And set their ensigns up-abhorred,-
Where late thy servants paid their vows.
Abominations reign around

Thy sanctuary's holy ground.

Of old it gave a glorious fame

To him who best adorned the place:
And he was happy, who but came

To give thine house one added grace.
But now, the axe and hammer haste
To make its beauty all a waste.

Yea, they have cast their fiery brands
Within thy Temple's hallowed gates;
Defiled the place with impious hands
Where Zion's chiefest beauty waits,
By casting to the ground with shame,
The holy dwelling of thy name.

Within their heathen hearts they said,
"Come let us all-as one-destroy."

Thus, where thy saints were wont to tread,
And offer up their gifts with joy,
Our temples all are burnt with fire,
Which were thy servants' chief desire.

We see no more our ancient signs,

We hear no more our Prophets' voice,
The knowledge of the Law declines,
And hushed is all that bade rejoice;
Not one amongst us knows how long;
And silent is our Zion's song!

N.

EFFECTS OF THE FALL ON THE NATURAL WORLD.

IT might certainly be supposed that the human mind, by the unaided light of reason alone, must be led to form some theory, approximating to the revealed fact of original sin, from the simple observation of the existing order of things in the natural world. It has been said, that the attribute of goodness is inseparably connected with our notions of Deity; how then can we reconcile with that assumption, the manifest traces of evil apparent in the phenomena of the atmosphere, the earth, and the waters, and in the instinct and habits of animals? Can we imagine that this world, as it emerged fresh from creative energy, having the character of goodness emphatically assigned it, would exhibit the awful terrors of the whirlwind and the storm, the devastating effects of the hurricane and inundation, and the death-inflicting influences of the pestilence and the plague? And should we not start back with astonishment and dismay on witnessing for the first time, the sad spectacle of one creature preying upon another, or laying the snare to entrap it to its ruin! Ah! do not these things give in their corroborative testimony to the scriptural doctrine of the fall of man, and the curse which went forth upon all creation for his sake? Yet does man wander amongst the still beautiful scenes of nature, and while palpa

bly impressed with the evil which mars them, never looks to himself as the consociated cause of it. This fact so illustrated, might be made a powerful moral engine in the education of youth. While their tender minds are open to the instructions, and their young hearts alive to the sympathies of nature, let them be led to contemplate the evidences of their own corruption in the various instances of calamity and cruelty from which they shrink. When the thunder peals above their heads, and the vivid lightnings flash before their eyes; then teach them to regard these effects of Almighty power, as indications likewise of Almighty wrath. And if they see a poor fly struggling more and more faintly in the grasp of the spider, till the last life-blood is drawn from the passive and expiring victim, let them be reminded of the pang which creation probably felt to its centre, at the tremendous moment of man's first sin,* and under which she still continues to writhe,-aye and will writhe, while sin defaces the moral world. This appeal would surely tend to lessen the difficulty (so visible in men regardless of the workings of their own hearts) of believing the fundamental principle of our holy religion; wherever evil is mixed with good-and where is it not?-they would read the truth, stamped on its different forms, which could not otherwise have blemished the works of an all-wise and all-gracious Being.

* "Earth felt the wound; and nature from her seat
Sighing through all her works, gave signs of wo,
That all was lost."-MILTON.

JEWISH RETROSPECT OF 1842.

WE borrow the following brief but comprehensive summary from the "Voice of Jacob." Many of our readers will peruse it with interest :—

"In the East.-Many Jews have been emancipating their slaves after the example set by the Damascus victims.-At Constantinople, an unhappy accident occasioned a serious misunderstanding between the Jews and the Armenians.-In Algiers, the disposition of two of our brethren to undertake a mission from France, for the moral and social improvement of the African Jews, was fostered by the minister, and constituted a state-mission.-In Jamaica, the high position of the Jews was manifested by their address to Sir Charles Metcalf, and by his expressive reply.-In England, one Jew has been elected high sheriff, and another sheriff.-In Holland, a list of Jewish functionaries upon whom the king has bestowed honors, proves how faithful and useful to the state the Jewish citizen can be. No less honorable to our Dutch brethren, have been the testimonies to their standing and character elicited by the attack of a Swedish consul. Into Norway, Jews may not yet enter, but the great and good have laboured zealously in their behalf. The high court of judicature, the faculty of theology, the commercial interests, and lastly, the law commission, by a majority of six to one, advocated the admission of the Jews; but the

Storthing, to whom it was ultimately referred, (it being a fundamental principle,) failed to confirm the proposition by the needful majority of two-thirds: and it must stand over to 1845.-In France, where a renewed zeal for religion begins to manifest itself among our people, three distinguished Israelites are elected to the chamber of deputies, instead of the sole one of last year. The liberality exhibited at Strasburg towards the Jewish citizens, is also conspicuous.-In Switzerland, the petition to erect a synagogne at Geneva was rejected.—In Italy, an insensate mob rose against our brethren at Mantua; it was put down only by military force.-In Russia and Poland, Dr. Lilienthal's mission, on the one hand, manifests a disposition to promote intellectual improvement, and agricultural pursuits among the Jews; while on the other hand, a partial system of newly enforced conscription has thrown the whole people into consternation.-In Germany, many laws for Jewish affairs have been reduced to paper, and but few to practice. The balance is still suspended, to the agitation of those concerned; and now a grain in this scale, and then one in that, leave all in uncertainty.-In Baden, the Jews have again petitioned in vain.-In Bavaria, the disqualification of Jews for civil offices has been strained so as to include military rank. In Hesse Darmstadt, a casual incident has occasioned a government decree, in favor of the Jews, to be addressed to the states.-In SchaumburgLippe, and in Anhalt Bernburg, the oath, previously administered to Israelites, has been better adapted to the spirit of the times.-In Hanover, a ten years' debate has been so concluded, that the Jews lose more than they gain by it.-In Denmark, the Altona