546 FREDERICK THE GREAT, AND THE JEWS OF BERLIN. 



have several ships on the ocean as well as vast stores of merchandise 

 both at Memel and Lubeck. After due consideration, he resolved to 

 make a virtue of necessity. Heaving a profusion of heartfelt sighs, 

 he counted out the sum from his strong box, and sat down to write a 

 letter of thanks to his Majesty for the honour which had been done 

 him in thus signalizing him from amongst his brethren ; at the same 

 time stating that his advanced age (75) requiring repose from the 

 cares of the world, and his impaired health a purer air than that of 

 Berlin ; and hinting that having already contributed his quota for the 

 service of so magnanimous and generous a prince, he humbly prayed 

 the royal permission for his departure out of the kingdom. 



Having despatched this petition to Potsdam, he immediately com- 

 menced preparations for removal. But, alas ! the most reasonable 

 expectations are liable to disappointment. As the thrice-fleeced Is- 

 raelite was bustling about, giving orders for the package of his most 

 valuable goods and furniture, and for the immediate sale of the re- 

 mainder, an orderly of dragoons rode into the court-yard and put the 

 following affectionate billet-doux into his hands : 



" Dearest Eleazar, 



"My physicians have informed me that the 'air of Berlin \spurer 

 than that of Amsterdam ; that the green fields around Potsdam afford 

 more healthful recreation than the dykes of the Hague ; and that the 

 hilly and champaign districts of Prussia are more conducive to longe- 

 vity than the flats and swamps of Holland. By my anxiety in ascer- 

 taining these points, thou wilt readily perceive, dearest Eleazar, how 

 my heart cleaveth unto thee, even as the heart of the patriarch Jo- 

 seph cleaved unto his brother Benjamin. I should, indeed, be loath 

 to lose so dear, so useful, and so ancient a friend as thyself; my 

 kingdom would be as a desert without the enlivening and fructify- 

 ing influence of thy presence. Whilst thou art with me it is a very 

 Canaan, a land overflowing with milk and honey ! Content thyself, 

 therefore, dearest Eleazar, nothing but death shall part us. 



'* FREDERICK." 



Sometimes, however, instances occurred in which the Jews evinced 

 considerable tact in eluding the rapacity of the Prussian monarch and 

 his myrmidons. The most successful means which they usually 

 adopted were those of a feigned conversion to Christianity and sub- 

 mission to the rites of baptism ; for, when an Israelite thus abandoned 

 the religion of his fathers, he ceased to be amenable to the laws by 

 which his brethren were oppressed. 



An elder of the Levitical tribe, named Isaac Ben Salomon, who 

 had led a very pious and exemplary life according to the utmost 

 strictness of the Mosaic law, became suddenly the inheritor of his 

 brother's wealth ; which, added to what he himself had amassed, 

 amounted to an enormous sum. Having frequently before contri- 

 buted to the wants of the state, Isaac was, of course, solicitous to con- 

 ceal the amount of his brother's legacy from a prying and a busy 

 world ; but the scent of Frederick's watch-dogs being very keen, they 

 soon discovered the game, and kept a sharp eye on all his move- 

 ments. 



