stitution: and as for the Hebrew Testament, it would probably have remained as lumber in the ware-room of the society's printer, had not the Bible Society taken the greater part of the impres sion at less than the cost price; (10th Rep. p. 24, 26.) and the Rev. L. Way and his associates undertaken to distribute a portion of what was left, in the course of their foreign rambles. (ib. p. 29.) The society does not boast much of its success in making converts; and probably it is prudent in thus refraining from such statements as might fix the attention of the public on this part of its proceedings. Some nominal converts have however been made; but the Rev. Mr. Way,* has we understand, found to his cost, that a converted Jew gains no very clear ideas of christian honesty from the process; having not only detected these hopeful children of grace and the new light, in levying contributions upon his silver spoons, and such lighter articles; but having been robbed of the communion plate, and surplices of his church, by the convert who, with admirable propriety, had been appointed to the office of clerk; and having reason to suspect the same person of a forgery upon his banker to the amount of some hundred pounds. It seems however necessary that the society should not be altogether silent on that subject to which its labours are supposed to be chiefly directed, and therefore the Report already quoted speaks of a Jew from Poland, who has made "public profession of his faith by baptism;" of a Jew boy from Scotland, who has done the same; of an old Jewess who has also been baptized; and of" seven or eight Jews who usually attend the Lord's table" at Bethnal Green chapel. But it does not tell the public and the subscribers, how much these several, and all similar conversions, have cost the society; how the half-naked and hungry Jew has been tempted by food and clothes, to profess a faith of which he knew or cared no more than of the Koran; how two, three, and four pounds a week have been lavished upon pretended converts who before could not earn as many shillings; and how many instances of such ill-judged attempts to bribe the souls of the ignorant and avaricious have been deservedly repaid by ingratitude, abuse, and desertion. The following anecdote which, as far as we have been able to learn, remains to this day uncontradicted, affords, we fear, a fair specimen of the principles upon which these Jewish conversions have been effected. "A man of the name of Marinus came from Germany into this country, for the purpose of obtaining sale for some cologne water, of which he professed to be the inventor. Finding himself run short of cash, he applied to the London Society for assistance. I asked him if he had embraced christianity; his reply was, I am not yet converted, but if I can get a good sale for my cologne water I soon shall be. P. 64. Gookman's London Society Examined. "Late Fellow of Oxford," a zealous supporter of the London Society. Ed. P. F. A volume might be filled with similar instances of fraud on the one hand, and credulity on the other; but we turn to the letter* of Mr. Way, in itself containing admissions of the errors and failures of the society, and of the infatuation of its supporters. We entertain no doubt either of the piety or the zeal of the Reverend author: his zeal may be estimated by the fact, that none of the untoward accidents which have occurred, to prove that he has been "ploughing flints and reaping pebbles," (p. 29.) have yet damped his ardour, or checked his exertions; he has been cheated and robbed at home, and he is now wandering over the continent of Europe, handing Hebrew Testaments out of his carriage window to the casual passenger in the desert, (p. 36.) and bandying compliments in Latin, French, and German, with advertising professors, deistical rabbis, Jewish postmasters, and Russian Bible Societies. Mr. Way commences his letter by some remarks on the progress and actual condition of the society, the accusations brought against it, and the embarrassments in which it has been involved. The latter, he asserts, have been completely removed; and the charges of his opponents he dismisses, as "calumnies and misrepresentations" which" have carried with them their own refutation" and have been "conveyed in language" which " leaves a christian advocate of the cause no argument but silence." (p. 8). We shall not defend the language of its accusers, far less their calumnies and misrepresentations, if such they have employed: this however, as it may be easily proved where matters of fact are alleged, ought not to rest on bare assertion; and we question the policy as respects the public, and the justice as regards the supporters of the society, of thus endeavouring to dismiss such charges with contempt. If it be true that after an existence of seven years, and an expenditure of 70,000l. a radical change was necessary, in consequence of the blunders and failures which had occurred; if "unpropitious circumstances of a personal nature," (p. 2 the ingratitude of some of its proselytes, the knavery of others, and the shameless profligacy of more, had cast aishade over the character of its proceedings and its projects; if pecuniary distresses approaching almost to the verge of bankruptcy, had driven the leaders of the society into the necessity of adopting new measures, and court ing a new class of patrons, by a fundamental alteration of its constitution, surely the censures of its enemies cannot have been wholly undeserved. The errors of the society, and the faults of its agents, may be and perhaps have been exaggerated by those, whom feelings of personal disappointment, or the odium theologicum have armed against it: but the wiser method of depriving this exagge ration of its mischievous influence would have been found in an honest confession of the real truth; for querulous remarks upon * A letter addressed to the R. R. the lord Bishop of St. David's, Joint Patron of the London Society, &c. by the Rev. Lewis Way, &c. London 8vo. pp. 88. Hatchard. 1818. the coarse or angry expressions of an opponent, will not extenuate a charge supported by evidence, which the defendant does not venture to impeach; and facts uncontradicted will bias the judgment of the public, however the language in which they are stated may offend by its violence, or the observations which accompany them may betray a malicious or revengeful spirit. * From the report of 1818 we learn, that the whole complicated machinery of penny clubs, auxiliary associations, ladies' societies, itinerant orators and preachings throughout the kingdom, has been set in motion to aid the funds of the institution; and that its an-, nual expenditure amounts to 10,000l. nearly $50,000! We are, therefore, impelled to ask, what good can rationally be expected to result from all this exertion and expenditure. Is it likely that the conversion of the Jews will be effected through the instrumentality of such an association as this? will any converts be made upon principles, which the Church of England can sanction or approve? Or has any success hitherto attended the plan, which can encourage reasonable men to give it further support? We would willingly speak with tenderness of those who have hitherto stood most prominent as managers of the society; for notwithstanding we differ from them on many important questions, and on none more than on the expediency of such an institution as this, we are always ready to give them credit for a sincere desire to do good, and for an ardent zeal in the prosecution of those designs, which doubtless they consider to be praise-worthy and beneficial. But when we turn from them to the instruments which they have been induced to employ, in carrying the objects of this society into effect, we are astonished to find them so unfortunate, or so careless, in their selection. The immoralities of one are stated to have driven him from the country: another is reported to have been arrested on a charge of forgery, and strongly suspected of sacrilege; a third, the most active and prominent character on the scene, appears to have deserted his original benefactors, and to have been ready to preach either in the meeting house or the church, as his employers directed or paid him; and he is charged moreover with having quitted this country at last, because detection in practices. disgraceful to his moral character rendered his further residence here, or employment by the society, impossible. The readiest mode of recommending christianity to those who are without, [the church] is to rectify the opinions and conduct of those who are within. When our Jerusalem is built as a city that is at unity in itself, then the Jews and Gentiles may be expected to flow into it; but while every fanatical teacher sets up for an Apostle, while every benevolent enthusiast advocates a new plan of conversion or instruction, while the people are carried about by every wind of doctrine, and the very ministers of the church, who should be the guardians of unity, are, some of them by their will-worship, and independency, the promoters of division, that predicted time may be considered as still far off from us. Our Zion herself must first be established in the beauty of holiness, her breaches repaired, her wounds healed, her dissensions pacified, her pure doctrine asserted, her apostolic discipline restored to its due authority, before the great work of Jewish or Gentile conversion can be successfully carried on, or they, whose first duty is owed to her, can consistently or blamelessly devote their time or faculties to such an undertaking. THE GENIUS OF DEATH. [Mr. Richard Dagley, an Engraver, and the Rev. George Croly, a writer of singular merit, in a small volume entitled Gems from the Antique, &c. have formed an union of art and poetry, which will be highly prized by the admirers of genius. The designs of the former have been selected chiefly on account of their capability of supplying topics of poetry, and the illustrations which they have received from the genius of the poet, detract nothing from their lustre and expression. From this precious little casket, we shall now proceed to borrow a few gems for our Port Folio, regretting, at the same time, that it is not in our power, to gratify our readers, with a specimen of Mr. Dagley's share inthis fascinating combination of taste and feeling. The first which we shall venture to touch is The Genius of Death, which is beautifully represented in the Gem as a winged Boy, his weeping eyes covered with his left arm, and trailing a torch reversed in his right hand.] What is Death? Tis to be free! No more to love, or hope, or fear- The mighty grave Wraps lord and slave; Nor pride nor poverty dares come Spirit with the drooping wing, And the ever-weeping eye, Sink, like waves upon the shore; What's the grandeur of the earth To the grandeur round thy throne! Riches, glory, beauty, birth, 168 ON A WOMAN CONTEMPLATING A HOUSEHOLD GOD. [The Gem, which the ensuing stanzas are intended to illustrate, represents a woman in a contemplative posture gazing at one of the Penates on an Altar.] Domestic Love! not in proud palace halls Is often seen thy beauty to abide; Thy dwelling is in lowly cottage walls, With hum of bees around, and from the side Of woody hills. Some little bubbling spring, And many a bird to warble on the wing, When morn her saffron robe o'er heaven and earth doth fling. O! love of loves!-to thy white hands is given Of earthly happiness the golden key! Thine are the joyous hours of winter's even, CUPID CARRYING PROVISIONS. [In the Gem we see the little urchin laden with two baskets suspended from a pole across his shoulder, and trudging on with a heavy look, bent on the ground. The picture is full of meaning and has been often beheld in the mind's eye of many a timid bachelor. There was once a gentle time Whenne the worlde was in its prime; |