More light is thrown on the subject of Byron’s attitude to the Jewish people and the Zionist idea in Nathan’s _Fugitive Pieces and Reminiscences of Lord Byron_ (Appendix li). In a note (_p._ 24) to “Oh! Weep for those,” Nathan writes: “Throughout the composition of these melodies, it will be observed by the attentive reader that Lord Byron has exhibited a peculiar feeling of commiseration towards the Jews. He was entirely free from the prevalent prejudices against that unhappy and oppressed race of men. On this subject, he has frequently remarked, that he deemed the existence of the Jews, as a distinct race of men, the most wonderful instance of the ill-effects of persecution....” That a period of 1800 years should have elapsed, and that these people should still preserve their own religion, their laws, and their customs, in defiance of ecclesiastical and civil oppression, does indeed seem astonishing; but less so, when the effect of his Lordship’s observation is sufficiently understood. On one occasion he remarked, “unfortunate men, surrounded by enemies among whom they are compelled to live; oppressed, scorned, and outcast: condemned as criminal, because they cannot succumb to their oppressors,...” In another note (_p._ 61) contributed to the poem, “From the last hill that looks on thy once holy dome.” _On the day of the Destruction of Jerusalem by Titus_, Nathan says: “In the composition of the foregoing stanzas, he professed to me, that he had always considered the fall of Jerusalem, as the most remarkable event of all history; for (in his own words), ‘who can behold the entire destruction of that mighty pile; the desolate wanderings of its inhabitants, and compare these positive occurrences with the distant prophecies which foreran them, and be an infidel?’” The authenticity of Nathan’s co-operation is beyond question. Nathan was a composer of acknowledged ability, and a writer on various subjects. He was born at Canterbury, Kent, and early in life was sent to Cambridge to study Hebrew and the classical languages. Lady Caroline Lamb (1785‒1828) was among Nathan’s friends, and wrote poetry for him to set to music. Sir Walter Scott (1771‒1832), was also an admirer of Nathan’s Jewish musical productions. Enthusiasm for the revival of _Hebrew_ music was characteristic of the time, and was partly due to the prevailing sympathy for the Jewish people, for their sufferings and their hopes (Appendix lii). If _Hebrew Melodies_ were written at the suggestion of Kinnaird, this must not be taken to mean that poems like _Hebrew Melodies_ can be written merely in response to the suggestion of a personal friend: they must be the product of a certain aspiration.