Evening star., 1923-12-03
BY THE MARaUIsE DE FoNTENoY.

Spain's most widely known grandee,
grandnephew of the late Empress
Eugene and owner of the magnifl-
cent old Liria Palace in Madrid, is
presenting to the Library of Congress.
at Washington. TO the Public Library
of New York and to the Jewish Theo-
logical Seminary of New York, cop
les of an altogether remarkable and
well nigh priceless work. Just five
hundred years ago, Grand Rabbi
Moses ArrageI completed, under the
patronage of Don Luis de Guzman.
grand master of the Ancient Order of
Calatrava. the task of translating the
Hebrew Bible into Castilian. The
codex which preserves the rabbits
labors has belonged for 235 years to
the 'ducal family OF Alba, on which
are seen the Castilian text and the
rabbits extensive marginal notes, to-
gether with nearly 800 miniatures in
colors and gold by cotemporary art
lists of Toledo. The Duke of Alba
has caused q wonderful Photographic
reproduction of this great manuscript
to be made in Spain and is presenting
copies thereof to the American in
stitutions which ] have mentioned
above, as well as to the British Mu-
scum in London. the National Library
of France, to the Ambrosian Library
of Milan. which was formerly under
the charge of Mgr Ratti, now Pope
Plus NJ, and to the Bodleian Library at
Oxford.
1t Is doubtful whether any of these
institutions will show a greater ap-
probation of the gift than the Jew
ish Theological Seminary in New
York. For there are some $4,000 or
10000 Jews of Spanish origin in New
York. who speak a language which
has little connection with the fiddish
of the Russian, Polish and German
Jews. and which. known as Ladino, is
a.mixture of Hebrew and of Spanish,
not the modern Spanish. but that of
CASTLE at the end of the ffteenth
century To these old Castilian Jews,
who have retained this strange mix
ture of fifteenth century Castilian and
Hebrew of that epoch as their chief
language and vernacular, this codeN
of Rabbi Moses Arragel, which they
will owe to the generosity or the
present Duke of Alba, who has In his
veins the blood Of the Stuart King
James III of Great Britain, will prove
priceless treasure
They never forget there were five
Jews with Christopher Columbus on
the occasion of his first voyage to
America, including the ships doctor.
Bernal, and his interpreter, Luis de
Torres. The Duke Cf Alba will doubt
less also present copy OF the couex
to the leading Jewish ecclesiastical
authorities In Su0nlh;, ,r,!s pos s.;n Mhe,, Il,
f4e4 the richest Of them made their
way from the 1berian peninsula to
SaIoniki, which. through their com
mercial enterprise, became the richest
and most flourishing port of the Le-
want. There, to this day, as in New
York. Ladino has remained the ver-
nacular of their DESCENDANTS. and In
their synagogues and in a thousand
different ways there are reminders
of the fact that they came from spain,
where their headquarters and the
nrin cipal center of their literature.
art, religion and commerce was at
Toledo.
Younr Michael Beaumont Of the
Coldstream Guards. whose formal en-
saeement to the Hon. sFaith Pease
daughter of Lord and Lady Gainford
has Just been announced. will not
attain his majority until next Feb
ruary, and is half American. For his
mother was Eliza Grace, the eldest
and fairest daughter of the late Mi
chael r. Grace of New York, and was
drowned near Leghorn in 1917 while
endeavoring to save her then fifteen
year-old son. who escaped with hi:
life, while his father was the late
Hubert Beaumont, member Of parlia'
ment for Eastbourne. and who re-
signed from his house Of common.
career IN order to devote himself en-.