two co-religionists in such evil plight, had at once bought them at the current price, which was not high, for their attainments were not known, and were therefore not counted in, and had set them free. Then father and son, sad and yet grateful, had wandered through the stately streets of Cordova, and some instinct had led them to the doors of the synagogue and the schools, with the result we have seen. ‘Moses clad in sackcloth,’ as he was called, became quite a celebrated character in Cordova. The reigning kaliph, Abderahman III., was a very enlightened ruler, and took a scholarly, as well as a kind-hearted, interest in the learned Rabbi. Abderahman had, too, a Jewish minister named Hasdai ben Isaac, whom he greatly valued; and it is quite possible, since the whole Jewish nation is often judged by single specimens, that the kaliph’s experience of the upright Hasdai influenced his general policy towards the Jews in his dominions. Moses ben Hanoch lived long as president of the schools, and his son, Hanoch ben Moses, succeeded him. Hanoch ben Moses’ powers and privileges were considerably extended, and he was given the title of Nagid, or prince, of the Jewish community in Spain. It became an office somewhat more honorary and less official than, but yet very similar to, that held of old by the רֵישׁ נְּלוּתָא Head of the captivity, in Babylon, and thus the dignity that had died out in the East was revived in name, at least, in the West. =4. Another Nagid: Troubles in Granada.=――Another famous Nagid was Samuel ha-Levi ibn-Nagrela, who was born in Cordova nearly fifty years later (993). In 1013 the kaliphate of Cordova had suffered from a barbarian invasion, and many of the great people had moved into other cities of the Peninsula. The colleges at Granada grew famous, and Samuel ha-Levi, or Samuel ha-Nagid, as he is generally called, who was at their head from about 1025 till 1055, was not only a first-rate theologian and a tolerable poet, but a clever statesman and a very charming companion. Like Hasdai ben Isaac, Samuel ha-Nagid held the post of minister at the court of the kaliph, and like him again, he held it to the benefit of his sovereign and of his co-religionists. His son Joseph inherited his honours, but not all his fine qualities. He had not good manners, and he was imprudent. During his Nagidship there was a very serious riot in Granada (1066). The Jews were accused of converting their neighbours. This was a fault of which they were so very unlikely to be guilty, that one has to look deeper for the cause of the disturbance. One may find it perhaps in the fact that the populace spent their wrath not on the synagogues, but on the houses and warehouses of the Jews. That looks as if plunder had more to do with the matter than religion. It is, however, quite possible that the Nagid Joseph, through want of tact, had managed to excite some ill feeling. If it were so, he paid the penalty. He was killed in the course of the riot.