The Messiah-hope still lingered, however fainth^, in the heart of the Jew, jiarticularly in the Iberian penin- sula, where he now suffered most ; and it was not long before a new impostor arose to abuse the confidence of his much dejected brethren. This time the pretender played his part more acutely, and it was some time be- fore his deception was discovered. During the eventful reigu of Charles V a person suddenly turned up at the court of the king of Portugal, who, calling himself Ba- vil Keubeni, declared that he had come from India as ambassador of his brother, the king of the Jews, to propose an alliance for the recovery of the Holy Land from the Mussulman. He had so carefully prepared himself for his role that he appeared natural, and his story apparently bore truth upon its face. He readily found I'riends both among Jews and Gentiles, and he was favorably received wherever he went. To persuade the Iberian government of tlie verity of his mission, he had brought papers confirming his claims; and he kept at such a respectful distance from the Jews that tliey became doubly anxious to approach him. Those who had been forcibly converted to Christianity fairly wor- shipped the ground he had stood upon ; and great was the joy among the Jews of Italy when David found favor in the eyes of Clement VII (1523-3-4), and gained dis- tinctions at the papal court. In the midst of his successes he was joined by one Solomon Molcho (q. v.), a Portu- guese New-Christian, who openly apostatized to Juda- ism, and set up as the prophet of the movement. He sub- mitted to circumcision, and in many other ways sought to prove his sincerity. At first he travelled with David, but, anxious to visit the Holy Land, he parted with the prince and set out for the East. On his return he visited Clement VII, and found even greater favor with the pope than David. Indeed, Molcho enjoyed Clement's protec- tion thereafter, and, though an apostate, he was suffered to pour out his apocalyptic rhapsodies without restraint. But he finally came to a woful end. He had met David again, and together tliey had gone to Ratisbon, the seat of Charles V, to convert the emperor. Charles was liard- hearted, and both David and Solomon were thrown into prison ; the former escaping, we hardly know how, the
latter expiating his daring at the stake. This put an end to the INIessiah promises of the 16th century.
In the 17th century the first false Christ arose in the East Indies, A.D. 1615, and was largely followed by the Portuguese Jews who are scattered over that countrj*. Another in the Low Countries declared himself to be the Messiah of the family of David, and of the line of Na- than, A.D. 1624. He promised to destroy Pome, and to overthrow the kingdom of Antichrist and the Turkish empire.
The year 1666 was a year of great expectation, and some Avonderful thing was looked for by many. This was a fit time for an impostor to set up, and accordingly lying reports were carried about. It was said that great multitudes marched from unknown parts to the remote deserts of Arabia, and they were supposed to be the ten tribes of Israel, who had been dispersed for many ages ; that a ship had arrived in the north part of Scot- land with sails and cordage of silk ; that the mariners spoke nothing but Hebrew ; that on the sails was this motto, " The Twelve Tribes of Israel." The auspicious moment- was embraced to advantage hy one Sahhathai Zebi (q. v.), the greatest of all Jewish pretenders, who made a great noise, and gained a great number of pros- elytes. He was born at Aleppo, and imposed on the Jews for a considerable time with great success as " King of the kings of the earth ;" but wlien the Turkish gov- ernment, under whose protection he lived, questioned his wholesome influence on the people, he forsook the Jews and turned jMohammedan for the sake of saving his life, which he believed in danger — a presentiment that proved but too true, for he \vas finally beheaded. Sab- bathai Zebi's influence is still incalculable ; he demands so much notice at our hands that we refer our readers to the special article under his name. Suffice it to say here that this man formed a considerable sect, wliich— notwithstanding that the conduct of its founder might, one would suppose, have disabused the most blind and fanatic enthusiasm — long existed, and stiU continues to exist.
Another false Christ that made any considerable num- ber of converts was one rabbi Mordecai, a Jew of Germany : he appeared A.D. 1682. It was not long be- fore he was found out to be an impostor, and was obliged to flee from Italy to Poland to save his life : what be- came of him afterwards does not seem to be recorded. About the middle of the 18th century an extraordinary adventurer, named Frank, by birth a Polish Jew, and by profession, in his younger days, a distiller of brand}', suddenly came to the front, and revived the expiring Sabbathaic party by the propagation of a new creed, which leaned towards Christianity, while it was really neither that nor Judaism. This lofty eclectic rejected the Talmud, but insisted on a hidden sense in the Script- ures. He admitted the trinity and the incarnation of the Deity, but preserved an artful ambiguitj' as to the person in whom the Deify was incarnate. He was liim- self a believer in Sabbathai Zebi. and yet he dared not to speak out against Christ; consequently he preferred to leave the question unsettled, until his connection with the Christian world seemed to demand a more decided confession, when he openly embraced Christianity as a member of the Roman Catholic Church. In his last years he flourished as '• baron" Frank, and his followers dared even to presume that he was of roj'al lineage, and closely related to the reigning house of Russia. The extent of his influence may be fairly estimated by our readers when we tell them that 800 persons attended his funeral. A cross was set up over his tomb. For some time a daughter whom he had left guided his followers ; but these gradually dispersed, and, deprived of pecuni- ary aid, the family of Frank gave to the world a work written by him many years before his decease, counsel- ling the Jews to embrace the Christian religion. See Fkank, Jacob. Frank evidently preferred to continue the work of Sabbathai Zebi rather than declare himself a Messiah. He frequently declared that his missioa