words in rifing to his throat had choaked him, and thus began:

I was born in Spain, the only fon of a younger brother of an antient and noble house, which like many others of the fame origin and perfuafion had long been the indifpenfable practice of conforming to the established religion, whilft fecretly and under the most guarded concealment every member of it without exception hath adhered to thofe opinions, which have been the faith of our tribe from the earliest ages.

This I truft will account to you for my declining to expofe my real name, and juftify the difcretion of my affuming the fictitious one by which It am now known to you.

1

Till I had reached my twentieth year I knew myself for nothing but a Chriftian, if that may be called Christianity which monkifh fuperftition and idolatry have fo adulterated and diftorted from the moral purity of its fcriptural guides, as to keep no traces even of rationality in its form and practice.

This period of life is the ufual feafon for the parents of an adult to reveal to him the awful fecret of their concealed religion: The circumftances, under which this tremendous discovery is confided to the youth, are fo contrived as to imprint upon his heart the strongest seal of fecrecy, and at the fame time prefent to his choice the alternative of parricide or conformity: With me there was no hefitation; none could be; for the yoke of Rome had galled my confcience till it feftered, and I feized emancipation with the avidity of a ranfomed flave, who efcapes out of the hands of infidels.

Upon

Upon our great and folemn day of the Paffover I was initiated into Judaism; my father conducted me into the interior chamber of a fuite of apartments, locking every door, through which we paffed, with great precaution, and not uttering a fyllable by the way; in this fecure retreat he purposed to celebrate that antient rite,which our nation holds fo facred: He was at that time in an alarming decline; the agitating task he had been engaged in overpowered his fpirits; whilft he was yet fpeaking to me, and my eyes were fixed upon his face, the hand of death fmote him; I faw his eye-lids quiver; I heard him draw his laft expiring figh, and falling dead upon my neck as I was kneeling at his feet, he brought me backwards to the floor, where I laid panting under his lifelefs corpfe, fcarce more alive than he was.

The noife of his fall and the horrid fhrieks I began to utter, for I had no prefence of mind in that fatal moment, were unfortunately overheard, far as we were removed from the family: The room we were in had a communication with our private chapel; the monk, who was our family confeffor, had a mafter-key,which commanded the avenues to that place; he was then before the altar, when my cries reached his ears: he afcended haftily by the private staircase, and finding the door locked, his terror at my yells adding ftrength. to a coloffal form, with one vehement kick he burft open the door, and, befides the tragic fpectacle on the ground, too plainly difcovered the damning proofs of our apoftacy.

Vile wretch, cried he, as he feized hold of my father's body, unholy villain, circumcifed infidel! I thank my God for having fmote thee with a fud

den

den judgment: Lie there like a dog as thou art and expect the burial of a dog! This faid, with one furious jerk of his arm he hurled the venerable corpfe of the most benevolent of God's creatures with the utmost violence to the corner of the room: Whilst I tell it my blood curdles; I heard his head dash againft the marble floor; I did not dare to turn my eyes to the spot; the sword, which my father prefented to my hand and pointed at his own breaft when he imparted to me his faith, lay naked on the floor; I grafped it in my hand; nature tugged at my heart; I felt an impulfe irrefiftible; I buried it in the bowels of the monk: I thrust it home with fo good a will, that the guard entangled in the cord that was tied about his carcafe; I left my weapon in his body, and the ponderous bigot fell thundering on the pave

ment.

A ready thought, which feemed like inspiration, feized me; I difpofed my father's corpfe in decent order; drew the ring from his finger, on which the fymbol of our tribe was engraved in Hebrew characters; I took away those fatal tokens, which had betrayed us; there were implements for writing on a table; I wrote the following words on a fcroll of paper-"This monk fell by my hand; "he merited the death I gave him: Let not my "father's memory be attainted! He is innocent, "and died fuddenly by the will of Heaven and "not by the hand of man."-This I figned with my name, and affixed to the breast of the monk then imprinting a laft kifs upon the hand of my dead father, I went foftly down the fecret ftairs, and paffing through the chapel efcaped out of the houfe unnoticed by any of the family.

Our

Our house food at one extremity of the antient city of Segovia; I made my way as fast as my feet would tranfport me to the foreft of San Ildephonfo, and there fheltered myself till night came on; by fhort and ftealthy journeys, through various perils and almost incredible hardships, I arrived at Barcelona; I made myself known to an English merchant, fettled there, who had long been a correfpondent of my father's, and was employed by our family in the exportation of their wool, which is the chief produce of eftates in the great plain of Segovia, fo famous for its fheep: By this gentleman I was fupplied with money and neceffaries; he alfo gave me letters of credit upon his correfpondent in London, and took a paffage for me in a very commodious and capital fhip bound to that port, but intermediately to Smyrna, whither fhe was chartered with a valuable cargo. Ever fince the unhappy event in Segovia it had been my firft and conftant wish to take refuge in England; nothing therefore could be more acceptable than these letters of credit and introduction, and being eager to place myfelf under the protection of a nation, whofe generofity all Europe bears teftimony to, I loft not a moment in embarking onboard the British Lion, (for fo the fhip was named) and in this afylum I for the first time found that repofe of mind and body, which for more than two months I had been a stranger to.

Here I fortunately made acquaintance with a very worthy and ingenious gentleman, who was going to fettle at Smyrna as phyfician to the factory, and to the care and humanity of this excellent perfon, under Providence, I am indebted for my recovery from a very dangerous fever,

which feized me on the third day after my coming on board: This gentleman refided many years at Smyrna, and practifed there with great fuccefs; he afterwards went through a very curious course of travel, and is now happily returned to his native country.

When we arrived at Smyrna I was on my recovery, and yet under the care of my friendly phyfician; I lodged in the fame houfe with him, and found great benefit from air and exercife on fhore: He advised me to remain there for a feason, and at the fame time an offer was made to me by the fhip's captain of acting for the merchants in place of their agent, who had died on the paffage. The letters of credit given me at Barcelona, and the fecurity entered into on my account with the houfe in London, warranted this propofal on his part, and there were many motives, which prevailed with me for accepting it.

In this ftation I had the good fortune to give fuch fatisfaction to my principals, that during a refidence of more than twenty years I negotiated their bufinefs with uninterrupted fuccefs, and in the course of that time fecured a competency for myfelf, and married a very worthy wife, with whom I have lived happily ever fince.

Still my wishes pointed to this land of freedom and toleration, and here at laft I hope I am fet down for life: Such was my prepoffeffion for this country, that I may fay without boafting during twenty years refidence in Smyrna no Englishman ever left my door without the relief he folicited, or appeared to stand in need of.

I must