The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-11-13
REV. DR. CHEYNE'S LECTURE
HEARTY WELCOME TO THE DIS.
 IINGUISHED SCHOLAR.

Attended by Prominent Preachers and
 Teachers-"The Reconstitution of the
 Jewish and Samaritan Communities'
 Discussed Last Evening.
 A reception was given to the Rev. T. K. Cheyne, D. D., and Mrs. Cheyne by President Dwight yesterday afternoon. It was given at President Dwight's home. President and Mrs. Dwight re- ceived.
 During the afternoon many members of the Yale faculty, prominent clergy men and other citizens of the city and over forty from outside the city called and were presented to Rev. Dr. Cheyne and his wife.
 Those from out of town included the members of the faculty of the Hart ford Theological seminary, the out of town members of the Yale corporation and several prominent clergymen of the state.
 The second in Dr.. Chenye's course of lectures on Jewish Religious Life After the Exile" was given last evening. On the platform were President Dwight, Professors Fisher, Brastow and Cur tis of the Divinity school faculty and Rev. Drs. Munger, Phillips, Lines, Douglass and others. The audience too had a large proportion of gentlemen of proclivities theological or pedagogical or both.
 After the applause which greeted his appearance had ceased the lecturer plunged at once into his subject for the evening saying, in part: Tn my last lecture I had reached the reconstitu- tion of the Samaritan sect by the priest Manasseh. It yet remains to be shown how a Jewish priest came to be trans ferred to another community, but first let us consider the Jewish exiles in Babylon. These looked forward to a time when emigration should be less difficult and they could return to Jeru- salem. In the meantime the elite among them, the priests and the Leyits, were engaged in bringing the Jewish laws up to date.
 Ezekiel was the first among these to make a start toward the return of the exiles to Jerusalem. He longed to see a return of the exiles, but felt that it was necessary that Jehovah himself order the nations and make the return possible.
 1SGllGIIlldu was COLSClOuS llldI d great crisis had come to the Jewish people and felt the weight of responsi- bility resting upon himself to do what he could toward the restoration of Jerusalem to it's former position Of power and influence.
 Tt is a question as to why Alexander showed himself more friendly toward the Jewish people than the previous rulers of the Persian empire had done. That he was more friendly is a fact that cannot be denied. The explanation is probably to be found in the fact that in the revolt against the Persian king in AS B. c. the Jews loyalty supported him and rendered him good service, for which he felt grateful to them.
 Nehemiah was probably informed of this attitude of Artexerses toward the Jews as well as others. Long had the Jews desired to rebuild the walls of the temple, but they had never felt that their influence at court was sufficient to gain permission to do so. Now Nehe- niah was appointed governor of Jeru- salem to see what he could do toward the reconstruction of the temple.
 "On his arrival at Jerusalem he as- sembled about him few of the leaders of the Jews and discussed the plans for rebuilding the temple. Three nights af- ter his arrival he partly rode and part ly walked around the walls of the city to see what was necessary in order to rebuild and fortify the city.
 ''The governor called together the people and showed that what God had commanded to be done should not be interfered with or prevented by any one. Accordingly the rebuilding of the walls was undertaken.
 'The walls were probably intended in part for protection against the Samari- tans, who were separated now from the Jews by the orders of Nehemiah.
 seA1l the criticism of Nehemiah as to his having been of an impatient and masterful mind showed that he was an extremely able man, just such man as the exigencies of the times de- manded. At that time too, it must be remembered it was difficult to serve God and not at the same time hate a great portion of his people.
 'The relations between the communi- ties of Jews and Samaritans became more and more strained on the arrival of Nehemiah It was Nehemiah who first waged war on them.
 ''Sauballat, the leader of the Samari- tan community, was at first sincerely desirous of compromise between the wo sects. Gladly would the Samari- tans have joined with the eJws in re- building the temple and joined in wor- shipping in it, but they were not per- mitted to do so.
 Driven out and excluded by the or- ders of Nehemiah, the Samaritans pro- fessed surprise that Nehemiah should pretend to rebuild the city, as though he was usurping authority from the Persian king.
 Nehemiah instituted three important reforms. namely, the abolition of mix ed marriages, the better observance of tn Sabbath day and better provision for the support of the temple
 The lecture this evening will be on Jewish Religious Ideals Hindrances to Their Perfect Development