faction from them for succouring the Tyrians while he was hemming in the latter with an obstinate blockade, he invaded the Spanish territory, vanquished its inhabitants, and left there a large number of Jews, who travelled with his army, and laid the foundations of Toledo, Seville, and other very ancient cities. Tertullian, Eusebius of Cesarea, St. Clement of Alexandria, as well as other authors, treat largely of the conquests made and marches undertaken by Nebuchadnezzar, through Libya and all Asia as far as Armenia; not one of whom speaks of his arrival in the Spanish peninsula, and his capture of it by fire and sword. And even if such forcible reasons and arguments could be adduced as should serve to prove clearly that he acquired these lands by force of arms and power, there exist much stronger reasons for believing that no Jews went thither with his army. The perpetual enmity and discord that existed between the Jews and Assyrians, especially in religious matters, are proved by the testimony of the grave and authentic historian Flavius Josephus. While they lived together, their minds were alienated from one another by blind rancour and hostility: the former were dissatisfied with the state of slavery and misery to which they were reduced; the latter were disgusted at the repeated injuries they suffered, without a murmur, at the hands of those very men whom they had burdened with the yoke of a wearisome captivity. It is, therefore, im

3 Garibay's Compendio Historial, lib. v. cap. 4; Mariana's Hist. Gen. de España, lib. 1. cap. 17.-Translator.

possible to suppose that Nebuchadnezzar would take with his army, in his extremely bold march through Africa and Spain, such terrible and such troublesome enemies as these; and, still more so, that he would leave in their power the lands which he had acquired at the expense of the blood, sweat, and toils of his subjects.

Other historians assert that some Jews came to Spain about this time with Pyrrhus their captain, and built towns in two places-one of them was Toledo, the other Lucina or Lucena. But all these accounts are many miles away from the truth. The best established and only true story is, that those who escaped death at the capture of Jerusalem, were brought in chains to Babylon. This is the account given in the books of Kings and Chronicles.

Those who have wished to prove the fact that the Jews settled in Spain after the latter were subdued by the arms of Nebuchadnezzar,* relate that they had synagogues in the most considerable cities of the Spanish peninsula, of which the head and first in dignity was the one at Toledo. They go on to state that when Jesus Christ commenced preaching at Jerusalem, the Scribes and Pharisees determined to destroy Him, and

4 Strabo says that Nebuchadnezzar penetrated beyond the pillars of Hercules, and led an army from Spain into Thrace and Pontus (book xv.). Josephus also states that he (Nebuchadnezzar) conquered Tv 'Iẞnpíav, or, as it is in the Latin version, which is of equal authority, bonam partem Hispaniæ. (Antiquities, book x. chap. 11.) For this story of Pyrrhus, &c., see Garibay's Compendio Historial, lib. v. cap. 4.-Translator.

that (as in matters of the greatest difficulty they were accustomed to consult with all the synagogues in the world in order to ask their advice and consent,) they dispatched to the chief of the synagogue of Toledo letters from the chiefs and priests by the hand of their messenger, one Samuel. The Jews of Toledo met in council and in the names of the other synagogues in Spain, from which they had received full powers, after hearing read to them the letters of one Eleazar, a priest of their own country and a man of holy life, who had gone on business of his own to Jerusalem, and had been witness to, and had a high esteem for, the life and miraculous acts of Jesus, answered, that the Spanish Jews could not allow their brethren of Jerusalem to take away the life of Jesus Christ. The answer, they say, was afterwards found at Toledo, when Don Alfonso the Sixth rescued this city from the power of the Moors; it was written in the Hebrew tongue, and afterwards translated into Arabic by order of a wise Moorish king, named Galifre: the former monarch ordered it to be put into the Castilian language of the day, and it was preserved till the year 1494 in the archives of Toledo, whence it was carried off by the Jews when they were expelled from Spain.

This fiction, for such I consider it to be, has obtained credit with many very good writers who were deceived by the forger of the document, as for instance, Don Fray Prudencio de Sandoval," Arias Montano,

5 Historia de los Reyes de Castilla y de Leon, &c.

6 Commentaria in XII. Prophetas.

6

16

15

13

Dr. Juan de Vergara,' Dr. Francisco Pisa, Fray Juan de Pineda, Quintana Dueñas," Rodrigo Caro," Tamayo de Vargas," Francisco de Padilla, Don José de Pellicer," Don Diego de Castejon, Rodrigo Mendez de Silva, and many others whom, to avoid prolixity, I omit. For the credit of Spanish literature, I must say that several distinguished writers, including the Marquis of Mondejar and the very learned Nicolas Antonio, as well as other excellent critics, have regarded the story as apocryphal. Here follows what people would have us believe to be the translation of the letter in the language of the day in Don Alfonso the Sixth's time.

66

Levi, chief of the synagogue (archisinagogo), and Samuel, and Joseph, good men of the Aljama of Toledo, to Eleazar, great High-Priest, and Samuel Canut y Anás, and Caiaphas, good men of the Al

7 Historia de Toledo publicada por Pedro Alcocer.

8 Historia de Toledo. 1a parte [cap. 23. Pisa thinks that Nebuchadnezzar marched into Spain, but that he did not take any Hebrews thither. He is of opinion, however, that some of that race settled in the neighbourhood of Toledo many years before our Saviour's passion.—Translator.]

9 Monarquía Eclesiastica, &c.

10 Santos de Toledo, siglo 1o de la ley de gracia. [cap. 1. In the second chapter he gives his opinion of this letter, and quotes the chronicle of Julian the archpriest, mentioned below at page 30.Translator.]

11 Antiguedades, &c. de Sevilla.

12 Novedades antiguas.

13 Historia Eclesiástica de España. [vol 1. fol. 16.-Translator.]

14 Lecciones solemnes á las obras de Góngora.

15 Primacia de la Santa Iglesia de Toledo.

16 Poblacion General de España, fols. 10, 11.—Translator.

jama of the Holy Land, salvation through the God of Israel.

"The letters that ye sent us, wherein ye informed us how matters stood with the prophet of Nazareth, were brought to us by your man Azarias, a doctor of law, who saith that the prophet worketh many miracles. One Samuel, son of Amasias, passed through this city not long since, and gave us an account of many kind acts done by this man, who, according to his statement, is a humble and meek person, and talketh to the afflicted: he doeth good to every body; and when they do wrong to him, he wrongeth not any one: he dealeth boldly with proud and evil men, and ye are so wicked as to bear ill-will to him, because he told you your misdeeds to your faces. Now, as ye bore this ill-will towards him, we enquired of the former man in what year, month, or day he [the prophet] was born, and he told us. We found that it was on the day of His nativity that three suns were seen in these parts, which gradually became but one sun; and when our fathers observed the miracle, they, on consideration, proclaimed that the Messiah was soon about to be born, nay, that He was, perhaps, already born. Reflect, brethren, whether He have already come, and been rejected by you. The aforesaid man likewise informed us, on his father's authority, that certain magi, men of great wisdom, arrived in the Holy Land at the time of His nativity, and enquired for the place where the holy Child was born, and that