situated opposite our mosque, is to remain undisturbed; the Greeks are to be allowed to perform their religious devotions as usual, free from interruption or annoyance; and if any one shall dare to molest these Christians, or their house of prayer, whether the offence so committed be great or little, the same shall be punished with death. Now, friend Maimoon, how can I sufficiently thank thee for thy good offices with thy brother the minister? and in what terms ought I to thank thy brother for all the good he has effected with the Sultan on my behalf, and on behalf of the Greek Church? The God of your forefathers, who is also our God, alone can give you meet substantial rewards; for myself, I can only offer you my grateful acknowledgments, and those in such a mode as falls short of what this benefit deserves.

MAI. A righteous act is in itself the best reward.

SIM. My brethren at Constantinople have acquainted me with the hatred which the Oolamas bear us, and which they have signified to their Moofti. I have likewise learnt from them that the Turkish prime minister participates in their hatred. But the Almighty is our help; He gave strength to the heart of thy brother, that, through his great wisdom, he might vindicate our cause before his majesty the Sultan, against all those ministers and Moslem priests to whom we are an eyesore and, from thy brother's maxims, these bigots should learn that a mortal, whose understanding is limited, and must ever be so, should not wage war with his fellow-creatures, merely because they profess a religious creed opposed to his own; that every nation should be at liberty to worship God after its own fashion ;

and that, if we had power to control them in the practice of their faith, as they have to control us, our principles would be to leave them in that respect entirely to the guidance of their own consciences. By the Greek Christians at Constantinople, I was informed that thy brother strove for us during many days, and brought all his extensive knowledge into action to gain our cause. His conduct was indeed noble and generous; and how untiring must have been his perseverance in reasoning so long with those fanatics-so long and so well as to prevail against them at last, by means of intellectual arguments alone. This event does indeed reflect glory on the Israelites; though holding to their ancient faith with the most unconquerable tenacity, yet they have risen up to advocate liberty of conscience for strangers. By that example, the world will be made fully aware of your righteous sentiments and humane feelings; and, further, they will be made aware that the Almighty has endowed you with surpassing wisdom. God grant that the learned of all nations may walk in thy footsteps, and dismiss from their hearts the cruel hatred which many such have cherished towards those who think fit to worship the Most High differently from what they do. O triple sword! O dreadful poison! many wise and good men have, through your agency, fallen victims to that hatred; but, O God, devoutly do I pray that an epoch may soon approach when the great light described by the prophet Isaiah may break forth over the whole world, when "The wolf will dwell with the lamb," &c. Thanks to the Almighty, in the Christian countries of Europe religious prejudices decrease daily, as we hear, so much

so, that we may hope to see, ere long, but a very slight difference between all religious opinions: this state of things was prophesied by a learned member of our church, in a work written by him:* "The time will come when it will be no longer asked in Europe whether a man is an Israelite or a Christian."

MAI. (Sighing heavily.) The inhabitants of Europe are not yet altogether free from that contagious malady, prejudice. A few days ago I received a letter from my brother Samuel, the spiritual head of the congregation at Cracow, in which it was stated that the Israelites there were grievously oppressed and persecuted by the Christians. They were accused of murdering many Christian children, for the purpose of obtaining Christian blood to mix up with the bread required for the Passover; and I regret to say, that many of the most distinguished Israelites of that town and the adjacent places were arrested, and, with their wives and children, were put in irons, and made to suffer tortures of a most dreadful description. Didst ever thou hear of so cruel a case?

SIM. I have also received a letter from the Patriarch of that town, who is my friend, in which he mentions the circumstance; and also, that it was corroborated by the testimony of three Christian women, who acted as servants to Jewish families.

MAI. (With great emotion.) Ah! doubtless it was an ordinance of the Almighty. If the Patriarch of that

* Herder's Ideen zur Philosophie der Geschichte der Menschheit. Tome 4, page 41.

place is really thy friend, worthy Sir, I must beg of thee to write me a letter to him, in order that my brethren may be freed from so monstrous a suspicion. Do not, I pray, refuse me this favour: I will not leave thee till my petition is granted.

SIM. It is impossible for me to write this instant; I must first give the subject much consideration. I advise thee, therefore, friend Maimoon, to go home and repose awhile; at present thou must be greatly fatigued with travelling. To-morrow let me see thee again, and we will talk further on this matter.

MAI. I thank thee, and will take thy advice. Blessed be the Lord, who again appears propitious to our cause.

Maimoon closed this interview by bowing to the Patriarch with profound respect. The next morning Maimoon returned to Simmias, and, after the usual exchange of friendly salutations, they commenced the discussion of the important subject raised at the conclusion of their prefatory discourse.

6

FIRST CONVERSATION.

SIMMIAS. After we separated last night, I could scarcely sleep for thinking of the accusation which thou didst mention as having been brought against thy people -that they are accustomed to use Christian blood in the ceremonies of the Passover festival.

MAIMOON. And what is the result of thy meditations on that subject? Tell me candidly; do not conceal from me any one thing which may have entered thy mind.

SIM. I regret to say, that my opinion is that this accusation must have had a stronger foundation than what we may term a trifling circumstance. I hope thou wilt not feel offended with me for thus declaring myself. Thou art aware that I always have been fond of searching out the truth in all things. My opinion does not arise from any blind prejudice concerning thy religion. God forbid that it should. Thou canst not think that my disposition is so uncharitable. I must request that thou wilt give me further information concerning this serious imputation; and if thou shouldst advance anything sufficient to convince me that I am labouring under an error, I shall indeed feel happy to make an acknowledgment to that effect.

MAI. (Sighing heavily.) God forbid, my dear friend, that I should imagine that thou wouldst willingly grieve me; yet I cannot conceal from thee that thy words