g words ('Halakhot Melakhim,'
ch. xii, secs. 4, 5): 'The wise men and the prophets did
not desire the advent of the Messiah, that they might
attain the power of any terrestrial government, that they
should be elevated in worldly rank by the nations, or
enjoy every terrestrial comfort. No! this was not the
object of their fervent prayer; their object was, in that
glorious period, to be enabled to devote themselves wholly
and in perfect freedom to the study of the holy law and
its sacred literature, through which they might, at the
end of their worldly career, attain the bliss of
immortality. That period is expected to be full of peace;
no war, no disturbance, no hatred; no jealousy between men
will then exist; happiness will be the lot of every
creature, and the whole world will only be anxious to
acquire the knowledge of the law. Then will Israel be
enlightened by the Word of God, for the world is to be
filled with the knowledge of the Lord, even as the waters
cover the sea.'

"A most remarkable feature in the purity of that
particular article of our creed is, that whilst the prayer
for the Messiah regards the welfare of the whole human
race, it also strongly inculcates a sentiment that no kind
of coercive measures ought to be used by any person for
the purpose of hastening the advent of that blissful
period. Our Talmud declares that the Omnipotent enjoined
the Israelites not to press events to bring on that
promised season of peace, nor ever to oppose the nations
('Tract Ketubot," 1. cx. p. 1).

"Having made these preliminary remarks, I shall now
proceed to describe to your Excellency the state of the
schools which I visited in the course of my journey
through Russia and Poland.

"Being anxious to convince myself of the real condition of
my brethren, I often took them by surprise, and I am happy
to say, although they had not teachers of profane
sciences, still most of the pupils in some schools knew
how to write and to read in the Russian, Hebrew, and
German languages. In Wilna I found the schools organised
agreeably to the command of His Imperial Majesty's
Government; they were well provided with competent
masters, and the pupils answered most satisfactorily
questions in the various branches of tuition--in Latin,
Russian, and German grammars, geography, arithmetic, and
history.

"In Hebrew, however, they could only ob