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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 THE SLOSS COLLECTION OF THE SEMITIC LIBRARY 
 OF THE IMVERSITV OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 (11 FT OF 
 
 LOUIS SLOSS. 
 
 February. 1897. 
 
 Accession No.6p y (7<ic^ • CUns No. 
 
h^i^^ yat:^ 
 
 HE ,^ ^•'^^y 
 
 SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 By grace A<^} 
 
 11 
 
 " Thon makest nn a reproarh to onr nei^hbotiTH, a scorn and derision to thf m that 
 are round as, — yet have we not forg<Jlf<;n thee.'' — Psalm xliv. 
 
 " Ye are aij witnesfses, eaitb the Lord, and my i»er\ant whom I hare chosen, that ye 
 may kjtow and believe me. This people have I formed for myself, they shall show 
 forth my praise.'^ — Lbxixa xliii. 10. 2L 
 
 EDITED BY ISAAC LEESER. 
 
 ■ 01 Tin >\ 
 
 ' * » fi i. J. - i \ THIRD EDITION. .> * , 
 
 --11 -^ ]'t^\ 
 
 
 
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 PHILADELPHIA 
 PUBLISHED AT 1227 WALXCT STREET 
 
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 TO HER 
 
 WHOSE PRECEPTS AND EXAMPLE 
 
 ORIGINALLY INSPIRED THE SENTIMENTS CONTAINED 
 
 IN THE FOLLOWING PAGES, 
 
 THE TENDER GUARDIAN OF MY INFANCY, 
 
 THE SOLE INSTRUCTRESS OF MY YOUTH, 
 
 THE FAITHFUL FRIEND OF RIPER YEARS: 
 
 TO 
 
 MY BELOVED MOTHER. 
 
 Mx^ Wolumc 
 
 IS MOST GRATEFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED. 
 
SHEMANG YISRAEL. 
 
 HEAR, Israel! the lord our god, the lord is oxe. axd thou 
 
 SHALT LOVE THE LORD TUY GOD WITH ALL THV HEART, AND WITH ALL 
 THY' SOUL, AND WITH ALL THY MIGHT. AND THESE WORDS WJICH I 
 COMMAND THEE THIS DAY, SHALL BE UPON THY HEART : AND THOU 
 SHALT TEACH THEM DILIGENTLY UNTO THY CHILDREN, AND SHALT 
 SPEAK OP THEM WHEN THOU SITTEST IN THY HOUSE, AND WHEN THOU 
 WALKEST BY THE WAY, AND WHEN THOU LIEST DOWN, AND WHEN THOU 
 BISEST UP. AND THOU SHALT BIND THEM FOR A SIGN UPON THY HAND, 
 AND THEY SHALL BE AS FRONTLETS BETWEEN THY EYES. AND THOU 
 SHALT WRITE THEM UPON THE DOOR-POSXS OF THY HOUSE, AND ON THY 
 GATES. 
 
 Deutekonomt vi. 4-9. 
 

 EDITOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 It is with a high degree of gratific<ation that I am enabled to intro- 
 duce to our religious public a new labourer in the elucidation of our 
 time-honoured faith, in the person of ^liss Aguilar, the author of the 
 present publication. This, however, is not her first work; as about 
 four years since she committed to the press a translation of the "Israel 
 Defended," by Don Isaac Orobio, the brave and undaunted champion 
 of the Mosaic religion. In addition to this, Miss Aguilar has written 
 several fugitive poetical and prose pieces, few only of which have 
 reached me. 
 
 My first published sermons having attracted the kind attention of 
 Miss A., she requested me to undertake the editorial supervision of 
 her MS. work on the "Spirit" of our religion. I shall readily be be- 
 lieved when asserting, that I felt truly happy that such a demand had 
 been made upon me ; and I accordingly offered my services to do as I 
 was desired. Somewhat more than two years ago, Miss A. having 
 finished her work sent it out to America through a private channel; 
 but from some cause unknown it never reached me. She had accord- 
 ingly to undertake the laborious task of re-writing it from her original 
 sketches, and she completed it anew about this time last year. Last 
 May I at length received this long-expected book, and had it not been 
 for many unforeseen interruptions, its publication would not have 
 been delayed till this time. The work is now, however, safely afloat 
 on the ocean of public opinion ; and I assure my friends that they 
 cannot afford me a greater pleasure than to receive kindly and favour- 
 ably the offering on the shrine of our religion so beautifully offered 
 by our distant sister, distant only in body, because, though residing 
 in another hemisphere, her spirit is linked to ours by the ties of 
 national consanguinity and the bonds of one belief in the same kind 
 and omnipotent God, whose are the sea and the dry land. 
 
 It would not become me to speak of the merits of this work, as it 
 might be supposed that I were but offering the usual and fulsome 
 adulation, which it is only too much the fashion to bestow on an 
 author. Yet I may say without hesitation, that our females will find 
 in it many passages peculiarly calculated to win and arrest their at- 
 tention by their elegant imagery and truly delicate portraiture. Few 
 
 1* 5 
 
6 editor's preface. 
 
 indeed, whether male or female, but must rise refreshed and invigor- 
 ated by a new feeling of religious hopefulness called forth by the 
 pious aspirations which are scattered throughout these pnges, and be 
 the more strongly impressed with the beatifying principles of our 
 religion: seeing, as they must do, that the argument so strongly 
 brought home to the judgment of all is not furnished bj' a man paid 
 io preach our doctrines, but by a woman whose own experience has 
 taught her the blessedness and life springing from the living fountain 
 of the code and law of Moses. This voluntary testimony is worth 
 much more than a highly elaborate treatise by one deeply learned in 
 the law; and despite of occasional errors, which are for the most part 
 animadverted upon in the notes appended to the text, I have no doubt 
 but that it will aid greatly in diffusing a true spirit of religion, and 
 assist our fellow-believers to lean in their joys and afflictions with 
 confiding trust upon the Holy One of Jacob, their Rock and Redeemer. 
 
 I rejoice greatly, that a gifted daughter of Israel has at length ap- 
 peared, who does not disdain to stand forth as the champion of her 
 ancient creed, and who, forsaking for a while the field of secular 
 literature, where both fame and profit await the successful aspirant, 
 links her fate with those ardent few who hesitate not to avow their 
 abiding hope in the law of their Hebrew forefathers, and who seek 
 for no better reward, than to see their own religion followed and its 
 adherents honoured, not for the possession of wealth and power, but 
 for the possession of a piety and a devotedness to their God, which 
 can proceed solely from hopes whose birth is in heaven and whose 
 ending is only in eternity. 
 
 My editorial labours were restricted, by the express direction of the 
 author, to correcting the text where I might discover obscurities, and 
 appending notes where they were required. I have fulfilled both 
 parts of the pleasant task assigned me with honest fidelity, and with 
 all the accurac}' I could command. Of course perfect freedom from 
 faults I do not claim either for my friend or myself; and any slight 
 inaccuracies which may be discovered here and there will, I trust, be 
 viewed with the usual indulgence which I have hitherto received. 
 For all tlie notes bearing my initials I am alone responsible; since, 
 owing to the distance between us, the author had no opportunity of 
 seeing them before they appeared in print. 
 
 The chief points of diflference between Miss Aguilar and myself 
 are her seeming aversion to the tradidoti, and her idea that the teach- 
 ing of mere foimal religion opens the door to the admission of Chris- 
 tianity. The reader will easily perceive from my notes to various 
 passages, that 1 believe the traditions of our fathers of vital import- 
 ance in elucidating the words of Sci'ipture and regulating our course 
 
editor's preface. ^ 
 
 m 
 
 of action. And I insist, in concert with all who have duly weighed 
 the subject, that, without claiming infallibility for the sayings and 
 decisions of our Rabbins, they are nevertheless entitled to be lis- 
 tened to with profound respect and to be obeyed as holy ancestral 
 customs, unless indeed they flatly contradict the text of Scripture 
 and the legitimate common-sense deductions therefrom. It is too 
 evident for denial by the most prejudiced, that a discretionary power 
 was conferred by the law of Moses upon the various chief tribunals 
 for the time-being (see Deut. xvii. 10); and their decisions, together 
 with the oral traditions delivered by Moses himself to the elders, 
 always constituted our customs, and are what we term the oral law, 
 or tradition. That many things may have crept in in process of time, 
 neither warranted by the strict letter of the law nor necessary for any 
 useful purpose, I will neither deny nor afl&rm, for this is not the place 
 to do so; but this much may be asserted without fear of contradiction, 
 that without traditional authority there could be no Jewish conform- 
 ity; since others use the Bible as well as we do, and still their conduct 
 is so totally diflferent from ours. Now what constitutes this diflfer- 
 ence, but our mode of interpretation? And whence is this derived, 
 but from tradition? I regret that the small space I am necessarily 
 limited to in this preface prevents me from enlarging on the subject ; 
 but I may say once for all, that Jews are not safe unless they abide 
 by the doctrines which have been handed down as derived from and 
 based upon the Bible; and though all may not be able to get a com- 
 prehensive knowledge of the minutiae of the laws, it is scarcely to be 
 doubted, that there will be always educated men whose business it is 
 to devote their whole attention to their religi^DU and to be at all hours 
 ready to show the people the way they should go, and to distinguish 
 between the clean and the unclean no less than between the morally 
 right and wrong. 
 
 In regard to the approach to Christianity by the formalist, I must 
 remark that there seems to be no connection between the two, any 
 more than the apostasy to paganism or the Islam where either of 
 these prevails. The Jew embraces Christianity, if at all, by his 
 desire for some tangible advantages which his change is supposea to 
 bring, or from a mere ignorance of the principles of his own belief. 
 It is, therefore, not because a person is a formalist, only because he 
 is ignorant of his duties and their intent: and accordingly those who 
 have received no religious education are more likely to swerve than they 
 who have been instructed though faultily; for if these last fall, it is 
 not from ignorance, but from wickedness. Besides, in free countries, 
 such as America and France, Jews do not embrace Christianity so 
 much as become indifferent, and only coalesce through marriage or 
 
S editor's preface. 
 
 entire neglect of all religion with the multitude around them, simply 
 because they do not. care, not because they do not believe. Indifference 
 therefore is a far greater enemy to us than conversion; and upon the 
 former Miss A. has said but little, whilst she has expressed more 
 fears of the latter than I believe warranted by the facts. 
 
 However, my acquaintance with late events in Europe is not 
 sufiiciently extensive to hazard an opinion on either side; and I 
 hope fervently that the Guardian of Israel who has so long preserved 
 us from annihilation may farther bless and protect us, and give 
 effectiveness to the earnest labours of His servants to spread a know- 
 ledge of His law among His chosen people. 
 
 In conclusion I will merely state, that late events, which some 
 weak in faith have thought fraught with danger to our national unity, 
 will surely prove in the end of the utmost benefit. Inquiry will be 
 called forth; men of godliness will hasten forward to teach and 
 proclaim aloud the word of God; the spirituality of our faith, as has 
 been done in the present work, will be duly exemplified; love for our 
 observances will be greatly increased; and labourers of both sexes 
 will not be wanting to work with undismayed courage for the pro- 
 motion of the kingdom of Heaven in truth, faithfulness and humility. 
 "With these few and brief observations I surrender the work of my 
 friend to the approbation of our religious community, little doubting 
 but that she may meet with sufficient success to cause her never to 
 regret the hours she has devoted to a task of all others the most 
 pleasing, of having guided many to righteousness, and caused the 
 drooping spirit to revive in renewed strength and hope in the Author 
 of all the blessings that are ours here and in the life everlasting. 
 
 ISAAC LEESER. 
 
 fXebeth 21, 5602. 
 
 Philadelphia, < ^ ' ,„ „ 
 
 ' j^Jauuary 3, 1842. 
 
 Note. — The present edition has been stereotyped; and the editor 
 hopes that the work may be rendered more useful yet on its renewed 
 mission. Some poems of Miss A. have been added as an Appendix. 
 
 May, 5624. 
 
f- 
 
 ©3?" 
 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Exposing a work, which has long been the darling object of an 
 author's cares, the treasured subject of his secret thoughts, the 
 companion of private hours, to the eye of a censorious world, must 
 ever be attended with many varied and conflicting feelings, more 
 particularly if that treasured subject be theology. The scrutiny, 
 the criticism lavished on thoughts of a light and evanescent nature, 
 may be heard with a smile ; the condemnation or approval of pecu- 
 liar sentiments and feelings, may be attended with a degree of pain, 
 which, however, can at length become indifference; but when it is 
 those deepest, dearest, most precious feelings of the heart included 
 in that one word, Religion, — indifference can never blunt the pain, 
 or ease the trembling doubt which ever attend their exposure to a 
 world. 
 
 The earnest desire to do good can alone nerve the spirit to face 
 pain, scorn, contumely — even the charge of hypocrisy: — yet even 
 this motive may be turned and twisted by the scorner; and the 
 breathings of a spirit painfully sensible of its own un worthiness, 
 fully conscious how vain are its struggles to walk on steadily in 
 the path it has laid down as that which the word of God pointa 
 out — often sinking in grief and deep despondency, at the immense 
 distance which severs it from the goal it pants and longs to seek 
 — these very breathings may be regarded as mere declamatorial 
 eloquence, as doctrines well fitted for the distant crowd, but unfelt 
 by those who can so glibly and smoothly give them vent in words. 
 
 Even to this wrong the author of a theological work must in- 
 variably submit, and nerve his mind to hear his most sacred feel- 
 ings canvassed alike by the sceptic and the scorner, the bigoted 
 and the irreligious — even by those whose approval he may most 
 
 earnestly desire. 
 
 9 
 
10 PREFACE. 
 
 To the Hebrew theologist these trials and difficulties are in- 
 creased; for besides the enemies of his own faith (which a clear 
 and candid statement of religious facts seldom fails to create), he 
 has to encounter both open and covered attacks of the religions 
 around him ; — he must prepare defence for all that he has promul- 
 gated concerning his peculiar belief; — he must not be surprised to 
 find all that he has brought forward simply to demonstrate the 
 difference between his creed and that of others treated as attacks 
 challenging reply ; — he must strengthen himself to mark unmoved 
 his most charitable and benevolent feelings trampled upon, or 
 totally disregarded ; — he may see all that he fondly hoped would 
 aid the cause of love to God and charity to man turned into 
 weapons of bitterness and strife — the good he hoped to see, changed 
 into evil ; and often and often he may long to recall the words that 
 he has written, but in vain. 
 
 The author of the following work is well aware of all this; and 
 yet so powerful within her is the hope that it may be permitted to 
 find some response in the gentle minds of her own sex, to awaken 
 one lethargic spirit to a consciousness of its own powers, its own 
 duties, to lift up one heart in increased devotion to its Creator, and 
 benevolence to its fellow-creatures: that still she sends it forth, 
 trusting it to Him whose blessing can alone render it, in His own 
 good time, of service to His people. 
 
 To the mothers and daughters in Israel its pages are more par- 
 ticularly addressed; for to them is more especially entrusted the 
 regeneration of Israel. A preface is scarcely the place to speak 
 of the important influence of women : yet to them, and them only, 
 are the earliest years of man committed ; from their lips must the 
 first ideas on all subjects be received; and on them yet more par- 
 ticularly devolves the task of infusing that all-important but too 
 often neglected branch of education, religion. By them, perhaps, 
 this endeavour to lighten their labours may be welcomed in the 
 same kindly spirit in which it is written. The religion which it 
 breathes may be deemed too heart-springing, too feminine, too 
 clinging, to find its reply amid the sons of her people: yet those 
 very sentiments, if insensibly instilled by the Hebrew mother in 
 
PEEFACE. 11 
 
 her religious exhortations to her children, may fall with greater 
 influence than did they proceed more from the head than from the 
 heart. She need not fear that they will degenerate into slavery, 
 that her sons -will receive the scornful appellation of saints when 
 they enter the world. The man will retain, revere, and bless the 
 religion of his infancy, and bear it with him as a shield of defence 
 and robe of glory. His bolder heart, his hardier frame, while it 
 strengthens and retains its early impressions, will deprive them 
 of all which might be considered too feminine and dependent, 
 "While to her daughters the piety of the heart and the affections 
 will at once give strength for the trials of life, hallow domestic 
 and social duty, purify their simplest pleasures, and, fitting them 
 in their turn to lead their offspring in the same blessed path, 
 render them worthy helpmates of regenerated Israel. 
 
 When therefore the author looks to her own sex for the support 
 and countenance of her labours — when it is to them that they are 
 principally addressed : — she ventures to hope that from all undue 
 presumption her efforts may be absolved. Her aim i^ to aid, not 
 to dictate ; to point to the Fountain of Life, not presumptuously to 
 lead; to awaken the spirit to its healing influence, io rouse it to a 
 sense of its own deep responsibilities, not to censure and judge. 
 
 The hours of reflection, which attended alike the composition 
 and the writing of this volume, awakened her too strongly and 
 keenly to a sense of her own weakness and utter incapacity of her- 
 self to keep the law of her God as her heart desires ever to permit 
 her pronouncing a harsh judgment on her fellow-creatures; and if 
 there are passages which seem to belie this assertion, she can only 
 declare they are as completely contrary to her sentiments as to her 
 intention. 
 
 One other incentive has urged her to the publication of her work 
 — the--hope that it may assist the followers of other creeds in ob- 
 taining a truer and kinder estimate of the Jewish religion than, 
 from the scarcity of theological writings amongst the Hebrews, 
 they now possess. It is not from argumentative works that the 
 true spirit of a religion can be discovered; and yet with the ex- 
 ception of one or two, these are the only kind found in a Jewish 
 
12 PREFACE. 
 
 library. Could Christians once properly understand the pure spirit 
 of the Mosaic faith, the real intent of all its ceremonies, the im- 
 mortal hopes, the universal benevolence it breathes, the strength 
 it infuses, the comfort it bestows: they would perhaps see how 
 perfectly unnecessary it is, either for the Hebrew's happiness in 
 heaven or his spiritual welfare upon earth, to make him a convert 
 to their faith. And if their desire and efforts towards conversion 
 yet continue unabated, the youthful Hebrew would at least be pre- 
 served from the danger arising from the urging of the above-men- 
 tioned plea. The hopes of heaven and comfort on earth can have 
 no weight with those who discover both in the religion of their 
 fathers; and converters must adopt some other argument. But it 
 is the author's earnest hope, that a fair and candid perusal of these 
 pages will remove many of the prejudices concerning the Hebrew 
 nation, by drawing aside the blinding veil in which ignorance had 
 enveloped her, and touch some hearts which are not entirely closed 
 against conviction and benevolence, with love and veneration for 
 that people so long the standing witness alike of the truth of God 
 and of His word. 
 
 It may be, that her hopes are too presumptuous, her wishes too 
 ambitious ever to be realized ; but it is in the power of the univer- 
 sal Father to bless the lowliest efforts of His servants; and if He 
 will, even this unpretending volume may be permitted to brino- 
 forth good. Trusting in His blessing, not in the merits of her 
 work, the author sends it forth. 
 
 G. A. 
 
V. 
 
 THE SPIEIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE AVOWAL OF UNITY CONSIDERED AS IT REGAEDS 
 
 THE JEWISH NATION. 
 
 There is one portion of the Jewish form of prayer, 
 which every member of that nation is desired to repeat 
 twice, sometimes three times, in every day. It is the 
 first taught to our children ; either in Hebrew or in Eng- 
 lish, the words of the Shemang are the first ideas of prayer 
 which the infant mind receives, long before any meaning 
 can be attached to them : and it is right that it should 
 be so; for so much of vital importance is contained in 
 this brief portion of our ritual, that we cannot impress 
 it too early on the heart of an Israelite. But do we 
 follow up this good beginning? do we seize the first 
 moment of awakening intellect to inculcate the meaning 
 attached to words we have* been so eager should be re- 
 membered ? Do we of maturer years reflect sufiiciently 
 on the verses we repeat, — or do we not all feel conscious 
 at one period of our lives, that they slip from our lips, 
 so heedlessly, so lifelessly, that we are scarcely conscious, 
 when we begin and when we end them? The thoughts 
 wander, the heart is deadened; we feel this when our 
 necessities have formed prayers for themselves, when we 
 
 2 13 
 
14 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 supplicate for things we desire, relief we need : we know 
 then, the Shemang is the certain part of our devotions, 
 when Fancy, as if in mockery, waves her wand, and we 
 vainly struggle to command our thoughts. And why is 
 this? because the words have been impressed, and not 
 the sense; because there seems no actual prayer con- 
 tained therein; nothing to vivify the heart, occupy the 
 mind, or rouse the sluggish affections from their sleep. 
 
 Eepeating it, as we have done from childhood, this 
 effect is perhaps natural. It contains no actual prayer; 
 but prayer is a word which may be taken in a wider 
 sense than its literal meaning. For prayer is the lan- 
 guage of the heart, — needing no measured voice, no 
 spoken tone; thus Hannah's wish was heard and an- 
 swered, though not a sound had passed her lips. It is 
 the hour of communion between man and his Maker, — 
 the hour granted to fallen jnan to lift him above this 
 world, to bring his great Creator, his merciful Father, 
 a while from His lofty throne above the heavens, even to 
 his side, listening in mercy to his anguished cry, healing 
 the open wound, bidding the floods of woe subside, and 
 leaving His blessed Spirit on the soul to encourage and 
 to soothe. 
 
 And this hour of solemn communing, comprised in the 
 word prayer, may be passed either in supplication for 
 that which we most need; in confession and repentance 
 for mortal sin ; in praise and thanksgiving for untiring, 
 unchanging mercies; in the study of God's Holy Word; 
 searching for and applying the sacred truths contained 
 therein, till we may know in some degree that which we 
 believe, and the moral, social, and domestic duties stand 
 forth clear and spotless even as they came from Him. 
 
 It is this which is comprised in the Shemang. It is 
 not the creature supplicating the Creator — it is a brief 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 15 
 
 emphatic summary of all those laws which God Himself 
 inspired Moses to impart; and if we once consider it 
 thus, our thoughts will have no need to wander in the 
 repetition of this prayer; for the affections and the in- 
 tellect will alike be fully stored. 
 
 Taken as a whole, as the contents of about one-quarter 
 of a pag^e in our daily prayer books, we cannot perhaps 
 be so struck with the impressive solemnity of these verses, 
 as when we regard them, as in reality they are, six verses 
 in the sixth chapter of Deuteronomy. To feel their full 
 force, we shall do well to turn to the sacred writings and 
 examine each verse alone. 
 
 " Hear, Israel ! the Lord our God, the Lord is ONE." 
 Such is the literal translation of the Hebrew 
 
 T V •• v; •• T : • - : 
 
 but it is quite impossible to give the full force of the 
 Hebrew by any English words. Yet even the common 
 translation is such, that we cannot peruse it with any 
 degree of attention, without finding its solemnity appeal 
 to our hearts. It is the avowal of belief, belief in the un- 
 paralleled, unchanging, incomprehensible unity of God, 
 the repetition and acknowledgment of which marks us 
 as His chosen people, — His redeemed. His beloved. His 
 first-born, — separates us from every other nation, every 
 other religion of the world. How, then, can we utter 
 these sacred words in the light and careless way we are 
 but too apt to do ? Can the mere avowal of a belief in 
 Unity be acceptable to our God, when we neither know, 
 nor care, what that belief includes? sometimes perhaps 
 mechanically repeated, even at the very time we are 
 hovering between Judaism and Christianity, knowing 
 little of the one, and tempted by interest to embrace 
 the other? Oh, surely this should not be; surely a few 
 
16 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 words attempting to explain the full sense, by the ana- 
 lysis of each word, will not be wholly unacceptable to 
 the Jewish nation; and be the means, perhaps, by giving 
 their thoughts full scope, to prevent that evil which in 
 the repetition of this prayer is only too general. 
 
 The Hebrew word rendered Lord in the Eni^lish of 
 this sentence, is in the oris^inal that awful and ineffable 
 NAME, which no true Israelite will utter. It is the name 
 peculiar to the Divine Essence, signifying He who was, 
 IS, and ever will be — Uln* comprehending, according 
 to most commentators, the preter, present, and future 
 tenses of the verb n^H ^^ exist or be. We are told, first, 
 
 T 
 
 that this Divine Essence — this ever-existing Being, is 
 our God, and then, that this Divine Essence is One. 
 nrtN the original word will allow no second meaning, 
 no complicated signification, it is simply and solely one 
 — from "In* to unite, to b(? united, or to make unite. 
 How important then is the truth this verse includes — 
 supplying us with a shield of defence, which no open 
 attack, no guarded insinuation, can have power to pene- 
 trate. 
 
 This word, signifying the Ever-Existent, has very often 
 been turned against us, by those who, from a kindly but 
 mistaken zeal, would convince us that our belief is wrong, 
 and that we are blindly following the path of error. 
 They assure us, the ineffable Name is typical of the 
 Godhead in which they believe, that its three* syllables 
 
 * If our opponents were truly acquainted with the Hebrew punc- 
 tuation, they would hardly have started this argument, which I find 
 stated here for the first time ; since the Sheva on the first letter forms 
 no syllable by itself, according to Hebrew analogy : hence my friend's 
 reply was scarcely necessary, were it not to silence the mystifiers who 
 always seek for some hidden meaning in the words and phrases of 
 Scripture. — I. L. 
 
THE SPIEIT OF JUDAISM. 17 
 
 denote the Trinity, its plurality in unity, that even as 
 Elohim, it should convince us that their faith, that which 
 the founder of their system taught, was contained as 
 fully in the Old as in the New Testament. It is this 
 argument which but too often shakes the unenlightened 
 Israelite. Mystified by the types and shadows of which 
 his opponent so eloquently speaks, he feels as if he could 
 bring forward no argument in reply; and yet that very 
 prayer, which slips from his lips every night and morn- 
 ing, furnishes him with one, so unanswerably strong, 
 that I doubt whether the most enlightened of our adver- 
 saries could continue the debate. 
 
 It tells us that God — however plural the word by 
 which He is called in Hebrew may be in its termina- 
 tion, is One, — that the Divine Essence, He who was, is, 
 and ever will be, is One, — solely, simply One, without 
 any division of parts; for that One is formed from the 
 uniting, the compressing of the Essence, if I may so 
 speak without profanation ; and therefore we cannot em- 
 brace the creed of the Nazarene,* which not only in- 
 culcates division in the immaterial essence, but that the 
 Father was in heaven and the Son upon earth at one 
 and the same time. 
 
 It signifies little that such unity is inconceivable 
 alike in its sublimity, in its power, in its combination 
 of justice and mercy. It is enough for us to know that 
 not alone did our Father so reveal Himself, in the im- 
 pressive words with which He answered Moses — n^^i^ 
 
 * Let me here remark, that in the above observation, as in any other 
 of a like nature which may occur throughout this little work, no un- 
 kind or attacking reflection is intended on any other creed; writing 
 solely for my own nation and in all charity to every other, when I am 
 compelled to write as above, it is only to elucidate my subject; and 
 pain indeed it would be to me to find it taken in another light. 
 
 2* 
 
18 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 rrMX ^!e*N I AM THAT I AM — or, literally, I will be that 
 
 I will be; but that also in the repetition of His laws He 
 inspired that faithful servant wdth wisdom to proclaim 
 His unity, in terms so powerful and clear, that it would 
 almost seem, as if His all-penetrating eye, marking the 
 war of argument which would assail His people, provided 
 them in these simple words with an armour of proof, no 
 weapon can assail. Innumerable proofs might be brought 
 forward in defence of this aro^ument — innumerable texts 
 quoted to give it force and life; but it is not our purpose 
 so to do; it is simply to impress on the heart of the 
 Israelite the awful responsibility he takes upon himself 
 every time he repeats this first verse of the Shemang. 
 If he know not, if he care not, to mark the distinction 
 between his faith and that of the nations around him — 
 let him pause ere he repeat this solemn prayer; but oh, 
 let him not hurl down the anger of his Maker, by re- 
 newing every day his covenant with his God, when he 
 neither knows what that covenant is, nor cares what it 
 includes. 
 
 It is right to learn this prayer in our earliest child- 
 hood; it would be w^rong to wait till we could under- 
 stand its importance to attain the words; but if their 
 sense has been neglected, let us seek it ourselves, — we 
 must not remain Hebrews only because our fathers 
 were. The faith we receive merelv as an inheritance, 
 will not enable us to defend it from insidious attack or 
 open warfare, will not satisfy the cravings of our nature, 
 will not give us a rock whereon to cling in hope and 
 such deep love, that we could be strengthened even to 
 die for it, if it were needed; nor can it be pleasing unto 
 Him, who, declaring himself a God of Truth and Love, 
 will so be worshipped. Our hearts must breathe from 
 our lips in this avowal of our faith — we need not utter 
 
THE SPIEIT OF JUDAISM. 19 
 
 it aloud, God alone may hear us; — yet should we so 
 dwell on this important subject, that if called upon, we 
 might proclaim aloud our faith in the presence of angry 
 thousands, fearlessly acknowledge our belief in the unity 
 of God — ay, dare even scorn, and proudly and steadily 
 tread the sainted paths which our fathers trod. 
 
 Nor is this the mere burst of an enthusiasm, the 
 mere glowing of an imaginative spirit, as some colder 
 souls may believe it. Let us but examine perseveringly 
 and calmly the truths our fathers received as divine; 
 let us but be convinced at length, that though our search 
 has been often unsatisfactory, often painfully arduous, 
 that as they believed, so too may we : — and none will 
 say I have exaggerated the glowing of the heart, the 
 holy comfort, which will pervade the believer in the 
 repetition of this solemn prayer. Nor will it be in our 
 closets only, we shall feel all that we have gained; we 
 shall go forth, no longer striving to conceal our religon 
 through shame (for it can only be such a base emotion 
 prompting us to conceal it in free and happy England*); 
 — but strengthened, sanctified, by its blessed spirit, we 
 shall feel the soul elevated within us, and clina: to our 
 Father and our God in the deep devotedness of true be- 
 lievers, and filled with the warmest love and charity to our 
 fellow-creatures. This would be the visible and palpable 
 fruit of an earnest search after truth. And let us now 
 pause a moment to consider the duties towards God and 
 towards man, which this avowal of and firm belief in the 
 unity of God devolves upon us. The repetition of it is 
 renewing the covenant between our soul and her Creator 
 
 * The same may be said with equal force of every country where, 
 as in the United States, the Israelite may worship his God unawed by 
 the malign influence of persecution. — I. L. 
 
20 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 twice in every day; — it marks us as individually His own 
 — separates us from every other nation, every other 
 religion in the world — recalls to our own hearts that 
 we are each a member of His chosen people — one of 
 that nation, who infinitely more than any other expe- 
 rienced His unbounded love, His infinite long suffering, 
 never-failing, never-changing mercy, — a love, a mercy, 
 not prodaitfied alone, but manifested alike in the history 
 of Abraham, of Jacob, of Joseph, Moses, David; yet more 
 forcibly to our ancestors in their redemption from the 
 bitter cruelties of Egypt — in the long suffering evinced 
 during the long years of anarchy, rebellion, even idolatry, 
 which marked the aa;e of monarchv in Zion, — agrain in 
 our return from Babylon, in the compassion which sent 
 promises, warnings, threatenings, ere His last awful judg- 
 ment fell. Ay, from the first hour He promised unto 
 Abraham, that as the stars, so should his seed be, that 
 from the loins of that faithful servant should spring a 
 race peculiarly His own, until the present day : the 
 history of Israel proclaims our God as Love! We felt 
 indeed His justice, awfully retributive justice; yet love 
 ■was so intimately mingled with it, so completely robing 
 justice with its mantle of light, that even now, scattered 
 as we are, emblems of His wrath, of our own sins: — we 
 may yet veil our eyes in that blessed mantle of love, and, 
 flinging ourselves on His mercy, cling to, pray to, adore 
 Him still. "For what nation is there so great, who 
 hath God so nigh to them as the Lord our God is in all 
 things that we call upon Him for?" (Deut. iv. 7.) Our 
 greatness is indeed gone from us, if we apply that term 
 to worldly things ; but not the blessed privilege of be- 
 longing to the nation who have God so nigh unto them. 
 Of that no man can rob us; His face is indeed veiled 
 from us a while, on account of our sins; but His love 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 21 
 
 enfolds us still — He is close beside us, though we have 
 forfeited the glory of His presence. 
 
 But the history of Israel records not our Father's love 
 alone; would, would it did! The belief in unity marks 
 us indeed as members of a highly favoured nation ; but 
 alas, it marks not that alone. It tells us we belong to a 
 people more fearfully iniquitous than any other in the 
 history of a world; — even as God's mercy, His loving 
 kindness, were more closely, more intimately woven 
 round us than elsewhere: — so if we sinned, did we sin 
 more awfully, fall far lower, than nations to whom less 
 privileges had been vouchsafed. In vain we would shake 
 off this stigma — we are not indeed ''despised and rejected 
 of men" for the reason alleged by our opponents, be- 
 cause we rejected and crucified their messiah ; but for 
 sins, terrific in their magnitude, against our ever-loving, 
 long-suffering Father. Who can read the history of 
 Israel, yet say we have not sinned? Did we not forget 
 alike the miracles wrought for us in Egypt, the destruc- 
 tion of our foes, ay, and turn and murmur against, our 
 God at the first trouble that assailed us in the wilderness ? 
 Look upon us in the Holy Land, acknowledged, blessed, 
 guarded, as the chosen of the Lord; yet from the book 
 of Judges to our final dispersion, of what do we read, 
 but crime, and misery, and forsaking of the Lord ? Stiff- 
 necked and flinty-hearted, neither promises nor threaten- 
 in gs, neither justice nor mercy, had effect on us. Even 
 when, to give time for amendment and repentance, our 
 Father protected us in the land of our first captivity, and 
 permitted us not only to return at the end of threescore 
 and ten years, but held forth the promise of a saviour, 
 through whom He would redeem the world if we gave 
 up our sinful ways and sought the law of Moses, to bid 
 it resume its pristine holiness amongst us : — even these 
 
22 THE SnUIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 offers we rejected; and as we persevered in iniquity, or 
 rather sunk deeper and deeper into sin, the Messiah came 
 not; we were in no state to receive him; and the mea- 
 sure of God's wrath so long withheld, His justice peremp- 
 torily commanded should be hurled unflinchingly upon us. 
 Why were we exposed to such awful horrors at the siege 
 and destruction of Jerusalem? Why have we been per- 
 secuted, and expelled from almost every land where our 
 weary feet found rest ? Why are we even now scattered 
 in every corner of the earth, without a temple, or abiding 
 resting-place? — Because we have sinned; according to 
 the mercy that we scorned, so great hath been, will be, 
 our chastisement. 
 
 There are some, who raise a barrier between the past 
 and present race of Israel; who feel not how closely we 
 are united to our deluded ancestors; who would smile, 
 perhaps, at the enthusiasm which compels me to use the 
 first, instead of the third person plural, in speaking of 
 Israel in long, long ages past. They may acknowledge 
 that the Israelites of the Bible were in truth a very stiff- 
 necked, foolish people; — but the incorporating ourselves 
 of the present day with them, and endeavouring by our 
 individual conduct to prove our repentance and amend- 
 ment of sins we have never committed, would be the 
 height of folly and romance. 
 
 If the Jews of modern times are indeed thus wholly 
 severed from the Jews of the Bible; if we have nothing 
 to do with their iniquities, and need not prove that we 
 are anxious to appease the wrath of God; if indeed we 
 are such a completely severed race — what then are we? 
 Not His beloved, His chosen; — for those terms can only 
 apply to the seed of Abraham, the ancient followers of 
 Moses. If the sins of our ancestors are of no conse- 
 quence to us, the promises vouchsafed to them can avail 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 23 
 
 US nothing; we can have no stay, no rock, no shelter. 
 The holy word of God is not for us, we have cast up a 
 wall before it. But no! no — this awful state of things 
 can never be; for our God hath spoken, and His word is 
 truth. There may be some who think thus; but it is 
 because the Spirit of God hath not yet been granted 
 ^ them — they have not reflected on their faith. 
 
 But there are others who may ask: "Allowing we 
 thus feel our nationality, granting that we are fully sen- 
 sible of the mercies lavished on our ancestors, the awful 
 iniquities they have committed : in what can this con- 
 sciousness avail us? what peculiar duties devolve on us, 
 as members of this severed people? We cannot indi- 
 vidually turn aside the phial of God's anger." No, we 
 cannot turn it all aside; no efforts of our own, however 
 great and magnanimous they may be, can work out our 
 redemption. His mercy, omnific even as His creating 
 word, is all sufficient; but the trust in that mercy is not 
 of itself enough to obtain salvation. Our Father rejects 
 those who do good, trusting in their own righteousness 
 to save them, looking to their own works to purchase 
 redemption; but He equally rejects those, who supinely 
 sit, contented to trust in His word, and think nothing 
 depends upon themselves. As works without faith are 
 unacceptable, so equally is faith without works. The 
 man eager and anxious to perform all the charities of 
 life, doing good wherever his path lies, quietly zealous 
 to do honour by his conduct to the religion he professes 
 and believes in, meek in prosperity, as submissive in 
 sorrow, yet feeling how trifling, how worthless in the 
 sight of God are his noblest actions, his purest thoughts 
 — how little they would avail him, did not infinite love 
 and mercy perfect and purify them — leaning on that 
 love — lowly in his exalted virtue — penitent for those 
 
24 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 secret or presumptuous sins, from which no mortal ia 
 exempt: — that man is a worthy servant of the Lord. 
 
 The duties devolving on us by the acknowledgment of 
 unity, though solemnly important, are comparatively few; 
 and it is to know them, which renders the retrospect of 
 our history of so much consequence. 
 
 That history tells us we are a chosen and severed peo- 
 ple — to be holy unto the Lord — to show forth His glory 
 unto the nations ; yes, even now ; for are we not univer- 
 sally allowed to be a standing miracle, a living witness 
 of the Lord, and of His word? Do not the enlightened 
 and earnest members of the Protestant church all ac- 
 knowledge, their final redemption will be in some way 
 connected with the restoration of Israel? Do not the 
 truly religious of all sects look upon us with feelings 
 near akin to admiration and awe, ay, and even love?* 
 and shall we, who belong to this holy people, be ashamed 
 of the faith we profess — shall we seek to hide, and to 
 deny it? Will not the love so graciously vouchsafed us, 
 appeal to our inmost hearts, and call upon us, in very 
 truth, to love Him, who hath so loved us? Can we be 
 lukewarm in His cause, careless in prayer, silent in 
 praise? On us, more than other nations, devolves the 
 duty of devotion — of prayer for grace to walk in His 
 paths — thanksgiving for the privilege of belonging to a 
 people so supremely blessed; of proving by our whole 
 
 * I am well aware this assertion will startle those Hebrews who, 
 prejudiced themselves, think others equally prejudiced ; but it is never- 
 theless perfectly and simply true, as it has been my good fortune to 
 prove in more than one instance. Others will say they do but profess 
 to throw us off our guard, and soften the path for the insertion of their 
 misbelief; but many instances in my life could prove the contrary. 
 The feelings I have had good reason to entertain towards the Chris- 
 tian, are amongst the many blessings which I trace from the hand of 
 my God. 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 25 
 
 conduct, whether social or domestic, moral or religious, 
 that we receive His holy word as true, and believe in 
 His gracious promises — and that we deem the promise 
 of a Messiah and redemption so clear and certain, that 
 we would do all in our power, by the circumcision of 
 our hearts and removal of our evil propensities, to draw 
 it nearer. Our scattered and humiliated condition can 
 oppose no barrier to the performance of these sacred 
 duties. We are not rejected, though for a while suffering 
 God's displeasure. His holy Spirit, the light of His coun- 
 tenance, are indeed for a time withdrawn ; but not for 
 ever. Every page almost of the sacred Scriptures teems 
 with the conviction, that it depends on us in a measure 
 to hasten or retard the coming of the Sou of David. 
 How dare we look to that glorious day, when our hearts 
 are still of stone, when we make no effort to break from 
 the trammels of sin, when we depart from the Law of 
 Life, or show lukewarmness in its reception? Far more 
 dangerous is the trial of prosperity than that of adver- 
 sity ; the one sends us far from our God, the other binds 
 us closer and closer unto Him. Surely, then, there are 
 duties which the acknowledgment of the Hebrew faith 
 renders peculiarly our own; duties between ourselves 
 and our God. How can we then look upon the repetition 
 of that belief twice every day as a thing of small import- 
 ance? Can we do so thoughtlessly, carelessly, when that 
 simple act may come up as a witness against us before 
 the Lord, even as a vow and non-performance? 
 
 Our duty to our fellow-men, which the retrospect of 
 our history inculcates, is simply charity; charity in its 
 widest sense, perhaps in its most difficult performance; 
 charity to the peculiar tenets of others. If in our faith, 
 that, springing from the lips of the Lord, is hallowed by 
 His blessing, marked by miracles the most stupendous, 
 
26 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 like which no others have ever been or will ever be per- 
 formed, — if in this faith, abuses, iniquities, idle fables, 
 spiritless and uninspired customs, have been permitted 
 not alone to enter, but to continue and increase: is it 
 marvel such should be the case with others, which owe 
 not their origin to the sacred Fount that poured forth 
 ours? It is often with pride, contempt, even hatred, we 
 look down on, or speak of creeds and their followers; 
 though of the mysteries of the one and the private cha- 
 racter of the others, we are profoundly ignorant. And 
 of what have we to boast? If our religion be indeed 
 divine, if its simple purit}^, its exquisite holiness, its 
 beautiful economy of justice and love, set it at a distance 
 as a thing apart: it should indeed fill our breasts with 
 gratitude to the God who gave it, but not with pride and 
 scorn for our fellows. It may be that a veil is thrown 
 over their belief; nay, we know that it is so, from the 
 blessed words which promised, that when our Messiah 
 cometh, not only ''will death be swallowed up for ever," 
 but " then will the covering cast over all people be de- 
 stroyed, the veil spread over all nations be utterly re- 
 moved" (Isaiah xxv. 7, 8); and till that time should we 
 not do all in our power, to prove indeed the comfort, the 
 spirituality, the holiness, which our blessed faith includes, 
 by kindly acts of social charity and faithful friendship 
 towards those believing differently from us, instead of 
 shunning them as a wilfully blinded, determinedly mis- 
 taken race? It is of God that they are not yet permitted 
 to walk in the path of light vouchsafed to us. It is His 
 will, that it should be now a time ''nor day nor night" 
 (Zech. xiv. 7) ; and yet does the presumptuous and 
 haughty Hebrew, imitating the Pharisees* of old, dare to 
 
 * I fear that my friend has adopted without sufficient care the 
 opinions which our opponents entertain of these people; they may 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 27 
 
 say, their prayers are less acceptable than his? The 
 ofterings of the meek and lowly, the earnest in the per- 
 formance of their Maker's will, in their duty to their 
 fellow-men, these are acceptable and of sweet savour 
 unto Him, who judge th not as man judgeth, whatever 
 may be the creed w^hich dictates them. It is the spirit 
 which He regardeth, demanding obedience according to 
 the light His wisdom hath bestowed. If more light, 
 more holiness, have been given us, more will be required 
 from us; and the self-satisfied Hebrew may perhaps have 
 cause to envy the meek and lowly Christian or Moslem, 
 he has in his heart despised. 
 
 That in former times the Christian should have been 
 regarded with loathing, and hate, and terror, can asto- 
 nish none acquainted with the history of persecution; 
 but now, that in all civilized lands we are protected, 
 cherished, nay, often honoured and beloved, why should 
 this feeling continue to rankle in the Israelitish bosom? 
 Treated with charity and kindness, why should we not 
 encourage the same soothing emotions ? It is alleged that 
 it is dangerous to associate intimately with those of other 
 creeds, that it is as dangerous to our faith as the open 
 warfare of old. They are mistaken who thus think; 
 were the Jewish religion studied as it ought to be by its 
 professors of every age and sex; were the Bible, not 
 tradition* its foundation and defence; were its spirit 
 
 have been over-strict in their observances; but honest they were, and I 
 do not think that they ever inculcated illiberality towards others; on 
 the contrary, they taught, that the Lord does not withhold the reward 
 due to any creature, be it who he may. — I. L. 
 
 * Again I fear that Miss Aguilar has imbibed too strong a prejudice 
 against tradition. It is mainly our general acquiescence in the received 
 mode of interpretation which forms the characteristic distinction be- 
 tween us and others ; for how else can we at all maintain any oppo- 
 sition against the views advanced by the other believers in the Bible? 
 It is useless to say, that the Scriptures speak for themselves ; they aa- 
 
28 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 felt, pervading the inmost heart, giving strength and 
 hope, and faith and comfort: we should stand forth firm 
 as the ocean rock, which neither tempest nor the slow, 
 still, constant dripping of the waters can bend or shake. 
 We should do more; thus prepared, thus convinced of 
 truth, we should find that every argument others might 
 employ, every book we might be persuaded to peruse, 
 would but strengthen conviction in the faith of Israel; 
 charity to them indeed would increase; for the more we 
 studied of their belief, the more we should feel the veil 
 cast upon them is indeed of God.* Never has the He- 
 
 suredly do so to the person who has received instruction; but it re- 
 quires no argument to prove that difference of education makes people 
 take different views of the sacred Text; or else all readers of the Bible 
 would entertain the same doctrines and pursue one course of conduct. 
 Is this the case? Certainly the Scriptures should constitute the daily 
 exercise of every Israelite ; but the interpretations, dogmas, and opi- 
 nions of our ancients should not be neglected ; ay, tradition is the firm 
 support of the Unity of God. Say, if you will, that Rabbins have oc- 
 casionally promulgated things of no value; yet would this constitute 
 no argument against the good they have left us. They teach nothing 
 opposed to the most elevated piety ; faith, hope, and charity are doc- 
 trines of theirs no less than of the Nazarene code, and it remains to be 
 proved, that a strict conformity to form, ceremony, or outward re- 
 ligion in general is in the least injurious to moral perfectibility. I do 
 not believe that my friend meant to cast blame upon our ancient re- 
 ligious teachers ; but that she only used the above expression in a 
 general, indefinite manner, without weighing the whole force her words 
 might receive. I am no advocate for any abuses introduced under 
 Rabbinical rule ; but I am far more opposed to the notion of certain 
 moderns who would reject all for a few blemishes incident more to the 
 times in which our teachers lived and taught, than to any absolute de- 
 fects in their systems. No one would pull down his house, because a 
 few stones were discoloured, when a slight labour might remedy the 
 defect. So let us be cautious, how we reject tradition, because of the 
 few incongruities it may occasionally present. — I. L. 
 
 * This and the succeeding paragraph is not a mere fanciful hypo- 
 thesis of the author alone; it owes its foundation alike to constant ob- 
 servation and personal experience. 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 29 
 
 brew, glorying in, and openly professing the belief of his 
 fathers, not merely attending to form, but proving the 
 spirit which guides and aids him, failed to gather round 
 him the respect and admiration of every Christian whose 
 respect is something worth. It is those who by mean 
 and petty manoeuvres seek to hide their faith, who are 
 ashamed of it themselves, who draw down the contempt 
 and pity of all they would deceive, and this not on them- 
 selves alone, but unfortunately on the whole nation. 
 
 Why should we so condemn the custom of seeking con- 
 verts? If but to too many the Jewish religion is allowed 
 to bring no comfort, no devotion, no spirit, and it is from 
 those misguided ones, the whole religion is regarded : 
 why should we be so angry with the wish to lead us where 
 these blessings are supposed to be found? If there be 
 aught to condemn, it is the lukewarmness and ignorance 
 of those of our own people, who declare there is no com- 
 fort, no spirit in their faith. Oh, "if," as an elegant 
 writer observes, ''men of all creeds would seek not points 
 of difference but points of agreement, how much of the strife 
 and bitterness that deform God's earth would disappear; 
 mutual ignorance it is, that but too often produces mu- 
 tual alienation."* And in this case, i.e. by the common 
 fellowship of Jew and Christian, the truth of this obser- 
 vation would indeed be made evident. The points of 
 difference between us, impassable, all-important as they 
 are, are yet few, and need never be brought forward; 
 while" the points of agreement are many, so many that 
 our conversation might ever be of our mutual Father 
 who is in heaven, of His glorious works, and attributes, 
 and love — though that in which we differ never mingled 
 
 ■'^ Preface to Miss Goldsmid's translation of twelve of Dr. Salomon's 
 
 Sermons. 
 
 3* 
 
30 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 with it. And it is this, this universal charity, this self- 
 humiliation, which is the duty, the retrospect of our 
 history commands. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 DEFINITION OF THE WORD HEART — LOVE OF GOD CON- 
 SIDERED AS IT REGARDS THE AFFECTIONS. 
 
 "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy 
 heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might" 
 are the impressive words which follow the proclamation 
 of unity in the Holy Scriptures, — ''Blessed be the name 
 of the glory of His kingdom," which we find between 
 these two verses in our prayer books, being the usual 
 ejaculation of thanksgiving used by the ancient fathers 
 of our race, whenever they have had occasion to utter 
 the holy name of God. 
 
 It is Moses who is speaking; Moses who, addressing 
 his fellow-countrymen, would, in the brief eloquent words 
 above quoted, instruct them in what manner they must 
 love their God; and it would be well perhaps, ere we 
 endeavour to explain the respective meaning of his thrice 
 emphatic terms, to pause an instant on the character of 
 that man, greater than any other in the annals of the 
 Bible.* 
 
 On Moses the spirit of God rested, not only inspiring 
 him as a lawgiver, guiding him as a leader, but signaliz- 
 ing him as a prophet, greater than any who came after 
 him, unlike any inspired spirit that went before him. To 
 
 * And not those of the world? — I. L. 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 31 
 
 the propliets who succeeded him God spoke in dreams 
 and visions, to Moses He deigned to commune face to 
 face; He disclosed His glory, He passed before him, 
 proclaiming those attributes which from age to age have 
 been the support, the stay, the consolation of individuals 
 and of worlds; — He singled him out, not only to pro- 
 phesy regarding the future, but to threaten and to do ; 
 to hold, as it were, in his mortal hand, the judgments of 
 the Lord — to be to the Egyptians the rod of vengeance — 
 to the Israelites the minister of love. 
 
 Through this faithful servant God deigned to give not 
 only religious but moral laws. Each law that he deli- 
 vered, e ch command that he enforced, came from the 
 inspiration of the Lord. Moses was, if we may use the 
 expression without profanation, the mouth of God. He 
 did but speak words which were put into his mouth, he 
 did but issue laws which God had framed. 
 
 Yet there are some who deny this; who believe the 
 laws thus given merely the invention of Moses, a man, 
 who, presuming on the ignorance and superstition of the 
 rescued nation, framed a number of laws to keep them 
 distinct, and imposed them upon the people as the laws 
 of a Supreme Being. But then it follows, that those who 
 thus believe, if indeed there really be such, must deny 
 all faith in the Bible; they must refuse all credence in 
 the redemption from Egypt, in the miraculous agency of 
 a superintending Power. They must regard the Bible 
 as human, not divine; and in so doing they know not, 
 they cannot know, the host of evils they congregate 
 around them. They forswear the sanctity of the ten 
 commandments; they annihilate morality; for if the 
 Bible is the work of finite man, on what do we base our 
 morality? Not on individual conscience, for conscience 
 is an effect ^ not a cause; they darken the light gleaming 
 
o2 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 on us from the Fount of mercy — and, deserting the foun- 
 tain of living waters, call upon themselves the curse de- 
 nounced against those who " hewed them cisterns, broken 
 cisterns that will hold no water." 
 
 Yet some will urge that it does not follow, because 
 they profess to believe that many of the laws of Moses 
 were of man and not of God, they reject the whole of 
 the inspired writings. I know not how they can draw a 
 line; but granting that they do so, would any man, who 
 from the mouth of God received some laws, dare himself 
 to frame others in God's name? Would that man, who 
 by the mere word of his mouth, to all human seeming, 
 sent ten plagues on Egypt, and by these miracles knew 
 himself a chosen instrument of God; who beheld the 
 burning bush, who received the ten commandments in 
 the midst of thunders and lightnings, which were beheld 
 afar off by the assembled people; the man before whom 
 the glory of the Lord passed by — would he be so pre- 
 sumptuous as at once to disobey the third commandment, 
 and, by framing new laws in the name of the Lord, take 
 the sacred name of God in vain? The character of 
 Moses, as displayed in the sacred writings, is completely 
 contrary to this supposition. If blame could be attached 
 to him, it was more for diffidence than presumption. 
 We know that even when in direct communion with his 
 Maker, when assured by the Lord Himself of sufficient 
 strength for the accomplishment of his important task, 
 he still hesitated, still painfully felt how little capable 
 he was of himself for the mission proposed. ''Oh my 
 Lord, I am not eloquent," was his pleading cry — ''neither 
 heretofore, nor since Thou hast spoken to thy servant, 
 but I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue." Nay, 
 he permitted this painful sense of inferiority to obtain 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 33 
 
 too much ascendency; for even when the word of the 
 Lord had passed, that He would be with the month of 
 His servant, and teach him what to say, Moses still en- 
 treated the Lord to choose some other, to send bv some 
 other hand. And was it likely the character of this 
 man would become so changed, that in a few years he 
 would so shake off the guiding yoke of God, as himself 
 to make laws, and in his own strength impose them on 
 his countrymen ? We have proof there was no such 
 miraculous change. 
 
 ''Wherefore criest thou unto me?" saith the Lord, in 
 Exodus xiv. 15; — and what would these words reveal? 
 That even when in the very act of cheering the people 
 of Israel, by the promise that they should see the salva- 
 tion of the Lord, that God Himself would iight for them, 
 — that even comforted as his spirit must have been by 
 the miracles already wrought in their favour; — still, still, 
 his heart must have been wrestling in secret prayer, 
 still that consciousness of his own weakness, his own in- 
 capacity, must have been at work within, or the Lord 
 would not thus have addressed him: " Wherefore criest 
 thou unto me ?" He heard that anguished cry for help, 
 for guidance, though by man it was unheard. 
 
 Again, as a farther proof that the inward character of 
 this great and good man underwent no change, we find 
 him earnestly beseeching the Lord : " If thy presence go 
 not with me, carry us not up hence." This is in Exodus 
 xxxiii. When Moses had experienced innumerable proofs 
 of God's all-sruidino; hand: after he had received from 
 Him the ten commandments, and the minor laws given 
 at the same time; after manna had fallen, and water had 
 pushed from the stony rock at his prayer; after repeated 
 manifestations that, despite his internal consciousness of 
 
34 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 inferiority and humility, he was still the chosen friend 
 and well-beloved servant of his God; — notwithstanding 
 all this, he is yet so fully sensible that of himself he is 
 nothing, that he would forswear the privilege of carrying 
 his people up to the Promised Land, if the presence of 
 the Lord went not with him, to give him strength and 
 aid. Is this, then, the man whose mind was sufficiently 
 gigantic, not alone to frame the code of laws transmitted 
 to us in the Bible, but whose mental strength and energy 
 enabled him to impose them as divine upon the people? 
 Even allowing that there was policy in giving to others 
 all the stations of eminence and pomp, and retaining 
 none for himself or his sons: it appears to me quite im- 
 possible to read the character of Moses with any degree 
 of attention without feeling convinced that it was infused 
 strength, inspired eloquence, which made him what he 
 was; that of himself he was timid, yielding, even weak, 
 with every hope and wish centred in the welfare of his 
 persecuted brethren, without sufficient strength to benefit 
 them either by his arm or counsels. We hear nothing 
 of Moses before he was called and commissioned by 
 God, except indeed the indignant act which avenged the 
 smiting of an Israelite on the Egyptian, and his endea- 
 vour to keep peace between his brethren. And this was 
 not the dawnings of a Lycurgus, or a Draco, a Cromwell, 
 or a Napoleon ; it was simply the impulse of an excited 
 youth, whose thoughts were indeed engaged on the mise- 
 ries around him, but who dreamed not of himself as their 
 redeemer and deliverer. We know this from his ingenuous 
 reply when first called: "What am I, that I should go 
 unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children 
 of Israel out of Egypt?" This was not the reply of one 
 who felt the incipient stirrings of ambition, who beheld 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. - 
 
 himself in fancy already a lawgiver and a leader.* It 
 was one fully and painfully conscious of his own nothing- 
 ness, and distrusting his own capabilities to serve the 
 Lord as his heart dictated. Self-distrust is not an ele- 
 ment of ambition, or of a mind able of itself to do all 
 that Moses did; yet we see it the strongest ingredient 
 in his character; and drawing conclusions from that cir- 
 cumstance alone, we tnust believe God framed every law 
 mentioned in the Mosaic books, or none. 
 
 We allude not to the Oral Law, nor would we enter 
 into the wild labyrinth of pros and cons, with which this 
 question is now agitating the whole Jewish nation. Our 
 aim is simply to explain the words of the Bible, to prove 
 those words are not the words of finite man, but the in- 
 spiration of a merciful Father, whose omniscience, aware 
 of the wide barrier which sin would raise between His 
 people and Himself, permitted and inspired His chosen 
 servants to compile a volume which would be the ladder 
 between earth and heaven; the uniting link between the 
 immortal spirit, and its immortal resting-place; the mes- 
 sage of love from a pitying Father to His repentant and 
 believing children.' This is the Bible, the whole Bible, 
 not the Mosaic books alone. In them we find our guide 
 to the religion and morality most pleasing unto God. If 
 that religion, that morality were the work of man, why 
 should it have thus outlasted every other in the world ? 
 Egypt, Greece, Rome, boasted each of their lawgivers, 
 their archives, their glories; — yet all have passed away, 
 and not a trace remains, save those stupendous monu- 
 
 * It must not be forgotten that Moses was already eighty years old 
 when he received his commission to deliver his fellow- Israelites from 
 bondage, and that he was at the same time a fugitive from justice by 
 his offence against the laws of Egypt. — I. L, 
 
36 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 ments of antiquity whicli tell us, ''such things have been." 
 Is it so with the law of Moses, with the people he was 
 the instrument of redeeming? Scattered they are indeed, 
 all over the known world; but that very dispersion is the 
 unanswerable proof of the truth and inspiration of the 
 Bible; — for the law, in its essentials, is as it was vouch- 
 safed; and prophecy in this dispersion is strikingly and 
 mournfully fulfilled. 
 
 There is no ground for the assertion, that the awful 
 solemnity and holy pomp which characterized the be- 
 stowal of the ten commandments, marked the giving of 
 all the other laws. It signifies little whether Moses re- 
 ceived them literally from the mouth of the Lord, or felt 
 within his soul the infused eloquence and wisdom, which 
 impelled and enabled him to proclaim them to his coun- 
 trymen. Every page of the Bible breathes the voice of 
 God; as Ilis law we may endeavour to explain it, so 
 that, by the aid of lowly prayer, it may fall with weight 
 on the heart of each individual, to strike home to one of 
 the many chords which the human heart contains. The 
 law of a man, a finite mortal, whose every thought is 
 bounded, lost in infinity, can only be looked on word for 
 word as it is written ; it can have no power to soothe or 
 to console. A man may err, God cannot; a man may 
 change, nay, the wind is not more variable than his 
 capricious spirit ; God, whose name is truth, knows not 
 change, is immutably infallible, and His law is like Him- 
 self, changeless and eternal — so uniting morality with 
 religion, that one cannot be perfect in the heart which 
 knows not the other. And yet, only too many raise a 
 rude barrier between them, and say religion is too serious, 
 too holy a thing, to be mixed up with the thoughts, and 
 desires, and pleasures, and occupations of this world, 
 and so far off do they enshrine her, with so thick a wall 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 37 
 
 do they enclose lier, that no glimmering of her golden 
 light can shine upon their daily work, and not one ray 
 will she bestow on those who seek her but at stated in- 
 tervals, ''few and far between." No glowing warmth 
 can attend such devotion. when will these errors 
 cease to be? when will men break down this darkened 
 barrier, and so love their Gocf with heart, and soul, and 
 might, that religion shall desert her lofty and inaccessible 
 retreat, and mingle in the world? When this thing shall 
 be, then indeed may we hope that blessed day is drawing 
 near, when we '' shall not say, Know ye the Lord, for 
 they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the 
 greatest of them, saith the Lord, and I will forgive their 
 iniquity, and remember their sin no more." 
 
 Yet, it may be urged, there was no religion that de- 
 manded more pomp and ceremonial than the Jewish, 
 that the great holiness surrounding it is the reason of its 
 distance from us : still the same faithful servant, who in 
 the name of the Lord clothed the public ritual with such 
 imposing grandeur, also said, "And thou shalt love the 
 Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, 
 and with all thy might ;" — a command over and over again 
 repeated, and one utterly impossible to be obeyed, if we 
 keep religion at the distance but too many deem neces- 
 sary. These three terms, heart, and soul, and might, 
 are not repetitions of the same meaning, used to enforce 
 the command. Regarding carefully their respective sig- 
 nifications, we shall perceive they are used, more clearly 
 to define the love which God demands, and the proofs 
 which that love includes. 
 
 What does the word heart signify when used in this 
 sense, either towards God or man? "The Scripture," 
 says Cocceius, "attributes to the heart thoughts, reason- 
 ings, understanding, will, judgment, designs, afi"ection3, 
 
 4 
 
38 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 love, hatred, fear, joy, sorrow, anger; because when 
 these things are in a man a motion is perceived about 
 the heart."* We are to understand by this quaint yet 
 expressive sentence, that the word heart is used in Scrip- 
 ture, when either of the above attributes is implied ; and 
 indeed, if w^e carefully consider the sacred writings, we 
 shall find that it is so. * Moses makes use of it, in the 
 mandate we are regarding, as the seat of the affections, 
 the deepest, strongest, dearest shrine of love, including 
 zeal, memory, thought, imagination, reverence, all that 
 would exalt, purify, endear the feeling and its object. 
 And who is there that knows not the full meanins; of the 
 term, to love with all his heart, when that term is applied 
 to human bein2;s, mortals like himself? Do we not look 
 upon their smallest action with delight, with admiration, 
 believe them gifted with rare excellence, with extraordi- 
 nary virtue, so dwell upon the perfections of those we 
 thus love, that we feel we ourselves sink into nothing 
 before them? Would we not do any thing to preserve 
 their affection? Nay, we lose not these ardent feelings, 
 even when for a time the beloved countenance is dark- 
 ened towards us. Are there indeed those, who know 
 not what it is, thus to love ? Surely not amongst the 
 young, the warm-hearted, be they the loving bride, the 
 youthful mother, the faithful friend. Nay, even the 
 sterner sex are capable of such emotion; they love not, 
 indeed, with the deep clinging devotedness of woman, 
 whose very helplessness calls for such strong feeling ; 
 but there are some, even amongst them, who might not 
 think we have sketched love too strongly. And if such 
 can be excited towards a fellow-being, — shall we deny 
 it to our God ? 
 
 * Hebrew Lexicon, by John Parkh'urst, M.A. Article 2i beart. 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 39 
 
 Surely we, even more than the Nazarene, have cause 
 to feel, — " We love Him because He first loved us." Who 
 loves us, who tends us, who bears with our iniquities, 
 and chides us, in such long-suffering compassion, as God 
 does? In the words of Moses, ''What nation hath God 
 so near to us as we have?" Will not our whole history- 
 proclaim His deep, unchanging, and unfailing love ? Will 
 not the written evidence of Moses, nay even of those 
 before him — Abraham, Joseph, and of David, Isaiah, 
 Malachi, all unite in proving that God is love? Nay, 
 has He not Himself proclaimed it in those blessed words 
 with which He describes Himself to Moses, when He 
 passed by before him — "The Lord, the Lord God, mer- 
 ciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in good- 
 ness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving 
 iniquity, transgression, and sin"? This is the God the 
 Nazarenes emphatically call love; this is their God and 
 OUR God, for it is from us — from us alone — from the 
 revelation He vouchsafed to us, that they have learned 
 in part to know Him ; and oh shall we fail in rendering 
 Him that tribute they are so anxious to bestow? Shall 
 we by our lukewarmness tacitly allow, there is truth in 
 what they allege, that they have more cause to love Him 
 than lue have? No, oh no! let us not hesitate any 
 more; let us give Him that which He demands, our 
 whole heart — enshrine Him there — not lavish on mortals, 
 however deserving, all those affections He has granted 
 us. Let us prove by our whole lives, we love Him, 
 becatise indeed He first loved us, ay, and carried us, and 
 bore with us from the days of old. 
 
 But how can we do this? Wdl not this love create 
 familiarity in our intercourse with Him who is indeed 
 holiest amidst the holy? Surely not; in seeking to do 
 our respective duties wherever we are placed for love of 
 
40 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 Him, because we hope it will be pleasing unto Him; 
 in using our talents as His gifts, using them in Him, 
 that is, employing them for those ends v/hich will pro- 
 care us His blessing; in thinking of and blessing Him 
 for the joys and comforts of mutual affection, loving our 
 fellow-creatures in Him: — is this likely to breed undue 
 familiarity? Will this deprive Him of His holiness? 
 Those who have experienced the unspeakable consolation 
 of this intimate communion w^ould tell us, the effect is 
 quite contrary to that, which those who know Him not 
 thus suppose. A precious ray of that unutterable holi- 
 ness indeed descends on them; but His holiness is in- 
 creased according to the measure of their love. 
 
 It is not indeed natural to man in his present imper- 
 fect state thus to love his God. The most pious, the 
 most ardent followers of His law, find it difficult to give 
 Him their whole heart. It demands long years of watch- 
 ing, of struggling, and of prayer. Disappointment and 
 discouragement appall us on every side; for the more* 
 we strive to know and love the Lord, the more fearfully 
 our own imperfections, our own secret sins, stand before 
 us — the more clearly do we find even of those actions 
 we hoped were good, the motives are but too often im- 
 pure. Who are they whom we find strong in their own 
 strength, and smiling to scorn those who acknowledge 
 and deplore their liability to temptation and to sin? 
 Who? but those who know not, love not, think not of 
 
 * " The more exalted," say our wise men, " a man is above his fellow, 
 the greater will be his inclination to sin." Again, "The more man in- 
 creases in righteousness, the stronger becomes his propensity to evil, 
 and unless the Lord gave him His aid, he alone could not escape 
 the power of sin." In this manner did our predecessors endeavour to 
 inculcate humility in the pious even, and to check the presumption 
 which we not rarely feel when we attain, or fancy we attain, any de- 
 gree of excellence. — I. L. 
 
.THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 41 
 
 tlieir G-od. While those wlio seek Hira, weak in seem- 
 ing, shrinking and lowly, fearing temptation, turning in 
 trembling eagerness to prayer for strength and aid — 
 strong only in their trust in Him — are in truth the 
 servants whom He loves, and whose hearts are turning 
 towards Him. But shall these difficulties deter us? 
 Shall we turn from the blessed goal, from the gates of 
 heaven, because the path is dark and rugged? "The 
 race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong;" 
 and while the consciousness of difficulty must convince 
 us of innate sin — that our natural desires since the fall 
 of man are the evil, not the good — that our best affec- 
 tions, our most fervent prayers, are imperfect without 
 the purifying grace of God — consequently that our sal- 
 vation cannot be achieved by our own righteousness, but 
 through the infinite and redeeming compassion* of the 
 Eternal, whose love is our ransom: we must also feel 
 how much depends on perseverance, and watching, and 
 prayer, to prove we desire and long for the mercy of our 
 God to be vouchsafed us, to prove we indeed long and 
 try to love Him with a whole and perfect heart. 
 
 * Without divine mercy no man could be saved ; because every man 
 is sinful at one period or the other, either by committing the wrong or 
 omitting deeds of righteousness which are in his power to accomplish. 
 Nevertheless no one can be saved, who merely relies upon divine mercy 
 and prayer ; for the faith which should induce us to look to the Supreme 
 for assistance and duly to appreciate our own nothingness in His sight, 
 should likewise impel us to obey the precepts of Scripture, these being 
 the emanations of the God of love. And so says the prophet (Ezek. 
 XX. 11, 12): "And I gave them my statutes, and showed them my 
 judgment, which if a man do, he shall even live in them. Moreover, 
 also, I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, 
 that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them." We 
 therefore say, that without active religion there can be no salvation 
 for Israel ; for the words are "which if a man do, he shall even live in 
 them."— I. L. 
 
42 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 But how are we to teacli our hearts to love Him? 
 By dwelling upon His infinite perfections; by lingering 
 on the pages of His blessed word, till by prayer and 
 faith we can realize the Bible as a message of love and 
 mercy ; not merely addressed to a nation, but to each 
 of us individually and apart. It is impossible to peruse 
 the Psalms and Prophets with any degree of trust and 
 attention, without feeling conscious of this truth, with- 
 out being enabled to apply every prayer and promise to 
 our own individual wants and tempers. There it is v/e 
 first learn to know Him as love; and when once we 
 have realized this truth, when once we can feel and be- 
 lieve the love He bears us individually is deeper, dearer, 
 than the dearest borne to us on earth, — that no change, 
 no caprice can dim that long-suffering love — that not 
 even our own transgressions can shake it, if we trust in 
 Him; that His eye is ever on us, His arm around us, 
 His ear open to our faintest sigh; that He feels every 
 pang we feel ; that He knows every secret throb and silent 
 tear, which man may never know; — if we dwell on these 
 blessed truths, surely it will be easy to love Him. It is 
 difficult to love Him with all our heart, if we only look 
 upon it as a command laid on us, which we must obey; 
 but it is easy, if we think how we are loved by Him. 
 
 The human heart is attracted by virtue in man, good- 
 ness, charity — not .the mere charity of relieving the 
 afflicted — but charity towards the failings and follies of 
 our neighbours, the charity 'Hhat covereth transgres- 
 sion," kindness, holiness, purity, truth, forgiveness of in- 
 jury, magnanimity; these are the qualities that call for 
 admiration, and love, and reverence, and seldom call for 
 it in vain; these are the qualities on which the mind so 
 loves to dw'<3ll, that the young and enthusiastic but too 
 often frame an ima^inarv idol, and so weave it in their 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 43 
 
 affections, that their- path is lonely through life, for they 
 seek what they find not in man. Seldom"^ does a mortal 
 nnite all these glorious attributes, and it is sad when the 
 dreams of the young enthusiast are chilled and blunted. 
 But if these qualities attract so much love, even in the 
 small measure in which man possesses them : will they 
 not demand yet stronger feeling towards Him, holiest 
 among the holy, who unites them all, whose divine at- 
 tributes in their infinity are too glorious for human ima- 
 gination to conceive? Is He not ever merciful and 
 ever loving? Is He not ever ''ready to forgive"? Ay, 
 day by day, and hour by hour, loving where He is not 
 loved? Showing mercy unto thousands that seek Him 
 not? Holy, pure, and true, till thought is lost in the 
 infinity of His perfections? Does not His goodness aa 
 far exceed that of man, as the sands on the sea-shore, a 
 single grain? as the glorious sun excels the feeble light 
 by which the peasant cheers his dwelling? If we love 
 these attributes in man, shall we disregard them in our 
 God? Shall the soaring mind sink back dispirited and 
 chilled, because these glorious qualities are found not, 
 as fancy painted them, in man, — when He the holiest, 
 the Lord of truth and love, calleth loudly for the heart 
 that lonp^s to rest on virtue? let not the vouthful 
 spirit seek perfection upon earth:, let him indeed love 
 those where holiness and virtue dwell, for there are 
 many such; but let him turn to his God alone for the 
 perfection of all that is beautiful, all that is glorious, all 
 that is pure, and true, and holy — all that can attract 
 the mind and fill it. 
 
 If the simplest action of those we love best on earth 
 calls for our praise and admiration, will not these emo- 
 
 * Or never ? 
 
44 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 tions be yet more warmly excited wlien we look on the 
 magnificent works of God? Can the created vie with 
 the Creator? Yet the works of man often justly call for 
 reverence and love; and shall the works of God do less? 
 True, we cannot see Him and live; but all around us are 
 traces of His hand ! Who has not felt the warm glow of 
 the wakening heart, kindling into love and rapture, as 
 'we gaze on the varied fields of nature? Does He not 
 speak in the roaring cataract, the thundering waves, in 
 the howling tempest, the devastating blast? Trace we 
 not His hand in the rosy glow, the touching stillness of 
 early dawn, in the brilliant clouds, the refreshing breeze 
 of sunset, the myriads of stars, the silvery moon sailing 
 in the dark-blue heavens? Do we not hear Him in the 
 still, yet emphatic eloquence of night, ay, in the ripple 
 of the brook, in the song of the bird, in the meek beauty 
 of a glistening flower? Are not these the works of His 
 hands, renewed around us day by day, as emblems of 
 His changeless. His untiring love? And can we pass 
 them by, with hearts unmoved, affections dormant? Even 
 to those pent up midst city-walls there are traces of His 
 hand. Can we look on the millions of beings passing to 
 and fro, the form and face of each so wonderfully dis- 
 tinct, so indefinably varied, that one can never be taken 
 for another — with minds respectively stored, according 
 to the station they hold in life, the duties they must fulfil, 
 each possessing one or more talents peculiar to himself, 
 characters so varied, that man seeks in vain for perfect 
 similarity in taste, perfect sympathy on earth? Can we 
 pause to reflect on these things, and yet feel no expansion 
 of the heart and its affections towards Him of whom 
 these are the actions? Can we not trace Him in .the 
 city as in the field? and shall our whole lives pass by, 
 and find us still unconscious of His love, unanswering to 
 
THE SPIEIT OF JUDAISM. 45 
 
 His voice ? we have enough to call for reverence, to 
 wake us into love, if we would but think a while on Him, 
 whose meanest attribute, whose simplest work would yet 
 be all-sufficient to make us crive Him '%all our heart." 
 
 o 
 
 But how are we to know we love Him? Shall we be 
 conscious when our hearts are indeed becomings His? 
 Will obedience to that oft-repeated command to love, 
 and serve, and fear Him, bring with it its own reward? 
 Assuredly it will. We have but to seek to love the 
 Lord, and tenfold will be that love returned to us. It 
 will be less pain to give up our dearest wishes, hopes, 
 even affections, if called upon to do so (and who in this 
 world is not?), if we have so loved our God in joy, that 
 we can realize this affliction comes from Him, and must 
 be sent in love, — ay, and will end in love, though our 
 mortal eye can trace it not. We love Him not, if we 
 find ourselves in secret questioning the goodness or the 
 wisdom of His decrees; murmuring at the conflict; trem- 
 bling and doubting ere we obey. We love Him not, if 
 we hesitate between inclination and duty, when our de- 
 sires clash, as they but too often do, with the obedience 
 His law demands.* We love Him not, if we feel not that 
 love stronger, more consolingly powerful, when afflictions 
 and sorrows darken the lot that has been joyous. The 
 calm and tranquil temper, the grateful consciousness of 
 a happy lot, which characterize some minds in seasons 
 of uninterrupted Drosperitv. are too often supposed to 
 be ardent love, and unchanging faith in God; but if, 
 
 * And how is such faithlessness visited even in God's own elect on 
 earth, elect because of their superior righteousness ! For when Moses 
 and Aaron failed in their duty, they were told that they should not 
 reach the promised land. " Because ye believed me not (put faith or 
 trust in me) to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel." 
 (Num. XX. 12.)— I. L. 
 
46 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 when the water-floods swell around us, when the tempest 
 gathers and our lives grow dark — if then this calm tran- 
 quillity, this grateful consciousness, depart, we have not 
 loved our God — it has been but the peaceful temperament 
 of our hearts, because all around was peace. Affliction 
 is the touchstone by which we can discover if our love 
 be true. If, even while nature is weak and shrinks fear- 
 fully and mournfully from her trial, we still cling to our 
 God, still feel He loves even while He chastiseth, nay 
 that that very chastisement is a proof of His love — for 
 'Svhom the Lord loveth He correcteth;" cling to Him 
 as the loving and pitying Friend who alone can aid us; 
 lift up to Him the sinking heart, even while the lips can 
 form no prayer; trust in His deep changeless love, to 
 supply that which we may have lost, or to strengthen, 
 bless, console us, on our rugged way; cling to Him the 
 closer, the more He smiteth: then, then indeed have we 
 loved, do we love our gracious God, and tenfold are we 
 blessed. We feel not the deadly sharpness of His arrows, 
 if we run up to Him and clasp His robe. The shaft in 
 its strength can only reach those at a distance who scorn 
 the shadow of His wiiio-s. The whirlwind cannot bliQ,"ht 
 us in its fury, if we seek shelter beneath the shadow of 
 the Pbock. Not that those who love their God are more 
 exempt than their fellows from the trials and sorrows 
 of this life, nor that they feel them less; we are not forbid 
 to weep, to feel, to mourn. Those who know not such 
 emotions, who bear the severest shocks unmoved, are 
 not rendered so by religion; they are cold, of a calm 
 and stoic nature, which nor joy nor sorrow moves. Reli- 
 gion is strongest, loveliest, in those hearts ever susceptible 
 to emotion, whether of pleasure or pain : the .love of their 
 God glows warmest in such bosoms; and it is to them it 
 affords its richest consolation; not lessening the pang 
 
THE SPIEIT OF JUDAISM. 47 
 
 of sorrow, but leading them to Him who sympathises 
 in their every sorrow, who is afflicted in their affliction, 
 who loves them, and chastises but to bless, even their 
 Saviour and their God, the Holy One of Israel. This 
 is the reward of those who seek to love their God with 
 all their heart. In all we do we shall remember Him, 
 without whose aid we can do nothing. In every pleasure 
 we shall remember Him, who gave us health and strength, 
 and the power of enjoying. In joy, in grief, in every 
 change of life, in every little circumstance which may 
 seem the offspring of chance, we shall think of Him in 
 whose government there is no chance. Enshrined in our 
 hearts, the deepest, dearest, strongest seat of love, every 
 reasoning faculty, thought, imagination, zeal, memory, — 
 all will find employment in the contemplation of His 
 infinite perfections, His untiring, never ending provi- 
 dence. Memory will have full scope; for where is the 
 life, however brief, or sunny, or dark, that on retrospec- 
 tion will not reflect innumerable proofs of His inexhaust- 
 ible goodness ? We may safely assert there is none. 
 Oh let us but accustom ourselves to look up to, to cling 
 to our God as our own Friend, and Father, and Saviour, 
 like whose unfathomable love we shall find none on earth, 
 who is to each one as He is to all, whose heart and ear 
 are open to the lowest, the poorest, the youngest, the 
 oldest of His creatures; who gathereth each tear, and 
 numbereth each sigh; who daily and hourly foldeth His 
 arm around us and calleth us individually His own : can 
 we think upon Him thus, and yet refuse the heart's pure 
 love, the only meed He asketh? 
 
48 THE SPIEIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 DEFINITION OF THE WORD SOUL — LOVE OF GOD CONSI- 
 DERED AS IT REGARDS THE INTELLECTUAL AND VITAL 
 PRINCIPLE OF MAN. 
 
 tJ^'5!! — universally rendered in English soul, we find 
 by its various applications in the Bible to signify breath, 
 life, mind, the essence or spirit of life and its desires. 
 It is clear, therefore, that heart and soul are not used 
 in this divine command, merely to strengthen the em- 
 phasis of the idea by repetition, but to convey a somewhat 
 different meaning; viz., to bid His people to devote alike 
 intellectual and vital principles in His service. 
 
 If we seek to give Him, as He desires, our whole heart, 
 it follows, that we shall, as a matter almost of necessity, 
 obey the second member of the sentence. 
 
 "VVe cannot know Him, to love Him, as the preceding 
 chapter describes, without employing our intellect, the 
 whole energy of our minds, in the study of His law, not 
 alone of the Pentateuch, but of our religion generally, 
 of all which will assist us in becoming firm and consist- 
 ent followers of the faith we profess, and enable us to 
 mingle among those of another creed without fearing to 
 imbibe it. To do this, the Bible must be our constant 
 study. Nor will that be of itself sufiicient. The Bible 
 is the reflection of that fountain of light dwelling with 
 God on high, and prayer alone will give us the emana- 
 ting ray, which will illumine the darkness, in which to 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 49 
 
 natural man that blessed book is plunged. Faith* in- 
 deed is the golden key to unlock its stores, for without 
 faith its pages are in truth ''sealed;" — and prayer will 
 strengthen that faith, and teach us through that book to 
 know the Lord, ourselves, and our duties. 
 
 * If in the outset of life we commence the reading of the Word in 
 the spirit of self-sufficiency, and in order to doubt, because our reason 
 does not suffice to comprehend all the works and words of God : it is 
 evident that we cannot receive any benefit from a perusal of the sacred 
 text; its language speaks discouragingly of human reason, it teaches to 
 place little reliance on human help or power. What then does the 
 doubter or the presumptuous find therein to love or admire? He is 
 told to mortify the flesh in obedience to the will of One whom he does 
 not fear; to forego the dictates of his own reason in deference to a Wis- 
 dom he does not recognise, although he may be convinced, as every 
 reasoning being must be, that there is a creative Power far, far superior 
 in power and wisdom to anything which humanity can reach even in 
 imagination. If, therefore, the recognition of divine power does not 
 go the whole length of subduing our reliance upon self, but little or no 
 benefit can result from a perusal of Scripture, especially if at every 
 miracle we find recorded, or at every passage gainsaying our usual 
 views, we stop and say, "I do not believe this;" or " This cannot be 
 true, because I do not understand things so as they are here recorded." 
 But how different a result must arise when we in lowliness of trust in 
 Divine Wisdom, or, in other words, in the simplicity of a childlike faith 
 and trust, open the pages of the Bible for instruction and light ! 
 then each word is received as an emanation of the Supreme Wisdom, 
 as the recorded will of the highest Power! Doubts vanish, because, 
 whilst endeavouring to mistrust our own wisdom, we are willing to be 
 guided by the Author of our soul and being, and because even human, 
 worldly wisdom will gradually stand astonished more and more every 
 day at the profound springs of truth and holiness which bubble forth, 
 so to say, from every rock which apparently lies as a hinderance in 
 the way of the humble inquirer. Prayer for light, or the humilia- 
 tion in spirit of the creature before the Creator, of the child before the 
 Father, will tend to complete what faith has commenced ; and subdued 
 alike in mind and will, the soul-stricken believer will walk humbly 
 before the Lord, seeking and obtaining light from His revealed word, 
 and scattering blessings of peace and truth around him among all who 
 may be drawn towards their God by the example of purity which the 
 
 5 
 
50 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 The Bible is the foundation of religion. In it we find 
 the history of the past, the present, and the future; laws 
 to guide us; threatenings, awfully fulfilled; promises to 
 soothe, console, and bless us. Those who deny its divine 
 truths are neither Jew nor Christian; for the acknow- 
 ledgment of its divinity is equally binding to the one as 
 to the other. But the great evil under which the He- 
 brew nation is still sufi'ering, is not so much the denial 
 as the neglect of this precious word. We are in general 
 perfectly satisfied with reading the Parassas and Hafto- 
 rahs marked out as our Sabbath portions. The other* 
 parts of the Bible rest utterly unknown. Brought out 
 on the Sabbath for the brief space of half an hour, the 
 portions are read, and hastily dismissed as a completed 
 task, bringing with it no pleasure and little profit. Even 
 this is but too often neglected, and we adhere to the 
 forms and ceremonies of our ancestors, scarcely knowing 
 wherefore: and we permit our Bibles to rest undisturbed 
 on their shelves, not even seeking them, to know the 
 meaning of what we do. Others again, earnest in the 
 cause, vet mistaken in the means, search and believe the 
 writings of the Rabbis, take as divine truths all they 
 have suggested, and neglect the Biblef as not to be com- 
 pared with such learned dissertations. 
 
 life of the truly righteous must present in all vicissitudes, be they light 
 or darkness, joy or sorrow. — I. L. 
 
 * The above remarks are rather too sweeping, at least for the Israel- 
 ites of America ; still there is a great deal of truth and force in them ; 
 and happy indeed would it be were our people better acquainted with 
 their religion. — I. L. 
 
 f Again I must remark that Miss A. has relied too much upon the 
 calumniators of the Jewish character as authority. If there are any 
 who place the Rabbis above the Bible, they are unknown to me; far 
 different a thing it is to take their views as explanatory of and above 
 the holy Text. The first Ls the general view of our nation, the latter 
 a doctrine utterly abhorrent to every reasoning mind. — I. L. 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 51 
 
 And why should this be? Why should the Bible be 
 so shunned by that people to whom it was so peculiarly 
 intrusted? Surely they cannot bring forward the too- 
 often quoted and unfounded assertion, that the English 
 translation is imperfect and not fitted to be placed in the 
 hands of Hebrew youth ; that it would confuse and rather 
 lead them to embrace the Nazarene, than strengthen 
 their adherence to the Jewish creed. The evidence of 
 learned men of either faith, convinces us of the fallacy of 
 this reasoning. It is not the actual words* of the Bible, 
 but the view in which they are taken, which gives wea- 
 pons to our opponents. There is scarcely a word mis- 
 translated, and the Hebrew of obscure passages is gene- 
 rally placed in the margins, underlined by a literal trans- 
 lation. The heads of the chapters are the only portions 
 likely to mislead; but they are perfectly harmless to those 
 unto whom the Jewish religion has been taught, and 
 whose youth has not been sufi'ered to imbibe religion as 
 they could. 
 
 Mournfully they err, who thus preserve the English 
 Bible from the hands and hearts of their children. f It 
 is this great error which prevents the spirit of piety from 
 taking possession of the heart, and binds us to cold and 
 lifeless forms; it is this which is the real cause of so many 
 
 * In some instances there are certainly mistranslations in the 
 English version; but not enough to jeopard our religion. — I. L. 
 
 t I must remark here, that in America we are not chargeable with 
 this erroneous procedure : the English Bible, on the contrary, is almost 
 universally found in every house. Still it would be rendering a ser- 
 vice to the cause of truth and religion, if a revised translation, edited 
 by a society of learned and pious Israelites, without any of the head- 
 ings Miss A. alludes to, could be issued; for then no one even in Eng- 
 land could hesitate to make it a household book for his children. — I. L. 
 Since this book was issued, two versions of the Scriptures have been 
 made by Jewish writers ; wherefore all objections urged against the 
 use of the old translation are inapplicable to them. 
 
52 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 Israelites Having embraced Christianity.* If, as it only 
 too often happens, young minds are first led to think on 
 religion at all by the example of pious Christian friends, 
 and are engaged to read, or rather study the Bible for 
 the first time, under their direction, and come to them 
 for enhghtenment on passages or chapters that may seem 
 obscure : must it not follow as a natural conseqnence, 
 that the ideas they thus imbibe must favour the Chris- 
 tian and not the Hebrew creed? How can they produce 
 arguments against arguments, if they have never been 
 taught to read the Bible according to the belief of their 
 fathers ? Why do we only too often hear, even amongst 
 professing Hebrews, that the morality of the New Testa- 
 ment infinitely surpasses in beauty and charity that of 
 the Old? Why? because they see the eftects of the one 
 on the lives and characters of its believers, and they see 
 it not in the other; because they adopt as the doctrines 
 of Christianity the beautiful moral sentences and pro- 
 verbs they chance to hear, wholly unconscious that these 
 very sentences which so much attract their admiration 
 have all, without exception, their original foundation in 
 the pages of the Old Testament, either in the Law, the 
 Psalms, or the Prophets; nay, that the whole system of 
 morality preached by the founder of Christianity is that 
 in which we were instructed by God Himself, either in 
 
 * I believe Miss A. overrates the number who have left our church; 
 certainly few have left it from conviction, which fact is easily suscep- 
 tible of positive proof; at all events, the number of conversions in 
 America is ver}' small, and these consist for the greater part of those 
 who have been contaminated by a too close intercourse with Christians, 
 to the neglect of their own people, without sulEcient knowledge of 
 their own faith to withstand the arguments or flattery of those differ- 
 ing from us. Names of instances of this kind could be mentioned, if 
 there were any necessity for it; but my word may be taken for the 
 truth of what I allege. — I. L. 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 63 
 
 direct communion with Moses, or through His chosen 
 servants, the prophets! Its only change is from the 
 lofty language of inspiration which the chosen of the 
 Lord alone could be supposed to understand, to the brief 
 and simple phrases* better suited to the comprehension 
 of the heathen to whom it was addressed. The Christian 
 divines themselves acknowledge this; and shall we, de- 
 scended as we are from a race whom God so peculiarly 
 blessed — shall we by our whole lives deny it? and de- 
 clare the Christian ethics are the best, when we know 
 nothing, seek to know nothing, of our own? 
 
 We are told in Deuteronomy, chap, xvii., that in case 
 the Israelites should elect a king, he was to write a copy 
 of the law himself, that he might read therein all the days 
 of his life, and learn to fear the Lord his God, and keep 
 all the words of this law and do them. The importance 
 of studying this law we also find insisted upon, alike by 
 David, Solomon, and all the prophets, almost always fol- 
 lowed by the promise of blessings unto all who are thus 
 employed. Over and over again we find in the Psalms 
 verses to this effect: '^ Blessed is the man whose delight 
 is in the law of the Lord;" — ''The law of the Lord is 
 perfect, converting the soul — the testimony of the Lord 
 is sure, making the simple wise — the statutes of the Lord 
 are right, rejoicing the heart — the commandment of the 
 Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes." And if its study 
 was of such importance in the time of David, when the 
 Lord still manifested Himself to His people, when they 
 were still under His immediate guidance: how much 
 
 * And even this was in accordance with the opinions of the Rabbis 
 of that age : witness the many moral sentences scattered in the Talmud 
 and kindred works, some without any doubt antecedent to Christianity. 
 For proof, if any were needed, see the Proverbs of the Fathers, gne of 
 the Books of the Mishuah. — I. L. 
 
 5* 
 
64 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 more important must it be now, when the prophecy of 
 Amos is in literal and actual fulfilment, " Behold the 
 days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine 
 in the land, not a famine of bread, nor of thirst for 
 water, but of hearing the words of the Lord." (Amos 
 viii. 11.) 
 
 Now, when surrounded by nations who know the Lord 
 and serve Him, though not as we do, we are daily in 
 danger of being lured to desert our faith, or of being 
 called upon to arise and defend our belief, not against 
 the sword of slaughter, but against that kindly though 
 mistaken zeal which would endeavour to convince and 
 to convert, by the means of that very book we have 
 wilfully neglected.* We stand defenceless, for our own 
 weapons are turned against ourselves. Now, more than 
 ever, should our children be taug^ht their relisrion from 
 the Bible, and led to regard that blessed book as the 
 fountain of living waters for all who thirst; not only 
 as it regards mere points of doctrine, but as the only 
 book which will teach them to know and love their God. 
 
 Do we require fresh incentive to the task? are not 
 the words of the Lord in Jeremiah all-sufficient? "Let 
 not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the 
 mighty man glory in his might — let not the rich man 
 glory in his riches; but let him that glorieth glory in 
 this, that he knoweth and understandeth me, that I am 
 the Lord, which exerciseth loving-kindness, and judg- 
 ment, and righteousness in the earth, that in these I de- 
 
 * If my friend's picture of the ignorance of our blessed religion 
 among her countrymen and women is not highly overdrawn, which, 
 much to my regret, I cannot believe to have been done, how fearful a 
 responsibility does rest upon them, if they do not arise in their raiglit 
 and counteract by a thorough system of religious education the evil so 
 eloquently exposed in the text ! — I. L. 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 55 
 
 liglit, saith the Lord." (Jer. ix. 23, 24.) Will natural 
 religion teach us this? will the aspect of affairs as they 
 appear to mortal eyes in this world, — the constant tri- 
 umph of the wicked, the sufferings of the righteous, the 
 misery of thousands, the prosperity of those that know 
 not the Lord — will these things teach us to know Him 
 as He is? Will even the meditation of Him throu2;h 
 His glorious works enable us to '^understand Him"? 
 No, we can only learn to know Him in the word that He 
 has given us; and even there that blessing will not sud- 
 denly be granted us. 
 
 It is no light task we undertake when, in lowly faith 
 and earnest prayer, we commence the study of the Bible. 
 The wisdom of philosophy, its acute perception, power- 
 ful reasoning, the deep research, the toiled-for know- 
 ledge of the student, will not avail us here. We must 
 come, lowly-minded and simple-hearted, even as little 
 children, who read and believe. Much we know there 
 is, which in our present imperfect state we cannot hope 
 fully to understand; if all were open to our eye and 
 mind, there would be no exercise of faith ; and we know 
 that '' faith is accounted ris^hteousness." But much that 
 at a first reading may seem obscure, becomes clearer 
 every time we read. No one can say he has read the 
 Bible, who has perused its pages once. The evidence 
 of those who have made that book their companion 
 through threescore and ten years,* who have perused 
 and reperused it, and each time found something new, 
 some new consoling promise, which they had observed 
 
 * And in this spirit spoke the Lord to Joshua: "This book of the 
 hiw shall not depart out of thy mouth ; but thou shalt meditate therein 
 day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is 
 written therein ; for then shalt thou make thy way prosperous, and 
 then thou shalt have good success. " (Josh. i. 8.) — I. L. 
 
56 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 not in former readings, is an unanswerable proof of its 
 inexhaustible fulness. It is not one perusal which will 
 open to us the fountain of living waters contained in 
 the Bible — nay, the first, the second, and to some minds, 
 perhaps,, even the third reading will end in discourage- 
 ment and sadness. We may have found little to re- 
 ward our toil, little to afford us strength or consolation, 
 or to convince us it is a message of mercy addressed to 
 us, not as a nation alone, but individually. We must 
 persevere, we must read on and on, still in trusting faith 
 and prayer; and the answer will be given; the bless- 
 ing of -the Lord will be upon us, ''converting the soul, 
 making the simple wise, rejoicing the heart, and en- 
 lightening the eyes," even as He hath promised. No 
 one has ever thus read the word of his God, who will 
 refuse his evidence as to its holiness and beauty; — 
 Hebrew and Christian will alike unite in proclaiming it 
 
 DIVINE. 
 
 There is no contradiction in asserting 'that the con- 
 stant employment of our intellectual faculties in the 
 study of God's Word, is obeying His command to love 
 with all our soul, and vet declarins; the wisdom of the 
 philosopher or the knowledge of the student will avail 
 us little in the acquirement of its inspired truths. It 
 would seem as if the one contradicted the other; as if 
 to come as little children, and yet to use our intellect, 
 were things incompatible one with the other; but yet in 
 this case they are united. Humility and true wisdom 
 are ever found hand in hand. Those that really know 
 the most, that have studied deepest, are ever those who 
 think least of themselves; for the more they know the 
 more they feel how little capable is their finite wisdom 
 to understand the things around them, the workings of 
 infinity. The Bible cannot be dearer to the philosopher, 
 
THE SPIEIT OF JUDAISM. 67 
 
 the poet, or tlie student, than it is to the poor unlettered 
 peasants, who perhaps can read no other book. Their 
 simple faith should read a lesson to the proud in heart, 
 the mighty in knowledge, who pass it by as unw^orthy 
 of their regard. Their simplicity, and lowly-minded- 
 ness, is a proof that it needs not philosophy to compre- 
 hend the Bible. Yet those wdiose aspiring minds grasp 
 eagerly all that can exercise the intellect, will find enough 
 to satisfy that restless craving — much, very much, to 
 gratify their ardent desire for research, their unceasing 
 longing for acquirement. 
 
 The history of ancient nations, their curious notions 
 of religion, their remarkable traditions, all bearing a 
 marked resemblance to the striking points of early Reve- 
 lation; researches in the history of the Eastern nations, 
 whose manners and customs of the present day bear the 
 strongest affinity to the manners, customs, and peculiari- 
 ties mentioned in the Bible, many of which indeed are 
 almost unintelligible without reference to these explana- 
 tory volumes; the history of prophecy awfully fulfilled, 
 found in the evidence of every traveller to the East — 
 Moab, Edom, Babylon, Egypt, Pathros, Ethiopia, Ammon, 
 the Land of Promise herself, all, by their present desola- 
 tion, literally and fearfully fulfilling the threatenings of 
 the Lord: — these are works which, wdiile they give full 
 scope to the intellectual faculties, add new and glorious 
 beauties to the Bible; these will shed a new and yet 
 lovelier light upon its pages. In such researches the 
 philosopher and the student will find ample subject for 
 the exercise of their powers; and the poet, the enthusiast 
 — will their flight be checked, if they pause a while to 
 linger on such pages ? I^o, their wings will soar higher 
 and higher still; for the fount of inspiration hath shed 
 its light and life upon their path. 
 
58 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 Though to read and comprehend the Word of God be 
 the first great desire of our hearts, and our intellect 
 should there be continually exercised: it does not follow, 
 that to love the Lord with all our soul comprises that 
 exercise alone. 
 
 As His lovinQ--kindness decked this beautiful earth 
 with an inexhaustible variety of the loveliest flowers, to 
 afford pleasure and recreation unto man in the midst of 
 graver duties, bidding them spring up on every side, 
 even in wastes where it would seem the foot of man has 
 never trod — decking alike the lonely wild and the culti- 
 vated ground, the secret stream and the watered nook, 
 the peasant's cot and the monarch's park — ever fresh 
 andjjever lovely, ever raising their meek heads towards 
 the sky, as in adoration of Him that tendeth them, or 
 bending down their graceful clusters, as too lowly to 
 meet His smile; shedding on His winds their luscious 
 breath, as thus to speak their silent praise — even as His 
 love gave unto earth these lovely things: so hath He 
 stored the mind of man with fair and precious gifts, not 
 to take the place of graver food, but to give joy and 
 recreation to his fellows, to shed new joyance on his 
 home, to give new energy to love in those around him, 
 and lift up his own heart in increased and grateful adora- 
 tion to his God. 
 
 These are the hallowed uses of talent and accomplish- 
 ment, in those circles where they are cultivated as re- 
 sources of pleasure, not of maintenance. 
 
 Our minds are stored with a variety of beauteous 
 flowers, which it is God's pleasure we should value and 
 improve. He hath not given them to wither and to die; 
 but to be brought from their hidden cells, and by assi- 
 duous cultivation be reared and cherished, till they are 
 worthy to be employed in His service, by the pleasure 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 59 
 
 they afford to our fellow-creatures, and the sources of 
 gratitude they open in ourselves. The earth needs cul- 
 ture to bring forth her loveliest flowers, even though 
 the seeds are God's own gift; and so it is with the mind 
 of man. The Lord hath planted it with precious seeds; 
 He watereth and tendeth them unceasingly; yet we must 
 use our own persevering efforts to bring them into per- 
 fect flowers; and that these efforts after knowledge and 
 wisdom are acceptable to Him who alone can crown them 
 with success, we have Solomon's prayer and God's gra- 
 cious answer as unquestionable proofs. 
 
 Wisdom does not mean the knowledge of the Lord 
 ALONE, although '' the fear of the Lord is the beginning 
 of wisdom," and there is scarcely any study, which, if 
 pursued in a faithful spirit, will not lead us in the end 
 nearer Him. Sacred history informs us that Solomon's 
 wisdom consisted also in the knowledge of man, in such 
 perfect discrimination, that justice was always as exact 
 as it was impartial; in jurisprudence, in every branch 
 of information necessary for the civil, military, and reli- 
 gious government of a great kingdom, and in that lively 
 fancy and ready apprehension which enabled him to give 
 instant and satisfactory answers to all the difficult ques- 
 tions, on every subject, put to him by the Queen of Sheba. 
 No one will deny that Solomon's wisdom was inspired of 
 the Lord, granted to him in answer to his prayer. "Ask 
 what I shall give thee," were the gracious words of the 
 Lord. The mind must have been truly great, which 
 under this temptation, this perfect freedom to ask what 
 he pleased, preferred '^an understanding heart," above 
 all earthly glory, wealth, or power. True, it is not now 
 as then ; the Lord does not thus manifest Himself to His 
 people; nor may we hope such a direct and speedy answer 
 to our prayers; but when we read ''that this speech 
 
60 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing, and 
 He said unto him, Because thou hast not asked for thy- 
 self long life, nor riches, nor the life of thy enemies, but 
 hast asked understanding to discern judgment, behold I 
 have done according to thy words, I have given thee a 
 wise and understanding heart:" we know that the prayer 
 for wisdom is pleasing to our Father, and that our efforts 
 to obtain it will be blessed. 
 
 It may be urged, Solomon was peculiarly situated ; he 
 was the son of the man after God's own heart, the head 
 of that peculiar people whom God had proclaimed his 
 first born; that the duties devolving on him demanded 
 extraordinary wisdom; and, therefore, his example can 
 be of little consequence to individuals. 
 
 We are wrong to think thus. We are all and each of 
 us members of this people, individually as much under 
 His care and love, as those selected servants, whose lives 
 and thoughts are written in the Bible, to give us encou- 
 ragement, and hope, and life, now that we may no longer 
 commune face to face with God. We have not, indeed, 
 the mighty charge of a great kingdom; but we have 
 each some duties to fulfil, some talent entrusted to us, 
 for which, at the awful hour of judgment, we must all 
 account. God has not entrusted us with precious seed 
 to lie useless and neglected, till it is blighted and de- 
 stroyed. There is not a station in life, however lowly or 
 unseen, the duties of Avhich will not become lighter and 
 clearer from reflection and prayer; not a talent, however 
 small, which will not add to our own happiness and that 
 of our fellow-creatures, by cultivation and improvement, 
 even if this scene of action be confined to our own 
 domestic hearth. As the mind becomes enlarged and 
 its ideas matured, its views of God and man are purified 
 and exalted; it flings aside those grosser particles of 
 
THE SPIRIT or JUDAISM. 61 
 
 sense and worldliness which surround it when wither- 
 ing in neglect, and rising higher and higher in the pure 
 ether of infinity (for such is wisdom), creates a happiness 
 for itself of which neither sorrow nor care can deprive 
 it; and this is the answer to our prayer for our Father's 
 blessing on His gifts; this is the proof that even in this 
 fallen and imperfect state He hears and answers us. 
 
 In the present state of society, however, it is not so 
 much the neglect as the abuse of these glorious gifts, 
 against which those who seek to love their God with all 
 their soul, must be carefully guarded. The cultivation 
 of mere accomplishment and improvement of natural 
 talent have of late fallen into deserved disrepute, from 
 their complete absorption of time, to the exclusion of all 
 graver thought and severer study. It is not devoting 
 six hours to music, as many to painting, and all that are 
 left to the translation of all the fashionable modern lan- 
 guages, not for the sake of their valuable literature, but 
 simply to skim over their new w'orks, and fill the mouth 
 with words, the mind with ideas of but too often doubt- 
 ful import; — it is not these things w^hich will draw the 
 soul nearer to her God, or prove that knowledge is power, 
 or wisdom happiness. Their effect is, but too often, to 
 fill the heart with pride, with a desire to surpass, to 
 triumph, with a distaste for all pleasures and amusements 
 save those which grant opportunities for admiration and 
 display. Love for talent in itself, desire for wisdom be- 
 cause of its own intrinsic beauty, or knowledge for the 
 vast stores it unlocks — these are emotions unknown to 
 those whose education has been conducted as above. 
 Their acquirements bring not joy; for, unless they have 
 a field worthy of their display, listeners they deem worthy 
 to be captivated, excitement sufficient to drav/ them forth, 
 their boasted accomplishments lie unused and wasted, 
 
 6 
 
62 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 and their lives drag heavily and unprofitably along. 
 Neglect were almost better than such abuse; but there 
 is a middle course.* 
 
 The cultivation of such gifts, the superiority which 
 their acquirement appears to bestow, certainly expose 
 us to some degree of temptation; but we should not shun 
 them on that account; our duty while on earth is, not 
 so much to fly from temptation, as to resist it — to seek 
 the praise of God above that of man ; and this we do if 
 accomplishment and talent be cherished and fostered as 
 His gifts, and love and gratitude to Him accompany the 
 sources of happiness they open to our grasp. If His 
 blessing be sought upon their improvement, His guidance 
 as to their best uses, they are not likely to puff up the 
 heart with selfishness and pride; but, by the constant 
 and grateful communion they open with our God, they 
 lead us to cling yet closer to His love, to love Him more 
 and more, and be ready to resign them at His call. 
 
 The flowers of the earth, beautiful in their lowliness, 
 heart-speaking in their silent evidences of God's univer- 
 sal love as they are, yet supply us not with food for the 
 support of life; that land were a houseless desert,which 
 possessed but them. And so it is with the mind devoted 
 to accomplishment alone. Music, painting, poetry, indis- 
 criminately as they are scattered now over our domestic 
 hearths, will not Q-ive us that bread of life and that 
 sustenance, for which at one period or another of our 
 mortal career the soul will surely seek. In the hour of 
 
 ■^ Of course these observations have no reference to those children 
 of genius, whose peculiar gifts point out a path for themselves. They 
 cannot give too much time and study to the perfection of the art or 
 science to which they lean. God has manifested Himself in them, has 
 Himself pointed out their path, which it is alike erroneous and unhappy 
 to disregard. 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 63 
 
 lonely sickness, of pining sorrow, of worldly misfortune, 
 will these things satisfy the spirit, if our youth and 
 energy have been devoted to them alone? Will they not 
 rather take wings and fly, and leave the dreary void 
 behind? Oh! without the heavenly manna, the corn 
 which angels eat, these are but withering flowers, but 
 reeds, which pierce when leant upon. That heart, that 
 home alone is truly blessed, which seeks to unite the two, 
 the bread of life with the flowers of love; cherishing 
 the one, to strengthen, to support, to purify the other, 
 to give fresh charms, fresh loveliness, to the ties of earth; 
 to give new zest to that love which is commenced on 
 earth to end in heaven. 
 
 If we regard the intellect thus (and surely we are 
 permitted so to do), will it not heighten the love we bear 
 our God, and enable us to obey His emphatic command, 
 to love Him with the whole soul, even looking on it as 
 the vital, as well as the intellectual principle of man ? 
 As the vital, we know the love we bear Him must con- 
 tinue constant and unchanging; and nothing is more 
 likely to assist us in this, than that continued reference 
 to Him, which the earnest and religious use of our intel- 
 lect engenders. The one brings forth the other. We 
 cannot love the Lord, without thinking how best to serve 
 Him, without associating Him in His every gift. Nor 
 can we so employ our minds without increase of devoted- 
 ness and love. 
 
 In the aff'ection we bear a fellow- creature, we fre- 
 quently find this emotion wavering in its force, not en- 
 tirely deserting us, but increasing and decreasing in 
 warmth; at one time filling our hearts with intense de- 
 light, at others, with lingering sadness, according to the 
 caprice of those we love, or from the variable current of 
 life in our owm veins. 
 
 
64 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 In the love we bear to God, we must guard a ainst 
 these feelings, or we shall find ourselves at one time 
 buoyed up by a species of religious fanaticism, leading 
 us into all kinds of extravagance; at others, bowed 
 down even to the earth under a sense of despondency 
 and wretchedness almost overwhelming. 
 
 We must check these enthusiastic fits of devotion, to 
 which youth and happiness are liable, and rouse unceas- 
 ingly the flagging spirit, where there is an unwillingness 
 to pray; till at length w^e are enabled to preserve a more 
 even frame of mind, which, tempering our earthly emo- 
 tions, will naturally heighten by its calm, constant influ- 
 ence, the fervour of its devotion in its stated hours. 
 
 To obtain this happy frame of mind to any extent is a 
 blessing, which in our present spiritless and fallen state 
 is almost impossible. Perseverance will do much; but 
 even the best and holiest have to mourn their ''iniquity 
 in holy things," the imperfection of their prayers, the 
 painful mutability of their heart, even when they most 
 desire to fix it on their God. There are, indeed, moments 
 wdien the spirit of devotion seems kindling within us, 
 when appropriate petitions flow, as it were, spontaneously 
 from our lips, when we feel as if for the love of our God 
 we could make any and every sacrifice, and follow on un- 
 shrinkingly in the path He hath laid down for us, what- 
 ever trials it may include; then, then is the time to 
 tremble, to dash down these vain and idle dreams; for 
 they are but illusions wdiich fill our heart with pride 
 that we can pray so earnestly, praise so eloquently, and 
 resign ourselves so implicitly to our Father's will — illu- 
 sions that have no foundation, but which, if encouraged, 
 will lead us into sin; for we are then ready to look 
 down on all who appear less gifted in prayer, and to 
 arrogate to ourselves a much greater portion of God's 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 65 
 
 favour than we either possess or deserve. Then are the 
 times to "remember the days of darkness," for they shall 
 be many; to pray that these excited feelings may be 
 sobered down to that lowly and tempered spirit, far more 
 acceptable to our Father; or we shall find that, even as 
 our taste is palled by a succession of sweet food, and we 
 loathe it if we take no other, so will our thoughts revolt 
 and turn in sadness from what has too long and too ex- 
 citingly occupied them. Satiety and aversion frequently 
 follow close upon too highly excited feelings; and care- 
 fully should we guard against these emotions in our com- 
 munion with our God. Enthusiasm is natural to early 
 youth, particularly when first awaked to the call of reli- 
 gion, and if that enthusiasm be placed under a gentle 
 restraint, its rays will long enlighten and revive our 
 afiections; whereas, if we give vent at once to its full 
 light, we shall find it, for a short time, dazzle, if it do 
 not blind, and then sink in utter darkness and despond- 
 ing gloom. 
 
 But, dangerous as is enthusiasm in religion, we en- 
 counter it less often than that heavy sluggish feeling 
 which only too often creeps over us, and renders our 
 prayers a task so painful we would gladly turn from 
 them ; for we feel as if we could not pray. Here then, 
 instead of checking, we must persevere. It is a mistaken 
 notion to believe that in our present weak, wavering, 
 and sleepy state of mind, it is better not to address our 
 God; that such imperfect petitions can only be sin in 
 His sight. If once the sacred duty of prayer be neg- 
 lected, on the spur of such thought, its difficulties will 
 increase, day by day, till at length it will be well-nigh 
 impossible to overcome them. If we cease to pray till 
 aff'ections become warm, and a devout state of mind re- 
 turn, we may be sure that time will never come. Perse- 
 
 ^6* 
 
66 THE SPIEIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 verance alone will conquer in time this wretched feeling. 
 A determination still to seek, and trust in tiie grace of 
 God to supply the deficiencies of our own hearts, which 
 we earnestly, penitently implore, will bring comfort in 
 His own good time. It is to try our faith, our merciful 
 Father sometimes deprives our prayers of all comfort, 
 as if He heard them not, and puts a chain upon our 
 hearts and lips till they can frame no words ; — to try 
 our faith, to convince us that of ourselves we are 
 nothing; that without His grace, we cannot even pray - 
 with fervour; that, however moral and outward religious 
 duties may be performed, however guarded we may seem 
 to have been from presumptuous sin, yet when we pros- 
 trate ourselves before His throne, it is as if a sudden 
 blight had fallen upon us; thoughts the most incongru- 
 ous, fancies the most unconnected, rise and mingle them- 
 selves irresistibly with our prayers; and when we rise 
 up, it is as if we had not prayed, and we stand humble 
 and abased before Him, conscious that we have sinned.* 
 
 * Without sharing altogether the ideas of ]Miss A. on enthusiasm and 
 indifference expressed above, I must admit that from personal expe- 
 rience her observations are generally true. There are, indeed, moments 
 when prayer proceeds from an exuberance of devotion, and we are, so 
 to say, elevated above the world and its trials. Still, if I might be per- 
 mitted to hazard an opinion, I should say, that these feelings of an 
 entire surrender to God of our whole selves should not be called mis- 
 guided enthusiasm, but should be encouraged, if possible, as the guiding 
 stars of our lives, without being allowed to lapse into the sinful pride 
 of piety mentioned in the text, which, whilst it ostensibly claims the 
 merit of religious devotion, is only another cloak for the love of do- 
 minion and disregard of the rights of our fellow-men ; but to be a deep- 
 seated conviction of our entire dependence on the Lord for all that we 
 are, and all that we have, which emotion will then enable us to be at 
 all times ready to sacrifice every thing to our Maker's will, nay, even to 
 surrender our life rather than to renounce His service; as our wise men 
 say on the very passage of Scripture under consideration; "Whati;; 
 meant by 'with all thy soul'? even if. He takes thy soul." And so 
 
THE SPIEIT OF JUDAISM. 67 
 
 But if at sucli moments we are conscious of, and deplore 
 such wanderings in devotion; if we still cling to Him, 
 and feel, " Yea, though He hide His face from me, though 
 He deprive me of all comfort in prayer, yet still, still 
 will I put my whole trust in Him, still fold to my heart 
 the blessed truth that faith in Him is accounted right- 
 eousness:" then indeed may we feel assured, that our 
 imperfect petitions are as acceptable, perhaps more so, 
 as when from some outward or inward cause our petitions 
 
 did the great Akiba, who, whilst expiring under the slow and almost 
 unheard-of tortures of the persecutor, dwelt with holy enthusiasm on 
 the acknowledgment of the Unity of God, till his pure spirit took its 
 flight. In short, enthusiastic feelings of devotion, if they proceed 
 from humility, are holy feelings ; but certainly care should be taken 
 that they never take the shape of an inflamed zeal, which is the parent 
 of the hatred of others difi"ering from us in opinion, of uncharitable 
 censoriousness and self-elevation. On the other hand, an indifference 
 or carelessness in prayer is unfortunately much more frequent than the 
 opposite extreme; cares and avocations of life dwell too strongly in 
 the mind to be laid aside even in our communing with God ; and were 
 we only to pray when our soul is altogether free from extraneous 
 thoughts, it would be but seldom indeed that the ofiering of prayer 
 could be sacrificed upon the altar of the heart. It is, therefore, an 
 admirable institution, that we have set forms of prayer, or petitions 
 for almost everything we need, and fixed times to address these to our 
 God. For if we take up our prayer book for the sake of worship, un- 
 less it be altogether from mere outward show, which is to be hoped not 
 to be often the case, we at once render homage to our Maker ; and if 
 but one idea is uttered in sincerity and devoutness of conviction, then 
 is this one idea an acceptable sacrifice to Him who hears all our cries. 
 And who knows, but that, if even we commence to pray, without 
 being properly prepared, we shall, as we proceed, become fired with a 
 becoming ardour, and pour forth our spirit in real sincerity before 
 the Lord? And are not the words of the Psalms and of our own 
 prayers eminently calculated to impress the mind and to arouse and 
 enchain the attention? — Much more might be urged; but the limits of 
 a note forbid greater enlarging, and enough has been said to arouse the 
 thinking Israelite to reflect yet more deeply on this important subject. 
 —I. L. 
 
68 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 flow readily and lightly from our lips. But if, on the 
 contrary, the disinclination to pray is indulged in, and 
 we cease to address, because we find no comfort, no mani- 
 fest reply, because the sacred exercise is never perfectly 
 performed: we voluntarily deprive ourselves of grace, 
 and sinking deeper and deeper into error, at length for- 
 get there is a God. The perfection* of prayer has never 
 ye't been attained on earth; but the soul which restrains 
 the first wildness of enthusiasm, and ceases not in its 
 LOVE for G-od to urge and rouse its affections, when they 
 flag and turn darkly and sorrowing from a duty which 
 in this life of trial is frequently made distasteful, — that 
 soul is framing for herself a calm, holy, and blissful 
 temper, which the frowns of the world cannot shake, 
 nor sorrows from a Father's hands for any length of time 
 disturb. 
 
 To love the Lord with all our soul, we must not pour 
 on earthly idols the essence of our afi'ections ; and in the 
 devoted love we bear husband or wife, children or 
 parents, or friends, forget Him whose gifts they are. 
 God is love, and from Him the intense delights, the 
 changeless blessings of earthly afi'ections spring; yet 
 our frail nature is but too often apt to forget the Crea- 
 tor in the creature. The earthly beings demand and re- 
 ceive the whole. We see them, hear them, years of 
 intimacy increase the depth of our feelings; when they 
 are absent there is a blank alike in our hearts and our 
 hearths; and when our Father said, ''It is not good for 
 
 * This assertion appears somewhat too sweeping ; for surely there 
 must have been perfection in prayer when Abraham prayed for sinful 
 Sodom ; when Moses asked for pardon upon a rebellious people, and 
 when he prayed for a shepherd over the Lord's flock; when Elijah 
 stood alone on Carmel, the sole remaining prophet of truth, when all 
 around was error. — I. L. 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 69 
 
 man to be alone," He knew that this would be so, ay, 
 intended and blessed it. He meant His creatures to 
 love one another; but he meant not that He should be 
 forgotten in that love, that His service should be re- 
 moved so far, His holiness be deemed too great for do- 
 mestic altars. "1 the Lord God am a jealous God," He 
 saith again and again, and unless our dearest and purest 
 earthly love is traced to, and enjoyed in Him, we love 
 Him not as He commandeth, and our fond affections 
 may prove ''the whips to scourge us." Oh none that 
 has once felt the blessing of purifying earthly affection 
 by the love we bear its beneficent Giver, tracing up to 
 Him the delights it engenders, worshipping Him, hand 
 in hand with a beloved one — leading his children to His 
 footstool, and teaching them to feel the same deep love, 
 and trace their young affections to the same immortal 
 source: none that has once experienced this, will say 
 that such willing sacrifice of the heart to God tends to 
 decrease the force of earthly affection; he will acknow- 
 ledge it is inexpressibly heightened, purified, exalted, 
 rendered immortal; for such love ends not with death. 
 Was it not this love which Abraham bore to Isaac? 
 Hannah to Samuel ? enabling the one to offer up his be- 
 loved in death, the other to part with him that he might 
 "serve the Lord"? Nay, was it not this which bade 
 Ruth cling to Naomi, and incited her to follow, tend, 
 and love with a purity, a devotedness few instances have 
 equalled? And shall we say such spiritual love is a 
 mere illusion — a beautiful fable impossible to be realized ? 
 Alas ! it is not easy thus to devote heart and soul to our 
 God; frequently will our hearts rebel and our lips mur- 
 mur ; often shall we despair, and still more often despond, 
 and feel it vain to bid the breath of life, the heavenly 
 essence breathed into us by our merciful Creator, triumph 
 
70 THE SPIKIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 over the corruption of the earthly vessel which contains 
 it, and soar in thought rejoicing to its np.tural home; 
 constantly we shall fall back, but still — oh let us perse- 
 vere, and pray, and trust; pray alike for ourselves, and 
 for each other — for till we ''love the Lord," oh how 
 may we hope for the delivery of Israel, the restoration 
 of Jerusalem! 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 DEFINITION OF THE WORD MIGHT — LOVE OF GOD CONSI- 
 DERED AS IT REGARDS OUR DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL 
 DUTIES. 
 
 The two preceding chapters having treated the love 
 we should bear to God, at so much length, it would seem 
 as if little were left for farther consideration. We shall 
 find, however, as we proceed, there is still something 
 more intended in this divine command, or Moses would 
 have framed it differently. As yet we have only consi- 
 dered the love of God as it concerns our own heart, as a 
 duty confined in its operations to ourselves individually. 
 The word 1^0 might, as it is here used, appears to 
 extend farther, and teaches us to serve the Lord in a 
 somewhat wider sphere. 
 
 Had Moses used this word 1^*2 as an adverb (very 
 or greatly) as we find it in many parts of the sacred 
 writings : we might look upon it only as very greatly 
 increasing the force of the preceding words, and render 
 it thus, ''and thou shalt love the Lord thv God, with all 
 thy heart, and with all thy soul, to o.n exceeding great 
 degree,'' "IJ<0 as a particle signifying exceedingly, in- 
 tensely. Nor should we lose sight of these significations, 
 
 \ 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 71 
 
 even while we regard it as the noun expressing great 
 strength, ability, power, in which sense it is evident from 
 the pronoun 7\ being attached to it, that Moses used 
 niND thy might. We only find it so used twice in the 
 whole Bible, indeed we may say only once, for the second 
 time (2 Kings xxiii. 25) it is but a repetition of the 
 words of Moses, "And like unto him (King Josiah) was 
 there no king before him that turned to the Lord with 
 all his heart, and with all his soul, and ivith all his might, 
 according to the law of Moses." There can, therefore, 
 be no doubt as to the deep solemnity, the forcible appeal 
 contained in the brief command we are considering; the 
 
 fact that the Hebrew expression T[*!N*J /ID II "with 
 all thy might" is never once used, but in the imperative 
 mandate to "love the Lord," is quite sufficient proof of 
 its holiness, to authorize our regarding it as distinct from 
 "heart" and "soul," and to endeavour to explain its 
 meaning as will best assist our efibrts, not only to love 
 but to "serve the Lord." 
 
 It is in this light I look upon it principally : we can- 
 not love the Lord without the exceedins: o;reat desire to 
 serve Him to the very best of our ability, to use our 
 utmost influence in His cause, and make obedience to 
 His will as light, and dear, and precious to our fellow- 
 creatures, as we find it ourselves. "We cannot truly love 
 Him if we do not feel this, if universal love and charity 
 (the terms are synonymous) towards all around us, be 
 they of our own or of the stranger creed, do not fill our 
 hearts to overflowing, and we long to make manifest to 
 those who know Him not the blessedness of His restrain- 
 ing yoke. 
 
 There are many who will take fright at these words," 
 as tending to destroy liberty of conscience, and seeking 
 to enslave the multitude, and yoke them to the opinions 
 
72 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 of the weak-minded visionary, who believes that only to 
 himself is the enlightening grace of G-od vouchsafed. A 
 little patience will convince them that they have started 
 at shadows. That is not religion, that is not love of God 
 or of man, which, confining itself within its own narrow 
 sanctuary, condemns the whole human race to perdition, 
 save the few, the very few who can be forced to think 
 the same. Alas ! for the children of Adam, if such were 
 the awful sentence of our God ! Where too is His long- 
 suffering love, His tender ever-acting mercies, if such 
 were the economy of His heavenly kingdom, and all were 
 deemed culprits, and sentenced to everlasting misery, 
 save those who loved and worshipped Him alike? If 
 such were His judgment, should one of us be saved? 
 Should even one have a demand upon His favour? Where, 
 even amongst those earnestly and sincerely united in es- 
 sentials, are there two who think precisely the same on 
 minutiae? And shall we, sinful and finite mortals as we 
 are, dare to say the aspirations of one pious heart are 
 more acceptable than those o another, because they come 
 nearer ourselves? Did not from this belief spring the 
 awful miseries attendant on the times of persecution, 
 not only as endured by our own nation, but inflicted by 
 Christian upon Christian, as the repeated massacres of 
 the Vaudois and of the Huguenots on the fatal 24th of 
 August, 1572, would give only too terrific evidence? 
 This is but the mockery of religion, — but profanation ; 
 for not thus would our merciful Father that we should 
 evince the fervour of our love, the zealous ardour we should 
 show in His service. Even as the beams of His sun 
 shed heat, and light, and joy on all alike, so may we be- 
 lieve His gracious eye looks down on the truly pious of 
 every creed: demanding an extent of service according 
 to the measure of light He has vouchsafed, and accepting. 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 73 
 
 ay, and answering the lowly prayers of all who seek Him 
 in love and truth, in whatever faith they may be offered. 
 And while we shun the errors of belief, which is easily 
 accomplished by a clear comprehension of our own, in- 
 stead of scorning, as too many do, and believing every 
 act and appearance of piety in others counterfeit, because 
 their creed is mistaken, and yet more, because we feel 
 it not: we might learn many a lesson of lowly wisdom 
 and simple piety, and feel our hearts swell in increased 
 love to our universal Father and to His creatures. 
 
 It is not compelling others to think as we do, which 
 is comprised in the duty to use our utmost influence in 
 the holy cause of God. It is to make manifest the su- 
 perior blessings of religion over mere worldly pleasures, 
 to prove that those, who earnestly seek to fix their affec- 
 tions upon their God, are provided with a never-failing, 
 never-changing source of joy, in which "a stranger in- 
 termeddleth not," that they need fear neither the pangs 
 of absence, nor the hour of death; for their God is with 
 them, wherever a harsh duty may lead ; He is ever 
 present, ever near them, and death is but a dark passage 
 which will end in eternal light, and lead them to His 
 throne. To use our influence in His service, is to make 
 Tnanifest these things; to prove that, be our lot trial or 
 joy, these thoughts are ever shedding their mild radiance 
 on our hearts, strengthening them in trial, tempering 
 them in joy, and guiding and inciting the simplest action 
 of domestic life. 
 
 In some respects the power of proving the beauty and 
 comfort of a religious life is to the Hebrew painfully con- 
 tracted. It is not now as in those joyous times when 
 *' the field, the vineyard, and the altar" alone occupied the 
 sons and daughters of Israel, when their every thought 
 was connected with their universal Father; for it was 
 
 7 
 
74 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 His law they obeyed. The first fruits of the vineyard 
 and the field were laid aside, not as tributes to an earthly 
 king, but as an accepted offering even to the King of 
 kings. If we were asked why we were so careful '' to 
 leave the gleanings of the harvest, and the olive, and the 
 grape, for the poor and the stranger;" or wherefore "we 
 rose up before the hoary head, and honoured the face of 
 the old man;" or why ''we were so watchful to prevent 
 unrighteousness in judgment, weight, or measure:" the 
 Hebrews would reply, Because our Father in heaven so 
 commanded; and thus the simplest action of courtesy 
 was blessed and hallowed by its connection with the 
 Lord, its obedience to His will. Such intimate com- 
 munion was forfeited by the sins of our fathers; nor is 
 it now even as it was in the dark ages of persecution, 
 when the Hebrew clung with yet greater firmness, more 
 endearing fondness, to the faith for which he suff'ered. 
 The determination in secret to adhere unchangeably to 
 the Law of Moses, incited many to live a holier life, and 
 ponder frequently on Him, in whose service their very 
 lives were risked. When occupying posts of high trust 
 and favour in the Spanish court, their lineage unknown, 
 their race unsuspected, though they could scarcely keep 
 the forms, the spirit glowed more warmly within. In 
 those times, when torture and death were ever hovering 
 round them, was a son of Israel ever tempted to become 
 a Christian ? Did we then hear of conversions, of aban- 
 donment of that belief which we received from the 
 Eternal ? Nay, was it not then that many turned from 
 abodes of luxury and ease, deserting the cherished hoards 
 of years, exposing themselves to every imaginable misery 
 by becoming wanderers on the face of the earth, rather 
 than accede to the conditions of their persecutors, and de- 
 Bert their faith ? Was it not then that the sons of Israel 
 
THE SPIEIT OF JUDAISM. 75 
 
 in deed and thought obeyed the command of their Lord, 
 and in very truth loved Him with all their heart, and 
 soul, and might? Would we do this now? 
 
 Through the infinite mercy of an infinitely merciful 
 God, the inexpressible horrors of persecution are over : 
 not alone are we granted toleration, and permitted to 
 dwell in safety, and undisturbed to continue the practice 
 of our religion, but by the truly sincere and pious Chris-; 
 tian the consistent Hebrew is ever esteemed, honoured, 
 even loved ; and how do we repay our Father in heaven ? 
 Has that faith so beloved in adversity become less beau- 
 tiful, less glorious, less lovable in prosperity, that we 
 turn from it to embrace another? ''Is the hand of our 
 Father become shortened that it cannot save ?" that we 
 live as if we needed His blessing, His saving mercies no 
 more ? ''Is His ear heavy that it cannot hear," that we 
 cease to call upon Him, save with careless lips and wan- 
 dering hearts? Eeposing in security, we hear not or heed 
 not the imperious call breathing in His law ; or, engaged 
 in the heartless repetition of antiquated form, forget the 
 antiquated spirit, without which it is a void. We neglect 
 to instruct our children in the religion of their fathers, to 
 enforce the necessity and the comfort of constant com- 
 munion with their God; it is enough if they fail not to 
 do as w^e do; and is it strange then that those whose 
 hearts thirst and hunger after divine love, divine instruc- 
 tion, should at length fly to that fold where they believe 
 there are shepherds to guide and to console ? Or that 
 some ambitious spirits, imagining the spiritless forms, to 
 which alone their attention has been directed, are so 
 many chains which confine them to one spot, one employ, 
 and permit no enlarging of the mind, no ascendency in 
 worldly honours, that they, too, should turn from their 
 fathers' God, and become either fors wearers of religion 
 
76 THE SPIEIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 altogether, or embrace the first creed which promises 
 distinction or increase of worldly gain? If the love and 
 duty they owe their Father in heaven has never been 
 impressed upon their infant minds ; if their childish re- 
 verence and adoration have never been excited by the 
 love He bears to them : is it a marvel worldlv interest and 
 earthly ambition should fill their hearts to the exclusion 
 of those better and holier thou2;hts which, as the chosen 
 people, should be peculiarly their own? 
 
 It is this melancholy state of things which renders the 
 Hebrew's powers of exalting his religion, in the minds of 
 men, so painfully contracted. Yet his influence should 
 be exercised not only to exalt his faith in the views of his 
 more worldly-minded brethren alone, but in the sight of 
 the whole Christian world. He is peculiarly situated ; 
 comparatively speaking, he stands alone amidst a vast 
 multitude ; on his conduct, his constancy, depends 
 wdiether scorn or admiration shall be excited towards the 
 religion which stands forth embodied in himself. Ac- 
 cording as his life is actuated by its principles, so will it 
 be deemed divine or otherwise; and at the present time, 
 when to prove the superiority of the Christian religion 
 is the avowed or secret determination of all its earnest 
 members, endeavouring thus to obtain converts, has not 
 the Hebrew a double incentive to make manifest the 
 spiritual beauty, the unfailing comfort of his own ? This 
 would be a far weightier proof of the divinity and sacred 
 nature of our faith than the most convincing argument 
 with regard to actual points of doctrine. This would be 
 evincing our love to our universal Father, and our desire 
 to exalt His glory, much more to the improving of our 
 own hearts, and to the enlarging of charity towards our 
 fellows, than the endeavour, too often made in scorn and 
 hate, to found the truth of our own belief on the falsity 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 77 
 
 and degradation of the Christian.* Religious argument 
 never fails to breed dissension and abuse. Though our 
 faith be not shaken, there are the remains of a raging 
 storm within which it is long ere we can calm. If we 
 have loved the person with whom we have argued, the 
 painful emotions are yet stronger, and the confidence 
 even of affection is a while disturbed. If he have been 
 indifferent to us, that indifference is too often turned to 
 contempt and dislike, and we quit the field, conscious of 
 having done no good to ourselves or to our adversary, 
 and we turn with a ruffled and angry heart from all who 
 dare to differ from us. And is this the way to serve the 
 Lord, to prove the beauty of the faith we adore? 
 "Have we not all one Father? Hath not one God 
 
 * Miss Aguilar has in the above failed to convey her thoughts as 
 clearly as they might have been. She surely does not mean that all 
 the Jews do not enforce a holiness of life, and that they base the 
 truth of their belief upon the falsity of the Christian. I should regret, 
 greatly regret, if this were the prevailing error among our English 
 friends. But in America and Germany, where I am somewhat ac- 
 quainted, we neither are so careless of spiritual religion, nor intole- 
 rant towards those holding adverse opinions. I will not say, that 
 sufficient attention is paid to the truths of faith and charity ; because 
 the scattered state of our people presents obstacles to the accession of a 
 sufficient number of spiritual guides among us; but I have still to 
 learn that we are as a mass less awake to the love and goodness of God 
 than are our gentile neighbours. And as regards toleration in spirit, 
 it needs no argument from me to prove that gentiles have a greater 
 disrelish, to use no harsher word, towards us than we have to them. 
 We may pardon the ignorant for their over-zealous contempt of Israel • 
 but the learned can have no excuse for their wilful disregai^ of the 
 fact that our religion is based upon a morality as pure as theirs can 
 possibly be. Again, I say, that I would deeply deplore if a similar 
 state prevails among our own people in England ; and it is to be hoped 
 that Miss Aguilar and others engaged in similar pious labours may 
 with Heaven's blessing succeed in bringing about an improved state of 
 feelings and conduct. — I. L. 
 
 7* 
 
 « 
 
78 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 created us ? Why do we deal treaclierously, every man 
 against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our 
 fathers?" 
 
 To love the Lord, to serve Him, the Hebrew should 
 prove by his whole life that he is indeed one of a peculiar 
 people, whose faith is "holy unto the Lord." Ls he ac- 
 cused of having no faith, let him prove he has more 
 need of faith, and feels it yet more deeply, than the Na- 
 zarene; that, as he looks upon the present condition of 
 his brethren, he has faith, or he must disbelieve the past 
 and doubt the future. Ls he told his is a stern, cold, 
 spiritless religion, that can only look to a rigid and ex- 
 acting Judge, in whom mercy is lost in justice : -let him 
 bring forward his Bible to prove that a God of love was 
 revealed to the Israelites, many centuries before the birth 
 of himi the Christians call their messiah. Is he referred 
 to the beautiful morality of the New Testament to prove 
 the divinity of its author : let him again turn to his Bible 
 to prove from what fountain that morality originally 
 came. And this influence can be used without one word 
 of reference to points of doctrine. Let the Hebrew's 
 every action be guided by the love he bears his God ; let 
 him adhere to every form as bringing him closer to his 
 God, by manifesting the obedience of a loving child, not 
 of a terrified slave; let him find so much delight and 
 comfort in his religion that retirement and poverty are 
 preferable to riches and distinction, if these are only to 
 be purchased by its relinquishment ; let him respect his 
 religion himself, and he will never fail to find it respected 
 by others. Let the Hebrew attend more closely to these 
 things, make more evident his love to his God, his re- 
 verence to His ordinances, the comfort he derives from 
 this communion: and we would hear no more of at- 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 79 
 
 tempted conversions, no more of wonderful converts;* 
 and this indeed would be seeking to serve the Lord, to 
 love Him with all our might. 
 
 But it is not to the Nazarene world alone we should 
 make manifest the comfort and beauty of our Father's 
 faith. Many who are hesitating and lukewarm might be 
 led to think more serioUvsly on this all-important topic, 
 were the example of its professors such as might win the 
 heart and attract the affection. The humblest member 
 of a domestic circle might thus forward the sacred cause 
 of God. His sphere of action is possibly contracted; but 
 home is the spot where the influence of true piety is most 
 strongly felt, where the blossoms of that lovely plant 
 shed the rarest fragrance, and bring forth the sweetest 
 fruit. What is so likely to check the impatient reply, the 
 unavoidable irritation, the peevish temper, as religion ? 
 What will teach us to bear and forbear, to forc^ive the 
 unkind look, the hasty word, to give up our dearest 
 wishes at the call of duty, save that blessed spirit which 
 springs from the love of God? Secret and constant 
 communion with Him can alone bring the duties of sub- 
 mission, patience, charity, forgiveness, gentleness, to any 
 perfection; and these virtues, like the silent stars, are 
 more needed in the holy shade of home, than in the broad 
 sunshine of society. There, fear of the world's con- 
 tumely, of earthly disgrace^ is often sufficient to keep us 
 
 * This and a few other similar expressions, used before by my friend, 
 I believe to allude to an unfortunate case of the conversion of the 
 daughter of a highly honoured family, under the plea that she had 
 never been properly impressed with the spirituality of religion, till she 
 heard it propounded in an Episcopal church. I believe, however, the 
 case to be a solitary one almost, at all events very rare ; the name of 
 the convert is withheld because of motives of delicacy for her piou8 
 mother, and because it could add no strength to these remarks. — I. L. 
 
80 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 on our guard. It is easy to govern ourselves for a time, 
 to behave with studied courtesy, to speak with polished 
 ease ; the rules of society are enough for this ; but to 
 practise such virtues at home, requires a higher and 
 holier motive. Even the duty we owe our parents, or 
 the love we feel towards those with whom we continually 
 associate, is not of itself sufficient. If we look into the 
 Bible, we shall find lessons for home, as well as for our 
 conduct in the world. 
 
 In submission to the prejudices of the aged, humility 
 to our superiors, charity* towards the failings of our 
 equals, patience with our inferiors, forgiveness (that 
 cheerful forgiveness which forgets as well as pardons) of 
 provocations which are unavoidable even in the fondest 
 intimacy; in that control which puts some check on the 
 irritation and ill- temper occasioned by those numberless 
 petty provocations from which no domestic circle is free; 
 in the cherishing of that holy gentleness which never 
 fails to render us beloved: — if in these virtues the in- 
 
 ■'^ " Rabbi Meir said : Every one who engages in the study of the 
 law from a pure motive, will attain many things ; and not alone this, 
 but he is worthy to enjoy all the world; he is thereby called friend, 
 beloved, a lover of God, a lover of mankind, rejoicing God, rejoicing 
 man, and he is clothed with meekness and fear of the Lord, and is 
 enabled to become pious, righteous, upright and faithful, is removed 
 from sin, and brought near to a meritorious course of life, — and he 
 will become like a stream that grows stronger as it progresses in its 
 course, and a river whose waters never dry up ; and he will be 
 modestly retiring, long suffering, willingly forgiving insults offered 
 him, and be raised and exalted above all creatures." This is in part 
 the beautiful idea which one of our ancient sages conveyed of an en- 
 lightened piety. Are we willing to follow this guide in our own inter- 
 course with God and man ? Is our public exhibition of character, 
 where the eyes of the world are upon us, the same as when we are 
 alone in the bosom of our family, or even solitary in our closet, with 
 no eye to see save tliat of God, with no ear to listen to our words, un- 
 less it be the Providence above, whose ken is ever on us ? — I. L. 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 81 
 
 fluence of piety be silently at work, much will be done 
 for the cause of God. Others may be led to examine 
 into the secret cause of this heavenly peace and blessed- 
 ness, which perhaps they envy; and if they trace it to 
 the ever-working influence of an earnest love for their 
 Father in heaven and a desire to serve Him, they too 
 may wish to follow in His paths, and deem that yoke 
 indeed light and glad which can produce such happy 
 effects. Precept is too often doubted; we look on pro- 
 fessors of religion with a jealous eye; and if they fail, 
 the effect of their most eloquent appeal is lost entirely. 
 But very different is the effect of discovering religion to 
 be the secret source in each and all of those gentle and 
 lovable qualities which in the first instance attracted us. 
 At first we admire and revere at a distance, then, as we 
 draw near and love, comes the question, why cannot we 
 too " go and do likewise" ? 
 
 In this manner the humblest member of society may 
 serve the Lord, and benefit his fellow-creatures, may 
 make evident by example, far more forcibly than by mere 
 precept, the beauty and solidity of his internal piety ; 
 and if there should be an opportunity to manifest the 
 benevolence and philanthropy with which his heart is 
 filled, his words may fall with a powerful weight; for 
 they will be traced from the same source as his actions, 
 and the blessing of leading one soul to the Fount of Life 
 may at length be his. 
 
 There can be no true religion without benevolence, 
 without the ever-active desire for others to taste the com- 
 forts and blessings we enjoy, not alone corporeally, but 
 spiritually. This is one unfailing proof of the heart's re- 
 generation, of its springing up from the cords and chains 
 which have attached it to sin, and faintly reflecting the 
 " divine image in which man was made/' — faintly indeed, 
 
82 THE SPIEIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 yet truly, as we trace the glorious image of the sun in 
 the quivering dew-drop which melts before his beams. 
 In those that love, that serve, that perseveringly seek to 
 resemble their Father in heaven in universal charity, 
 forbearance, beneficence, and love, benevolence is very 
 strongly marked ; it is the virtue which assimilates us 
 most with His divine image; the virtue which should be 
 the peculiar characteristic, the loveliest inheritance of 
 His chosen heritage; for more repeatedly, if possible, 
 more powerfully than any other, is it inculcated in the 
 Book of Life. 
 
 Why are we instructed so particularly in the slaughter 
 of those animals granted us for food? but that they should 
 be killed in the quickest and easiest manner? Why for- 
 bidden to yoke the ass and the ox together? because that 
 which the ox could bear would injure and hurt the ass. 
 Why so expressly threatened wdth awful retribution, 
 if we forbore to assist the overburdened ass of one we 
 hated ? W^hy ordered to let the parent bird go free : if 
 benevolence even towards the brute creation were not to 
 be the first and dearest moral virtue of the Israelites? 
 What code of laws, save those of a perfect, holy, and glo- 
 rious God, would so care for the very lowest of His crea- 
 tures, would enter so minutely into instructions for moral 
 duties, that if obeyed as they were intended to be, would 
 even now mark the Hebrew as in truth the follower of a 
 divine law, and exalt his religion far above every other? 
 Where, save in the law of Moses, do we find benevolence 
 so emphatically, so continually enforced, in the care, alike 
 of the brute creation, and of all ranks and conditions of 
 men, the aged, the blind, the deaf, the poor, and the 
 stranger, perfect in their equity and love, as the nature 
 of Him who framed them; yet so suited to the heart and 
 temper of imperfect man, so home-speaking in their uni- 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 83 
 
 versal appropriateness, that never could the Hebrew 
 excuse himself from obedience by the plea, those laws 
 were framed for angels and not for men, or at least for 
 better men, than he is? 
 
 T^hose who are so desirous to exalt the code of Jesus 
 above that in which their fathers believed and trusted, 
 and who declare the simple sentence, ''Do unto others as 
 ye would be done by," is worth all the Mosaic precepts, 
 would do well to refer to Leviticus xix. 18, where in the 
 divine precept, " Thou shalt not avenge nor bear any 
 grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt 
 love thy neighbour* as thyself," they may chance to find 
 the origin not only of the above-quoted sentence, but of 
 many others in the gospel, whose excellence is indeed 
 undeniable, seeing that they proceed from the same pure 
 fountain; but as the Israelites possess the original un- 
 adulterated spring, they have no need to quit the belief 
 of their fathers to discover it. 
 
 In one respect benevolence is still a beautiful charac- 
 teristic of the Hebrew nation, and that is the open ear, 
 and the open heart to the cry of poverty and sorrow, not 
 confined to the distress of brethren alone, but a case of 
 Christian distress is as promptly and generously relieved. 
 In a small village near the metropolis,! many Nazarene 
 families learned to call down blessings on a Jewish bene- 
 factress, and to feel that true charity was not confined 
 to the Christian heart alone; many poor children, clothed, 
 fed, instructed by her goodness, might have been seen 
 
 * So likewise, speaking of a slave who has escaped from his master 
 to seek the protection of the Hebrew laws, the Bible says (Deut. xxiii. 
 16): " He shall dwell with thee — in that place which he shall choose — 
 thou shalt not oppress him." In Lev. xix. 34, we are commanded to 
 love the stranger as ourselves, because we had been strangers. — I. L. 
 
 f London. 
 
84 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 ga^mbolling on the lawn of a Hebrew dwelling, rejoicing 
 in the sunshine of that ever-active benevolence, which, 
 as some suppose, can be found in the Christian alone. 
 And when it pleased God to remove the wealth which 
 had permitted her to do these things, the bitterest drop 
 in her cup of peculiarly aggravated sorrow was the 
 thought, that the poor little Jewish and Christian chil- 
 dren could no longer bless her name. Time, which has 
 softened other trials, and reconciled her truly noble yet 
 lowly heart to individual privations which would have 
 bowed less faithful spirits repining to the dust, has had 
 no efiect in this. Still is the tear called forth, the kindly 
 spirit wrung even to anguish, when distress comes near 
 her door, and she has no longer power to relieve it. How 
 blessed then the thought, that her earnest wish is known 
 to the Searcher of hearts, and that in His sight the start- 
 ing tear and quivering sigh are dear, perchance dearer 
 than many gifts of gold.* 
 
 Nor is this a solitary instance of Hebrew charity. Yet 
 while we admire and revere the relief the rich and power- 
 ful, ay, and not these alone, are ever ready to bestow: 
 the truly pious Israelite may often in secret wish, the 
 spirit of piety, the earnest desire to love and obey the 
 God of beneficence, which was the secret source of that 
 benevolence exemplified above, were more intimately 
 ming-led with it. We do not love the Lord with all our 
 might, and seek to serve Him and exalt His glory : if 
 charity merely proceeds from the kindliness of our own 
 tempers, or tenderness of our own hearts, or a yet 
 stronger motive in the more opulent and more ambitious 
 
 * I regret that the author has not mentioned the name of this noble 
 daughter of Israel; as surely the memory of one so worthy ought to 
 be blessed. Was it her own mother ? — I. L. 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 85 
 
 ranks, from a secret, yet no less ardent desire, by a dis- 
 play of liberality to obtain honour and consideration in 
 the Christian world. 
 
 Liberality is not benevolence, any more than the act 
 of giving money is true charity. Benevolence is truly 
 a religious pi'inciple, it begins and ends in religion ; it 
 lifts up the heart to God, at the same moment it expands 
 it towards man. It seeks to expend its love and adora- 
 tion for Him, in the service of His creatures; and there- 
 fore it is, that charity cannot be perfect unless it seeks 
 the amelioration of the moral and religious condition of 
 the poor, as well as the relief of their more crying and 
 immediate wants. 
 
 The desire to improve our needy brethren, spiritually 
 as well as temporally, can only proceed from the firm 
 conviction within ourselves of the necessity, as well as 
 the blessing, of serving the Lord. Our power in this 
 respect is painfully limited, compared with the nations 
 around us. Yet,were the desire more strongly felt, some- 
 thincr mio^ht in time be done, and the Hebrews throw off 
 the dark shackles of blinded superstition and of preju- 
 dices founded on a deplorable state of ignorance, which 
 is to be feared is only too often found amongst them now. 
 The poor, even as children, need instruction in their 
 religion; it will not come untaught, nor can its mild 
 consoling lustre beam from the trammels of tradition,* 
 which must increase in incomprehensible obscurity with 
 
 * I am not permitted to alter the text so as to destroy the meaning; 
 or else I should certainly have altered this sentence ; for without claim- 
 ing for tradition all that some assert for it, there is doubtlessly found 
 laid down therein nearly the whole of our ovjn manner of interpretation 
 and mode of life. How else are we to read Scripture, unless it be ia 
 accordance with the views of our predecessors? What else forms thd 
 distinction between us and Christians? — I. L. 
 
 8 ._^.. 
 
86 THE SPIEIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 each new generation. The clear conception of our 
 heavenly Father will not come of itself; it can only 
 reach the mind through that word in which Infinity 
 was revealed, according to the comprehension of finite 
 man. 
 
 The human mind needs enlargement and improvement 
 for the reception of the simple, yet sublime truths of 
 religion, even for the consoling belief in a God of love. 
 For this purpose even the best-directed charity, if it 
 consist only in alms or similar relief, will not avail. 
 There are difl&culties, barriers around the Jewish poor, 
 almost unknown to other nations. Confined to one quarter 
 of large cities, often to trades of the meanest and lowest 
 kind, without the power of seeking employment in other 
 parts of the country, even if their inclinations so prompted, 
 their minds must become narrowed, prejudiced, and puffed 
 up with a sort of pride, or self-consequence, which sets 
 at defiance every benevolent intention, and frustrates all 
 attempts for their spiritual and temporal improvement. 
 A superficial knowledge of the Hebrew tongue, just suffi- 
 cient to repeat their prayers and blessings at stated hours, 
 conscious they are doing a necessary duty, but utterly 
 unconscious of the nature of Him they thus address; 
 well versed in traditional lore, but wholly ignorant of 
 the spirit of the Bible, of the peculiar duties which as 
 members of God's chosen people devolve on them : these 
 are the abuses w^hich those who "love the Lord" and 
 have His service at heart should most earnestly seek to 
 remedy and attend to, particularly in those establish- 
 ments which the benevolent have founded for the edu- 
 cation of the rising generation. 
 
 A strictly moral education is not sufficient for the real 
 improvement of the Hebrew poor. They need religion, 
 simple, heartfelt, yet ever-guiding religion; and this can 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 87 
 
 only be obtained by teaching them their EnglisK^ Bibles ; 
 by seeking books to assist them in their comprehension; 
 by employing those of their own class, in whose advancing 
 youth a good discrimination may trace abilities for the 
 task, to select portions out of standard religious works, 
 which will give weight to the words of Divine love, by 
 rendering them more adapted to the minds of their 
 younger companions; and if there be not sufficient of 
 these good books by Hebrew writers, there are many, 
 very many excellent aids to the spirit of religion found 
 in books written indeed for Christians, which to separate 
 from the actual belief might form a pleasing and laudable 
 employment for the benevolent Hebrew, whose limited 
 means prevent any more active participation in the cha- 
 ritable acts of his richer and more influential brethren. 
 Why should we be startled at selecting portions from 
 Christian authors? The morality they inculcate, the 
 spirit they breathe, come from the fount in which we both 
 believe, — the Old Testament. They may believe that 
 Jesus first preached the doctrine of love and saving 
 mercy; but we know it was ours many centuries before, 
 ours by right of primogeniture and of that redeeming 
 love which, delivering us from cruelty and bondage, 
 marked us as the first-born of the Lord. 
 
 Knowing this, imprinting it from the very first on the 
 yielding heart of the child, bidding him look to the w^ord 
 of' God, to the law of Moses, as the mainspring, not only 
 of the religion in which he believes, but of every other 
 which acknowledges a God of salvation and mercy, de- 
 
 * Being as we are inheritors of the Hehrew language no less than 
 the Scriptures, it is evidently our duty to make ourselves, if possible, 
 familiar with the original, so as to enable us to judge with some know- 
 ledge of the correctness or otherwise of the translation which is offered 
 to us as a transcript of the word of God. — I. L. 
 
88 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 spite tlie difference of creeds; as the fountain of life and 
 light, typical of that which flows in the presence of the 
 Lord for evermore, and from which springs that uni- 
 versal spirit of religion which, utterly distinct from creed, 
 or form, or service, dwells in every pious heart : there 
 can be no danger in selecting and appropriating portions 
 of those Christian writers earnest in their cause. The 
 Hebrew thus employed would find benefit to himself 
 arising from benevolence towards others; nor need he 
 fear his mite is too lowly to be acceptable to the Giver 
 of all good. We do not think enough on the good we 
 may do our needy brethren by leading them to read and 
 understand the word of God, by supplying them with 
 aids for the proper acquirement of that knowledge, and 
 inciting them to rise superior to the superstitions of tra- 
 dition and prejudice which have shackled* them so long, 
 and to look to their Bibles alonef for support and com- 
 fort in affiiction, for the guidance and direction in every 
 social, domestic, moral, and religious duty, for the re- 
 moval of every lingering terror, contained in the anti- 
 cipation of death and judgment; in a word, for their 
 instruction how to live, and for their hopes of immor- 
 tality. 
 
 Till this is done, till the poor are taught religion as 
 
 * It is not tradition which has shackled the Jewish mind, but the 
 cruelty exercised by Christians, pagans, and Mahometans towards 
 our bodies and spirits both. Prejudice against others is the result of 
 oppression ; remove this, look upon us as equals, and the evil will 
 speedily be removed from our minds also. For kindness will beget 
 kindness, as cruelty begot hatred. — I. L. 
 
 f The word alone strikes me as not quite proper; for if wc reject all 
 information in this great inquiry except what we can draw from our 
 own experience, we must evidently be but inditferent judges of Scrip- 
 ture. No, we must of necessity "ask our fathers who shall Ull us, 
 and our elders who are to inform us." — I. L. 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 89 
 
 well as morality, and reading, writing, and other neces- 
 saries towards gaining an honest livelihood: the benevo- 
 lent Hebrew can never hope tb behold the regeneration 
 of his indigent brethren ; he can never hope to behold 
 them occupying a respectable and respected situation in 
 the world, as long as petty meanness, cringing servility, 
 or presuming insolence, marks their intercourse with the 
 Christian; he can never hope to see his religion loved 
 and respected in them, till they have learned to love and 
 respect it themselves. To do this, even simply to desire 
 this, charity must be intimately mingled with the love of 
 God. To serve Him, to exalt His glory in the eyes and 
 hearts of men, to make the ignorant and the destitute 
 share His blessings and promises, to impart to them His 
 love, and strengthen them for their lives of trial by the 
 conviction they are all and each, individually, objects of 
 His tender care: this is the charity springing from, and 
 ending in Him, and this should be the incentive of every 
 Hebrew heart. If, while we interest ourselves in the 
 poor, we think not of Him who hath said the poor and 
 the stranger mifst be cared for, can we hope our good 
 works will be accepted? Is it not rather to be feared 
 some secret motive, some unconscious selfishness may 
 lurk within, and, filling up our hearts, entirely prevent 
 the entrance of the image of God, and rob our actions 
 of that sweet savour which would otherwise ascend to 
 heaven, and be accepted as the burnt-off"erings of old ? 
 
 '' Cast thy bread upon the waters, thou shalt find it 
 after many days;" this is sufficient proof that we are not 
 to "withhold the good that it is in the power of our hand 
 to do," because of the doubtful merit of those we would 
 relieve. As the running waters bear from our view the 
 bread we have cast upon them, so too may the good we 
 have wished to do been hidden from our sight; but as a 
 
 8* 
 
90 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 renewed current or a change of wind may bring back to 
 us what we have cast upon the stream, and looked upon 
 for many days as lost, so 'will the blessing of the Lord 
 return into our own bosoms the good which we may have 
 failed to bestow on others. The fruit of benevolence 
 may not be found on earth, the blighting wind of ingra- 
 titude, the nipping frost of deceit, may have outwardly de- 
 stroyed the goodly tree ; but within our own bosoms it shall 
 bloom, nourished, cherished by the blessing of the Lord, 
 and we shall find its fruit in heaven. But this comfort 
 can only be realised by those who are benevolent, simply 
 because they seek to follow the path of their Father in 
 heaven, who desire to do good to others, because the 
 ever-active love they bear their God urges them to serve 
 their fellow-creatures, and bids them share the blessings 
 so lavishly bestowed on them. Charity proceeding from 
 any other motive is far more likely to end in pain and 
 vexation of spirit ; for if the love of God hath not been 
 associated with the endeavour to do good, the thought 
 that His love saw and blessed the deed cannot console us 
 in its failure. 
 
 Let a child be accustomed to set aside a portion of his 
 pocket-money, be the pittance ever so small, and only 
 perhaps sufficient to scatter it in halfpence amongst the 
 miserable objects who appeal to him in his daily walks. 
 Let one half-hour be reserved for our little girls from the 
 more showy and fatiguing avocations of the daily school- 
 room, for the simple purpose of working for the poor and 
 desolate of their own age; and if the love of their bene- 
 ficent Creator be associated in both the reservation of 
 their mite and the employment of their hands, we Iny 
 the foundation of that true benevolence in the infant 
 mind which is in itself an oftering unto God. We bring 
 them closer to their Father in heaven ; for by comparing 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 91 
 
 their lot with those they seek to relieve, their young 
 hearts are filled with gratitude and love to their God, 
 with a desire to honour Him by having mercy on His 
 poor; and we prepare them for an increase of benevo- 
 lence and good deeds with increase of years and means. 
 Above all, let us not chill the warm expanding heart of 
 childhood, by caution against the fraud which so often 
 lurks in the garb of misery; better let the willing copper 
 be given ten times in vain, than let pass by one true case 
 of suffering. It is time to caution when there is more 
 to give; but not in that beautiful spring of life, when 
 all seems as true and guileless as the young heart itself. 
 The sums squandered on expensive toys, expensive 
 dresses, are not regarded, nor is the selfishness they en- 
 gender in any way considered ; yet how many good feel- 
 ings and kindly charities might be engrafted, if part of 
 these sums were laid aside for the inculcation of bene- 
 volence, even granting that the undiscerning charity of 
 children should be more than once abused. Let them 
 sometimes be encouraged to give up a desired pleasure or 
 favourite toy for the superior gratification of relieving 
 a fellow-creature, and proving that they desire to love 
 their God; and we need not fear but that as their cha- 
 racter matures, benevolence will form no inconsiderable 
 part. If we need farther incentive, farther proof, we 
 have but to search the pages of Holy Writ to feel that in 
 relieving the poor we glorify the Lord; or the blessings 
 on the benevolent would not be so continually, so em- 
 phatically promised; and we shall scarcely fail to re- 
 member that how'ever guarded may be our lives, however 
 closely we may adhere to the precepts of the Lord, how- 
 ever we may feel assured we do love Him with all our 
 heart and soul and might, that love is not perfect or ac- 
 ceptable in His sight unless " we have mercy on the poor." 
 
92 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 BRIEF REVIEW OF THE COMMANDMENTS AND THE SOCIAL 
 DUTIES THEREIN COMPRISED. 
 
 Many Hebrews may perhaps object to the lengthened 
 consideration of the second verse of the Shemang, which 
 the three preceding chapters contain ; that it is following 
 the false lights of the Nazarene, and spiritualising and 
 mystifying a simple truth; that the command to love the 
 Lord with all our heart, and soul, and might, simply 
 means to pray to Him and praise Him, and obey His 
 laws as far as lies in our power — that is to say, as far as 
 we conveniently can, without interfering with our more 
 pressing calls of interest and ambition ; that it is folly to 
 suppose that such a short sentence, such a simple com- 
 mand can mean any thing more than a mere religious 
 injunction, or that it interferes in any way wi*th the moral 
 duties, Alas ! that such should be the calm and rational 
 belief of any who bear the name of Israel ! that any 
 member of that nation to whom God revealed His glory, 
 that nation He selected as His own, to be His witnesses, 
 His peculiar treasure — that any one should seek so per- 
 severingly to divide our duties to God from those to man, 
 that even amongst the strictly moral, the truly honour- 
 able, who bear the Jewish name, the belief should exist 
 that the service of God is distinct, too holy, too sacred, 
 to be our guide in the world, that His word only refers 
 to our duty to Him, not to our fellow-creatures. Surely 
 
THE SPIEIT OF JUDAISM. 93 
 
 those who thus believe* can either never have studied, 
 or have never implored the divine blessing on the study 
 of the Book of Life. " For this commandment -which I 
 command thee is not hidden from thee, nor is it far off. 
 It is not in heaven, that thou shouldst say, AVho shall go 
 up for us to heaven and bring it unto us, that we may 
 hear it, and do it ? Neither is it beyond sea, that thou 
 shouldst say. Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring 
 it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it ? But the 
 word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy 
 heart, that thou may est do it." 
 
 And is it not still as near us? is it not in our power 
 still to do it ? Yet so sad is the natural corruption of the 
 human heart, that perhaps were it more difficult to be 
 attained, were there some great thing we were desired to 
 do in devotion to the Lord, we should be eager and ready 
 to prove our obedience; whereas the simple command to 
 associate His love, His glory in all we do, to make reli- 
 gion the mainspring of life, is looked upon as the mere 
 dream of a visionary,t who would turn and twist the 
 words of Scripture to the furtherance and support of 
 his own ima2:inin2;3. 
 
 How then (surely the question is allowable), would 
 
 * I trust that the number of Israelites who understand their re- 
 ligion so erroneously is small indeed ; that there are some is no doubt 
 true ; but there are many more, equally erring and sinful, who fancy 
 that charity, benevolence, and mere morality are sufficient for them. 
 Both these classes are only halfway religious ; our duty is only ful- 
 filled when piety and philanthropy are intimately united in us. — I. L. 
 
 t As an illastration of the truth of this assertion, the reader is 
 referred to the exercise of faith demanded by Elisha, the prophet, of 
 the leper Naaman (2 Kings v. 1-15), where the servants of the latter 
 said to him : " My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great 
 thing, wouldst thou not have done it, how much rather then when he 
 eaith unto thee, Wash and be clean?" — I. L. 
 
94 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 these strict moralists explain the meaning and extent of 
 the command which has detained us so long ? Can they 
 bring forth sufficient evidence from the Book of Life to 
 prove that Moses meant less to be included in his words 
 than we allow? Would not his minute command for the 
 right regulation and religious government of individual, 
 social, and domestic life, rather embrace our side of the 
 question, and give some shadow of truth to the sugges- 
 tion, that in his book of repetition,* being unable again 
 to enter into the minutiae already so emphatically en- 
 forced, he threw them together in this brief sentence, 
 fully conscious that were that solemn injunction to love 
 the Lord obeyed to its full extent, all would be therein 
 comprised? 
 
 But it may be urged. Did we so govern ourselves, so 
 control our affections, we should be perfect beings, and 
 that it is impossible to be on earth. Yet on this are we 
 to found an exemption or reprieve, for seeking after 
 righteousness? Are we to sit down calmly and content- 
 edly in the natural corruption of our hearts, because we 
 cannot hope to realize perfection ? 
 
 It is this tacit agreement with unrighteousness, this 
 unconsciousness and carelessness of what God's law im- 
 peratively includes, which renders us so satisfied with 
 ourselves, so startled when we hear or read, that our best 
 actions need God's infinite mercy to purify and render 
 them acceptable. It is this which makes us vehemently 
 protest against having committed sin, or having done 
 anything that can be displeasing unto our Father in 
 heaven. It is enough to do all we can, and He will not 
 expect more. 
 
 They are right, He will not expect more if we do all 
 
 '* 
 
 ■ * Deuteronomy. 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 95 
 
 we can; but it is not enough to do all we can for the 
 furtherance of our own interests: not enough to refrain 
 from injuring man, to adhere strictly to moral duty; for 
 will these acts acquit us in His sight for forgetting Him ? 
 for not thinking of His command to love and serve Him? 
 to do all things for the sake of remembering and glorify- 
 ing Him? Oh! if these things were sought; if we pon- 
 dered sufficiently on ourselves, and on our Maker, or the 
 love He bears us, and the little return we make — on the 
 continued wanderings of our heart in prayer, in medita- 
 tion on all holy things — how we shrink back from His 
 service, and give Him not the love of children but the 
 fear of slaves, forgetting that He demandeth love and 
 not servile obedience : we should feel at once our own 
 sinful nature and our Father's inexhaustible goodness ; 
 we should be more ready to hear, more willing to receive 
 all that would aid us in seeking after righteousness, and 
 render easier the commands of the Lord, and the com- 
 prehension of His word. 
 
 There are those who, trusting entirely in their own 
 strength, and judging others from their own feelings, 
 laugh to scorn, as unnatural or hypocritical, any exalted 
 feeling, extraordinary goodness, or perfect disinterested- 
 ness. They know not the strength that lowly religion 
 gives ; they would deem it but an overstrained saintly 
 notion which urged that those, who seek their God and 
 love Him in prosperity, are sometimes endowed under 
 extreme adversity with a strength which may and will 
 appear unnatural to those who know not, believe not, 
 that God cares for each and all. 
 
 Those who are in reality nearest perfection, are far- 
 thest from it in their own minds; the more advance they 
 make in goodness, the more clearly shines forth the per- 
 fect holiness of God in their own blemishes. They 
 
96 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 judge not of themselves by their fellow- creatures, they 
 Beek not to compare their faults or virtues with those of 
 men ; but they look at their deeds through the light of 
 their God; they regard their acts and omissions as they 
 are in His sight, and trust not to them for salvation. 
 But to those who know Him not, who think not of Him, 
 but as One far off, who knows not, heeds not, the daily 
 thoughts of individuals, it is enough to compare them- 
 selves with other men, and if they covet not, rob not, 
 injure not — if they are widely different from those un- 
 happy beings under the punishment of the laws, why, 
 that is all-sufficient, they are free from all thought of 
 sin. 
 
 But if those nearest perfection in the opinion of their 
 fellow-men, are farthest from it in their own : what good 
 either to themselves or others can accrue from it? What 
 good? Let the true believer himself reply, and he would 
 tell us, the blessing vouchsafed him can only be felt, it 
 is too deep, too heart-springing for words. The humble 
 endeavour, the fervent prayer, to follow in the path of 
 light, have been mercifully blessed to him, it has been 
 no power of his own; and he has found comfort in the 
 conviction, that his prayers and efforts, however lowly, 
 are acceptable. He hath but sown the goodly seed in 
 the firm faith of reaping the fruit above; and he would 
 tell us also, that the seed cannot be sown, nor can the 
 plant flourish, without toil and perseverance. Disap- 
 pointment and trial will attend its growth; w^e shall feel 
 at times as if its budding blossoms were all destroyed, 
 blighted, never to bloom again ; but perseverance and 
 prayer will tend and nourish it to health again; and on 
 the bed of death its clustering flowers will encompass us 
 with their sweet fragrance, and give fair promise of the 
 fruit which waits for us on high. And then, is it not 
 
THE SPIEIT OF JUDAISM. 97 
 
 worth while to toil on despite of pain, and persevere re- 
 gardless of disappointment? 
 
 It is never too late to tread the path of salvation ; but 
 the earlier its commencement, the smoother is its road. 
 It is the blessed union of piety and morality which the 
 law of Moses teaches, which alone can enable the true 
 believer to glorify the name of his God, by exalting his 
 religion in the estimation of the world, and proving that 
 the Hebrew faith is as full of hope and peace, and com- 
 fort of salvation, and of spiritual joy, as is the Christian. 
 
 The notion that the third verse of the Shemang, *' And 
 these words which I command thee this day shall be in 
 thy heart," refers also to the preceding chapter, is also 
 liable to the censure of the rigid moralist, who looks no 
 farther than the actual words of the prayer book, and 
 condemns all enlarged and spiritualizing views of reli- 
 gion. Yet it appears almost impossible to read the sixth 
 chapter of Deuteronomy, without observing how com- 
 pletely connected it is with the fifth, knowing also that, 
 as Moses originally wrote, there was no division of chapter 
 or verse.* In the fifth, our great lawgiver enlarges on 
 the covenant which our God made with us on Horeb, 
 repeating the ten commandments, as he there received 
 them, emphatically concluding with the words: ''And 
 these words the Lord spoke unto all your assembly, in 
 the mount, out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, 
 and of the thick darkness, with a great voice, and HE 
 ADDED NO MORE." Then he describes the fear of the 
 
 * This is true to a certain extent: the modern division of chapters 
 is not discoverable in the original Hebrew text; nevertheless, the divi- 
 sion in sections is undoubtedl)'- the work of Moses as miich as the writ- 
 ing of the Pentateuch itself proceeds from him ; and the Shemang forma 
 incontestably a section by itself, whatever reference it may have to 
 what precedes or follows. — I. L. 
 
 9 
 
$8 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 people, tlie great awe that fell upon them, and that which 
 they said; their acceptance in the sight of the Lord; 
 His yearning affection towards them, and His choosing 
 Moses to receive His law, lest the sight of His glory 
 should terrify the people. Thus we perceive the fifth 
 chapter is a lengthened detail of ''words," which the 
 sixth in a few brief eloquent verses exhorts us to obey. 
 The one is in strict connection with the other; and thus 
 in all probability Ezra and Nehemiah thought, when 
 they compiled for their captive brethren the prayers, 
 which were to supply the place of the daily burnt offer- 
 ings, which in Babylon* they were unable to sacrifice. 
 
 The first compilation of prayers originated in the Ba- 
 bylonish captivity. The sacrifices had ceased, the Jew- 
 ish nationality was becoming lost in the sinful intermix-, 
 ture of the Hebrew with the heathen ; and their children, 
 according to Nehemiah, spoke neither in the language 
 of Ashdod nor of Jerusalem. Ezra beheld and trembled 
 lest the knowledge of the sacred language should become 
 at length so completely lost, that they would be unable to 
 address their God therein. He saw that a regular form 
 of prayer was becoming more necessary than it had ever 
 been before; and, instituting an academy, known by the 
 name of the Great Assembly, and honoured by the names 
 of Daniel, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, he compiled, 
 
 * There is a slight inaccuracy in the above; no doubt exists that 
 the chief parts of our prayers owe their present general arrangement to 
 Ezra and the great Synod ; yet they were not alone for those who re- 
 mained behind, but for the inhabitants of Palestine also, who could 
 participate in the temple service. Farther, though we have no direct 
 account of its being so other than the example of Daniel, who prayed 
 three times every day, there can be but little doubt that a form of 
 prayer comprising benedictions, the Shemang, and petitions like the 
 Amidah, were in use before the Babylonian captivity. — I. L. 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 99 
 
 with their assistance, the prayers we now repeat. They 
 formed morning, afternoon, and evening service, to be 
 repeated in lieu of the daily sacrifices which they were 
 then prevented from offering as in Jerusalem.* 
 
 It is therefore evident, those portions of the Bible were 
 selected which were best adapted to supply those cere- 
 monies now denied them. To repeat the whole law of 
 Moses every day was impossible; and yet, scattered as 
 they were amidst idolatrous nations, it was more than 
 likely it would at length be completely forgotten. The 
 only remedy was to bring together those portions which 
 would briefly, yet solemnly, remind them of their duty 
 to their God and to each other; Ezra perceiving by the 
 context that such was the intention of Moses. 
 
 Such was the origin of the Shemang: it is the only 
 part of our prayerst which neither addresses the Eternal, 
 nor relates to His glorious attributes. Each division 
 speaks directly to the people : enforcing commands brief 
 indeed, but yet which, if obeyed, would comprise obedi- 
 ence to the whole law of Moses. 
 
 Dn^l translated words, we find by a reference to 
 every verse where it is used, always relates to command- 
 ments or statutes ; and therefore to regard it in the 
 
 * See the preface to the Rev. D. A. De Sola's elegant edition of our 
 prayers, the translation and type of which are worthy their exalted 
 subject. 
 
 f Without endeavouring to gainsay any part of what is advanced 
 above, I will merely remark that, according to the views generally pre- 
 vailing among us, the Shemang is looked upon as the daily acknowledg- 
 ment and acceptance of the yoke of the heavenly kingdom : by it we are 
 Jto be reminded to whom, and why we pray ; it is to impress us at rising 
 up and lying down with the conviction that we are the children of a 
 beneficent and all-powerful God, to whose service we ought to devote 
 the life He has given, the soul He has breathed in us, and the blessings 
 which He bestows. — I. L. 
 
100 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 third verse of the Shemang, as referring to the com- 
 mandments preceding it, not alone in the sixth, but in the 
 fifth chapter, cannot surely be charged with either spi- 
 ritualising or mystifying the sense in which Moses used 
 them. We cannot be wandering very far, if in making 
 them bear upon the ten commandments, as a charge to 
 let them be upon our hearts, we endeavour to discover 
 what individual, religious, or social duties the decalogue 
 includes. 
 
 The duties of the first and second have been already 
 detailed, in the chapters relating to the first and second 
 verses of the ]))yZ'. In proclaiming and believing in 
 the unity of God, in seeking to know the various duties 
 that belief includes, we prove our obedience to that first 
 commandment, which so solemnly declares, I am the 
 Lord thy God, &c. We cannot love wath all our heart, 
 and soul, and might, if we make unto ourselves any 
 graven image, or believe in any other god; consequently, 
 obedience to the second verse of the Shemang comprises 
 obedience to the second commandment. And the third — 
 do we amongst refined and polished society — amongst the 
 moral and honourable world — do we disobey this third 
 commandment? Surely that too maybe dismissed unno- 
 ticed! — Yet we disobey it when carelessly and irreve- 
 rently we use the sacred name of God; when, wdth pro- 
 fane and heedless lips, we attach that inefflible name as 
 a common interjection to our most unguarded conversa- 
 tion, as an interjection attached to every sudden emotion, 
 be it of surprise or grief, or more sinful still, of anger; 
 often, too often is it used, when passion takes ofi" the 
 guard of courtesy from our lips, w^hen our hearts swell 
 with every feeling that is inimical to the reverence due 
 to the pronunciation of that name. We disobey it, when 
 thoughts the most incongruous, and vain, mingle with 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 101 
 
 our prayers, and we resist tliem not ; for our lips mutter 
 that sacred name, we call upon it, proclaim our trust in 
 it, yet know not what we say. Is not this taking the 
 name of God in vain, and are we not only too often 
 liable thus to do — perhaps unconsciously, thoughtlessly, 
 scarcely aware of the solemnity of the word we speak ? 
 Yet the same great Being who in thunder spoke, "Thou 
 shalt not kill, and thou shalt not steal," also said, "Thou 
 shalt not take my name in vain," and the disobedience 
 of the one is in His sight as great as the disobedience 
 of the other. 
 
 He did more to mark its holiness — He knew that a 
 breach of the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth com- 
 mandments, exposed the malefactor to the severity of 
 human law, but the third might be disobeyed with im- 
 punity, at least with regard to man it exposed not the 
 transgressor to corporeal punishment ; and therefore, He 
 says, "For the Lord will not hold him guiltless who 
 taketh His name in vain." The Lord will not hold him 
 guiltless; and shall we think less of the Lord's anger, 
 the Lord's chastisement, than that of man, because it is 
 deferred, because prosperity and joy attend us — and days, 
 and weeks, and years pass on, and the taking that name 
 in vain is apparently as totally disregarded by our Father 
 in heaven, as it is by man ? Shall we still continue to 
 disobey, and believe that the words "the Lord will not 
 hold him guiltless" mean nothing, can concern us but 
 little, and only threaten vengeance upon those poor crea- . 
 tures who swear falsely? 
 
 If it only related to this last means of disobeying, 
 there would have been no need to specify so clearly that 
 it would expose us to the anger of the Lord; for the man 
 that swears falsely is guilty in the sight of his fellows, 
 even as he that kills or steals, and if guilty in the sight 
 
102 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 of man is trebly so in the sight of God; but man attaches 
 no sin to the profane use of that name if confined to pri- 
 vate individuals, and therefore it is our Father Himself 
 threatens vengeance. The refusing to revere, and love, 
 and honour that glorious name rests between man and 
 his Maker, and unhappy is he who believes there is no 
 sm attached to using it thus in vain, because chastise- 
 ment is deferred, and this life is free from retribution. 
 
 It is easy to avoid this disobedience, particularly in 
 the rising generation. Let the infant mind be impressed 
 with the solemn nature of religion, with true and cling- 
 ing love to his God, who is alike Father, Saviour, and 
 Friend. Let Him be taught to read Him in His works, 
 to gaze with awe and reverence on the fair things around 
 him; to fill the young heart with ideas of those glorious 
 attributes which belong to his Father in heaven ; and 
 we need not fear the third commandment will be dis- 
 obeyed. He will love and reverence too deeply for that 
 awful name to be profaned. That name will bring with 
 it too many deep emotions, too much intense devotion, 
 to be uttered even carelessly ; and he would shrink from 
 using it as an interjection, even as he would from more 
 palpable disobedience. That which is held dearest can 
 never be mentioned lightly, and therefore it is that vital 
 religion is somewhat doubtful in those on whose lips that 
 ineffable name so often rests. They can scarcely love 
 Him with all their heart, and soul, and might, if thus 
 irreverently or thoughtlessly they forget the last member 
 of the third commandment, and take His holy name in 
 vain. 
 
 The fourth commandment is indeed a solemn injunc- 
 tion: it is to keep that day holy which is a covenant 
 between our heavenly Father and His first-born, the 
 children of Israel, for ever; a day set apart, a day 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. .-^■-- 103 
 
 sanctified not alone by words, but by miracles, a day 
 peculiarly ours, coeval with creation, continuing through 
 ages, ending in eternity; for such is the signification 
 
 of the word D /Ip which, in the emphatic sentence, 
 
 *'And the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, ob- 
 serving the Sabbath throughout their generations asape?'- 
 fetual covenant; it is a sign between me and the children 
 of Israel for ever," is translated perpetual, and for ever. 
 Intrusted as it is to us, since we alone amidst all nations 
 and all religions adhere to this solemn covenant, thus 
 standing forth indeed as the Lord's witnesses, as still the 
 guardians and followers of the most holy law, a law im- 
 mutable as Himself: it should be our pride, and boast, 
 and joy, indeed to keep that day holy, indeed to devote it 
 principally to Him who gave it, and sanctify its rest 
 and joy by teaching that all should tend to and end in 
 Him. 
 
 It was not the fourth commandment that first in- 
 structed us in the deep holiness of the seventh day. We 
 find the first reference to it is after the six days of crea- 
 tion. ''And on the seventh day God ended His work 
 which He had made; and God blessed the seventh day 
 and sanctified it, because that in it He had rested from 
 all His work." Here we perceive its origin. God did 
 not rest because He needed rest ; but He knew the crea- 
 tures He had formed would require it; that it would be 
 to them a blessing and a joy, and therefore He set apart 
 that day, in which He rejoiced in the completion of His 
 great work, and rested to behold it. We do not hear 
 of it again till the sixteenth chapter of Exodus; but that 
 it must have been always observed and remembered and 
 kept holy by all the children of Abraham, is very evi- 
 dent from the circumstances which tliis sixteenth chapter 
 relates. 
 
104 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 The cruel bondage in Egypt had in all probability ob- 
 literated the remembrance of this solemn day. It was 
 not possible that, suffering as they were in the land of 
 Mitzraim, they could in any way adhere to it. Yet so 
 great was its sanctity, so blessed was that day in the 
 sight of the Lord, He waited not to issue His command- 
 ment concerning it, but at once marked it as a day set 
 apart by a miracle which proved alike His power and 
 His love. The manna, that angels' food, which was sent 
 down direct from heaven to nourish and revive His 
 people, which if preserved on the weekdays became 
 putrid and unclean, as if thus to chide the misbelieving 
 race for doubting God's providence for the morrow, yet 
 not only fell in double quantities on the Friday, but re- 
 mained perfectly clean and wholesome on the Sabbath, 
 for on that holy day there fell none. It was the Lord's 
 Sabbath, He, the glorious, omniscient, omnipotent, and 
 eternal God — He rested on that day — and commanded 
 His people to rest also; He sent sufficient provision for 
 the two days, and they were to gather it, and bake, and 
 seethe it on the sixth day, that on the seventh there 
 should be no need to kindle a fire or to do servile work 
 in their dwellings. They were to rest and to rejoice; 
 not in the pleasures of this earth, not in the indulgence 
 of sense and appetite ; but to rest and rejoice in the con- 
 templation of their Father and their God, and set apart 
 that one day in seven to forget the toils and labour, 
 sorrows or cares of the past week, to rise up from the 
 chains in which sensual pleasures may have held them, 
 and rejoice on that day in remembering the Lord and 
 seeking to realise those spiritual joys and blessings 
 which await the true believer in the world beyond the 
 tomb. 
 
 Already sanctified by a miracle, yet the Sabbath of 
 
 1 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 105 
 
 the Lord must be still more emphatically set apart ; and 
 in the midst of thunder and lightnings, when the earth 
 quaked, and the clarion from heaven sounded long, and 
 waxed louder and louder, the same awful Voice that for- 
 bade idolatry, and murder, and adultery, and theft, also 
 said, " Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." 
 From the master to his slave, even to the stranger, 
 whatever might be his faith, to the ox and ass, all were 
 to rest, all were to hallow and to bless that dav. 
 
 Four times, in addition to the two already mentioned, 
 do we find the Sabbath day emphatically enjoined, not 
 only in connection with others, but spoken of and en- 
 forced alone. What can be more emphatic than the 12th, 
 13th, 14th, loth, 16th, and 19th verses of the xxxi. chapter 
 of Exodus, where we also see what is omitted in the com- 
 mandment, namely, the awful chastisement which awaits 
 the breaker of the Sabbath ? ''' Everv one that defileth 
 it shall surely be put to death ; whosoever doeth any 
 work therein, that soul shall be cut oflf from among his 
 people;" and thus not only temporal but eternal death 
 is threatened, that, if the cords of love are not sufficiently 
 strong: to bind us in holiness unto this solemn day, the 
 chains of fear shall urece us to obedience. And not only 
 do we read the threat of punishment, but its fulfilment, 
 in the death of the Israelite found e^atherins: sticks on 
 the Sabbath day. It was not so much the act — it was 
 the sin of disobedience ; and therefore those little things 
 some are apt to imagine can be no harm, can be no dese- 
 cration of the Sabbath, are sinful in the sight of God, 
 for they are disobedience or unbelief in the truth and 
 sanctity of His word. 
 
 And again was the holiness of the Sabbath day pro- 
 claimed, when the Lord passed before Moses and revealed 
 His glory and His attributes. In that awful hour, when 
 
106 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 the Eternal stood in a cloud, in communion with His 
 faithful servant, when the reflection of His radiance, 
 thickly veiled as it was, fell upon Moses till his face so 
 shone no man could look upon it: even then was the 
 holiness of the Sabbath enforced. And Leviticus, Num- 
 bers, Deuteronomy, we find repeating and enjoining it 
 again and yet again. With the sole exception of the 
 commandment prohibiting idolatry, we find the fourth 
 repeated and enforced more often than any other which 
 the decalogue contains. If the Sabbath be disregarded, 
 the feasts and fasts our holy law enjoins must also fall; 
 for they are described and given as days of holy convo- 
 cations, as Sabbaths of rest and rejoicing in all our 
 dwellings; and if we refuse to keep the Sabbath, the 
 first and holiest of all, how may we hope adherence to 
 the other festivals can be accepted ? 
 
 In Nehemiah we find the desecration of the Sabbath 
 severely and justly censured as one of the most fearful 
 efi"ects of the captivity; and the vow to sanctify it by 
 refusing to buy and sell or do any business on that day, 
 "was one of the very first proofs of repentance which the 
 elders of the people demanded. In Isaiah, Jeremiah, 
 Ezekiel, the three greatest and most important prophets, 
 we not only find how the anger of the Lord had been 
 excited by the disobedience of the fourth commandment, 
 but to lead us once again to Him, to turn us from our 
 iniquities, His never- failing mercy, His unutterable love, 
 held forth gracious promises of salvation, of blessings as 
 unnumbered as undeserved, if we would but 'Hurn from 
 doing our own pleasure on His holy day, and call the 
 Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord honourable, and 
 shall honour Him, not by doing our own ways, finding 
 our own pleasure, speaking our own words," and glorify 
 Him by hallowing His Sabbath. 
 
THE SPIEIT OF JUDAISM. 107 
 
 How mucli then does the Sabbath include 1 Not only 
 is it an everlasting covenant between Israel and their 
 God, — not only is it a witness to other nations of the 
 truth and beauty of the word of God ; but on our ob- 
 servance of it as that word of God commands, on our 
 remembering it in very truth to bless and keep it holy, 
 depends in a measure the redemption of our scattered 
 and sorrowing race, at the coming of that blessed shep- 
 herd who, inspired and summoned by the Lord, " shall 
 gather the lambs with His arms, and carry them in 
 His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with 
 young." 
 
 And when we think on this ; when we see how much 
 depends upon our own efforts, our own prayers ; when 
 serious contemplation, aided and quickened by the spirit 
 of the Lord, has enabled us to realise the deep solemnity, 
 the awful sanctity of this glorious day : shall we think 
 it enough merely to abstain from doing what we have 
 been taught is wrong? enough merely to read our morn- 
 ing prayers and weekly portions, and with the books put 
 aside all thoughts of our Father and His works? enough 
 to tell our children they must not work, nor write, nor 
 cut, nor ride, and yet leave them to amuse themselves 
 as they like best, without one thought of Him whose day 
 it is ? enough to contrive to attend some Friday night 
 assembly, without riding or being driven there ? Shall 
 we think it enough to pass the Sabbath hours at a race, 
 or public breakfast, or afternoon concert, if we can con- 
 trive to do so without using our cattle ? enough to pass 
 the day in doing our own pleasure? Oh surely not! 
 surely, if meditation and prayer have done their work, 
 we shall feel these things are not enough to remember 
 the Sabbath day and keep it holy. And yet it need not 
 be a day of gloom* True religion, the faith of Moses 
 
 y 
 
108 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 and David, knows not sadness — the Sabbatli may be a 
 day of rejoicing, and yet holy unto the Lo?^d. If we 
 have little time during the six days of labour, then is it 
 well for us to think of Him, to realise His presence and 
 His love, to talk of Him to our children, to exalt Him 
 in His works. His attributes, His word, to speak of Him 
 in our homes, till our domestic hearths become His 
 temple; to recall His providence. His blessings of the 
 days just past (for is there one day in which He cares 
 not for us?) to look within ourselves and deplore that 
 which we have left undone, and praise Him for all that 
 we have done; to read books which will lead our 
 thoughts to rest on Him — not sermons alone, whose 
 very name sometimes terrifies the young, but tales, that, 
 through the pleasant medium of well- selected fiction, 
 would lead the youthful spirit to contemplate His God, 
 and adore His never-ceasing love, and trace His provi- 
 dence in the events he reads — for what are tales of 
 domestic life but relations "of the thing that hath been, 
 or that which shall be"? to assemble around us all the 
 beloved members of our domestic circle, whom the week- 
 days may have seen toiling on their separate ways, — and 
 feel that various as may be the dispositions, the tempers, 
 sympathies, virtues, and faults, there is yet one golden 
 link that binds them together, one faith, one God, one 
 universal love for Him and acknowledgment of His un- 
 ceasing care. We all know these things cannot be on 
 the days of labour, not at least to the extent for which 
 the awakened spirit yearns. How blessed then the Sab- 
 bath day which is thus employed! Begun and con- 
 cluded in prayer, evening, morning, and evening again ; 
 every beloved member of each household hearth, from 
 the aged man to the lisping infant, meeting in solemn 
 prayer, in addressing Him, or communing with His 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 109 
 
 word ; and the intervening hours employed in all that 
 would enable us to realise His presence and His love — 
 this is remembering the Sabbath day to keep it holy; 
 this will be regarding it as it was intended, a type, 
 though a faint one, of that rejoicing rest* and those un- 
 fading pleasures which are at the right hand of God for 
 ever more. 
 
 Beautiful, most beautiful is the injunction contained in 
 the fifth commandment, touching even in its brevity, 
 heart-speaking in its simple eloquence, proving simply, 
 yet forcibly, that nature by herself was not sufficient for 
 the young to honour their parents; for had it been, this 
 command would have been omitted. f Why is it that the 
 decalogue speaks not, commands not, aught relative to 
 the duties of parents to their children? Because there 
 the yearnings of nature are sufficient, there natural affec- 
 tion is enough; for so deep, so intense, exhaustless, is a 
 mother's love, that its figure is frequently used to de- 
 monstrate the love borne to us by our Father in heaven; 
 His love alone exceeds it. "Can a mother forget her 
 sucking child, that she should not have compassion on 
 
 * So also says the prayer: " May He who is most merciful, cause us 
 to inherit the world which is entirely good, and the rest in the life 
 everlasting." Indeed, according to the opinions of our doctors, the 
 Sabbath is an emblem of the repose and felicity of the righteous in 
 paradise ; and its noiseless observance has been borrowed by the Naza- 
 renes for their weekly rest. — I. L. 
 
 f Without dissenting entirely from this view (and as editor I am 
 
 not called upon to state in every passage whether I agree with the 
 
 author or not), I will merely remark that, even granting that nature 
 
 alone demanded in its full extent obedience to the paternal will, the 
 
 sanction of the will of God would not be superfluous ; since His sanction 
 
 would add holiness to the eiTect of natural feelings, and thus He would 
 
 bless us for obedience, provided it proceeded from pure motives, although 
 
 by it we were but gratifying the finer feelings of our own disposition. 
 
 — L L. 
 
 10 
 
110 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 tlie son of her womb? Yea^ she may forget, but I will 
 not foro-et thee." 
 
 The Eternal knew the nature of His creatures. There 
 was no need to bid a mother cherish her child; but the 
 wild exuberance of youthful spirits, the desire to fling 
 aside all appearance of parental yoke, the liability to for- 
 get in manhood the love, the cares, lavished on helpless 
 infancy, even setting aside selfish interest or false pride, 
 all these needed the precept to honour our parents. Xor 
 sorrow, nor poverty, nor even the absence of all attract- 
 ive qualities, will shake, nay, perhaps, they will rather 
 increase a mother's love. It matters not that marriage 
 or other circumstances remove her children from her 
 hearth ; thev cannot remove them from her heart. Seas 
 may roll betw^een, and long years pass; still, still, it 
 matters not ; stronger than death, maternal affection lin- 
 gers to the end; and though age and its attendant evils 
 may diminish bodily strength or mental resources, yet if 
 sickness, or sorrow, or shame, be the portion of her be- 
 loved ones, is she not the first to fly to them still? But 
 lovely as is the perfection of filial love, its nature is not 
 thus constant, thus devoted; if it were, we should not 
 meet with children whose better education or more pros- 
 perous ways have raised them to a higher rank than that 
 in which they were born, often fearing to confess their 
 lineage; we should never hear of neglect or unkindness 
 on the part of the child, of ingratitude, forgetfulness of 
 duty, till, silently, and the cause unsuspected, the parent's 
 heart bleeds and breaks. These things have been, though 
 their occurrence may be rare; but they have been; even 
 the Book of Life will provide us with examples, proofs, 
 that there was a cause for the fifth commandment, or it 
 would not have been given. If the love of a child for 
 Lis parent were as perfect as his parent's love for him, 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. Ill 
 
 there would have been no more need to give directions 
 for the conduct of the one, than for that of the other;* 
 and therefore it is wrono; to dismiss it disrep-arded as 
 a command all must obey, if they would not be hated 
 and contemned as monsters of nature. It is not always 
 obeyed, even when gross or palpable disobedience to its 
 beautiful ordinance is most carefully avoided. 
 
 Continued blessings of whatever nature very often 
 render us insensible, if not quite unconscious of their ex- 
 istence; and therefore it is, that we frequently find the 
 deep anguish inflicted by the death of a parent painfully 
 aggravated by the thought, the full value of the blessing 
 was never known till it was lost ; and instances of neglect, 
 unkindness, disobedience, rise up to appall us, and we 
 wonder they could have appeared so small, as to blind us 
 to their recurrence. Death in connection with a beloved 
 object is an awful subject of contemplation; yet would 
 it be better sometimes to dwell upon it thus, and permit 
 its recollection, sorrowing as it is, sometimes to check 
 the ebullition of ill temper or ill will, sometimes to rouse 
 the indolent and calm the impatient, than allow it to 
 come upon us unawares, and bear from our detaining 
 grasp a blessing which, when with us, we knew not suf- 
 ficiently to value — which we loved not, obeyed not, re- 
 vered not as, when past away seemingly for ever, we feel 
 we ought to have done. 
 
 It may be, that the constant intimacy, the uninter- 
 rupted intercourse, and the regular employments of home, 
 
 * There are, nevertheless, directions for the conduct of parents 
 towards children to be met with; one, pre-eminent, is the duty of im- 
 parting religious instruction, or in other words, fitting them to become 
 servants of the Lord, and this precept is contained in the very words 
 of the Shemang, " And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy chil- 
 dren ;" another relates to the exercise of equal justice to all the children 
 of a man, for which see Deut. xxi. 17. — I. L. 
 
112 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 deaden us to the sense of all we owe our parents. It may 
 be, that we receive their tender cares, their unceasing 
 love as things of course, which are too common to be felt, 
 too necessary not to be missed ; and the unselfish devoted- 
 ness, the patient assiduity, bestowed on helpless infancy, 
 on all its little griefs, and sufferings, and tempers — the 
 time, labour, fortune, often health expended on opening 
 youth, to store the mind with seeds of intellect and wis- 
 dom, to bestow every pleasure, sympathise in every grief: 
 these things are not always recalled at a time when they 
 might urge on to more active, more endearing obedience 
 to the fifth commandment. Gratitude, affection, respect, 
 obedience, all are included in the word honour. Yet not 
 one of these beautiful attributes of youth will come of its 
 own accord. That is not love, which consists in passive 
 companionship. It is an ever-active principle, urging on 
 to those little attentions, to the silent desire to alleviate 
 care, to give pleasure, to obey a wish even before it is 
 expressed, to save from, or insist on sharing fatigue, to 
 those numberless little offices of kindness which love feeds 
 upon even as it excites. Gratitude is not a mere name; 
 it is the deep sense of all we owe our parents, of all they 
 have done, are still doing for us, heightened and hallowed 
 by filial love. Respect surely will not fail us, if we medi- 
 tate on their age, their experience, those qualities in indi- 
 vidual character, which have excited our love long before 
 w^e could define them. Obedience is seemingly the most 
 difficult of all the duties enumerated; yet, why should it 
 be so? We cannot truly love, if we can hesitate one 
 moment to give up our own wishes for the gratification 
 of theirs, to abstain from a desired pleasure, because their 
 experience knows its folly and its hollowness, and their 
 love would shield us from its excitement and its pain. 
 We cannot be truly grateful if u^e feel no desire, by the 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 113 
 
 sacrifice of our own wishes, when obedience demands it, 
 to return, as far as in our power, all that they have done 
 for us. 
 
 And yet to honour our parents needs no extraordinary 
 effort, no public display; obedience to the fifth command- 
 ment is best proved around our domestic hearths, and 
 in little things. The influence of real affection, of that 
 true unselfish love which parental care dem.ands, is silent 
 and invisible, and only felt, and only known by the peace 
 and joy it throws around. Childhood may implicitly 
 obey, and by a thousand little winning arts, endeavour 
 to show its love; but youth it is which can best evince 
 it. When the powers of thought, and intellect, and 
 observation have shaken off the sluggish sleep, which 
 chained them in childhood, when the affections begin to 
 feel their depth, and warmth, and solid education and 
 graceful accomplishments have heightened the playful 
 vivacity of childhood, by the addition of more lasting 
 charms: then it is youth can best prove its love. Per- 
 haps the health and vigour of our parents are then be- 
 ginning to decline, whilst youth with buoyant heart and 
 bounding steps ascends the hill of life, by a path which 
 knows but sweets and flowers, which fancy decks with 
 such bright and glistening hues, when hope is smiling 
 and beauty points upwards to the radiant summit, where 
 glory, honour, fame, stand ready to enfold him with their 
 lucid rays ; perchance the tender guardians of his infancy 
 are beginning to descend that path which, rough and 
 craggy, offers no allurement and ends but in eternity, 
 whose golden promises are sometimes but faintly traced 
 through the blackening shades that gather round the 
 dream of death. 
 
 Then it is, we should indeed honour our parents, and 
 by untiring attention, watchful thought, prompt obedi- 
 
 10* 
 
114 THE SPIEIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 ence, and willing submission, evince our gratitude and 
 love. 
 
 The principal comforts and joys of home depend on 
 youth. Care may have graven its deep furrows on the 
 brows which in our childhood have been gay; disease 
 may have fretted the tempers which in former years have 
 been serene and joyous: then it is the grateful task of 
 youth, by innocent gaiety and invisible efforts, to drive 
 away care and bring forth smiles, to soothe the pains of 
 disease and restore peace and comfort. Nor are these 
 duties difficult to be performed. It is but to desire to 
 obey the fifth commandment, to think how best to evince 
 our love and gratitude to the beloved guardians of our 
 infancy, and we shall not fail. Often are the duties of 
 domestic life neglected from mere thoughtlessness, from 
 the received opinion that it matters not how we behave 
 at home, so we conduct ourselves with propriety abroad. 
 Yet were half the labour now expended to please the 
 world, to obtain the hollow applause of strangers, given 
 to increase the joys and comforts of our homes, to obtain 
 the praise and rivet the love of the nearest and dearest 
 to us on earth : how changed would be many a domestic 
 scene. Those accomplishments, those graces of the mind 
 so often regarded as by far too precious to be employed 
 for the benefit and recreation of a domestic circle, to 
 whom do we owe their attainment and their cultivation 
 but, under our God, to our parents? and to them their 
 first fruits are due. Oh! if the young daughters of 
 Israel, for on them even more than on their brothers de- 
 pends the comfort of home, would reflect on these truths, 
 trifling, unimportant as they may seem: how beautifully 
 would they show forth the glory of the God of Israel 
 through the perfection of His law, and draw down upon 
 their own heads the blessed reward promised to the 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 115 
 
 observers of the fifth commandment, "that their days 
 should be long in the land which the Lord their God 
 giveth them!" The land of promise may be no longer 
 theirs; but if they need the promise of a reward, let 
 them not fear, but believe, and they will find it in heaven. 
 
 And are there yet other commandments which can 
 bear upon those social and domestic duties peculiar to 
 individuals of refined habits and cultivated minds ? Even 
 the ninth and tenth may be unconsciously and thought- 
 lessly disobeyed, unless the spirit of piety have purified 
 that grosser part of our frame, have released the soul 
 from those heavy chains of corruption and sin which 
 surround and stifle that glorious image of God in which 
 He made man. 
 
 Covetousness or envy is not only a vice in itself, but 
 it is always the commencement of grosser crimes : and 
 therefore the Lord in His infinite wisdom and mercy 
 warned us against this root of evil. We envy 'persons, 
 we COVET things ; yet their meaning is so similar, their 
 efi'ects so very much the same, they may well be re- 
 garded together. In persons of a lower grade, of ir- 
 regular passions, of unrestrained tempers, and unedu- 
 cated minds, the disobedience of the tenth commandment 
 leads to the committal of all the crimes which the sixth, 
 seventh, eighth, and ninth prohibit and include. In more 
 refined society it tempts to those numerous petty acts 
 of provocation, rivalry, slander, and scandal, which at 
 once lower and debase the transgressor in his own eyes 
 and those of his fellow-men, and expose him to the wrath 
 of his God, not the less certain because as yet deferred 
 and unseen. 
 
 "We are in the first place, guilty of bearing false 
 witness, when we say things to the disparagement of 
 another which we know to be untruths; this is most 
 
116 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 properly styled calumny. Next to this is the raising or 
 spreading scandalous and injurious reports without suf- 
 ficient evidence, or upon slight and doubtful grounds. 
 Next come those loose imperfect accounts, picked up by 
 officious tale-bearers, who are so eager to get and propa- 
 gate a new story that they are easily deceived, and must 
 of necessity lose or pervert many material circumstances. 
 Another branch of the vice here prohibited is detraction; 
 for we are most evidently guilty of bearing a false tes- 
 timony against our neighbour, when we derogate from 
 his general wor-th or endeavour to lessen the particular 
 merit of his good actions; and lastly we must indivi- 
 dually involve ourselves in the same guilt, when we ag- 
 gravate another's faults." 
 
 And whence do calumny, scandal, detraction, originally 
 rise? Most frequently from an unacknowledged dislike 
 of others that, if traced to its source, might be princi- 
 pally discovered arising from the poisoned springs of 
 envy, that we covet their superior station in the world, 
 their wealth, their capabilities of doing what they please; 
 or we envy the superior grace and beauty of person, the 
 expansive intellect, the exalted virtue, the estimation in 
 which they are held by their fellow-men. Why do the 
 highest moral characters, the most consistently religious, 
 find so many enemies, so many detractors in this world ? 
 Why has it become almost a proverb that the lowly fol- 
 lowers of God's law, the sincerely good, so seldom meet 
 with the love of the majority in the world ? Why are 
 their smallest actions observed and cavilled at, their 
 words and manner turned, if possible, into weapons of 
 scandal and detraction? Why? because envy is unsus- 
 pectedly and silently at work; because, unknown to the 
 detractors themselves, envy is the secret cause of their 
 undefined, perhaps unacknowledged dislike, or that they 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 117 
 
 unconsciously covet some advantage whicli they may 
 possess. 
 
 Guardedly should the human heart be watched, that 
 forgetfulness of the tenth commandment find not entrance 
 through its many openings, its many avenues, to sin. 
 The evil which its disobedience includes cannot be 
 summed up, cannot be encouraged by the thought that 
 "so far it shall go and no farther." Once entertained, 
 and the barriers of a naturally good disposition and un- 
 stained morality fall at once before it, and it rushes on, 
 ending but in eternal anguish. Truth, a strict, unfal- 
 tering adherence to truth, will guard from a breach of 
 the ninth commandment. Truth, not consisting in the 
 non-utterance of, or non-acting on a deliberate falsehood; 
 but truth, that beautiful attribute of morality and piety, 
 which originally sprung from and ends in love and re- 
 verence for Him whose most glorious, most consoling 
 attribute is that He is a God of teuth ! But to obey 
 His other commandments needs more than the mere ad- 
 herence to truth ! Truth will not bear upon them. It 
 must be the constant realization of His presence within 
 us, the constant thought of Him who gave these laws 
 and commanded their obedience for ever, the constant 
 watchfulness over, and examination of the human heart. 
 And therefore was it that Moses said ''and these words 
 which I command thee this day shall be in thy heart," 
 and that Ezra selected that portion of his books which 
 would remind us of all the laws of God in a few brief 
 but emphatic words ; that in the morning we should be 
 reminded of our duties; in the evening their repetition 
 should lead us to look within our hearts, and examine 
 impartially the tale they tell. By doing this, the sacred 
 laws become more indelibly fixed within us, and by look- 
 ing on them as guides and rules, not for social commu- 
 
118 THE SPIEIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 nities alone "but for individuals, the remembrance of 
 Him who gave them will more often occupy the mind 
 and heart, and the union of religion and morality be at 
 length attained. Love will incite to and welcome obe- 
 dience as the desired proof of its depth and truth. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 HINTS ON THE EELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION OF THE HEBREW 
 
 YOUTH. 
 
 The seventh verse of the sixth chapter of Deute- 
 ronomy, and the fourth of the Shemang, contains so 
 much important matter in a few words, that each mem- 
 ber of the sentence demands to be considered separately. 
 In the preceding verses, we have been desired to reflect 
 on and lay up the words of the Lord in our own hearts; 
 in this, to teach them to our children. "And thou shalt 
 teach them diligently to thy children," i.e. the love of 
 God and all that is therein comprised. 
 
 To instruct young children in the dull routine of daily 
 lessons, to force the wandering mind to attention, the un- 
 willing spirit to subjection, to bear with natural disincli- 
 nation to irksome tasks, all this, as a modern writer very 
 justly observes, is far more attractive in theory than in 
 practice. It is a drudgery for which even some mothers 
 themselves have not sufficient patience ; but very differ- 
 ent is the instruction commanded in the verse we are 
 regarding. To speak of God, to teach the child His will, 
 to instil His love into the infant heart, should never be 
 looked on as a daily task, nor associated with all the 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 119 
 
 dreaded paraphernalia of books and lessons. The Bible 
 alone should be the guide to, and assistance in, this pre- 
 cious employment. There are moments when children 
 are peculiarly alive to emotions of devotion. The He- 
 brew mother who desires her offspring to say their 
 prayers morning and evening, to abstain from writing, 
 working, or cutting on the Sabbath, to adhere to parti- 
 cular forms and observe particular days as she does, has 
 yet not wholly fulfilled her solemn duty. This will not 
 be enough to make the Hebrew child love his God or his 
 religion : not enough to restrain him in manhood from 
 becoming a Christian,* if it favour his interest or ambi- 
 tion so to do. 
 
 Far more depends on Hebrew parents than on Chris- 
 tian ; the latter have their places of public worship 
 wherever they may dwell, their ministers whose whole 
 lives are devoted to the service of their God, to the 
 moral and religious welfare of their fellow-creatures. In 
 their earliest years, Christian children attend once a 
 week the house of God. They join in prayers which, if 
 not wholly understood, are yet sufiicient to impress some 
 feelings difi'erent from the impressions of the six days of 
 labour. They hear the Bible explained, they see it re- 
 garded as indeed the Book of Life; and, though they 
 may not understand why, some portions attract their 
 ear, which in after-years, are recalled with peculiar 
 pleasure. The intervening days may weaken the impres- 
 sion, perhaps it is entirely forgotten; but their next 
 
 * Or restrain him from neglecting, from motives of unbelief, the dic- 
 tates of his religion. This alternative is more to he dreaded than the 
 one in the text ; at all events if we take America and France as a 
 criterion. In fact, we may say, without fear of contradiction, that 
 conversions are rare indeed where the Jews possess liberty of con- 
 science. — I. L. 
 
120 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 Sabbatli they go again, and tlie feeling is rendered 
 stronger. They see a large concourse around them en- 
 gaged in the same solemn service, praying in a language 
 familiar to them, and this would be of itself enough to 
 chain a child's attention. They feel it as a privilege 
 thus to seek their God ; and this feeling follows the child 
 to youth, to manhood, and almost involuntarily religion 
 is imbibed. Even those deprived of religious parents 
 have yet advantages peculiar to themselves, in the fact 
 that the faith they profess is the faith of their country 
 and of all around them. 
 
 The Hebrew child has not these advantages. De- 
 barred from the public exercise* of devotion on his 
 
 * My friend draws, indeed, a melancholy picture of religious debase- 
 ment, and if this is universally the case in England, the men and 
 women of Israel inhabiting that land ought to arrest almost every 
 charity sooner than let such an ignominious state exist any longer for 
 want of pecuniary means to obtain labourers in the field of regenera- 
 tion. What? no religious instruction? no books? no expounding of 
 the Text ? no spiritual guides ? no men of whom people could inquire 
 the way of life ? All the defects Miss A. enumerates can be legally 
 remedied, and we have yet to learn that there are not means and men 
 at hand to effect this. The only thing my friend complains of, which 
 admits of no alteration, is the public worship in the Hebrew language. 
 (Miss Aguilar agrees mainly with the view here expressed, in the 
 sequel, which see.) But why should that language of ancient Israel 
 not be also the language of modern Jews ? why not establish schools in 
 every town and village where the children may learn to read the Bible, 
 not from a translation made by Christian prelates, and authorised to be 
 read in churches by a Christian king, and which is no doubt erroneous 
 in many passages on which our opponents rely for the establishment 
 of their doctrines, but in the original language in which it was first 
 announced ; so that they may be able to form a correct, unbiassed 
 judgment of the word of their God. If this course were adopted to 
 any extent, the child of eight years old would know understandingly 
 the major part of his prayers, and before he arrives at the age when 
 he could pray with devotion, all the words of his lips in his address to 
 the Lord of life, would flow from an understanding heart and a willing 
 spirit. It is ignorance alone that disfigures our worship ; and, in the 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 121 
 
 Sabbath day ; never hearing public prayers in a language 
 he can understand; — having no public minister on whom. 
 
 name of Heaven, let it be removed ; at all events let the effort not be 
 •wanting to remove it. As regards a public expounding of Scripture, 
 it is no new thing among us ; for in olden times the law was publicly 
 taught, even from the days of Moses downward. (See Deut. xxxi. 12, 
 13.) It is no argument to say that sermons are a custom of gentiles ; 
 for if these have adopted our modes, it would be folly in the extreme 
 to banish them from among us. A jealousy of innovations is highly 
 proper, for we too " might fear the Greeks (gentiles) even if they bear 
 presents" {Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes) ; but we must take care that 
 this jealousy is not carried too far. In America, however, children of 
 all ages, say from three years and upwards, of both sexes, are attend- 
 ants in Synagogue; occasionally, at least, the Law is expounded; 
 efforts have been made to publish books solely for the education of the 
 young, and there are also persons in every town almost, of whom ques- 
 tions can be asked with regard to the deeds we should do. Moreover, 
 for the last three or four years schools have been commenced in differ- 
 ent towns where religious instruction is dispensed gratis to all who may 
 come on the first day of the week ; and efforts are now making to ex- 
 tend the system by forming day-schools, where every Israelitish child 
 may obtain a general education, coupled with a knowledge of his reli- 
 gion. Let us hope that this effort may not be fruitless, and that the 
 results may not disappoint the projectors. But to our friends in Eng- 
 land let us address the admonition not to be indifferent to the blessed 
 results of education witnessed in Germany and elsewhere. They are 
 charitable to profusion ; strangers from all parts of the world claim, 
 not unheeded, their assistance ; the cry of anguish is not heard un- 
 moved by the princely merchants of Israel domiciled in Britain ; and 
 can they be blind to their own defects ? can they refuse to aid them- 
 selves, their children, their friends, out of the pit of religious ignorance 
 which is said to exist among them ? All that is required is an effort, 
 undertaken not in the spirit of fault-finding and hasty reform, but in 
 an humble striving to magnify the Lord. I will not mention any one 
 by name ; but there are those whom God has greatly blessed ; fugitives, 
 some from the bondage of the Czar, former residents of oppressed Ger- 
 many, and others again in whose veins flows the blood of many a 
 martyr from the persecution of the Inquisition. Surely they all feel 
 their duty ; let them feel it more deeply, and not rest till they have 
 restored the Law among their brethren, and glorified the Lord by their 
 faith and deeds. — I. L. 
 
 11 
 
122 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 he can call for that instruction he may not have received 
 at home; never hearing the law expounded, or the Bible 
 in any way explained: to his mother alone the Hebrew 
 child must look, on his mother alone depend for the spirit 
 of religion, the inculcation of that faith which must fol- 
 low him through life. 
 
 Few in number, scattered amonojst the nations without 
 a land to claim as our own, a king to cherish and protect 
 us, we are daily thrown amongst those believing in and 
 following another creed. ''And ye shall be left few in 
 number, whereas ye were even as the stars in heaven for 
 multitude, because thou wouldst not obey the voice of 
 the Lord thy God; and the Lord shall scatter thee 
 among all people from one end of the world even unto 
 another." (Deuteronomy xxviii. 62, 64.) Such was 
 the awful doom pronounced by the great prophet whose 
 words we are considering. We knew the word of the 
 Lord was never known to fail, and yet we disobeyed. 
 Our own wickedness called down on ourselves the ven- 
 geance, so long, through an infinity of love, deferred; 
 and therefore these facts cannot be brought forward to 
 excuse negligence in the instruction of our children. 
 Our Father knows every difficulty and every circum- 
 stance that combine to render the Hebrew mother's task 
 more arduous, more responsible than the Christian. He 
 expects not more than weak humanity can perform; but 
 He will not accept the plea of disadvantages, of difficul- 
 ties, as acquitting us of a parent's duty. 
 
 Were love and gratitude to Him banished from every 
 other human heart, surely they would swell in a young 
 mother's breast, as she gazes upon the little creature 
 undeniably His gift, and feels the full gushing tide of 
 rapture ever attendant on maternal love. Surely in such 
 a moment there must be whisperings of devotion, lead- 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 123 
 
 ing the soul in gratitude to the beneficent Giver of her 
 babe, or swelling it with prayer to guide that precious 
 charge aright. It may be, that doubts of her own ca- 
 pability of executing a task, as solemnly important as 
 inexpressibly sweet, may naturally arise ; but these 
 doubts, instead of leading her to give up the task in de- 
 spair, should lead her to the footstool of her God in 
 prayer; and her petition, even as that of Hannah was, 
 will be granted. 
 
 That truly pious Jewess not only devoted her child to 
 God, but so devoted him, that but once in the year she 
 could behold him; and at first he was her only child — 
 the little being for whom morning and evening she had 
 implored the Lord, implored Him in tears, in fasting, in 
 bitterness of soul. Her prayer was heard; and how 
 fervent must have been her gratitude, how great the 
 love she bore her God, how implicit her reliance on His 
 love for her, that she stilled the yearnings of a mother's 
 tenderness, and as soon as the boy was weaned, brought 
 him up to the high priest and left him there. And was 
 not her pious faithfulness rewarded? Three other sons 
 and two daughters did she bear; and her eldest, the joy, 
 the hope of her heart, became the favoured prophet of 
 the Lord. 
 
 To part thus from her child is not now demanded of 
 the Hebrew mother; nor can there now be such a blessed 
 consummation of such a self-conquering struggle. Yet 
 the example of Hannah should be treasured up by all 
 the daughters of her race, whom the same beneficent 
 God has blessed with children. It must be remembered 
 that in the present state of Israel the word of God can- 
 not and must not be taken literally as it regards the im- 
 mediate answers to prayers, or punishment of sin. The 
 lapse of years, the difference of position, must not be for- 
 
124 THE SPIEIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 gotten. All the pious actions there described, cannot 
 now be performed, nor dare we expect the same direct 
 manifestation of our Father in reward : yet this is no 
 cause of, nor excuse for, the neglect of the Bible. Vouch- 
 safed in love and mercy as an unfailing guide, it at least 
 teaches what is pleasing in the sight of our God, by the 
 blessings that directly follow or are promised. We learn 
 too that ''The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to 
 anger and plenteous in mercy;" that, "As the heaven is 
 high above the earth, so great is His mercy towards 
 them that fear Him;" and therefore if the examples set 
 before us in His book are follow^ed accordine^ to our 
 ability, aided and strengthened by constant prayer, it 
 is certain we too shall be blessed, if not in this world, in 
 that ''where they shall teach no more every man his 
 neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know 
 the Lord, for they shall a.11 know me, from the least of 
 them to the greatest of them, saith the Lord; for I will 
 forgive their iniquities, and I will remember their sins 
 no more." (Jer. xxxi. 34.) 
 
 We cannot devote our sons to the service of the Lord 
 as Hannah, nor, even if we could, would we all be re- 
 quired to do so; but we may teach them to know and to 
 fear Hira, and to guide their every action by their love 
 for Him. We may teach them by their conduct to dis- 
 play His glory, the honour of Jerusalem, the comfort of 
 the Hebrew faith. Even scattered as w^e are amongst 
 the stranger, we can do this; and this is devoting them 
 unto their God. The same reward may not be ours, as 
 was bestowed on Hannah; yet we shall be blessed. The 
 Lord will forsake us not; and as we behold our children 
 grow around us in true piety, and consequently in the 
 exercise of every virtue : will not every Hebrew mother 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 125 
 
 feel that tlie word of the Lord is true and she is blessed 
 indeed? 
 
 To do this, to obtain this desirable end, religion must 
 not be learnt from a book, nor be regarded as a severe 
 restraint. A mother, whose heart is in her work, will 
 find many opportunities, which, properly improved, will 
 lead her little charge to God. Our prayers are long, 
 and not applicable to childish wants and feelings; but a 
 mother may find a sweet employment in throwing toge- 
 ther some well-selected passages, either from our ritual 
 or the Book of Life, to form short but impressive prayers 
 for both morning and evening. A mother's lips should 
 teach them to her child, and not leave the first impres- 
 sions of religion to be received from a Christian nurse. 
 "Were the associations of a mother connected with the 
 act of praying, associations of such long continuance 
 that the child knew not when they were implanted: the 
 piety of maturer years would not be so likely to waver. 
 
 There is a peculiar sweetness in the remembrance of 
 a mother. When a young man has raised himself by 
 his own virtues and talents in the world, when he feels 
 himself esteemed and beloved bv his fellow-men: he will 
 still think of his mother, if it have been from her lips 
 the first lessons of virtue were imbibed ; and if religion 
 were as zealously and carefully implanted, would not 
 her memory have equal influence in guarding him from 
 temptation, strengthening him to walk on in the paths 
 she loved? It may be that continual occupation, per- 
 haps arduous labour, or severe thought and study, have 
 withdrawn his attention a while from his God; or that 
 the paths of pleasure, encircling him with their delu- 
 sive rays, conceal from his eyes the light of eternity. 
 Some sudden association recalls his mother to his mind; 
 
 the days of his early infancy, his happy boyhood, rise 
 
 11* 
 
126 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 before him, and with it the remembrance of duties he 
 has neglected, the hours of prayer that have passed by 
 unheeded. He hears again the sweet and gentle voice 
 which first spoke to him of God; he sees again those 
 happy hours when, seated at her feet, he rested his little 
 hands upon her lap, and repeated with her the words of 
 prayer, or listened with tearful eyes, and swelling heart, 
 to the tales of sacred love her gentle accents told. Few 
 hearts could remain cold and unmoved in the midst of 
 such recollections; he is more likely to prostrate himself 
 before the God that mother worshipped, and pray again 
 even as in childhood. And will the Hebrew mother 
 neglect this solemn yet blessed duty? Will she refrain 
 from thus associating herself in the heart of her child, 
 when, far more than the Kazarene, the sons of Israel 
 require it? Will she not teach the religion of the heart 
 unto her children, instead of merely inculcating peculiar 
 forms, and desiring them to observe peculiar rites? 
 Will she not teach them to fly to the footstool of their 
 God for guidance, instruction, strength, and grace to 
 resist temptation — blessing on all they undertake — com- 
 fort in affliction — moderation in prosperity: — will she 
 not teach them this, instead of so banishing religion 
 from the early education, that her sons in manhood 
 stand and act as if all depended on themselves, on good 
 and evil fortune — acknowledging indeed a God, yet 
 living as if of Him they had no need? her daughters, 
 either wholly occupied with the affairs of this world, 
 living as if there were no eternity, and consequently 
 trembling at the very name of death? — or, needing com- 
 fort, strength, hope, and finding them not in the religion 
 of their fathers, are tempted to seek them where they 
 fancy that no spiritless form restrains the soul, and con- 
 solation is more easily attained? 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 127 
 
 It is not merely hearing of God in tlie stated hours of 
 devotion, which will remedy this evil. When a child is 
 more than usually happy, rendered so perhaps by some 
 indulgence or reward : the kindness of earthly friends 
 should be made a secondary cause, the blessing and love 
 of his Father in heaven, the first The mind of a child 
 when thus excited would not easily forget the impressions 
 then engrafted; his very affections, judiciously directed, 
 would draw him nearer to God, for it is His love which 
 hath given him the friends it gives him so much joy to 
 love. Joyous emotions are natural to childhood, and 
 then is the time to instil both gratitude and love. In 
 times of disappointment or in sorrow — why should not 
 the little heart be soothed and caressed into submission 
 by associating even this trial with a God of love? Petty 
 as the sorrows of childhood may seem to those of riper 
 years: yet we do wrong to smile them to scorn; they are 
 as severe to the little sufferer as the graver sorrows are 
 to maturer years. If discontent darken the brow or 
 create ill temper: instead of angry reproof, the attention 
 of the child might be gently drawn to the multitude of 
 poor helpless children, who know not the very name of 
 many blessings lavished around him; and he might be 
 asked how he can pray to his Father in heaven for a 
 continuance of His love and kindness, when he thus in- 
 dulges in fretfulness and discontent? If superior talent, 
 superior beauty, be the portion of a child : the young 
 heart may be taught they are the gifts of his God, and 
 demand yet more thanksgiving, humility, and prayer to 
 Him, than is required of those less gifted; for if more 
 hath been mercifully granted him, more will be required; 
 and that pride and self-conceit will turn those rich gifts 
 into a curse instead of blessing. 
 
 Were such the education of early childhood, increase 
 
128 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 of piety might be hoped and looked for in manhood. 
 But these lessons must come from a mother, and can 
 only be impressed in the earliest years; it will be too 
 late to wait till the character is formed. On a mother 
 depends greatly the formation of character ; and there- 
 fore she would be wrong to fancy she has time enough 
 before her. Religion should grow with our growth, in- 
 crease with our years, and thus become so completely part 
 of our being, that the child would find it difficult to 
 recall when he first heard of God, when he first was 
 taught that love of God must be the mainspring of his 
 life. If in childhood his joys and sorrows have been 
 made sources of communion between him and his hea- 
 venly Father : instinctively he will in manhood bless his 
 God in prosperity, and fly to Him for comfort in afilic- 
 tion. If in childhood he has been taught to pray for 
 aid, in the tasks and temptations of the day, so too in 
 the weightier afi'airs of manhood will he seek the guid- 
 ance of the Lord. If he have been corrected when a 
 child, because he had offended his heavenly, yet more 
 than his earthly Father, and led to pray for grace in the 
 removal of his faults: in after-years he will guai^d against 
 error and sin, not for fear of the judgment of the world, 
 but of that of a higher Judge. He will walk on, feeling 
 his own lowliness, his own dependence on his God; yet 
 in the sight of his fellows, virttie and honour will encircle 
 him w^ith their robes of light; for inward, yet ever- 
 working piety, will be the shield, against which the arrows 
 of guilt and temptation will be blunted — and the main- 
 spring from which his every action will revolve with 
 heitrhtened and unfailino; lustre. 
 
 To the mothers of every faith and every class these 
 hints may be equally applicable; but to Jewish mothers 
 more particularly. We have but to study the Book of 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 129 
 
 Life and every history of our nation : and we shall not 
 fail to perceive that the religion Moses taught was in- 
 tended to unite the thought of God with our every action. 
 If a Christian writer finds sufficient foundation for the 
 assertion that ''there can be no half measures in devo- 
 tion; religion must be all or nothing:" how much more 
 powerfully should we feel it, we — who are a peculiar 
 people, the first-born of the Lord, thus called by the 
 Eternal Himself, and therefore absolutely set apart, to 
 exalt by our conduct His glory amidst the nations? It 
 is urged, perhaps, our situation is not now what it was; 
 that it does not depend on us alone "to magnify the 
 Lord ;" that we are but as a handful amidst the nations 
 that now worship Him : yet this fact in no way decreases 
 our responsibility. It is rather increased ; for it is easy 
 to divide the worship of the one true God from idolatry, 
 — many civil as well as religious customs did this; but 
 now, mingling intimately with the nations that wor- 
 ship God, though not as we do, living under the same 
 civil jurisdiction, acknowledging the same sovereign, 
 unless the adherence to the laws of Moses be even more 
 exact, it is more than likely our nationality would be 
 entirely lost, as well as all pride, all glory in the Hebrew 
 faith. 
 
 To prevent this great evil should be the Hebrew mo- 
 ther's aim. The youngest child may be taught that he 
 is a member of a distinct and peculiar nation. The great 
 mercies and unchanging love of the Lord will, if well 
 related, find very early an answering chord in the youth- 
 ful heart. The wonderful providence, the stupendous 
 miracles, the innumerable instances of our Father's long 
 suff'ering and loving kindness, which our eventful his- 
 tory records, might be related as interesting tales in those 
 many leisure hours that the child looks up so clingingly 
 
130 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 and fondly to his mother for amusement. Vividly and 
 interestingly might these narratives be opened to the 
 young and eager mind, till almost insensibly he feels it a 
 privilege, even at this long lapse of years, to belong to 
 a nation so peculiarly blessed, so singularly the object 
 of God's gracious providence; and that false shame, now, 
 alas, but too familiar to the Hebrew, would never flush 
 the cheek, or lead the tongue to falsehood. Never would 
 manhood descend to mean subterfuge, or weak evasion 
 to conceal his faith. If the path of ambition be confined, 
 he will not wish to enlarge it at the price of his religion. 
 It will be his pride to prove to the nations the spirit of 
 his faith, that even in our captive and degraded state, we 
 are still the peculiar treasure of the Lord. He will not 
 throw off the bondage of our forms, he will not condemn 
 their dictates; for he will trace their minutest regula- 
 tions to the same merciful Father, whose love supports, 
 whose arm sustains him. He will not deem their restric- 
 tions hardships, but hail them with delight as proofs of 
 the obedience and willing service his love urges him to 
 pay unto his God. He will feel to his heart's core, that 
 weak, corrupted as he is of himself, it is by obedience 
 alone, implicit, unquestioning, untiring obedience, he can 
 manifest that in very truth he seeks to love his God ; and 
 therefore whatever he may fancy, of this he is certain, 
 that if he disobey, it is but spurious affection that he 
 feels — he cannot love the Lord. 
 
 Much will the Hebrew mother have accomplished, if 
 she thus teach her children to love, obey, and glory in 
 the faith of the one and only God. Yet this will not be 
 quite enough; she must do more. She must relate the 
 fearful apostasy of Israel. Even as she sketched his 
 glory, must she depict his sins, ingratitude, rebellion, 
 such as no other people knew. She must show forth the 
 
THE SPIPvIT OF JUDAISM. 131 
 
 retributive wrath of the Lord, and all the wretchedness 
 we drew down upon ourselves. As her children increase 
 in years and understanding, she might study with them 
 the writings of the prophets, particularly marking those 
 passages relative to her subject; and by interesting refer- 
 ences, both to past and present history, prove how lite- 
 rally and how completely these awful threatenings have 
 been fulfilled. It would be a pleasing task to intelligent 
 parents to select passages from many standard works on 
 the prophecies, and fit them for the comprehension of 
 their children. The Christians seize with avidity the 
 fulfilment of prophecies, particularly those relating to 
 Edom, Egypt, Moab, Ammon, Palestine itself, as proofs 
 and evidence of the truth of their religion. How easy 
 would it be to select portions from these very books for 
 the instruction of our children ; for the fulfilment of 
 these prophecies only proves the truth and eternal nature 
 • of our law, of the whole Book of Life, according to oiir 
 belief. 
 
 By laying this foundation in childhood, carefully guard- 
 ing against the very smallest approach to bitterness or 
 scorn towards any other creed, we instil their religion 
 with their growth; conversion cannot take place when 
 released from the parental yoke; for the very weapons 
 which the Nazarene would use against them, have be- 
 come in their hands weapons of defence. Proofs of the 
 truth of Christianity are to the young Hebrew proofs of 
 the truth of Judaism. Conversion cannot take place on 
 either side ; but mutual esteem and charity will take the 
 place of such desire; for if both religions appear to have 
 the same foundation, it is evident God alone in His own 
 good time can remove the veil which each believes flung 
 over the other. 
 
 There is yet another most important reason for im- 
 
132 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 pressing carefully and deeply the awful sins of Israel on 
 the youthful Hebrew. He sees the present degraded and 
 wandering state of his nation; he perceives our condition 
 is widely different from that of other kingdoms; he is 
 ready to feel and acknowledge we are cast off from the 
 favour of the Lord, that His countenance is for ever 
 darkened towards us ; and if he have not been instructed 
 in the cause of this, if he have not studied long and 
 deeply the history of his nation and read there — in our 
 continued rebellions, apostasy, transgressions as varied 
 as they are innumerable, disobedience to every given 
 law — the real and only origin of our dispersions and 
 fearful sufferings: he is quite prepared to embrace the 
 creed of the Christian, and believe with him, that all 
 our miseries originate in our rejection of their messiah; 
 that the Eternal has cast us off because, according to the 
 creed and charge of the Christian, we crucified His son.* 
 
 * Without the least intention of weakening the force of the evil 
 depicted as arising from the want of a Jewish education, exhibited in 
 the text, I cannot help remarking that the non-adoption of our system 
 by no means opens the way for the embracing of Christianity. It is pos- 
 sible that there are some, for argument's sake I will say many, who are 
 so struck by the pretended fulfilment of the gospel prediction with re- 
 gard to our dispersion, as to admit the truth of the dogmas embraced in 
 the New Testament. But to a philosophical mind, or one well versed 
 in Scripture, such a result must seem very singular. For, what is Chris- 
 tianity as understood by nine out of every ten of its followers? nothing 
 but an absolute belief in a plurality in the Godhead, and a faith in a 
 forgiveness of sin through the intervention of a mediator, and this a 
 being descended from an incarnation of the divine principle in the body 
 of a man. We will not discuss either of these points whether they be 
 possible in the nature of things or not; but merely confine ourselves 
 to their contradiction of Scripture. Let us but view the idea, "The 
 Lord is one." and what does it say? but that in the Deity there is no 
 division. " The Lord is long-suffering, forgiving iniquity, transgression, 
 and sin ;" this too is a Bible doctrine ; where is here a mention of a me- 
 diator? Lastly, it says : " I the Lord change not;" but is an incarna- 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 133 
 
 From this supposed connection of cause and effect, more 
 converts have been obtained than from any other. And 
 
 tion ?iot a change? ISTow even assume that the Israelite on being ques- 
 tioned cannot account satisfactorily for the dispersion of his people: it 
 is almost impossible that he will admit its being owing to the refusal of 
 his forefathers to give credit in the mission of one who assumed to be 
 a part of the Deity, a mediator between God and man, an incarnation 
 of an essence which admits of no change. — Miss Aguilar no doubt 
 knows of instances where a conversion was the result of reasoning 
 based upon such insufficient grounds; but if it were not that some 
 worldly advantage, real or imaginary, were connected in their mind's 
 eye with a casting off of ancestral opinions : few Jews indeed could be 
 found to do so from absolute conviction. I do not mean to say that a 
 conviction is impossible; for the human mind is at times strangely con- 
 stituted; perverted judgment, according to the views of many at least, 
 is not so rare as to excite astonishment ; but this much we may assert 
 without fear of offending our Christian friends, or of asserting an un- 
 truth, that legitimate convictions, or where the converts can give a rea- 
 sonable account of th,e reasons which sway them for the abandonment 
 of Judaism, are very rare indeed ; or else we should not hear so fre- 
 quently of recantations, or returnings to the fold of Israel. — I say again 
 we need not fear conversions as much as hypocrisy or indifference. 
 Many may pretend to a change of religion for the sake of a tangible 
 advantage, such as office, high standing, or an advantageous matrimo- 
 nial connection ; but we have yet to learn that persons acquainted with 
 Scripture, who have enjoyed the benefits of a Jewish education in ever 
 so moderate a degree, could by any possibility be induced to adopt the 
 doctrine of a trinity with the accessory belief in a mediator. We do 
 not deny nor gainsay that Christians of late have had a plentiful har- 
 vest of apostates ; but they were apostates in very deed, apostates — • 
 deniers of their God for worldly gain. Solitary exceptions may perhaps 
 be adduced; but they will be found to proceed from the individual's hav- 
 ing been always under Christian tuition or exposed through ignorance 
 to some unfortunate influence of friends, who took advantage of moments 
 of weakness to urge their views with a success which they themselves 
 could hardly have expected at another time. — So well are European 
 governments, anxious as they are from political purposes to consolidate 
 their empire over the minds of all their subjects no less than their 
 bodies, convinced of the uselessness of mere preaching, that they attach 
 political advantages, in some shape or other, as bribes or bounties for 
 conversions; no doubt under the persuasion, that though the parents 
 
 22 " 
 
134 ^THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 why is this? simply because the true reason of our rejec- 
 tion has not been taught; because the history of the past 
 has never been brought forward to explain the present 
 and instruct us for the future. Then carefully indeed 
 should the sad story of Israel's apostasy be taught her 
 youthful followers; carefully and tenderly guarded 
 against, yet prepared to receive the connection drawn by 
 the Nazarene between our present state and the rejection 
 of their raessiah. and to answer it bv the manv evidences 
 presented in only too many pages of the Jewish history 
 of its fallacy. 
 
 The youthful mind, already touched by the relation 
 of the inexhaustible love and great forbearance of the 
 Eternal, will feel, as this history of iniquity and retri- 
 butive justice is presented to his view, overwhelmed with 
 the magnitude of sin, the awful nature of the Lord's 
 powder and justice. Then is the favoiirable moment to 
 open to his heart and eye those glorious promises re- 
 lating to our final redemption and return unto His favour. 
 
 •will make bad Christians, the children will be like those of other Chris- 
 tians, that is, believers in the popular system from the ignorance of the 
 principles and hopes of the Jewish faith. Hence it is that, though we 
 hear much of conversions to Christianity in Prussia, Poland, and Eng- 
 land, such events are extremely rare in France, Holland, and America, 
 and unheard of in the Ottoman countries. In the Catholic countries 
 of Spain and her former colonies, the Jew hides his religion ; under 
 governments where he is free to act as he pleases, he cares for no belief 
 if he values not his own. Let the experiment be made of treating 
 Jews and converts alike, and but few of the latter will ever be ob- 
 tained. Interest is a powerful stimulus, but conscientious conviction 
 a thing of slow growth, too slow indeed to convert a Jew into any- 
 thing else. The same is also the case with the reverse; Christians by 
 education are not apt to see error in their creed ; our views to the con- 
 trary notwithstanding. Hence Miss A. speaks wisely in urging mutual 
 charity and forbearance whilst enforcing steadfastness in the path we 
 have been pursuing from the time of Moses to our own days. — I. L. 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 135 
 
 We miglit quote innumerable passages to elucidate our 
 meaning, but it is far better to refer to the fountain-head 
 at once; and vain would be the attempt to transcribe 
 even a quarter of those beautiful verses which Isaiah, Je- 
 remiah, Ezekiel, Amos, Micah, and Malachi, and indeed 
 all the prophets, contain, those we have mentioned abound- 
 ing in them, perhaps, the most.* Past and present ages 
 display the literal fulfilment of every threatening ; and 
 wherefore then should Israel doubt the future? While 
 therefore the young and bounding heart deplores, it may 
 not, cannot despair; for yet more powerfully, more ap- 
 pealingly, do these passages enable it to cling and rejoice, 
 and trust in a God of truth and love ! 
 
 The Eternal hath said — Not for our sakes, but for His^ 
 even His own sake, will He do this great thing ; — but 
 while this extraordinary mercy is impressed on the young 
 heart, we must not forget to instil how much depends 
 upon ourselves. A reference to the twenty-sixth chapter 
 of Leviticus would be a great assistance to this instruc- 
 tion. There we read the blessing and the curse ; and 
 history shows the fulfilment of both. And in the last 
 seven verses we find that, unbounded and unfailing as is 
 the mercy of the Lord, He will not renew His covenant 
 w^ith us, unless we confess our iniquities and the iniquities 
 of our fathers, acknowledge that our present captivity 
 and dispersion are the punishment of our sins, and humble 
 our uncircumcised hearts, till we indeed find renewed 
 favour in His sight. If these prophetic verses be im- 
 pressed on the heart, and memory, and understanding 
 of the child : he will each year become more and more 
 sensible of his responsibility alike to his God, his nation, 
 
 * See the sixtieth chapter of Isaiah to the end of his sublime pro- 
 phecies. 
 
136 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 and the world. To his God — he will evince and feel his 
 consciousness of complete unworthiness, — his desire to 
 bring down the blessing and avert the curse, — his yearn- 
 ing towards that promised land, and that blessed state of 
 things, when all shall know and love the one sole God. 
 To his nation — he will remember that, in our present 
 scattered dwellings, the conduct of individuals is often 
 the criterion by which the whole nation is indexed ; and 
 therefore the Hebrew must live not for hi^nself alone , but 
 as the representative of a belied and hated body, whom 
 his conduct will either depress or exalt. To the world — ■ 
 instead of seeking to deny his lineage, which the finger 
 of God upon our brows will ever prevent, he will seek 
 to be known, to be recognised as a Hebrew, not by his 
 countenance and peculiar form alone, but by the supe- 
 riority of his social and domestic character, emanating 
 from a spirit of religion which can only be divine. 
 Even if the relia^ious instruction hinted above should 
 
 o 
 
 sometimes fail to brino; forth such blessed fruit : the 
 Hebrew mother will yet have done her duty; and not 
 on her head will fall the carelessness, disobedience, or 
 apostasy, of her children. She will stand absolved in 
 the sight of her God ; for He will have seen her strug- 
 gles to lead her offspring in the right way; and if earth 
 brino;s no reward, she will find it at His rischt hand for 
 evermore. Oh ! let but the Hebrew mother persevere, 
 and far more likely is it that she will find a sweet fore- 
 taste of heaven upon earth in the conduct of her chil- 
 dren, than that her efi'orts will all be blighted. She has 
 instructed them thus in obedience to the word of God, 
 to His commands found repeatedly in the Pentateuch, 
 and nowhere more impressively than in the last six 
 verses of the chapter which contains the Shemang. The 
 words '' and ye shall teach them to your children," are 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 137 
 
 but a repetition, a reme^nhrance, of commandments con- 
 tinually given before; and therefore the most literal 
 Hebrew cannot accuse us of taking too enlarged a view, 
 or of spiritualising its meaning. We cannot read the 
 Book of Life without perceiving how intimately the spirit 
 of relisrion was to mino;le with other instructions, how 
 completely it was to be the first, the most precious of all 
 studies ; and if instruction in piety was so necessary in 
 the time of Moses, how much more necessary is it noio, 
 when, unless learnt from a parent's lips, it can never be 
 learnt at all ! And oh ! will any mother expose her 
 children, her beloved, to the miseries attendant on living 
 without their God ? Can she think on the immortal 
 spirits, whose eternal blessedness or everlasting death is, 
 for the first years of their lives, in her keeping, and yet 
 not tremble? Will she not rather prostrate herself in 
 daily humiliation, daily prayer, to the God of love for 
 blessing on her arduous yet blissful task ? for aid, for 
 strength, to guide and assist her through her path, how- 
 ever rugged it may seem ? Can she think on the storms, 
 the temptations that will assail her son on every side 
 when he enters the world, and yet make no effort to 
 provide him with an armour of proof, and a shield of de- 
 fence ? Can she reflect on the sorrows that must encircle 
 the lovely girl at her side ere this life is past, and yet 
 leave unopened the well of comfort, provided for the 
 afflicted by our God Himself? Oh! can she leave her 
 to seek it herself when sorrows come, and risk her seek- 
 ing it in a stranger fold ? Can she think a moment, that 
 death is ever ready to snatch some beloved away, yet 
 shun the theme as if it were enrobed in gloom ? Can 
 she think om this fearful parting, yet breathe no word of 
 immortality? of that glorious world, where the loved that 
 meet shall never part again ? of that blest sojourn, where 
 
 12* 
 
138 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 those first called away await the arrival of each one be- 
 loved? of that bright mansion near our Father's throne? 
 till those gone hence are looked on as departed, not as 
 dead ? 
 
 Man needs religion to strengthen and to humble; 
 woman, to comfort and uphold ; man, to keep him firm, 
 despite of temptation or of scorn ; woman, to fill her 
 yearning heart with love; man, to moderate his pride, to 
 keep him humble in prosperity, and firm as the ocean- 
 rock, when the waves of misfortune beat around him; 
 woman, to teach her her own dignity, her mission in 
 prosperity, her anchor of refuge, of hope, of faith, in 
 sorrow. 
 
 It may be, that in this world, man may contrive to 
 live, ay, and be happy, without religion, till the hour of 
 death awakens him to a consciousness of a God and 
 another world ; but alas for that woman who knows it 
 not ! There are trials peculiar to her heart, not the less 
 intense in their anguish, because in many cases they are 
 unrevealed, too often unsuspected, and therefore never 
 open to the consolation and sympathy of her fellows; 
 then, oh ! what must be her agony if she know not Him 
 whose love surpasseth the dearest, most precious upon 
 earth ! if she know not Him whose arms are open to re- 
 ceive her sinking frame, whose love demands her con- 
 fidence, who will soothe and bless, if yet a while He will 
 not heal — even as she poureth forth her sorrows on His 
 breast ! How may she go forth on her lonely and un- 
 blest path — alone — to meet the trials, petty and great, 
 the cares, temptations, peculiar to her lot : if she feel 
 she have no Friend, if she know not the comfort, the 
 blessing of a Father and a Saviour's eye, of* an Arm of 
 love around her ? How may she enter on the sacred 
 duties of a wife and mother, if she know not God? and 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 139 
 
 oh how dare she love, if she looks to this world onlv to 
 perfect and retain it ? how may she give her heart, her 
 happiness to the keeping of a mere mortal, whom one 
 little hour may lay in the dust ? Surely, surely, reflec- 
 tion on this life, as it is, should urge a mother to 
 teach religion to her children, even if she did not look 
 on it in the lisrht of obedience to her God. Adherence 
 to instituted forms will not be suflBicient of itself to make 
 religion a vital principle, or open to the youthful heart 
 its ever-springing fount of comfort and of love; but if 
 the spirit of piety contained in that brief command to 
 love the Lord with heart, and soul, and might, be incul- 
 cated in the minds of our children : we obey every one 
 of the precepts comprised in the Shemang ; and in rais- 
 ing the affections of our children to their gracious and 
 beneficent God, we cannot fail to strengthen our own. 
 
 Ere we proceed to the remainder of this verse, may 
 we be permitted to hint on the importance of making 
 the Hebrew language familiar to every Hebrew child ? 
 It cannot be considered a dead language ; for the nation 
 to which it originally belonged continues to exist, and 
 will exist for ever. It is not indeed spoken as it would 
 have been, had we remained in our own land; yet it 
 might still continue the link uniting the sons of Israel 
 wherever they may be. The sojourners in England, 
 France, Austria, Spain, might be enabled to converse or 
 to commune with each other in their own native tongue, 
 though of the language of their respective homes each 
 might be ignorant. 
 
 But this end cannot be attained, if the Hebrew child 
 is merely taught to read and translate his prayers, as 
 was formerly the case, and his aptitude in the language 
 judged according to his proficiency in following the ser- 
 vice of the Synagogue. Why should Hebrew be the 
 
140 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 only language wliicli is never learnt grammatically ? 
 Why should it not be taught the infant Hebrew even as 
 the language of the land in which he is a sojourner ? 
 Hebrew is scarcely more difficult or complicated than 
 English; but the latter is attained so gradually, we are 
 so prepared for its grammar when we arrive at it, that 
 we are never aware of the difficulties its acquirement 
 presents to a foreigner; and in the same manner the dif- 
 ficulties of Hebrew would vanish, were the child equally 
 prepared to encounter them; and the gradual acquire- 
 ment of f;imiliar words and sentences in this ancient 
 language would do this far better than charging the 
 memory with portions of prayer, which only succeed in 
 divesting the sacred words from all holiness, and cause 
 the prayer-book to be regarded as a hated task, instead 
 of beina; welcomed as the blessed means of communion 
 between man and his Maker. Never may we hope for 
 the perfect attainment of this ancient and glorious lan- 
 guage, till the present system has given place to one more 
 calculated to engage a child's fancy; till the prayer- 
 book is not the first which we place in an infant's hands; 
 till other than words so sacred as prayer are the first 
 we teach our children to repeat. Our aim indeed should 
 be to enable them to address their Creator in the lan- 
 guage of their ancestors, to read His word pure and un- 
 altered, even as it came from heaven; but by placing it 
 too early before them, we frustrate our own desires. 
 
 We would think it strange if, as soon as a child had 
 acquired his letters in French or Italian, the Henriade 
 or Dante should be placed before him, and he should be 
 desired to learn passages by rote with merely the assist- 
 ance of a subjoined translation. We would not hesitate 
 to dismiss a master who thus taught; for we should 
 know the impossibility of his pupils obtaining either a 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 141 
 
 familiar or grammatical idea of the language. How 
 then can we expect to succeed in imparting Hebrew, if 
 this same plan be followed? for the poetry of Dante and 
 Voltaire is not more difficult than the sublime strains of 
 the Hebrew poets. What are the P^^ahns which form 
 our prayers but poetry, the most inspired, most difficult 
 poetry? and we might as well expect that charging the 
 memory with them will teach our children Hebrew, as 
 the making them repeat Milton, as soon as they had 
 learnt their English letters, would teach them their 
 native tongue. Gradually and pleasantly we should 
 pave the way, that difficulties may be encountered and 
 overcome singly ; that, when they do approach the sacred 
 volumes, it may be to understand and to enjoy them, to 
 find new pleasures, new truths, in every page; and not 
 to fling them aside with distaste and loathing, as soon 
 as the chains of the school-room are broken, and the 
 young aspirants are set free. 
 
 Liable as we are to religious arguments with the 
 Nazarene, it is absolutely necessary that Hebrew should 
 be part of the education we bestow on our children. 
 The English Bibles are translated by the Christian 
 divines, and though the text is generally correct, the 
 heads of the chapters are very likely to mislead. There 
 are also some passages which, mysteriously written in 
 English, may appear capable of a double meaning; and 
 it is more than likely the young Israelites would refer 
 to the head of the chapter for the explanation of the text, 
 and thus become confused, and either waver, or throw 
 aside the sacred volume, as tending rather to destroy 
 than to give peace. A perfect knowledge of Hebrew 
 would banish this evil without interfering with the solid 
 comfort found in the perusal of English Bibles. It would 
 confirm them in their faith; for it is a known fact that, 
 
142 THE SPIEIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 when an Israelite is thoroughly acquainted with Hebrew, 
 he understands it much more fully and perfectly than 
 an English divine. He will understand the peculiar 
 structure of the language, not only to discover its real 
 meaning, but also to trace how the Kazarene has been 
 enabled to turn the same passages to favour his own. 
 belief. He will be enabled to produce argument for ar- 
 gument, and guard against those errors in the transla- 
 tion of the Bible which have been permitted to remain 
 as favouring the Christian creed. Many words in Eng- 
 lish allow of a double meaning, and very many also in 
 Hebrew; therefore we cannot wonder the Christian 
 translators should adopt those renderings bearing most 
 upon the religion in which they believe. 
 
 Instead of condemning them for this, and being posi- 
 tive they are wrong and we are right, simply because 
 for many generations we have been so taught: how much 
 better would it be to refer to the Hebrew Bible, to find 
 our belief and comfort there, and be prepared to answer 
 every argument founded on some particular transaction, 
 by a reference to the passage in its original language, 
 and explain the sense as we regard it? 
 
 Then indeed might the chosen children of God be en- 
 abled to cope with those English divines, who have made 
 the word of God the study of a life. How few amongst 
 us now can do so ! How many shrink from all argument, 
 and tacitly allow the truth of the mistaken doctrines 
 pressed upon them; because they feel they can bring 
 forward nothing to support their faith ; and others even 
 depart from the strict line of truth, because there are so 
 few amongst the Jewish nation to whom they can refer. 
 
 Yet it is sometimes thought, that religious knowledge 
 should be the business of priests or ministers, not of the 
 laymen of a nation. The observation is just, regarding 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 143 
 
 other nations; but not to the first-born of the Lord — 
 that one people so peculiarly set apart that it was to be 
 a "nation of priests;" even the king himself was to 
 "write a copy of the Law in a book, to be with him that 
 he might read therein all the days of his life, and learn 
 to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this 
 law and these statutes to do them." (Deut. xvii. 18, 
 19.) 
 
 If these were the commands of the Lord in our own 
 land, and when His spirit still dwelt amongst us : how 
 much more requisite must it be now to attend to the 
 preservation of our Law in its original purity; how re- 
 quisite that every child of Israel, male or female, should 
 perfectly understand the language of our ancestors, that 
 in which the awful yet invisible Voice delivered His dic- 
 tates to Moses, that we may indeed feel, Hebrew is 
 bound to Hebrew by a link neither oceans of water nor 
 spreading wastes of land can sever! It matters not, 
 that it is the opposite ends of the world in which they 
 are domesticated. The sacred language is the silver link 
 which, uniting them to each other, separates them from 
 other nations, and makes them feel that they are indeed 
 the witnesses of the Lord. And while they read in re- 
 joicing faith the Book of Life in the language in which 
 it was given, or in humble adoration prostrate themselves 
 before God's throne: must not a glowing of the whole 
 soul attend the addressing of the Eternal, in the same 
 language in which His awful voice addressed His favoured 
 servants ? 
 
 Thousands of years have passed away — yet that lan- 
 guage and that nation still exist; can they, oh can they, 
 then, doubt its truth ? Surely they must feel their re- 
 ligion comes indeed from their God; that they are mem- 
 
144 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 bers of a people, to whom such extraordinary mercies 
 have been vouchsafed, and that they are the first-born, 
 the chosen of the Lord! 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE SPIRIT OF RELIGION REGARDED AS PERVADING AND 
 GUIDING OUR CONVERSATION, PROFANE READING, AD- 
 MIRATION OF THE WORKS OF NATURE, ETC. 
 
 There is such a marked distinction in the two Hebrew 
 verbs used in the fourth verse of the Shemang, that it 
 would be barely possible to give them their proper 
 weight, were they considered together. Dnj^t^*! ren- 
 dered in general "and thou shalt teach them diligently," 
 &c., is in the original a remarkably forcible expression, 
 signifying to repeat over and over again — to inculcate 
 with diligence and constant care. It is not enough to 
 talk of the commandments to our children: we must 
 repeat them again and again, till the law and love of 
 their God are in very truth impressed on their yielding 
 mind, "that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord 
 their God as long as they live." (Deut. xxxi. 13.) How 
 to seek this desirable end and obey this emphatic com- 
 mand, we have already considered. The second member 
 of the sentence remains to be regarded. 
 
 We find the root of DID r)"l.?1.1 " and thou shalt speak 
 of them" to be ^1D*1 to utter one's sentiments aloud, to 
 speak or to converse together : and we are told in this com- 
 mand to speak or converse of them, "When thou sittest 
 in thy house, when thou walkest by the way, when thou 
 liest down, and when thou risesjb up." It is not therefore 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 145 
 
 enough only to teach the word of our God unto our chil- 
 dren: it is not enough even to make it the object of indi- 
 vidual and secret study; not enough even to love Him: 
 if that love dwell in individual hearts alone, and is never 
 made the subject of sweet communion around domestic 
 hearths, or to those friends we love the best. 
 
 The two ordinances which close the Shemang are gene- 
 rally observed. There are few who, educated as sons 
 of Israel with some little care, but will don the peculiar 
 dress for the hours of prayer denoted in these precepts; 
 few Hebrews whose residences are not adorned by the 
 little scroll of the Law upon "the door-posts and upon 
 their gates." And why then, in steadily adhering to one 
 command, should they not be equally consistent in seek- 
 ing to obey the other? Both proceed from the same 
 Divine Author; one is of equal importance with the 
 other; nay, it may be that in our present sad and. captive 
 state, to love the Lord, and speak of Him, His attributes, 
 His gracious providence, is even more necessary than the 
 mere forms which the next verses inculcate. 
 
 Yet when do we speak of these things? When, even 
 amidst a domestic circle, does conversation turn upon 
 those topics which would enable us to obey this com- 
 mand? When is religious conversation ever introduced 
 except to fortify ourselves in our own opinions, to exalt 
 our own glory, — not the glory of our God, — to cry down 
 the belief of others, to condemn as saints and hypocrites 
 all whose opinions are somewhat stricter than our own, 
 all whose notions of piety are too exalted, too spiritual 
 for the worldly to comprehend? When is the word of 
 God brought forwfyrd, except to argue on points of doc- 
 trine, in themselves of little moment compared to the 
 spirit which should pervade them? Better, far better 
 
 should religion never be spoken of than become the sub- 
 is 
 
146 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 ject of wrangling and violence; for very few are the 
 tempers which can argue calmly. To condemn, to scorn, 
 nay, even to hate, is but too often the effect of religious 
 argument; and the whisperings of piety are lost, they 
 are too faint, too spiritual, to breathe amid such stormy 
 scenes; and charity, universal benevolence, and love, the 
 touchstone by which true holiness is tried and proved, 
 how may they exist in argument where contempt is in 
 general so thinly veiled? The Christian boasts of his 
 charity ; but far more should it be the watchword of the 
 Jew. The handmaid of piety she is indeed, and with the 
 sincere and lowly professor of either creed she is ever 
 found; but to the nominal religionist* she is a word un- 
 known. 
 
 To be convinced of the truth of his religion, so as to 
 be ever ready to defend it when called upon, is the 
 bounden duty of every Hebrew; but to converse of the 
 Law means not to enter unchallenged on the trackless 
 field of religious argument. We have been previously 
 commanded to love the Lord ; to let His words be upon 
 our hearts; to teach them to our children; and then to 
 give such thoughts vent in the sweet communion of 
 home. Were mental meditations never spoken, human 
 nature is such that they would either fade and die, or, 
 finding a contrary extreme, become so intense and con- 
 tinual, that the mind would at length revolt from their 
 contemplation, harassed and exhausted. 
 
 Conversation strengthens thought; and yet prevents 
 
 * If this is universally admitted, how small a number of truly reli- 
 gious can then be found among the Christians ! The idea of charity is 
 not by them extended to the Jews, and th^ truly orthodox do not 
 admit that one who believes not in an atonement through a divine 
 personage can be a child of salvation. — We have our faults, faults too 
 glaring to be concealed ; but our neighbours have equally many to 
 answer for. — I. L, 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 147 
 
 the mind from wearying. Individual sentiments are im- 
 parted, and others are received in return. New ideas 
 are thus given, and they at once refresh the mind, and 
 prepare new matter for reflection. 
 
 We are not to attend to the very letter* of the Law 
 and speak of God at the times specified ; but simply that 
 our thoughts and love for Him are to be warmed, re- 
 vived, and strengthened by means of conversation one 
 with another ; not on His word alone, but on His works, 
 His providence, His love. 
 
 Nor is this conversation intended to take the place of 
 real consoling piety. It must spring from an overflowing 
 heart, not consist in eloquent words, which have no rest- 
 ing save on air. It is to relieve the overcharged heart, 
 not puff it up with pride. When well-selected words 
 flow glibly from eager lips, and an ardent eloquence ap- 
 pears to bear all its hearers along with it : the spirit is 
 ready to condemn others, as far its inferiors in religious 
 fervour, simply because they cannot speak so well; and 
 yet, while the lips may speak so piously and well, the 
 heart may remain stubborn and unmoved. 
 
 That religion is often only too questionable, which can 
 speak its sentiment, can converse eloquently on such 
 holy things to strangers, or in every mixed society in 
 which it may be thrown. That which we hold dearer 
 than life itself, the thoughts, reflections, feelings of a 
 truly pious heart which have been cherished so long 
 and so closely, that they can be scarcely traced to their 
 source, are painfully difiicult to clothe in words, except 
 
 * According to my view it should in a measure be literal. Our 
 customs also conform to this idea; for the reading of the Shemang, or 
 the subjecting of ourselves in words to the heavenly rule, is a duty 
 performed thrice every day, at rising, when the sun sets, and wheu we 
 intrust our spirit to God before we lie down to sleep. — I. L. 
 
148 THE SPIEIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 to those beloved ones to whom the heart is ever open. 
 They shrink from the pain of misconception; ihey are 
 felt as too pure, too holy, too ethereal to be exposed to 
 the rude breath of a world; and so closely are they en- 
 twined round the fibres of the heart, that the eye of af- 
 fection alone may see, the ear of love alone receive them. 
 Nor would the command we are considering unclasp 
 with a rude hand these precious links which bind man 
 unto his Maker. It refers but to the communinsj at home, 
 the intercourse with our domestic circle, with our dear- 
 est, most intimate companions. 
 
 Precious is that friendship whose supporting link is 
 a mutual love of God. The pure happiness of affection, 
 the consolations of sympathy and confidence, are His 
 gifts, and if felt as such, there will naturally arise some 
 moments when the surcharged heart must speak of its 
 God. Then indeed might its conversation be devoid of 
 that argumentative spirit which would condemn. Inno- 
 cently, gratefully, how continually might w^e speak of 
 Him; how many new ideas might be imparted; how 
 many passing reflections strengthened and improved. 
 Were the word of our God, and works relating to and 
 pleasantly elucidating it, amongst the mutual studies of 
 intimate minds: how calmly and blessedly might the 
 spiritual views of each be exalted, the aff"ections of each 
 increased in stability and w^orth! How consolingly 
 would they feel the words of the inspired minstrel : " To 
 him. that ordereth his conversation aright, w^ill I show 
 the salvation of God." But is it so? is the love of God 
 indeed the uniting link of friendship ? Is not such con- 
 versation only too often, alas ! banished as entirely from 
 the intercourse of friends as from strangers? It is a 
 peculiar pleasure to some to read the same books, to 
 compare notes on mutual studies, to find the opinions of 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 149 
 
 those they love agree with their own; and oh! how 
 much that pleasure is enhanced when the same affection 
 is borne towards that sacred book, in which simple 
 pathos, eloquent narration, descriptive beauty, inspired 
 poetry — all — all, are combined to mark it as a thing 
 apart, a book like which there is no other ! What in- 
 exhaustible food for reflection does it contain 1 What 
 mutual comfort, mutual hope does it bestow ! 
 
 There are few words more abused than that of- friend- 
 ship. Connections of pleasure, of frivolity, of interest, 
 deserve not the name. Intended to be the union of im- 
 mortal spirits whose affections die not even when earthly 
 love is over, what can be so likely to purify and cement 
 that love as a mutual reverence for and belief in a God 
 of love, and in the sacred nature of His word ? Friend- 
 ship is the only earthly tie which can exist in purity and 
 warmth, even if the actual creeds should differ. If the 
 same spirit of religion, the same deep reverence for the 
 word of God, the same strivings after righteousness, and 
 desire to do His will in all things however contrary to 
 our own, the same trust in His deep love and redeeming 
 mercy actuate the heart : it matters not that in actual 
 belief we may not think alike. Often, very often does 
 it happen that a sincere and heartfelt follower of one 
 creed finds a deeper, dearer answer to his secret feelings 
 of piety and love in the heart of one equally devoted to 
 his own peculiar religion, than is ever granted to him 
 among his own ; and there may be many opportunities 
 for that pleasant communing which friends so love, on 
 the word, and works, and love, and providence of a 
 mutual Father : and yet there need not be one syllable 
 of argument to disturb their harmony or to diminish the 
 affection of either. 
 
 It is not so with the ties of love. Unhappy is that 
 
 13* 
 
150 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 union which cannot join heart and hand in the relio;ious 
 education of their children; which sees the father pur- 
 suing one path and the mother another; which causes 
 every infant treasure to be hailed with a sigh instead of 
 a smile, and generally ends in bitterness and strife, and 
 causes that the offspring of such unions know not re- 
 velation, follow not the belief of either parent, knowing 
 perhaps there is a God, but not His attributes. Oh ! 
 such a* union is indeed an awful curse, bringing with it 
 neither the happiness of earth nor the hope of heaven. 
 How may those, who have thus thoughtlessly taken upon 
 them the marriage vow, or wilfully dared the evils attend- 
 ant upon it, answer at the footstool of an offended God, 
 for the immortal spirits committed to their charge? No, 
 the same spirit — the same form — the same private and 
 the same public worship, must be the links of love, or it 
 will prove but perishable joy. 
 
 The friendship of David and Jonathan is an exquisite 
 trait of nature and character in the eventful life of the 
 minstrel king. There is a devotedness, an unselfishness 
 in the affection of Jonathan, that must excite the warmest 
 feelings of the heart towards him. He knew that David 
 was destined to be the instrument of the Lord in remov- 
 ing his father and himself from the throne; that David's 
 preservation and success preceded the downfall of Saul's 
 house; and yet he loved him still, ay, risked his own 
 life and his favour with his father, to warn and save the 
 friend he loved. What can more emphatically describe 
 the strong affection of the young prince, suddenly excited 
 as it was, than the simple words of Holy Writ, '' When 
 he (David) had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that 
 the soul of Jonathan 7vas knit with the soul of David, 
 and Jonathan loved David as his own soul"? No jeal- 
 ousy, no petty meanness clouded the exalted nature of 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 151 
 
 this love; Jonathan was himself a warrior of no mean re- 
 pute, beloved by all bis father's subjects; how few thus 
 situated would have so directly and so earnestly loved 
 the unknown shepherd-boy, whose extraordinary deed of 
 valour so suddenly eclipsed his own, and who bade fair 
 to more than rival him in the affections of the people, 
 and was destined by the Lord even to supplant him on 
 the throne ? Little as we know of him, there are few 
 characters more intrinsically beautiful than that of Jona- 
 than ; and well did David know how to appreciate his 
 virtues and love in return. Surely Solomon thought of 
 this immortal friendship, when he wrote: ''A friend 
 loveth at all times;" ''There is a friend that sticketh 
 closer than a brother;" "Faithful are the wounds of a 
 friend;" "Thine own friend, and thy father's friend for- 
 sake not;" "As iron sharpeneth iron, so a man sharpen- 
 eth the countenance of his friend," meaning that as iron 
 by close friction sharpeneth iron, so the mutual conver- 
 sation of friends sharpeneth or improveth their intellect- 
 ual faculties, by bestowing on each the ideas of the other. 
 And in what is improvement so desirable as in the love 
 and knowledge of our God ? When the spirit of piety is 
 the supporting link of human ties, death loses half his 
 terrors ; for then we feel and know that love is not con- 
 fined to this world alone. Death, though it may divide 
 us a while, will prove, in the end, the commencement of 
 eternal love. The same hopes, the same spiritual de- 
 sires, the same hol^ spirit which pervaded our inter- 
 course in this nether world, will obtain perfection in the 
 next ; and love, purer, brighter, unchilled by doubt, un- 
 checked by those petty trials and alloys, which harass 
 even the purest friendship here — love, immutable and 
 blessed, will await our souls on high. 
 
 But may we hope, that such will be .the termination 
 
152 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 of connections made for earthly pleasures ? for frivolous 
 amusements ? for improvement only of the mind and 
 talents, in which there mingles not one thought of Him 
 who gave them, and who demands to be remembered and 
 loved ? Yet, all and each of these is dignified by the 
 term friendship^ Alas ! they are but perishable flowers, 
 sweet for the time, but whose fading blossoms are only 
 wreathed for earth. And should not this awful con- 
 sideration deter us from forming connections, either in 
 love or friendship, with those who know not, seek not 
 to know God, though fascinating may be their outward 
 attractions, their intrinsic virtues ? The more we love 
 below, the more dreadful must be the thought of death, 
 if we may not hope to meet hereafter. And if the love 
 of God exist not in our dearest and most intimate 
 connections : how is that verse of the Sbemang to be 
 obeyed, which commands us not only to teach His words 
 to our children, but to speak of them continually to one 
 another ? 
 
 And yet it is easy to do this. The works of the Lord 
 are in truth inexhaustible; His providence is daily 
 shown around us, to ourselves, our friends, in events con- 
 tinually recurring. And when we see not His hand iu 
 all things, it is because we will not see it. How many love 
 to speak of chance, and fortune, and fate ; and yet re- 
 ject with scorn the belief, that nothing can occur below 
 without the permission of the Eternal, who, without 
 interfering with the free-will of 5is creatures, makes 
 all things tend to His wise though secret government 
 above. To explain this apparent contradiction is not in 
 the power of man ; it is a belief which can only be felt ; 
 yet blessed in very truth are those to whom it is vouch- 
 safed. Those who believe it not, can scarcely love their 
 God, can scarcely dare address Him ; for if the affairs of 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 153 
 
 earth are wholly divided from the economy of Heaven, 
 if all events depend on man, and not on God: we can- 
 not feel that we are each and all individual objects of 
 His care ; we cannot be soothed in sorrow by the thought, 
 it is a Father's will, and His will is love. The fatalist, 
 and he who denies the ever-active providence of God, 
 are alike fettered by invisible yet not the less painful 
 chains ; and to neither* of these can the hopes and ordi- 
 nances of religion refer. 
 
 There is scarcely any profane history which, if read 
 attentively, will not afford matter for instruction, thought, 
 and subsequent conversation on the wonderful providence 
 of the Lord. Here events can be traced from their very 
 embryo to their final completion, either in success or 
 overthrow. The airy trifles, so often the hinges on 
 which great events turn, the almost invisible seeds of 
 mighty revolutions, stand revealed on the pages of his- 
 tory, and if properly considered often serve as keys to 
 the continual incongruities passing around us. " The 
 history of human affairs," an intelligent author observes, 
 '' is but the history of Divine Providence ;"t and the re- 
 mark is perfectly correct. Did the spirit of piety per- 
 vade, as was intended, the intellect, those very works 
 
 * To the thinking mind, it is a matter of astonishment how any one 
 can deny an overruling Providence. If any thing could grow by 
 chance, if any event could occur without plan or arrangement, then 
 indeed the unbeliever might find support for his doubt. But is there 
 anything without an origin? Besides, do his doubts remove him from 
 the operation of the chance, luck or fortune he speaks of? Surely 
 there is hope, and life, and consolation in the belief, in the acknow- 
 ledgment that there is a Being, high and holy, who knows all our 
 deeds, measures all our steps, and grants us that success only which is 
 best for our ultimate happiness. — I. L. 
 
 f Bigland. His Letters on Ancient and Modern History clearly and 
 forcibly illustrate the truth of his remark. 
 
154 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 read for profane instruction would assist to promote 
 obedience to the command we are re^ardino;. 
 
 Nor is it only history that may do this. There are 
 tales, simple, domestic, highly moral tales, which, though 
 as a whole fictitious, are in the main point but narrations 
 of what, could we but lift up the veil of the world, is 
 continually passing around us. " Truth is strange, 
 stranger than fiction;" and were this fact more con- 
 sidered, the very tales read for recreation and enjoyment 
 might be made of service in the promotion of piety. 
 There are many who deem the perusal of such works 
 but mere waste of time and intellect, creating evils even 
 worse, in filling the mind with romance and folly. Nay, 
 so far is this mistaken prejudice extended, that all books 
 but those of instruction either in history, geography, 
 arts, or sciences, are excluded from the child's library. 
 The infant mind is crammed, its intellect exhausted, 
 while the moral training and the guidance of the feel- 
 ings are left to their own discretion, instead of permit- 
 ting them to expand, in admiration of the good and 
 detestation of the bad, whose actions and feelings are 
 recorded in tales* relative to children of their own age. 
 
 It is the same with youth. Formerly, indeed, light 
 works were not fitted either to attract the eye or engage 
 the heart; and there are very many now, too many alas ! 
 far more likely to produce evil than good. Yet while 
 England may boast the names of Edgeworth, Hemans, 
 Hall, Mitford, Ellis, Sinclair, Ferrier, Opie. and Howitt, 
 
 * Miss Aguilar is right in the main regarding the usefulness of tales 
 properly told. But Id permitting such works to be placed in the hands 
 of children, especially in our novel, romance, and story-writing age, 
 great care must absolutely be exercised in the selection, so that no dis- 
 torted or extravagant view of life be early implanted in the youthful 
 mind. — I. L. 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 155 
 
 amongst her female literati, and Scott, and James, and 
 Fay, to swell the brilliant list, the young can never be 
 in want of recreation at once as improving to the heart, 
 as delightful to the fancy; and if the mind has been 
 properly trained, the spirit of piety indelibly infused, 
 even the perusal of such works will strengthen and im- 
 prove it. 
 
 Few will believe this : a fanciful hypothesis it will in 
 all probability be deemed; yet it is nevertheless true, as 
 a reference to those whose minds have not been cultivated 
 alone, but regulated, and are ever under the guiding 
 influence of a spirit not of earth, would prove. To them 
 it is not the romance and sentiment which are alone 
 devoured and treasured up and thought upon, to the for- 
 getfulness of all the rest. The same tale perused by the 
 pupils of diverse schools, would be productive of com- 
 pletely opposite effects. They who have been taught to 
 drown all feeling, to conceal every emotion, to contemn 
 as romance and folly every exalted sentiment, will be 
 the very minds to which such food will bring evil instead 
 of good; for they will seek in the pages of fiction the 
 indulgence of all those whisperings of romance and high- 
 flown sentiment which has become the stronger, from its 
 being ever kept restrained and concealed. They condemn 
 as vapid and dry, or as saintly sermons, all that w^ould 
 speak of morality and piety; they seek for no moral, 
 laugh at the notion of good being derived from such 
 works, and as a necessary consequence derive none; 
 and their mind, becoming palled from such a continued 
 succession of sweets and excitement, at length rejects all 
 other food. 
 
 Very different is the effect of such pleasant recreation 
 on minds which, educated in the school of piety, and of 
 feelings, regulated not contemned, are ever accustomed 
 
156 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 to seek for the good, to cull flowers where others may 
 see but weeds. They deem it no sin to trace the opera- 
 tions of an ever-acting Providence, even in the events 
 recorded as fictitious tales. They know that the cause 
 of seeming incongruity and mystery in human affairs 
 only originates in our being unable to trace them from 
 their commencement to their completion, from the num- 
 ber of years they take in their fulfilment; while those 
 more striking events, which chiefly form the basis of 
 tales, generally pass unnoticed in real life, from the mul- 
 tiplicity and confusion ever attendant on human affairs. 
 In a well-narrated tale, these obstructions to the tracing 
 of providence are removed. Sorrows, proceeding from 
 ill-regulated or irreligious minds, are traced to their 
 source. Virtue and vice stand more strongly drawn be- 
 fore us, than they ever can be in life. Our own faults 
 or weaknesses frequently strike the mind, by their re- 
 flection on the pages which we read. Humility is fre- 
 quently strengthened by the contrast the well-guided 
 heart discovers between itself and those whose actions 
 excite our admiration and love; for it does not drown the 
 still small voice by the common excuse for evil, that 
 perfection is only found in books; it knows that often, 
 unsuspected and unseen, yet more exalted virtue dwells 
 on earth than ever fiction can portray; and when it 
 dwells on faults and passion falling before temptation, 
 led astray by pleasure and success, it is often led to look 
 within itself, and silently and voicelessly send up the 
 prayer for grace and strength, not to stumble through 
 the like means. 
 
 And thus, can it be considered impious and profane 
 to render recreative reading subservient to the cause 
 of piety? to the immortal interests of the soul? will it 
 not rather lead the youthful student to look yet more 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 157 
 
 diligently within his own heart, and prepare his mind to 
 recognise in a measure the ever-acting Providence which 
 guides and governs the actions alike of individuals and 
 those of the whole universe around him? 
 
 There are others again who, continually eulogizing 
 Nature, yet never seem to cast a thought, or speak a 
 word of God. E^apturous are the exclamations about 
 the beauty of the works of Nature; of the delights at- 
 tendant on gathering wild flowers, in preference to those 
 of the garden, because planted by the hand of Nature; 
 on walking forth amidst an uncultured country, to watch 
 Nature in her changeful dress, and w^oo her undisturbed. 
 And refreshing and delicious in very truth are such feel- 
 ings, infinitely preferable to the pleasures of the world. 
 Yet might they be exalted into sentiments more glorious, 
 more rejoicing still. The mind thus capable of admiring 
 Nature for herself, is peculiarly fitted to adore and love 
 her God. Nature is not in herself a deity. She is the 
 frame, not the Framer, the created, not the Creator, — 
 
 "Nature is but the name for an effect 
 Whose cause is God;" 
 
 and while we gaze with rapture on her varied scenes, on 
 her glorious beauties, may ^e not literally and figura- 
 tively obey the mandate that bade us speak of our Father, 
 ''When thou walkest by the way"? Was it not at His 
 nod this world of loveliness arose from a dark, impene- 
 trable chaos? And well may nature be deemed His 
 temple, — the sanctuary — in which we can worship with 
 the greatest fervour; for on all sides we behold but the 
 work of His hands, from the tiniest flower smiling at 
 our feet, to the towering mountain which raises its 
 rugged sides on high till its head is veiled in overhang- 
 ing clouds ; from the silvery rill, that ripples softly and 
 
 14 
 
158 THE SPIEIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 refreshingly between the green and flowery banks, to the 
 vast and boundless ocean whose depth we cannot fathom, 
 nor its tumbling waves enchain. These are indeed scenes 
 which compel us to think of the Eternal, to behold Him 
 in His works; and if our companion be one bound to us 
 by the magic ties of sympathy and love, or the parent 
 from whose lips we have first learnt to know Nature as 
 she is, or the child to whom we would reveal her mys- 
 teries and lead up to her Creator: to each, to all, might 
 we relieve the swelling heart, and speak of Him on wdiose 
 glorious works we gaze. Delightful as are the emotions 
 with which we look on Nature for herself, they are tame, 
 and cold, and lifeless to those which elevate and purify 
 the soul when it looks 
 
 •' Through Nature up to Nature's God." 
 
 The aQ:e of miracles is considered over. Those extra- 
 ordinary manifestations of Divine providence towards 
 the children of Israel are indeed past; for the first-born 
 of the Lord is yet an exile, till penitence and amendment 
 shall appease the anger of his merciful Father, and He 
 our God may indulge those yearnings of love and tender 
 pity towards His son of which His book assures us. 
 " But that the sun has shone unremittingly from the day 
 that God created him, is not a less stupendous exertion 
 of power than that the Hand, which fixed him in the 
 heavens and marked out his progress through them, 
 should once say by his servant, 'Sun, stand thou still 
 upon Gibeon;' that he has gone on his uninterrupted 
 career, and rejoicing as a giant to run his course for six 
 thousand years, is a far more astonishing exhibition of 
 omnipotence than that he should have been once sus- 
 pended by the Hand that first set him in motion."* 
 
 * Hannah Mere's Spirit of Prayer, chap. iii. p. 28. 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 159 
 
 And thus, tliat the boundless ocean which surrounds 
 us should continue as unchanged in motion as when the 
 hand of the Lord "gathered the waters in one place and 
 the dry land appeared," is even yet more wonderful than 
 the dividing of the Pved Sea or the passage of the Jordan. 
 But these things, even as the blessings of individual lives, 
 are unperceived and unacknowledged, because they are 
 constant. They continually surround us, and we there- 
 fore see not their magnitude. Day giveth place to day, 
 and night to night; the tides of ocean ebb and flow; the 
 planets float along the sky; the stars remain suspended 
 in their orbits; but we notice not these things, or if we 
 do, it is but to observe " they are the laws of Nature," 
 and to laugh at the idea of deeming such common things 
 miraculous. 
 
 Yet, what is the precise definition of a miracle? "An 
 effect above human or natural power, performed in at- 
 testation of some truth." Can human power create a 
 sun? or bid the waves roll on in their unchanging 
 course? Can human power create darkness? or com- 
 mand night to descend or day to appear before their 
 appointed time? and what term we natural power? are 
 the planets, the skies, the winds, the works of Nature? 
 No ! whether we regard Nature as the compass of natu- 
 ral existence, the regular course of things, or the state 
 and operations of the material world : Nature is not the 
 cause, but the efi"ect; she is herself a miracle. And if 
 we are asked, in attestation of what truth that miracle 
 has been performed? we answer: of the most sublime, 
 the most important, most glorious truth, the existence 
 of an omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, and eternal 
 Being — the unanswerable proof that there is a God ! 
 We have then even in things inanimate enough matter 
 for contemplation, enough sometimes to converse on, as 
 
160 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 "we are walking by the way." Nor shall ^ve fail to find 
 a glorious example of this holy duty even in the Book 
 of Life. 
 
 It was thus David meditated on the Lord; he did not 
 only address Him in prayer for himself — he magnified 
 His nature by the relation of His works. Who can 
 peruse his rich treasury of psalms, without feeling how 
 completely this exalted monarch associated the Eternal 
 in all Llis w^orks, and praised Him, not only for indivi- 
 dual mercies, but for the blessinsjs shared bv the whole 
 world? How truly sublime is the exclamation in which 
 he breaks forth: ''Oh Lord, how manifold are thv works, 
 in wisdom hast thou made them all, the whole earth is 
 filled with thv riches." And as^ain in what a beautiful 
 spirit of humility does he follow up the verse: ''When 
 I consider thy heavens, the work of th)^ fingers, the 
 moon and the stars, w^hich thou hast ordained : what is 
 man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man 
 that thou visitest him?" How continuallv do w^e find 
 him acknowledging the providence of God, alike in 
 nature as in man; how repeatedly dwelling on the tale 
 of Israel's redemption, of mercies shown to the nation, 
 returning thanks and praise, as if such gracious care 
 had been displayed to him alone. Deeply did the pro- 
 phet king feel the truth of the inspired strain with 
 which a later* psalmist concluded the cvii. Psalm, 
 "Whoso is wise and will observe these things (the won- 
 derful providence of the Eternal), even they shall under- 
 
 * It is unknown to me from what authority Miss A. would main- 
 tain, that the last verse of this Pso.lra is by a later writer. This species 
 of criticism which refers parts of Scripture, though standing together, 
 to different hands, is not approved of by Israelites in general. Perhaps 
 Miss A. means that the whole Psalm is by a person who lived after 
 David ; if so, this would be a hypothesis more consonant with our viewa 
 than the former. — I. L. 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 161 
 
 stand the loving kindness of the Lord." How great a 
 reward for the simple act of using the senses and facul- 
 ties which a merciful Father had bestowed, in the con- 
 templation of His great works ! To feel the full force 
 of the sentence, it would be well to consider the nature 
 of the promised reward. 
 
 " To understand the loving kindness of the Lord" needs 
 no spiritualising, or rather the charge of spiritualising, 
 to explain ; it simply means to behold the decrees of the 
 Lord in their correct light; to disperse the darkness 
 generally clouding the affairs of men, by the golden rays 
 of faith; to behold mercy and love where others can only 
 see chastisement and misery; to trace all things to an 
 almighty Hand of love, where others sink into despond- 
 ency, reproaching themselves for not doing better in the 
 world, and envying those who are more successful. Li a 
 word, it signifies the attaining, as far as is possible in 
 this imperfect state, that which is promised when the cap- 
 tivity is at an end. ''Then shall ye call upon me, and 
 ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto 
 you ; and ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye search 
 for me with all your heart." (Jerem. xxix. 12, 13.) 
 *'And it shall come to pass, that before they call I will 
 answer, and while they are yet speaking I will hear." 
 (Isa. Ixv. 24.) And can there be a clearer, more precious 
 reward? and shall we cast it wilfully aside? Oh! even 
 now we shall be heard; God will be found if we seek Him 
 with all our hearts; even now a foretaste of that rich 
 blessing may be ours. We may understand the loving 
 kindness of the Lord, if we will only obey the precepts 
 of the Shemang, and hallow the forms which were insti- 
 tuted to keep us distinct from other nations, by the spirit 
 of piety springing from the Lord. Form alone will not 
 bring down upon us this desirable blessing. 
 
 14* 
 
162 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 Could David when wandering a miserable fugitive from 
 the enmity of Saul attend to the ceremonials* of his faith? 
 and vet he was a favoured servant of the Lord; he was 
 in very truth an Israelite, and the spirit of the Hebrew 
 religion filled his heart. He loved the Lord, and the 
 Lord loved him ; not for lifeless adherence to instituted 
 forms, but because his heart was full of piety. And can 
 we find an example more w'orthy of imitation than the 
 son of Jesse? 
 
 Yet the faith that Moses taught is accused of possessing 
 no comfort, of breathing no holy spirit, that it is neither 
 a consoling nor a spiritual religion. Shame on those 
 Israelites who permit this reproach to gain ground with- 
 out once endeavouring to prove by deeds, its falsity! 
 Too often is it even permitted to appear as the truth by 
 the stern and rigid observance of rites and ceremonies^ 
 as if religion consisted in them alone. There are some 
 who would deem it a sin to omit the repetition of the 
 Shemang twice every day: yet are utterly unconscious 
 of all the precepts it enforces, except the last, and they 
 go on their way rejoicing, without one thought of natural 
 unworthiness, which needs far more than the mere ob- 
 servance of form to be w^ashed aw^ay; obeying, secure in 
 supposed righteousness, the laws of their rehgion which 
 divide them from others, yet mingling in the world with- 
 out one thought of God; condemning with fierce invec- 
 tive all those who think difierently from themselves, 
 
 * Probably he could, to a great extent, at all events. Nevertheless, 
 he complain« of not being able to participate in all the duties, as we 
 raay judge from his address to Saul: "But if they be the children of 
 men, cursed be they before the Lord; for they have driven me out this 
 day from abiding in the inheritance of the Lord, saying. Go, serve 
 other gods." (lSam.xxvi.l9.) Did David then think ceremonies essen- 
 tial or not? — L L. 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM, 
 
 casing up their hearts in the icy bondage of form, with- 
 out permitting one gleam of comfort, one spark of holy 
 fire to enter therein, which, drawing them nearer to their 
 universal Father, would render them more charitable to 
 their fellow-creatures.* 
 
 Yet such men, when they come to die, have found no 
 comfort. And can we then wonder at the reproach cast 
 upon the Jewish faith ? Is it strange the Christian should 
 'believe his religion the right, and look down with scorn 
 or pity on such followers of Israel? Is it strange that, 
 when they see the Hebrew religion of the present day so 
 different from that which David practised, and Moses and 
 the prophets taught, they should believe the one a type 
 of their saviour, the other, as more regarding themselves 
 than us ? Oh that Israel would awake from their le- 
 thargy, and prove there is a holy spirit in the Hebrew 
 faith. David was a Jew : and if his religion were not 
 spiritual, whence did he derive comfort in his life of 
 trial ? Every prophet was a Jew : and how comes it; if 
 the Christian religion alone possess holy fire, that the 
 prophetic spirit should so entirely have ceased ? If there 
 be no hope, no comfort, no faith in immortality in the 
 religion of Israel: what supported the Hebrew martyrs 
 in the hour of torture and death, and enabled them to 
 die as rejoicingly upon the stake, as those Christian 
 sufferers who have so often been held up as the wit- 
 nesses of the hope and comfort of their faith? No; it is 
 not the faith of Moses which is at fault, it is the morbid 
 state of many who bear its name ! The Eternal in mercy 
 
 * There are in all probability some few such bigots amongst ns ; but 
 our forms are not to be charged with their wrong-doing ; nor are Eab- 
 bins responsible therefore, because their doctrines enforce the religion 
 of the heart; they teach: "As we bless God for the good, so ought we 
 io bless Him in evil." Is this an icy, unfeeling worship? — I. L. 
 
164 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 has permitted peace to descend upon us. He tried us 
 in the ordeal of persecution, and He saw our love and 
 faith were strong; we clung yet closer and closer unto 
 Him, and the spirit was purified, even as the difficulty 
 of adhering to form increased. And then He would try 
 us in the far more dangerous ordeal of prosperity and 
 peace. And oh ! are we not found wanting ? are we not 
 torn by inward dissension, because with the nations we 
 are at peace? are not party spirit and all its attendant* 
 evils filling up those hearts, which would seek only the 
 glory of God, the amendment of their own ways and of 
 those committed to their especial charge? While this 
 state exists, can we ever hope for the advent of God's 
 Anointed, the accomplishment of those glorious promises, 
 which await the repentant? No; while with the sicken- 
 ing anguish of hope deferred, we behold years roll on, 
 and there seemeth no end to our captivity: instead of 
 failing in trust, did we look into our hearts and behold 
 their iniquity, wonder would be at an end ; or if we did 
 wonder, it would be at that infinite, that inexhaustible 
 mercy which yet keeps us alive, yet guards, preserves, 
 and blesses us, despite of that sinful ingratitude, that 
 complete departure from the spirit of Judaism which, 
 were it not for that promised mercy, would of necessity 
 condemn us to annihilation. 
 
 There is yet another way of obeying the command 
 contained in the second member of the verse we are con- 
 sidering — one that can meet with no objection, even from 
 those who, advocates for the very letter of. the law, may 
 believe we have enlarged on it, more than was Moses's 
 intention, and that we have erred in dividing the verse. 
 It is strange that while so many rites and forms have 
 been added to the pure worship of Moses, and permitted 
 to become part of the religion without question or reproof, 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 165 
 
 notwithstanding the precise command of the Lord, "Ye 
 shall Dot add unto my law, nor diminish therefrom," the 
 endeavours to define and enlarge the spiritual* views of 
 the Hebrews are generally subjected to condemnation 
 and scorn, as hypocrisy or saintly novelties, for which 
 we have no foundation. Alas, that it should be so ! that 
 the wrath of the Lord has flung such a dark obscuring 
 veil over the minds of men, blinding them to the deeply 
 spiritual nature of their faith. But, if to think and speak 
 of the Lord at all times be to some minds incompatible 
 with the holiness which would set Him at a distance, save 
 in the hours of devotion: why should not this command 
 
 * I must confess that it is something new to me to learn, that such 
 could be the state of any part of the Jewish community. Spiritualising 
 in the Christian sense of the word, that is, adapting the words of Scrip- 
 ture to events so as to make them agree, though the ostensible meaning 
 is nowise the same, is confessedly abhorrent to us ; but the spiritualising 
 of Miss Aguilar, or, the seeking of a higher meaning in connection with 
 Scripture and ceremony, is by no means very rare ; on the contrary, the 
 excess of it has led to the establishment of the Cabalah, which consists 
 in detecting the mysteries of the law in every word and every act. A 
 remarkable explanation of this kind is given of verse 17, Psalm cxv. : 
 " ' The dead shall not praise the Lord,' what is meant by the dead? the 
 wicked — who are dead (in spirit) even whilst living." It strikes me, 
 that my friend has met, in her intercourse with society, with persons 
 who had not been properly educated in the duties of the law of Jacob; 
 and that she gives too much credence, without sufficient investigation, 
 to the invectives of Christian writers. The ignorant amongst us may 
 attach more importance to form than spirit; but this is not the fault 
 of our ancient teachers, such as Maimonides, Bechaye, Happenini, and 
 a host of others, nor of the moderns, such as Mendelssohn, Wesseli, 
 Hirsch, and others whom it is needless to enumerate. I do not by say- 
 ing this wish to exonerate us from fault; but I am for one not willing 
 to assume more than comes to our share. — Besides, the death-bed of 
 Israelites is full of hope and faith ; and many instances could be enu- 
 merated, within my brief experience, of hopeful joy of the righteous, 
 and of confiding repentance of those who sought the Lord in the sin- 
 cerity of conversion and the lowliness of a contrite heart. — I. L. 
 
166 THE SPiniT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 find its obedience in the morning and evening public 
 worship of a family? Why is family devotion so com- 
 pletely banished from the Jewish nation? Except on the 
 Sabbath, and sometimes on other festivals, when do we 
 see a Hebrew family assembled to pray? When do we 
 see the father of a family read aloud the prayers, and 
 take pride in reading and explaining the Bible to his 
 children? He may sometimes tell them the meaning of 
 peculiar forms; but is the Bible made applicable to their 
 daily lives ! is its solemn nature, its ever- active comfort, 
 impressed on the yielding heart? We have very few 
 opportunities* of joining public service; and therefore 
 are we doubly called upon to make the temple of the 
 Lord within our own domestic hearths. It would elevate 
 their religion in the minds of our children; it would 
 strengthen devout affection in our own; we would be 
 imparting the purest, most precious knowledge to those 
 dearest to us; and they would feel that employment 
 indeed sacred and delightful in which they felt that their 
 parents shared and sympathized. 
 
 Why then should the Hebrew nation wilfully deprive 
 herself of what may be termed the public devotion of a 
 family? Why should she break asunder the link that, 
 were it carefully cherished, would bind the cords of 
 domestic affection yet closer together ? The youthful 
 members of a little domestic congregation would look 
 back with warm emotion, in after-years, to that period 
 when, with their brothers and sisters, they thronged 
 around their parents to listen to the word of God, and 
 made known to him their common wants together. The 
 companions of earliest infancy, who have grown with 
 them from childhood into youth, may be scattered far 
 
 * This must be- the fault of individuals, not of our system. — I. L. 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 167 
 
 r 
 
 and wide from their common home; but the remembrance 
 of that holy hoar of prayer will be a precious link in 
 the hearts of each. Their relis;ion will be associated 
 with all those who were dearest to them, and time will 
 not lessen that charm, — while in such associations reli- 
 gion herself will attain a more elevated nature. Early 
 impressions generally follow us through life ; and while 
 the infant mind is filled with such a variety of ideas and 
 correspondent knowledge, why should religion be the 
 only thing left to find its way to the heart unaided and 
 untaught ? Why should there be no sweet associations 
 attached to religion alone : when so many and varied are 
 the flowers with which the path of literature is decked, 
 so many sweets from knowledge culled to tempt the child 
 along ? And family devotion, strengthening and hallow- 
 ing the lessons of piety continually received from a 
 mother's lips, is more than likely to produce this wished- 
 for end. 
 
 Blessed in truth are those parents who join heart to 
 heart and hand to hand in the religious education of their 
 children. Even when the pressing cares of business may 
 interfere with the father's attendance to the public devo- 
 tion of his family, the mother's task is blessed ; for she 
 feels, though absent, his spirit recognises the hallowed 
 hour as the evening and morning come round, and com- 
 munes with them still; and when he is permitted to 
 return to lift up his voice in prayer and thanksgiving, 
 how blessed to him and all those dear ones round him is 
 that sweet hour of reunion — sweet and holy even as a 
 shadowy type of family reunion in that world where the 
 woe of parting is unknown ! 
 
 But when this may not be ; when the spirit of piety 
 finds its home only in the mother's heart; when the all- 
 absorbing love of interest or of ambition bids the father 
 
168 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 forget the immortal spirits of his children, and renders 
 him careless of all instruction, save that which, tending 
 to earthly aggrandizement, will raise them in the esti- 
 mation of the world; when the claims of Jerusalem are 
 forgotten, and he looks upon himself only as a son of that 
 land in which he is in reality but a "stranger and so- 
 journer, even as his fathers were," for it is not his own: 
 even when such things are — yet let not the mothers in 
 Israel be disheartened; for they may still call their 
 children around them, and obey the spirit of the prayer 
 they repeat so often. They may watch with a jealous 
 eye the dawnings of piety in their children, and pray /or 
 and with them; and it may be theirs the glorious task, 
 to raise up a new and better race to support the falling 
 temple of the Lord. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE SPIRIT AND THE FORMS OF JUDAISM CONSIDERED 
 SEPARATELY AND TOGETHER. 
 
 The concluding verses of the Shemang bring us to a 
 subject on which, in the preceding chapters, we may have 
 often been accused of touching too lightly : — the peculiar 
 forms and ceremonies of our religion. The frontlets 
 and bracelets alluded to in these verses were ornaments 
 peculiar to the Eastern dress ; and the very fact of the 
 children of Israel being commanded to associate the word 
 of God with their very ornaments, to bind them upon 
 their hands and between their eyes, and to go a little 
 farther, to make a fringe and place on it a thread of 
 blue, " that they might remember the commandments of 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 169 
 
 the Lord, and do them ; that man might not seek those 
 things which his heart and eyes incline after, and in the 
 pursuit of which he may be led astray:" all these direc- 
 .tions, trifling as they may seem, are but unanswerable 
 proofs of the close and intimate communion which man 
 was to hold with his Maker ; proofs, how entirely and 
 completely religion, the spirit of religion, the whisperings 
 of the Eternal, was to be associated with the actions of 
 man — to follow him through life, to be bound upon his 
 heart — not to be kept at that immense distance which is 
 by some deemed the only way to retain holiness, for the 
 alleged reason that such frequent communings only 
 lessen the trembling awe in which we should approach 
 our God. It is not as a Judge we are to behold and 
 approach Him ; but as an ever- watchful, ever-loving 
 Father, an ever-faithful, ever-sympathising Friend, to 
 whom we may pour forth every sorrow, every joy, our 
 cares, our hopes, our wishes; for He alone can know the 
 extent of their influence upon our hearts, — He alone 
 can comfort or can aid. To think continually on all the 
 precepts contained in the preceding verses of the She- 
 mang, was in all probability the origin of this command, 
 to bind them on our hands and eyes, and place them on 
 the doorposts and gates of our dwellings. Gradually 
 and beautifully each verse is linked into the other. The 
 binding the word of the Lord on our hands and eyes 
 is connected w^ith the precept, ''these words which I 
 command thee this day, shall be upon thy heart,'' refer- 
 ring to ourselves individually; the other, when obeyed, 
 aids us imperceptibly in thinking or speaking of the 
 Lord at all times; for surely His word cannot be seen 
 upon our gates in walking out, or coming in, without a 
 thought of Him who, ''unless He build the house, they 
 
 15 
 
170 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 labour in vain that build it, unless He keep tlie city, the 
 watchman waketh but in vain." 
 
 It is not the mere obedience to the letter of the law, 
 the mere adoption of the ancient dress in the hour of 
 prayer, which will render our prayers acceptable. Their 
 purpose is to aid the mind in withdrawing itself from its 
 mere worldly occupations, to tempt the Hebrew youth to 
 seek and know more of the law, a portion of which he 
 bears upon his brow and hand ; to employ his mind, or 
 intellect, of which the brow may be a significant figure, 
 in the study of that precious word ; his hands — in those 
 things acceptable to his Father in heaven. "A clean 
 hand and a pure heart," the frequent repetition of those 
 words in the Holv Scripture is sufficientlv convincin"; of 
 the peculiar meaning attached to this rite ; and by study- 
 ing the will of the Eternal, the Israelite learns how to 
 obey it so as to have a beneficial effect on his spirit. 
 
 Such must ever be the intent of religious ceremonies. 
 They are given to aid and strengthen the spirit of piety, 
 resting within this spirit, yet not to take its place. The 
 Eternal saw the heart of man, and knew that, when i\.dam 
 sinned, the inclinations and desires of his children would 
 be for the evil, not for the good ; and, therefore that, if 
 religion were left to the promptings of natural man, she 
 would speedily fly from this fallen world, and resume her 
 native seat above. That man therefore who, despite the 
 wickedness and heathenism darkly reigning round him, 
 lifted up his affections and his intellects to his God; de- 
 voted his whole soul unto His bidding; believing, without 
 question, the word of the Eternal, even to the resigning 
 of his only and darling child, — that man was peculiarly 
 the object of God's love and care ; for it was human 
 righteousness shining forth clear and unmoved, as a 
 bright star amidst surrounding darkness, dispersing 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 171 
 
 'neath its rays the clouds of natural sin and corruption 
 which in Abraham's heart, even as in his fellows, had 
 originally birth ; and it was his own pure, simple, trust- 
 ing righteousness, w^hich excited the attention, and called 
 down the blessing of the Lord. And for this faithful 
 servant's sake. His love and mercy resolved on giving 
 his descendants a law of light, and life, and joy, to aid 
 them in knowing and serving Him, in governing the evil 
 of their own hearts, so that the better principle, being the 
 stronger, might bring forth good; to teach them the God 
 that framed and loved them; to give them, once more, 
 tests of their obedience and their love; to leave them no 
 lons;er to their own ima2;ininQ;s, but to set before them 
 the hopes of immortality, veiled, perhaps, and shrouded, 
 yet still gleaming through the religion w'hich came to 
 them through Moses, softly and silently, even as the in- 
 visible soul breathes through the every action, word, and 
 thought of man ; we see it not, know not its nature, yet 
 do we doubt that it is there ? and even thus is its immor- 
 tality the spirit, life, breath, and glory of the Mosaic 
 faith. 
 
 For the sake of Abraham was the law bestowed upon 
 his seed, displaying throughout its whole extent the com- 
 passionate tenderness, the ever-fostering affection of its 
 glorious Framer. 
 
 The spirit of piety, that yearning desire after holy 
 things, and clinging love to God, are still, even as in the 
 time of Abraham, direct gifts from the Father of all ; His 
 grace* acts still imperceptibly upon natural man, though 
 unperceived by our outward senses ; — but the dictates of 
 the law, the acts of obedience therein commanded, the 
 
 * " Whoever comes to purify himself will be aided from heaven. "- 
 Tahnud. 
 
172 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 revelation of the Lord and of His glorious attributes, the 
 numerous aids to becoming worthy servants in Kis sight, 
 and conquering evil propensities by the clear explanation 
 of right and wrong wdiich, through Moses, He has so mer- 
 cifully set down : — all these are now common to us all ; 
 and therefore man's natural depravity and unenlightened 
 ignorance can never be brought forward as excuses for 
 sin and disobedience. The principle of good within us 
 was naturally as pow^erful as that of evil, the example of 
 our first father occasioned the fearful prevalence of the 
 latter; but the principle of good is not even now ex- 
 tinguished ; and, aided by the strength and grace of God 
 which we have called down by prayer, it is yet enabled 
 to conquer the evil, and walk on in the way of the Lord. 
 It will not indeed obtain for us salvation ;* but it will be 
 pleasing unto our Father, and incline His heart merci- 
 fully and favourably tow^ards us. 
 
 This is one of the great distinctions between the He- 
 brew and Christian creeds. The God of the Christians 
 does need a saviour and mediator; but the God of the 
 Hebrew needs it not. They look on our beautiful law 
 as one of fire and blood ; that even when God gave it He 
 knew it was impossible for man to keep it; that man's 
 depravity w'ould entirely prevent his obedience; that 
 all under the law are subject to misery and curses, are 
 chained dowm to a heavy, lifeless weight, to redeem them 
 from which our Father, at the same time the law w-as 
 framed and given, resolved on the holocaust (sacrifice) 
 
 * Miss A. probably means that no acts of man deserve salvation, 
 inasmuch as no one is righteous on earth who does good without sin- 
 ning; nevertheless there is merit in every deed done in honour and 
 the name of the Lord, and the multitude of true acts of piety will open 
 for us the way to the tree of life, and make us partakers of the joys at 
 the right hand of our Everlasting Father. — I. L. 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 173 
 
 of one who knew not sin, to take away the sins of men, 
 to remove the curse of the law, and institute a law of 
 love instead of the law of fire, and the awful dispensation 
 revealed in the Old Testament. 
 
 According to this belief, the law was framed to be de- 
 stroyed; given to be removed; sent as a curse instead of 
 a blessing; and the descendants of Abraham, instead of 
 being peculiarly blessed above all nations, according to 
 the solemn word of the Lord, must have been marked 
 out from the very first as the objects of His wrath. But 
 thetjod of the Hebrew is a God of truth, whose words 
 fail not, nor change, in whom there is not a shadow of 
 turning; and therefore is it that we reject this doctrine. 
 When so repeatedly we read words to this import, '' My 
 covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is 
 gone out of my lips," we dare not depart from that cove- 
 nant; for we know that it is to last to eternity. We 
 cannot recognise our God in the Being who would im- 
 pose a law upon His people, simply and solely to destroy 
 them; who would mock us by unmeaning ordinances; 
 who would desire obedience when He knew the nature 
 of man could not bestow it; who would fetter instead of 
 freeing, fetter with infinitely more oppressive and cruel 
 bondage than the chains of Egypt from which He had 
 freed us; who with such deep solemnity, such majestic 
 power, yet with such beneficence and tender love, would 
 frame a law, and proclaim it eternal, yet at the same 
 moment fix the period of its continuance and look to its 
 annihilation. We cannot recognise the God of truth and 
 love in one that would act thus. There is not one por- 
 tion of that law which, when it was given, man could not 
 obey; not one command, one ordinance, to which man 
 could not implicitly adhere; — and that man fell from 
 it was not the fault of the law or the ordinance of the 
 
 15* 
 
174 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 Eternal. The law, as we have before said, was given to 
 teach man his duties, to assist him in conquering natural 
 depravity, and permitting the principle of good, also 
 placed within him, to obtain ascendency. He had thus 
 the free will to choose his own path, to seek the favour 
 of his God, or to reject it; and that he chose the latter 
 was not because he had not the power to choose the 
 former, or that he could not obey the law; but because, 
 like Cain, he loved the evil more than the good, and re- 
 sisted the still small voice which the love of our God has 
 placed within every breast, resisted its entreaty to fly 
 from temptation, and implore the infused strength of the 
 Lord, till its soft, yet piercing whisper was drowned in 
 the roar of transgression and debauch. 
 
 Still, therefore, do we hail with delight, and wear with 
 rejoicing the mild and gentle yoke of a law in which in- 
 finite love and mercy shine pre-eminent ; still do we 
 gladly acknowledge ourselves under the law; nor will 
 we shake it off even now, that we are prevented from 
 adhering to many of its ordinances. We know, and we 
 are blessed in the belief, that our merciful Father knows 
 the nature of His creatures far better than we know our- 
 selves ; and that if we cleave to His law, as far as it is 
 in our power, during our captivity; if we earnestly seek 
 after righteousness, and endeavour with heart, and soul, 
 and might, to cherish the spirit of piety, to love the 
 Lord: His infinite love, and long-suffering comipassion 
 will fill up the deficiency.* We have no need to look 
 
 * The Scriptures say: "Cursed be he that observeth not the words of 
 this law to do them" (Deut. xxvii. 26), which would imply blessing 
 upon the faithful servant according to his means. — I cannot avoid ob- 
 serving, that in this very verse is a gross mistranslation in the English 
 Bible, for the word oil is inserted in italic letters before "words," 
 so as to make it read " all the words," and this false interpretation has 
 been made the basis of invective against us, because no one can keep 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 175 
 
 to a suflfering* saviour; our God is too just, too full of 
 love for all His creatures, to demand tlie sacrifice of one 
 for the sins of many, even were that one a god and not 
 man. To know that we sin, to acknow]edo;e our trans- 
 gressions and the transgressions of our fathers, and look 
 to, and trust in our Father's love and mercy, who, for 
 His own sake, hath sworn to blot out as a thick cloud 
 our sins — we have His holy word as guarantee that this 
 is enough; we therefore look to Him alone; and in His 
 righteousness, if we seek it with all our heart, we are 
 made riQ;hteous. 
 
 If we thus acknowledge the beneficent purpose of the 
 law, how completely appropriate is it to our need ! how 
 evidently is it the work of an all- wise, all-merciful Fatber, 
 who had but the good and everlasting welfare of His 
 children in view, when He ordained it, and selected 
 Moses to make it known. We cannot but feel an earnest 
 desire to obey its every dictate, to adhere to it as strictly, 
 as closely as ever our scattered and fallen state will per- 
 mit; and not strictl}^ and closely alone, but freely, un- 
 conditionally, lovingly, giving the heart, not the servile 
 obedience of slaves. And this is still in our power to 
 do, though to very many of our rites and ceremonies we 
 cannot adhere in our dispersed and captive state. 
 
 When men are drawn together to attend to peculiar 
 rites, and keep holy particular days : their thoughts natu- 
 rally revert from their individual concerns, to the com- 
 bination of interest which draws them thus together. 
 
 all the law. For a more extensive view of this question I must refer 
 the reader to my second Series of Discourses, Lecture ix. pp. 98-109. — ■ 
 I. L. 
 
 * There is not the most distant reference to such a being in the whole 
 law; and we contend that, if such a belief were necessary for salvation, 
 it would have been revealed in direct terms, and not been left to mere 
 inference from a single sentence in the book of Isaiah. — I, L. 
 
176 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM, 
 
 They are forced for the time to leave their temporal af- 
 fairs, even though the thought should still cling more 
 earnestly to these than to their spiritual welfare; they 
 feel conscious of some obligation binding them to a 
 Higher Power, and by degrees they attain some portion 
 of holiness. To others, again, public observance of forms 
 gives the opportunity to ponder on their God, which 
 they might otherwise seek for in vain. And to other 
 and yet more exalted minds it strengthens and supports 
 the inward piety, it gives them that which they so ear- 
 nestly desire, opportunities of proving their love by a 
 willing and perfect obedience. Religious ceremonies also 
 attract the attention of children, and sometimes lead 
 them to ask and search for that which, through neglect 
 or irreligion on the part of parents, they might never 
 know. Many condemn form entirely ; but if the rites 
 and ceremonies of religion were not intended to bring 
 forth s:ood, the God of sroodness would not have ordained 
 them. Subordinate to the spirit they were to be indeed ; 
 to assist the worship of the heart, but not to take its 
 place. Ordained to preserve us wholly distinct from 
 other nations, many of the minor laws, relating only to 
 the customs of the nations under God's wrath, cannot of 
 course now be observed; but they are not to be pro- 
 nounced trifling and unimportant on that account; nor, 
 because we cannot attend to them, are we to disregard 
 others; for these are the words of the Eternal: ''Ye shall 
 not walk in the manners of the nations which I cast out 
 before you; for they committed all these things, and 
 therefore I abhorred them; but I have said unto you. 
 Ye shall inherit their land, that floweth with milk and 
 honey ; I am the Lord your God which separateth you 
 from other people; and ye shall be holy unto me, for I 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. • 177 
 
 the Lord am holy, and have severed you from all other 
 people, that you should be mine." 
 
 We need go no farther than these beautiful verses, to 
 perceive the origin and necessity of our peculiar ceremo- 
 mies. We were to abstain from some to sever us from 
 wickedness, and adhere to others to mark us as the holy 
 of the Lord. Listead, then, of seeking to find excuses 
 for their non-performance, should we not rather glory in 
 the minutest observance which would stamp us as so 
 peculiarly the Lord's own, and deem it a glorious privilege 
 to be thus marked out, not only in feature and in faith, 
 but in OLir civil and religious code, as the chosen of God? 
 Had we been thus selected by an earthly sovereign, who 
 would not have gloried in the distinction ? and shall the 
 Hebrew think less of the favour of his God ? 
 
 True, the heathen nations, against whose evil example 
 we were warned, no longer surround us; but we live in 
 the midst of others with whom we are still more likely 
 to become assimilated, if we relax, in the very smallest 
 degree, from our adherence to the law of Moses. With 
 regard to this blessed law, the Bible is the only unerring 
 guide; nor should the end and intent of its statutes ever 
 be forgotten. The spirit of love, so beautifully breathing 
 through the preceding verses of the Shemang, must 
 hallow the observance of the two last, or obedience will 
 be of little avail. If, when the Hebrew arrays himself in 
 the Tephillin, he thinks on all that is comprised in the 
 brief passages he has bound on his brow and hand, and 
 earnestly and faithfully he seeks for strength to obey 
 their dictates throughout the day, and he asks for grace 
 that his hands work not evil, his feet turn not astray, his 
 thoughts cleave not to transgression : the command of 
 Moses is indeed obeyed, not only in form, but in spirit. 
 If the scroll of the law, fastened to the door-post of his 
 
178 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 house, remind the son of Israel of a preceding command, 
 *'to speak and think of his God when he sitteth in his 
 house or walketh by the way;" if it evince to the stran- 
 gers around that he is not one of them, however inti- 
 mately he may mingle in social intercourse; that he 
 glories in standing thus apart as the chosen of God : the 
 form has done its duty, it springs from, and yet assists 
 the spirit resting within. 
 
 Thus should every Hebrew rite be considered, and 
 reason, not superstition, be traced as its foundation. The 
 Mind, from whom every law in the Pentateuch origin- 
 ated, fiiv exceeds in wisdom those which that celestial 
 Mind has framed; — and therefore, in love. He threw a 
 veil over that overpowering light of wisdom ; and, 
 choosinc; from amouQ- the seed of Abraham the be.st and 
 meekest of His favoured servants. He delivered through 
 his means laws which, though proceeding from the most 
 profound wisdom, were yet couched in words suited to 
 the weak comprehension of His creatures. 
 
 Not one of these laws has a mysterious, or admits of 
 a double meaning. All who seek to know the Jewish 
 ethics, will find them in the word of God ; for it is to the 
 ordinances of Scripture alojie we refer. There may be 
 some observances which superstition and bigotry have 
 introduced, some which tarnish and choke up the law of 
 love which came direct from Heaven ; but to them we 
 allude not. The Bible and reason are the only guides to 
 w^hich the child of Israel can look in security. The laws 
 for which we can find no foundation in the one, and 
 which will not stand the test of the other, need no farther 
 proof; they are not the dictates of the law, they are 
 wanderings from the true and only law, the inventions of 
 man, and not the words of God. The Bible gives us a 
 cause, a reason for every statute, it enjoins. It would 
 
THE SPIKIT OF JUDAISM. 179 
 
 have been sufficient had man been desired to obey simply 
 because God willed it; but the Eternal would not thus 
 blind His children ; He would not the obedience of igno- 
 rance and fear; and therefore He condescended to inform 
 us wherefore each law was given, that we might obey 
 more willingly, and give the homage of the intellect as 
 well as the sacrifice of the will. 
 
 It is therefore evident that those observances which 
 not only confine the soaring spirit, but frequently occa- 
 sion ordinances of far more weight to be neglected, and 
 for which no reason can be assigned save the ideas of 
 our ancient fathers, cannot be compared in weight and 
 consequence to the piety of the heart, which but too 
 often they supersede. To explain the w^ords of Moses and 
 adapt them to the comprehension of all classes amongst 
 their brethren was, in all probability, the sole intent of 
 the Hebrew elders, an intent equally judicious and praise- 
 worthy ; but they would have shrunk back in sorrow and 
 alarm could they have known, that in future ages their 
 words would take the place of the word of God ; that they 
 would be made the means of superstition creeping in 
 amongst us, of bigotry raising her dark and lowering 
 standard, till together they had well nigh expelled the 
 pure spirit originally pervading the religion of Moses; 
 that the very rites and ceremonies, instituted to keep 
 up a lively remembrance of the Lord, should be the very 
 means of bidding us forget Him, as if religion consisted 
 only in outward form. 
 
 When we think on the many inconsistencies discover- 
 able in the mere formalist; the contradictions which his 
 strict yet lifeless adherence to mere ceremonial things 
 and neglect of the spirit generally comprise; when we 
 know that they who depart from the faith of their fathers 
 
180 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 are ever* those reared in the severest obedience to mere 
 forms: we have quite sufficient, evidence that such are 
 
 * This is certainly a sweeping clause, though there is a great deal of 
 truth in it; an education which merely looks to the enforcement of 
 blind obedience, and is not sedulous to impress reasons for outward 
 aids to religion upon the mind, cannot, from its very nature, shield an 
 Israelite from the temptations which surround him when he is no longer 
 in fear of paternal or magisterial rule. His observance of religion hith- 
 erto was based on fear, not knowledge ; and fear being removed, he falls 
 an easy prey to the whisperings of interest, gain, or worldly enjoy- 
 ment. Hence my friend has doubtlessly seen many examples among 
 the converts of the Society for Evangelizing the Jews of men who were 
 reared in the strictest observance of forms who, despite of a fund of 
 knowledge of religious lore, such as it is, had not their soul imbued 
 with the spirit of the heavenly light. But are they Christians? By 
 no means ; they are converts from convenience or interest, and many 
 doubtlessly would gladly embrace again the faith of their ancestors, 
 did not pride or fear of starvation withhold them. Let it be observed, 
 that Christians are unfortunately too much inclined to extend the help- 
 ing hand to such pretended converts, believing them sincere in their 
 profession of a change of sentiment. And when these converts have 
 therefore once tasted the bounty for their apostasy, the door is closed 
 against their return whilst the necessity for this bounty exists, or whilst 
 they are, as is generally the case, disinclined to labour for their own 
 support. 
 
 The cause of these conversions does not lie in the forms, but in the 
 absence of spiritual education. Could all the teachers and guides of 
 our suffering people be only induced to teach the why and wherefore 
 when propounding the observance of the duties : these would be exe- 
 cuted from love of our faith, not from fear of parental authority. And 
 thus armed with knowledge of what is demanded of Israelites, and im- 
 bued with a firm reliance on Providence, our young men and our maidens 
 might be exposed to the siren notes of proselyte-hunters without falling 
 into the snare laid for their feet. 
 
 As regards the reasons for abiding by ancestral custom, it is not, as 
 has been at times asserted, without cause ; our wise men found the 
 people in danger of being overwhelmed by the flood of gentile opi- 
 nions, owing to a compulsory intercourse with the nations in their cap- 
 tivity ; and they therefore prescribed rules as a fence for the law, to 
 preserve its spirit from the assaults of outward danger. Without going 
 the whole length of claiming permanency for all these ordinances of the 
 elders, we may assert that it would be unwise and unsafe, even if it 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 181 
 
 not the consequences of obedience to the law of Moses, 
 that they proceed not from the spirit of religion, which 
 the forms were given to aid and strengthen, that they 
 come of weak, capricious, changeful man, not from the 
 immutable and eternal God. And their universal obe- 
 dience generally proceeds from the Hebrew following in 
 the steps of his fathers, without knowing the why and 
 the wherefore. Nor is it extraordinary that, when the 
 spirit is not inculcated, succeeding generations should 
 either become yet more severely bigoted and darkly 
 superstitious, or, disgusted with a religion which brings 
 no comfort, no support, throw it off entirely, embrace 
 another, or live as if they had no God. And is not this 
 an awful consideration? Can it be one moment ima- 
 gined, the God of love will accept the religion of petty 
 ceremonies in lieu of the heart which He so continually 
 demands? Will He, who hath desired the love of the 
 heart, and soul, and might, be content with the mere 
 offerins: of outward form? What are the words of His 
 righteous servant David, when monarch of Israel, and it 
 was in his power to attend to all and every rite enjoined 
 by Moses? ''Thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I 
 give it; thou delightest not in burnt-offering; the sacri- 
 fices of God are a broken s^rit, a broken and a contrite 
 heart, oh God! thou wilt not despise." 
 
 were legal, to pull down the bulwark thus erected, with rude and un- 
 skilful hands. Such a reform would be destruction, not improvement. 
 Better far is it to leave the gradual change to time, upon the good old 
 principle of the ancient Hillel: "Let Israel alone; for if they are not 
 prophets, they are the sons of prophets!" Indeed we are not quite so 
 blind as the Christians assert we are ; we have our faults and knov/ them 
 too ; all we ask is, let us alone, leave us to regulate and improve our 
 condition ; and it would be wonderful if, with Heaven's blessing, some 
 good fruit will not be produced under the hands of labourers who have 
 never been wanting when the exigencies of the times demanded their 
 aid. — I. L. 
 
 16 
 
182 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 Two most important facts are contained in these beau- 
 tiful verses. In the first place, the Hebrew who thinks, 
 feels, and acts as if his salvation depended upon form 
 alone, as if his acceptance with his God depended en- 
 tirely and solely on lifeless rites in which the spirit has 
 no part, tacitly allows the truth of all that the Nazarene 
 would urge with regard to the necessity of a mediator. 
 If it were the mere formula of priests and sacrifices,* 
 wholly distinct from the religion of the heart, which 
 made atonement for him, and procured him salvation and 
 acceptance: the JSTazarene has some room for his idea 
 that, unless we acknowledge and feel the necessity of an 
 everlasting high priest, and the grand atonement of a 
 bleeding saviour, we must be utterly cast off and aban- 
 doned, we can have no hope, no refuge; and that unless 
 we cling to and acknowledge him whom they allege to 
 have been made an atonement for the sins of man, we 
 must die in sin and be doomed everlastingly. 
 
 It is impossible for the mere formalist to bring sub- 
 stantial argument against this specious plea; and there- 
 fore is it that, when converts are made, or rather when 
 departures take place from the faith of Israel (for those 
 cannot be termed converts who know nothing of the reli- 
 gion they leave), they can always be traced to the off- 
 spring of those who inculcate the form, to the entire 
 neglect of the true and pure spirit which our God de- 
 mands. 
 
 It is otherwise with those who look on the above quoted 
 words of David, according to their real meaning; who 
 can trace in them, not alone the religion of the minstrel 
 
 * Let it be remembered, that this is not the idea entertained by our 
 elders, but only by those whose ignorance of our tenets makes them 
 look upon outward aids as the essentials of religion. " The Merciful 
 demands the heart" is the Talmudic doctrine. — I. L. 
 
THE SriRIT OF JUDAISM. 183 
 
 king, but the real Id tent of the sacrifices enjoined by- 
 Moses, — that they were to be secondary to the sacrifices 
 of the heart and will; that of themselves they were even 
 as nothing. If it were in the power of the priest to make 
 atonement for sin, t© wash away the guilt of the trans- 
 gressor in the blood of sacrifices : we should have a long 
 account of David's formal acts of penance, of his seeking 
 instantly the priest, of all the goats and sheep he brought 
 up for sacrifices; instead of which we have the most 
 exquisite description of Nathan's appeal, of the instant 
 confession and remorse of the kins:, and of the touchino; 
 events which followed — his forgiveness, yet his chastise- 
 ment in the death of his beloved and innocent child. No 
 doubt he strictlv attended to those rites and sacrifices 
 which Moses has instituted in case of sin ; but we clearly 
 perceive how completely secondary they were, by the 
 absence of all allusion to them, and by the emphatic and 
 touching simplicity of ih.Q exclamation in which he shows 
 the insufficiency of all sacrifice for sin, save that of the 
 heart. We are sometimes apt to marvel, that even the 
 best characters of the Bible are not exempt from sin ; yet 
 that very fact is a farther proof of our Father's infinite 
 love and condescension. If the character of David had 
 been wholly good, we should not have seen so clearly 
 the perfect equity and love displayed in God's dealings 
 with His creatures. It palpably and ocularly proves all 
 that the prophets of later years sought so perse veringly 
 to inculcate — that to repent humbly, sincerely, earnestly, 
 to give the sacrifice of a broken and contrite heart, to 
 turn from the error of former ways, and seek after right- 
 eousness with heart and soul; firmly, yet with a lowly 
 spirit, trusting in the fulness of God's love and tender 
 mercy to fill up the deficiency, and in His truth and 
 righteousness to make us righteous, to bow submissively 
 
184 THE SPIEIT OF JUDiUSM. 
 
 and resignedly to whatever trials He may inflict, — that 
 this is all-sufficient, He needs neither " the flesh of bulls, 
 nor the blood of goats," He requires obedience, and no 
 other atonement nor sacrifice; for the merit of these con- 
 sisted in obedience, and simply as a test ot that obedience 
 they were instituted ; consequently, the plea of the Na- 
 zarene is of no avail. We have no need of a dying 
 saviour; our God is all-sufficient, more than sufficient 
 for our need. And if we give Him that sacrifice, which 
 we can still give; if we obey every statute, which in our 
 present captive and wandering state we com obey: our 
 worship is as acceptable in His sight as it was in Jeru- 
 salem; for it needed the same mercy to purify and per- 
 fect it then as it does now. 
 
 Yet while we feel and acknowledge the insufficiency 
 of form alone, the sons of Israel must beware of the con- 
 trary extreme, that is failing in the most important article 
 of their faith, a willing and perfect obedience, by deeming 
 spirit-worship all-sufficient. If they adhere not to the rites 
 of their forefathers, they cannot take unto themselves the 
 gracious promises made to the children of Israel; for 
 their religion degenerates into that, which is termed, 
 natural theology ; in a word, they are Deists, not Hebrews, 
 and they deprive themselves alike of faith, hope, and 
 comfort. 
 
 The origin of this far-spreading evil consists in the 
 fatal desire to draw a line between the past and present 
 Jerusalem, and the countries in which we are scattered. 
 In some things, indeed, we may be compelled to do so; 
 but certainly not in all. There are many, very many 
 laws, which, if the Hebrew would still manifest himself 
 as the first-born of the Lord, he can still implicitly 
 obey. 
 
 Obedience to the fifth and sixth verses of the Shemang 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 185 
 
 has fallen into disrepute, because it is supposed pharisaical 
 and only assumed to attract attention. But, when not 
 thus abused, the very act of robing ourselves in an ap- 
 pointed dress must in a degree prepare the mind to ad- 
 dress its Creator: the Hebrew has withdrawn from the 
 world ; he is for the while divided from his fellow-men ; 
 his thoughts are turned to another and holier object; he 
 does not rush unprepared and unthinkingly in the awful 
 Presence; and he may then hope, his prayers are purer, 
 more imbued with a divine spirit, then had he turned 
 direct from the world unto his God. But this dress w^as 
 never intended to be assumed, except in the sacred pri- 
 vacy of the closet, or in the stated hours of family devo- 
 tion. 
 
 In the observance of these minute forms publicity 
 should be most carefully avoided. It is enough, if to 
 the world he demonstrate the peculiar holiness of his re- 
 ligion by the superiority of his moral conduct. The son 
 of Israel, who has been in early years awakened to the 
 spirit of Judaism, will gladly observe the minutest form, 
 which will assist his devotions, and chain his wandering 
 thoughts ; and though the act of attaching the scroll of 
 the law tt) the door-posts of his house may not be in any 
 way connected with the strengthening of the spirit : he 
 will yet gladly avail himself of this command, to prove, 
 he fears not the scorn of the world's attacking perhaps 
 this public manifestation of his religion ; he rather over- 
 comes it as a trial and proof of willing obedience, and 
 glories in thus keeping himself distinct from the nations, 
 and holy unto his God. 
 
 Writing for professed Hebrews, it is scarcely necessary 
 to touch on the laws regarding food; yet these are those 
 which are generally seized upon by nominal religionists, 
 and declared to relate solely to those Eastern nations 
 
 16* 
 
186 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 where, even to this day, their disobedience is attended 
 with disease and suffering. We have no proof in the 
 word of God that they are, as some declare, simply and 
 solely the advice of Moses, a man, to keep his followers 
 in health ; on the contrary, we have the evidence of the 
 whole Pentateuch, ay, and the prohibitions of the pro- 
 phets, to convince us that the same infinite Mercy framed 
 these, comparatively trivial as they are, as every other 
 which His book contains. Moses could not speak for 
 himself alone; he had no power to make mere human 
 laws ; the inspiration with which he was gifted would 
 have wholly and instantly departed from him, had he 
 dared to frame a sins^le law which was not of the Lord. 
 To preserve health, to keep us distinct and holy, to be a 
 trial of obedience, — for these things they were originally 
 given ; and that we are no longer in the country where 
 they were bestowed is of little consequence. The one 
 reason may be now perhaps as nothing, the food in other 
 countries than the East may be sweet and wholesome; 
 but the others still exist in equal, perhaps in double 
 force. 
 
 The act of eating may be deemed very trifling and 
 unimportant; but when indulged in at the expense of 
 obedience, it surely must become of weight; for what 
 first occasioned the influence of evil ? what tempted Eve 
 to disobey ? Was it not in part the gratification of her 
 appetite? for "when the woman saw that the tree was 
 good for food'' she put forth her hand, took of the fruit 
 thereof, and thereby disobeyed.* The word of the Lord 
 
 **■ This argument, originally written in 1837, has lately become pecu- 
 liarly dear from its association v.'ith a young friend and relative fron\ 
 whose lips the same idea proceeded in support of the same argument last 
 summer, and is here recorded simply to evince that the Hebrew, even 
 as the Christian religion, finds its beatified resting in minds of fourteen 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 187 
 
 has gone forth, and it is not in onr power to alter it. 
 Who dare affirm that the very food chosen in this 
 captive and degraded state, is not a trial of fidelity and 
 obedience ? That which the Eternal hath spoken will 
 never be recalled. It may be that ignorant, short-sighted 
 man may not know the reason of many ordinances, con- 
 tained in the Bible; but that lowly, child-like faith 
 which should be the portion of every child of Israel, 
 rests satisfied in the conviction that the God of wisdom 
 has some wise, though perhaps secret, end in all that He 
 ordaineth : and consequently the Hebrew's duty is to 
 obey, without question, implicitly and continually. If we 
 once depart from the strict line of obedience, we know 
 not when or where we may stop. It is much easier to 
 resist temptation, to keep our feet from entering the path 
 of disobedience, than to stop the headlong course of evil 
 when once the path is entered. 
 
 This fact is demonstrated alike in the Pentateuch, the 
 books that follow, and in the Prophets. The Hebrew is 
 either commande(J to obey, or is shown the evils of dis- 
 obedience. What occasioned the fall of man? Dis- 
 obedience. What turned Lot's wife into a pillar of salt? 
 Disobedience. What caused all the cruel wars that de- 
 solated Judea after the Israelites had obtained posses- 
 sion? Their disobedience in not exterminating the 
 nations whose wickedness the Lord abhorred. Why did 
 
 years. There is peculiar holiness in piety which has shone through 
 long months of suffering ; especially when we remember that it was after 
 months of peculiarly aggravated suffering he once emphatically said : 
 " Were I told that eating that which is forbidden would restore me to 
 health some months sooner than were I to refrain from doing so, I 
 would not, I could not take it." Alas, perhaps, ere this little book 
 comes forth to the world that blessed spirit may be lost to earth, for 
 even now it hovers on the confines of eternity. — Since writing the 
 above, that spirit has indeed departed. 
 
188 THE SPIEIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 tlie Eternal depart from Saul? Because in sparing Agag 
 and appropriating unto himself the richest spoils of the 
 Amalekites, he disobeyed. And the Lord had said unto 
 His people, concerning the nations around them, '' Ye 
 shall not go in unto them, neither shall they come in unto 
 you ; for surely they will turn away your heart , after 
 their gods." Yet Solomon, the son of David, Solomon, to 
 whom God had granted wisdom, riches, power, even 
 Solomon, disobeyed this command ; and not onlv did his 
 glory depart from him, but from that one act of dis- 
 obedience we may trace all the after-miseries of the 
 Jews. Had the kinQ;dom of Israel remained united, and 
 the tv\^elve tribes been acknowledging but one sovereign, 
 it might have deiied the power of the destroyer. Had 
 Solomon's heart remained true unto his God: his son 
 would have been blessed for his sake, even as he had 
 been for David's ; and thus the kingdoms of Israel and 
 Judah might have gone on progressing in glory, in the 
 knowledge of the Lord, till it had attained the height of 
 prosperity and blessedness promised by Moses to those 
 who OBEY the word of God. Instead of w^hich, the 
 transgressions of Solomon were awfully visited on his 
 son who followed in his evil ways. The greater part of 
 the kingdom was rent from him; and, from that time, 
 civil wars and their attendant miseries desolated Judea, 
 and prepared the way for foreign conquerors. 
 
 Many other examples of disobedience and its evil con- 
 sequences might be drawn from the sacred Book ; but to 
 do so, would exceed our limits. It may be, that at the 
 present time disobedience would not draw down such 
 manifest chastisement ; but it is equally recorded above, 
 equally subject to the wrath of our Father, whose favour 
 and whose blessing we wilfully cast aside. 
 
 The emphatic verse, "Behold I set before you this 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 189 
 
 day a blessing and a curse, a blessing iijeobey the com- 
 mandments of the Lord, &c., and a curse, if ye will not 
 obey the word of the Lord your God," remains in equal 
 force now as when it was given; addressed to the people 
 of Israel, it must remain valid and immutable, till that 
 people shall cease from the earth. It is not confined either 
 to place or time. Hundreds, ay, thousands of years have 
 passed away ; yet the nation of Israel still exists, though 
 every other flourishing, when those words were spoken, 
 has crumbled into dust. We to this day remain emblems 
 of the power, the mercy, the justice, the wrath of the 
 Almighty; and that verse applies as forcibly to us now, 
 as it did to our fathers. 
 
 Obedience depends neither on country, time, nor situa- 
 tion; it is required whether we are free citizens of Jeru- 
 salem, or wanderers and captives in the stranger's land; 
 whether all things are smiling around us, or dark clouds 
 obscure us beneath their shades; whether coeval with 
 Moses, the present time, or a thousand years hence.. And 
 would we still be the first-born of the Lord : we must 
 adhere without hesitation or inquiry to the law of Moses 
 — the pure, the beautiful, and consistent law, of which 
 the whole Bible is the glorious record. 
 
 Obedience extends over every rank and station. "We 
 cannot now bring burnt-offerings and sacrifices unto the 
 Lord; but verses similar to this should be engraved on 
 every youthful heart: " Hath the Lord as great delight 
 in burnt-off'erings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice 
 of the Lord ? Behold to obey is better than sacrifice, to 
 hearken, than the fat of rams; for rebellion (or disobe- 
 dience) is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as 
 iniquity and idolatry." 
 
 It is impossible to peruse the holy Scriptures without 
 the conviction striking home to every Hebrew mind, that 
 
190 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 we may worship and love the Lord our God, as fervently, 
 as steadily, as acceptably to Him in our captive state as 
 in Jerusalem. And should we not sometimes ponder on 
 these things, and endeavour by individual conduct to 
 uphold the glory of the nation, and assist by example 
 our wavering brethren? The efforts of one, or two, or 
 five, or ten, will be, alas ! of little avail, save for their 
 own souls. The love of the sons of Israel for their faith 
 should be such as would urge them to regard her welfare, 
 her interest, her glory, even as their own. If even the 
 Christian regards us as a ''living miracle, as the living 
 echo of Heaven's holy tones from generation to genera- 
 tion:" in what other light can we look upon ourselves? 
 Can we doubt that our existence is to be for ever ? " Thus 
 saith the Lord who giveth the sun for a Hght by day, 
 and the ordinances of the moon and stars for a light by 
 night, who divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar: 
 If these ordinances depart from before me, saith the 
 Lord, then the seed of Israel shall also cease to be a nation 
 before me for ever. If the heavens above can be measured, 
 and the foundations of the earth be searched out beneath, 
 I will also cast off the seed of Israel for all that they 
 have done, saith the Lord." (Jeremiah xxxi. 35-37.) 
 "Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that ye may know 
 and believe me, and understand, that I am He, before 
 whom there was no god formed, neither shall there be 
 after me; I, even I, am the Lord, and beside me there 
 is no saviour. This people I have formed for myself, 
 they shall show forth ray praise." (Isaiah xliii. 10, 11, 21.) 
 And shall we refrain from doing so? Are we so insensible 
 to such blessed privileges, as blindly to throw them off? 
 And although almost every page of the holy volume 
 teems with proofs, that Israel and Judah are the chosen 
 of the Lord, the people whom He hath framed for Him- 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 191 
 
 self, and whose religion will at length extend over the 
 whole world : there are yet some, who wake not from 
 their lethargy, who wilfully permit the Christians to 
 believe we are indeed forsaken, indeed deprived of all 
 spirit, grace, and blessing, and that theirs is the religion 
 which alone can promise redemption, hope, and comfort. 
 But how different would be the tenor of their thoughts 
 concerning us: did they behold the glory of the Lord 
 reflected in the social and domestic conduct of every 
 child of Israel! 
 
 Every Hebrew should look upon his faith as a temple 
 extending over every land, to prove the immutability, 
 the eternity of God, the unity of His purposes, the truth 
 of the past, the present, and the future : and regard 
 himself as one of the pillars which support it from fall- 
 ing to the ground, and add, however insignificant in 
 itself, to the strength, the durability, and the beauty 
 of the whole. 
 
 That we do not think enough of these things proceeds 
 from that spirit of independence, which w^ould prompt 
 every man to worship after his own fancy. Religion has 
 no more powerful foe than independence. It is contrary 
 to every law of nature. Who is it dare proclaim himself 
 a being independent alike of God and man? Who dare 
 say we are not dependent beings ? Yet it is of little use 
 acknowledging a God, One who frames, upholds, and 
 guides : if man turn aside from His everlasting statutes 
 to walk in his own ways, his, who himself is but the 
 being of a day. 
 
 Obedience was from the first the great trial of man; 
 and if we worship God after our own fashion, we rob both 
 prayers and actions of their sweetest savour. Whether 
 Hebrew, Christian, or Mahomedan, he only is sincerely 
 and earnestly religious who strictly adheres to the sta- 
 
192 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 tutes contained in the Book which each creed looks upon as 
 sacred. And it should be the pride of every Hebrew to 
 obey the laws of Moses implicitly, so unfailingly as to 
 give unanswerable evidence to all around that his religion 
 is indeed divine. 
 
 It may be that obedience is more difficult now, that all 
 worldly distinctions are confined to members of another* 
 creed, than were we in our own country, and had a king, 
 princes, magistrates, and situations of dignity and honour 
 amongst ourselves. But the Hebrew has still honour to 
 support and glory to exalt ; the honour of his faith, the 
 glory of his God ; he is still one of a great fabric which 
 will 7iever fall, however he may desert it. The mighty 
 arm of the Lord upholds it; and were there but ten 
 Israelites remaining, then from them would spring the 
 messiah, the son of David, '' to wipe away the tears from 
 all faces," to teach us the worship of holiness and truth : 
 then w^ould from them the earth be regenerated. 
 
 Yet, let it not be imagined that, if it be the arm of 
 the Lord which supports the undying fabric of His faith, 
 it matters not how His people fall from it: since, whether 
 they remain faithful, or for the sake of worldliness desert 
 it, cannot effect a change in the decrees of the Eternal. No, 
 indeed, nothing they can do can destroy the Law; — but 
 according to our work so shall be our recompense. Let 
 them, therefore, stand firm, and show forth the glory of 
 their God by adding to the beauty of the temple He has 
 framed; and His blessing will descend like dew upon 
 
 * It must not be lost sight of, that this book was written by a resi- 
 dent of England, where the Jews had then not yet been admitted to 
 an enjoyment of equal rights; the case is different in America and 
 some states in Europe ; though there are everywhere obstacles in our 
 "way which render worldly preferment almost incompatible with a due 
 observance of our religion. — I. L. 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 193 
 
 tlieir souls, nourishing while it refresheth, consoling 
 while it purifieth. But those that fall away will find 
 their emblem in the fallen pillars of a ruined shrine; 
 like them, for a while, they may be admired in their 
 fallen state, as converts are in the church they have 
 adopted; but then, crumbling into dust, despised, neg- 
 lected, scattered like chaff before the wind, they will be 
 doing dishonour to the fabric from which they have fallen, 
 and will add nothing to their own beauty or utility. 
 Even thus are those who, either impelled by worldly 
 motives, or because they know nothing of their faith, 
 dishonour and degrade the religion of their ancestors, 
 whilst they add nothing to the glory of that which they 
 have adopted. Oh ! how great, how inconceivable is 
 that love which, even to such sinners, holds forth both 
 promises and pardon. 
 
 In vain we look for charity in those who have left the 
 Jewish nation.* Delighted with themselves, or perhaps 
 angry with others for not following their example (for 
 whenever such persons come in contact with those who 
 remain steadily firm, conscience raises her voice some- 
 what louder than they approve of, and the anger she 
 excites against themselves they permit to find vent on 
 others), they seldom lose an opportunity to bring others 
 over to their side, or endeavour to prove their zeal for 
 their newly-embraced creed by the scorn and contempt 
 which they invariably evince towards the religion of their 
 forefathers. How different is their conduct from that 
 
 * In this, as in every other rule, there are, happily, exceptions, as it 
 has been peculiarly the author's happy fate to encounter. The author 
 ought, perhaps, of all persons, to have avoided this subject — having 
 ever received distinguished kindness from some few who are unhappily 
 BO situated ; but in writing a theological work, it is the author's painful 
 duty to write generally, not as individuals have experienced. 
 
 17 
 
194 THE SPIEIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 of the sincere and lowly, though mistaken follower of 
 Christianity ; how differently does he regard the Hebrew 
 from those who, born Israelites themselves, may still have 
 relations, even parents, who yet adhere to the law of God. 
 Bat in vain they thus endeavour to conceal their descent ; 
 the mark of God is on their brows, and wherever they 
 may be, they cannot shake it off.* 
 
 There are others, again, who take unto themselves the 
 supposed glory of being converts, and whom many Chris- 
 tians triumphantly hail as such, who can really boast of 
 
 * In the midst of all his wanderings, and despite of the effects of 
 climates and physical changes, the Hebrew has preserved his pecu- 
 liarity of features and cast of countenance. Going over to the army 
 of our opponents marks us, therefore, but as traitors to the noble cause 
 surrendered to us as its natural defenders ; and to deny our origin is 
 contradicting the evidence which our own countenance presents. " For 
 unto me the children of Israel are servants; they are my servants, 
 whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt : I am the Lord your 
 God." (Lev. XXV. 55.) These are the words of the law; and no one 
 upon whom the badge of the divine service has been thrown can divest 
 himself of it. The apostate may think that his new associates love and 
 respect him ; but he mistakes the truth : the intelligent Nazarene will 
 suspect his sincerity, justly believing that he would not have quitted 
 our communion were ours the conquering and triamphant, and Chris- 
 tianity the suffering cause. His face will mark him as the deserter 
 from his God ; and his great-grandchildren will still bear the evidence 
 that they have sprung from the despised race of Israel. These are not 
 idle words! they are the words of truth and common sense! How 
 much nobler a course do they pursue who endeavour to bring honour 
 upon their ancient lineage, who add renown to the blessed name of their 
 ancestors, who magnify the glory of the law which they have received 
 from their Maker! And indeed how happy would we be as a united 
 people, if we all would contribute our aid to improve the condition of 
 our brothers in faith, and act so, that all might acknowledge that our 
 hopes of better things are well founded, and that the v/ords of the 
 Lord in our mouths are indeed truths, truths as unchanging, undying, 
 as is the Creator Himself, who proclaimed them as His will and law. — 
 I. L. 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 195 
 
 no such privilege; placed by their parents at Christian 
 schools, at a time when impressions are most readily- 
 imbibed, they cannot do otherwise than embrace the doc- 
 trine which they hear continually explained, the only one 
 indeed in which they are instructed. How then, in after- 
 life, can they take any credit to themselves, or deem 
 themselves converts? The real meaning of which word 
 appears to me, simply, examining, studying, reflectitig 
 on both religions, and the choosing that to w^hich their 
 heai't and judgment respond; instead of which the Chris- 
 tian religion is the only one w^hich they have known. 
 They have not been taught the love and veneration for 
 their ancient faith, which could strengthen them in its 
 observance, and enable them to give up all w^orldly dis- 
 tinctions, rather than desert it. Oh ! why will not Jew- 
 ish parents instruct their children in the Jewish faith, 
 or send them to Jewish schools, and shrink in horror 
 from the sinful act of placing them where, imbibing a 
 new belief, they will on their return to the parental roof 
 too often break with a rude hand that holy link which 
 of all others should most closely entwine the hearts 
 of parents and children, the common worship of their 
 common Father, the one religion of the ONE and Holy 
 God?* 
 
 * I have really nothing to add to the impressive remarks of my friend, 
 farther than that it appears unaccountable how a Jewish father and a 
 Hebrew mother can surrender their children to the entire guidance of 
 a Christian boarding-school. Religious inditference must have gone far 
 indeed, where such a betrayal of the trust which God confided to them 
 in their children takes place. Do they really believe that, whether re- 
 garded as members of the human family at large or as Israelites, they 
 have thus discharged the solemn duty incumbent on them to fit them, 
 their charges, for the kingdom of Heaven? Do they themselves believe 
 in the faith of Moses? Do they believe in on^e, unchanging, everlast- 
 ing, immortal God? Do they believe that He will punish those who 
 
196 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 In these brief remarks on the great importance of 
 steadily adhering to form (for in the adhering or non- 
 
 forswear His kingdom? "We have yet to learn that there are professing 
 Jews who believe otherwise ! And yet they can sacrifice their children 
 to an erroneous system, erroneous as we needs must deem it, simply be- 
 cause they are too indolent to retain them under the paternal roof, and 
 to superintend in their own persons the education of those who ought 
 to be prized above every thing. And oh! how can a man who deserves 
 in the least to be blessed with a son,or a mother whose bosom throbs at 
 all with emotion at beholding her own daughter — how can such think 
 any employment more pleasure-bringing than assembling round them 
 daily their own offspring, and to see their intellect expanding day by 
 day and hour by hour, under their own guidance, at least under their 
 own superintendence ! I say not, that the parents should be the teachers ; 
 for as the world is now constituted, especially in large commercial com- 
 munities, the fathers are too much occupied with business to have suffi- 
 cient leisure, even if the capacity be not wanting. But surely in the 
 evening hours they ought to rejoice to see their family circle unbroken 
 around them, and to be assured that the instruction imparted during 
 the day has not weakened the attachment felt towards the ancient be- 
 lief of Israel. But the mothers in the house of Jacob, particularly 
 those of the wealthier class, and of them my friend I believe speaks 
 more especially — surely they cannot be so much the slaves of pleasure 
 and indolence, as to wish their sons and daughters removed from their 
 dwelling, so that they may grow up without experiencing a mother's 
 love, and caring in return little for maternal authority. But unfortu- 
 nately there are such — fathers, who desire not to see their sons around 
 them in the hours of leisure ; mothers, who divest themselves of their 
 daughters' presence that they may not be disturbed in their amusement 
 or be troubled with maternal cares ! But are these Israelites ? are they 
 not the cause of their children's apostasy? — Yet when old age creeps 
 over them, when they see their own flesh and blood worship at unholy 
 shrines, calling upon gods whom our forefathers feared not: how will 
 they curse the hour when their negligence or pride (that their children 
 might be like those of the gentiles around them) counselled them to 
 banish them, as it were, to a moral desert, where unbelief or false be- 
 lief had necessarily to supply the knowledge of our bli&sful belief! — 
 One excuse they may perhaps offer, the want of good schools of our 
 own. But even this is no extenuation. If schools are wanting, esta- 
 blish them, place at their head men and women who fear the Lord and 
 tremble at His word ; and as sure as the sun shines for a light by day, 
 
THE SPIEIT OF JUDAISM. 197 
 
 adhering we expose ourselves to tlie blessing or the curse 
 so emphatically promised by Moses), our review of the two 
 last verses of the Shemang is concluded; and we have 
 now but to notice the beautiful union, observable in the 
 six verses, forming this daily prayer. Each is distinct, 
 and forms a complete study of itself; yet each is so con- 
 nected with the other, that the whole forms a more com- 
 plete and summary rule of life, than can be found in any 
 other part of the Bible. 
 
 It is 'scarcely possible for the reflecting mind to remain 
 insensible to the precise and beautiful arrangement of 
 every sentence, almost of every word. 
 
 Proclaiming the unity of our God, we are daily re- 
 minded of our nationality, and all the weighty reflections 
 and responsibilities which that nationality includes. Then 
 desired to love the Lord with heart, and soul, and might. 
 It is morally impossible to obey this command, unless 
 the spirit of religion pervade our every action. Affec- 
 tions, intellect, springing from the pure fount of light and 
 love, must pour back their treasures — as the sparkling 
 waters of the fountain fall back into the same spring 
 from which they rose; social, domestic, individual con- 
 duct, benevolence, charity, even human virtue, are in- 
 cluded in obedience to the second verse. In the third, 
 the ten commandments are recalled to rest on our hearts, 
 that we may remember them to do them. In the fourth, 
 the duties of religious instruction, of strengthening our 
 
 Israelites will be able to give instruction, and fit out the children in- 
 trusted to their care with all the light of science and refinement which 
 they can obtain under gentile guidance. Yet even if this were not so, 
 better far would it be that we be shut out from modern civilization 
 than that one of us should be thereby prevented from bearing his testi- 
 mony to the existence and rule of the One true and only God and Sa- 
 viour. — I. L. 
 
198 THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 
 
 inward thoughts on this niomentons subject by conver- 
 sation, and of encouraging the spirit of piety to pervade 
 even those amusements which we may deem profane, all 
 are strongly inculcated. And lastly, lest the spirit thus 
 enforced should fade away and die in our wavering hearts, 
 adherence and obedience to instituted form are positively 
 commanded. "We cannot fail to perceive by the arrange- 
 ment of this brief, yet perfect portion of our law, how 
 closely and firmly the spirit isicnited with the form; and 
 that, would we be Israelites indeed, not merely such in 
 name, the command, implied in the arrangevient as well 
 as precept, must be obeyed. The heart must be wholly 
 given to the Lord ; yet still the instituted form must be 
 obeyed, as strictly and steadily as our scattered state 
 will permit. As both are here indivisibly connected: 
 so it is evident, the religion of no Hebrew is perfect, 
 unless the form be hallowed by the spirit, the spirit 
 quickened by the form. 
 
 When this is done, when we behold the union of reli- 
 gion and morality as the God of heaven intended; when 
 all that is here comprised is indeed obeyed; when we 
 behold Hebrew parents bringing up their children in the 
 fear of the Lord, and according to the law of Moses, — 
 the Bible read, studied, alike in English as in our own 
 language, and believed by every Israelite, male or female ; 
 when the Sabbath-day is hallowed, the love of interest 
 and money giving place to the pure love of God; worldly 
 ambition set at naught when it can only be gratified at 
 the expense of Judaism; when the Jewish nation glories 
 in her captive state as a proof that she is the chosen of 
 the Lord, and hails the fulfilment of these awful threat- 
 enings as convincing evidence that the glorious promises 
 will be with equal truth fulfilled; -when such things are: 
 then indeed may we hope that the period of our redemp- 
 
THE SPIRIT OF JUDAISM. 199 
 
 tion is drawing nigh, our release from captivity at Land, 
 the advent of our Messiah approaching, — when every 
 remaining prophecy shall be gloriously, blessedly, fully, 
 accomplished, ''"When the ransomed of the Lord shall 
 return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy; 
 when they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and 
 sighing shall flee away." 
 
POEMS. 
 
 BY GRACE AGUILAR. 
 
 *^* The following thirty-two poetical effusions were communicated 
 for " The Occident," vols. I. to V., except the first, transmitted before 
 this magazine was started, and the second, which was copied from " The 
 Voice of Jacob." They are given unchanged, as first printed; and it 
 is hoped they will impart in others that feeling of devotion which 
 prompted the author to indite them. 
 
 Philadelphia, Nissan 5624 
 
 201 
 
POEMS. 
 
 •S* 
 
 ODE ON CHARITY. 
 
 KECITED BY ONE OF THE BOYS OP THE SCHOOL nlpH ^■<J?8» GATES 
 OF HOPE, LONDON, ON TUESDAY, THE 14tH OF APRIL, 1840 (5600). 
 
 Oh thou that sittest shrined far, far above. 
 Thou fleet-wing'd spirit of omniscient love ! 
 Urging thy flight o'er ocean and o'er land, 
 Leaving sweet tokens of a Father's hand. 
 Breathing of love from which no woe may hide, 
 'Neath whose soft spell e'en sorrow's tear is dried, 
 Unseen and voiceless, yet the angel guest, 
 In every land that holds some gentle breast, — 
 Thrice-blessed Charity ! to thee we raise 
 The simple ode of thankfulness and praise, 
 And blessing thee, in gratitude make known 
 The generous friends who heard thy pleading tone, 
 And o'er our lowly lot such joys entwined 
 As soothe the heart and purify the mind. 
 Blessings on those who to our youth would give 
 Means as the sons of Israel to live, 
 To aid us on our dark and rugged way, 
 And grant us knowledge as our prop and stay. 
 How may we speak the thankfulness we owe, 
 The blessings lavish'd on a lot so low ! 
 Save to upraise for them the fervent prayer, 
 Whose peace and fulness they would bid us share, 
 And bid return unto their own kind hearts 
 The blessings which their love to poverty imparts I 
 
 2a3 
 
204 POEMS. 
 
 THE CHAMBER OF THE DYING. 
 
 'Tis holy, when the morning peeps 
 
 Softly through shadowy night, 
 When Nature gems of beauty weeps, 
 And the bright world so gently sleeps, 
 
 Hush'd in its pomp and might. 
 
 'Tis holy, in that hour of eve. 
 
 When twilight's robe is spread, 
 When thought may solemn visions weave, 
 And care and pain and sorrow leave. 
 
 Till all but peace hath fled. 
 
 'Tis holy, when the glistening rays 
 
 Of many a silent star 
 Gleam on that sad and yearning gaze. 
 That up to heaven its prayer would raise, 
 
 And send its dream afar. 
 
 'Tis holy, when the choral song, 
 
 Fills with deep tones the air, 
 When, awed and hush'd, the gathering throng, 
 Still, in the spirit's depth prolong 
 
 The mighty voice of prayer. 
 
 'Tis holy, when loud thunders roar, 
 
 And lightning flashes round, 
 When ocean breaks upon the shore. 
 And heavy clouds the heavens rush o'er, 
 
 And winds send forth, deep sound. 
 
 But holier e'en than these the shrine, 
 
 Where low the loved is lying. 
 Where glimmerings of a love divine, 
 Through pain and sorrow softly shine, 
 
 The Chamber of the Dying. 
 
 There : — God is there. He calls His own, 
 
 In voice so gently mild, 
 A few brief hours, and to His throne. 
 Where saints and angels dwell alone, 
 
 He calls His favour'd child. 
 
 ( 
 
POEMS. 205 
 
 'Tis on an angel that we gaze, 
 
 A resident of heaven, 
 Shrouded a while, in misty haze, 
 As morning veils her glowing rays, 
 
 Ere night afar is driven. 
 
 'Tis holy ! — holy thus to rest 
 
 Beside a spirit flying, 
 Though anguish fills the watchers' breast, 
 Yet e'en to them, — 'tis holiest, 
 
 The Chamber of the I>ying ! 
 
 SABBATH THOUGHTS. 
 I. 
 
 " The heart knoweth its own bitterness, and a stranger intermeddleth not 
 with its joy." — Proverbs. 
 
 Yes ; better far our God should read, 
 
 And God alone, our inmost soul, 
 That He alone can see it bleed 
 
 'Neath its dark veil of stern control ; 
 'Tis best that man can never know 
 One half the spirit's joy or woe. 
 
 For did earth give us all we seek, 
 
 A perfect sympathy and love, — 
 Did man console in accents meek, — 
 
 Oh, should we ever look above ? 
 Contented to the earth we'd cling, 
 And clip the spirit's soaring wing ! 
 
 "We ne'er would lift the tear-dimm'd eye. 
 Nor bend in prayer the sinking knee ; 
 
 Man would receive each swelling sigh, 
 And soon, too soon, our idol be ! 
 
 Oh, blessed He who doth ordain 
 
 A love no earthly doubt can stain ! 
 
 18 
 
206 POEMS. 
 
 To feel this world our resting-place, 
 The fainting soul is all too prone, 
 
 Seldom the ways of Heav'n we trace. 
 
 While earth's bright dreams are all our own; 
 
 While man may give us hope and love, 
 
 Oh, who will- lift the heart above ? 
 
 But when the heart is clouded o'er 
 With shades no earthly eye can reach, 
 
 When e'en though love might peace restore, 
 We cannot give our sorrows speech — 
 
 When all within is dark and drear. 
 
 And none may mark the spirit's tear : 
 
 Oh, it is then we first shall learn 
 The blessedness of lowly prayer, 
 
 Then upwards shall the spirit yearn, 
 And feel one pitying Friend is there ; 
 
 Then the deep fulness of Ilis love 
 
 Our lonely moments still shall prove. 
 
 No earthly forms the void can fill, 
 
 Which thirsts to drink th' immortal spring; 
 
 No earthly balm the heart can still, 
 
 AVhich droops to clasp his Saviour's wing ;* 
 
 Then blessed be that lonely hour 
 
 Which first proclaims a Father's pow^r. 
 
 Come, then, and seek the Fount of love, 
 Whose living waters all may share ; 
 
 The Friend who sits enshrined above 
 Will all our sorrows soothe and bear ; 
 
 Come but to Him, and He will give 
 
 Us fitting grace for heav'n to live. 
 
 Nor think we harshly of our kind, 
 That none may read our joy or woe, 
 
 That dearest friends on earth, we find. 
 The hearts deep caverns ne'er may know ; 
 
 * Psalm xci. 4; Isaiah xli. 26, Ix. 16, Ixiii. 8. 
 
POEMS. 207 
 
 The purest love our souls retain 
 
 Can guess not, soothe not, all its pain. 
 
 'Tis but to whisper, that below 
 
 Imperfect e'en affection is ; 
 That fondest friends may never know 
 
 The fulness of a love like His, 
 "Who reads the spirit's veil'd recess, 
 AVhich scarce defines its own distress. 
 
 And should we droop beneath the pain 
 
 We have to feel, that none can see 
 •Our secret selves: then God will deign 
 
 To hear each throb of agony, 
 And trace unto its source the tear 
 "Which falls, when none to mark are near. 
 
 My God ! Bid Thou the heart be still, 
 
 And calmly in Thy mercy lie; 
 Its aching void let Thy love fill, 
 
 And raise to Thee the tearful eye ; 
 Oh, ne'er be earthly links our own, 
 If they must fill the heart alone. 
 
 No ! be Thine image ever there, 
 
 That bless'd our lonely hours may be; 
 No griefs alone 'tis ours to bear. 
 
 For all are known and shared by Thee ! 
 Then let us bless the Love Supreme 
 That bends o'er earth its radiant gleam. 
 
 Yet grant us still those loving ties 
 
 Which long this earth with joy have blest ; 
 
 But let us seek beyond the skies 
 
 The love on which our souls may rest : 
 
 Oh, quick descend ! and with Thy pow'r 
 
 Bless, Lord, the spirit's lonely hour. 
 
208 POEMS. 
 
 SABBATH THOUGHTS. 
 
 n. 
 
 WRITTEN ON THE CLOSE OF A PECULIARLY BLESSED DAY OF REST. 
 
 Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest. 
 It is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings." — Levit. xxiii. 2. 
 
 I BLESS thee, Father, for the grace 
 
 Thou me this day hast given 
 Strengthening my soul to seek thy face, 
 
 And list the theme of heaven. 
 
 I bless thee, that each workday care 
 
 Thy love hath lull'd to rest. 
 And every thought whose wing was prayer 
 
 Thine answering word hath bless'd. 
 
 I bless thee. Father ! those dark fears, 
 
 That linger'd round my heart. 
 That call'd for murmurs, doubts, and fears, 
 
 Thy mercy bade depart. 
 
 Oh, Thou alone couldst send them hence 
 
 On this bless'd day of peace. 
 And with thy spirit's pure incense 
 
 Bid workday turmoils cease. 
 
 The withering pangs of anxious care 
 
 Were through the week mine own. 
 Eased only in the hour of prayer, 
 
 But never from me flown. 
 
 Darkly around me closed the night, 
 
 Though trusting still in Thee ; 
 And heavily I hail'd the light. 
 
 Fraught with few joys for me. 
 
 How came it, then, my Sabbath day 
 
 Is with such bliss replete, — 
 That visions bright around me play. 
 
 Whose smiles my spirit greet ? 
 
POEMS. 209 
 
 Oh, ^tis as some reviving dew 
 
 Were o'er each sorrow stealing, 
 Folding in heaven's own azure hue 
 
 Each dark and weary feeling, 
 
 As if no sorrow could molest 
 
 My soaring soul again. 
 Nor find a momentary rest 
 
 For aught of earthly pain. 
 
 A Sabbath to my inmost heart, i 
 
 Thy day, my God, hath been, 
 Thy loving kindness to impart, 
 
 E'en to a child of sin, 
 
 A verdant spot, a cooling spring, 
 
 On earth's unkindly breast, 
 Where all who childlike spirits bring 
 Shall healing find, and rest. 
 
 My God ! my Father ! 'tis from Thee 
 
 These blessed hours have come ; 
 I hail them type of joys for me. 
 
 That wait me in thy home ! 
 
 Come, then ! if. Lord, 'tis thy decree, 
 
 My workday thoughts of care, 
 The day of rest is still for me, 
 
 Thy presence then to share. 
 
 And naught shall banish from my heart 
 
 Its memories lingering yet, 
 Their twilight soothing to impart, 
 
 E'en when their sun hath set. 
 
 Oh, never let its fleece be dry. 
 
 Thine own day mid the seven, 
 And wing with prayer, my God, each sigh 
 
 That yearns for Thee and heaven ! 
 
 18* 
 
210 POEMS. 
 
 SABBATH THOUGHTS. 
 III. 
 
 "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." 
 
 And is there peace and rest in heaven, 
 And vt^ilt Thou never leave me, Lord? 
 
 Though this fair earth has never given, 
 To yearning hearts, one answering word? 
 
 And is't with Thee our souls shall find 
 The craving void of suffering fill'd, — 
 
 The throbbing pulse, the care-worn mind, 
 The anguish'd heart be hush'd and still'd? 
 
 Oh, breathe thy promise. Lord of Peace! 
 
 My spirit yearns and craves for Thee, 
 I pray not sorrow's pang to cease, 
 
 Let me but feel Thou art with me ! 
 
 Let me but clasp again the Love 
 
 Thou didst vouchsafe erewhile to me, 
 
 When first my soul look'd up above, 
 
 And pined and thirsted, Lord, for Thee ! 
 
 Oh leave me not, forsake me not, 
 
 Unto my own rebellious will, 
 Whate'er of trial cloud my lot, 
 
 Let me but love Thee, trust Thee still I 
 
 Keep me but constant in my trust, 
 Father ! oh grant it fail not now, 
 
 Lest, sinking prostrate in the dust, 
 Despair and doubt should cloud my brow. 
 
 Again, again the waves of Life 
 
 Are o'er me rushing in their might, 
 
 Whose troubled currents' storm and strife, 
 Hurl my weak spirit back to night. 
 
POEMS. --;S=5=:=i==;=i^- 211 
 
 I deem'd the gleam of heav'n, that stole, 
 
 When prostrate on my couch I lay, 
 Had left sweet peace upon my soul, 
 
 To strengthen't for a darker day. 
 
 But it has pass'd, and left no sign ; 
 
 The struggle, duty to fulfil, 
 Has robb'd me of the bliss divine, 
 
 Which smiled, when weariness chainM me still. 
 
 Oh, if no comfort be mine own, 
 
 Father, still fix my hope on Thee ! 
 Till I may feel thy love alone, 
 
 And break my chains, and set me free. 
 
 'Tis but to try my faltering faith, 
 
 Thou dost a while thy presence veil ; 
 Yet though thy worm be tried to death, 
 
 My trust, my hope, shall never fail. 
 
 Back, back unto the waves of Life, 
 
 My shrinking soul, still firmly on ! 
 What if the path with storm be rife ? 
 
 The crown of faith may yet be won ! 
 
 In His own time, my yearning cry 
 
 Shall pierce His radiant courts of love, 
 
 And faith shall change to prayer each sigh 
 That wings its quivering flight above. 
 
212 POEMS. 
 
 SABBATH THOUGHTS. 
 IV. 
 
 FARTING FROM FRIENDS. 
 " I, even I, am He that comforteth you !" 
 
 Oh ! His such bitter pang to part 
 
 From friends whom God has given,— 
 The silver links around the heart 
 
 Seem all so rudely riven; 
 Yet He who gave them bids them go, 
 And He will heal each hidden woe, 
 And soothe the burning teardrop's flow, 
 E'en from His throne in heaven. 
 
 And will He, sceptic-spirit, say, 
 Look down on friendship's hours? 
 
 Will He cast down from heaven one ray 
 To gild such earthly flowers? 
 
 He will, for He can read all hearts ; 
 
 He knows the bliss that love imparts, 
 
 The source whence sorrow's sad tear starts, 
 When loneliness is ours. 
 
 He framed the heart, and feels each throb 
 
 Of suffering and woe ; 
 He hears the mourner's stifled sob. 
 
 Though tears may never flow. 
 He knew that man could ne'er sustain. 
 Alone, the load of guilt and pain. 
 When sin assumed her baleful reign 
 
 To darken all below. 
 
 Nor was it then, love's sweetest flowers 
 
 Unto this earth were given ; 
 They smiled on Eden's sinless bowers, 
 
 Ere thence frail man was driven : 
 And if e'en there man might not be 
 From every care and sorrow free, 
 AVithout affliction's sympathy. 
 There must be love in Heaven 1 
 
POEMS. 213 
 
 And e'en the " Monarch Minstrel" felt 
 
 The bliss that friendship gave ; 
 "When round him darkening dangers dwelt, 
 
 A friend was there to save ; 
 Their souls were knit — their hearts were twined— 
 One spirit theirs — one will — one mind ; 
 Oh ! say, was love like theirs design'd 
 
 To perish in the grave? 
 
 Then, oh ! e'en in that sorrowing hour 
 
 When friends on earth must part, 
 Alone to tread where dark clouds lower, 
 
 And bursting feels each heart: 
 Oh ! let us seek our God in prayer ; 
 Though 77ian may scorn such love to share. 
 Our God will all our burden bear, 
 
 And His deep love impart ; 
 
 And teach us, though a while we sever. 
 
 Still we shall meet again — 
 If not on earth — with Him for ever ! 
 
 Where there is no more pain. 
 Then let us struggle on, and pray 
 For strength to tread our lonely way, 
 And on our God the weak heart stay. 
 
 That seeks its loved in vain. 
 
 And prayer will j9y through time and space 
 
 That friends in life divide, 
 Till through earth's desert drear, we trace 
 
 Those golden portals wide. 
 That ope on realms of fadeless joy. 
 Which parting hours can ne'er alloy. 
 Nor that pure blissful love destroy 
 
 Which hath on God relied. 
 1839. 
 
214 POEMS. 
 
 SABBATH THOUGHTS. 
 V. 
 
 "For I am the Lord, I change not." 
 
 Oh, are there friends who, when they part, 
 
 As fondly meet again ? 
 Does absence never bring the heart 
 
 A deep and lasting pain ? 
 How may frail human nature speak 
 
 Of changeless soul-felt joy, 
 And in a cloud-wrapt future seek 
 
 A bliss without alloy ! 
 
 One yearning heart may beat so true 
 
 That time has pass'd it by, 
 And left o'er life no sombre hue 
 
 To whisper age more nigh, 
 Alas for such — their lonely lot 
 
 Hath little joy below; 
 The roseate flowers that Hope has wrought 
 
 Will lose their sunny glow. 
 
 It may not be the heart is changed, 
 
 But all is changed around, 
 And sever'd paths have oft estranged 
 
 Friends long in kindness bound ; — 
 But oh ! tis sad to yearn, to pine 
 
 For love once fondly given. 
 And but pale buds of memory twine, 
 
 Frail as the links now riven ; 
 
 To feel the glowing thoughts that rise 
 
 Are laid in prisons lone, 
 And never read in beaming eyes 
 
 Their answer to our own ; — 
 To dream of interest ling'ring still 
 
 In friends we claim no more, 
 Till voiceless tears the soul that fill 
 
 E'en Memory blotteth o'er. 
 
POEMS. 215 
 
 Oh upward — upward wing the soul, 
 
 Till its lone caverns deep 
 "With love that needs not cold control, 
 
 With joys that need not weep — 
 Up to that Home where love may rest 
 
 Unfailing to the end, 
 Where in each bright and angel guest 
 
 We hail a changeless friend. 
 
 1841. 
 
 SABBATH THOUGHTS. 
 
 WRITTEN DURING ILLNESS. 
 
 Oh, do not think because I weep, 
 And smiles a while are flown, 
 
 And thoughts of darkness o'er me creep, 
 My God hath left me lone ; 
 
 That His deep love is vain to hush 
 
 This wildly yearning heart; 
 That to the dreams which o'er me rush, 
 
 He cannot peace impart ; 
 
 That 'tis but vain, religious balm. 
 Which joy my soul had stored, 
 
 And fruitless all, the hope, the calm, 
 Found in His precious word. 
 
 Oh, no! Oh, no! Mine eyelids swell 
 With quickly quivering tears. 
 
 And thoughts, in sluggish darkness, dwell 
 'Neath earth's depressing fears; 
 
 And all of joy, of hope, of peace, 
 Seems banish'd hence a while, 
 
 For He who bids all sorrow cease, 
 Hath veil'd His gracious smile; 
 
216 POEMS. 
 
 And turn'd away that loving eye 
 
 Which beam'd on me in pain, 
 And left me helplessly to lie, 
 
 As if my trust were vain. 
 
 No ! no ! 'tis only for a little while, 
 
 He turns away His face, 
 And once again His cheering smile, 
 
 My yearning soul shall trace; 
 
 And 'tis His love which lays me low, 
 
 And bows my soul to dust, 
 And bids the tear of anguish flow. 
 
 To mark if still I trust: 
 
 If still, thongh comfortless, I turn, 
 
 And pine, and long for Him, 
 And loving mercy still discern, 
 
 Though mortal sight be dim, — 
 
 And oh, I know, I feel it love, 
 
 And lay me at His feet, 
 Knowing that if I look above, 
 
 E'en sorrow's self is sweet. 
 
 The tempest shadows darkly lower, 
 
 To fold me in their night, 
 But, oh ! in His appointed hour 
 
 His love will bring forth light. 
 
 i.'id I will wait for Him, and rest. 
 Without one murmuring plaint. 
 
 Though sighs escape my labouring breast, 
 And my lonely spirit faint. 
 
 Heed not my crying, Lord ! 'tis well, 
 Or Thou wouldst let me free. 
 
 Better in chains with Thee to dwell 
 Than free, apart from Thee ! 
 
 Thou mark'st me Thine ; these hours of pain 
 That bid me lonely lie, 
 
POEMS. 217 
 
 Aud bind me with a heavy chain, 
 Still, still proclaim Thee nigh! 
 
 They call me for a while from earth, 
 And all her pleasant dreams, 
 
 And if they check the voice of mirth, 
 And joy's too dazzling gleams: 
 
 Oh, 'tis to hold commune with Thee, 
 
 To feel I am Thine own, 
 Thy "still small voice" would silent be, 
 
 In festal halls alone. 
 
 Let me but feel this, Father, oh ! 
 
 E'en though a while I weep; 
 Let not o'er faith's rejoicing glow, 
 
 The stagnant darkness creep. 
 
 Be with me still ! though comfortless. 
 
 Let not my trust depart, 
 Oh, be Thy spirit nigh to bless 
 
 This lone and aching heart! 
 
 o 
 
 Grant me but faith, my God! to rest 
 
 Unmurm'ring in Thy will, 
 Then, then, though peace forsake my breast, 
 
 I am in safety still! 
 
 AN HOUR OF PEACE. 
 
 Oh, wake me not from this sweet dream 
 
 Now o'er my spirit stealing, 
 Of heaven's deep calm a shadowy gleam 
 
 This care-worn heart is feeling. 
 
 This is not suffering, though my frame 
 - Be weak and pain-struck lying ; 
 While life's sad cares no thought can claim. 
 There is no need for sighing. 
 19 
 
218 POEMS. 
 
 This — ^this is peace ! disturb it not, 
 To heaven that dream has won me. 
 
 Oh let me lie, the world forgot — 
 God's eye alone upon mel 
 
 'Tis thoughts of heaven, of God, of death, 
 That now are round me clinging. 
 
 That o'er mv soul one balmv breath 
 Of purest joys are flinging. 
 
 Oh break them not, too few, too fleet, 
 Like gleams of light departing, 
 
 Sent with such perfect calm replete, 
 To soothe earth's restless smarting. 
 
 And oh ! when death is near at hand, 
 May such bless'd thoughts be given; 
 
 My throbbing heart be softly fann'd 
 By breezes sent from heaven ! 
 
 No need e'en then of sigh or groan, 
 
 If those I love surround me. 
 My mother's kiss to soothe my moan, 
 
 My father's arm around me! 
 
 And one loved friend my hand to hold, 
 And whisper tales of heaven. 
 
 And one in memory long enfold. 
 When life's last link is riven. 
 
 And oh I if music may descend, 
 
 To hail the soul that's flying, 
 Let it with love's soft accents blend, 
 
 To soothe me e'en in dying. 
 
 No need for tears, an hour like this 
 Forbids all sounds of wailing. 
 
 It whispereth of immortal bliss. 
 Whose joy is never failing. 
 
 These are the visions sweet, that twine 
 Their lustrous rays around me. 
 
POEMS. 219 
 
 When pain and weakness oft are mine, 
 And to my couch have bound me. 
 
 Oh, think not then, this tearful eye, 
 
 Thus heavy is with sorrow ; 
 Nor seek to soothe me as I lie, 
 
 And promise health to-morrow; 
 
 Nor wake me from these blessed dreams- 
 The cares of life oppress me, 
 
 I would lie still in heaven's own gleams, 
 And feel — my God doth bless me ! 
 
 SONG OF THE SP.ANISH JEWS 
 
 DURIXG THEIR " GOLDEX AGE.'* 
 
 " It was in Spain that the golden age of the Jews shone with the bright- 
 est and most enduring splendour. 
 
 " In emulation of their Moslemite brethren, they began to cultivate their 
 long disused and neglected poetry: the harp of Judah was heard to sound 
 again, though with something of a foreign tone," — Jlilman's History of the 
 Jews. 
 
 Oh, dark is the spirit that loves not the land 
 Whose breezes his brow have in infancy fann'd. 
 That feels not his bosom responsively thrill 
 To the voice of her forest, the gush of her rill ; 
 
 Who hails not the flowers that bloom on his way. 
 As blessings there scatter'd his love to repay; 
 Who loves not to wander o'er mountain and vale, 
 Where echoes the voice of the loud rushing gale ; 
 
 Who treads not with awe where his ancestors lie, 
 As their spirits around him are hovering nigh ; 
 Who seeks not to cherish the flowers that bloom 
 Amid the fresh herbs that o'ershadow their tomb. 
 
 Oh, cold is such spirit: and yet colder still 
 
 The heart that for Spain does not gratefully thrill, 
 
220 POEMS. 
 
 The land -which the foot of the weary has pressed, 
 "Where the exile and wanderer found blessing and rest. 
 
 On the face of the earth our doom was to roam, 
 To meet not a brother, to find not a home ; 
 But Spain has the exile and homeless received, 
 And we feel not of country so darkly bereaved. 
 
 Home of the exiles! oh ne'er will we leave thee ; 
 As mother to orphan, fair land, we now greet thee. 
 Sweet peace and rejoicing may dwell in thy bowers, 
 For even as Judah, fair land ! thou art ours. 
 
 Oh, dearest and brightest! the homeless do bless thee, 
 From ages to ages they yearn to possess thee. 
 In life and in death they cling to thy breast, 
 And seek not and wish not a lovelier rest. 
 
 A VISIOX OF JERUSALEM, 
 
 WHILE LISTENING TO A BEAUTIFUL ORGAN IN ONE OF THE GENTILE 
 
 SHRINES. 
 
 I SAW thee, oh my fatherland, my beautiful, ni}' own! 
 
 As if thy God had raised thee from the dust Avhere thou art strewn, 
 
 His glory cast around thee, and thy children bound to Him, 
 
 In links so brightly woven, no sin their light could dim. 
 
 Methought the cymbals' sacred sound came softly on ray ear, 
 The timbrel, and the psaltery, and the harp's full notes were near; 
 And thousand voices chaunted. His glory to upraise. 
 More heavenly and thrillingly than e'en in David's days. 
 
 Methought the sons of Levi were in holy garments there, 
 
 Th' anointed one upon his throne, in holiness so fair. 
 
 That all who gazed on him might feel the promise be fulfill'd, 
 
 And sin, and all her baleful train, now he had come, were still'd. 
 
 And thousands of my people throng'd the pure and holy fane. 
 The curse removed from every brow, ne'er more to come again; 
 
POEMS. 221 
 
 Th' Almighty hand from each, from all, had ta'en the scorching 
 
 brand. 
 And Israel, forgiven, knelt within our own bright land ! 
 
 My country! oh my country! was my soul enrapt in thee 
 One passing moment, that mine eyes might all thy glory see? 
 What magic power upheld me there? — alas! alas! it past, 
 And darkness o'er my aspiring soul the heavy present cast. 
 
 I stood ALONE 'mid thronging crowds who fill'd that stranger shrine, 
 For there were none who kept the faith I hold so dearly mine: 
 An exile felt I, in that house, from Israel's native sod, — 
 An exile yearning for my home, — yet loved still by my God. 
 
 No exile from His love ! No, no ; though captive I may be. 
 And I must weep whene'er I think, my fatherland, on thee ! 
 Jerusalem ! my beautiful ! my own ! I feel thee still. 
 Though for our sins thy sainted sod the Moslem strangers fill. 
 
 Oh ! that thy children all would feel what our sins have done, 
 And by our every action prove such guilt the exiles shun, 
 Until they seek their God in prayer, oh ! will He turn to them, 
 And raise thee once again in life, my own Jerusalem ! 
 
 "If they their own iniquity in humbleness confess, 
 And all their fathers' trespasses, — nor seek to make them less ;* 
 If they my judgments say are right, and penitently own 
 They reap the chastisement of sin, whose seeds long years have 
 sown :t 
 
 ''Then will I all my vows recall, and from them take my hand, 
 My covenant remember, and have mercy on their land.^'t 
 So spake the Lord in boundless love to Israel His son;§ 
 But can we, dare we ^ajj, these things we do, or we have done? 
 
 Alas, my country! thou must yet deserted rest and lone, 
 Thy glory, loveliness, and life, a Father's gifts, are flown! 
 Oh that my prayers could raise thee radiant from the sod, 
 And turn from Judah's exiled sons their God's avenging rod! 
 
 * Levit. xxvi. 40. f H^- 41. % lb. 42, 45. 
 
 § Exod. iv. 22, 23. 
 19* 
 
222 POEMS. 
 
 And like an oak thou standest, of leaves and branches shorn ;* 
 And we are like the wither'd leaves by autumn tempests torn 
 From parent stems, and scatter'd wide o'er hill, and vale, and sea, 
 And known as Judah's ingrate race wherever wo may be. 
 
 Oh! blessed was that vision'd light that flash'd before mine eye; 
 But, oh, the quick awakening check'd ray soul's ecstatic sigh! 
 Yet still, still wilt thou rise again, my beautiful, my home, 
 Our God will bring thy children back, ne'er, ne'er again to roam I 
 
 ANGELS. 
 
 WRITTEN WHILE WATCHING, AT PAST MIDNIGHT, ALONE BY THE BED- 
 SIDE OF A BELOVED FRIEND. 
 
 I CANNOT see ye, beauteous forms, nor mark your brooding wings, 
 But oh ! a deeper quivering sense around my spirit clings, 
 To whisper ye are near me still, — ye shroud me closer now, 
 Printing the kiss of sleep and peace on yon pale sufferer's brow. 
 
 Spirits of light! and love! and joy! still let me feel ye near! 
 To share and bless my lonely watch, and dry each lingering tear, 
 To murmur Faith and Hope unto this faint and drooping heart, 
 And bid the pangs of fell disease from yon loved one depart. 
 
 Meek messengers of Heaven, f in pitying mercy sent, 
 Whose balmy pinions float around, with blessings redolent, 
 Linger beside the couch of pain ; unloose that prisoning chain ; 
 And give, oh give my mother back to life and health again. 
 
 I know that ye are near me ; yes ! I feel your brooding wing, 
 It shrouds me, in this silent hour, till sorrow hides her sting ; 
 It fans my brow, it fills my soul with hope's sweet accents mild, 
 For ye have come from heaven to save a mother to her child. 
 
 * Isaiah i. 29, 30; vi. 13. 
 
 ■J" The Hebrew word -iNSn translated angel, signifies literally messengery 
 applied to whatever is sent by God to execute His will, from n^^ Arabic, to 
 send or employ. 
 
POEMS. 223 
 
 'Tis silence, and 'tis midnight, yet my spirit feels not lone, 
 It lieth Avrapt in fantasies which have no earthly tone, 
 It holdeth commune full of faith, angelic forms ! with ye ; 
 Oh let that commune to my soul a well of gladness be. 
 
 Nearer, yet nearer! numberless! ye throng the formless space, 
 I feel, I feel ye press around, a pure and sinless race ; 
 Ye people night with glowing forms, make silence one sweet sound, 
 Whose thrilling tones pierce in and in, the spirit's depths profound. 
 
 The sins of earth mine eyelids veil, and dim my longing ear; 
 But still, oh still my Father's love permits your hovering near. 
 I know, I know ye come from Ilim, ye link this earth with heaven,* 
 And earth's dark hours of grief and care to your fond charge are 
 given. 
 
 In every balmy sleep that seals yon sufferer's aching eyes, 
 
 In every smile that on her lip in cradled slumber lies. 
 
 In every soothing thought that comes to check the watcher's tear, 
 
 Angels of Heaven! spirit, forms! I know that ye are near; 
 
 Oh linger round me ! still, oh still, my silent watch to share. 
 
 And upward ! upward on your wings my fainting spirit bear. 
 
 COMMUNINGS WITH NATUKE. 
 I. 
 
 NIGHT. 
 
 Night! solemn Night, what mighty spell is thine. 
 That with such thrilling accents to the soul 
 
 Thou whisperest thy tale of things divine. 
 
 Till, springing upward from this earth's control, 
 
 The soaring spirit feels a while set free. 
 
 Yet clings in fond devotion, Night ! to thee. 
 
 What deep calm bear'st thou in thy shadowy zone. 
 In the rich purple of thy midnight sky, 
 
 * "And Jacob dreamed, and behold a ladder set upon the earth, and the 
 top of it reached to heaven, and the angels of God ascended and descended 
 upon it." 
 
224 POEMS. 
 
 Till the full heart thrills 'neath the solemn tone, 
 
 Of moaning breezes as they pass and die ! — 
 Hast thou not eloquence all, all thine own, 
 That sunshine hears not, day hath never known? 
 
 Nijrht ! lovely Xi2;ht I I stood in forests dense, 
 The -wild savannas of the mighty West, 
 
 AVhere the red Indian rears his reedy fence. 
 And 'neath far-spreading cedars sinks to rest, 
 
 LuU'd into slumber by the rushing sound 
 
 Which far Xia;2;'ra sends on echoes round. 
 
 o 
 
 I traced the shadow of the giant trees. 
 
 Moveless in solemn grandeur, 'gainst the sky, 
 
 Or bending slowly to the fragrant breeze 
 In graceful greeting as it pass'd them by; 
 
 A young moon smiled in faint and timid light: 
 
 All was so calm — I bless'd thee, lovely Night ! 
 
 I stood where holy Jumna's crystal stream 
 
 Gush'd softly midst the Brahmin's sacred bowers, 
 
 AVhere its blue waters in the moonlight gleam, 
 
 Deck'd with rich shrubs and nature's loveliest flowers, 
 
 Where the bright diamond glimmers from the mine, 
 
 And the rich gold decks many a silent shrine ; 
 
 Where, 'mid the ruins of a dreamy past. 
 
 Affection's fane its glittering dome uprears. 
 
 Whose marble terraces dim lustre cast 
 
 O'er that rich gorgeousness, — and told of tears; 
 
 And flowers flung far their scent and grlistenino- lio-ht ; — 
 
 Where was the loved? Thou wert not changed, oh Night ! 
 
 All heavily and slow my camel paced 
 
 AVhere Afric's desert stretch'd her trackless sand, 
 
 Where never glistening green the ej'e hath traced, 
 Nor gushing founts the wavy palm hath fann'd ; — 
 
 All, all was drear and desolate around, 
 
 But Night's deep calm e'en there my spirit bound. 
 
 Joyously, joyously o'er the blue deep. 
 The light bark seeketh a lovelier strand ; 
 
POEMS. 225 
 
 The white waves dash where rich corals sleep. 
 
 And jirlitterinn; o-ems deck the yellow sand: 
 Joyously, joyously the day sped by, 
 And smiled o'er the galley the sunset sky. 
 
 And thou, oh soft Night ! thy shadows fell, 
 
 Lulling e'en Ocean to sleep on thy breast, 
 Till the waves gush'd by with a whispering swell, 
 
 As fearing to wake the deep Ocean's rest ; 
 And thy stars gleam'd forth with such quivering light: 
 Still ! still — thou wert changeless, oh lovely Night ! 
 
 And thou wert beauteous in the Grecian Isles, 
 Where fragrant myrtle and dark olives twine. 
 
 Where o'er rich Dorian fanes bright sunlight smiles, 
 And ruby roses wreathe the purple vine, 
 
 And dreamy visions with sweet music came. 
 
 Till life seem'd chano;ed: thou only wert the same. 
 
 o 
 
 Night, solemn Night! faint shadows of the past 
 AVere round me ! Rome, with her rich memories, 
 
 Embodying forms, the spell of fancy cast, 
 
 Till voices murmur'd in each passing breeze ; 
 
 And, awed and silenced, sadness o'er me stole, 
 
 Calming a while th' aspirings of my soul. 
 
 How changed fair Italy ! how desolate 
 
 The paradise of nature, bearing yet 
 Such sweet sad echoes of a happier fate. 
 
 Such lingering glory, though her sun hath set ; 
 Oh, what dark changes might that earth unfold — 
 Yet thou didst shrine her, Night ! e'en as thou didst of old. 
 
 I stood once more in England's lordly bowers. 
 And life in vouth and loveliness were round ; 
 
 No shade of darkness dash'd the joyous hours. 
 Nor grief's sad echo the full chords had found ; 
 
 And glittering lamps of every varied shade 
 
 A second sunshine of those halls had made. 
 
 And music's thrilling notes came on the air, 
 
 Waking sweet memories in the wanderer's heart, 
 
226 POEMS. 
 
 And smiles for faithful love wore round me there, 
 
 Like soft reviving waters, to impart 
 Coolness to my parch'd soul. E'en here, oh Night! 
 Thou lookedst down still, so mildly, beautifully bright. 
 
 The scene was changed around me ; dark and dense 
 The breath of midnight, as it slowly past, 
 
 And twined my "brow ; watching with woe intense, 
 I knelt where Death his darkening shadow cast, 
 
 The child of care and sorrow, yet a soul 
 
 All too ethereal for this world's control. 
 
 The room was close and small, and not a sound 
 Of nature's music stole upon my ear; 
 
 The giant city slept mid hush profound, 
 And not a tree, a shrub, a flower, was near, 
 
 To breathe its fragrance on the heated mind, 
 
 Or wake sweet melodies i' th' passing wind. 
 
 The very storm that heavily rush'd past 
 Was voiceless all, as if the massive walls 
 
 Of human prisons chain'd the mighty blast; 
 And not a breath of freedom softly falls 
 
 On the pent spirit, bidding it awake 
 
 And to the inspiring winds high answer make. 
 
 I look'd forth from the casement, open wide, 
 I sought to woo the silent winds a while. 
 
 But not a sound or sight in love replied, 
 ;My lonely watch in kindness to beguile ; 
 
 Walls raised on walls in dark and dusky gloom. 
 
 So close and still, — that city seem'd a tomb. 
 
 Upward in sadness turn'd my straining eye 
 Scarce seeking aught to break the witchy fell 
 
 That had enchanted me. Oh how that dark sky, 
 Those starry orbs, flung down their soothing spell, 
 
 In such low whispers the fond tale to tell, 
 
 The beauteous visions I had loved so well ! 
 
 Night! holy Night! oh be to me unfurl'd 
 
 What of deep mystery bearest thou on thy wing ! 
 
POEMS. 227 
 
 The silent wing that o'er a weary world 
 
 Such healing balm all voicelessly doth fling ; 
 Speak to me ! answer me ! thou hast a tone, 
 Full, thrilling, mighty — all, oh, all thine own. 
 
 There came a voice in answer to that cry, 
 
 Which my soul heard in that lone, mournful hour, 
 
 In low yet solemn accents, to reply, 
 
 And breathe the mystery of her thrilling power: — 
 
 ** I do but shadow forth the deep, deep Love, 
 
 Omniscient, changeless, which waits thee above. 
 
 " I do but whisper faintly, and from afar. 
 Low tales of things divine, and softly send 
 
 Glimmerings of love undying in each star, 
 
 Which there hath smiled since chaos was at end ; 
 
 I tell thee of an Eye whose lightning glance 
 
 Embraceth all of earth and heaven's expanse ; 
 
 *' Of Him who knoweth not shadow of a change, 
 
 From age to age enduring still the same, 
 Whose love and truth no mortal can estrange, 
 
 Whose might, earth, ocean, sky, aloud proclaim ; — 
 I bid thee look on high, — and feel my breast 
 Yearning to fold thee, type of His own rest. 
 
 " Day is for earth, its pleasures and its care. 
 Its toil and sadness till life's dream is seal'd ; 
 
 Upward each fainting soul 'tis mine to bear. 
 Till things and hopes immortal stand reveaFd ;— 
 
 This, this is mine ! Earth unto day is given, 
 
 But Night hath holier task — her theme is heaven.'' 
 
228 POEMS. 
 
 COxMMUNINGS WITH NATURE. 
 II. 
 
 OCEAN. 
 
 Ocean ! how I love to gaze 
 When a sunbeam o'er thee plays, 
 Sporting on tliy bosom bold, 
 Tinging thy broad breast with gold. 
 Art thou not a wondrous thing. 
 Full of deep imagining ? 
 Treasures rich thy caverns fill, 
 Treasures all immortal still. 
 
 Ocean ! how I love to hear 
 Rippling wavelets soft and clear, 
 When the moonbeams glisten pale 
 'Neath their spangled gauzy veil, 
 Breaking on the silver'd shore, 
 Flowing on for evermore ; 
 Beauty doth thy gemm'd waves fill. 
 Every change is beauty still. 
 
 Ocean ! how I dread to mark 
 AVaves beneath the storm grow dark. 
 Lashing like a furious thing, 
 Flapping hoarse thy snow-white wing, 
 Making lithe thy winding-sheet 
 For the choicest of the fleet ; 
 Gallant hearts thy dark depths fill, 
 Yet I love thee, Ocean ! stilL 
 
 Ocean ! be it calm or storm, 
 Still I trace one viewless form ; 
 See Him in the smiling waves 
 When the moon her bosom laves ; 
 See Him in the joyous light. 
 When the morn shines blue and bright ; 
 Hear Him when rude winds rush by. 
 And the tempest hovers nigh — . 
 
POEMS. 229 
 
 He who, when those depths He scann'd, 
 
 Held the ocean in His hand — 
 
 Bade them roll forth at His will, 
 
 And His might their vastness fill — 
 
 Much I love to gaze on thee, 
 
 For thou speak'st of God, thou Sea ! 
 
 COMMUXIXGS WITH NATURE. 
 III. 
 
 HYMN TO SUMMER. 
 
 Summer ! beauteous Summer, thou art come in all thy mirth, 
 And sunshine and rich beauty walk in glee along the earth ! 
 A thousand buds impatient lay, awaiting but thy nod, 
 Now upward springing hail thy smile, and mark where thou hast 
 
 trod, — 
 And bid all gloom and sorrow from their jewell'd homes depart, 
 To whisper forth in music — Oh how beautiful thou art ! 
 
 Summer ! gorgeous Summer ! there are breezes floating by, 
 That thrillingly and lovingly to thy sweet smiles reply ; 
 Till the full soul flings off its dull and darkly prisoning void, 
 Yearning to gaze once more on thee, and joy as it hath joy'd 
 To feel thy glowing sunshine send its radiance on my heart, 
 And whisper, e'en mid pain and care, how beautiful thou art! 
 
 My spirit lists the tinkling streams, which gushing steal along. 
 Lending sweet music to the free and feather'd minstrels' song ; 
 I see them, like bright silvery threads, peep emerald banks between, 
 Giving new radiance to the flower, new verdure to the green; 
 They come upon my sleeping dreams in fairy tones of glee. 
 And fill my waking hours with love, oh such deep love, for thee ! 
 
 Summer ! lovely Summer ! thou dost such peace impart, 
 My spirit yearns to 'feel thy smile sink deep into my heart; 
 To revel in thy sunshine, to bask beneath thy sky. 
 And watch the graceful shadows on thy meadow-lawns flit by, 
 To pluck the buds whose jewell'd cups reflect the moonbeams pale, 
 And fancy every passing breeze breathes forth their fairy tale. 
 
 20 
 
230 POEMS. 
 
 To fling me on thy velvet sward, and watch each twinkling star 
 
 Come forth in silent love to deck the azure depths afar ; 
 
 To worship in thy forests when the night-wind saileth by, 
 
 And dream that angel messengers have left their homes on high, 
 
 To hover o'er the starlit earth, and dry her every tear, 
 
 When thou, sweet Summer? comeston, e'en human hearts to cheer. 
 
 That every flower is a shrine where spirits love to rest, 
 
 And thence send Hope upon their scent unto the weary breast ; 
 
 That every tree hath whisperings peculiarly its own, 
 
 And each a guardian spirit hath to breathe its own deep tone ; 
 
 And every stream, and flower, and leaf, and passing wind hath voice, 
 
 All angel-tongued and silver-toned, to cry aloud — Rejoice ! 
 
 Where are these dreams? sweet Summer, thou hast come with all 
 
 thy train 
 Of sunshine and of beauty ! shall I seek thy spell in vain? 
 No, no ! though bound in heavy chains of weakness and of care, 
 And hid from me sweet Nature's smile, which made all things so fair, 
 And pale and faded are the hopes that linger round my heart ! 
 Still, Summer ! lovely Summer ! thou canst sweet dreams impan. 
 
 And there are spirits near me, breathing silvery chimes of love, 
 Lifting my soul from thy bright worlds, to brighter worlds above ; 
 And every flower that faintly shines, and sinks in fading light, 
 Hath yet a tale of joyousness no earthly woes can blight; 
 Sweet Summer ! lovely Summer ! though chains a while I wear, 
 Thy loving voice this comfort breathes — Our God is every where ! 
 
 England — when confined to my room 
 
 in the splendid summer of 1812. 
 
POEMS. 231 
 
 COMMUXINGS WITH NATURE. 
 IV. 
 
 AUTUMX LEAVES. 
 
 AuTtTMX leaves ! how beautiful 
 
 Your fading glories are ; 
 O'er hill and dell, o'er wood and fell. 
 
 Ye shed rich light afar. 
 
 Of every gorgeous hue and shade, 
 Brown, ruddy, green, and gold, 
 
 Each change, more brilliantly array'd, 
 New glowing rays unfold. 
 
 With smiles of trusting love, ye gild 
 
 The pathway to the tomb, 
 Till Nature, e'en in death, seems fill'd 
 
 With loveliness and bloom. 
 
 Ye deck with beauty e'en decay, 
 And meet with chasten'd mirth 
 
 The winds that bear ye far away 
 To moulder on the earth. 
 
 Oh beautiful ! most beautiful, 
 
 The lesson that ye speak, 
 So richly clad, in beauty glad, 
 
 To whisper to the meek, 
 
 *' Fear not ! the Hand which robes the tree 
 
 In glory ere it fade, 
 Hath dearer mercy, man, for thee, 
 
 E'en in death's gloomy shade. 
 
 *' His love will bless for thee with light 
 
 The valley of decay, 
 And fill thy soul with thoughts as bright 
 
 As Autumn's glorious ray. 
 
232 ' POEMS. 
 
 *"Tis beauty all around, above, 
 To shout, -with thrilling voice, 
 *God loveth all with such dear love, 
 . He bids e'en death rejoice. 
 
 ; )) 
 
 COMMUNINGS WITH NATURE. 
 Y. 
 
 AUTUMN WINDS. 
 
 The most casual observer of nature must, we think, have noticed the 
 peculiar tones of melancholy wailing borne on the wings of the wind at 
 the commencement or middle of autumn — not the wild terrific gusts of 
 threatening winter, but a low sobbing wail, not loud enough to disturb or 
 alarm, but just sufficient to impress its melancholy on the most thoughtless 
 heart. Its wail having been one evening universally noticed, the following 
 poem was the consequence. 
 
 Sad is thy voice, oh ! moaning wind ; 
 
 "Whence comes thy wailing tone ? 
 Mournest the wreck thy pinions find — 
 
 Leaves brown, and bare, and strewn? 
 That forest boughs are dark and drear. 
 That loveliest shrubs are bow'd and sear, 
 And mother Earth a robe must wear 
 
 Of bliss o'erthrown ? 
 
 Weep'st thou the buds whose glistening bloom 
 
 Hath pass'd away from earth ? 
 That Nature is but one wide tomb 
 
 O'er loveliness and mirth ? 
 Mourn'st thou sweet Summer's early flight — 
 That storm hath rush'd from mount and height, 
 To whelm the flowers whose sunny light 
 
 Smiled o'er his birth ? 
 
 Weepest thou the laughing sunshine gone, 
 
 The softly gleamiuo- sky? 
 Night's glistening dews, the starry zone, 
 
 And the sweet scents floating by? 
 
POEMS. 233 
 
 Oh ! check thy moaning ; but a while 
 Is hid sweet Nature's glowing smile : 
 'Twill wake again, and Earth beguile 
 Of tear and sigh ! 
 
 The moaning blast rush'd by, but, as it pass'd, 
 Methought a low sweet voice the answer cast : — 
 
 ''I mourn not for the glory 
 
 A brief while pass'd away ; 
 That lovely thino;s and beautiful 
 
 Are tainted with decay. 
 
 " I mourn not for the flowers 
 
 Whose lovely smiles are dead ; 
 That summer's sunlit hours, 
 
 All phantom-like, are fled. 
 
 " But there are lovelier blossoms, 
 
 Now shrined in love and mirth, 
 In whose rich smiles and silver laugh 
 
 No dream of woe hath birth. 
 
 " I see — I see them passing ; 
 
 I mark the shrouding pall ; 
 The loving and the blessing — 
 
 Like leaves I see them fall ! 
 
 " I weep the broken-hearted — 
 
 The spirits left to moan — 
 The bounding hope — the trusting love — 
 
 The springy joyance flown. 
 
 " I weep the young hopes blighted, 
 
 That may not bloom again ; 
 The stars that love hath lighted, 
 
 Quench'd 'neath pale sorrow's rain. 
 
 "I mourn the heavy anguish 
 
 That winter's cold touch brings ; 
 The fireless hearth — the scanty board — 
 
 The pangs that hunger wrings. 
 20* 
 
234 POEMS. 
 
 *' The famish'd babe and mother — > 
 
 The strong man chafed to sin. 
 Oh! help'd ye one another, 
 
 Such woes had never been I" 
 
 And so the mournful -wind went murmuring along, 
 
 And thrilling truths were breathing in its sad and solemn song ! 
 
 COMMUNINGS WITH NATURE. 
 VI. 
 
 THE ETERGREEX. 
 
 The evergreen! mid nature's bloom, 
 
 Why art thou sad and lone? 
 We leave thee as a thing of gloom, 
 
 That hath no gleesome tone. 
 
 Thou art so changeless that we deem 
 
 No poesy dwells in thee. 
 No vision'd love, no shadowy dream, 
 
 Shrined in thy leaves may be. 
 
 We heed thee not when spring's sweet voice 
 
 Comes laughing on the breeze, 
 When new-born flow'rets wait our glance, 
 
 And light hath touch'd the trees. 
 
 We see thee not when summer's smile 
 Ilath pierced earth's quivering heart, — 
 
 Bidding her buds, that slept a while. 
 To bloom in thousands start. 
 
 Mid avitumn's glory still thou art, 
 
 And still we pass thee by, 
 To jiarner in our wavward heart 
 
 The beauty that must die. 
 
POEMS. 235 
 
 In winter's storms, — ah, there alone, 
 
 ^yhen all is bleak and bare, 
 We love to list thy changeless tone, 
 
 To feel — our friend is there. 
 
 And still thou smilest — man's neglect, 
 
 Rude storm, and blighting blast, 
 Thine upward growth have never check'd, 
 
 Nor laid thee with the past. 
 
 Thou'rt ever present, — ever nigh, 
 
 In meek endurance still. 
 Oh, ingrate man, to pass thee by, 
 
 Till life grows changed and chill! 
 
 Emblem of God's omnific love, 
 
 His never-changing care! 
 Fair shrub. His faithfulness to prove, 
 
 Thou'rt scatter'd every where. 
 
 Constant in every varied scene 
 
 Of Nature's joy and grief. 
 For this I bless thee, evergreen! 
 
 And love thy fadeless leaf, 
 
 And feel how much of poesy lies 
 
 In thy still changeless shrine ; 
 Unto the heart thy voice replies, 
 
 With whisperings divine I 
 
236 POEMS. 
 
 COMMUNINGS WITH NATURE. 
 VII. 
 
 ADDRESS TO THE OCEAN.* 
 
 Sound on, thou mighty Deep, sound on, thou Sea ! 
 
 Lash thy blue waves to snowy-crested foam, 
 Wake into music glorious and free, 
 
 Proclaim thee bulwark of our island home. 
 
 Sound on ! thou hast a voice of freedom ! Sound I 
 My soul hath thrilling echoes to thy voice. 
 
 And throbs and bounds, as if on thee were found 
 A home where life, all-chainless, might rejoice 1 
 
 Thou beautiful ! thou glorious ! all unstain'd 
 With earth's sad curse, thou rollest on thy way ; 
 
 Might! majesty! music! all retain'd 
 
 Through whelming ages, tinged not by decay. 
 
 Thou hast no dream of shadow or of change, 
 No murmuring voice of wailing or of woe; 
 
 Free on thy glorious path, uncheck'd to range, 
 And do His will, who rules thy billowy flow. 
 
 I dream not of thy gemm'd and treasured caves, 
 The slumbering riches on thy breast that lie. 
 
 Or treacherous smiles that beam from sunny waves. 
 When death-fraught storms are darkly hovering nigh. 
 
 Thou speakest not of these: I do but gaze 
 
 In childish marvel on thy billowy sea, 
 And list the breeze with thy bright waves that plays, 
 
 And feel thee still, the beautiful ! the free ! 
 
 Then, oh sound on ! my soul drinks in each tone 
 
 Of gushing waters, as a voice of love. 
 Whose melody in infancy was known. 
 
 Lifting my spirit on those depths above. 
 
 * This was the last piece received by the editor: before it was printed, 
 she was at rest. 
 
POEMS. 237 
 
 Yes, His of God thou speakcst, ay, of Him 
 Who held thy rolling billows in His hand, 
 
 Before whose voice thv Avildest war-sounds dim, 
 
 And 'neath whose eye thy whelming depths are spann'd. 
 
 Fit altar for His praise, thou mighty deep ! 
 
 Oh, my full soul doth faint and quivering lie, 
 AYhelm'd 'neath the thoughts which o'er it rushing sweep, 
 
 Ere they burst forth in words of ecstasy ! 
 
 Hail ! hail ! once more I come to thee, thine own, 
 Thine own true, loving child, with bounding heart, 
 
 And fancy free — and memory's deep tone, 
 
 And hope's sweet dream, that hath in care no part. 
 
 I deem'd them flown ; but, oh they did but sleep 
 'Neath the full grasp of inward care and pain ; 
 
 Thy voice the spell hath broken, and they sweep 
 O'er my full soul rejoicingly again! 
 
 Let thy rich voice sound on ! roll on thy waves 
 Mid storm and sunshine, still the blue, the free ! 
 
 Life is upspringing from my soul's deep caves, 
 To hail, to bless thee, oh thou glorious sea ! 
 
 FUNERAL HYMN. 
 
 The subject of tliis poem was a young and extraordinarily-gifted friend, 
 called hence to glory at a very early age, whose precocious intellect, virtue, 
 and piety, indeed marked him as one of those whose early removal is one 
 of the most unanswerable proofs of that "better land," where all that was 
 so promising on earth shall be made perfect. 
 
 Weep not for him! thovigh the grave hath closed o'er him, 
 E'er life had o'erclouded his beautiful bloom, 
 
 The bright world above shall in glory restore him, 
 To joy that will end not in sorrow and gloom. 
 
 Weep not for him ! though his pure, gentle spirit 
 For ever is lost to a cold, checker'd world ; 
 
 
238 POEMS. 
 
 'Tis summoned in mercy that bliss to inherit, 
 
 Which waiteth till death his dark wing hath unfurl'd. 
 
 "Weep not for him ! though a young mind possessing, 
 Such glorious gifts might not linger below, 
 
 Made perfect in heaven, ere earth was repressing 
 
 Their beauty and strength 'neath her mantle of woe. 
 
 "Weep not for him I though the bright seed was springing 
 To flowers, sweet flowers, of virtue and love, 
 
 That fragrance afar from his bosom were flinging, 
 Rich incense of prayer to his Father above. 
 
 He hath but return'd to his own native heaven. 
 The fountain of love whence in beautv he came; 
 
 And perfection and glory to his bright gifts are given, 
 More lovely and pure than earth's pale wreath of fame. 
 
 Weep not for him! though from us hath departed 
 A spirit Truth circled with rays all her o^vn, 
 
 Whose meekness and beauty so long have imparted 
 But joyance and freshness and fondness alone. 
 
 Weep not for him ! oh none may deplore him ; 
 
 This world is not fitted for spirits like his; 
 The frail, fading joys our love could fling o'er him 
 
 Had satisfied never his yearnings for bliss. 
 
 Weep not for him ! thus taken ere sorrow 
 
 One shadow had flung o'er his young spirit's joy; 
 
 He hath gone to a world where there dawns not a morrow, 
 The bliss of the present to chill or destroy. 
 
POEMS. 239 
 
 THE HEBREW'S APPEAL. 
 
 ON OCCASION OF THE LATE FEARFUL UKASE PROMULGATED BY THE 
 
 EMPEROR OF RUSSIA. 
 
 Awake ! arise ! ye friends of Israel's race. 
 
 The wail of thousands lingers on the air, 
 By heavy pinions borne, through realms of space, 
 
 Till Israel, shudd'ring, Israel's woe must bear; 
 The v^oice of suffering echoes to the skies, 
 And oh, not yet one pitying heart replies. 
 
 List to the groan from manly bosoms rent, 
 The wilder sob from weaker spirits wrung. 
 
 The deeper woe that hath in voice no vent. 
 Yet round the heart her deathy robe has flung; 
 
 And childish tears flow thick and fast like rain, 
 
 From eyes that never wept, and ne'er shall weep again. 
 
 Vain, vain the mother's piteous shriek of woe, 
 Her dying infants clinging to her breast; 
 
 And age infirm, and youth, whose high hearts glow; 
 Vain, vain their cry for mercy on the oppress'd. 
 
 The Ukase has gone forth — a word, a breath. 
 
 And thousands are cast out to exile and death. 
 
 Ay, death ! for such is exile — fearful doom. 
 
 From homes expell'd — yet still to Poland chain'd ; 
 
 Till want and famine mind and life consume, 
 And sorrow's poison'd chalice, all is drain'd. 
 
 Oh God, that this should be ! that one frail man 
 
 Hath power to crush a nation 'neath his ban. 
 
 Will none arise ! with outstretch'd hand to save ? 
 
 No prayer for pity and for aid awake? 
 Will SHE who gave to Liberty the slave, 
 
 For God's own people not one effort make? 
 Will SHE not rise once more, in mercy clad, 
 And heal the bleeding heart, and Sorrow's sons make glad? 
 
240 POEMS. 
 
 "Will England sleep when Justice bids her wake, 
 
 And send her voice all-thrillino-lv afar? 
 Will England sleep, when her rebuke might shake 
 
 With shame and terror e'en the tvrant Czar, 
 And 'neath the magic of her mild appeal 
 Move Russia's frozen soul for Israel to feel? 
 
 Oh England ! thou hast call'd us to thy breast, 
 
 And done to orphans all a mother's part, 
 And given them peace and liberty and rest, 
 
 And healing pour'd into the homeless heart; 
 Then, oh ! once more let Israel mercy claim, 
 And suffering thousands bless our England's honour'd name. 
 
 And let one prayer from Hebrew hearths ascend 
 To Israel's God, that He may deign reply, 
 
 And yet again His chosen race defend, 
 
 And "have respect" once more "unto their cry,'* 
 
 And e'en from depths of darkness and despair 
 
 Give freedom to His own, and "all their burden bear." 
 
 For shall we sink, though dark our way and drear. 
 And Hope hath found in misery a tomb? 
 
 Though man be silent, Mercy hath no tear, 
 
 And Love and Joy are wither'd 'neath the gloom? 
 
 No ! God is nigh to hear us while we crave, 
 
 And He will "bare His holy arm, to shield us and to save." 
 
 8d January, 1844. 
 
POEMS. 241 
 
 "I NEVER LOVED A FLOWER." 
 
 STANZAS WRITTEN IN A MOMENT OF EXTREME HILARITY. 
 
 I NEVER loved a flower, 
 
 And cherish'd it with pride, 
 But it wither'd in its home of love, 
 
 And bow'd its head and died. 
 
 I never loved a star, 
 
 And dream'd it gave reply 
 To my spirit's deep imaginings, 
 
 But it faded from on high. 
 
 I never loved a friend, 
 
 But parting's fiat came, 
 And sympathies were sever'd, that 
 
 Ne'er seem'd again the same. 
 
 I never felt deep gladness, 
 
 But a silent shadow stole. 
 E'en 'mid the laughing flowers that twined 
 
 A moment o'er my soul. 
 
 Then, oh! be still, my spirit. 
 
 Hush thy full joyance now. 
 Bid hence the rays that light mine eye 
 
 And sparkle on my brow! 
 
 Back to thy calmness come, 
 
 Break from the glittering chain 
 So strangely o'er my full heart thrown, 
 
 Back to thy home again ! 
 
 Deck not this earth so brightly ; 
 
 Joy hath not here his rest; 
 His whisper hath too sweet a tone 
 
 For aught of mortal breast. 
 
 Oh come back to thy stillness, 
 And dwell there with thy God ; 
 21 
 
242 POEMS. 
 
 His "blessed paths of quietness 
 Securely thou hast trod. 
 
 And thoutrh no dazzlinn^ flowers 
 May there breathe tales of glee, 
 
 And mirth's light laugh no echo finds; 
 In safety thou wilt be. 
 
 Our Father^s smile will lead thee, 
 His love will go before — 
 
 Return ! return, my spirit — Oh 
 Come to thy God once more. 
 
 DIALOGUE STANZAS. 
 
 COMPOSED FOR, AND REPEATED BY, TWO DEAR LITTLE ANIMATED 
 GIRLS, AT A FAMILY CELEBRATION OF THE FESTIVAL OF PURIM. 
 
 •'Come forth, sweet sister! leave your book, we have no task to-day, 
 The flowers, and birds, and sunny sky, invite us forth to play; 
 Oh! think what joys, what happy hours, this long'd-for day we share. 
 And let us hunt for spring's sweet flowers, to wreathe our mother's 
 
 hair. 
 Come, we have days enough to read, sweet sister, come with me, 
 Away with such grave looks and thoughts! to-day is but for glee." 
 
 "A little while, and I will come, — I only want to know 
 What pass'd upon this very day — a long time ago; 
 Our mother told us a sad tale — that thousands were to die, 
 E'en little children, sister dear — as young as you or I. 
 And all because a cruel foe swore vengeance on our race. 
 That from the noble Mordecai no homage could he trace." 
 
 " But we were saved, sweet sister; death was averted then. 
 Our mother told us Estuer came, and there was joy again; 
 She was so lovely, and so good, the king could naught deny, 
 And so she sent fleet messengers, that Israel should not die. 
 There! I have told you all the tale, — you need not read it now; 
 Come, dearest! to our birds and flowers — and clear that thoughtful 
 brow." 
 
POEMS. 243 
 
 "Sweet sister! let me think a while, and then I'll merry be. 
 Should we not think a grateful thought e'en in our sunuv glee ? 
 It was not onlt/ Esther's words — but Israel's Gx)d wa^ there. 
 The king of Persia's heart to turn — His chosen ones to spare. 
 And we should bless Ilim, sister dear, that He protects us still. 
 And such kind friends bestows on us, to guard us from all ilL" 
 
 ** Yes, ves. sweet sister, vou are ri^ht, not onlT is to-dav 
 For idle mirth, and noisy games, and merry thoughtless play. 
 We'll love our mother more and more, and all our de^r kind friends, 
 And grateful be that hours of dre^d, no more our Father sends ; 
 That we may sport amid the flowers as happy as a bee. 
 And cruel foes can never come, to mar our childish glee.'* 
 
 *' See, seel I'm ready, sister dear — I've put the book away; 
 Come while the sun so brightly shines, we'll weave our garland 
 
 What joy I — what joy! this happy day shall see us all together. 
 E'en those dear friends, whom time and space so long from us did 
 
 sever; 
 
 Oh ! many, many happy years, still spare us to each other. 
 Sweet sister, come I I'm ready now — the garland for our mother." 
 184j. 
 
 MEMORY AND HOPE. 
 
 "Tte Future is mere present than the Past, 
 For one look hack, a thousand on I cast, 
 Aad Hope dotb. even Memorj outlast." 
 
 Is't so with thee? Thou'rt happy, gentle friend; 
 
 Such blissful visions floating o'er thy way, 
 That Hope and Phantasy do sweetly blend. 
 
 To bless the present with a future day. 
 
 That Hope, for thee, is sweeter e'en than those 
 Fond lingering memories of a joyous past; 
 
 And as Life's rippling streamlet with thee flows. 
 No shrouding mists its silvery waves o'erca^t. 
 
244 POEMS. 
 
 Not 80 •with me — I may not forward glance, 
 
 I dare not list those brightly glistening dreams. 
 
 That oft Avould people Fancy's \N-ide expanse 
 With fair and lovely, but how fleeting gleams! 
 
 'Tis all too sweet, the voice of Hope, for me. 
 
 Too fresh the garlands that her smile would weave, 
 
 Too wild and thrilling, her full notes of glee, 
 That erst had woo'd my spirit to believe. 
 
 I listen'd then, and dared the pain she left ; 
 
 But now my spirit shrinks within its cell, 
 And rather rests, of her sweet joys bereft. 
 
 Than find her false, whom I have loved so well. 
 
 Oh, no, I may not hope ! and then my gaze 
 Turns in fond love on visions of the past, 
 
 "Where ^Memory's sportive sunbeam glistening plays, 
 "With rainbow hues, that cannot be o'ercast. 
 
 Oh, 'tis at times such sweet sad joys to call 
 Back to my soul the gladness that hath fled, 
 
 AVhose rosy radiance o'er all things would fall, 
 In laughing light, from its own fountain shed ; 
 
 To wander o'er again, with smile and jest, 
 Or deeper thought, where'er my fancy will'd, 
 
 "With gentle friends whose love my spirit bless'd, 
 
 Hearts whom I deem'd not could be changed or chill'd. 
 
 'O" 
 
 E'en to the fantasies that woo'd me then, 
 
 Sweet jMem'ry wakes from their long dreamless night, 
 And calls back to my inmost soul again, 
 
 Joys that flash'd up in ever-sparkling light. 
 
 And one by one they rise, until a wreath 
 
 Of phantom flowers doth with sweet fancy twine. 
 
 More pure, more lovely thus, as Memory seeth, 
 
 Than e'en when their full cloudless bloom was mine. 
 
 I know them, phantoms, fading all away 
 Too soon, too sadly, for a lasting joy. 
 
POEMS. 245 
 
 But still they give no promise, while they stay, 
 No sparkling rays the future may destroy. 
 
 And better then, than Hope's too thrilling voice, 
 Wooing my soul with such soft siren tone, 
 
 I dare not clasp her visions and rejoice ; 
 For oh I they do but glisten ! and are flown. 
 
 Bid me look up, not forward ; then, oh ! then, 
 My yearning soul its weary wings may rest, 
 
 And lovely visions form and smile again, 
 
 And Hope her dwelling make within my breast. 
 
 And one sweet dream she weaves which owns no past. 
 
 But as Earth's future dimm'd, the lovelier smiled 
 Hope — that a Father's arm is round me cast ! 
 A Father's blessing will protect His child ! 
 1841. 
 
 THE WANDERERS. 
 
 Gen. xxi. 14-20. 
 
 With sadden'd heart and tearful eye the mother went her way, 
 The patriarch's mandate had gone forth, and Hagar must not stay. 
 Oh ! who can tell the emotions deep that press'd on Abra'am's heart, 
 As thus, obedient to his God, from Ishmael call'd to part ! 
 
 But God had spoken, and he knew His word was changeless truth ; 
 He could not doubt His blessing would protect the friendless youth ; 
 He bade him go, nor would he heed the anguish of his soul ; 
 He turn'd aside, — a father's woe in silence to control. 
 
 Now hand in hand they wend their way, o'er hill and vale and wild ; 
 The mother's heart was full of grief, but smiled in glee her child ; 
 Fearless and free, he felt restraint would never gall him now — 
 And hail'd with joy the freshening breeze that fann'd his fair young 
 brow. 
 
 His mother's heart was desolate, and tears swell'd in her eye ; 
 Scarce to his artless words of love her quivering lips reply. 
 
 21* 
 
246 POEMS. 
 
 She onlj saw the future as a lone and dreary wild: 
 The present stood before the lad in joj-ance undefiled. 
 
 She knew, alas ! his boyish strength too soon would droop and fade ; 
 And who was in that lonelv scene, to ";ive them food and aid ? 
 With trembling gaze she oft would mark the flushing of his cheek, 
 And list in terror, lest he should 'gin falteringly to speak ! 
 
 Fatigue she felt not for herself, nor heeded care nor pain — 
 But nearer, nearer to her breast her boy at times she'd strain ; 
 Beersheba's wilderness they see before them dark and wide ; 
 Oh, who across its scorching sands their wandering steps will guide? 
 
 The flush departed from the cheek which she so oft has kiss'd; 
 To his glad tones of childish glee no longer may she list ; 
 A pallor as of death is spread o'er those sweet features now — 
 She sees him droop before the blast that fann'd his aching brow. 
 
 " Oh, mother, lay me down," he cried, "I know not what I feel, 
 But something cold and rushing seems through all my limbs to steal ; 
 Oh kiss me, mother dear, and then, ah! lay me down to sleep — 
 Nay, do not look upon me thus — kiss me, and do not weep !" 
 
 Scarce could her feeble arms support her child, and lay him where 
 Some clustering shrubs might shield him from the heavy, scorch- 
 ing air; 
 His drooping eyelids closed ; his breath came painfully and slow — 
 She bent her head on his a while in wild yet speechless woe. 
 
 Then from his side she hurried, as impell'd she knew not why, 
 Save that she could not linger there — she could not see him die — 
 She lifted up her voice and wept — and o'er the lonely wild 
 " Let me not see his death !" was borne, "my Ishmael, my child V 
 
 And silence came upon her then, her stricken soul to calm ; 
 And suddenly and strange there fell a soft and soothing balm ; 
 And then a voice came stealing, on the still and fragrant air — 
 A still small voice that would be heard, though solitude was there. 
 
 "What aileth thee, oh Hagar?" thus it spoke: "fear not, for God 
 
 hath heard 
 The lad's voice where he is, — and thou, trust in thy Maker's word! 
 
03r 
 
 POEMS. 
 
 "v^XfOB^ 
 
 A-vrake ! arise ! lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand — 
 I will of him a nation make, before Me he shall stand." 
 
 It ceased, that voice; and silence now, as strafhgely soft and still, 
 
 The boundless desert once again with eloquence would fill ; 
 
 And strength returned to Hagar's frame, for God hath oped her 
 
 eyes — 
 And lo ! amid the arid sands a well of water lies ! 
 
 Quick to her boy, with beating heart, the anxious mother flies. 
 And to his lips, and hands, and brow, the cooling draught applies. 
 He wakes! he breathes ! the flush of life is mantling on his cheek — 
 He smiles ! he speaks ! oh those quick tears his mother's joy shall 
 speak ! 
 
 She held him to her throbbing breast, she gazed upon his face — 
 The beaming features, one by one, in silent love to trace. 
 She bade him kneel to bless the Hand that saved him in the wild — ■ 
 But oh ! few words her lips could speak, save these — " My child, 
 my child V 
 1838. 
 
 AN INFANT'S SMILE. 
 
 Smile on, sweet babel would I could know 
 Whence came that soft and beaming glow, 
 
 On thy sweet features thrown ; 
 What joyous thought that smile has wreathed, 
 What inward voice of gladness breathed, 
 
 To make that look thine own. 
 
 We held not forth a glittering toy, 
 Nor woo'd thee with light song to joy. 
 
 Nor danced thee high in air; 
 But gently in the cradle laid, 
 Thine own sweet thought that smile had stay'd. 
 
 And fixed its impress there. 
 
 Whence came it? though thy mother bends 
 Caressing as thy wants she tends, 
 Thou dost not know her voice ; 
 
248 - POEMS. 
 
 A stranger's arm might softly hold thee, 
 A stranger's breast in love enfold thee, 
 And yet thou wouldst rejoice. 
 
 Thou hnst no dream of Love's strong pow'r, 
 The ecstatic joy, yet anxious hour 
 
 Thine infancy doth claim ; 
 Thou hast no memories of the pasty 
 No thought the j^resent to o'ercast, 
 
 Nor dream of future fame. 
 
 Oh what seest thou? what fairy dream 
 Doth o'er thine infant spirit gleam? 
 
 By darker souls unknown? 
 Hear'st thou sweet voices lingering nigh? 
 Canst thou through space and ether fly? 
 
 Make lovelier worlds thine own? 
 
 And in thine innocence, art entwined 
 With purer beings of soul and mind? 
 
 That flv, when thou wilt know 
 This earth's o'erclouded tale of life, 
 Of sorrow, and of sin and strife, 
 
 And Love's deep rosy glow? — 
 
 Thou art immortal ! God hath placed 
 The breath of life in thee, and traced 
 
 Ilis image, babe, on thine! 
 Oh doth a rainbow-colour'd thought, 
 By ministering spirits wrought. 
 
 Before thy fancy shine? 
 
 How mayst thou answer? Loveliest, 
 - Thou wilt forget what thoughts had rest 
 On each forgotten hour ; 
 Thou wilt look back, in A^ain, — no dream 
 Of what thou loert will faintly gleam, 
 Through more awakened pow'r. 
 
 Vainly wouldst thou the past recall, 
 What did thine infancy befall, 
 Its joyance and its care; 
 
POEMS. * 249 
 
 For we have smiled perchance like thee, 
 In vanish'd hours of infant glee, 
 Yet only know — we were. 
 
 vSmile I while we clasp thee, gentle one, 
 Whom such sweet prayers are whisper'd on, 
 
 Smile in thy baby glee ! 
 One lovely thought that smile expresseth, 
 Balie as thou art, a Father blesseth, 
 
 A God hath love for thee ! 
 1842. 
 
 THE IMPORTANCE OF RELIGION TO GENIUS. 
 
 Suggested by D'Israeli's most interesting and peculiarly-pleasing work, 
 " The Literary Character illustrated by the Lives of Men of Genius." 
 
 Oh, what will soothe th' emotions deep 
 That o'er the soul of Genius sweep, 
 And ever-waking vigils keep, 
 
 By night and day? 
 What will to them a balm impart. 
 Or hush to rest the throbbing heart, 
 Till all its keenest pangs depart? 
 
 Pale Genius, say ! 
 
 What may restrain the burning fire. 
 
 The eager hope — the wild desire — 
 
 The wish for fame — the quick-roused ire, 
 
 That mark his wav; 
 The dearest hoJ)es in mortal breast, 
 That oft less-gifted souls have blest, 
 That in his bosom find no rest, 
 
 Yet torturing stay? 
 
 Oh, what will soothe the hope so vain, 
 What tliese overwhelming pangs restrain. 
 And fill the void that will remain, 
 Through dreary hours? 
 
2C0 POEMS. 
 
 What will control the wish for praise, 
 The spirit from its sadness raise, 
 And fix the poet's ardent gaze 
 On fadeless flow'rs? 
 
 Will fame do this — the brightest fame 
 That mortal man may hope to claim, 
 Undimm'd by e'en a speck of shame, 
 
 Remorse to call? 
 No! dazzling though, it will not fill 
 The void within, nor hope to still 
 The spirit's ever-bounding thrill, 
 
 And rise and fall! 
 
 Or is it love — will love not check 
 The poet's sure, yet hidden wreck, 
 And with unnumber'd blessings deck 
 
 His onward way ? 
 Oh, may we hope that earthly love, 
 The pangs of Genius will remove, 
 Or love like his intensely prove, 
 
 And be his stay? 
 
 No! no! or love, or fame, or joy. 
 That earth can give, too soon alloy, 
 All seem but as a fading toy. 
 
 To smile and fly ; 
 Alas! for Genius — if below. 
 He seeks to soothe his inward woe, 
 Or deems this world will e'er bestow 
 
 An answering sigh. 
 
 Oh, there is but one Spring alone. 
 Whose living waters soothe each moan, 
 And bid the deepening pangs be flown. 
 
 Or give them peace ! 
 Religion! 'tis thy sainted shrine 
 Will give to Genius bliss divine. 
 And joys around his brow entwine. 
 
 That ne'er shall cease. 
 
POEMS. 251 
 
 Oh, what but thou can lull to rest 
 The throbbings of a bleeding breast, 
 And still the soul too oft oppress'd 
 
 By its own force, 
 Can break the dull and heavy chain, 
 That soaring pinions would restrain, 
 Yet scarce their prisoner can retain, 
 
 Or curb his course? 
 
 And oh, for that peculiar sense, 
 Shrinking and deep, and wild, intense, 
 The poet's doom — till flies he hence. 
 
 His fetters riven, 
 What voice, save thine, can peace bestow, 
 Can calm the never-spoken woe. 
 And rouse the spirit's warmest glow, 
 
 By tales of heaven? 
 
 And if he pine for love to fill 
 
 His weary bosom's throb and thrill. 
 
 To calm his own impassion'd will. 
 
 And bliss impart; 
 Oh, thou canst lead him to the Spring 
 Whose love unending spreads his wing. 
 And gives relief to all who bring 
 
 A childlike heart. 
 
 Thou blessed spirit ! to this world 
 In mercy sent, when sin unfurl' d 
 The blacken'd flag, and madly hurl'd 
 
 Defiance down; 
 Oh, what were man without thy pow'r? 
 Changing with every passing hour, . 
 Drooping, when tempests darkly low'r, 
 
 'Neath misery's frown. 
 
 Spirit of peace, to every heart 
 Thine own sweet influence to impart, 
 But e'en more precious, when thou art 
 To Genius given; 
 
252 poEi^rs. 
 
 When thou unto his soul art nigh, 
 
 His every thought to purify, 
 
 And at thy feet his crown doth lie, 
 
 To shine in Heaven. 
 1839. 
 
 THE WIDOW. 
 " Let thy widows trust in me." 
 
 I SAW her gaze upon the child 
 
 That play'd around her knee, 
 And on the sleeping babe that smiled 
 
 In its young dreams of glee ; — 
 
 The mother's glance was fix'd on them, 
 
 Her only treasure now. 
 Buds twining round a wither'd stem, 
 
 A bent and fading bough ! 
 
 Her cheek hath lost the beauteous rose 
 Which erst had glisten'd there, 
 
 And if at times its shadow glows, 
 'Tis only call'd bv — Praver. 
 
 The eye that laugh'd in sportiveness, 
 The lip, bright smiles that wreathed, 
 
 The clustering ringlets' jetty tress, — 
 The voice that music breathed, — 
 
 All — all are past ; — yet holier light 
 Gleams on that sadden'd brow, 
 
 A star hath pierced through sorrow's night, 
 That never shone as now. 
 
 Her life had been a troubled sea 
 
 Of sorrow and of care. 
 E'en in those years when youth and glee 
 
 Life's joyauce ought to share. 
 
POEMS. 253 
 
 But care and sorrow pass'd away, 
 
 When love twined roseate flowers, 
 To shed a fragrance o'er her way, 
 
 And promise happier hours. 
 
 A while rich blessings o'er her head 
 
 All lavishly were thrown ; 
 Too bright — too brief — they smiled and fled, 
 
 And earth ajcain was lone ! 
 
 The brighter Life hath beam'd before, 
 
 The darker shade he flings, 
 When Love may shed his light no more 
 
 On Home's familiar things. 
 
 Alone ! alone ! oh, how that word 
 
 Falls on the quivering heart 
 Whose depths no more by love are stirr'd, 
 
 Whose tears unheeded start. 
 
 Alone ! alone ! with none to bless, 
 
 And none to bless again ; 
 Oh who shall soothe such loneliness, 
 
 And still its voiceless pain? 
 
 None? is there none? look on that brow 
 And read thine answer there ! 
 
 Pale — pale — but oh ! how placid now 
 The spirit's calm to share. 
 
 She droops not, sinks not, for above 
 Her heart hath found its rest ; 
 
 She clasps her Father's robe of love, 
 And clings unto His breast. 
 
 Her youngest-born hath woke to smile, 
 And lisp her cherish'd name ; 
 
 And Ellen leaves her play a while, 
 The same fond kiss to claim. 
 
 Her mother's tears had ofttimes dew'd 
 Her soft and rosy cheek — 
 22 
 
254 POEMS. 
 
 And in her lightest, merriest mood, 
 Her bright eyes feeling speak, 
 
 As if she felt a silent woe 
 
 Breathed in her mother's face, 
 
 Some holy thought — she might not know, 
 Spoke in her fond embrace. 
 
 /Oh pause not — faint not on thy way. 
 
 Mother ! thou art not lone ; 
 Thy soul hath One on whom to stay. 
 He claims thee as His own! 
 
 He who hath bade the widow trust 
 In Him, when life is dim, 
 
 And leave — when dust returns to dust — 
 The fatherless to Him, — 
 
 Art thou not His? thy fatherless 
 
 His own especial care? 
 Oh, droop not 'neath thy loneliness. 
 
 He will thy burden bear ! 
 
 He hath but calPd thy loved above. 
 
 To bind Him to thy heart, 
 To guide thee where the souls that love 
 Shall never, never part! 
 1840. 
 
 THE ROCKS OF ELIM. 
 
 Suggested by a perusal of Lord Lindsey's "Letters on the Holy Land/* &c. 
 
 vol. i. pp. 260-1. 
 
 The sun was sinking slowly in the west, 
 
 Yet filling that fair scene with golden light, 
 
 Which, soft and mellow'd, heat intense suppress'd, 
 
 Yet gilded rock and wave with radiance bright ; 
 
 And o'er the lovely azure of the sky, 
 
 Clouds, gold and crimson, gorgeously swept by. 
 
POEMS. 255 
 
 But all breathed peace and stillness ; not a sound 
 Broke the full silence lingering around, 
 Save the low murmur of the rippling wave, 
 As pensively it came, the shores to lave. 
 No sea-bird clave the soft yet breezy air ; 
 No note of life from the huge mountains there ; 
 In smooth repose, the fair and glistening plain 
 Stretch'd forth from mount to sea, bearing no stain 
 Of man's disturbing step, — but rock and sea, 
 And mount and wood, in deep repose lay free, 
 Burden'd with mighty memories — that came, 
 E'en in the thrilling stillness, to proclaim 
 The God of might and love — and breathe the theme 
 Of Ilis great deeds — till a bright sunny gleam 
 Of truth inspired, would sudden light impart I 
 E'en to that thing unknown — an atheist heart ! 
 A voice was cradled in that soft blue sky, 
 Whispering that the same God of love was nigh, 
 Who in that heaven had set His shadowy cloud, 
 . And fiery pillar, His beloved to shroud ; 
 Darkness to 3Iitzraim's host — but radiant light 
 To them He saved from slavery's starless night. 
 A voice had those blue waters, now so still — 
 Whose rippling wavelets heart and ear could fill 
 With melodies of heaven. That glorious sea ! 
 In its full swelling tide — the glad, the free ! 
 Rushing in thunder to the quiveping shore, 
 Or still'd, and hush'd to peace, its wild rage o'er, 
 Unchain'd — unsilenced — scorning man's vain call, 
 Obeying but His will, who measured all 
 The waters in the hollow of His hand. 
 And number'd every grain of the far-spreading sand. 
 He spake ! at once their watery depths upheaving, 
 As walls on either side — and dry land leaving 
 Till all had pass'd — the first son of the Lord, 
 And witness of His truth ; — again that word — 
 Back rush'd the mighty waters with a roar, 
 Which spake their strange restraining yoke was o'er, 
 And wave on wave came thundering down the steep. 
 Raised by their upheaved floods, and madly sweep 
 Th' Egyptian hosts before them — man and horse 
 Whelm'd 'neath the torrent's wildly rushing course : 
 
256 POEMS. 
 
 Oh ! was it but the phantom of the past, 
 
 Or did once more the silver clarion's blast 
 
 Sound in mine ears, and mount and rock and plain 
 
 'Neath these full notes are quivering again ? 
 
 The Jewish hosts are marshalling the ground 
 
 From mount to sea — their lines encamping round. 
 
 And priests and warriors, women, children, all — 
 
 And stalwart youths, in ranks respective fall, 
 
 Their tall spears gleaming in the sunset light, 
 
 Till rock and ridge, with sudden radiance bright, 
 
 Fling back the song of praise, of glory loud. 
 
 That wakes in chorus from the holy crowd. 
 
 From north to south it bursts — from east to west 
 
 Alternate pealing, echoing e'er suppress'd. 
 
 The rushing waves their mighty pi\?an lend. 
 
 And deeper tones the towering mountains send — 
 
 " Sing, sing ye to the Lord of Hosts, for He 
 
 On Mitzraim's hosts hath triumph'd gloriously, 
 
 The horse and his rider in the seas overthrown. 
 
 The depths have cover'd them, they sank as stone ! 
 
 Sing, sing ye to the Lord !'' Then soft again 
 
 From gentler voices woke th' inspired strain, 
 
 And harp and timbrel swell'd the lingering chord 
 
 Of the rich anthem — " Sing ye to the Lord!" 
 
 The very breeze upon his wild flight stay'd, 
 
 And whispering responses softly made. 
 
 And on his pinions bore the strain along. 
 
 Till earth and ocean quiver'd 'neath the song. 
 
 And shook before the deep thanksgiving pour'd. 
 
 When the full chorus peal'd, " Sing, sing ye to the Lord I" 
 
 The vision past ! Ilush'd was the glorious sound, 
 The rocks in stillness, solemnly profound, 
 Ilung deepening shadows on the sand}- plain. 
 And all was hush'd and desolate again. 
 Spirit of truth ! Thou didst my soul enfold. 
 And wrapt it in thy robe, — till scenes of old 
 Embodied came, to thrill my yearning heart, 
 And deeper love and thanksgiving impart I 
 Oh ! let the scorner and the sceptic seek 
 Where Nature's self-inspired love can speak, 
 
POEMS. 257 
 
 "Where rock and ocean, mount and moaning blast, 
 Proclaim aloud the story of the past. 
 Hither, oh hither, let the doubting come. 
 And e'en Thy meanest works, oh God ! shall strike the scoffer 
 dumb ! 
 1840. 
 
 PAST, PRESENT, AXD FUTURE. 
 
 A SKETCH. 
 
 It was a place of graves, and still and lone, 
 As all of life's strange history were flown, 
 And nothing left but the cold stones that lay 
 Thick-crested o'er with emblems of decay — 
 High wavy grass, where never flowers had rest, 
 And the dull clingino; moss that lav caress'd 
 E'en by the pale cold marble. There was one, 
 A mother's last low resting; and her child 
 Stood gazing round bewilder'd. There was none 
 Like that her soul had pictured, undefiled 
 By Time's too withering hand. She sought a stone, 
 Pure in its spotless marble — standing lone. 
 With its brief record of a loved one gone, 
 And all untouch'd by shadow of decay; 
 For, oh ! that full heart, but yesterday 
 It felt, since they had laid her there, alas ! 
 Through bloomless weeds, and melancholy grass, 
 They led her where a lowly grave reposed. 
 Whose marble shrine thick clustering weeds enclosed, 
 There ! there she lav ! her tomb bv Time's cold hand 
 Touch'd as all others, in that grave-girt sand. 
 When scarcely seem'd it that a week had pass'd 
 Since those fond eyes had look'd and smiled their last ; 
 Since that loved voice its last low whisper said. 
 And breathed its blessing on that mourner's head. 
 Were these but memories now ? and could it be 
 Long months had pass'd into eternity? 
 Yea, Time hath flung his mantle o'er the graves, 
 And when the long grass in dark masses waves, 
 
 22-^ 
 
258 POEMS. 
 
 Low wailing accents fill the breezy blast : 
 
 " The loved, the mourn'd, the cherish'd, all are past." 
 
 Shrine of the Past ! that solitude — around, 
 Beneath, that word of woe hath impress found — 
 Impress and echo ; but on that lone heart 
 The PAST was present, sweeter joys t' impart 
 In shadow than in being. From the cup 
 Of mem'ry, life in such sweet hues gleam'd up, 
 And brought forth bliss which had been with such pow'r, 
 IIow might she deem them phantoms of the hour, 
 To shine a while and pass ? Too soon she felt 
 They were but shadows, in her heart that dwelt 
 And mingled with her being. Oh ! the woe 
 Of such awakening ! Fled the sunny glow, 
 The cherish'd dream, the past once more was past. 
 And the dim present all its misery cast 
 One little moment ; then, by Mercy sent. 
 The ftttfre to the present radiance lent. 
 And o'er that mourning spirit softly stole 
 Sweet visions of the freed, the heaven-born soul, 
 Awaiting hers in those fair realms of love. 
 Which smiled in beauty, life's last home, above. 
 The past, the present, merged in Faith's fond thought, 
 Which such bright glimpses of the future brought, 
 And soften'd that deep woe ; — and she hath bow'd, 
 Believing and adoring, while the cloud 
 Folding that spirit, melted into tears, 
 Which grief assuaging, e'en its pang endears ; — 
 She knew her heart must wear a while its chain. 
 But earth in Faith's effulgence smiled again. 
 1842. 
 
POEMS. 259 
 
 THE JEWISH YEAR. 
 I. 
 
 SABBATH BERESHITH. 
 
 He spake ; th' Almighty spake, and Earth and Heaven 
 
 Started from chaos, ne'er again to sleep ; 
 Earth yet was void — no beauteous form was given, 
 
 And darkness lay upon the mighty deep. 
 
 He spake : Let there be light ! and there was light ; 
 
 E'en as He spake, the rushing torrent came. 
 And darkness fled before th' effulgence bright ; 
 
 The sun and moon were not — 'twas Heaven's own flame. 
 
 Again He spake ; and then a wide expanse 
 Stretch'd forth between the waters; azure sky, 
 
 Soft, lovely, meet to bless the admiring glance 
 That icas to gaze, though yet it was not nigh. 
 
 And yet again that Voice, and yet again. 
 
 Six times it spake; and earth, in richness clad, 
 
 Teem'd with new life, that knew nor death nor pain, 
 But in the presence of its God was glad. 
 
 And fruits, and herbs, and flowers, and grass, had sprung 
 
 In perfect beauty from the swelling sod ; 
 And sun, and moon, and stars, in glory hung, 
 
 Eespleudent, voiceless, eloquent of God. 
 
 And earth, air, water, fill'd with joyous life ; 
 
 Each element well fitted to sustain 
 Its given burden, which no darkling strife 
 
 Might dash with sin, or with dull sorrow^s chain. 
 
 And man, majestic, glorious man, was there ; 
 
 The Voice creating raised him from the sod, 
 And breathed into his frame the vital air. 
 
 Which mark'd him dearest, most beloved of God. 
 
260 POEMS. 
 
 And at His nod this was ! Let it ! ^twas done ; 
 
 Creation started from unbroken sleep ; 
 And chaos past, and darkness, gloom was gone, 
 
 And earth was sever'd from the soundless deep. 
 
 And still that God is ours ; still, still His pow'r, 
 Mighty to do, and mightier yet to save, 
 
 Is ever hovering o'er life's darkest hour. 
 To shield, revive, sustain the souls He gave. 
 
 Oh ! pause not, faint not, ye who seek Him not, 
 Him deeming all too mighty to look down ; 
 
 That the small woes and joys which mark our lot 
 Are all too trilling for His smile or frown. 
 
 Hear ye His voice, appealing from His word 
 Unto the faint, the weary, and the worn : 
 
 " In righteousness I call thee," saith the Lord, 
 "And I will pitying bless the souls that mourn; 
 
 "And darkness shall be turn'd for them to light. 
 
 And straight the crooked things my love shall make, 
 
 Increasing strength to them that have no might. 
 The lone heart cheering for my great name's sake." 
 
 And shall we doubt that word, mistrust His power ? 
 
 E'en though our paths seem dark, and chaos wild 
 Enwrap the soul in misery's lonely hour, 
 
 Where never light hath shone, no flow'ret smiled ? 
 
 He, who brought forth this glorious world from space, 
 AYill, at one word, bid sorrow's waves be still ; 
 
 Bid glistening flowers the shapeless depths efface, 
 And rushing light chaotic darkness fill. 
 
 And as He placed His image on the earth, 
 
 T' adorn, and bless, and sweetly speak of Him, 
 
 So in each heart His image will have birth. 
 And breathe of joys that never may grow dim. 
 
 Father ! oh lift to Thee each sorrowing heart. 
 Strengthen the faint and weary to adore ; 
 
POEMS. 261 
 
 Thy blissful balm in thy deep love impart, 
 And to fond hope the spiritless restore. 
 
 Oh ! let th' effulgence of thy awful might 
 Be lost in the still whisper of thy love; 
 
 Let Mercy veil thy too resplendent light, 
 And Pity lift each yearning soul above. 
 
 THE JEWISH YEAR. 
 II. 
 
 SABBATH NOAH. 
 
 " Found grace before the Lord !" Oh blest 
 
 Was Noah in His sight, 
 Blest that the love within his breast 
 
 Was pure to meet the light. 
 Blest that in him the good was found, 
 And smiled amid the dearth around. 
 
 Faithful amidst the biting scorn. 
 
 The jeers of wretched men ; 
 Faithful of threatening wrath to warn 
 
 Again and yet again ; 
 Trusting in simple faith the word 
 That mark'd him cherish'd of the Lord. 
 
 Long years 'twas his to work and wait, 
 
 The strange command obey, 
 Nor doubted, though the threatened fate 
 
 Long-suffering would delay ; 
 He walk'd with God, he sought to fill 
 His soul with prayer, and do His will. 
 
 And when the rushing torrents came, 
 With Death's deep, blackest woe. 
 
 And vainly on the Eternal's Name 
 The dying call'd below : 
 
262 POEMS. 
 
 Secure he rode the mountain wave, 
 
 And clasp'd the Arm outstretch'd to save. 
 
 He had not waver'd in his trust, 
 Nor wander'd from the way ; 
 
 The storm that laid proud hearts in dust 
 Did on him harmless })lay. 
 
 A Father's arm upheld the ark 
 
 And kept secure the fragile bark. 
 
 And we, like him, may watch and pray 
 
 Against affliction's hour, 
 Upon a Father's love to stay, 
 
 When tempests round us lower. 
 And, like him, trust in faith, and still, 
 Though moekers jeer, adore Ilis will. 
 
 Though never more the depths o'erflow 
 The world, so bright and fair. 
 
 Oh ! many a dark and lonely woe 
 The human heart must bear. 
 
 And sorrow is a fearful thing, 
 
 Without an ark on which to clino;. 
 
 o- 
 
 An ark of refuge still is ours, 
 And still that Voice of love 
 
 Which Noah warn'd of darker hours, 
 Yet whispers from above, 
 
 And breathes a spirit in His word, 
 
 E'en as the voice His servant heard. 
 
 The mountains may from earth depart, 
 The hills be hence removed. 
 
 But never from our Father's heart 
 Shall pass His well-beloved, 
 
 His kindness shall not change or cease, 
 
 Nor fail the covenant of His peace. 
 
 A little moment He may seem 
 
 His first-born to forsake. 
 The glory of His holy beam 
 
 From us a brief while take. 
 
POEMS. 263 
 
 But, in His mercy, yet once more 
 Will He His own to joy restore : 
 
 In little wrath, a while conceal 
 
 From us His darken'd face ; 
 But soon, oh soon ! will love reveal 
 
 From His pure dwelling-place ; 
 With everlasting love restore 
 His presence to His own once more. 
 
 Thus, thus He speaks, our fathers' God, 
 
 Our Saviour and our King; 
 And shall we, grovelling in the sod, 
 
 Forbear to clasp His wing ? 
 And doubt repiningly His word, 
 And shrink in woe from hope deferr'd ? 
 
 Oh no ! oh no ! the fainting heart 
 
 May cling in faith to Him, 
 And He will light and peace impart, 
 
 Though earthly light grow dim ; 
 His word is changeless, as the love 
 That beams around, below, above, 
 
 Changeless in wrath ; and shall it be 
 
 Less faithful to fulfil, 
 When that efiulgent love we see, 
 
 The spirit's waves to still? 
 Our faith, our heart, as Noah give, 
 And, e'en mid storms, our souls shall live. 
 
 We may not doubt, we may not pause. 
 
 Believe, and work, and pray ; 
 E'en though there seem no threatening cause. 
 
 Love will not brook delay. 
 God of the chosen tribe, the lost, the opprest. 
 Oh ! let Thy spirit in our hearts find rest."^ 
 
 * The author probably intended to write a series of poems, one for every 
 Sabbath of the year; but her premature death prevented the accomplish- 
 ment of the plan, if it was entertained. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Ode to Charity 203 
 
 The Chamber of the Dying 204 
 
 Sabbath Thoughts 205 
 
 "^ " 208 
 
 " " 210 
 
 " " 212 
 
 " " 214 
 
 215 
 
 An Hour of Peace 217 
 
 The Song of the Spanish Jews 219 
 
 A Vision of Jerusalem 220 
 
 Angels 222 
 
 Communings with Nature: — 
 
 No. 1. Night 223 
 
 No. 2. Ocean 228 
 
 No. 3. Hymn TO Summer 229 
 
 No. 4. Autumn Leaves 231 
 
 No. 5. Autumn Winds 232 
 
 No. 6. The Evergreen 234 
 
 No. 7. Address to the Ocean 236 
 
 Funeral Hymn 237 
 
 The Hebrew's Appeal 239 
 
 I Never Loved a Flower 241 
 
 Dialogue Stanzas 242 
 
 Memory and Hope 243 
 
 The Wanderers 245 
 
 An Infants Smile 247 
 
 The Importance of Religion to Genius 249 
 
 The Widow 252 
 
 The Rocks of Elim 254 
 
 Past^ Present, and Future 257 
 
 The Jewish Year: — 
 
 No. 1. Sabbath Bereshith 259 
 
 No. 2. Sabbath Noah 261 
 
 264 
 
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