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LETT E J^5^^r^i; 
 
 THE RIGHT REVEREND THE 
 
 LORD BISHOP OF ST. DAVID'S, 
 
 JOINT PATRON OF THE LONDON SOCIETY 
 
 Foa PROMOTING 
 
 CHRISTIANITY AMONGST THE JEWS ; 
 
 BY THE 
 
 ./ 
 REV. LEWIS WAY, M. A. 
 
 Of ST4NSTF,D PARK, SUSSEX; L\TE FELLOW OP MERTON COLLEGE 
 OXFORD. 
 
 W[TH AN APPENDIX. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED FOR JOHN HATCHARD, 190, PICCADILLY. 
 
 1818. 
 
HACINTOSB, PRINTER, LONDON SOCIETt's OFFICE, 8PITALFIELDS. 
 
CONTENTS OF APPENDIX. 
 
 APPENDIX I. 
 
 LETTER FROM AN ELDER OF THE REFORMED JEWS TO 
 THE REV. LEWIS WAY. BERLIN, 1817 43 
 
 APPENDIX II. 
 
 ANSWER OF THE REV. LEWIS WAY TO THE SAME - - - 47 
 
 APPENDIX III. 
 
 STATE OF THE JEWS IN POLAND, THE CRIMEA, &c. 
 PETERSBURG, 1817. 63 
 
 APPENDIX IV. 
 
 IMPERIAL UKASES CONCERNING THE JEWS. PETERS- 
 BURG, 1817. - - 75 
 
LETTER, 
 
 My Lord, Moscow, Feb. 24, 1818. 
 
 When your Lordship (in conjunction 
 with the Honourable and Right Reverend the 
 Lord Bishop of Gloucester) undertook the pa- 
 tronage of the London Society for promoting 
 Christianity amongst the Jews, you were pleased 
 to request of me to draw up a written detail of 
 the facts connected with that body and the 
 specific objects of the Institution. Under the 
 critical circumstances in which the Society wa»s 
 at that time placed, I conceived it to be a duty 
 to your Lordship, and to all who were con- 
 cerned in the cause, that a fair and candid state- 
 ment should be made not only of its actual 
 condition and progress, but of the peculiar em- 
 barrassments in which it was involved ; of these 
 it is sufficient at present simply to state, that 
 they have no longer an existence, and of the 
 misrepresentations and calumnies which were 
 
then studiously disseminated, I need only remark 
 that they have carried with them their own refu- 
 tation, their origin rendered them unworthy of 
 regard, and the language in which they were 
 conveyed was such as to leave a Christian ad- 
 vocate of the cause no argument hut silence, 
 lest in advancing only the truth, he should 
 appear to use the weapons of personal recri- 
 mination. 
 
 That cause which you, my Lord, so gra- 
 ciously espoused, in the moment of its utmost 
 need, rests not for its success on the opinion or 
 conduct of individuals, it might otherwise be 
 proper to observe that, while the enemies of 
 humanity and religion were availing themselves 
 of unpropitious circumstances of a personal 
 nature to defame the character and obstruct the 
 progress of the Society at large, its friends had 
 no less reason to anticipate its advance and 
 success from the timely accession of your Lord- 
 ship's patronage, and the immediate influence 
 of your example. 
 
 Conversant as your Lordship is with the 
 history of the church, and studiously observant 
 as you are of the dealings of a special Provi- 
 dence in the controul of its peculiar interests, 
 
3 
 
 it is requisite, only for the sake of some into 
 whose hands this letter may fall, to observe that 
 it is a frequent dispensation of the Almighty 
 to exercise the faith and patience of the in- 
 struments he is pleased to employ, before he 
 grants a decisive answer to their prayers, or 
 allows an unqualified success to attend their 
 endeavours : however consonant they may be to 
 the great analogies of faith, or the specific pur- 
 poses of revelation. 
 
 From the time of Abraham to the present 
 day the concurrent experience and observation 
 of believers would evince the truth of this pro- 
 position — that faith is first imparted, and then 
 put to its appropriate tests, and of these none 
 is so severe and searching as the failure or de- 
 privation of the very means which in human 
 judgment appear the most appropriate and con- 
 ducive to a proposed and legitimate end, — But 
 herein the mercy and wisdom of God is made 
 manifest, the supply and substitution of other 
 measures, or the diversion of the same into 
 other channels more immediately connected with 
 the object, declare the superintendence of 
 a power above that which is finite, and lead 
 a regulated mind to look beyond temporal in- 
 strumentality to a sovereign and infallible ao-ent, 
 
 b2 
 
wlio has all means at liis command, and can 
 overrule their failure to his own glory. 
 
 This introductory remark is not, I trust, irre- 
 levant to the singular history of that Society 
 which for the nine first years of its infancy has 
 been struggling for existence against the infir- 
 mities of its original constitution, the opposition 
 of various enemies, and the injudicious appli- 
 cation of its powers. Burning, like the bush 
 of Moses, it is not yet consumed ; persecuted, 
 it has never been utterly forsaken ; and often 
 afflicted, it has yet no occasion to despair. 
 Had it originated in the wisdom of the Legis- 
 lature, the learning of the Universities, or the 
 pious application of Church endowments, one 
 might naturally have expected that its com- 
 mencement would have attracted public notice 
 and commanded popular support — but in that 
 case " the day of small things" would have 
 been wanting, which, however unnoticed by 
 the world at large, is generally the precursor of 
 providential blessings. To any considerate 
 mind a few outlines are sufficient to prove that 
 a cause, now resting, as we trust, upon a solid 
 basis, must, in the days of its adversity, have 
 been upheld by a divine and invisible agency, 
 which neither the frailty or wickedness of sub- 
 
ordinate instruments could elude or defeat ; and 
 if so, we may surely trust that all has worked 
 together for good, and will ultimately have 
 a prosperous and beneficial issue. 
 
 An obscure and unknown individual of the 
 Jewish nation is led in a foreign land to make 
 a profession of Christianity — He comes to a 
 country occupied in a time of warfare and 
 public calamity in diffusing the blessings of 
 everlasting peace to the nations at large. He 
 is patronized and educated by an association 
 of Christians, who intend to send him to the 
 Hottentots. The circumstance of his origin and 
 an apparent casual suggestion, detain him in 
 our country to make an attempt towards calling 
 the attention of his brethren to the religion he 
 had espoused. At first only ten individuals 
 unite with him in the formation of a little 
 Society, called, " The City of Refuge." All 
 classes and denominations of Christians gradu- 
 ally attach themselves to the object of ameli- 
 orating the temporal and spiritual condition of 
 the Jews resident in England. Subscriptions 
 are raised amounting gradually to nearly £10,000 
 per annum. Royal patronage is obtained, the 
 public interest excited at home and abroad — 
 the Old Testament reprinted, the New trans- 
 
lalcd into Hebrew, correspondences established, 
 controversies commenced with rabbies, the 
 Jewish people provoked to emulation, and new 
 vigour given to their own endeavours to remove 
 the moral reproach so long hanging over their 
 nation. An episcopal chapel, built for their 
 spiritual instruction, springs up as it were out 
 of the earth, raised if not " without hands," 
 yet, certainly, without ostensible means. — In the 
 space of one short year an hundred descendants 
 of the house of Abraham are heard to sing 
 within its walls, " Hosannah to the Son of 
 God?" At the end of the sixth year of its 
 existence this rapid and extraordinary exertion 
 seems at once to suffer a paralysis, and the 
 whole, as a mere ephemeral novelty, appears 
 nigh to dissolution. The warmth of public zeal 
 abates, the hopes of individuals are disappointed, 
 the supporters of the system are withdrawn — 
 the machine of the Society, complicated and 
 embarrassed, appears to be at an utter stand. 
 At once a new aera commences, light springs 
 up in darkness, resources are found in a desert. 
 The peculiar circumstances of the Society, which 
 would have involved any Institution of a mere 
 ivorldly nature in utter confusion, are over-ruled 
 to the production of more harmony and order 
 than had ever before existed. The differences 
 
of religious persuasion are made to produce 
 and nourish the principle of Christian love. 
 Private feelings are sacrificed to public good; 
 the very principle on which the Society was 
 founded, is abandoned for its immediate preser- 
 vation. Under the influence of a Christian 
 spirit worthy of the best ages of the church, 
 all denominations concerned in the general pro- 
 motion of the cause, concur at a public meeting 
 in consigning the conduct of this important cause 
 to the exclusive management of the established 
 church ; and on* the seventh anniversary of the 
 Society above mentioned (on the very day on 
 which it had assumed its first ostensible name 
 and character) a new institution arises, not 
 one present efficient member of which had any 
 concern in the primary Institution ? Surely, my 
 Lord, there is more in these things than the 
 casualities of circumstance, or the contingency 
 of human operation. This w^as not " a chance 
 that happened unto us," these things have no 
 place in the divine economy, and these are pe- 
 riods in which even those who act under their 
 influence, are constrained in the result to re- 
 cognize " the finger of God." 
 
 * Feb. 28, 1815. — See Special Report in Jewish Repository for 
 April 1815, vol. iii. p. 149. — "City of Refuge" first established 
 February 28, 1S09. 
 
8 
 
 Whatever may have been the errors of the 
 first Society, it does not become the present to 
 examine them ; it would be to break up the 
 tomb of a parent, for to them under Providence 
 we owe our existence. If any who partook of 
 its bounty, or were supported by its protection, 
 are so ungrateful as to betray its infirmities, 
 and ao-ffravate its failures, we fear not the con- 
 sequences of such unchristian conduct ; and if 
 adherents to the doctrines and practices of Ju- 
 daism either have or shall attempt to traduce 
 the characters of those who pray for them and 
 seek their welfare, they only prove more abun- 
 dantly the truth of that revelation which they 
 reject, and give to those who are persecuted for 
 righteousness' sake a better assurance of their 
 interest in the promises of their divine Master, 
 if when they are reviled they revile not again. 
 
 The Society now committed to your Lord- 
 ship's patronage is under the immediate direction 
 and management of persons whose individual 
 character needs no commendation, and will 
 doubtless shelter them and the Society from the 
 consequences of past or the influence of future 
 misrepresentation. I am fully satisfied that the 
 London Society is at this moment as much en- 
 titled to the benefit of public confidence as any 
 
body of individuals can ever be, and I am strong 
 in hope that the divine blessing will abundantly 
 crown its future labours. Established as it now 
 is on a firm and consistent basis at home, its 
 primary and immediate object is to assume a 
 missionary character ; and it is a singular and 
 happy coincidence ^r which we cannot be too 
 thankful to Providence and of which we ought 
 to take the utmost advantage, that at the moment 
 when the Hebrew Testament is ready for circu- 
 lation, so wide a door should be opened for its 
 distribution among Jews in foreign countries, 
 not only by a general pacification in Europe, 
 but by the express and public acts and co- 
 operation of some of the continental powers. 
 
 How little did I imagine, when under the 
 constraint of peculiar circumstances a dispo- 
 sition long and seriously entertained was at length 
 carried into effect, that I should so soon be en- 
 abled to promote the chief object of my mi- 
 nistry on a new and extensive scale. To supply 
 the urgent deficiency of the cause, to relieve 
 the only appointed labourer in it then sinking 
 under its pressure, to stand in a gap which 
 none seemed willing to occupy — I entered on 
 the duties of a deacon in the church with no 
 view ulterior to that of an occasional advocate 
 
10 
 
 for tlie cause nearest to my heart, and the spi- 
 ritual instruction of the neighbourhood in which 
 1 reside. The probationary time appointed for 
 entering on the priesthood is scarcely elapsed, 
 when I am led, by a train of unexpected events, 
 to perceive, that my path of immediate duty was 
 both longer and wider than that of parochial 
 occupation. 
 
 Your Lordship is already sufficiently ac- 
 quainted with some circumstances to which I 
 allude, and there are many which I pass over 
 at present in silence, because as this letter is 
 avowedly intended for the public eye, I could 
 wish that as little as possible of a private and 
 merely personal nature should appear. It is suffi- 
 cient to state in justification of a measure on 
 which there may be differences of opinion, that 
 six months' experience and active employment 
 on the continent have fully satisfied my own 
 conscience on the nature and expediency of the 
 line of duty into which I have been led. Indepen- 
 dently of all concern with the Jews, the state of 
 the episcopal chapels on the continent is a matter 
 of no ordinary interest not only to the real friends 
 of our mother church at home, but to those 
 who pray for the peace and prosperity of that 
 true Jerusalem which is the mother of us all. 
 
11 
 
 These sanctuaries, which have been formed from 
 time to time by the circumstances of our alli- 
 ance with foreign powers, the extension of our 
 commerce, or the zeal of our countrymen, are 
 in some places in a state of decay or neglect 
 which calls loudly for some new regulation and 
 enquiry. Some are destroyed by the ravages of 
 war, or occupied as depositories for its imple- 
 ments, others are deserted by their ministers, and 
 all, if re-established and duly regulated, would 
 become a blessing of no common mag^nitude not 
 only to their immediate objects, but to the general 
 purpose of advancing the kingdom of the Re- 
 deemer.* While our excellent establishment 
 and scriptural formularies are neglected, and even 
 censured by many who ought from every tie of 
 duty and gratitude to uphold and defend them 
 at homey they are honoured and respected abroad 
 to an extent which none but eye and ear wit- 
 nesses can conceive. As far as my observation 
 has extended from Holland to Russia, I am sure 
 the successors of Wickliffe will lose nothing by 
 comparison with the modern disciples of Witsius, 
 
 * The chapel at Hamburgh is filled with mililary stores, &c. that 
 at Amsterdam has been without service for six or seven years, (there 
 is no service at Berlin but a private one in the house of the envoy) 
 that of Memel is deserted, that of Moscow is burnt, and one is 
 much wanted at Riga, &c. &c. 
 
12 
 
 or Luther, or of the patriarchs of the eastern 
 church ; and in the present form of the Jewish 
 Society these places open a wide door for the 
 exercise of a ministry among the continental Isra- 
 ehtes, without interfering with obligations of a 
 local nature, without any infringement of the 
 regular discipline of the church, or the expense 
 of exclusive establishments. 
 
 When I reflect on the comparison of Gen. xii. 3. 
 with Isaiah Ix. 9 — 12. inclusive,* I cannot but 
 admire the predispositions and bounty of Pro- 
 vidence, that while our favoured land has been 
 permitted to take the lead of all national attempts 
 for the recovery of the people of God, it is also 
 provided with such abundant means for an im- 
 mediate and almost universal publication of the 
 Gospel among the Jews of Europe, even in the 
 
 * " And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that 
 curseth thee." — " Surely the Isles shall wait for me, and the ships of 
 Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their 
 gold with them, unto the name of the Lord thy God, and to the 
 Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee. And the sons 
 of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister 
 UDto thee : for in ray wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have 
 I had mercy on thee. Therefore thy gates shall be open continually : 
 they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee 
 the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought. 
 For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish, 
 yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted." 
 
13 
 
 i;egular discharge of a national and acknowledged 
 ministry — and I cannot help trembling for the 
 consequences, if such extraordinary means are 
 allowed to continue unimproved. The old shelter 
 for inactivity upon this subject, " that the time 
 ■is not yet come,'' and that " the conversion of 
 Israel tvill be a miraculous tvork,'' exists no 
 longer. To agitate that question now is as idle 
 as the discussion of the schools on the question, 
 '' An delenda sit Carthago." The fate of the 
 African city is decided, but the walls of the 
 spiritual Jerusalem are rising fast. " Her foun- 
 dations are on the holy hills." They are yet 
 under ground, and therefore not observed by those 
 who never look below the surface, and walk 
 by sight instead of faith, but they are not on 
 that account less solid. There is at this time, 
 a general commotion among the descendants of 
 Abraham, and perhaps as general an expectation 
 after what is about to come upon them, as before 
 the first appearance of Christ. I venture to make 
 this assertion, not on report but personal obser- 
 vation. 
 
 I have visited since I left England all the 
 synagogues, and conversed with most of the chief 
 rabbles from Rotterdam to Moscow, and such 
 is the result of my remarks, without any con- 
 
14 
 
 nection with the proceedings of our own or any 
 society of Christians. But it is no trifling con- 
 currence, that wliile under the despotic govern- 
 ment of France, an attempt was made to revive 
 the Jewish sanhedrim, and promote what in that 
 country was called, * The moral regeneration of 
 Israel,' for purposes merely secular, an attempt 
 almost simultaneous, should be made in England, 
 Holland, and Russia, to call these hitherto neg- 
 lected outcasts into the fold of Christ — while 
 in the Prussian and some other states, they are 
 admitted to privileges denied for ages to their 
 forefathers. In that country, and throughout Ger- 
 many, they are making advances in morals, li- 
 terature, civilization and the arts. The education 
 of youth among them is become a subject of 
 general attention. Numbers have been baptized 
 for secular reasons, and many from real con- 
 viction ; although it must be acknowledged, 
 that some of the latter were secretly baptized 
 from a remaining fear of their brethren. It may 
 be said of that whole bddy, that they are " for- 
 getting their father's house." Many are turned 
 from the traditions and fables of the Talmud, 
 and are commencing a career of philosophical 
 research and spiritual speculation, which if they 
 are net led to the truth of the Gospel will 
 lead them still farther from it. There is pro- 
 
15 
 
 bably as much infidelity among professing Jews 
 as among professing Christians. But as they 
 still expect a Messiah, and a restoration to their 
 own land, and that shortly, they are precisely 
 in the state to receive any who come to them 
 in their own name, and therefore they are 
 equally open to the temperate and judicious 
 attempts of Christians to lead them into tha 
 only way of salvation. 
 
 Take each of the above facts into conside- 
 ration, and separately they amount to nothing, 
 but collectively, they form a body of evidence 
 on the subject, which wilful blindness only can 
 resist. For, as rays when concentrated into a 
 focus, not only give light but heat, they must 
 stimulate the most reserved and prudential be- 
 liever into exertion, or leave him to the charge 
 of indifference in a cause which embraces the 
 best interests of humanity, and the most glorious 
 prospects of the church. 
 
 In the spring of 1817, a variety of circum- 
 stances and long reflection on the subject, in- 
 duced me to think that a continental tour for 
 the purpose of observing the actual condition of 
 the foreign Jews, would be the most probable 
 means of giving life and efficacy to the prepa- 
 
16 
 
 ratory exertions already made at home. Ex- 
 perience has often corroborated the testimony of 
 Scripture, that individuals who are in earnest 
 in their endeavours to promote the salvation of 
 others, are generally unsuccessful within the 
 sphere of their immediate connections ; and as- 
 sociations of men for a similar purpose share 
 a similar fate. The best desig^ns are tarnished 
 by the infirmities of those who are engaged in 
 carrying them into execution, and there will 
 always be those at hand, who are ready to use 
 incidental circumstances against the operation 
 of a principle abstractedly just and true. But 
 distance alters the case ; a fairer estimate is 
 made — the favourable side of the question is 
 presented to view, and transient impression is 
 often more productive in its influence, than the 
 result of near and deliberate investigation. 
 
 A person who stands at a fountain head, 
 may be chiefly occupied in observing how much 
 dirt is thrown up by the spring, — a philosopher 
 may be employed in analysing its properties — 
 but the stream, indifferent to both, carries life 
 and vegetation in its distant course. Thus, my 
 Lord, while talents misapplied, and influence 
 perniciously exercised, have been raising a cloud 
 of frivolous objections against the Christian in- 
 
17 
 
 stitutions of our country, and charging them 
 with designs and consequences inconsistent with 
 their nature and existence, their silent and be- 
 neficial influence is felt and enjoyed by thou- 
 sands who never heard or thought of the ob- 
 structions which impede their progress. I do not 
 recollect having heard the sound of an objection 
 against any of them since I left the country of 
 their birth, but on the contrary, I find almost 
 an universal disposition to advance their growth 
 and emulate their character even among persons 
 little qualified to calculate their immense impor- 
 tance. 
 
 If it be the duty of our favoured land to dif- 
 fuse the light it has long enjoyed, and to revive 
 its character as " Defender of the Faith,"' even 
 in foreign lands — If it be expedient so exten- 
 sively to diffuse the word of God^ it is no less 
 so to regard his peculiar people, to whom we 
 are instrumental ly indebted for its preservation 
 and enjoyment. If, as your Lordship has en- 
 deavoured to prove, we are indebted to a ''• He- 
 brew of the Hebrews," for planting in our island 
 the standard of the cross, surely we are among 
 those isles who are to rally round it to bring the 
 sons of Israel from far, and minister in our turn 
 to them. If, in the age of darkness, our fore- 
 
 c 
 
18 
 
 fathers were roused at the call of a fanatic lo 
 rescue only the land of Israel from the possession 
 of infidels, can we resist the loud and repeated 
 calls of Justice, Mercy and Love, which in this 
 ' JEtsl of Light' are made to us to pity the dust 
 of Zion. While we are " eating the fat and 
 drinking the sweet," shall we not send portions 
 unto them for whom (till of late) nothing was 
 prepared. (Neh. viii. 10.) My only apprehension 
 is, lest we should suffer others to take a crown 
 which our priority in this labour of love, and 
 our ample means of performing a part in it, 
 seem to offer to our attainment. If at this time 
 we hold our peace, others will cry out. The 
 sixtieth of Isaiah and other prophecies are likely 
 soon to have a literal accomplishment, but I 
 attempt no comment on them, my purpose being 
 not the interpretation of Scripture but the ob- 
 servation and statement of facts. 
 
 HOLLAND. 
 
 The first person of the Jewish nation with 
 whom we conversed in Holland, was a respect- 
 able and well informed physician, a man of credit 
 and learning. I told him, that the object of 
 our journey was to carry the New Testament 
 in Hebrew to his brethren. His observation 
 
]9 
 
 was, " Sir, if that is your design, and your 
 conduct is conformed to the contents of that book, 
 you will ultimately succeed. The only way to 
 make converts of our nation, is to shew them 
 personal kindness, and prove that you consider 
 them as entitled to the common respect paid to 
 other people of different religions. But while 
 Christians are averse to receive well disposed 
 Jews into their sotjiety, as is the case with us, 
 how can you expect them to listen to your re- 
 ligion." These remarks reminded me of the 
 estimation in which Gentiles were formerly held 
 by Jews. Even the apostle of the circumcision 
 was at first under the impression of this na- 
 tional prejudice. (Acts x. 28.) 
 
 The state of the Jews is not disregarded in 
 Holland, but, as in other places, the zeal of 
 Christians abates as the remains of iniquity 
 appear, and when it abounds, " the love of 
 many grows cold." At Rotterdam there is a 
 Missionary Society which had appointed a special 
 commission to enquire into the state of the Jews 
 in Holland, &c. and a voluminous report was 
 drawn up some time since by Dr. Scharpe,* one 
 
 * This Gentlemaa is a relation of the late -venerable Granville 
 Sharpe, a name revered by every friend of humanity and religion, 
 especially by those who pray for the peace of Jerusalem, 
 
 c2 
 
20 
 
 of the most respectable seniors of the Dutch 
 church, and there arc several learned men who 
 seem much interested in the cause. A special 
 meeting was held during our stay whicli was 
 well attended, and much enquiry made as to 
 the state and progress of the London Society, 
 and in time we may expect some effective co- 
 operation from them. 
 
 Nothing of the above nature is established 
 at Amsterdam, as far as I know, among the 
 clergy ; but amongst the varied multitude of 
 the house of Israel, who reside in or near the 
 city, 1 am informed by several persons both 
 Jews and Christians, that there are upwards of 
 one hundred families predisposed to make a pro- 
 fession of Christianity, which they believe and 
 teach secretly to their families, while some of 
 them at the same time attend the synagogue. 
 To the truth of this, I can bear sufficient tes- 
 timony from the intercourse I had with many 
 whose particular cases I conceive it is neither 
 necessary nor expedient to detail. 
 
 The situation of Amsterdam is peculiarly 
 favourable to an English ministry, as numbers 
 of the Jews who do not speak the language, 
 understand it sufficiently to be edified by the 
 
21 
 
 service of the church and the instruction of the 
 pulpit. The object of our journey was tho- 
 roughly known and understood in this place ; 
 we frequented the synagogues, and several of 
 the Jews attended the chapel. No interruption 
 was attempted ; and had our stock of tracts 
 and Testaments been larger, they might all 
 have been disposed of to advantage, and would 
 have been thankfully received. 
 
 During our stay at Amsterdam, we were in- 
 debted for every possible kindness and attention 
 to the Rev. Pierre Chevalier, Pastor of the 
 Wallon church — a gentleman, whose peculiar 
 urbanity, extensive information, and truly Chris- 
 tian life, qualify him for much usefulness in 
 any work and labour of love. As I had no re- 
 commendation to him, but the cause in which 
 I was engaged, and had frequent opportunities 
 of estimating the importance of his personal as- 
 sistance and advice, I consider his friendship as 
 one of the many blessings I have met with from 
 the hand of Providence in the course of my 
 journey, and trust he will prove a most valuable 
 co-adjutor to our Society.* 
 
 * It appears that Hebrew literature is not wholly neglected 
 in the Universities of Holland. On the church door at Deventer 
 was fixed the following inscription, which may not be deemed 
 
22 
 
 HANOVER. 
 
 A number of Jews in the higher classes have 
 lately been baptized in this place, but with few 
 
 unworthy of insertion in a Jewish journal, and of imitation in 
 other Christian seminaries. 
 
 " Jacobus Verburg, Theol. Doctor, Literaturse Orieiitalis Prof. 
 Rector Magnificus. Si qui sint auditorcs, qui initia linguae Ara- 
 bics et HebraeaE vel altcrutrius sibi tradi cupiant, horum desiderio 
 satisfaciet, diebus horisque commodis. Provectioribus autem dis- 
 cipulis ad peniliorem Hebrceorum monumentorum cognitionem, ex 
 variis auctoribus desumendo specimina qusdam critice et her- 
 meneuticc illustranda, viara aperibit, diebus Mercurii, Jovis, et 
 Veneris, hora xi. lisdera diebus hora x. anliquitatcs Hebraeas ex- 
 ponet. PrsBterea lubenter quoque dux erit iis qui Aranieum 
 dialectum vel alia ad literaturam orientalem pertiucatia addiscere 
 Teiint." 
 
 On returning to the inn, I penned an epistle " ad Professorera 
 et Rectorem Magnificum" in Latin, slating our characters and the 
 ol)jcct of our journey, to which on the morrow I received the 
 following answer in the same tongue. 
 
 Vir Humanissime, Devenlrice, Sept. 19, 1817. 
 
 " Hand expectata; at vero jucundissim^e mihi fuerunt litcrffi 
 quas heri domura rure rediens a te accepi. Maximi momenti res 
 mihi esse videtur, de quA in iis agitur. Specimina addidisti in- 
 signis industriae ac fervoris in propaganda religione Christian^, 
 quibus tu, vir geaerose, duceris atque inflaramatus es. Vere no- 
 bili consilio iustituta est ilia Socictas, de qu<1 loqueris Comites- 
 que illi, quos tecum habes, tales sunt, ut libenter cum illis col- 
 loqui cupiam. Quapropter quum et te videre valde gratum mihi 
 sit, mox hor4 x. ad veslrum hospilium me conferam, ut expcriar 
 utrum adeundi vos, ac de rebus quas mihi scripsisti, plura audiendi 
 tit opportuaitas. Tui observanlissimus, 
 
 J. Verborg-" 
 
23 
 
 exceptions it is to be feared chiefly with a view 
 of obtaining civil privileges and admission into 
 Christian society, — a difficulty complained of by 
 Jews in other places as much as at Rotterdam. 
 We had here an introduction to Professor Sextron, 
 a gentleman of real learning and intelligence, 
 an excellent Hebraist, who entered into the 
 subject of Jewish and Gentile conversion with 
 the lively interest of a real and experienced Chris- 
 tian scholar and divine. I had also the satis- 
 faction of obtaining an interview with the Abbe 
 Salfeld, Prelat. de Loccum et Directeur du Con- 
 sistoire du Affairs Eccles. a metropolitan of the 
 most primitive simplicity and engaging manners, 
 who had himself taken much pains to gain in- 
 formation of the state of the Jews. He con- 
 versed also for some time with Mr. Solomon, 
 and expressed to us both his earnest desires and 
 prayers for the speedy restoration of Israel. As 
 this excellent prelate was already much accus- 
 tomed to intercourse with the Jews for their 
 spiritual edification, I requested him to take 
 
 The Professor came accordingly, and conversed for a consider- 
 able time in French, Latin, and German, on the subject of the 
 Jews. He did not appear to have heard of the Society before, or 
 to have thought of Jewish conversion so much as of Hebrew punc- 
 tuation, and therefore, though not in orders, this interview may 
 give his thoughts a new turn. He is a very intelligent and learned 
 man, and may be useful to the Society as a future correspondent. 
 
24 
 
 charge of some Hebrew Testaments and tracts, 
 to which he most readily consented, and ])romised 
 to distribute them himself to the best advan- 
 tage. — These two excellent persons would be 
 good correspondents and able auxiliaries to the 
 Society. 
 
 I also left a copy of the Testament with the 
 chief rabbi and other principal Jews, and 
 meeting an old acquaintance in the person of 
 one of the aid-dercamps of the Duke of Cam- 
 bridge, I left in his hands a copy of our Reports 
 for the inspection of his Royal Highness. 
 
 PRUSSIA. 
 
 The character and condition of the remnant 
 of Israel, resident in the capital of Prussia, 
 exhibits an appearance altogether dissimilar from 
 that of any other place perhaps on the face of 
 the earth. The rabbinical opinions and system 
 have almost disappeared, and the commercial 
 body is composed of men of more education and 
 liberality of sentiment than the ordinary class 
 of trading Israelites. The origin of these dis- 
 tinctions is doubtless to be traced to the cha- 
 racter and writings of Moses Mendelsohn, who 
 passed his life at Berlin, and rose by dint of 
 
25 
 
 industry and the exercise of no ordinary capa- 
 city to a degree of literary fame and personal 
 distinction which no Jew perhaps has attained 
 since the time of Abarbanel and Maimon. He 
 is honoured by his Jewish brethren as a Re- 
 former, but a Christian would see more of Vol- 
 taire than Luther in that part of his character. 
 His works are much read by the Jews in Ger- 
 many, but from the extracts 1 have seen he is 
 not the man to lead them from Moses to Christ: 
 as he does not seem to recognize the divine 
 legation of the former, we know from the best 
 authority he cannot believe in the latter. His 
 followers go a step farther ; they very generally 
 acknowledge that Christ was a prophet, and even 
 greater than Moses, but they suppose both to 
 have been (as well as themselves) competent to 
 discover and lay down the rules of moral obli- 
 gation, and even to exercise faitli and love, and 
 worship God acceptably by the force of their 
 natural powers. They think as little of the ne- 
 cessity of a new and divine principle in the 
 soul as Nicodemus of old, when he first ac- 
 knowledged Christ "as a teacher sent from 
 God." It is something that they allow thus much, 
 for like the woman of Samaria who was in the 
 same case, as they also expect a Messias to 
 come, they may (when convinced like her of 
 
26 
 
 sin) say, " Is not this the Christ." The philo- 
 sophical spirit they have imbibed from the rea- 
 soning and principles of Mendelsohn, has led 
 the greater part of the Berlin Jews to reject 
 the use of the Talmud, and a considerable party 
 has been formed under the denomination of 
 *' Reformed Jews," for whose use a splendid 
 synagogue has been made at the expence of one 
 of the most wealthy and respectable among 
 them. In this, only parts of the law are read 
 in Hebrew, and great part of the service, and 
 the singing and preaching, is in German. This 
 is dissimilar to any mode of worship which has 
 yet existed among the Jews, and is a nearer 
 approximation to a cathedral service than any 
 other. Some objection was at first made to this 
 institution on the part of government, as being 
 neither Jew nor Christian, but it is suffered 
 to continue unmolested, and the old synagogue 
 is comparatively deserted. I have heard since 
 I left Berlin, that attempts are making to extend 
 the principles and practices of this body, and 
 that deputies have been sent to Paris, Geneva, 
 and other places : for the truth of this I cannot 
 vouch, but nothing is more probable than that 
 they, who say they " are Jews and are not," 
 should be ready to forward any work, and set 
 up any service, that may keep them in legal 
 
27 
 
 bondage, or draw off their minds from the siiti- 
 plicity of Christ. They will doubtless allow his 
 character as a prophet, if by so doing they can 
 reduce him to a level with Mahomet, or even 
 Moses, and so obviate the consequences of his 
 reception as a Sacrifice, Priest, and King in 
 Zion. But even this attempt will be doubtless 
 over-ruled to the speedy breaking down of the 
 partition -wall. Many thinking Jews are not 
 satisfied with this substitute for a synagogue, 
 entertain the highest opinion of the morality of 
 the Gospel, read it in secret at home, teach it 
 to their children, but of its life and power have 
 yet no notion. So true is it that no man can 
 call Jesus Lord but by the Holy Ghost. I con- 
 versed in one day with four Jews of this de- 
 scription : one was a student of theology in 
 the University; the second a magnetizing phy- 
 sician ; the third a student in philosophy, moral 
 and natural ; and the fourth a merchant, who 
 had more sense than the other three. Their 
 opinions taken together might build a little Babel, 
 but would not square with one stone of the 
 true Jerusalem. Not one had any knowledge 
 of sin or its imputation : all conceived religion 
 to lie within the compass of reason and human 
 power, and justification to be by works of man 
 alone. The philosopher quoted from Hesiod 
 
28 
 
 " Les Dieux ont mis aux portis de la Sagesse 
 le sueur," — and he thought to chmb heaven by 
 labour, and that Pelion well placed on Ossa 
 would give him sufficient elevation. The phy- 
 sician thought he could bring down the heavenly 
 spark of faith by the friction and vibration of 
 his wand of steel, and impregnate the waters 
 of a tumbler with the powers of life. The 
 merchant thought himself the only righteous 
 man in Berlin, because he never asked more for his 
 goods than he intended to take. His words and 
 motto were, *' Gardez ce qui est droit — faites ce 
 qui est juste — aimez les horames c'est la religion." 
 The theologian seemed never to have heard of 
 Adam or the fall, nor had he any notion of the 
 necessity of an atonement. He considered sa- 
 crifice not as typical but as temporary, and 
 salvation wholly within the powers of man in 
 his present state. How would the great apostle 
 have exhorted them all, that with one accord 
 they should turn from these lying vanities to 
 the service of the living God! that they should 
 look unto Christ the true Serpent and live ! But 
 this they will do no more than their fathers in 
 the desert, till they feel the bite of the scorpion. 
 They are perishing through unbelief and lack 
 of knowledge. They would listen to any who 
 came in their own name under the guise of reason 
 
29 
 
 and philosophy, but they still stumble at the 
 stumbling stone. The veil is yet untakcn away 
 in the reading of Moses, and the latter rain must 
 descend to prepare their hearts to receive the 
 Gospel seed. To reason with them in their 
 present state is only ploughing among flints 
 and reaping pebbles. But of even these stones 
 God can raise children unto Abraham ; and we 
 ought to plead his promises : there is an open 
 door, and he can make it effectual. Many young 
 Jewish students in the University came to me 
 in the mornings, acknowledging that they were 
 not satisfied with the religious instruction of the 
 schools, and many were certainly well disposed 
 to hear further of the matter. Our stay did not 
 permit of all that might have been done in this 
 way. There are young men of real talent and 
 research among the younger students who might 
 be rescued from the errors of the German system, 
 and brought into the school of Christ, if judi- 
 cious means were adopted. All the above cha- 
 racters received the Gospel in Hebrew with thank- 
 fulness, and before that ark their several Dagons 
 may fall, which God of his mercy grant for 
 Christ's sake. Our visit to Berlin will not, I 
 believe, be soon forgotten. The attention of the 
 Jews was roused ; they treated us with respect 
 and attention. Nothing of ill w^ill appeared; 
 
30 
 
 and it pleased God to over-rule the only un- 
 toward circumstance that occurred, to be the 
 means of prolonging our stay, and obtaining 
 introductions we might otherwise have sought in 
 vain. Of these facts I must shortly speak: — Mr. 
 Solomon's father-in-law pursued us to Berlin, 
 with a paper executed at Hamburg, for the 
 divorce of his daughter. He applied for the 
 dispatch of his business to the builder of the 
 above synag02:ue, at whose house we gave him 
 a meeting, and it was there agreed that Mr. 
 Solomon and Mr. Cox should go to Hamburg; 
 that if the daughter was willing to live with the 
 husband, she should attend him to Russia, and 
 be no further a burden to her family ; but that 
 if she positively refused to live any more with 
 her husband unless he abjured Christianity, the 
 divorce should take place. 
 
 In the course of this arrangement, which 
 took several days, the elder of the synagogue 
 was so satisfied of the sincerity and rectitude of 
 our conduct, and had such proofs of the contrary 
 behaviour in our opponent, that he shewed us 
 every possible kindness and attention. During 
 the absence of Solomon, I dined twice at his 
 house in company with other very respectable 
 Jews, with whom I liad the opportunity of 
 
31 
 
 speaking freely. One of these requested to see 
 me again, and one morning brought a paper 
 desiring a written answer. These will speak 
 for themselves ; and as I was laid under no obli- 
 gation of secrecy, I have no objection to their 
 appearance in public for the benefit of Jew and 
 Christian. Such discussions amicably conducted 
 must do good to both; and such concessions as 
 these papers contain, are surely encouragements 
 on which to build a reasonable hope of future 
 success in a labour of love, which requires not 
 only the faith of Abraham, but the fervour of 
 Paul, and the patience of Job himself. It can 
 only be carried on by a zeal which no difficulties 
 can abate, and a hope which no disappointments 
 can extinguish. 
 
 The very circumstances I have described 
 above, afford, as I conceive, an opportunity most 
 favourable to the partial introduction of the 
 Gospel ; received as it would be among other 
 systems, it would triumph over them. The di- 
 versity of character among the Jews in various 
 places, requires indeed as much versatility of 
 mind and knowledo-e of men, as Paul carried 
 with him to Corinth, Ephesus, and x'Vthens. 
 The modern missionary will often have to contend 
 with dissipation and superstition. He will find 
 
32 
 
 silver shrines though not inscribed to Diana, 
 and many altars " to an unknown God " in 
 other places than Athens : — and if permanent 
 missions are sent to the Jews, the qualities of 
 the person should be suited to the place. The 
 Dutch and the Germans differ as widely as those 
 who frequented the market and the Areopagus 
 of old time. A man of easy manners and evan- 
 gelical sentiments might do much at Amsterdam ; 
 but a philosopher and a logician must be sent 
 to Berlin, whom experience and spiritual dis- 
 cernment have taught to lay down his theories 
 and his problems at the foot of the cross. 
 
 Since my arrival in Russia, I have been 
 favoured with a letter from his excellency the 
 Hon. George Rose, his Britannic Majesty's Envoy 
 at Berlin, by which I have reason to hope that 
 a permanent impression has been left on the minds 
 of several members of the families above men- 
 tioned. I cannot speak of this kind friend without 
 acknowledging the cordial reception he gave us 
 during our stay, and the truly Christian zeal 
 with which he espoused and assisted our cause. 
 To him w^e are indebted for many useful intro- 
 ductions, especially to the family of the Princes 
 Radziwil of Posen. Their amiable and excellent 
 mother the Princess Louisa, sister to her Royal 
 
33 
 
 Highness the Duchess of York, received us 
 at Posen uith the greatest hospitality, and was 
 much interested in the purpose of oM*" journey. 
 I mention this circumstance, as Posen \youid be 
 a most important and eligible station for a t>,evvish 
 mission, and the protection of this family wOvdd 
 have considerable influence in any future at- 
 tempt. 
 
 The chief rabbi of this place received me with 
 great civility, and expressed his decided opinion 
 that the restoration of the Jews was near at hand. 
 I left a copy of the Testament with him, but 
 without any reason assigned, it was returned to 
 me at the inn before I left the town. However, 
 I had the satisfaction of presenting it immediately 
 to a respectable merchant, who with his whole 
 family seemed truly desirous of hearing more of 
 that Messiah, whom the rabbi rejected (as I 
 conceive) the moment he found it was Jesus of 
 Nazareth. 
 
 As my stay did not permit me to pay visits 
 in person to many of the numerous wealthy and 
 respectable Jews in this place, I committed se- 
 veral copies to the care of the Rev. Mr. Cassius, 
 a Lutheran minister, whom I met at the palace 
 of the Princess. Her Royal Highness having 
 
 D 
 
84 
 
 favoured me with some account of the effect 
 which they produced, I shall relate it in her 
 own words. — " Le rabin d'ici est tres occupes 
 a travailler contre la bonne impression qu'on 
 fait ici les distributions du Nouveau Testament. 
 Cependant on le lit beaucoup, mais I'influence du 
 rabin est trop puissante pour permettre aux bien 
 intentionnes de ce declarer. Les Juifs ne font 
 qu'enteer et sortir de la maison de M. Cassius 
 pour avoir des exemplaires de votre Nouveau 
 Testament, et aujourdhui il en a rencontre 15 
 dans la rue rassembles autour d'un des Juifs au 
 quel il avoit confie un exemplaire. II le leur 
 lisoit avec beaucoup de devotion, et eux lecou- 
 toient avec un grand interet. 
 
 *' Si vous faites du bien aux Juifs vous en 
 faites autant aux Chretiens, car il est impossible, 
 &c."* The remainder I need not insert, for the 
 
 * " The rabbi is very busy in counteracting the good impression 
 made by the distribution of the New Testament in this place. It 
 is much read, notwithstanding the influence of the rabbi is too 
 powerful to permit the well disposed to declare themselves. Jews 
 are continually going in and out of the house of Mr. Cassius to 
 obtain copies, and this morning he met fifteen in the street assembled 
 round one to whom he had entrusted a copy. The Jew read it to 
 them with much devotion, and they listened to it with great interest. 
 
 " If you do good tu the Jews, you do as much to the Christian!, 
 for it is impossible, &c." 
 
35 
 
 consequences of the introduction of the Gospel 
 among the Jews are so multifarious and bene- 
 ficial, as to supply ample food for meditation 
 to all who duly consider the subject, and draw 
 the apostolic inference, that their recovery will 
 be the riches of the Gentiles^ and life from 
 the dead! 
 
 I will here close my account of the Jews in 
 Prussia, with an extract from a letter I received 
 from John Parkinson, Esq. his Majesty's Consul 
 at Konisberg, dated Dec. 20, 1817. 
 
 " You will learn with pleasure, that some 
 of the leading Israelites of Konisberg were much 
 struck with the object of your mission, and ex- 
 pressed regret at the brevity of your stay. / 
 firmly believe, that some of the Leaders want 
 but slight impulse to propel them in the path 
 of truth." 
 
 RUSSIA. 
 
 On our arrival at Polangen, the frontier-town 
 of Russia, we found the post-master was a Jew. 
 I searched the carriage for the only remaining 
 copy of the Hebrew Testament, which I left 
 with a date and inscription in English and 
 Russian, for a commemoration of our arrival, 
 
 d2 
 
36 
 
 and a pledge of similar benefactions in future. 
 1 had distributed the small stock we could carry 
 with us, intending to do nothing in the imperial 
 territory till we had the opportunity of conferring 
 with the Committee at St. Petersburg, and on 
 the preceding day, I found myself under circum- 
 stances which reduced me to the last copy. 1 was 
 left in the middle of a sandy wilderness, called 
 the Curische Nehrung, which runs along the 
 sea coast between Kouisburg and Memel. The 
 carriage had stopped, and the horses were taken 
 off, and two of my friends, Mr. Cox and Mr. So- 
 lomon, were gone with the men up the hill to 
 hasten the horses. A caravan of Jewish merchants 
 whom we had just passed, overtook us and 
 stopped -at the same place : five of them cama 
 round the carriage, when they saw me hold out 
 a book which was an Old Testament in Hebrew, 
 from this they each read a part of the fifty-third 
 of Isaiah. I then took out my New Testaments 
 and turned to the third of John, which they read 
 in as audible a manner as a roaring wind and 
 sea would allow. They were evidently struck 
 with the occurrence, each took a copy and re- 
 ceived them with apparent thankfulness. What 
 refreshments I had, I divided among them, and 
 they all bowed very respectfully as they drank 
 out of the same glass. We had no common 
 
37 
 
 language, but the word of God can speak for 
 itself. 
 
 This incident I thought would be interesting 
 to your Lordship and our friends in England, 
 and I could mention many others, but am un- 
 willing to fatigue your patience by a letter al- 
 ready too long. 
 
 We arrived at St. Petersburg, the place of 
 our destination, on the 11th of December, and 
 finding only the Secretary of the Petersburg 
 Committee at that place, and that nothing could 
 be done till the return of the court, after a 
 communication with his Excellency Prince Ga- 
 litzin, through our ambassador the Earl of Cath* 
 cart to whom I had a personal introduction, I 
 determined to proceed at once to Moscow. 
 
 I presented the books and memorials of the 
 Society to his Excellency Prince Galitzin on 
 Christmas day, with other copies for the use 
 of his Imperial Majesty. 1 am happy to assure 
 your Lordship, that our utmost expectations are 
 exceeded by the kind and Christian reception 
 we have met with here. The Prince Galitzin, 
 who is the President of the Bible Society, Mi- 
 nister of all religious concerns in the Russian 
 
38 
 
 empire, and stands in the relation of Patron to 
 the Society for Christian Israelites, and his Ex- 
 cellency Mr. Basil Papof, the President of the 
 Tutelary Committee, are ready to forward our 
 operations by every means in their power. As 
 the object of the Russian Institution is not 
 " promoting Christianity among the Jews," but 
 affording an asylum to those who are converted 
 to any church of Christians, and as the utmost 
 latitude of toleration prevails throughout the 
 empire, the Committee of St. Petersburg seems 
 exactly calculated to supply the long lamented 
 deficiency of the London Society. A large tract 
 of land, as a Jewish settlement, is to be imme- 
 diately measured out on the shores of the sea of 
 Azof, near Marianpoule or Taganrog — the spot 
 once destined by Peter the Great for the capital 
 of his empire. 
 
 Having obtained a correct copy of the im- 
 perial Ukases on this interesting subject, I have 
 sent over a translation of these authentic docu- 
 ments, together with an account of the state of 
 the Jews in Poland and the southern parts of 
 the Russian empire written last spring. The 
 former will explain themselves, and of the latter 
 I will only remark, that being written by an 
 intelligent observer, whose immediate attention 
 
39 
 
 was not turned to the Jews in particular, it 
 carries with it a weight of authority which 
 would be reluctantly conceded to an avowed 
 advocate of the Jewish cause. 
 
 I cannot close my letter, without stating for 
 the satisfaction of your Lordship and the Society, 
 that having been honoured with a personal in- 
 terview with his Imperial Majesty at his own 
 appointment, I am enabled to assure your Lord- 
 ship, that the object of our visit to the Russian 
 dominions has received the unqualified appro- 
 bation of their sovereign. And when it is con- 
 sidered, that not less than two millions of the 
 descendants of Abraham are thus rendered ac- 
 cessible to the operations of our Society, we 
 ought surely to be thankful to divine Providence 
 for this timely and efficient co-operation with 
 our humble endeavours for their welfare. What- 
 ever others may think or say, " I will mention 
 the loving kindnesses of the Lord, and the 
 praises of the Lord, according to all that the 
 Lord hath bestowed on us, and the great good- 
 ness towards the house of Israel, which he hath 
 bestowed on them, according to his mercies, and 
 according to the multitude of his loving kind- 
 nesses." 
 
40 
 
 I need not remind your Lordship, how often 
 it has pleased the Almij^hty to make an Imperial 
 decree the turning point of several past dispen- 
 sations towards his church and people. The 
 days of Cyrus, Artaxerxes, Augustus, Justinian, 
 and Constantine will arise in successive recol- 
 lection; and as we are instructed to seek for 
 the future things in the former by Him who 
 is " the same yesterday, and to-day, and for 
 ever," it is surely no presumption to hope that 
 the heart of Alexander has not been stirred up 
 in vain to make this " proclamation throughout 
 all his kingdom." 
 
 His Imperial Majesty is about to make a 
 tour through Poland and the southern provinces^ 
 and as he was graciously pleased to express 
 a desire to meet us in the Crimea, it is our 
 purpose to take that direction, that we may first 
 visit the settlements of the Karaites, who have 
 already shewn a disposition to receive the Gospel. 
 
 I trust the contents of this letter, and the 
 documents contained in the Appendix, will not 
 be wholly uninteresting to your Lordship, the 
 Lord Bishop of Gloucester, and the Society; and 
 intreating your prayers that we may have grace 
 
41 
 
 to know our duty and do the will of God in 
 future, I now conclude with an observation of 
 encouragement from the past. 
 
 When I left England, I was forewarned of 
 many difficulties which have vanished on ap- 
 proach. I was gravely told, that I should meet 
 with enemies at every step, and it is but a just 
 tribute of thankfulness for the many mercies we 
 have experienced from him, who has all hearts 
 at his disposal, to state that we have found this 
 ^' evil report of the land" to be perfectly 
 groundless. From Jew and from Gentile, from 
 learned and unlearned, from princes, ministers, 
 and ambassadors, clergy and laity, we have 
 experienced uniform respect, and received un- 
 looked for help and support ; and if Societies 
 have not yet been established or large contri- 
 butions levied in the places we have visited ; 
 much prejudice has been removed, much at- 
 tention awakened, and some seed sown, which 
 will doubtless spring up in its season. 
 
 I wish it to be understood at home, in behalf 
 of myself and Mr. Solomon, (whose conduct has 
 uniformly adorned his Christian profession,) that 
 our immediate object is not to convert Jeics, 
 but to deliver to them the Gospel in their own 
 
42 
 
 tongue, and thus far at least to prepare the way 
 for its promulgation, in a wilderness which is 
 one day to be " like Eden," and in a desert 
 which is to become at last '* like the garden of 
 the Lord." Isaiah li. 2. et seq. 
 
 I have the honour to remain. 
 Your Lordship's 
 much obliged and faithful Servant, 
 
 LEWIS WAY. 
 
 Moscow, Feb. 28, 1818. 
 
 POSTSCRIPT. 
 
 My friend Mr. Cox, who has kindly under- 
 taken the charge and publication of the above, 
 and who is also the bearer of a letter from his 
 Excellency Prince Alexander Galitzin, will be 
 able to supply to your Lordship and the Society 
 much useful information, — which the present op- 
 portunity of his return and the nature of this 
 communication has not enabled me to detail. 
 
APPENDIX I. 
 
 LETTER FROM AN ELDER OF THE REFORMED JEWS, AD- 
 DRESSED TO THE REV. LEWIS WAY. 
 
 SENT W ENGLISH AND GERMAN. 
 
 Most Honoured Sir, Berlin, Oct. 21, 1817. 
 
 In the few hours in which you favoured me 
 by a conversation on that subject which must be the 
 most important for man, you have laid open your 
 elevated sentiments on it with such a noble spirit, such 
 truth and candour, that you have deeply affected me, 
 and given me a full persuasion of the purity and bene- 
 volence of your virtuous endeavours. 
 
 You, Sir, I say it with a joyful conviction, are a true 
 Christian ; one of those few, whose hearts are truly filled 
 with the holy idea of their preceptor, who understand 
 the full meaning and weight of his divine doctrine, and 
 who know how to represent it in their life and actions 
 to the benefit of their fellow-creatures. 
 
 Love, charity, those significant words which the 
 founder of the Christian faith pronounced in such an 
 enforcing manner, with you they are not words only as 
 they are with so many other men ; they are the ani- 
 
44 
 
 mating principles of your mind; they have inflamed 
 you with that noble zeal, to reach the hand of love 
 to your brethren, and to lead them to peace and ever- 
 lasting felicity. O what an exalted design is yours ! 
 lie alone can form it, whom the divine grace has deemed 
 worthy to make him know to what a great end the human 
 soul was formed. 
 
 But, Sir, give me leave to ask you a question. I may 
 venture to lay it down before you, who love truth and 
 sincerity in every shape. You, Sir, who are so earnestly 
 bent to promote the happiness of mankind, why do you 
 not turn your pious endeavours towards making those 
 that are Christians already, but merely by name, better 
 acquainted with the true dictates of their religion ? 
 Why do you not persuade your brethren in the faith, 
 that pure and divine as it is, it can lead them to felicity 
 only if it influences every motion of their heart, every 
 action of their life ? 
 
 The design of your great Master was to found a 
 universal religion, confined to no place or nation, a 
 religion for the salvation of the world : He grounded 
 his precepts on the moral nature of man, on the two 
 holiest principles planted in the human mind, faith and 
 charity. Yea, He commanded even to love our enemies, 
 knowing that enemies can be converted into friends by 
 confidence in this their moral nature, by exerting love 
 and charity towards them, by shewing a gentle pardon 
 for their errors and oflfences. Such were His noble 
 intentions, such was His beneficial aim! 
 
45 
 
 Now I may ask jou, Sir, can there be found in the 
 life and behaviour of most of those who call themselves 
 Christians, the least sign of such a pure universal love ? 
 Nay, are not the actions of most of them whollj^ con- 
 tradictory to that which was practised by Christ ? In 
 every part where the Christian religion is predominant, 
 those who profess another failh are hated, despised, 
 persecuted, and cruelly driven out. Even the Christian 
 priests do not forcibly resist this evil, but idle spectators, 
 they permit it to grow up every where. 
 
 Turn your eyes with impartiality to the history of 
 ancient or modern Christians, and your benevolence 
 will ask no farther proofs that what I urge is nothing 
 but the strictest truth. Under such circumstances can 
 the Christian religion be spread by conviction ? Can 
 those who misundersland i(s mightiest principles hope 
 for many proselytes ? The unenlightened non-Christian 
 cannot be persuaded of the beneficence of a doctrine 
 that makes him undergo so many persecutions. He 
 whose mind is enlarged by knowledge feels, it is true, 
 a great veneration for the pure and exalted principles 
 of Christ, but he can have no confidence in His 
 
 followers. 
 
 « 
 
 A man. Sir, so noble, so true spirited as you, with 
 such firmness of will, such force of mind, will surely 
 exert all the mighty powers his excellence must give 
 him over his brethren in the faith, to make thera rightly 
 understand the divine words of love pronounced by his 
 great Master, that for the future their holy efiects may 
 grow visible in their life ; and then the Christian religion 
 
4t) 
 
 will extend its branches without any farther efforts. — 
 In other terms, endeavour to make your holy law work 
 more intensively, and its extensive effects shall follow 
 by themselves. I am firmly persuaded that the greatest 
 part of the Jews would long ago have embraced the 
 Christian faitli, if they had found a true Christian and 
 brotherly love in the Christians ; for the spark of the 
 divine flame that lies slumbering in the human breast 
 can only be awakened by love. 
 
 With security and confidence I lay down these my 
 open sentiments in your loyal and benevolent mind. 
 I am sure that you will take them to heart. — The All- 
 bountiful, the All-gracious will give his benediction to 
 your steps, and the time will soon come, when we shall 
 be all sheep of one and the same flock. Amen. 
 
4T 
 
 APPENDIX II. 
 
 THE REV. LEWIS WAY'S ANSWER TO THE PRECEDING. 
 
 Honoured Sir, Berlin, Oct. 28, 1817. 
 
 For several years past, my undivided attention 
 has been turned to the present state and future ex- 
 pectations of the ancient people of God, and I can 
 truly say that no occurrence I ever met with has given 
 me so much encouragement to persevere in my labours 
 for their spiritual welfare as the circumstance of your 
 acquaintance, and the paper you have put into my 
 hands ; for when persons of your information and candour 
 are willing to discuss the subject of our common sal- 
 vation, the time cannot be far distant when the remnant 
 of Israel will be brought into the fold of Christ. 
 
 I shall only avail myself of the favourable opinion 
 you have been pleased to form of my character and 
 conduct, to request you will still give me credit for 
 truth and sincerity, if on farther explanation it should 
 appear that my views of the nature and duties of true 
 religion differ more widely from your own than might 
 appear from a short and general discussion of that all- 
 important subject. 
 
 In reply to your question, " Why my endeavours 
 are not turned towards making those that are Christians 
 
48 
 
 already, but merely by name, better acquainted with 
 the dictates of their religion," so as to render their 
 faith influential on thrir conduct, &c. I can assure you 
 that, as far as in ine lieth, it is my constant endeavour 
 so to do, whether in private intercourse or in the dis- 
 charge of my public ministry. I am satisfied that true 
 religion is not the exclusive privilege of a single nation 
 or of any particular church, but a personal concern 
 between God and the soul. It does not consist so much 
 in external ordinances as in internal convictions, and 
 a radical change of lieart and life. It is not the at- 
 tainment of man or the fruit of education, but the gift 
 of God, and the work of divine grace in the soul. 
 
 As it was of old, all who were called Israel were 
 not of Israel. He was not a Jew who was one out- 
 wardly, — but he is a Jew who is one inwardly by the 
 true circumcision of the heart through the word and 
 Spirit of God. — So at present all are not real Christians 
 who are called by the name of Christ, neither is that the 
 true and only baptism which is performed outwardly, 
 but they alone are Christians indeed who crucify their 
 affections and lusts, being baptised witli the Holy Ghost 
 and with fire, and having received an abiding unc(ion 
 from the Holy One. I conceive that an outward pro- 
 fession and even an accurate knowledge of the doctrines 
 of our holy faith are of themselves insulficient ; for that 
 " grace which bringcth salvation teacheth us to deny 
 ungodliness and worldly lust, and to live soberly, 
 righteously and godly in this present world." Con- 
 sistently with these views I make it a duty to distinguish 
 between the name and the nature, the profession and 
 
40 
 
 the practice of Christianity; and fearing that in most 
 assemblies of Christians there are many who profess 
 Christ wi(h their ftps but deny him in their lives, and 
 hokl (he form while tlicy are destitute of the power 
 of godliness, I would address myself to such persons 
 as subjects of conversion, and as standing in need of 
 a radical change as much as Jews who reject the 
 Saviour, or Pagans who never heard his name. 
 
 I entirely agree with you, that the design of our 
 Lord and Master was to found an universal religion, 
 which the figurative ceremonial service of the Jewish 
 dispensation could never become, being merely local, 
 and the law itself only " a shadow of belter things to 
 come," whereas the gates of the new Jerusalem are open 
 to all nations, and kindreds, and tongues, and people. 
 But when you say that " He grounded his precepts 
 on the moral nature of man, on the two holiest prin- 
 ciples planted in the human mind, faith and charity^'' 
 you seem to imagine that these principles are inherent 
 in the nature of man, and that man as he is in his un- 
 converted state has ability to put them into exercise, 
 and love his fellow-creatures according to Christ's com- 
 mandment. Now if this were so, you would have, 
 it is to be hoped, less reason to complain that the con- 
 duct of most men is in direct opposition to this divine 
 precept, and did all who exercise the office of the 
 Christian priesthood possess these holy qualiflcations, 
 the signs of universal love would appear, and they would 
 not stand (as you justly express it) " idle spectators" 
 of the unrighteousness of professing Christians, or the 
 sad condition of unbelieving Jews. The case is quite 
 
 E 
 
50 
 
 otherwise, as scripture and experience concur in proving; 
 a precept, or law^ moreover, implies an existing disposition 
 to do the exact contrary. 
 
 The moral nature of man consists in his knowledge 
 of what is evil — that fatal knowledge acquired by the 
 fall. The surviving power of conscience renders him 
 an accountable and therefore a moral agent. He can 
 discriminate by an intuitive perception between good 
 and evil, but when he " would do good evil is present 
 with him. The good that he would he does not, but 
 the evil that he would not, tliat he does," and this 
 by reason of the sin which dwelleth in his nature. He 
 sees (as the heathen acknowledged) and knows what is 
 good, but he has neither will nor power of himself to 
 choose it freely, or act it fully. In other words, faith 
 and charity have no root in nature^ they are Christian 
 graces^ the free gift of God purchased for us by the 
 Redeemer's blood, imparted to us by his Holy Spirit, 
 and when planted in the soul of a penitent sinner, do 
 as naturally and necessarily produce their fruit in love 
 and peace and good will to man, as envy, hatred and 
 uncharitableness, grow upon the stock of fallen and 
 corrupt nature. 
 
 As you ask me to " turn ray eyes with impartiality 
 to the history of ancient or modern Christians," I would 
 request you to take a wider range, and survey the moral 
 history of man as exemplified in the world at large, and 
 in the true church in every age. Consider the words 
 pronounced in Paradise ; and see if they do not afford at 
 once the true explanation of the subject. " I will put 
 
51 
 
 enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed 
 and her seed ; it shall bruise thy head and thou shall 
 bruise his heel." How was this exemplified in Cain and 
 Abel ! and in every successive period of the world, the 
 mystery of iniquity and the mystery of godliness, the en- 
 mity of nature and grace, has been gradually developed. 
 He that is born after the flesh persecutes him that is born 
 after the Spirit. And the history of unconverted men, 
 is only the history of their mutual animosity to each 
 other. What are we to think of Joseph and his brethren ? 
 of Saul and David ? of Sennacherib and Hezekiah ? Do 
 the Jewish records afford no instances of unjust per- 
 secution, no evidence of unkindness and despiteful usage 
 for difference of conduct or opinion ? I allude to these 
 things, only to shew that man is bt/ nature as to morals, 
 the same under every dispensation. That " all men 
 have not faith^'" that some (perhaps the majority at all 
 times) have not any real knowledge of God. That 
 a radical change of heart and nature can alone pro- 
 duce a real change in life and conduct. That there 
 is no difference by nature between Jews and Christians, 
 and both need to be renewed alike by divine grace, 
 and must be born again of water and the Spirit, to see 
 the kingdom of God, and be made partakers of a new 
 and divine nature. I would take for instance one, who 
 was both Jew and Christian, lion and lamb, persecutor 
 and preacher of the Gospel. Compare the character 
 of Saul the pharisee on his way to Damascus, breathing 
 out slaughter against the disciples of Christ, with Paul 
 the apostle brought before the tribunal of Agrippa, and 
 saying to him, " I would to God, that not only thou, 
 but all who hear me this day, were not only almost but 
 
 E 2 
 
52 
 
 altogether such as I am, except these bonds." He is 
 a pattern set fortli to others, and especially to his Jewish 
 brethren, of the natural character of man, and of the 
 long-suffering and sovereign grace of his God and Sa- 
 viour. Observe his own declaration ; he was touching 
 the law " blameless ! " whilst concerning zeal, persecuting 
 *' the church" He was in his own opinion strictly 
 moral, while he had not a spark of real religion, fear 
 of God, or love to man. He thought it no breach of 
 moraliti/ to put to death both men and women for dif- 
 ference of opinion i/i re/ig-fow. So true it is, that religion 
 is not founded (especially the Christian) on the moral 
 nature of man, but is a recovery from his fallen state, 
 and the only solid basis on which true practical morality 
 can be built. But this is not my only answer to the 
 question, why I do not turn my chief attention to the 
 improvement of my Christian brethren. 
 
 I believe from the whole analogy of Scripture, that 
 the Christian world at large will never attain to its 
 promised state of happiness and perfection upon earth, 
 and that the Christian character will not be fully ex- 
 emplified by individuals, till the Jews are restored to 
 the favour of God, on their acknowledgment of Christ 
 as their promised Messiah. 
 
 I conceive that the true Joseph, the preserver and 
 dispenser of the bread of life, will never reveal himself 
 to all his brethren, till we Gentiles bring back our elder 
 brother. We shall then all have corn in our sacks and 
 changes of raiment. We shall put off the rags of our 
 own righteousness, and be clothed with the garments 
 
53 
 
 of salvation. We shall be fed with the finest wheat 
 flour, and be satisfied with honey out of the stony 
 rock." — " There will be found bread enough and to 
 spare in our Father's house," and there will be no more 
 in the land a famine of hearing the word of the Lord. 
 (Amos viii. 11, 12.) 
 
 Oh ! that the descendants of Jacob, the whole 
 house of Israel, may soon cry out, " Joseph is yet 
 alive ; I will go and see him before I die." " Alas ! 
 why will ye die, O house of Israel ! " He who was an 
 Israelite indeed, in whom there was no guile, who was 
 sold for thirty pieces of silver, whose garments " dipped 
 in blood " were parted between his murderers, ffe 
 who was dead is alive, and liveth for evermore ! " 
 
 You may suppose him to address the Jews his 
 brethren after the flesh, in the very words of Joseph, 
 (Gen. 1. 20, 21.) " As for you, ye thought evil against 
 me, but God meant it unto good, to bring it to pass 
 as this day^ to save much people alive. Now therefore 
 fear ye not, I will nourish you and your little ones ; 
 and he comforted them, and spake kindly to them.'* 
 And is he not the same Jesus, yesterday, to-day, and 
 for ever ? Hath he not commanded his ministers to 
 comfort his people, — hath he not said by the mouths of 
 his prophets, " Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and 
 cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that 
 her iniquity is pardoned." (Isaiah xl.) Has he not 
 promised to send his blessing "to the Jew first?" and 
 when he commissioned his disciples to preach the gospel 
 to every creature, where were they to begin but at Je- 
 
5i 
 
 rusalem ? And they will see his face again when they 
 shall say in the words and true sense of the psalmist, 
 " Blessed is he that comelh in the name of the Lord." 
 
 Charity also leads me to pay a primary attention 
 to the state of the Jews. — Charity, as j'ou observe, en- 
 joins us to love our enemies. St. Paul, who well 
 understood the subject, preached first in the synagogues 
 of the Jews, though they had often sought to kill him, 
 and though he was only sent as an apostle to the Gentiles. 
 Again, Christian charity to the Gentiles dictates this 
 line of conduct: for, says the apostle, " If the fall of 
 them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing 
 of them the riches of the Gentiles, how much more 
 their fulness ? If the casting away of them be the re- 
 conciling of the world, what shall the recovering of 
 them be but life from the dead ? " 
 
 You allow mine to be " an excellent design" and 
 then you add, "He alone can form it whom the divine 
 grace has deemed zoorth?/, &c." You must permit me 
 to remark how different the views of Jews and Christians 
 are upcn the subject of human merit. If you will read 
 with attention the seventh chapter of St. Luke's Gospel, 
 you will there find a case recorded, which sets forth 
 this difference with all the force of example. The 
 servant of a Gentile who loved the Jews was sick: — 
 The elders of the Jews, with a feeling of thankfulness 
 fojr his kindness to them, besought Jesus to heal the 
 man, saying of the master, "He is worthy for whom 
 thou shouldst do this," and as a proof of the worthiness 
 of tlie Gentile, they mentioned the circumstance that 
 
55 
 
 he had built them a synagogue. But what said tlie 
 Gentile of himself, and what did he think of Christ : 
 ** I am not worthy," said he, " that thou sliouldst enter 
 under my roof, neither thought I myself worthy to come 
 unto thee ; but speak the word only, and ray servant 
 shall be healed." And Jesus said, " I have not found 
 so great faith^ no not in Israel." It was the faith^ and 
 not the worth of the Gentile, that Jesus regarded. 
 There is none good but God, and there is none worth j/, 
 in the sense of meriting at the hand of God^ but the Lamb 
 that was slain in our stead. He it was who formed 
 the wonderful plan of human redemption ; as the wis- 
 dom of the Eternal Father, he alone carried it into 
 effect, when the Word which was in the beginning with 
 God, became the Word made flesh, "to dwell among 
 us, to suffer and die in the nature that had sinned. And 
 he alone can apply the benefit to the soul by the in- 
 ternal teaching of his own Spirit and the outward dis- 
 pensations of his mercy and grace towards his believing 
 people; and the Jews, if they abide not in unbeliefs shall 
 become living monuments of his love. 
 
 I love the Jews because I cannot see one without 
 being reminded of my Saviour. " Of them as con- 
 cerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all God 
 blessed for ever." (Rom. ix. 4.) He was their kins- 
 man, and therefore f as you know, their Redeemer, in 
 a peculiar sense. I believe, because Christ has declared 
 it, that unless they believe in him, and confess him 
 before men, they will be denied before him and his 
 Father and perish eternally. (See Mark viii. 38. Luke 
 xii. 8, 9.) Therefore out of love to their precious 
 
56 
 
 souls, I bave contribuled towards ilie building of more 
 
 than one synagogue for their instruction, and am 
 
 willing io spend my life, or lay it down, if by any 
 
 means I can persuade some of them to examine the 
 
 evidences of our religion, which is theirs in truth, 
 
 spirhually understood, — being assured that when they 
 
 truly believe in Mos(?s they will believe also in Christ, 
 
 for Moses spake and testified of him. But after all, 
 
 I can truly say, I utterly renounce all idea of any 
 
 worthiness in myself, or the hope of meriting any thing 
 
 of God or man. I seek not yours^ but you : not my 
 
 own glory, but that God in all things may be glorified, 
 
 through Jesus Christ, who being the light of the Gentiles, 
 
 will one day be " the glory of his people Israel." The 
 
 love of Christ constraineth me. I believe that he died 
 
 for me, and that he is able and willing to save to the 
 
 uttermost all who are made willing in the day of his 
 
 power to come unto him by faith renouncing all merit 
 
 and riffhteousness of their own. He who healed the 
 
 servant of the Gentile, raised up from death the daughter 
 
 of a Jew, the ruler of the synagogue. — And when Jew 
 
 and Gentile unite in acknowledging and adoring him 
 
 as the only Physician and Saviour of the sin-sick soul, 
 
 and the only Lord and giver of life, when tliey unite 
 
 in prayer for each other, the sick will be healed of all 
 
 their spiritual infirmities, the lame professor will walk 
 
 uprightly, the dumb will speak his praise, the dead 
 
 in sin will hear his voice, and they that hear shall 
 
 live. 
 
 It is very encouraging to find that so many persons 
 in this city of the Jewish persuasion do already receive 
 
57 
 
 Christ as a Prophet and Teacher sent from God, — and 
 if he is a prophet then he is assuredly that very prophet 
 promised by the mouth of Moses in the 18th chapter 
 of Deuteronomy. Now it is well worthy of remark, to 
 all who happily make this avowal, to observe what the 
 Lord himself expressly declares concerning the person 
 promised. " It shall come to pass, that whosoever will 
 not hearken unto mi/ words which he shall speak in 
 my name, I will require it of him ; therefore to admit 
 Christ in the character of such a prophet, and not to 
 believe all his sayings, and receive him also as a sacri- 
 fice, priest, and king, is a greater inconsistency than to 
 reject him altogether in the vain expectation of a 
 Messiah yet to come, though snch an one as man can 
 never be born under the requisite circumstances, in the 
 time of the second temple, on the departure of the 
 sceptre from Judah, and of the direct lineage of David, 
 which is now only to be completely ascertained by 
 the genealogies in the Christian scriptures. 
 
 But to you, honoured Sir, I must address myself on 
 another ground, and I do it with a humble hope that 
 the God of Abraham will hear my prayers for you, 
 and own and bless ray endeavours to the good of your 
 soul. You avow a love of truth, and your acquaintance 
 with the New Testament has, I trust, already con- 
 vinced you, that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son that was 
 born, and the child that was given to your fathers. 
 On farther examination you may, by the divine blessing, 
 learn from the same infallible authority, that he is " the 
 mighty God," that he and "the everlasting Father" 
 are one. And may you know him also as " the Prince 
 
58 
 
 of Peace," — not only as the Emmanuel of the prophets, 
 but as the Christ of the Gospel, whom we preach. — 
 Christ in you ; Christ formed in your heart the hope of 
 glory. Then you will be ready to exclaim as one 
 did of old, « Is not this the Messiah ? " Then you 
 will no longer hesitate to declare his name unto your 
 brethren, as the only name given under heaven by which 
 they can be saved. Then you will be ready as Paul 
 did to declare, even in the synagogue, that he is the 
 Son of God, if you are delivered from " the fear of 
 man which bringeth a snare." May God put his fear 
 into your heart, lest you depart from him. Permit 
 me earnestly and aflfectionately to recommend to your 
 special consideration two passages of the New Testament. 
 John V. 39—47. and xii. 42, 43. 
 
 You tell me that you " are firmly persuaded that 
 the greatest part of the Jews would long ago liave 
 embraced the Christian faith if they had found a true 
 brotherly love in the Christians." You hope I will lay 
 these sentiments to heart ; and indeed I shall ; and in 
 return I lay open to you my firm conviction, which 
 is that all the love of all the Christians in the world 
 could never of itself impart faith to you. " None can 
 by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God 
 a ransom for him (Ps. xlviii.) that he should live for 
 ever. It is the love of Christ that must do this, it is 
 his loving-kindness that must draw us, and not the love 
 of man, for whereof is he to be accounted ? " But if 
 he has drawn us with the cords of a man and the bands 
 of everlasting love, we must love him, and for him and 
 in him we must love each other and all whom the Father 
 
69 
 
 hath given him. Let us then lay aside all recrimination, 
 all calculation which has been the greatest persecutor in 
 time past, tlie Jew or the Christian, or which is the most 
 worthy, ?/ou or /. Let us put out of the account what 
 others may think/ or others may do, but let us resolve 
 with Joshua, that we and our houses shall serve the Lord," 
 and strive together which shall most adorn the doctrine 
 of our God and Saviour. For we have each a God 
 to serve and a soul to be saved, and there is but one 
 God, and one mediator between God and man, even 
 Christ Jesus. Let us pray that through him " we may 
 both have access by one Spirit unto the Father." I can 
 assure you, no man can join more heartily than I do 
 in your desire that the time may soon come when there 
 shall be *' one fold and one Shepherd^ Paul not 
 only prayed that " all Israel might be saved," but he 
 laboured day and night to promote their salvation. 
 Pilate and Herod, who were before at enmity, could 
 become friends when they consented to crucify their 
 Lord ; and now that we are agreed that he is ike Christy 
 cannot we concur in converting our brethren by preaching 
 him as our exalted Redeemer ? Joseph and Nicodemus 
 avowed him openly at last, begged his body and buried 
 it. Why should not we unite to do something for 
 those members of his mystical body, who are yet dead 
 in trespasses and sins? 
 
 The Christian churches of this land are at this 
 moment laying down their mutual animosities, which 
 have so long been a stumbling-block to their Jewish 
 brethren. They are agreed in the essentials of our 
 common faith, in all we call upon you to receive for 
 
60 
 
 salvation. Why then should Judah vex Ephraim anj 
 more, or any partition-wall remain between Jew and 
 Gentile, since Christ has reconciled both unto God, in 
 one body by the cross. Why should not all true 
 churches be gathered into one, and become an habitation 
 for the one God the Father of us all? We cannot 
 return unto the Law, the covenant of works, for we 
 know it to be the ministration of death. We invite you 
 to partake with us the Gospel as the covenant of grace, 
 because we have found it to be the ministration of life, 
 the everlasting covenant, even the sure mercies of David. 
 
 The Psalmist speaks of a rest which yet remaineth 
 for the people of God,— of a day when they shall say, 
 " O come, let us fall down and worship, and kneel before 
 the Lord ; io-dai/ if ye will hear his voice, harden 
 not your hearts as in the provocation in the wilderness." 
 Moses and all your prophets testify of such a blessed 
 period. The God of Israel by their mouth has promised 
 to return your captivity, to circumcise your hearts, to 
 write his law and put his Spirit within them. Why 
 -will you not then return and seek the Lord and the 
 true David (the beloved of God) your king, and seek 
 and fear the Lord and his goodness in these latter days. 
 The true servants of God " think upon your stones, 
 it pitieth them to see you in the dust," therefore the 
 time is come when God will arise and have mercy 
 upon Zion. You estimate too low what has been done 
 of late by Christians for the people of Israel. Upwards 
 of £70,000 has been already voluntarily contributed 
 in England alone, in using means for the moral and 
 spiritual instruction of Jews of all ages. Civil freedom 
 
61 
 
 has been given them in France, and in this country tbey 
 are now admitted to many privileges long denied to 
 their forefathers. Are not these signs that " the captive 
 exile hasteneth to be loosed ? We have reason to ex- 
 pect that as soon as Zion travaileth, she will bring forth, — 
 that a nation will be born at once. The Lord will reveal 
 his arm, and the report of the Gospel will be believed. 
 The Spirit will once more be poured out upon Jews, 
 devout men from every nation under heaven, and 
 " whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall 
 be saved." 
 
 O ye men of Israel, may your eyes be opened to 
 look upon him whom your forefathers crucified ! may 
 all Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same 
 Jesus both Lord and Christ. Repent and be baptized, and 
 ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. (Acts ii.) 
 
 He who once came unto his own, when his own 
 people despised and esteemed him not, hath not cast 
 them away. He is exalted as a Prince and a Saviour 
 to give repentance unto Israel. He prayed for their 
 pardon while he shed his blood to procure it. He 
 liveth still to make intercession ; being entered as the 
 great high-priest within the veil, even heaven itself, 
 he hath gifts and sacrifices to offer. He gave his life 
 a ransom for many, and he there presents before the 
 throne his own accepted sacrifice, his own all-sufficient 
 atonement. The prayer of the cross was offered by 
 him who weareth the crown; that which he required in 
 the moment of his humiliation, he will bestow in the 
 day of his power. That which he asked as the Son 
 
62 
 
 of man, he will grant as the Son of God, sitting at the 
 right hand of tlie Father. He has promised that " the 
 Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn 
 from transgression in Jacob." And he which testifieth 
 these things saith, " Surely, I come quickly," Even 
 so come, Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. — The grace of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. 
 
 LEWIS WAY. 
 
 Berlin, October 28, 1817. 
 
 O Almighty God, who hast built thy church upon 
 the foundation of the prophets and apostles, Jesus Christ 
 himself being the head corner-stone, grant us so to be 
 joined together in unity of spirit by their doctrine, that 
 we may be made an holy temple acceptable unto thee, 
 through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 
 
 Prayer of the Church of England on this day. 
 
63 
 
 APPENDIX III. 
 
 TO THE REV. DR. STEINKOPFF. 
 
 St. Petersburg, April %0, O. S. 1817. 
 My dear Friend, 
 
 It affords me peculiar pleasure to be able now 
 to write you more fully on the subject of promoting 
 Christianity among the Jews, and to inform you and 
 the numerous friends to this cause in Great Britain, of 
 the measures which it has graciously pleased his Imperial 
 Majesty Alexander, to adopt for accelerating this 
 most desirable object. During my travels in different 
 countries of Europe, and particularly in Germany and 
 Poland, amidst other important concerns, I have not 
 been inattentive to the present deplorable condition of 
 the scattered nation of the Jews: and having examined 
 into their religious and moral state, and discovered the 
 awful degree of ignorance and vice which prevail among 
 them, I wonder that more effective means have never yet 
 been employed to bring these • wandering sheep into 
 the fold of Christ, — to raise them out of their present 
 state of deep degradation and varied wretchedness. 
 How strange that even in this age of boundless phi- 
 lanthropy the hearts of most Christians remain imper- 
 vious to the sufferings and long continued miseries of this 
 unfortunate people ! I fear we are all too ready to accuse 
 
64 
 
 tliem of hard heartedness and unbelief, and to lay to 
 their charge a black catalogue of vices for which they 
 Iiave long since become proverbial, without reflecting 
 at the same time that their present debased stale in 
 society, with their proverbial vices of unbelief, low 
 cunning, imposture, and all their various arts of circum- 
 vention, may be proved to arise in a great degree from 
 the injustice and inhumanity which they have expe- 
 rienced for so many centuries from men of all confessions 
 and nations. Even on examining the records of the 
 more rational attempt to convert the Jews by moral 
 suasion, there every where seems to have been a great 
 deficiency of that chief feature of the true Christian 
 and Apostolic character — love — sincere love to their 
 precious souls.* The indignant look of self-snperiorily 
 with which they have every where been met, together 
 with the intolerance and despiteful treatment which 
 they have uniformly experienced from Christians at 
 large for ages past, have produced a degree of hatred 
 and distrust in them, of both us and our religion, which 
 has ever proved too strong to be removed by the pro. 
 fessed concern of a few for their eternal interests. In- 
 deed the usual conduct of professed Christians towards 
 this deluded people would seem to argue as if it were 
 a common principle among them, that the Jews must 
 not be reasoned but hated into Christianity. 
 
 In every nation where I have found this unhappy 
 people, their religious state seems to be marked by the 
 grossest ignorance and superstition. Among the poor 
 
 * See opinion of a "Reformed Jew," Appendix I. 
 
65 
 
 the oracles of God, delivered to their fathers, have long 
 since been superseded by the incoherent fables of the 
 Talmud, while infidelity and cold-hearted deism have 
 over-run the higher classes of the Jewish nation. Those 
 in hearkening to the commandments of men who have 
 set aside the law of God, have turned unto fables, while 
 these have joined the self-named philosophers of modern 
 times, in rejecting not only Christ and his apostles, but 
 in denying the divine legation of Moses also.* A time, 
 however, is predicted in the word of God, in which the 
 vatl-^all be taken from off the eyes of this forlorn 
 people, and more scriptural and conciliatory means used 
 to bring them into the fold of Christ than have ever 
 yet been employed. For notwithstanding the inaus- 
 picious facts which I have now stated relative to the 
 religious aud moral state of the Jews in general, there 
 are even at the present time various intimations of a more 
 favourable state of mind towards Christianity existing 
 in many of them. The extraordinary events which so 
 rapidly succeed each other in our days, taken in con- 
 nexion with these unusual appearances among the Jews, 
 seem to announce the time of Israel's restoration to bo 
 fast approaching. The great change which is now 
 working in the moral and religious state of all nations 
 by means of the translation and universal dissemination 
 of the Word of God — the wonderful success attending 
 the preaching of the Gospel among the heathen, par- 
 ticularly of late years — the falling off of numbers of the 
 Jews from their rigid attachment to their former super- 
 stitions — the lessening of their prejudice against Chris- 
 
 * See account of Berlin Jews in Letter, page 24. 
 
 F 
 
66 
 
 fianity — the lessening of tlie haired and prejudices of 
 Christians against the Jews— the circulation of the New 
 Testament in the Hebrew tongue among them, and the 
 great desire which many Jews shew to obtain the Holy 
 Scriptures — the state of despair respecting their ever 
 receiving a Messiah, stick as the// desire, which I have 
 every where observed to prevail among the reflecting 
 part of them — the fact that many Jews of late from con- 
 viction have embraced the Christian religion : — All these 
 unusual signs conspire to prove that an important crisis 
 in the religious state of the Jews is fast approaching ; 
 for the apostle assures us that " they also, if they abide 
 not in unbelief, shall be grafted into the church." 
 
 In the Krimea and in different parts of Poland, there 
 are not a few Jews enquiring after the Christian faith, 
 and many of them shew an unusual desire to examine 
 into the claims of Jesus of Nazareth to be the promised 
 Messiah, — a subject on which for so many ages past their 
 fathers have refused even to think. In the provinces 
 of Wilna and Minsk there have of late been repeated 
 instances of Jews embracing the Christian faith, and some 
 of these converts belong to the most respectable of the 
 Jewish families. The senior pastor of the Lutheran 
 church at Wilna, Nicholai, informed me that he had 
 baptized several Jews, whose conduct since has given 
 him great satisfaction; but that after their baptism they 
 were so severely persecuted by the other Jews, that they 
 were forced at last to leave the country. The fear of 
 this persecution has made many of the Jews apply to 
 him repeatedly for secret baptism, and has made still 
 more stifle their internal convictions in favour of Chris- 
 
67 
 
 tianity. He told me, however, that he had always re- 
 fused to comply with their desire of secret baptism, 
 judging it inconsistent with the commands of Jesus Christ. 
 Indeed such is the awful persecution to which a Jewish 
 convert to the Christian faith is exposed from his 
 brethren in Poland, that it is almost impossible for him 
 to live longer among them. The enmity of the rabbles 
 extends so far, that the young convert, particularly if 
 poor, is not only deprived of every means of gaining 
 a livelihood among his Hebrew kinsmen, but is in the 
 greatest danger of his life. 
 
 Such intimations of a favourable change of sentiments 
 in many of the Polish Jews towards Christianity, will 
 not surely be contemplated with indifference by the 
 true followers of Jesus Christ. And when it is farther 
 considered, that in no country in the world are the Jews 
 so numerous and national as in Poland, where, should 
 conversion to the Christian faith fairly commence among 
 them, it is likely to proceed with great rapidity, and 
 to lead to the conversion of their brethren in other 
 nations also — it will clearly appear to every one who 
 is interested in the prosperity of Zion, that the happiest 
 results may follow, under the divine blessing, from the 
 arrangements which it has graciously pleased the most 
 Christian and philanthropic Alexander to make in these 
 days, in order to afford protection from persecution to 
 such of the Jews as either have embraced, or in future 
 may embrace, the Christian faith; and for granting 
 every proper encouragement to their Hebrew brethren 
 to follow their example. I enclose you a copy of the 
 Ukase relative to this important subject, in which you 
 
 F 2 
 
68 
 
 will find the whole plan fully developed, and to which 
 1 shall only add the few following particulars in order 
 more thoroughly to point out the vast utility of this 
 new undertaking in favour of the house of Israel. 
 
 1. The Jews which are subject to Russia reside in 
 the Kriraea, Moldavia, Poland, and in the southern 
 provinces of this empire formerly belonging to that 
 kingdom, viz. Bialastoks, Grodna, Wilna, Minsk, Wi- 
 tepsk, Mogileff, Jilomir, Tschernigeif, Kief, Podolia, 
 Cheison, and Ekaterinoslaff. The number of Jews in- 
 habiting these countries is greatly above two millions. 
 But in Russia Proper no Jews are permitted to reside. 
 On this account, the Jewish converts having places of 
 refuge granted them in Russia Proper, as well as in 
 places of safety on the black sea, will be in complete 
 security from the persecution of Polish Rabbles. 
 
 2. The benign and magnanimous Alexander grants 
 the Jewish converts full liberty to enter which ever 
 Christian confession they choose, assuring to all of them 
 the same civil rights and privileges, with full liberty of 
 conscience to worship God according to the ordinances 
 of their respective communions. 
 
 3. One of the chief causes, which has ever prevented 
 any lasting impression being made by the partial success 
 which has attended even the best attempts to convert 
 the Jews, has been, the destitute condition of the pro- 
 selytes, and the almost impossibility of preserving them 
 together so as to form them into an organized society. 
 By the regulations, ground, and privilege now granted 
 
69 
 
 to the converted Jews in the Russian dominions, they 
 will be enabled to gain their own support, and the 
 above-mentioned difficulties will in a great measure be 
 removed. 
 
 4. In the places of refuge appointed for the Chris- 
 tian Israelites, they will not only be secure from the 
 persecution of their Jewisli brethren, and have an op- 
 portunity afforded them of gaining an honourable sub- 
 sistence, but they will at the same time be enabled to 
 preserve their nationality — a consideration of infinite im- 
 portance with most of the Hebrews. Indeed I have 
 often wondered to observe that almost every plan which 
 has been attempted in order to bring the Jews to Chris- 
 tianity seems to have tended at the same time to destroy 
 their nationality by mixing and intermarrying the 
 converts with European Christians. This seems to rae, 
 however, to have been acting directly in opposition to 
 the voice of Providence, (and perhaps to the voice of 
 prophecy also,) which in such a miraculous manner 
 has preserved the Jews a distinct people for so many 
 ages, and secured to them their nationality in every 
 quarter of the world whither they have been scattered. 
 Now an opportunity is afforded them of embracing the 
 doctrines of salvation, and confessing that Jesus of 
 Nazareth is the Christ, without being obliged to sacri- 
 fice their honourable prerogative of continuing sons of 
 Abraham according to the flesh. 
 
 5. By having the converted Jews regularly settled, 
 forming a distinct community, lye shall have an op- 
 portunity, for the first time since the days of the apostles, 
 
70 
 
 of observing the religious and moral conduct of a con- 
 gregation of Christian Jews, and at the same time afford 
 them an occasion of wiping away the stain of pro- 
 verbial infidelity and immoral conduct of so many Jewish 
 converts, who out of interested motives have acted the 
 hypocrite for a while, and imposed on the credulity 
 of their benefactors. 
 
 6. These settlements, under the divine blessing, may 
 become not only a refuge to the persecuted of the 
 Israelite nation on account of their Christian faith, but 
 under proper government they may become nurseries 
 for raising up a new race of apostles and evangelists for 
 spreading the Gospel of the grace of God among the 
 scattered tribes of Israel, even to the uttermost corners 
 of the earth. 
 
 Finally — the peculiar aspect of the times in which 
 we live — the favourable impression towards Christianity 
 prevalent among many Jews almost in all nations — the 
 singular advantages enjoyed by Russia for promoting 
 a work of this kind, seem to encourage the hope that 
 it is perhaps the will of the God of Israel that the great 
 restoration of his chosen people should commence at 
 least through the instrumentality and under the benign 
 and pious reign of this chosen and anointed servant 
 Alexander, the Cyrus of the church of God in the 
 latter days. Pursuant to the imperial Ukase of the 
 25th of March, the Committee for superintending the 
 affairs of the"" Christian Israelites was founded, on the 
 4th of April, in a full meeting of its members. The 
 meeting was opened by reading the imperial Ukase 
 
71 
 
 relative to this benevolent object, afier wliicli his Excel- 
 lency Popoff, president of the Committee, addressed 
 the members as follows: — "Chosen and appointed to 
 this new undertaking by the will of onr most pious 
 sovereign, let us enter upon it in humility of spirit as 
 loyal and zealous subjects, — in simplicity of heart as 
 true Christians,— in unity of spirit as brethren, sons of 
 one Father, who is God. The magnanimous monarch 
 of the North, for the protection of his dominions from 
 external enemies, and to secure the internal peace of 
 our beloved country, once called forth our brave fellow- 
 countrymen, who no sooner became warriors than they 
 became heroes and conquerors. His eflforts are now 
 directed towards promoting the internal prosperity of 
 his empire, and for this purpose he forms and marshals 
 new bands of co-labourers. The good of the nations 
 subject to his government — a real and stable good — 
 not the increase of empty fame, or the phantom of 
 momentary greatness; not the dust of corruptible trea- 
 sure, but an everlasting good : this he strives to promote, 
 and the desire to obtain it lies deep in his soul. He 
 has undertaken to erect a great edifice — the happiness 
 of the nations subject to his sceptre — and this edifice he 
 grounds on the surest foundation, — a foundation which 
 neither the storms, nor the floods, nor the gates of hell 
 shall be able to raze. In this undertaking, against 
 which also enemies arise, even all the powers of the 
 empire of darkness, he is pleased to use co-workers and 
 to appoint unto them their respective occupations. Some 
 are engaged in training up youth in the nurture and 
 admonition of the Lord; others feed the poor and pro- 
 tect the orphan and him who has no home. Those 
 
72 
 
 Tvatch over the public good — these pronounce righteous 
 judgment to the oppressed, while others again lay hold 
 of the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God, 
 and zealously labour to put it into the hands of all 
 men, that they may be armed and able to stand in the 
 evil day against all the wiles of Satan. At last a new 
 idea of beneficence has emanated from the heart of this 
 most Christian monarch, an idea which has taken strong 
 hold on his mind, and turned his attention towards 
 those Hebrews in his dominions, who, by the grace of 
 God, are illuminated by the light of Christianity, and 
 make an open profession of it. This idea, like a ray 
 of light, has shone forth from the depth of his mind, 
 and has given rise to an institution in favour of the 
 descendants of those for whom St. Paul saith, <' I have 
 great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart, who 
 are Israelites, to whom pertaineth the adoption, and 
 the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the 
 law, and the service of God and the promises, whose 
 are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh 
 Christ came, who is over all God blessed for ever." 
 " I say then," continueth he, " hath God cast away 
 his people ? God forbid. God hath not cast away his 
 people whom he foreknew. For if the casting away 
 of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the 
 receiving of them be but life from the dead." Our 
 most humane sovereign, being guided in his conduct by 
 Christian principles, feels for the present condition of 
 the children of Israel returning to the Lord their God, 
 and beginning to see that salvation which he hath 
 prepared before the face of all people. The helpless 
 condition of these converts has accordingly given rise 
 
73 
 
 to peculiar arrangements in favour of these descendants 
 of Abraham, somewhat similar perhaps to what took 
 place when the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, 
 king of Persia, to build the house of the Lord God of 
 Israel. 
 
 *' Gentlemen, we have been thought worthy to be 
 chosen and appointed as the executors of the will of 
 his Imperial Majesty, our gracious sovereign, in this 
 undertaking. I am certain that each of us feels his 
 own inability to fulfil the expectation of our benevolent 
 monarch : each of us is well aware of the vast im- 
 portance and great difficulties of the work before us. 
 Doubtless every one of us is ready to accost himself 
 thus: And who am I, that I should be chosen to labour 
 in such an undertaking ? Thus spake Moses, " O my 
 Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since 
 thou hast spoken to thy servant : but I am slow of 
 speech and of a slow tongue. And the Lord said unto 
 him, Who hath made man's mouth ? or who maketh 
 the dumb or deaf, or the seeing or the blind? have 
 not I the Lord ? Now therefore go, and I will be with 
 thy mouth and teach thee what thou shalt say." There 
 is indeed a great difference betwixt us and Moses, but 
 in our inabilities, and our weaknesses we ought like him 
 to expect help in our labour from Him who perfecteth 
 strength in weakness. And the more we feel our 
 inabilities, the more we may depend on strength from 
 above. Our undertaking is of such a kind, that it may 
 be we shall not soon behold the success of our labours. 
 Let us take consolation, even should this be the case, 
 in committing ourselves and our cause into the hands 
 
74 
 
 of Him, Avilhout whose will no success can be gained. 
 Let us cry unto the Lord CJod of Israel to come to our 
 assistance, praying unto him with our whole hearts in 
 faith and love, and he will hearken unto us, and bless 
 our undertaking, and perform all that is agreeable to 
 his own will." 
 
 After the President had thus spoken, the Committee 
 began to consider on the most proper means to be era- 
 ployed for promoting the object of the Institution. The 
 chief business of the Committee will be, to take under 
 its protection the Jews who cither have embraced, or 
 may in future embrace, the Christian faith of whatever 
 confession ; settle them on grounds granted to them by 
 the government, according to the rules and privileges 
 particularized in the Ukase of the 24lh March; have 
 the chief care in forming these settlements, and endeavour 
 by all means to promote true Christianity among the 
 settlers, by furnishing them with worthy pious men 
 for pastors and teachers according to their respective 
 communions ; establish schools among them ; and, in one 
 ■word, do every thing in their power to join these people 
 into congregations of Christian Israelites, whose members 
 may prove to the world at large the reality of their 
 faith in Jesus Christ, by a walk and conversation 
 becoming the Gospel. 
 
 I remain, your's most humbly, &c. 
 
75 
 
 APPENDIX IV. 
 
 CONCERNING THE SOCIETY OF CHRISTIAN ISRAELITES, AND 
 THE TUTELARY COMMITTEE ESTABLISHED FOR THEM. 
 
 ORDER TO THE GOVERNING SENATE. 
 
 From the moment that all-ruling Providence has 
 committed unto our sceptre the numerous nations and 
 families which inhabit Russia, we have stedfastly pur- 
 posed to exercise unceasing care, in order that each 
 nation and each rank might live in happiness, and in 
 uninterrupted peace and quiet enjoyment of his rights — 
 it continues therefore to be the most delightful employ- 
 ment of our heart, and it is our holy duty to lead every 
 part of this great family to that most desirable end. — 
 Now through many examples which have attracted 
 our notice, we are acquainted with the difficult situation 
 of those Hebrews, who after they have by the grace 
 of God been convinced of the truth of Christianity, 
 have either embraced, or are willing to embrace, the 
 Christian faith, and to be united with the fold of the 
 good Shepherd and Redeemer of our souls. These 
 Hebrews, separated from their brethren by the Christian 
 religion, lose thereby all communication and former 
 connexion with them, and not only hazard every right 
 to the protection of their former brethren in the faith, 
 
76 
 
 but are also exposed to their oppression and every 
 kind of persecution. On the other hand, among 
 Christians, their new brethren in the faith, to whom 
 tliey are as yet utterly unknown, they do not find im- 
 mediately either an open and permanent refuge, or so 
 ■well founded an institution, that in case of distress a 
 peaceful abode might be secured to every one, and means 
 whereby they might honestly earn their bread by their 
 own industry. Hence the new-converted Hebrews are 
 liable to the greatest difficulties before they are able 
 to choose and enter upon a way of maintenance. Similar 
 instances have come under our observation from this 
 particular class of our subjects, who, on account of the 
 sudden change of their religion, are totally alienated 
 from the community unto which they formerly belonged, 
 without having sufficient means in hand firmly to join 
 that unto which they are just entering. — But since every 
 confession, every rank, and every class of men in our 
 beloved country, are through the whole course of their 
 lives secured under the protection of the law by certain 
 right and regulations, the state of those Hebrews in our 
 empire who embrace the Christian faith must also be 
 firmly and permanently assured — and as we truly sym- 
 pathize with those unfortunate Hebrews who are converted 
 to Christianity, and stimulated also by an awful reverence 
 for the voice of everlasting grace which calls the children 
 of Israel from their dispersion to the communion of the 
 Christian faith, we found it good to adopt the following 
 measures, in order to protect the believing Hebrews in 
 their new situation. 
 
 I. It is hereby promised to all Hebrews who embrace 
 
77 
 
 the Christian religion, to whatever Christian confession 
 they may be attached, that henceforth every possibility 
 shall be facilitated in order that in their new course of 
 life they may establish themselves, according to their 
 faculties, in that profession or way of business to which 
 they feel themselves inclined. Every office, as well 
 ecclesiastical as civil, is to afford to the Hebrews necessary 
 protection and assistance at their conversion to Chris- 
 tianity, and in case they flee to them for refuge. 
 
 2. Advantageous and convenient places for settlement, 
 with adjoining lands, will be appointed to the con- 
 verted Hebrews, in the Northern and Southern govern- 
 ments of the empire. In these places, those of them 
 who wish it, may settle on their own account, under 
 the denomination of the Society of Christian Israelites. 
 These assigned places will serve them for a secure and 
 certain refuge, where, in communion with others of their 
 nation who also profess Christianity, they will be able 
 to form a Society, where every one shall be able to 
 support himself and his family by their own labour and 
 industry, according to their ability and power. 
 
 3. We have issued particular regulations respecting 
 the Society of Christian Israelites, which confirmed by 
 our own signature we shall adjoin here, that they may 
 be brought under general observation, and be properly 
 put into execution. 
 
 4. A Committee will be formed at St, Petersburg 
 for the supreme management of the affairs of these 
 settlements, under the denomination of Tutelary Com- 
 
78 
 
 mittee for the Christian Israelites. This Committee 
 will consist of a President, several members named 
 Directors, and Secretaries. All Hebrews of our empire, 
 who either have embraced or are willing to embrace 
 the Christian faith, may apply to the Committee, either 
 in person or by letter. The governments also, as well 
 ecclesiastical as civil, are to confer with the Committee 
 in all concerns that respect the Christian Israelites, with 
 the exception however, as is understood of itself, of all 
 personal criminality and process which comes under 
 the established courts of justice. 
 
 5. We command the Committee, which is to be 
 formed for the management of all the affairs of the 
 Society of Christian Israelites, to give us account from 
 time to time of the progress of those settlements, and 
 of all affairs which respect the Christian Israelites, 
 through our Privy Counsellor Prince Galitzin, to whom 
 the common concerns of the Hebrews are in general 
 committed by us, with the exception of individual 
 criminalities and process of properties. 
 
 Having thus laid a solid foundation in favour of 
 Hebrews embracing the Christian faith, and for the 
 security of their situation, we command that what is 
 drawn up here and in the adjoining pages be punctually 
 put into execution. The Committee also is to advertize 
 it in the Russian, German and Polish languages, that 
 it may come under general notice, and be followed 
 accurately by all governments and persons whom it 
 respects. We are convinced, that by their arrangement, ] 
 the state of the Hebrews who embrace the Christian 
 
 1 
 
79 
 
 foilli is sufficiently secured, and that thereby all means 
 will be afforded them in their new situation to protect 
 themselves from the persecutions of their nation, if any 
 where they should take place, and to maintain themselves 
 by their own industry, without being a burden to the 
 government or to individuals. In this condition, if they 
 follow the precepts of that Gospel which they have 
 embraced, they will grow in all good works to their 
 own and the common good, and to the praise and glory 
 of that most holy name by which they are named. 
 
 (The original is signed by his Imperial Majesty,) 
 
 ALEXANDER. 
 
 St. Petersburg, 
 Easter Sundai/, Mar. 25, 1817. 
 
 REGULATIONS EESPECTING THE SOCIETY OF CHRIS- 
 TIAN ISRAELITES. 
 
 In order to insure to the Hebrews who have embraced 
 the Christian religion, of what confession soever it may 
 be, a secure and peaceful abode in the bosom of the 
 Russian empire, we have permitted them to form among 
 themselves a community under the denomination of the 
 Society of Christian Israelites — but to promote among 
 the members of that Society industry, trades, and all 
 kinds of useful business, we constitute the following 
 regulations. 
 
80 
 
 1. Lands for settlement and domestic oeconomy "will 
 be assigned by the crown to the Society of Christian 
 Israelites gratis, and for an everlasting possession to 
 them and their posterity. These lands will not be 
 assigned to each individual in particular, but to all in 
 common ; and for this reason they can neither be sold, 
 nor pawned, or in any other way be brought into the 
 hands of others, but must always remain an unalienable 
 property of the whole community, 
 
 2. On these lands appointed for them they may, if 
 they please, settle on their own account, and build 
 every kind of establishment, borough or town, according 
 to their means and circumstances. It is likewise left 
 to their own choice either to build all in common, or 
 each one for himself, provided he does not exclude himself 
 from those connexions with the Society unto which they 
 must all without exception belong. 
 
 3. To those Christian Israelites who enter the Society, 
 as also to their posterity, will be allowed an equal, 
 full and entire freedom of the Christian confession of 
 faith without any difference ; and each confession per- 
 mitted to enjoy their divine service according to the 
 rules and customs of their church. Consequently the 
 congregations of each Christian confession which belongs 
 to the union of this Society, may build and establish 
 churches, schools and institutions for education, or other 
 God-pleasing purposes, according to the principles of 
 their own church. 
 
 4. The Society of Christian Israelites will stand under 
 
81 
 
 our protection, and be dependent only on the Committee 
 established in St. Petersburg for the management of 
 their affairs, who are bound to watch for their welfare, 
 and to whom alone they have to give account of their 
 concerns. On this ground, not one single government 
 of the place where this Society may found their esta- 
 blishment, has to exercise any power over them or mix 
 with their affairs. The preachers who may be appointed 
 in their settlements are to apply in necessary cases to 
 the said Committee, according to laws which respect all 
 other colonies settled in the Russian dominions. 
 
 5. The Society form an office for the management 
 of their internal affairs, consisting of different members 
 chosen from among themselves, viz. two superintendants, 
 and four assistants, approved of by the said Committee, 
 under the name of Office of administration for the Society 
 of Christian Israelites. This office is permitted to have 
 its own seal; and it is their duty to care as much as 
 possible for good order in the Society, and to reconcile 
 any misunderstanding, disunion or quarrels among tlie 
 members, which may come before them ; but what 
 respects disputes about property, hereditary possessions, 
 and similar civil affairs, or individual criminalities, that 
 must, according to the common laws of the empire, be 
 examined and decided by their respective courts of 
 justice. The office has also to erect in the settlements 
 a police of their own, for the maintenance of peace, quiet, 
 and order ; and it is at the same time bound to keep 
 a watchful eye over the conduct and behaviour of every 
 one of the Society's members. Rebellious, disobedient, 
 
 G 
 
82 
 
 and immoral members, who are onlj an offence (o othersr, 
 they must expel from their Society after they have 
 informed the Tutehiry Committee concerning it, as they 
 are also bound to do respecting every member whom 
 they are newly receiving into the Society. Every one 
 who is expelled, forfeits in consequence all the rights 
 and advantages granted to the Society. 
 
 6. All civil rights are hereby granted to every member 
 of the Society of Christian Israelites, and that not only 
 in their own colonies, but every where throughout the 
 empire. Accordingly they may, after paying the duties 
 established by the Tarriff, carry on trade in or out of 
 the country, and folloAv mechanical business, arts, and 
 professions : they may possess houses, keep shops, and 
 establish every kind of fabric or manufactorj-^ without 
 the necessity of being enlisted in any guild or corporation : 
 they are also freed from all service, as will be defined 
 in the sequel under a particular paragraph. 
 
 7. The members of the Society of Christian Israelites 
 are permitted upon their appointed lands to brew beer, 
 distil brandy, and prepare all sorts of waters and liquors, 
 not only for their own use, but also for sale to travellers, 
 who may pass their settlements : but they are neither 
 permitted to export such liquors from their colonies, 
 nor to sell them out of their borders. 
 
 8. No person whatever, either of the crown or private, 
 not belonging to the Society of Christian Israelites, is 
 permitted to set up inns, public-houses, or other buildings 
 
83 
 
 for similar purposes, upon their lands, — nor is any 
 stranger, not belonging to the Society, permitted to 
 setde among them witiiout their particular permission. 
 But if the Society express a desire to receive some person 
 among them for a time, they are permitted to do so, 
 provided the persons received by them have regular 
 passports, and the governors of their concerns, or the 
 office of administration, be surety for them. 
 
 9. The office of administration for the Society of 
 Christian Israelites obtain hereby a right to give necessary 
 passports to the members of the Society, which passports 
 must be signed by the superintendants, and furnished 
 with the seal of the said office. Sucli passports will 
 be of value only for travelling within the empire ; but 
 in order to travel beyond the frontier, or to come from 
 foreign countries into the empire, the member of the 
 Society must be furnished with passports from the general 
 legitimate authorities. 
 
 10. All who enter this Society are hereby liberated 
 from all sorts of civil and military services. But if any 
 of them should himself wish to enter this or the other 
 service, he may be appointed to it. All settlements and 
 houses of the Christian Israelites who belong to this 
 Society, will be likewise freed from all kinds of quartering 
 soldiers, keeping posts, and giving horses, and from all 
 other similar duties of the country. But if some person 
 should be sent to the settlements by the Committee ap- 
 pointed for the Society on any business, enquiry, or 
 visitation, he must be duly received. , 
 
 G 2 
 
84 
 
 11. Every colony of the Society of Christian Israelites 
 is permitted to have continually one of their members 
 residing in St. Petersburg, under the name of Trustee, 
 or Agent, to execute their commissions, and dispatch all 
 their business with the Committee appointed for the 
 management of their affairs. 
 
 12. All who enter the Society of Christian Israelites 
 have freedom from all duties for twenty years granted 
 to them; when this time is expired, each of them will 
 have to pay the same duties which all other Russian 
 natives are bound to pay according to their different 
 stations, viz. tradesmen, the regular per cent, of their 
 capital ; artists and professional men their civil duties. 
 
 13. Foreign Hebrews, who after they have embraced 
 the Christian religion, should wish to enter the Society, 
 settle on the same appointed lands, and to partake of 
 the right granted to them, have perfect liberty to do 
 so. They may leave Russia again whenever they should 
 please, as is likewise permitted to all other members of 
 the Society, provided they first pay their debts and 
 tliree years' duty to the crown, from the capital they 
 have raised in Russia, according to the account which 
 the superintendant of the Society will conscientiously give 
 concerning it. 
 
 14. It is left to the discretion of the Tutelary Com- 
 mittee to draw up, upon the principles here laid down, 
 tlie more circumstantial rules, both respecting their 
 local management, public institutions, and all other 
 
85 
 
 affairs which may contribute best to the order and the 
 happiness of all, but especially with respect to institutions 
 for moral cultivation and education of youths according 
 to the true principles of Christianity. 
 
 (The original is signed by his Imperial Majesty,) 
 
 ALEXANDER. 
 
 St. Petershurg, 
 Easter Sundat/, Mar, 25, 1817. 
 
 In a third Ukase of the same date his Majesty names 
 the President and Directors who will constitute the 
 Tutelary Committee, — leaves it to them to appoint 
 Secretaries and Clerks according to their own discretion, — 
 and in future, in case members should be wanted, io 
 choose such fellow-labourers as may be fit and given 
 to the cause. The members of the Committee are de- 
 clared to enter upon their labours simply out of zeal 
 for the cause, and consequently receive no salary. To 
 the Secretaries and Clerks, however, they are to assign 
 such salaries as they think proper. For this and other 
 necessary expences, his Imperial Majesty orders for the 
 present 10,000 Rubles to the Committee's disposition, 
 of which they will have to give account to Prince 
 Galitzin, who will report the same to the Emperor. 
 
 The following lines conclude the account which is 
 at present published concerning this Society. 
 
86 
 
 The Tutelary Committee for the Chiisluiii Israelites 
 vas opened on the itii April upon tlie principles of his 
 Imperial Majesty's Ukase here published. The objects 
 of the Committee's labours will be the following : — 
 
 1. They will take under their protect ion all Hebrews 
 professing Christianity, who may wish to settle on the 
 lands assigned by Government for that purpose, and 
 for the same end are willing to enter the Society of 
 Christian Israelites. 
 
 2. They will have the superintendance of the lands 
 assigned to the said Society. 
 
 3. They will support the rights which are graciously 
 granted to this Society ; and, if necessary, afford lawful 
 protection, as well to its individuals, as to the community 
 at large. 
 
 4. They will assist in forming proper regulations, 
 and introducing useful establishments in the colonies 
 of Christian Israelites ; and, lastly, they will provide ne- 
 cessary means that the new Christians may be instructed 
 in the doctrines and principles of the faith which they 
 have embraced, in order that they may not only know 
 the system of Christianity, but also live accordingly. 
 Those means will consist in providing for the Society 
 of Israelites, (with the previous approbation of the eccle- 
 siastical government) worthy ministers and teachers — 
 in erecting churches, schools, and every kind of useful 
 institutions, as well for the education of children as for 
 
87 
 
 the exercise of difFerenl arts — in appointing experienced 
 persons for local inspeclion and management, that (hey 
 may by their indefatigable exertions to maintain public 
 and domestic order in the colonics, and more particularly 
 by their good example, lead the Society, by the help of 
 God, to that truly happy end, which the good will of 
 his Majesty, our most gracious emperor, had in view 
 in establishing them — the internal welfare of the Society, 
 peace, quiet, union and order — the free exercise of all 
 useful professions — industry and mutual assistance among 
 themselves — good education of children — provision for 
 the superannuated and the sick, for helpless widows and 
 orphans, and the care to introduce all good and laudable 
 institutions will be the object of their institution and 
 the sole end of the Committee's labours. 
 
 The Committee having previously published in the 
 Petersburg papers an advertisement to the Hebrews who 
 have embraced Christianity, they conceive it necessary 
 to inform them hereby repeatedly, that those Hebrews 
 who wish to enter the Society of Christian Israelites and 
 to settle on the lands assigned to them, are by no means 
 obliged to come to Petersburg in order to negotiate with 
 the Committee on that subject, but that every one is 
 permitted to apply to the Committee by letter, and in 
 this manner to express his wish to be admitted into the 
 Society of Christian Israelites, and to the latids granted 
 them according to their established rules. In these 
 letters must be stated when and where the candidate has 
 been converted to Christianity, and to which confession he 
 belongs — what his profession is — how large his family 
 
S8 
 
 and how old every one of its members — likewise the 
 name of his residence, viz. in which town, village, and 
 county he lives, that the Committee may know where 
 to address their replies — both the Christian and family- 
 name must also be distinclly written. Such commu- 
 nications may be written in Russian, Polish, and German 
 languages, and upon ordinary paper. By this means 
 the Committee will be able to have information of all 
 those who wish, and apply to be admitted into the 
 Society of Christian Israelites. In necessary cases, how- 
 ever, those Hebrews may apply to the ecclesiastical and 
 civil governments on the spot, who will on their side 
 offer them all possible assistance according to the orders 
 issued on their behalf. The Committee find it further 
 necessary to add, that according to the true sense of 
 the Ukase issued on the 25th of March, the Hebrews 
 who profess Christianity come only then under the name 
 of Christian Israelites when they are admitted into the 
 Society according to its regulations, and settled on the 
 lands fi:ranted to them. 
 
 THE END- 
 
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