Some Jewish Witnesses For Christ
at his own personal expense--in both of which God greatly blessed his
instrumentality. His indefatigable and successful labours have been
acknowledged by all parties in the Church."[15]
[14] Published by the S.P.C.K. in 1892. (See p. 111.)
[15] "The Greater Britain Messenger," C. and C.C. Society, May, 1896, p.
113.
The Bishop resigned the see of Huron in 1883 under somewhat peculiar
circumstances. The Bishop of Ripon (Dr. Bickersteth) desired to have Dr.
Hellmuth appointed his Suffragan under the Act of Henry VIII. Dr.
Hellmuth, being informed that his title was to be Bishop of Hull, and
that the letters patent could not be executed till he had resigned the
see of Huron, formally resigned that see on March 29, 1883.
In his last charge, delivered before the Synod of the Diocese, the
Bishop's broad and loving sympathies found vent in the following
expressions:--"I am fully persuaded, as I said on a former occasion,
that the glory of the Church is her assimilation to Christ. And never
will her usefulness and her splendour reach their meridian until the
love of a common Saviour shall bind together every heart and unite every
hand. Envy, jealousy, evil surmisings and uncharitableness can only tend
to weaken and scatter the resources of the Church and palsy her
exertions; but, when through the abundant outpouring of the Holy Spirit,
arm shall be linked to arm, and heart to heart, and prayer to
prayer,--when to love and serve Christ, and to anticipate heaven, and to
save immortal souls,--when these shall be the grand and all absorbing
terms of Christian communion,--oh, then, what a firm and powerful
phalanx shall go forth from the Church of the living God against the
powers of darkness and the enemies of men! For this ONENESS of aim I
would again repeat, Pray, strive and labour."
The news of the Bishop's resignation was received with great regret
throughout the Dominion, and a service of plate was presented to him
with an address from the standing committee of the diocese.
On March 21, 1883, the Bishop of Ripon issued a Pastoral to his diocese,
in which he formally announced the Royal assent to the appointment of
Dr. Hellmuth as Bishop Suffragan of Hull. In the following May, nearly
two months after Dr. Hellmuth's resignation of the see of Huron, the law
officers of the Crown discovered that the Act of Henry VIII. did not
apply to any one already in Episcopal orders, and that therefore Dr.
Hellmuth could not become Bishop Suffragan of Hull. Bishop Hellmuth, who
was thus placed in an extremely anomalous position, appealed to the then
Governor-General of Canada, Lord Lorne (the present Duke of Argyll), who
made representations to Mr. Gladstone, at that time the Prime Minister.
In reply, Mr. Gladstone pointed out that the Bishop of Ripon still
intended to avail himself of Dr. Hellmuth's services as his Assistant
Bishop or Bishop Coadjutor. Bishop Hellmuth then took up his work in the
diocese of Ripon as Assistant Bishop, although the position was
obviously very different from what he had been led to expect when he
resigned the see of Huron. With the consent of Bishop Bickersteth,
further representations were made to Mr. Gladstone, who replied
expressing regret for the error which had been committed. By the death
of Bishop Bickersteth, in 1884, Dr. Hellmuth's position became still
more trying, for his commission as Bishop Coadjutor ceased, and he made
another appeal to Mr. Gladstone for some suitable preferment, but
without success. He was rector and rural dean of Bridlington from 1885
to 1891, and perpetual curate of Bessingby from 1888 to 1891. In the
latter year the Colonial and Continental Church Society gave him the
chaplaincy of Holy Trinity, Pau, which he held for six years. He was
subsequently rector of Compton-Pauncefoot, Somerset, from 1897 to 1899,
when he retired owing to failing health. He passed away within two
years, on May 28, 1901, at the advanced age of eighty-one.
Bishop Hellmuth was the author of "The Biblical Thesaurus" (1884), a
literal translation and critical analysis of every word in the original
languages of the Old Testament, with explanatory notes and appendices;
and "The Divine Dispensation," a critical commentary on the Hebrew
Scriptures. Amongst his minor contributions to literature may be
mentioned two articles in "The Everlasting Nation"; one on "The
Authenticity and Genuineness of the Pentateuch," (1867) and the other on
"The Spirit of Prophecy," a luminous paper on the allusions in the Old
Testament to the Messiah of his race.
The Bishop married, first, Catherine, daughter of the late General
Thomas Evans, C.B., who died in 1884, and secondly, in 1886, Mary
Louisa, second daughter of Admiral the Hon. Arthur Duncombe, son of the
first Baron Feversham, and widow of the Hon. Ashley Carr Glyn, son of
the first Baron Wolverton.
The Bishop, as was natural, ever evinced hearty and unbounded interest
in the spiritual welfare of his brethren according to the flesh, and on
many occasions advocated, from pulpit and platform, their claims to the
Gospel. In the work of the London Jews' Society he was especially
interested. Towards the end of his life he frequently presided over the
meetings of its Committee, amongst whom he was ever a _persona grata_.
His solid learning, acquaintance with the languages and modes of thought
of his own people, sound common sense, wise and prudent counsels, as
well as his urbanity and courtesy, made him an ideal chairman. He had
unlimited sympathy with those engaged in what he regarded as a great
and important work, for he could enter fully into its arduous character
and numerous difficulties. Many a time did he pay a friendly visit to
the Society's House,--a delightful interlude in official routine--to
encourage and to sympathize; on one occasion narrating the thrilling
story of how, in early youth, he had found Him whom his soul loved. The
Bishop's sterling qualities of heart and mind, his confiding nature and
buoyant temperament, and his bright and happy face, always infused
sunshine wherever he went.
One who knew him writes:--"We cannot forego one personal word in
grateful appreciation and loving remembrance of the charming personality
of one, whom, during the latter period of his long and honoured life, we
were privileged to call our friend. To know him was indeed to love him
as well as to honour and esteem. His sweet and gentle nature, his
amiable disposition, his beautiful character, his fatherly attitude, and
his unfailing tenderness and sympathy, have indelibly associated him in
our mind with the beloved disciple St. John, whose last words would have
been natural indeed upon his lips, 'Little children, love one another.'"
HEYMAN, Heinrich Wilhelm David, son of a shochet (slaughterer) in poor
circumstances. When he was only ten years old, he was obliged to give
lessons to peasant boys in order to help his father. He was fond of
reading, and read Lessing's and Mendelssohn's works, and this caused him
to get new ideas of the world, and to keep aloof from the Talmud. Coming
in contact later on with Dr. Heinrich Ditmar, the author of a universal
history, he learned from him to know the Gospel, and he and his wife and
three children were baptized in 1833. Then his mother and wife refused
to have anything to do with him. Then a son and daughter got very ill,
and he was tempted with the thought that he was punished for his
apostasy, yet he persevered in prayer, and could triumphantly exclaim in
the midst of his troubles, "Lord Jesus, Thou art still my Lord and my
Saviour." At last, in 1844, he was called by the friends of Israel in
Basel, to be the principal of the house for proselytes in that city,
which office he held faithfully, with great ability and usefulness in
many directions, till his death in 1868. One of his sons became pastor
at Altbayern, and the other, Frederick, who was formerly pastor in the
Pfalz, succeeded him as principal and agent of the Basel Mission to the
Jews, and became a professor in the University there.
HERSCHELL, Moses (Christian Moritz), was born at Breslau, September 13,
1754. In 1804 he embraced Christianity, and at his baptism assumed the
name of Christian Moritz. Among his works, the following deserve
mentioning: "Kampf der Jüdischen Hierarchie," Breslau, 1784; "Jüdische
Intoleranz und Fanatismus in Breslau," _ib_. 1789; "Patriotische
Bemerkungen," _ib._ 1790; "Ueber die Allzufrühen Ehen der Jüdischen
Nation," 1790; "Apologie der Menschenrechte," Zurich, 1793; "Biographie
des Jüdischen Gelehrten und Dichters, Ephraim Moses Kuh," _ib._ 1791.
HERSCHELL, Rev. Ridley Hayim, born at Stozelno (Posen), April 7, 1807,
was strictly brought up, together with his four brothers, in Jewish
orthodoxy. When quite young he had a desire to become a rabbi, and left
home seeking to enter some rabbinical school. In his wanderings he was
overtaken by robbers, but escaped. At the age of fourteen, he came to
Rabbi Aron in the town where his grandfather Hillel resided; there he
remained two years among the Chassidim, seeking, after their manner, in
vain to become perfectly righteous before God. How he came to the
knowledge of Him who is the Lord our Righteousness, he has himself
recorded in the following pages:
"Having been favoured by God with pious parents, their great care was to
impress my mind from childhood with a profound reverence for God, and
for the Holy Scriptures. I was taught to repeat the morning and evening
prayers with great solemnity; and on the feast days my attention was
particularly drawn to the impressive confession in our Liturgy, 'It is
because of our sins we are driven away from our land,' &c. On the Day of
Atonement I used to see my devout parents weep when they repeated the
pathetic confession that follows the enumeration of the sacrifices which
were appointed by God to be offered up for the sins of omission; and
many a time I shed sympathetic tears as I joined them in saying, that we
have now no temple, no high priest, no altar, and no sacrifices. As I
advanced in years and understanding, my religious impressions became
stronger; fear and trembling often took hold upon me; and what was then
my refuge,--what the balm for my wounded spirit? Repeating more prayers,
and asking God to accept the calves of my lips. This satisfied my mind
at the time; but the satisfaction arose from ignorance of the character
of God as a holy and a just Being, and of my own state as a guilty
sinner, whose prayers proceeding from unclean lips, could not be
accepted as a sweet savour by the thrice holy Lord God of Sabaoth.
"I continued in this state of mind until I was about sixteen years of
age. During this period of my life, I often spent three sleepless nights
in the week, studying the Talmud, and other Hebrew works. I also
committed to memory several chapters of the prophets every week, in
order that I might become sufficiently familiar with the Hebrew language
to correspond in it. At this period I became acquainted with a Polish
Jew, who had studied several years at the University of Berlin, and
consequently had become acquainted with Gentile literature. He strongly
advised me to give up the study of the Talmud, and devote myself to the
study of German and secular literature. After a hard struggle of mind, I
resolved to follow his advice, and accordingly went to ----. Here there
was not only a change in the character of my studies, but an entire
change in my habits and mode of life. Many things that I formerly
regarded as essential parts of my religion, were considered by my
fellow-students _alt modisch_ (old fashioned), quite unfit for the
_aufgeklärten_ (enlightened). At first my conscience was much disturbed,
and I was often very unhappy; but, after a time, these feelings wore