The American Jew as Patriot, Soldier and Citizen

Washington, D. C., June, 1895.

JEWISH PATRIOTS OF THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.

The keen and responsive sense of duty with which, through Torah and Talmud, the Jewish character is so deeply imbued, has never failed to become manifest when occasion has called it forth. Jews have never been wanting in patriotism and though a peace-loving people, (the very mission of Israel being peace, and good-will towards neighbors a cardinal teaching of Judaism) they have always espoused, eagerly and earnestly, the cause of their countrymen. The heroism and self-devotion which marks the course of Jewish history from the earliest Biblical records, emblazoning the era of the Maccabees, signalizing the Roman period and illuminating the Dark Ages, has found many a worthy example in these modern days. We have here to deal with the records of but one country, yet these records are replete with instances of bravery and undaunted courage, of earnest devotion and of faithful service performed by men of Israel in behalf of this land of their adoption. These records begin at a time before the Revolutionary epoch, when the Jewish settlers in America were very few indeed. At the date of the first census, in 1790, just after the close of the Revolution, when the total population of the country was figured at almost 4,000,000, the number of Jewish inhabitants could scarcely be estimated at 3,000, or only one to 1,330 of the population.[2]

The dearth of accessible records of a detailed character rendered it practically impossible to present more than a very imperfect list of the Jewish participants in the Revolutionary struggle. However, sufficient data are at hand to prove conclusively that the Jewish colonists of that period, comparatively recent settlers and few in number as they were, furnished, as usual in all struggles for liberty and freedom, more than their proportion of supporters to the colonial cause. They not only risked their lives in the war for independence, but aided materially with their money to equip and maintain the armies of the Revolution. That they took their part in the earliest stages of resistance to the encroachments of the mother country is proved by the signatures to the Non-Importation Resolutions of 1765. Nine Jews were among the signers of these resolutions, the adoption of which was the first organized movement in the agitation which eventually led to the independence of the colonies. The original document is still preserved in Carpenter's Hall, in Philadelphia, and following are the names of the Jews on that early roll of patriots:

Benjamin Levy, Samson Levy, Joseph Jacobs, Hyman Levy, Jr., David Franks, Mathias Bush, Michael Gratz, Barnard Gratz, Moses Mordecai.

With these as worthy precursors of the Jewish patriots of the Revolution we may proceed to note the list of Jews whose names have come to us from the Revolutionary period, through various published sources, as men of special distinction among their fellows. One of the most notable of these was Haym Salomon, a man who, while not the only Jewish patriot that lavished his ample fortune in behalf of liberty and independence, yet stands out as so unique a figure in the history of the American Revolution that the record of his part in the making of that history may well take precedence. Fragmentary presentations of this subject have been made in public documents and in historic essays at various times since the submission by Salomon himself of his memorial to the Continental Congress in August, 1778.[3] However, as embracing a succinct statement and detailed review of the whole matter to the present time, the following paper from the "Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society" (No. 2, 1894) may be quoted in full:—

A SKETCH OF HAYM SALOMON.

[Contributed by Herbert B. Adams, Ph. D., Professor in the Johns Hopkins University. With Notes by J. H. Hollander.]

In the fall of 1841, Jared Sparks, while professor of history in Harvard College, was delivering a course of lyceum lectures in New York City upon the American Revolution. His remarks upon the services of certain public men of the period excited deep interest in the mind of a Jewish hearer, Mr. Haym M. Salomon, who wrote to and afterwards called upon Mr. Sparks in reference to the patriotic activity of Haym Salomon, a contemporary and associate of Robert Morris, James Madison, Edmund Randolph and other distinguished publicists of the Revolutionary period. At the request of Mr. Sparks, Mr. Salomon prepared certain memoranda of the eminent services of his father, Haym Salomon, and this manuscript passed into the possession of Mr. Sparks.

The interview and the information thus obtained seem to have made a profound impression upon Mr. Sparks. He mentioned something of the above matter to Mr. Joshua I. Cohen, of Baltimore, and almost a quarter of a century after the original interview, under date of October 29, 1865, Mr. Cohen wrote to Mr. Sparks as follows:

"You may probably recollect a conversation I had with you many years ago during a visit to Cambridge, in which I mentioned that Judge Noah, of New York, was then engaged in gathering together the facts and memorials of the part which our people, the Israelites, took in our Revolutionary struggle, and you kindly offered to him through me the use of your biographical series for any memoirs he might prepare on the subject. The death of Judge Noah, not long after, put an end to the project. I mentioned to you a military company that was formed in Charleston, S. C., composed almost exclusively of Israelites, of which my uncle was a member, and which behaved well during the war. Major Frank, one of Arnold's aids, was spoken of, and also Haym Salomon and others. In connection with Mr. Salomon you expressed yourself very fully, and, in substance (if I recollect correctly), that his association with Robert Morris was very close and intimate, and that a great part of the success that Mr. Morris attained in his financial schemes was due to the skill and ability of Haym Salomon. I do not pretend to quote your language, but only the idea. The matter was brought up to my mind recently by the marriage of a great-grandson of Mr. Salomon to a niece of mine, one of the young ladies of our household."[4]

The original sketch of Haym Salomon thus prepared by his son was found in a somewhat mutilated condition by Professor Herbert B. Adams, of the Johns Hopkins University, among the Sparks Papers, which had been entrusted to his care during the preparation of "The Life and Writings of Jared Sparks," published in 1893 by Houghton, Mifflin & Co. The manuscript was stitched to other papers and had been apparently cut down somewhat in order to make it more uniform in size with the smaller sheets. This fact will explain certain tantalizing, but apparently brief omissions in the text. The appended copy of the manuscript is furnished by Professor Adams with the full consent of the Sparks family.

Haym Salomon, who died in Philadelphia, then the metropolis of the United States, January, 1785, was the fellow-countryman and intimate associate of the Polish Generals Pulaski and Kosciuszko, and was first publicly known in 1778, when he was taken by the British General Sir H. Clinton in New York on charges that he had received orders from General Washington to burn their fleets and destroy their store-houses, which he had attempted to execute to their great injury and damage. He was accordingly imprisoned, treated inhumanly, and ordered to suffer military death. From the sacrifice of his life, with which he was threatened in consequence of the sentence, he escaped by means of a considerable bribe in gold. This is corroborated from his letter to his brother-in-law, Major Franks, dated soon after in Philadelphia, in which his intimacy is stated with the brave General McDougall, who then commanded the American army in the neighborhood of New York, and with whom it appears he must have been in co-operation in order to drive ... away from the comfortable quarters, which the maritime and military positions of that city so happily promised them after its abandonment by the friends of the Revolution.[5]

A few days after his escape from the merciless enemy he safely arrived in Philadelphia, where he was welcomed and esteemed as one devoted to the principle ... [MS. cut off.]

We then find him meriting the well-placed confidence and affection of the patriots who had been distinguished in the Revolutionary Congress of 1776; also the great men who were famous in those succeeding sessions, 1780, '81, '82, '83 and '84, as furnished us by such circumstantial testimony as yet remains of that immortal body of devoted patriots.

It is seen as soon as the generous monarch of France agreed to furnish the expiring government of that day with means to reanimate their exertions in the glorious cause. It was he who was charged with the negotiation of the entire amount of those munificent grants of pecuniary supplies from the government of France and Holland.[6]

In 1783-4, after the satisfactory close of these truly confidential services, he is found to have made considerable advances, moneys, loans, &c., to Robert Morris, of the Congress of the Declaration of '76. To General Miflin, to General St. Clair, to General Steuben, to Colonel Shee, to Colonel Morgan, Major McPherson, Major Franks, and many other officers such sums as they required. And as it regarded the deputies to the Continental Congress, [to] the amiable Judge Wilson (another member of the session of '76) considerable loans.[7]

To the immortal delegation from Virginia, namely, Arthur Lee, Theodore Bland, Joseph Jones, John F. Mercer and Edmund Randolph, liberal supplies of timely and pecuniary aid, and we find it declared by one of the most accomplished, most learned and patriotic members of the succeeding sessions of the Revolutionary legislature, James Madison, that when by the ... [MS. cut off] pecuniary resources of the members of Congress, both public and private, were cut off, recourse was had to Mr. Salomon for means to answer their current expenses, and he was always found extending his friendly hand.[8]

The exalted and surviving delegate of the Revolutionary Congress above alluded to, who has since that period been promoted for two successive terms to the chief magistracy of these States, in his letter on the subject of the character of Mr. Haym Salomon, testifies fully as to the unquestionable uprightness of his transactions, as well as the disinterestedness of his "friendship," and also his "intelligence," and which no doubt from his confidential intercourse with the foreign ambassadors made his communications serviceable to the public safety.[9] That conferences were sought with him by the great men of the time is proved from the existence of a note in the handwriting of another member of the Congress of Declaration, the incorruptible President Reed.

His services to the cause of his country were not confined to aiding the native agents of our own government, but he was the most confidential friend and timely adviser to the agents, consuls, and ambassadors representing the interests of the kings of those countries then in our alliance, as it appears from the amount of specie granted for the service of the army and hospital of Rochambaud, and large sums appear to have been received from him by Chevalier De La Luzerne, Marbois, consul-general, De La Forest, John ... [MS, cut off], recollected by the elders of the nation as the active agents of the good French king.[10]

As to the minister of the King of Spain, then the richest of the European monarchs. The amount granted him was expressly to relieve the wants, conveniences and necessities of this ambassador, whose king was then countenancing the Revolution in this country, but with whose European dominions all intercourse was stopped, and in regard to the monies so furnished, whether Mr. S. was ever repaid by Spain is a matter of as much uncertainty as that regarding the considerable sums advanced to other Revolutionary agents.[11]

It appears that the death of Mr. S. after a short and severe illness was quite as unexpected as calamitous to his family, leaving no will nor relatives in this country competent to take charge of his estate, at this difficult period of the unsettled state of the jurisprudence of the country, being four years prior to the formation of the Constitution of the United States.

A letter from him yet exists, dated in New York a few days previous to his return and death, directed to the agent of his house in Philadelphia, in which he speaks of the full competency of his fortune and his intention of retiring from business. An additional inducement no doubt was owing to the impaired state of his health from the great exertions he had made to promote the views of the Revolution, and which letter further declares that he had many claims uncollected due him,[12] and spoke of the quantities of public securities and government papers which ... [MS. cut off]. Of this latter, on examination of a list deposited in the Probate Office, it appears there was upwards of $300,000, more than $160,000 of which were of certificates of the Loan Office of the Treasury and the army.[13]

At his decease the management of his estate passed into the hands of strangers, all of whom not very long after became either bankrupts or died, as well as Mr. Macrea,[14] his chief clerk, who had committed suicide about the same period. Consequently the books and papers have nearly been all lost, and the obscurity into which these matters are thrown is increased in consequence of the destruction by the British of many of the public archives of that period, during the invasion of the city of Washington by their army during the last war.[15] And such were the effects of those unfortunate circumstances to the heirs that when the youngest son became of age nothing was obtained from the personal estate of this munificent and patriotic individual in Philadelphia. And no other inheritance now survives to the offspring except the expectation of the grateful remembrance of a just and generous republic.

It ought not to be forgotten, that although he endorsed a great portion of those bills of exchange for the amount of the loans and subsidies our government obtained in Europe, of which he negotiated the entire sums, and the execution of which duty occupied a great portion of his valuable time from '81 to '83, still there was only charged scarcely a fractional percentage to the United States, although individuals were willing to pay him ... [MS. cut off] for his other negotiations and guarantee. And it is known that he never caused the loss to the government of one cent of those many millions of his negotiations, either by his own mismanagement or from the credit he gave to others on the sales he made of those immense sums of foreign drafts on account of the United States.[16]

We find that immediately after the peace of '83, when foreign commerce could securely float again on the ocean, that he resumed his business as a merchant for the few remaining months of his life, trading to foreign countries, which may be collected from the few original letters (that are preserved) bearing date [of] London, Holland and Spain, and from the return of the large ship Sally from Spain to his consignment a few weeks succeeding his death, on which cargo and hull he was interested in the sum of 40,000 florins; his estate on the expedition sustained almost total loss, owing to the failures and disasters among merchants of those days, to whom the property had been consigned and by whose advice it had been undertaken.

He was most friendly in aiding those other commercial citizens and merchants who recommenced trading after the war had closed. One remarkable instance [that] may be noted among others was the case of Mr. Willing's house, the head of which was the president of the National Bank, and whose active partner was the Superintendent of Finance. The firm traded under the name of Willing, Morris & Swanick. To them he made a loan of his name to obtain 40,000 dollars in specie in one amount from the bank. A second loan of his name in addition of 24,000 specie dollars also, a few months preceding his death, for both of which considerable accommodations of credit at this eventful period of our commercial history he never changed them one cent of consideration.[17]

[Copy of an authentic certificate from the Register's Office in Philadelphia shewing the amount of public securities[18] and Revolutionary papers left by the deceased Haym Salomon at his death and from which personal estate mentioned in said certificate not a cent was ever received by any of his heirs.]

"Seal

"I certify that the above writing is a true extract from the original inventory and appraisement of the personal estate of Haym Salomon deceased filed in the register's office Philadelphia on the 15th February, 1785.

Given under my hand and seal of office this 28th May, A. D. 1828."

The father of Mr. Haym M. Salomon was the deceased Haym Salomon, Esq., who died in Philadelphia, January 6, 1785, and who is found to have exhibited the most ardent personal devotion to the cause of the Revolution.

On investigating such of the memoranda and papers regarding his civil services in that era of our history which have accidentally been preserved and now submitted, I find the following facts.

By an affidavit made in New York, January, 1778, before Alderman Matthews, certified on its back by William Claygen, military secretary to Major-General Horatio Gates, dated at the encampment White Plains, August 15, 1778, it appears that so early as the year 1775, Mr. S. was in controversy with the enemies of the projected Revolution.

New York, May 9, 1828.

The affidavit further states that it had been alleged against him in New York that he was charged by General Washington to execute an enterprise as hazardous to the safety of his person and life as it was most important to the interests of the Revolutionary army. Supposed to be the enterprise for which he was condemned to death by the British General Clinton, as mentioned in the first part of this memorandum.

The two infant sons which Mr. Salomon (at the age of 45) left at his death were Ezekiel and Haym. Ezekiel was he (the eldest) who in 1807, in charge of a large amount of American property, was (with many other American citizens whose cargoes as well as his own was sequestered at Leghorn by the French) placed in much perplexity, but through the spirited remonstrance which he made to the Tuscan and French Governments, succeeded in procuring its release. He subsequently was charged with the government of the U. S. Branch Bank at New Orleans, and while in the successful application of the duties of his office died in 1821.

Haym M., the youngest son and sole survivor of the male part of the family, has been engaged in commercial pursuits for many years past, for particulars of which see letter from Hon. Johnson, Esq., who for eight years was the representative in Congress from New York, the Empire City of the United States, and now[19] one of the chief officers in the Custom House of that city.[20]

Bibliographical Note.

Little of the mass of original material at one time in existence relative to the life and activity of Haym Salomon can now be located. Mr. William Salomon, of New York, a great-grandson of Haym Salomon, writes in response to a recent inquiry as follows: "I am under the impression that all the papers bearing on the services of Haym Salomon in the cause of the Revolution which were not lost when he died intestate (and a few months before Haym M. Salomon was born) came into Haym M. Salomon's possession, but unfortunately his descendants have been deprived of that valued inheritance by reason of their disappearance while in the custody of the Government. All I ever discovered among my father's papers was a letter from either President Tyler or Polk (I cannot remember positively which, and the letter is not now within easy reach) stating that papers my grandfather, Haym M. Salomon, desired to have returned could not be found in the Department where they had been placed."

Some further details of the strange negligence to which this unfortunate loss is due may be found in the Senate Committee Report to the 31st Congress on the claim of H. M. Salomon. The timely services rendered by Haym Salomon to James Madison during the sessions of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia are specifically indicated in the published letters of Madison; see Gilpin, Madison Papers, Vol. I., pp. 163, 178-9. Mr. Herbert Friedenwald, of Philadelphia, has recently found among the records of the Continental Congress an interesting Memorial of Haym Salomon, submitted to the Congress in August, 1778; see Publications of American Jewish Historical Society, I., 87. The main sources of information relative to the life of Haym Salomon are thus the secondary Congressional Committee Reports upon the claims of his descendants for indemnity for money advanced to the United States Government during the Revolution. These, in the order of their presentation, are as follows:[21]

1. Report on Claim of Haym M. Salomon. Rep. F. A. Tallmadge. April 26, 1848. 3 pp. House Reports, No. 504, 30th Cong., 1st Sess., Vol. III.

2. Report on Claim of H. M. Salomon. Senator J. D. Bright. July 28, 1848. 3 pp. Senate Reports, No. 219, 30th Cong., 1st Sess.

3. Report on Claim of H. M. Salomon. Senator I. P. Walker. August 9, 1850. 7 pp. Senate Reports, No. 177, 31st Cong., 1st Sess., Vol. I.

4. Report on Claim of Haym M. Salomon. Senator Charles Durkee. March 9, 1860. 10 pp. Senate Reports, No. 127, 36th Cong., 1st Sess., Vol. I.

5. Report on Claim of Haym M. Salomon. Senator M. S. Wilkinson. July 2, 1862. 5 pp. Senate Reports, No. 65, 37th Cong., 2d Sess.

6. Report on Petition of Haym M. Salomon. June 24, 1864. 4 pp. Senate Reports, No. 93, 30th Cong., 1st Sess.

The second, third, fifth and sixth of the above reports have been reprinted in pamphlet form, presumably for private circulation. During the first session of the 29th Congress, the Senate Committee of Claims unanimously agreed upon a report similar to that adopted by the House Committee of the 30th Congress, but too late for presentation. Another report was drawn up during the second session of the same Congress, placed on file, but never adopted. It was largely embodied in the Senate Report to the 31st Congress; see Senate Report to the 31st Congress. The last sentence of the Report to the 38th Congress: "except the report of this committee made at the last session," and several paragraphs inserted in the Report to the 37th Congress as statements of "the committee of the last Congress," indicate the presentation of additional reports. No positive evidence of their existence has, however, been found. At the second session of the 52d Congress (February 24, 1893), a bill was presented to the House, ordering that a gold medal be struck off in recognition of services rendered by Haym Salomon during the Revolutionary War, in consideration of which the Salomon heirs waived their claims upon the United States for indemnity. The measure was reported favorably by the House Committee on the Library, but too late for consideration. The Report (No. 2556; to accompany H. R. 7896) summarizes the efforts made in previous Congresses, and reprints in full the Senate Report to the 37th Congress.

OTHER JEWISH CONTRIBUTORS TO THE COLONIAL TREASURY.

The monetary contribution by Haym Salomon to the successful issue of the Revolutionary struggle was doubtless the largest made by any individual, but while it is the most signal instance of its kind, it does not stand alone. Haym Salomon was not the only Jew who showed his earnestness in behalf of freedom by a jeopardy or sacrifice of fortune. Among the signers of the Bills of Credit for the Continental Congress in 1776 were Benjamin Levy, of Philadelphia and Benjamin Jacobs, of New York; and Samuel Lyon, of the same city, was among the signers of similar bills in 1779. Isaac Morris, also of Philadelphia, and who, after the Revolutionary War, was one of the incorporators of the Bank of New York, contributed three thousand pounds sterling (£3000) to the colonial treasury, and still another Philadelphian, Hyman Levy, repeatedly advanced considerable sums for the support of the army in the field. A yet more notable instance of patriotic devotion was that of Manuel Mordecai Noah, of South Carolina, who not only served in the army as officer on Washington's staff, and likewise with General Marion, but gave of his fortune twenty thousand pounds (£20,000) to further the cause in which he was enlisted. Many minor cases of a similar order could be cited, but only the more important instances, such as are of public record, have here been adduced.

INCIDENTS ILLUSTRATIVE OF AMERICAN JEWISH PATRIOTISM.

[A paper written for the American Jewish Historical Society by Max J. Kohler.]

In the present article, the writer proposes to set forth several incidents in our history not otherwise connected with each other than the above title indicates, but all tending to show that the Jew has ever been ready to battle for the cause of his adopted country, be his domicile where it may. Our subjects herein had differing views as to what patriotism demanded. We shall speak of French Jews battling for France, of English Jewish Colonists championing England's cause, and of American Jews fighting for American liberty and glory, yet all were equally patriots. In selecting the incidents to be set forth herein the writer has confined himself exclusively to matters which he believes are either wholly unknown to the Jewish historian or only partially or imperfectly known; no treatment of the main subject, other than these incidents may furnish, will be attempted.

I.
Colonel David S. Franks.

Members have no doubt still fresh in mind the interesting items relating to Col. Franks, set forth by Dr. Herbert Friedenwald and Prof. M. Jastrow in No. 1 of our "Proceedings." Since then other data have been collected and published in regard to the Franks family, to which I will merely refer; (see the very interesting article on the History of the Jews of Montreal, prepared for the Montreal Daily Star, December 30, 1893, and repeated in the American Israelite in January, 1894, which has been attributed to Rev. Dr. Meldola de Sola; and also an article on Rebecca Franks by the present writer, which appeared in the American Hebrew, November 9, 14, 21, and also in pamphlet reprint). In the present paper, Colonel Franks' early career in Canada will be chiefly dealt with, the documents herein cited demonstrating the correctness of Dr. Friedenwald's theory (p. 76) that Franks was drawn into the Revolutionary contest through pure patriotism and interest in the struggle which was being carried on south of his earlier domicile. A contemporary periodical furnishes the data I refer to; it is entitled: "The Remembrancer or Impartial Repository of Public Events." Part I, for 1776, London, 1776, pp. 100-6. (The narrative is somewhat condensed herein, but the documents are set forth in their entirety.)

"On May 2, 1775, the bust of the king at Montreal was found daubed over and indecently ornamented, the words, "This is the pope of Canada and the fool of England," being written upon it in French. A reward of 100 guineas was offered for the discovery of the perpetrator, and much indignation was expressed among the French inhabitants, eager to manifest their loyalty to England, one French gentleman even expressing his opinion that the act ought to be punished by hanging. Upon hearing this severe opinion, a young English merchant of the name of Franks, who had settled at Montreal and who at that time happened to be near the speaker, replied to him in these words: 'In England men are not hanged for such small offenses,' which he repeated twice or three times. This provoked M. de B——(the former speaker) to such a degree, that, after giving the young man much opprobrious language, he at last proceeded to blows, and struck him in the face and pulled him by the nose; upon which the other gave him a blow that knocked him down. The next day, May the 3d, upon a complaint of M. de B—— to three officers of justice of a new order, called the Conservators of the Peace for the District of Montreal, not of the blow he had received from Franks (for to this he was conscious he had given occasion by striking him first) but of the words pronounced by the latter, 'that in England people were not hanged for such small offenses,' the Conservators issued the warrant hereunder following for committing young Franks to prison. He was accordingly carried thither by a party of soldiers with bayonets fixed, and £10,000 bail, that was offered to procure his liberty, and be security for his appearance to take his trial for the offence, was refused. And there he continued for a week, at the end of which time, the same Conservators of the Peace (by the direction, as it is supposed, of Governor Carleton) ordered him to be discharged without any bail at all."

The following are the official documents, in translation:

"District of Montreal.

"By John Fraser, John Marteilhe and Réné Ovide Hertel de Rouville, Esquires, Judges and Conservators of the Peace in the District of Montreal:

"Whereas, Francis Mary Picote de Bellestre, Esquire, has made oath on the holy gospels that on Tuesday the second day of this present month of May, as he was standing still in the street to hear a proclamation published, concerning those wretches who had insulted his Majesty's bust, he had openly declared that he thought they deserved to be hanged: and that thereupon one Salisbury Franks had answered with surprise, 'that it was not usual to hang people for such small offences and that it was not worth while to do so,' and that he had repeated those words several times, and with a loud voice.

"We, having regard to the said complaint, and considering that every good subject ought to look upon the said insult to his Majesty's bust as an act of the most atrocious nature, and deserving of the utmost abhorrence, and that therefore all declarations made in conversation that tend to affirm it to be a small offence, ought to be esteemed criminal: Do, for these reasons, authorize and command you to convey the said Salisbury Franks to the prison of the town to be there detained, till he shall be thence discharged according to law. And for so doing, this warrant shall be your justification.

"Given at Montreal, under our hands and seals, on the third day of May, 1775.

(Signed)

John Fraser,
John Marteilhe,
Hertel de Rouville."

The warrant to the jailor we omit, but the warrant for his discharge follows:

"To the keeper of the jail in Montreal.

"Whereas David Salisbury Franks is now in your custody, in virtue of our warrant duly sealed and signed; these are now to command you to forbear detaining any longer the said David Salisbury Franks, but to suffer him to go at large wherever he pleases and that without fees. And for so doing, this will be your sufficient warrant.

"Given under our hands and seals at Montreal, on the 9th day of May, 1775."

(Signed as above).

It will be noticed that the warrant of release gives the full name of Franks and leaves it clear that he was the future American patriot. It should also be noticed that he is described as an Englishman, pointing to that country as the common home of the various members of the family of that name in America. (Compare Life of Peter Van Schaack, p. 143, and Kamble Papers, for references to Franks' family home, a mansion near London). Also that the amount of bail offered for young Franks, £10,000, was extraordinarily large for those days.

It is not proposed herein to repeat the interesting incident in the career of Arnold's aide-de-camp which others have set forth so well. Their accounts may, however, be supplemented by the following. It seems that Franks gave testimony to Mrs. Arnold's innocence of all complicity in her husband's treason. This fact is cited in a note in the present writer's sketch of Rebecca Franks (p. 12), but the original authority, the preface to the privately printed Shipper papers, he has thus far been unable to consult. After the inquiry into Franks' conduct,—occasioned by the suspicions aroused against him on account of Arnold's treason—had been held in accordance with his demand, Franks appears to have been sent to Europe with important dispatches to Jay and Franklin, with instructions to await their orders. In a letter from Robert Morris to Franklin, dated Philadelphia, July 13, 1781, we read: "The bearer of the letter, Major Franks, formerly an aide-de-camp to General Arnold, and honorably acquitted of all connection with him after a full and impartial inquiry, will be able to give you our public news more particularly than I could relate them." (Diplomatic Correspondence, edited by Sparks, Vol. XI, p. 382). His conduct in France and Spain appears to have been very creditable; Jay speaks very highly about his discretion and tact and he seems to have won the particular regard of the Count of Florida Blanca, the Spanish Minister, with whom Jay was negotiating. (See "Diplomatic Correspondence of the U. S.," edited by F. Wharton, Vol. IV, 752-754, 756-757, 764-784, V, 121. Thompson Papers (N. Y. Hist. Soc. Collections, 1878), p. 183. Accounts of the U. S. during the Administration of the Superintendent of France, 1781-1784). As noted by Dr. Friedenwald, Franks was sent by Congress to Europe again in 1784, this time to deliver a triplicate of the definitive treaty of peace to our ministers plenipotentiary. Further details about this trip are alluded to in "Military Journal of Major E. Denny" (Pa. Hist. Society, Pub. 1860) p. 415, where letters from Frank's associate, Col. Harman, are quoted, and in a letter written by Harman to a Philadelphia merchant, Jonathan Williams, in 1790, wherein he sends his regards to Franks, and alludes to the "gay moments we passed together in France, particularly the civilities received from you at St. Germain, where I dined with you in company with Mr. Barclay and Col. Franks" (p. 461). Not less interesting is the narrative of an encounter with Major Franks in 1787, by Dr. Cutler, on a trip to Philadelphia: "July 12th. Made our next stay at Bristol. Dined in company with the passengers in the stage, among whom were General Armstrong and Col. Franks. General Armstrong is a member of Congress with whom I had a small acquaintance at New York; Franks was an aide of General Arnold at the time of his desertion to the British. Both of them high bucks, and affected, as I conceived, to hold the New England states in contempt. They had repeatedly touched my Yankee blood, in their conversation at the table; but I was much on the reserve until, after we had dined, some severe reflections on the conduct of Rhode Island, and the Insurgency in Massachusetts—placing the two States in the same point of light—induced me to observe that 'I had no doubt but that the conduct of Rhode Island would prove of infinite service to the Union; that the insurgency in Massachusetts would eventually lead to invigorate and establish our government; and that I considered the State of Pennsylvania—divided and distracted as she was then in her Councils, the large County of Luzerne on the eve of an insurrection—to be in as hazardous a situation as any one on the Continent.'

"This instantly brought on a warm fracas indeed. The cudgels were taken up on both sides: the contest as fierce as if the fate of empires depended on the decision. At length victory declared in our favor. Armstrong began to make concessions. Franks, with more reluctance, at length gave up the ground. Both acknowledged the New England States were entitled to an equal share of merit with any in the Union, and declared they had no intention to reflect. We had the satisfaction to quit the field with an air of triumph, which my little companion enjoyed with a high relish; nor could he forget it, all the way to Philadelphia. But we parted with our antagonists on terms of perfect good humor and complaisance. My companion frequently afterwards mentioned the pleasure it gave him to see Armstrong and Franks, "so completely taken down," as he expressed it, which led me to conclude he was of the party opposed to them in the political quarrels of Philadelphia." (Historical magazine, Third Series, Vol. II, pp. 84-85).

But let us pass from Franks to another Canadian.

II.
Chevalier de Levis.

The student of Canadian history is very familiar with the name of Levis, which bids fair to be perpetuated in several geographical names in that country. The name was borne by Henri de Levis, Duke of Vontadour, Viceroy of Canada for some time after 1626, but was rendered more famous through the brilliant career of his relative, the Chevalier de Levis, Montcalm's able lieutenant, subsequently his successor as commander of the French forces in Canada, and still later Marshal of France. Numerous striking illustrations of his gallantry and chivalry are extant, and it is suggestive that Montcalm should have spoken some of his last words, in praise of "his gallant Chevalier de Levis," for whose talents and fitness for command he expressed high esteem. The writer hereof does not claim that either of these two de Levis' were Jews, but he does believe that they were of Jewish descent, less on account of their family name than on account of the following curious explanation of it: "A family that considered itself to be the oldest in Christendom. Their chateau contained, it was said, two pictures: one of the Deluge in which Noah is represented going into the Ark, carrying under his arm a trunk on which was written: 'Papiers de la maison de Levis.' The other was a portrait of the founder of the house, bowing reverently to the Virgin, who is made to say: 'Couvrez-vous, mon cousin.' 'It is for my own pleasure, my cousin,' replied the descendent of Levi."

(Compare Horace Walpole's Letters, Kingsford's History of Canada, Vol. I, p. 77, Parkman's Montcalm and Wolfe, I, 150, 360, 363, 378-379, 455, 478, 466; II. 308, 312, 354).

III.
Lopez and Hart, of Newport.

In the last volume of our "Proceedings" and also in Judge Daly's work, numerous references are to be found to the interesting career of Aaron Lopez, of Newport, whom the present writer has described as probably the richest and most successful Jewish man of affairs who lived in this country before the Revolution. It may be remembered that Lopez was one of a number of Jewish residents of Newport who found it necessary to flee from that city at the beginning of the war, when the British forces moved against the city. Lopez withdrew to Leicester, Massachusetts, with his family, and remained there until May, 1782. (Daly's Jews in North America, p. 86). Short as was his stay there, however, he left a noble memorial of his sojourn behind him, as appears from the following extract from the Diary of a journey from Plymouth to Connecticut by Samuel Davis in 1789. (Mass. Hist. Society Proceedings, 1869-1870, p. 11). "Leicester is situate on very high ground. The Meeting house is a decent edifice, very illy painted. Near it is the Academy, founded by the late Mr. Lopez, a worthy merchant of the Jewish tribe. It is a long building of two stories, with a cupola and bell, and two entrances, fronted by porticos; appears to be decaying. Mr. James observed at Worcester, that he supposed the preceptor and pupils would be removed to a handsome new school house in that town."

But Newport contained many Tories as well as Patriots, many of whom must to-day be regarded as no less patriotic than those whom we designate by that term. It is, therefore, not surprising to find Jewish Tories there, and one of the number appears to have been a martyr to his views, as the following item shows: "Mr. Isaac Hart, of Newport R. I., formerly an eminent merchant and ever a loyal subject, was inhumanly fired upon and bayoneted, wounded in fifteen parts of his body, and beat with their muskets, in the most shocking manner in the very act of imploring quarter, and died of his wounds a few hours after, universally regretted by every true lover of his King and country." (Account of the attack on Fort St. George, Rivington's Gazette, December 2, 1780).

To leave no doubt as to his faith, the following item, (from Du Simmitiaire, MSS., 1769) accompanies the preceding one in the Magazine of American History (Vol. III, p. 452): "At Mr. Isaac Hart's, a Jew, living at the Point, in Newport, R. I., there is a portrait of the late Czar, Peter I, done, I believe, by Sir Godfrey Kneller."

IV.
Some New York Jewish Patriots.

The number of New York Jews who served their country by risking life or fortune in its behalf is well-nigh legion. Hundreds upon hundreds of instances have been set forth from time to time, covering a time from the early colonial period, as appears particularly from another paper by the present writer, through the Revolutionary struggle down to our own day. But little cause can be assigned for distinguishing a few from the many in the present article unless it be the probability that the instances to be referred to herein are but little known. It should be of interest to notice, for instance, that the decision reached in 1770 to make more stringent the Non-Importation Agreement, which the colonists adopted to bring England to terms on the taxation question, had among its signers Samuel Judah, Hayman Levy, Jacob Moses, Jacob Myers, Jonas Phillips, and Isaac Seixas (New York Gazette and Weekly Post Boy, July 23, 1770).

The victory won by the Jewish Patriots over the loyalists in the New York Jewish Congregation at the outbreak of the Revolution, which induced the majority to determine to disband the congregation for country's sake, has been well described in a former article in our Society's periodicals and the names of the patriots who, in consequence, fled to Philadelphia on the approach of the British to New York are known. In another paper, the writer hereof enumerates some of the less known but possibly equally patriotic Jewish Loyalists, who remained in the city. It appears, however, that even the Jewish cemetery was to witness the strife and struggles of war, for we read that a battery to overlook the East River and prevent British ships from entering into it "is planned in some forwardness at the foot of the Jews' Burying Ground," in March, 1776. (N. Y. Hist. Soc. Collection Pub. Fund Series, Vol. III, pp. 354, 355).

During the war of 1812, the New York Jews appear to have again manifested their love of country, and one of their number, Col. Nathan Myers, was even in command of a brigade stationed near the City of New York in the beginning of the war. (Guernsey; "New York City during the War of 1812," pp. 86, 436-7). Others manifested their patriotism by bringing pecuniary sacrifices, as did Herman Hendricks in 1813. In February of that year, Congress passed an act authorizing a loan of $16,000,000, but less than $4,000,000 were subscribed. It was then that New York merchants came to the rescue by subscribing for the bonds, in spite of the sacrifices that were made in view of the fact that the government could not obtain money except at a discount of 15 per cent. Hendricks subscribed for $40,000 of the bonds, being one of the largest individual subscribers. (Scoville: The Old Merchant of New York City. First Series, pp. 329-333.)

Among those who served under Col. Myers in this War, was probably Samuel Noah, a cousin of Mordecai M. Noah, who led a most eventful life, which has been chronicled in a very interesting way by Gen. George W. Cullom in his "Biographical Sketches of Deceased Graduates of the United States Military Academy." We quote the account in full: