SOME
JEWISH WITNESSES
FOR
CHRIST.

BY

Rev. A. BERNSTEIN, B.D.

PREFACE.

JEWISH WITNESSES FOR CHRIST.

INTRODUCTION.

The aim of this work is to shew that God had at all times in the history of the Christian Church a considerable number of believing Israelites who, after their conversion to Christianity, rendered good service to their fellowmen and to the Church of Christ at large. Out of this company of "the remnant according to the election of grace," only a very few comparatively have their names recorded in history. The names of the great majority are written in the Book of Life alone. But as in the prophet Ezekiel—Noah, Job and Daniel—and as in the Epistle to the Hebrews—the short list of the Old Testament saints—are the representatives of a large number, so may the converts mentioned in this book be considered as representatives of a vast number of their brethren who had the courage and the grace given them to take up the cross and follow Jesus.

Yet, of course, to give a mere nomenclature, or catalogue, of persons would not signify much unless it were followed by a description of the life and work of the persons concerned. The material thereto is abundant—there is a vast literature upon the subject—as will be presently seen, with the exception of that which refers to Jewish converts of the Eastern Church. The sublime maxim, "One soweth and another reapeth," is peculiarly applicable to a biographical writer. He cannot and must not be original, but has to state the facts in the life of the person whom he attempts to delineate, just as he finds them recorded in books, or letters, or as he knows them from personal observation. But it is obvious that the latter can only be the case when the subject of a biographer's writing is a contemporary and known to himself.

The following are the sources from which the writer has immediately drawn his information:—

(1.) "The Jewish Encyclopædia." Every contributor to this remarkable work of 12 volumes is well-known in the literary and religious world as a reliable authority upon the subject of his article.

(2.) "Juden Mission, a history of Protestant Missions among the Jews since the Reformation," by Pastor de le Roi, well-known and esteemed in the churches on the Continent and beyond its borders.

(3.) "Christen und Juden," by the late Rev. A. Fürst, D.D., formerly a Missionary and Pastor at Amsterdam, and well acquainted with Spanish literature.

(4.) "Jewish Witnesses that Jesus is the Christ," by the Rev. Ridley Herschell (father of Lord Chancellor Herschell), who gives his autobiography and the lives of several personal friends.

(5.) "The People, the Land and the Book," by B. A. M. Schahiro, of the Bible House, New York.

(6.) "The Hebrew Christian Witness," by the Rev. Dr. Moses Margoliouth, 1874-5.

(7.) "Sites and Scenes," by the Rev. W. T. Gidney, M.A.

(8.) "The Talmud," whose testimony is very reliable when it speaks of Jewish Christians.

Ultimate sources of information, and ulterior literature, to which nearly all these writers refer, are as follows: "Wolf, Bibliotheca Hebraica." "Gräetz, Geschichte der Juden." "Hetzel, Gesch. der Hebraischen Sprache." "Fürst, Bibl. Jud." "Steinschneiders Bibliographisches Handbuch." "Catalogue Bodl." "Dict. Nat Biog." "Meyer's Conversations Lexikon." "Da Costa's History of the Jews in Spain." "Kalkar, Die Mission unter den Juden." "The Jewish Missionary Intelligence." "The Jewish Missionary Herald." "Saat auf Hoffnung," by Professor F. Delitzsch, of Leipzig. "Nathanael," by Professor Strack, of Berlin. Other biographical dictionaries and histories.

CHAPTER I.

The Apostolic Period began on the day of Pentecost when the disciples who were gathered together were a hundred and twenty in number (Acts i. 15), but were only a section of the 500 brethren who had seen the Lord after His resurrection (I. Cor. xv. 6). On the same day, as the result of St. Peter's first missionary sermon, "there were added unto them about three thousand souls" (Acts ii. 41). A short time afterwards "the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith" (Acts vi. 7). This progress continued to such a degree that St. James, after hearing the interesting missionary report of St. Paul, "about the things which God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry," said to him, "Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe" (Acts xxi. 20). How glad we should have been if we had some account of, at least, the more prominent converts of that period, and knew something of the sufferings that they had to endure for the sake of Christ. Nevertheless, the Acts of the Apostles, though containing much in relation to the progress of the Gospel among Jews and Gentiles, gives but little information with regard to Jewish individual conversions, and mentions only two Jewish Christian martyrs—namely, St. Stephen and James the Elder—and is even silent about the exclusion of Jewish converts from the Temple, which we gather only from the Epistle to the Hebrews. This fact is to us an evidence that St. Luke, the first ecclesiastical historian, had no design to shew to the world the inherent power of the Gospel exemplified by the conversion of many of the very people who had rejected Christ, and it proves the genuineness and authenticity of the Acts of the Apostles and the date commonly assigned, for had it been written later, as some critics maintain, the author would surely have taken the trouble to give his readers some detailed information concerning at least one per cent. of that vast multitude of Jewish converts mentioned by St. James. Such is the method of the ecclesiastical historian in modern as well as in ancient times, as the following two examples will shew: Pastor de le Roi, Jewish missionary historian, has for years not only collected statistics of Jewish converts in various churches, and summed up the whole number as being 224,000 in the nineteenth century, but he has also furnished us with a great deal of information concerning the history of many of these converts. For, as the Rev. W. T. Gidney rightly says, "Jewish converts must be weighed as well as counted." The second example is Hegesippus, who, according to Eusebius, was a Palestinian Hebrew Christian, and lived in Rome about 150 A.D. He is the father of Church history, and wrote a book under the title "Hyponeymata Pente," with the special design to answer the question of the Pharisees, "Have any of the rulers believed in Him?" and to shew that the Gospel made rapid progress among the Jews in the first century in spite of great opposition. Of this opposition the Jewish Liturgy to this day bears witness in the so-called "Blessing against the heretics," which Samuel the Little composed in the Synagogue of Yabne, in the presence of Gamaliel the Elder. Justin Martyr in his Dialogue, Origen in Homily 18, Jerome on Isaiah, complained of it, and it has, alas, been a source of trouble to the Jews at various times throughout the Christian ages. Hegesippus supplies information about a number of Jewish sects, who regarded each other as heretics. It is a pity that the greater part of his book has been lost, and we have only a few fragments in "Euseb. History iv.," and an extract in "Photius Bibliotheca" (page 232). That probably contained detailed information about the more prominent converts in the Apostolic age. Still, the most valuable relic for us is his list of Hebrew Christian bishops in regular succession in the mother Church at Jerusalem. These are as follows: James, the Lord's brother (Gal. i. 19), of whom Hegesippus states that he was martyred while praying in the Temple. Symeon about 62 A.D., Justus I. 64, Zacchæus 112, Tobias 114, Benjamin 116, Justin 118, Matthias 120, Philip 122, Seneca 125, Justus II. 126, Levi 128, Ephres 130, Joseph 132, Jude 133. The shortness of their episcopates probably indicates that it was a time of great tribulation. To this list may perhaps be added Ananias, who baptized Saul of Tarsus at Damascus, and, according to tradition, was subsequently bishop there and suffered martyrdom (See "Schaff. Bible Dictionary"); Crispus, Chief of the Jewish Synagogue (Acts xviii. 8), who, according to tradition ("Constituit Apost." vii. 46), was afterwards Bishop of Ægina; Clement, of Rome, who, according to Bishop Lightfoot, was an Hellenistic Jewish convert or son of a convert. The bishop came to this conclusion, after weighing much the internal evidence of his Epistle to the Corinthians.[1]

Two of the converts of the first century are mentioned in the Talmud and receive there an excellent testimonial. The first is Nicodemus, identical, according to the writer in the "Jewish Encyclopædia," with Nicodemus ben Gorian. He is said to have been a great saint. The other is Jacob of Kefar Sakanya (Simai). He once met R. Eliezer in the upper market-place of Sepphoris and asked his opinion on a curious ritualistic question bearing upon Deut. xxiii. 8. As R. Eliezer declined to give an opinion, Jacob acquainted him with the interpretation of Jesus derived from Micah i. 7. R. Eliezer was pleased with the interpretation, and was consequently suspected of Christian leanings by the governor (Abodah Zarah, 17. a). On another occasion, Jacob went to heal R. Eleasar ben Dama of a poisonous bite by a serpent in the name of Jesus, but his uncle, R. Ishmael, would not allow it. Jacob said to him, Rabbi Ishmael, my brother, let me heal him, and I will prove to you from the Torah, that it is allowed, but R. I. was obstinate. In the meantime the patient died, and his uncle apostrophized the corpse in these words: "Happy art thou Ben Dama that thy body is pure and thy soul departed in purity, as thou hast not transgressed the words of thy fellow rabbis" (Abodah Zarah, 27. b).

CHAPTER II.

Another noted Jewish convert belonging to this period was Joseph, a physician of Tiberias (called by the Jews "The Apostate"). He had been a member of the Sanhedrin in his native town, was sent by them as a delegate to the Jews in Cilicia, where he became acquainted with the Christian bishop, who gave him a New Testament. According to Milman (vol. iii., p. 179) he was detected reading it, was hurried to the synagogue and scourged. The bishop interfered. But he was afterwards seized again and thrown into the river Cydnus, from which he hardly escaped with his life, and was baptized. On his return he told his friends in Palestine that the Gospel made progress among the enlightened Jews. The Emperor Constantine elevated him to the rank of Comes or Count of the Empire, and he devoted his life to the building of churches at Tiberias, Capernaum, Nazareth, and Sepphoris (Dio Cæsarea). It is worth mentioning in this connection the report of Epiphanius that Hillel, who succeeded his father Judah II. in the patriarchate of Tiberias, embraced Christianity and was secretly baptized on his death-bed by a bishop. Joseph, his physician (says Milman) had witnessed the scene which wrought strongly upon his mind. The house of Hillel after his death was kept closely shut up by his suspicious countrymen. Joseph obtained entrance, and found there the Gospels of St. John and of St. Matthew, and the Acts in a Hebrew translation.[2]

Tabius, of high priestly descent, son of one Anan, probably the one who was sent on embassy to the Emperor Claudius, is also mentioned by ecclesiastical writers as having embraced Christianity.

Asher ben Levi, called Abed al Masih, lived in the fourth century in Sinjar Mesopotamia. His school companions, both Zoroastrian and Christian, shunned him, but the latter on one occasion baptized him. Asher's mother hid him from his father, who was a warden of the synagogue, fearing his anger, but he was eventually killed by him. A church was built afterwards in his memory. There is a Syriac MS. which contains this story.

Jacob, of Kefar Neuburaya, another Hebrew Christian of the fourth century, is mentioned in the Talmud as one whose opinions met with approval by the rabbis in two instances. One of those may be quoted. In the School of Cæsarea he interpreted Hab. ii. 19 as being a rebuke of simony. On the same occasion he indicated Ben Eleazer as being a worthy candidate for the rabbinate (Yer. Bik. iii. 3. Midr. Shemuél vii.). Isi, of Cæsarea counts him among the Judæo-Christians, applying to him the Biblical word sinner (Eccl. R. vii. 47). The appellation Jacob Minah I. = Jacob the heretic, met with in the Medrashim, may refer to the same subject of the article in the "Jewish Encyclopædia." As its author is Dr. Max Seligsohn, the official editor, we may assume that it is now granted that by the word Minim in the Jewish Liturgy is meant Jewish Christians. No wonder then that these have always protested, and sometimes rather too vehemently, against the collect, and wished it to be expunged.

CHAPTER III.

When the Jewish Christians fled to Pella, at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, their brethren the rabbinists were very angry with them, and probably accused them of want of patriotism, as we know they did afterwards, because they did not enlist in the army of the false Messiah, Bar-Cochba. However, during the first Christian centuries the separation between them was not quite so wide and marked as after the publication of the Talmud. The Talmud itself testifies that asperities were occasionally smoothed over by continual intercourse and exchange of thought on religious and other topics. Yes, even friendship was possible. It is related that a heretic sent once on one of his own feasts an imperial coin as a present to R. Juda Nasia. (Abodah Zarah 5.b). The feeling of resentment against Jewish Christians gradually diminished. This may be seen from the following amusing story. A certain heretic once annoyed R. Joshua ben Levi whilst he was reading the Scriptures, probably with questions as to the meaning of a Messianic prophecy. R. Joshua, believing that there is a certain moment in the day when God is angry, because it is written, "For His anger endureth but a moment" (Ps. xxx. 5), and believing too that this moment is indicated by a curious natural phenomenon, when the comb of a cock gets red, he tied a cock to the foot of the bed and patiently watched for the sign, so that he might have a good opportunity of cursing the heretic during the moment of God's anger. But before that moment came he fell asleep, and when he awoke he noticed that the cock's comb remained white as before, so he concluded that it was not right to curse any one, for it is written "The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works" (Ps. cxlv. 9). Again "Also to punish the just is not good." (Prov. xvii. 26) (Abodah Zarah 4h.)

The two classes used generally to meet in a public library called בי אבידן or in another place of assembly called בי נצרפי and we may rightly infer that some, at all events, of the beautiful sayings in the Talmud which resemble N. T. passages are due to the influence of the Hebrew Christians upon the rabbis in their discussions with them during the time when the Talmud as such, or at least the Gemara, was only in the course of formation. One passage will suffice to show that the rabbis during this period were well acquainted with the N. T. There was once a discussion between R. Gamaliel and a Christian (called a philosopher) with regard to the law of inheritance. The Christian maintained that inasmuch as a woman is placed on an equality with a man in the N. T., she has an equal right with her brother to inherit the parental property. To that Gamaliel replied by quoting Matt. v. 17, with a very slight alteration to suit his purpose.

אנא לא למיפחת מן אורייתא דמשה אתיתי ולא לאוספי על אורייתא דמשה אתי תי.

"I have not come to destroy the law of Moses, nor have I come to add to the law of Moses" (Shabbath 116 b). Moreover, the fact that some Rabbis at that time thought that the Evangelium should be burned—and also Hebrew Christian books generally—proves that they were acquainted with the contents, but does not shew that they were very bitterly hostile to their brethren, and they may have even referred to gnostic writings. Justin Martyr's Dialogue with Trypho, probably R. Tarphon mentioned in the Talmud, is well known.

It was otherwise after the Babylonian Talmud was finished in the fifth century. This huge building—which Scribes, Tanas, Amoras, and later gaons, tosafits, and quite a number of commentators in successive generations have reared up—was like the Tower of Babel, and brought confusion within the ranks of the Jews. The following is the language of one who took a leading part in laying one stone upon another: What is Babel? R. Johanon said: It is confused in the Scripture, confused in the Mishnah, and confused in the six orders of the Talmud. "He hath set me in darkness as they that be dead of old" (Lam. iii. 6). Rav Yirmiah said: This refers to the Babylonian Talmud. It formed an iron partition between Judæo-Christians and their brethren. While formerly tradition was only handed down by word of mouth, and many were liable to forget or disregard it, when once it was written, codified and taught in the synagogues and schools to all except women, the poor, unenlightened people in their joy at being at last able to read the oral law, which was pretended to have been given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai at the same time as the written law, clave to it with all the enthusiastic ardour of their souls, and refused to have anything to do with the Gospel or the Christian religion.

Milman relates a legend of this time which was current in the sixth century; though it is in an exaggerated form, yet on the whole it is quite credible. "While Menas was Bishop of Constantinople, the child of a Jewish glassblower went to church with the rest and partook of the sacred elements. The father inquiring the cause of his delay, discovered what he had done. In his fury he seized him and shut him up in the blazing furnace. The mother went wandering about the city, wailing and seeking her lost offspring. The third day she sat down by the door of the workshop, still weeping, and calling on the name of the child. The child answered from the furnace. The doors were forced open, and the child was discovered sitting unhurt amid the red-hot ashes. Subsequently the mother and child were baptized." (Milman's "History of the Jews," vol. iii. p. 230.)

For several centuries we do not hear of many distinguished Jews embracing Christianity, and though it is asserted that whole congregations in Candia did so in the seventh century, it is not our object to investigate this. Undoubtedly, after the rise of Mohammedanism, the Church had enough to do to stand on her defence against the new and even more fanatical antagonist, and the Jews were on the whole neglected. Besides, there were scarcely any Christian teachers who understood Hebrew, and the N. T. was not yet translated into the sacred tongue. Yet we find one very distinguished Jewish convert in the seventh century. This was Julian of Toledo, Primate of Spain, called by one of his successors, "A rose among thorns." He was baptized in the cathedral of his native place, became archdeacon in 656, Bishop in 680, and died in 690. He was President of the Twelfth Council of Toledo when he urged King Erwig to pass some severe laws against his former co-religionists, prohibiting them to blaspheme the Trinity and to possess Christian slaves. Nevertheless, the writer in the "Jewish Encyclopædia" speaks of him "as a man of great sagacity and discretion, prudent in judgment, very charitable, and tempering severity with mildness," and further informs us that he used to associate with the Jews. Consequently, he could not have been so very hostile against them. But on this point it is necessary once for all to remark that the severe opinion that used to be held by the Jews in general about Hebrew Christians was, to a great extent, owing to the unfair judgment passed upon them indiscriminately by Jewish historians. It is now acknowledged that even the modern Gräetz was unfair in this respect. We by no means want to exonerate the few bigots and fanatics like Nunes Henrique who acted as spy of the Maranos, or others who agitated for the burning of the Talmud, and strongly condemn men like Dr. Briman, so-called Justus, the associate and abettor of the Roman Catholic Theologian Rohling at Prague, in recent times, but it must be remembered that there is a great difference between anti-Talmudists and anti-Semites, and that by far the vast majority of Jewish converts, even in the ages of predominant bigotry among Christians and Jews, have defended their brethren against false accusations, as will be seen later on. To return from this digression to Julian. He wrote, "Historia rebelleonis Pauli," also a book under the title, "De comprobatione ætatis sextæ contra Judæos." The work deals with Messianic prophecies of the Bible, in which he adopts the chronology of the Septuagint, and addresses the Jews with these words, "Viam perdidisti viam ergo se quere, ut per viam venias ad salutem."

But even in that age, the eve of the so-called Middle Ages, the age of the gaons, when there was a Prince of the Captivity in Babylon who exercised supreme religious authority over the Jews in the East, and so far as Spain and France, we hear occasionally a voice from the midst of the Synagogue bearing an unwitting testimony for Christ. Cottan Mather, in his "Faith of the Fathers," quotes the words of Rabbi Samuel Marachus (Abbas Samuel Abbu Nasr Ibn) when speaking of the Messiah, as follows: "The Prophet Amos mentions a fourth crime (ii. 6) of selling the Just One for silver, for which we have been in our captivity. It manifestly appears to me that for selling that Just One we are justly punished. It is now 1000 years and more, and in all this we have made no good hand of it among the Gentiles, nor is there any likelihood of our ever any more turning to good. Oh, my God! I am afraid, lest the Jesus, whom the Christians worship, be the Just One we sold for silver." (See "Lectures on the Jews," p. 430, Glasgow, 1839.)

CHAPTER IV.

Aleksyeyev, Aleksander (called Wolf Nachlass), born in 1820, at Nazarevietz, government of Podolsk, of poor Jewish parents. At the age of ten he was impressed into military service by the press-gang (poimshchiki) of Nicolas I., and sent away to the distant city of Volsks, government of Saratov. It was the political and missionary policy of Nicolas I. to take young boys from their parents and to train them in military schools, so that after they had completed their service of twenty-five years, they might return home and act as missionaries to their parents. Aleksyeyev for a long time resisted Christian teaching, and the officials considered him a most stubborn subject. However, about 1845, he changed his views entirely, and not only became a member of the Orthodox Russian Church, but managed to convert about five hundred Jewish Cantonists, for which he was promoted in 1848 to the rank of a non-commissioned officer, and was honoured by the Emperor's thanks. About 1855, Aleksander was so unfortunate as to lose the use of his legs. He then settled in Novogorod, and during his long illness wrote the following works on ethnographic and missionary topics:—English titles: 1. "The Triumph of Christian Teaching over the Talmudic Teaching, or a Soul-saving Conversation of a Christian and a Jew on the Coming of the Messiah" (St. Petersburg, 1859); 2. "Religious Service, Holy Day and Religious Rites of the Jews To-day" (Novogorod, 1861); 3. "The Public Life of the Jews, their Habits, Customs and Prejudices" (ib. 1868); 4. "Colloquies of an Orthodox Christian with a Newly-Converted Jew" (St. Petersburg, 1872); 5. "A Former Jew for Monastries and Monasticism" (Novogorod, 1875); 6. "The Conversion to Christianity of an Observer of the Jewish Law" (ib. 1882); 7. "Do the Jews use Christian Blood?" (ib. 1886), and several others. His works are interesting, as he was the first Jew in Russia to give a description of the life and customs of his Jewish brethren. He refuted the absurd and criminal blood accusation.

Gregory Bar-Hebræus (son of a Hebrew) Abu Ab-Foraj Ibu Harun, Jacobite Syrian historian, physician, philosopher and theologian; born at Malatia, Asiatic Turkey, 1226; died at Moragha, Persia, 1286. Gregory first studied medicine under his father Aaron, who embraced Christianity, and was probably baptized in his youth. This accounts for his not being conversant with Hebrew, though he was well acquainted with Jewish doctrines. He was successively Bishop of Guba (1246), of Lakaba (1247), and of Aleppo (1253). In 1264 he was named "Mafriana," or Primate of the Eastern Jacobites, with his seat at Tekrit on the Tigris. Gregory was a prolific writer on theology, philosophy, ethics, history, grammar, medicine, mathematics and astronomy. Some of his works were written in Arabic, but most of them in Syriac. He was the last great Syriac writer, though he is important rather as a collector than as an independent writer. He is best known for his Syriac grammar, "Ketaba de Semhe," his "Chronicle" in two parts, ecclesiastical and political; his "Menarat Kudshe," a compendium of theology, philosophy, medicine, physics and metaphysics, and his scholia on the Old and the New Testament (Auzar Raze). In the last-named he occasionally cites readings from the Samaritan text; it is interesting to note that in a scholium to 2 Kings xvii. 28, he says: "The Law (i.e. text of the Pentateuch) of the Samaritans does not agree with that of the Jews, but with the Septuagint." He occasionally cites opinions of the Jews, e.g., on Ps. viii. 2, on the Shem Hamephorash (the name Jehovah). In the introduction to his commentary on Job he mentions as a writer the priest Asaph (brother of Ezra the Scribe), who identifies Job with Jobab. In speaking of the Apocryphal account of the death of Isaiah, he cites "one of the Hebrew books" as authority. (Nestle Marginalien ii. 48).

Rubinstein Anton Gregryevich (not to be confounded with Josef, also a Russian great musician), was born 1829, in the village of Wetchwotgretz, Bessarabia, died at Peterhof, near St. Petersburg, in 1894. His parents embraced Christianity, and the children were probably baptized when still young. Anton was first taught music by his mother (Katherina Khristoferovna, née Lowenstein), and then studied at Moscow. The great services rendered by him in the advance of music in Russia were recognized by the Czar, who decorated him with the Vladimir order.

Rubinstein Nikolai, born in Moscow 1835, died in Paris 1881, was the brother of the above, and was well-known in England.

CHAPTER V.

In giving an account of well-known Jewish converts in the Christian Church, one is limited to the information which is supplied from sources generally connected with the Western or Roman Catholic Church. The subject naturally divides itself into two parts—(a) The pre-reformation period, (b) The post-reformation period. In the former the Roman Church displayed great zeal, though not according to knowledge, in her energetic missionary enterprise among the Jews. There was a missionary seminary in Spain in which men studied Hebrew literature and qualified themselves for carrying on the controversy with the Jews. Hence we read of frequent disputations which were held by the Jewish and Gentile missionaries with the most learned rabbis, often in the presence of bishops, noblemen, and princes. But, alas! the methods employed were also often those of force and intrigue, and consequently un-Christian in the extreme, and the converts thus gained were only such in appearance, and this led as we know to the terrible Inquisition and to the final expulsion of the Jews from Spain. In the latter period, after the Reformation and onwards, the Roman Church has apparently slackened her zeal for the conversion of the Jews. She has no distinct missionary organization, and we only hear now and then of clandestine abductions, generally through the instrumentality of domestic servants, like the famous Mortara case and the Coen case in the time of Pius IX., and that of the Jewish girl of Prague, enticed into a nunnery, which the Jewish Chronicle reported a few years ago.

Nevertheless, among those who have voluntarily joined the Roman Church in various centuries, we verily believe—on the ground of their social standing, their public works, published writings and personal character—that they embraced Christianity out of pure conviction, and conscientiously discharged their duties according to the light that was in them at the time.

The following is a list of Jewish Roman Catholic converts, who have become historical, very often by making a good impression upon their contemporaries, and having sought the welfare of the people from whom they sprung. The names are given in alphabetical order, as this method seems to be the more convenient for the compiler, and the time and country in which they lived are added. As they all were members of one Church, it is not very material to follow the centuries in regular succession, or to treat of the countries they belonged to separately. An exception is however made with regard to England, in which the "Domus Conversorum," the house of converts in London, requires a separate notice.

Abiathar ha Kohen Esther, of Saragossa, Spain, after her baptism, in the fifteenth century, married Don Alfonso, son of the King of Aragon. Her sister Leah also embraced Christianity, and married the Marano Martin Sanchez. From them some of the Spanish nobility are descended.

Abilis, Simon, a convert in Prague. According to the report of the Jesuit Eder, he was killed by his father, Lazarus, March 21, 1694, because he refused to renounce Christianity. The father was put in prison, where he committed suicide by hanging himself with his phylacteries.

Abner, of Burgos (called also Alfonso of Valladolid), born in 1270, died in 1348, became a Christian at the age of sixty. He was a physician by profession, and learned in Talmud, philosophy and astronomy. He wrote the following works: 1. "Moreh Zedek" (Teacher of Righteousness). 2. "A Dialogue between a Christian and a Jew." 3. "A Reply to Kimchi's book and on Wars of the Lord." 4. "Old Testament Foundations for Christian Doctrines." 5. "Libro des los tres gracias." 6. "The Offering of Jealousy." 7. "A Reply to Replies." 8. "Igereth hagezerah," in which he gives reasons for his conversion.

Abraham Beneveniste, senior chief rabbi of Seville, together with his son and son-in-law, also rabbis joined the Church in 1492, when they assumed the name of Cosonel.

Abravanel Samuel (one of the three of the same name) was baptized in 1391, when he took the name of Juan de Sevilla.

Aemilius, Paulus, born in Breslau, Germany probably in the first part of the sixteenth century, died at Rome in 1576. After embracing Christianity he was appointed Professor of Hebrew at Ingoldstadt in 1547. He was the first Jewish bibliographer.

Alexander de Franciscis Hebraeus. As a Jew he was known as Elisha de Roma. After his baptism in the sixteenth century he entered the Order of the Dominican Friars, in which he distinguished himself as an orator. Pope Clement VIII. appointed him proctor, then vicar-general, and finally Bishop of Forli. He wrote—1. Hebrew notes on Genesis and Exodus, with special reference to the text of the Vulgate. 2. A book entitled "De Tempore et de Sanctis."

Alexanderson (Ben Alexander) Daniel. After embracing Christianity at Rouen, in France, 1621, he wrote in Syriac or rabbinic an open letter, giving the reasons for his conversion and calling upon his former co-religionists to follow his example. The letter was translated into several European languages, and went through two English editions. (London, 1688 and 1703.)

Alfonsi Petrus (Moses Sephardi) was born at Huesca, Aragon, in 1062, and died in 1110. He was physician to King Alfonso VI. After his baptism he wrote a series of twelve dialogues between Moses and Pedro, i.e., between himself as a Jew and a Christian.

Alonzo de Cartagena, son of Solomon ha Levi, or Paul of Burgos, was born in Burgos, Spain, in 1385, and was baptized with his father, brothers and sisters in 1391. After studying philosophy and law, he became deacon of Santiago and Segovia. He and his brother, called Gonzalo Garcia, represented Spain at the Council of Basel. Alonzo, who was called "the joy of Spain and the delight of religion," published several philosophical and theological works, as well as some erotic poems.

Andreas Johannes, a native of Xativa in the sixteenth century. After his conversion he wrote a letter to the congregations of Southern France, exhorting them to accept Christianity (Paris, 1552). His works which were originally written in Spanish, were translated into Italian by Domenio Castila (Seville, 1537), and frequently reprinted in Leipzig, Venice and Utrecht.

Alfonso de Zamora, born about 1474, embraced Christianity in 1506, and his father Juan did likewise. Alfonso became professor of Oriental languages at the University of Salamanca. For over fifteen years he laboured under the auspices of Cardinal Ximenes, in the preparation of the Complutensian Polyglot. He wrote a number of grammatical and lexicographical works, an Epistle in Hebrew and Latin to the Jews in Rome, in which he tried to convince them of the truth of Christianity, translations of Commentaries on Isaiah and Jeremiah, &c., an Introduction to the Targum, and a polemical work entitled, "Libro de la Sabiduria de Dios."

Anacletus II., Pietro Pierleoni Antipope to Innocent II., from 1130 to 1138. It is maintained that he was a very near descendant of one Baruch, a rich Jew who had joined the Roman Church. There can be no doubt that he was of Jewish origin, as Bernard of Clairvaux, a supporter of Innocent, in a letter to Lothair, wrote that "to the shame of Christ a man of Jewish origin was come to occupy the chair of St. Peter." He was friendly to the Jews. This is interesting enough, but the more so, because it gave rise to the legend of a Jewish Pope by the name of Andreas, discovered among some penitential liturgies issued by Eliezer Ashkenazi (Frankfurt on Maine, 1854.) In this it is said Andreas had himself embraced Christianity, and become successively Cardinal and Pope. In answer to an appeal from the Jews for protection against an imminent persecution, he not only, by a speech, subdued the popular passion but also calmed the Jews by sending them a penitential prayer which had been composed in Hebrew, signed with his name Andreas.

Another legend in circulation among the Jews, varying in the details, is that this Pope's name was Elhanan, the son of Simon the Great, a rabbi of Mayence, who was kidnapped when quite a child by a servant, on the Day of Atonement. And when he became Pope, the story of his origin was told him by his old Professor of Wurzburg, when he summoned the Jews of Mayence to send a delegation to Rome, to discuss the question between Judaism and Christianity with him. Accordingly, his own father appeared before him, and one evening made himself known to him by his birth-signs or, as some say, by a peculiar move in chess which he had learned from him. The result was that the Pope suddenly fled in disguise to Mayence and returned to Judaism. But his end was either that he was forcibly burned at the stake or that he committed suicide. (See "Sippurim," by J. B. Brandeis, Prague) This is the Judeo-German version, but there are also Spanish and Arabic versions which differ in some of the details. (See "Jewish Encyclopædia.")

Andrea de Monti, whose Jewish name was Joseph Zarafti, was born at Fez, hence he is sometimes called "Joseph Moro," died before 1597. After his conversion to Christianity, he laboured as a missionary to the Jews at Rome. He published the sermons which he preached to them under the Hebrew title "מבוכת היהודים" ("Confusion of the Jews.") The Roman Jews then protested to the Curia, when he issued a mild letter to them in 1581, under the title "אגרת שלום" ("Lettera de Pace.")

Aquin de Philippe, born at Carpentras about 1578, died in 1650 at Paris. He was converted to Christianity in Aquino. His Jewish name was Mordecai. He was a voluminous writer; the following is a list of his works. 1. "Primigenæ Voces, sui Radices Breves Linguæ Sanctæ" (Paris, 1620). 2. "Pirke Aboth Sententiæ Rabbinarum Hebraices cum Latina versione" (ib. 1620). 3. "Dessertation du Tabernacle et du camp des Israelites" (ib. 1623). 4. "Interpretatio Arboris Cabbalisticae" (ib. 1625). 5. "Behinat Olam" (L'Examen du Monde) of Yedaiah Bedersi, Hebrew and French (ib. 1629). 6. "Ma'arik ha—Maareket, Dictionarum Hebraicum Chaldaicum, Talmudico-Rabbinicum" (ib. 1629). 7. "Kina Licrimae in Obitum Cardinalis de Berulli," Hebrew and Latin (ib. 1629). 8. "יג מדות" "Veterum Rabbinorum in Exponendo Pentateucho Modi tredecim" (ib. 1620).

Aquinas, Louis Henri de, son of the above, wrote a translation of the commentary on the book of Esther, by R. Solomon ben Isaac, with extracts relating thereto from the Talmud and Yalkut (Paris, 1627), and a Latin translation of the first four chapters of Levi Ben Gerson's commentary on the book of Job. (ib. 1623.)

Aronda, Pedro de, Bishop of Calahisra and President of the Council of Castile in the latter part of the fifteenth century, was the son of Gongolo Alonzo, a Hebrew Christian. Aronda's brother, too, was Bishop of Montreal in Sicily.

Baena, Francisco, and his brother, Juan Alfonso Di, flourished at the end of the fifteenth century and in the sixteenth century. They were both Spanish poets.

Baptista, Gioranni Giona Galileo, was born in Safed in 1588, and died in 1668. His Jewish name was Judah Jonah ben Isaac. After travelling on the Continent, and being assistant rabbi in Hamburg, he embraced Christianity in Poland in 1625. Then he went to Italy and was appointed Professor at the University of Pisa, and later as one of the librarians at the Vatican. He wrote (1.) "A Sermon in Hebrew and Latin on the Messiah and the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles." (2.) "Limud hameshehim" (Doctrines of Christianity), a Hebrew translation of the Italian Catechism of Robert Bellarmin. (3.) "Berith Hahadasha,"[3] a Hebrew translation of the N. T., with a preface by Clement IX. (4.) A Hebrew Chaldaic Lexicon. (5.) A Treatise on the name of Jesus, "Hillufin sheben sheloshah Targumim," a collection of the differences in the Targums. Some of the works are in MS. in the Vatican library.

Baptista, Garvanni Salomo Romano Eliano. He was born at Alexandria and died in Rome in 1589. He was the grandson of Elijah Levita, the famous Hebrew grammarian. Hearing that his brother was baptized at Venice, he hastened there to win him back to Judaism, but became a Christian himself in 1551. He wrote a catechism in Hebrew and Arabic, and similar religious books, but gained especial notoriety as an anti-Talmudist, and used his influence at the Papal Court to have the Talmud and other rabbinic literature, destroyed altogether. This actually happened in some places. But Baptista had to suffer for it, and his name, together with Joseph Moro and Ananel di Folgio, also converts and companions, are still branded by Jewish writers. When, in 1561, he was sent by Pope Pius IV. on a mission to Egypt, the Jews of Alexandria bitterly persecuted him at the instigation of his own mother.

Bernard, Sarah, born in Paris in 1844, of Dutch Jewish parentage. At the request of her father she was received into the Roman Catholic Church. Her early years were spent in a convent. Later she studied dramatic art in the conservatoire, and became famous.

Bauer, Marie-Bernard (Herman Cohen), was born at Budapest in 1829, died 1898. After his conversion to Catholicism he joined the Carmelite order. He distinguished himself as a preacher, first at Vienna, where he delivered a series of addresses, which were published (1866) under the title, "Le Judaisme Comme Preuve du Christianisme." Eventually he attained to the rank of a bishop. In 1869 he became father confessor to the Empress Eugenie. On November 17th, 1869, he delivered the dedicatory address at the opening of the Suez Canal. He also published a book of sermons, "Le But de la Vie" (1869), and a pamphlet, "Napoléon III, et l'Europien" (1867).

Caballeria Bonafos, son of Solomon ibn Labe de la Caballeria, was baptized in the fifteenth century, and eight brothers followed his example. Notwithstanding this, some members of this large family suffered much from the Inquisition.

Carben Victor, a convert, living at Cologne between 1442 and 1515, was the author of the following controversial works: (1). "Opus Aureum ac Novum in quo Omnes Judaeorum Errores Manifestatur." (2). "Propugnaculum Fidei Christianæ, Instar Dialogi inter Christianum et Judæum in quo quod Jesus verus Messias, verus Deus et Homo, Totius que Humani Generis Salvator."

Canta Joshua Dei, according to Steinschneider, belonged to the family Cantarini (מהחזנים), and according to Wolf, B. II. i. 131, he was a convert to Christianity. He, together with Baptista Vittorio Eliano, denounced the Talmud as containing blasphemies against the Christian faith, in 1559, and the result was the burning of Hebrew books, and his own assassination in the streets of Cremona.

Carthagena don Alfonso, son of Paul of Burgos, died at Burgos in 1456. He was baptized together with his father, brother and sister, in 1391, and became Archdeacon of Compostella, and then succeeded his father in the See of Burgos. The writers in the "Jewish Encyclopædia" contradict each other in ascribing the succession at Burgos to both him and his brother Alonzo, which cannot be unless one brother succeeded another. In 1431 he was the representative of Castile at the Council of Basel. Pope Pius II., in his memoirs, called him "An ornament to the prelacy." Pope Eugenius IV., hearing that the Bishop of Burgos was about to visit Rome, declared in full conclave, that "in presence of such a man he felt ashamed to be seated in St. Peter's chair." Among Carthagena's writings, on history, morals, and other subjects, there is a commentary on the twenty-sixth Psalm, "Correctus Ludovicius."

Cohen Todoros, a native of France, lived at Florence in the sixteenth century. After he embraced Christianity, at the age of fifty, at Geneva, he wrote a book entitled "Maroth Elohim, Liber Visorum Divinum," in which he relates the history of his conversion, and quotes passages from the Bible and Kabbalistic works in favour of Christianity. The work, published in Paris in 1553, was translated into Latin by Angelo Caruni (Florence, 1554). It is inserted in Johannes Buxtorf's "Synagoga Judaica."

Cohen, Archbishop of Olmütz, Austria, at the end of the nineteenth century. He wrote many works on Roman law, notably one entitled, in German, "The Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire from the Standpoint of Jurists" (1897).

Coronel, Paul Nunez, born at Segovia, died in 1534. He was a rabbinical scholar, and after his conversion he was appointed Professor at the University of Salamanca. Cardinal Ximenes de Cisneros commissioned him to translate the Bible into Latin. This translation is contained in the "Complutensian Polyglot" (1541-17). He also wrote "Additiones ad Librum Nicolai Lirani de Differentiis Translationem (Verborum)," which has not been printed.

Crescenzi Alexander lived at Rome in the seventeenth century. In 1666 he translated from the Spanish into Italian Antony Colmenarde Ludesina's treatise on "Chocolate." Mandosius speaks of him as a mathematician who became celebrated on account of his report, which he edited with mathematical notes, on the eruption of Vesuvius in 1660.

Christiani Pablo, a convert of the thirteenth century. After his baptism he became a member of the Order of the Dominicans. He is notorious as an over-zealous missionary, who cherished the Boanergian spirit more than the spirit of Christ towards his brethren, and he is only mentioned here on account of the famous controversy he held at the palace of King James with the great Rabbi Nahmonides, when he tried to prove from the Talmud the truth of Christianity, and Rabbi Nahmonides declared that he did not believe in the Haggadic stories of the Talmud.

Compiegne de Weil, Ludwig, lived at Paris, and later at Metz, in the second half of the seventeenth century. He was a descendant of Rabbi Jacob Weil, of Nuremberg. After embracing Christianity he studied theology at the Sorbonne. He translated several parts of Maimonides' "Yad ha Hazakah."

Conrat Mose (Cohen), born in Breslau, 1848, attended there the gymnasium St. Maria Magdalena, where he probably embraced Christianity. He was a professor of Roman law at the Universities of Zurich and of Amsterdam.

David Bonet Bonjorn lived in Catalonia in the second half of the fourteenth century. He is said to have been the son of the astronomer, Jacob Poel. He was baptized in 1391. He had a friend by the name of Propiat Duran, who was also baptized, but returned to Judaism. P. D. tried to persuade him to follow his example, but when he refused, the other addressed an epistle to him under the title, "Al Tehi Ca Abothekha," which is considered as a masterpiece of satirical criticism against Jewish converts to Christianity.

Davilla Diego Arias, minister and confident of King Henry IV. of Castile, died in 1466. He and his family became Christians when Vincent Ferrer was preaching special sermons to Jews, and it is recorded that they were generous towards the Church. His second son, Juan Arias Davilla, was Bishop of Segovia.

Delegado Gonçalo, a Portuguese convert of the sixteenth century, was a poet. One poem narrates the circumstances of an English incursion in 1596, during which the town of Faro was stormed and sacked. The poem is dedicated to Ruy Lourenzo de Tovava.

Deza, Diego de, was not himself a convert, but of Jewish descent. He was second inquisitor-general, Bishop of Salamanca, Professor of Theology there, friend and protector of Christopher Columbus, and finally Archbishop of Seville, in which city he died in 1506.

Diego de Valencia, a satirical Spanish poet in the fifteenth century, after embracing Christianity, entered the Franciscan Order, and receiving the degree of doctor of theology, was known among his contemporaries as a very learned physician, astrologer, and master of sciences (gran letrado, fisico, astrologo é mecanico). He was one of the leading Valencian poets, and most of his poems are contained in the "Cancionero de Baena."

Dominico Irosolimitano, born in Safed, Galilee about 1550, died in Italy about 1620. He was educated at the rabbinical college in his native city, studying not only the Talmud, but also medicine. After having obtained the degree of doctor and the title of Rab, he lectured on Talmudic law in Safed. His fame as a physician spread far and wide, so that the Sultan of Turkey summoned him to Constantinople as Court Physician. Subsequently he embraced Christianity, went to Rome, and was received at the college of the Neophytes, where he taught Hebrew. He was then employed as expurgator of Hebrew books. Dominicus was the author of a Hebrew book entitled, "Ma'ayan Gannim" (Fountain of the Gardens), on the principles of the Christian faith. He also translated into Hebrew the whole of the New Testament, and most of the Apocryphal books (1615-17). He was the compiler of the "Sefer ha Zikuk" (Book of Expurgation), still in manuscript, one copy of which (in the library of Cardinal Berberini, Rome), shews revision by him as late as 1619.

Drach David Paul Chevalier, born at Strasburg, in 1791, died in Rome. Drach was the son of a rabbi, and received a good education from his father. In 1823 he embraced Christianity together with his two daughters and his son Paul, who afterwards became a priest and a distinguished Biblical scholar. Drach senior accepted the position of librarian of the Propaganda in Rome. His principal works are the following: An edition of the "Bible de Venice," 27 volumes, with copious and learned notes, Paris, 1827, 33; "Relation de la Conversion de M. Hyacinthe (Simon) Deutz, Baptisé à Rome le 3 Février," 1826; "Précédée de Quelques Considérations sur le Retour d'Israel dans l'Eglise de Dieu," Paris, 1828; "Notice Concernant l'Origine et les Progrès de l'Hospice Apostolique de St. Michel," Rome, 1842; "De l'Harmonie Entre l'Eglise et la Synagogue, ou Perpétuité de la Foi de la Réligion Chrétienne," 2 volumes, Paris, 1844; "Lexicon Catholicum Hebraicum et Chaldaicum in V. T. Libros, hoc est Gulielmi Gesenii Lexicon Manuale Hebræo-Latinum Ordino Alphabetico Digestum," Paris, 1848; "Le Pieux Hebraisant," a work containing the principal Christian prayers, and a summary of the Catholic Catechism in Hebrew and Latin, ib. 1853; "Documents Nouveaux sur les Restes des Anciens Samaritains" (from the Annales de Philosophic Chrétienne), Nov. 1853, ib. 1854.

Eliano, Vittorio, grandson of Elijah Levita, a convert of the sixteenth century. He became priest and canon. Well versed in Hebrew literature, he was appointed censor of Hebrew books, first at Cremona, afterwards (1567), at Venice. In this capacity he permitted (1557) the publication of the "Zohar," and edited the "Tur" in 1558.

Eskelis, Denis Baron de, and his sister, Countess of Winifen, son and daughter of Freiherr Von Bernhard Eskelis, Austrian financier, who was the founder of the Austrian National Bank, embraced Christianity in the nineteenth century. Denis succeeded his father in the management of the banking-house.

Felix Pratensis, born at Prato, Italy, in the second half of the fifteenth century, died at Rome in 1539. In 1518 he embraced Christianity, then joined the Augustine Order and devoted himself to missionary work among his brethren. He had a perfect knowledge of three languages, and displayed such great fervour, though apparently with little discretion, in his sermons, that he was called "the Jews' scourge." While still a member of the synagogue, Felix published a Latin translation of the Psalms, entitled, "Psalterium ex Hebræo ad Verbum Translatum," Venice 1515. He arranged the Masorah for the "Biblia Veneta," 1518, published by his disciple Bromberg.

Ferretti Francesco Maria (Abot), whose Jewish name was Sabbathai Nahum, was a native of Ancona or had been rabbi there, for he calls himself d'Ancona. He embraced Christianity in 1734. He wrote a book entitled, "La Verita della Fede Christiana," Venice, 1741. In this book there is a prayer in Hebrew and Italian which gives us an insight into his experience and life as a seeker after the truth.

The prayer is as follows:—

"Creator of the worlds, Lord of lords! It is revealed and known before the Throne of Thy Majesty that for many years my heart is restless and my spirit is drawn hither and thither, in that the thought occurs to me to forsake the faith of my fathers and to accept the Christian faith. I do not, however, know whether this desire is good, a pure effect of the working of the Holy Spirit, which aims at my salvation, and is determined before the Throne of Thy Majesty, that Thy will and pleasure should be accomplished in this faith. It is also known unto Thee that just when I am in the synagogue or in the houses of study, and even in the highest festivals when I am engaged in prayer, the desire of acknowledging the Christian faith inflames my heart and mind to the utmost. I cannot do otherwise. I must leave my bed in the middle of the night, and with bitter tears which Thou wilt not disdain, beseech Thee, that on the ground of Thy thirteen attributes, Thou mayest deliver me from these inward vexations. Yet they become stronger and more vehement every day, so that I am powerless to overcome them, and in weariness repine. No sooner does one thought leave me than another arises; the one whispers this, the other that. I am dumb and without advice. Thou knowest also that, after I made an excursion and returned home, I felt a little easier, but these thoughts took hold of me more mightily, making me anxious with fear and dread, and giving me not a moment's rest either day or night. They pursue me while dreaming or awake, on all my ways, so that life is a misery to me. Therefore, O Lord, Thou God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who art enthroned over the Cherubim, hear me! O Lord, hearken unto me! Here I am, here I am! Behold, in fasting and in prayer I supplicate Thy lovingkindness and grace, that Thou mayest graciously incline to me from Thy throne of glory and grant my request. O, my God, teach me to pray humbly and acceptably. Give me a new and pure heart, and renew my spirit, that I may be enabled to understand the inward emotions and to perceive the truth. Save me from this tribulation, and lead me in the right way. If it is determined before the Throne of Thy Majesty that I should accept the Christian faith, because it is good, holy, and acceptable to Thee; O, so may it please Thee that I should walk about in peace, and not depart from Thy way and will. All things come from Thee, and Thou hast dominion over all, and Thou enlightenest the eyes of those who love Thee, and Thou accomplishest that which is in accordance with Thy counsel. When after this month is passed, these spiritual emotions do not cease, then I will in truth acknowledge that Thou alone from Thy dwelling place in heaven hast wrought this restlessness in me, in order to lead me to my soul's salvation. So take hold of me with Thy right hand, bring my soul near to redemption, and save me from mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. Praised be Thou, O Lord. Teach me Thy statutes. Praised be Thou who hearest prayer. Amen."

Ferrus, Peter, a Jewish convert to Christianity, lived in Spain in the fifteenth century. He was a poet of ability, but lacked discretion as well as charity in his poems with regard to the Jews.

Franchi, Guglielmo Dei, born in Rome, died there about 1660. After having embraced Christianity he joined the monastic order of Vallombrosa, and devoted himself to the dissemination of knowledge of Hebrew among Christians. In 1596 he published, at Rome, a Hebrew alphabet ("Alphabeticum Hebraicum"), giving the rules for the reading of Hebrew, and three years later a short Hebrew grammar. (Bergamo, 1599.)

Gonzalo, Garcia De Santa Maria, son of Paul of Burgos, was baptized with his father in 1379, when he was eleven years old. He was appointed archdeacon of Briviesca in 1412, and then successively Bishop of Astorga, of Placentia, and of Siguenza. Besides his ecclesiastical and historical studies, he made himself familiar with Jewish literature, and was one of the most learned men of his time in Spain. He was present at the Council of Basel as a delegate from Aragon.

Forti, Hortensius (Johanan Hazak), Jewish convert to Christianity, lived in the sixteenth century, born at Gorima, and settled at Prague, under Maximilian II. He wrote "Dikduk Leshon Kodesh," a Hebrew grammar, Prague, 1565-66, and "De Mystica Literarum Significatione," in which he expatiates on the different ways of writing the Holy Name. The latter work was published by Kircher in his "Oedipus Aegptytiacus ii."

Heydeck, Don Juan, was before his conversion to Christianity a rabbi in Germany, and afterwards professor of Oriental languages at the University of Madrid. In 1792 he published a work in three vols. entitled, "Defense de la religion Christiana," in which he reputed the errors and attacks of Voltaire and Rousseau. This work next to the Bible was the means of convincing Dr. Cappadose and Da Costa of the truth of the Gospel. In 1807 Napoleon convoked a great Jewish Sanhedrin, when some of the delegate rabbis were exuberant in their flattery of him as if he had been the Messiah. Thus the Italian Rabbi Segri, in an oration in honour of Napoleon's birthday said: "Truly a supernatural genius appeared upon earth, invested with greatness and infinite fame." Et ecce cum nubibus cœli quasi Filius hominis veniebat et dedit ei potestatem et honorem et regnum (Dan. vii. 13). R. David Zinsheimer, of Strassburg, applied to him in a sermon, Isa. xlii. 1, 4, 6. Another Italian rabbi opened the sitting with a speech in which this passage occurs in reference to Napoleon. Le genie createur, qui parmi les mortels est le mieux formée à l'image de Dieu, en suit les traces sublime. It was then that Heydeck wrote to them, "If the Son of Man shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed" (John viii. 36.) (See "Christen und Juden," by Dr. A. Fürst, p. 202. See also the "Missionary Journal" of Dr. Joseph Wolf, 1824, containing a letter of Heydeck to a friend of Wolf in England, in which he expresses great interest in Wolf's journey to Jerusalem, and asks his correspondent to tell him that it is his wish that he may become like Joseph in Egypt, a deliverer of his brethren according to the flesh.)

Henekstein, Alfred Freiherr Von, born at Ober Dobling, Austria, 1810, died in Vienna, 1882. He was the son of the banker Joseph Von Henekstein, and embraced Christianity in 1828. Joining the army in the same year, he was gradually promoted, until in 1869 he was appointed Chief of the General Staff. As such he acted under Benedek in the Austro-Prussian war, when the Austrian army, through the blunders of commanding officers, was defeated, and he and his superior were arrested to appear before a court-martial. After some time the court was dismissed without having given judgment. Leaving the army, Henekstein passed the rest of his life in retirement in Vienna.

Hess, Ernst Friedrich, lived in the sixteenth century. He was the author of a controversial book entitled, "Neue Juden-geissel," cited as "Flagellum Judæorum." (Fritzlar, 1589.) (Strack, "Sind die Juden Verbrecher," p. 7.)

Ibn Vives, Juan, grandson of one of the richest Jews of Valencia, was the author of a book entitled, "Veritate Fidei Christianæ." It is asserted in the "Jewish Encyclopædia" that he did this in self-defence, because he was condemned in 1510 for Judaizing, but no proof is given.

Iolante, a converted Jewess, married Dam Luis, brother of Henry, King of Portugal, in the sixteenth century.

Isaac Johann Levita, born in Germany 1515, died at Cologne, 1577. At first he was a rabbi at Wetzler, he was baptized as a Protestant in 1546, but joined the Roman Catholic Church, and was appointed professor of Hebrew at Cologne, which office he held until his death. He wrote a Hebrew grammar in 1556. He also edited Maimonides' work on astrology, and Moses ibn Tibbon's commentary on Aristotle's physics (Cologne, 1555).

Johannes Hispalensis, flourished between 1135 and 1153. He was a native of Toledo, and hence also was called J. (David) Toletanus. He was one of the earliest translators from the Arabic. He translated chiefly astrological and astronomical, but likewise some philosophical, and a few medical, works, such as "Fons Vitæ," and "Epitome Totius Astrologæ."

Johannes Pauli, born about 1455, died at Thann, 1530. He became a distinguished preacher of the Franciscan Order at Oppenheim and Strassburg, at which latter place he took notes of Geiler's Sermons, which he edited at Schlettstadt, 1517. He is known chiefly, however, for his collection of jests under the title, "Schimpf und Ernst" (Thann, 1519). Some of his stories were taken over into the "Hundred Merry Tales" used by Shakespeare.

John, of Capua, an Italian Jewish convert in the thirteenth century. He translated Rabbi Joel's Hebrew version of "Kallilah wa Dimnah," from Arabic into Latin, under the title, "Discetorium Vitæ Humane," and his translation was the source from which that work became so widely spread in almost all European tongues.

Joshua Halorki was born in Spain in the latter part of the fourteenth century, at Lorca, in Murcia. He early distinguished himself as a subtle Talmudist and skilful physician. He was a Jew of the straitest sect. His scrupulous search for arguments against Christianity was over-ruled to his discovering that Christianity was founded on the Rock of Ages, against which the very gates of hell could not prevail. Dr. Joshua de Lorca then confessed, publicly, that in assaying to convict the Hebrew Christian, Solomon Halevi, of heresy, he proved himself to be ignorant of the spirit, and an unbeliever in the letter, of Moses and the Prophets. He begged for the privilege of being baptized. He assumed the name, when the sacrament of baptism was administered to him, of Geronymo à Santa Fé. It was soon made evident that Joshua—or Geronymo, or Hieronymus, as he is variably known in ecclesiastical history—was a chosen vessel in the hands of his Redeemer. The new Hebrew Christian devoted his immense wealth, intellectual and other, towards the promotion of his Saviour's honour and glory, especially amongst his Jewish brethren. His extensive acquaintance with Talmudical and other Jewish lore, enabled him so to expose their false teaching, as to make their fallacies very evident to such as would not hoodwink their reason by impervious prejudice. His celebrated work, "Probationes N. T. ex V. T. per quas doctrina Talmud improbitur, et dicitur liber contra errores Judæorum," is one of the most decisive testimonies for Christianity, and against Talmudism, which a Hebrew Christian witness could have borne.

In the year 1413, an ever memorable conference between Jewish and Christian divines was agreed upon. The meeting was convened at Tortosa, in Aragon. The Pope-Pretender, Benedict XIII., or Pedro de Luna, presided. The most renowned and famous Rabbis of the time were ranged on one side, Geronymo à Santa Fé—assisted by Andreas Baltram, a native of Valencia, another Hebrew Christian, afterwards Bishop of Barcelona—on the other side, and they met on the 7th of February, 1413, to discuss whether "Jesus, called of Nazareth, who was born at Bethlehem in the latter days of King Herod, seventy years before the destruction of the second temple, who was crucified, and died at Jerusalem, is really the true Messiah, foretold by the prophets of the Old Testament." The discussion lasted till Nov. 12, 1414. It occupied sixty-nine sessions. It was attended by the grandees of the Church and Synagogue of the day. The result was wonderful. All the Jewish disputants, with the exception of two, admitted, and signed a declaration accordingly, that they were fairly vanquished, and that utterly. Upwards of five thousand Jews made a public confession of their faith in Christ, and were baptized into the same.