Mr. Disraeli has often been laughed at for his statement
that a very considerable number of Jews all over the world, unable to endure persecution, conceal their faith not only for years, but for generations. He particularly instances Spain as a country where thousands of " Catholic " families still remain Jews in heart, creed, and habit of arranging alliances among themselves. The keeping of such a secret seems almost an impossibility, though rendered easier by the great amount of scepticism latent in Spain ; but we are told that the numerous conversions to Judaism in Austria, especially in 1870, were really revelations of this practice. All disabilities being removed, the Jews returned to the faith of their ancestors. The Jewish Chronicle of August 22 also relates that when the Shah was requested in Berlin to pro- tect the Jews, a stern Persian in his suite, who had cross- examined the petitioners, informed them that the memorial should certainly reach the Shah, for he, the questioner, was a concealed Jew, though obliged to deny his faith.
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