In 1655 Manasseh came to England on a special mission to Oliver Cromwell for the readmission of the Jews into England. Two years later he returned to the Netherlands, carrying with him the corpse of his eldest son. His great schemes seemed shattered. Poor, prematurely aged, and full of sorrows he died, at Middelburg, in 1657.
Manasseh ben Israel was a prolific writer, and his books show undeniable evidence of very wide reading and extra ordinary industry. He cites not only Jewish writers like Ibn Gabriol and Maimonides, but also Euripides and Virgil, Plato and Aristotle, Duns Scotus and Albertus Magnus. Poets and legalists, mystics and rationalists—he had an appreciation for all, if not always a very intelligent appreciation. And he rather prided himself on his secular knowledge, and felt flattered when he was described, not simply as a "theologian," but also as a "philosopher" and "Doctor of Physics." On a portrait engraved in 1642 he is described as "Theologicus et Philosophus Hebraeus."[1] Moreover he had numerous Christian acquaintances and friends, and corresponded with learned men and women in all parts of Europe—even with Queen Christina of Sweden, and Hugo Grotius, the famous statesman, jurist and historian. In various letters to Vossius, Grotius expressed his great and sincere esteem of Manasseh. Gerhard Vossius, "the greatest polyhistor of the Netherlands," was on intimate terms with Manasseh, and visited him often. Nor was Manasseh at all intolerant. He was very friendly with Caspar Barlæus, the Amsterdam Professor of Philosophy and Rhetoric, who was rather suspected of being a free-thinker. Barlæus was a noted Latin scholar and poet, and prefixed to one of Manasseh's books (De Creatione) a Latin poem which was
- ↑ Over this portrait, it is interesting to note, are also the words Peregrinando Quærimus, which formed the motto or trade-mark of Manasseh's press; in the top left corner there is a small shield with a picture of a pilgrim carrying a staff and lamp, while in the right corner are the Hebrew words for Thy word is a lamp unto my feet (Psalm cxix. 105).
