off the divine olive tree on account of their unbelief; as God is rich in mercy and goodness, he may open their eyes, and may call them to faith and engraft them again in their natural olive tree; for I really believe, and am entirely convinced, that Divine Providence keeps the Jewish nation separated from the rest of the people of the earth, and distinguished from all, known to all, and acknowledged by all to be the true offspring of the Patriarchs and Prophets, to show to the world his goodness and the severity of his judgment; and the day will come when the Lord of Hosts will turn away ungodliness from Jacob, for if their loss was the reconciliation of the world, surely their reception into the church of Christ will be life from death. For this reason, my dear Sir, I am exceeding glad to hear that you was pleased to send Mr. Joseph Wolf as Missionary to Jerusalem; may God be with him, and make him an instrument in his divine hands to convince and convert unbelievers, and to gain souls to Christ. Pray when you write to him give him my remembrance, and let him know that I offer up my poor prayers to the Almighty for his preservation and prosperity in his godly mission, and I wish that he may be like unto Joseph in Egypt, a Saviour to his brethren according to the flesh; and hoping, Sir, you will pardon the liberty I take in writing so long a letter, and at the same time desiring your respectable answer, I remain, your most humble and obedient servant, JOHN JOSEPH HEYDECK.

My address is, A D Juan Josef Heydeck, Professor de Linguas Orientales, en Real Colegio de S1 Ysidoro, Madrid.

Gibraltar, June 15, 1821.

I go on board to-morrow at five o'clock.
Dear Friend,

Ir is a fact, that the rich and learned Jews at Gibraltar are more liberal, more candid, more ready to hear and to argue about the truth of Christianity, than those

among them who are poor, both in knowledge and in money; they try only to cover their bodily poverty, but do not mind, neither do they know, their spiritual poverty, and for this very reason they cannot be blessed of the Lord, and the kingdom of heaven cannot become theirs. As long as I had to do here with Jews of property, respectability, and learning, I had much comfort and pleasure ; they listened to me, argued, and received New Testaments from me; and the Rev. Mr. Croscombe, and I myself, observed them reading it in shops, and in their houses, and arguing about it among themselves. They wrote (as for instance, the excellent Mr. Messiah did, who is quite a gentleman) their remarks upon the tracts I gave them; asked me (as for instance, Nahum, one of the Presidents, and the learned Gabay) to dine with them; challenged me to write upon the subject; but as soon as I began to distribute New Testaments, and Hebrew Psalms of David among the poor Moorish and Barbary Jews, I am sorry to say I met with pieces of the New Testament, and even of the Psalms of David, in the street, burnt and torn in pieces, notwithstanding I gave only to them who asked for it; they shewed me afterwards, they themselves, what they had done with it. As soon as I offered the Book of books, the word of life, to those wretched and bodily poor sons of Abraham, I was disappointed; I heard blasphemies against Jesus, my Lord; Mr. Messiah told me, therefore, he himself a strict Jew, "You are very wrong, Mr. Wolf, that you give books to those wretched people, who will only abuse you for it." I said, "Friend, I must, as a Christian, shew the way of salvation, even as well to the most wretched as to the most respectable." Some exceptions must be made. The Jew, Casetti, a Moorish Jew, reads every day the New Testament I gave him. The ship was to sail yesterday; Mr. Gabay, therefore, wished to have an hour's conversation before my departure; I promised to call on him, and I said to him, "Dear

friend, I beg you to read diligently the New Testament, and you may believe me, friend, that I believe in Jesus Christ, and find, every day, more peace in this belief." He promised me solemnly to read the New Testament with attention. I called on him, and found the New Testament on his table, marked with a paper which shewed he had read it to the Gospel of St. Luke. He said to me, "If you could have remained longer at Gibraltar, we should have read together portions of the New Testament, and I myself would have translated portions of it into more elegant Hebrew." When I said to him that I should embark at six o'clock, Gabay said to me, "You will see me on board; I do not, therefore, take leave of you." All my Christian friends at Gibraltar were surprised at the affection of that strict Jew towards me. I have given him a letter for the Rev. Mr. Owen, for he has an intention of translating the Bible into the South-Arabic language; as he was many years in Morocco, he is perfect master of that dialect. I beg of you to press upon the Society, to send to Gibraltar, for twelve months, the Rev. Mr. Solomon. He is a man of much solidity, and unquestioned sincerity, and they must give him power to act with independency and liberty, so that nobody at Gibraltar should prescribe rules to him. It would be very well, as Gibraltar is a dear place, if Mr. Solomon could live in the house of Lieutenant Bailey, resident agent for transports, in whose house I have lived gratis more than four weeks, and who told me that I should take his house for my house, as often as I returned to Gibraltar. He is a great friend of the cause; he went about with me to the most respectable people of Gibraltar, introduced me to Ben Oliel, and

so on.

I intended to preach here publicly in the street before my departure; Lieutenant Bailey determined to stand on my side, and protect me against any insult of the mob, especially the Catholics, which I had to expect. Yes

H

terday there came to me Signor Enrigo Chare della Santissima Trinita, a converted Jew from Spain. I asked him why he turned Catholic? He said, "He saw by the grace of God that Jesus was that Messiah whom the Jews expect." I introduced him to Dr. Parker, who gave him a Spanish New Testament. He told me of Losmentes, alla Casa Nuovo at Cadiz, who is a converted Jew residing in Cadiz, and who is very rich. I am sure that there would be much to be done in Spain and Portugal among those Jews whose ancestors have been compelled to Christianity. The Jews at Gibraltar, the honest Ben Oliel, President Sekerri, and Mr. Cohen, told me, that "the Jews, who are descendants of those compelled Christian Jews, are now quite Catholics, and know nothing more of Judaism. But this is only the case in Spain. In Portugal, on the contrary, they are Jews in sentiment, for they enjoy liberty of conscience." The only Miranda who is Judge at Lisbon, seems to be a Christian in principle, and so is Juan Joseph Heydeck, at Madrid, Professor of the University. He was Rabbi near Cologne, in Germany, and was convinced by the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah. He has written many books on Christianity. All these Jews could be made useful to the Bible Society; as they are men of respectability and influence in Spain, they might do great things. Although I do not know them personally, and never was in correspondence with them, I know the disposition and feeling of a Jew so well, that I am sure no Jew can be such a bigotted Catholic that he should not feel respect for the promoters of the Book of Moses and the Prophets,-I mean the Bible Society. I have written to Juan Joseph Heydeck, to Madrid, that he should write to you. If you should see Carthosa, from Gibraltar, at London, recommend the Missionary who shall be sent to Gibraltar, to his attention. Five or six Catholic priests asked me two days ago to go with them to their house; they brought me to a dark room-nobody looked in my face-their manner

of arguing was rude. They began to talk about the Pope. We used the Latin tongue. I told them I loved Pius the Seventh very much, on account of his liberality. One of the priests told me, unasked for, that he was at Rome in 1817 (just when I was in the Propaganda), and knew Cardinal Litta well. I said to him, that I had received, after my departure from Rome, a very affectionate and interesting letter from Cardinal Litta. We began to argue about the Pope's infallibility.

I. Ecclesia Gallica non credit Papam esse infallibilem. Capucin. Ecclesia Gallicana credit minus quam debet. I. Quomodo probas?

Capucin. Papa est caput ecclesiæ, ergo infallibilis esse debet.

1. Verbum digito Domini scriptum non dicit hoc.

Capucin. Nec tibi nec mihi sacra scriptura data fuit, sed ecclesiæ.

I shewed them my indignation at such an answer, and left that horrid company. I would rather join in prayer with Mahomedans than with those priests of Baal. I confess that I was not at all easy in their company, and was glad to come out from them. They shewed me by their countenance that they hated me, and they had most surely consigned me to the Inquisition if it had been in their power. Some of the Protestant Christians here fear that my life is not safe among the Jews; but the following fact may prove the contrary. I went two days ago out of the gate of Gibraltar; in returning to Lieutenant Bailey I mistook the road and came into a solitary place; I met some Jews, they smiled, and brought me into the right way. I go alone into their houses, and to their synagogues, and they shake hands with me; I show myself very serious to them, in order to keep up that respect which is necessary for me among them.

If I should not want so much as ten pounds per month, I will apply it at Jerusalem, to establishing an institution