A JEWISH HUMOURIST. [To TEE EDITOR OP WI •' SPEOTETOE. " . 1
Sin,—It is stated in the article on "A Jewish Hamourist," which appeared in the Spectator of October 22nd, that M. G. Saphir's father was a pedlar. This is a mistake. His father was a wool-merchant in a very good position, and highly respected in his town and throughout Hungary. Hie grand- father, of whose character and interview with the Emperor M. G. Saphir gives an interesting sketch, was an agent to a Hungarian nobleman. M. G. Saphir's father was a man of great learning; and the writer of these lines remembers seeing, in his childhood, large manuscript hooks in Hebrew on theological subjects written by him ; he also remembers his parents speaking frequently of his grandfather's culture and noble bearing.
The remarks on M. G. Saphir's relation to the Jews seem to me also incorrect. Though M. G. Saphir joined the Christian Church, he never tried to conceal his Jewish origin. Ho published for many years a Jewish almanack of a humorous character. Some of his wittiest pieces are in the Jewish dialect, and he was a great favourite with the whole German-speaking community.—I am, Sir, &c., A NEPHEW OF M. G. SAMUEL.
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