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reject the principles and doctrines of Christianity which teach, first, that a new cove nant has been made between God and mankind other than the revelation at Horeb; and, secondly, that there is a mediator, an emanation of the Deity, through whose merits only man can be absolved from sin, and through whose intercession prayers will be accepted. All this is foreign to our view of scriptural truth, and as such we reject it, and hold fast to the doctrines which we have received from our fathers.

The Messiah whom we expect is not to be a god, nor a part of the godhead, nor a son of god in any sense of the word; but simply a man eminently endowed, like Moses and the prophets in the days of the Bible, to work out the will of God on earth in all that the prophets have predicted of him. His coming, we believe, will be the signal for universal peace, universal freedom, universal knowledge, universal worship of the One Eternal; objects all of high import, and well worthy to be attested by the visible display of the divine glory before the eyes of all flesh, just as was the presence of the Lord manifested at Sinai, when the Israelites stood assembled to receive the law which was surrendered to their keeping. In the days of this august ruler the law, which was at first given as "an inheritance of the congregation of Jacob," will become the only standard of righteousness, of salvation, for all mankind, when will be fulfiled to its fullest extent the blessings conferred upon Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that "in their seed all the families of the earth should be blessed." We believe, farther, that the time of this great event is hidden from our knowledge, and is only known to the Creator, who in his own good time will regenerate the earth, remove the worship of idols, banish all erroneous beliefs, and establish his kingdom firmly and immovably over the hearts of all sons of man, when all will invoke Him in truth, and call him God, King, Redeemer, the One who was, is, and will be, for ever and ever. We believe that the time may be distant, thousands of years removed; but we confidently look forward to its coming, in the full confidence that He who has so miraculously preserved his people among s many trials and dangers, is able and

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THE JEWS IN THE UNITED STATES.

From the smallness of the numbers of our people, compared with the rest of mankind, it will be readily understood that, comparatively speaking, but few Jews will be found in America. Still despite of this fact, they are found in every portion of the Union, with the exception almost (for there are a few even there,) in the northern range of states. Probably the first settlement of Jews took place in New Amsterdam, when it was under the Dutch government, about 1660. They no doubt were Spaniards and Portuguese who, like their brethren who were settled in Holland, fled from the bloody Inquisition to seek refuge under the equitable protection of the laws of the Batavian republic. The writer of this has learnt that a correspondence is yet in existence which took place between the Israelites and the Dutch authorities in New Amsterdam; but he has never seen it, wherefore he is unable to say anything with precision farther than he has stated above. This much, however, he believes certain, that the number of our people did not increase rapidly, since we are not friendly to making proselytes, and owing to the great difficulties emigrants of our persuasion must be exposed to in new communities on account of the duties of our religion. Be this as it may, but one synagogue was needed in New York, till about 1827, when a second one was established in the central part of the city. Since that period four other congregations have been organized, and all the places of worship, though so rapidly multiplied, are frequently over-full, so as to require temporary meeting places. The number of Jews in the city of New York, is said to be about 10,000, and rapidly increasing by emigration from Europe, owing

to the oppressive laws enforced against us in many countries as stated in a preceding part of this article. There are two congregations in Albany, and one or more in the country, of which, however, I have too vague information to say any thing with certainty.

A few years before the American revolution a congregation assembled in Newport, Rhode Island; but with the falling off of the business of that place, after the conclusion of the peace of 1783, the Jewish population left it by degrees, some going to New York, some to Richmond, and others to different other towns. There are a synagogue and burying ground, both said to be in good order,-a legacy having been left by the son of the former minister, Touro, to keep them from falling into decay.

In Pennsylvania Israelites were settled long before the revolution in various places. But, I believe, that no regular congregation was organized till about 1780, when the occupation of New York by the British induced many from that place to come hither with their minister, Gershom Mendes Seixas; and a synagogue was erected upon the site of the present building, and consecrated about the fall of 1781. There are now three congregations in Philadelphia, numbering about from 1500 to 1800 souls; one congregation is at Easton, one in Hanover, and considerable settlements in Franklin county, Bucks, and elsewhere, which will no doubt be organized as congregations before long.

In Maryland the Jews were, until lately, excluded from a participation of equal rights; but soon after the repeal of their disabilities, many Europeans joined the former few settlers, and there is now a considerable congregation of about 1500 souls in Baltimore, where there is a synagogue. There are also a few families in Frederick, Hagerstown, &c.

In Virginia the Jews settled about 1780, or even earlier; but their number is small in that state; and there are but two congregations in the whole state, and both at Richmond. Others dwell at Petersburg, Norfolk, Lynchburg, Wheeling, but they amount in the whole state to scarcely more than 600.

In North Carolina, where the constitution excludes us from the rights of citizens, there are but a few families.

But in South Carolina we are much more numerous, and Israelites are found in all parts of the state; still there is but one regular congregation, at Charleston, where there is a handsome synagogue; the congregation was organized in 1750. In Georgia there is a synagogue in Savannah. The first Jews came oyer soon after General Oglethorpe, in 1733; but they have never been very numerous; though it appears from present indications that many European emigrants, and persons from the north will, it is likely, soon seek a home in that state.

In the southern and western states the arrival of Israelites is but recent; still there is a congregation at Mobile; another, numbering about 125 families, in New Orleans; another at Louisville; two at Cincinnati; one or two in Cleaveland, and one at St. Louis. There are probably others, but they have not become generally known. A small congregation also has recently been formed at New Haven, in Connecticut, probably the only one in the New England States, unless Boston be an exception.

We have no ecclesiastical authorities in America, other than the congregations themselves. Each congregation makes its own rules for its government, and elects its own minister, who is appointed without any ordination, induction in office being made through his election, which is made for a term of years or during good beha vior, as it may meet the wish of the ma. jority. As yet we have no colleges or public schools of any kind, with the exception of one in New York, under the direction of the Rev. Samuel M. Isaacs, one in Baltimore, and another in Cincinnati, and Sunday schools for religious instruction in New York, Philadelphia, Richmond, Charleston, Columbia, S. C., Savannah, and Cincinnati. There can be no doubt that something will be done for education, as soon as we have become more numerous. The American Jews have but one religious periodical, and this is printed in Philadelphia; it is called "The Occi dent and American Jewish Advocate," and appears monthly.

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THE name of Martin Luther, now familiar to almost every schoolboy, forms one of the most prominent waymarks in the history both of the world and the church. It has immortalized his age among the generations gone by; and one can hardly hear it pronounced without being at the same moment transported back to the scenes and events of that ecclesiastical revolution which shook Europe to its very centre, and from the cell of a monastery opened upon the world that dawning of science and truth which shall shine on, with unwaning brightness, to its perfect day. But while all recognise the name of the Reformer, and its connexion with the past and present condition of Christendom in

The following sketch of the Lutheran Church is compiled almost entirely from several publications of the Rev. Dr. S. S. Schmucker, Professor of Theology in the Theological Seminary, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, from an excellent article in the American Quarterly Register, by the Rev. Mr. Harris of Boston, which is derived principally from the same source, and from the Lutheran Almanac of 1843.

the general: few, comparatively, are well acquainted with the history of his peculiar opinions and those of the past and present generations of his followers. In reviving our own and our readers' acquaintance with our Lutheran brethren, we introduce to the friends of the Redeemer of lost men, an ancient, honored, and most efficient branch of that church which he ransomed with blood, and which he employs in carrying forward the triumphs of his grace over sin and the powers of darkness.*

"The Lutheran Church is indebted for her name to the derision of the Catholics. The distinguished Papal theologian, Dr. Eckius, the opponent of Luther and Carlstadt, in the celebrated disputation at Leipsic, in the year 1519, wishing to show his contempt for Luther and his cause and not dreaming whereunto this matter of the Reformation would grow, first stigmatized the friends of the reformer as Lutherans, with the same feelings with which we speak of the Owenites and Fanny Wright

* Quarterly Register, of 1843, p. 378.

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