"We do not object to a proportion of useful and interesting narratives for either old or young; both need and enjoy them as an amusement and relief; and both may intermingle them with other pursuits with pleasure and profit. But it certainly cannot be necessary to believe, that when it is our object to teach chilThey will apprehend, ardren, we must always go round about to their minds range, retain, and enjoy our instructions better, if with adapted and interesting illustration, we come directly and openly to our business, and treat them as considerate and thinking beings; and thus also will they acquire those regular, considerate, and consistent habits, which the business of life and the daily living for eternity require."-pp 11-13.

The general nature of these sermons will appear from their titles. "Sermon I-Pious children, members of the kingdom of heaved. Sermon II. Sermon III.-Children urged -Children urged to enter the kingdom of heaven. to enter the kingdom of heaven. Sermon IV.-God's readiness to give his Holy Spirit. Sermon V-Christ, an example of obedience to parents. Sermon VI.— Sermon VII-On avoiding evil company. Christ's obedience to his mother. Sermon VIII.-On hating reproof. Sermon IX.-The unhappy and happy lot; a comparison of Heathen and Christian birth. Sermon X.-To unchristian children in a Christian land. Sermon XI-Filial motives to piety."-pp. 15, 16

The three first sermons are designed to show the blessedness of childhood piety, its necessity, its urgency, and its practicability: the fourth, the need of the Holy Spirit, and the willingness with which it is bestowed. The other sermons, excepting the ninth and tenth, are designed to strengthen the connexion between parental influence and tenderness and the susceptibility of childhood, so far as relates to the reception of the Gospel. The ninth and tenth are very interesting, being a comparison between the state of Christian and Heathen childhood and a pressing persuasive to Christian children to improve their prifilial motives to piety," belonging vileges. The last sermon, on to the class last mentioned, is truly pathetic, and in our opinion almost a model of eloquence of this peculiar species.

It will be observed that the range of sermons is not so extensive as could be desired: yet as a beginning perhaps this volume is enough, and we say this the more cheerfully as we are promised more.

Before taking our leave of them, we would add, as to the style and mode of instruction, that it is simple and elegant; the sermons would, in their language as well as matter, please mature years and refined taste, while they are so plain that children will find no obstacles to If we possessing themselves of the author's ideas and illustrations. should find any fault, it would be, that some of the sermons are not quite so definite nor quite so direct as we should desire.

Already has this article far exceeded the limits we designed for it, and we must now bid our author adieu, and assign to our readers the pleasing employment of judging our critique from the only two quotations for which we can at present spare room.

The opening scene from the first sermon from the text, "But Jesus said, suffer little children," &c., is as follows

"Matthew, Mark, and Luke, inform us, how the Lord Jesus called little chilIf you wish to see dren to himself, and took them in his arms and blessed them. the whole beauty of the scene, you must read the account given by each. A more lovely sight was never shown to the eyes of men.

"You know how the Lord Jesus was often thronged by the people, and how kindly he taught them and healed their diseases. There was, I suppose, a crowd around him when these little children were coming forward for his prayer and blessing. The Pharisees were striving to entangle him in his talk;' the people VOL. IX.

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were wondering' at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth;' and the lame, the blind, the dumb, the maimed, were lying at his feet to be healed. There was no room for children in the crowd; and the disciples thought there was no regard for them in the mind of their Master; and they rebuked the boldness of those parents who were bringing children without being asked, to break in upon his discourses, and to prevent the working of his miracles. They thought his glory must be shown, in silencing his learned enemies, in healing the sick, and raising the dead. They knew not yet, that he came down from heaven, as the friend, and guide, and Saviour of little children.

"It was well for those little children who were now seeking the Lord Jesus under the guidance of their parents, that they had a friend, who, though pressed on every side, yet knew all that was passing in the outskirts of the crowd. Even before they were near enough to tell their errand to his outward ear, he knew divinely, the meaning of each motion, and read the expression of each counte nance; yes, and he saw into the depth of every heart; he saw even within their hearts that no common want or sorrow urged forward the parents, or their children He knew that they desired his holy blessing, and the benefit of a Redeemer's prayers. Well was it for them that they were approaching one, who gives to none because they are able to repay, and who values as highly the praise perfected from the mouth of babes and sucklings, as from the kings and princes of the earth.

"See them rising towards the summit of a hill, where sits the blessed Jesus, 'full of grace and truth.' The mingled throng of his enemies and friends; the lame, and the sick, and the blind, led along, and borne to his feet; the healed, whose diseases were cured, whose limbs were strengthened, whose eyes were opened, and whose grieved hearts were gladdened, by his one word; these block up their way, and the disciples forbid their approach; but they catch the Saviour's eye, and see his hand beckoning them to come, and hear his voice kindly sounding over all that crowd, saying, 'suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.' The crowd opens at his word; a pathway is cleared, they draw near to his feet, and are gathered in his arms, and blessed; and into the ear of all that wondering, listening crowd, he' returns the lesson; Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the king dom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.'"-pp. 17-20.

The last sermon, on Filial Motives to Piety, contains much excelent advice, and many judicious remarks.

"I. A foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.

"A foolish son, says another proverb, is a grief to his father. "You have a power over the happiness of your parents. You can by your folly outdo all common forms of trouble. You can, by your folly, pierce your mother's heart, and send into it a pang, even worse than the agonies of death. And by your mere continuance in folly, you can embitter every day, and even her whole life, while she is daily surrounded with prosperity; you, yes you, can hide comfort from her soul, while nature smiles around her, and while the bounties of Providence are poured lavishly upon her. And had she not a refuge, a very present help in every time of trouble, your folly could make her wish that she were not a mother, could drive her to despair.

"All this you can do, because she loves you. Could she cease to love you; could she break the tie that binds you to her heart; could she suffer you to break that tie; could she forget that you were her son, she might be eased of her heaviness; but now she must be doomed to daily, unchanging sorrow, if she loves a foolish, hardened, accursed son, the heaviness of his mother.

"A vicious and abandoned son is the heaviness of his mother; a grief to his father. In a merely worldly point of view, how unhappy his case, and how afflicting to his parents! He has broken the restraints which bound him to them; he is becoming every day more careless of right and wrong; he fears neither man nor God; his evil passions wax stronger and stronger, and one vice and folly succeeds rapidly to another. He is pursuing his swift way to all the ruin of which man is capable in this life. He bids fair to be poor and wretched; to destroy his bodily health; to have a disturbed and unhappy mind; to be an example of all that is evil, and an injury to all that is good.

"There are such children. I know many grown up to man's estate who now fulfil the dreadful promise of their disobedient, unkind, and vicious childhood. Yes, and I know parents too, who know no want; whose houses are like the palaces of princes; and whose path shines in all the splendour of prosperity; and yet, whose hearts suffer daily and hourly anguish, while they look upon their foolish, vicious, ruined children. Yes, and I could point you to a mother, whose heart dies within her, when she hears the horrid oaths; or fixes her eye upon the bloated face and drunken staggering of her son. Yes, and I could walk with you to a grave, where a mother lies, whose eyes sometimes wept for hours, and sometimes could not weep, for depth of agony, and who sunk in sorrow to the grave, killed-yes, KILLED, by the daggers which the son's vices planted in her heart." -pp. 146-149.

Entelligence.

CONTINENT.-JEWS' SOCIETY.

Journal of a Missionary Tour of Mr. Bergmann, a converted Jew, from Frankfort.

(Concluded from p. 599.)

Two young respectable Jews, who have studied the law, have lately been baptized as members of the Catholic church; because, as one of them ingenuously confessed, they must expect their preferment in a Catholic country. His brother, who invited me into the house of his parents, lives and eats with them in perfect harmony, as if no change had taken place. The father kindly invited me to supper, and confidentially told me, that another son of his, and also his son-in-law, who lived in a protestant country, were determined to become Evangelical Christians; and requested me, if I came to the place of their residence, to visit them.

I remained in this place till the following day, the 25th at noon, that, if possible, I might have some conversation with my brother's son, who is a dyer. But his mother, aware no doubt of my desire, did not suffer him to leave her the whole day. I therefore set out for B. where I arrived in the evening. Having on the 26th, which was Whit-sunday, attended Divine service, I called upon a cousin of mine, who is a respectable merchant. From him I heard a strange expression, which was novel to me. I am indeed, said he, a Christian, and as good a Christian as any in this town; but I never shall be baptized, that I may not be called a baptized Jew, because to this title is attached every thing which is base and contemptible. When I would convince him, that the sacrament of holy baptism was an indispensable ordinance for all Christians, he replied, not indispensable; for Christ says, he that believeth not, shall be condemned; but he does not say, he that is not baptized, shall be condemned. I advised him to speak on this subject with a worthy minister in the town, of whom he had told me, that he attended his sermons by preference; which he promised to do. In the afternoon I visited the son and the son-in-law of the Jew, mentioned under the 24th. They received me in a very affectionate manner; I had a long and satisfactory conversation with them, and left some tracts with them, under

a cordial wish, that the Lord would strengthen them to every good work.

On the 27th, after divine service, I called upon a near relative of mine, from whose enlightened sentiments I anticipated an interesting conversation. I was received in a remarkably polite manner, but was not a little surprised, when, after having caused those who were present to withdraw, he shut both the doors of the room. I asked the reason of that unexpected measure, and he replied, for your life you have nothing to fear; a Jew commits no murder; but I have done it, to compel you to hear without interruption what I have to sav. I hope, I said, you will also hear me. No, cried he, all you will or can say, I know full well. The step you have taken is a base roguery, for nothing but madness or hypocrisy can induce a Jew to become a Christian. The English madness has, as you know, infected many persons in Germany; but we have also among us men of influence, who certainly will stop their progress. But, continued he more calmly, the way by which you may return, is open to you, as our arms are open to receive you again as our dear cousin. That is to say, said I, if I turned Jew again. Certainly; was his answer; you may only go to Breslau or Amsterdam, and . Now, replied I, my dear cousin, I will hear nothing more. To my Lord and Saviour I have promised faithfulness unto death; and I hope to persevere. While I said this he opened the doors again, and I withdrew. I little relished my dinner in the inn; and I do not know how many times I walked up and down the long avenue of the garden belonging to the castle. I could not compose my mind during the afternoon and evening; but when I went to rest, the Lord gave me sufficient strength and presence of mind, to recommend myself in prayer to him, and also fervently to intersede for my poor and endarkened cousin, that our Saviour by his Spirit would enlighten him, that his soul may be saved.

The 28th and 29th of May, were days of blessing, in which I reco vered from the grief of the foregoing day. During this week a fair is held in this place, which is frequented by numbers of Jews. I therefore had an opportunity to converse with many of them; the majority of whom showed much good-will, and desire to be instructed, and received with eagerness what I put into their hands to that effect. Many asked for New-Testaments, and would readily have paid for them, if I had been provided with copies.

On the 30th, I visited many Jews in their shops, who, for the greater part, received me kindly, and listened to my instruction. In the evening, many called on me, and one of them said, I have, my friend, read many of your tracts with interest and I have no hesitation to say that if the Christians in our neighbourhood behaved to pious Jews in the same spirit as the members of your Societies, large numbers of Jews would go over to the Christian church. But as yet little charity is shown to us. On the contrary, the more we wish to join them, the harsher are we repulsed by them. When the Lord will be pleased to fulfil his promise, that there shall be only one flock and one shepherd, he must himself prepare the heart for such an union.

On the 31st, in the afternoon, I set out for B. I stopped on the road, in a small town, where I found a distant female relative of mine, who lives there with her husband and seven children, in very comfortable circumstances. She spoke for a long time with me about her domestic happiness; but as I was desirous to inform her of my change of religion, I turned the conversation upon two of her sons, who can support themselves independently, and intimated to her, that for them it would be no difficult matter to embrace Christianity, and by an open profession, to rid themselves at once from Jewish misery; so as, added I, by the Lord's mercy, I, in my sixtieth year, had been happy enough to devote myself to Jesus Christ. Oh, did she joyfully exclaim, grasping my hand, now you are doubly welcome to me; for now I may freely tell you the truth. One of these two sons has no longer than six weeks since, asked our permission to go over to the Reformed church in Hungary, and we have without delay granted it. We, indeed, bring up our children in the religion of our fathers. But whenever they have become of age, and wish to have something better, we certainly will lay no obstacle in their way.

From B. where I made a short stay, I returned to Frankfort, where I arrived on the 6th of June. Your's, &c.

JOHN JACOB BERGMANN.

The above is the journal of a man who has passed sixty years of his life in the profession of Judaism-a man of valuable talents, and who was for a long time a Jewish teacher, and well experienced in the writings and constitution of his people. The following account of his conversion to the Christian faith and baptism is given by himself, in a letter under date of Frankfort, Oct. 2d, 1820; and published in the thirteenth report of the London Society for promoting Christianity among the Jews. "In hope that you feel warmly interested in the salvation of one, who has for a long time gone astray, I now inform you that God's mercy has brought me hither four months ago. Through his mysterious leadings I got acquainted with the Missionary of the London Society for promoting Christianity among the Jews, who resides here: and by his instruction, example, and power of conviction, I was led so near the fountain head of life and comfort, that I requested the Rev. Mr. Stein to give me more explicit instruction in Christianity, with which he also complied with so much patience and cordiality, that in the last week, on September 22, I received the baptism, according to the Lutheran rite, in the church of the holy Three Kings, after having made my public profession of faith. At the same time a young Jewess, twenty two years old, was also baptized, after having made a very affecting profession of her faith. Now it is my most serious desire that the Lord will grant me his grace and strength, to do some good to my Jewish brethren according to the flesh."

UNITED STATES.-A CALL TO THE BENEVOLENT, ON BEHALF OF THE PEOPLE OF COLOUR.

In the month of September, 1821, Mr. SAMUEL EZRA CORNISH, a Licentiate of the Presbytery of Philadelphia, was requested, by a member of the Presbytery, of N. Y. together with a few people of colour, to spend