In  the  preceding  article  on  the  Jews  in  England,  we
stated  that  they  were  banished  from  that  country  by  an  edict
of  Edward  I. at  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century ;  and  we
know  also  that  toward  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth,  the
Spanish  Jews  were  firmly  and  extensively  established  in
Holland,  where  they  had  formed  commercial  relation  with
different  countries. They  had  long  since  looked  for  an
opportunity  of  extending  their  traffic  to  England,  but  as  long
as  the  parliamentary  act  of  their  banishment  was  in  force,
this  seemed  impossible. When  Oliver  Cromwell  came  to  hold
the  reins  of  government  of  Great  Britain,  the  time  seemed  to
have  arrived  for  the  country  to  reopen  its  ports  to  a  people
that  had  already  been  favorably  received  on  the  continent,
both  by  Roman  Catholic  and  Protestant  powers. For  this
purpose  the  Jews  of  Amsterdam  delegated  one  of  their  ablest
members,  the  celebrated  Menasseh  Ben  Israel,  of  whose
character  and  talents  we  have  already  spoken. He  present-
ed a  petition  to  the  Lord  Protector,  in  which  he  complimented
him  and  the  nation  on  their  humanity  and  enlightenment,
and  requested  permission  for  his  people  to  reside  and  enjoy
the  free  exercise  of  their  religion  in  England  ;  and  at  the
same  time  issued  a  pamphlet  to  circulate  among  the  public,
in  which  he  stated  the  grounds  upon  which  he  based  his
request,  and  the  financial  advantages  which  would  accrue
to  the  nation  by  a  consent  to  his  proposition. Hereupon


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Cromwell  called  together  an  assembly  of  lawyers,  clergymen,
and  other  citizens  to  consider  the  matter,  but  on  account  of
the  hesitation  and  the  prolonged  debates  of  the  clergymen
it  was  left  undecided  ;    yet  from  time  to  time  some  Jews
entered   quietly   into   the   country   without   meeting   with
opposition  or   molestation,  until   the  reign  of   Charles  II.,
1666,  when  they  were  lawfully  readmitted  to  dwell  in  Eng-
land. It  is  quite  probable  that  this  permission  was  effected
by  the  circumstance  that   the  negotiations    for   the   king's
marriage   to    the  infanta  Catharine  of   Portugal  had  been
carried  on  by  General  Monk,  through  the  intervention  of  a
Portuguese  Jew. It  is  an  ascertained  fact  that  the  infanta  was
accompanied  to  England  by  two  Portuguese  brothers,  one
of  whom,  Dr. 