application, might have been very extensively relieved.-P. 2. The survey to be taken therefore falls naturally under the following heads. I. The embryo state of the Society, whilst it was in process of formation. II. Its incunabular state, whilst its efforts were feeble, being only provided with the Dissenting part of its establishment. III. Its state of maturity, when all its energies were brought into action by the union of an Episcopal chapel to the conventicle. IV. Its regenerated state, when the Dis senters retired, and the Church members undertook single-handed the work of its redintigration. V, Its consummation, when the British Jews were discarded, and Foreign dispersions of that people throughout the universe adopted as the grand object of its exertions.-P. 3. The outline thus sketched is filled up, according to the system adopted in Mr. N.'s former publications, with a series of assertions, arguments, and conclusions extracted from and established by passages from narratives, memoirs, reports, magazines, newspapers, &c.; from the writings or speeches of friends or foes, men of reputation or of no reputationof discarded servants, or rejected candidates, or detected hypocrites, or apostate professors;-and he has thus dragged from their hiding places various pamphlets and publications, and invested with a little brief authority articles which have long since been consigned to oblivion, and which were known in their day as the production of venal scribes, whose sole object was to obtain a little pecuniary advantage, and who were prepared to write for that side of the question which would them best. pay And yet, after all, the very worst part of the volume is Mr. Norris's own. In speaking of a former publication, we were compelled to remark that it was distinguished by that species of jesting which is "not convenient;" and we regret to find the same contamination in the work before us. There are various expressions introduced which are evidently the result of a depraved heart and a licentious imagination, and which compel us to fear that Mr. Norris has not always maintained that moral and respectable character for which he is now said to be distinguished. By way of shewing Mr. Norris's disposition to cavil at every thing, we just insert the following extracts relating to the Jewish schools. As this school is within sight of the author's residence, he might justly be accused of having shrunk from inquiries which were within his reach, if he had not visited that institution: he has therefore very recently done so, and he with pleafor the Christian education of children, sure testifies, that no institution, formed and for making them, at the same time, (especially the females) useful members of society, can, to all appearance, be better appointed, or do more efficiently what it undertakes. But still the question recurs, to what extent is the conversion of the Jews to Christianity promoted by all this?— P. 480. He then, after a few lines, proceeds What a noble establishment for that description of proselytes, which these two rules must bring under the auspices of the Society!!! It stands upon an area of five acres. It is approached by an entrance enfiladed by two very imposing lodges. The different apartments are all lofty. The school-rooms distinct from the refectories.-The lavatories distinct from both, furnished with basins of queen's ware having escapes at bottom-water laid in over each and wardrobes opposite to them, divided into compartments for all the various articles of apparel-and the diet is alternately mutton and beef.The royal and episcopal foundations of Eton and Winchester will not stand in competition in these respects with the bed-chamber scene in Don Quixotte, with foundation at Bethnal Green; and the Sancho Panza royally attended, must become real life every time a new convert is introduced.-Pp. 481, 482. That is, the schools are too good for the children, and the Committee have incurred a vast and unnecessary expense. But what would Mr. Norris, or what would any other man of the present day, have said, if, in the erection of a modern charityschool, such low, dark, dismal, unhealthy apartments had been prepared as were usually erected in the days of the founders of Eton and Winchester? Would Mr. Norris really wish that the school rooms had not been distinct from the refectories? Does he really mean to say that a fixed hand-basin, or, as he styles it, a lavatory of queen's ware with an escape at the bottom, may not be found eventually as cheap as a moveable one, especially for the use of children? Or is he prepared to affirm that the diet being alternately mutton and beef, is more expensive, or more deserving of censure, than if exclusively confined to one or the other? We really suspect that Mr. Norris felt deeply convinced that every essential part of the schools was what it ought to have been; or this question of school-rooms, and pantries, and wash-hand basins, and bedchambers, would never have been instituted. For our own parts, without at all pledging ourselves to approve of all the arrangements of the Jews' schools, any more than of Mr. Norris's nursery, if he possess one; yet can easily conceive that persons about to engage in large establishments, as boarding-schools, &c. may by visiting the schools at Bethnal Green discover that the judicious outlay of a few pounds will, in no very long period, be repaid by economy of labour, and exemption from the minor miseries of capsized handbasins and broken pitchers. have at least tried various costly experiments to effect so desirable an object. We will give our readers the full benefit of Mr. Norris's recommendations on these points. To discover what means are Christian for furthering this great design, no better course presents itself than an appeal to St. Paul, whose heart was set upon his brethe "provoking them to jealousy," as the thren's conversion, and who has recorded method to be employed, citing Moses as his authority for the prescription. Here then is both a scriptural and a very feasible means commended to our use; for, the operation centres in ourselves. We have to present ourselves before the Jews in that religious position, that they shall recognize their forfeited privileges in those them in that which we inherit the orders that we enjoy—the kingdom taken from of our ministry analagous to theirs-composed, not of men who have taken this honour upon themselves, but have been called of God, as was Aaron, and have been continued successionally, as the Aaronic Priesthood was, if not in the same family by natural generation, which was no longer possible under the Gospel state, yet in the same fellowship by adoption into it, signified by the laying on of hands by those, for the time being, personating the Apostles, whose commission was co-extensive with the world, both as to time and space, and also as to every one of its inhabitants;-the Lord's House the same, only accommodated to the altered circumstances when it is become a house of prayer for all nations, and therefore lifted from Mount Sion, on which it stood, to the top of the mountains, that all nations may flow into it; but still designated to be the House of God as the Temple was, by having His Name set in it, if not personally by Himself, by His delegated representatives the means of Divine intercourse the Sacraments-corresponding with theirs, or no further altered than there is Scripture warrantry for the alteration-the Law and the Prophets not destroyed, but perfected in our faith and practice-in the exercise of which-that faith and practice, viz. once delivered to the saints, and neither to be added to nor diminished in any of their articles-with one mind and one mouth we glorify God, But what are the practical conclusions at which Mr. Norris arrives? They seem to be these: the Society has been long instituted, has spent vast sums of money, has done no good and is not doing any; and, therefore, let all the subscribers withdraw, and become contributors to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. There is indeed a sort of obscure recommendation of provoking the Jews to jealousy, by employing agents whose apostolical succession cannot be doubted; but, after all, Mr. Norris seems to imply that the case of the Jews is almost There will yet remain one other impehopeless,―a concession which might rative claim upon us from our brethren in moderate in some degree his hosti-pendencies, to be made shaters with us in foreign parts, peopling our extensive delity to the London Society, who offering up to him with one accord our common supplications, and being in fact the Jerusalem of the present day-a city at unity in itself.-Pp. 507–509. those religious blessings of which they are equally inheritors with ourselves, and to be raised progressively with ourselves towards the above exhibited standard of Christian perfection. Here the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel tenders her services, commending herself to the national confidence by 125 years' assiduous and efficient administration, of which there is documentary evidence before the world. Let her almost exhausted resources be liberally replenished, and the means afforded her of making those exertions, which are now in a degree paralysed for want of the necessary support. Then will England obey the call which Mr. Evanson makes upon her, "to assume her proper and dignified station, as the dispenser of light and life;" for, then may she be contemplated under Isaiah's predicted appellative of" the righteous nation which keepeth the truth"-then will she shew forth Christianity in all its beauty of holiness, both at home and abroad--the Lord's "ensign," as it were, lifted upon the mountains"--and then will she have prepared herself, as an instrument fitted for her Divine Master's use, whether it be to make " the Heathen his inheritance," or to be sent as his "swift messenger to a nation scattered, and peeled, and meted out, and trodden under foot," to bring them to Mount Zion, as a present to himself when "that determined shall have been poured out upon them." -Pp. 511, 512. up But perhaps it may be said, have there not been in the conduct of the Jewish Society great mistakes, vast expense, and many disappointments; and are not therefore Mr. Norris's conclusions and recommendations perfectly correct? We agree to the former, we dissent from the latter position, -The grand difficulty, in all cases, is to be wise beforehand. Societies, as well as individuals, learn much by experience; and he acts an unjust part who censures those whose mistakes and errors were unavoidable consequences of the situation in which they were placed. The information possessed by the Christian public, concerning the Jews, some twenty years ago, was meagre, defective, and erroneous. In fact, they were either disregarded or despised. The attention of a few persons in the middling, or rather a somewhat inferior, rank in life, was at length called to their situation; a society was formed, which almost instantaneously met The accession of numbers and of with very extensive encouragement. wealth does not, however, always, or even generally, bring a proportionate accession of wisdom; while, at the same time, the apparent prosperity is apt to dazzle and disturb the mind. How far this was the case here, is not necessary to inquire. Certain it is, that in a few years very considerable difficulties arose, and the London Society appeared on the very verge of dissolution. At that conjuncture, some wealthy and pious individuals appeared, and, deeply impressed with the importance of the object, largely sacrificed their property, and engaged their time, their character, and their influence, to preserve the existence of the Society, and carry on its cause. Now, did these per sons, or did they not, act a noble and a Christian part? Would it have been wiser, or better, to have suffered the Society to sink, and to have abandoned the Jewish cause? and how many years must have elapsed before the public mind could again have been excited to seek the welfare of a despised and degraded, yet ancient and venerable race? Was it not far more becoming the Christian character to step forward and say, Great mistakes have been committed, and vast expenses incurred, and serious difficulties have arisen; but the cause is good, the design is noble; we will apply our energies to the work, and seek for the blessing of the Lord God of Abraham? Thus Way, and Simeon, and Marsh, and Richmond, and unnumbered others, thought and reasoned; and therefore, though gibbeted in the book of the Curate of Hackney, their names are honoured, and shall be had in everlasting remembrance. But, says the objector, since that period your society has erred exceedingly. You have employed Moravians: you have been deceived by pretended converts: your He brew Testaments and Tracts have been torn to pieces before the very face of their distributors; and you have not dared to publish to the world all the disastrous information have received. you Now what does all this prove? In our judg, ment, nothing to the purpose. It proves the London Society is neir ther perfect nor, infallible; but do the members of it, or the members of any other society, lay claim to such perfection? Has there ever been an age when wise and good men have not been deceived by the artifices of impostors, and the specious professions of hypo. crites? Were there no deceivers, no false apostles, in the primitive churches? Were the chosen disciples of Christ all what they pre tended to be? or did Paul, or Peter, or any other Apostle, not baptize some of whom they were afterwards obliged to testify, “ Thou hast nei ther part nor lot in the matter ? " And do not the very circumstances of the case the ignorance of the Jews, their deep-rooted resentment on account of ages of injurious treatment from nominal Christians, the vices inseparable from a low, oppressed, trafficking condition-render every attempt at communicating instruction and relief to them more difficult than to any other class of men whatever? We maintain, therefore, that though mistakes may have been committed, and successful impositions practised, and hypocritical professions made, these do not of themselves constitute any valid reason for deserting the London Society. But they have employed Mora vians. Be it so; and what then? They have employed the best instruments they could obtain. They have followed in this respect the precedent set by the venerable Society for promoting Christian Knowledge. That Society, when unable to obtain ministers of the Church of England, resorted to foreign Protestant churches. The only differ ence is, the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge employed Lutherans; the London Society have employed Moravians, We are not prepared to say which are the better men, but we are in duty bound to enter our protest against the iniquitous conduct of Mr. Norris, in bringing forward; against the Moravians of the present day, the statements which were made eighty years ago, against a class of men then little known and evidently misunderstood, but who have since exhibited, on the frozen shores of Labrador, and in the barren regions of Africa, as well as in our own country, specimens of primitive simplicity, devotedness, patience, inte. grity, meekness, and holiness which have never been surpassed by any individuals of any community., Surely it is a base slander to advance against such a body of men the insinuations contained in Mr. Norris's pages. But you have not published to the world all your disappointments? -Be it so: we take the matter as Mr. N. states it, without any specific knowledge upon the subject: but is it either wise, or charitable, or necessary, to publish every thing of this nature? Is no allowance to be made for human imperfection and infirmity? Are no attempts to be made to recover a brother-a supposed brother, if you please— who is overtaken with a fault? Are we not bound to use meek and patient endeavours to restore such, recollecting our own infirmity? and would not rash and indiscriminate publication very often defeat such attempts ? These are plain common-sense questions, which every man of any Christian experience is in some degree prepared to answer. We might indeed ask, what is the practice of other societies? If Mr. N. should perchance discover that some half dozen of the young men in training for masters central school in Baldwin's Gardens should adjourn from the school at the to some low pot-house in the neighbourhood, and there give way to ribaldry and intemperance; or if some other knot of young men walked off to a Dissenting or Methodist meeting; would Mr. N. recommend that such delinquencies should be recorded in the National Society's Report, for public information? or would he not think it, upon the whole, as expedient that the parties should be reprimanded, or fined, or quietly dismissed? Would he not say, it is at least desirable to avoid a public scandal? Or do the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts always embody, in their official publications, the statements which they receive from their accredited agents? Should it by any chance be disco vered in a far distant colony, that certain schoolmasters were pocketing their salaries and teaching no scholars; that certain buildings had been erected, in which Divine Service had been performed in order to obtain some grants held out for the encouragement of building churches, and that, when such grants were obtained, no further service was performed, or any attempts made for the completion of such churches; and that certain nominal clergymen had been sent out who were every thing that was bad, and of whom no one could say any good, we strongly suspect that the society would consider it more expedient to make some efforts for the correction of such evils, and for procuring a better supply both of schoolmasters and of clergy, than to expose to all the world the evils which their own vigilance had detected. Again; the London Society is ill managed. Now, suppose this were true, whose fault is it? We are really astonished at the charges of this nature which are brought forwards. The Bible Society, the Church Missionary Society, the London Hibernian Society, the Society for the Conversion of the Jews are accused by different classes of persons on the same grounds; and why, we ask, are they not all managed better? simply because persons choose rather to find fault than to give assistance. In all these societies, every clergyman giving his guinea per annum is a member of the committee-has only to attend, and he must be heard. If any one says, the Dissenters have too much influence in that committee, or the Churchmen bear the rule in this, and I will therefore withdraw, it follows, as a natural consequence, that he leaves such particular com. mittee or society more under the influence of the obnoxious party: he weakens that which he thinks the better cause, by withdrawing his influence; instead of trying to counteract the evil, by exposing its danger and pointing out a more excellent way. Mr. Norris would doubtless more promote his own views by becoming a life subcriber to the London Society, and regularly attending its committee, than he possibly can by writing fifty volumes like the present. But the Hebrew Testaments and Tracts are torn to pieces; no good has been done, and no good is doing. Is this quite clear? Are all the Testaments and Tracts torn to pieces? Have all the converts become apostates? No such thing. Many, who never believed that a Christian could desire the welfare of a Jew, are now convinced of the purity of his motives, though averse to their peculiar manifestation.Many, whose hostility was once excited, and whose indignation was roused at the very mention of the Redeemer's name, are silently perusing the sacred volume entrusted to their charge. Many, who were once ignorant of their own Scriptures are now inquiring after the Lord God of their fathers; and many outcasts from their own people, and objects of suspicion by their Christian brethren, are yet, 1 |