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SOLOMON BURNED.

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hath sent me unto thee, saying, 'If thou turn from thy way, shalt thou not be accepted and live?'* And he will maintain thee, and thou shalt be before him; and if not- evil is determined against theet." And he stood not up nor moved before him. And he answered like a saint, like an angel of God, and said, "Because I walked in that religion, my heart is bitter and grieved; and now what is good in your sight do; and my soul shall return unto her father's house§, as in her youth||, for then it will be better with her than now." And they were full of indignation against him¶, and cast him upon the wood which was upon the fire, and they brought him as a burnt-offering unto the Lord, wholly burned**. And the Lord smelled the sweet savour††, and took to him his spotless soul, and she is with him as one brought up with him, rejoicing always before him. But they brought his servants out from the prison, and they went their way. There was none left in their destruction, except the noble Reubenite, his friend, and they set a watch over him. And the emperor went to Bologna; and they took the Reubenite with him in a waggon, bound with fetters §§, and took

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SOLOMON'S RE-APPEARANCE.

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him to Spain; and he abode there many days, and died in the prison-house.

839. And many in Italy believed, at that time, that Rabbi Solomon Molcho had been delivered by his wisdom from the hand of those who sought after his soul to destroy it*, and that the fire had no power over him. And there were some witnessed, and sware before the assembly and congregation, that he stood in his house eight days after the burning, and that he went his way thence, and they saw him no more; the Almighty God alone knoweth†. And would to God I could write in a book with certainty and sincerity, whether his words were true or not.

840. And my wife conceived, when we were at Botago; and when her time was fully come that she could bring forth, she had hard labor. And I cried unto the Lord concerning her, and He

*Ps. xl. 14.

In A.D. 1666, when the notorious Pseudo-messiah Shabthai Ts'vi was frightened into Mahommedanism, there were also people who would not be undeceived. "Non obstant cela, il ne laissa pas de s'en trouver quelques-uns qui affirmoient que Sabatai ne s'estoit point fait Turk, et que c'estoit seulement son ombre qu'on voyoit sur la terre avec un turban blanc, et un habit de Mohamettan; mais que son veritable corps et son ame avoient esté enlevez au ciel pour y demeurer jusqu'au temps prescrit, a l'accomplissement des merveilles qu'il avoit preschées." Histoire de Deux Turcs, et d'un Juif, de l'Anglois de Mons. T. E. Paris, 1673, p. 138, 139.

.בוטאגו +

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ESTHER-DORIA IN JANUARY, A.D. 1533. 193

heard me from his holy habitation. And He opened her womb, and she bare a son on the eleventh day of the month Shebat, two hundred and ninety-three after the smaller date; and she ceased from bearing. And I said, "Now will I praise the Lord," and I called his name Jehudah*; and the child grew, and obtained favor in the sight of all that looked upon him†.

841. And Andrea Doria, the oppressor of the Jews, returned with all his ships unto Italy in those days.

842. And it happened, when they came, behold there was with them among the captives, a virtuous woman of the Hebrews, whose name was Esther, the wife of Rabbi Jacob, the priest. And the prison-keeper‡ said unto her, "Go to now, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee§." And she went after him and covered herself, and plunged from the ship into the depths of the seal, and died before it was known whither the woman went; and they marvelled much concerning her. I pray thee, O God of the spirits, bring her back from the depths of the sea.

843. And Andrea Doria rode on a horse and went to Bologna, and bowed with his face to the

*Gen. xxix. 35.

† Esther ii. 15.

.השבאי $

§ Gen. xxxviii. 16.

Num. xvi. 22; xxvii. 16. VOL. II.

|| Micah vii. 19.

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DORIA IN GENOA, 1533.

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ground before the emperor. And he abode there some days and returned unto his ships, and came with gladness to Genoa in the month of January in the year two hundred and ninety-three, in the year one thousand five hundred and thirtythree*. And he brought with him the spoil of the cities, which the Lord had overturned in his wrath. And in Coron he left about one thousand five hundred Spaniards, warlike men; and corn, and bread, and wine, and oil, and gunpowder, and cannon-balls, in abundance; and they abode there many days. Now the city of Coron was a fortified city, so that those who were in it could withstand one against a hundred, and a hundred against a thousand. And they took it, because of the cowardice of the Turks, who abode in the midst thereof in those days.

844. And Solyman sent about ten thousand men, and they besieged Coron many days. Also his galleys besieged it, and gave no peace either to those who went out or to those who came in; and the city was besiegedt.

845. And the emperor Charles and the pope abode in Bologna several days, and rejoiced in love in those days. And they said one to another, "How long shall Italy be a desolation, as overthrown by strangers? Come, let us deal wisely, let us make her a name, lest she 2 Kings xxiv. 10; xxv. 2.

* A. D.

Is. i. 7.

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COVENANT AT BOLOGNA, FEB. 28, 1533. should again become a spoil*; and one shall help the othert when there falleth out any wart, and they shall not sorrow any more at all§." And the thing was good in their sight, and in the sight of the nobles of Italy; and they made a covenant among themselves; and there entered the covenant, the pope, the emperor, the men of Venice, and the Duke Francesco of Milan, and the rest of the nobles of Italy, both those who were nigh, and also of them who were afar off; to unite their shoulders, to root out, and to destroy every power of people or of country that should come to war in Italy, and that every one should give, according to those that were numbered of them**,some more and some less. And this decree was giventt at Bologna on the twenty-eighth day of the month of February ; and Antonio Leyva was over the host in those days.

846. And Francis, the king of France, sent messengers unto the emperor, and with them nobles and very honorable men; and demanded of him Milan, and Genoa, and Savona: but he hearkened not unto them. And Charles gave them also time to come into the covenant; and they went from him in peace. One of them went unto Ferrara, and the other returned to France; and every thing they had done was told the king.

+ Is. xli. 6.

* 2 Kings xxi. 14.
§ Jer. xxxi. 12. || Esther ix. 20.
** Numb. xxvi. 54; Exod. xvi. 17.

Exod. i. 10. Consent. Zeph. iii. 9. tt Esther iii. 15.

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