49 
at times, wasa volcano of poetry. He 
voluntarily undertook the literary educa- 
tion of Mendelffohn ; he taught him Eu- 
clid, by his own Hebrew verfion; and 
threw into the foul of Mendelffohn, the 
firft electrical fpark of genius. ‘Two 
young rabbins fat in the .corners. of re- 
tired ftreets, the one with a ‘ Hebrew 
Euchd,”* inftruéting the other; and the 
{cholar was one day to be clafled among 
the great preceptors of the Human undet- 
fianding! ‘Fhis’ fingular f{peétacle may 
inftruG the youthful and indigent phio- 
fophers of Europe, that the cold touch of 
poverty can never palfy the fublime in- 
duftry of refolute genius. 
But Mendelffohn enjoyed not the plea- 
fures of friendfhip, without paying, at 
leneth, its heavy price, in the afflicion 
he fuffered at the death of his friend. Dr. 
Kifch, a: jewith phytician, fupplied the 
fafs, and afforded him effential aififtance. 
By his advice, our autkor applied to the 
Latin language ; he was fo indigent, that 
he could not purchafe a Lexicon. By 
the benevolence of this phyfician, he not 
only obtained the utenfils of ftudy, but, 
with rare kindnefs, Dr. Kifch devoted, 
during the fpace of fix months, fome 
hours of every day to the inftruétion of 
a ftudent, whofe capability of intellect, 
he had the difcernment to perceive, and 
the affection to aid. Mendelffohn was 
foon enabled to read Locke in a Latin 
verfion, but with fuch pain, that, com- 
pelled to feek for every fingle word, hours 
were wafted on pages; he had to collect 
words, and then to arrange periods, and, 
at the fame time, to unite in his mind 
the metaphyfical ideas. He (as Mira- 
beau exprefies himfelf), did not fo much 
tranflate as guefs, by the force of medita- 
tien. 
This prodigious exercife of his intel- 
' Je&tual powers, in retarding his progrets, 
wvigorated his habit. By running againtt 
the hill, the racer at length courles with 
facility. What weexpeét to do preatly, 
we mutt at firft learnto do difficultly. 
In 1748, Mendelfflohn formed an, ac- 
“‘quaintance with Dr. Solomon Gumpertz ; 
another literary Jew, who, to his pro- 
teffional ftudies, added thofe of the ma- 
thematics, and was well acquainted with 
modern languages. He introduced Men- 
delffohn to a literary circle, and this in- 
tercourfe enlarged his mind. Our. philo- 
foohet now applied himfelf to the living. 
danguages, and chiefly to the Englith, 
that he might read his favourite, Locke, 
‘in his own idiom. It was the opinion of 
Mendelffobn, that the knowledge of va. _ 
Biographical Sketch of Mofes Mendelffobi. 
rious languages is of great utility, and; 
in the plan of education he fketehed for 
his own people, he infifts at large on 
their neceflity. He confidered, that te 
deprive a ftudent of a knowledge of many 
languages, was. to mutilate the human 
mind. Yet, on the other fide, it may be 
oppoled, that the Grecians found no want 
of more than one language, and the Ros 
mans could employ at the moft but two. 
The literary friends of Mendelffohn 
were foon numerous. The Abbé De- 
nina, in his “« Prufe Literaire,” tells usy 
that it was the celebrated Leffinge who 
encouraged. and aided Mendelflohy in 
his Latin fudies. The fcholar .amply 
repaid the efforts of his mafter; for he 
‘foon became his rival, his affociate, and 
the defender of his fame, even, as we fhall 
fhew, at the coft of life! . 
In.1751 Denina dates his earlieft pro- 
du€tions. He firft publithed fome phi-: 
lofophical dialogues ; a tranflation of 
<< Rouffeaw s Effay on the Inequality of Men;*> 
and a little differtation ‘* Oz the Senfation 
of the Beautiful.’ Denina, in his Dry 
Catalogue. of Dry Authors, farther in- 
forms us, ‘ that Leffing affifted him in 
ail his produétions ; at leaft Mendeiffohn 
compofed with him the “ Philofophical Dia- 
logues.”? The awkward. malice of this in- 
finuation is fufiiciently palpable ; and 
the low efforts, in other parts, to {neer 
at a philofopher, whom he calls “ the 
poor clerk of a jewith manufacturer,” 
hardly merits recrimination. If Men- 
delflohn- was enlightened by Leffing, we 
may juftly fuppoie that Lefiing receivea 
fome illumination from Mendelffohn. If 
Leffing was the author of any confider- 
able portion of Mendelffohn’s works, he 
might have been filent; but Mendelffohn 
had fpoken. The filence of this virtuous 
philofopher controverts the affirmation of 
the catalogue writer. 
Of thefe dialogues the Count de Mira- 
beau tells us, that they were publithed 
in 1755, and wefe the firft fruits of his 
conneétion with Lefling. That they were 
the compofitions of our author, appears 
by this circumftance, that they bear the 
marks of his defeéts at this period of his 
literary life: defects derived from his 
poverty, his jewifh education, and his 
numerous impediments in literature. Such 
are the local and moral influences fatal 
to genius; for, as a writer has obferved, 
<¢ many of the confpicuous blemifhes of 
fome of our great.compolitions, may rea- 
fonably be attributed to the domeftic in- 
felicities of their authors. The deful- 
tory life of Camoens probably ee 
tae 
