The first Hebrew books printed 1475 Inquisition against the Marannos 1480 Expulsion of the Jews from Spain 1492 Expulsion of the Jews from Portugal 1497 The first ghetto in Venice 1516 Reuchlin for the Talmud, Pfefferkorn against it 1506‒1516 First complete edition of the Talmud printed 1520 Spanish Jews settle in Holland 1591 Manasseh ben Israel 1604‒1657 Sabbatai Zevi 1626‒1676 Baruch Spinoza 1632‒1677 Slaughter of Jews in Poland by the Cossacks under 1648 Chmielnicki Manasseh ben Israel came to England 1655 First Portuguese synagogue in London 1656 First German synagogue in London 1692 Moses Mendelssohn born 1729 The edict of Joseph II., Emperor of Austria 1782 Moses Montefiore born 1784 Frederick William II. of Prussia abolishes the 1787 ‘Leibzoll’ The Jews in France emancipated 1791 Jews admitted to the freedom of the City of London 1832 The Jews’ civil disabilities in England removed 1845 Persecution of Jews in Damascus: Professor Theodore’s 1840 letter on same D. Salomons elected M.P. for Greenwich 1851 Jewish Oath Bill passed 1858 CONTENTS. _BOOK I._ B.C. 586 TO A.C. 70. IN THE SHADOW OF THE SWORD. CHAPTER I. THE JEWS IN BABYLON. 1. Babylonian Exiles 2. Persian Conquest of Babylon 3. The Influences of the Exile 4. How Cyrus’s Permission was received 5. The End of the Exile CHAPTER II. THE RETURN TO PALESTINE. 1. The Rebuilding of the Temple 2. The Samaritans 3. The Feast of Purim 4. Ezra the Scribe 5. The Work of Ezra and Nehemiah CHAPTER III. LIFE IN PALESTINE. 1. Condition of the People 2. Literary Labours 3. Alexandrian Jews 4. The Septuagint 5. Under Egyptian Rule 6. Under Syrian Rule 7. Home Rule CHAPTER IV. THE MACCABEAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE.