctrine to the Western Ocean and to the British Isles."

But methinks I hear one say, Suppose there were a few Jews in this island, would that circumstance afford St. Peter sufficient encouragement and invitation to visit it. I answer, yes-there was encouragement and invitation enough for an apostle to the Jews to travel such a great distance. The Jews, being thus far removed from Jerusalem, had no opportunity of hearing any thing of the awful scene that was exhibited on Calvary, they would, therefore, be free from all the prejudices which prevailed in the breasts of their brethren in Palestine. The apostle might, therefore, calculate on sure success, for he would come to them, and preach the things noted in their Scriptures of truth respecting their Messiah, who was then universally expected by them. St. Peter would unfold to them the ninth chapter of the Book of the Prophet Daniel, where the time of Messiah's first advent was fixed, as also that

48 THE SUCCESS A MISSIONARY MEETS WITH

He was to "be cut off, but not for himself;" all of which is, to unprejudiced and unbiassed minds, so self-evident, that the then British Jews could not but believe, especially when preached by a holy and pious countryman of their own. Dr. Wolff's last journal of his travels to Bokhara convinces me, that where the Jews are ignorant of the controversy at issue between Jews and Christians, the Gospel meets with an easy and favourable reception by them, as you will perceive from the following extract:—

"Here I may as well notice the Jews of Yemen generally. While at Sanaa, Mose Joseph Alkaree, the chief rabbi of the Jews, called on me. He is an amiable and sensible man. The Jews of Yemen adhere uniquely to the ancient interpretation of Scripture in the passage (Isaiah, vii. 14), 'A virgin shall conceive,' and they give to the word ' the same interpretation, virgin, that the Christians do, without knowing the history of Jesus. Rabbi Alkaree asserted, that in Isaiah, liii. the suffering of the Messiah is

AMONG UNPREJUDICED JEWS.

49

described as anterior to his reign in glory. He informed me that the Jews of Yemen never returned to Jerusalem after the Babylonish captivity; and that when Ezra wrote a letter to the princes of the captivity at Tanaan-a day's journey from Sanaa-inviting them to return, they replied, 'Daniel predicts the murder of the Messiah, and another destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, and therefore we will not go up until He shall have scattered the power of the holy people, until the thousand two hundred and ninety days are over.' I demanded, 'Do you consider these days to be literal days?' The Alkaree replied, 'No; but we do expect the coming of the Messiah from the commotions now going on at Yemen. We think he begins to come from Teman, i. e., Yemen, for you see the tents of Cushan are now in affliction, and the curtains of Midian tremble. There is now war in the wilderness unprecedented in our memory. There are twelve gates at Sanaa. As soon as one of them-the Bab Alstraan, which is always kept closedis opened, we expect Him. Rechab and

D

50

WOLFF'S SUCCESS AT BOKHARA,

Hamdan are before it.' I then expounded Isaiah, liii., and read him the holy history of Jesus. He said, 'Your exposition is in better agreement with the ancient interpretation; I approve it much more than that of our nation, which ascribes the passage to Josiah.' This kind Jew assisted me in the distribution of Testaments among his people. Sanaa contains 15,000 Jews. In Yemen they amount to 20,000. I conceive the total population of the Jews throughout the world amounts to 10,000,000. I baptized here sixteen Jews, and left them all New Testaments."*

The latest intelligence we received from Persia bears testimony to the same striking fact. The following is an extract from a letter of the Rev. H. A. Stern, dated Tehran, June 19, 1845 :

"May 16th, Kermanshah. — We were visited by Hassan Khan Kalentar he was very polite, and offered us the use of his house, but we declined his offer, prefering to remain where we were. We went

* Vol. i. P. 60.

AND STERN'S IN PERSIA.

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to the Jewish quarter, which is situated in the lowest part of the town, and inquired for the synagogue. A crowd of Jews quickly surrounded us, and conducted us to it. We had to wait several minutes while a messenger was despatched for the keys. On entering, we descended into an extremely poor place of worship, affording the strongest evidence of the poverty and oppression of the Jews here. They told us that they had repeatedly laid down expensive carpets, and ornamented the books of the law, but the soldiers had as often broken in at night, and stolen every article of value. We then called upon one of the mullahs or rabbies, and preached Jesus of Nazareth to him. He confessed he had never heard of the message of salvation, and was entirely ignorant of every thing respecting a Redeemer. He repeatedly said, 'Did our forefathers so err?' During our conversation the greater part of the Jewish population had crowded round the door, and the people were anxiously listening to what was said.