From another side the Karaites were the object of eager inquiry. A professor at Leyden, Jacob Trigland, fairly well acquainted with Hebrew literature, who intended to write a book about the old Jewish sects, no longer in existence, had his attention directed to the still existing Karaites. Inspired by the wish to get information concerning the Polish Karaites and obtain possession of their writings, he sent a letter with various questions through well-known mercantile houses to Karaites, to which he solicited an answer. This letter accidentally fell into the hands of a Karaite, Mordecai ben Nissan, at Luzk, a poor official of the community, who did not know enough to give the desired information as to the beginning and cause of the schism between Rabbanites and Karaites. He regarded it as a point of honor to avail himself of this opportunity to bring the forgotten Karaites to the remembrance of the educated world through the instrumentality of a Christian writer, and to deal blows at their opponents, the Rabbanite Jews. He spared no sacrifice to procure the few books by which he might be able to instruct himself and his correspondent Trigland. These materials, however, were not worth much, and Mordecai's dissertation for Trigland proved unsatisfactory, but for want of a better work it had the good fortune to serve during nearly a century and a half as the only source for the history of Karaism. Some years later, when Charles XII, the hero of the north, conquered Poland in his victorious career, and like his father was anxious to have more precise intelligence respecting Karaites, he also made inquiries concerning them. Mordecai ben Nissan used this occasion to compose a work in Hebrew for Charles XII, in which he freely indulged his hatred against Rabbanites, and strained every nerve to make Talmudical literature ridiculous. The zealous attention paid by Christian scholars to Jewish literature could not fail to cause annoyance and inconvenience to Jews. They felt sorely burdened by German Protestant literati, who, acquiring cumbersome learning, strove to rival the Dutch writers and Richard Simon in France, without possessing their mild and gentle toleration towards Jews, or their elegance of style. Almost at the same time three German Hebraists, Wülfer, Wagenseil, and Eisenmenger, used their knowledge of Hebrew literature to bring accusations against the Jews. All three associated much with Jews, learned from them, and devoted much study to Jewish literature, mastering it to a certain degree.