heart; he evidently was not a Jew in his actions or his interests, or he would have surely heard that Akiba was something more than a distinguished stranger. However, Akiba went to him, and found that his advice was wanted. The rich man told the Rabbi of the vow which he had made never to see or help his daughter; he was getting old now――was there any way the Rabbi could suggest in which the vow could be conscientiously broken? ‘Would you have minded your daughter marrying a distinguished scholar, even had he been poor?’ asked the Rabbi. ‘No,’ said the father, puzzled; ‘but she married a stupid beggar.’ ‘Well,’ said Akiba, smiling, ‘I know not if I be the distinguished scholar that men call me, but I do know I am that Akiba who married your daughter.’ So it all ended happily, and the good, patient wife regained her husband and her father at the same time. =7. Akiba: the Romance of his Age.=――That was the home side of Akiba’s life story. In the schools he won a distinguished place, and all his life he was as loyal to his duties as to his affections, and faithful to both even unto death. In the revolt against Rome the scholar turned soldier, and the husband was patriot. Akiba stood by Barcochba to the last, and when Bither fell, he was taken prisoner by the Romans, and by them most cruelly put to death. But his beautiful enthusiasm did not desert him even under torture. There is a Talmudic legend that he smiled at his executioners, and that one of them tauntingly exclaimed to the poor old man slowly dying under their hands, ‘Why, you look as if you rejoice!’ ‘And I do,’ came the unflinching answer. ‘Every day of my life I have repeated the שְׁמַע. To-day, for the first time, I _feel_ what it is to love the Lord my God with all my heart, and all my soul, and all my strength. How should I not rejoice?’