gant, and the trifling. We may well understand the force of the caution against "will worship," and prying into things of which no knowledge has been vouchsafed to man, the nature of angels, and the transactions of Heaven; we see here the fantastic humility, the uncalled-for mortification, the unauthorized homage to the living saints or the dead. It is not less palpable, that the propensity to load Scriptural truth with human inventions, has been the characteristic of the corruption of Christianity, not less than of Judaism; and that Rome may vie, at this hour, in legendary extravagance, the worshipping of angels, the prayers for those spirits who are beyond all human intervention, the homage to the saints and martyrs, the useless and frivolous miracles, and the misty, fluctuating, and irreverent doctrines suggested for their support, with the wildest and most worthless fabrications of the Rabbins.

Like all Oriental writings on theology, the Rabbinical traditions discuss largely the glories, wonders, and delights of the future state. The Sacred Scriptures, written for higher purposes than curiosity, or the indulgence of an extravagant imagination, are nearly silent on the subject, probably from the double reason, that sufficient grounds are laid down for virtue without this detail of its rewards, and that human faculties are still but feebly fitted to comprehend the developement, were it made. Yet even they are not without indications of the peculiar species of happiness reserved for the immortal spirit. They give us statements of the temper in which Paradise will be enjoyed, the combination of love, gratitude, adoration, ardour of spirit, and activity of powers, which will constitute the purified nature; and which, if it existed on earth, would make earth itself, with all its inclemencies of nature, and anxieties of circumstance, almost a Paradise. And, in those declarations, they exhibit the same wisdom, and the same sublime simplicity, which character. ise the visible operations of Providence; for they give us the principle of happiness, without embarrassing us with the details: they give us an incitement to the vigorous performance of our human duty, by suggest

.

ing a magnificent and various future, yet of which neither the magnificence is suffered to dazzle, nor the variety to distract, the mind.

But the famous treatise Nishmath Chajim settles all questions at once, according to the wisdom of the sons of Solomon. After announcing that there are seven regions, or dwellings, in the place of evil, for the punishment of the wicked, it cheers the true believer, by telling him that Paradise is similarly partitioned, and equally large. The discovery is made in the form of a commission, directed by the Rabbi Gamaliel to the Rabbi Jehoscha ben Levi, a renowned name in the legendary world, for the purpose of deciding whether any of the Gojim (Gentiles, or Infidels) are in Paradise, and whether any of the children of Israel are in hell. The angel of death bears the commission to the Rabbi, and the Rabbi sets out immediately on his inquisition. The result of his investigation is, that Paradise contains seven houses, or general receptacles for the blissful. Those houses are unquestionably adapted for a large population; for each house is twelve times ten thousand miles long, and twelve times ten thousand miles broad, or 120,000 miles square. He then proceeds to report on their distinctions.

The first house fronts the first gate of Paradise, and is inhabited by converts from the Infidels, who have voluntarily embraced the Jewish faith. The walls are of glass, and the timbers cedar. He proposed to give accuracy to his statement, by actually measuring the extent. But the converts, probably jealous of his superior sanctity, and conceiving that he was about to eject them, began to offer opposition. Fortunately, Obadiah the prophet, their superintendent saint, happening to be on the spot, he remonstrated with them, and the measurement was suffered to go on in peace. The second house fronts the second gate of Paradise. Its walls are of silver, and its beams cedar. It is inhabited by those who have repented, and they are superintended by a penitent; Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, is set over them. The third house is opposite to the third gate, is built of silver and gold, and is inhabited by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with all the Israelites who

came out of Egypt, and all that were in the desert. In this house, also, dwell David, Solomon, and all the other sons of David, with the exception of Absalom. But those do not comprehend the whole habitancy of this well-stocked house. It contains, in addition, the whole succession of the kings of Judah, with the exception of Manasseh, who, as we have already seen, is occupied in governing the second house. At the head of this dwelling are Moses and Aaron. The Rabbi now, observing that this household possessed a great quantity of handsome furniture, gold and silver plate, &c., and that the chambers were provided with beds, couches, and candlesticks of pearls and diamonds, asked David the purport of this opulence. These," said David, are for the children of the world from whom you came." The Rabbi then enquired whether any of the Gentiles, or of the children of Esau, were there? None," was the answer. "Whatever good they may do, is rewarded in the world; but their natural destiny is hell." But every one who is wicked among the children of Israel, is punished in his lifetime, but obtains the life to come; as it is written" He repayeth those

66

66

66

that hate him."

vid, and Solomon, with the kings of Israel, and of the house of David, come on the second and fifth day of every week, and also on every Sabbath and festival, to lament with him, and comfort him, saying “ Be_at ease, rely on Heaven, for the end is at hand."

The fourth house fronts the fourth gate of Paradise, and is built, as the first man was framed, in perfection. It is built with oil-tree (olive) wood. But why is it thus built? Because the house is built for the habitation of the perfectly righteous, and their earthly days were bitter, like the oiltree. The fifth house is built of silver, fine gold, glass, and crystal: the river Gihon flows through the midst of it. The framework is of gold and silver, with an odour far exceeding that of Lebanon wood. The couches are also more costly than those of the others; being formed of gold, silver, spice, and scarlet and blue silk, which was woven by Eve; and also crimson silk, and the finest linen, and cloth of goats' hair, which was woven by angels. In this house dwell Messiah ben David, and Elias of blessed memory; and to the chamber with pillars of silver, and carpets of scarlet, where Messiah especially dwells, with Elias perpetually declaring to him-" Be at ease; for the end is at hand, when thou art to redeem Israel," Moses, Aaron, Da

But the fourth day of the week is reserved for a different assemblage. On this day, Korah and his company, with Dathan and Abiram, come to him, and ask-" When will be the end of what is wonderful; and when shall we be raised from death, and suffered to come out of the abyss of the earth?” And duly they hear the same scornful answer-" Go to your fathers, and ask them." This answer is decisive: they are overwhelmed with shame, shrink, and disappear. Two houses remain; but description has been exhausted, and they seem to be yet either inadequately finished, or inadequately filled. The sixth is for those who have rigidly walked in the path of the commandments; the seventh for those who died, whether of sorrow for the national sins, or innocent and undue victims, swept away in the times of national calamity.

But among the possessors of Paradise, independently of the great historic characters of the race of Israel, there are ranks, differing in dignity according to their merits, or the circumstances of their lives or deaths. The first order consists of those who suffered death for the honour of their Law and nation, by the hands of Infidel governments; such as the Rabbi Akkiba and his disciples, who were put to death by the Roman authorities. The second order consists of those who have been drowned at sea. The third, of the famous Rabbi Ben Saccai and his disciples; the fourth, of those on whom the Shekinah, or glory, has descended; the fifth, of true penitents, who rank with the perfectly righteous; the sixth, of those who have never married, yet have lived a life of purity; the seventh, of those in humble life, who have constantly exercised themselves in the Bible, and the study of the Mishna, and have had an honest vocation. For each order there is a distinct abode. The highest order is that of the martyrs for the Law, the order of Akkiba and his disciples.

The decorations assigned to those

fortunate classes are various; yet as even the Rabbinical imagination can invent nothing finer than gold and jewels, the diversity is not marked with sufficient distinctness to gratify European taste. All, however, is in the true Oriental profusion. Rabbi Jehoscha, still the great authority for supramundane affairs, relates, according to the Jalkut Schimoni, "That at the two ruby gates of Paradise, stand sixty times ten thousand spirits ministering, and that the countenance of each of them shines like the brightness of the firmament. On the arrival of one of the righteous from Earth, those spirits surround him, receive him with due honours, strip him of his graveclothes, and robe him in no less than eight garments of clouds of glory. They next put upon his head two crowns, one of pearls and diamonds, and the other of pure gold, and put eight myrrh branches into his hands. They then sing a chorus of praise round him, and bid him go and eat his bread in joy! They next lead him to springs of water, margined with eight hundred species of roses and myrrh,where to each of the righteous is assigned a separate canopy from the heat, or the splendour, or both. From the springs flow four rivers, of milk, wine, balsam, and honey. The canopies are crowned and lighted by pearls, each of which gives a light equal to that of the planet Venus. Under every canopy is laid a table of pearls and precious stones. And over the head of each hover a group of angels, who say to him, “Go now and eat honey with joy, because thou hast studied the Law, and exercised thyself therein; and go and drink the wine which is preserved from the six days of the Creation."

Paradisaic manhood; his perfection is complete, and he is thenceforth master of all the faculties and enjoyments of the region of happiness.

Paradise, too, retains its old supremacy over all gardens, from its abundance of trees, of which the Rabbins give it no less than eighty times ten thousand species in each of the quarters of this famous spot of celestial horticulture. Angels in abundance are also provided, either to cultivate or to admire them; for there are 600,000 in each quarter, floating about, or guarding the fruit. The tree of life stands there, with its branches covering the whole extent of Paradise, and with fruits suitable to all the various tastes of the righteous, for they have five hundred thousand several flavours. Seven clouds of glory sit above it, and at every wind which shakes it, the fragrance passes from one end of the world to the other. The disciples of the Sages are peculiarly favoured, for they have their especial seats allotted under this tree. Their merit is, to have profoundly studied, and eloquently explained the Law.

A large portion of the Rabbinical writings is filled with those descriptions of lavish and fanciful beauty, but deformed with extravagancies, which offend even against the wildness of Eastern fiction. The light which supplies the place of sun to the righteous, occupies a large space in the description. The treatise Avodath Hakkadesh, after saying that the extent of the garden is immense, states, that there stands in the centre a vast laver, filled with dew from the highest celestial region: and in its centre stands a light incapable of being eclipsed or obscured, it being of the nature of that which was originally given for the use of Adam, and by which he was enabled to see at a glance from one end of the world to the other. But the ground in the neighbourhood of this prodigious luminary conduces partially to this result, as it is an entire pavement of precious stones, each of which gives a light brilliant as that of a burning torch; the whole forming an illumination of indescribable lustre.

Among the righteous, the least handsome are like Joseph and Rabbi Jochanan (who was celebrated for his beauty.) No night comes there; and there also the process of beauty and beatification is a matter of a few hours. In the time of the first watch, the righteous becomes an infant of Paradise, passes into the place where the spirits of infants are, and feels all the joyousness belonging to infancy. In the second watch, he starts into Paradisaic youth, passes into the dwelling of the youthful spirits, and enjoys their pursuits and pastimes. In the third watch, he enters into the state of

VOL. XXXIIL NO. CCVIL.

It is obvious, that in their inventions, the Traditionists had no reluctance to borrow from the written letter. They seize just enough of the

2 T

facts of Scripture to form a framework for the fiction, and over this they flourish their rambling and legendary conceptions. But as they borrow largely, so they have been prodigally borrowed from. The Romish doctrines of supererogation, purgatory, and individual intercession, are not the work of Rome alone; they are as old as the Rabbins; and the only merit which the Romish adopters can claim is, that of having turned a play of imagination into a principle of practice, made a rambling tenet a profitable dogma, and fabricated dreams and visions into a source of the deepest corruption that ever violated the simplicity of religion, revolted human reason, and stained the feeble purity of the human heart. In the Nismath Chajim, we are told, that the Rabbi Akkiba, their great doctor, one day as he was going to be present at the burial of one of his disciples, was surprised at the sight of a being with the shape of a man, running with an enormous pile of wood on his shoulders-yet running with the speed of a horse. The compassionate Rabbi stopped his celerity, and perceiving that he was human, asked him why he was condemned to this singular labour, adding, "that he pitied him so much, that if he were a slave, and his master would be content to sell him, he himself would be the purchaser, in order to free him from this severity of toil; or, if his poverty were the cause, that he would give him some opportunity of obtaining wealth." The man listened, but with wild impatience; he struggled to break away, but, awed by the power of the great Akkiba, he could not move from the spot. At length he burst into a passionate cry, imploring that he might be suffered to go on, and fly over the world, bearing his melancholy burden. The Rabbi was astonished, but he now began to perceive that he was conversing with a being not of this world, and sternly demanded, "Art thou man or devil?" The unfortunate being in agony exclaimed, "I have past away from earth, and now my eternal portion is to carry fuel to the Great Fire." The startled Rabbi asked what act of his life could have plunged him into this dreadful calamity? The criminal answered, that he had been a collector

of the public taxes, and had abused his office, by favouring the rich and oppressing the poor. The next question was, whether he had ever heard in his place of punishment, that there was any remedy for his guilt? The condemned now began to be impatient, through fear of increasing his punishment by delaying his task, and eagerly implored the Rabbi to let him go. At length, acknowledging that he had heard of one redemption, namely, that if he had a son, who could stand forth in the congregation, and there say the prayer of the Synagogue, beginning with "Blessed be the blessed Lord," he might be delivered from his sentence. On his being asked, whether he had a son? he answered that he did not know; that he had left his widow when she was about to have a child, but that he now could not know whether it was a son or a daughter; or, if a son, whether he was sufficiently instructed in the Law. To the further enquiry, where his family were to be found? he answered, that his own name was Akkiba, his wife's Susmira, and his city Alduca. The man was now suffered to recommence his fearful race again. And the benevolent Rabbi began a pilgrimage from city to city, until he found the due place. There he enquired for the dwelling of the busband. But he seems to have been unpopular among his countrymen, for the general answer to the Rabbi was, " May his bones be bruised in hell." The perplexed enquirer now attempted to ascertain the fate of the widow, but she appeared to be scarcely more fortunate than her husband; for the reply was, "Let her name be rooted out of the world." His sole resource now was the son; and of him the answer was not much more favourable. "He was not circumcised, his parents having had no regard to the Covenant."

But the Rabbi was not to be repelled; he discovered the boy at last, took him to his home, found him a preternatural dunce, into whom the Law could not by possibility make way; and was driven to a fast of forty days, which by divine aid at length accomplished the task of teaching him the Alphabet. After this his education advanced to the extent of reading the prayer Shema. (Deut. vi. 4.) The Rabbi now brought for

ward his pupil, the prayer of spiritual liberation was recited, and in that hour the father was freed from his task. He soon after appeared to the Rabbi in a dream, saying, "May the rest of Paradise be thy portion, because thou hast rescued me from the punishment of hell." Then the Rabbi burst out into rejoicings, and repeated a holy hymn in honour of the achievement.

The only distinction between this pious performance, and the exploits of later times, is in the penance. If the Rabbi Akkiba had done his purgatorial work at Rome instead of at Jerusalem, he would have made others fast instead of mortifying himself, and he would have put a handsome sum into his purse for masses and indulgences, instead of incumbering himself with hospitality to the tardy subject of circumcision.

Some of those stories are publicly founded on the facts of the Jewish persecutions, though the historian who would take them in their present state, for authority, would tread upon slippery ground. The treatise Sanhedrin gives the following account of the origin of the celebrated book Zohar.

he determined to put this casualty out of her power, by hiding in a cave. There they must however have met with a fate as evil as the Roman sword, for they were on the point of famine; when a fruit-tree and a spring were created for their support. Here, whether for comfort, concealment, or saving their clothes, they undressed themselves, sat up to the neck in sand, and spent the day in study. At the time of prayer, however, they recollected the decorums of their law, dressed themselves, performed their service, and then laid aside their clothing once more. At the end of twelve years of this life of nakedness and learning, the prophet Elias stood at the entrance of the cave, and cried aloud, "Who will tell the son of Jochai that the Emperor is dead, and his decree is come to an end?" Then went out the Rabbi Shimeon and his son. But their studies had rendered them unfit for the easy morality of the world into which they were re-entering. They saw mankind as busy as ever with their worldly affairs, ploughing and trading, pursuing wealth, passion, and pleasure. They instantly exclaimed, "Behold a race of evil! behold a people who neglect eternal things!" Their words were fearful, but their effect was more fearful still, for, whatever they denounced, or whatever object fell beneath their indignant glance, was instantly consumed with flame. But this discipline would have thinned mankind too rapidly to be suffered long. A voice came forth from the clouds. "Are ye come out only to destroy the world? Return to your cave.' The hermits were not disobedient to the high admonition. They returned to their solitude, and there abode a whole year. At the end of that period, the Rabbi Shimeon lifted up his voice, and said, "Even in hell the wicked are punished but twelve months." This remonstrance was graciously listened to. The voice was heard again, commanding that they should come forth from the cave. They now came forth, restraining their wrath at the incorrigible worldliness of man, and shutting those fiery eyes whose glances consumed all that they fell upon, like flashes of lightning. They suffered the world. to take its own way, they took theirs; and thenceforth lived in popularity,

The Rabbis Jehuda, Isaac, and Shimeon were conversing, when Jehuda ben Gerim, a convert, came to them. On Jehuda's observing that the Romans excelled in buildings and public works, that they had erected markets, bridges, and baths, the Rabbi Shimeon contested their merit, by saying that they had done those things with selfish or corrupt objects. The convert was clearly unworthy of hearing so much wisdom, for he carried the conversation to the Imperial ear, and sentence soon followed, that the Rabbi who had spoken contemptuously of the reigning power should be slain, and the Rabbi who had kept silence should be banished, while the laudatory Rabbi should be promoted. On this announcement the Rabbi Shimeon, the chief culprit, fled with his son, and they hid themselves in the school, his wife bringing them bread and water every day. But the pursuit becoming close, and Shimeon observing to his son, with more truth than gallantry, that women were somewhat light-minded, and that the Romans might tease his wife into discovering the place of their retreat,