The Jewish advance., 1880-09-17

a book then very popular-was trans
lated by her into Spanish She was
conscious of the excellence Of her work,
for in her dedication (Antwerp. in No
vember of 1888 she did not hesitate to
assure him that her translation, as far as
taste and elegance were concerned,
might favorably compete with either the
Italian original or the French transla-
ton. Her work, however, was more
than a mere trans alton; parts Of
the book she herself carried out
while she wove her own thoughts
and observations into the translation,
Correa's Spanish translation of Pastor
fido, Of which three editions appeared
in rapid succession, and which, at
the time of their publication, threw
their original far into the shade, were
celebrated in Latin poem of the Por-
tuguese author, Antonio des Reys.
A friend of Isabella Correa and a
woman celebrated in the Madrid Acad-
emy and afterward in Amsterdam, in
virtue of her rare genius, was
DONNA ISABELLA HENRIQUEZ.
She spent her youth in Madrid, where,
in 1884, the Marrano chief physician,
Fernando, Or, Isaac Cardoso, as he cal
led himself as Jew, an author of book
on ''The Color Green,' dedicated the
same to her; later she emigrated to Am
sterdam, Here also, though already at
rather an advanced age,-she was, at
least sixty years old-she had many
friends and admirers. True to her
Spanish leneage, she distributed amulets
which were to protect against the power
of love; and yet she yaliantly fought
against superstition.
Once, when in the house of the Am
sterdam rabbi, Isaac Aboab da Fouseca,
an extraordinarily large egg with a
crown upon its tip was found and differ
ent interpretations were offered Isabel
la, by means of short poem, enlight-
ened the understanding of the supersti-
tions interpreters
Somewhat later than Correa and Hen
riquenz, we find, in London, the like
wise poetically gifted women of Span
ish-Portuguese descent: Donna Sara de
Fonseca Pima y Pimentel, Donna Manu-
ella Nunes de Almeida and her daugh-
ter, Donna Bienvenida Cohen Belmonte.
All three celebrated in song the Spanish
translation Of the Psalms written by the
Marrano author, Daniel Israel Lopez
Laguna, which, under the title Faith
full Mirror Of Life" appeared in London
in 1920.
LEARNED WOMEN OF THE SEVENTEENTH
AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES.
With the reformation, which opened
path for the free investigation of the
Hebrew Scriptures, the desire for a
knowledge of the Hebrew language and
literature was also awakened in the
Christian world. Every scholar, or
every one who passed as such, deemed
it essential to have a knowledge of He
brew; and soon it became fashionable to
correspond in this language. Anna
Maria Shurman of Utrecht, the wonder
ful child Of that century, who had a
knowledge of nearly all European Ian
guages, correspondent with scholars and
with an English lady, Dorothea Moore.
in the language Of the Jews. The
Swedish king, Gustav Adolph, did not
lie down to sleep single night, even on
the attle-feld, without having first read
a few Psalms from the original text;
and his daughter, the Queen Christina,
who was intimately acquainted with
many Jews, could write in Hebrew.
The Princess Antonio of Wurtcmberg,
who had also mastered the Hebrew Ian
guago, herself punctuated a Hebrew
Bible. What marvel then that during
this time Jewish women were also de-
voted to the study of their own itera-
ture, wherein they attained to a certain
degree of perfection and even celebrity.