favour in thy sight, and if it please thee, my king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request: for we are sold, I and my people, to be slain and to perish. Had we been sold for bondwomen, I had held my tongue, my lord, although the enemy could not countervail thy damage, O my king!"

The royal brow grows dark as night, the eyes gleam with a strange light, like lightning in a thunder-clouded sky. "Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so?"

Like a willow that bends before the blast, and then suddenly rises when the winds are lulled, the queen stood up, one hand gently touching the royal shoulder, the other extended like an avenging Fury towards the cup-bearer. "The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman !"

Forth from behind the kingly couch the foe to Israel appears and pleads for pardon, in vain. As when nearly two thousand years ago, the cries of maddened spectators rang forth, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" so now the whole audience rose up, and yelled as if the scene were real, "Hang him! hang him!"

The scene changes again. The hall is darkened, a curtain rises, and high upon a gibbet swings a dummy figure. And now all cry, "Cursed be Haman! Cursed be Haman!" as if yon poor effigy were in reality the enemy of Mordecai.

The above charade ought more properly to have been called an opera; for everything was sung, and it was interspersed with songs, hymns, glees, and dances. The entertainment lasted about two hours, and appeared to be greatly enjoyed by both audience and actors, the former joining in the choruses, and the latter singing and acting with great spirit.

The whole thing was to me a strange medley of religion and worldliness, very characteristic of modern Judaism. I ought, however, to add here that among the lower Jewish classes the Feast of Purim is characterised by an amount of licence and revelry that borders very closely on the worst forms of dissipation; and that the Purim play often acted by the strolling actors, who go from house to house offering their services, is full of ribaldry and impropriety. The following extract from a letter may be read with interest.

"You must look upon the Purim festival at Mr. de -'s," writes a friend from Amsterdam, "as something rather exceptional, and not as the ordinary custom among all Jews, both rich and poor. The mode of celebrating it among the poor here is as follows: On the Saturday before the feast, and the Saturday after it, a crowd of Jews collect in all the thoroughfares of the Jewish quarter, and then walk in a procession through the different streets in fancy dresses, and with masks on their faces,—something like the mardi gras in Paris. In the evening several public bals masqués are given, and the whole thing is made to resemble a mild kind of carnival as much as possible. On the morning of the day of Purim, at an early hour, the Jewish quarter is again overrun with crowds of Jews and Jewesses, many of whom disguise themselves and solicit alms from the different people in the streets, or go from door to door asking for subscriptions. The whole day is spent in festivity and hospitality, as you know; and most of the rich Jews here keep open house on that occasion, and in the evening give a large dinner-party. After dinner, three or four poor Jews send up a message to the host, asking leave to perform a Purim play in his presence. If the host accords. them permission, they come into the hall, bringing a screen

with them, on which is a door to represent their scenery. And now ensues a disgraceful exhibition. The piece acted is full of ribaldry; and the coarser the songs sung and the jokes uttered, the more does the performance delight those of the lower classes. Fortunately, the acting' does not last above twenty minutes or so, as these strolling Purim players go visiting one house after the other, and try to pick up as much money as they can. Nor do they confine themselves only to picking up money, for if by chance they come across a few silver spoons or forks, etc., they are not above making, when opportunity offers, some confusion in the laws of meum and tuum. It is not an uncommon thing, during one of these plays, to hear the hostess tell her servants to look sharp after the plate-the advice is not always unnecessary. I need hardly say that the Jews of the higher class have nothing to do with these players, but gratify their fancy for Purim dramas by exhibitions more poetical and refined.

"You are quite right in saying that toleration has always been the policy of the Dutch in regard to their treatment of the Jews here. Toleration is just the word; the Jews are tolerated, but that is all. Politically, both Jews and Christians are equal; socially, there is as much difference in their relative positions as in Prussia and Austria. With the exception of a very few isolated cases, the Hebrew community here live very much among themselves. The Dutch aristocracy and gentry rigidly eschew their society, the invitation of a Jew and Jewess to their balls or dinners is a most unusual circumstance. At the same time, I believe, the conduct of the Jews here has a great deal to do with their exclusion from society. They are often ostentatious, over-dressed, noisy.