The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-09-15 00:00:00

interestin

tus he 1

was the

flift up my heart to God with praise and thankful.
_iess, that the assembly-is beginning in such a Christian spirit,
that it reminds one of the temple of, Solomon when there wa:
no noise to be heard in it. It is said the words of the wise
are heard twice : the Spirit of God can move every -heart it
this assembly • to •feel the important

to of the subject upon
ly earnest prayer to God
ndeed a

xhich they are :assembled and it
:hat this night it may:be proved that the Jews
3lessing to the Gentile's

nd if there are any unc(
nners now present, they may say through

be God for this meeting, for th-e_eonyersionof the Jews

yieldir

never read the Bible, fnever began to read the Bible,
never earnestly prayed to God to convert my soul, till 1 hear
what was declared in it'Concerning the people of Israel.
May the Lord thus begin: with us ! May he enable us I

- -
realize the great and gloious purpose for which we are met,
and may none of this assembly here be Omitted ! May all
meet together before the throne of God ; and then, as we
have begun with prayer, so let us close with thanksgiving—
" Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive wisdom
and power and glory and dominion, now and for evermore."
(Cheers.)
The Rev, J. B. CARTWRIGHT, secretary of the Parent
Society rose, amidst loud cheers, to second the resolution.
After a few general remarks upon the magnitude of the
assembly, the rev. gentleman said, he would not, on this
occasion, attempt to go much into detail with regard to the
general operations of the society. They had with them one
who had but recently returned from Jerusalem itself, and
Whatever they might have been in the habit, in times past of
hearing, it was always more delightful to hear from one who
had just returned froth the holy land what be had seen and
heard. There was, however, one feature in the present state
of the society to which he (Mr. Cartwright) was desirous of
directing attention, and that was the deep interest which had
been manifested with regard to the persecution of the Jews
at Damascus and at Rhodes. With regard to the persecu-
tion at Rhodes, he was happy to inform the meeting that it
was now brought to a conclusion, an official letter having
been received from Lord Palmerston, by one of the deputies
in London, informing him that the Jewish persons there had
been . pronounced innocent of the charge against them.
(Cheers.) He had no doubt that when the affair at Damascus
was investigated a similar result would follow. (Hear, hear )
At the same time the persecution there had produced very
remarkable results. When we looked at the state.of the
Christian world, we found great excitement, not only among
religious people but throughout the whole world. Every eye
seemed to be turned to Damascus, and every ear to the
Jews. There was something wonderful in this. It was not
ten years ago that there was a pretty general persecution of
the Jews in Europe itself. He recollected, in Breslaw, Ham-
burgh, and in most of the pricicipal cities of Europe, the
Jews degraded, persecuted, and obliged to be protected by
the soldiery from the fury of the mob. There was then no
general sympathy for the Jews, nor was it the first time they
had been persecuted ; hut what was remarkable was, that at
the present moment the eyes of all Europe, and of the whole
Christian church seemed to be turned towards these events.
The effect of this upon the Jews themselves was remarkable.
It had produced during the past year a greater change than
in the ten years preceding ; it had brought about a spirit of
friendliness towards us, and shewn them that we were their
real friends. At Jerusalem two learned rabbis had furnished
a certificate there with regard to the circulation oithe Scrip-
tures at Tiberias and other places, and had altogether disowned
the treatment which a missionary hail experienced there ; they

had given a document to Mr. Nicolaison, to send to that indi-
vidual, and they had exhorted the Jews to receive him kindly,
because he came from . friends. In England the same spirit
was being manifested. The Jewish Intelligencer, for install(
had an increased circulation amongst the -Jews tl

It was furnished, at the.present moment, to a number of re-
spectable Israelites, several of whom regularly subscribed to
it. A statement had been published by Mr. Peritz, of the
state of things at Damascus, containing the result of his own
investigations made upon the spot. This statement was
published in the Jewish Intelligencer. It was afterwards
copied by a distinguished individual of the Jewish nation,
and published in a separate, but more expensive form, by
Mr. Salomons, the late sheriff, who introduced in it his deep
thanks to Mr. Peritz for his statements. Mr. Peritz having
left Judieism, and embraced Christianity, could not be a
suspected witness, and for his statements Mr. Salomons
said he was entitled to the thanks of the community. Again,
a few days. ago, a Jewish newspaper, published in the German
language, at Frankfort, was put into his hands, and to his
great surprise he there, found a review of two works, one of
which wisf Mr. Peritz 's statement, and the other was Dr.
M`Caul's statement with regard to the affair at Damascus.
The editor, Dr. Yosst, a very learned man, spoke of both
works with approbation, and expressed the satisfaction of
the Jewish nation at their Christian defenders. Here, then,
was a decided token of a decided change having taken place
amongst the Jews themselves. AtJerusalem, when the Jews
were in great danger from the fury of a Mahometan, and
even Christian population, the Rabbis actually went to consult
Mr. Nicolaison as their friend ; and it was at their request
that Mr. Peritz was sent to Damascus, to investigate the
affair himself. At the same time, there bad been a remark-
able corresponding feeling of sympathy excited in the Chris-
tian world—those who knew what
know what he meant. They knew that it

were going on, would
as not in England

alone, but in Germany, and in the Mediterranean ; he had
seen it himself in Smyrna, and M Ilta, and all parts of Eu-
rope, and Xll seemed deeply interested in this one particular
event—the recent affair in Damascus. It was well known
what a large space it had occupied in the newspapers of this
country—that the attention of christians had been turned to
trace the Jewish and the Christian mind, and all seemed
" Oh! Lord, save the remnant of the

to cry with one voice,
House of Israel." '

The wor

.ove this feeling, in dependence

Another result

s this, t

Jewish traditions, had been thoroughly sifted
against the Jews was, that they
_mixed up blood with t
bread of salvation—the passover ; and though it was well
known that the Bible did not enjoin any suck tni

sertion

ture, yet

it was thought by some that the Talmud did. It became,
then, necessary to examine the Talmud ; and it was quite cu-
rious to see how closely it was examined to see what it did con-
tain. Much had b?en written upon the subject. The Jews felt
deeply indebted to learned christians for having investigated
the subject for them, and for having rescued them from this
calumny. It has been found that the Talmud, bad as it is,
nowhere enjoins the use of blood. Upon the contrary, the
Jews expressed their abhorrence of such a practice. At the
same time it Must be confessed that there were many things

contained in that book which did not appear to be supported
by the authority of the Bible. In this way the Jews were
obliged to look at the nature of their own traditions. Those
who know the state of the Jews would think it one remark-
able sign of the times that these things were taking place

leted by Tir.-Yc

our co

f the Jews tt

in this country

prospectus,
Temple a.s'

ish minas striv-

11-- 1:e before

from London,

You have

.mbered that this
;elves, put forth

and stated by
It is not only
it stens have

already been taken to bring the plans into The
wish for reform is pretty general. Many of the' Portuguese,

y respectable fathers of families,

.ve mu-

eiation in the form

of worship, if we at all will think of gaining for our'ynuth
the religion of their fathers, while they enjoy the more libel
ral Eur,Tean education now generally imparted to them.
The meeting observed here the same testimony as to the pro-
gress of Christianity amongst the Jews, for it was said that
this New Temple association was rendered necessary to keep
the Jewish youth to the religion of their fathers. Expe-
rience has but too frequently shown the result of maintain-
ing certain forms that are Completely at variance with the
spirit of the times, as being that the children were rather
educated in accordance with the rules of byegone days, and

destitute of the higher improvements of mirid7and manners►

in order to afford their parents a security against the possi-
bility of their stepping out of the path of strict conformity to
and precepts." Here the writer acknowledged
had been compelled to bring up their
mewhat stricter Rabbinnical notions than
they themselves approved, lest they should in any way be led
in other words, lest
Neither party

religious rul,
that the Je

out of the path of their 'forefathes
they should become Christians. (Ch

• .
and it becomes Wider

from day to day. To present the progress of this is the end
in view ; and the reformed synagogue is the means by which
that object is sought to be attained, by our seceders►
who are, however, already condemned by many as schisma-
tics. The lending idea of the reform v
tion of the doctrines and forms, and the r

that is, the

nted is, a simplifica-
oval of a:1 pre;
•hority._

)lensing upon it., " It is pi
vhich have been excessively
implicity." Then he went c

and we must pray for God's

that the consciences

of those who called for this reform, and who were by no
means indifferent to religion, must be left to the minister
who was to be at the head of this congregation. "The atten-
tion of all is_ therefore arrested by the importance of choosing
e, possessed of sufficient energy, of
of acknowledged ability, of unflinch-

a person fit for this offic

the necessary eruditic

n other words, they N,-anted a suitable • minister

if one of these!

instruct the Jews t

effectually
tar rtf the

a man of

abritidance

new congre
which was

Temple.
now taki

He must be a ma!

amongst tiler
for theti• wer

most striki
cus, to 100 l
of its trad

elusion, he thanked
by the efforts of this

sat down
The R

IMSHAW r

with t!