SERMONS,
 
 SERMONS 
 
 THE REV. ABRAHAM P. MENDES, 
 
 MINISTER OF THE BIRMINGHAM HEBREW CONGREGATION. 
 
 LONDON: 
 PUBLISHED BY JOHN CHAPMAN, 
 
 KING WILLIAM STREET, STRAND. 
 
 1855.
 
 LONDON. 
 
 r RINTKI) BV WERTI1KU1KR AM) CO.. 
 CIRCUS PIACK, FIVSBITHV.
 
 DEDICATION. 
 
 THE PULPIt CAN ONLY FAIL TO PRODUCE GOOD RESULTS WHEN IT HAS 
 
 TO STRUGGLE AGAINST THE AUTHORITY AND EXAMPLE OF 
 
 THOSE THAT ARE IN POWER ; 
 
 BUT WHEN IT IS AIDED BY THE CO-OPERATION OP A ZEALOUS AND 
 
 WATCHFUL EXECUTIVE, ITS INFLUENCE MAY BE MARKED IN 
 
 THE RAPID PROSPERITY OF THE COMMUNITY, TO 
 
 WHICH ITS VOICE IS DIRECTED. 
 
 IN RECOGNITION, THEREFORE, OF THE ZEAL AND ENERGY DISPLAYED IN 
 THE GOVERNMENT OF THE 
 
 BIRMINGHAM HEBREW CONGREGATION, 
 
 BY 
 
 JACOB PHILLIPS AND ABRAHAM DANZIGER, ESQUIRES, 
 
 THE WARDENS, 
 
 THIS BOOK IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED TO THEM AS AN ACKNOWLEDGMENT 
 
 OF 
 
 THEIR POWERFUL CO-OPERATION IN THE GOOD CAUSE OF 
 SALUTARY AND LEGITIMATE REFORM, 
 
 AND 
 AS A TRIBUTE OF ESTEEM AND RESPECT FOR THEIR PERSONAL WORTH. 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 2094458
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE chief motive which impels a Preacher to publish 
 his Sermons, is the desire of extending the sphere of his 
 usefulness beyond the restricted limits of his general 
 auditoiy. He hopes to carry abroad some portion of the 
 sacred influence which he has proudly seen exercised 
 by his exhortations over his immediate flock, and to 
 promote that end he is content to appear before the pub- 
 lic with a challenge to criticism. I confess to its being 
 my secret hope also, that this humble production may 
 find its way to the homes of my people; that its 
 lessons rnay be heard in the midst of Sabbath holiness 
 and festal celebrations; and that there, it will not fail 
 to excite some improving efforts in the souls of those 
 who read and those who listen. But while I hope 
 thus much, I also wish to deprecate the severity of 
 criticism. I plead, that compositions, prepared for the 
 ears of few and adapted to the necessities of few, 
 should 'not be rigorously judged, but should be 
 received with that degree of lenity to which such 
 productions are fairly entitled. 
 
 In some of the sermons, will be found quotations 
 of Scripture texts, wherein I have departed from the 
 accustomed renderings. In every such instance, I 
 have had some idea to work out, which the version
 
 yiil PREFACE. 
 
 employed would more clearly illustrate, and therefore 
 have I enlisted it in the display of my subject, content 
 to know that it" is in accordance with the grammati- 
 cal construction of the Holy Language, and that it is 
 based upon the higher authority of one or more of our 
 eminent commentators. 
 
 For the rest, the volume will be found to consist 
 of discourses adapted to the various solemnities of our 
 religion, developing the doctrines connected with those 
 sacred occasions and inculcating the duties to which 
 they summon us. 
 
 I have appended the Confirmation Service, which 1 
 have arranged for the use of my Congregation, and 
 which is intended to enhance the impressive character 
 of the occasion of religious majority (niX/b ^Q), and 
 to render it imperishable from the memories of the 
 youthful covenanters. 
 
 With these few words of preface, " I cast my bread 
 upon the waters" of public opinion, and I shall be but 
 too happy to find it " returning unto me after many 
 days," in the knowledge that it has effected its purpose, 
 by conducing to the spiritual improvement of the 
 homes and hearths of Israel, 
 
 A. P. MENDES. 
 
 BIRMINGHAM : 119, BATH Row, 
 2nd Shebat, 5615.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 SERMON I. 
 ISRAEL'S CAMP AND ISRAEL'S FOES .... 1 
 
 SERMON II. 
 THE SANCTIFICATION OF GOD .... 15 
 
 SERMON I'll. 
 ISAAC'S WELLS ........ 27 
 
 SERMON IV. 
 JACOB'S VISION ...'.... 43 
 
 SERMON V. 
 AMALKK : A SERMON FOR "03T J"QB> .... 56 
 
 SERMON VI. 
 
 THE PERPETUAL LIGHT . 71 
 
 * 
 Delivered at the Synagogue of D'OETl "IJtt? p"p> Spanish and Portuguese 
 
 Jews, Bevis Marks, London. 
 
 SERMON VII. 
 THE PASSAGE OF THE RED SEA ..... 85 
 
 SERMON VIII. 
 
 THE DEPARTURE FROM EGYPT ..... 100 
 
 Delivered at the Synagogue of the D'OK'H "iyt? p"p Spanish and Portuguese 
 Jews, Bevis Marks, London.
 
 X CONTENTS. 
 
 I'AOK 
 
 SERMON IX. 
 FAITH : A SKRMON FOR PID3 FKAST OF PASSOVKH . . 115 
 
 SERMON X. 
 
 THK INHERITANCE OF JACOB : A SERMON FOR rnySE* FKAST 
 
 OF WEEKS . . . . . . . . 13U 
 
 SERMON XL 
 THK SORROW AND COMPORT OF ISRAEL : A SERMON FOR 
 
 THK SABBATH OF CONSOLATION . . 143 
 
 SERMON XII. 
 PRAYER, ITS SPHERE AND ITS CHARACTER . . . 156 
 
 SERMON XIII. 
 SPIRITUAL PEACE : A SERMON FOR THE DAY OF ATONEMENT 170 
 
 XIV. 
 
 CONFIRMATION SERVICE . . . . . . .185 
 
 With Address, delivered at the Feast of Tabernacles, 56 1 3.
 
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 XII 
 
 LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS 
 
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 No. of 
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 and Lady Montefiore . .14 
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 Mrs. Woolfe, Liverpool . . 1
 
 I. 
 
 ISRAEL'S CAMP AND ISRAEL'S FOES. 
 
 A SERMON FOR WflMl T\3V. 
 
 : jn 
 
 " When the camp goeth forth against thine enemies, then keep 
 thee from every evil thing." Deut. xxiii. 9. 
 
 AT the period when the great revelation of Sinai 
 selected our race for the mission of enlightenment, a 
 holy war was proclaimed by God Himself, and Israel 
 was then and there constituted His sacred army. By 
 divine command we girded on the sword^ unfurled 
 the banner of the Lord, and went forth to fight the 
 battle of religion to exterminate idolatry, and to 
 root out false worship from the world. But while in 
 arms against impurity, it was especially necessary 
 that the soldiers of God should not be themselves 
 impure, else would the protecting arm of their divine 
 guardian be withdrawn, and instead of victory, the 
 result would be dismay, defeat, and death. Thus, 
 my brethren, the leader of God's armies, ere he re- 
 signed his command and bade farewell to his charge, 
 while recapitulating the eternal rules of that service 
 in which they had been enlisted, especially warns the 
 people in the words of our text 7$ nuns NM *3 
 71'1K " When the camp goeth 
 
 B
 
 2 ISKAEL'S CAMP 
 
 forth against thine enemies, keep thee from every evil 
 thing." 
 
 This injunction, my brethren^ undoubtedly refers 
 to the physical conflicts which lay before Israel at 
 the time Moses addressed them ; and it forms an ad- 
 monition against the deflation for which the law 
 provides, by reminding them, that even as their 
 success "would depend on the Lord's presence in their 
 midst, their camp must be holy, to invite His guardian 
 convoy. But, brethren, we purpose not to deal with 
 the text in its obvious and natural application, because 
 it will thus bear no reference to our present condition. 
 Israel are no longer in arms their legions traverse 
 not now the arid desert, miraculously sustained nor 
 cross they raging floods, nor conquer overwhelming 
 hosts and therefore the injunction set before us is 
 inapplicable ; but let us deck it in a moral garb, and 
 we shall presently derive valuable instruction from 
 its words instruction adapted to the season, and 
 correspondent to the meaning of Holy Writ. To 
 this end we will consider the subject under three 
 heads 
 
 I. THE CAMP OF ISRAEL. 
 II. THE ENEMIES OF ISRAEL. 
 III. THE PROHIBITED EVIL. 
 
 I 
 
 To seek the camp of Israel, my brethren, we must 
 consider the season to which we have arrived. We 
 are embarked on the propitiatory month of Elul. Its 
 dawning hours have overtaken us, and have pro- 
 claimed in our ears that same dread warning which
 
 AND ISRAEL'S FOES. 3 
 
 Jonah of old proclaimed in the high places of Nineveh 
 -: nnsn:) Pli;m DV DTWK Tip Forty days more and 
 our Nineveh the Nineveh of pride and violence 
 will be overthrown. Accordingly, brethren, we have 
 begun the work of penitence. Every man reviews 
 now his conduct and his thoughts every man be- 
 thinks him of heeding more his religious duties, 
 because we all feel the approach of a struggle in- 
 volving our best hopes and highest welfare here and 
 hereafter. It behoves us, then, to marshal our war- 
 riors, and to be prepared for the conflict. But where 
 are we to seek our camp? Where look for that 
 mighty force which is to achieve for us a moral 
 victory? Our legions, my brethren, number three, 
 and you may find them comprised in the teaching of 
 
 our sages mun jrn DK p^yD njmfl nSsni pQipn 
 
 " Penitence, prayer, and charity avert the evil of 
 the decree." 
 
 First, then, brethren, in our camp is the phalanx 
 of penitence; and even as in physical warfare, the 
 phalanx, well disposed, must prove unconquerable, 
 so will its force be triumphant in our moral view, 
 provided it be effectually arrayed. For penitence, 
 my brethren, is the resurrection of virtue a return 
 to life of all that ennobles our nature a regeneration 
 of thoughts, acts, and hopes. Need I direct you to 
 Holy Writ, that Hezekiah's life prolonged, or Nine- 
 veh's doom averted, or other scripture facts, shall 
 prove to you the omnipotence of true repentance? 
 No ; let your own lives offer both the illustration and 
 the proof let your own experience remind you of 
 the times when you have prayed for pardon, and 
 
 B 2
 
 4 ISRAELS CAW 
 
 vowed the earnest vow of amendment; how you 
 have felt a sudden glow of spiritual hope within 
 your breasts, which has made you calmer, happier, 
 better men, giving you, to your perception, a new 
 and holier life. Thus you have all fought already 
 the moral conflict; you have all, on some occasion, 
 encountered the very foes now awaiting your advance, 
 and your hearts will testify that you have conquered. 
 Then commence again the work of reformation that 
 constitutes true penitence. Review every past trans- 
 gression, repent it and forsake it betimes ; for every sin 
 corrected will become a warrior every sentiment im- 
 proved will stand forth a champion in your cause, whose 
 firm undaunted bearing will give you the greatest 
 victory man can ever achieve, the victory over self. 
 
 Next, my brethren, stands ranged the legion of 
 Prayer, and it is a legion of veteran soldiers. In 
 days far remote it has often fought and conquered. 
 In early times, when pious Abraham heard the doom 
 of Sodom, and to his imagination there appeared 
 already the raining fire and the sulphureous shower, 
 the aid he sought to turn aside destruction was 
 prayer. He achieved a conquest, though the de- 
 generacy of the people countervailed the victory. 
 Advance four centuries, and see the Israelites en- 
 camped round Horeb. There is evil in the camp, 
 gross idolatry has invaded its precincts ; the Eternal 
 has denounced on the people the death they have 
 deserved, the extermination incurred by their in- 
 fidelity. But Moses is prostrate, and prayer achieves 
 another conquest: it turns away God's wrath and 
 saves the people. Later still, when Israel are at
 
 AND ISRAELS FOES. 5 
 
 Hazeroth, and Miriam and Aaron dare, in seditious 
 accents, to raise their voices against Moses, ''the 
 anger of the Lord is kindled against them" ; and His 
 judgment descending upon Miriam, she becomes a 
 loathsome, plague-stricken leper. Once more Moses 
 supplicates divine compassion, and Prayer overcomes 
 God's wrath. And thus it has been in every age : where 
 human power has been valueless, human agency 
 unavailing, true prayer has had high efficacy in 
 confronting danger and in defeating evil. But of 
 course, iny brethren, all supplicatory verbiage is not 
 prayer: the one comes from the lips, the other is 
 born in the heart. Neither is the value of prayer in 
 its quantity. When Moses supplicated, his prayers 
 might be numbered by words. Nor does its efficacy 
 depend on vehemence. The Scripture supplicants 
 used np"T ntoZTl Tip, the still small voice; but when 
 they prayed, their few humble words of devout orison 
 had so much the holy spirit of earnestness in them, 
 that Heaven's judgments were reversed, and Heaven's 
 wrath appeased, by their intercession. Therefore, 
 brethren, I summon you with the invitation of your 
 God. 'n htt 'DIP') Onm D3by inp " Take to your- 
 selves words, and turn towards the Eternal." Array 
 your prayers, set in order your supplications; they 
 are your champions, and the day of battle approaches, 
 the conflict is nigh. 
 
 The third wing of your moral army is Charity, 
 holy, Godlike Charity, which inherits all its powers 
 from Heaven, rflfcfc Ttfl PlplX- " Charity delivers 
 from death," is the sage's axiom. Not only to the 
 physical death, which is the end of all flesh, doth the
 
 6 ISRAEL'S CAMP 
 
 moralist allude, but also to spiritual death, the disso- 
 lution of all the soul's brightest faculties, conscience, 
 thought, and feeling. It is from such a moral death 
 that Charity rescues us, to elevate our nature in 
 closest proximity to the attributes divine, by leading us 
 to deal with all our kind, in the same measure as God 
 deals with us. What is it, my brethren, that corrects 
 all the ills which here beset us, but this great agent 
 Charity ? Are misery and woe at our gate, want and 
 distress around our porch ? Charity is the source of 
 their relief. Are pain and anguish calling aloud for 
 help, neglected weakness, helpless innocence stalking 
 abroad ? Charity hears and sees, and hastens to assist. 
 Source of mutual happiness, it blesses him that gives 
 and him that takes. It ennobles the agent, while 
 it renders the object happy. Since, then, Charity is 
 thus beneficent in its operations for good, it can serve 
 you well in your camp, and, therefore, I bid you 
 summon every word, or thought, or act, which is 
 hallowed by the stamp of Charity, and can take the 
 field in your defence. Hasten to feed the hungry 
 and clothe the naked; carry comfort to the oppressed, 
 joy to the sorrowing. Spread hope in the bosom of 
 despair, happiness in the heart of anguish. Then, 
 brethren, you will be prepared for the great and 
 awful day that is approaching. Your armies, proudly 
 arrayed for moral battle Penitence, supported by 
 Prayer, and flanked by Charity will present a force 
 unassailable and invincible, l*lpi *pnnft YPptf 'H ^ 
 f^^TN nnSl *]WlS ^Pia, "Because the Eternal, 
 your God, will go in the midst of your camp, to 
 deliver you, and to give your enemies unto you.".
 
 AND ISRAEL'S FOES. 7 
 
 II. 
 
 Thus far, my brethren, we have reviewed our own 
 forces, in contemplating the camp of Israel ; we have 
 now, in the second place, to consider the foes of 
 Israel, against whom our armies are to go forth. In 
 one general term, the enemy is sin the true moral 
 adversary of all mankind: sin, with its numerous 
 train of baleful consequences and retributing miseries 
 sin, with its engines of impurity, disease, and death. 
 Lift up your eyes, my brethren, and gaze upon the 
 array of evil that stands opposed to your camp. Let 
 your mental observation rest upon the details of 
 that power which challenges you to conflict. Fore- 
 most stands interest a host in itself; a force that 
 subdues all better emotions, that mocks all piety, and 
 laughs to scorn all virtue. Like an armed Goliath it 
 stands forth reposing on its giant stature, in its her- 
 culean strength. " What to me are religion and 
 morality?" is its cry. " I am prosperous and strong 
 I wax greater and more powerful ; and therefore with 
 pride for my buckler, and arrogance for my shield, 
 I bid defiance to your hosts." Next presses forward 
 apathy and though its careless march and ill-regu- 
 lated front would seem to augur weakness, yet is the 
 appearance gross deception. There is system in its 
 carelessness there is danger in its quiet disorder. 
 It will yield no obedience to any rule of upright 
 conduct; it is indifferent to every claim of virtue 
 unobservant of all the exalted attributes of religion; 
 but its attacks are all the more deadly. With sure 
 though measured strides it advances, scattering evil 
 before it, leaving death behind it, until overtaking
 
 8 ISRAEL'S CAMP 
 
 its prey, it fastens on it with serpent-like tenacity, 
 perilous, most perilous to moral life. And what, my 
 brethren, is that towering troop, that rushes im- 
 petuously down upon us. Lofty as the hills, it rears 
 itself above us ; violent as the flood, it seeks to over- 
 whelm us. It is pride, the fell sin which gives birth 
 to so much of evil offspring pride, the resolute 
 enemy of salvation and of grace. See it now, how 
 it tramples on humble merit, crushing it to the dust. 
 See it throwing off all control impatient of dicta- 
 tion and impetuous as the hurricane, with one only 
 object in view, to rise high as the heaven and to be 
 alone unequalled in its elevation. Can you not 
 recognise the thousand duties of religion, which in 
 its progress it has violated, until now, it towers like 
 some colossal monument, inviting by its height the 
 lightnings of divine displeasure ! Next, my brethren, 
 you may behold the legion of avarice, scowling at 
 your virtues, and seeking to blast you with its 
 mephitic breath. You can hear the shrieks of 
 widows and the plaints of orphans, whom it has 
 crushed in its advance. You can see the desolation 
 which it has made, that it may increase its store of 
 spoil, and win rich treasure from justice and charity, 
 its most determined foes. Pass on, brethren, and 
 regard that sombre troop behind, whose name is 
 calumny. There is a tainted atmosphere around 
 that troop an atmosphere fatal to moral existence. 
 Around are strewn poisoned reputations good names 
 stricken with the gangrene of defamation ; honor 
 and truth, virtue and godliness lie in every direction, 
 perishing from the arrows of detraction, which are
 
 AKD ISRAELS FOES. 
 
 rankling in their wounds shafts sped from the fatal 
 bow of calumny. No further, brethren, need we 
 pass before the ranks of evil, though besides " interest 
 and pride, avarice and calumny," there are others 
 arrayed in equally imposing columns. There are 
 troops of envy and jealousy, vile and insidious mer- 
 cenaries ; there are spite and malice, turbulent and 
 merciless marauders; and there are fraud, deceit, 
 and a host of others equal in baneful strength, to 
 struggle with and to prevail against our forces. But 
 we have seen enough, my brethren, to assure us that 
 our foe is formidable that evil is an ambitious con- 
 queror, whose dominion is already vast and extended, 
 but who pants for further conquest who hopes to 
 see his hateful army triumphant everywhere his 
 sovereignty universal. Then, brethren, I summon 
 you with all your strength to take the field. The 
 "iSlfc? of preparation has sounded you have reviewed 
 your own, and reconnoitred the opposing force. 
 Their strength and number, ardour and discipline, 
 seem overwhelming, and your heart is nigh becoming 
 faint your souls discouraged by the apparent weak- 
 ness of your moral band of patriot virtues. But, 
 brethren, remember that ^VHJ IJTl^K DEO "it is in 
 the name of our God we unfurl the banner." Re- 
 member nfcrnbPl D^TQJ? N? that the battle is not to 
 the strong, but that the few have oft prevailed, in 
 cause of right over the mass. Above all, remember, 
 and be fortified by the remembrance, " that thy God 
 goes before thee in the midst of thy camp," *|S'2K"lS 
 Y3fiS Tl'ltf T\fh\ to deliver thee, and to give thine 
 enemies unto thee.
 
 10 ISKAEL'S CAMP 
 
 III. 
 
 But, brethren, in the midst of encouragement, we 
 must warn, while fortifying your hearts to encounter 
 the foe without, we must summon you to guard 
 against a foe within, because, although good is power- 
 ful against evil, and your camp can prevail against 
 the enemy, our text includes a condition of success 
 in the words p *}y*l ^3D rnbEOIj take heed against 
 any evil thing. Here, brethren, we must enquire 
 into the necessity for this admonition? How is it 
 necessary to warn us of sin, when we are in arms 
 against it. Surely we could not be expected to make 
 common cause and to form associations with our foes, 
 when we are actually out against them in the field? 
 Assuredly not; the moral bearing of our text would 
 fail, if the prohibited evil were not peculiar ; and to 
 determine its import we will enquire of ^-j in loco. 
 He thus comments ;ntOpfc pP W > p in hlti m&ra 
 J"D3Dn r\yW2 "Keep thee from every evil thing, because 
 the adversary impedes us at the time of danger." This 
 pfcjf, my brethren, you are aware is the propensity 
 for evil the inclination which prompts us to do 
 wrong; and never, says our illustrious commentator, 
 is it so powerful, as in moments of peril. Now, 
 brethren, the unequal contest which we have already 
 contemplated, most assuredly renders the present a 
 period of danger for us. We are approaching the 
 great and awful day, when in these sacred precincts 
 we shall be assembled from evening to evening, en- 
 gaged in the conflict with sin striving to overcome 
 it by the combined aid of prayer, fasting, and charity; 
 and on those seasonable exercises there is an attend-
 
 AND ISRAEL'S FOES. 11 
 
 ant evil, to which we are most obnoxious at this 
 crisis an evil that will make our camp unholy. It 
 is, my brethren, the sin of insincerity the sin which 
 makes our prayer mere verbiage our fasting, mere 
 mockery our charity, mere ostentation the sin 
 which superstitiously thinks, that any expiation can 
 be efficacious without devout earnestness. Now, let 
 us examine the text by the light of what we have 
 elicited, and we will read in it a warning, that when 
 we meet together to ask forgiveness for the past, and 
 vow amendment for the future when we array our 
 acts of virtue and devotion against the temptation 
 of vice, those acts must stand the test of sincerity 
 they must be pure-born emanations of godly spirits 
 not soul-less, lifeless performances. Else will our 
 camp be profane, our protecting God will not abide 
 among us, and our conflict will terminate in our 
 overthrow. For how can God pervade your camp, if 
 there be no holiness within it if broken promises 
 and unfulfilled vows are hovering around you if 
 your lips are calling on Him while your souls are 
 alienating Him if bodily you bend before Him, 
 while spiritually you turn from Him? How can 
 God be with you, when with the garb of humility 
 your hearts are full of pride when asking mercy 
 from on high, you refuse it to your fellows here below 
 when seeking peace with God, you are at war with man ? 
 No, brethren, even as of old, success in physical 
 warfare was dependant on physical cleanliness, so at 
 present, success in spiritual conflict is dependant on 
 spiritual purity sincerity. And if we hope for 
 triumph, we must begin by times the work of puri-
 
 12 ISRAEL'S CAMP 
 
 fication. Therefore, let us examine our hearts, and 
 search out every defiling sentiment, so that we may 
 put it away from our camp. First. Let us review our 
 charity. If among its ranks we discover aught of 
 unworthiness if its power is weakened by display, 
 or its influence affected by unwillingness, or its 
 beauty marred by harshness, let us correct the evil, 
 and let us cultivate the virtue in its pure and holy 
 nature. Secondly. Let us prepare our souls for 
 prayer. It is the greatest privilege mortals enjoy, 
 and its deterioration is unpardonable on every occa- 
 sion. But at a time like this, when prayer is made 
 subservient to the great and blessed purpose of a 
 return to God when He deigns specially to summon 
 us to reconciliation by means of worship, it becomes 
 criminal in us to mar its efficacy by the sin of in- 
 sincerity. Let us, therefore, cultivate devotion from 
 this hour let us pray with all our souls, call with 
 all our hearts, and every invocation to Heaven will 
 be answered with grace, and peace, and pardon. 
 Lastly, brethren, let us keep insincerity from our 
 repentance let us bear in mind, that while the trea- 
 sures of forgiveness are opened to every true penitent, 
 the fierceness of wrath is reserved for the hypocrite 
 God is ready to support the contrite heart He is 
 ready to condemn the lip-worshipper. He will 
 answer us before we call, while yet we are sup- 
 plicating He will hearken and accordant to our 
 prayer, He will pity, tranquillize, and pardon. But 
 
 B>np p n & n'ni, " Th y cam P sha11 be hol y>" sa y s 
 
 the text. Here must holiness prevail. Every emo- 
 tion, every sentiment, every aspiration, must ascend
 
 AND ISRAEL'S FOES. 13 
 
 to Heaven spiritual, hallowed, and pure ; and then we 
 may go forth to the conflict, reliant upon the divine 
 support, assured that in the struggle against seducing 
 
 sin -p*iK nrta *frvrh *pna mpn *f?nn& ^rhx TI 
 
 yjff? " the Eternal, our God, goeth in the midst of 
 our camp, to deliver us, and give us mastery over our 
 enemies." 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 ALMIGHTY GOD! great and powerful Guardian of 
 Israel ! in olden times, when Thy tabernacle left its 
 resting-place to journey onward to the conquest over 
 idolatry, Thy armies thus invoked Thee: 'n HDID 
 -pSfc y WBto IDiri yriN ISISn, " Arise, Lord, and 
 let Thine enemies be scattered: let them who hate 
 Thee, flee from before Thee." Thus, too, God, do 
 we, Thy children, call upon Thee at this day. Arise, 
 Lord, for Thine enemies prevail against us. Sin and 
 impurity, which deny Thy name, are rulers over our 
 hearts ; and we invoke Thy help, that we may subdue 
 their hateful influence, and triumph over their fell 
 temptation. Father, we are weak and powerless; we 
 have, indeed, within us faithful tendencies, but we lack 
 the means to arm them, and to give them that great 
 moral strength which alone can make them prevail. 
 strengthen us, then, with Thy divine assistance. 
 Help us first to render our camp holy, to receive Thy 
 protecting presence: then, Lord, descend to fill our 
 temple, and to fill our hearts. Descend to fortify 
 virtue and to encourage purity, so that when we en- 
 counter our moral foes on Thy great atonement day,
 
 14 ISRAEL'S CAMP AND ISRAEL'S FOES. 
 
 Thou mayst be with us, to* give us victory and 
 
 dominion, -finm rm mNfinm mttJini nSnun *n */? 
 
 "For Thine, Eternal, are greatness and might, 
 glory, victory, and majesty. 5 ' Thus pray we, Father, 
 on this Thy holy sabbath-day. Hearken to our call, 
 and make us charitable, devout, and penitent, worthy 
 of Thy love, and worthy of Thy favour. Amen.
 
 15 
 
 II. 
 THE SANCTIFICATION OF GOD. 
 
 " Ye shall not profane my holy name ; but I must be sanctified 
 among the children of Israel : I am the Eternal who sanctifies you." 
 Lev. xxii. 32. 
 
 IN these words, my brethren, God enjoins upon us a 
 command which forms a compendium of the Israelite's 
 obligations a command that addresses itself to us 
 in every age and generation, in every circumstance 
 and condition of our chequered existence. These 
 words have as much force for us in our dispersions 
 as they had in the days of our national independence ; 
 they speak to our hearts as they spoke of old to our 
 liberated fathers in the desert, without any diminution 
 of their emphasis without any alteration of their 
 import. Yet, brethren, it is remarkable that no 
 command of our law is more flagrantly mistaken 
 than this. We restrict, in application, its almost 
 illimitable barriers we cramp its almost unbounded 
 sphere : we never reflect on the vast range of its 
 design and operation we seize the mere shell, and 
 fancifully imagine that we grasp the kernel, content if 
 we can evade what we call as DB71 7P!"J, a profanation
 
 16 THE SANCTIFICATION OF GOD. 
 
 of God, or promote what we distinguish as ' 
 a sanctification of God. 
 
 Let us, however, examine to-day into its real im- 
 portance let us develop the comprehensive nature 
 of the command, in order that we may discover, in 
 all its fulness, what really is the sanctification of 
 God. The text tells us that we must not profane 
 God's name, but, on the contrary, we must hallow 
 Him; and as a motive for the sanctification, directs 
 us to the Eternal, who, hallowing us Himself, recipro- 
 cally bids us hallow Him. Now, to establish the 
 signification of the text, we must glance at our 
 position in relation to the Being who thus commands. 
 From the world of nations He has chosen us to be 
 His messengers unto man. From Him we have 
 received the commission by which we are teachers of 
 justice and righteousness, promulgators of truth and 
 faith. To that vocation we have been constant, while 
 enjoying divine favour, or suffering from divine dis- 
 pleasure. Wandering in the deserts of Syria, to 
 expiate our want of faith, we were teaching mankind 
 by our punishment, that God is great and powerful. 
 Reposing under the vine and fig-tree of our beloved 
 land, an obedient, and therefore a happy people, we 
 were proclaiming, by our prosperity, that God is 
 faithful and true. Marching as captives in the 
 triumphant train of Nebuchadnezzar, we were teach- 
 ing mankind that God is just and holy, acquitting 
 not the guilty. Restored to home and liberty to 
 country, faith, and temple, while labouring to rebuild 
 Jerusalem, we presented to the world the lesson that 
 God is merciful and good. Finally, scattered over
 
 THE SANCTIFICATION OF GOD. 17 
 
 the earth, in every clime abiding, the object of scorn, 
 or persecution, or, at best, of prejudice, we yet are 
 God's witnesses, the servants whom He has chosen, 
 teaching men God's word and God's will by our mere 
 existence. For even as no other nation has ever yet 
 survived, we have withstood the wreck of ages; we 
 have seen new monarchies rise up, decay, and fall, 
 while we have remained. We have seen great nations 
 conquer, soar upwards in glory, and vanish, while we 
 have remained; because, as we have already said, we 
 are missionaries to declare His name, and publish His 
 law for the spiritual enlightenment of the universe. 
 If, then, brethren, we are ministers of the Most High, 
 our moral demeanour must be consistent with the 
 law which we proclaim consistent with the doc- 
 trines we promulgate. The priests of old were clad, 
 by divine command, in linen robes of spotless white, 
 without a stain to mar their hue of purity, so now, 
 we priests of every age must wear our moral garb of 
 purity in conduct, purity in thought, and purity in 
 words. Every stain thereon is a desecration of 
 our holy office, and a profanation of God's name. 
 Hence it is that we are all ordered to sanctify our 
 Maker, because He sanctifies us. We are in pos- 
 session of His high commission, and we must support 
 its dignity becomingly. How we shall best do so 
 remains to be discovered; and to that end we will 
 now consider the text, developing as the constituents 
 of a sanctification of God, three several conclusions : 
 
 I. WE SANCTIFY HlM BY VALUING OUR RELIGION. 
 II. WE SANCTIFY HlM BY REVERENCING OUR RELIGION. 
 III. WE SANCTIFY HlM BY OBSERVING OUR RELIGION. 
 
 C
 
 18 THE SANCTIFICATION OF GOD. 
 
 I. 
 
 In the first place, brethren, we are to hallow God 
 by valuing the religion of which He is the author. 
 AVe have seen that this religion is the commission 
 under which we exercise the vocation of spiritual 
 teachers the diploma which testifies our fitness for 
 spiritual enlightenment; and, therefore, our uniform 
 conduct must manifest that we set value upon it, and 
 entertain a just sense of its sacred, its ennobling 
 character. Before the world that appreciation of its 
 beauties must be marked. In the sight of all man- 
 kind we must feel pride in declaring our lineage, and 
 in practising our sacred calling. But is it thus with 
 us? Are we wont to be influenced by sentiments so 
 sublime? Do we in reality glory in our fate as 
 Jews, Jews stricken, prejudiced, scorned, but 
 still Jews, by Heaven missioned, by Heaven pre- 
 served, by Heaven beloved? Alas! do not your 
 consciences reprove you at these interrogations? 
 Do not a thousand accusations stand forth to your 
 soul's perception, accusations which aim at convicting 
 you of profaning God, instead of sanctifying Him? 
 Do you value your religion, you who mixing with 
 the nations and learning their ways, have also learned 
 to feel ashamed of your persuasion you who, as 
 you rise in the world's importance, are more and 
 more abandoning your faith you who begin by con- 
 cealing, and end by denying that ye are of God's 
 elect you who revel at forbidden tables, and eat 
 forbidden food, till all men wonder by what link you 
 remain connected with your parent faith ? Are you 
 sanctifying your God when, studying not the honour
 
 THE SANCTIFICATION OF GOD. 19 
 
 of your people and their rites, ye mock at holy 
 things, and indulge in ridicule and scornful jest, 
 while wantonly ye trespass? Are you sanctifying 
 your God, when observant Gentiles, who witness 
 your degeneracy, deduce therefrom the opinion so 
 nattering to our constancy, that enlightened Jews 
 are discarding what they call the superstitions of the 
 Mosaic law ? Are you sanctifying your God, I ask, 
 or, rather, do you not profane His name, when your 
 infidelity challenges such depreciation of your faith, 
 and hurls reproach at that, to honour which your 
 fathers gave their lives? 
 
 Do you value your religion, you who leave your , 
 tribes to go forth among stranger races, to seek a > 
 partner of your cares and joys you who contract 
 unholy alliances in the sight of Heaven, regardless of 
 the baneful consequences to you and to your progeny ? 
 Are you sanctifying your God, when your household 
 is barren of the domestic holiness which should 
 pervade the Israelite's habitation when no religious 
 restraint is therein felt, and neither sabbath joy nor 
 festal gladdening doth ever penetrate its walls ? Do 
 you value your religion, you who shamefully neglect 
 your children's moral education who aiming only 
 at secular improvement, drive your loved ones to 
 pollution for a vain and empty boast? Are you 
 sanctifying your God, when you thus prepare their 
 minds for the pernicious seed which mistaken zeal is 
 watchful and ready to implant therein? Will you 
 sanctify your God by your children's infidelity, scep- 
 ticism leading, it may be, to apostasy? 
 
 No, indeed, my brethren. All of you, to whom 
 
 c 2
 
 20 THE SANCTIFICATION OF GOD. 
 
 these charges are applicable (and conscience will be 
 busy at your souls), manifestly set no value on your 
 religion. Its doctrines find no echo in your hearts, 
 its ceremonies diffuse no holy joy in your souls, and, 
 therefore, ye are profaners of God's name, degenerate 
 Jews, faithless ministers. But will ye thus remain, 
 my brethren ? Shall you not be anxious to deprecate 
 such guilt, to cast oif such reproach ? Then awake 
 from your error, and learn to sanctify God as He 
 desires to be sanctified. Awake to learn the value of 
 your religion, to prize it in the future, to cherish its 
 precepts, to love its observances. Make your houses 
 domestic temples dedicated to God, your children 
 domestic ministers consecrated to His service. And 
 to do this well, you must remove your sons and 
 daughters from temptation; and bearing in mind 
 that Tl nKT Pl3n JTEW " The beginning of wisdom 
 is the fear of the Eternal," you must teach them re- 
 ' ligion before classics the law of God before the lore 
 of infidel Rome and Greece. 
 
 II. 
 
 But, brethren, besides valuing your religion, as 
 another means of sanctifying God, you must also 
 reverence it. You must have for it the profound 
 veneration which springs from the conviction, that it 
 is the link which connects you with your God. 
 
 If you refer to the portion just read, you will find 
 that the text which contains the injunction to sanctify 
 God is followed by the enumeration of our ceremonial 
 solemnities, a connection which emphatically teaches, 
 that to hallow the name of the Eternal, it is neces-
 
 THE SANCTIFICATION OF GOD. 21 
 
 sary that you should reverence your religion through 
 its solemn rites. Every ceremonial act must claim 
 your regard every ritual observance must carry 
 your hearts with it. 
 
 You must reverence your religion, and, therefore, 
 your sabbath should summon you to communion with 
 your Maker, away from the cares of secular pursuits. 
 Banished must be the thoughts of labour, the re- 
 membrance of your worldly calling. God and your 
 religion claim the sabbath hours ; and if you reverence 
 them, you must recognise the claim. No shift, nor 
 evasion, nor hypocritical quibble, must connect you 
 the most remotely with work. The sabbath speaks 
 with the voice of God; and if you aim at sanctifying 
 Him, you must value it, you must revere it, and you 
 must observe it, because it was God who gave it His 
 blessing and sanctification. 
 
 2ndly. If you reverence God, your holy days must 
 be revered consonantly. The Passover, with its 
 statute of unleaven and its memorials of freedom; 
 the Pentecost, with its offerings of gratitude and its 
 records of revelation ; the Tabernacles, with its cere- 
 monial booths and its symbol of divine protection; 
 the New Year, with its cornet's blast and summon to 
 repentance ; the great Atonement Day, with its fast 
 and its tears, and its functions of forgiveness; all, 
 all must be hailed with solemn acclamation all be 
 invested with glory and sublimity, to manifest your 
 reverence for the religion which gives them birth. 
 Ye must sanctify them all, that through them you 
 may sanctify your God and His law, and become
 
 22 THE SANCTIFICATION OF GOD. 
 
 holy, as befits the children, the servants, and the 
 agents of divine love. 
 
 Finally, if you would reverence your religion, you 
 must reverence the temple, which is the sphere of its 
 public operations, 'n *JK l&OTl 'BHp&l " You shall 
 reverence my sanctuary," saith God to Israel ; there- 
 fore, my brethren, must you tread its courts with 
 awe, and stand before Him with humility and devo- 
 tion. You must banish the smile of levity, which 
 too often rises to your lips you must repress the 
 glow of pride, which mounts into your heart you 
 must shun the irreverent whisper and the sinful con- 
 verse. Brethren, God sees you all ; and in this place 
 He makes His Spirit remind you in the words above, 
 *7&iy nntf *fi OSS jn "Know before whom thou 
 standest?" Do you, then, sanctify Him, if instead 
 of showing reverence you exhibit levity if instead 
 of bowing with humility, you smile and talk, to 
 mar solemnity, and to extinguish the spark of de- 
 votion which this place must kindle in the souls 
 of better men? No, brethren, this is in reality 
 a D&5T1 Sl^H, a profanation of God's name, a reproach 
 upon you as men, and a disgrace as Israelites. I 
 conjure you, then, if you desire to reverence your faith 
 and your Creator, to show it here. Let awe be in 
 your demeanour let devotion be in your utterance 
 let humility be in your posture. Then, and not 
 till then, will your conduct in the sanctuary be 
 consistent with the great objects of your worship 
 the praise, the reverence, and the sanctification of 
 God.
 
 THE SANCTIFICATION OF GOD. 23 
 
 III. 
 
 We have now, for our third head, to consider, that 
 in order to sanctify God we must observe our religion. 
 Of what use, my friends, would be our simple appre- 
 ciation, or our unaided reverence of our faith, without 
 an observance of its precepts. Our religion is not 
 intended to be set up before us like the shew-bread, 
 to inculcate holiness, without a necessity for acquiring 
 that holiness. No, brethren, the hallowing power of 
 religion is in its observance its observance with 
 entire heart, and soul, and might ; therefore, we can- 
 not truly sanctify God unless we are good, strict, and 
 observant Israelites. Here, brethren, ye must ask 
 yourselves, if the law is your light, the commandment 
 your lamp. Do you square your actions with the 
 ordinances of your religion ? Alas ! no. You can- 
 not deceive yourselves you cannot hide from crimi- 
 nating conscience. That rigorous judge, that unerring 
 recorder, will whisper to you that you have not sanc- 
 tified God, because you have disobeyed Him when 
 your interest was at variance with your duty. You 
 have not sanctified God, because, though you knew 
 the right path, and your nature prompted you to 
 walk in it, you suffered cupidity to allure you away 
 from it, and to lead you, with its golden bait, farther 
 and farther from holiness and virtue. 
 
 You have not sanctified God when, forgetting the 
 mild and gentle doctrines of your law, you have 
 hated your brother with a bitter hate have striven 
 to injure him in means, in honour, in reputation 
 have resented and revenged, when you should have 
 forgiven and forgotten. You have not sanctified
 
 24 THE SANCTIF1CATION OF GOD. 
 
 God, when having persecuted the poor and needy, to 
 wring your dues from their very heart-strings, you 
 have been deaf to the plaint for lenity and forbear- 
 ance have seen their habitations dismantled without 
 remorse and have felt no pang for the children, 
 whose cots the law, which urged your claim, had 
 taken. 
 
 You have not sanctified God, when you have 
 grudged your tithes to the sanctuary, and have in- 
 sulted Heaven by the reproaches and evasions with 
 which you have accompanied your offerings to the 
 house of God. You have not sanctified Him, when 
 you have created discord and disunion, sown ill-will 
 and malice, scattered envy and jealousy among your 
 brethren, in the sinful hope that the interests of 
 God's temple might suffer, and its resources be 
 diminished. 
 
 In fine, you have not sanctified God, when you 
 have neglected duties, have violated precepts, have 
 transgressed statutes, which are given to you as the 
 guides of your footsteps, and which are accessible to 
 you all in the pages of Holy Writ. But you may 
 sanctify your God, if you will only give to the text 
 its intrinsic importance, and recognise in your re- 
 lation to God, a reason for holiness. Then arise, my 
 brethren, ttDTlttN *rhx 'PI JTO HK IBHpl IBHpnn " Sanc- 
 tify yourselves, and sanctify, too, the house of the 
 Eternal, the God of your fathers." Be concerned for 
 the glory of your people, and be anxious to promote the 
 true DBTl fc^np by winning universal admiration for 
 your law of truth and be anxious to evade the real 
 DfcJTl TPH of being thought faithless to your God
 
 THE SANCTIFICATION OF GOD. 25 
 
 and to His covenant. Aim at qualifying yourselves 
 for your present destiny of instructing the world in 
 virtue ; and for your future destiny of ruling the 
 world with righteousness. Aim at dignifying your- 
 selves through your appreciation of your religion, 
 through your reverence for its doctrines, and through 
 your observance of its commands. Aim at making 
 that religion respected from without by respecting it 
 yourselves at leading men to God by seeking Him 
 yourselves. Then only will you obey the text, which 
 bids you promote the sanctin'cation of God; for then 
 will you be worthy of the honour which Divinity 
 conferred upon you, when He bade you V!"lfi D^Vlp 
 DrrnStf 7l ^N BTJp O " Ye shall be holy, because I 
 the Eternal, your God, am holy." Then, too, will 
 you rise to the moral dignity appointed to you from 
 the day of your selection ; and as &J>np *N1 D'J!"O roSftD 
 " a kingdom of priests and a holy nation," you will 
 be beloved of Heaven, and will call down the bless- 
 ings of peace and plenty, happiness and prosperity, 
 which Divine Grace sheds upon the godly. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 ALMIGHTY GOD, who hast sanctified Israel to Thy 
 service, whose sacred will, rehearsed to-day, doth bid 
 us be holy, even as Thou art holy : we pray Thee to 
 shed Thy hallowing spirit o'er us, that we may reach 
 the path of virtue, by Thy divine direction led by 
 Thy divine example influenced. We supplicate Thee 
 to give us knowledge and discernment, that we may 
 recognise . the duty of holiness, to which Thou dost
 
 26 THE SANCTIFICATION OE GOD. 
 
 invite us ; and that we may strive with all our energy 
 to practise it in our every thought and act. Help 
 us, Lord, that we may sanctify Thee by our adherence 
 to Thy law help us, that we may employ sabbath 
 rest, and festal joys, and domestic ceremonials, to 
 hallow Thy name help us, that we be devout and 
 serious here in Thy temple, so that we may not 
 profane Thy services with sinful levity and unholy 
 conversation. 'Tis thus. Father, we shall become fit 
 for Thy universal ministry thus that we shall be 
 worthy of Thy favour, worthy of Thy love, and 
 worthy of the distinction to sanctify Thy name 
 throughout the world. Then bless us with Thy 
 blessing of holiness, and make us what Thou en- 
 joinest us, and what we ourselves desire to become 
 a holy people, with a holy object and a holy destiny. 
 So shall earthly nations acknowledge Thee as hea- 
 venly hosts glorify Thee, and so shall all things be 
 prepared for the end Thy wisdom hath designed. 
 Amen.
 
 27 
 
 III. 
 ISAAC'S WELLS. 
 
 : cm Da TOS dp-iK^i rm pnr-nsy 
 
 e> *op") man iA naxS pnr 
 
 IT-M mn nxn nsnn t i&y ippynn 
 
 "ism D^D pnj;i : 
 nny * 
 
 " The servants of Isaac dug near the brook, and they found there 
 a well of living water. And the herdsmen of Gerar strove with 
 the herdsmen of Isaac, saying, The water is ours ; and he called the 
 name of the well ' Contention,' because they contended with him. 
 And they dug another well, and they strove for that also, and he 
 called its name ' Hindrance' ; and he removed thence and dug 
 another well, for which they strove not, and he called its name 
 'Room ; and he said, Now the Eternal has given us room, and we 
 will be fruitful in the land." Gen. xxvi. 19 22. 
 
 IN directing your attention to the text, you will 
 readily imagine that it is not to its literal bearing 
 your regard is invited. The incidents of that strife 
 which, in times far remote, the rude Philistines waged 
 against our father Isaac, are now, as matter of his- 
 tory, instructive to us, only as they are illustrative of 
 the day and the people. But in another sense, this 
 passage of holy writ can unfold to us a source of 
 much useful reflection ; it can, under a spiritual veil,
 
 28 ISAAC'S WELLS. 
 
 furnish us with a view upon which may be based 
 contemplations of the first importance to us as Israel- 
 ites. To this end we will treat our text as suggestive 
 of three considerations, and we will develop : 
 I. THE BROOK OF GERAR. 
 II. THE HERDSMEN OF GERAR. 
 III. THE WELLS OF GERAR. 
 
 Our text describes the patriarch as travelling through 
 the wilds of the land of the Philistines. Arriving at 
 the brook of Gerar, and probably finding its waters 
 turbid and disagreeable a result likely to be pro- 
 duced by its progress through the arid desert, where 
 it offered refreshment to every man and beast that 
 should traverse those wilds his servants begin to 
 re-open the wells which his father Abraham had 
 dug. Let us now view this description as a figure, 
 and its beauty and significance will soon become 
 apparent. The brook is Knowledge, that unceasing 
 stream which traverses and irrigates the path of life 
 that path which, without its fertilizing spring, 
 would be truly desolate and desert. The brook is 
 Knowledge, that refreshing stream whose waters reach 
 from the distant past, and coursing through the waste 
 of time goes forward to the distant future spiritual 
 knowledge, whose gleaming waters reflect the wonders 
 of heaven, and cover the wonders of earth. But this 
 brook is not always equally wholesome. There are 
 localities through which it pours a stream of hard and 
 turbid water, which the mental appetite rejects as 
 heavy, nauseous, and disgustful. Yes, brethren, 
 knowledge comes to us, at times, laden with doctrines 
 that are offensive to heaven and unsafe to morality.
 
 ISAAC'S WELLS. 29 
 
 Passing through deserts, where infidelity reigns and 
 where the waters of life are not found, the stream of 
 knowledge becomes corrupted in its progress, and 
 acquires a taste baneful to man. Here, then, we have 
 the brook of Gerar, whose sparkling streamlet tanta- 
 lizes our eyes, but refuses to allay the thirst which 
 preys upon us, the thirst for pure and holy know- 
 ledge. 
 
 Israel, typified by the servants of Isaac, are travel- 
 ling through this life, and in the absence of godly 
 teaching, they pass through lands suffering from the 
 thirst of the knowledge of God, to which they must 
 afford relief. They bethink themselves of the early 
 teachings of their illustrious progenitor, JY1X1 HK 
 V1K Q-.13K *&Z nSPl WX Dan, "the wells of 
 water which their father Abraham had dug," and they 
 resolve to open them and teach mankind religion. 
 Therefore even on the borders of a brook where a 
 gentle streamlet is rippling, they dig their well, and 
 bring to light D^Pl D'fi the waters of life, which the 
 world might quaff to their eternal good. And thus, 
 my brethren, through long and weary centuries, these 
 travellers have prosecuted their work to refresh their 
 fellow-men. When impure knowledge dwelt on earth, 
 and over every habitable clime the dark cloud of 
 idolatry hovered, God sent forth missionaries of truth 
 and enlightenment. Patriarchs travelled in inhos- 
 pitable lands to carry the waters of life, and though 
 they daily courted danger and death, their work was 
 holy work, and onward they went. Priests ministered 
 before God's altar, and for their libations poured out 
 the living waters, that every ceremonial of their
 
 60 ISAAC S WELLS. 
 
 master's service might teach men to be wiser, holier, 
 and better. Elders taught in the assemblies of their 
 people, that their traditions might go down to suc- 
 ceeding generations, and carry the stream of heaven- 
 revealed intelligence. Prophets lived in Israel, and 
 by their holy lives, their warnings and their lessons, 
 the people were still conducted to the fountain of life, 
 that they might drink the eternal draught of pure 
 and holy wisdom. And when all these ceased, a race 
 of pious sages followed, who laboured in the cause of 
 knowledge with a devotion unparalleled in the world's 
 experience. At the edge of the sword they taught, 
 before the archer's aim they expounded over the 
 bodies of their massacred Rabbi, the holy work of 
 instruction continued unabated. Driven from one 
 land, their wells of knowledge claimed, like Isaac in 
 Gerar, they betook them to another land, and dug 
 another well. Nothing could repress their zeal 
 nothing conquer their devotion to the cause of en- 
 lightenment. Their father Abraham had erst opened 
 the fountain of wisdom to the world; but ages of 
 intellectual darkness had succeeded, and all the wells 
 which his mission had opened DIKWI DTlS? 75 QlfiHD 
 "iSy " the Philistines had closed up and filled them 
 with earth." Yes, the earth of worldly doctrine of 
 grovelling infidelity had fallen in, and reclaimed 
 the springs which Abraham had exposed, and there- 
 fore it became the pride, as it was the vocation of his 
 progeny, to restore the good work. Thus, in the 
 land where idol worship was bowing down millions 
 of God's creatures before the senseless block when 
 superstition and ignorance lent their hateful force to
 
 ISAAC'S WELLS. 31 
 
 degrade humanity beneath the brute, the pfiX* 
 " servants of Isaac," descendants of his stock, arose 
 to proclaim the teachings of true wisdom the reve- 
 lation of God. In an advanced age, when Greece, 
 enlightened Greece, was boasting of her perfection in 
 human knowledge, and the ethics of Socrates and 
 Plato were brought to bear against the erroneous 
 doctrines of the time, that they might convert those 
 heathens into moral men, it was the same fountain of 
 Abrahamic wisdom which elevated the minds of those 
 philosophers to the perception of divine truth. To 
 the East went Plato in his travels to the land of 
 Abraham's children did the sage direct his footsteps, 
 that he might drink of the living waters at the wells 
 the patriarch had dug, and that with its stream he 
 might refresh his thirsting compatriots. And even 
 now, my brethren, when civilization is on its daily 
 march through the world to banish error and to 
 eradicate corruption, whence flow the waters of puri- 
 fication, but from the same source the fountain 
 opened by Abraham, and deepened at Sinai ? But 
 you will observe, that if that spring refreshes the 
 world by its waters, those waters flow not directly 
 through our hands. The civilization of which we 
 were the pioneers, has long been led on by others ; 
 and wherefore ? Because, says the text, TD *JTl ITTl 
 pHX* *jn Dy " the herdsmen of Gerar did strive with 
 the herdsmen of Isaac." Let us then proceed, 
 secondly, to enquire into the signification of the 
 herdsmen of Gerar, in the development of our 
 type.
 
 32 ISAAC'S WELLS. 
 
 II. 
 
 Those rude oppressors, ray brethren, prevented 
 Isaac's settlement in their valley, by disputing the 
 possession of the wells which he had opened, and in 
 our moral view they represent the adversaries of 
 Israel, who have risen in every age to close our 
 schools and extirpate our teachers, that they might 
 claim unjustly our possession. Proceeding to detail, 
 we will pass over the earlier days of our history, 
 which are recorded in holy writ, and pause at the 
 return from Babylon. Then, as you well know, the 
 wells of Abrahamic teaching, which had been closed 
 during the captivity, were re-opened through the 
 zealous labours of Ezra, and his coadjutor Nehemiah, 
 and their waters again made to flow. Thus it con- 
 tinued, the people quaffing themselves, and offering 
 to others the soul-restoring draught, until gradually, 
 under their Macedonian rulers, it began to be cor- 
 rupted by the stream of infidel philosophy from their 
 neighbours. Then commenced the persecutions of 
 their race and faith. Under the famed Antiochus, 
 their colleges were suppressed, their worship forbid- 
 den; and though reactions frequently took place, 
 produced by the victorious arms of their patriots, or 
 by the protecting policy of some new monarch, those 
 gleams of prosperous sunshine were sure to pass over, 
 and be succeeded by new clouds of persecution. At 
 length, our oppressors claiming for their own our 
 land, in which our wells of learning had been sunk, 
 we were forced to yield before their unjust cruelty, 
 and to go forth and seek elsewhere another resting 
 place. In our own eastern home, where the great
 
 ISAAC'S WELLS. 33 
 
 rabbinic schools were flourishing, the depositories 
 of our traditions, and where we had again begun 
 to cultivate the neglected study of the law, as soon 
 as its elevating influence began to be felt, by the 
 preservation of our people from the dense mass of 
 heathenism that prevailed around, the oppressions of 
 Adrian began oppressions which aimed at the ex- 
 tinction of our faith and the dispersion of our schools. 
 He closed our wells, " and filled them up with dust." 
 See now our race in Arabia, where the mass of them 
 were prospering and cultivating the knowledge to 
 which days of peace and happiness invited them; 
 where even a small kingdom of them maintained a 
 shew of independence under what is known as the 
 Homerite dynasty. Up rose the enthusiast Mohamed, 
 with his war of extermination, and the pure water of 
 the springs of wisdom became corrupted by the blood 
 shed in defence of them. Turn we to smiling Italy. 
 There for a time the fostering kindness of the Ostro- 
 gothic kings inspired us with hope, and led us to dig 
 wells of living waters; but soon arose the stern 
 decrees of a Justinian, another herdsman of Gerar, 
 to banish us from our adopted home, and send us 
 forward in the world. To sunny Spain we directed 
 our footsteps, and under the Visigoth kings, while 
 the Arian faith obtained, our fathers there dispensed 
 the waters of life. They originated that famous 
 school of learning which, in after years, shed a bright 
 light on that land, and made it so renowned among 
 our people; but soon, alas! the demon of persecu- 
 tion followed us, and incited by the persuasions of 
 Heraclius, that dread alternative of apostasy or death 
 
 D
 
 34 ISAAC'S WELLS. 
 
 began to be enforced, which sent the faithful sons of 
 Abraham to seek another place of sojourn. Turn we 
 to France. There, while the country was divided 
 among the descendants of Clovis, Israel at least 
 enjoyed that immunity from persecution which en- 
 couraged them to establish the springs of holy know- 
 ledge; but what the weakness of the Merovingian 
 princes in that intolerant age neglected, the bigotry 
 of their religious heads effected, until, under Dagobert, 
 the sentence was pronounced which drove them also 
 from that clime. But, brethren, it is unnecessary to di- 
 late further upon this sad theme. Suffice it to say, that 
 for nearly twenty centuries we have found no rest, 
 but have been driven by one monarch from his 
 realms spurned by another massacred by a third 
 anon recalled, and seduced into a moment of calm and 
 repose, to be again expelled with greater cruelty and 
 barbarity. These, then, are the herdsmen of Gerar, 
 whose violence and injustice have everywhere robbed 
 us of our peace, appropriated our possessions, and 
 driven us with curses from our claims. All that we 
 could do the few against the mass the weak against 
 the powerful, was to emulate the example of Isaac, 
 and yielding peaceably our rights assailed, betake us 
 to another field and dig another well. We did so; 
 and with the tear of sorrow in our eye, but a ray of 
 faith in our heart, we have since wandered to and 
 fro, finding, like Noah's dove, no rest for the sole of 
 our feet. But, brethren, we have seen in the text, 
 that when Isaac relinquished his wells, he perpetuated 
 the history of his wrongs, by the names he bestowed 
 on the despoiled possessions. With the same object,
 
 ISAAC'S WELLS. 35 
 
 let us, in the third place, review oar ad verses, and we 
 shall discover the applicability of those very names to 
 our circumstances. 
 
 III. 
 
 The first well which our fathers dug is, as we have 
 before observed, the well of sacred knowledge of 
 revealed religion, which had been originally opened 
 by Abraham on his divine mission from his home in 
 Mesopotamia to the perils and inhospitalities of the 
 land of Canaan. Fearlessly and devotedly the pa- 
 triarch went forth to convert the world of idolaters, 
 and wherever he could find a spot whereon to pitch 
 his tent, Tl D5>3 N^TI PDIfi D2? pl "there he built 
 an altar and proclaimed the name of the Eternal." 
 
 To his labours, succeeded the Egyptian bondage, 
 during which the well of living waters was filled up 
 by the accumulating dust of centuries of persecution. 
 At last, that period of gloom came to an end, and 
 from Horeb there gushed forth the never-failing 
 spring, which has since watered the whole universe. 
 Compare, now, my brethren, the religious state of the 
 world at this day, with its abject condition in the time 
 of Abraham. Then, the patriarch stood alone in the 
 world of unbelievers : now, the vast majority of earth's 
 inhabitants, look up in worship to the God of heaven. 
 And how, my brethren, has this great end been 
 produced? By the agency, by the active agency of 
 Israel by the spring of living waters, which we 
 have dispensed to all mankind. Long were we the 
 only teachers of religion, because it was our peculiar 
 mission to bring all nations unto God; and it is our 
 
 D 2
 
 36 ISAAC'S WELLS. 
 
 glory that we were faithful to our vocation. But at 
 length, a new religion arose, based upon our ancient 
 faith, but connected with dogmata that were opposed 
 to the spirit of that fountain of truth. Here, 
 too, were the herdsmen of Gerar; they claimed our 
 well, and interpreted scripture to accord with their 
 views. D^H 137 " The waters are ours," was their 
 cry. They contended with us for our birthright; 
 they averred that we had lost our vocation, that 
 because our forefathers had sinned, we were to be 
 hurled from our high appointment as promulgators 
 of divine truth, while they pretended to hold divine 
 authority to supersede us ; and though their doctrine 
 was strange to Israel and Israel's laws, they demanded 
 that we should resign to them our sacred commission 
 and drink of their defiled spring. We refused to 
 drink of their bitter waters, but we lacked the 
 strength to resist their violent and unjust claims. 
 Like our father in the text, we retired from the well, 
 and, like him, we called it pfcyj? "contention," 
 1y Ipfc^ynn ^"because they contended with us." Since 
 then our adversaries have possessed our well; and 
 though they have impaired the healthy sweetness of 
 its waters, they yet benevolently give drink to every 
 thirsty soul, so that gradually before them the errors 
 of idolatry are vanishing, and the world is being 
 prepared for that great, that final return to the re- 
 ligion of Sinai, which is to herald in the day of 
 Israel's restoration. 
 
 The second well dug by our race is the well of 
 secular knowledge the fountain whence the stream 
 of arts and sciences, the sweet, refreshing draught of
 
 WELLS. 37 
 
 literature, all spring forth. From us evidently sprang 
 not only the science of theology, but also the arts of 
 poesy and music, of oratory and historiography. 
 Aided by the peculiar beauty of our language, and 
 the extraordinary incidents of our history, it is not 
 to be wondered that our poets occupy the high posi- 
 tion which archajologists assign to them. Suffice it to 
 say, that the effusions of our muse are admitted " to 
 surpass infinitely in grandeur, sublimity, beauty, and 
 pathos, all the most celebrated productions which 
 Greece and Rome gave to later times." * Next to 
 poetry is music; and it is not too much to assume 
 for Israel, that it attained to considerable eminence 
 among them, since every page of our annals records 
 the cultivation of this art divine, as well in the 
 temple as in the tent, in worship as in festivity. 
 Proceeding to science, we find, at very early dates, 
 the existence of arithmetic and mathematics, astro- 
 nomy in a very advanced state, architecture well and 
 artistically understood; and coming down through 
 the monarchy to the time of Solomon, we are joined 
 by universal testimony in the belief, that in the days 
 of this, the wisest of men, the springs of knowledge 
 were plenteously dispensed to the world. At length 
 our national troubles supervened; and during the 
 captivity in which we long abode, it is evident that 
 we mixed with our conquerors, and thus extended 
 and diffused those sciences which had been preserved 
 among us. But gradually those wars and dispersions 
 succeeded, which were fatal to the arts of peace ; and 
 here, too, the wells of knowledge, which our ancestors 
 * Home on the Scriptures.
 
 38 ISAAC'S WELLS. 
 
 had opened, *\*>y DIK^TI DTlE>Ss DWlD " the Philis- 
 tines closed up and filled with dirt." When, however, 
 later times overtook us, and arts and sciences were 
 progressing around us, wherever we could find a 
 home, we directed our energies to the development 
 of the mind. Under the Moors in Spain, we attained 
 to considerable eminence in arts, and filled the world 
 with the renown of our schools of medicine and 
 philosophy, astronomy and physics. Under the Ca- 
 tholic rulers, who succeeded that dynasty, we rose 
 still higher in scholastic and scientific excellence; 
 and Toledo enjoyed a world-wide celebrity for the 
 Jewish theologians, astronomers, mathematicians, and 
 physicians which it produced. In Portugal, learning 
 also flourished among us, and there we introduced 
 the printing press and sent forth works in every de- 
 partment of learning. Driven thence, we found a 
 refuge in Italy, where we soon gave evidence of our 
 love of literature by our successes in history, medi- 
 cine, and jurisprudence. In Holland, too, we culti- 
 vated learning, and brought forth illustrious men, 
 who adorned our academies, and have left behind 
 them great reputations for erudition ; while in Poland, 
 under the protecting arm of Duke Boleslas, we ad- 
 vanced as rapidly in arts as in commerce, and founded 
 colleges, celebrated for rabbinic lore, which possessed 
 the confidence and admiration of the entire nation. 
 But although it might be thought, that potentates 
 would rejoice in the allegiance of subjects whose 
 genius had elevated the character of their respective 
 countries, such was not the case. Our scholastic 
 successes soon sowed the seed of jealousy, and every
 
 ISAAC'S WELLS. 39 
 
 ruler, in his turn, demanded either the apostasy or 
 the banishment of the Jew, while the state profited 
 by the fruit of our exertions by the reputation 
 which we had gained for the country. But at last, 
 when those modern herdsmen of Gerar discovered, 
 that driven from one home we went to find another, 
 only to ennoble it by our literary and scientific 
 genius, they brought their persecution to a climax, 
 by the shameful restrictions which they imposed 
 upon Jewish talent. Envious of genius, which they 
 possessed not, and which they could not bend to their 
 tyrant wills, they made the walk of science and the 
 field of literature forbidden ground for the Jew, and 
 condemned him to the narrow path of traffic. Again, 
 what could we do, but imitate the act of Isaac? We 
 abandoned our well ; but ere we yielded it we called it 
 !"Ut3&J>, " hindrance/' for hindrance, base and odious, is 
 the fettering of men's minds and the cramping of the 
 intellectual energies. 
 
 But, brethren, praised be Heaven, whose provi- 
 dence has extended a milder spirit throughout earth, 
 now that we have begun to dig our third well, there 
 is none to dispute possession, and we are in the en- 
 joyment of the waters which flow from JTQrn, "room ;" 
 pNl iriSI tth 7! TlTin nnp ^ " For now the Eternal 
 has enlarged us, and we can be fruitful in the land." 
 In almost every country the fetters have been re- 
 moved; and in this favoured land we can attain 
 aye, and are attaining to intellectual distinction, so 
 that we may again give waters to the world. In 
 every department of science and art we are making 
 rapid strides, and we can again furnish society
 
 40 ISAAC'S WELLS. 
 
 with proficients in those professions on which our 
 fathers shed lustre in former times. And wherefore ? 
 Because, instead of restricting genius, the wish now 
 obtains to develop it because every lover of science 
 and art is welcomed among the learned, without 
 regard to creed or doctrine because the cause of 
 intellectual development is here aided in common, by 
 all classes and persuasions. Of this truth, your com- 
 munity offers an interesting illustration, in the erec- 
 tion of one of your institutions. Your humble well 
 of learning, your National School, was brought into 
 being, cheered on and aided by the cordial co-opera- 
 tion of those w r ho in olden times were your adver- 
 saries. Here you had no pB?y, or iniquitous conten- 
 tion no rtJD^, or malevolent hindrance; and, as a 
 consequence, your institution sprang into a glorious 
 and vigorous existence. But what there were no 
 Philistines to do, you have done yourselves. The 
 well, which on its opening poured forth plenteously 
 D"n D^D " the waters of life," you have stopped, and 
 are still stopping, with your pride and prejudice. 
 You are impeding its healthy action, and are filling it 
 with dirt, the dust of neglect and indifference. Yes, 
 brethren, your institution totters, because, suicidally, 
 you are hurling it down because you give not to it 
 the support of your influence because you have no 
 shame at presenting the strange anomaly, of having 
 asked Gentile aid to build your well, and then of 
 sending your children to drink at Gentile cisterns, 
 D'&PI TO* S *1E>K DnnS?:j Mm! " broken cisterns, 
 that will not contain water." Say, what regard can 
 you have for Israel's glory, when you help to sully it
 
 ISAAC'S WELLS. 41 
 
 yourselves ? What care have you for the honour of 
 your people, when you degrade it in the sight of the 
 nations ? Arouse you, then, betimes, my brethren ; 
 the opportunity now offers; I pray you seize it with 
 avidity. Direct all your efforts to make your well 
 yield pure, sweet, and wholesome waters, and then, 
 bring your young ones to drink thereof. In other 
 words, banish all individual considerations, and im- 
 prove your institution, elevate its scope extend its 
 sphere till it reach efficiency. Correct all arrange- 
 ments that now clog it, remove every obstacle that 
 mars its progress, and then, send your young ones to 
 it for culture. Thus will you bring into effect the 
 great design which filled the minds of its founders, 
 and your children will be ready to go forth in the 
 army of Jewish talent, to contribute their quota to 
 the intellectual advancement of the world. Thus, 
 too, will you discharge your share of duty to the 
 age, in manifesting the blessings that spring from 
 tolerance; and when your institution occupies the 
 high position of being a well of living waters to 
 your people, you all will gratefully bless your guar- 
 dian God, pNlUnSlttVn^nVinny^ "because He 
 has given us room, and we have increased in the 
 land." 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 ALMIGHTY FATHER ! Thou who art D"PI D'/b Tlpfc " the 
 Fountain of the waters of life," we beseech Thee to 
 prosper our path on earth, even as Thou didst 
 prosper that of our father Abraham. Him, Lord, 
 Thou didst send to the heathen who knew Thee not, 
 to carry the waters of salvation, that they might
 
 42 ISAAC'S WELLS. 
 
 drink and live for ever; and us, too, his progeny, 
 didst Thou at Sinai dignify with the same exalted 
 mission, the mission which is to bring all men to 
 Thee. Father! for three thousand years Thy ser- 
 vants have ministered before Thee; and although 
 our wells of wisdom have been often claimed by our 
 opposing Philistines though " contention " pretended 
 to deprive us of our legation, and " hindrance" inter- 
 posed to check our progress yet, Lord, we have 
 uniformly striven to emulate our father's faithfulness, 
 building everywhere an altar, and proclaiming Thy 
 blessed and holy name. And here, Lord, where Thou 
 hast given room to Thy servants, they have dug a 
 well of living waters, a spring whence these chil- 
 dren of Thy people may quaff the draught of life. 
 But that well, Lord, is failing fast, its sources are 
 near drying up, from the sinful apathy and neglect 
 of those who should most preserve its stream. There- 
 fore, God, we invoke Thy blessing on the work. 
 We pray Thee to inspire the hearts of all with that 
 zeal for their vocation, which will impel them to use 
 their most earnest efforts for the restoration of its 
 glory. We pray Thee to instil into their minds the 
 firm conviction, that they cannot honour Thee more 
 than when they sustain an institution, whose object 
 is the instruction of Thy law, the promulgation of 
 Thy name, and the diffusion of that universal know- 
 ledge of which Thou art the Source. Thus, God, 
 will Thy blessing be upon us; and for the honour 
 and distinction to which we shall attain, we will ever 
 chaunt the praises of that beneficent hand, " that 
 hath now given us room, and made us fruitful in the 
 land." Amen.
 
 43 
 
 IV. 
 
 JACOB'S VISION. 
 
 'i : mn -n yns? naaa spy* 
 ri DipDn <:HNJ& npi Ewn 
 IBWI nriK :rc& D^D PUPII ejfjm : NIPIPI 
 
 " Jacob departed from Beersheba, and went towards Haran. 
 And he lighted upon the place, and lodged there, because the sun 
 was setting ; and he took of the stones of the place, and put for his 
 pillow, and he lay down in that place. And he dreamt, and behold 
 a ladder placed on the earth, and its top reaching to heaven : and 
 behold angels of God were ascending and descending by it." 
 Gen. xxviii. 10, 11, 12. 
 
 A WANDERER from home and kindred is placed before 
 us in the text. Jacob, our father, has obtained the 
 patriarchal blessing destined by Isaac for his brother, 
 and that brother's anger is kindled against him. The 
 hostility of Esau's heart, which has remained dormant 
 until now, is roused by this last wrong; and his 
 slumbering passions lashed into fury, he vows de- 
 liberately and emphatically, that as soon as his father's 
 mourning shall terminate, he will wreak a fearful 
 vengeance on his brother a vengeance to be sated 
 only in his death. This resolve is communicated to 
 Rebecca ; and her maternal breast, full of dismal ap-
 
 44 JACOB'S VISION. 
 
 prehensions, dreads that in a moment some ebullition 
 of Esau's fierce resentment might deprive her of her 
 darling son, and she, therefore, bids him flee to Haran, 
 " until his brother's anger be turned away." 
 
 Accordingly, forth goes the wanderer, away from 
 home, and away from the sweet associations of his 
 childhood. Separated from all he has ever loved, he 
 must henceforth look to the blank waste before him 
 to find new friends, to create new affections, to 
 form new associations in the land of strangers. He 
 leaves his father, rapidly verging towards the grave, 
 expecting momentarily the summons of death, and 
 he dares not hope to be beside his pillow, and to 
 receive the last, the death-bed benediction. He leaves 
 his mother, full of grief and anguish at this cruel but 
 unavoidable separation, at a time when her fondest 
 hopes for him have just been realised, and yet he 
 knows not whether they shall ever meet again on 
 earth. It is thus, friendless and disconsolate, his soul 
 oppressed with grief, unaccompanied by worldly goods 
 or treasure, "with his staff only in his hand," he 
 goes forth on his lonely way, supported solely by his 
 faith in that God, whose blessing and protection have 
 been invoked upon him by the prophetic voice of 
 Isaac. He takes his cheerless journey through the 
 wilderness, unrepiuing, uncomplaining, regret in his 
 heart but confidence in his soul, until the shadows of 
 evening lengthen around him, and the setting sun 
 finds him in that solitude far from the dwelling of 
 man. But he has lighted upon a spot hallowed once 
 by the virtue of his progenitor a spot to be recon- 
 secrated on that night by his fervent vow, to be hal-
 
 JACOB'S VISION. 45 
 
 lowed yet again by his descendants in the distant 
 future. Brethren, Jacob is at Moriah, where the turf 
 is his bed, the spangled heaven his canopy, while the 
 surrounding stones furnish a pillow for his head. 
 Thus he slumbers ; and while his wearied frame 
 reposes in sleep, there breaks upon him a vision of 
 heavenly import, with all the indications of a su- 
 pernal, awe-inspiring visitation. This vision, my 
 friends meant at once to warn and to support him, 
 to admonish him of the errors which had superinduced 
 his present condition, and to speak sweet comfort to 
 his sorrowing heart, by lifting it up to the great 
 Source of Goodness was directed to him in his 
 threefold capacity 
 
 I. THE TRANSGRESSOR. 
 II. THE FUGITIVE. 
 III. THE HEIR TO ABRAHAM'S BLESSINGS. 
 
 I. 
 
 My brethren ! To palliate the early errors of Jacob, 
 if not entirely to exonerate him, has been the almost 
 uniform labour of our commentators; but in order 
 to render the patriarch thus iuculpable, the plain and 
 obvious meaning of Scripture must be tortured and 
 perverted in no small degree. Let us, then, rather 
 deal with the patriarch's character as it is drawn by 
 Holy Writ, with all its lights and shadows, with all 
 its beauties and defects, and we shall find that Jacob's 
 position in the text was undoubtedly a visitation of 
 Providence for those very misdeeds which disfigure 
 his early life, yy* liy mi " That the elder should
 
 46 JACOB'S VISION. 
 
 serve the younger," was the announcement made by 
 Omniscience to Rebecca, before those brothers had 
 seen the light; and, doubtlessly, in His own good 
 time, and with His own high agency, the Eternal 
 would have effectuated the design which was to make 
 Jacob the inheritor of the blessings and the destiny 
 predicted through Abraham. But, brethren, it is 
 evident that both Jacob and his mother, as if dis- 
 trusting the efficacy of God's unaided agency, were 
 bent on anticipating the execution of His will by the 
 frail means of their own human powers. Hence it 
 is, that when his weary brother lay before him, so 
 enervated by fatigue and hunger that he deemed 
 death impending, we see Jacob sordidly making 
 terms for that morsel which was to give him renewed 
 life and vigour, and demanding as those terms the 
 transfer of his prirnogenital rights and honours. 
 Hence, too, it is, that we see him conspiring with his 
 mother to impose upon his aged father, adopting every 
 measure to make the imposture more successful, ex- 
 pressing not the slightest hesitation, because of his 
 abhorrence of that duplicity, but looking only at the 
 chances of detection and its consequences. No, bre- 
 thren, let us not believe that Jacob acted nobly in 
 these incidents of his early life. Let us cling to the 
 belief that his motives were laudable - that he really 
 feared to see the patriarchal power descend into his 
 brother's unhallowed hands that he longed, piously 
 longed, for his father's dying blessing; but let us 
 also believe, that influenced by those motives, Jacob 
 sinned against his father and sinned against his God. 
 And let us recognise in the fiat which sent him forth,
 
 JACOB'S VISION. 47 
 
 and in the privations of a solitary journey through 
 the desert, the retributive judgment of that God 
 " who acquits not the guilty." Therefore came this 
 vision to his slumbering senses : a ladder, symbolising 
 the divine judicature, n"!X 2 " its base resting 
 upon earth," where error and impurity abound, 
 HfcWn JHD 12JW) " and its top reaching to the 
 heaven," where Omniscience abides. Above it, pre- 
 sides the Eternal God of mercy and judgment; and 
 while the angels go upward, to carry the record of 
 every act committed here below, downward, also, 
 come the messengers from heaven, bearing recom- 
 pense to the virtuous, punishment to the guilty, and 
 grace to the penitent. This instructive vision, which 
 wrapt the senses of the slumbering Jacob, was sent 
 to remind him that the justice of Heaven sleeps not, 
 that the rights of primogeniture, which he had 
 coveted and purchased at the expence of his brother's 
 sufferings, were now profitless to him, a fugitive from 
 his home, that the distinctive blessings, which he 
 had nefariously obtained, was the origin of the dis- 
 tress and privation to which he was now subjected; 
 but that his errors thus punished and atoned for, he 
 was henceforth entitled to the tender mercy, the fos- 
 tering care, and unfailing goodness of his father's 
 God. Henceforward, too, he may travel on his lonely 
 way, assured that the early promise would yet be 
 performed through his progeny, who should become, 
 under divine direction, the glorious possessors of 
 the land whereon he lay the numberless inhabitants 
 of that waste, so blank, so cheerless, and so desert 
 now.
 
 48 JACOB'S VISION. 
 
 II. 
 
 The second object of the vision was to comfort 
 Jacob in his condition of a fugitive. 
 
 Whether the fortunes of nations or of individuals 
 engage our view, we shall equally perceive ample 
 evidence of an agency by which those fortunes are 
 influenced. God has created a system of matter, and 
 that system raust be directed. There are vast planets 
 revolving around us, each one a sphere peopled .with 
 God's creatures, all dependant for life and support 
 upon His unfailing hand. Would He leave them to 
 their own resources, and have no care for their pre- 
 servation, no heed for their subsistence, no interest 
 in their welfare? Or, rather, must He not, as the 
 Creator of humanity, give us food to eat and raiment 
 to clothe us, visit with favour our obedience, 
 punish with judgment our rebellion? Most assuredly, 
 my brethren, reason pronounces her verdict, and thus 
 proclaims the truth of a Providence. But apart from 
 this, let us take experience for our guide, and pass 
 through the annals of our world, and therein we will 
 trace this truth, stamped upon its every page. We 
 will read of powerful nations arising from obscurity, 
 reaching a meridian fame, and then, when the design 
 of Providence has been accomplished through them, 
 they have vanished, with the fate of all human asso- 
 ciations, decay and ruin. Where now are mystic 
 Egypt, mighty Babylon, classic Greece, princely 
 Tyre, heroic Carthage, colossal and imperial Rome? 
 Overthrown by the power that erected them, they 
 live now only on the page of history, or are cele- 
 brated in the poet's lay. And if we turn to the lives
 
 JACOB'S VISION. 49 
 
 
 
 of individuals, we as intelligibly recognise the direct- 
 ing providence of God. Which of you, my brethren, 
 is here who cannot look back to his past life, and 
 therein trace some one occurrence which he has been 
 forced to deem providential? Where is he who can 
 fail to recall some incident which has spoken to his 
 heart, with full distinctness, the declaration J^VK 
 Nin DTI7N "this is the finger of Omnipotence"? 
 You have, ere now, my brethren, seen your devices 
 hastening towards success ; every difficulty overcome, 
 you at last approach the goal of your expectation, 
 when lo! some unforeseen event interposes, and at 
 once your plan is marred. Or you may have been 
 overwhelmed with sorrow and distress; your heart 
 faint with doubt, you may have lost all hope of 
 succour, and calmly have been awaiting the hard fate 
 which ye have deemed inevitable, when, behold! a 
 light has broken in upon you, a hand has been out- 
 stretched to uphold you, and your sorrow has been 
 turned to joy, your grief to happiness. Such, my 
 brethren, are the incidents which prove incontestably 
 the cheering truth of all religion, that there is a 
 Providence. And it is this truth, my brethren, that 
 Jacob's vision is also intended to inculcate. The 
 Eternal, we have seen, has punished him he is 
 bearing the visitation with a proper spirit ; and true 
 to His compact with Abraham, God seeks to assure 
 the alien of His high protection, and thus dispel the 
 gloom in which his fortunes are enshrouded. 
 
 The sleeper, therefore, beholds the ladder, now 
 emblematical of the divine guardianship, whose base 
 rests upon the wants, the frailties, and the cares of 
 
 E
 
 50 JACOB'S VISION. 
 
 earth; but its top reaching to heaven, whence those 
 wants are supplied, where those frailties are con- 
 sidered, and those cares relieved. Upwards go the 
 angels from earth to heaven, representing all the 
 hopes, the prayers, the aspirations which man sends 
 up the ladder; and downwards come the sustenance, 
 the comfort, the aid, or the support which he invokes, 
 from the beneficent God who stands above the ladder. 
 This vision, thus applied to Jacob's present condition, 
 is to take a comprehensive view of his destitution, 
 desolation, and distress, and to assure him, that al- 
 though now forced to flee with precipitancy from his 
 father's house, thither God's providence will reconduct 
 him yet, with honour and glory; although he lies 
 now without aught of worldly good, abundant shall 
 be the wealth, and vast the possessions which God's 
 providence will yet confer upon him. Finally, al- 
 though his lonely journey is physically surrounded 
 by perils and privations, God's providence will yet 
 protect him through them all, so that when he shall 
 tread the homeward path, he shall be a father among 
 his children, a husband near his wives, and a lord to 
 the princely retinue which will accompany him to his 
 father's house. 
 
 III. 
 
 But, my brethren, the vision was not confined to 
 the individual fortunes of Jacob. It took a wider 
 scope, and embraced not only his own welfare, but 
 also the welfare of the world. Among the glorious 
 promises of which Jacob had become the heir, the 
 most glorious was tfpi "IS hi "]pD DWim " and
 
 JACOB'S VISION. 51 
 
 all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves 
 through thy seed." Word for word, letter for letter, 
 was this promise renewed unto Isaac, and now 
 
 thy mnSfcn&rS prh npjrS imojn " God ratifies it 
 
 unto Jacob for a statute to Israel, for an eternal cove- 
 nant." Brethren! If Jacob could ever doubt the 
 effectuation of this promise, that doubt would be the 
 last thought in his mind on this eventful night. How 
 he, whose personal condition is here so forlorn, shall 
 ever become the transmitter of such a blessing to the 
 world, is a probability that can only be retained by a 
 faith the most firm and devoted. It is, therefore, 
 perhaps, that that faith is strengthened, and his 
 courage sustained by this heavenly vision; for not 
 only is the promise confirmed to him, but God con- 
 descends to shew him, symbolically, the manner in 
 which that promise is to be fulfilled. Once more we 
 see the ladder: it represents now the testimony of 
 truth, the unerring standard of right and wrong 
 the law of God. This time, its resting upon earth 
 represents the hearts, the minds, and the souls of 
 mankind. PlfcWH JPJfc 1BW) " Its top reaches unto 
 heaven," whence are to come its holy precepts, its 
 sublime doctrines, its comforting influence. V7J? 3J 'HI 
 God, its author, presides above it; and His voice 
 calls forth to us, that the angels of obedience, love, 
 fear, and devotion should from us ascend before His 
 throne, whence He, too, sends us down His angels, 
 bright bearers of His blessings, His love, and His 
 beneficence. And this law, which is thus to be the 
 means of communion between earth and heaven the 
 creature and the Creator man and God, He com- 
 
 E 2
 
 52 JACOB'S VISION. 
 
 mands Jacob and his progeny for ever, to go forth in 
 the world, and to teach, to promulge, to diffuse among 
 every nation and every tribe, so that through them 
 all mankind may be blessed with the heavenly bless- 
 ings light, peace, and truth. 
 
 Here, my brethren, terminates the vision, and 
 Jacob awakes from his slumber ; and feeling within 
 him the sacred influence of that awful interview, he 
 remains powerfully impressed with the solemnity of 
 the occasion, and with the hallowed character of the 
 place, which has been the scene of such a mani- 
 festation. He arises, devotes a portion of his slender 
 stock to the consecration of the place, and acknow- 
 ledges the consoling mercies of the night by a pious 
 act of reverent worship. He registers a solemn vow ; 
 and with his heart lightened of its care, his bosom 
 fraught with sweet emotions, he resumes his journey, 
 no longer dark and perilous to him ; for now he feels 
 that over and around him hover heaven's ministering 
 angels, to lead him on his way, and to shield him 
 from harm. 
 
 And now let us briefly apply to our own instruc- 
 tion and improvement, the lessons which our text has 
 elicited, and we shall find, that they speak to us with 
 a holy voice a voice which utters not the accents of 
 denunciation, but those of comfort, peace, and joy. 
 Brethren ! God communicates with earth : there is a 
 ladder reaching up to heaven; and, therefore, let us 
 strive ever that the records of our acts, which God's 
 ministers take upwards, shall speak of works of piety, of 
 charity, and love. Let good deeds ascend before us, to 
 await our translation thither, so that in this life and
 
 JACOB'S VISION. 53 
 
 hereafter we may never fear to meet the angels which 
 God sends down to us, because they will bring us the 
 treasures of approving heaven in recompense for our 
 acts. 
 
 Secondly. God rules the world : His Providence is 
 a ladder from heaven, which reaches down to earth, 
 and regards the meanest worm that crawls upon its 
 surface. Thither, then, direct we our hopes and our 
 prayers. If misfortune overtake us, if sorrow oppress 
 us, care involve us, let our cry ascend to Him from 
 the depths of our souls; and if His blessings reach 
 us, and there is happiness in our heart, joy in our 
 homes, upward, too, let our effusion of gratitude 
 ascend, and the angels of His grace will be missioned 
 to us, to dispel our sorrow, or to enhance our joy 
 to remove our care, or to confirm our felicity. So 
 shall the holy communion between us and our Father 
 be improved, to His pleasure and to our merit to 
 His honour and to our eternal advantage. 
 
 Lastly. My brethren, since mankind are to be in- 
 structed by us, and to be blessed through our agency, 
 let us strive to become worthy of the embassy, and 
 to discharge efficiently its ennobling functions. Let 
 us not hold out the dead letter of the law, with the 
 view of leading men to God, but let us combine with 
 our teachings that irresistible moral lever, example. 
 While we preach the doctrines of God's law, let us 
 ourselves cling with devotion to those doctrines 
 while we overturn the images of idolatry that pollute 
 the heathen world, let us cast down our own idols 
 while we uproot the superstitions of strange worship, 
 let us free ourselves from those creations of ignorance
 
 54 JACOB'S VISION. 
 
 while we day after day exclaim iyp~>n 
 "how goodly is our portion," ttV'lUD^nfc "how 
 pleasant is our lot," ttWlT US' Plfc " how beautiful 
 our inheritance," let us, by our acts, demonstrate to 
 the world that we are happy in that portion, that we 
 are proud of that destiny, and that we cherish as the 
 apple of our eye, that inestimable heritage of the 
 congregation of Jacob, !"!?& rnifi whose holy doc- 
 trines are to diffuse life and peace among all mankind, 
 and to realise the glorious prediction of the seer, 
 
 D Sy IDS' D'o r\ nm n r\yih p^n vbtir\ ^ 
 
 " The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of God's 
 glory, as the waters cover the sea" (Hab. ii. 14). 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 GREAT God of Israel ! In the dark hour of the night 
 Thou didst reveal Thy wondrous providence to our 
 slumbering ancestor, teaching us, through him, to 
 repose confidingly on Thy care, and to approach 
 Thee with all our wants and all our cries for succour. 
 And to give force to this announcement, Thou didst 
 represent to him the hallowed house, which in future 
 ages his children should erect to Thee, on the site 
 whereon he then reposed depicting, by a type sublime 
 and beautiful, that temple, which, with its base on 
 Mount Moriah, should be a ladder whose top might 
 reach to Thine own high abode, and be the medium 
 by which our praises and our prayers should ascend 
 to Thee, as messengers from our souls by which, too, 
 Thy countless blessings should descend to us, the mes- 
 sengers of Thy peace and favours. Lord, teach us to
 
 JACOB'S VISION. 55 
 
 cultivate the holy privilege of communion with Thee, 
 which this vision doth so powerfully inculcate; and 
 when we address Thee from this place, the type of Thy 
 great temple, grant that we may ever feel the sacred 
 awe which Jacob felt in the presence of his God. 
 Lord ! D'nStf JV3 DX *3 PIT j'N " This is no other than 
 the house of God," and, therefore, let us only see 
 Thy glory when we stand within its hallowed walls ; 
 DWH -tyS? Pin and as " this is the gate of heaven," 
 so let our prayers find entrance to Thy throne, and 
 be by Thee, accepted and regarded. And let us, 
 Eternal, be assured of Thy protection, so that we 
 may go on fearlessly to our journey's end, seeing ever 
 around us the angels of Thy goodness and Thy 
 blessing, " until we return in peace unto our father's 
 house,'' and live for ever near Thy throne. Amen.
 
 56 
 
 V. 
 AMALEK. 
 
 A SERMON FOR "tt3T 
 
 -pin 
 spy nnw -priK boston ^ *p aan -pm Tip 
 
 " Remember what Amalek did to thee on the way, when ye were 
 going forth from Egypt. How he met thee by the way, and smote 
 thy rear, all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and 
 weary ; and he feared not God." Deut. xxv. 1 7, 18. 
 
 THESE words, my brethren, bear reference to an early 
 episode in our history to an important incident 
 which occurred at the very beginning of our national 
 career. Israel had departed from Egypt, and under 
 the guidance of the Eternal, were being conducted 
 by a circuitous passage to the promised land, in order 
 that they might not be disheartened by the aspect of 
 war and tumult, which a direct journey would render 
 inevitable. Yet, when they were enervated by fatigue, 
 worn out with toilsome journeying, and but little 
 expectant of hostility, the armies of the insidious 
 Amalek burst suddenly upon them, attacked them in 
 their most unguarded quarter, and smote them in the 
 rear, where the feeble and helpless were located. These
 
 AMALEK. 57 
 
 ruthless foes assailed not our hosts while they were 
 flushed with triumph over Pharaoh and his legions 
 while the war-song was resounding in that desert air. 
 No; they waited until fatigue had done its work 
 until privations had prostrated the strength and 
 energies of Israel, then wily and heartless, insidious 
 and cruel they burst forth upon the undisciplined, 
 unoffending band, resolved with one well-directed 
 blow to annihilate the race that had hurled the giant 
 Pharaoh from his throne, and shaken mighty Egypt 
 to its centre. 
 
 But, brethren, with this event, as a subject of 
 history, we purpose not to deal. We entertain it 
 to-day, only as it may be suggestive of other truths 
 connected with the season, and illustrative of our 
 text. We desire not to confine ourselves to the 
 Arnalek of fact, but would direct our view to the 
 hostility of another, a moral foe, whose warfare forms 
 a parallel in every respect with that described in our 
 text whose enmity has wrought our misery and woe 
 throughout successive ages, and is as fierce and re- 
 lentless now, as it was of old at Rephidim- 
 
 Let us, then, proceed to enquire 
 
 I. WHAT is THE MORAL AMALEK ? 
 II. WHEN ARE WE MOST OBNOXIOUS TO HIS HOSTILITY? 
 
 III. HOW MAY WE REPEL HIS ONSLAUGHT ? 
 
 I. 
 
 Brethren, What is the moral Amalek ? 
 
 Unclasp your annals, open wide the records of the 
 past, that we may arraign this hereditary foe. He is 
 one, the most constant, deadly, and unforgiving that the
 
 58 AMALEK. 
 
 world ever beheld. Beginning from Egypt, even to this 
 day, he has unchangingly waged a deadly war with 
 our people has sown death and pestilence, sin and 
 misery among us. Look up into the starry expanse, 
 and there you will be reminded of him, gaze around 
 you upon earth and recognise him aye, in the very 
 depths of the ocean ye will perceive his hateful 
 presence. Know ye now, my brethren, what this 
 Amalek is ? It is the spirit of imitation the spirit 
 which has led us to rob heaven of its orbs, earth of 
 its treasures, the deep of its monsters, to defile withal 
 a holy faith, and insult the majesty of a holy God. 
 This spirit, my brethren, ye may assert with truth, is 
 common to all flesh. The contagion of example, 
 whether for good or for bad, is everywhere an agent 
 of formidable force and power. And while the seed 
 of good, from the careful tending which it requires, 
 yields rarely its fragrant blossoms and its goodly 
 fruit, the germ of evil, once scattered on the soil, 
 flourishes, and soon attains a fatal luxuriance, when, 
 like the eastern upas, it sends forth its poison on the 
 wind, and taints the atmosphere with death. Yes, 
 brethren, the spirit of imitation is in every age, 
 among every race, and in all conditions; but, alas! 
 for us it has been our constant, our hereditary curse. 
 From the dawn of our national existence to the 
 present hour, through all the vicissitudes of our 
 fortunes, that Amalek of imitation has been among 
 us and around us, to poison our moral life. It was 
 that which assailed you D'12ftb& D3nX3 ^JTO " on 
 the way when ye came out of Egypt" which sent 
 sin among you while God was in your heart. Your
 
 AMALEK. 59 
 
 souls then were full of gratitude and love to Him, 
 your spirits were elevated by faith and veneration ; 
 and pondering over the day at Horeb, you still 
 beheld in your imagination, the supernal radiance of 
 God's descent upon the mount still murmured the 
 words of full obedience, HfeOT 'PI W IPM hl " All 
 that God has said we will do," when the moral Amalek 
 beset you first, and led you to sin against that guardian 
 God by his seducing exhortation, 7tf*iBM ^n/N PlStf 
 Dnxfc ptffc "pSyn ? "These are thy gods, 
 Israel, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt." 
 
 Thus spake the spirit of imitation through the 
 mouths of the n i^y " the mixed multitude," who 
 had followed your hosts, converted by fear and not 
 by faith thus spake it to the remnant of Egyptian 
 idolatry, which lurked yet within your bosoms ; and 
 conquered by its hateful voice, you fell, and sinned 
 and suffered. Anon, you were conducted to the land 
 of promise; and with all the elements of national 
 happiness and prosperity, ye lived securely. Your 
 religion was the sacred revelation of your God your 
 government was His benign theocracy your polity, 
 the unerring precepts of His ordination. Once more 
 came Amalek among you : seduced by imitation, ye 
 desired a king you would throw off the honourable 
 yoke of God's peculiar dominion, and ye asked for 
 men to rule you. Through their agency, again ye 
 fell ; your kings, in their turn, allured by imitation, 
 upraised grim idols like surrounding nations, dis- 
 honoured God by vice and impurity, and allied them- 
 selves with image-serving races, until the wrath divine 
 would no more be restrained, and your sovereignty
 
 60 AMALEK. 
 
 was overturned your tribes were borne into cap- 
 tivity. Thence ye were once more ransomed by the 
 faithfulness of Abraham's God. In His love for you 
 He stirred up the heart of Cyrus to restore you to 
 your homes and altars, and again ye went forth from 
 captivity to rebuild Jerusalem. For years ye laboured 
 in the holy work, until it reached completion; and 
 under the salutary guidance of the zealous Ezra and 
 the watchful Nehemiah, ye progressed in peace and 
 prosperous happiness. Those pious watchmen warned 
 you, with a loud impressive voice, against the Amalek 
 of imitation. They conjured you with all their 
 energy to avoid admixture with the nations, that ye 
 might remain beyond the fatal reach of their con- 
 tagious vices and idolatries ; but, in process of time, 
 your enemy began again to assail you. Persia sent 
 her false faith, Greece sent her philosophy; and the 
 spirit of imitation applying both, gave Israel in- 
 fidelity and epicureanism, to steep her children in 
 idolatry, and make them false again to their God and 
 ancient faith. 
 
 To expiate those crimes we are now once more 
 aliens from our home ; and we might reasonably hope, 
 that now, when our fortunes are adverse, and we have 
 lost land and altar, the implacable foe would be ap- 
 peased, and the remnant of our people would be safe 
 from his aggressions. Not so, my brethren. Let us 
 glance abroad at our people at this day let us mark 
 the religious laxity which unhappily prevails in every 
 clime, and we must admit that the Amalek of imitation 
 is still as malignant in his enmity as deadly in his 
 hostility. It is his work we behold, when we gaze
 
 AMALEK. 61 
 
 upon Israel's religion, degraded in their homes, their 
 families, and their temples. It is his work we con- 
 template, when those domestic ceremonies, so dear to 
 the hearts of our people, are condemned, neglected, 
 ridiculed as meaningless observances. It is his work 
 we contemplate, when we hear of ancient ordinances 
 overturned, to keep pace with an age of progress. 
 It is his work we contemplate, when we read of 
 Sunday Sabbaths among Jews, of circumcision abro- 
 gated, unlawful food allowed, Messianic prophecies 
 repudiated, arid a whole host of such outrageous 
 innovations, marring the beauty and sublimity of 
 our faith, and making Israel a bye-word among the 
 heathen. That this is the case among us at this day, 
 you, who know the hiatory of the reform movement 
 in Germany, Belgium, and America, can well attest. 
 Can such, my brethren, be considered a component 
 part of Israel, denying as they do, by word arid deed, 
 great master- doctrines of our faith ? Must we not 
 virtually look upon them as *T^riK D^K^PDn " the 
 weak ones in our rear," cut off by the wily Amalek, 
 sacrificed to the hateful spirit of imitation KT K7I 
 D^nStt " that has no fear for God" ? Brethren, if we 
 wish to preserve our hosts intact, to keep the foe far 
 from our ranks, that we may journey forward to the 
 eternal land of promise, and reach its borders in 
 security, we must obey the injunction of God, and 
 use every effort, improve every occasion, *OT HN Jin/SH 
 pSfcJ? "to blot out the memory of Amalek." We 
 must correct in 'ourselves every baneful tendency, 
 and heed the precept mjnS Ml ni"lN IVnn tib\ " not 
 to follow the mass to evil." While we hasten after
 
 62 AMALEK. 
 
 the good, we must eschew the bad example ; we must 
 trust in the saving power of God, and defy the in- 
 sidious foe. But, brethren, ere we give this bold 
 defiance, we should intimately know the tactics of- 
 our adversary; we must seek out our unguarded 
 quarter, and there concentrate our strength. Let us, 
 therefore, in the second place, enquire 
 
 II. 
 
 When are we most obnoxious to the attacks of 
 Amalek ? 
 
 The answer, my friends, is in the text, 
 $Wl Ppynnfcfl "When we are faint and weary." The 
 foe, so deadly and malignant, is also insidious and 
 wily. He has never assailed us when we have been 
 prepared for him he has never come forth boldly to 
 encounter our hosts, while they were flushed with 
 victory and elate with conscious strength ! No : he 
 has invariably betaken himself to our rear, where 
 the helpless and innocent are collected has sur- 
 prised us in the hour of our moral exhaustion, when 
 we have been careless and apathetic. Thus it was, 
 that when Israel having entered the Promised Land, 
 were hot in the extermination of their idolatrous 
 neighbours; while with holy zeal and devoted hero- 
 ism they fought the battles of the Lord, they 
 remained unassailed by the malignant spirit. When 
 the contest was over, and they were reposing in 
 peace and tranquillity, they became an easy prey to 
 its seductive influence, and they were vanquished. 
 Again: while Ezra and his coadjutor lived and 
 preached, and every eye was open with vigilance
 
 AMALEK. 63 
 
 every hand ready in preparation, because the foe 
 was near; when in later times, zealous patriots and 
 God-fearing leaders were in the field against heathen- 
 ism and its oppressions, Amalek appeared not, he 
 had vanished for a time. But no sooner had the 
 Scribe departed from the pulpit the Maccabee from 
 the field, than his hateful influence was felt again. 
 In the present captivity, my brethren, for a long 
 time we heard not of him, because pressed and per- 
 secuted as we were on every side, we were forced to 
 be vigilant, and that watchfulness disarmed him ever. 
 Other and more open foes attacked us. The sword 
 was unsheathed, and the stake was kindled, but 
 both failed. Men sought our physical death^ and we 
 were ready for martyrdom : they demanded our 
 moral death, but they could never prevail against 
 our devoted zeal. Here, then, there was no oppor- 
 tunity for Amalek. But at last the conflict ceased ; 
 arid now that persecution is over, and intolerance is 
 fleeing from the earth, Israel is once more yy>} PW 
 " faint and weary," and our enemy is watchful. He 
 is at every weak position, spreading death in our 
 rear dismay throughout the camp. Yes, my bre- 
 thren, a great advantage does Amalek reap from the 
 spirit of tolerance which is prevailing everywhere. 
 Mixing unreservedly with other nations, we are pre- 
 pared to imitate them. We contract with them 
 unholy alliances we feast with them on unholy 
 viands we accompany them to unholy places. 
 Reliant upon our strength, we unhappily feel no fear 
 our faith we deem too firmly grounded our self- 
 restraint too immoveable, to apprehend assault. It
 
 64 AMALEK. 
 
 is then, my brethren, that the wily foe attacks us. 
 One by one he assails our sentiments and convinces 
 our doubts: we begin by concealing our- faith we 
 end by denying it, and give to Amalek a complete 
 and easy triumph. But you will ask, how avert 
 these evil consequences how turn aside a result that 
 seems inevitable, since the pursuer is unflagging and 
 the pursued feeble? Shall we, you inquire, in this 
 enlightened age, neglect the sweet reciprocities of 
 social life avoid communion with our fellow-man, 
 because he is of another faith? Surely not, my 
 brethren; cultivate a friendly intercourse with your 
 Gentile brethren tread hand-in-hand with them 
 the noble paths of science, art and literature join 
 them in their charities mix with them in the social 
 walk through life, but be ever vigilant of yourselves 
 be more so of your young ones. Watch over 
 them with an anxious solicitude, and teach them how 
 to think and act, that they may pass unscathed 
 through the dangers of imitation. Do not depre- 
 ciate those perils, for they are great and imminent, 
 but assured of their existence and solicitous to 
 avert them, follow me to discover the means of 
 doing so, by propounding the third interrogation 
 
 III. 
 
 How may we repel the attacks of Amalek? 
 
 For the answer, brethren, we must revert to the 
 history of the conflict at Rephidim, to which our 
 text refers, and there we shall read these remarkable 
 words, rich in instruction comprehensive in import. 
 
 IT m -IBWI Saw rai IT npfc DT -i^ao srm
 
 AMALEK. 65 
 
 " And it came to pass, that when Moses lifted 
 up his hand, Israel prevailed, but when he let down 
 his hand, Amalek prevailed." Sublime doctrine this, 
 my brethren, pregnant with salutary meaning! While 
 our hands are outstretched to heaven our hearts 
 directed thither our hopes there based, the foe is 
 powerless against us. It is only when we are en- 
 grossed by the wants of earth, its joys and its 
 pleasures, that oblivious of God, we offer ready access 
 to hostility. If in the moments of our national 
 peace and calm when warfare had ceased, and Israel 
 sat under their vines and fig-trees, prosperous and 
 happy if then, my brethren, we had uplifted our 
 hands to God, and grateful for His bounties, hallowed 
 by His love, we had confided to Him our destinies, 
 Amalek had never known a victory. And thus, if now 
 we would so regulate our lives as to keep our hands 
 spread out towards heaven, directing thither all our 
 worshipping emotions, and reserving none for earth 
 and its enjoyments, we might go on our way re- 
 joicing, and hurl defiance at our adversary. But it 
 is our curse, as it was our fathers' as it is that of 
 all mankind, that the world allures us ever, and 
 steals away our hearts from God. The joys and 
 pleasures that surround us here, are present, visible, 
 experienced ; and we clutch at them eagerly, heedless 
 of what we sacrifice to gain them. The blisses and 
 delights that are reserved on high, are distant, in- 
 visible, and as yet untasted ; we have no endurance 
 to await their concession, we content ourselves with 
 the more attainable, the more seductive, but more 
 unholy joys. These we pursue with such avidity,
 
 66 AMALEK. 
 
 that every higher duty is neglected every nobler 
 enterprise rejected for their sake; we are heedless 
 unwatchful our hands are wholly fallen to earth 
 pS^y ^QJI " and Amalek prevails." But, brethren, 
 how can we change the fortune of the conflict how 
 restore the mastery to Israel and discomfit the foe? 
 Our hands are heavy, they cling to earth with all 
 tenacity ; how shall we sever the links that bind them 
 downwards? Our hands are weary, and 'have no 
 strength to extend themselves on high; how shall 
 we keep them there directed to invoke God's aid and 
 support? Once more: look at Moses and mark his 
 
 conduct im vnnn izwi p inp'i D*-T 
 mi nnN nr&i nnK n?& VYS iabn iini pni 
 
 JWH Nl iy PlJiaK VT "And the hands of Moses 
 were heavy, and they took a stone and put it under 
 him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur sup- 
 ported his hands, one on the one side and the other 
 on the other side, and his hands were steady until 
 the going down of the sun." You too, my brethren, 
 have a stone whereon to rest yourselves and recruit 
 your departed vigour, D^tf ninS "Ofc? those everlast- 
 ing tablets, which lost to us though they be, have 
 left their sacred impress graven on our hearts. On 
 this stone the imperishable rock of ages the law 
 of the immutable, repose ye, and summon your Aaron 
 and your Hur to uphold your hands, and keep them 
 towards heaven. The priestly Aaron symbolizes 
 purity the heroic Hur represents zeal; then let 
 both these support you npltf PlTfc " on the one hand," 
 purity, to hallow your thoughts and hopes, while it 
 keeps you upright ; -fl-IN nifc " and on the other hand,"
 
 AMALEK. 67 
 
 zeal, to animate your soul with courage and heroism, 
 devotion and truth. Thus aided, my brethren, you 
 must conquer in the glorious struggle: thus aided, 
 your hand will upwards remain, worshipping heaven, 
 and imploring his help >E>n JO "TJ? " until the sun 
 goes down," and your clay of life closed in, you home- 
 wards go to your God, to reap those blessings which 
 await you the blessings of which your ancient foe 
 has so oft tried to despoil you. 
 
 And now, my brethren, let us review the lessons 
 that have passed before us, and take to heart their 
 useful, truthful teachings, so that they may admonish 
 us in our danger, and encourage us in our labour. 
 
 We have seen that Amalek is among us and around 
 us, with his seductive wiles, to cut oft' our hopes and 
 destroy our virtues to alienate our souls from God. 
 Let this recognition arouse us to vigilance and 
 activity; and as we have unmasked his tactics and 
 discovered the secret of his success, let us be guarded 
 against his inroads. It is the weakest position he 
 assails; there let us place zealous watchmen stal- 
 wart energetic sentiments, to repel aggression. It is 
 in our rear he is found, where the weak ones, our 
 women and children are collected ; let us, then, place 
 around them a stronger defence a bulwark of faith 
 and devotion, godliness and truth. 
 
 Scripture records of Amalek DT17K fc^V tih " that 
 he fears not God" : his faith is different from yours 
 his example prejudicial to your moral life; then 
 DD3S7 PID^ |S T? "Wn " take heed to yourselves 
 lest your heart be deceived," and ye be led to betray 
 
 F 2
 
 68 AMALEK. 
 
 your allegiance to God. Remember, that though in 
 the very midst of the conflict while the battle rages, 
 and your good resolves are most powerfully assailed, 
 there is yet a way to conquer, for n* Plfc^D DH* 1 *"l6?fcO 
 Stf*lB^ "1S31 " when Moses lifted up his hand Israel 
 prevailed." Would ye seek an example? Turn to 
 the history which the approaching festival will soon 
 bring before you. Behold the pious Mordecai, in the 
 very atmosphere of imitation, opposing both the 
 physical and the moral Amalek. The whole court 
 was obedient before the imperious Hainan : the kingly 
 favour of Ahasuerus, made all obsequious to his will, 
 and every one fell prostrate in the dust before his 
 honoured presence. Mordecai alone refused. He 
 was a faithful subject, his loyalty had been well 
 proven, for, without fee or reward, his agency had 
 saved his monarch's life. But when he was required to 
 bend the knee and almost worship earthly greatness, 
 he held his hands on high towards heaven, refused to 
 give to man the homage only due to God, and fear- 
 lessly devoted himself to a struggle with a powerful, 
 implacable, and revengeful foe. You know the issue, 
 my friends ; Israel prevailed and Amalek was dis- 
 comfited. In the like manner, whatever temptations 
 may allure you, whatever ills beset your path, what- 
 ever fears assail you, keep your hands upraised to 
 heaven in recognition of His power to save, and His 
 mercy to uphold. Stand firmly on your invulnerable 
 rock of faith j-j^fc rniH- Let holy purity and pious 
 zeal support you and yip* *h W\ Pip"! *7 rUNH tih 
 *|Si"l&O " evil shall not come near to you and the in- 
 fection of bad example shall not approach your tents."
 
 AMALEK. 69 
 
 " for He will 
 charge His angels with you, to preserve you in the 
 journey through this life." DDIH "pin jnSI hr\W SjJ 
 pni 1*33 " Upon the foe, who is fierce as a lion and 
 wily as the adder, ye shall tread , ye shall trample 
 upon the watchful whelp, and upon the insidious, 
 venomous serpent." 
 
 : w yr-'o im^N tthtax\ *]&r\ n ^ You win 
 
 have clung to your God and He will exalt you : He will 
 ennoble you because ye have vindicated His honour. 
 
 in-Qrw irraSnK rn*n D3 i&y iruy&o ^aop* He will 
 
 be with you in the hour of trouble and the day of 
 trial, to deliver you and make you glorious. And 
 when this life is over, and heavenward ye speed, to 
 return unto your parent spirit, to His world of 
 eternal bliss He will welcome you : ny*3&?K D'ft* "pN 
 Tiyit?*3 intfTNl He will satisfy you with length of 
 days, and will show you His salvation. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Lord, God of Israel, ever kind Father of Thy 
 people, who hast so often displayed Thy mercy to 
 Thy children, who lookest down from Thy realms of 
 greatness, and givest firm support to all who lift 
 their hands to Thee. Have compassion upon the 
 smallest of nations, and display again to us, Thy 
 saving power and Thy wondrous might. Even as 
 Thou didst redeem us from the iron furnace of Egypt 
 even as Thou didst vanquish Pharaoh and Amalek 
 before us even as Thou didst open the gates of 
 Babylon, and bring our captives forth free men and
 
 70 AMALEK. 
 
 even, as at this season, Thou didst compassionate 
 Thy children and rescue them from the hands of 
 Haman, so, gracious Lord, be with Thy Israel of this 
 day, to protect us from harm to aid us in our dis- 
 tress. Keep our hands steadfastly upheld to Thee 
 our hopes firmly based on Thee ; and from Thy foun- 
 tain of grace and love, let us drink plenteously of 
 the goods, the blessings, and the joys which flow from 
 Thee. And in Thy faithfulness, Lord, restore the 
 aliens to their possessions and let the sweet savour 
 of Thy sacrifices ascend to heaven from the altars of 
 that house, wherein once more Thou wilt set Thy 
 glory. 
 
 May the anointed speedily come to Zion, and 
 may our eyes behold him, and our hearts be gladdened 
 by the sound of that SnJl *\&\W " the great trumpet" 
 which is to publish redemption to Israel. Amen.
 
 71 
 
 VI. 
 THE PERPETUAL LIGHT. 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE SYNAGOGUE OF THE D'OBTI W p"p 
 
 SPANISH AND POKTUGUESE JEWS, BEVIS MARKS, 
 
 LONDON. 
 
 rvro JVT 
 
 pna 
 
 npn 
 
 " Thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they take unto 
 thee, oil of olive, pure, beaten for the lamp, to offer up the perpetual 
 light. In the tabernacle of the congregation outside of the veil 
 that is over the testimony, shall Aaron and his sons arrange it from 
 evening till morning before the Eternal ; it is for the children of 
 Israel an everlasting statute to their generations, Exodus, xxvii. 
 20, 21. 
 
 THESE words introduce us to the first ceremonial of 
 the temple service; and though that service and its 
 solemnities have been long since suspended through 
 our dispersion from our land and our sanctuary, still 
 this ordinance is enjoined with remarkable emphasis as 
 being unceasing " a statute to all eternity." Let us, 
 therefore, seek the meaning of this precept, which, 
 though the scene of its performance, no more exists,
 
 72 THE PERPETUAL LIGHT. 
 
 can yet be obligatory upon us in all its force and im- 
 portance. This end we shall attain by enlisting 
 the aid of those luminaries who lived and taught in 
 olden times whose teachings are treasured in our 
 minds and cherished in our hearts. Bringing the 
 Medrash Raba to bear upon this passage, we find 
 
 want? xhx DnS 71* vxw xh *p nn pe> 7^ inpn 
 
 nwiKn hs :si D^n nbyrh na onS THKW D^D 'h 
 
 : W? TNW ^ DnMb WiB" D'-I&IK VPP ons? 
 
 That they take to thee pure olive oil, etc., not because 
 I have need thereof, but that you may give light 
 to me, even as I give light to you, in order that ye 
 may elevate yourselves in the sight of all the nations, 
 and that they may say, " Israel gives light to Him 
 who Himself gives light to all." It is from these 
 kindred words, my brethren, we have to seek the ex- 
 planation of our text ; and to this end we will put 
 three questions. 
 
 I. WHAT is THE NATURE OF THE LIGHT? 
 II. WHERE is IT TO BE KINDLED? 
 
 III. WHO SHALL KINDLE IT? 
 
 I. 
 
 What is this light, my brethren ? It has a relation 
 to Almighty God: it is to represent His majesty, 
 His power and His mercy.- Whenever the idea of 
 divinity is to be conveyed to human understanding, 
 Holy Writ shews us, it is best done by light. God 
 establishes a covenant with Abraham, and as His 
 glory descends to ratify the compact, j^y i^ft run 
 t^N TfiT) " behold a smoking furnace and a torch of 
 fire" proclaim His august presence. He appears to
 
 THE PERPETUAL LIGHT. 73 
 
 Moses at Midian, to accredit him for his mission to 
 liberate His people, and where He appears, 
 
 " behold the bush is burning with fire." 
 He leads forth the people from the bondage of the 
 Pharaohs, and on that eventful night which sees a 
 nation ransomed by their God, a luminous pillar soars 
 above them, the abiding-place of divinity. He sum- 
 mons the people to receive the doctrines of light and 
 truth, and as they kneel around the mount and hear 
 the thrilling accents of the Shofar, &83 Tl vSy IT 
 " the Eternal descends upon the mount in the fire." 
 Now that a sanctuary is to be erected for His worship, 
 that the souls of his people may be purified by com- 
 munion with Him, his first command ordains, that a 
 continual light shall burn therein. And truly, 
 brethren, light has high claims to this distinction to 
 be set up before our mortal perceptions as a constant 
 type of God. Light illumines: before it, darkness 
 vanishes and clouds disperse ; gloom dares not abide 
 in its presence, and as its glory rises, the mists depart 
 to leave a radiant brightness in their place. Light 
 vivifies : it sheds a quickening influence over earth's 
 productions, imparts life to dormant principles, 
 gives new vigor to failing energies, and is the fruitful 
 source of a world of sustenance to our dependant 
 race. Light warms : it has the power to banish every 
 chill, to impart a genial glow where inclement cold 
 prevails, and there spread comfort and joy. Light 
 is majestic: it possesses a magnificence, enjoyed by 
 no other object of creation, a brilliance whose 
 beauty and majesty exalt it to represent supernal 
 glory. Thus, my brethren, light irradiates and
 
 74 THE PERPETUAL LIGHT. 
 
 quickens cheers and comforts is beautiful and 
 unique, good and universal ; and therefore it is a fit em- 
 blem of that high power, who, merely willing, "fitf TV, 
 (i let light be," called into being the nucleus of the thou- 
 sand blessings, which diverge from that one created 
 good. But, brethren, let us ask why God commanded 
 in the text, that a light should be kindled to symbolise 
 His presence, when He had already promised to de- 
 scend and fill the sanctuary, and to leave His presence 
 there. Between the Cherubim, upon the mercy-seat, 
 within the most Holy place, He had already declared 
 
 to Moses nfiK TV-QT) D5> ^ TnjflJI " I w ^ meet 
 thee there and speak to thee." This condescending 
 grace, my brethren, relates to the light shed by God 
 upon man. Behind the veil, the Shechina rested, to 
 dispense mercy and goodness, protection and bless- 
 ing, upon his chosen ones ; but the light of our text, 
 which was kindled r\y\sh T*in/& u outside the veil'' was 
 the light rrpyn/ "to be offered up" by man to God 
 a soaring upwards towards His Divine intelligence, 
 an elevation of our faculties to Him, a cultivation of 
 of that great moral lever knowledge. Yes, my 
 brethren, the light of our text is the lamp of know- 
 ledge, which, typifying God, is placed without the 
 veil, in that part of the tabernacle that belongs to 
 man, as an injunction that he has, in his spirit, a 
 portion of divinity, and that that must be nurtured, 
 directed and developed, to the attainment of know- 
 ledge in its highest degree, of wisdom in its most 
 glorious results. We are to kindle the light of 
 knowledge, that we may recognise and value our 
 Heavenly descent, that we may cultivate those vir-
 
 THE PERPETUAL LIGHT. 75 
 
 tues which are to give us happiness in eternity. We 
 are to kindle the light of knowledge, that, as a nation, 
 we may be wise and discerning, prosperous and 
 happy, that we may do honour to our selection by 
 the will of God, and that our devotion to His service 
 may win for us the testimony of all nations *?JOt}> 
 W? "VND6? *aS DH'fcftb " Israel offers light unto the 
 God, who enlightens all." And this exalted knowledge, 
 my brethren, our text commands, must proceed from a 
 pure arid undented source. Free from any admixture 
 secure from all adulteration, it must be *JT pure in 
 its elements, to represent a holy motive, the promotion 
 of the honour, the glory, and the sanctification of 
 God. And equally important it is, that such know- 
 ledge should be cultivated^ without tumult or discord, 
 but with all the constituents of love and prosperity. 
 The oil must be JVT p8? the produce of the olive, that 
 universal emblem of peace and luxuriance, which, 
 offered up in all its purity, marks the promotion of a 
 knowledge, lawful in its barriers, sacred in its 
 object, ennobling in its pursuit, and sublime in its 
 nature ; a knowledge realising to the full, the glo- 
 rious end for which Moses hoped, when he presaged 
 as the testimony of the world ^yn jl^l DDH DJ? iTl 
 !"lTfl TH^n, " only this great people, is a wise and 
 understanding nation." It is, therefore, my brethren, 
 that although the temple is desolated and the altars 
 are razed, the ordinance of our text has still signifi- 
 cance for Israel is still an active principle among 
 their children God has said that it must be "a statute 
 to all eternity,'' and the duty must, therefore, never 
 cease : day after day the holy light must be kindled,
 
 76 THE PERPETUAL LIGHT. 
 
 tended arid supplied, so that it never goes out. 
 Knowledge must be diffused with no sparing hand 
 and no flagging energy, but, if we would yield obe- 
 dience to the divine behest, an active zeal, an earnest 
 industry, a faithful watching arid a pious usefulness 
 must be presented in our tabernacle, so that we may 
 help to keep alive the high eulogium presented in 
 the Medrash, W? TK&P "th D'TKID SiW " Israel 
 gives light to Him, who gives light to all." 
 
 II. 
 
 Where is the light to be kindled ? 
 Tljnfi Sn&O "In the tabernacle of the congregation," 
 says the text. In the houses Avhere spiritual worship 
 must combine with spiritual instruction. And what 
 place so suited to the kindling of that sacred light '? 
 What place so suited for the adaptation of its rays to 
 the perception of all classes and conditions ? 
 
 To the sanctuary comes he who thirsts for spiritual 
 knowledge, for the light of God's law, that it may 
 illuminate his spirit and teach e hirn how to live, that 
 it may direct him to Heaven, and lead him to com- 
 munion with his God. To the sanctuary, come the 
 unfortunate, bowed down with grief, to pray for 
 grace and aid, reliant upon the light of God, that it 
 will cheer his bosom. To the sanctuary, comes the 
 sinner, awakened to a sense of his guilt: impelled 
 by conscience he comes, to ask for pardon to shed 
 the tear of penitence and vow the vow of amend- 
 ment. He, too, hopes to feel the influence of the 
 holy light, that he may hence depart with his soul 
 encouraged by its rays. Hither, also comes the weak
 
 THE PERPETUAL LIGHT. 77 
 
 and erring child of clay, in search of a light that will 
 keep the alluring sin from enslaving and oppressing 
 him, by presenting holy things unto his tempted eyes. 
 It is to the sanctuary, that the pious child of fortune 
 comes, to pour out a grateful heart and offer praise 
 for countless blessings; and he, too, expects that 
 God's light will elevate his soul and make him yet 
 more thankful. To the sanctuary, too, comes the old 
 man, that he may be warmed and cheered by the 
 holy light, so that as life fades gradually from his 
 aged senses, his mind may be elevated to the con- 
 templation of 31ft I^BJ D^iy " the world that is all 
 good." And hither, comes the youthful spirit with the 
 offerings of his first pure emotions, to vow allegiance 
 to the God of his creation, and to learn those rules 
 of heavenly origin, whereby his loyalty must be 
 regulated. He hopes, too, that God's holy light will 
 vivify each rising thought, and bless it in its purity. 
 If such attendants do hither come to seek the light, 
 should not the lamp be kept illumined, that they may 
 be cheered by its brightness, comforted by its glow, 
 animated by its emblems? Then, wherefore, brethren, 
 is the light so frequently extinguished in the taber- 
 nacle wherefore is spiritual knowledge so lightly 
 estimated, that its dispensation is accounted a work 
 of inutility? When the second temple possessed not 
 the presence, divine, Israel bewailed it as a calamity 
 a calamity that truly presaged their speedy return to 
 the abominations for which their fathers had suffered. 
 And in the like manner, while the lamp of knowledge 
 is not fed with the pure and peaceful teachings of 
 religion, we must regard it as an evil : an evil con-
 
 78 THE PERPETUAL LIGHT. 
 
 sequent upon our degeneracy, an evil pregnant with 
 baneful effects. Let us, then, be admonished, my 
 brethren, that while light is here, our people cannot 
 grope in darkness our children depart to seek it in 
 other places and at other hands. But if the lamp be 
 once put out and gloom pervade the sanctuary, they 
 will be driven from it; and to satisfy their craving 
 after the light, they will search for it and find it 
 where the lamp is not purely kindled, where it is fed 
 with a defiled oil, and arranged by unhallowed hands. 
 But, brethren, taking the sanctuary to represent its 
 sacred Archetype, we will suppose it to be the Most 
 Holy, " behind the veil" where God's presence abides, 
 where God's ark rests, where God's law is treasured, 
 where then shall we seek for that fiDIS? Thrift " outside 
 the curtain," where the lamp is to be kindled? Surely 
 it is in the school, where the foundation is laid, in 
 preparation for that noble superstructure, which must 
 be here perfected ! Surely in the school, where secu- 
 lar knowledge goes hand in hand with her sacred 
 sister, and while the one directs our sons through 
 earth, the other leads them towards Heaven. Surely 
 it is in the school, where the immortal spirit is culti- 
 vated and the priest is sanctified for admission behind 
 the veil ! Yes, brethren, the school is no less a sanc- 
 tuary than the synagogue, and the lamp must be as 
 faithfully tended in the one, as in the other. Re- 
 member, therefore, that your vocation is to educate- 
 to kindle the light of wisdom to teach the erring 
 and the unlettered the ignorant and the worldly. 
 Remember that your destination is to burn light 
 before the fountain of light, to diffuse knowledge
 
 THE PERPETUAL LIGHT. 79 
 
 from the very footstool of the Eternal^ 
 fil/Btfn ;2 "OSS D3HK u that ye may elevate yourselves 
 in the sight of all the nations." Preserve then, my 
 brethren, your sacred institutions as the apple of 
 your eye : strengthen the pillars of your synagogue 
 with faithfulness and union set in order the per- 
 petual light before your God, and let it be maintained 
 with all the elements of peace and brotherhood, and 
 tended so unremittingly that its radiance be never ex- 
 tinguished. And your schools too, my brethren, those 
 moral nurseries of the temple, sustain and improve 
 with all your energies. You must extend their 
 sphere elevate their scope arid enlarge their action ; 
 and the result will be, that your generation will, in 
 its turn, send forth its missionaries of light to per- 
 petuate the lamp of God, obedient to the ordinance 
 which is SfiOB" ^1 HN& DlTTlS D^ty npM " an eternal 
 statute to the posterity of the children of Israel." 
 
 III. 
 
 Brethren, who is to kindle the light ? 
 
 Since the lamp is knowledge the synagogue and 
 school, the place, who is to officiate? Our text re- 
 sponds, VJ11 JTlN 1HN TnjP " Aaron and his sons 
 shall arrange it." But even as the light has its symbol, 
 and the sanctuary its type, so have the priests their 
 representative. With the suspension of the temple 
 services, all the details of the sacerdotal office have 
 ceased, IJTTQJD JPO lA P*0 an( i we nave no more 
 priests with sacred duty clad. Their directing in- 
 fluence has devolved upon those who minister in the 
 synagogue as the servants of God, and are the mes-
 
 80 THE PERPETUAL LIGHT. 
 
 senders of the congregation to the throne of grace 
 those who are the expounders to Israel of the doc- 
 trines of their faith. It is therefore, to such that the 
 Divine command now has relation to those who 
 stand to minister and teach, Dpin VJ? *fn HK Ttotih 
 " to keep the way of the tree of life." Now, brethren, 
 in few words, the text records the duties that devolve 
 upon these guardians of the sanctuary. It bids them 
 bring to their ministry an untiring zeal, an unflinch- 
 ing industry, "ipi^ iy ytyti " From evening to morn- 
 ing" they must tend the sacred lamp, renewing with 
 assiduous care the olive oil of peace and truth the 
 pure unadulterated knowledge of a pure religion. 
 They are to be no untrained teachers, but as the oil 
 was ^xzh JVfO prepared expressly for the service- 
 so must they be reared for their duties and sanc- 
 tified by that rearing. Here^ brethren, let us review 
 this highly favoured country, where civilisation exists 
 where tolerance abides and where our people 
 have found a happy home for more than two centu- 
 ries. Surely the lamp should be kindled in all our 
 sanctuaries through the realm ? Surely every temple 
 should have its priest who can arrange the light 
 and tend it, as by law enjoined ? Alas, my brethren, 
 "|fc?rt POPfi tltfS fllpJ " we wait for light and behold 
 darkness." With all the inclination to light up their 
 tabernacles, many, very many remain unillumined 
 while many have seen their lights expire, because they 
 had no priest. It were invidious to dwell upon this 
 theme, or we might, to our national reproach exhibit 
 how often an unfitted guardian, a polluted oil, a 
 want of careful tending, has led to these results; but
 
 THE PERPETUAL LIGHT. 81 
 
 we will gladly quit the past and strive to forget it, in 
 the glorious prospects dawning in the future. 
 
 My brethren, in this most holy place, and under 
 sanction of the God who pervades it, I introduce to 
 you the design of the venerated chief of your sister 
 " Kehiloth"; the design which is to furnish you with 
 those sacred essentials, which are to keep the lamp alight 
 in your sanctuaries. The Jewish College, projected 
 with so much wisdom and good intent, came forth to 
 the country as a great and glorious boon, pregnant 
 with countless blessings for our people. Unhappily, 
 brethren, apathy and supineness, the blight of every 
 noble project, assailed this enterprise, and threatened 
 to annihilate it. Was it too much to expect that 
 Israel would demand from her chiefs and elders, an 
 adequate support for this her sacred cause? Was it 
 too much to expect, that they who are favoured by 
 heaven's permission with rank and influence, would 
 cheerfully enlist their interest in the service of their 
 race? Was it too much to expect, that those whom 
 God has blessed with wealth should open their trea- 
 suries, and freely yield their tithes towards the 
 sanctuary, by qualifying its ministers and purifying 
 its courts. Surely not, my brethren; these are the 
 claims of our religion they are our tribute to God, 
 and our nationality. Yet all these expectations have 
 been disappointed ; for the cause progresses not 
 as it deserves, but halts even now betwixt life and 
 death. Let it not be thought, my brethren, that 
 those in " the high places of the nation " have not 
 contributed to the enterprise: they have done so; 
 but, except in a few honourable instances, the glow 
 
 G
 
 82 THE PERPETUAL LIGHT. 
 
 of shame kindles within us when we reflect to what 
 a restricted extent. However, brethren, let who 
 will neglect the call of God, be you obedient to 
 His ordinance be you responsive to the claims of 
 people, duty and honour, and God will bless con- 
 science will approve. For you, this sacred enterprise 
 should have peculiar importance, because your position 
 in this land is a peculiar one. When two centuries 
 ago your fathers sought and gained re-admission to 
 these realms, they solemnly established a covenant of 
 peace, whereby they engaged for themselves and their 
 posterity, that Israel should ever deserve the protec- 
 tion of this great country, by their fidelity as citizens, 
 and by their loyalty as subjects. Therefore, apart 
 from your vocation as Israelites, your reverence for 
 the memory of those ancestors, and the fealty you 
 owe to their compact, demand that ye should go 
 forward on the honourable path of intellectual pro- 
 gress that you should use every effort to make the 
 Jews of England glorious throughout the world, 
 fulfilling in another sense the words of the Medrash, 
 W? TNW *th Dn'KB httW by making Israel 
 enlighten the land which enlightens all the world. 
 Let me then urge you to place yourselves heroically 
 in the breach, from which greater wealth and greater 
 influence have retreated, careless of Israel and Israel's 
 glory. Let me remind you, that commanded as you 
 are by an eternal statute, you must light up the lamp 
 of knowledge, and tend it with efficiency that you 
 must rear up priests to arrange it before the Lord 
 priests who will teach you 73 *}Qft D3HK HlSynS 
 to elevate yourselves in the sight of all
 
 THE PERPETUAL LIGHT. 83 
 
 nations. Then press forward, brethren, with your 
 free-will offerings, and consecrate with your prayers 
 and your hopes, a cause that is dear to Israel and 
 important to her destinies. Press forward to sup- 
 port an enterprise which already has attracted the 
 eyes of the world, and which, failing now, must chal- 
 lenge universal reproach. Press forward to testify 
 how dear your faith and your people are to your 
 hearts how faithfully you serve, as missionaries of 
 the One God, to preach truth, to spread peace, and 
 to burn the lamp of knowledge before mankind. 
 "pIX in W3 ypy IK " Then shall your light break 
 forth as morning," and soon, full soon, your efforts 
 will be blessed and rendered fruitful. Stately 
 halls of learning, nobly rivalling those of other 
 faiths, will give admission to your sons; and shed- 
 ding a pure and undefined light upon them, will rear 
 them to the service of your God, so that Q^D nH? 
 "pKS "pnb D^MI 7TQ& "Ye may drink water from 
 your own springs and running waters from the midst 
 of your own wells." 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Lord of life and God of truth ! who art enthroned 
 in light, from the emanation of which the world is 
 illuminated; when night covered the earth, and the 
 nations groped their way in the darkness of ignorance, 
 Thou causedst Thy light to shine from Horeb on 
 Thy people Israel, to be an everlasting guide to the 
 children of men. Enlighten us also with Thy glorious 
 radiance, and let us behold Thy effulgent beams, so 
 
 G 2
 
 84 THE PERPETUAL LIGHT. 
 
 that we may walk in the light of truth and peace, 
 and intelligence before Thee. Through all the 
 dangers which beset the darkened path of our 
 people, Thou hast always been with us to direct us 
 by Thy rays; so, Lord, do Thou continue near to 
 us, so that IIK nK"0 TflN3 " by Thy enlightenment 
 we may see the light." Kindle within us the fire of 
 zeal and energy the pure and holy flame of love for 
 Israel and her cause, so that we place the lamp in 
 Thy sanctuary bring the oil of peace to feed it, and 
 consecrate the priests to tend it, until by our efforts 
 we see diffused abundantly ^ *wh\ p'"H& $mt 11K 
 Pin/bE? " light that is sown for the righteous, joy for 
 the upright of heart." Amen.
 
 85 
 
 VII. 
 THE PASSAGE OF THE RED SEA. 
 
 KTI onto TO IB n Kim ova n yen 
 YH nx Wie* am D<n ns&? hy nib 0*1x0 HN 
 *na w&an "n n Dy 
 
 : ray 
 
 " The Eternal saved Israel on that day from the hand of Egypt, 
 and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea-shore. Israel saw 
 the great power which the Eternal exercised upon Egypt, and the 
 people feared the Eternal, and they believed in the Eternal, and in 
 Moses His servant." Exodus xiv. 30, 31. 
 
 BRETHEEN, the early promise made to Abraham is at 
 length fulfilled: the captivity of Egypt is over. 
 From the depths of their affliction, God has heard the 
 groans of Israel, and His love and faithfulness direct 
 their deliverance. Moses and Aaron have appeared 
 before the throne of Pharaoh, and have demanded in 
 the name of the God of the Hebrews, that His people 
 be sent forth to serve Him. This demand seem- 
 ing unreasonable and audacious to the despot, has 
 elicited his scorn and contempt, while it has invoked 
 new inflictions on the persecuted race. At last the 
 fierce wrath of God is poured out upon Pharaoh, his
 
 86 THE PASSAGE OF THE RED SEA. 
 
 land and his people ; and when throughout the length 
 and breadth of Egypt, there are death and desolation, 
 grief and despair, the Eternal leads forth His hosts 
 "with a mighty hand and a out-stretched arm," 
 bearing them on eagles' wings from the darkness of 
 slavery and error, to the light of liberty and truth. 
 The opening verses of this day's portion inform us, 
 that Pharaoh, on recovering from the consternation 
 which paralysed him and his subjects on that night 
 of terror, adopts the resolution to pursue and over- 
 take his enfranchised bondsmen, and to wreak a fear- 
 ful vengeance on them. He gives the order for 
 pursuit, and forward go his countless hosts to brave 
 the power which has lately prostrated him ; forward 
 with all the pomp of war, with all the force of arms, 
 to avenge the horrors of that mysterious death which 
 stalked through his dominions on the memorable 
 midnight, when God made known His power to the 
 heathen children of the land of Ham. 
 
 It is the fate of this expedition, my brethren, which 
 we are to review to-day the issue of that terrific 
 battle which was fought in the midst of the sea- 
 channel, between God and man; and where, although 
 the clang of arms and the cry of war were never 
 heard, there was a conquest gained which spread 
 dismay and death around a conquest as fearful to 
 the vanquished, as it was glorious to the victor. In 
 pursuing this theme, we shall have to consider Israel 
 under three several aspects. 
 
 I. ISRAEL IN DESPAIR. 
 II. ISRAEL IN TRIUMPH. 
 III. ISRAEL IN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.
 
 THE PASSAGE OF THE RED SEA. 87 
 
 I. 
 
 The people are encamped before Pi-hahiroth, on 
 the shores of the Red Sea, when the advance of 
 Pharaoh is indicated; and, although but few days 
 have elapsed, since God wrought so wonderfully in 
 their behalf, they tremble at the approach of the very 
 enemy whom He then subdued before them. The 
 terror-stricken multitude glance rapidly at their 
 position. They behold on the right hand and the 
 left, the rugged hills of Suez. In front the roaring 
 sea, lashing its sand-girt shores, and behind, they see 
 advancing a powerful, revengeful and remorseless 
 foe. Their consternation is at its height, and they 
 are bowed down with anguish and despair. They 
 deem all hope to be lost. Their lately-recovered 
 freedom enjoyed sufficiently to create an earnest 
 longing for its permanence, they imagine is about to 
 be terminated by the triumphant arms of Pharaoh. 
 Their happiness, of which .as yet, they have only seen 
 the dawn, is threatened with sudden annihilation. 
 They hear the tramp of the approaching hosts, and 
 their hearts fail at the sound. In their extremity 
 they lose all recollection of what God has done for 
 them until now, they remember not the undying 
 glories of that night when He led them forth from 
 bondage. Even the pillar of fire which soars above 
 them is unheeded, in the abject fear which seizes and 
 overwhelms them. They could suffer oppression, is 
 their cry; they would be content to endure the whip 
 of the task-master, and groan on under the iron 
 hand of Pharaoh's rule, but they are not prepared 
 to die. No, they cling to life, although for them
 
 88 THE PASSAGE OF THE RED SEA. 
 
 it has had few charms which the clouds of per- 
 secution have not darkened. They thus approach 
 their leader, and rebuke him with bitterness for 
 what they deem the accomplishment of their woe. 
 
 rub *ms ni&S unnpS DH^M ta^p p 
 inn IB>N -inn nr xbn j Dnx&a UN wS uS 
 fix rrnyji IJDD Snn tatS D 
 
 Xtt nx Taj? " Is it because there 
 were no graves in Egypt that thou hast brought us to 
 die in the wilderness? What is it thou hast done to us 
 by bringing us from Egypt? Is not this the thing which 
 we told you in Egypt Leave us alone and let us serve 
 the Egyptians, for it is better for us to serve the 
 Egyptians than to die in the wilderness?" Amid 
 this excitement, when dismay and horror have almost 
 maddened the people, what is the conduct of their 
 great leader? He has no word of reproach for their 
 ingratitude, he has no tone of harshness to resent 
 their injustice. He has pity for their weakness, deep 
 regrets for their want of faith in their Divine Guar- 
 dian, the most benevolent consideration for their 
 weak, but not unnatural apprehensions. He casts his 
 eyes around, and perceives the same conjunction of 
 difficulties which has disheartened them ; but he has 
 neither fear nor doubt in his breast. He knows that 
 salvation is at hand, he feels within him the firm, 
 the irrepressible conviction that Omnipotence will 
 achieve their deliverance. How it will be done, is not 
 yet revealed to him, but responsive to the heroic faith 
 which irradiates his spirit, he seeks to allay the fears 
 of his charges, and to inspire them with confidence
 
 THE PASSAGE OF THE RED SEA. 89 
 
 by the assurance of safety. ^ D^P! Stf !"!&?& 
 
 " Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not. Stand 
 ye, and ye shall see the salvation of the Eternal, 
 which He will work for you to-day." But 
 Moses sees the necessity of giving the people a still 
 more emphatic assurance: one more calculated to 
 disarm the apprehension which would now begin to 
 grow among them that even, if they are delivered 
 from their present extremity, that deliverance will be 
 only temporary. Not a week since, they marched 
 forth triumphantly from Egypt, deeming their eman- 
 cipation complete, whereas they now behold the same 
 oppressive power, from which they then exultingly 
 departed, approaching apace to recapture them. The 
 only means therefore, of successfully reassuring them, 
 is to promise the total annihilation of those foes: 
 and this he does in the succeeding words DDK *3 
 
 D^iy ny my onianS is'Din xh ovn onxto n Divan 
 
 " Although ye see the Egyptians to-day, you shall 
 never behold them more." 
 
 But how is this wondrous achievement to be effected ? 
 How is that mighty host, advancing in all the pride 
 of conscious power, to be so suddenly, so completely 
 overthrown ? Untrained to war, untutored in arms, 
 can these fear-stricken children of Israel attack and 
 defeat the disciplined warriors of Egypt ? These 
 natural fears also, Moses seeks to allay, in the ani- 
 mating words which conclude his harangue DD7 DHT Tt 
 " The Eternal will fight for you." No bow shall 
 be bent, no sword unsheathed; all that the people
 
 90 THE PASSAGE OF THE RED SEA. 
 
 will be required to do while God works their salva- 
 tion, is "to be silent," pB^nn DDX1 to cease their 
 raurmurings against Him and His servant, and to 
 confide in the power of their Heavenly Champion. 
 
 Brethren, we can now in imagination follow Moses, 
 as he leaves his re-encouraged people to seek himself 
 the God of his trust, to pour out before Him the 
 emotions of his confiding heart, and to receive from 
 Him the confirmation of that hope which burns 
 within him. God answers him: responsive to his 
 call, the voice divine is heard ^>$ "m *htf pyXH HE 
 tyD^ SK*)^ "01 " Wherefore criest thou to me ? Speak 
 unto the children of Israel, and let them journey 
 onward." Journey onward ! Into those raging bil- 
 lows, to court the death they so fervently wish to 
 deprecate ? Into those raging billows, more cruel 
 and remorseless still, than the tyrant who pursues 
 them ? Into those raging billows, that lashed by the 
 increasing east wind, now roar as if eager for their 
 promised prey ? Even so, my friends, God has said 
 it, and His command indicates the path of safety. 
 
 Sane> rona vsh ^nn n^nSxn -j^a yon 
 
 " The angel of the Eternal which went 
 before the camp of Israel departed and went behind." 
 The rod of power is once more stretched forth, 
 the wind waxes stronger, the waves congeal, and 
 through the channel of the vasty deep, a pathway 
 opens for the hosts of Israel. Onward they go, fear 
 lending swiftness to their footsteps through that 
 wonderful passage where walls of water, restrained into 
 stability by a power divine, are on their right hand and 
 on their left. Onward they go, casting ever a glance
 
 THE PASSAGE OF THE RED SEA. 91 
 
 of anxious fear behind, to mark the progress of their 
 pursuers. They see the chariots and the horsemen of 
 Pharaoh almost at their heels ; they hear the shouts 
 of triumph which their oppressors, now certain of 
 their capture, are sending to reverbrate among the 
 surrounding rocks ; and anon they see them entering 
 upon the pathway through the waters, which their 
 own feet so lately trod; when lo! another cry assails 
 their ears, a cry which tells not of mastery or of 
 joy, but which utters the wail of defeat and death. 
 Israel once in safety through the channel, the watery 
 heaps dissolve ; and as the rescued people gaze upon 
 the change, joy returns into their bosom exultation 
 mounts up into their hearts, and grateful, loving and 
 confiding now, they prepare themselves for triumph, 
 because Q-M& TD 7N1^ HK NlPin DV3 'PI tfB>n 
 
 D'n nsfc? Sy na onxa nx h*W tf"n "The 
 
 Eternal has saved Israel from the power of Egypt ; 
 and Israel sees the Egyptians dead upon the sea- 
 shore." 
 
 II. 
 
 We have, secondly, my brethren, to contemplate 
 Israel in triumph ; and here, we remain struck with 
 admiration, at the emotions evinced by men whose 
 natural impulses had never yet been corrected by 
 lessons of religious moderation. No execrations are 
 poured forth on their vanquished oppressors, no bar- 
 barous violence to the inanimate corpses which strew 
 the strand, is recorded against them ; but, powerfully 
 affected by the events of the day, they elevate their 
 hearts to God, and seek, with one accord, to pour out 
 their emotions in psalmody and praise. They prepare
 
 92 THE PASSAGE OF THE RED SEA. 
 
 themselves with song and melody to celebrate no 
 human power, skill, or genius, but to chant glory to 
 the God of might,- to ascribe all honour, power, and 
 majesty to the Lord of victory. Then raise the hymn 
 of thanksgiving, people of the Eternal ! Lift high 
 your voices, and sing in strains the sweetest and the 
 boldest that bard has ever sung in verses, the loftiest 
 that imagination ever dictated, your thrilling, ani- 
 mating sea-song, the imperishable E'PI FTPO?- 
 
 nx:i HSU V3 m nWK " I will sing to Thee, God, 
 for gloriously Thou hast triumphed. In vain the 
 tyrant raged ; futile were his vows of vengeance. He 
 repented ; Thou wert merciful. He battled with Thee, 
 and is vanquished. D^ PI2D 132111 D1D The horse and 
 his rider, the monarch and his subject, the captain 
 and his legion hath the sea overwhelmed. There- 
 fore, pi* mfcfl *TJ? my strength and song is God, ^ TV1 
 PlJflB? v my salvation He has become. With faith, 
 Lord, Thou girtest Thy children for the conflict, and, 
 with a shield of grace, Thou turned st aside destruc- 
 tion. Hail! Saviour and Guardian of Thy people! 
 a holocaust of grateful hearts is offered up to Thee. 
 
 'hti HT " This is my God ; not like the gods of Egypt, 
 that cannot see, nor hear, nor save; 'htf PIT this is 
 my powerful One, the Ancient of days, the Source of 
 every good. And no strange God is He, whose great- 
 ness I now celebrate; no power, unknown before to 
 man, a guardian only for the hour. No : IX ^PlSx He 
 is my fathers' God the ancient Patron of my pro- 
 genitors : His goodness, love, and truth, displayed in 
 olden times, live in my heart and mind. Then tremble, 
 all ye nations, for ifcfc? 'Pi PlfcnStt fcTN 'PI. The Eternal
 
 THE PASSAGE OF THE RED SEA. 93 
 
 is a warrior : Eternal is His name. The elements 
 are His weapons the winds and waves His implements 
 of war. He calleth back the east wind, He releaseth 
 the imprisoned floods, and downward pour the watery 
 heaps, engulfing every foe. /n Dvfcto POb3 * Who 
 is like Thee among the mighty? Lord! who is like 
 Thee fcJH1p3 TT&O with holiness glorified, niSnn &O1J 
 Thou, fearful in praises! K75 Pl2?iy Thou wonder- 
 working God ! Yet, it is Thy will that finite mortal 
 dares to mar. It is against Thy power that man 
 frail man presumes to magnify himself. 
 
 wnn mn JTTN w& la&ran hhw phnx 
 
 H* ' Said the enemy, I will pursue, I will over- 
 take, I will divide the spoil; my soul shall be 
 full of them; I will unsheathe my sword; my hand 
 shall destroy them.' then it was, that Thy 
 powerful arm out-stretched, "jHlli DSE50 Thou 
 badest Thy ministering wind to blow, and while 
 the oppressors trod the solid pathway through the 
 deep, the death-knell of oppression tolled. D^ U3D3 
 The sea covered them. Wild shrieks burst from 
 the vaunting Pharaoh, and as the mad waves tri- 
 umphed over the sound, and lashed their shores 
 with fury, OHHK tftil mSlJD 1^, they sank like 
 lead into the mighty waters." 
 
 III. 
 
 Having thus gazed upon Israel in despair, and re- 
 hearsed some accents of their song of triumph, it 
 remains for us to contemplate them in acknowledg- 
 ment. This, Scripture emphatically describes in the 
 closing words of our text. 1Mn 71 HK D^PI
 
 94 THE PASSAGE OF THE RED SEA. 
 
 TQ "The people feared the Eternal, and 
 they believed in the Eternal, and in Moses, His ser- 
 vant." Fear and confidence are the effects of God's 
 " great power" in the hearts and minds of Israel- But 
 surely, brethren, fear is no new emotion to the Is- 
 raelites. Before the might of God was exercised up- 
 on Pharaoh, we saw them overwhelmed with fear, 
 and under its influence, committing violence on the 
 merits of their leader. Why then should Scripture 
 bear testimony, that when the people saw the flood 
 before them and the foe behind them, they feared; 
 and that now, when the foe is vanquished, and their 
 corpses strew the strand, they also fear ? A very 
 different feeling, my brethren, is the latter from the 
 former fear : a purer, holier emotion than mere carnal 
 dread. It is indeed alloyed with the grosser passion ; 
 for one of the elements of the fear which now pos- 
 sesses the people, is the apprehension that the ma- 
 jestic cloud which soars above them, might hurl down 
 lightning shafts to slay them in a moment. They 
 fear, indeed, lest the mighty wind, which built up 
 walls of unstable water to save them, while it brought 
 down floods to overwhelm their foes, might again pour 
 out its fury, to scorch them with a burning blast, or to 
 sweep them away like a torrent. They fear, lest the 
 Omnipotent voice which spoke the words iyD*1 " Let 
 them journey onward," might pronounce another fiat 
 which would presage their own destruction and strew 
 the desert with their dead. All this they fear, but it 
 is the ignoble fear of danger; and such is not the 
 emotion which Scripture records in our text, such is 
 not the emotion induced by the wonderful display of
 
 THE PASSAGE OF THE RED SEA. 95 
 
 supernal power. 'p] HK DpH 1KT1 " The people reve- 
 rence God :" they fall in prostrate veneration of His 
 greatness ; they feel the vastness of His might ; they 
 realize the majesty of His superintending Providence ; 
 and, praising Him for that greatness, loving Him for 
 that goodness, they offer a spiritual sacrifice, grateful 
 to their Benefactor, and grateful to their own immor- 
 tal nature. But there is another and a higher feeling 
 in their souls, that heaven-born emotion, faith. 
 TO WfiN^ "The people believed in the Eternal." Re- 
 verence is inspired by transcendant power; faith is 
 originated by transcendant love. Fear is a tribute 
 to greatness ; faith is a tribute to goodness. Wher- 
 ever this abides, there must be a consciousness that 
 the subject of our confidence is able and willing to 
 keep us, and that this ability and disposition will 
 never cease nor alter. Noah felt that faith within 
 him, as under his handicraft the ark progressed, in 
 which he was to survive a race of evil-doers. Abraham 
 felt that faith within him, as his weary feet toiled up 
 the ascent of Mount Moriah. Moses felt that faith 
 within him, as he stretched forth his rod and bade the 
 people journey onwards through the waste of waters. 
 But all these, my brethren, were men whose spiritual 
 instincts had been cultivated by communion with their 
 God, from whom they had derived the sweet teachings 
 of religion. Not so, these almost brutalised bond- 
 men, just freed from thraldom, with all the preroga- 
 tives of liberty, but with none of the noble virtues to 
 which it gives birth. They had been miraculously 
 enfranchised; they had seen their fetters fall at the 
 command of God; and though thus they had been
 
 96 THE PASSAGE OF THE RED SEA. 
 
 convinced of His power to protect them, they lacked 
 the faith that He would do so. Therefore, every 
 shadow on the desert sands, every sound in the still 
 air, kindled fear and doubt in their bosoms. Now, 
 however, that from the very depths of despair they 
 have been lifted up; now that, expecting death, they 
 have met with victory, they know and feel the willing- 
 ness of God to save them, and they pour out their con- 
 fidence full and entire in His mercy and goodness- 
 confidence in the beneficence of His design confidence 
 in the competency of His will confidence besides, in 
 the authority, the skill, and the energy of His agent 
 
 Moses, my nBtoirm wfiK'i n n Dyn IKT"I "The 
 
 people feared the Eternal, and they believed in the 
 Eternal and in Moses His servant." 
 
 And now, my brethren, let us, in conclusion, take 
 to heart the lessons inculcated by the passage of Holy 
 Writ, which has passed before our view. Let us be 
 solemnly admonished by the fate of Pharaoh and his 
 hosts, inbSHi DDH y?nfV htt an d let not the wise 
 glory in his wisdom, imiM TQil SWl' Stfl nor let 
 the strong exult in his strength, "WJD'WySSnn 1 ^jfl 
 nor let the rich boast of his wealth. God is the 
 Source of them all, and when our wisdom dictates the 
 counsel of evil, when our strong arm is raised for 
 violence, when our wealth and influence are being 
 directed to unholy purposes, one stroke of omnipo- 
 tence can destroy our vaunted advantage, and render 
 us powerless as the worm. Pharaoh, as he gave the 
 order for pursuit, thought of nought but hate and 
 vengeance, passions which he fancied would soon be 
 sated in the death or recapture of his liberated
 
 THE PASSAGE OF THE RED SEA. 97 
 
 bondsmen. Yet, brethren, we have seen his fate and 
 the fate of his army; stricken down in the midst of 
 their pride and arrogance crushed by the Mighty 
 Hand of the Eternal. In the like manner, brethren, 
 impelled by the same whirlwind of passion in- 
 fluenced by similar feelings of malice and revenge 
 we devise means to oppress our Aveaker neighbour; 
 and we prosecute our sinful efforts till we see our 
 victim overwhelmed by them, when suddenly those 
 designs are frustrated, those efforts fail, and upon our- 
 selves recoil the consequences of our evil acts. 
 
 But while God's anger threatens our evil courses 
 and bids us fear the Lord, T\ Jltf D^H 1N*M, His love 
 invites us in our troubles, and bids us confide in 
 Him ,pQ 13WV The example in our text, assures 
 us, that though our misfortunes be ever so over- 
 whelming, if we but place a firm reliance upon God, 
 and make His love and truth our stay, they will sup- 
 port us, and bring enlargement, peace, and comfort. 
 I appeal to your own experience, my brethren, 
 whether during your lives you have not seen this 
 assurance verified. You, too, have had towering 
 mountains of difficulties and anxieties on your right 
 hand and on your left. Before you, has raged the 
 sea of ruin and distress, opposing your progress, 
 while behind you has pressed adversity, with a pur- 
 suing army of cares and troubles. Like Israel at 
 Pi-hahiroth, you would have abandoned hope, if your 
 religious spirit had not encouraged you to trust in 
 God and journey onward. And your trust was not 
 misplaced: you saw your difficulties overcome and 
 your deliverance effected. Then continue, my dear 
 
 H
 
 98 THE PASSAGE OF THE RED SEA. 
 
 friends, to lean on that unfailing Power. Continue, 
 like Israel in the text, to fear the Eternal, to reverence 
 Him as He desires to be reverenced, with the whole 
 soul, that you may remain ever estranged from evil 
 and challenge not, like Pharaoh, His wrath and 
 vengeance. Continue, too, to have faith in the 
 Eternal, to lean upon Him as the surest support in 
 the dark hour of adversity to look up to Him for 
 help and comfort in your sorrow and distress. And 
 your faith will still be rewarded ; for in the deepest 
 gloom, you will be cheered by the conviction from on 
 high " That though your flesh and heart should 
 fail, God will be the rock of your heart and your 
 eternal portion. 5 ' 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 ALMIGHTY Father, Great God of Israel! who dost 
 protect us even in our rebellion, who lovest us even 
 in our disobedience teach us to reverence Thee, and 
 to confide in Thy benign Guardianship for ever, so 
 that our loyalty may promote our happiness, and 
 glorify Thy majesty throughout the world. Make us 
 feel, in Thy unending grace and favour, that true 
 felicity is never found but in Thy service, that 
 nothing is great but what tends to Thy honour, 
 nothing noble that conforms not to Thy Law. On 
 the humble and desponding, Lord ! do Thou shed Thy 
 holy spirit, to teach us that we are safe in leaning 
 upon Thee, that where Thou art, no human cala- 
 mity can prevail, and that even as light and life pro- 
 ceeded from Thy treasury of good, so comfort and
 
 THE PASSAGE OF THE RED SEA. 99 
 
 instruction, wisdom and support are all so many 
 streams that flow from Thee. And upon Israel, Thy 
 people, Lord! we supplicate Thy grace. Fight for 
 us, as Thou hast fought before. Make our way 
 straight before us, redeem our scattered ones from 
 the land of their captivity: and responsive to the 
 prayer which we, to-day, have poured out to Thee, 
 do Thou compassionate desolate Zion, rV3E> 
 
 : D^Stfn iwi wfip TIK nSym nsnA spin Sao ' 
 
 " Return again to wed her, and never more divorce 
 her, but let the light of her sun ascend, that every 
 shadow be dispelled, which darkens now the glory of 
 her children." Amen. 
 
 H 2
 
 100 
 
 VIII. 
 THE DEPARTURE FROM EGYPT. 
 
 A SERMON FOR 
 
 Delivered at the Synagogue of the o s nwn -\yw p'p Spanish and Portuguese Jews, 
 Bevis Marks, London. 
 
 ON this day, emphatically styled n^Pl H1&? " the Great 
 Sabbath," there is one idea ascendant in our minds, 
 one emotion predominant in our souls, and this 
 has reference to the mighty event commemorated by 
 the festival which approaches us apace. Yet, brethren, 
 it is remarkable, that although the very proximity of 
 the Pesach kindles within us the glow of holy joy 
 although, too, the incident which it celebrates is, and 
 ever will be, from its intrinsic magnificence and 
 stupendousness, imperishable as the most gigantic 
 revolution that man ever witnessed; we are yet 
 enjoined, expressly and emphatically, to remember 
 that occurrence, and to perpetuate the memorial. 
 That injunction, which will form the basis of our 
 observations, stands thus recorded in holy writ, 
 Exodus xiii. 3 nn DVfi DK TOT Dp h$ W 
 
 Ti KWI T pra ^ D'-ny rvaa DHaa prixr 
 
 J m/S DDnj< " Remember this day on which ye are 
 come out of Egypt, from the house of bondage, that 
 with might of hand, it is the Eternal who has brought 
 you thence."
 
 THE DEPARTUBE FROM EGYPT. 101 
 
 The deliverance from Egypt, my brethren, full as 
 it was of blessing for our oppressed fathers, to whom 
 it brought enlargement stamped, too, as it was with 
 the seal of the Divine hand, was not an occurrence 
 whose circumstances could ever be forgotten by our 
 race. The wailings of Egypt smitten in her first- 
 born sons the sublime accents of Israel's song of 
 triumph reverberating among the hills of Suez^ were 
 sounds which, once heard, could never be banished 
 from the mind, but would form a never-failing theme 
 of tradition through every succeeding age. Then 
 wherefore are we, the objects of that signal redemp- 
 tion, expressly commanded to remember, that which 
 we never could forget? Brethren, it is not literally 
 the day of that mighty exodus it is not even that 
 deliverance itself, clothed though it be with the glory 
 of the Eternal God, which is recommended to our 
 remembrance. But it is the great saving object 
 therewith connected the object for which Israel 
 went down to Egypt the object for which Israel was 
 oppressed in Egypt the object for which Israel was 
 redeemed from Egypt that we are ordered to keep 
 alive eternally in our minds and hearts; not as a 
 mere unproductive idea, but as a great working 
 truth, full of blessing for us and for all man- 
 kind. To arrive at that object, we must consider 
 Israel under the three-fold phases of their prepa- 
 ratory life. 
 
 I. THE EMIGRATION. 
 
 II. THE PERSECUTION. 
 
 III. THE REDEMPTION.
 
 102 THE DEPARTURE FROM EGYPT. 
 
 I. 
 
 Idolatry prevailed throughout the universe. On 
 every side, man was prostrating himself before the work 
 of his own hand an abject worshipper of a senseless 
 image. The godly emanation which gives a spiritual 
 nature to humanity, had become degraded and defiled 
 by the grovelling superstition which filled the earth 
 with a hideous idol* worship, and outraged thus the 
 majesty of the only God. To eradicate this testimony 
 of man's degeneracy, and to bring the human mind to 
 a clear conception of spiritual truth, the Eternal 
 determined to kindle a light rDTDn hty "IplH TfcH 5?N 
 !"Q3H tfS " whose flame burning upon his altar should 
 never go out" a light by which all earth should be 
 illumined, and mankind guided to regulate their 
 lives until the end of time. To effect this glorious 
 object, God was pleased to select 1J y^pti ^ " a na- 
 tion from the midst of a nation," to make them the 
 agents of His will, and so to watch over every 
 circumstance connected with their spiritual and tem- 
 poral good, that all the world might see in them the 
 peculiar missionaries of salvation and of truth. But 
 before that mission could be entrusted to the chosen 
 people, they had first to be educated for the holy 
 purpose. Even as the seed remains within the earth 
 unseen, while the germ still merges surely into 
 vitality, so for four hundred years was the prepara- 
 tion of Israel progressing slowly, yet securely, towards 
 the development of the design of Omnipotence. Israel, 
 therefore, went down to Egypt fc?)J D^DBO " num- 
 bering seventy souls." To their purpose and intent 
 they went as emigrants to the land where a beloved
 
 THE DEPARTURE FROM EGYPT. 103 
 
 kinsman was high in power, and could therefore 
 strew sweet flowers on their path : to the purpose and 
 intent of God, they went as apprentices to a noble 
 though an arduous profession, with much of sorrow 
 and suffering before them, but with the guarantee of 
 eventual success, with glory and honour, peace and 
 eternal life for their portion. They went, because it 
 was the design of the Eternal God that they should 
 feel the burning of the fire of adversity. Their 
 saving mission could not be confided to them while 
 they were enjoying national prosperity, with every 
 material comfort at hand, else would they have re- 
 fused to co-operate in the great work of regeneration, 
 because that work would fetter and restrain their 
 lusts. Forward, then, to the Land of Ham, thou 
 venerable patriarch, who goest to seek a loved son's 
 embrace. Forward, ye sons of Jacob, agitated as ye 
 are by mixed sentiments of love and fear for the 
 injured brother, now high in the world's repute. For- 
 ward to the broad lands of Goshen, to abide under 
 the protecting shadow of Joseph's name and influence ; 
 the Eternal God accompanies you His ministering 
 angels lead the way before you, for ye go to work 
 out the object of His Omniscience ye are the in- 
 struments of His loving-kindness to the world of 
 men. 
 
 II. 
 
 And now, my brethren, the second phase dawns 
 upon us, and we find the wise Joseph dead, and his 
 virtues quite forgotten by the Pharaoh who is now 
 lord over Egypt. Israel, no longer the happy herds- 
 men of Goshen, are yet increased into a nation,
 
 104 THE DEPARTURE FROM EGYPT. 
 
 mighty in number, but a nation withal of bondsmen, 
 with the crushed spirit and the broken hearts that 
 unfailingly belong to serfdom. And what a bitter 
 fate is theirs ? Uncomplainingly they labour to render 
 great the name of Egypt's monarch to build those 
 monuments of his celebrity which would transmit 
 his memory to distant ages long long after 
 his sovereignty should have crumbled into dust. 
 They give their manly vigour to erect those cities 
 which are to contain the treasures of the tyrant's 
 realms treasures augmented, if not created, by the 
 wisdom and integrity of their own illustrious proge- 
 nitor. But their domestic joys, the only thing left 
 them in their changed condition, are now to be as- 
 sailed by the hand of murder. Yes, the despot is 
 jealous of the increasing number of that people who 
 have so many wrongs to avenge on him and on his 
 country. He watches with alarm the swelling ranks 
 of those whom he has dared to enslave, without the 
 right of conquest or of purchase ; and he now trembles 
 as he thinks of the fearful retribution they would 
 wreak on him, if they should ever regain their liberty. 
 Therefore went forth the command, that murder the 
 massacre of innocents should be employed to stop, at 
 every hazard, the progress of that alarming increase ; 
 that redoubled labour should be imposed upon the 
 existing hosts, so that exhaustion and disease might 
 enfeeble them and diminish their numerical import- 
 ance, as surely as infanticide would stay the progress 
 of their progeny towards avenging manhood, fltf 11*123*1 
 Wp rroyi DrVTt. " They embittered their lives, saith 
 Holy Writ, with a hard bondage," but that bondage,
 
 THE DEPARTURE FROM EGYPT. 105 
 
 consuming and spirit crushing though it was, only 
 reached the climax of severity, when their family 
 joys and home happiness were assailed. Embittered 
 were their lives, indeed, when the father could no lon- 
 ger forget his miseries, by hoping for the advent of that 
 son, for whom we all devoutly pray, to perpetuate 
 our name and lineage. Embittered were their lives, 
 when the mother could no longer think, with joyous 
 anticipation, of the day her unborn treasure should 
 be ushered into light, to comfort her under her op- 
 pressing fate, because the destroyer was ready to lay 
 a ruthless grasp upon it at its birth, and if a male 
 child, hurry it to death ere yet it had awakened into 
 life. Here, then, my brethren, was oppression with- 
 out parallel in the annals of the world oppression, 
 which deliberately aimed at the very existence of 
 a people, in whom the sacred laws of hospitality 
 had been outraged; and who, after subserving the 
 aggrandisement of a despot, were now mercilessly 
 doomed to extermination, by an intensification of 
 cruelty and barbarity. But this oppression, my 
 brethren, places Israel in a condition to further the 
 design of the Eternal. Bowed down under the 
 rigours of Egyptian tyranny, they have but one 
 sustaining hope, arid that is imparted by a ray of 
 light which they see dimly through the distant past : 
 a ray of light which directs their hearts to Heaven, 
 and reminds them of a God of truth, from whom re- 
 demption is to proceed. True it is, that of this God, 
 but faint and erring notions now survive within 
 them that the pure patriarchal worship of Abraham, 
 Isaac, and Jacob, has been corrupted by the heathen-
 
 106 THE DEPARTURE FROM EGYPT. 
 
 ism of Egypt; nevertheless there are some lingering 
 recollections of the God their fathers taught them to 
 adore, and these gain strength and vigour as they 
 pray for help and deliverance, even as the reposing 
 heart is strengthened in its faith, by each appeal it 
 makes for succour. They are thus, prepared to adore 
 the hand that should bring to them enlargement, 
 from their condition of misery and woe; they ar 
 prepared to recognise at once the supernal might 
 which can alone, release them Snifi TOD " from 
 that iron furnace." They have been qualified in the 
 school of adversity, to become the agents of the Most 
 High are now attuned unreservedly to do His will, 
 therefore, WHS DK rti"O JIPBa W KXV1 " He brings 
 forth His people with joy His chosen ones with 
 exultation." VW VmirYl VpPl VW TOJD " That they 
 might preserve His statutes and guard his doctrines." 
 
 III. 
 
 And now, my brethren, with the opening of the third 
 phase, the work of expiation commences. Before the 
 tyrant of Mizraim, there appear two old men who, 
 undismayed by the surrounding ministers of this 
 despot's will, demand, in the name of the God of the 
 Hebrews, the complete and immediate emancipation 
 of His people. What! Shall the greatest monarch 
 of his age, manumit a nation of his bondsmen- 
 bondsmen who are immortalizing his name by build- 
 ing those everlasting pyramids bondsmen whose in- 
 dustry has reared the towers of Pitom and Kaamses ? 
 And, at the simple bidding of two men, unaccredited 
 by aught, save certain signs, which at his command the
 
 THE DEPARTURE FROM EGYPT. 107 
 
 necromancers of his court can imitate? No, saith 
 Pharaoh, n^PK fh htiW DK Wl 'PI flK WY S " I 
 know not Adonai, nor will I let Israel go." But amid 
 the indignation which marks this arrogant reply, 
 amid the wrath and fury which inflame the tyrant, 
 he dares not speak one word which might endanger 
 the safety of those weak old men, who stood before 
 him without physical protection, to discharge the 
 embassy of God. With words of scorn and daring 
 on his lips, he succumbs beneath an unseen power, 
 when he dreams not of violating the panoply of 
 divine guardianship which surrounds the future 
 priest and prophet of God's people. But Pharaoh 
 refuses to let the people go, and, by that refusal, he 
 arrays himself against Omnipotence. Weak man 
 essays a struggle with Almighty God, the creature is 
 in arms against the Creator! And now is poured 
 out the vengeance of the Lord upon that devoted 
 land, its monarch, and its people. Each element 
 becomes the minister of wrath divine, and nature's 
 laws are overturned to humble the despot's pride, to 
 rescue the chosen servants of the Lord, and vindicate 
 through earth the might, the love, and the faithful- 
 ness of God. Egypt's proud stream is turned to 
 blood, its teeming life perished in a day : loathsome 
 reptiles invade the habitations of the Egyptians, and 
 overspreading every part of their domain, make food 
 and rest disgustful. Noisome vermin seize on their 
 bodies, to make their life a living torture; reptiles 
 and insects of varied species next commingle, to in- 
 fest the land, and make the very atmosphere swarm 
 with noxious life. Pestilence assails their flocks
 
 108 THE DEPARTURE FROM EGYPT. 
 
 and herds, and strews the country with their cattle, 
 perishing and perished : disease of the most repulsive 
 nature seizes upon each denizen of that land; and 
 then, the wrath of God displays itself in the destroying- 
 hail storm, when the fire runs along the ground, 
 striking terror into every heart. Now, we see the 
 advancing cloud of destructive life, obscuring the 
 light of day, and spreading through the length and 
 breadth of the land, consumes the staff of life ; then 
 for three whole days the sun sheds no light upon 
 Egypt its borders are stricken with palpable, terrific 
 darkness. Lastly, the destroying angel goes forth 
 over the land, to smite it in its vigour, and on one 
 memorable night, each firstborn son of Egypt is 
 prostrate in the dust. Then, ascends throughout 
 the land of Ham, one loud, awful, bitter cry the 
 cry which heralds the departure of God's people, 
 by proclaiming that retribution has been wreaked, 
 justice satisfied, and the omnipotence of Adonai ac- 
 knowledged in that land of gross idolatry. And 
 now, even amid the terrors of that night, the com- 
 mand goes forth, and high in the heavens, the pillar 
 of fire, which shows the presence of the Eternal God, 
 leads the van of Israel's hosts, and the seventy who 
 thither came, three centuries before, go forth in 
 triumph, six hundred thousand men their wives 
 and children in addition. Forward then again, ye 
 blessed ones, emancipated by the Mighty Arm of God 
 forward from the field of Zoan, where so much 
 misery has been your lot. Forward to the shores of 
 ftID D^ 5 where the Lord will fight for you, and con- 
 summate the woe of Pharaoh. Forward to the foot
 
 THE DEPARTURE FROM EGYPT. 109 
 
 of Horeb, where the plan of the Eternal God is to be 
 be detailed unto you, the revelation made of the 
 holy end and aim of all your antecedent sufferings. 
 To Horeb, brethren, we accordingly are come to 
 listen to the design of God ; and prostrate before the 
 holy mount, we gaze with veneration at its summit, 
 where sits enthroned the glory of the Eternal, 
 from whom the awe-inspiring revelation is to come. 
 
 DN nnyi : DDHK 
 hi 'h ^ D'an Sn& nSuo *b crrm vva n 
 
 " Ye have^seen what I did to Egypt, how I bare 
 you on the wings of eagles, and brought you unto 
 me. And now, if ye will hearken to my voice, and 
 keep my covenant, ye shall be to me a peculiar trea- 
 sure above all people that to me be all the earth." 
 Here then, brethren, is revealed the object for which 
 we have been seeking the object at once of Israel's 
 emigration their sufferings and their redemption. 
 " That they might be qualified for the mission of 
 propagating God's laws and attributes throughout 
 the world that ignorance and superstition be up- 
 rooted idol worship effectually, and for ever extir- 
 pated, and all mankind be prostrated in holy brother- 
 hood before one common Creator, Preserver, and 
 Benefactor. Amid the supernal manifestations of 
 God's glory, while the thunder waxed loud the 
 lightning-flash struck terror to the souls of that con- 
 
 O O 
 
 gregation, and the blast of the Shofar made the moun- 
 tain quake to its foundation, the sacred mission was 
 accepted, and the everlasting law, by whose agency 
 the great end was to be worked out, was revealed,
 
 110 THE DEPARTURE FROM EGYPT. 
 
 eliciting at once their cordial, unanimous concurrence 
 P!>yj 'PI 131 *1^K Si " All that the Eternal hath said, 
 we will do." 
 
 Now, my brethren, let us pause to ask whether we 
 have been true to that engagement, faithful to that 
 mission ? When the promise of the Eternal was ful- 
 filled, and we stood in earth, a whole nation of 
 divine missionaries, did our example promote the 
 glory of God, and spread the knowledge of His 
 name? Alas! no. Instead of bringing the world 
 to Him, we followed the world from Him; and 
 therefore it is, that we are again in bondage, therefore 
 
 it is Dmbiym -m hiiw xhx irSy t&y uSi nn *b& 
 
 137YI71 7 liv^ ''that not one alone has risen against 
 us, but in every generation, some rise up to extermi- 
 nate us." Turn we to the annals of the present 
 captivity, and we shall find whole pages written in 
 characters of blood; we shall read of death and de- 
 struction, fire and sword, rapine and bloodshed, 
 directed against suffering Israel, to extirpate our 
 name and our religion. How is it, then, that we yet 
 exist after such unparalleled miseries? that, although 
 assailed on every side by the devouring flame of per- 
 secution, yet like the bush at Horeb, though burning 
 with fire, we are not consumed? Because now, as of old, 
 DYO ttSnfiB K1PI -pi Bmppl " the Holy One, blessed be 
 He, has delivered us from their hands." In His love 
 for us, He raised up two messengers, to stand before 
 the Pharaoh of intolerance, and to plead for us. 
 Know you those delegates of Omnipotence, the modern 
 Moses and Aaron of the present bondage ? Moses is 
 represented by the spirit of Education, Aaron by the
 
 THE DEPARTURE FROM EGYPT. Ill 
 
 spirit of Religion. Yes, brethren, Education and Re- 
 ligion are those messengers, and before them as 
 gigantic a revolution has been wrought as that of 
 yore in Egypt. While sorrow fills our hearts, as we 
 dwell on the iron oppression we have endured, pride 
 and admiration glow in our souls as we contemplate 
 the earnestness with which we have clung to our schools, 
 and our uniform zeal and energy in the sacred cause of 
 education. It is true, my brethren, that the sphere 
 of our mental culture was limited by intolerance, that 
 we were long excluded from the walk of science, art, 
 and literature, and could only apply ourselves to those 
 pursuits which served our modern Pharaohs. But, 
 secretly we laboured, taught, and studied, until, de- 
 spite the persecuting vigilance of our oppressors, we 
 sent forth to the world bright luminaries of learning, 
 great geniuses with imperishable reputations. Steadily 
 we have advanced in the development of the mind, 
 profiting by every extension of privilege, by every 
 show of tolerance, pleading at every step for extended 
 liberty and enlarged sphere of action, until now, that 
 in the civilized world, the Jew can be honoured for 
 his morals, admired for his principles, and valued 
 for his intellect ; now that, whether you soar in the 
 region of literature, or descend into the mines of 
 science, whether arts or letters engage your view, 
 you find some Jewish name pre-eminent, some Jewish 
 genius lauded. And how has our religion pleaded 
 for us ? How has the Moses of our devout spirit pre- 
 vailed against the great Pharaoh of idolatry, sur- 
 rounded as he is by the power and influence of his 
 ministers Persecution, Superstition, and Bigotry ?
 
 112 THE DEPARTURE FROM EGYPT. 
 
 Our champion had nought to oppose to this phalanx 
 of might but his simple rod the staff and stay of 
 Israel the law of the Immutable ; that wonder-work- 
 ing law, which alone has preserved us amid the wreck 
 of nations, identified us with the author of our com- 
 mission, and asserted our right of teaching under 
 warrant of Omnipotence. Led on by that champion, 
 protected by that guardian rod, we have done much, 
 and we are doing much, my brethren. Little by 
 little, with slow but certain strides, we are fulfilling 
 our mission to the world. Errors are vanishing be- 
 fore the light which we diffuse, mountains of preju- 
 dice are falling before the moral force which we exert. 
 Then, onward, brethren, is the word ; let our religious 
 fervour demand that the faith of Israel be free from 
 thraldom, that it be not oppressed by perverted doc- 
 trines, by prejudiced dogmata. Already we have made 
 the Pharaoh of Idolatry concede principle after 
 principle, and he trembles at the divine power we exert. 
 His courtiers, who are the strength of his throne, are 
 abandoning him; and though they have not yet 
 reached our camp, they are coming, brethren, they 
 are coming to consummate God's wise intent. One 
 courtier reproached his monarch with his image- 
 loving formulae, denounced them as offensive to Hea- 
 ven, and he deserted to give rise to what is called the 
 Protestant dissent. Another censured the importance 
 with which he vested form to the exclusion of spirit, 
 pronounced that tendency inimical to purity, and he 
 deserted to originate another schism.* Another 
 
 * Calvinism.
 
 THE DEPARTURE FROM EGYPT. 113 
 
 dared to raise our own watchword in the Pharaoh's 
 presence, and proclaiming -jriN 'Pi " there is but One 
 God," he also forsook the throne to produce Unitari- 
 anism. Another hazarded a fear that the monarch 
 erred when he pronounced our covenant cancelled, 
 declared that nought exists to revoke our high ap- 
 pointment, and he, too, departed and led another 
 dissent.* Thus gradually they are approaching us, 
 and soon, full soon, they will bring themselves to fall 
 with us before the throne of Him, from whom we 
 hold our high commission. Then, Brethren, that 
 last redemption shall occur, when the exodus of Mo- 
 saism from the prejudices, the misconceptions, the 
 idolatry of Gentilism, shall be achieved, wrought by 
 our energy, secured by our instruction, eifected by 
 our might, and by virtue of that great legation, which 
 made Israel a holy people and a priestly race. And 
 then too, brethren, shall be realised the glorious pro- 
 mise of the Lord, predicted through the prophet, in 
 this morning's Haftorah D^H ^ TON ?k 1W) " He 
 will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children;" 
 for then shall the great parent of revelation, " Torath 
 Moshe," shine benignantly upon all the world, where 
 no more idolatry will abide ; DTOX h$ D'J3 ahj and 
 the hearts of the children those varied creeds which 
 have been born of her, shall discard their impurity, 
 and shall return into their parent source, through 
 whose spiritual blessings, 'p| TQ3 r\y~b pNH xhtift 
 D^SyiD^D^^, u the earth shall be filled with the 
 knowledge of the glory of the Eternal, as the waters 
 cover the sea." 
 
 * Sabbatarianism. 
 I
 
 1 1 4: THE DEPARTURE FROM EGYPT. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 ALMIGHTY GOD ! Thy children are here before Thee, 
 with hearts and minds directed to Thy approaching 
 Passover the glorious festival which gave a boon to 
 Israel and the world, by teaching men the principles 
 of liberty and truth. We thank Thee, Lord, for the 
 care with which Thou hast preserved us alive, to 
 witness the recurrence of this season ; we thank Thee 
 for the gracious bounties of peace and spiritual repose 
 to which Thou dost again invite us by Thy approach- 
 ing feast-days; but more than all, we thank Thee 
 that Thou hast implanted in our souls an apprecia- 
 tion of what is noble and good an admiration for the 
 many moral truths involved in the Pesach, its lessons 
 and its duties. Grant, Father, that we value ever the 
 doctrines of that ennobling festival, and bring them 
 into activity. And when its festive hours shall assem- 
 ble us, and we stand before Thee with praise and 
 thanksgiving, to acknowledge the mercies of a past 
 redemption, do Thou fill our hearts with all those 
 sweet emotions that lead to good results to purity 
 and virtue, obedience and love. So, Father ! advance 
 Thy cheering feast of liberty, that it may bring joy 
 to our hearts, happiness to our homes, and holy 
 gratitude to our souls and the souls of all Thy people ! 
 Amen.
 
 115 
 
 IX. 
 FAITH. 
 
 A SERMON FOR THE PASSOVER. 
 
 BRETHREN, the rigours of winter are over, and the 
 smiling festival of spring is here. The sacred 
 Passover assembles us once more, to cheer us with 
 its reminiscences, to improve us with its les- 
 sons. There is no festival of our religion, my 
 brethren, that addresses us with so much emphasis, 
 as well in its recollections of the past as in its 
 hopes for the future. There is no occasion in our 
 ceremonial cycle which speaks to us in such affec- 
 tionate terms concerning our duties and obligations as 
 Israelites. We have, on former occasions, seen the 
 HD3 developing the grand principles of light to 
 the world we have regarded it as teaching man- 
 kind the civilizing doctrines of liberty and truth. 
 We will to-day consider it as illustrative of a 
 duty, the most comprehensive and the most 
 sublime that can devolve on man. To this end 
 we direct your attention to Exodus xii. 21, 22, 
 
 ini w& DnStf TBKI htirw ^pr W? n^D anp'i 
 Dnnp^i :nDsn itsnn oawspaS KX coS 
 tpppan S Dnpni ppn IPK Din 
 
 i 2
 
 116 FAITH. 
 
 x i*n xb DHKI *pi IPK Dnn p nnr&n 
 
 in*l " Moses called to all the elders of Israel, 
 and he said unto them, draw out and take unto you a 
 lamb according to your families and slay the passover. 
 Ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood 
 that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two 
 side-posts with the blood that is in the basin, none of 
 you shall go out from the entrance of his house until 
 the morning." 
 
 In this text are embodied a great trial and a great 
 triumph. It conveys an injunction, obedience to 
 which constituted in God's eyes the highest merit 
 our fathers could possess merit sufficient to render 
 them worthy of redemption the merit of faith. 
 From this simple observance, we shall presently see 
 shining forth resplendently, a faith, glorious to its 
 object and honourable to its possessors, a faith whose 
 real character must challenge universal admiration 
 when viewed as we propose to develope it, in its 
 three independent elements. 
 
 I. FAITH INFLUENCING ACTION. 
 II. FAITH INFLUENCING BELIEF. 
 
 III. FAITH INFLUENCING HOPE. 
 
 I. 
 
 Faith influencing action is unquestionably, faith 
 robed in its noblest character; and nowhere can we 
 find it so forcibly illustrated, as in the event to which 
 our text refers. Let your minds revert to the scene 
 of that event. Gaze in imagination upon the fathers 
 in Israel, as they seek their yearling for the paschal 
 sacrifice. Behold them absorbed in their preparations,
 
 FAITH. 117 
 
 their very hearts in the holy work, while their ex- 
 pectant bosoms throb with excitement as they count 
 the weary hours which drag along their slow length 
 until eventide approaches. Ever and anon their 
 spirits soar upwards in thought to what the ad- 
 vancing night is to bring forth ; their breasts 
 are agitated with the hope of happiness and freedom 
 promised to them ere morn shall dawn again. The 
 shadows of night close in, and now, see every father in 
 his household, a priest before the domestic altar, pre- 
 pared to make the sacrifice of the passover, which, to 
 him and all that household, is to be initiatory either 
 of faith and freedom, or of doubt and destruction. 
 The sacrifice complete, behold ! he dips a hyssop sprig 
 into its blood, and solemnly he strikes with it the 
 door-posts of his house, leaving there the impress of 
 his blow a gleaming streak of gore. 
 
 Here pause we to inquire, what means that simple 
 ceremonial? Why is the same blood-stain upon the 
 threshold of every Israelitish home? It is the emblem 
 of faith faith writ with the blood of grateful sacri- 
 fice faith giving defiance to man's present oppres- 
 sion, and confiding in God's prospective protection 
 faith which is to confront the destroying angel as he 
 passes over Egypt, and to drive him from each gore- 
 stained habitation. To use the words of an ancient sage, 
 
 -p&S hix spun a& injna xb\ spun pia D-rn px 
 a nSm ntb& & nrrpns potfnp *o ^ niron 
 j^Dnnsn ran imui njns now &&n xb\ untoa 
 tf pp&n Sjn rmiTfcn hy nosn DID jroi D^O rojnn 
 
 ni'jTQ HtDni pHX nT nn " The blood on the door- 
 posts could not literally restrain the destroyer, neither
 
 118 FAITH. 
 
 could its absence incur his visitation, but whoever, 
 unmoved by the fear of Pharaoh and his decrees, 
 should sacrifice the idol of the Egyptians and sprin- 
 kle the door-posts and lintel with its blood, would 
 manifest that he believed in the Holy One with a 
 perfect faith, and reposed in Him his trust. Thus he 
 would be accounted righteous and faithful in the 
 sight of God, worthy of the redemption which the 
 morrow was to bring about."* 
 
 To understand this, my brethren, I bid you re- 
 member, that, when the hand of the Eternal was 
 heavy upon the tyrant king, and his fear struggling 
 with his wrath, he sought to moderate the demands 
 of Moses, by asking him to let the people keep their 
 feast in Egypt, the prophet answered, HK H^TJ JH 
 ttSpD' **Sl DITyyS Dnttb rapn " Behold, can we 
 sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before 
 their eyes, and will they not stone us?" Moses knew 
 the religious superstitions of that idolatrous nation. 
 He had penetrated into the arcana of Egyptian 
 hierology, and thus was competent to estimate the 
 vengeance which those benighted heathens would 
 wreak on the insulters of their divinity. Yet those 
 very lips which, in the words just quoted, rejected 
 the idea of sacrificing the ram and its kind in Egypt, 
 but a few days later, gave expression to the command 
 which forms our text. Then wherefore this change 
 of sentiment, so sudden and unexpected? Because 
 now, Israel are to rise above the fear of their oppres- 
 sors ; they must deliberately challenge their persecu- 
 tors, and they are required to make the defiance as
 
 FAITH. Ill 
 
 public as it can possibly be to write it in characters 
 of blood before their dwellings. The wavering heart, 
 the fear-fraught spirit, will not dare obey the Divine 
 command, lest it may call down the fate pre-men- 
 tioned by Moses. But Israel are on the eve of 
 regeneration. Faith is in their souls they despise 
 man and cleave unto God ; and that faith they carry 
 into action by obeying the voice of the Eternal, 
 therefore pro* DrvniTDItfl ni&S*1 *]E>P1& DN^' " He 
 brings them forth from darkness and the shadow of 
 death, and breaks their bonds asunder." 
 
 II. 
 
 We are next to discover, through the text, faith 
 displayed in belief faith in the correct religious 
 opinions which that regenerated people had just 
 re-adopted. The little band of Israelites who went 
 down to Egypt, devoted to their pure patriarchal 
 worship, had, during centuries of bondage, consider- 
 ably degenerated in their physical, moral and religious 
 condition. Under the rigours of an oppressive thral- 
 dom like that of Egypt, it was natural to expect such 
 retrogression. Slavery at all times demoralises man, 
 cramps his intellect, debases his sentiments, and 
 checks the aspirations of his soul; but when that 
 slavery is characterised by cruelty and persecution 
 akin to that of Pharaoh, it becomes a hateful agent, 
 most powerful in reducing the sentient spirit to a 
 resemblance with the mere instinct of the brute. 
 Thus it was that Israel gradually lost their early 
 faith in the land of their oppressors, forgetting daily 
 more and more the religious teaching of their fathers,
 
 120 FAITH. 
 
 and advancing meanwhile in the degraded doctrines 
 of Egyptian theology, until they probably came them- 
 selves to worship Isis and Osiris, the divinities of 
 Egypt, and to confide in Aries her tutelary planet. 
 Now that Moses and Aaron with their exhortations, 
 their signs and their wonders, had convened the 
 people to hear the design of the Omnipotent now 
 that the hand of the Eternal had so miraculously 
 manifested itself in their cause, they bethought them 
 of the old paths of pure religion, and strove to return 
 to them. But ere their redemption could be effected, 
 they were required to prove their fealty ; and there- 
 fore the command of our text is enjoined, requiring 
 a general united demonstration of their faith in their 
 father's God. The lamb, sacred in Egyptian ideas and 
 Egyptian prejudices, is ordered to be slain, its flesh to 
 used for food, its blood smeared upon the door-posts, 
 to mark their despisal of the idol, their rejection of 
 its fancied protection, and their unconditional repose 
 upon the " strong hand and outstretched arm " of 
 the Eternal. Can you not conceive the struggles of 
 conscience in the breasts of the weak the whisper- 
 ings of fear in the ears of the wavering ? Can you 
 not fancy the hope for freedom battling with the 
 dread of slavery ? the evidences of supernal prepara- 
 tions conquering the pain of present infliction all 
 uniting to carry conviction to those weak and wavering 
 sons of Jacob ? Conviction does come at last, my bre- 
 thren, even to their hearts. Obedient and faithful, 
 they gird themselves for the issue, refusing fiyj&l ]jp 
 D^Vfc hvi MIDhSl PlJHS " to strengthen themselves in 
 the strength of Pharaoh to trust in the shadow of
 
 FAITH. 121 
 
 Egypt." The destroying angel going forth through 
 the land, recognises on their doors the blood-streak 
 which proclaims idolatry rejected, superstition des- 
 pised. Faith in their belief, is thus demonstrated by 
 the regenerated Israelites, and while destruction is 
 rife among their late oppressors, they eat their paschal 
 sacrifice and await the summons of the Lord. 
 
 III. 
 
 But we have said that in that demonstration, our 
 fathers also exhibited faith in another degree faith 
 in their hope; what was that hope, my brethren? 
 Glance at their fate in Egypt, and it must soon appear 
 as constituting the only bright spot in their miserable 
 existence. The condition of Israel under the tyrants 
 of Mizraim, was undoubtedly one of unparalleled 
 suffering and woe. Every day served to increase the 
 rigour of their bondage to originate new means of 
 destroying their peace, their happiness and their lives. 
 From the clemency of their masters they had nought 
 to expect. It would have been madness for them to 
 hope that the oppressing hand would ever be relaxed 
 that Egyptian ears would ever hearken to the 
 groans of Hebrew hearts. Reflections like these, my 
 brethren, arose without doubt in the minds of those 
 afflicted bondsmen, banishing all hope from their 
 hearts, and inspiring them with a slavish brutal fear 
 for their lords. It was to men thus conditioned, that 
 the promise of enlargement was conveyed ; it was to 
 their eyes, moistened with tears of anguish, that the 
 view of unrestrained freedom, peace and happiness
 
 122 FAITH. 
 
 was unfolded. iW m HK *H TpS ^ 1JW1 D^Pl 
 irW'1 Tip") CM? n nn ^1 " And the people be- 
 lieved when they heard that God had visited the 
 children of Israel, and that He had seen their afflic- 
 tion, and they bowed and worshipped." Although 
 their souls were tainted by idolatrous predilections, 
 they now reverenced the power which promised them 
 redemption, and waited, how anxiously! for the 
 hour of salvation. At last, when they are expecting 
 the final triumph of the Lord over Pharaoh, they are 
 called upon to perform the ceremonial of our text, 
 a ceremonial which, if their hope should be confirmed, 
 would sever them for ever from the grasp of their 
 task-masters; but which, if their hope should be 
 disappointed, would assuredly entail upon them the 
 wrath and vengeance of merciless foes. It is now 
 that they bethink them of what lies before them. 
 Supposing they should go forth from Egypt under 
 the shadows of that night, could not the relentless 
 Pharaoh pursue, perhaps re-capture them? And 
 what if they should escape his vengeance, were there 
 not other dangers before them, sufficient to appal the 
 stoutest hearts ? Either they must journey through 
 the lands of nations allied with their late despotic 
 lord, and therefore hostile to their emancipation, or 
 they must enter on the arid desert yawning before 
 them like the mouth of a vast sepulchre the desert 
 perilous to all who traverse it, but especially so to 
 travellers so ill provided as they were. To use their 
 own remark afterwards expressed J"!K TnjJ \& 31t3 
 *QtDS 13TVI&D DHttb '' It would be better to toil in 
 Egypt than to die in the wilderness." These ; bre-
 
 FAITH. 123 
 
 thren, were the reflections of that auspicious passover 
 eve, reflections whose serious import was heightened 
 by the very proximity of the event to which they bore 
 relation. But the choice was made, and wisely made 
 N1PI D^&l D-lty 'PQ niDi hxW " Israel had faith in 
 the Eternal, He was their help and shield. Their 
 future they confided to His promise their fate they 
 reposed in His might. To them the tyranny of Egypt 
 lived but in the past ; their ardent hope for freedom 
 was now intensified by faith, and they slew their 
 paschal sacrifice, and girt their loins to eat its flesh, 
 and listened for the signal of redemption for the 
 watchword that was to summon them to liberty. To 
 liberty they went forth, brethren, as you know; and 
 marching that day from Egypt under the supernal 
 guidance of that pillar of fire which pointed out the 
 path of light and freedom, they presented at once, a 
 picture, whose beauties were never to fade from the 
 perception of their children, and a mirror, in which 
 posterity should for ever view and judge themselves. 
 
 Let us then gaze at our own condition, through a 
 contemplation of the incident recorded in the text. 
 Let us place before our view, our fathers' faith, as 
 developed in their act, their belief, and their hope, and 
 let us heed the lesson which such faith inculcates. 
 
 First, brethren, we have seen against what weighty 
 personal considerations, our ancestors in Egypt, car- 
 ried their faith into action. They, be it remembered, 
 were only arrived at the spiritual dawn which pre- 
 ceded the rising sun of revelation, while we are en- 
 joying its meridian brightness, after three thousand
 
 1 24 FAITH. 
 
 years of vigorous light, warmth, and animation. Yet, 
 when the Pesach brings their faith before us, to con- 
 trast it with our own, we must perforce admit that 
 we are deficient. Do we dare entertain a doubt 
 thereof? Can we presume to possess confidence in 
 God, even equal to what they exhibited in Egypt? 
 I summon you, complaining sufferers, to stand forth ! 
 You that have felt the hand of God upon you, and 
 have arraigned his wisdom you that have been 
 been burnt with His displeasure, and have impugned 
 His justice. In your sorrows, you groaned and mur- 
 mured, ascribed your woes to chance or fate, but 
 your hearts recognised not God. You were deficient 
 in faith, and you refused to lean where alone support 
 could be found. 
 
 Stand forth too, Sabbath breakers! the Pesach 
 summons you to exercise your faith in God. You 
 go forth to the field and gather in your manna on 
 this holy day, urging for your plea, that ye are poor, 
 
 and forgetting ^ ^ O Dnxn JTrV IT! 1 ? DhSn ^ tih 
 DTNn iTIT Tl ^ W\fc " That it is not on bread 
 alone that man liveth, but upon all that corneth 
 out of God's mouth doth man live." When you 
 lean upon your arm of flesh, heedless of God's 
 implied promise to give you nj^/13 DfiS " A double 
 share of food," do you not want faith? Your 
 poverty could never drive you to violate God's word, 
 if confidence were in your heart, faithfulness in 
 your soul. But, alas! you are not all entitled 
 to urge that plea, vain though it be, in extenuation 
 of your guilt. There are among you, men whom 
 God has prospered some blessed with affluence,
 
 FAITH. 125 
 
 others rising into wealth, who yet wantonly desecrate 
 the holy day, by appearing in the field. Such attend, 
 indeed, the services of the sanctuary, but hardly are 
 these closed, and while the words of sabbath praises 
 are yet hovering over their lips, they hurry onward 
 to their craftsmen to urge on their labours to 
 press the work which should be forgotten on that 
 day. Will you, too, to whom conscience applies this 
 charge will you, too, dare allege necessity? If 
 avarice is at your side, dictating this hateful plea ? 
 however false and sinful it may be, still ye are ob- 
 noxious to the charge, that ye have no faith. Your 
 remote ancestors, from their graves in the wilderness, 
 reprove you by their history. This sacred festival, 
 at each recurrence, year after year, rebukes you by 
 its solemnities. This text, divinely spoken centuries 
 ago, condemns you with its reminiscences. Then let 
 these united influences have force to convince you of 
 your evil, and to urge you on the path of duty, which 
 obedience indicates, and faith adorns and fortifies, 
 "f HDID TQ HVriS " that thy trust may be in the 
 Eternal." And let them assure you, too, for your 
 support, that though your sabbath labours will never 
 make you rich, your obedience will call down bles- 
 sings on your efforts, because |6?1T TQ HD1S "He 
 who has faith in God will be made fat." 
 
 Secondly. You have seen Israel in Egypt faithful 
 in their belief, although that belief was to that genera- 
 tion a new one, just propounded, hardly understood. 
 Have you such faith, when day after day, you con- 
 demn your religion as superstition its ceremonies 
 as unmeaning and frivolous? Have you such faith,
 
 126 FAITH. 
 
 when your time-honoured customs summon the smile 
 of derision to your lips, and you presume to call men 
 hypocrites, because, more faithful than you, they cling 
 with fervour to every rite of their religion ? Have 
 you such faith, when neglectful of your religious 
 duties you do not hide your head in shame, but sit 
 in the scorner's seat and exult, impiously exult in 
 your degeneracy? Alas, brethren, your fathers have 
 suffered too much for their fidelity to their religion, 
 that you should sneer at, and condemn what they 
 were proud to die for. Let then the Pesach check 
 that spirit of the age, which impiously aims at dese- 
 crating the holy, at polluting the pure, and at 
 modernising the ancient and time-honoured. Let 
 the Pesach summon you to penetrate into the mean- 
 ing of your religious observances, so that you may 
 neither obey without understanding, nor ridicule 
 without knowing. Let it dispose you to cherish 
 those ceremonies, as the very vitality of your religion 
 to cling to them with a faith, akin to that your 
 fathers showed in Egypt. Then will you be true to 
 the recollection of that great redemption, whose in- 
 fluence will shed peace over you, and will leave you 
 at the close of your festive days, better men and better 
 Israelites. 
 
 Finally, my brethren, we have recognised in the 
 conduct of our ancestors, faith displayed in their 
 hope for redemption. We, too, my friends, have a 
 similar hope, a hope nourished for two thousand 
 years a hope whose accomplishment is the theme of 
 our prayers, in every clime in every generation. In
 
 FAITH. 127 
 
 the full glare of prosperity, and in the dark hour of 
 adversity we have hoped alike, with all the ardour of 
 Jewish hearts, and have prayed with all the fervour 
 of Jewish spirits. This expected deliverance has 
 been the pole star of our people in their dispersions, 
 as day after day the orison has gone forth from our 
 
 lips, pNn niMD sm^a HIT mipi unvta ppS w NE> 
 
 " Lift up the banner to collect our dispersed, and 
 gather us together from the four corners of the earth." 
 Since, then, this redemption is so bound up with 
 our religion, is so constantly and prominently before 
 our eyes and upon our lips, can it be necessary to 
 inculcate faith in its accomplishment ? Alas, even so 
 brethren. It is another evidence of the spirit of the 
 age, that men begin to sneer at divine promises to 
 question the advantages they would confer. They 
 call it Utopian, to expect that men will ever quit the 
 homes and possessions which they now enjoy, to go 
 forth to the distant East in search of national inde- 
 pendence. They call it Utopian, to hope that the 
 now despised few will ever possess the sovereignty of 
 the world ; ever occupy the proud position assured 
 to them by the word of God. Renouncing the belief 
 in Messianic promises, they renounce the hope of 
 Israel, and voluntarily sever themselves from the 
 glorious destiny of our people. To such, my brethren, 
 the Pesach addresses its affectionate remonstrance. 
 It bids you remember that Mi ^K gfM tfS " God is 
 not a man that he should be false," 
 
 " The word that goes forth from 
 my mouth shall not return thither empty, but shall
 
 128 FAITH. 
 
 do what I desire, and prosper in that for which I sent 
 it." Therefore, trust you firmly in the hope of behold- 
 ing your people's glory. Continue to look for it with 
 anxious expectation, to pray for it at early morn, at 
 noontide and at even, with all the fervour you can 
 command, 'pi 7tf nip Trust ye, as ever, in the 
 Eternal /n W mpl ^h p^l pTPI while you strengthen 
 and fortify your hearts, trust in the Eternal; and in 
 His own good time your ears will hear the trumpet 
 blast, your eyes behold the banner of redemption; 
 and your hearts will throb exultingly in your bosoms, 
 as you gaze upon the myriads of your people on the 
 march to glory, while all the earth shall resound with 
 the praises of the ransomed hosts, who homeward 
 press D^^ITl BHpH VQ T\h inwm to prostrate 
 themselves before Adonai, at the holy mount in 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 ALMIGHTY God ! who led our armies from slavery to 
 freedom, from misery and woe, to joy, and happiness : 
 who wert thus faithful to thy promise, vouchsafed 
 unto our father Abraham, and heardst the captive's 
 plaint from the depths of their distress ! We humbly 
 invoke Thee to-day, the anniversary of our first 
 redemption, to remember us for the last deliverance, 
 to which Thy word has made us direct our hopes and 
 prayers. Lord ! when Thou wroughtest so wonder- 
 fully in the land of Ham, it was by faith our fathers' 
 worthiness was tried; so we feel, Father, that it is 
 only our constancy to Thee that now can win the
 
 FAITH. 129 
 
 mercy reserved for us, and approximate the period of 
 the final gathering. give us strength for the 
 conflict with doubt, and endue us with Thy spirit, 
 so that faith may gird us and hope fortify us. Lead 
 us to the path of duty, so that when the Pesach 
 summons us, we shall have willing ears for its teach- 
 ings, obedient hearts for the commands of virtue 
 which it originates. And when, instructed by its 
 sublime lessons, we manifest by act, that we have 
 faith in Thee, faith in Thy doctrines, faith in Thy 
 promises, we pray Thee, Lord, to bless us in our dis- 
 persion with the treasures of Thy grace, even peace, 
 and plenty, health, and prosperity, and to hasten the 
 period ;tm |VX 1K^ p31B> Tl "1131 " when the ran- 
 somed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion 
 with exultation." Amen.
 
 130 
 
 X. 
 THE INHERITANCE OF JACOB. 
 
 A SERMON FOR nijnB> FEAST OF PENTECOST. 
 
 MY BRETHREN, we are assembled to celebrate the 
 birth-day feast of revelation the anniversary of an 
 event which can never perish from the memory of 
 man, while God's name continues to be heard on 
 earth. Three thousand years ago, on this auspicious 
 morning the myriads of Israel were seen round the 
 barriers which girt the base of Sinai. Their eyes 
 were upturned towards the cime which supernal 
 radiance encircled like a crown of glory ; and with 
 beating hearts and exalted spirits, they listened to 
 the voice divine, which spake the precepts of life. 
 Those precepts, brethren, with their detail of doc- 
 trines and duties, statutes and judgments, form the 
 Law of Moses, the which I present before you in the 
 words of the inspired lawgiver himself, pronounced 
 ere he departed to eternal rest. They are found 
 Deut. xxxiii. 4, spy* HTlp PlBHIfc H^D *]& Pitt mm 
 " The law which Moses commanded us is the in- 
 heritance of the congregation of Jacob." 
 
 On the testimony of the text, my brethren, this 
 sacred day has given us a birthright, in the law to
 
 THE INHERITANCE OF JACOB. 131 
 
 which it gave origin. Revealed to us by the Eternal, 
 bequeathed to us by the dying words of His prophet, 
 and confided to us by the voice of priest, seer and 
 sage, we owe certain duties to this our sacred in- 
 heritance. They are 
 
 I. To OBSERVE IT WITH ALL OUR HEART. 
 II. TO PRESERVE IT WITH ALL OUR SOUL. 
 III. TO DEFEND IT WITH ALL OUR MIGHT. 
 
 In developing these points, we will endeavour to 
 illustrate the precepts we would inculcate, by the ex- 
 ample of our ancestors, a course which, while 
 exhibiting our own degeneracy, can hardly fail to 
 indicate the path which befits us in the future. 
 
 In the first place, then, " we are to observe our 
 inheritance with all our heart." To it should be 
 directed the strongest and most tender emotions of 
 which we are capable, that they may attach us to its 
 observance in every condition of our lives. We should 
 feel a fervent love for its doctrines we should have 
 a profound veneration for its ordinances we should 
 be penetrated with a deep gratitude for its sanctions. 
 All these our fathers felt. Their love and reverence 
 and gratitude may be traced on every page of their 
 history. If we unclasp the volume of their annals, 
 we shall read of zeal and devotion which placed every 
 other consideration beneath the sacred aim of pre- 
 serving their inheritance ; we shall discover piety and 
 virtue which attributed every earthly good to an 
 appreciation of that inheritance : we shall trace re- 
 signation which bowed before all earthly trials, in 
 order that such humiliation might shield the blessed 
 possession. But if we compare the past with the 
 
 K 2
 
 132 THE INHERITANCE OF JACOB. 
 
 present, our fathers' love for it, with our own in- 
 difference, we must be fearfully struck with the 
 contrast presented; for we shall see the age of dark- 
 ness producing religious fervour, while the era of 
 enlightenment is giving birth to sinful apathy. And 
 wherefore is this, my brethren? Does the law of 
 Moses, like mankind in life, lose vigor and effect 
 according as it advances in years? Does the law of 
 Moses fail to day in what it was designed to do 
 thirty centuries since ? Does the law of Moses claim 
 from its inheritors, who have been civilised by its 
 own light and truth, less devotion than it claimed 
 from those who received it, when they had been 
 brutalised by the oppression of Egypt? No, brethren, 
 it is because we have changed, not in intellect, but 
 in feeling --not in the mind, but in the heart. An 
 enlightened age has given us new wants and made 
 desire stronger; and we have not the moral courage 
 to resist its influence. Our fathers were content 
 with little, if that little could be blessed with God's 
 fervour; we grasp at all, and insatiately wish for 
 more, the more we acquire. Hence it is that violated 
 justice outraged integrity desecrated Sabbaths and 
 neglected observances mark our progress through 
 life a progress in which interest, instead of virtue is 
 the goal, and earthly aggrandizement the prize, 
 instead of heavenly life. All this shews that we 
 
 v 
 
 have no real love for our ancient heritage that we 
 are false to the covenant which thirty ages have con- 
 secrated that the law of God possesses not our 
 hearts.
 
 THE INHERITANCE OF JACOB. 133 
 II. 
 
 But, brethren, it may be said, that if our hearts 
 fail in duty, our souls are cognizant of the claims of 
 our inheritance. Methinks I hear you exclaim, that, 
 though we may neglect observances, we yet cherish 
 doctrines, and strive to implant them in our children, 
 as a sure means of preserving them. Do we not 
 prove our anxiety thus to preserve them, say you, 
 by promoting the cause of education? Do we not 
 build schools, ask you, and support synagogues? 
 Do we not give our children knowledge, and incul- 
 cate religion? Even so, my brethren, all these you 
 do : but all these do not go far to prove that you are 
 anxious to preserve your inheritance. Your fathers 
 did no more than these, and yet they effected more 
 towards maintaining the law of God than you do, 
 with all your vaunted deeds. They did not erect 
 stately edifices for learning, with lofty turrets or 
 graceful columns of architectural faultlessness. The 
 constructions they sought to make were in the hearts 
 of their children ; the beauties they sought to develop, 
 were in the souls of a rising generation. For these 
 labours, they found a sphere in the sanctuary of their 
 homes ; around the domestic hearth the scene of their 
 religious operations lay. They watched the dawning 
 of infantile intelligence, and as a ray of the illuming 
 spirit came to view, they made it shine upon God's 
 Word. Their religious teachings were not what you 
 give your children : a superficial knowledge of the 
 holy tongue, and a bible to read, without a word of 
 exposition. No, every morning's sun called them to 
 lead their children unto God; Sabbath rest and feast-
 
 134 THE INHERITANCE OF JACOB. 
 
 day joys, ritual solemnities and synagogue obser- 
 vances, were all impressed in the holy work of 
 instructing the young. But you, brethren, how do 
 you acquit yourselves of this truly Judaic duty? 
 how do you strive to preserve the law through your 
 children? Hearken and blush for your inconsistency. 
 You build schools, and send not your children 
 thither. You establish institutes of learning, which 
 you dare entitle national, and you send your charges 
 to Gentiles to be taught. If the preacher tells you 
 that you thus imperil their souls that by bringing 
 them near to pollution, you must pollute them that 
 by exposing them to temptation, you send them to 
 certain ruin, you laugh derisively, and with bright 
 visions of your sons' scholastic success in the future, 
 you call the preacher's fears imaginary his warnings 
 needless. Hearken, then, brethren, while to your 
 distempered vision 1 expose a picture of reality, a 
 picture which must fill your hearts with horror, if 
 you can feel as Jewish parents ought to feel. A 
 daughter of your people was placed in a local school, 
 charged only to receive the secular knowledge which 
 was therein taught. Her parents were not blind to 
 the danger which impended. She received paternal 
 warnings and monitions against imbibing aught of 
 the religious teaching which ordinarily is dispensed 
 in such establishments. Nature having formed her 
 maiden heart impressible to the sweet emotions of 
 religion, her Gentile teacher, false to duty and honour, 
 conceived the fell design of seducing that girl from her 
 parent faith. Slowly and insidiously the dangerous 
 seed was planted. The child was told to look among
 
 THE INHERITANCE OF JACOB. 135 
 
 her people if aught of true piety were there recog- 
 nisable if devotion were to be seen in their worship, 
 purity in their observances. She looked around 
 her saw much of form and ceremony ; but it is a 
 reproach to us, my brethren, that she saw no spi- 
 rituality no godliness. From this view, her sensitive 
 mind was called to gaze upon the worship of the 
 Gentiles to see humility and devotion prostrate be- 
 fore a mistaken belief. Then was she told that the 
 difference arose in Judaism having nought spiritual 
 in its elements, in Christianity being the only saving- 
 faith, which suited the attributes of our immortal 
 nature. Is it to be wondered that the insidious 
 teachings of this pseudo friend, aided by our own in- 
 devotion led that child into error? She remembered 
 the doctrines of her faith, and vainly adduced them to 
 disarm the tempter's wiles. She spoke of God's 
 choice of Israel and its prerogative of our exalted 
 destinies and its glories. But all her arguments, 
 arguments feeble from want of knowledge, were art- 
 fully countervailed by a cant which is most powerful 
 over romantic natures a cant which sacrilegiously 
 perverts the meaning of our own Scriptures, to mis- 
 lead innocence. 
 
 As a consequence, the girl fell not fatally not 
 consummately but fell in thought and belief. And 
 when the sacred Passover approached, and summoned 
 her parents to festal joy and happiness, that joy was 
 blasted, that happiness marred, by the announcement 
 so horrifying to a faithful parent's ears, that their 
 darlino- child was a Christian, and looked for salvation 
 to another than the God of Israel. Dear friends, have
 
 THE INHERITANCE OF JACOB. 
 
 you hearts to feel for such paternal woe? And are 
 not your souls harrowed by the fear lest your children 
 be so near destruction ? Brethren, God's mercy reached 
 those distracted parents. It was not quite too late, 
 and, with Heaven's help, the evil seed was eradicated, 
 and the disgrace averted. But still it is a solemn 
 warning to you, apathetic parents. It is a warning 
 to you, that the patronage of Gentile schools is irre- 
 concileable with a regard for your inheritance, the 
 law of Moses. It is a warning to you, that while 
 vour children, if properly reared, will succeed you as 
 conservators of Torath Moshe", their religious neglect, 
 or their consignment to unholy training, will make 
 them faithless to God, and recreant to the compact of 
 Sinai; and the fearful consequences of thus despising 
 your inheritance, will be seen in your own broken 
 hearts your own grey hairs brought down to the 
 grave in shame and sorrow. 
 
 III. 
 
 We come now to observe, my brethren, that it is 
 thirdly our duty " to defend our inheritance with all 
 our might." 
 
 Do you require that I should remind you of the 
 heroism with which our fathers performed that duty ? 
 Shall I place before you the picture of bigotry, with 
 a sword of wrath, massacring whole communities, 
 and deluging the land with blood, because Jacob clung 
 to his inheritance? Shall I call to your recollection 
 myriads of faithful Israelites, driven from home and 
 possessions, and sent forth beggars among strangers, 
 only for loving that inheritance? Shall I revert your
 
 THE INHERITANCE OF JACOB. 137 
 
 memories to days not far remote, when in civilised 
 communities, we were despoiled, robbed, openly out- 
 raged, and trampled on, for our devotion to that in- 
 heritance? Or, shall I depict the blazing stake, the 
 hideous auto dafe, where fanaticism durst invoke 
 God's blessing on the cruel murder of the people who 
 only clung to their inheritance ? No, brethren, this 
 retrospect is unnecessary to convince you of the de- 
 votion with which our fathers sacrificed to their 
 divine treasure, their lives and possessions. They 
 parted cheerfully with wealth, if it could only pur- 
 chase them the privilege of peacefully enjoying the 
 study of their law ; and when that failed them, they 
 went forth to die, martyrs, glorious martyrs to their 
 attachment for their heritage, saying, as David said 
 
 of old, -jrvQs inpB> *6i -|uroB> NTI un&o HNT SD 
 
 " All this has come upon us, yet have we not forgotten 
 Thee, nor have we been false to Thy covenant." 
 
 From these reflections, brethren, let us turn to en- 
 quire what we must do to protect our sacred posses- 
 sion. In this age, and especially in this happy country, 
 we have no occasion to immolate to it, either our lives 
 or fortune. Wise laws defend it, perfect liberty pro- 
 tects it : all that devolves upon us in this respect is 
 to promote its study by those who devote to it their 
 whole hearts and minds. Brethren, you know that 
 in these days, students of divine truth pursue their 
 sacred occupation almost in penury. They labour 
 not in active walks of life, but at early morn and late 
 at night, they pore over the volume of sacred lore, 
 and find in it their only joys. Does it not become 
 us, then, to keep care from them, by providing them
 
 138 THE INHERITANCE OF JACOB. 
 
 with the crust of bread and flask of water, which is 
 all they ask in their chosen labour of love and duty ? 
 Does it not become us to aid, as far as we are able, 
 the maintenance of those remnants of our ancient 
 schools, by keeping these professors from beggary and 
 want? Aye, my friends, and it is to our credit that 
 we recognise the duty, and strive with cheerfulness to 
 perform it. But that our general efforts are not 
 sufficient for the sacred purpose, that more extended 
 and more efficient means are necessary, we have been 
 recently convinced ; for now that the conflict of na- 
 tions causes all to be engrossed with domestic wants 
 and sufferings, now that established resources fail, 
 and established contributions are perforce withheld, 
 we hear of misery, famine, and death, among the 
 poor students of God's law. You know, brethren, 
 that thousands of our co-religionists, with the sacred 
 fire of natural love, have abandoned the comforts and 
 security which civilization sheds, to approach the 
 hallowed regions of God's once-favoured land, that 
 they may study the law in its birthplace, and yield 
 up their last breath in the sight of Zion's hill. You 
 know, too, that while the restricted liberties of pachalic 
 policy offer no protection for property acquired, they 
 can cultivate no certain source of sustenance for 
 themselves. To the law and to the testimony they 
 devote their days, and for the crust wherewith to 
 support life, they repose on the charity of their 
 brethren. At this period, that charity is restricted, 
 that source of help shortened; and, while the failing 
 harvest has made the staff of life increase in value, 
 they have seen their means of procuring it, failing
 
 THE INHERITANCE OF JACOB. 139 
 
 daily. What has been the result ? Suffering, starva- 
 tion, death. " Want and pestilence walk hand in hand 
 among them, and the wail of the poor, the widow 
 and the orphan, is borne on the air. Fathers sell 
 their children for food, and innocent babes are perish- 
 ing for want, on the laps of distracted mothers. Those 
 who formerly delighted in charity, now seek an alms 
 themselves, and, vainly calling aloud for bread, they 
 perish famine-stricken. All classes, grades and condi- 
 tions are united in the brotherhood of woe; learned 
 rabbis and their disciples, temple ministrants and 
 their flock, all mix in the crowd of sufferers who sup- 
 plicate a mouldy crust. "* 
 
 Brethren, can you hear of such horrors, at any 
 time, without feeling pity and compassion. But on 
 this day the day which gave you the law for your 
 inheritance, can ye listen to the call of its students, 
 perishing of hunger and disease, and not hasten your 
 gifts to give them life and healing ? Surely not, my 
 friends. You have feeling hearts and responsive 
 spirits; and I therefore summon you, this day, to the 
 succour of brethren bound to you by every tie of 
 duty and religion. 
 
 Do you value your inheritance ? Then arise in 
 your charity, sons of Jacob. Open your hearts and 
 give of your goods, to relieve your starving brethren. 
 Remember, that however small your rnite, you may 
 yet save a life ; you may preserve a father to his 
 offspring, give a mother to her helpless babe. Your 
 ancestors were never deaf to the cry of distress, but, 
 
 * Letters from the Holy Land, published by the Rev. Dr. Adler 
 and Sir Moses Montefiore.
 
 140 THE INHERITANCE OF JACOB 
 
 for the sake of their inheritance, they clothed the naked, 
 fed the hungry, and refreshed the weary. Nor must 
 you suffer brethren to perish for food, while food is 
 within your grasp; but, responsive to the calls of re- 
 ligion, charity and humanity, you must give give 
 with open hand and open heart. 
 
 Do you value your inheritance? Then from the 
 call of your starving co-religionists, you must turn to 
 the call of your religion; from the famine of Jeru- 
 salem, you must glance at the famine in your own 
 community; y\&vh DK "3 tfth Nfc Sl DnSSajn ttS 
 71 *1in Htf " Not a famine of bread nor a drought of 
 water, but a failure of obedience to the words of the 
 Eternal." You must arouse yourself to a sense of 
 the obligations which your fathers took for you on 
 this great day, an obligation which has survived 
 three thousand years, and will survive to the end of 
 time. You have heard to day rehearsed, the precepts 
 which they received from God, amid the glories of 
 Sinai. Remember them, to reverence and to practise 
 them. Remember, that the Eternal, who brought yon 
 forth from Egypt, is to be your only God,~ that gods 
 of gold and silver must not share in your devotions, 
 to rob Him of His honour. Remember that His name 
 is sacred, and can be profaned in your mouths, but at 
 the peril of your souls. Remember the Sabbath Day 
 to keep it holy, so that you desecrate it not with the 
 acts or thoughts of labour, nor try to delude God, as 
 you delude man, by secretly attending to the calls of 
 your vocation. Remember to revere and honour the 
 paternal rule, that a father's or a mother's accusation 
 convict you not before Heaven of filial rebellion.
 
 THE INHERITANCE OF JACOB. 141 
 
 Remember to respect the life, the honour, the pro- 
 perty, and the character of your neighbour, and 
 never, through unruly desire, cast a longing eye upon 
 the treasures of your brother man. 
 
 Finally. Do you value your inheritance ? Then, 
 while observant of the precepts given at Horeb, be 
 heedful to transmit them to your successors, tDr03?1 
 T3T? "by inserting them like arrows," in their hearts, 
 so that, once admitted, they cannot be eradicated. 
 Be careful that no defiling teaching gains admission 
 to them, that pernicious doctrine and pernicious 
 example be kept far from them, and that they are 
 not confided to the care of those who think it a virtue 
 to seduce them from their inheritance. And if no 
 other fears can have force with you, shudder at the 
 misery you are providing for yourselves at the fate 
 you are providing for them, when you lead them to 
 be faithless to the law which Moses commanded as 
 3pJP J"\Snp PlBHlfi " the inheritance of the congrega- 
 tion of Jacob." 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Sovereign of the Universe, Almighty Guardian of 
 Israel ! we are before Thee, to celebrate once more the 
 birth-day feast of revelation ; and, as our minds revert 
 to the auspicious hour when, from the heights of 
 Horeb, there beamed the everlasting light, we bend 
 the knee in gratitude before Thy throne, and chant a 
 pious Hallelujah to Thy name. God ! manifold are 
 the blessings which Thou hast heaped upon Thy 
 people ; but none can rank with the glorious boon con-
 
 142 THE INHERITANCE OF JACOB. 
 
 ferred on the memorable day, whose anniversary we 
 are here to solemnise the boon of Thy eternal and 
 unchanging law. 0, make us worthy of this treasure, 
 and of the privileges which its possession confers upon 
 us; so that we may love it with the devoted affection 
 our fathers felt for it. They, Lord, clung to it 
 through a thousand changes of condition. In the 
 dark night of persecution they clasped it to their 
 bosom ; in every gleam of happy sunshine, they 
 cherished it as their dearest treasure. They defended 
 it from every attack, and vindicated its truth where- 
 ever their weary feet conducted them. Then inspire 
 Thou, our hearts with the same sentiments of love for 
 Thy gift, gratitude for Thy goodness, devotion to 
 Thy service, which swayed our ancestors. Teach us 
 to value our inheritance while we live ; and, when we 
 die, to transmit unto our children as a precious and 
 imperishable legacy. And, in all our conduct, let its 
 sacred influence be apparent in the three phases of our 
 religious duty, obedience to Thee, instruction to our 
 children, and charity to our brethren. May these be 
 included in our festal vow, and may their performance 
 be our constant care, so that we may be deserving of 
 Thy love, Thy providence, and Thy favour. Amen.
 
 XI. 
 
 THE SORROWS AND CONSOLATION OF 
 JERUSALEM. 
 
 A SERMON FOR 1DH3 
 
 D3>r6tf TOX y torn lorn 
 
 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Isaiah xl. 1. 
 
 BRETHREN, It is to-day the sabbath of consolation 
 the hallowed day when we are wont to review the 
 days of mourning just concluded, to turn from the 
 dark retrospect of Israel's sufferings and afflictions, 
 and to gaze with hope and joy on the bright and 
 cheering prospects of Israel's future. In obedience to 
 the prophet's words, we are to speak comfort to the 
 heart of Jerusalem and bid her forget her sorrows in 
 her hope of restoration. But, my brethren, even as it 
 is necessary for the physician, ere he applies himself 
 to cure the ills of our flesh, to ascertain the precise 
 nature of the ailment, determining its extent by the 
 symptoms ; so is it necessary for us to enquire into 
 the nature and extent of that affliction, to which the 
 prophet bids us administer comfort. In order then,
 
 144 THE SORROWS AND 
 
 that our consoling efforts may have a salutary peace- 
 diffusing influence, we will proceed to consider : 
 
 I. THE AFFLICTION OF ISRAEL. 
 
 II. THE CAUSE OF THAT AFFLICTION; AND 
 
 III. THE PROMISED COMFORT. 
 
 I. 
 
 The affliction of Israel is the destruction of king- 
 dom, home and altars the demolition of national 
 glories never since equalled in the world. To realize 
 a just idea of our woe, we must glance at the splen- 
 dors of the past, we must revert to those halcyon 
 days when Israel lived happy and prosperous, governed 
 by a Heaven-appointed monarchy, subject to a Hea- 
 ven-born constitution. We then behold Jerusalem 
 in all the fulness of her glory. Around her sacred 
 altars we see the ministering priests arrayed the 
 Levitic choir ranged along her aisles, while my- 
 riads of grateful children prostrate in her courts, pro- 
 claim the holy nature of that dominion of which God 
 is the acknowledged Head. Then, having gazed upon 
 the early greatness of our people and contemplated 
 the power of their monarchy the glory of their reli- 
 gion ; having thus seen Jerusalem hallowed by her 
 God-inhabited temple, whither worshipping thousands 
 are pouring in from every village and hamlet of Pa- 
 lestine, proceed we downwards on the course of time 
 to behold the Holy City surrounded by the besieging 
 armies of Nebuchadnezzar, its defences yielding daily, 
 its resources diminishing hourly. Without, there are 
 the warriors of Babylon, like hungry lions, watching 
 their certain prey ; within, there are suffering, famine
 
 CONSOLATION OF JERUSALEM. 145 
 
 and death, assembled in fearful union as heralds of 
 defeat and woe. Anon, there is desolation : the devoted 
 city is a waste 3G?V ^ID " without an inhabitant." 
 Where now is the teeming population of what was 
 once rtiJbJO Pl^lp, the faithful city? Where are the 
 youths of Israel the mighty warriors of Jerusalem, 
 who fought of old the battles of the Lord? Zion is 
 desolate, because the flower of her children are slain 
 the remnant gone into captivity ; while the captors 
 mock their sorrows, and, heartless and unfeeling, bid 
 the exiles sing the songs of home. But again we will 
 turn, my brethren, from the scene of misery and de- 
 solation, and proceed yet downward through years of 
 tribulation, until we approach the end of the Babylonian 
 captivity ! We now see the exiles on their return to 
 their land, rebuilding prostrate Jerusalem. With the 
 spade in one hand and the sword in the other from 
 labour to the conflict they hasten at every warning, 
 cheerfully combating every difficulty until the grand 
 result is achieved. The temple once more lifts its 
 stately head on high, and the Jewish empire is restored. 
 But, alas! my brethren, this brightness is ephemeral. 
 Prosperity begets its common consequences ; internal 
 warfare and disunion convulse the land, and crime 
 takes up its abode in the priestly city. At last, as 
 the result of intestine contest for supremacy, we see 
 Judea under the yoke of Rome, a yoke whose severity 
 continues to gall the self-enslaved people, until in- 
 furiated by the tyranny and oppression of the procu- 
 rator Florus, they take up arms and drive the Romans 
 from Jerusalem. Now commences that fearful struggle 
 whose issue is so pregnant with evil for Jacob's race 
 
 L
 
 146 THE SORROWS AND 
 
 and land. The people, flushed with their victory over 
 Cestius, dream no more of subjection beneath a hated 
 yoke, but deem themselves able to contend success- 
 fully against the giant hosts of Rome. And nobly 
 they do contend, in spite of every disadvantage. 
 Against the greatest warriors of the age they are in 
 arms ; but undisciplined though they be, their hearts 
 burn with an ardor for the cause of liberty, which 
 renders every man a legion in himself. Yet is their 
 heroism unavailing. Internal dissension weakens them 
 daily more and more, while slowly but surely the in- 
 vaders onward press, until once more Jerusalem is 
 besieged. Around her walls are marshalled mighty 
 legions with all the engines of war, burning for ven- 
 geance; while within her gates, her children are suf- 
 fering miseries unparalleled in the history of the 
 world. Her streets arc strewn with dead, for famine 
 stalks in her midst and lays her defenders low by thou- 
 sands. They cry aloud for food : they slay each other 
 in contest for a morsel, and pray for death to terminate 
 their agonies. Mothers slay their children, and, nature 
 dead within them, they feast upon the flesh. Mean- 
 while, the conflict rages fiercely, and nearer approach 
 the invader's hosts. Titus enters the city, and yet 
 the people struggle with superhuman energy, defend- 
 ing step by step, their homes and altars. Rivers of 
 blood course along the streets ; the avenues are strewn 
 with the dead and the dying, and still the din of 
 battle is heard, the people yield not. But now, the 
 fatal ninth of Ab recurs, that day, already dark with 
 the memory of Babylon's conquest ; and on that morn, 
 despair is spread into the heart of Jerusalem, not by
 
 CONSOLATION OF JERUSALEM. 147 
 
 the success of her assailants, for that she is prepared 
 to bear heroically, but by the sight of her temple in 
 flames. All now is consternation. The shouts of 
 barbaric triumph mingle with the roar of the confla- 
 gration ; the shrieks of the old and defenceless as they 
 are stricken down pitilessly, and the groans of the 
 patriots as they cast their dying glance at the burn- 
 ing sanctuary, all unite to swell the horrors of that 
 day of misery, when Jerusalem suffered for her sins 
 and saw her children go forth to captivity. Nearly 
 eighteen hundred years have elapsed, my brethren, 
 since the period to which we have reverted; and 
 through all these weary centuries, we can describe the 
 history of our people in the words, sorrow and suffer- 
 ing, woe and tribulation. From clirne to clime we 
 
 O' 
 
 have been driven, never finding rest for the soles of 
 our feet. In every age persecuted, in every land 
 despised, we have lived on, in spite of all the ills that 
 have attended us, sustained by one hope, the hope of 
 future restoration. This hope was in our hearts, as 
 the blade of oppression thrust its way through it; it 
 was before our eyes amid the burning brands of the 
 stake which bigotry kindled for us : neither the fire 
 nor the sword could surpress it. We suffered all pa- 
 tiently, assured that our present sorrows would yet 
 be forgotten, in the glories of that future promised by 
 Divine love and mercy, when Zion should see her paths 
 restored and her children ransomed. But to approxi- 
 mate that epoch, my brethren, we must direct our 
 thoughts to the lessons taught by our captive state, 
 and discover, that we may avoid, what forms our se- 
 cond head, 
 
 L2
 
 148 THE SORROWS AND 
 
 II. 
 
 The cause of Israel's affliction. 
 
 What is it, my brethren, that lost for us sanctuary, 
 country and national existence? Alas! the causes of 
 our dispersion were manifold, and we must seek them 
 in the page of prophecy or the teachings of learned 
 men. First stands forth the testimony of Zechariah, 
 minn HK yiWfc TW W DnSl " They made their 
 hearts like adamant, lest they should hearken to the 
 law." They were deaf to the voice of instruction; 
 they avoided all opportunity of hearing the sublime 
 teachings of God's word ; and, as a natural conse- 
 quence, were heedless of the duties of public worship. 
 Now, brethren, the neglect of public worship is the 
 certain parent of crime. Wrapped in the busy whirl 
 of secular life, our highest virtues are imperilled, our 
 most sacred emotions deteriorated, unless they can be 
 nurtured by the hallowing influence of public devo- 
 tion. You can therefore well comprehend, that a dis- 
 regard of this great moral agent, should have gradually 
 undermined the religious spirit of the nation, until 
 at last it reached the climax recorded by Jeremiah 
 KlPl tih IT&N'I V PQ 1BTO " they denied the Eternal, 
 and said he exists not." 
 
 Thus they became infidel lost their virtue and re- 
 ligion and came to look down from the God of 
 Heaven, to seek a deity of wood or stone, senseless as 
 themselves, repulsive as their own depraved souls. 
 So much, my brethren, for the first temple for the 
 iniquity which was visited by Babylon; and led us 
 captives to Chaldea. Descending to the second
 
 CONSOLATION OF JERUSALEM. 149 
 
 temple, we find that absolute idolatry formed no part 
 of Israel's backslidings. Infidelity, the adoption of 
 heathenish philosophy, was unquestionably a promi- 
 nent feature. Still that rejected not the worship of 
 God. He was generally recognised in all their theo- 
 ries as the Great First Cause, although that recogni- 
 tion was sullied by their details of belief. We must 
 therefore seek further for the cause. In the Gemara 
 of Yoma, where the question is put* - 1JK&? *}& BHDfi 
 
 ^yoii smMi mira D'poiy VPIP ia jwpa 
 
 Plfi 'J3JD " ne second temple, in which were 
 practised the law, the commandments, and good 
 works. Wherefore was that destroyed?" ^ftjfc 
 DJW1 PirVPlt? Djn n&tifi? " Because of the rancour 
 with which men pursued each other." Rancour, 
 tinctured by jealousy and envy, is the sure precursor 
 of violence and iniquity, sufficient to overthrow any 
 state, by entailing that awful train of horrifying 
 crimes which made our sages thus describe it 
 
 <fa mi rmny nmy vhv nwa Din r$n& rhy&w 
 
 U~\ H'D'Wl fiViy as being equal to the three greatest 
 sins idolatry, incest, and murder. 
 
 In the treatise of " Shabbath," the cause of the 
 desolation described, is pronounced to have been 
 ntfc PIT D'JS HBO DnS H^n *h& 3B& " that no one 
 felt ashamed of his acts before his neighbour, so 
 general had crime become." What an awful 
 state of society must that have been, my brethren, 
 where the only link of confraternity was the com- 
 munity of vice, where there was no denunciation 
 of evil, and violence needed never to hide its 
 head, but paraded abroad its unholy spirit, without
 
 150 THE SORROWS AND 
 
 the fear of infamy or reproach. Yet to this, Rabbi 
 Isaac adds a cause, which completes the idea of 
 general depravity, by the testimony Tptf) pp HI YIB'W 
 *' that the great and lowly were on a level. This uni- 
 versal equality, my brethren, which figures in the 
 dreamings of the visionary, can never exist to the 
 safety of society. Unrestrained by authority, men 
 must become lawless and unprincipled ; without subor- 
 dination, might Mill triumph over right in the most 
 moral community. How, then, must it have been, 
 where the will was the only governing principle 
 where neither the fear of punishment, nor the fear of 
 shame had influence over a depraved population 
 where, as Rabbi Hanina further declares IfTDIPl ?? 
 HT7 PIT that no man could reprove his neighbour. 
 Well, then, may we believe that the nation had 
 reached that point when the land was ready to eject 
 them; when, as we have seen, all regard to religion 
 and morality was lost when vice was triumphant, 
 and anarchy rife so that, in the once holy metropolis, 
 the once holy people so contemned the law of God as 
 to call down destruction on their altars, desolation on 
 their land, captivity on their children. 
 
 Thus briefly, my brethren, we have traced the 
 cause of our present condition, and we have found it 
 in the conjoint influence of infidelity and idolatry, 
 hatred and malice, shameless violence and rebellious 
 vice. It will be logically evident to you, that even as 
 these crimes led to our captivity, so will their con- 
 tinuance prevent our restoration. It is the opinion 
 expressed in the Talmud, treatise Sanhedrin, that it is 
 futile to search out any exact period for our restoration
 
 CONSOLATION OF JERUSALEM. 151 
 
 "the event 
 
 is dependent upon our repentance and virtuous ac- 
 tions." Therefore, my brethren, if we cling to the 
 hope of seeing our empire once more established, we 
 must eschew those vices which have twice before de- 
 stroyed it. We must pull down our idols, and banish 
 our free-thinking infidelity. We must no longer wor- 
 ship other than the God of Heaven, and to Him must 
 we offer a service that is worthy of His exalted cha- 
 racter. But you will exclaim: surely there is no 
 idolatry now in Israel our people are free from that 
 debasing sin. Alas! my brethren, every man erects 
 an idol of his own, and falls before it in adora- 
 tion. One worships gold, and to it he sacrifices his 
 spiritual welfare. To him, no Sabbath bids the 
 weekly rest approach no festive days bring joy and 
 happiness. Lucre is his god, and it rules a loyal 
 subject. Another is a sensualist, he worships un- 
 holy pleasure. His appetite is his criterion, and he 
 laughs at all religious restraint. A third is the votary 
 of fashion : what the world approves, he approves. No 
 scruples of conscience prevent his rising in the esti- 
 mation of his divinity ; but religion and parentage are 
 all sacrificed to win him a single smile from the world 
 he so much loves. Aye, my brethren: false gods are 
 not only of wood and stone ; there are other idols, whose 
 worship imperils our souls, and, ere we may hope for 
 restoration, we must pull them down and give undi- 
 vided worship to Him in whom we rest our trust, to 
 the God of Israel. And that worship we must render 
 worthy of its recipient ; it must be pure and holy, an 
 acceptable, sacrifice, and an incense of devotion, from
 
 152 THE SOKROWS AND 
 
 the altar of our heart. In our moral conduct, we 
 must correct each tendency to error; we must root 
 out the. spirit of rancour and animosity, disunion and 
 hatred, and cherish the kindly feelings of love and 
 brotherhood. We must value subordination and the 
 wholesome classification of ranks, as inseparable from 
 social welfare ; and then shall we be prepared for this 
 hoped-for redemption then shall we be worthy to 
 witness the fulfilment of what God has promised, and 
 what our fathers have prayed and hoped for these 
 thousand years. What that promise is, my brethren, 
 we have now to consider as our third head. 
 
 III. 
 
 What is the promised comfort of Jerusalem ? 
 
 It is the re-establishment of home and altar the 
 restoration of what we hold most dear. To conceive 
 the fulness of that blessed event, you must picture in 
 your minds all its glories from its dawn to its meridian. 
 You must imagine the shrill blast bf the great Shofar 
 which is to summon the captives from every clime 
 the dispersed ones from the corners of the earth. 
 Hark at the tramp of the ransomed millions hastening 
 to their regenerated courts ! See men of every land 
 of every rank of every tongue, pressing onward with 
 one aim; all looking to one goal, the banner that is 
 set up to collect our captives, in their own possessions. 
 Then contemplate the re-established government. 
 Behold a kingdom of peace, where strife and warfare, 
 with its attendant vices, are unknown; where only 
 love and brotherhood will obtain, and all will be linked 
 in the great tie of virtuous confraternity. Dwell,
 
 CONSOLATION OF JERUSALEM. 153 
 
 next, on the wide extended empire of Israel and Ju- 
 dah, now conjoined; see its peaceful banner waving 
 over wide realms, all smiling with fertility lofty hills 
 clad with the luxuriant produce of the east and of the 
 west, of the icy north and of the sunny south. See, 
 instead of warriors marshalled for the field armies 
 of husbandmen; swords converted into ploughshares 
 spears into pruning hooks, and all men's energies 
 used to bless and aid their kind, by the arts of peace 
 and usefulness. And more than all, my brethren, 
 think of the whole world becoming one vast sanctuary, 
 where God's true name and attributes will be pro- 
 claimed, where one universal faith shall link the 
 family of man, and all pay reverence to that Law, the 
 depositaries of which, it has been our glory, to be. 
 Think of no more vice and impurity, the deflations 
 of our past lives forgotten the taint of sin and evil 
 unknown ; so that W23 Qy Stff *fl the wolf of rapacity 
 shall dwell with the lamb of innocence, J*1T ^ Dp T&31 
 the leopard of wild and violent impulse lie down with 
 the helplessness of the kid VT1T Nnfcl TfiDI^Jfl and the 
 calf, the young lion and the fatling, though of adverse 
 nature and instincts, shall be together Q} JH3 jtDp *}yy\ 
 while the child of moral authority shall hold the 
 leading reins. 'jnp Tl hll IPlW ?1 W tih There 
 shall be no evil, or corruption in all my holy mount ; 
 D'MB uh D'BD 'PI flN Pljn pKH rwka ^ because the 
 world will be as full of knowledge as the waters cover 
 the sea. This, my brethren, is the future that lies 
 before us the future for which we daily pray and 
 which is our heart's best hope. But what certainty 
 have we that the fulfilment is to come? What is the
 
 154 THE SORROWS AMD 
 
 source of our confidence ? First, the unchanging and 
 all competent word of God ; and secondly, the annals 
 of the past. Compare we history with prophecy 
 the event with the prediction and against all human 
 probabilities, our hearts must hope. 
 
 Then let us hope on, brethren, let us hope on to 
 the end, and let our trust remain unshaken. Let us 
 render ourselves worthy of the vast revolution that is 
 to be wrought in our favor; and soon, full soon, the 
 great and glorious day will dawn which is to give to 
 Israel the sovereignty of the world; the day which 
 will witness once again the smoke of incense mount- 
 ing to the sky, and see the holocausts of gratitude 
 and love offered on the altars of Jerusalem, because 
 npnxnn^^mSnbS^^lp^ "Zion will be re- 
 deemed with judgment and her captives with right- 
 eousness." 
 
 " Yes, Salem, thou shalt rise ; thy Father's aid 
 Will heal the wound His chastening hand hath made ; 
 Shall judge the proud oppressor's ruthless sway, 
 And burst the brazen bonds and cast their cords away." 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 SOVEREIGN of the universe! on this the comforting 
 
 o 
 
 period of Thy people's celebrations, we are here to 
 draw from Thee, the sweet consoling draught of hope. 
 We have, to-day, reverted to the dark path of our 
 national afflictions; and we have looked forward to 
 the bright future of national restoration. Grant, 
 Father, that the lessons of the one may lead us to 
 deserve the bliss of the other ; that, having discovered 
 the crimes which made Zion a desolation, we may
 
 CONSOLATION OF JERUSALEM. 155 
 
 regard them as the quicksands which beset our future 
 path, and strive to exterminate from among us, every 
 tendency to approach them. We pray Thee, Father, 
 to make us worthy of Thy promised redemption. 
 We pray Thee to make for us the highway through 
 the desert of our captivity, that thereon we may 
 march forward to national independence. Thus, prove 
 Thou to the world, that while all flesh is grass that 
 fadeth, and all its glory, the blossom of the field that 
 withereth, Thy word, which endures for ever, has pre- 
 served us through the wreck of ages, and canst make 
 our end eclipse a thousandfold the glory of our be- 
 ginning. To this end, Lord, we supplicate Thee, even 
 as every day Thy people supplicate, 
 
 mnpi wnvS:! ppS w KPI uwin 4 ? Snj i^pa ypn 
 : pn HIM ynKfc nrv 
 
 " Blow the great trumpet for our redemption, and 
 lift up the banner to collect our dispersed ones, and 
 gather us all together from the four corners of the 
 earth." Amen. 
 
 NOTE. The Author desires here to acknowledge his obligation 
 to the Rev. D. A. De Sola, to whose research he is mainly indebted 
 for the compilation of the several causes to which the Talmud 
 attributes the dispersion. See Sermon delivered at the Spanish and 
 Portuguese Synagogue 1DCI3 rot? 5593.
 
 156 
 
 XII. 
 
 PRAYER, ITS SPHERE AND ITS 
 CHARACTER. 
 
 WE have again entered upon the month of propitia- 
 tion, the period at which we are all required to oc- 
 cupy ourselves with the work of spiritual preparation 
 against the great and awful day of expiation. We 
 are launched upon those forty days of warning, when 
 festal anticipations are mingled with solemn reflections ; 
 and while the heart, exulting in the approach of our 
 sweetest solemnities, throbs with grateful hopes and 
 aspirations, the soul also, feels itself roused to a sense 
 of its responsibility, to a recognition of the cares and 
 duties which belong to this season. Now it is, that 
 we begin to restrain our footsteps from the wonted 
 path, now that our tongues are curbed by sacred con- 
 templation, and our thoughts and desires checked by 
 chastening reflection. Now, too, we begin to extend 
 our charities, to widen the portals of our hearts, to 
 feel more tenderly, more intimately the woes of our 
 fellows, to participate more feelingly in their sorrows, 
 and to seek the way, by which those woes and sorrows 
 can be alleviated. But while repentance is thus de- 
 signated by our spiritual efforts, and while charity is 
 indicated by our spiritual movements, there is another 
 consideration which belongs to the season another 
 Heaven-seeking exercise another powerful advocate
 
 PRAYER: ITS SPHERE, AND ITS CHARACTER. 157 
 
 at this period of grace, upon which we shall have most 
 to rely, and which we are too wont to depreciate in 
 effect. I refer, my brethren, to prayer, whose sphere 
 and character we shall to-day consider, basing our 
 reflections upon Eccl. iv. 17. 
 
 iva h$ 
 D^K a HIT 
 
 " Keep thy foot, when thou goest to the house of God, 
 and draw near to hear rather than give the sacrifice 
 of fools, for they know not that they do evil." 
 
 In illustrating this text, it will be necessary to en- 
 quire into the meaning of the four expressions, em- 
 ployed by the wise king. 
 
 I- D^PlStf TO THE HOUSE OF GOD. 
 II. T^n *nW KEEP THY FEET. 
 
 III. yifc?7 ailpl DRAW NEAR TO HEAR. 
 
 IV. fQT D'S'Ejn nn GIVING THE SACRIFICE OF 
 FOOLS. 
 
 I. 
 
 Where, brethren, is the house of God ? Where the 
 habitation of His glory? pXHI ^D3 DWPl 71 *lfcK PO 
 
 Tirroa mpo nr w *h iaan i^x jva n? ^i onn 
 
 "Behold, the Eternal hath said, the Heaven is My 
 throne, and the earth My footstool, where is the house 
 which you can build for Me, where the place for Me 
 to rest?" Is there any locality where we must look 
 to find Him especially, that Solomon should speak of 
 the house of God ? We are in the open field, under 
 the wide arch of Heaven, with all His majestic works 
 illumining the sphere; and gazing with myriad eyes 
 upon the lonely face of earth, we are praying there 
 can it be said that God is not nigh, because 'tis not
 
 158 PRAYER: ITS SPHERE, 
 
 His house? In the dark prison-cell, where granite 
 walls and massive bolts and bars immure some felon's 
 form, whose heavy chains clang as he falls upon his 
 knees to pray with tearful eyes and penitent heart ; 
 shall we say, that God is not there it is not His 
 dwelling-place? In the narrow cabin of some roaming 
 bark which is being tossed upon the vast expanse of 
 water, now lashed into fury by the tempest, the 
 storm-driven mariner is prostrate in prayer for God's 
 help and protection. Shall we tell him, that he prays 
 in vain, since that is not God's house? Or shall we 
 discourage the humble peasant, who, ere he seeks his 
 nightly pallet, pours forth his orisons in gratitude for 
 past and supplication for future mercies? Shall we, 
 or dare we tell him that God is not there ? No, my 
 brethren, God's abode is, like His goodness, universal. 
 Wherever we turn our eyes, or bid our thoughts fly 
 onwards, there is His presence, ever propitious, ever 
 welcoming those who seek Him as He should be sought. 
 Then why assign to Him a house? Why limit His 
 glory to walls of human structure? Because, although 
 He may be approached always, He may not be ap- 
 proached indifferently. Our footsteps must be regu- 
 lated for the interview we must be attuned to the 
 solemnity of the occasion. Prayer is the communion 
 of the spirit in man with the parent spirit at the 
 fountain head of purity. In that exercise, the Divine 
 essence which is within us, soars upwards to commu- 
 nicate its wants, its thoughts, its hopes, its aspirings 
 to an indulgent parent, that they may all be satisfied. 
 And in what state we may materially be placed, is 
 unimportant; whether in the spacious aisles of a
 
 AND ITS CHARACTER. 159 
 
 temple, or in the silent recess of our chamber in the 
 open field, or in the stately palace, the soul's devo- 
 tion will be equally efficacious, provided they preserve 
 their spiritual character. But we all have not especial 
 impulses to seek the throne of grace, and if we waited 
 until such promptings should grow within us, we 
 should become engrossed with the cares of the world 
 and either never think of God at all, or we should 
 serve Him unworthily in the midst of our domestic 
 cares and secular duties. Hence arises the necessity 
 for public worship, a solemnity which assembles all 
 ranks and classes for the sacred purposes of devotion, 
 that the contagion of sanctity may fly from one an- 
 other, and the smallest spark of piety be kindled into 
 a pure and holy flame. And as every thought and 
 word originated by this sacred place should possess 
 a spiritual nature akin to the Being with whom we 
 seek converse, as herein is forbidden every unholy 
 desire or sentiment, and as nought should here be 
 seen but humbled heads, nought be heard but humble 
 accents, our tribute to our Maker, it follows as a 
 consequence, that this should be called the house of 
 God. Not, indeed, a dwelling-place, but a place con- 
 secrated to His service and honor - a place where, as 
 
 He says : ^prO^D 1 ) f^ ^^ w n ** "^^ "^ " l wil1 
 cause My name to be remembered and I will come 
 to you and bless you." Thus then, brethren, although 
 from the depth of our affliction^ we can pray to God 
 in our chambers and feel the conviction that our prayer 
 is acceptable, we dare not systematically depreciate 
 the temple service, and neglect it with the erroneous 
 notion that we can pray as well at home. No. This
 
 160 PRAYER: ITS SPHERE, 
 
 is the altar built for our worship, and here must we 
 pour out our soul's devotions, when blessed with the 
 strength to seek it. Private mercies may be sought 
 and private ills deprecated in the stillness of the 
 closet; but when Sabbath hours and festal comme- 
 moration summon us, it is hither we must come with 
 our praises and prayers, in the spirit of the Rabbi who 
 
 taught nwan ivaa xhx njwi DIN hw rtan px 
 
 "Man's prayers that is, his stated orisons are only 
 heard in the synagogue." 
 
 II. 
 
 The preacher directs us, in the text, " to keep our 
 feet when we go to the house of God," by which he 
 inculcates the doctrine, that the motives which should 
 direct us to the sanctuary, should be wholly pure and 
 worthy. It would be a self-delusion, brethren, were 
 we to imagine that every visitant at this holy fane, 
 is brought hither by religious prompting. Alas ! there 
 are many worldly motives which share our duty, many 
 unworthy objects hidden under our pious demeanour. 
 One comes hither to win a character for religious 
 fervour, and contents himself with standing in the 
 presence of his God, a mere voluble and mechanical 
 worshipper. Another comes because it looks well. 
 Fashion decrees, by the visits of the greatest among 
 you, that God does deserve some share of your time, 
 and you accordingly do come to give Him, not your 
 praises, but a portion of your leisure. Others would 
 seek an opportunity to display some new appoint- 
 ments, some novel ornate dress, or jewel; and lo! 
 these come to worship themselves and their finery in
 
 AND ITS CHARACTER. 161 
 
 the temple of their God ; while many others would 
 profit by the smiling sunbeams and the balmy winds 
 of summer, to meet friends assembled altogether, that 
 they may interchange a greeting. Are these motives 
 laudable, brethren? Are such impulses worthy of us 
 and of our Maker ? Surely not ; and therefore have 
 Solomon's words much force and meaning for us, 
 when they bid us take heed of our footsteps as we 
 hither come. It must not be hypocrisy, or fashion, 
 or vanity that impels our progress, but a pure arid 
 holy motive, a recognition of our position before 
 Heaven, as children before a parent as servants be- 
 fore a master. In fine, brethren, there must be a pre- 
 paration of our minds, before we seek these precincts. 
 The inscription written above this holy place must not 
 only arrest our gaze, but must also grasp our intel- 
 lect and engross our soul, so that, bodily and spiri- 
 tually we may be holy, and every rising thought 
 whisper anew "ifciy HHK *fi "057 JTJ " Know before 
 whom thou standest." When the disorderly movements 
 of some tardy worshipper, entering near the close of 
 the solemnity, distracts our attention, and fills our 
 mind with some sharp, reproachful sentiment against 
 his laxity, we must repress that sentiment, in honour 
 of the place, and let charity teach us to " know before 
 whom we stand." So, when irreverent neighbours 
 seek to degrade these holy precincts by introducing 
 hither the piquant jest or biting sarcasm, the inde- 
 corous whisper or trifling smile, we must reprove the 
 sacrilege by letting our devotion teach them to "know 
 before whom they stand." Thus, must every irregu- 
 larity in ourselves, or in others, be controlled arid 
 
 M
 
 162 PRAYER: ITS SPHERE, 
 
 bridled into reverent subjection. When we approach 
 the throne of earthly majesty, and are honoured by 
 the countenance of human loyalty, what is our de- 
 meanour? We feel no awe for the kingly personage. 
 ( )ur lives, our fortunes, are not in his grasp, and yet 
 conventionalism bows the knee and constrains a de- 
 corous demeanour, free from levity or mirth. Here 
 the incentive is the higher, for our position in this 
 place is VJ11X ^sh "DJD " as a slave in the presence 
 of his lord," of the lord who sways his destiny and the 
 destiny of the world. Shall we be less ceremonious, 
 less impressed by the majesty of the interview, or 
 less animated by the hope to win the royal favour, 
 when the Sovereign of the Universe is the personage 
 before whom we stand ? Assuredly not. Then bow 
 the knee, worship and adore with every symbol 
 of humility with every emotion of profound and 
 lowly veneration. Hp HTIPQ TlS inWPI "Prostrate 
 fall ye before the Eternal in all the beauty of sanctity." 
 Then only will you heed the Royal Sage's charge, and 
 keep your feet when you go to the house of God. 
 
 III. 
 
 We come, thirdly, to inquire^What is the meaning of 
 the expression . JflfcBf? SVlpI "Draw near to hearken ?" 
 To what and to whom is this attentive hearing to be 
 given? Brethren, many are the voices which resound 
 within these walls voices which require not living 
 accents to give them vehemence, but which exercise 
 their sacred influence in spiritual energy. We enter 
 these sacred courts, and, as we turn towards this holy 
 place, we bow the head and bend the knee before the
 
 AND ITS CHARACTER. 163 
 
 eternal mandates written here above; and, if we are 
 at all susceptible of holy emotions, we must recognise 
 something in the aspect of the place proclaiming, 
 with a voice sweetly intelligible "rh KHp " Holiness to 
 the Eternal." And if we come hither, when none 
 besides is here, and silence solemn and sublime pre- 
 vails, we shall not fail to be impressed by the calm so 
 sacred and profound, and amid the stillness of the hour, 
 we will distinctly hear a whispering voice from within 
 us run DIpBH mi3 PID "how awful is this place!" 
 And when we mix our accents with the loud praises 
 and supplications of our fellow-worshippers, if our 
 fervour be such as will elevate us above the reality of 
 earth, and carry our thoughts to Heaven, then we 
 shall hear the sweetest voice njytf ^&0 Itflp* DID JTPfl 
 yjbS?K ^K1 Dnma DH *f\$ " Before you call, I will 
 answer; while yet you are speaking, I will hear." So 
 too, my brethren, every solemnity within these walls 
 addresses us with some admonitory, cheering, or com- 
 forting voice, if we only have within us the spiritual 
 emotion which will lead to its recognition. But, be- 
 sides these, there are actual living voices, to which 
 you should draw near to hearken. There is the voice 
 of the law which is rehearsed to you, week after 
 week, and which addresses to you, some precepts of 
 Divine behest, which reminds you of duties, and 
 inculcates those virtues that shine resplendently upon 
 its every page of wisdom. There is the voice of the 
 prophets, which speaks to you of your past and of your 
 future; of the glories of the one of the brightness 
 of the other, which assures you of your destiny, re- 
 kindles your hopes, and re-animates your hearts with 
 
 M 2
 
 1 04 PRAYER : ITS SPHERE, 
 
 the promises of your God. And there is the voice of 
 the preacher, which feebly essays to expound and 
 illustrate to admonish and denounce. Though a 
 fellow-sinner with you, he is the sentinel to proclaim 
 the danger which threatens all alike; and when his 
 voice is heard, with the doctrine of morality or the 
 denunciation of Divine wrath, it is the echo of Scrip- 
 ture which you hear, the rehearsed accents of sage 
 and seer gone before us. Say then, brethren, do you 
 come near to listen to those varied voices, or, rather, 
 do you come with the disposition to turn a deaf ear to 
 the spiritual ones, and to ridicule or criticise the phy- 
 sical ones? Do you ever follow and dwell upon the 
 words which from the law are read? Even when you 
 are summoned to approach and stand beside it, as its 
 proclaimer, do you care to accompany, much less to 
 understand, the portion which the ministrant reads 
 on your behalf? When, too, the pulpit sends forth its 
 words of reproof and instruction, which, however 
 they may fail in mental merit, yet burn with the 
 preacher's zeal, do you heed his accents, or do you not 
 rather seek to condemn his judgment, rail at his want of 
 eloquence, criticize his style, and doubt his sincerity? 
 Nay, my friends, ye do not regard the voices of the 
 sanctuary: ye come not near to hearken, 7^1 y\foW tyfoW 
 W3TI " Ye hear, indeed, but will not understand." 
 Ye come, indeed, but bring HIT D^^D^H " the sacrifice 
 of fools." 
 
 IV. 
 
 The sacrifice of fools, we have said, brethren, and 
 those are the words of Solomon in the text. What
 
 AND ITS CHAKACTEK. 165 
 
 they mean, we have lastly to discover. The erudite 
 Rashi, in his exposition of this passage, describes the 
 sacrifice of fools, as being p-p K^l ntDfW "that they 
 sin while they bring their offering." Behold our pre- 
 cise position ; we come hither to discharge a duty of 
 religion, and, when here, we violate that very duty. 
 Nor have we even the excuse which Solomon ascribes 
 to the fools jpi rWyS D'jFTVDyX *3 u that they know not 
 that they do evil," for we are not so spiritually blind, 
 as not to feel that we transgress. Alas ! we sin, and 
 are content to sin, for know we not that we transgress 
 when on sabbath days and holy festivals we come 
 direct from our labour hither, sacrilegiously to bless 
 God for the rest he has appointed us, and, ere those 
 hypocritical words are free from our lips, we go 
 forth again to desecrate the holiness of the day, by 
 the pursuit of our worldly calling? Do we not know 
 that we sin, when, after spending the chief hours of 
 prayer sluggardly in bed, we come hither near the 
 close of the solemnities, and then apply ourselves, not 
 to pray, but to converse not to humble ourselves, 
 but to exchange the ribald joke, or indulge the smile 
 of levity ? Do we not know that we sin, when we 
 engage in our devotions with mere mechanical efforts, 
 and direct ourselves as to the accomplishment of a 
 task, volubly pronouncing language that we do not 
 care to understand ? Do we not knoAv that we sin, 
 when the holy calm which should pervade these pre- 
 cincts, is marred by vehement shouts and hypocritic 
 tears, all meant to illustrate the intensity of a feigned 
 devotion ? Brethren, let the truth force itself upon 
 our conviction : we do not realise the solemnity of
 
 166 PRAYER: ITS SPHERE, 
 
 worship and the value of its offices. We insult our 
 Maker with the hollow pretence of serving Him : we 
 bring strange fire to His altar, and heed not that it is 
 unsanctified. But, brethren, too long have we re- 
 mained indifferent to the highest privilege which our 
 nature enioys that of Divine communion. Too long 
 have we brought the sacrifice of fools an offering 
 that savours of idolatry in the error of its intention 
 and the unholiness of its character. Now that we 
 have entered on the period of propitiation, now that 
 the holy work of preparation has commenced, and 
 atonement for sin engages our constant efforts, let 
 us correct the evil, and cultivate becomingly the 
 functions of worship. Soon, brethren, you will be 
 summoned to these courts, in celebration of great and 
 solemn rites. Soon will the shrill tones of the 
 Shofar be heard, ringing its warning in every ear. 
 Soon will the fast of Expiation humble us in the dust, 
 with tears and repentance. The grace we have to 
 seek from our God must be asked in prayer; and 
 therefore, I conj are you to begin betimes, to give that 
 sacred exercise the spiritual energy which only can 
 endow it with efficacy. Commence this very hour,' 
 and clothe yourselves with the spirit of seriousness and 
 devotion. Banish all worldly thoughts from your 
 minds, and direct yourselves to pray that God will 
 help you, and teach you how to approach Him, now 
 and evermore. With deepest earnestness, let me en- 
 treat you to avail yourselves of the blessed privi- 
 lege which God confers upon us, when He says 
 
 " You shall call upon rne, and ye shall go and pray
 
 AND ITS CHARACTER. 1(57 
 
 unto me, and I will hearken unto you :" 
 DDrnS hll 3Gmn 3 DHKHbl " When ye seek me, ye 
 shall find me, provided ye seek me with all your 
 heart." This is the condition, the sole condition, on 
 which we enjoy a gracious and glorious boon. Profit 
 by it, 1 conjure you, and be happy. Do not provoke the 
 wrath of Heaven, by neglecting or depreciating it 
 by lightly regarding the services of the synagogue, 
 or by withholding yourselves from God's presence. 
 Come, I pray you, to this sacred edifice, when its 
 open portals invite you to devotion. Come to enjoy 
 your sabbath-rest, to celebrate your festal happiness; 
 to bring your peace-offering and your sin-offering, 
 in the shape of a prayerful spirit and a contrite heart ! 
 And when ye come, come not for fashion or diversion 
 come not to display or to converse, but come to wor- 
 ship your God and Father. VJYntfn miTO V^S? 1N3 
 rpnrO "Come into His gates with thanksgiving into 
 His courts with praise." Then, and then only, will 
 you experience the blessings, rich and constant, which 
 result from a frequent communion with your benefi- 
 cent guardian. From the confession of your sins, 
 you will rise relieved, from the submission of your 
 wants, you will remain satisfied, from the supplica- 
 tion of new mercies, you will depart contented. 
 You will return to your homes, calm and happy in the 
 consciousness of having performed your duty ; and the 
 service of your God, will be productive, in you, of 
 peace, righteousness, and eternal life. ^pfil "IPQH HPtf 
 
 : 7^n trip -pvn nibi njnt^ *p*n |w "Happy he 
 
 whom Thou choosest and bringest near, that he may 
 dwell in Thy courts, he shall be satisfied with
 
 168 PRAYER: ITS SPHERE, 
 
 the goodness of Thy House, the holiness of Thy 
 temple. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 ALMIGHTY GOD ! merciful and gracious Lord, infinite 
 in benevolence and truth, whose wonders continually 
 shine around us, whose glory all creation proclaims. 
 We meet Thee, everywhere, Eternal! everywhere 
 behold Thy great doings and Thy holy workings. 
 We see Thy majesty by day in the expanse of the 
 Heavens, we behold Thee nightly in the glimmering 
 of the heavenly orbs; but most beautifully, most glo- 
 riously do we meet Thee in the holy sanctuary which 
 men have erected unto Thee, and where Thou sittest 
 enthroned amid the psalmody of Israel. It is there, 
 God, that Thine illimitable mercies are exhibited 
 to us, it is there that we behold the magnitude of 
 Thy wisdom which worketh for the happiness of Thy 
 creatures. It is Thy holy house which awakens and 
 cherishes those sentiments of gratitude, which form 
 the sole return we can make for Thy never failing- 
 bounty. There it is, Eternal, that we find the 
 sweetest consolation in adversity ; it is its portal which 
 offers to us the surest refuge from our unruly passions. 
 Teach us then, Father, to appreciate Thy glorious 
 boon, so that it produce in us the happy moral effects 
 which Thy wisdom hath designed. Let Thy holy 
 spirit fill us with the conviction, that we can only 
 render ourselves worthy of that infinite love which 
 Thou renewest unto us with each new morning light, 
 when we seek to render unto Thee, the tribute of a
 
 AND ITS CHARACTER. 169 
 
 grateful soul poured out in the solemn assemblies of 
 Thy people. And when \ve present ourselves before 
 Thee, Sovereign, let our hearts be penetrated with 
 a sense of Thy glorious majesty, and let us be im- 
 pressed with the belief that every act, every desire, 
 every thought is criminal in Thy temple, which has 
 not for its aim the praise of Thee, which has not its 
 origin in the love of Thee, which confines not itself to 
 the worship of Thee. Imprint upon our hearts the 
 sacred truth, that in reverencing Thy sanctuary, we 
 reverence Thee that when we cease to assemble in 
 Thy courts and to worship Thee becomingly, we cease 
 to be grateful for Thy mercies. With this conviction, 
 Lord, let us approach Thy days of solemn convocation, 
 the DWD D'* "the awful days," which Thou hast 
 appointed for penitence and prayer, so that we may 
 reap plentifully of the blessings of grace and pardon, 
 love and favor, of which this season is the harvest, 
 and we, Thy people, the humble gleaners. Amen.
 
 170 
 
 XIII. 
 SPIRITUAL PEACE. 
 
 A SERMON FOR THE DAY OF ATONEMENT. 
 
 7i T&K anVi irnS taiSt? oi 1 ?^ 
 
 a pitt M 
 Ss? PK tr&i 
 
 " I who create the fruit of the lips proclaim peace peace to him 
 that is far and to him that is near, saith the Eternal, and I will heal 
 him. But the wicked are like the troubled sea which can never be 
 at rest, whose waters cast up filth and mire: there is no peace, 
 saith my God, for the wicked." Isaiah Ivii. 19 21. 
 
 BRETHREN, We are assembled to perform the greatest, 
 holiest solemnity of our faith. The tones of the Shofar 
 have been heard in the city, its warning notes have 
 summoned us to seek peace from the God of mercy; 
 and obedient to His proclamation, we are here with the 
 fruits of our lips, 71 *)sh WrWSJ Sy ISD 1 ? "to atone 
 for our souls before the Eternal." In this, the service 
 of repentance, we are being joined by millions of our 
 race. THNPl ffi333 SDTKft From the four corners of 
 earth are ascending this day, the supplications of a 
 people who approach the throne of mercy that their
 
 SPIRITUAL PEACE. 171 
 
 humble spirits may be revived their contrite hearts 
 reanimated. The sun which has risen upon our so- 
 lemnities to-day, witnesseth also the kindred rites of 
 every fold in Israel, iKinft 1^ W mTOb, " from 
 where he rises, to where he goeth down ;" and through 
 these sacred hours, when the portals of grace are 
 thrown open to invite the erring child of Israel to seek 
 peace and live, one thrilling strain of harmonious 
 psalmody is ringing throughout the earth, to celebrate 
 the mercies of the God of love and beneficence. But, 
 my brethren, wherever the congregations of Jacob 
 are collected in worship, there is one sole object 
 attached to every supplication : though wide apart 
 the worshippers, their orisons converge to one end, 
 and that is, to draw from the exercises of this august 
 occasion, the blessings of peace and pardon to 
 claim admission to the boon proffered in our text 
 -the boon of spiritual peace and healing. In 
 developing the nature of that boon, my brethren, 
 and in discovering the circumstances attached to it, 
 we will also keep in view the practical object to 
 which all worship is to-day directed, and we will 
 strive to elicit from the prophet's words, a doc- 
 trine at once consonant to the spirit of this great 
 occasion, uniform with the attributes of God, and 
 adapted to our present condition as supplicants for 
 forgiveness claimants of peace and healing. 
 
 With this view, brethren, we will consider the text 
 as suggestive of three questions. 
 
 I. WHAT is THE PROFFERED PEACE? 
 
 II. To WHOM IS IT OFFERED? 
 III. HOW IS IT TO BE ACQUIRED?
 
 172 SPIRITUAL PEACE. 
 
 I. 
 
 What is the proffered peace? 
 
 Peace, as a general term, is the messenger of God, 
 sent to us to render our condition here below " as days 
 of heaven upon earth." When the din of war resounds 
 through the world, and men go forth to fight and 
 bleed and die ; when empires are convulsed and vast 
 armies are marshalled in the field, with death and de- 
 solation as their van-guard ; when poverty is made 
 more poor and misery and woe are spread abroad as 
 the hateful consequences of human contest, there is 
 one cry put forth by every heart the cry for peace. 
 The patriot who has fallen in his country's cause with 
 the ebb of his life's blood, prays, that peace may soon 
 give freedom to his fatherland. The mother as she 
 listens to the cannon's roar and invokes God's protec- 
 tion on her child, exposed to the perils of the battle- 
 field prays, too, for peace to allay the fears of her 
 maternal bosom. The orphans, whose father has 
 sacrificed his life to his country's call, leaving them 
 without other staff or stay they, too, pray that peace 
 may soon prevail, that others may be spared the stroke 
 which has befallen them. Yes; all invoke the angel 
 of peace to fill some void, reigning in their hearts 
 all invoke peace as the greatest boon befitting their 
 condition ; but that is physical peace the peace that 
 regulates the prosperity of earth the peace that unites 
 mankind in the arts of civilized life, so that universal 
 happiness may be diffused universal good promoted. 
 Again, when there is strife between man and man- 
 when spite and malice are dominant, and all the flood
 
 SPIRITUAL PEACE. 173 
 
 of hatred, which springs from rancour, is let loose to 
 engulf the sweet emotions of brotherly love, then, too, 
 there is a cry for peace. Hear humble innocence, as 
 writhing under the oppressive hand of misused power, 
 it cries aloud for peace ! Hark at the plaint of distress 
 which persecuted meekness sends forth, as all the in- 
 juries of malevolence are set in motion to crush him! 
 He, too, calls for peace ; but this is moral peace the 
 peace that is to reconcile man to his neighbour to 
 stay the whirlwind of passion, and to dispel the clouds 
 of strife and disunion, extending the sweet and holy 
 calm of love and harmony. But the peace of our 
 text the peace which occupies the fiery eloquence of 
 Isaiah, is distinct from both these. Not over human 
 warfare or human passion is it summoned to preside- 
 not to sate man's ambition, or to repress man's hatred 
 is it invoked, but to interpose between sinning man 
 and off ended Heaven to restrain the just displeasure 
 of God and avert the stroke of His vengeance from in- 
 iquity. It is spiritual peace, my brethren, the peace 
 which, emanating from the Eternal, descends upon the 
 kindred spark which animates our nature, to make us 
 pure, peaceful and happy ; to regenerate us, and to as- 
 similate our spirit to its sacred and divine original. 
 This is the peace, for which man, though surrounded 
 by all the appliances of fortune, and sated with every 
 earthly joy, yet pants, D> <JT3N h$ ST($r\ Wl) "as the 
 hart pants after the waterbrooks." This is the peace, 
 on which the convert sets his highest hopes, for which 
 he weeps, and fasts, and prays, and knows no happi- 
 ness again, until he feels it entering into his soul. 
 This is the peace, for which the dying sinner groans,
 
 174 SPIRITUAL PEACE. 
 
 as on the couch of death, he feels the spirit about to 
 wing its way on high, untranquillised, unblessed by 
 divine pacification. And this is the peace, which is 
 offered by the offices of this sacred day the peace 
 which, on the testimony of the text, God Himself 
 proffers to His children. He invites them, through 
 the solemnities of His t) QV to receive at His 
 hands grace instead of punishment, rich showers of 
 mercies instead of torrents of wrath, in place of in- 
 dignation, and vengeance, and death, the rich blessings 
 of spiritual peace. Press forward then, betimes, my 
 brethren, and seize the proffered boon. Ye giddy 
 youth who hurry on the journey of life, all entranced 
 by the seductions of pleasure, come hither to take the 
 peace proffered by your God and your faith. Ye vota- 
 ries of worldly gain, whose greatest care is to gather 
 manna to accumulate the hoard that is to shed no 
 joy upon your lives, arid yet must be abandoned, at 
 your death, approach and collect the spiritual food of 
 peace and pardon, which alone can make you happy. 
 And you too, old men, on the confines of life, who 
 fear to glance upon the past, or look forward to the 
 future, lest the sin of the one, or the death of the other 
 appal your senses, come hither, and let this day and 
 this text introduce you to yourselves, and teaching 
 you to make your peace with God, prepare you for 
 the dark abode, whose threshold ye even now are 
 treading. Come all! the sinning and the good 
 the man of violence and the man of holiness 
 rmp^l pirnS DlS^ ClSa? " there is peace, spiritual 
 peace for the distant and the near." But, brethren, 
 pause we to enquire, whether indiscriminately to all,
 
 SPIRITUAL PEACE. 175 
 
 peace is to be dispensed; whether God's grace is 
 equally shed over those who gratefully accept the boon 
 and those for whom it has no value. Not so, my 
 hearers; the text especially describes the classes to 
 whom the invitation is vouchsafed, and to discover 
 them, we will proceed to the second head of discourse, 
 by asking: 
 
 II. 
 
 To whom is spiritual peace offered? 
 
 First, pimS DlSfc? "peace to him that is afar off" 
 to him that is estranged from his God, and seeks to 
 return to Him with penitence for his atonement offer- 
 ing. The more distant the sinner has been from 
 virtue, the more meritorious his re-subjection beneath 
 her sway the more acceptable to God is his sincere 
 conversion. This is the unequivocal declaration of 
 our sages. DnifcH d'p'Tflb rfclBTl 'SjD D^Tti "greater 
 are penitents, than men confirmedly righteous." And 
 this is an opinion franked by reason. Reflect on the 
 condition of that man who has thrown off all the 
 restraints of religion. See him violating honour and 
 chastity scorning all dictation rebellious against 
 every rule. Mark him, as he tramples over right and 
 justice, making his will alone the criterion for his 
 actions. Then conceive, if ye can, the moral revolu- 
 tion which must be wrought in that man's soul, ere 
 he can be brought to present himself before His God 
 self-accusing self-reproving to deprecate past 
 sins, and to implore divine grace and pardon. Well 
 is it, then, that even to the most rebellious sinner, 
 the opportunity of repentance is offered that to the
 
 176 SPIRITUAL PEACE. 
 
 utmost depths of iniquity God's mercy can reach, to 
 extricate frail man from the snares of sin? Such a 
 dispensation is a complete exposition of God's love 
 for His children; it speaks in accents unmistakable 
 the consoling truth which forms the basis of the 
 sinner's hope rrm "DTia J?BH 31fi?l DK *3 " that God 
 desires not the death of the wicked, but that he 
 should turn from his way and live." And, 
 my brethren, what a sweet solace is this, to us in 
 our pilgrimage through a life beset with dangers 
 and temptations, where impurity beckons on the 
 right, iniquity on the left, where every step onward 
 may precipitate us in an abyss, from which extrication 
 would be impossible, but for the loving- kindness of 
 the Eternal! What comfort in the thought, that, 
 though ' scarlet-hued be our iniquities, God's mercy 
 will blanch them like snow though deep-dyed as 
 crimson, they can attain the pure whiteness of wool. 
 Who, then, will refuse peace if he be not excluded 
 from its sacred tabernacle ? Who can be deaf to the 
 invitation of heaven, when around us hovers the 
 messenger of the Eternal God, beckoning to the man of 
 guilt, and to the son of violence, and whispering with 
 every reproof of conscience, pIPIT? D17> flb& "peace- 
 peace to him that is far off"? But is it only to the 
 remote from virtue that peace is offered ? only to 
 them who are on the utmost confines of iniquity, 
 that the cheering proclamation is made ? No, my 
 brethren, though God receives with grace the repen- 
 tant man of evil, he offers peace also S'np") to him 
 that is near; He invites with love the erring child 
 whose feet have stumbled without guilty motive
 
 SPIRITUAL PEACE. 177 
 
 whose conscience accusing him of venial misdeeds, 
 brings him to the footstool of the Lord to win forgive- 
 ness. His offering is the same crushed spirit and 
 contrite heart, brought by his more guilty brother; 
 and though his remorse be not so violent his self- 
 crimination so vehement, he yet comes to claim the 
 benefits of the season, and to throw himself with 
 confidence upon the comforting influence of these 
 sacred hours. Well, God will visit him too, with 
 peace; from the confession of his sin he will depart 
 tranquil and happy, and he will set a closer watch 
 upon his acts will regulate his thoughts, his words, 
 and his desires in the future, because he will feel 
 that while n^y tih V^^S PlD2fc"he who conceals his 
 transgressions prospers not" Bffi*V 3Tiyi mifil "he who 
 confesses and forsakes them will be compassionated." 
 But, brethren, though we have thus seen peace pro- 
 claimed far and near, our text yet continues emphatic- 
 ally to declare D^BH? T\hx TftN DlS&? } " there is no 
 peace, saith my God, for the wicked." How is it, that 
 while they who are the most remote from godliness, 
 are invited to share in the proffered peace, the text 
 should so expressly exclude the "wicked?" Brethren, 
 let us repeat with all the force and energy we can 
 command, there is no degree of wickedness that will 
 render us unworthy of God's grace and pardon, pro- 
 vided we turn to him with sincere repentance; but 
 there is no crime of greater magnitude than the 
 attempt to delude God, by an ephemeral repentance 
 "TSN rh'h pi !Tn ibk pfc? " which springs up in a 
 night and perishes in a night" ; no greater insult to 
 the Majesty of Heaven, than to seek forgiveness to-day, 
 
 N
 
 178 SPIRITUAL PEACE. 
 
 for sins we go forth to-morrow to re-commit. Such 
 are the DW*) mentioned in the text, g^j D'3 " like 
 
 * i 
 
 the troubled sea," 7^V JO tDpBTl *3 " they never can 
 know rest," they fluctuate between iniquity and pro- 
 fessed atonement. They stalk abroad with violence 
 in their hand committing wrong, yet triumphing in 
 their infamy ; and if conscience should remind them 
 of their guilt, they have no ear for its reproof, but 
 defer repentance to a more convenient season. They 
 are those referred to by our sages, SI&^JO tf LT1K TJblNn 
 31BM KDHK who say, "I will sin and repent sin 
 again and repent again," b.ut who never take to heart 
 the truth mi&JTl tttiffjh ITS J'p'SDD |K that they 
 thus place themselves beyond the possibility of true 
 repentance. Or, fixing prospectively the date of their 
 atonement, they say, ^MD CniSDH DV1 N&riN " I will 
 sin, and the day of expiation shall remit the sin," 
 but they forget that a day clad with the most sublime 
 and sacred functions, can have no relation to their 
 systematic penitence ; *nS3D DHISDP! DV |'K that it will 
 not expiate their iniquity, because reliant upon its 
 offices, they come Dgffcn fiDJJO ffh " to bow their 
 heads like a bulrush," iy^ 1SN1 p&) and assume the 
 sackcloth and ashes of humble contrition, crying 
 with their lips for pardon, while their hearts remain 
 perverse and impenitent. It is against these, my 
 brethren, that our text utters its dread denunciation ; 
 their lip-worship and hypocritical outpourings it 
 assimilates to mire and dirt, cast up by the troubled 
 flood of their restless passions, and which God rejects 
 as an abomination as an impure offering on this 
 sacred altar. No, brethren, there is no peace for the
 
 SPIKITLTAL PEACE. 179 
 
 hypocrite; religion denounces him, and God discards 
 him; and though vehement may be his prayers, 
 rigid his mortifications while they continue, they are 
 valueless in the sight of Him who penetrates their 
 specious character, and reads in the hypocrite's heart 
 not only the determination to do to-morrow what he 
 deprecates to-day, but also the abominable sentiment 
 that he would be good and obedient, if he could but 
 obtain a guarantee of indemnity for all the gold and 
 silver he may sacrifice to duty. Therefore, saith God, 
 
 'PlStf TbN DW pa* : DW " But the wicked 
 are like the troubled sea which can never be at rest, but 
 whose waters cast up filth and mire. There is no peace 
 for the wicked." 
 
 III. 
 
 Now, brethren, that we have discovered the nature 
 of the peace proffered in the text, and the classes to 
 whom that proffer is made, it only remains for us, 
 thirdly, to determine the conditions attached to it, ere 
 we put forth our own claims to share in the boon. 
 Can we, dare we hope, that God's mercy is extended 
 to all sinners, without any improving effort on their 
 part? that the rich treasures of grace and pardon 
 are poured out upon us, without any direction of our 
 will and our energies towards winning them? Not 
 so, my brethren ; the very opening words of our text 
 serve to remove such an impression. God there an- 
 nounces Himself as D'fiSfc? TJ a*TQ " the Creator of 
 the fruit of the lips," and teaches us that prayer true 
 heartfelt prayer, with its concomitants of humility 
 and devotion, form the means, the only means, of 
 
 N 2
 
 180 SPIRITUAL FEACE. 
 
 {promoting spiritual peace among the far and the near. 
 And if we inquire into the character of prayer, we 
 shall be immediately convinced of its high qualifica- 
 tion to become the interceding messenger between 
 God and our sinning souls. Prayer is but an effort 
 of our immortal spark Spttfi TPK pSp! " the portion 
 from above," to commune with its parent source. 
 Upwards soars the spirit with every word which forms 
 on our lips; and soon, abstracted from all that is 
 around, with eyes, heart and soul lifted up to Heaven, 
 we feel a comforting influence spreading through our 
 breast ; every emotion within us becomes one of joy 
 and happiness, and we experience the sweet effects of 
 spiritual peace. It is thus, my brethren, that the 
 fruit of the lips reconducts us and reconciles us to 
 our God ; it is thus that true prayer becomes the 
 expiatory sacrifice, and calls down grace and pardon. 
 But remember, brethren, what we have so often sought 
 to impress upon you, that mechanical supplication 
 spiritless verbiage is not prayer. Remember that 
 God looks never to the precise expression, but to 
 the heart which originates it; that as He creates 
 the fruit of the lips, he will set no value upon 
 words that lack the tone, the feeling, the spiritual 
 energy of a contrite heart. In vain, then, your vehe- 
 ment outpourings, futile your multitudinous prayers, 
 profitless your tearful accents and abject prostrations. 
 They only desecrate the character of this blessed day, 
 by converting it into the anniversary of broken pro- 
 mises and spiritless performances. They may call 
 down upon you the wrathful indignation of a 
 righteous God, but they cannot, they will not, give
 
 SPIRITUAL PEACE. 181 
 
 you peace. Then let me summon you to cultivate 
 the exalted privilege of prayer, that it may yield you 
 to-day, a rich harvest of grace and pardon. Arouse 
 yourselves from the fancied security into which 
 ye are lulled. Awake from the slumber of con- 
 science, from the lethargy of the soul, and prepare, 
 prepare to meet your God. Know ye not, that the 
 pestilence is stalking through the land, blasting with 
 its mephitic breath the lovely and the young, 
 spitting its venom upon the most promising soil, and 
 spreading its sable wings over thousands at a swoop? 
 And with the destroying angel hovering around us, 
 can we, dare we, repeat the mockery of former years, 
 
 mS ppyi SinSns UKDH wsa upyx "Crying with our 
 
 mouths, we have sinned while our hearts remain fro- 
 ward and obdurate"? No, no, dear brethren; arouse 
 yourselves betimes, and profit by the offices of this 
 great and awful day. "n *? iniEn DW DSfcy IHp 
 " Take to yourselves words and return to the Eternal.'' 
 Let your prayers proceed from contrite hearts, spirits 
 fraught with humble penitence ; let them announce on 
 High, whither ye direct them, that ye have come from 
 the confines of sin, with the atonement offering most 
 grateful in the sight of God, PD131 "QBO ?b PPttBO HII 
 "a broken spirit, a heart crushed and contrite." Then 
 shall ye have peace eternal, heavenly peace, for God 
 will heal your wound, and re-animate you, giving you 
 I'D} ITn 1 ) TinD iS "the pure heart and upright spirit" 
 that befit the convert. Yes, you shall have peace, ye 
 worshippers of the golden calf ye refined idolaters 
 of a civilized age. Your outrages upon an idol-hating 
 God shall be forgiven your offerings to the Baal of
 
 182 SPIRITUAL PEACE. 
 
 wealth shall be blotted from the record your minis- 
 terings around the fane of interest shall no more 
 testify against you. You shall be healed : but ye must 
 pray, with all your heart, for pardon, and you must 
 vow to raze the idol, that its hateful influence may 
 never more seduce you from your God. 
 
 You, too, shall have peace, ye recreants from the 
 covenant of your God ye violators of that sacred day, 
 thrice hallowed by Divine appointment. Your arro- 
 gant reliance upon arms of flesh shall not be visited 
 the evasions ye have employed to rob the sabbath of 
 its sanctity while ye labour by another's hands, will 
 be remitted. You shall be healed : but your spirit must 
 pour forth its contrition in humble, tearful accents, 
 and ye must promise to restrain your feet from follow- 
 ing your inclination on God's holy day, calling it and 
 feeling it a delight -Ql3b 'X PFlpb "sacred to the 
 Lord, and clad in glory." 
 
 And you shall have peace, ye habitual calumniators, 
 whose hateful industry envenoms words the most 
 pure, acts the most innocent, intentions the most holy. 
 
 You shall be healed : but when ye pray for pardon, 
 with entire heart and firmest resolution, you must 
 renounce your ignominious calling, ye must vow to 
 remove the rankling arrow from the innocence ye have 
 pierced, to extract the poison from the wounds your 
 calumny has inflicted, so that your neighbour's repu- 
 tation may cease to mortify. 
 
 Ye shall all have peace, ye sons and daughters of 
 Israel, who have been estranged from God DlSfc? Dl^fc? 
 IVlpbl pirnS " Peace, peace to the far and the near." 
 Your tears of sorrow your emotions of penitence,
 
 SPIRITUAL PEACE. 183 
 
 and your prayer of humility will be accepted, as 
 atonement offerings upon the altars of your God, and 
 will plead for grace and pardon ; but you must feel 
 earnestness in your devotion, and, under the sanction 
 of this day and this place, you must solemnly vow 
 amendment, and resolve never more to sin as you 
 have sinned, but to set God always before you. fK 
 plN "1W3 ypy " Then shall your light break forth 
 as morning nH mPlfi 'inD'IKI and your spiritual 
 health spring forth apace " *]j!n T3fl? "|Sni " Your 
 righteousness shall go before you, ^SDN'* "H *TQD and 
 the glory of the Eternal will gather you in;" and 
 when this day shall close, a ray of tranquil happiness 
 will pervade your breasts, and bright angels will hover 
 round you as messengers of peace and pardon, whis- 
 pering, as their message from on high 'IJVI'I DPS? nHK 
 DI^S? T? *1fc?K hl\ tib& " Peace unto you, peace to 
 your household, peace to all that belongs to you." 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 ALMIGHTY God ! Lord of mercy and forgiveness, whose 
 tender love did institute this great atonement day, 
 that Thy children may approach Thy footstool and 
 receive grace instead of judgment pity instead of 
 wrath. We are assembled in Thy presence, to sup- 
 plicate remission of sin ; and though we know that we 
 have no good works to plead for us that we have 
 rebelliously transgressed while we knew of impending 
 visitation, we venture to rest our hopes on Thy 
 benignity, praying Thee to remember our frailty, 
 1W1 IDIp* T/brni and to let Thy tender mercies 
 have precedence over Thy just displeasure. We are
 
 184 SPIRITUAL PEACE. 
 
 here, Father, with our fast, our penitence, and our 
 prayer, to sue for pardon; then teach us how to 
 render our fast an affliction of the soul how to give 
 our penitence the seal of conversion how to make 
 our prayers devout and spirit-born. God, we hope 
 for pardon, and yet we strive not to deserve it; we 
 pour out supplications and multiply our tears and 
 our prostrations, but we lack the bruised spirit and 
 the contrite heart that can only lead us to Thy mercy, 
 and secure for us, holy, heavenly peace. Therefore 
 do we invoke Thy help, Father! visit us with 
 Thy enlightenment, that we may see the path of peace, 
 and that we may employ the spiritual efforts which 
 will conduct us thereunto. Give us an understanding 
 heart that we may recognise the evil of our way, and 
 escape, while yet there is time, from the perils, im- 
 minent and fearful, that beset it. Help us in our 
 deprecation of iniquity; help us in our strivings after 
 virtue, and give us peace and comfort in our pertur- 
 bation encouragement and support in our repent- 
 ance grace and pardon for our transgressions, for 
 Thou art "the God who givest strength to Thy people 
 the God who blessest Thy people with peace." Do 
 Thou, then, who art the Source of living grace, accept 
 our prayer, our penitence, and our fast. Do Thou, 
 who art the Rock of Ages, give strength to our efforts, 
 energy to our promises, fulfilment to our vows ; and 
 when the closing hour of this holy day arrives, let us, 
 in spirit, hear Thy voice of mercy whispering words 
 of peace to our troubled bosoms announcing nx^i 
 DnNbP! hi JVD3 ^py py "that Thou hast forgiven the 
 iniquities of Thy people, and hast hidden all their
 
 185 
 
 XIV. 
 CONFIRMATION SERVICE 
 
 USED AT THE SYNAGOGUE OF THE BIRMINGHAM HEBREW 
 CONGREGATION. 
 
 The Minister ascends the pulpit and the confirraants place them- 
 selves before him on the platform of the ark the Minister then 
 says : 
 
 MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS You have now arrived 
 at that important era in your lives, when, taking 
 upon yourselves the obligations of our Holy Law, 
 you become, each of you niD *Q "a son of the com- 
 mandment;" and you must henceforward stand in 
 the community of your brethren as competent and 
 responsible Israelites. Are you acquainted with the 
 many onerous duties that devolve upon the God- 
 fearing Jew? 
 
 [Each Confirmant answers " I am."] 
 
 Have you received the necessary instruction in our 
 ancient faith, to acquaint you with its characteristic 
 tenets ? 
 
 [Answer, " I have."] 
 
 You will, then, repeat the doctrines of the Jewish 
 belief, held in common by the whole house of Israel? 
 
 [The Confirmants repeat the Creed J'DKD 'JK in Hebrew and 
 
 English.]
 
 186 CONFIRMATION SERVICE. 
 
 MY BRETHREN Your acquaintance with the articles 
 of our faith, testifies that you are instructed in the 
 knowledge of your holy religion, and that you are 
 worthy sons of Israel worthy to be numbered among 
 the "kingdom of priests," and to be recognised as of 
 the "holy nation;" worthy, in fine, to participate in 
 the inheritance of T\Wti mifi. To you, then, I 
 confide the law of God. You are, with your people, 
 sharers of the great and sacred charge received from 
 the Eternal Himself. You are the guardians of that 
 law, and witnesses on earth, of its truth. Let me 
 remind you that you have been admitted to a patri- 
 mony that is beyond all worth; that you receive, in 
 the solemnities of this day, a treasure above all 
 human estimation. To every possible condition of 
 life, is your inheritance adapted. In every possible 
 change of circumstances, you will from it ; derive incal- 
 culable benefit. " The law of the Eternal is perfect, 
 it comforts the soul; the testimony of the Eternal is 
 sure, it maketh wise the simple; the statutes of the 
 Eternal are upright, they rejoice the heart ; the com- 
 mandment of the Eternal is pure, it enlightens the 
 eye ; more desirable far than gold than much pure 
 gold ; sweeter far than honey, than the droppings of 
 the honeycomb." Be you admonished and instructed 
 by this Law, and for its due observance you will reap 
 a rich reward. W\X JTrSblW PQ D'p'TPlJb 1 ? K1H D"H fV 
 A tree of life, it is, to those who lay fast hold of it; 
 its supporters are ever happy ; *jy\ fty\} ^*n !V3T1 
 DlS&? PITTD'TO "its ways are ways of loveliness; its 
 paths all lead to peace." 
 
 " And this commandment, which I command you
 
 CONFIRMATION SERVICE. 187 
 
 this day, is not hidden from thee, neither is it far 
 from thee ; it is not in the heavens, that thou shouldst 
 say, " Who will go up for us to heaven and bring it 
 unto us, that we may hear it and do it ?" Neither is 
 it beyond the 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 near 
 to thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou 
 mayest do it." 
 
 ^ -p^K *n Sipn jwn snap DK rrm 
 tf "n proi DVPI -pta O:K *\WK vnrob hs n 
 r6tfn rYDTan hi f^ iai : pn "u Sri 
 nriN -p-ai -PSD nnK TI-D rfr& "n 
 
 "And it shall be if thou wilt hearken diligently 
 to the voice of the Eternal, thy God, to observe and 
 perform all His commandments, which I command 
 thee this day, the Eternal, thy God, will set thee high 
 above all the nations of the earth, and all these 
 blessings shall, come to thee, and pursue thee, pro- 
 vided thou wilt hearken to the voice of the Eternal, 
 thy God. Thou wilt be blessed in the city, and thou 
 wilt be blessed in the field. Blessed will be the fruit 
 of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land ; the increase 
 of thy cattle and the increase of thy flocks. Blessed 
 will be thy basket and thy trough. Thou wilt be 
 blessed when thou comest in, and thou wilt be blessed 
 when thou goest out." 
 
 rwyS nia^S ^rhx *r\ Sipi y&fc?n yh DX rvni 
 Dvn KD MK T^N vnni vnrao hi
 
 188 CONFIRMATION SERVICE. 
 
 imi TJD rim TDK : TDWI nSxn niSSpn 
 ns 
 
 " And it shall be if thou wilt not hearken to the 
 voice of the Eternal, thy God, to observe and perform 
 all His commandments and statutes which I command 
 you this day, there will come to thee these curses, and 
 they will pursue thee. Thou wilt be cursed in the 
 city, and thou wilt be cursed in the field. Cursed 
 will be thy basket arid thy trough. Cursed will be 
 the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy ground ; 
 the increase of thy cattle and the increase of thy flock. 
 Thou wilt be cursed in thy coming in, and thou wilt 
 be cursed in thy going out." 
 
 These are the words, my brethren, which Moses 
 employed to set before our fathers, the blessings of 
 obedience, and the curses of disobedience. Addressed 
 to a whole nation, they have a national character; but 
 I set them before you to-day, solemnly to admonish you 
 of this truth, that while God's blessings will attend you 
 if you be observant and obedient men, .a heedlessness 
 of your religion and a neglect of its duties will be sure, 
 sooner or later, to entail upon you sorrow and suffer- 
 ing. " Thus I have placed before you, this day, the 
 blessing and the curse. The blessing, if you obey 
 the commands of the Eternal your God ; and the curse, 
 if you will not obey the commands of the Eternal 
 your God, but turn aside out of the way which I have 
 commanded you, to go after other gods whom ye have 
 not known." 
 
 Say now, my dear young friends, will you say, like
 
 CONFIRMATION SERVICE. 189 
 
 your fathers at the foot of Horeb, yfcEOI n&Jty} " we 
 will do and we will hearken ;" and will you vow here, 
 in the presence of the God of Israel and in this as- 
 sembly of your people, to cherish your inheritance 
 His eternal and immutable law to live in that law, 
 to die in that law, and through that law alone to seek 
 salvation hereafter? 
 
 [The confirmants repeat severally,] 
 
 " I will vow here, in the presence of the God of 
 Israel and in this assembly of rny people, to cherish 
 my inheritance the eternal and immutable law to 
 live in that law, to die in that law, and through that 
 law alone to seek salvation hereafter." 
 
 Minister. Now, therefore, you must fear the 
 Eternal, and serve Him in sincerity and truth, and 
 be never enticed to worship other gods of vanity and 
 sinfulness met with in the world, where interest and 
 gain, unholy pleasure and unrighteous desire, are 
 prone to claim your devotion. 
 
 Confirmants: QnriK D'PlStf TDtfS "H HK Ztyb U 1 ? ilW>n 
 "God forbid that we should forsake the Eternal to 
 serve other Gods:" wrbti HIM 371 HK "mjtf ttrmDJl 
 11 We also will serve the Eternal for He is our God." 
 
 Minister. But you cannot serve the Eternal, who 
 is a holy God and a jealous God, who claims the 
 devotion of your hearts, unless you shun the path of 
 evil and iniquity. You must cleave to His law after 
 this day, as you this moment profess to do. You 
 must ever cherish and observe ALL its precepts, that 
 you may continue worthy to be remembered in the 
 fold of Israel, and to share in their privileges, their 
 hopes, and their glorious destiny.
 
 190 CONFIRMATION SERVICE. 
 
 Confirmants. TOJtt 'Pi HK '3 tih "Nay, but we 
 will serve the Eternal." 
 
 Minister, nx DsS DmrQ QnN O 03} tDHK DHV 
 iniX TDJP 'PI " Ye are witnesses against yourselves 
 that ye have chosen the Eternal to serve Him." 
 
 Confirmants QHp " We are witnesses." 
 
 Minister. Now, therefore, put away evil from your 
 sight, and solemnly incline your hearts for ever to 
 the Eternal, the God of your fathers. 
 
 Confirmants. y&BO iSlpI TQJtt WriStf 'Pi HX " The 
 Eternal, our God, we will serve, and His voice we 
 will obey." 
 
 PRAYER SAID BY THE CONFIRM ANTS. | 
 
 Eternal, our God, and God of our Fathers! we 
 Thy children have approached Thee this day, to 
 claim our portion in the inheritance of the con- 
 gregation of Jacob. Lord ! receive us with favour, 
 and let Thy blessing descend upon us. Cherish 
 within us, the emotions, 'which this solemn occasion 
 
 / 
 
 has awaken in our breasts. Strengthen, too, every 
 resolve created by it, and endue us with the spirit of 
 obedience which will, under Thy blessing, lead us to 
 walk in Thy commandments, and render us good men 
 and faithful Israelites. *\%b |Vm Wfl n&X prfc VPP 
 vhtoW irtfif 'M Tlfife " Let the words of our mouth, 
 and the meditations of our heart, be acceptable before 
 Thee, Eternal, our Rock and Redeemer. Amen."
 
 ADDRESS DELIVERED AT A CONFIRMATION, HELD ON 
 THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES, 5613. 
 
 MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS, 
 
 On this auspicious occasion, when in the presence 
 of your assembled brethren, I have received your 
 vows of fealty to the God of your fathers, it would 
 not be seemly to dismiss you without some especial 
 words of counsel to direct you on your path, and to 
 illustrate the duties you have just assumed. Let me 
 then refer you to the portion of this morning, where 
 you will find the following words: DV1 DJ? Dnnp7l 
 
 wsn nay ]*y wyi onan mss Tin yy ns pswnn 
 : Dzr nynt? zyrbx 'n ^sh onnwi SrP " And you 
 
 shall take on the first day the fruit of the tree Hadar, 
 and branches of palm-trees, a bough of the tree 
 Aboth, and the willows of the brook, and you shall 
 rejoice before the Eternal your God, seven days." 
 (Lev. xxiii. 40). 
 
 This text divides itself into four heads, each of 
 which will, under the rendering of our ancient doc- 
 tors, develope some seasonable instruction. We shall, 
 therefore, briefly consider 
 
 I. THE FRUIT OF THE TREE "HADAR." 
 II. THE BRANCHES OF PALM-TREES. 
 
 III. THE BOUGH OF THE TREE " ABOTH." 
 
 IV. THE WILLOWS OF THE BROOK. 
 
 This day, my brethren, when you have vowed 
 fealty to the Law of God, may be aptly called in
 
 192 CONFIRMATION SERVICE. 
 
 relation to your lives, jIBPJOn DV " the first day." 
 You have, in the public congregation of your people, 
 put forth your claim to share in the heritage of 
 Jacob; and you have avowed your acquaintance with 
 the duties which devolve upon you as Israelites. You 
 have rehearsed a portion of the Divine Law in the 
 hearing of your brethren, and you have publicly 
 praised the God of your fathers for having " selected 
 you from all other nations " to make you the deposi- 
 taries of that Law. These ceremonies proclaim that 
 you have to-day attained religious majority. There- 
 fore is this to you the dawning of religious life 
 the birth-day of moral responsibility; emphatically 
 pB>NTl DV "the first day," when you must, in obedience 
 to the text, rejoice before the Eternal bringing with 
 you the elements of spiritual joy and happiness in 
 
 I. The fruit of the tree Hadar. 
 
 This, as expounded by our sages, is the JIIDX or 
 citron, a type of the heart, teaching you that the first 
 sacrifice which you owe to the Eternal, who has 
 watched over you from helpless infancy and protected 
 you through thousands of dangers, is a heart of 
 purity and love a heart that like the citron which 
 symbolises it, must have no blemish must be free 
 from every tainting influence, and must be offered 
 with all its infant innocence with all its native 
 fragrance. Now, my young friends, standing as you 
 do on the threshold of responsible life, you will readily 
 give me the assurance that your hearts are not cor- 
 rupted, but that they throb even now with their first 
 religious emotions, inspiring you with all the fervid 
 love and devotion which an occasion like this must
 
 CONFIRMATION SERVICE. 193 
 
 originate. Yet, I ask you to reflect on the injunction 
 of the text DW HpS? WriStf 71 ^sh DnfWl "You 
 shall rejoice before the Eternal your God seven days." 
 When God's creative might called the system of 
 nature into being, and organised this sphere for the 
 dwelling-place of in an the seventh day was pro- 
 claimed a day of rest from labour; hallowed by God, 
 that it might ever after be held most sacred unto 
 man. Thus, closing the weekly cycle of time, it was 
 to be the conclusion of work the festival of peace and 
 spiritual happiness. So is it with life the period 
 of toil and labour appointed to us on ear.th, which 
 will only terminate with that seventh day of rest 
 tfibty JV!l htf mXH -f?in D " When man goeth to his 
 long home." 
 
 You, then, who are on the first day of life's long 
 week who have before you a weary pilgrimage, beset 
 with trials and temptations, are admonished to-day, 
 that the same pure hearts which should be your first 
 fruit-offering on the occasion of your inauguration, 
 must be carried through your entire life. You are 
 solemnly admonished Ufcfc O *pS IIM IBPfi SjDD 
 D^H rfiNin " More than any other charge to guard 
 your heart, because from it proceed the issues of life." 
 On every occasion, and under all vicissitudes of for- 
 tune, only let your heart be well directed, and your 
 feet will never stumble. If the blessing of God 
 descend upon you in your future career, and you reap 
 plentifully of the good which He showers down from 
 Heaven to the deserving ; if honour and dignity be 
 conferred upon you and wealth accumulate within 
 your storehouses, 1 charge you to remember the 
 
 o
 
 194 CONFIRMATION SERVICE. 
 
 psalmist's words : lS 1JWH Stf 5W *3 S'H " When 
 riches increase, set not your heart upon them." And 
 if, on the contrary, your path be one of gloom by 
 clouds overshadowed by adverse winds made cold 
 and cheerless, let your heart, with confidence, repose 
 on God's beneficence and love. Look up to Him for 
 help trust to Him for enlargement D3M7 j*K''1 and 
 He will strengthen your hearts. Against your neigh- 
 bour, never let your heart be defiled by hatred, spite, 
 or malice by envy or jealousy; but let it abound 
 with love and good-will for every fellow-creature. 
 Let it be a tabernacle of peace, in which religion shall 
 welcome all men, and meet them with a greeting of 
 brotherly affection. Then shall you go through your 
 week of life, in the spirit inculcated by Divine 
 command ; and when its end approaches, and the last 
 day of convocation summons you to meet your 
 God in judgment, bright angels will conduct you to 
 His presence, that you may claim for your heritage 
 nnfc? > nfe^Vl pmb jmi TIK " The light that is 
 sown for the righteous, and the gladness for the 
 upright of heart." 
 
 II. 
 
 The second portion of your festive sacrifice, is the 
 or u palm branch," compared by our sages to 
 the vertebras or back-bone of the human body. In 
 its relation to your position, it will inculcate the duty 
 of worship, which, beginning with your religious 
 majority, must be carried out through your entire 
 life, with all the pure and sacred emotions that dis- 
 tinguish this your first day. Remember, that while 
 a devout and reverent worship is a most grateful
 
 CONFIRMATION SERVICE. 195 
 
 offering to the Eternal, nothing is so offensive to Him 
 as mechanical service. When we use the festal 
 palm during these solemn days, we are enjoined 
 
 -rrv DmBo yyfa lyuyj nysn *hbh ynrwn -\irh 7-1* 
 
 " It is necessary to join the citron with the palm 
 branch, at the time of waving it, that both be used 
 together." And this injunction typically represents, 
 the necessity of enlisting our heart in every devo- 
 tional exercise. Now, my young friends, every sym- 
 bol employed in our religion, is a moral lesson taught 
 by external objects; and we should fail in our 
 observance of God's ordinance, if we neglected to 
 carry into execution the spirit of the type. Let me, 
 therefore, urge you all through life, to have a proper 
 reverence for the house and for the service of God. 
 Look upon public worship as possessing the threefold 
 advantage of being a just and reasonable tribute to 
 God the most civilising and improving agent of 
 society, and the most comforting and elevating 
 resource for ourselves. Value it, therefore, as a 
 privilege a great and glorious privilege; and join 
 with it the spiritual adjunct of a pure heart. Your 
 lives will thus be spent in a mariner honourable to your- 
 selves, useful to your fellows, and glorious to the God 
 of your creation. But DM1 1 ? HHS 1 |S M*? 1T&B>n 
 
 onS DmnnB>m onn vrhx Drroyi Dmoi " Take 
 
 heed lest your hearts be deceived, and ye depart and 
 worship other gods, and bow down to them." Take 
 heed lest you fall prostrate before interest, gain, or 
 pleasure, and pay them the devotion which you owe 
 to God alone. The pursuit of all these with mo- 
 derate zeal, will be always honourable to you. Indus- 
 
 o2
 
 CONFIRMATION SERVICE. 
 
 try, on the one hand, and intellectual delight on the 
 other, are courses prescribed by the laws of society 
 and by the best impulses of your nature. Value 
 them, therefore, and pursue them ; but never magnify 
 them into the all-engrossing care of your lives never 
 prosecute them to the neglect of your religion never 
 sacrifice to them your holiest emotions your kindliest 
 sentiments your dearest hopes, for then will they 
 assume the character of idols, and your blind worship 
 of them will call down the wrath of Heaven, in the 
 curses which you have just heard pronounced as the 
 consequences of an apostasy from the God of Heaven 
 and earth. 
 
 in. 
 
 We next come to the bough of the tree Aboth, the 
 myrtle sprig, which, in the Medrash, symbolises the 
 eyes. Here, my brethren, we approach that part of 
 the offering that is the most significant ; for, although 
 the heart is the great centre of human iniquity, the 
 eyes, as the introducing agent of temptation, deserve an 
 equal amount of watchfulness. Our sages have united 
 them in this sense, when they aphoristically observe 
 nKDm niD^D WJfl NlS "the heart and the eyes are the 
 commissioners of sin." Therefore, must you be care- 
 ful of the direction your eyes take, so that they may 
 have no perception for the allurements which will 
 present themselves before you, in your progress through 
 life. God calls to you through the solemnities of the 
 dayrm-in rm *pyi *h *pS m run "Give Me thine 
 heart, My son, and let thine eyes observe My ways." 
 Thus, to let your hearts reverence the Eternal, to train 
 yourselves to love and fear and serve Him, you have
 
 CONFIRMATION SERVICE. 197 
 
 but to cultivate a knowledge of His word to meditate 
 upon that sacred page on which is developed 'n niD 
 D\^y HYtf/B rni that commandment of God, which is 
 pure, and enlightens the eyes. Make it then, your 
 constant study and delight, to take to heart the sublime 
 teaching of Holy Writ. Fly to it for solace, in trouble 
 and affliction ; pour out your gratitude over its pages 
 in joy and prosperity ; regulate by its uniform and eter- 
 nal rules, your conduct to God, to your neighbour, and 
 to yourselves. Thus, when your eyes rest on your 
 neighbour's possessions, and covetousness, entering 
 your heart, prompts you to unrighteous desires, God's 
 law will attract your gaze and suppress the unholy 
 longing. Illumined by the heavenly light, your eyes 
 will dwell only where your pure heart and frame bent 
 in worship may direct; and when your seven days 
 shall terminate and your earthly rejoicing over, you 
 go to rest in the solemn assembly of saints, to spiritual 
 majesty and celestial bliss shall those eyes re-open, as 
 you share in the joys everlasting, reserved for the 
 faithful children of the covenant. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Lastly, my young friends, we are to consider the 
 brO *3"ty willows of the brook, which our sages as- 
 similate to the lips. As the eyes are the agents of 
 iniquity in all the derelictions of self-duty, so are the 
 lips the implements of evil against our neighbour. 
 Lying and deceit calumny and detraction, all vices 
 which degrade human nature, issue from the lips. 
 Blasphemy and profanity have there their origin 
 flattery and self-adulation proceed thence too
 
 198 CONFIRMATION SERVICE. 
 
 DTlSfc? "it is by the transgression of the lips 
 that the wicked is snared.'' How firmly, then, must the 
 willow-twigs be bound to the palm-branch of Heaven 
 directed worship ! How closely must they be attached 
 to the myrtle-sprigs of Heaven-directed eyes ! How near 
 must they be preserved to the unblemished, lovely, 
 fragrant citron of a pure arid holy heart, ere all evil be 
 suppressed and only good go forth from the lips ! Yet 
 if they be kept together during the days of your lives, 
 your rejoicing before the Lord will be perfect your 
 festal sacrifice will be a continual offering, whose sweet 
 savor will ascend on high, and be acceptable in the 
 sight of God. Then put the bridle of peace on your 
 lips, to repress every unholy expression ; to keep back 
 the false oath the vain and profane swearing the 
 words of falsehood and duplicity. Let them, like the 
 lips of the righteous, open only to dwell with love and 
 devotion upon the praises of your Lord to utter the 
 words of peace and brotherly love, to pronounce the 
 wholesome reproof or well-timed counsel that will aid 
 and save a sinning neighbour. Then, my brethren, 
 will you discharge the duties which you have professed 
 to-day the duties which are embodied in the sacred 
 law of which you are guardians. Those duties have 
 been introduced to you, under the types of our 
 festal boughs and fruit; let them ever remain as 
 verdant in your memory, and let them have the same 
 freshness and fragrance to the perception of all men. 
 In using them, let your first motive be the glorifica- 
 tion of your God; but cherish also, as a holy and 
 pious incentive for their employment, the love of 
 your fellow-creatures. And while heart and frame,
 
 CONFIRMATION SERVICE. 199 
 
 lips and eyes, are all uniting thus in serving God 
 and benefiting man, let your unceasing chorus 
 ascend in melody to the skies, proclaiming O 'fp VtlPI 
 HDPI thtyh ^ Sib "Give thanks to the Eternal, for 
 He is good, His mercy is to eternity." 
 
 \Yith these words of counsel, my brethren, I con- 
 sign to you, ipy nSnp nBn& n^D vh mx min "the 
 
 law which Moses commanded us, the inheritance of 
 the congregation of Jacob." 1 charge you, never to 
 forget the obligations which you have this day under- 
 taken, but always to love that holy law for which your 
 fathers have died, to cherish it as your best treasure, 
 and to defend it and its truth with your life's blood. 
 
 [ynS rk'bi Dav is rwrn 730 nrn rninn ISD ena vh 
 T50 -pTT nN rvSxn TN o 11 airon SM JWj^? ^a^n 
 
 V^^n " This book of the law must never depart from 
 thy mouth : thou must meditate on it by day and 
 by night, so that thou observe and act according to 
 all that is therein written, for only then can thy way 
 be prosperous only then canst thou be wise." 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 THOU great God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob ! Look 
 down with grace and favour upon us, assembled in 
 Thy presence on this Thy holy feast-day. Look 
 down upon these, the sons of Thine ancient chosen 
 ones, who have come to claim their inheritance in 
 Thy law of truth. Strengthen, Lord, the resolves 
 of these Thy youthful covenanters, who seek their 
 portion in that exalted destiny, which Thou hast ap-
 
 200 CONFIRMATION SERVICE. 
 
 pointed to their race, and by the endowment of Thy 
 holy spirit, give them Thy divine support to act as 
 they have vowed before Thee. Help them, Father, 
 that they become faithful servants of Thy will, obe- 
 dient to Thy sacred statutes, observant of Thy high 
 behests, Jews in heart and spirit. Preserve them 
 in virtue and integrity, that they may live to be the 
 comfort of their parents' days, the joy and honour 
 of their friends. Let no temptation to the evil path, 
 have influence over their acts, but make Thou their 
 hearts too pure to heed allurements that lead away 
 from Thee and Thy divine commandments. Instil 
 into their souls that holy feeling which will encourage 
 them to spurn the meretricious charms of life that 
 stand opposed to godliness, and to cleave unto Thee 
 through every earthly trial and reverse. And bless 
 them, Father ! bless them with that high, that choicest 
 blessing, which Thou didst pronounce upon our great 
 progenitor. Let Thy spirit rest upon them, the spirit 
 of counsel and might, the spirit of wisdom and know- 
 ledge, and let the fear of Thee be their treasure. 
 Amen. 
 
 GOD give you, my sons, of the dew of heaven and the 
 fatness of the earth, with abundance of corn and oil. 
 God Almighty bless you, make you fruitful and multi- 
 ply you. God give you the crowning blessing that, 
 you may return to inherit the land wherefrom you are 
 strangers. ADONAI bless you and preserve you. 
 ADONAI let His countenance shine upon you and 
 compassionate you. ADONAI lift up His counte- 
 nance towards you and give you peace. Amen.