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Show DISTINGUISHED AMERICAN JEWESSES. During the 250 years which have elapsed since tho settlement of tho Jews in tho United States many Jewish Jew-ish women have attained promlncnc In nrt, in letters, in tho social world, and In philanthropy. Probably tho most notable social career achieve! by any American Jowess, says tho New York Sun, was that of Miss Rebecca Pranks, who has been mado tho hero-lno hero-lno of soveral romances. Tho Sun says further: She possessod great beauty. Her grandfather had been tho British king's agent for tho Northern ColonIe3. Her father was tho king's agent for Pennsylvania. During tho revolution her family sided against tho patriots. Of her Leon Huhner, curator of tho American Jewish Historical Society, has writ-ton: writ-ton: "She was the reigning bello during tho British occupation of Philadelphia. General Howe was in tho habit of tying his horse before David Prank's houso and going to have a with tho ladles, and possibly pos-sibly to enjoy a laugh at some of Miss Rebecca's sallies. Although the beautiful Jewess shared honor3 with fair Wllllngs and Shlppons, no one disputed dis-puted her tltlo to bo considered the wit of her day among womankind." Sho was something of a writer, and her descriptions of tho social life in Now York and Philadelphia during tho revolution havo boon published. Esther Ettlng Hays, wlfo of a revolutionary revo-lutionary soldier, figures In tho history his-tory of Westchester county, N. Y. When Tarleton raided the village of Bedford, tho Tories entered tho house whoro Mrs. Hays was lying with a newborn Infant. Shu was supposed to havo valuable information relating to tho plan3 of the patriots. This information was demanded of her. She refused to impart im-part it, and after she had been threatened threat-ened to no avail the house was fired, and mother and child were carried Into the woods for safety. Rebecca Gratz, one of the most re-markablo re-markablo Jewish women In American history, came Into prominence In the early part of tho nineteenth century. Sho was born In Philadelphia In 1781. Llko Miss Franks, sho was a striking typo of tho highest Jewish beauty. Sho was not In any sense a religious fanatic, but sho was devoted to her raco and her creed. Many were the suitors who sought her favor, anl it was not because of an unsympathetic or unloving nature that she ended her days unmarried. Rebecca Gratz was tho Intimate friend of Matilda Hoffman, Washing-t"n Washing-t"n Irving's first love, and sho was to him an inspiration. There Is a tradition tradi-tion that Irving spoke to Sir Walter Scott so often and so enthusiastically of tho nobility and beauty of thH woman wo-man that sho was subsequently portrayed por-trayed In tho character of Rebecca in "Ivanhoe." Sho was tho close friend of some of tho most prominent men of her day. Henry Clay was a constant con-stant visitor at her home, and her correspondence cor-respondence with men of letters has since been published. Coming down to tho achievements of Jewish women of a more recent period, per-iod, tho Sun says: Emma Lazarus, tho Jewish poet and advocate, attained a prominence in American Hteratura which no other women or her raco nas ever reacneu. Sho was born In 1858, anl during the thirty-eight years of hor life produced pro-duced work which Brown'ng and Whltaker predicted to be tho forerunner fore-runner of some of tho greatest American Amer-ican verse. Miss Lazarus was a woman of wealth and belongel to tho oi l Portuguese Por-tuguese Jewish aristocracy. Her life was not marked by any striking events. It was placid and calculated to produce anything but tho Impassioned Impas-sioned verso and drama which won her distinction. This was before she had been awakened awak-ened to the defence of- her people. For generations the Lazarus family had been indifferent Jews and, as sho describe de-scribe 1 It, "attended tho synagogue through force of habit." Even her book on Disraeli rovcalol an appreciation appre-ciation only of thq deeds of the man and Ignored him as an example of the highest Jewish type. The persecutions of tho Jews In Russia In 1881 awakened In Emma Lazarus powers previously dormant. Her poetry began to take a mora human hu-man note. It stirred the hearts of Its readers with tho sufferings, the humiliation, and tho wrongs of her nation. na-tion. It was then she wrote "In Exile," "Tho Banner of tho Jew," "Tho New Ezekiel," and "Tho Danco of Death." In this sho typifies tho wrongs of her peoplo since tho fall of Jerusalem. It was at this time, too, that Emma Lazarus took up tho study ot Hebrew and of Jewish history, and sin throw her wholo frail life into an effort to be of somo practical use to her suffering peoplo. Miss Lazarus's sonnet to Bartholdl, "The New Colossus," has been engraved upon a brass tablet and affixed to tho Statuo of Liberty. n |