lishment, by the very efforts made by the Jews in the way of opposition, specially incensed as they were by the opening of a depôt by the Bishop for the sale of Scriptures, and greatly stimulated by the publication of a well-known work of Jewish controversy, blasphemous in its character, called the "Chezek Emounah," which was beautifully printed, and much read amongst them; but these efforts, and cherems fulminated against the Hospital, were all to no purpose.

"I have," wrote Mr. Nicolayson in February, "as many calls from the Jews since, as I used to have before. Whatever the rulers of the Jews may attempt against us, they cannot make them break off all intercourse with us." And again, in a subsequent letter, he says :—

"While the rabbies have been fulminating their cherems against the Hospital, I am happy to say that the opportunities afforded me for intercourse, not only with secret inquirers, but also with unbelieving Jews, and among them with some learned rabbies, have suffered no sensible diminution. Indeed, I see no manner of discouragement to us in these violent oppositions, but rather evidence only of the actual influence of the mission, and grounds of hope, therefore, of yet further developments of that influence."

The rabbies were not without the means of influencing the authorities, so as to induce them to act against their inquiring brethren; and those means they did not scruple to use. Some instances of their hostility were peculiarly painful. One of the three rabbies alluded to previously in this chapter, was much tried. He, with his two children, had been baptized, his wife consenting on condition that she was to remain a Jewess; but shortly after she suddenly left him, and with her children returned to the Jews. Having been induced to come back, she left him a second time, taking the children away at the instigation of the rabbinists, who strained every effort to baffle the distracted father in his efforts to regain possession of them; and it was only after a four months' search, attended by many perils by sea and land, that he was enabled by a gracious God to overcome all opposition, and to return with wife and children to Jerusalem.

In 1844, a difficulty arose in connection with the medical department, which, as we have before said, was going on prosperously under

the superintendence of Dr. Macgowan, whose hands had been strengthened in the previous year by the appointment of an assistant surgeon. The Jews had shown themselves most grateful, and anxious to avail themselves of the proffered benefits of the Hospital; within a few days after its opening, ten of its beds were filled; but in December a patient died, and some of the rabbies proposed to refuse interment to the body. Such a step would have been an extreme one indeed, considering the views with which the Jews regard the burying of the dead in their own places of interment. But this was overruled. Another death, however, occurred on January 21st, and this time the rabbies actually refused to inter the corpse, so that there was no alternative but to lay it in the British burial ground; after this they published an anathema against all who should enter the Hospital as patients or servants. A panic ensued, and all the inmates left; but it was of short duration, and a reaction of feeling took place: many, even rabbies, calling on Dr. Macgowan to express their regret for what had happened; and again Jewish patients entered the Hospital. A third death, that of a child, occurred, and for two days the consent of the rabbi to burial was withheld; but eventually he was compelled to give way to public opinion, and to revoke his prohibition. Another anathema was put forth, but it was only by a section of the Jewish community, and though some patients were induced by it to leave, it had not much effect. The critical period was in fact gone by, and Dr. Macgowan was enabled to write in reference to all that had passed :—

"I can say with perfect sincerity, and I trust with due thankfulness of heart, that the prospect of success in this branch of the mission, is, to my own mind, as promising as ever. I look on the present opposition to our labours as an effort of bigotry which will soon exhaust itself, and, probably, in the end turn to our own advantage. It has not been permitted without some good purpose; perhaps as a trial of our faith, intended to teach us not to be over confident in our own strength, but to put our whole trust in Him, who orders all events according to the councils of His own inscrutable will."

CHAPTER XXIV.

Death of Bishop Alexander-Renewed hostility to the Hospital-General progress-Case of Peter Meir-Circulation of the Scriptures-PersecutionHouse of Industry-Congregation of Christ Church-Dr. Frankel.

IN November, 1845, the Mission at Jerusalem was severely tried, by the sudden removal from the scene of his earthly career of Bishop Alexander; the sad event occurred whilst he was upon a journey to England, after a four years' sojourn in the land of his fathers; he died in the wilderness between Canaan and Egypt, a few hours' distance from Cairo, on the morning of Sunday, November 23rd. The little community at Jerusalem was thrown into deep affliction. Thirtyone members of the House of Israel presented to Mrs. Alexander an address of condolence, from which we extract the following passage :—

"We feel both collectively and individually that we have lost not only a true Father in Christ, but also a loving brother and a most kind friend. The suavity and benignity of his manner, which so greatly endeared him to all, and which gained him the highest and most entire filial confidence of every one of us, tends much to increase the keen sense we feel of our loss. The affectionate love he bore to Israel, which peculiarly characterized him, could not fail to render him beloved by every one who had the privilege of being acquainted with him while his exalted piety, and most exemplary life and conversation, inspired the highest reverential esteem. He was a burning and a shining light; and when he was raised to the highest dignity in the Church, he conferred the most conspicuous honour on our whole nation, but especially on the little band of Jewish believers."

The late Mr. Cartwright, in a sermon preached on the occasion, thus summed up his character :

"He was eminently taught by God; and if he was clear on the important subjects of a sinner's acceptance with God, of justification by the blood of Christ through faith alone, and of sanctification by the renewing influences of the Holy Ghost, it was because he had fought out, as it were, these great questions in secret conflict and prayer;

under deep conviction of sin, he had learned his need of the free mercy of the Gospel; and in the experience and consciousness of the weakness of his own resolves, and the treachery of his own heart, he had discovered the need and the power of that grace which enabled him in the trying moment to say, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.' Firm and decisive on points which he had once clearly received, immoveable as a rock on the great fundamentals of the Christian creed, he was fearful and timid at the very approach of what seemed to him new views of truth; he was alarmed and suspicious of all religious novelties; and in the prosecution of his further studies in God's Word, he proceeded with that caution which was so necessary in his circumstances, and which proved a valuable qualification for a higher office in the Church. He never ventured where he had not studied and prayed. There was a ripeness of Christian experience which supplied the lack of some other professional attainments. In doctrine there was 'uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity;' and if there was not brilliancy of conception, there was unaffected earnestness of soul; if there was not eloquence of language, there was 'sound speech that cannot be condemned.'"

It pleased God to raise up, as successor to Bishop Alexander, the present Bishop, formerly Vice-Principal of the Malta Protestant College, who at once accepted the office of Vice-Patron of the Society.

We alluded in our last to the opposition raised by the rabbies to the Hospital. They actually carried measures so far, as to station guards to prevent Jews from coming to it; but their precautions were in vain, and their prohibitions were disregarded. During 1845, Dr. Macgowan saw upwards of one thousand Dispensary patients, and in the month of January, 1846, eighteen beds out of twenty-four in the Hospital were occupied. 1845 was a year of very great distress in the Holy Land, owing to drought and scarcity. In March, 1846, Dr. Macgowan writes:

Among the numerous crowds of patients which thronged the doors of the Hospital, on the dispensary days, were objects, whose emaciated and half-naked appearance revealed the fact that hunger was the most formidable disease they had to contend with, and that food and rai

ment were the best remedies that could be given them. To some of those in whom disease and want seemed to strive for the mastery, the asylum of the Hospital was like a blessed haven of rest. I have seen them, when stripped of their rags and laid in a comfortable bed, give vent to their feelings, in a burst of thankfulness and gratitude.”

Christian kindness was, we may here add, at length thoroughly efficacious in subduing Jewish prejudices and conciliating Jewish feelings, so that in 1851 the Chief Rabbi, accompanied by some of the most respectable rabbies of Jerusalem, actually paid a visit to Dr. Macgowan, pronounced a blessing on his entrance into a new abode, and conveyed his thanks for the good which he did to Israel; a blessed change, indeed, from the virulent opposition to which in the outset the institution was exposed.

*

In the meanwhile, the general Mission work proceeded tolerably steadily during 1846. Eight were admitted into the visible Church by baptism: there was also more intercourse with the Jews, whom Mr. Ewald made it a point to visit at their own houses, a very trying part of a missionary's duties, but a most valuable one. On returning to Jerusalem in July, after an absence, Mr. Ewald's house was literally thronged with Jews, old acquaintances and new friends; but perhaps the most satisfactory proof of the efficiency of the work was to be found in the continued opposition of the rabbies, amongst whom associations were formed for the purpose of watching over Judaism. On this subject Mr. Ewald wrote:

The Jews at Jerusalem are greatly alarmed at the progress of Christianity, which is secretly spreading amongst them, almost from house to house; they therefore use all the means in their power to stop it. Secret tribunals are formed, whose business it is to search after those who read Christian books, or who visit our houses. Not

* No direct religious instruction is given in the Hospital, but a copy of the Old and New Testament is placed at the bedside of every patient, which when leaving they often request permission to take home with them. A missionary attends, however, on the days of receiving visitors, in order to hold conversations with previous acquaintances or to make new ones; and incidents within the wards necessarily give rise occasionally to conversation on religious subjects. The diet is prepared by Jewish servants after Jewish fashion.